Read The return of the condor heroes Chapter 16-20

Chin Yung/Jin Yong

Sin Tiaw Hiap Lu

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Chapter 16 – Avenging a Father’s Death

A cool breeze blew and pieces of Li Mochou’s clothing flew away, her arms, shoulders, chest and legs were revealed. She wasn’t able to control her embarrassment; she wanted to turn around and run away when suddenly her back felt cool, a large piece of cloth flew away from her back.

Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang were both shocked and pleased to hear that blacksmith Feng was actually Cheng Ying’s apprentice brother. Being Huang Yaoshi’s disciple, his martial arts can’t be that bad, unexpectedly they suddenly had another strong helper in this danger.

Li Mochou chuckled, “You’ve been expelled by your Master yet you still can’t let go, isn’t that extremely stupid? Today I’m going to kill three kids and a mad woman; you better just stand aside and take in the atmosphere.”

Feng Mofeng said slowly, “Though I’ve learned martial arts, I have never fought anyone before in my life and my left leg is crippled, I can’t really fight.”

Li Mochou said, “Yes, that’s the best thing for you, you can’t afford to throw your life away.”

Feng Mofeng shook his head and said, “I cannot allow you to harm a single hair of my apprentice sister’s head, since these people are friends of hers you better find somewhere else to do evil.”

Li Mochou’s murderous intent was stirred and she laughed, “The four of you fighting me at once, that’s great.” She stood up.

Feng Mofeng was unmoved and kept on striking the metal with his hammer, he was like a character from an opera following prompts from a gong, he struck the metal and then followed it with a few words. He said, “I left my school over thirty years ago, my martial arts have gone rusty long ago, I need to think hard about them.”

Li Mochou laughed and said, “Half my life I’ve roamed Jianghu but I’ve never seen a person like you who grabs the feet of Buddha and prepares for battle at the last minute. Today my eyes have been opened. Feng Mofeng, have you really never fought anyone before in your life?”

Feng Mofeng said, “I never offend others, when others beat me and insult me I don’t do anything, so of course my hands have never been raised against anyone.”

Li Mochou chuckled and said, “Ha-ha, old ‘Heretic’ Huang actually picked a bunch of face losing crap to be his disciples.” Feng Mofeng said, “Please don’t speak ill of my merciful Master like that.”

Li Mochou gave a wry laugh and said, “He abandoned you as a Master long ago yet you still merciful Master this, merciful that, you’re not afraid of making people laugh.”

Feng Mofeng continued to strike down with his hammer and said, “I have no one in this world, the only loved one I have is my merciful Master, if I don’t respect him, love him, who should I think about? Little apprentice sister, is Master well?”

Cheng Ying said, “Master is very well.” Feng Mofeng’s face lit up with joy. When Li Mochou saw his feelings, she thought, “Old ‘Heretic’ Huang is a good Master, and indeed there is something great about him. He beat his disciple into this state yet this person still remains loyal to him.”

The metal that was being forged was now gradually getting colder, Feng Mofeng again used his tongs to place the metal into the furnace but he was preoccupied and actually sent the hammer in his right hand into the furnace instead. Li Mochou laughed and said, “Blacksmith Feng, just slowly think about your Master’s martial arts, there’s no need to lose your mind as well.” Feng Mofeng didn’t reply and stared at the flaming furnace in deep thought, after a while, he sent the crutch under his left arm into the furnace.

Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang both said, “That’s your crutch!” Cheng Ying also called out, “Apprentice brother!”

Feng Mofeng still did not reply and gazed into the furnace. The crutch didn’t burn in the furnace, instead it gradually became red; the crutch was actually made of metal. After another while, the hammer also became red but his hands weren’t burned as he held onto the handle of the hammer and crutch. Li Mochou’s disdain turned into precaution, she knew that this rough looking man must have qualities that excel. She was afraid that he would suddenly attack and she would fall victim to him so she urgently waved her fly whisk about to protect her front’s fatal areas and leapt outside, calling out, “Blacksmith Feng, let’s just get it over with!”

Feng Mofeng responded and exited the shop, his movements were swift and light, it didn’t look like he was crippled. He placed his red crutch into the ground and said, “Angelic Priestess”, please don’t insult my Master and please stop troubling my apprentice sister. And spare the bitter life of this old blacksmith!”

Li Mochou was again greatly surprised and thought “Why is he begging just before he’s about to fight?” She said, “I will spare you only; if you are afraid then don’t intervene.”

Feng Mofeng clenched his teeth and said, “Fine, then kill me first!” As he said this, he trembled; he was afraid but was also emotional.

Li Mochou raised her fly whisk and struck down towards his head. Feng Mofeng quickly leapt away, his dodging was very sharp but his arms trembled, he actually was afraid to counterattack. Li Mochou attacked three times in a row but each time, Feng Mofeng avoided the attacks with great movements yet he still did not counterattack. Yang Guo and the others were standing to the side watching; when the time came they will go and help. They saw that Li Mochou’s attacks were gradually intensifying and Feng Mofeng really looked like someone who has never fought before. In accordance with his peaceful nature, he didn’t make an attack with his red hammer.

Yang Guo thought that this isn’t good, though this person’s martial arts are strong, he didn’t have any intent to fight, and he must be stirred so he said loudly, “Li Mochou, why did you insult Island Master Huang by calling him heartless, unrighteous and wicked?”

Li Mochou thought, “When did I insult him?” She sped up her attacks and did not reply.

Yang Guo continued, “You said that Island Master Huang seduced other’s daughters and wives, captured other’s sons and brothers, did you see that with your own eyes? You said he lied to friends, betrayed his benefactors, did those things really happen? Why did you spread all these things over the world of Jianghu and tarnish Island Master Huang’s name?”

Cheng Ying was startled and didn’t understand, Feng Mofeng’s fury erupted when he heard this, his valor stirred and he attacked with his hammer and crutch at the same time. His left leg was on the ground, assuming the form “Golden Cockerel Standing Alone”, it was like he was nailed to the ground, sturdy and still; the hammer and crutch produced a fierce gust of blazing air, heading straight towards Li Mochou. Li Mochou saw that the incoming force was ferocious, she didn’t dare to meet it front on and leapt out of the way, looking for a gap to attack him.

Yang Guo carried on, “Li Mochou, you said that Island Master Huang is a liar and a shameless scoundrel. I say that you’re the shameless one!”

Feng Mofeng was becoming angrier and angrier as he heard this, the hammer and crutch swept and lunged forward with unstoppable force, at first his stances looked rather rusty but as he fought on, they became more and more fluid. The two’s internal energy weren’t that far apart but Li Mochou had roamed Jianghu for many years and had been in hundreds of battles; her experience was far greater than his. After about twenty or thirty stances, Li Mochou knew that Feng Mofeng’s internal energy wasn’t weak but he lacked experience and had one good leg only. After a while, she knew that he would lose so she decided to wait until his anger disperses and then counterattack. Indeed, after another ten or so moves Feng Mofeng’s anger gradually disappeared, his will faded and he began to slip away. Li Mochou was thrilled and attacked with her fly whisk towards his chest.

Feng Mofeng swept his hammer across to block. The fly whisk curved its way around and wrapped around the hammer’s head; this was the special stance that Li Mochou used to take the opponent’s weapon. All she needed to do was trap the weapon and pull; the hammer would then leave Feng Mofeng’s hand. But as she did this, ‘chi’ ‘chi’ ‘chi’ sounds were heard, smoke rose, everyone smelt an unpleasant smell; the hairs of the fly whisk were burned off. Instead of taking the opponent’s weapon, Li Mochou had lost her own, she remained calm and threw the handle of the fly whisk away and changed her attack to her “Divine Five Poison Palm”. Though this palm technique was powerful, one has to be very close to the opponent to use it. Feng Mofeng had a hammer in his right hand and a crutch in his left, he was using it swiftly and forcefully with gusts of wind generated, he was now able to do as he wished. However in between the two images, smoke kept on rising up; Li Mochou’s gown was being burned by the hot hammer and crutch, piece by piece her gown was getting burned. She was furious, she was definitely going to gain victory but the old blacksmith had an advantage in his weaponry. She could not take it at all and wanted to strike him with a palm to vent her anger.

This was the first time that Feng Mofeng fought somebody, if he had been held back and on the receiving end of a beating, he would have retreated; but now he had the upper hand, the stances of the hammer and crutch were coming out with extreme mastery. Li Mochou was almost struck by the hammer and crutch a few times in her quest to land a palm on him, if it wasn’t for her speed, her palm would have been burned. Suddenly Feng Mofeng called out, “I don’t want to fight; I don’t want to fight, look at you, what decency have you left?” With his single good leg he leapt back five feet.

Li Mochou was stunned, a cool breeze blew and pieces of her clothing flew away, her arms, shoulders, chest and legs were revealed. She was a virgin, she wasn’t able to control her embarrassment; she wanted to turn around and run away when suddenly her back felt cool, a large piece of cloth flew away from her back.

Yang Guo saw that she was in a wretched state, he tore off his belt and took off his gown; he circulated his internal energy and shot it over to her. The gown was like a person hugging her. Li Mochou quickly put her arms in the sleeves of the gown and buttoned it up. She has seen countless battles in her life but right now she was frightened and embarrassed. Her face was red one moment, white the next, she didn’t know whether or not to keep on fighting. She thought, “If I fight him again, this gown will be burned off again, I can only swallow my anger and do something about it later.”

She nodded at Yang Guo, thanking him for giving her the gown. She then turned her head towards Feng Mofeng and said, “These crafty weapons are indeed the evil skills of old ‘Heretic’ Huang. To tell the truth, if it was a battle with proper martial arts alone, could you beat me? If old ‘Heretic’ Huang’s disciples fought fairly and squarely one on one with me, could they beat me?”

Feng Mofeng said with ease, “If you didn’t lose your weapon, after a while, you’d be able to beat me.”

Li Mochou said arrogantly, “It’s good that you know it. My words on that piece of paper about the disciples of Peach Blossom Island winning by numbers aren’t wrong.”

Feng Mofeng lowered his head and pondered, after a while he said, “That is not correct! If my apprentice brothers and sister Qu, Chen, Mei, and Lu were here, any one of them would be stronger than you. I don’t even need to mention my highly skilled apprentice brothers Qu and Chen; you wouldn’t be able to beat my apprentice sister Mei Chaofeng who’s also a woman like you.”

Li Mochou chuckled and said, “All those people are dead and can’t prove anything, why are you talking about them? Old ‘Heretic’ Huang’s martial arts aren’t all that good. I wanted to test out his daughter Mrs. Guo’s martial arts but I don’t think there’s a need to now.” She turned around and was about to leave.

Yang Guo had a thought in his mind and said, “Wait!” Li Mochou’s brows raised and she said, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “You’re wrong about Island Master Huang’s martial arts being so-so. I heard of swordplay from him, called the “Jade Flute Swordplay”, it can neutralize your fly whisk techniques.” He picked up an iron rod and drew on the ground. He explained, “Your attacks from the front are indeed swift and powerful but if his sword cuts down from this direction, you will not be able to take back your attack. If you counterattack, the sword will attack quickly from this direction. If you sweep the fly whisk and attack the pressure points, then he’ll use a tiger claw form and grab your whisk’s tips, turn his sword around and use the handle to strike the ‘virtuous’ pressure point on your shoulder. Can you imagine that?”

That stance was indeed unimaginably strange but it was also ingenious. Brushing the pressure points in front of her were one of Li Mochou’s fly whisk technique’s lethal stances, the stance that Yang Guo described left her with no reply, in such a case she could only throw down her fly whisk and admit defeat. Yang Guo made another comparison and said, “When it comes to your “Divine Five Poison Palm”, Island Master Huang will use his fingernail to neutralize your palm. When your palm arrives, he will use the “Divine Release of the Flicking Finger”, his fingernail flicking against your palm; how can your palm not be crippled as a result? All he needs to do is to immediately cut off his fingernail and the palm’s poison won’t spread to his body.” He continued and described over ten other different stances that could neutralize her martial arts.

These words turned Li Mochou’s face grey, every word of his was reasonable and logical, the stances that he described were ingenious; she wouldn’t be able to fend them off.

Yang Guo said, “Island Master Huang was angry at your words; he has the status of being a great Master and cannot fight you personally so he passed these techniques to me so I could take care of you. But I thought about how my Master and you are still apprentice sisters. Today I give you a warning about the power of Island Master Huang, next time you see his disciples, you better run as far away as possible.”

Li Mochou was silent for a while and then said, “I give up…I give up!” She turned around and ran away; in a flash her image disappeared behind the hills, her speed was really something rarely seen in the world of Jianghu.

In reality, although Huang Yaoshi did pass these techniques to Yang Guo, to be able to reach a state where he could use it to neutralize and defeat an enemy requires years of practice. Yang Guo’s description of these techniques was enough to intimidate and overawe her and from now on she would never dare to say one derisive word about Huang Yaoshi.

In the vicinity of Li Mochou, Lu Wushuang’s heart would jump at the sound of her voice; when she saw that Li Mochou had gone, it was like a heavy load had been removed from her. She clapped and laughed, saying, “Sha Dan! You’re pretty good with words; you could even scare away my Master.”

Cheng Ying had seen Yang Guo throw away the gown she had personally made to Li Mochou. It was a pressing situation then and that was that; but she saw that underneath the new gown, he was still wearing the torn and ragged old one. She knew that Xiao Longnu must have made it; he was attached to familiar things and would never forget about things of old. Her heart ached a little but she pretended she didn’t care. Then, the four of them returned to the shop to take a look at Sha Gu. Just as they entered the sudden clamor of men and neighing of horses could be heard from beyond the hills; the four of them turned around.

Yang Guo said, “I’ll go take a look.” He leapt on his horse and galloped around the hill and arrived at the main road. He saw dust and dirt flying up everywhere; it was a division of Mongolian soldiers heading south, they had iron bows and long sabers, their force like a crashing wave. Yang Guo has never seen an army marching before, he watched with a thumping heart, stunned.

Two soldiers raised their long sabers and shouted, “Barbarian, what are you looking at?” They rushed over. Yang Guo turned his horse around and galloped away, the two Mongolian soldiers raised their bows and shot an arrow towards his back. Yang Guo turned his head back and caught them but felt the great force behind the arrows. If he didn’t know martial arts, these arrows would have pierced his chest. The two soldiers were frightened when they saw his abilities and reined in their horses, not daring to continue pursuing him. Yang Guo returned to the blacksmiths and told them what he saw.

Feng Mofeng sighed, “The Mongolian army are indeed heading south. The Chinese citizens are going to suffer!”

Yang Guo said, “The Song army will not be able to defend against the archery techniques of the Mongolian army; this is going to be a great disaster.”

Feng Mofeng said, “This is just the time for a brave and heroic young man like Master Yang; why don’t you return south and join the army and help fight off the invaders?” Yang Guo was taken aback, he said, “No, I have to go north to find my Gu Gu. The Mongolian army’s power is vast; I’m just one person, what use would I be?”

Feng Mofeng shook his head and said, “Though the force of one person is small, the force of many is strong. If everyone thought like you, who’d come out to defend the country against invaders?”

Yang Guo knew that his words were right, but now, there was nothing more important to him than finding his Gu Gu. He had wandered around Jianghu ever since he was small; he had suffered the abuse of officials. He saw that the Mongolians were indeed violent and ruthless, but the Song Emperor may not be a good person himself. There was no need for him to help the emperor. He just gave a wry smile and didn’t reply. Feng Mofeng gathered his hammer, tongs and air bellows and hung them across his back; he turned to Cheng Ying and said, “Apprentice Sister, when you see Master please tell him that disciple Feng Mofeng will never forget his teachings. Today I’m going to join the Mongolian army and I’m going to kill one or two of these generals who are invading my land. Apprentice sister, take care. I’m extremely delighted at seeing a disciple of Master’s.” He supported himself on his crutch and left, not even turning his head again; he didn’t take another look at Yang Guo.

Yang Guo looked at Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang, he said, “It was unexpected that we would meet such a person like him here.”

Lu Wushuang favored Yang Guo in her heart and said, “Cousin, apart from you, the people under the tutelage of your Master are either mad or crazy.”

Cheng Ying smiled and said mildly, “Everyone has their own will, you can’t force them. You said he was mad and crazy; he in turn might be calling us heartless. Anyway, don’t I possess a touch of madness and craziness myself?”

Yang Guo’s heart jumped when he heard this, she looked different and he couldn’t tell whether her words were meant to be ambiguous. Suddenly a thumping sound was heard as Sha Gu fell from her bench. The three of them were alarmed and quickly put her up on a bed; her face was red and her eyes stared ahead blankly, the poison from the “Divine Five Poison Palm” was flaring up again.

Cheng Ying fed her some medicine while Yang Guo helped her sooth her pressure points. Sha Gu looked at him startled, her face was full of fear as she called out, “Brother Yang, don’t look for me for revenge, it wasn’t me who killed you.”

Cheng Ying said softly, “Sister, don’t be scared, he isn’t…”

Yang Guo suddenly thought, “She’s not fully conscious at the moment, I can force her to reveal the truth.” He turned his hands and grabbed onto her wrists and said with a severe tone, “Who killed me? If you don’t tell me then I’ll take my revenge on you.”

Sha Gu begged, “Brother Yang, it’s not me.”

Yang Guo said angrily, “You’re not telling me! Fine, I’ll strangle you to death!” He stretched his hands around her throat. Sha Gu gave out a piercing scream. How would Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang know what Yang Guo was doing, they both called out to stop him, one called out, “Brother Yang”, the other called out, “Sha Dan!” One said, “Don’t frighten her further”, the other said, “Why are you mucking around at a time like this?”

Yang Guo didn’t take any notice; he closed his hands slightly tighter, the expression of an evil spirit was on his face; he clenched his teeth and said, “I’m brother Yang’s evil ghost. I died a horrible death, do you know that?”

Sha Gu said, “I know, after you died, crows ate your flesh.”

Yang Guo’s heart felt as if a knife was plunged into his heart, he knew that his father had died under someone else’s hands but he didn’t know that after he died, his body was actually eaten by crows and wasn’t buried, he called out, “Who killed me? Tell me, tell me.”

Sha Gu strained out, “It was you who hit Auntie, Auntie had poison needles on her body, you died.” Yang Guo yelled loudly, “Who is this Auntie?”

Sha Gu couldn’t breathe with Yang Guo holding her throat and wanted to faint, she said quietly, “Auntie is auntie.” Yang Guo said, “What’s Auntie’s surname? What’s her name?”

Sha Gu said, “I… I… don’t know, let me go!”

Lu Wushuang saw that the situation was becoming urgent; she went over to pull away Yang Guo’s hands. Right now, Yang Guo was like a madman, he waved out with all his strength, how could Lu Wushuang defend herself? She was thrown away and crashed into a wall painfully. Cheng Ying saw that the usually peaceful, warm and graceful Yang Guo was now like a mad tiger, she was so frightened that her limbs went limp.

Yang Guo thought, “If today I can’t get the name of the person who killed my father, I’ll immediately throw up blood and die.” He asked, “Is Auntie’s surname Qu? Is Auntie’s name Mei?” He thought that since Sha Gu’s surname was Qu, her auntie’s surname would most probably be Qu, or perhaps it could have been Mei Chaofeng.

Sha Gu struggled with all her strength, though she has practiced martial arts for a longer time than Yang Guo, her martial arts couldn’t compare to his. The pressure points on her wrist were being held and she couldn’t break free, she could only say urgently, “Go and find Auntie for revenge, don’t… don’t look for me!”

Yang Guo said, “Where’s your Auntie?”

Sha Gu said, “Me and Grandpa left! She’s with a man on the island.”

Yang Guo’s spine chilled when he heard these words, he quivered, “What does your Auntie call your Grandpa?” Sha Gu said, “Father, what else?”

Yang Guo’s face went grey but he was afraid he was wrong and asked, “Your Auntie’s man is called Guo Jing, isn’t he?”

Sha Gu said, “I don’t know. Auntie just calls him ‘brother Jing, brother Jing (Jing ge ge)!” She copied the way Huang Rong called Guo Jing; suddenly her legs flailed about and squealed, “Help, help! Ghost… ghost…”

What doubts did Yang Guo have now? All the suffering and bitterness of the past rushed to the surface and he thought, “If father wasn’t killed, my mother wouldn’t have been in pain all the time and die so early like that. I wouldn’t have endured all the pain and suffering I’ve been through.” He continued, “When I was on Peach Blossom Island, the Guo couple were not at ease with me, they were a bit too polite, they seemed to be covering up something and didn’t treat me like the Wu brothers. Telling them how things are, shouting at them when needed. I felt something then but how would I know that it was because they carried the guilt of killing my father. It’s because of this that they didn’t want to teach me martial arts and sent me to the Quanzhen sect to suffer.” His anger and fear stirred throughout him, his limbs became limp. Sha Gu called out loudly and leapt up from the bed.

Cheng Ying went over to Yang Guo and said softly, “Sister Sha has always been a bit crazy, you know about this. She’s even worse after suffering this injury, don’t believe her whatever you do.” But in her heart she believed that the words of Sha Gu were true, and she knew that consoling him like this would be no use. But her heart couldn’t endure seeing his face full of anger, despair, bitterness and sorrow.

Yang Guo did not take in any of these words; he stood there stunned for a while before calling out. He got on his horse, kicked with his legs and the horse galloped forward, in a flash it had gone over a hundred feet. Faint calls of ‘Sha Dan!’ and ‘Brother Yang!’ were heard behind him but he ignored them. The only thought in his mind was, “I need to take revenge, I need to take revenge!”

He galloped in a single stretch for two hours and had gone tens of li. Suddenly he felt a pain on his lips; he lifted his hand and felt them. His hand was covered in blood; in his anger and pain, he had bitten down and actually pierced his lower lip. He thought, “Auntie Guo has always treated me badly, but recently she suddenly began to treat me well, but it was all fake. I don’t care about this but Uncle Guo… Uncle Guo…” He had always revered Guo Jing; he felt that his actions and martial arts were one of a kind, and he had always treated him exceedingly well. Now he knew that this was one big lie; he felt that this person was even more cunning than Huang Rong. Anger and resentment filled him, almost bursting out of his chest.

When he thought about the pain he was in; he got off the horse, covered his head and began to cry. This release of sorrow was extremely distressing; it was like all of the world’s pain and troubles had all amassed in him. He had never seen his father and had never heard anyone talk about him; not even his own mother. But ever since he was little, he had the image of the perfect father in his mind; there wasn’t another who was as kind as him. Yet this hero was killed by a devious trick of Guo Jing and Huang Rong.

He cried for a while before hearing the sounds of horses; four horses galloped from the north, the riders all Mongolian warriors. The first rider was holding a long spear; on the spear was a child that was two or three years of age. He was laughing as he galloped along. The baby was still alive; it was giving out a weak cry. The four warriors were a little surprised when they saw Yang Guo in the middle of the road but a ragged clothed young Han like him could be found everywhere so they didn’t take any notice. One of them called out, “Move out of the way, move out of the way.” As he said this, he thrust his spear forward.

Yang Guo was deep in the middle of his troubles right now; without thinking he pulled the spearhead forward and dragged the warrior down. He turned his hand and swept the spear; the warrior went flying over ten feet away, his skull was crushed and he died. When the remaining three warriors saw his valor, they called out, turned around and galloped away. A ‘pai’ sound was heard as the baby fell onto the ground.

Yang Guo ran up to it and saw that it was a Han child; it was healthy, chubby, and very cute. The pierce to its stomach wouldn’t kill it right away but it would be difficult for it to recover and live. It was calling out ‘a’ ‘a’ ‘a’, as if it was calling out for its mother. Yang Guo was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief and sympathy stirred in his heart. He picked up the barely alive baby and tears flowed again; he saw that its pain was unbearable so he lightly gave it a palm and stopped its pain. He used the Mongolian warrior’s spear to dig a hole so he could bury the baby.

He dug ten or so times before he heard the thunderous noise of horses and horns; a group of Mongolian soldiers were rushing towards him. Yang Guo’s left hand held the dead baby; his right extended the spear as he got on the horse. The skinny horse was actually an experienced battle horse; when it saw it was about to go into battle, its spirits soared; it neighed and charged towards the Mongolian soldiers. Yang Guo’s hand raised, the spear descended, he turned over three or four soldiers in one go, but he saw that countless soldiers were coming; he turned the horse around, went onto the wild lands and rode away. Arrows rained down behind him like locusts; he swung the spear and deflected the arrows away. The skinny horse was extremely fast; in a short while it had left the Mongolian soldiers behind but it didn’t stop; it continued galloping away like the wind into the wild lands.

After another while, Yang Guo saw that the sky was beginning to get dark; he looked around and saw that long grass and strange rocks were everywhere. Dusk was covering the area; it was quiet without any sounds of people, and there wasn’t even a crow or sparrow about. He got off the horse with the baby still held in his hands. The face still looked alive but covered in extreme suffering; pain filled his heart, he thought, “The parents of this child must have loved it very much; now that he’s dead, his parents must be feeling great pain. I don’t know how many people have died by the hands of these vicious and violent Mongolian soldiers as they head south.”

The more he thought about it, the more difficult he found to endure; he dug a hole by a large tree and buried the child. He then thought about the words of Sha Gu again, “When this child died, it had me to bury it, but my father’s body was eaten by crows. You killed him, what harm is there in burying him? You really are evil! If I don’t take revenge, Yang Guo isn’t a human!”

That night he slept in a tree. The next morning he rode the horse and let the horse go as it pleased; sometimes he thought about going back to the tomb to see Xiao Longnu, and at others he would think about how he must kill Guo Jing and Huang Rong first, no matter what, to avenge his father. When he felt hungry, he would pluck wild fruits to eat.

On the fourth day, he saw someone faraway, leaping up to a tree to pick some wild fruits. Yang Guo rode closer and saw that it was the disciple of Jinlun Fawang, Da’erba. Every time he jumped, he could only pick one fruit; eventually he became impatient and attacked the tree a few times. The tree gave a ‘craack’ as it broke; he then plucked the wild fruits from the tree and placed them in his pockets.

Yang Guo thought, “Could it be that Jinlun Fawang is nearby?”

He and Jinlun Fawang originally didn’t have any ties; but now he had recognized Guo Jing and Huang Rong as his father’s killers. He regretted helping Guo Jing and Huang Rong in opposing Fawang; he quietly followed Da’erba to see where he was going. He saw him moving like he was flying, straight towards the mountains. Yang Guo got off the horse and followed from a distance behind. Da’erba headed into a forest; the further he went, the higher he got. Yang Guo followed him up to the peak of a mountain.

At the top of the mountain was a small exposed hut. Jinlun Fawang was sitting in the middle of the hut, meditating with his eyes closed and eyebrows drooping down. Da’erba put the wild fruits down on the floor and turned around; his face changed as he suddenly saw Yang Guo approaching. He called out, “Senior apprentice brother, you’ve come to cause further harm to Master?” He dashed forward to Yang Guo and stretched out his arm to twist the front of his garment. His martial arts are better than Yang Guo’s, but he was affected by the perilous situation that his Master was in and in his fear he lost control of his state of mind. This stance was a mess and broke one of the rules of martial arts; Yang Guo grabbed his arm in return and tossed him away.

Da’erba had always thought that Yang Guo was the reincarnation of his senior apprentice brother and now he was thrown on the ground by him; he rolled over a few times, picked himself up and then leapt in front of Yang Guo.

Yang Guo thought that he was going to raise his hands again so he took a step backwards, he didn’t know that Da’erba would suddenly fall down to his knees and kowtow, “Senior apprentice brother, please remember your relationship with Master in your previous life. Master has a serious injury and is now trying to recuperate, if you disturb him, then… then…” His voice croaked as he reached this point and tears flowed.

Though Yang Guo did not understand his Tibetan, from his emotional state and Jinlun Fawang’s distressed look, he more or less understood. He quickly helped him up and said, “Relax, I’m not going to harm your Master.”

Da’erba saw that his face was gentle and peaceful; he was pleased. Although he didn’t understand his words, his wariness started to go away.

Right at this time, Jinlun Fawang opened his eyes; he was shocked when he saw Yang Guo. He was concentrating on circulating his chi and didn’t hear the words of Da’erba and Yang Guo. Suddenly he saw the enemy in front of him; he gave a sigh and said slowly, “I have practiced martial arts for many years but I still have yet to find a way to break through the echelon barrier, I didn’t know that today I would die in the central plains.” When he suffered that blow from the rock, he had suffered serious internal injuries; in the past few days he had built a hut on the top of the mountain so he could recuperate. It was unexpected that Yang Guo would actually find his way here. He wasn’t able to use even one ounce of strength at the moment; he immediately ordered Da’erba to force Yang Guo away. But in the middle of their battle his state of mind would be disturbed and it would be difficult to recover from this serious injury.

How would he know that Yang Guo would bow; then say, “I have not come here to do any harm to the Reverend, please don’t be wary.”

Jinlun Fawang shook his head and was about to say something when he felt a severe pain in his chest; he quickly closed his eyes and circulated his chi. Yang Guo went inside the hut and stretched out his right hand, placing it on the ‘To Yang’ pressure point. This pressure point is just below the seventh vertebrae and is one of the major pressure point that regulates the veins and arteries.

Da’erba was shocked when he saw this; he sent out a fist towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo shook his left hand and made a signal with his eyes. Da’erba saw that nothing was wrong with his Master, a slight smile was forming on his face and he took back his fist.

Yang Guo’s internal energy was not deep and he didn’t know anything about Tibetan internal energy; when he felt a Fawang’s internal chi stirring, he circulated his internal energy and sent chi to him to help him clear upwards the ‘Spirit Stage’, ‘Divine Route’, ‘Body Pillar’ and ‘Chest Route’; then clearing the downwards ‘Withdrawing Muscle’, ‘Central Hinge’, ‘Central Spine’ and the ‘Suspending Hinge’ pressure points. These were up to Fawang; he could only help him protect his veins and arteries.

Though Da’erba’s martial arts were strong, all he’d learned were external martial arts and couldn’t help his Master to recuperate. In the past few days he could only worry anxiously.

Since Jinlun Fawang now had no worries, his chi ran through his body and he used all his strength to heal the injuries in his chest and lower abdomen; after two hours the pain had lessened and his face was red. He opened his eyes and nodded to thank Yang Guo; he joined his palms and said, “Master Yang, why are you suddenly helping me?”

Yang Guo did not hide anything from him; he told him how he recently found out that Guo Jing and Huang Rong killed his father, and how he decided to go and take revenge. He explained how he accidentally bumped into Da’erba and followed him here.

Jinlun Fawang knew that this young man was crafty; in ten words it was difficult for him to believe one of them. But today, killing him would have been as easy as turning his palm, but instead of killing him, Yang Guo actually helped him to recuperate. He really did not have any ill intent towards him and he said, “So Master Yang has such heavy matters on him. But the Guo couple’s martial arts are extremely high, I’m afraid that it would be difficult for Master Yang to take revenge.”

Yang Guo was silent, after a while he said, “Fine, then both father and son will die at their hands!”

Fawang said, “At first, I thought I was invincible and just by my power alone, I could hold down the heroes of the central plains and take the position of the Chancellor of Wulin. But the warriors of the central plains do not follow the rules of fighting one on one, and they all came at once; I can only make another plan. When I’ve recovered, I’m going to need to invite many skilled fighters to assist me. Once my forces are large, the central plains martial artists can’t use numbers to overcome me and everyone can compete fairly. Have you got intentions of joining my side?”

Yang Guo was about to agree but he thought about the killings by the Mongolian soldiers and said, “I cannot help Mongolia.” Fawang shook his head and said, “If you want to kill the Guo couple by yourself, it would be almost impossible.”

Yang Guo thought for a while and said, “Fine, I’ll help you get the position of the Chancellor of Wulin, you help me to take my revenge.” Jinlun Fawang stretched out his palm and said, “That’s settled, we’ll exchange palms to seal this deal.”

The two of them exchanged three palms to set this deal.

Yang Guo said, “I’m just going to help you to take the position of the Chancellor of Wulin, I cannot help you in your quest to help the Mongols attack Jiangnan and kill its citizens.”

Jinlun Fawang laughed and said, “Everyone has their will, one cannot force them. Brother Yang, don’t mind me commenting, but your martial arts have many styles; learning martial arts from many schools is of course good, but it would be unavoidable that your martial arts won’t be refined. What is your most proficient skill? What martial arts are you planning to use against the Guo couple?”

Those words froze Yang Guo’s tongue; it was hard for him to reply. Yang Guo has had extraordinary encounters in his life and his character was also covetous; Quanzhen, Ouyang Feng, Ancient Tomb, the Nine Yin, Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi, he had learned numerous martial arts from these schools. All the martial arts of these schools are ingenious and Masterly, but they all need a lifetime of difficult work to reach the upper level of these skills. He took a bit here and a bit there, but none of his martial arts had actually reached a great level.

When he meets second rate fighters, the martial arts he uses are all flowery and fancy, causing confusion to opponents; but when he meets a first rate martial artist, he will eventually be proved inferior. He can’t even compare to Jinlun Fawang’s disciples Da’erba and Huo Dou. He lowered his head and pondered about it; these words by Jinlun Fawang were a real warning to him and showed up the weakness in the foundations of his martial arts.

He had another thought, “Since I’ve decided to stay with Gu Gu forever, how can I have relationships everywhere? Cheng Ying, Wifey and there’s also Wanyan Ping. I don’t have any real feelings for them, how can I treat them improperly like this? Being greedy is really not a good thing.” He continued thinking, “No matter if it’s Hong Qigong, Huang Yaoshi, Ouyang Feng or even the Quanzhen Seven Masters and Jinlun Fawang, every one of them is a famous Master. They just practiced the martial arts of their own school; they understand other sect’s and school’s martial arts but they don’t practice them. They just make themselves aware of them. In that case, what school of martial arts should I concentrate on?”

Based on his background, he should concentrate on the “Jade Heart Manual” of the Ancient Tomb sect; but then he thinks about the Mastery and ingenuity of Hong Qigong’s “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, the subtlety of Huang Yaoshi’s “Jade Flute Swordplay”; if he ignores all of them, isn’t that a pity? There’s godfather’s “Toad Stance” and “Reversal of the Veins”. There are the martial arts of the “Nine Yin Manual” as well. Any one of them is enough to make your name in the world. It was difficult to learn them, how can I just give them up like that?”

He left the hut and walked around the peak, thinking bitterly; it was extremely troubling. He thought for half a day when suddenly his mind lit up, “Why don’t I take the best of all these schools and form my own? The martial arts of the world were all formed by someone; if others can do this, could it be that I can’t?” His eyes lit up as he thought about it. He thought from morning to midday, from midday to night and didn’t eat or drink. All the martial arts he had seen in his life were floating around in his mind, clashing with each other. He had seen Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong compete martial arts verbally and he himself frightened away Li Mochou by using words from his mouth; but right now, the martial arts competing in his mind were even more rapid and spectacular than describing them verbally. Eventually he involuntarily started to wave out fists and kicks. At first, it could be distinguished that this stance was from Hong Qigong, the other was Ouyang Feng but eventually everything became muddled up, he couldn’t hold on any longer and fainted.

Da’erba watched from afar, he saw that he was acting crazy, pointing out his hand and sweeping his legs, he didn’t understand what it was all about. Suddenly he saw him falling onto the ground, he wanted to go over there and help him but Jinlun Fawang laughed and said; “Don’t disturb his thoughts. It’s a pity that your intelligence is mediocre and you can’t grasp the meanings within.”

Yang Guo slept for half a night and continued with his thoughts the next morning. In seven days, he fell unconscious five times. He thought he wanted to invent his own school of martial arts, but how easy is that? With his present abilities it would be almost impossible to succeed. This isn’t something that can be achieved in ten days or two weeks. But after studying for several days, he suddenly understood. Since he couldn’t combine all these martial arts together, there was no need to force the issue. He realized that all martial arts were at his fingertips; later on when he meets an enemy, he’ll use whichever is needed. There was no need to think about the source of the martial art and this wasn’t far off from his intentions of forming his own school. Once he understood this point, he was immediately filled with comfort.

In the past few days, Jinlun Fawang has been self-recuperating; his injury was now almost fully recovered and he can move as freely as usual. Today, he saw Yang Guo’s expression was now at ease and calm, and knew that he had advanced another level in his martial arts. He said, “Little brother Yang, I’ll take you to see someone. This person is a great hero, an extremely open minded person, once you see him you’ll definitely be in awe.”

Yang Guo said, “Who?”

Jinlun Fawang said, “The Mongolian Prince Khubilai. He is the grandson of Genghis Khan and the fourth son of Prince Tolui.”

After seeing the unrestrained violence of the Mongolian soldiers, Yang Guo hated Mongolians; he frowned and said, “I’m anxious to avenge my father, I don’t need to see that Mongolian prince.”

Jinlun Fawang laughed and said, “I agreed to help you, how can I break my word? But I was summoned here by Khubilai; I need to go and see him. His camp is not far from here; it’s within one day’s travel.”

Yang Guo had no choice but to agree; he alone was not a match for Guo Jing and Huang Rong whether it came to a battle of wits or strength. Without Jinlun Fawang’s help, it would be difficult for him to take revenge; he could only go along with him. Jinlun Fawang was the First Protector of Mongolia and the Mongolian soldiers revered him. When they saw him, they immediately went and told the news to their prince. Mongolians have always lived in tents; though they’ve entered a city, they weren’t used to living in palaces. Because of this, Khubilai stayed in the tents of the encampment.

Fawang took him along to the royal tent. Yang Guo saw that this tent was twice as large as a normal Mongolian tent but the arrangement within was very simple and crude. A twenty-five or six year old man was sitting down reading. When this person saw the two enter, he quickly got up to meet them and laughed, “I haven’t seen the Protector for many days, I have been thinking about you.”

Jinlun Fawang said, “Your highness, I’ll introduce you to a young hero. Though this brother Yang is young, he is an extraordinary personality.”

Yang Guo knew that this Khubilai is Genghis Khan’s grandson; if he didn’t have a noble appearance then at least he should have a powerful air around him. How would he know that this person was just a Han speaking, modest and mild young man; he was rather surprised.

Khubilai studied Yang Guo. He pulled on Fawang with his left hand and then said to his servant, “Quickly bring some wine, I want to have a drink with this brother.”

The servant brought in three bowls of Mongolian milk wine. Khubilai took a bowl and drank it all in one go. Fawang did the same. Yang Guo rarely drank wine, but now that the host has shown his hospitality, it wouldn’t be appropriate to reject it; so he took the wine and drank it all in one go. He felt the wine was extremely harsh and rather sour.

Khubilai laughed, “Little brother, how beautiful is this wine?”

Yang Guo said, “This wine is harsh and sour, it’s like a knife going into your mouth; the taste isn’t great but this is something that a true man drinks.”

Khubilai was pleased and called for more wine; each of them drank three bowls. Yang Guo’s internal energy was profound enough; he maintained his composure as he drank.

Khubilai said with joy; “Protector, where did you find this talented young man? My Mongolia is really fortunate.”

Jinlun Fawang then revealed Yang Guo’s history to him; he played up Yang Guo with his words, describing him as if he was one of the eminent figures of the central plains. When Yang Guo heard how Jinlun Fawang described him, he couldn’t help but feel a little proud.

Khubilai was ordered to take the Song land and has stayed in the central plains for a while now. He liked Han culture, his companion was Confucius; he read books and studied scriptures. He employed skilled martial artists, made acquaintances with them, planning to go south and attack the Song.

If it were another person who saw such a young man like Yang Guo, it would be difficult for them to accept Fawang’s words. But Khubilai was a wise and supremely magnanimous and he also had believed Jinlun Fawang without question; he was delighted and ordered a feast.

In a short while a feast was set up, wine and food which included both Han and Mongolian dishes, the bowls overflowed. Khubilai said to his servant, “Invite the heroes from the Virtuous Guesthouse.” The servant complied and exited the tent.

Khubilai said, “Some able people have been made guests here in the past few days; it really is my country’s luck to have these people. But the thing is, that they cannot compare with Fawang and gentleman Yang.”

In the middle of this, the servant returned with the guests; the tent door opened and in came four people.

The first one that came in was tall and skinny, his face was pale, and he looked like a corpse. Khubilai introduced him to Fawang and Yang Guo, he was Xiangxi’s Xiaoxiang Zi.

The second person was extremely short and dark; he was a skilled fighter from Tian Zhu (India), Nimoxing.

One of the last two was a strongly built eight foot tall person with a foolish laugh on his face and blank eyes. The other was high nosed deep eyed with crooked hair and a yellow beard; he was a Hu (from northern and western China) but he was wearing Han clothes. He wore pearls around his neck and jade bracelets on his wrists, a rich air surrounded him. Khubilai introduced them separately. The Han was from Huijiang; his name is Ma Guangzuo. The Hu was a merchant, his family traded treasures in Kaifeng, Cheung An Tai Yuan, his Chinese name was Yin Kexi.

When Nimoxing and Xiaoxiang Zi heard that Jinlun Fawang was the ‘First Protector of Mongolia’ they examined him coldly, their faces showed disrespect. When they saw the young Yang Guo, they thought that he was Fawang’s disciple or grand disciple and didn’t even give him another look.

After three rounds of wine, Nimoxing could endure it no longer and said, “Your highness, the lands of Mongolia are vast, this monk is the ‘First Protector of Mongolia’, his martial arts must be extremely good. I want to experience his skills.”

Khubilai gave a subtle smile and didn’t reply.

Xiaoxiang Zi followed on, “Brother Nimoxing is from India, Tibetan martial arts originates from India, could there such a thing as getting green from blue in this world? I don’t really believe it.”

Jinlun Fawang saw Nimoxing’s eyes light up; Xiaoxiang Zi’s face was exuding a green air; Fawang knew that these two people’s internal energy was profound. Yin Kexi was laughing, using all his strength to produce an extremely uncultured and plain air; the more this person tries to show that he is unable, the greater the ability this person is likely to have. Fawang could not take him lightly; but he had no worries about the Han, Ma Guangzuo. He gave a wry laugh and said, “I was given the position of Protector because of the kindness of the Khan and the Fourth Prince. Originally I did not dare to accept this position.”

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Then you should give it up for a person more worthy.” He glanced over at Nimoxing as he chuckled wryly.

Jinlun Fawang stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a piece of beef, he laughed, “This is the fattest piece of beef on the plate. I originally didn’t want to eat it but I just happened to stretch out my chopsticks and happened to pick this piece; I just accept it as fate. If you are interested, you can pick it yourself.” He hung the piece of beef over the plate, waiting for each one of them to come and take it.

Ma Guangzuo did not understand the meaning behind Jinlun Fawang’s words; he was talking about a piece of beef, but in reality he was referring to the position of the ‘First Protector of Mongolia’. When Ma Guangzuo saw him offering the piece of beef, he stretched out his chopsticks to catch it. His chopsticks were about to touch the beef when Fawang suddenly swept out one of his chopsticks and lightly touched his chopsticks. Ma Guangzuo felt his arm tremble with great intensity; he couldn’t hold on to them and the pair of chopsticks fell onto the table. Fawang’s chopstick returned in time to keep hold of the piece of beef. The others looked at each other startled.

Ma Guangzuo still did not understand, he picked up the chopsticks and held onto them tightly with his five fingers, he thought, “This time you won’t be able to knock it away...” He stretched his chopsticks towards the piece of beef.

Fawang did the same thing again, sweeping out one chopstick. This time, Ma Guangzuo was holding them tightly, indeed Fawang could not knock them out of his hands but a ‘ka la’ sound was heard, the chopsticks broke into four pieces as if a knife had sliced through them and two pieces of chopsticks dropped onto the table.

Ma Guangzuo was furious; he called out and threw himself forward to battle Fawang.

Khubilai laughed, “There’s no need to get angry warrior Ma, if you want to duel, there’s time to do this after we’ve eaten.”

Ma Guangzuo was afraid of his highness; he returned to his seat and pointed to Fawang, shouting, “What witchcraft did you use to break my chopsticks?”

Jinlun Fawang laughed, still holding out the piece of beef in front of him.

At first, Nimoxing did not have any respect for Jinlun Fawang, but after seeing how profound his internal energy was, he did not dare to continue looking down on him. He was an Indian; when he ate he did not use chopsticks, he just stretched out his hand and said, “I want to eat this piece of beef that the big Han couldn’t take.” His five fingers came out suddenly like a metal claw towards the beef. Fawang swept out his right chopstick, it moved like lightning as he attacked the pressure points on his palm, arm, wrist and the tip of his middle finger.

Nimoxing’s palm quickly turned and chopped down at Fawang’s wrist. Fawang’s arm didn’t move, he turned his chopstick around and struck out swiftly again, Nimoxing felt the chopstick striking him on the hand and quickly took his arm back. Fawang’s chopstick twisted back into its original position, still holding onto the piece of beef.

His attack of the pressure points were extremely swift; he made many attacks and returned the chopstick into position before the piece of beef slipped away. Yang Guo and the others could see what had happened. The two had exchange many stances in just a short period of time. Fawang’s attacks with the chopstick were indeed fast but Nimoxing’s martial arts were also excellent, he was able to take back his hand in an extremely critical situation.

Xiaoxiang Zi called out, “Good skill!”

Khubilai knew that the two were using advanced martial arts to test each other but he couldn’t see what type of martial arts they were using. Ma Guangzuo’s eyes were wide open; he looked at them, puzzled.

Yin Kexi laughed and said, “Everyone’s too polite! You’re offering it to the others, but don’t want to eat it yourself, nor do you want anybody else to. Everything will be cold by the time you’ve finished.” He then slowly stretched out his chopsticks, the emerald and jade bracelets collided with each other noisily. Before his chopsticks touched the beef, Fawang’s chopsticks were forced to tremble slightly by his internal energy; he was getting in the first attack, keeping Fawang’s chopsticks in check. Fawang moved his chopsticks forward and allowed him to take the piece of beef. When his internal energy reaches his chopstick, he attacked his arm.

Yin Kexi urgently circulated his internal energy and counterattacked. How would he know that Fawang’s internal energy would suddenly withdraw? The beef was initially held by him but his internal energy moved it forward and Fawang once again got hold of the piece of beef.

Fawang laughed, “Brother Yin is too polite by offering it to me.” This time he used cleverness to win. Yin Kexi fell into the trap and at the same time found out that the opponent’s internal energy far exceeded his own. Luckily he hadn’t embarrassed himself yet; he gave a wry laugh and picked up a small piece of beef from the plate. He said, “The only things I love in life are treasures and precious objects, I don’t really like fatty meat; I better just eat a small piece.” He placed the small piece of beef in his mouth and then slowly chewed.

Jinlun Fawang thought, “This Hu merchant is broad-minded.” He turned to Xiaoxiang Zi and said, “Since you offered it to me so modestly, I will accept.” He slowly took the chopsticks back half a foot. He guessed that Xiaoxiang Zi’s internal energy wasn’t weak and so didn’t dare to be careless, by taking it back half a foot, if he needed to circulate his internal energy it will be half a foot closer and half a foot further away from his enemy.

Xiaoxiang Zi chuckled and slowly raised his chopsticks; suddenly he sent them forward and caught the piece of beef. He used the force to take it back and he managed to pull it back half a foot.

Jinlun Fawang did not predict that the opponent’s movements would be so quick; he quickly circulated his internal energy and pulled back. The piece of beef moved back towards him inch by inch.

Xiaoxiang Zi stood up and placed his left hand on the table. The table made ‘ka la’ noises under this force but he still could not stop the force that Fawang produced in taking back the piece of beef.

Fawang looked at ease whereas drops of sweat poured from the forehead of Xiaoxiang Zi, the result was clear.

Suddenly a loud call by someone faraway could be heard, “Guo Jing, brother Guo, where are you? Quickly come out Guo Jing, the punk named Guo!”

At first the call came from the east but then it came from the west. There was a distance of a couple of li between the calls from the east and west and it appeared as if there were two people calling out from the east and west. But the voice was the same and there was no pause between the calls from the east and west. This person’s movements were extremely fast and the internal energy behind the calls was profound; this was something that was little seen in the world.

Everyone looked at each other startled. Xiaoxiang Zi loosened his chopsticks and sat back down in his seat.

Jinlun Fawang laughed and said, “Thank you, thank you!” He was about to place the piece of beef in his mouth when suddenly the tent door opened, someone flashed across and stretched out their hand and snatched Fawang’s beef and then took a large bite out of it.

This shocked everyone; they all stood up and looked to see who this person was. It was an old man with white hair, a white beard and a smiling red face. He sat down on the rug and started chewing the beef noisily. Jinlun Fawang thought back on the movements of this man when he took his piece of beef; the more he thought about, the more shocked he was.

The guards outside the tent who failed to stop this man all called out, “Stop the assassin!” Four spears were thrust towards the man’s chest. The old man stretched out his left hand and grabbed all the spearheads at once; he turned to Yang Guo and said, “Little brother, I’m really hungry, pass over some more beef to me.”

The four Mongolian soldiers pushed forward with all their strength but they couldn’t move an inch; the four then tried to pull back but again it was to no avail. As they strained with red faces, the spearheads seemed as if they were trapped under an iron mountain, they were not even able to pull them back half an inch.

Yang Guo thought this guy was entertaining and picked up the plate of beef, he threw it easily to him and said, “Help your self!”

The old man caught it with his right hand and placed it against his chest; suddenly a piece of meat from the plate jumped up and flew into his mouth as if it were alive. This entertained Khubilai, he thought the old man was performing magic and gave out a cheer. But Jinlun Fawang and the others knew that the old man had circulated internal energy through his palm into the plate, forcing the piece of meat upwards.

An ordinary person could force a piece of meat to jump if they tap the plate, but they would definitely knock everything up at once sending the juices everywhere. It would be impossible for them to knock them up piece by piece; the palm power of this old man had reached a stage where he could do as he pleased. Everyone else at the feast knew that they would not be able to do it themselves; fear and respect sprang up in their hearts.

The old man chewed and swallowed; as soon as one piece went down another piece jumped up. In a short while he had completely cleared the plate. His right hand waved out and sent the plate flying out in an arc towards Yang Guo and Yin Kexi. The two of them had already seen how good this man’s martial arts were; they were afraid that he had used some kind of strange move in throwing the plate and didn’t dare to stretch out their hand to catch it. The two quickly moved out of the way. The plate flew steadily through the air and landed on the table, knocking into a plate of roast lamb. The plate of roast lamb flew towards the old man while the empty plate stopped dead after a couple of turns.

He had used a stream of “Tai Chi Energy”, according to the continuous intent of Tai Chi. Uninterrupted, if it were shot outwards towards an open space, the plate would circle around. It is not difficult to use this force. There were a fair number of people who were skilled in using the variations of this force, but what was difficult was using the right amount of energy to get the most benefit. Skillfully sending the plate onto the table, stopping the empty plate dead and sending a plateful of food to his hand was such a skill. The old man laughed out loud extremely proud of himself; he circulated internal energy into his hands and a piece of roast lamb jumped from the plate into his mouth. He finished the plate shortly. The four soldiers that were still in his hands were looking pitiful, they could not take back their spears but they didn’t dare to let go. The rules of the Mongolian army were strict; abandoning a weapon in battle was an offence that led to execution. There was that, and the fact that they were responsible for the safety of Khubilai; they could only use all their strength and try to struggle free.

The old man saw that they were at a loss and was becoming more and more pleased. He suddenly shouted, “Change, change, change, two of you kowtow, two of you face the sky! One…two…three!” On three, their arms shook and the spears snapped. The forces from his fingers were directed in two directions, on two of the spears he circulated energy to push away, on the other two he circulated energy to pull. An ‘ai yo’ sound was heard as two soldiers fell and kowtowed and the other two fell backwards facing the sky.

The old man clapped and sang, “Little precious, the harder you fall, the taller you grow!” This was a song that adults sing to console children after they’ve fallen.

Yin Kexi suddenly got up and asked, “Senior is named Zhou?” The old man laughed, “Yep, ha-ha, do you know me?”

Yin Kexi folded his fists and said, “So it’s the Old Urchin Zhou Botong, Senior Zhou Lao.”

Xiaoxiang Zi had heard of him before but Jinlun Fawang and Nimoxing had not heard of Zhou Botong before. They saw his martial arts were profound but his actions were rather mischievous and childish; indeed, the title ‘Old Urchin’ is not in vain. Everyone’s wariness disappeared slightly as their faces showed a smile.

Jinlun Fawang said, “Forgive me for not knowing this Senior of Wulin. How about a seat? Our highness is eager to meet great people, he will be extremely happy at meeting such an eminent person today.”

Khubilai saluted with his hands and said, “That is correct; please have a seat Mr. Zhou.”

Zhou Botong shook his head and said, “I’m full, I don’t need to eat anymore. Where’s Guo Jing, is he around?”

Huang Yaoshi had told Yang Guo about how Zhou Botong and Guo Jing became sworn brothers, immediately he replied coldly, “Why are you looking for him?”

Zhou Botong had always been childlike and loved making acquaintances with young people; he was pleased when he saw that Yang Guo was young and he was even more pleased when he heard him say ‘you’ and not something like ‘Mr. Zhou’ or ‘old Senior’. He said, “Guo Jing is my sworn brother, do you know him? He loved being around Mongols ever since he was young; because of this, when I saw this camp I came over to see whether he’s here or not.”

Yang Guo frowned and said, “Why are you looking for Guo Jing?”

Zhou Botong had no worries, how would he know to conceal his thoughts, he just casually replied, “He sent a letter to me, telling me to attend the ‘Heroes Feast’. I had a few games on the road as I rushed from faraway; when I got there I was a couple of days late, the feast had finished, I was damn disappointed.”

Yang Guo said, “Didn’t he leave a letter for you?”

Zhou Botong eyes rolled over and said, “Why are you asking all the questions? Do you know Guo Jing or not?”

Yang Guo said, “How wouldn’t I know them? Mrs. Guo is called Huang Rong, isn’t she? Their daughter is called Guo Fu, isn’t that right?” Zhou Botong clapped his hands and said, “Wrong, wrong! That Huang Rong is a little girl herself, what daughter?”

Yang Guo was startled but then immediately understood, he asked, “When was the last time you saw them?” Zhou Botong counted with his fingers, each finger was counted twice, he said, “At least twenty years.”

Yang Guo laughed, “Is she still a little girl after twenty years? Wouldn’t she have a child in these twenty years?” Zhou Botong laughed, his beard fluttering about, he said, “You’re right! You’re right! Is their daughter pretty?” Yang Guo said, “Their daughter looks a lot like Mrs. Guo, a little like Guo Jing, just what you’d think.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “That’s great, if a girl has dense brows and big eyes with a dark oval face like my brother Guo, of course that girl won’t be pretty.”

Yang Guo knew that he wasn’t wary anymore and continued, “Huang Rong’s father is Island Master Huang Yaoshi, he and I are great friends, do you know him?”

Zhou Botong was shocked and said, “You little kid, how can you call old ‘Heretic’ Huang as brother? Who’s your Master?” Yang Guo said, “My Master’s abilities are extraordinary, I’m afraid if I tell you that I’ll scare you silly.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “I can’t be scared silly any more.” He waved out his right hand and sent the empty plate flying towards him with a tremendous force.

Yang Guo knew that Zhou Botong was the Martial Uncle of Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji and the others. He saw that his arm didn’t bend as he threw the plate, he was using his fingers alone; this was a technique of the Quanzhen. He had no fear of Quanzhen martial arts; he stretched out his left index finger and pushed against the bottom of the plate, the plate spun around on his finger. This delighted Zhou Botong whereas Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi, Nimoxing and the others looked at each other startled.

When Xiaoxiang Zi first saw the young Yang Guo in his ragged clothes, he didn’t give him another look but right now he was thinking, “With the force that plate was coming in with, I wouldn’t dare to stretch out my hand to catch it never mind just relying on a single finger. If the force used to catch it were just slightly out of place, the plate would snap a wrist. Who exactly is this young man?”

Zhou Botong called out; “Great!” He could see that he was using a Quanzhen technique and asked, “Do you know Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji?” Yang Guo said, “How wouldn’t I know those two old goats?”

Zhou Botong was delighted. Though he didn’t have any grudges with Qiu Chuji and the others, he felt that their rules were annoying, they were too prudent; there was some feeling of looking down on them. The person he respects most in his life, apart from his apprentice brother Wang Chongyang, is the carefree Nine Fingered Wondrous Beggar Hong Qigong. He didn’t think too much of Huang Yaoshi’s heretical nature and Huang Rong’s cleverness. When he heard Yang Guo calling Ma Yu and Qiu Chuji ‘old goats’, it was music to his ears, he asked, “How are Hao Datong and the others?”

Yang Guo’s anger erupted as soon as he heard the name ‘Hao Datong’, he insulted, “That old goat is a damn fool, and one day I’ll make him suffer.”

Zhou Botong was getting more and more happy as he listened, he asked, “How are you going to make him suffer?” Yang Guo said, “I’ll catch him, tie him up and them let him lie in a cesspit for half a day.” Zhou Botong was delighted and quietly said, “Once you’ve caught him, don’t throw him in the cesspit straight away, first let me know and allow me to take a peek from aside.”

He had no ill intent towards Hao Datong, it was just that he loved evil shows; when others are causing trouble and being mischievous; of course he had to join in.

Yang Guo laughed, “Fine, I’ll remember to tell you. But why peek? You’re afraid of the Quanzhen goats?”

Zhou Botong sighed and said, “I’m Hao Datong’s Martial Uncle! If he sees me, he’ll naturally call to me for help. It’ll be a bit embarrassing if I don’t save him but if I do, I won’t be able to watch a good show.”

Yang Guo thought to himself, “This person’s martial arts are excellent and his character is pretty interesting but he’s still from Quanzhen and he is the sworn brother of Guo Jing. A man must be ruthless; I need to think of a way to get rid of him.”

How would Zhou Botong know that Yang Guo was starting to have ill thoughts about him? He asked, “When are you going to catch Hao Datong?” Yang Guo said, “I’m about to go. If you want to take in the atmosphere then come along.”

Zhou Botong was delighted, he clapped his hands and stood up but suddenly he became depressed and said, “I can’t, I need to go to Xiangyang.” Yang Guo said, “What’s so much fun in Xiangyang? Just don’t go.”

Zhou Botong said, “Brother Guo left a letter for me at the Lu Manor; it said that the Mongolian army is invading south and will definitely attack Xiangyang. He’s leading the heroes of the central plains to Xiangyang to help, he told me to give a hand as well. I haven’t seen him on my travels so I better go to Xiangyang.”

Khubilai and Jinlun Fawang looked at each other and both thought, “So the warriors of the central plains have rushed to Xiangyang to protect the city.”

Just at this point, the tent opened and in came a monk. He was about forty years old and looked elegant; his expression looked like that of a scholar. He went to Khubilai and the two exchanged whispers. The monk was a Han, his given name Zicong, and was a counsel of Khubilai’s. His original name was Liu Kang and he was an official in Xianya and became a monk later on. He was very knowledgeable and did things very thoroughly; Khubilai had a great deal of trust in him. He had received some news from a guard that an important person has arrived in the camp and needs to be received immediately.

Zhou Botong stroked his stomach and said, “Hey monk, move over a little, I’m talking to that little brother. Hey, little brother, what’s your name?” Yang Guo said, “My surname is Yang, first name Guo.”

Zhou Botong said, “Who’s your Master?”

Yang Guo said, “My Master is a girl, her beauty is unparalleled and her martial arts are excellent, she doesn’t allow others to mention her name.”

Zhou Botong shivered and remembered his old lover Yinggu; he didn’t dare to ask anymore and stood up. He waved his sleeves around to get rid of the dust on his clothes; the tent was filled with dust and dirt as a result.

Zicong could hold on no longer and sneezed twice. Zhou Botong was joyous and waved out with even more strength; suddenly he laughed out loud and said, “I’m going now!” His left hand waved out and the four broken spearheads shot towards Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing, Yin Kexi and Ma Guangzuo. As the spearheads flew through the air, ‘wu’ ‘wu’ sounds were made; they were moving extremely quickly and the targets were close; in a flash the spearheads were right before the very eyes of the four.

Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were shocked; they could not dodge out of the way in time and could only circulate their internal energy to catch them. However, when they stretched out their hands to catch them, they caught thin air; a ‘pu’ sound was heard as the four spearheads flew into the floor.

The spearheads were shot out extremely ingeniously, immediate dispatch and withdrawal, as soon as the spearheads were in front of their eyes, and they suddenly twisted around and shot into the floor.

Ma Guangzuo was a simple minded person and just felt that this was amusing, he laughed out loud and said, “You really have got lots of tricks old man.”

But Xiaoxiang Zi and the other two were extremely startled, their faces had changed colour. They all thought about how they missed the spearheads; if the spearhead hadn’t changed direction, they would have shot into their stomachs. With the amount of force behind the spearheads, what chance would they have of surviving?” Zhou Botong was extremely proud of himself for making the four of them looking like a fools, he turned around and was about to leave.

Zicong said, “Mr. Zhou, your amazing abilities are rarely seen in this world; I give you a toast on behalf of his highness,” He handed a cup of wine to him. Zhou Botong drank it in one go. Zicong sent another cup to him and said, “This one is from me!” Again, Zhou Botong drank it down.

Zicong was about to give another cup to him when suddenly Zhou Botong called out, “Oh no, my stomach hurts, I need to crap.” Zhou Botong squatted down and undid his pants, and was about to crap in the tent.

Fawang and the others were amused and all called out for him to stop. Zhou Botong was startled, he called out, “Something’s wrong with this stomach ache; I don’t need to crap!”

Yang Guo glanced over at Zicong and understood, there was poison in the wine. At the beginning he had some ill intent towards Zhou Botong, wanting to prevent Guo Jing from having a strong ally; but the ill intent he had disappeared immediately. He had no debts and dues with the Old Urchin; he saw that he was childlike and uncomplicated and felt good sentiments towards him. He couldn’t endure it when he saw him fall for the dirty trick. He was about to suggest to him to hold Khubilai as a hostage and force Zicong to hand over the antidote when he suddenly heard Zhou Botong call out, “Strange, strange, so its because I drank too little poisonous wine, that’s why my stomach ached. Monk, quickly pour me another three cups, the more poisonous the better!”

Everyone looked at each other startled. Zicong was afraid that he would lash out before he died, he didn’t dare to go over to him.

Zhou Botong took a large step forward towards the table. Jinlun Fawang stepped in front of Khubilai to protect him; but all he saw was Zhou Botong pulling up his pants with his left hand and reaching for the jug of poisoned wine with his right hand. He then tipped his head backwards and poured all the wine down his throat.

Everyone’s face lost its color.

But Zhou Botong laughed and said, “That’s better. Now my stomach has got too much poison, won’t the Old Urchin turn into the Old Poisonous Animal? I need to fight poison with poison.” Suddenly he opened his mouth and shot out a stream of wine towards Zicong. Jinlun Fawang saw that it was a dangerous situation and quickly picked up a table to block it; an arrow of wine splashed across the table.

Zhou Botong laughed non-stop; he ran to the exit of the tent and suddenly his mischievousness stirred; he grabbed the tent’s support pillar and shook a few times. A ‘kra ak’ sound was heard as the pillar snapped. The tent fell down and covered Khubilai, Jinlun Fawang, Yang Guo and the others inside. Zhou Botong was delighted and got on top of the tent, running back and forth, stepping on everyone inside the tent. Jinlun Fawang sent out a palm and struck the sole of his foot. Zhou Botong felt a great surge of internal energy through his foot and couldn’t suppress it, he did a somersault and landed back down, calling out loudly, “Interesting, interesting!” He then left.

Soon, Jinlun Fawang and the others climbed out with Khubilai, and all the guards clamored around to fix the pillar and erect the tent again. Zhou Botong had long gone. Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others apologized to Khubilai for not protecting him properly and letting him experience this shock. Khubilai didn’t punish them one bit and instead praised the abilities of Zhou Botong, saying that it is a great pity that he couldn’t make him stay. Fawang and the others had an ashamed expression on their faces.

All the cups and plates were set up once again. Khubilai said, “The Mongolian army has attacked Xiangyang many times before but with no success. This time, the heroes of the central plains have gone there to protect the city; that Zhou Botong has also gone there to help. This is an extremely troublesome situation. I wonder, what great plans do you have?”

Yin Kexi said, “Zhou Botong may have great martial arts but we may not be weaker than him. When your highness attacks the city, it will be soldier against soldier, general against general; the central plains have their heroes but so does the west.”

Khubilai said, “Though your words aren’t wrong, there’s a saying, ‘Before a battle, one must plan for victory in the temple; greater planning will lead to victory whereas little planning will not.’ Before I attack, I must have a plan to gain victory.”

Zicong said, “Your highness’s foresight is magnificent…”

Before he finished, a shout could be heard from outside, someone was calling out, “I said that I don’t want to go and I mean it; it’s of no use if you beg me or anger me.” It was Zhou Botong.

What was he doing back here and who was he talking to? Everyone’s curiosity was roused and they wanted to go out to take a look. Khubilai laughed and said, “Everyone, let’s take a look, I wonder who the Old Urchin is arguing with.”

Everyone took a step outside the tent and saw four people in an arc far away surrounding Zhou Botong. The four people were standing south, west, northwest and north of him, surrounding him but leaving a way out to the east. Zhou Botong stretched out his arm and threw a fist, he called out, “I’m not going, I’m not going.”

Yang Guo was surprised, “If he doesn’t want to go, who can force him? Why is there a need for arguing?” He saw that the four people were all wearing a green gown; the colors and clothing looked ancient and wasn’t the clothing of the present time. There were three middle-aged men wearing tall hats; standing in the north western position was a girl, her green belt could be seen fluttering in the wind.

The man standing in the northern position said, “We didn’t have any intentions in troubling you but you kicked over our pill furnace, ripped our spirit fungus, tore our books, and burned our sword room. You must come back with us and explain everything to our Master; otherwise, when our Master blames someone, none of us disciples will face the punishment.”

Zhou Botong put on a smile and said, “Just tell your Master that an old man passed by and accidentally caused all this trouble; won’t that be the end of it?”

The man said, “You insist on refusing to come with us?”

Zhou Botong nodded his head. The man pointed to the east and said, “Good, he’s here.”

Zhou Botong turned around to take a look but didn’t see anyone. The man made a sign with his hands and the four of them suddenly pulled opened a large net and covered Zhou Botong from his head downwards. The four’s hand movements were extremely drilled, and extremely strange; even with Zhou Botong’s great abilities he was trapped by the net and had no response, he just bellowed and hollered. The four people swerved around him and tied him up tightly. One of the men put him over his shoulders, the other three held onto their swords, protecting him as they flew to the east.

Yang Guo was worried about Zhou Botong’s safety and thought, “I must save him.” He then followed after them, calling out, “Hey, hey! Where are you taking him?”

How could Jinlun Fawang and the others not want to know what exactly this strange event is all about? They told Khubilai and followed. After a few li, they arrived at a stream. The four people lifted Zhou Botong onto a boat and two of them started to row. The rest of them followed along the shore; after a while they saw a boat in the stream and all immediately leapt in. Ma Guangzuo had great strength and he rowed the boat, soon they were just a few tens of feet behind. But the stream was windy and after a few turns, the boat disappeared. Nimoxing leapt from the boat onto a cliff side and climbed up over a hundred feet in a flash like an ape. He saw the boat in the west rowing along an extremely narrow brook. A thicket of trees covered the entrance to this brook, if one didn’t look from on high, they would not know that the deep valley would have such a passageway. He leapt back onto the boat and pointed out the directions to them. They quickly turned the boat around and rowed towards the thicket of trees. The entrance was a cave; the ceiling of the cave was only three feet away from the water, and everyone had to lie down before they could row on. After leaving the cave they saw the mountains on either side soared; the sky now looked like a string.

The mountains were green, the water blue, the scenery extremely serene; but it was silent everywhere, exuding a feeling of danger. After another three or four li, the brook suddenly had nine large slabs of stone arising from it, like a shield, blocking the way of the boat.

Ma Guangzuo was the first one to call out, “Damn, there’s no way to row past.”

Xiaoxiang Zi said in a creepy way, “You’ve got the strength of a bull, just throw the boat over.”

Ma Guangzuo angrily said, “I don’t have that kind of strength unless you zombies perform some kind of witchcraft.”

Before the two started arguing, Jinlun Fawang was thinking about the situation, “How did the small boat pass this stone shield?” When he heard the words of the two, he said, “No one can pick up the boat on their own but the six of us together can. Brother Yang, brother Yin and I will be on one side, brother Ni, brother Xiao Xiang and brother Ma will be on the other side, the six of us working together, how about it?”

Everyone agreed and followed his instructions; the six of them stood on two sides and each one found a steady place to stand on the rocks. Luckily the brook was extremely narrow; the boat’s width was at arm’s length.

Fawang called out, “Lift!” Everyone lifted. Yang Guo’s and Yin Kexi’s strength was the weakest out of the six but the other four had the strength of many, especially Ma Guangzuo who had divine strength. The boat left the water and passed over the rocks.

Everyone leapt back into the boat; they wiped their palms and laughed. The six of them originally were wary of each other but after working together, naturally they became a bit friendlier.

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Although the martial arts among us aren’t anything spectacular, we could be classed as first rate fighters of Wulin. The six of us lifting a boat isn’t really a difficult task but…”

Nimoxing followed on, “The four green people’s martial arts are all over the place, could they lift the boat over the rocks?”

Out of the six, five of them were already secretly surprised. Ma Guangzuo was still thinking about what the words ‘their martial arts are all over the place’ meant.

Nimoxing said, “Their boat is smaller… their numbers are smaller also… The four of them being able to do this… their strength must be… must be incredible.”

Yin Kexi said, “There’s no need to talk about the three men, that girl was a fragile seventeen or eighteen year old teenager, there is no way she could have such skill, there must be something about those rocks. It’s just that we can’t see through just yet.”

Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “People cannot be judged on appearances alone. Take a look at our brother Yang, he is of a young age but possesses great martial arts, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, who would have believed it?”

Yang Guo said modestly, “The skills I’ve learned aren’t much, what’s good about my martial arts? But the four people in green were able to catch Zhou Botong; they must have some aspect that they excel at.” His words were modest but he was now talking to these first rate fighters as brother this and brother that.

Everyone had seen with their own eyes Yang Guo catching a plate thrown by Zhou Botong with a single finger; they did not look lightly on him. They all felt his words were reasonable and all started to make their own guesses about this matter.

Out of the six, Yang Guo was the youngest, Jinlun Fawang, Ma Guangzuo and Nimoxing spent most of their lives in the west; Xiaoxiang Zi spent his time along in the mountains and didn’t make acquaintances with anyone. Yin Kexi was the only one who was familiar with the sects, personalities and affairs of the central plains yet he had no clue about who these four people in green were. As they talked, they eventually rowed to the end of the brook. The six of them went ashore and followed the path deep into the valley.

There was only one mountain path so there was no way to go wrong; however the path got steeper and steeper as it went on and became more and more treacherous. The sky darkened and there wasn’t a trace of the people in green.

Just as they were getting anxious, there was firelight from faraway; everyone was pleased and thought, “In a wild valley like this, firelight must mean people; apart from those people in green; no one would live in a place with such dangerous terrain as this.”

They then increased their speed. They all knew that they were in a dangerous place and each one heightened their defenses. Each one of them had roamed the world of Jianghu by themselves before and had experienced many dangers; now six great fighters were entering the mountain, who on earth could stop them? Though they were wary, they had no fear.

After a while, they reached a wide level open space at the peak of the mountain. They saw an extremely large flaming bonfire. They walked closer a few hundred feet and by the firelight, they saw a large stone building.

Nimoxing called out loudly, “Hey, hey, some guests have arrived! Come out quickly.”

The door of the stone house slowly opened and out came three men and a girl. It was the people in green who had captured Zhou Botong earlier on. The four of them bowed and the leading person asked, “What are our guests’ names?”

The one thing that Yin Kexi excels most at is speaking; he laughed and then told them who the other five were. He then said, “My name is Yin Kexi, I am a Hu merchant. Apart from eating, the only thing I know are treasures, I am not like the others who are all highly skilled with martial arts.”

The person in green said, “Our residence is in an extremely secluded place, we’ve never had visitors before, it is our luck that some guests have arrived. But what brought our guests here?”

Yin Kexi laughed, “We saw the four of you catch the Old Urchin Zhou Botong, we were curious so we came along to take a look. Your residence is an extremely elegant and beautiful place, it has opened our eyes; this really wasn’t a trip in vain.”

The first person in green said, “That old man who messed up our place is named Zhou? He certainly lives up to the name Old Urchin.” The second person in green said, “Are you with him?”

Fawang replied, “We’ve just met him today, one cannot say that we are friends of his.” The first person in green said, “That Old Urchin charged into our valley and ran riot.”

Fawang asked, “What did he do? Did he really rip up your books and set the place on fire?”

The person in green replied, “Only that? I was ordered by my Master to guard the pill furnace; I don’t know how the Old Urchin broke into the pill room. He started to talk rubbish with me, saying he was going to tell a story and then telling me to follow him in doing somersaults; he was mad and crazy. The furnace was burning at a critical stage; I couldn’t leave and kick him out so I pretended that I didn’t hear him. He suddenly kicked out and knocked the furnace and the herbs in it over. I don’t know how long it will take to collect all these herbs and medicines again.” He looked angry as he said this.

Yang Guo laughed, “He must have blamed you for ignoring him and that it was your fault, right?”

The girl in green said, “Correct. I was in the fungi room when I heard the clamor in the pill room. I knew something was wrong and was about to leave the room to take a look when the old man dashed in. As soon as he stretched out his hand, he snapped the four hundred year old spirit fungus in two.”

Yang Guo saw that the young girl was about seventeen or eighteen years of age, her skin was extremely white, very soft and delicate, her eyes bright and clear and there was a very small mole by her mouth. She said, “That Old Urchin is an extremely bothersome troublemaker; that spirit fungus had been grown for over four hundred years, it is an extremely valuable object.”

The girl sighed, “My father was going to share it on his wedding day with my step mother but who could have known that it would be ruined by the Old Urchin. My father will of course fly into a rage. After the Old Urchin broke the spirit fungus, he placed it in his pockets and said something about not giving it back to me and laughed. I haven’t done anything to offend him. Why on earth did he come here and cause trouble for me?” As she said this, her eyes became red, feeling that she has been wronged.

Yang Guo thought, “The Old Urchin had no reason to bully this girl, this is wrong.”

Yin Kexi said, “Please can I have your father’s name. We inadvertently came here without permission and don’t even know the owner’s name; our manners are lacking.”

The young girl delayed and didn’t reply.

One of the men in green said, “Without our Master’s permission, we can not reveal it, please forgive us.”

Yang Guo thought, “These people are very secretive; they live here in this secluded place and aren’t willing to reveal their identity to others.” He then asked, “What happened after the Old Urchin stole the spirit fungus?”

The third person in green said, “The one named Zhou wasn’t finished; after wrecking the pill and fungi room, he burst into the library, took a book and started to read. I was assigned to the library and so of course I had to stop him. But he said, ‘these are just lies that they tell to children, what’s so great about this?’ and ripped three books in one go. At that time, senior and second apprentice brother came along with apprentice sister. The four of us together were still unable to stop him.”

Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “That Old Urchin has an eccentric character but his martial arts are really spectacular; of course it would not be easy to stop him.”

The second man in green said, “After causing trouble in the pill room, fungi room and library, he went for the sword room. He burst into the room and broke out in a temper, saying that there were… there were too many weapons. They’re all over the place and almost cut him. He then set the room alight and burnt all the paintings on the wall. While we urgently tried to put out the fire, he escaped. We all thought that this was a serious matter so we chased after him, caught him and bought him back so our Master can deal with him.”

Yang Guo said, “I don’t know what punishment the Master of this valley will have for him but I hope that he won’t kill him.”

The third man in green said, “My Master’s wedding is not far away, he won’t kill that easily. But if that Old Urchin says something to offend my Master, then it would be his fault if trouble comes to him.”

Yin Kexi laughed, “Why would the Old Urchin deliberately stir up trouble for your Master? He may be mischievous but he doesn’t seem to have a bad temper.”

The girl in green said, “He said that my father is old and he’s still marrying…” The senior apprentice brother suddenly cut her off and said, “That Old Urchin is mad, how believable are his words? Everyone has come from afar and must be hungry; I will serve some food to our guests.”

Ma Guangzuo said loudly, “Great, great!” His face lit up.

The four people in green entered the kitchen and brought out some rice and vegetables and then set up a table. There were four basins, one had plain green vegetables, another had white tofu, one of the others was filled with yellow bean sprouts and the last one was filled with black mushrooms. There wasn’t any meat.

Just three months after he was born, Ma Guangzuo would not eat anything without meat. He saw four trays of vegetables in front of him that didn’t even have a drop of oil on them, he was extremely disappointed.

The first person in green said, “We do not eat meat here in the valley, forgive us. Please eat.” He then bought out a jug and poured out a clear and clean liquid in the bowls in front of them.

Ma Guangzuo thought, “Since there’s no meat, I better drink a few bowls of wine.” He picked up the bowl and drank, he noticed that it had no taste and it was actually water, he roared, “This Master is damn stingy; there isn’t even a drop of wine for us.”

The first person in green said, “Our valley forbids alcohol; this is a rule passed down by our ancestors; please forgive us.”

The girl in green said, “We have seen the words ‘beautiful wine’ in books, but we’ve never experienced what this beautiful wine is. The books say that wine harms the mind, it appears that it isn’t anything good.”

Fawang, Yin Kexi and the others saw that these four people weren’t old but their actions and words were reserved and trite. Ever since they’ve spoken with these people, they haven’t showed a single smile; though their faces weren’t hateful, it wasn’t interesting to talk to them. In other words, they didn’t speak more than half a word to each other; they stopped talking and lowered their heads as they ate. The four people retreated and didn’t come forward again.

After they ate, Ma Guangzuo said that they should leave in the night. But the other five saw that there was something about this place, they were curious and wanted to understand it more clearly.

Yin Kexi said, “Brother Ma, since we’re here, we need to meet the Master of this valley tomorrow; how could we just leave?” Ma Guangzuo roared, “There’s no meat or wine, isn’t he trying to torture us? I can’t live half a day like this.”

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “The majority of us are staying; why are you trying to start something?”

Ma Guangzuo has been secretly afraid of his zombie appearance; when he heard him say this, he didn’t dare to speak another word.

That night the six of them slept in the stone building on some straw mats on the floor. They felt that this valley was passionless; even stupidly stricter and more prudish than a Buddhist temple. Though the monks of Buddhist temples are vegetarians, they wouldn’t treat people so coldly; these people didn’t even show half a smile. Yang Guo was used to living in the Ancient Tomb and used to living with the icy cold Xiao Longnu. He was the only one who didn’t think anything of this.

Nimoxing said enraged, “The Old Urchin wrecked and set the building alight, that is something!” When he said this, Ma Guangzuo felt the same way and called out loudly in response.

Nimoxing said, “Brother Jinlun, you’re our brains, what kind of person do you think the Master of this valley is? Is he a bad guy or a good guy? Are we going to be polite to him or are we going to beat the… beat the crap out of him.”

Fawang said, “I’m like all you people here when it comes to trying to fathom what type of person this Valley Master is, it is difficult for us to guess. Tomorrow, we’ll just act accordingly.”

Yin Kexi said quietly, “The martial arts of the four green disciples of this valley aren’t weak, so naturally there will be even better martial artists in this valley. Everyone needs to be careful, just one little slip up and the six of us might die here, that wouldn’t be so good.”

Ma Guangzuo was still complaining about the food and didn’t listen to what Yin Kexi was saying.

Yang Guo said, “If you’re not careful tomorrow, you’ll be caught and trapped here for the rest of your life; you’ll be fed water and rice, vegetables and tofu everyday. When that happens, I’m afraid that even the tapeworm in your stomach would want to die.”

Ma Guangzuo was frightened and quickly said, “Good brother, I’ll listen…I’ll listen.”

That night they didn’t sleep too peacefully as they thought about the danger they were in; only Ma Guangzuo slept well, snoring thunderously and calling out in his dreams, “Come, come! Cheers! This slab of beef is massive!”

End of Chapter 16.

Chapter 17 – The Secluded Passionless Valley

Fan Yi Weng quickly moved his head to the left. The opponent’s attack was fast, his reaction was also very swift and his beard followed him and flung upwards. Yang Guo’s scissors had been opened and was guarding the right; a ‘ka’ sound was heard as the scissors cut down. He cut off over two feet of the beard.

After Yang Guo woke up the next morning, he left the stone house and went outside. Last night it was dark and he couldn’t see the surroundings clearly but now he could; he was surrounded by emerald green grass, the flowers like a brocade, the scenery of this place was already magnificent but the beauty of this place was even more rarely seen.

He followed where his feet took him and along the path he saw cranes, herds of white deer, squirrels and rabbits but none of them were alarmed by his presence.

He passed two bends and saw the girl in green plucking flowers off to one side. She saw him approaching and greeted, “You wake up really early, have some breakfast.” She plucked two flowers from the tree and offered them to him.

Yang Guo accepted them and thought, “Is it possible that flowers can be eaten?” But then he saw the girl tearing the flower petal by petal and placing them in her mouth, he did the same. When he placed the petals in his mouth, he noticed a sweet fragrance, a fragrance like that of honey and there was a subtle air of wine, he felt a feeling of comfort but after a few chews the taste became bitter and sour. He wanted to spit it out but felt that he couldn’t give it up; he wanted to swallow but had a little difficulty in getting it go down his throat.

He carefully looked at the plant and saw that the branches were covered in thorns but the flowers were extremely beautiful, and even more fragrant than lotuses, he asked, “What is this flower? I’ve never seen it before.”

The girl said, “This is the Passion Flower, I’ve heard that it is a very rare plant. Tell me, what do you think of the taste?”

Yang Guo said, “At first, it is extremely sweet but afterwards it is extremely bitter. This is called the Passion Flower? There’s a meaning behind this name.” He stretched out his hand to pluck a flower.

The girl said, “Careful! There’s thorns on the plant, don’t touch it!”

Yang Guo avoided the thorns and was very careful but he didn’t notice that behind the flower was hidden another and it pricked his hand. The girl said, “This valley is called the ‘Passionless Valley’ yet there are so many Passion Flowers growing here.”

Yang Guo said, “Why is it called the Passionless Valley? This name really is… really is special.”

The girl shook her head and said, “I don’t know why. This is the name our ancestors gave it, maybe my father knows.”

The two then started to walk down the path, shoulder to shoulder. The scent of flowers filled Yang Guo’s nose, by the side of the path were rabbits and young deer were darting about, it was very adorable sight. He had a feeling of being carefree and joyous, and naturally he started to think about Xiao Longnu, “If the person walking with me was Gu Gu, I really would love to live in this place forever with her and not ever leave.” Just as he thought about this, the wound on his finger suddenly became painful, the wound was very small yet the pain was so great, it was like someone smashing a hammer across his chest, he couldn’t hold it in and gave an ‘ai’ call, placed the finger in his mouth and sucked it.

The girl blandly said, “You’re thinking about your lover, is that it?”

Yang Guo’s thoughts were guessed; his face went red and asked, “How do you know?”

The girl said, “If you’ve been pricked by the thorns of the Passion Flower, you cannot think about love for the next twenty four hours otherwise the suffering will be unbearable.”

Yang Guo was surprised and said, “There’s actually such a strange thing as this in the world?”

The girl said, “My father said: love is like this, when it enters the mouth it is sweet but afterwards it becomes bitter and sour, furthermore, it is covered by thorns, even if you are extremely careful, pain from it would be unavoidable. The flower was given its name most probably because it has this special characteristic.”

Yang Guo asked, “How come that within twenty four hours, one cannot… cannot… think about love?”

The girl said, “Father said: there’s poison on the thorns of the plant. When people think about love, not only does their blood flow quicker, some unknown thing is created in the blood. The poison of the thorns of the Passion Flower is not harmful normally, but once it meets this something in the blood, it will create unbearable pain in the person.”

When Yang Guo heard this, he felt that it was fairly reasonable and believed her with few doubts.

The two slowly walked to the unsheltered mountainside. The light of the sun lighted up this place, the ground and air were gentle and warm; the Passion Flowers have bloomed early here and there were fruits on the plant. Yang Guo saw that the fruits were either red or green, but some were red and green and there were hair on the fruits, like a caterpillar. Yang Guo said, “The Passion Flower is so beautiful yet its fruits are so ugly.”

The girl said, “The fruits of the flower can’t be eaten, some are sour, some are hot and some stink so much that it makes people want to vomit.” Yang Guo gave a laugh and said, “Is it possible that there aren’t any that are sweet as honey?”

The girl glanced at him and said, “Sometimes there are but you cannot tell by its appearance. Some that are extremely ugly are sweet but an ugly fruit doesn’t necessarily mean it will be a sweet one. Only by tasting it directly will you know for sure. Out of ten fruits, nine are bitter; because of this we never eat them.”

Yang Guo thought, “Though she is talking about the Passion Flower, it is like an analogy for love. Could it be that although the love between lovers is at first sweet, it will eventually turn sour? Can it be that a pair of lovers who are deeply in love with each other will eventually experience more bitterness than sweetness? Could it be that the yearning love I have for Gu Gu will eventually…”

As soon as he thought about Xiao Longnu, his finger suddenly broke out with a piercing pain again and he swung his arm around a few times. He now knew that the words of the girl were indeed true.

When the girl saw him like this, her lip moved a little, as if she wanted to laugh but was refraining from doing so. Sunlight lit up her face and showed a pair of elegant eyes and brows, her skin was white with redness floating on top of it, she looked very beautiful.

Yang Guo laughed, “I once heard a story; there was once an emperor, he set up a fire display and burned all things, throwing away most of his kingdom as a result, and the only reason for this was that he was trying to get a legendary beauty to smile. To be able to see a smile is a fortunate thing, so, the same applies whether it’s in the past or in the present.”

After being teased by Yang Guo, the girl could no longer hold it in and eventually gave a giggle.

Yang Guo noticed that she had been cold as ice throughout this time and there were some feelings of anxiety in his heart, but after this smile, most of the divide between the two went away. Yang Guo continued, “Everyone knows that a beauty’s smile is rare to come by, they say something like a smile can overturn a city, another can overturn a country, actually there’s something of a beauty’s that is even rarer than a smile.”

The girl’s eyes opened wide and asked, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “A beautiful girl’s name. To have the opportunity to come across a beautiful woman is an extremely lucky event, to be able to see the smile of a beautiful girl would be because of the good deeds of their ancestors and one must go through three lifetimes…” Before he finished the girl giggled again.

Yang Guo continued looking serious and said, “To be able to hear a beautiful girl reveal her name that really requires eighteen generations of great deeds.”

The girl said, “I’m not some beautiful girl; no one in the valley has ever called me beautiful, why must you joke?”

Yang Guo sighed and said, “No wonder this place is called the Passionless Valley. But in my opinion, the name should be changed to something else.”

The girl said, “Change to what?”

Yang Guo said, “It should be called Blind Man’s Valley.” The girl asked surprised, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “Look at how beautiful you are but none of them praise you; aren’t the people who live in this valley blind?”

The girl laughed again. Her beauty could be classed as first class but compared to Xiao Longnu’s; there were still many li between them. Compared to the gentleness of Cheng Ying and the prettiness of Lu Wushuang, she appeared to be slightly inferior. But she was elegant, graceful and there was a wholesome air about her. No one had praised her beauty before, and this was because the martial arts her valley practiced revolved around abdication. When her fellow apprentices see each other they are always cold and remain unmoved. In the hearts of her fellow apprentices though, they did think that she was very beautiful but none of them dared to say it out loud.

Today she suddenly met Yang Guo. This person’s character was dynamic and spirited, the stricter and more restrained she acts, the greater the urge he has to make her get rid of this unfeeling appearance. The girl was pleased with these words and laughed, “I’m afraid that you’re the blind man, calling this ugly girl a beautiful girl.”

Yang Guo put on a serious face and said, “You never know, my eyes could be wrong. However if you want this valley to remain peaceful and quiet then you can’t smile.”

The girl asked surprised, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “There’s an old saying: ‘a smile can overturn a city, another can overturn a country’, that saying really ought to be changed. It shouldn’t be country; it should be changed to valley.”

The girl bowed subtlety and laughed, “Thank you, can you stop teasing me please?”

Yang Guo saw her fine, elegant waist and trembled slightly, his heart was moved. Although it wasn’t an intense feeling, his finger suddenly broke out in a severe pain again.

When the girl saw him waving his finger about, she felt slightly displeased and said angrily, “I’m talking to you right now yet you’re thinking about your lover.”

Yang Guo said, “I’m innocent, I’m innocent, it’s because of you that my finger hurts and here you are blaming me.” The girl blushed and suddenly ran away.

Yang Guo immediately regretted his words as soon as he said them, thinking, “My heart belongs to Gu Gu yet why haven’t I changed this type of behavior? Yang Guo ah Yang Guo you little bastard, don’t talk such rubbish again.” He inherited some of his father’s scoundrel’s attitude and ungentlemanly behavior. Every time he met a girl he would tease and flirt with them, causing them to fall for him as a result. Although he didn’t have any ill intentions, it was something that made him feel joy in his heart.

The girl ran for a few tens of feet and suddenly stopped below a Passion Flower tree and hung her head deep in thought, after a little while she turned to him and said, “If an ugly girl tells you her name, it must be because your ancestors have done bad deeds for eighteen generations and the bad karma has passed down onto you.”

Yang Guo went over to her and laughed, “Of all the things to be born with, you were born with the love of saying negative things. My ancestors for the last eighteen generations have done many good deeds; some of the good karma should be reaped by me.” His words were again praising her beauty.

Her face went slightly red and quietly said, “I’ll tell you but you cannot tell another and I forbid you to call my name in front of others.” Yang Guo stuck out his tongue and said, “Oh sweet beauty, aren’t I afraid of not having any descendants?”

The girl showed another smile and said, “My father’s surname is Gongsun…” She still did not want to reveal her name and wanted to go around in circles.

Yang Guo interrupted, “But what is Miss’s name?”

The girl smiled and said, “My father gave his only daughter the name Lu’E.” Yang Guo praised her, “The name is as beautiful as the owner.”

After Gongsun Lu’E told Yang Guo her name, she felt closer to him and said, “When father invites you to see him, you mustn’t smile at me.” Yang Guo said, “What happens if I smile.”

The girl sighed and said, “If father knows that I smiled at you and told you my name, I really don’t know how father would punish me.”

Yang Guo said, “I’ve never heard of such a strict father, not even allowing his daughter to smile at someone. He has a beautiful daughter, could it be that he doesn’t love you?”

When Gongsun Lu’E heard these words her eyes went red and said, “My father used to love me very much but after my mother died when I was six, he treated me stricter and stricter. After he marries again, I wonder how he will treat me?” Two drops of tears rolled down her cheeks as she said this.

Yang Guo comforted her, “After your father marries he will be happy, he’ll definitely treat you better then.” Gongsun Lu’E shook her head and said, “I rather he treats me even stricter than marry another wife again.”

Yang Guo’s parents died when he was young so he didn’t know much about these types of feelings; he wanted to make her happy and said, “Your new mother’s definitely not as half as beautiful as you.”

Gongsun Lu’E quickly said, “You’re wrong, my new mother is a true beauty. Because of her my father… my father… Yesterday we caught that old man named Zhou but my father was busy with organizing the wedding, otherwise he would never have allowed that Old Urchin to escape again.”

Yang Guo was shocked and pleased, he asked, “That Old Urchin escaped again?” Lu’E frowned slightly and said, “Didn’t you hear me?”

The two spoke for a while and the sun gradually rose up in the sky. Lu’E suddenly realized something and said, “Quickly go back, don’t let my fellow apprentices see us together talking, they’ll tell my father.”

Yang Guo pitied her situation and stretched out his left hand to hold her hand and patted her on the back with his right, consoling her. Gongsun Lu’E’s eyes showed that this touched her, she lowered her head and suddenly her face went red.

Yang Guo was afraid that his thoughts would lead to Xiao Longnu again and cause his finger to break out in a severe pain again, he quickly rushed back to the stone house that he was staying in.

Before he even got back to the stone house he could hear the bellows of Ma Guangzou, complaining how his stomach can’t survive on water and vegetables and how could these sweet and bitter flower petals be eaten. Are they trying to kill me?

Yin Kexi laughed, “Brother Ma, you better hide all the valuables that you have; I think the Master of the valley has ill intent.” Ma Guangzou didn’t know he was being ridiculed and nodded his head in agreement.

Yang Guo returned to the room and saw a few dishes filled with the petals of the Passion Flower on the table. He watched them eat the petals with squinting faces and he was amused as he thought about how even Jinlun Fawang the monk was affected by effects of the passion flower.

He picked a cup of water and took two sips when he heard footsteps approaching, a man in green came in, bowed to them and said, “Our Master will now see his guests.”

Fawang, Nimoxing and the others were all great Masters, no matter where they went, the Master of that place would come out and personally greet them; even Mongolia’s Fourth Prince Khubilai showed great respect to them. They could never have thought that the Master of this secluded valley would be so impudent, they all were angry and thought, “When I see that rude Valley Master I’m going to show him a thing or two.”

The six of them followed the man in green for a li or so and suddenly came across a swaying green bamboo forest. Bamboo was rare in the north and such a large piece of bamboo forest was even rarer. In the middle of the forest, the light fragrant relaxing scent of flowers could be noticed. As soon as they passed through the forest, the scent suddenly became overwhelming; everywhere in front of them were Chinese narcissi. A shallow pond with a depth that was less than a foot was filled with the flowers. These flowers were also something that was usually seen in the south, why could they be found here in this mountain valley?

Fawang thought, “There must be some hot springs below the mountain that keeps the ground and air warm.”

Every five feet or so was a Mu Chun plant, the man in green darted across the pond over them. The six followed but Ma Guangzou was heavy and had poor lightness kung fu; though his footsteps were large they weren’t large enough to takes steps of five feet or so. After stepping on a few plants, he decided to drop into the pond and follow them by wading instead.

They followed a green stone path and from afar, they saw a large stone building built under the cover of the mountains. The seven advanced towards it. Outside the building were two young attendants who were holding a fly whisk in their hands. One of the attendants went inside the house to tell the Master of their arrival while the other opened the door to receive them.

Yang Guo thought, “I wonder whether the Valley Master will come and receive us in person?” Before his thoughts were settled, a bearded old man in green came out of the house.

This old man was extremely short, no more than four feet tall, his appearance was strange but the strangest thing about him was his exceedingly long thick beard that hung down to the ground. He was wearing a dark green gown and had a green rope tied across his waist.

Yang Guo thought, “This Valley Master looks so weird yet his daughter is so beautiful.”

The old man bowed deeply to him and said, “It is our luck to have such prestigious guests, please come in for tea.”

When Ma Guangzou heard the word ‘tea’, he frowned deeply and said loudly, “Drink tea! What place doesn’t have tea? Why must I come to this place for it?”

The long bearded old man did not know what he meant; he glanced at him and then bowed again receiving the guests.

Nimoxing thought, “I’m a short man but the Master of this valley is even shorter. You win on shortness but let’s see who wins on martial arts.” He barged forward to the front, stretched out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.” He took the old man’s hand and immediately used the strength in his hands.

The others took a couple of steps back when they saw the two stretching out their hands to receive each other, they knew that when two great Martial artists exchange forces, it will be something out of the ordinary. Nimoxing first used twenty percent of his power in his hands but he found that the opponent did not counterattack nor block; he was slightly surprised and increased another twenty percent. He felt that is was like holding a slab of solid wood. He increased another twenty percent of the force in his hands. A faint green air glimmered across the old man’s face and his hand was still like a rigid piece of wood.

Nimoxing was extremely surprised and didn’t dare to use the rest of his strength just in case the enemy counterattacked when he was at full strength, then, he would not be able to defend against the attack. He laughed and released his hand.

Jinlun Fawang was second in line. He saw what had happened and knew that Nimoxing was unable to ascertain the short man’s abilities. There was no need for him to make a rash move while the opponent’s abilities were still unclear, Fawang folded his arms and gracefully walked past. Xiaoxiang Zi and Yin Kexi followed together with Ma Guangzou behind. Ma Guangzou had seen the short man’s beard and thought that it was extremely weird. He hadn’t eaten anything except the Passion Flowers and that made him even hungrier; at this moment in time he was hungry and angry. When he entered he suddenly stuck out his foot and stepped on the tip of the man’s beard.

The old man was unmoved and said, “Please be careful.”

Ma Guangzou put his other foot on the beard and said, “What?”

The old man moved his head slightly and Ma Guangzou suddenly flipped over. Such a large person falling to the floor is no ordinary matter.

Yang Guo was the last one to enter; he quickly dashed forward two steps and struck Ma Guangzou on the backside moving his gigantic body forwards. Ma Guangzou stood firmly on the ground and rubbed his backside.

The old man acted as if he didn’t see anything; he invited them into hall and sat them on the west side before saying clearly, “The guests have arrived, call for the Valley Master.”

Yang Guo and the others were shocked, “So that old man is not the Valley Master.”

From the back of the hall, ten or so green clothed disciples came in and stood to the left, Gongsun Lu’E was amongst them. After a while, a person entered the hall and bowed to the six and casually sat down on a chair on the east side. The long bearded old man stood by his chair. From the man’s presence, this person will be none other but the Valley Master.

This man was about forty five or six years of age, he had a handsome face and appeared graceful; from the way he greeted them and sat down, he also seems to possess a lofty air. His face was yellow and dried, not looking like someone who possessed great martial arts. As soon as he sat down; some of the disciples in green brought tea forward. The hall was decorated in green, but the Valley Master was wearing a precious satin blue gown, he was extremely eye catching in the deluge of green.

The Valley Master picked up a tea bowl and said, “Please have some tea.”

Ma Guangzou took a look at the bowl of tea, he saw that it was cold and had a few tea leaves floating on top; it was extremely bland to him and he snapped, “Valley Master, you don’t eat meat and you don’t even drink tea, no wonder you look ill.”

The Valley Master did not move a muscle. He took a sip of his tea and said, “The people of our valley have been vegetarians for hundreds of years.”

Ma Guangzou said, “What’s so good about being vegetarian. Does it make you live longer without aging?”

The Valley Master said, “My ancestors have lived here since the Tang dynasty; since then, none of the descendants has ever dared to break the vegetarian code.”

Jinlun Fawang folded his arms and said, “So this place was set up in the Tang dynasty and has lasted until now, that really is something.” The Valley Master folded his arms and said, “You’re too kind.”

Xiaoxiang Zi suddenly spoke in a strange way, “Did your ancestors ever see Royal Concubine Yang?” His tone was extremely peculiar.

Nimoxing, Yin Kexi and the others were familiar with his voice after spending time with him, they were surprised when they heard this voice and all turned towards him. They were even more shocked when they saw his face, it had somehow has completely changed, his face had the appearance of a zombie before but now it looked even odder.

Fawang, Nimoxing and the others were slightly worried, “So this person possesses such great internal energy, even his face changes. He’s circulating his internal energy so he can immediately strike out; does he want to show the Valley Master a thing or two?” They all put their guards up when they thought about this.

The Valley Master replied, “My ancestors did work in the Tang court as officials, when they saw what state the court had falling into under Yang Guozhong, they were furious and left to reside in a secluded place.”

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed, “Your ancestors must have drunk the water that Royal Concubine Yang had washed her feet with.”

Everyone’s face in the hall changed as soon as these words came out. It was a challenge to the Valley Master and he was going to make his move very soon.

Fawang and the others were surprised, thinking, “This Xiaoxiang Zi is extremely crafty, he always lets other people go first in all matters, why has he volunteered to go first suddenly?”

The Valley Master ignored him and signaled to the old long bearded man. The old bearded man said clearly, “Our Master has treated you with respect as guests, how can you say such things?”

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed and said in his strange manner, “Your ancestor has definitely drunk the foot water of Royal Concubine Yang; if they haven’t drunk it, I’ll cut off my head for you.”

Ma Guangzou was surprised and asked, “Brother Xiaoxiang, how do you know? Could it be that you drank some that day as well?”

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed, his voice changed again as he said, “If they didn’t drink the foot water and upset their stomachs, what other reason is there for them not to eat meat?”

Ma Guangzou clapped and laughed, he called out, “Yes, yes, it must be for this reason.”

But Fawang and the others frowned, they all felt that Xiaoxiang Zi’s words were going a bit too far; everyone has their own eating habits, how can you use it as a joke? Not mentioning the fact that the six of them were deep in this valley, the people of this valley were definitely not kind people; even if fists had to be raised, a backup plan should be made first.

The old bearded man could endure this no longer; he went to the middle of the hall and said, “Mr. Xiaoxiang Zi, our valley has not offended you. If you’re looking for a fight then please come forward.”

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Good!” He remained in his chair and leapt over the table in front of him; after a ‘deng’ sound, he landed in the middle of the hall in his chair. He called out, “Long bearded old man, what’s you name? It’ll be unfair if we fight with me not knowing your name but you knowing mine. I cannot afford to be in this predicament.”

His words seemed sound but unsound at the same time; the old man became even angrier but his wariness also deepened after seeing how graceful Xiaoxiang Zi was in moving the chair into the centre of the room, he wasn’t anything ordinary. The Valley Master said, “Tell him, it’s not important.”

The old man said, “Fine, my surname is Fan, first names Yiweng, please stand up and start.” Xiaoxiang Zi said, “What weapon are you going to use? Go get it and let me take a look.”

Fan Yiweng said, “You want to compete with weapons? That’s good.” His right foot stamped on the floor and he called out, “Bring it!” Two attendants rushed inside and when they came out, they had an eleven foot long steel Dragon Head Staff on their shoulders.

Yang Guo and the others were shocked when they saw this, “How can this short man use such a long and heavy weapon.”

Xiaoxiang Zi didn’t take any notice and took out an extremely large pair of scissors from underneath his gown. He said, “Do you know what this pair of scissors is used for?”

When the others saw this weapon, they just felt that it was a strange weapon, but Yang Guo was shocked. He didn’t stretch out his hand towards his bag, but instead he just straightened his back a little and noticed that his pair of scissors was missing. He thought, “Blacksmith Feng made that large pair of scissors for me that I had intended to use against Li Mochou. How did that zombie steal it off me in the middle of the night without me noticing?”

Fan Yiweng took his staff and placed it on the floor. The hall was extremely spacious; as soon as the staff landed, it produced ‘weng’ ‘weng’ noises and along with the echoes from the room, the noise was tremendous.

Xiaoxiang Zi lifted up the scissors with his right hand and opened them. He held the scissors with all the strength in his fingers. He called out, “Hey, shortie, you don’t know the name of my precious scissors, do you want me to tell you?”

Fan Yiweng angrily said, “Such an unorthodox weapon won’t have an elegant name.”

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed and said, “Correct, the name is not elegant, it is called the Dog Fur Scissors.” Yang Guo was not pleased, “Who wants you to give my pair of scissors such an ugly name.”

He heard Xiaoxiang Zi continue, “I knew long ago that there was a long bearded creature around here; because of this I prepared this pair of Dog Fur Scissors so I can cut off your beard!”

Nimoxing and Ma Guangzou burst out laughing, Yin Kexi and Yang Guo too couldn’t hold in their laughter and laughed; only Jinlun Fawang kept his self-control and along with the Valley Master, the two appeared as if nothing had happened.

Fan Yiweng swung his staff a little and created a gust of wind, he said, “I was thinking my beard is too long, since you want to be a barber and help me trim it, nothing could be better, let’s fight!”

Xiaoxiang Zi lifted his head and looked up at the beam of the hall in thought, it appeared that he didn’t hear his words. Suddenly, his right arm came out like lightning and the scissors cut towards the man’s beard.

Fan Yiweng would never have dreamed he would actually attack while sitting in the chair; he had no time to dodge and urgently dropped his staff down. His body lifted up and somersaulted through the air about ten feet off the floor with the staff still on the floor.

Xiaoxiang Zi’s attack was extremely quick and Fan Yiweng’s dodge was also very swift; in that cut and dodge, the two skilled martial artists had displayed their advanced martial arts. But Fan Yiweng still suffered by that attack; though he managed to avoid that cut, three strands of his beard were cut off by the tip of the scissors.

Xiaoxiang Zi was extremely proud of himself. He picked up the three strands of beard with his left hand and blew the strands of hair which flew towards his bowl of tea on the table. A ‘ping pang’ sound was heard as the bowl fell onto the floor and shattered.

Yang Guo and the others knew that he was putting on a show and that it was his breath that forced the bowl to drop on the floor. But Ma Guangzou did not know this and thought that the strands of beard had great power after being blown by Xiaoxiang Zi. He called out loudly, “Xiaoxiang Zi, your strands of beard are really something!”

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed, he opened and closed the scissors then called out, “Short beard, do you want to test out my Dog Fur Scissors again?”

Though everyone could see that he was laughing, his face remained unmoved; they were becoming more and more shocked by him. They were thinking, “When someone reaches an advanced state in their internal energy, they can be angry and delighted without showing it on their faces, even to the point where the face looked emotionless. But it is unheard of that someone can laugh so heartily but keep that fearful face.” His face was too unsightly for the eyes; everyone just took one look and immediately turned away again.

Fan Yiweng was now furious after being ridiculed again and again; he bowed to the Valley Master and said, “Master, today this disciple cannot continue treating the guests with respect.”

Yang Guo was extremely surprised, “That short man is a lot older than the Valley Master; how can he call him Master?” The Valley Master nodded his head slightly and gently waved out his left hand.

Fan Yiweng swept out his staff towards the chair that Xiaoxiang Zi was sitting on; though he was a short man he possessed incredible strength, the hundred kilo (220 lb) staff swept out and created a great gust of wind.

Though Yang Guo and the others were on the same side as Xiaoxiang Zi, they did not know exactly how skilled he was. They all watched the men battle with great concentration.

The staff was now half a foot away from the leg of the chair. Xiaoxiang Zi lowered his left hand and actually stretched it out to grab the head of the staff and at the same time, he cut forward towards his opponent’s beard with the scissors.

Fan Yiweng was extremely angry, he thought, “You actually dare to look down on me like this!” He swung his head to the side and his beard moved to the side while the staff continued its sweep and struck Xiaoxiang Zi’s palm.

The others called out and stood up; they all thought that Xiaoxiang Zi’s palm would have suffered a serious injury.

But Fan Yiweng felt as if his staff had struck water, soft as if nothing was there; he knew something was wrong and quickly pulled back. However, Xiaoxiang Zi’s twisted his wrist and kept his hold on the staff.

Fan Yiweng felt his opponent immediately pushing outward so he immediately sent the staff forward. The force he applied was ferocious; he assumed that Xiaoxiang Zi would have to leave his seat but he didn’t predict that the opponent would again leap away with his chair, this time to the left as the staff thrust towards thin air. He had no choice but to release his grip on the head of the staff.

Fan Yiweng’s left hand twisted above his head and the staff made a circle and was sent towards his opponent’s head. Xiaoxiang Zi wanted to ridicule him and leapt up about ten feet with the chair and actually passed over the staff.

The others saw that his hands techniques were extraordinary and swift; though he was in the chair, he moved as if he was not, they all called out in appreciation.

Fan Yiweng saw that his opponent was highly skilled; he poured all his concentration into this battle, the staff created gusts of wind as he moved it around. He knew that hitting him would not be easy but if he smashes his chair, he will be able to get the initiative.

But Xiaoxiang Zi’s martial arts were extraordinary; his right hand continued to open and close the scissors and suddenly cut towards his beard while Xiaoxiang Zi’s left hand used the “Trapping Hand Technique” to snatch his staff.

In the blink of an eye the two had tens of exchanges; though they appeared to be equal, Xiaoxiang Zi had not left his chair, not giving an ounce of respect towards his opponent.

Jinlun Fawang was shocked inside, “Who would have thought that zombie would actually possess such great abilities?”

More exchanges passed between the two; Fan Yiweng kept on using sweeping stances across the floor, while Xiaoxiang Zi kept on leaping up in the chair, getting quicker and quicker.

The Valley Master suddenly called out, “Don’t hit the chair, otherwise you can’t handle him.”

Fan Yiweng was startled but then immediately understood, “While he’s sitting in the chair, I can only fight him to a draw. If his legs were on the ground, then my beard will be cut off in just a few stances.” He suddenly changed his stances and urgently waved and twisted the staff around. A circle of silver light covered the short man in green while on the outside there was a zombie like person leaping up and down without stopping. This was a strange rarely seen spectacle.

The Valley Master knew that Xiaoxiang Zi was deliberately trying to make a fool out of Fan Yiweng; if it continued he would definitely suffer. The Valley Master then stood up and slowly left the table. He said, “Yiweng, you are not a match for that Master, come back.”

Fan Yiweng obeyed his Master and said loudly, “Yes!” He straightened his staff and was about to take it back when Xiaoxiang Zi called out, “That won’t do, that won’t do!” He flew up from the chair and threw himself down onto the staff. A ‘ka la’ sound was heard as the staff smashed the chair into pieces; but the staff was held onto by Xiaoxiang Zi with his left hand. Xiaoxiang Zi steadied his left leg and opened the scissors. Fan Yiweng’s beard was hanging between the blades, a cut now and his beard would be gone.

Who knew that the long beard that Fan Yiweng grew was an extremely soft lethal weapon; the technique for using it is along the same lines as a whip, a chain and a whisk. His head moved slightly and the beard whipped around escaping from the blade of the scissors and wrapped up the scissors instead; he moved his head backwards and a great force pulled the scissors forward.

Xiaoxiang Zi called out loudly, “Ai yo, old shortie, your beard is pretty powerful; Xiaoxiang Zi is in awe of you.” One had his beard wrapped around the scissors whereas the other had his hand holding onto the staff, there was no result for the time being.

Xiaoxiang Zi laughed out loud and said, “Interesting, interesting!”

Suddenly a grey blur flashed in from the front door; this person was extremely quick and was pushing both his palms forward towards the back of Xiaoxiang Zi.

The Valley Master shouted, “Who is it?”

This attack was quick and vicious and it was certain to hit its target. Xiaoxiang Zi released his grasp of the staff and turned his left palm around and pushed out at the opponent below the elbow, immediately dispersing the power of his palms.

The person angrily said, “You bastard, I’m going to kill you!”

Yang Guo and the others were incredibly surprised when they saw this person; they all called out, “Xiaoxiang Zi!” The person who had dashed forward and attacked was Xiaoxiang Zi. Can he divide into two? And why was he attacking his own double? They were all puzzled by this.

Once they had settled down, they saw that the person who was tangling with Fan Yiweng was dressed in the clothes of Xiaoxiang Zi; everything was correct from the shoes to the hat. Though his face looked like a zombie, it was not the face of Xiaoxiang Zi. The person who had entered had the face of Xiaoxiang Zi but he was dressed in green. The man in green sent his claw like hands out towards the back of the Xiaoxiang Zi who was holding the scissors and called out, “What kind of hero attacks from an ambush?”

Fan Yiweng was slightly surprised when he saw help had come; this person was dressed in the valley’s uniform but he did not know him. He placed his staff to the side and saw the two zombie-like people battle each other.

It was now clear to Yang Guo, the person who was holding the scissors must have stolen his mask as well. He put it on, changed into Xiaoxiang Zi’s clothes and then came here to the hall to stir up trouble. Because Xiaoxiang Zi’s face normally was like that of a corpse, no one was able to tell. Though Yang Guo had worn the mask himself, but he did not know what he looked like when wearing the mask. When Cheng Ying had her’s on, he didn’t dare to look at her too often. He was actually deceived by this person.

He concentrated for a while and recognized the martial arts of the person holding the pair of scissors, he called out, “Zhou Botong, give back my mask and scissors.” He then leapt into the middle of the hall and stretched out his hand to snatch the pair of scissors back.

This person was Zhou Botong. He’d had a lapse in concentration and was captured by the fish net of the four disciples of the valley. But Zhou Botong possesses amazing abilities; just a slight lapse in concentration by the four disciples and he immediately broke out of the fish net. Afterwards he hid behind some rocks. He had planned to turn the valley over but then he saw Yang Guo and the other five. In the middle of the night, he ambushed Xiaoxiang Zi; he sealed his pressure points and moved him outside of the house. Then he changed into his clothes. Zhou Botong had great lightness kung fu and he comes and goes without a trace; Xiaoxiang Zi was still asleep when this happened and even Jinlun Fawang didn’t notice anything. After he changed clothes, Zhou Botong returned to the stone house and lay down by Yang Guo, and then stole the scissors and mask from his bag. When they woke up the next morning, no one actually noticed anything amiss.

Xiaoxiang Zi tried to unblock his pressure points after they were sealed but Zhou Botong’s pressure point sealing skills were powerful; it was six hours before he was able to move his limbs again. At that time, he had only his undergarments on. He was extremely angry and when a valley disciple passed by, he immediately took his clothes and hurried to the stone building. When he got there, he saw a person dressed in his clothes in a heated battle with Fan Yiweng; his anger was uncontrollable and he threw his palms forward viciously.

Zhou Botong saw Yang Guo coming forward and began to use his skill of left right mutual combat; his left hand came out and in as he fought Yang Guo while his right hand used the scissors and forced Xiaoxiang Zi to stay back. When the scissors opened, the distance between the blades was two feet; if his head were in between the blades when it closed, his head would separate from his neck. Though Xiaoxiang Zi was furious, he did not dare to get close.

When the Valley Master first saw Zhou Botong fight Fan Yiweng, he was already secretly in awe. Now he saw him using two hands to fight two people separately, it was as if he were divided into two. The “Yin Yang Twin Blades” that he practices has some similarities to the technique that Zhou Botong was using; but how could he do two things at the same time like Zhou Botong was doing? He also saw Xiaoxiang Zi’s claws were like steel, his stances vicious, and he saw that Yang Guo was graceful and elegant, his form and posture exquisite, he pondered, “There are many able people in this world. The two old men are indeed terrific; though this young man’s internal energy is shallow, his form, fists and kicks are filled with elegance.” He then said clearly, “Please hold your fists.”

Yang Guo and Xiaoxiang Zi leapt back at the same time. Zhou Botong took off his mask and threw the mask along with the scissors towards Yang Guo and then called out, “I’ve had enough fun, I’m going!” His legs lightly touched the ground and he leapt up onto a beam up in the ceiling.

The valley’s disciples gasped when Zhou Botong showed his face. Gongsun Lu’E called out, “Father, it’s that old man.”

Zhou Botong laughed as he sat on the beam. The beam was thirty feet off the floor; though there were many good fighters in the hall, to follow him and leap up in one go was something that none of them could do.

Fan Yiweng was the Master of the passionless valley’s senior disciple and was older than his Master. Apart from his Master, he was the most skilled fighter of the valley; after being ridiculed by Zhou Botong many times, how could he not be angry? He was short and skilled at climbing; his body leapt up and grabbed a pillar, climbing up it like an ape. Zhou Botong loved it when someone tangles with him, he saw him climbing up but couldn’t wait for him to reach the beam so he stretched out his hand to receive him.

How would Fan Yiweng know that that it was a kind gesture? When he saw his right hand stretching out towards him, he stretched out his finger and poked the ‘Great tomb’ pressure point on Zhou Botong’s wrist. Zhou Botong felt a slight sensation in his hand and immediately sealed off his pressure point and loosened his muscles. Fan Yiweng felt that his finger was poking something like cotton wool; he quickly pulled his finger back. Zhou Botong’s palm turned and struck the back of his arm with a very crisp sound, he called out, “One basket of barley, two baskets of barley, you and me slap the great barley!”

Fan Yiweng was extremely angry, he swung his head and his long beard swept towards Zhou Botong. Zhou Botong heard that urgent gust of wind and propped his left foot against the beam and moved his body, his left hand then held onto the beam and hung his body in the air.

Xiaoxiang Zi knew that Fan Yiweng was not a match for Zhou Botong; even if he went up there to join in as well he would not be able to beat him. He turned around to Nimoxing and Ma Guangzou and said, “Brother Ni and Ma, that old man doesn’t give any respect to the six of us; he really has gone too far.”

Nimoxing was a rash person and could be offended, Ma Guangzou was slow witted and wasn’t clear on what was happening, when they heard him say, ‘doesn’t give any respect to the six of us’, they were angered and both of them shouted. They then leapt towards the beam to grab Zhou Botong’s leg. Zhou Botong kicked away their palms with his legs.

Xiaoxiang Zi turned to Yin Kexi and said coldly, “Brother Yin, are you really just going to watch?” Yin Kexi gave a wry smile and said, “Brother Xiaoxiang, you go first and I’ll be right behind you.”

Xiaoxiang Zi made a strange whistle, the walls trembled and he suddenly leaped up. His knees were not bent; his whole body and arms were straight as a ruler as he went for Zhou Botong’s abdomen.

Zhou Botong saw the incoming attack and pulled in his body and became almost sphere like; his right hand swapped with his left hand in holding the beam. Xiaoxiang Zi clutched thin air and dropped back down. His body was straight as a stick, his feet touched the ground and he jumped up once again. Fan Yiweng was holding onto the pillar and sweeping his beard while Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing and Ma Guangzou kept on going up and down trying to attack him.

Yin Kexi laughed, “This old man’s martial arts really are incredible; I’ll join in as well.” He searched his pockets and took out a weapon. The hall was lit up with the reflection of pearls and the glimmering of gold; there was a whip in his hand. This whip was made out of gold and silver silk and was embedded with pearls and gems. In the world of Jianghu, one would not be able to find such a precious and lavish weapon as this. There were glimmers of gold and glistening of pearls as the whip was swept towards Zhou Botong’s leg.

Yang Guo was amused with what was happening and thought, “These five are showing off their abilities in attacking the Old Urchin; if I don’t do something out of the ordinary, I can’t claim to be capable.” He had an idea; he put on the human skin mask and copied the strange call of Xiaoxiang Zi. He then picked up Fan Yiweng’s staff, stood it up against the floor and used the force to throw himself up into midair. The staff was already over ten feet long, so using it as a lever he was able to face Zhou Botong face to face. He called out, “Old Urchin, watch out for the scissors!” The large scissors cut forwards towards his white beard.

Zhou Botong was delighted, he moved his head and called out, “Little brother, your move is pretty amusing.” Yang Guo said, “Old Urchin, I haven’t done anything to offend you, why did you make fun of me?”

Zhou Botong, “Things come and go and you haven’t suffered one bit; instead you’ve gained something.” Yang Guo was startled and said, “What came and went?”

Zhou Botong laughed, “Right now I need to be excused, and I can’t speak with you.” He saw the incoming Golden Dragon whip of Yin Kexi and stretched out his hand to seize it. Yin Kexi’s whip twisted and he was about to counterattack his opponent’s back when he fell back to the floor.

The Old Urchin said, “Your colorful dead snake is pretty funny.” At this moment, Fan Yiweng’s beard came sweeping across; his hands were holding onto the pillar and he was relying on his beard to attack his enemy.

Zhou Botong laughed, “So a beard can be used like that?” He copied him and swung his beard towards him, but his beard was a lot shorter that Fan Yiweng’s and he had never practiced with it before; the move he made with his beard was useless. A ‘shua’ sound was heard as he was struck by Fa Yiweng’s beard across the cheek leaving a red mark; if he didn’t have such profound internal energy, he would have been knocked out. After receiving this attack, Zhou Botong wasn’t angry, instead he had great respect towards Fan Yiweng and said, “My beard can’t compare to yours, I admit defeat, we don’t need to continue.”

Fan Yiweng had just had a successful strike and was not going to hold back; his beard came out again. Zhou Botong did not dare to use his beard to meet it again, so his left hand used the techniques of the “Vacant Light Fist”, throwing out soft fists. The wind created by the fists forced Fan Yiweng’s beard to the right and just at this time, Ma Guangzou had leaped up to make an attack, the beard brushed against his face.

Ma Guangzou’s eyes were covered so he grabbed the beard with his two hands. Fan Yiweng’s beard had originally been under his control but after being forced away by the wind from Zhou Botong’s fists, he lost control of it and it was now in Ma Guangzou’s hands. He was startled and did not use force to pull it back. Ma Guangzou was holding it tightly and as he descended, he dragged Fan Yiweng down to the floor.

Ma Guangzou was thick skinned and the fall didn’t hurt much. However, Fan Yiweng had fallen on top of him. Fan Yiweng said angrily, “What are you doing, you still haven’t let go?”

Though Ma Guangzou didn’t feel much pain from the fall, Fan Yiweng’s feet had landed on his stomach and it was quite painful; his anger also erupted and he shouted, “I don’t want to let go; what are you going to do about it?” After he said this, he quickly wrapped the beard around his arm.

Fan Yiweng chopped out a right palm and Ma Guangzou moved his head to dodge, however, this was a dummy move and a fist came out from his left hand, landing squarely on Ma Guangzou’s nose.

Ma Guangzou called out and returned a punch. When it came to martial arts, Fan Yiweng was much better than Ma Guangzou; but his beard was trapped and he couldn’t move his head, so the punch landed on his cheekbone. One tall and one short, the two of them began to fight. Though Fan Yiweng was on top, he could not escape from his opponent.

Jinlun Fawang saw that the hall had fallen into chaos; five people from his side had come out and yet still they were unable to take care of the Old Urchin. This was a bit too shameful. Sounds of ‘qiang lang’ ‘qiang lang’ were heard as he took out two wheels, one silver and one bronze. One swept from left to right and the other from right to left forming two arcs of light as they flew towards Zhou Botong. The ringing sounds were urgent and frightening.

Zhou Botong did not know how powerful they were and said, “What are these?” He stretched out his hand to grab them. Yang Guo called out, “You can’t catch them!”

Yang Guo threw the steel staff upwards. A ‘dang’ sound was heard and the thick, long staff was sent flying towards the corner of the room as sparks flew and dust rose up from the wall. The bronze wheel came back to Fawang and he once again sent it with his left hand. The wheel flew swiftly towards the beam. After this, Zhou Botong knew that it wasn’t good to annoy this monk. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight off all of them so he flipped downwards and called out, “Excuse me everyone, the Old Urchin has to leave, we’ll play again another day.” He then ran towards the door. However, four disciples in green had blocked the exit with a large fish net.

Zhou Botong had experienced the fish net before and called out, “Oh no!” He wanted to escape through the window on the eastern side. He saw a green blur and the window was covered by a fish net as well.

Zhou Botong leapt back into the middle of the room and saw that in all four directions there were four disciples in green holding a fish net, blocking his path. Zhou Botong then leapt up onto the beam and used the stance “Surging Sky Palm” to break a large hole in the ceiling. He was about to leap out through the hole when he raised his head and saw that there was also another fish net above. He had nowhere to go and leapt back to the floor. He pointed to the Valley Master and laughed, “Old yellow face, why do you want to keep me here? Do you need a playmate?”

Valley Master Gongsun said dryly, “All you’ve got to do is return the four things that you took and I’ll immediately let you go.”

Zhou Botong said surprisingly, “What use have I got with your smelly things? Even if a person could learn martial arts to a state equal to yours, who cares?”

Valley Master Gongsun slowly walked to the middle of the hall. He brushed the dust off his clothes and said, “If today wasn’t my wedding day, I would definitely exchange a few stances with you. Just leave the items of the valley here and leave.”

Zhou Botong was furious and called out, “So, you say that I’ve definitely stolen something from you? That’s crap, what have you got here in this valley?” He then started to take off his clothes and very soon, he was stark naked. The Valley Master called out to him to stop but was ignored. Zhou Botong then showed his garments inside out, indeed, there was nothing there. The female disciples in the hall were distressed and turned their heads away.

This turn of events was something that the Valley Master had not predicted. The missing objects from the library, pill room, fungi room and sword room were very important and had to be recovered; could it really be that the missing objects were not stolen by the Old Urchin?

Just as he was in deep thought, Zhou Botong clapped his hands and said, “Look at you, you’re old but why do you not act your age? You speak without thinking and you act mad and crazy, you do such an embarrassing thing in public, aren’t people going to laugh their teeth out?”

These words should have been said to him but he got it in first. The Valley Master didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and did not have a reply. He saw that Fan Yiweng was still battling Ma Guangzou so he shouted, “Get up Yiweng, stop tangling with the guest.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “Long beard, I like your temper, the two of us can be friends.”

In actual fact, Fan Yiweng has been strict and disciplined all his life; he only fought Ma Guangzou because he had no choice. He wanted to stand up many times but his beard was wrapped around Ma Guangzou’s arm and he had no way to escape.

Valley Master Gongsun frowned slightly and pointed to Zhou Botong saying, “I’m afraid that it is you who is embarrassing himself in public and it is you whose actions are laughable.”

Zhou Botong said, “I came out of my mother’s womb naked and I’m pure and innocent as I stand naked now, what’s wrong with that? Look at how old you are yet you still want to marry a beautiful young girl, ha-ha, laughable, laughable!” Those words were like a hammer that smashed into the chest of the Valley Master; his yellow face became red and he couldn’t say anything.

Zhou Botong called out, “Oh no, I’m afraid I might catch a cold without wearing any clothes.” Suddenly he dashed towards the exit.

As soon as the four disciples in green saw the blur, they immediately moved positions and threw the net over him, trapping him in the net. They felt him struggling fiercely and they tied the corners of the net then carried him over to the Valley Master. The fish net was made out of extremely pliable and soft golden silk; even a precious sword or saber would not find it easy to cut through it. The hand movements of the four disciples were unusual and swift, the net covered heaven and earth as it was brought forward. Even an extremely skilled martial artist would find it difficult to deal with. The only disadvantage was that it required four people to work it; one person alone will not be able to use it. The four of them were extremely proud of themselves after they caught him in one swoop; but when they saw the Valley Master examine the net, he had an expression of displeasure. They quickly looked down; they were shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. They quickly opened the net up and let two people out; it was Ma Guangzou and Fan Yiweng.

No one could predict that Zhou Botong would suddenly dash out stark naked without his clothes. His hand movements were extraordinarily quick; he had picked up Ma Guangzou and Fan Yiweng and threw them in the net. When the four disciples took in the net, he quickly dashed out. The deception was unnoticeable.

The Valley Master’s face was full of humiliation because of what Zhou Botong had done; and even Fawang and the others felt shame in their hearts. They were all thinking, “I class myself as a first rate fighter of Wulin and yet all of us together were unable to capture that mad old man, that is shameful.” Only Yang Guo was pleased; he had great respect for Zhou Botong and thought that if he was captured, I would definitely think of a way to rescue him. Since he’s managed to escape by himself, then it couldn’t be better.

Fawang had originally wanted to learn the background of this Valley Master, but after all this trouble with the Old Urchin, he wasn’t in the mood to carry on. He spoke a few words with Xiaoxiang Zi and Yin Kexi then stood up and folded his arms, saying, “Thank you for your hospitality, we ought to stay longer and make acquaintances but we all have other pressing matters to attend to and so we say goodbye.”

The Valley Master had originally suspected that Fawang and the others were friends of the Old Urchin, but he had later seen Xiaoxiang Zi fight for his life and Fawang, Yang Guo, Yin Kexi, Ma Guangzou and Nimoxing attacking Zhou Botong. They all had showed signs of helping him so he folded his hands and said, “I have a request; I wonder will our six guests grant me my wish?”

Fawang said, “If it’s in our ability then we’ll do our best.”

The Valley Master said, “After noon, there will be my wedding procession, I request your presence. This valley is very secluded and remote; there have been very few guests over the last hundreds of years. It is the luck of three generations that today six esteemed guests have arrived.”

Ma Guangzou said, “Will there be wine?”

The Valley Master was about to reply when he saw Yang Guo’s eyes were fixed on something outside, his face was extremely strange; he seemed to be extremely happy but also appeared to be full of anguish. Everyone was surprised and followed his gaze.

They saw a girl in white passing along a corridor outside. The sunlight shone on her white, cold face and it seemed that the sunlight had turned into moonlight. There was a sparkle under her eyelashes and after she walked a couple of steps, a teardrop rolled down her cheek. Her steps were light; it was as if she was gliding on water as she made her way down the corridor. She did not glance over at the people in the middle of the hall.

It was as if Yang Guo’s pressure points had been sealed and he didn’t move a muscle. Suddenly he called out, “Gu Gu!”

The girl in white was at the head of the corridor when she heard the call, as soon as she did her body trembled and said faintly, “Guo’er, Guo’er, you’re here? Is it you that’s calling me?” She turned her head around and appeared as if she was looking for something, but her eyes were uncertain as if she was in a dream.

Yang Guo quickly leapt out of the hall and held her hand, saying, “Gu Gu, you’re here, I’ve searched for you continuously!” He then suddenly called out; there was unbearable pain in the place where his finger had been pricked by the passion flower.

The girl in white called out, her body trembled and she sat down on the floor with her eyes closed, it was as if she had fainted. Yang Guo called out, “Gu Gu, how are you feeling?”

After a while, the girl slowly opened her eyes and stood up. She said, “Who are you? What did you call me?”

Yang Guo was greatly shocked, he stared at her, if it wasn’t Xiao Longnu then who else could it be? He quickly asked, “Gu Gu, It’s’ Guo’er, how… how come you don’t recognize me? Are you hurt? Where are you feeling discomfort?”

The girl looked at him and said coldly, “I do not know you.” She then walked into the hall and sat down by Valley Master Gongsun. Yang Guo was flabbergasted; he returned to the hall in a daze and leaned on the back of a chair.

Valley Master Gongsun’s face had been unmoved all along but now his face was filled with joy, he raised his hand towards Fawang and the others, saying, “This is my bride; the wedding has been set for today after midday.” He then glanced over at Yang Guo wryly, offended by his rudeness just now in recognizing someone wrongly and scaring his new bride.

Yang Guo’s shock was indescribable; he said loudly, “Gu Gu, could it be… could it be that you’re not Xiao Longnu? Could it be that you’re not my Master?”

The girl said, “No! What Xiao Longnu?”

Yang Guo clenched his fists, his mind filled with thoughts, “Is Gu Gu angry with me and doesn’t want to recognize me? Is it because we’re in danger and she’s deliberately pretending? Is she like Godfather and has lost her memories? But Godfather was still able to recognize me. Could it be that there really is someone else in the world that looks exactly like her?” He just said, “Gu Gu, you… you… I’m… I’m Guo’er!”

Valley Master Gongsun frowned slightly as he watched him lose his composure, he quietly said to the girl, “Sister Liu, there are many weird people here today.”

The girl ignored him and poured a cup of water. She slowly drank it and glanced over at Jinlun Fawang and the others but she avoided Yang Guo, not looking at him again. Everyone saw her sleeve tremble slightly and water splashed from the cup onto her clothes but she did not notice anything.

Yang Guo’s mind was turning upside down and didn’t know what to do; he turned around to Jinlun Fawang and asked, “My Master and I have dueled with you before, you remember. Tell me… have I recognized the wrong person?”

When the girl entered the hall, Fawang had recognized her as Xiao Longnu but she completely ignored Yang Guo, he thought that the two must have had a lovers quarrel so he smiled wryly and said, “I don’t remember.”

He had endured a great defeat by them when Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo used the “Simple Heart of the Jade Maiden” swordplay against him; something which had never happened before. He thought that if the two had quarreled, it really was something that was beneficial to him, why should he help them get back together?

Yang Guo was startled again but immediately understood, in his mind, he was furious, “You really are evil. That day on the mountain top, I helped you to recuperate and now you’re doing this to me.” He wanted to kill him right there and then.

Jinlun Fawang saw that he had fallen to pieces but his eyes revealed hatred, he pondered, “There’s hate towards me in his heart now; if I let him live he will be a problem in the future. Today he’s making a spectacle of himself; this really is a good chance to get rid of him.” He folded his arms to Valley Master Gongsun and laughed, “Since today is Valley Master’s day of celebration, of course we’ll attend but it is a bit embarrassing that my friends and I have not brought any gifts.”

Valley Master Gongsun was delighted when he heard that they would stay for his wedding, he said to the girl, “These people are great Masters of Wulin; just being able to have one present is a great honour never mind being able to…” He wanted to say six of them but he felt Yang Guo was young. Just now when he fought Zhou Botong, though his form and position were exquisite, his internal energy was ordinary. He felt that his martial arts practice aimed for style over substance and couldn’t rank him as one of the ‘great Masters of Wulin’. But if he leaves him out and says five, it would a bit too discourteous, he hesitated a little and said, “…invite these heroes.”

Fawang thought to himself, “This Valley Master has a majestic air, and from the formation he set to catch the Old Urchin, his martial arts and intelligence are excellent; but he hasn’t got the ability to do great things. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu just said a few words and he’s agitated.”

Valley Master Gongsun said, “Sister Liu, this is Jinlun Fawang…” He then told her who they were and said Yang Guo’s name last. When the girl heard their names, she just nodded slightly, her face unmoved as if she did not care but to Yang Guo’s name, she stared outside and didn’t even nod.

Yang Guo’s face was red, his mind was turning upside like an ocean storm, whatever Valley Master Gongsun said, he didn’t hear. Nimoxing, Yin Kexi and the others did not know his background, they thought that he was embarrassed because he had recognized the wrong person.

Gongsun Lu’E was standing behind her father and heard every single word that Yang Guo had said, she thought to herself, “This morning his finger was pierced by the passion flower, and he immediately suffered pain from yearning for his lover. Right now he’s filled with these thoughts, could it be that my new mother is his lover? What are the chances of that? Could it be that these people have come to the valley because of my new mother?” She examined her ‘new mother’ and saw that her face was expressionless, there was no joy or happiness on her face, neither was there any shyness; she did not look like a new bride at all and her suspicions deepened.

Yang Guo’s chest felt as if it wanted to burst, he then thought, “Gu Gu must have a reason for being like this, I better stop running away with these thoughts and find out the truth.”

He then stood up and bowed to the Valley Master. He said clearly, “I have a close one, that… that looks extremely like that Miss, I apologize for my mistake just now.”

When the Valley Master heard these polite words, his face immediately changed and returned the bow. He then said, “It’s not unusual to mistake someone for someone else, who can be blamed? But…” He stopped for a while and laughed, “To have someone else who looks exactly like her is not only a great coincidence; it is also an extremely odd thing.” He was saying how could there be another equally as beautiful girl under heaven’s skies?

Yang Guo said, “Yes, it is extremely odd. Can I take the liberty to ask this Miss’ surname?”

Valley Master Gongsun had a faint smile and said, “Her surname is Liu. Is your close one also named Liu?”

Yang Guo said, “No.” He pondered, “Why did Gu Gu change her name to Liu?” He then had a thought, “Ah, it’s because I’m named *Yang.” [*Yangliu is the combined name for a willow tree. It symbolically indicates the link between them.] After another thought like this, his finger broke out in unbearable pain again.

Gongsun Lu’E saw his suffering and pitied him, her eyes never left his face.

Valley Master Gongsun examined Yang Guo for a while and then looked at the girl in white, her head was lowered and she didn’t make a single sound. He was becoming suspicious and thought, “Just now when she heard this punk call out, I heard her call out quietly ‘Guo’er, Guo’er, you’re here? Is it you that’s calling me?’ Could it be that she really is that little punk’s Auntie? But why is she not recognizing him?” He wanted to ask her but there were many people present; he thought this matter could be explained later after the wedding, so he took back his words.

Yang Guo said, “This Miss has not lived in this valley for long; I wonder how, did you and her meet?”

In ancient times, ordinarily girls would not meet outsiders easily, and they were even stricter about seeing guests on their wedding day; but Jinlun Fawang and the others didn’t take much notice. Some of them were from the west and the others roamed Jianghu; they weren’t restrained by customs and traditions. They just felt that wearing plain white silk on her wedding day was a bit too dull. When they heard Yang Guo inquire about someone else’s business when he asked the Valley Master how he met the girl, they felt that he had gone too far.

But Valley Master Gongsun also wanted to know about the background of his bride to be, he thought, “It could be that little punk really knows sister Liu.” He said, “Brother Yang is correct. Half a month ago, I was picking herbs by the mountain side when I saw her lying at the foot of the mountain; she had a serious injury and was on the point of death. I examined her and knew that she had suffered a fire deviation while practicing internal energy, so I took her back to the valley and used my family’s medicine to help her recover. We met by chance.”

Jinlun Fawang interrupted, “This is the so called thousand li fate of marriage led by a string. Miss Liu must have wanted to repay this kindness so she agreed to marry. This really is a match that was made in heaven.” His words seemed to be praising Valley Master Gongsun but in reality, he wanted to spite Yang Guo.

When Yang Guo heard this, his face did indeed change dramatically; his body trembled and there was a faint sweet taste at the back of his throat, he threw up a mouthful of blood.

When the girl in white saw this she quivered, “You… you…” She quickly stood up and wanted to stretch out her hand to help him up, but she forced herself to stop. Then she too spat out a mouthful of blood; her white dress was stained by it.

This Miss Liu was a name that Xiao Longnu had made up. That night after hearing the words of Huang Rong, she thought to herself that if she married Yang Guo, she will have caused him to be looked down on by everyone in the world. She felt uneasy about this; but if she were to stay with him in the ancient tomb forever, after a while he would get bored and would not be happy. She thought long and hard, eventually she hardened her heart and quietly left. Her love for Yang Guo was immense; to suddenly leave him like this was extremely difficult. She thought that if she returned to the ancient tomb, he would definitely come back and find her so she wandered alone in a wild, vast valley. One day, she sat down to practice when suddenly her thoughts of love surged forward; it was difficult to control and her inner chi suddenly surged through her veins and meridians and caused her old injury to react again. If Valley Master Gongsun hadn’t passed by, she would have died there in the wild mountainside.

Valley Master Gongsun had lost his wife a long time ago; when he saw her, he couldn’t imagine that someone could be as beautiful as she; his intent to rescue her had salacious thoughts added onto them.

Xiao Longnu was disheartened; she also thought that if she lived somewhere in seclusion by herself, she would not be able to stop herself and would follow the same disastrous path again. Going out again in search of Yang Guo and cause him grief. She saw the love that Valley Master Gongsun had for her and he asked for her hand. She blocked out her heart and agreed; she thought that after she becomes someone else’s wife, she will sever her ties with Yang Guo completely. Along with living in such a secluded place, she assumed that she would never see him again. Who could have thought that Zhou Botong would suddenly appear to cause trouble in the valley? The results would lead him here.

Xiao Longnu was filled with emotional turmoil at this sudden reunion with Yang Guo. She thought, “I’ve already agreed to marry someone else; I’ll just keep up this act and let him leave in anger and hate me forever. With his talents and appearance, what need is there to worry that he won’t be able to find someone else? Though my heart will be in pain for the rest of my life, he will be able to avoid the suffering of the future.” Because of this, although she saw Yang Guo suffering, she ignored him; but her heart was mournful and it was becoming more and more difficult to endure. When she saw him throw up blood, she was filled with pity and sorrow; she couldn’t help herself and she too threw up a mouthful of blood.

Her face was extremely white, she was staggering and wanted to return inside when Valley Master Gongsun said quickly, “Quickly sit down and don’t move, don’t disturb your veins and meridians.” He turned around and said to Yang Guo, “Just leave; don’t ever come back.”

Hot tears filled Yang Guo’s eyes, he said to Xiao Longnu, “Gu Gu, if I’ve done something wrong, you can beat me, scold me; even kill me with one thrust of a sword. I’m willing to accept all that. But why are you pretending that you don’t know who I am?”

Xiao Longnu lowered her head and didn’t reply, just lightly coughing twice.

Valley Master Gongsun was furious with Yang Guo when he angered her into throwing up blood. However, his self-control training was extremely good; he didn’t break out in a rage. He lowered his voice and said, “If you don’t leave then don’t blame me for being merciless.”

Yang Guo did not take any notice, his eyes were fixed on Xiao Longnu, he begged, “Gu Gu, I promise you that I will stay in the tomb with you forever; I won’t regret it, let’s leave together.”

Xiao Longnu raised her head and her gaze met his; she saw his face was filled with boundless love along with thousands of pieces of pain and worry. Her heart was moved and thought, “I’ll leave with him now!” But she immediately had another thought, “I didn’t leave him on a whim. I have thought about all the good and bad points in detail. If I give in, I will bring him trouble in the future.” So she turned her head to the side and gave a long sigh before saying, “I don’t recognize you, I don’t understand what you are saying. Just leave!”

There was no force behind the words but it was filled with love and passion; apart from Ma Guangzou who was a slow person and had no perception, everyone in the hall could tell that she loved Yang Guo and these words were against her heart’s feelings.

Valley Master Gongsun was jealous, he thought, “Though you have agreed to marry me, you have never said half a word with such feeling.” He looked at Yang Guo and saw a handsome face, his valiant air exuding everywhere; he and Xiao Longnu did indeed make a perfect couple. He pondered, “It looks like these two must be lovers. Because they had an argument, sister Liu agreed to marry me out of anger, she still has feelings for this punk. ‘Gu Gu’, ‘Master’, these must be pet names that they use when they are flirting with each other. This punk is older than sister Liu, how can he really call her ‘Auntie’, ‘Master’.” As he thought about this, his eyes revealed anger and hatred.

Fan Yiweng was very loyal to his Master. He knew that his Master was lonely and was always thinking of a way that would be able to solve his Master’s loneliness. A few days ago, he saw his Master had rescued a beautiful young girl and the girl had agreed to marry him; he was almost happier than his Master. Now he saw Yang Guo had suddenly come to cause trouble and had made his Master’s new wife throw up blood; but his Master was still enduring this. So he came forward and shouted, “The punk named Yang, if you know what’s best for you you’ll leave! We don’t welcome rude guests such as the likes of you.”

Yang Guo heard but didn’t listen; he said softly to Xiao Longnu, “Gu Gu, have you really forgotten me?” Fan Yiweng was furious; he stretched out his hand to grab his back, intending to throw him out of the hall.

Yang Guo was concentrating on speaking to Xiao Longnu; he had completely ignored everything that was going on around him. He only noticed something when he felt Fan Yiweng’s fingers on his back. He quickly moved out of the way and his opponent clutched thin air, but he heard a ‘chi’ sound, his opponent had made a hole in the back of his garment.

Yang Guo was becoming more and more anxious after his pleading once again was ignored by Xiao Longnu. If it were in the tomb where there’s no one else, he could slowly plead with her; but here in the hall there were many people. Now Fan Yiweng had come out with insults and threats; he felt his whole body was filled with pain and suffering, and he turned all his anger and emotions onto Fan Yiweng. He shouted back, “I’m talking to my Gu Gu, what has it got to do with you Shortie?”

Fan Yiweng shouted loudly, “My Master told you to leave and never come back; if you don’t listen then don’t blame me for being merciless.”

Yang Guo said angrily, “I choose not to leave; if my Gu Gu doesn’t leave then I’ll stay here for the rest of my life. Even if I die and my bones turn to ash, I’ll still follow her.” These words were meant for Xiao Longnu.

Valley Master Gongsun looked at Xiao Longnu and saw tears rolling from her eyes and eventually they splashed down on her blood stained dress. He felt sad and worried; he glanced over to Fan Yiweng and made a signal with his hands, telling him to kill Yang Guo and rid the longing that Xiao Longnu had once and for all.

Fan Yiweng was surprised with the signal that his Master had made, he had wanted to send him away from the valley and stop all this trouble and that was it. He didn’t think that his Master would actually give him the signal to kill. He said loudly, “Just because it’s my Master’s day of celebration you think I won’t kill you?” He then looked at his Master.

Valley Master Gongsun once again signaled with his hands, telling him to forget about what kind of day it was and just kill him. Fan Yiweng picked up his large staff and slammed it down on the floor, filling the room with vibrations. He shouted, “Little punk, are you really not afraid of losing your life?”

Yang Guo had just thrown up blood and the blood in his chest was rolling about, wanting to be thrown up. The internal energy of the Ancient Tomb sect is all about controlling your emotions, when Xiao Longnu’s Master imparted her the formulae, she repeatedly told her to purge her emotions. In the end, Xiao Longnu was not able to control them and as a result, she threw up blood on many occasions.

Yang Guo was taught by Xiao Longnu; his internal energy was of the same nature as hers and now his arms and legs were as cold as ice. He thought, “I’ll throw up blood violently right here and now and die here in front of her; will she still ignore me?” But then he had another thought, “Gu Gu normally loves me very much, there must a reason behind all this; most probably she’s being blackmailed by that Valley Master. She has no alternative and that’s why she’s ignoring me. If I cripple myself, it would be difficult for me to oppose him.”

He made up his mind; his heart was stirred and he decided to fight his way out of this problem and rescue Xiao Longnu from this place. He steadied himself and submerged his chi into his dan tian, forcing the blood in his chest to flow back down. He gave a wry laugh and pointed to Fan Yiweng, saying, “This valley feels like it’s filled with an air of death. When I want to come, you can’t stop me, when I want to leave, don’t dream of trying to make me stay.”

Everyone saw the emotional state that he was in. He was like a madman but all of a sudden, he had steadied himself; they were all surprised to see this.

When Fan Yiweng saw Yang Guo throwing up blood just now; he felt sorry for him and had no desire to threaten his life. He swept his staff and a fierce gust of wind brushed over Yang Guo’s clothes. He shouted, “Are you going to leave?”

Valley Master Gongsun frowned and said, “Yiweng, why are you still going on about leaving?” Fan Yiweng had just received a strict order from his Master; he had no choice but to sweep out his staff towards Yang Guo’s shins.

Gongsun Lu’E knew her senior apprentice brother had great martial arts; though he wasn’t tall, he possessed great strength and he had learned about seventy to eighty percent of her father’s skills. His steel staff had killed countless wild beasts. She thought that with Yang Guo being of a young age, he would definitely not be able to beat her apprentice brother’s eighty one stances of the “Spilling Water Staff”. If she waited for them to fight it would be difficult for her to save him. Though she saw her father’s face was harsh as frost and filled with anger, she plucked up her courage and stood towards Yang Guo, saying, “Master Yang, staying here will do you no good, why do you want to give your life away for no reason?” Her tone was gentle, filled with compassion.

Fawang and the others looked at her, secretly surprised, thinking, “Yang Guo came to the valley with us; when did he become friends with this girl?”

Yang Guo nodded and laughed, he said, “Thank you for Miss’ kindness. Do you want a beard to play with?” Gongsun Lu’E was startled and asked, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “I’ll rid him of his beard and give it to you to mess around with, how about it?”

Gongsun Lu’E lost her color in shock. She thought that he must be bored with his life; actually daring to make a joke like this. The rules of the Passionless Valley were very strict; these few words of advice to Yang Guo would result in a heavy punishment. How could she know that he would reply jokingly? Her face went red; she didn’t dare to say anything else and stepped back into the line of disciples.

Fan Yiweng was a short man and was immensely proud of his beard; when he heard these mocking words from Yang Guo, he threw away his staff and rushed forward, shouting, “Little punk, I’ll let you experience pain from my beard first.” In the middle of his cry, his long beard swept forward.

Yang Guo laughed, “The Old Urchin didn’t cut off your beard; let me have a try.” He took out his scissors from his bag and cut forward towards the beard. Fan Yiweng’s beard was flung forward towards his neck; it had great force behind it. Yang Guo had already moved out of the way; the opened blades of the scissors came forward, a ‘ka’ sound was heard as they closed.

Fan Yiweng was shocked and he quickly did a somersault to get out of the way; just one slight delay and his beard would have been cut off. This wasn’t an ordinary kind of shock. The people who were watching called out quietly.

The reason Yang Guo had asked Blacksmith Feng to make this pair of scissors was so that he could use it against Li Mochou’s fly whisk. Li Mochou uses her “Divine Five Poison Palm” and her fly whisk to sweep through Jianghu; her fly whisk techniques were superb. Before Yang Guo could use the scissors to neutralize her fly whisk techniques, he had to first think carefully about how to use it; how he’d need to thrust forward when the fly whisk swayed around; how he’d cut when the fly whisk came forward to attack him. How could he know that before he had the chance to use it against Li Mochou, he would actually came across a person in the Passionless Valley who uses his beard as a weapon? Yang Guo thought, “No matter how good your beard is; it can’t be better than Li Mochou’s fly whisk.” He had no fear and pressed forward with the scissors.

Fan Yiweng had spent over ten years in training his beard technique; because he had his hands for protection, his beard was more lethal than the conventional whip or fly whisk. His head swung around and bought his beard forward; at the same time he threw out two palms towards Yang Guo.

A while go, Zhou Botong had tried to use the scissors to cut off his beard; but instead of cutting it off, the beard wrapped around the scissors, and he could only admit defeat. Everyone had seen the martial arts of Zhou Botong; everyone knew that Yang Guo could not compare to him. Who knew that in the hands of Yang Guo, the scissors swept, cut and threatened; going to and fro like it was in a dance? It was actually better than the way Zhou Botong had handled the scissors and everyone marveled. In the proficiency of martial arts and internal energy level, of course Yang Guo was miles behind Zhou Botong; but he had carefully studied the stances of Li Mochou’s fly whisk and had devised scissors stances to counter them. Because the way the beard was used was similar to that of the fly whisk, the scissors were indeed effective against the beard and Yang Guo got the upper hand. Of course this was different to the unplanned and unstructured scissor techniques of Zhou Botong. But Fawang and the others did not know the reason behind it; they saw with their own eyes Zhou Botong thrusting the scissors towards him. In accordance with his character, this would be something that he would devise to cause trouble. Yang Guo was most proficient with a sword and Fawang knew this.

On many occasions, Fan Yiweng was almost injured by the scissors and as a result, he stopped looking down on Yang Guo. He changed his stance and swung his beard wildly around, striking out in all directions, attacking forward and sweeping across. This actually formed another set of stances. Yang Guo cut downwards many times but each time he caught thin air, he also felt the wind from his opponent’s palms was fierce. Sometimes the beard was a decoy while the palm was real, at other times the palms lured the opponent and the beard attacked; this was a set of ingenious martial arts that the world of Wulin had never seen before.

In a short while, tens of moves were exchanged. Yang Guo thought, “The Valley Master is vicious and cruel; his martial arts would definitely be much better than this shortie; if I can’t beat the disciple, how can I beat the Master?” He became slightly impatient. But Fan Yiweng’s beard was thicker and longer than Li Mochou’s fly whisk; as the beard spread out, there really were no weaknesses.

After a few more stances, Yang Guo concentrated on his opponent. He saw his opponent’s head swinging around; he had a ludicrous appearance and his beard was getting faster and faster. His head was swinging around especially fast and suddenly he had a thought; he had found a way to break this martial art of his. Yang Guo leapt back five feet and called out, “Hold off!”

Fan Yiweng stopped his attack and said, “Since you’ve admitted defeat little brother, just leave!”

Yang Guo shook his head as he laughed and said, “After your beard’s been cut, how long will it take to grow back?” Fan Yiweng said, “What’s it got to do with you? I’ve never cut my beard before.” Yang Guo shook his head and said, “Pity, pity!”

Fan Yiweng said, “Pity what?”

Yang Guo said, “In three stances I’m going to cut off your beard.”

Fan Yiweng thought, “You and I have already fought for tens of stances and we’re at a draw; you must be dreaming if you think you can win in just three more stances.” Fan Yiweng shouted, “Watch this stance!” His right palm came chopping out.

Yang Guo slanted his left palm and smashed down with the scissors in his right hand, attacking the opponent’s forehead on the left side. He was tall, when the scissors attacked his opponent’s head it cut downwards. Fan Yiweng slanted his head to avoid the attack but then, Yang Guo’s left palm came downwards across his forehead on the right side. There was a vicious force behind the chop; Fan Yiweng quickly moved his head to the left. The opponent’s attack was fast, his reaction was also very swift and his beard followed him and swung upwards. Yang Guo’s scissors had been opened and was guarding the right; a ‘ka’ sound was heard as the scissors cut down. He cut off over two feet of the beard.

Everyone called out and all felt shocked; they saw that he did indeed succeed in cutting off Fan Yiweng’s beard in three stances.

After fighting for a long time, Yang Guo eventually found out that when Fan Yiweng’s beard was flung to the left, his head would first move right; when the beard was swung upwards, his head would first hang down; he cursed himself for being so stupid, “His beard is on his head, if the beard moves, he will of course first move his head. I didn’t attack the source and tangled with his beard, what an idiot.” He planned his three attacks and then told him that he would cut off Fan Yiweng’s beard in three stances.

Fan Yiweng was stunned as he watched the beard that he has grown for half his life floating to the floor; he felt anger and sorrow at the same time. He went up and down as he picked up his staff and then shouted angrily, “If you don’t kill me, then don’t dream of leaving the valley.”

Yang Guo laughed, “I wasn’t planning on leaving in the first place!” Fan Yiweng swept his staff towards his waist.

Ma Guangzou had fought with Fen Yiweng previously and had been on the receiving end; right now he was feeling rather pleased and said loudly, “Old Shortie, you face wasn’t the best sight in the first place; but after losing your beard, you look even weirder.”

When Fan Yiweng heard this, he clenched his teeth and fought even harder.

Yang Guo only knew what his soft beard techniques were like and didn’t know how strong he was; he saw the incoming staff and stuck out his scissors; a ‘dang’ sound was heard and his arms felt numb, the scissors had been bent out of shape.

Just one stance and the scissors were out of commission. The onlookers had seen Yang Guo gain victory but they didn’t predict that the weapons would change and the battle would continue. The difference between the two could be clearly seen, one was holding an extremely long and heavy weapon while the other was holding a piece of scrap metal.

Gongsun Lu’E could not hold back anymore and called out, “Master Yang, you’re not as strong as my senior apprentice brother; why continue?”

Valley Master Gongsun was beginning to get angry when he saw his daughter protecting an outsider; he glanced at her and saw her face was filled with concern. He then looked at Xiao Longnu and saw that her expression was calm, appearing like she had no concern for Yang Guo’s safety whatsoever; his anger immediately turned to joy. He thought, “So she has no feelings for that punk; otherwise, how could she have no concern for him now that he’s facing danger?”

He didn’t know that Xiao Longnu knew that Yang Guo was ingenious and his martial arts were above those of Fan Yiweng; when the two fight, victory is certain so there was no need for her to worry.

Yang Guo threw the bent scissors on the floor and said, “Old Fan, you’re not a match for me, just throw away your staff and surrender.” Fan Yiweng said angrily, “If you can beat my staff then I’ll knock myself dead.”

Yang Guo said, “What a pity, what a pity!”

Fan Yiweng called out, “Watch this stance!” A stance of “Pushing Down the Peak of Mount Tai” was sent out towards his head. Yang Guo dodged to the side and his left foot was placed on the head of the staff. Fan Yiweng shook his hands, flinging the staff. Yang Guo followed the staff and was forced into midair, but his left foot was still standing steadily on the staff head. Fan Yiweng shook the staff a few times but couldn’t shake Yang Guo off. He was about to turn the staff when Yang Guo’s right foot advanced and he was actually running towards him on the staff.

In the eyes of Fan Yiweng and the onlookers, these two stances were inconceivably strange; but in reality, it was a technique of the Ancient Tomb sect that utilizes great lightness kung fu to defeat a long and large weapon.

Years ago when Li Mochou fought Wu Santong in Jiaxing, she stood on the chestnut tree that Wu Santong had used as a weapon and she couldn’t be shaken off by him. Li Mochou had used this type of martial art.

Fan Yiweng was stunned and in this time, Yang Guo’s left foot had advanced a step and he kicked out with his right towards his nose. Fan Yiweng was in an extremely distressing situation; the enemy was attached to his weapon. If he leapt backwards he would bring the enemy with him and would not be able to avoid that kick. His hands were holding onto the staff so he couldn’t use his hands to block; his beard had been cut off and couldn’t be used as defensive weapon. It was an urgent situation and he had no choice but to throw away the steel staff and leap back to avoid the kick.

A ‘dang’ sound was heard as one end landed on the floor. Before the other end landed as well, Yang Guo had picked it up in his hands. Ma Guangzou, Nimoxing, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others cheered.

Yang Guo placed the staff on the floor and laughed, “What about it?”

Fan Yiweng’s face went red and said, “I was careless and fell for your trick, I’m not accepting it.”

Yang Guo said, “We’ll go again.” He threw the staff towards Fan Yiweng who stretched out his hand to catch it. However, when the staff was two feet in front of him, it suddenly swept up. Fan Yiweng clutched thin air while Yang Guo flew over and stretched out his arm, taking the staff once again. Ma Guangzou’s and the others’ cheers were becoming louder. Fan Yiweng’s face was now purple.

Fawang and Yin Kexi looked at each other and both secretly laughed, praising Yang Guo’s cleverness. Yesterday, Zhou Botong had shot out broken spearheads towards them with the force immediately taken back as soon as it shot out; after the spearheads flew out, they suddenly changed direction in midair; now Yang Guo was copying him. But there were four spearheads while there was only one staff; the staff was also heavy and to change the force was not hard; what Yang Guo had done was much easier than what Zhou Botong had done.

But Valley Master Gongsun and his disciples did not know what it was about and all were shocked. Yang Guo laughed, “What? Do you want to go again?”

His beard had been cut and weapon taken but it was all due to cleverness; how could he admit defeat without any protest? He said loudly, “If you use real martial arts to beat me then I’ll admit defeat.”

Yang Guo chuckled, “In martial arts, ingenuity comes first. Your Master’s mind is unclear; of course the disciples he teaches will be lacking a bit. I’ll give you some advice; it’s better if you go and find another Master.” These words were an insult directed at Valley Master Gongsun.

Fan Yiweng thought, “My study of martial arts is lacking and I’ve disgraced my Master; if I really can’t win then I’ll commit suicide to apologize to Master.” He clenched his teeth and stood up straight.

Yang Guo swept the steel staff towards him and placed it in his hands, he said, “Be careful this time; if you lose your staff again, you won’t be able to blame anyone else.”

Fan Yiweng did not reply. He held the end of the staff tightly with his right and thought, “You’ll only be able to take away this staff if you cut off my right arm.”

Yang Guo called out, “Careful!” He flung himself forward until his left hand rested on the end of the staff; the index and middle finger of his right hand went towards his opponent’s eyes; at the same time, his left foot had flipped upwards and was holding down the staff’s body. This was a stance from the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, “Stealing the Staff from the Mouth of the Tiger”.

On the previous two times that Yang Guo took the staff, though everyone thought his movements were special, they all saw what happened clearly. But this time even Fan Yiweng didn’t know what was going on; he just blinked and the staff was in the hands of the opponent again. Only Jinlun Fawang with his profound martial arts knowledge and his experience of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” knew that Yang Guo had used one of the skills of this stick technique.

Ma Guangzou called out, “The ‘No Beard Long Beard’. Are you in awe now?”

Fan Yiweng called out, “He used witchcraft, and it isn’t real martial arts, why should I admit defeat?” Yang Guo laughed, “How will you admit defeat?”

Fan Yiweng said, “Only if you use real martial arts to beat me, then I’ll admit defeat.” Yang Guo returned the staff to him and said, “Fine, we’ll go another couple of stances.”

Fan Yiweng was extremely worried about his clever empty-handed staff snatching techniques; he thought, “No matter how much advantage I get, when he’s at a point where he can hold me off no longer he’ll suddenly use his witchcraft. It would be difficult for me to win.” So he said, “I use such a large and long weapon yet you are empty handed, even if I win you won’t take it.”

Yang Guo laughed, “You’re afraid of my “Empty Hands Entering A Hundred Blades” kung fu; fine, I’ll use a weapon.” He scoured the room and all he saw were bare walls, there wasn’t one single weapon that he could use. However, in the courtyard there were two large willow trees; it had many branches and had emerald green leaves hanging down from it. He looked at Xiao Longnu and said, “Since you want to have Liu as a surname, I’ll use a willow branch as a weapon!” He leapt into the courtyard and broke off an inch thick branch; it was about four feet long. The length and thickness was similar to the Beggar Clan’s Dog Beating Stick. The branch still had its leaves which gave the weapon elegance.

Xiao Longnu’s mind was fluttering all over the place; she had no plans for the future, the longer that Yang Guo was in her sight, the harder it was for her to leave him. She pondered to herself, “Though separating from Yang Guo was heartbreaking, she had a thought about this a hundred times and was able to tolerate it.” Right now, he was here in person in front of her very eyes; every word of his, every action, every smile and even his anger, all of them moved and stirred her heart. She wanted to go inside and stop seeing and hearing him but how could she? She lowered her head and didn’t say anything; but she was feeling as if a thousand steel knives were cutting right into her heart.

End of Chapter 17.

Chapter 18 – Valley Master Gongsun

Gongsun Zhi was using his greatest skill “Yin Yang Wild Blades”. The black sword was originally soft and yin but right now it was hacking and chopping solidly, changing into the yang and hard nature of saber play. Meanwhile, the heavy and clumsy jagged saber was now piercing and cutting, going down the road of lightness and swiftness. The saber had become a sword, the sword had become a saber, and it really was extraordinary.

Fan Yiweng was furious when he saw Yang Guo pick a willow branch as a weapon, treating this as if it was a game and showing no respect towards him at all. He didn’t know that within the softness of the willow branch there was also toughness and that he was going to use the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” with it. Though it couldn’t compare with the bamboo treasure of the Beggar Clan, it was a lethal weapon that matched any precious sword or saber. Ma Guangzuo said, “Brother Yang, just use my saber!” He took the saber out of the sheath and the blade glimmered; it really was a sharp blade.

Yang Guo saluted with his arms and laughed, “Thank you! This brother isn’t a bad person; it’s just a pity that he follows the wrong Master. His martial arts are poor and just a willow branch will be enough to beat him.” The willow branch moved forward and attached itself to the steel staff.

Once again, Fan Yiweng heard him insult his Master; he was thinking that this time it will be a life and death battle; he was not going to hold anything back. He waved the staff around which generated noises within the air and started to use his eighty-one stances of the “Spilling Water Staff”. The reason behind the name ‘Spilling Water’ is that no splash or spill of water can advance; the staff stances were extremely tight and unyielding.

At first, the staff was swift and powerful, but after a few stances, he felt that the staff was gradually moving towards one side. The head of the staff felt skewed and the wind generated by the staff was becoming weaker.

Yang Guo was using the “Dog Beating Stick Technique’s” ‘coil’ theory; the branch was attached to the staff head and when the staff moved to the east, the branch moved to the east; when the staff was flipped upwards, the branch followed; but at the final stage, his internal energy forced the staff to pull or push a little more in another direction and staff head moved out of the control of Fan Yiweng. This particular ‘coil’ formulae of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” is derived from the advanced martial art theory of ‘four liang moving a thousand jin’, subtle and ingenious, this theory far exceeded the methods of ‘using force against force’ or ‘using the current to move the boat.’

The onlookers were becoming more and more surprised; they could not believe that the very young Yang Guo would possess such ingenious martial arts. They saw that Fan Yiweng’s staff was gradually becoming weaker while Yang Guo’s willow branch was becoming stronger.

Thirty stances later, Fan Yiweng’s staff was completely under the control of the willow branch; the more strength Fan Yiweng used, the more incontrollable the staff became. In the end, he felt as if he had entered an extremely strong cyclone, making him dizzy and dazed, completely losing his bearings.

Valley Master Gongsun’s hand came down on the stone table, and called out, “Yiweng, stand down!”

The noise created was thunderous, even Yang Guo’s heart skipped a beat; he thought to himself, “I can’t let him slip away.” He then shook his arm and changed to the ‘turn’ formulae; his body froze and his wrist kept on drawing circles, turning Fan Yiweng around like a spinning top. The faster that Yang Guo turned his hands, the faster Fan Yiweng spun; the staff in his hand acted like the handle of a spinning top. Yang Guo said, “If you can stop your feet and don’t fall, then you’re a man. But if your master can’t teach, then the disciples he teaches will trip up in battle.” The willow branch lifted upwards and he leapt backwards over ten feet.

Fan Yiweng’s body and mind were not under his control at this moment in time; he was stumbling, and after a few more turns, he would fall to the floor.

Valley Master Gongsun suddenly leapt up and palmed the head of the staff in midair and lightly came back down. That move he did appeared to be ordinary and light but there was a great force behind it; he had slammed the staff two feet into the floor and stopped it spinning. Fan Yiweng grabbed the staff tightly and didn’t drop, but his body was stumbling and swaying as if he was drunk, his bearings lost for the time being.

Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi and the others looked at Yang Guo, and then looked at Valley Master Gongsun; they now knew that these two people were definitely not easy people to deal with. They planned to watch this great battle from the side without interfering. Ma Guangzuo was the only one who had intended to help Yang Guo; he called out, “Brother Yang, great kung fu! Shortie has lost!”

Fan Yiweng breathed in deeply and steadied himself; he turned around and suddenly knelt down before his Master. He then kowtowed four times and without saying a word, suddenly ran towards a stone pillar.

Everyone was shocked; no one had predicted that his character was so fiery that after suffering a defeat he would kill himself.

Valley Master Gongsun called out, “Oh no!” He leapt up from his table and stretched out his hand to grab his back; but they were too far apart and Fan Yiweng was very quick, the Valley Master could only grab thin air.

Fan Yiweng used all his strength in his effort to run into the pillar but suddenly he felt his forehead going into something soft. He raised his head and saw Yang Guo with his two palms out standing in front of the pillar.

He said, “Brother Weng, what is the most painful thing in the world?”

When Yang Guo saw Fan Yiweng kneeling down to his Master, he knew that he was up to something so he prepared himself. He was close to Fan Yiweng and managed to get ahead of him, keeping him from the pillar with his palms.

Fan Yiweng was stunned, he asked, “What is it?”

Yang Guo said mournfully, “I don’t know myself. But the pain in my heart is ten times greater than yours yet I haven’t killed myself; why are you doing this?”

Fan Yiweng said, “You’ve won; what pain have you got in your heart?”

Yang Guo shook his head and said, “What’s so important about winning and losing in battle? I don’t know how many times I’ve been beaten in my life. When you tried to kill yourself, your Master worried about you. If I tried to kill myself, my Master would think nothing of it; that is a deeply hurtful thing.”

Fan Yiweng still did not understand. Valley Master Gongsun called out sternly, “Yiweng, if you have any more stupid thoughts then you’ll be disobeying the orders of your Master. Stand to the side and watch me take care of this scum.”

Fan Yiweng did not dare to disobey his Master and retreated. He stared at Yang Guo; he himself did not know what he felt towards him...anger, loathing, or respect?

When Xiao Longnu heard Yang Guo say ‘If I tried to kill myself, my Master would think nothing of it’; her eyes turned red and more tears fell from them. She thought, “If you died, do you think I’d still be able to live?”

Valley Master Gongsun had kept his eye on her all along and now he suddenly saw her tears once again; he was jealous and angry. He clapped his hands three times and called out, “Catch that little rat.” He looked upon himself highly, thinking that it was beneath him to fight Yang Guo. The two groups of disciples from the side responded. They stood in all directions and suddenly called out; each group of four held a fish net and they surrounded Yang Guo.

Yang Guo and Fawang arrived here with the others with Fawang being the head of the group; now that it had come to this, he should come out and make a stand on this issue; but all he did was chuckle and watched from the side.

The Valley Master did not know what Fawang was thinking and assumed that he was laughing at him for not being able to handle Yang Guo, he thought, “I’m going to show what the Passionless Valley is made out of.” He again clapped three times.

The sixteen disciples crossed and changed positions, decreasing the size of the encirclement a few steps. The four nets kept on changing positions, from horizontal to vertical, from straight to bend.

Yang Guo had seen the disciples in green twice use this fish net formation to catch Zhou Botong; its variations were indeed profound and it was extremely hard to defend against. This formation and Quanzhen’s “Big Dipper Formation” each had its own strong points. He thought, “The Old Urchin with his martial arts was captured by this net formation; how am I going to cope? If he just wanted to escape and he threw Ma Guangzuo and Fan Yiweng into the nets and took the opportunity to slip away, it would not suit his purpose. My intent is to stay here.” Each net was over ten feet wide and the handlers were hidden behind it; if he wanted to defeat this formation he would first have to attack the green disciples who were holding the nets. But as soon as he got too close, he would be captured by the nets. He had no way of making his move. The sixteen were pressing closer and closer. Yang Guo didn’t know what to do and could only use the Ancient Tomb’s lightness kung fu to dart and fly around in the hall; floating here and dashing there making it hard for the opponents to predict the direction he was heading.

He moved around in all directions but the sixteen disciples did not follow him; they just shank the encirclement step by step. Yang Guo dashed around as he searched for a way to defeat this formation. He saw that although the nets were turning around extremely swiftly, the places where they overlapped each other remained covered and didn’t show a gap at all. He thought, “There’s nothing I can do apart from using projectiles to hurt the handlers.” He swiveled around once and there were a handful of Jade Bee needles in his hand, he waved out his left hand and shot out seven or eight Jade Bee needles at the four disciples north of him. He saw that the four of them were about to get hit when he suddenly heard light ‘ding ding ding ding’ sounds; the Jade Bee needles were sucked in by the net. The fish net was actually embellished with small magnets; with such a large net, no matter how powerful the enemy’s projectile, it would still be blocked by the net. The Jade Bee needle was seventy percent gold, thirty percent steel; because of this thirty percent, the Jade Bee needles were attracted by the net’s magnets.

Yang Guo thought that this strike would succeed; how would he know that this net actually had so many clever uses? He quickly looked at the Valley Master and knew that it would be of no use to fire out any more projectiles. His right hand went into his pockets and put the needles away. He was just about to think of another way to break the formation when the net from the east side came closer. The leader of the four handlers whistled, a gold light flashed across his eyes as the net came over his right shoulder. Yang Guo darted back and was about to escape to the north west when the nets from the north and west side pressed forwards.

Yang Guo cursed, “It’s over…it’s over! I wonder what torture I’ll endure after falling into the hands of this Valley Master.” Suddenly he heard one of the handlers of the southern net call out, “Oh no!” Yang Guo turned his head and saw that Gongsun Lu’E had fallen onto the floor; one of the corners of the net was hanging down loosely.

This was the only route out of the formation; Yang Guo didn’t give it another thought and darted out of the encirclement. He saw Gongsun Lu’E had fallen onto the floor calling out in pain but she was signaling with her eyes to leave the valley at once.

Yang Guo thought to himself, “I’m really touched by her kindness. But if I leave the valley, Gu Gu would definitely be forced into marrying that old Valley Master. I don’t care if I get captured and suffer the pain of a thousand knives, I’ll never leave.” He stood in the corner of the room and looked at Xiao Longnu thinking, “I’ve just experienced great danger yet you still have no reaction?” He saw that Xiao Longnu was still hanging her head and keeping quiet.

The Valley Master clapped his hands twice and the nets suddenly dispersed. He turned to Gongsun Lu’E and said coldly, “What’s wrong with you?”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “My leg suddenly had in a painful cramp.”

Valley Master Gongsun suspected that his daughter had fallen in love with Yang Guo and as a result gave him an escape route at such a critical moment. But because there were outsiders here it wasn’t appropriate for him to break out in a rage, he laughed coldly and said, “Fine, stand down. Shi Si’er will take her position.”

Gongsun Lu’E lowered her head and stood down. A youngster in green responded and stepped forward. This person was only fourteen or fifteen years of age and had their hair tied in two plaits.

Gongsun Lu’E glanced at Yang Guo with grieving in her eyes. Yang Guo felt apologetic and said to himself, “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to repay her kindness and compassion in this life.”

Valley Master Gongsun clapped his hands four times and suddenly the sixteen disciples retreated. Yang Guo was shocked, thinking, “Could it be that you admit defeat?” Just as he was wondering about this, he turned his head and saw Gongsun Lu’E had a fearful expression on her face; she kept on signaling to him with her eyes to leave the valley. From her appearance, it appeared that he was going to face something extremely dangerous. Yang Guo smiled; instead of running away, he pulled a chair over and sat down. There was a light ringing noise in the inner halls and the sixteen disciples came out again, their hands still holding fish nets.

Everyone’s expression changed as soon as they saw the nets; the fish nets had been changed and now it were full of hooks and blades that glimmered. They were extremely sharp; whoever gets caught in the net would be pierced all over and would have no hope of surviving.

Ma Guangzuo called out, “Hey, Valley Master, do you want to lose face? How can you use such an evil thing to treat your guests?”

Valley Master Gongsun pointed to Yang Guo and said, “I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve warned you many times to leave the valley but you chose to stay here and stir up trouble. This is your final warning, leave quickly.”

Even someone with Ma Guangzuo’s courage shivered at the sight of the nets; when he heard the hooks and knives colliding with each other, he was even more afraid. He stood up and pulled Yang Guo’s hand, “Brother Yang, it would be better for us to leave than face this evil thing; why do you insist on quarrelling with him?”

Yang Guo looked at Xiao Longnu waiting to see her response.

As soon as Xiao Longnu saw the Valley Master summon out blade and hook laced nets, she had prepared for death. As soon as Yang Guo gets caught in the nets she would throw herself on them. They would die together in each others arms. When she thought about this, she felt peace in her heart, thinking that all the world’s pain and suffering will be gone in a flash. Her lips couldn’t stop themselves from showing a smile.

How would Yang Guo know what she was feeling at this time? He thought about how he was about to face a great danger yet she could still smile; his heart was in pain, even more deeply than before. In the midst of these feelings of hurt, sorrow, indignation, and approaching danger, he suddenly had an idea and didn’t continue on with these thoughts. He went over to Xiao Longnu and bowed lightly. He said, “Gu Gu, Guo’er is in danger today; I would like to borrow your silk belt and silk gloves.”

Xiao Longnu was only thinking about the joy of dying with him and nothing else; when she heard these words she immediately took out a pair of silk gloves and a silk belt to give to him.

Yang Guo received them slowly and stared at her, he said, “You’re acknowledging who I am now?” Xiao Longnu was filled with love and smiled, “My heart acknowledged you long ago!”

Yang Guo’s spirits were greatly lifted and he quivered, “You’ve decided to leave with me and not marry that Valley Master?”

Xiao Longnu smiled and nodded, “I’ve decided to go with you, and of course I won’t marry anyone else. Guo’er; naturally that makes me your wife’.”

When she said ‘go with you’, she was talking about dieing with Yang Guo. Yang Guo didn’t understand so of course the others would not either; but her words of ‘naturally that makes me your wife’ couldn’t be clearer. Valley Master Gongsun’s face went white and he hurried the disciples in green to make their move. The sixteen disciples set the nets in motion and moved around.

After hearing these words of Xiao Longnu’s, Yang Guo felt as if he was bought back to life from death; his courage and valor soared; even if he were facing greater dangers he wouldn’t care. He put on the impregnable silk gloves and held the silk belt in his right hand. The silk belt was sent out with its ringing noises like a white snake.

At the end of the silk belt was a gold bell, the belt extended and retracted once, the bell had struck the ‘Concealed Valley’ pressure point of one of the disciples in the southern position and on its way back it struck the ‘Crooked Pond’ pressure point of one of the disciples in the eastern position. The ‘Concealed Valley’ pressure point is found on the knee, the person could not stay upright and knelt on the floor; the ‘Crooked Pond’ pressure point is found on the elbow area, as soon it was struck, the person’s arm became numb and limp, the fish net slipped out of their hands. After those two pre-emptive attacks, the fish net formation immediately broke up. The four disciples in the west were shocked and when they attacked they were slightly slow; Yang Guo’s gold bell turned towards them and after another two strikes, another two disciples had their pressure points struck. But at this time, the net from the north was thrown over his head. The knives and hooks were half a foot away from his head; he couldn’t use the silk belt to deal with them.

Yang Guo’s left hand turned upwards and grabbed the fish net; he used its force and flung it away. Although he grabbed hooks and daggers, his hands were covered by the silk gloves and were completely protected. The net was now heading back towards the four disciples in green.

When these disciples practiced this net formation, the only thing they were afraid of was the enemy slipping through the net; they concentrated on keeping it tight and unyielding. The thought of the net returning over them had never entered their minds. They watched as the glittering knives and hooks came towards their heads; they knew exactly how powerful the net was and called out in alarm as they let go and leapt away. The youngster who replaced Gongsun Lu’E was weaker than the rest; a dagger eventually pierced his thigh, blood poured and he fell down, crying out in pain on the floor.

Yang Guo laughed, “Little brother, don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you.” His left hand flipped the net away and his right moved the silk belt. Sounds of ‘qiang lang lang’ and ‘ding ling ling’ were heard as the hooks and daggers collided with each other with the golden bell ringing. The sounds were extremely crisp. After this, none of the disciples dared to come forward and stood far away by the wall. But because they hadn’t received the order to back down by their master, they didn’t dare admit defeat and run away. Though they didn’t admit defeat, they had already lost.

Ma Guangzuo clapped and cheered for a while but because he was the only one, he felt a bit lonely and glanced over to Fawang saying, “Hey monk, aren’t brother Yang Guo’s martial arts great? Why aren’t you cheering?”

Fawang laughed and said, “His skills are great, extremely good but there’s no need to call out like that.” Ma Guangzuo asked, “Why?”

Fawang saw that the Valley Master was frowning and was now making his way towards the centre of the hall slowly. Fawang concentrated on him and ignored Ma Guangzuo.

When Valley Master Gongsun heard Xiao Longnu say, ‘naturally that makes me your wife’, he knew that his sweet dream of the past two weeks had come to an end; though he was disappointed and angry, he thought, “Even if I can’t have your heart I’m going to have you. I’ll kill that bastard in one palm and I don’t care what your feelings towards me will be, after a time, your heart will eventually return to me.”

Yang Guo saw that his eyebrows were rising higher and higher to a point where his brows and eyes looked like they were standing straight up; he didn’t know what school of martial arts this was from and became slightly afraid. His right hand lifted the silk belt and his left clutched the net, he was completely prepared. He knew that this battle would decide the life and death of he and Xiao Longnu; he didn’t dare to allow one strand of carelessness in his actions.

Valley Master Gongsun circled around Yang Guo slowly. Yang Guo too turned around slowly on the floor; he didn’t dare to gaze away from him. He saw that he was still delaying making his move and knew that when he attacked, it will be extremely swift and vicious. All he saw was him raising his hands, leveling them three times in front of him and then his hands came together. The sound generated was as if gold and iron had collided. Yang Guo’s heart skipped a beat and he moved back a step. Valley Master Gongsun suddenly stretched out his right arm and grabbed the fish net, pulling it away to one side. Yang Guo felt that his pull had great force behind it; his fingers ached and he could only let go. Valley Master Gongsun threw the net to the four disciples and shouted, “Stand down!”

After having the net snatched away, Yang Guo didn’t allow him to make the first move again. The silk belt shot out and the gold bell shook, attacking the opponent’s ‘Large Bone’ and ‘Celestial Tripod’ pressure points on the shoulder and neck.

Valley Master Gongsun’s chest was open with his arms stretched out to the side but Yang Guo didn’t dare to attack the major pressure points on his chest rashly. He first attacked the smaller pressure points on his body to test him out.

Valley Master Gongsun’s martial arts were actually from a different school of martial arts; he ignored the pressure point attacks of the bell and stretched out his right arm to grab Yang Guo’s arm. A ‘ding ding’ sound was heard as the ‘Large Bone’ and ‘Celestial Tripod’ pressure points were struck but he didn’t feel it. A ‘hu’ sound was heard as the grab turned into a palm, striking towards Yang Guo’s chest on the left side.

Yang Guo was alarmed and quickly leaned his body to the side. Luckily for him, his lightness kung fu was excellent and he avoided this sudden palm from his opponent.

Yang Guo had once heard the great fighters of Wulin, Ouyang Feng, Hong Qigong and Huang Yaoshi talk about martial arts, and knew that when someone has reached advanced levels of internal energy that, at the time the opponent strikes their pressure points, they were able to seal off themselves and negate the attack. But they will still show some effects of their pressure points being attacked. Ouyang Feng’s martial arts could lead to reversal of the veins and the major pressure points over one’s body to change position. When someone sees his legs above his head, they would be able to tell immediately.

But the enemy he is facing now actually made no response to his pressure points being struck; it was as if he didn’t have any pressure points on his body. This type of martial arts is rarely seen or heard of; he couldn’t stop some fear from creeping into his heart. He saw his palms had turned over and there seemed to be black air within the palms. While it was coming towards him the wind was forceful and pressing, he didn’t dare to receive it head on. He used the silk belt to tangle with him while his left hand protected the vital areas of his body.

Soon, they had exchanged over ten stances. Yang Guo had put all his concentration into fighting him. Suddenly he saw the left palm of his opponent coming lightly towards his chest; it appeared to be a soft palm but it was the opposite; it was actually a palm from the same set of palm skills as Wanyan Ping’s “Iron Palm”. He quickly leaped away a couple of feet.

When the Valley Master’s palm met thin air, he didn’t take it back and the palm kept on going forward another two feet; he moved quickly and the palm was now in front of Yang Guo. Normally, when a person fires out a punch or sends out a palm, the strength originates from the arm. They would pull back their arm and send out the attack; but the attack Valley Master had just used now originated from his body. His hand and palm didn’t move; he was actually using the force from his body to attack the opponent. Although the force from the body is greater than that from the arm, using it to send out a palm or punch will result in slower attacks; but Valley Master Gongsun’s palm was both fierce and swift.

Yang Guo wanted to lean his body to the side to avoid the palm but there was no time, he could only send out his left palm and meet it head on. A ‘pai’ sound was generated as the palms collided; Yang Guo was jolted back three steps while the Valley Master stood his ground with his body swaying a little.

Standing there without moving, the Valley Master appeared to have the upper hand; but in actual fact the power from Yang Guo’s palm had caused a throbbing pain in the side of his body; he was extremely shocked. “I’d used all my power behind that “Iron Palm”, but that punk was still actually able to receive it. If we carry on like this I may not be able to kill him. If we fight to a draw, I won’t be able to say anything.” He clapped his hands twice; the sounds were ear piercingly loud. He said, “The one named Yang, I have been merciful in that palm, do you know that?”

If this were a normal martial arts duel, and if Yang Guo continued fighting, he would definitely lose. When the Valley Master said these words he should have admitted that his martial arts were weaker; but today he knew that the opponent would never allow him and Xiao Longnu to leave in peace. He had no other option but to engage in a fight to the death. Yang Guo still had his ridiculing and derisory nature towards his opponents and Xiao Longnu had returned to him now; his heart was overflowing with joy. He laughed and said, “If you kill me, how can my Gu Gu marry you? If you don’t kill me, my Gu Gu still would not marry you. What mercy is there? It’s just that you couldn’t do anything to me!”

Yang Guo was too kind in his surmising of his opponent’s thoughts. The Valley Master would love nothing more than to kill him in one stroke to avoid him causing any problems in the future. Even if it caused Xiao Longnu to hate and loathe him, he couldn’t have cared less; he couldn’t do anything to Yang Guo because his palms couldn’t do anything to him. He turned towards his daughter and said, “Take out my weapons.” Gongsun Lu’E delayed and didn’t reply.

Valley Master Gongsun shouted, “Didn’t you hear?”

Gongsun Lu’E went pale and could only reply, “Yes!” She then left for the inner halls.

Yang Guo looked at the expression of the two and thought, “I couldn’t cope when he was empty handed; now that he’s going to use some weird weapon, what chance have I got? If we don’t leave now, when should we leave?” He went over to Xiao Longnu and stretched out his hand, softly saying, “Gu Gu, let’s leave!”

Valley Master Gongsun gathered energy in his hands; as soon as Xiao Longnu stands and takes Yang Guo’s hand, he’ll immediately throw himself forward and attack Yang Guo’s spine viciously with the “Iron Palm”. He made his decision and thought, “I don’t care if sister Liu hates me; I’m going to kill that punk. If sister Liu leaves with him, what joy will I have left for the next half of my life?”

But Xiao Longnu did not stand up, just saying calmly, “Of course I’ll go with you. But the Valley Master did save my life; we need to explain everything to him and ask for his forgiveness.”

Yang Guo was flustered and thought, “Gu Gu doesn’t know anything. Do you think he’s going to forgive us just like that because you’ve explained everything to him?”

Then he heard Xiao Longnu ask him, “Guo’er, have you been well over the last couple of days?” She said these words with great compassion and love.

When Yang Guo heard these gentle, loving words and saw her affectionate expression, he felt that if even the sky was falling down on him he wouldn’t care. How could he still be thinking about trying to escape? He said, “Gu Gu, you’re not angry with me?”

Xiao Longnu smiled and said, “Why should I be angry with you? I’ve never been angry with you. Turn around.” Yang Guo listened to her and turned around but didn’t know what she wanted to do.

Xiao Longnu took out a little bag with string and needles in them. She threaded the needle and measured the hole that Fan Yiweng had torn on the back of his garment. She sighed and said, “Over these past few days I’ve wanted to make a new gown for you; but when I thought about how I’ll never see you again, I thought ‘what’s the point?’ I could never have dreamed that you would find your way here.” The pain and grief in her words turned to joy and delight as she said this. She picked up a pair of small scissors and cut a piece of fabric from the corner of her gown. She slowly helped him repair his garment.

When the two lived in the tomb, whenever Yang Guo’s clothes were torn or ripped, Xiao Longnu would call him over and help him repair them just like this. Over the years, this happened countless times. The two of them did not care about life and death anymore; though they were under the stares of many people in the hall, the two of them acted as if no one was there and did as they used to when they lived with each other in the ancient tomb.

Yang Guo was filled with boundless joy and hot tears rolled down from his eyes, he choked, “Gu Gu, just now I made you throw up blood, I… it was my fault.”

Xiao Longnu smiled, “It’s not your fault. You know I had this kind of illness long ago. I haven’t seen you for a few days and your martial arts have advanced so much. You threw up blood as well just now, are you alright?”

Yang Guo laughed, “It’s nothing. I’ve got more than enough blood to spare.” Xiao Longnu smiled, “You love to talk nonsense.”

Though the words of the two were ordinary and plain, everyone could hear the love that the two had for each other and that the two had an extremely deep relationship.

Fawang and the others looked at each other. Valley Master Gongsun was shocked and jealous; he stood there stunned not knowing what to do. Yang Guo said, “I’ve met some interesting people over the last few days. Gu Gu, guess where I got my pair of large scissors from?”

Xiao Longnu said, “I was wondering about that; it’s like you knew that there was a long bearded old man here long ago, so you prepared a large pair of scissors to cut off his beard. You really are naughty; he’s taken years to grow that beard and you cut it off just like that, isn’t it a pity?” She gave a laugh as her bright eyes sparkled; her appearance was enchanting.

Valley Master could not endure this any longer; he stretched out his hand towards Yang Guo’s chest and shouted, “Bastard, you’re too disrespectful.”

Yang Guo didn’t block it and said, “There’s no need to rush, I’ll continue the fight once Gu Gu finishes repairing my garment.”

Valley Master Gongsun’s fingers were just a few inches away from his chest; he had the status of being a Master and even though he was furious, it would be inappropriate for him to attack him like this. Suddenly he heard Gongsun Lu’E call out from behind, “Father, the weapons are here.” He didn’t turn around as he moved backwards a few feet and took the weapons.

His left hand held a thick and wide jagged saber; the blade glittered with gold light and it appeared to be produced from gold; his right hand was holding a fine and long black sword and it shook a little in his hands displaying the softness of the blade. The edges of the blade emitted a blue light and it was extremely sharp. The two weapons were the opposite of each other; one was heavy and hard, the other light and soft.

Yang Guo just took one look at the strange weapons before continuing “Gu Gu, a few days ago I met a woman; she told me who my father’s murderer was.”

Xiao Longnu’s heart trembled and asked, “Who is it?”

Yang Guo bit down on his teeth and said with hatred, “You could never have guessed who they were, and all along I’ve been thinking that they’ve been treating me extremely well.”

Xiao Longnu said, “They? They’ve been treating you extremely well?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes, They are…” A clear buzzing sound that resonated without stop was heard; it was Valley Master Gongsun’s black sword colliding with his golden saber. His wrist turned and three consecutive swings that sliced through the air were unleashed; one aimed towards Yang Guo’s head, one aimed at the left side of Yang Guo’s neck and other at the right side of Yang Guo’s neck. They all passed within half an inch of his flesh. The Valley Master was looking after his status; since the enemy did not make a move to block these attacks he couldn’t land them; but the accuracy of these attacks was unnerving.

Xiao Longnu said, “I’ve finished!” She patted him on the back.

Yang Guo turned around and smiled. He then made his way towards the centre of the hall with the silk belt.

Valley Master Gongsun’s “Yin Yang Twin Blades”, “Fish Net Formation” and “Closure of Pressure Points” were all passed down from his ancestors. But because they have lived in the valley in seclusion for all these years and haven’t made any contact with outsiders for hundreds of years, these three extraordinary martial arts were unknown to the outside world. Another reason for its seclusion was that there were great weaknesses within all three sets of these martial arts. If a skilled martial artist discovers the weakness, the user would not be able to avoid death. His ancestors had passed down a strict rule; members of the valley were forbidden to go out and get involved in Jianghu affairs for this reason. Over twenty years ago, Valley Master Gongsun also learned martial arts of the Iron Palm School. Although the person who taught him wasn’t some extraordinary martial artist, their knowledge was vast. Their thoughts were careful and attentive; this person helped him cover up numerous holes in his family’s martial arts. In particular, a lot of changes were made to the stances of the “Yin Yang Twin Blades”. This person said to him, “This set of saber and sword technique is now greatly improved; even if you’re opponent is extremely clever, they will not be able to see through the trappings of this technique within fifty stances. But once your saber and sword is unleashed, how can your opponent withstand fifty stances of it?”

When he saw Yang Guo motioning the silk belt to battle him, he called out, “Watch out for the sword!” The black sword quivered and it pierced towards Yang Guo’s chest; but the sword did not go straight towards his chest; instead it circled around in front of him. Yang Guo did not know where the sword was aiming and in shock, he leapt backwards.

Valley Master Gongsun’s attacks were extremely fast; when Yang Guo leapt back, the circles of the sword were thrust towards him. The circles were becoming bigger and bigger; at first it only circled around the chest area, but afterwards it covered the lower abdomen, and after a few more stances the encirclement gradually reached his neck. All the vital points between the neck and the lower abdomen of Yang Guo were covered by the sword tip. Fawang, Yin Kexi, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others has never seen such a swordplay where circling of the sword is used to press the opponent; they were shocked.

As soon as Valley Master Gongsun unleashed a stance, Yang Guo would immediately dart away; he drew ten circles with his sword and each time, Yang Guo backed away and had no way to attack. Yang Guo saw that the enemy’s swords stances were becoming swifter and more intense while the jagged saber in his left hand had still to be unleashed; when he actually uses it he would probably have no chance at all. There wasn’t time for any more thoughts and he leapt to the left while motioning the silk belt; a ringing ‘ding ling ling’ and the gold bell went flying towards the opponent’s left eye. Valley Master Gongsun slanted his head to dodge the attack and stopped his attack. Yang Guo was delighted, he quickly motioned the silk belt and wrapped it around his right leg; he was about to pull backwards when Valley Master Gongsun’s sword drew downwards and slashed the belt in two; the black sword was actually an extremely sharp weapon.

Everyone gave an ‘ah’ sound just in time to hear the gust of a fierce wind; Valley Master Gongsun had chopped down with his jagged saber towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo rolled on the floor. A ‘dang’ sound was heard which echoed throughout the room; Yang Guo had actually picked up Fan Yiweng’s steel staff to block the attack and the saber collided with it; both of their arms trembled and were slightly numb. Valley Master Gongsun was shocked, “This punk really is good; he is actually able to receive ten of my stances.” The saber chopped across and the sword pierced diagonally. A saber should take ferociousness and hardness as its aim, a sword swiftness and lightness; the two weapons were complete opposites. To use both a saber and sword at the same time is impossible; but Valley Master Gongsun’s attacks were becoming more and more pressing and the sword and saber techniques were both clearly distinguished. There was softness and hardness, yin and yang; this really was a rarely seen great skill of the Wulin world.

Yang Guo gave out a call and waved the steel staff; he used the “Dog Beating Stick Technique’s” ‘seal’ formula, guarding his body tightly. Valley Master Gongsun wasn’t actually able to attack him with his twin blades as he did this. But the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” has subtlety and variation as its main aim; a light and fine bamboo stick can be used as pleased, but the heavy and long staff in his hand cannot. After a few more stances, he felt that variation of the stances gradually became ineffective.

Valley Master Gongsun suddenly found a weakness; the gold saber lifted up and the black sword drew down; a ‘ka’ sound was heard as the black sword cut the steel staff in half.

Yang Guo called out, “What luck! Just when I was thinking that this staff is too heavy!” A great increase in the effectiveness of the stances could be seen when Yang Guo continued using this slashed half staff.

Valley Master Gongsun gave a ‘huh’ grunt and said, “We’ll see whether it’s lucky or not.” The saber in his left hand chopped forward.

The saber slashed down towards Yang Guo’s head. This stance was rather slow and sluggish, all Yang Guo had to do was to slant his body to the side a little and he would be able to avoid it easily; however, the circles from the black sword were covering all his paths leaving him with no way to escape. Yang Guo could only raise his broken staff and use a stance of “Lifting the Sky with One Hand” to meet this stance head on. A loud ‘dang’ sound was heard as the two weapons collided; sparks flew everywhere as Yang Guo felt his arms go numb. Valley Master Gongsun continued the attack; he used the same stance as before. Yang Guo was knowledgeable in martial arts and he was extremely quick witted in battle yet he wasn’t actually able to neutralize such a clumsy stance; there was no other choice for him but to meet this stance in the same way again. Yang Guo’s arms ached even more after this second collision; he knew that if this continued, the tendons in his arm would suffer great damage. Before he finished his thoughts, the Valley Master had sent down a third chop. After a few more chops, the saber had hacked a groove on the staff and the joints in Yang Guo’s right hand started to bleed.

Valley Master Gongsun saw that even in the face of danger Yang Guo still carried his smile; the saber in his left hand chopped down and he thrust the black sword suddenly towards his lower abdomen. Yang Guo had been forced back into the corner of the hall; when he saw the sword tip coming he stretched out his hand to block it. When the sword arrived at his palm, the blade bent in an arc and flicked away. Xiao Longnu’s silk gloves were very tough, even though the black sword was extremely sharp, it still couldn’t harm him.

Yang Guo knew that with the gloves he would not have to fear the black sword; he turned his palm around and suddenly stretched out his hand to grab the sword, wanting to do the same thing as Xiao Longnu did when she snapped Hao Datong’s sword. But he didn’t know that Valley Master Gongsun would flick his wrist lightly and curve his sword around his hand, piercing him in the forearm; blood flowed out of the wound.

Yang Guo was shocked and quickly leapt back. Valley Master Gongsun did not continue the attack and instead chuckled a few times before slowly advancing again. If Valley Master Gongsun had either the jagged saber or black sword only, Yang Guo would definitely have a way to defend against him; but as the soft and hard blades were use simultaneously against him, he was forced on the back foot, struggling against the attacks.

Fawang, Yin Kexi, Xiaoxiang Zi and Nimoxing were all thinking, “The Valley Master’s “Yin Yang Twin Blades” is extremely swift, powerful and vicious; but at the same time, that kid is pretty clever, thinking of so many ways to avoid all these vicious stances.”

Valley Master Gongsun chopped with his saber and thrust with his sword; Yang Guo was struck in the shoulder and blood trickled over his gown. Valley Master Gongsun said in a deep voice, “Are you in awe of me yet?”

Yang Guo smiled and said, “You came into battle with me having a huge advantage, and here you opening your mouth asking whether I’m in awe of you or not. Ha-ha, Valley Master Gongsun, how come you don’t save face?”

The Valley Master took in his sword and saber and then asked, “Please tell me what advantage I have?”

Yang Guo said, “You’re using customized weapons; one is a strange saber the other is an extraordinary sword; even if I searched all over the world I’m afraid that I wouldn’t be able to find such weapons, isn’t that true?”

The Valley Master replied, “So what? Your gloves and silk belt aren’t ordinary either.”

Yang Guo threw the broken staff onto the floor and laughed, “This belongs to your bearded disciple.” He took off the gloves and picked up the two pieces of silk belt. Yang Guo threw them over to Xiao Longnu and said, “These belong to my Gu Gu.” He cleaned off the dust on his body not taking any notice of the bleeding wounds that he had; he laughed, “I came to your valley empty handed; what ill intent did I have? If you want to kill me then kill; why must you talk so much?”

Valley Master Gongsun saw that he had a leisurely air about him; his face and eyes were elegant and handsome and even with all those wounds on him, he talked and laughed at ease as if nothing had happened. He couldn’t help but feel inferior to him and thought, “I cannot compare with this person; if I let him live, sister Liu’s heart will remain his.” So he said, “Fine!” He thrust the sword forwards towards his chest.

Yang Guo had already decided, “Since I can’t beat him then I’ll let him kill me.” When he saw the sword coming towards him, he ignored it and instead looked over at Xiao Longnu, thinking, “I will die happy with Gu Gu in my eyes.” He saw Xiao Longnu’s face carrying a sweet smile and getting closer step by step; their eyes were locked on each other, both of them ignoring the black sword of Valley Master Gongsun.

Valley Master Gongsun had not met Yang Guo before, what feud has he got with him? The only reason he’s trying to kill him is because of Xiao Longnu, so when he sent out this sword, he couldn’t help but glance over at Xiao Longnu. When he saw her, his heart immediately filled with jealousy; he saw her staring at Yang Guo lovingly, and when he looked over at Yang Guo, he was doing the exact same thing toward her. The black sword had reached Yang Guo and all that was needed was a bit of force from his arms and it would pierce into Yang Guo’s chest; but there was no fear or concern on Xiao Longnu’s face. Yang Guo also made no attempt to block this attack; the two of them stared madly at each other, their thoughts were one, they had long forgotten about life and death.

Valley Master Gongsun broke out in a great rage, thinking to himself, “If I kill him now, sister Liu will immediately kill herself because of her love for him. I need to think of a way to force her to marry me; once I’ve bedded her there’ll be plenty of time to kill that punk.” He called out, “Sister Liu, do you want me to kill him or spare him?”

When Xiao Longnu was staring at Yang Guo, she had not thought about Valley Master Gongsun; only after hearing this sudden call did she wake up and said alarmed, “Move the sword away; why are you pointing your sword at his chest?”

Valley Master Gongsun chuckled, “It’s not difficult to stop the sword. If you want to him to live, just tell him to leave the valley immediately and let us get married.”

Before Yang Guo came, she had decided to never see him again; she didn’t care if she would live the rest of her life in grief and pain. All she hoped for was that he would be safe and happy; but now that they’ve reunited, how could she still agree to marry the Valley Master? For the past few days, she knew that she couldn’t carry out the decision that she had made and would rather die than marry someone else; so she turned her head to the Valley Master and said, “Mr. Gongsun, thank you for saving my life. But I cannot marry you.”

The Valley Master knew the reasons but still asked, “Why?”

Xiao Longnu stood with Yang Guo and held his arm, smiling; “I have decided to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him, could you not tell?”

The Valley Master shook his head a few times and then said, “If you hadn’t promised me that day, why would I do this and try to force you? You promised with your own lips that it was what you wanted.”

Xiao Longnu said, “That is correct, but I cannot give him up. We need to go now, please forgive us.” She pulled Yang Guo’s hand and headed for the door.

Valley Master Gongsun quickly moved to block the exit and hissed, “The only way you’ll leave the valley is over my dead body.”

Xiao Longnu said, “I’m indebted to you for saving my life; how can I try to harm you? Anyway, your martial arts are too strong for me.” As she talked, she tore off a piece of fabric from her gown and helped Yang Guo tie up his wounds.

Jinlun Fawang suddenly said loudly, “Valley Master Gongsun, you better let them leave.” The Valley Master gave a ‘huh’ grunt, his face was serious and he didn’t reply.

Fawang continued, “If those two joined up with their swords, how would your gold saber and black sword be able to handle them? Just do them a favour and let them go.”

He’d suffered the greatest humiliation in his life after losing to Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu’s “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Sword”; ever since then, he’d been thinking of a way to defeat this swordplay but was unable to. Now he had seen how powerful the yin yang blades of the Valley Master were; it wasn’t below the martial arts of his golden wheel. So he came out with these words to anger him, hoping to make the three go into battle. Firstly, he could get a chance to take a look at Yang Guo’s and Xiao Longnu’s swordplay again and look for its weakness so he can avenge this defeat. Secondly, he hoped that the three would destroy each other.

In actual fact, if Fawang hadn’t come out with these words to anger the Valley Master, he would never agree to let Xiao Longnu leave the valley with Yang Guo. He stared angrily at Fawang and thought, “You dare to say such words in front of my face? I haven’t got time for you now, but I’ll remember this for the future.” He turned his head towards Xiao Longnu and clenched his teeth as he thought, “Your heart doesn’t belong to me but your body will. You won’t agree to marry me when you’re alive, then I’m still going to marry you even when you’re dead.” At first he had planned to use Yang Guo’s life to force Xiao Longnu to submit to him; but when he saw that the two weren’t afraid of death, he thought that even if they die together, he wouldn’t let them out of the valley. His eyebrows rose again and an air of death gradually showed up on his face.

He suddenly heard Ma Guangzuo call out, “Hey, old man Gongsun, she said that she doesn’t want to marry you; why are you still blocking her way? Don’t you want to save face?”

Xiaoxiang Zi said eerily, “Don’t talk rubbish brother Ma. Valley Master Gongsun has already set up a feast today and has invited us to join in the celebrations.”

Ma Guangzuo said loudly, “All he’s got is water and vegetables; what’s so great about that? If I were that girl I would never marry him. With her beauty, she can be the empress. Why should she stay with this cruel and evil old man for the rest of her life, eating nothing but green vegetables and tofu? Even if one didn’t get annoyed to death, they’d be bored to death.”

Xiao Longnu turned her head and said gently, “Master Ma, Mr. Gongsun saved my life and I’m indebted to him, I… I… I’ll always be grateful for his kindness.”

Ma Guangzuo called out, “Fine, old man Gongsun, if you want to show that you’re a kind and benevolent person then why don’t you let the two of them marry and consummate the marriage today. If you saved a girl because you wanted to bed her, then doesn’t that put you in the same class as those raping lowlife bandits?” He was a straightforward man and says what comes into his mind; his words were all hard on the ears but they were hard to refute.

Valley Master Gongsun’s intent to kill was stirred; he decided that he’ll take care of all the outsiders in one go. He didn’t make a move and said dryly, “My Passionless Valley may not be some extraordinary place; but if everyone here comes and goes as they please, then the one named Gongsun may appear to be a bit too humble in the eyes of others. Miss Liu…”

Xiao Longnu showed a smile and said, “I lied to you when I said my surname is Liu; my surname is Long. I named myself Liu because he’s named Yang.”

Valley Master Gongsun felt even more jealous; he could only pretend that he didn’t hear those words and said, “Miss Liu, this…” Before he finished Ma Guangzuo interrupted, “This girl is named Long, why are you calling her Miss Liu?”

Xiao Longnu said, “Mr. Gongsun is used to calling me that; the blame is on me for lying to him in the first place, he can call me whatever he likes.”

Valley Master Gongsun ignored these words and continued, “Miss Liu, all the one named Yang has to do is beat my “Yin Yang Twin Blades” and I’ll allow him to leave the valley safely. Our personal affairs will be severed of their own accord; it’ll have nothing to do with other people.” After all this, he still wanted to rely on his martial arts to force Xiao Longnu to stay.

Xiao Longnu sighed and said, “Mr. Gongsun, I did not want to fight you, but he can’t beat you on his own, I must help him.”

Valley Master Gongsun’s eyebrows became a straight line; he said, “Aren’t you afraid of what happened before; you throwing up blood? It’ll happen again.”

Xiao Longnu felt great remorse towards Valley Master Gongsun and said, “We haven’t any weapons; if we fight you empty handed, then we’ll definitely lose. You’re a great and generous man; just let us go.” Jinlun Fawang interrupted, “Valley Master Gongsun, you’ve got everything here in this valley, don’t tell me you haven’t even got two swords? But I’d better warn you first; once those two join up together, your life will be endangered.”

Valley Master Gongsun pointed to the western path and said, “The third room over there is the sword room; just pick whatever weapon you want. But I’m afraid even these guests may not have the kind of weapons that I’ve hidden away.” He then laughed coldly.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu looked at each other and both thought, “I will die willingly if we’re able to spend time alone with each other away from other people before then.” They held each other’s hand and headed west, leaving through the side door. They passed two rooms and arrived at the third.

Xiao Longnu’s eyes never left Yang Guo’s face; when she saw the doors were closed she didn’t give it any thought and pushed it open; she was just about to step into the room when Yang Guo suddenly thought of something and urgently pulled her back, he said, “Careful.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Of what?”

Yang Guo’s kept his left foot outside the room and placed his right foot into the room, quickly touching the floor before taking it back outside. Nothing happened.

Xiao Longnu said, “You’re afraid that the Valley Master would leave a trap for us? He’s a very kind person; he would never do such a thing…” As soon as she finished saying this, a sudden ‘chi chi’ sound was heard; there was a flash of light in front of them as eight sharp swords shot out all around the door frame, crossing over horizontally and vertically. If someone had stepped into the room at that time, even if your martial arts were supremely high, getting your body pierced several times over by the swords would be difficult to avoid.

Xiao Longnu let out a deep breath and said, “Guo’er, this Valley Master is so evil; I’ve really judged him wrongly. We don’t need to fight him; let’s just leave.”

Suddenly someone said from behind, “Our master invites you inside to pick a sword.”

The two turned around and saw eight disciples with a fish net blocking their way. The Valley Master was wary of the two escaping together so he sent these disciples to cut off their escape routes. Xiao Longnu’s silk belt had been cut in half by the black sword; she was now unable to use it to strike their pressure points from faraway as Yang Guo did before.

Xiao Longnu said to Yang Guo, “What other traps has this room got?”

Yang Guo held her hands and said, “Gu Gu, we’re reunited now, what other worries have you got? Even if we get pierced by ten thousand swords it wouldn’t matter; we’ll see each other again in death.” Xiao Longnu’s heart too was overflowing with love. The two entered the sword room together.

The wall, tables, shelves and cupboards were all lined up with sharp weapons of various shapes; there were antique swords, some that had seven foot long blades and others that were quite short. There were iron and steel ones; a few had an overpowering glow. The two’s eyes were blinded for a second.

Xiao Longnu stared at Yang Guo for a while and then suddenly threw herself into his arms. Yang Guo held her tightly and kissed her on the lips. Both Xiao Longnu’s heart and soul were completely enchanted by that kiss. She stretched out her arms to embrace him around his neck.

Suddenly the door opened and a disciple in green entered who said sternly, “Our master ordered that as soon as you’ve picked your weapon, immediately leave, you cannot waste time.”

Yang Guo’s face went red and he removed her arms. But Xiao Longnu thought that there was nothing wrong with hugging and kissing her loved one. However, there was someone disturbing them which made it difficult for her to feel comfortable; so she gave a sigh and said softly, “Guo’er, once we’ve beaten that Valley Master, kiss me like that again.”

Yang Guo smiled and nodded; he stretched out his left arm and put it around her waist and said, “There isn’t enough time in this life for our kisses. Just pick a weapon.”

Xiao Longnu said, “It appears that these weapons are indeed all special, there isn’t one poor weapon. We haven’t got nearly as many in our ancient tomb.” She glanced over the weapons on the wall, wanting to pick out a pair of swords that were the same in all ways and most effective for her and Yang Guo to use against Valley Master Gongsun. But after searching for a while, she saw that all the swords were different. She was searching for a weapon and asking a question at the same time. “When we were about to enter the room, you knew that there would be booby traps, how did you know?”

Yang Guo said, “I guessed from the eyes and expression of the Valley Master. He wanted to marry you but when he heard that you were going to help me fight him, he immediately thought about killing you. I didn’t believe for a second that someone with his character would allow us to pick out weapons out of the kindness of his heart.”

Xiao Longnu gave another sigh and said, “Will we be able to beat him with our “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Sword”?”

Yang Guo said, “Though his martial arts are strong, he’s not better than Jinlun Fawang. The two of us were able to beat Jinlun Fawang; I assume that we’ll be able to beat him.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Yes. The reason why Fawang kept on trying to force him to fight us is because he wanted to see us in danger.”

Yang Guo smiled, “People can have evil thoughts; now, you’ve learned a bit about this.” He then said immediately, “I’m just worried about your health, you’ve just thrown up blood.”

Xiao Longnu’s dimples from her smile were like a flower, she said, “You know that whenever I’m angry or upset I throw up blood. Now that I’m extremely happy, this little internal injury isn’t anything to me. You threw up blood too, is it serious?”

Yang Guo said, “I’m fine as long as I can see you.”

Xiao Longnu said tenderly, “That’s how I feel too.” She paused and then continued, “You’ve made much progress in your martial arts recently; and we were able to beat Fawang back then.”

When Yang Guo heard these words, he too felt great confidence about this battle. He held her hand and said, “I want you to promise me something, will you?”

Xiao Longnu said tenderly, “Why is there a need to ask me? I haven’t been your Master since long ago; I’m your wife. I’ll listen to whatever you say.”

Yang Guo said, “That’s… that’s great, I… didn’t know.”

Xiao Longnu said, “How can I still be your master after what happened that night on Mount Zhongnan, when you and I were that intimate. Though you didn’t want to marry me, in my heart I was already your wife.”

Yang Guo did not know exactly what happened that night. Maybe the reason for suddenly bringing this up again is because she’s emotional, he thought, “My father Ouyang Feng was teaching me martial arts that day; he sealed your pressure point, but I wasn’t intimate with you.” But when he heard the tenderness and love in her words, he was completely enchanted and couldn’t say anything.

Xiao Longnu rested against his chest and asked, “What do you want me to promise you?”

Yang Guo stroked her hair and said, “Once we beat that Valley Master we’ll immediately go back to the tomb; no matter what happens you cannot leave my side.”

Xiao Longnu lifted her head and looked into his eyes, she said, “Do think that I have thoughts of leaving you? Do you think that the pain and suffering I’ll experience if I part from you won’t be as great as yours? Of course I’ll promise you; I’ll never leave you even if the sky falls down.”

Yang Guo was delighted; he was about to say something when the disciple in green who was watching them said loudly, “Have you picked your weapons?”

Xiao Longnu smiled and said, “Let’s just get it over with.” She turned her head to look for a pair of swords when the western wall caught her eye. She was startled; the wall had signs of being set alight and the chairs and tables near it were also burned.

Yang Guo laughed, “The Old Urchin had broken into here previously and set this place alight; that’s his handiwork.” He then saw two sheaths behind a painting in the corner. He thought, “Those two swords were hidden originally by that painting; it’s only because of the Old Urchin’s fire burning that painting that enables me to see them now. Those two swords must be extremely precious to have been hidden away like that.” He went over to the wall and took the swords down; he gave one to Xiao Longnu and unsheathed the sword that was in his hand.

Xiao Longnu unsheathed her sword too. Both of them felt a chill as soon as the blades were drawn out; they saw that his sword was black and didn’t have any shine to it, like a piece of black wood. Her sword was the exact same as Yang Guo’s. When the two swords lined up, the room was filled with a cold air. The swords had no sharp points; the tips of the swords were round and blunt and they looked like a thin wooden whip. Yang Guo turned the sword over and saw the word ‘Gentleman’ carved on it; he looked over at Xiao Longnu’s sword and saw the word ‘Lady’. Originally Yang Guo did not like the form of this sword, but he loved the matching names; he looked at Xiao Longnu to see what she thought.

Xiao Longnu said happily, “This sword has no sharp points; this is just right for dueling with the Valley Master. He saved my life before; I don’t want to hurt him.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The names of the swords are ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Lady’. I’m not worthy of the name. If ‘Gentleman’ was changed to ‘Vagrant’, it’d be much better for me to use.” He then tested out the sword with two thrusts into the air and felt that the weight was perfect and the sword extremely agile; he said, “Fine, we’ll use these two swords.”

Xiao Longnu returned her sword into its sheath and was about to leave the room when she saw some extremely beautiful flowers in a vase on the table; but it wasn’t arranged properly so she decided to fix it up.

Yang Guo called out, “No, you can’t touch them.” But it was too late; Xiao Longnu’s finger had been pierced by the thorns of the flowers. She turned her head back startled, asking, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “Those are Passion Flowers; you’ve been living here in the valley for a few days now, don’t you recognize them?”

Xiao Longnu sucked her finger and shook her head. She said, “I don’t recognize them. Passion Flower; what kind of flower is it?” Yang Guo was about to explain but the crowd of disciples kept on hurrying them so they left the room and returned to the hall. Valley Master Gongsun had been waiting impatiently, he stared angrily at his disciples, blaming them for being useless and allowing the two of them to waste time. All of the disciples were terrified and changed color.

Valley Master Gongsun waited for the two to come near before saying, “Miss Liu, you’ve picked your weapon?”

Xiao Longnu took out the ‘Lady’ sword and nodded her head, saying, “We’ll use this pair of blunt swords to fight you; we don’t dare to fight a life and death duel with the Valley Master, but just until a clear victor can be seen, how about that?”

The Valley Master’s heart trembled and said sternly, “Who told you to pick those swords?” His gaze swept across to Gongsun Lu’E and then back to Xiao Longnu.

Xiao Longnu felt slightly surprised and said, “No one told us to pick them. If we can’t use them, we’ll go and change them.”

The Valley Master stared angrily at Yang Guo and said, “If I let you change your weapons, how long will it take, half a day? There’s no need to change, just start.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Valley Master Gongsun; let’s make things clear before we start. If we fight one on one, neither of us are a match for you. We’ve got an advantage fighting you two against one. We don’t really want to fight you and we’re not competing with you. All you’ve got to do is allow us to leave and we’ll admit defeat and thank you.”

The Valley Master chuckled and said, “If you beat my “Yin Yang Twin Blades” then I’ll let you treat me anyway you want; if I win you have to marry me.”

Xiao Longnu gave an unperturbed smile and said, “If we lose, we’ll just die here in this valley.”

Valley Master Gongsun did not say anything more; the golden saber in his left hand waved out towards Yang Guo. Yang Guo raised his sword and used a stance of “The White Crane’s Bright Wing”; a stance of Quanzhen swordplay.

Valley Master Gongsun thought, “Though this stance is tight and careful, it’s just ordinary and steady.” His right sword headed towards Yang Guo’s shoulder, actually winding past Xiao Longnu, both the sword and saber were aiming for Yang Guo. Yang Guo concentrated on his opponent and guarded his body tightly as he received three stances.

Xiao Longnu waited for the Valley Master to unleash his three stances before she raised her sword. The Valley Master did not use his sword or saber to block her sword stances; only in urgent situations did he use the black sword to repel her attacks. He showed signs of allowance in his stances.

After watching seven or eight stances, Jinlun Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “Valley Master Gongsun, giving them such allowances will lead to suffering for you.”

The Valley Master replied, “Big monk, if you don’t think much of me then why don’t you wait for a little while and duel with me later. I don’t need you to waste your breath in trying to give me advice.” He hurried his sword and saber and the wind sounds from the weapons became increasing louder.

After a few more exchanges, Yang Guo used a stance of “Sweeping Across the Northern Desert” from the Quanzhen swordplay while Xiao Longnu used the “The Coloured Pen Painting an Eyebrow” stance from the “Jade Maiden Swordplay” Both of these stances were horizontal strokes, Yang Guo’s sword just swept across a few inches from the left to right while Xiao Longnu flicked her sword subtly twice. The two stances became the stance “Dressing Under the Mirror” from the “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Sword”. Valley Master Gongsun was shocked, he raised his black sword to block Yang Guo’s sword and swept his saber across to guard his face. Xiao Longnu’s sword drew across above his eyes, the sword and saber clashed, a ‘dang’ sound was heard as the tip of the golden saber was actually cut off by the ‘Lady’ sword.

The onlookers were shocked; they could never have predicted that such an ordinary looking blunt sword would actually be so sharp. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were both surprised; they originally picked these weapons because of the names and the fact that they were the same. They couldn’t have known that they had actually picked a pair of precious swords by luck. Their spirits were greatly roused and swords kept on attacking.

Valley Master Gongsun marveled in secret, “Sister Liu and that punk’s martial arts can’t compare with mine. I originally wasn’t afraid of them joining together, but I didn’t know that when their swords join it would actually be so powerful. It looks like that bald scoundrel was telling the truth. If I lose to these two… if I lose to these two…” When he thought to this point, the saber in his right hand suddenly attacked left and the sword in his right hand swept left, using his greatest skill “Yin Yang Wild Blades”. The black sword was originally soft and yin but right now it was hacking and chopping solidly, changing into the yang and hard nature of saber play. Meanwhile, the heavy and clumsy jagged saber was now piercing and cutting, going down the road of lightness and swiftness. The saber had become a sword, the sword had become a saber, and it really was extraordinary.

Jinlun Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and Yin Kexi were all knowledgeable people but the “Yin Yang Wild Blades” was something that they’ve never seen or heard of before.

Ma Guangzuo called out, “Hey, old man, what weird name has this mad kung fu of yours got? The… the… the older you get, the madder you get!”

Valley Master Gongsun was only around forty years of age. Today he had wanted to marry Xiao Longnu and because of this he’s been called old man this and that by this dim witted person; how can he not get angry? Right now he had no time for him. Now he used this kung fu that he’d studied bitterly for the last twenty years. He decided to defeat the two of them before doing anything else.

With the two paired using their swordplay, they had begun to gain the upper hand; but the opponent had swapped his weapons around and his stances were extraordinary. The two were put on their back foot and met many dangerous stances over a short period of time. Yang Guo saw that the black sword was stronger than the golden saber; he intercepted all the sword strokes and allowed Xiao Longnu to face the golden saber. He thought that because she had an advantage in weaponry, the Valley Master wouldn’t dare to clash with the ‘Lady’ sword and so she shouldn’t meet any great danger. But by doing this the two were effectively fighting separately; the swordplay of the “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden” had separated into two and its power immediately decreased.

Valley Master Gongsun was delighted; he unleashed three chops with his black sword while the saber in his left hand used the stances “The Still Yang Needle”, “The Form of the Yielding Separates Gold”, “The Thorn Pierces Qing” and “The Nine Lotuses”. Those four graceful and flowing sword stances were mixed in with the three saber stances. Yang Guo could still block these attacks but Xiao Longnu was getting frantic; she wanted to use the sword to cut off the tip of the saber but the golden saber moved like a flying phoenix, she could not touch it. Yang Guo knew something was wrong and disregarded his safety and used a stance of “The Horse Trampling on the Descending Flowers” from the Quanzhen swordplay, sending the sword from his upper arm aiming upwards, intercepting the opponent’s saber and sword. Xiao Longnu immediately took back her sword and protected Yang Guo’s upper body. The two once again joined together, returning back to the swordplay of the “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden”. The theory of the swordplay lies in the two users having a mutual affinity for each other, as if two became one. In this stance Yang Guo had forsaken his life to save Xiao Longnu; this was the supreme premise of this swordplay. Xiao Longnu saw his front wasn’t guarded while he was saving her; she was afraid that he would get hurt and quickly helped him to protect himself. The two had not protected themselves but both became protected as a result; the power of the swords suddenly increased.

Many more stances passed and beads of sweat could now be seen on the forehead of the Valley Master; his sword and saber stances were wanting and a picture of defeat could be seen on him. On the other hand, Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were becoming more and more fluid in their swordplay. Yang Guo’s left hand held the shaft of the sword and his right hand thrust the sword forward to the enemy’s waist on the left. Xiao Longnu held the sword handle with both her hands and flicked the sword upwards; this stance was called “Resting Loftily with a Tidy Brow”; the stance was filled with love, tenderness and gracefulness. Her heart was filled with love and passion; she turned her head to look at Yang Guo. Suddenly her chest felt as if a hammer had smashed up against it and the finger on her right hand had broke out in unbearable pain; she almost dropped her sword. Her face changed and she leapt back three steps.

Valley Master Gongsun chuckled, “Ha, the Passion Flower; the Passion Flower!” The pleasure in his heart was greater than his jealousy.

Xiao Longnu did not understand but Yang Guo knew the poison of the Passion Flower had flared up. Her finger had just been pricked by the Passion Flower and as she thought about love, her finger broke out with an unbearable pain.

Yang Guo had tasted this pain before; he was deeply concerned for Xiao Longnu and softly asked, “Does it hurt very much?”

Valley Master Gongsun took this opportunity to launch an attack; he urgently attacked with his sword and saber at Yang Guo. Xiao Longnu’s pain had lessened and she raised her sword again. Yang Guo was concerned for her and said, “Rest a little while longer.” But as soon as he stirred his love for her, his finger broke out in pain once again.

Valley Master Gongsun took this chance and chopped heavily with the black sword, a ‘dang’ sound was heard as he knocked the ‘Gentleman’ sword out of his hand. The black sword extended forward and was once again at his chest.

Xiao Longnu was shocked and tried to save him but she was blocked by the gold saber and had no way to advance.

The Valley Master called out, “Hold that punk.” Four disciples in green responded, they walked forward and twisted the net over him, they circled him a few times and held him tightly in the net.

Valley Master Gongsun asked, “Sister Liu, what are you going to do?”

Xiao Longnu knew that she was not a match for him alone; she threw down her ‘Lady’ sword on the floor and heard a ‘ca’ sound; the ‘Gentleman’ sword and ‘Lady’ sword leapt closer together, joining up tightly. The two swords actually had great magnetism. Xiao Longnu said solemnly, “If the swords can do this how can we not do it? Just kill the two of us.”

Valley Master Gongsun gave a ‘huh’ grunt and said, “Follow me.” He folded his arms towards Fawang and the others, saying, “Excuse me!” He turned into the inner halls. The four disciples followed, dragging the net along with Yang Guo. Xiao Longnu followed.

Ma Guangzuo said, “Hey monk, zombie head, we need to think of a way to save them.” Jinlun Fawang just smiled wryly and didn’t reply.

Xiaoxiang Zi chuckled and said, “Hey giant, can you beat that old man?”

Ma Guangzuo stroked his cheek and couldn’t think of a plan; he just said, “I’ll fight even if I can’t beat him! I’ll fight even if I can’t beat him!” Valley Master Gongsun advanced forward with his head held high; he entered a small stone room and said, “Cut some Passion Flowers for me.”

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu had already decided to die; they looked at each other, smiling, and ignoring what Valley Master Gongsun said or did. Not long after, an enchanting fragrance entered the stone room. The two turned their heads to see what it was; there was a fusion of five colors, from tender red to soft yellow; more than ten disciples in green had entered the room carrying bunches of Passion Flowers in their arms. Their arms were covered in leather, protecting them from the thorns of the flowers.

Valley Master Gongsun waved his right arm; he said coldly, “Throw them on that scum.”

It was as if ten thousands wasps were stinging Yang Guo; his limbs, his bones, they all were overpowered with unbearable pain; he couldn’t take it and called out in pain.

Xiao Longnu felt pity and anger; she shouted at Valley Master Gongsun, “What are you doing?” She dashed forward wanting to remove the Passion Flowers from Yang Guo.

Valley Master Gongsun stretched out his hand to block her and said, “Sister Liu, today is the day when we would have consummated our marriage; but this punk entered the valley and ruined everything. We do not know each other and we have no debts or feuds; but you and he know each other. If he had acted courteously and respectfully as a guest, of course I would have treated him with great respect; now that it has come to this…” He then waved his left hand out and sent his disciples away. He closed the door. He continued, “Whether it’ll end up in tragedy or joy, it will be up to you.”

The pain that Yang Guo was in was indescribable but he didn’t want Xiao Longnu to get upset so he clenched his teeth and didn’t make a sound. None of the words of Valley Master Gongsun entered his ears as he endured the pain.

When Xiao Longnu saw the suffering he was in; her pity was roused and as soon as this happened, the Passion Flower poison in her finger flared up and she felt the excruciating pain again. She thought, “I’ve only been pierced once by the Passion Flower and it is already this painful; but he’s covered with thousands and thousands of thorns, how can he stand it?”

Valley Master Gongsun knew what she was thinking and said, “Sister Liu, I sincerely want to marry and be with you; I have only admiration and love for you, I have no ill intent, you should understand this.”

Xiao Longnu nodded her head and said mournfully, “You have treated me well all along; but even if we met before you saved me and you treated me like an empress you wouldn’t be able to win my heart.” She hung her head for a short while and then gave a long sigh; she said, “Mr. Gongsun, if you hadn’t seen me that day by the mountainside, if you hadn’t saved me and had let me die there, it would have been better for the three of us. You know that forcing me to marry you will result in a lifetime of unhappiness for me. What good is that to you?”

Valley Master Gongsun’s eyebrows slowly rose again; he deepened his voice and said, “I have always been a man of my word; I don’t allow people to insult or lie to me. Since you’ve agreed to marry me, you have to marry me. When it comes to happiness, sadness, joy and pain, the future is hard to predict; who knows what tomorrow may bring? Let’s just see what happens.” He waved his sleeve and said, “This person has been pricked by the Passion Flowers all over his body; the suffering will deepen every two hours; thirty six days from now he will die in excruciating pain. I have a medicine that I can give to him which will cure him within twenty four hours; but after a day, even a god won’t be able to save him. It’s up to you whether he lives or dies.” He walked slowly towards the door and pushed it open; he turned his head and said, “If you’d rather watch him die slowly then you can stay here and watch him for the next thirty six days; it’s up to you. I won’t harm you so you can relax. If you change your decision within twenty four hours, all you’ve got to do it give a shout and I will bring the antidote to him.” He was about to leave the room.

Xiao Longnu saw that Yang Guo was trembling all over; his lips were bleeding because of him biting down in pain; his eyes had been as bright as a shooting star, but now there was not even a single speck of light in them. The pain that he was in now was already unbearable; but the pain would deepen every two hours for the next thirty six days; even hell wouldn’t have such a punishment. She bit down on her lip and said, “Mr. Gongsun, I’ll agree to marry you. Quickly let him go and give him the antidote.”

Valley Master Gongsun had been trying to force her to say this all along; when he heard this he was delighted but also resentful. He knew that from now on, she would detest him and loathe him. She would never have any love towards him so he nodded his head and said, “It’s for the benefit of everyone that you have changed your mind. After we’ve consummated our marriage tonight, I’ll give him the antidote in the morning.”

Xiao Longnu said, “First cure him.”

The Valley Master sighed and said, “Sister Liu, you think too little of me. I know that agreeing to this is not what you want; even if I was stupid, how would I not know? Do you think I would cure him first?” He turned to leave the room.

Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo looked at each miserably, neither one saying a word for a while. Yang Guo said slowly, “Gu Gu, even when I’m down in the underworld I will feel no pain because of your love. Just kill me with one palm!”

Xiao Longnu thought, “I’ll first kill him with one palm and then commit suicide.” So she raised her hand and gathered internal energy in her palm. Yang Guo’s face had a smile, his eyes soft and peaceful; looking at her sweetly, he whispered, “This is where we’ll consummate our love.”

Xiao Longnu saw his air was glorious; she thought, “Why is heaven so cruel towards such a handsome and graceful man, wanting him to die today.” Her chest ached and suddenly she tasted sweetness at the back of her throat; it appeared that she would throw up blood again and the internal energy in her arm immediately dissipated. Suddenly, she threw herself on top of Yang Guo; the thousands and thousands of thorns of the Passion Flower pierced her body; she said, “Guo’er, we’ll endure the suffering together.”

Valley Master Gongsun called out, “Oh no!” in shock, he said, “You… you…” He then said coldly, “Why did you do this? Will your suffering lessen his?”

Xiao Longnu took one deep look at Yang Guo, then slowly turned around. She exited the room and didn’t look back.

Valley Master Gongsun said, “Brother Yang, I’ll give you the antidote in twenty hours time. All you’ve got to do in these twenty hours is cleanse your thoughts and don’t rouse any feelings of love. Even if there is pain, it won’t be that hard to endure.” He then left the room and closed the door.

Yang Guo’s body was wracked with pain and his heart was full of hurt. “All the pain and suffering that I’ve experience before today is nothing compared to the pain I’m experiencing now. The Valley Master is such an evil person; how can I just die like this and let Gu Gu suffer at his hands? Besides, I still have to avenge my father; how can I allow the phony, righteous and benevolent Guo Jing and Huang Rong to not get what they deserve for their evil deed?” When he thought about this, his blood boiled, shaking and stirring him, “I cannot die; whatever happens I cannot die! Even if Gu Gu becomes the wife of the Valley Master I’d still need to save her. I need to train my martial arts and avenge my father.” So he clenched his teeth and sat up. Although he couldn’t assume the proper form in the fish net, he was still able to submerge his chi into his dan tian and started to circulate his internal energy.

Four hours later, midday had passed. A disciple in green entered with a plate; there were four new buns on it. The disciple said, “Our master is celebrating his wedding and he’s allowing you to have a good meal.” The disciple placed the plate by the fish net; his hand was covered with a coarse cloth to avoid getting injured by the passion flowers. As Yang Guo stretched out his hand through the net for the buns and ate them, he thought, “Since I’m going to fight with my life against that bastard Valley Master, I can’t torture myself.”

The disciple laughed, “I couldn’t have guessed that you would have such a great appetite.”

Suddenly there was a green blur by the door; another disciple had come through the door and had moved up silently behind the first disciple. That disciple threw a heavy punch against the first disciple’s back. The disciple fainted before he could see who threw the punch.

Yang Guo saw that the person who did the sneak attack was actually Gongsun Lu’E; he said with surprise, “You… you…”

Gongsun Lu’E first turned around and closed the door before whispering, “Quiet brother Yang, I’ve come to rescue you.” She untied the knots of the net and cleared the Passion Flowers away from Yang Guo, letting him out. Her hands were covered with a thick piece of cloth.

Yang Guo hesitated, “If your father finds out about this…”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “I’ll ignore whatever heavy punishment I’ll get.” She picked up a Passion Flower and placed it in the mouth of the unconscious disciple so that he won’t be able to call for help when he wakes up. Then she placed him in the fish net and threw the Passion Flowers over him. She whispered again, “Brother Yang, hide behind the door if someone enters. I’ll go and get the antidote for your poison from the pill room.”

Yang Guo was extremely touched. He knew that she was putting herself in danger by doing this; his friendship with her was not even a day old and she’s actually rebelling against her father to rescue him. He said, “Miss, I… I…” He was so touched that he couldn’t say anything.

Gongsun Lu’E smiled at him and said, “Just wait here for a little while, I’ll be right back.” She then left the room.

Yang Guo was lost in thought, “Why is she treating me so well? Though I’ve had an unfortunate life and suffered under other people ever since I was small, there are actually many people who have treated me sincerely. There’s no need to mention Gu Gu; there’s Grandma Sun, Hong Qigong, my Godfather Ouyang Feng and Island Master Huang. There’s also the girls Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang, and now’s there’s Gongsun Lu’E as well amongst them; all of them have treated me with great sincerity. My birth date and time must be of an extremely strange nature; otherwise how could those who’ve been good to me treat me so well and those who’ve been cruel to me have treated me so badly?” But he never thought about how all his encounters have been extraordinary; the people he meets either treat him with great sincerity or treat him with extreme insincerity. His character was such that he would only get on well with those who could agree with him; those whose words clashed with his, he treated as an enemy. How he treated others was, of course, how others repaid him. He waited for a long while but Gongsun Lu’E still had not returned. Yang Guo was getting more and more worried. At first he thought that there must have been someone else present in the pill room so she couldn’t steal the antidote. But as time went by, he thought that even if she couldn’t steal the antidote, she would have come back and told him so. It looks like something must have gone terribly wrong; she took such a big risk for me, how can I not try to save her? He opened the door slightly and peeked out. It was quiet outside and there was no one around; he slipped out but he did not know where Gongsun Lu’E might be.

Just as he was hesitating, he suddenly heard footsteps from around the corner; he quickly hid behind the corner and saw two disciples in green passing by shoulder to shoulder. In their hands was a thorny stick; it appeared that it was something that was used for punishment.

Yang Guo was furious, “Gu Gu would rather die than submit, and that shameless Valley Master is actually trying to force her to submit through torture!” He lightened his steps and followed the two disciples. The two disciples did not notice him; they turned and twisted along a few corridors before arriving outside a stone room. They said clearly, “Master, the thorny stick is here.” They pushed open the door and entered.

Yang Guo’s heart raced; he saw that there was a window on the eastern side of the room and ran over to it. He looked inside and saw that it wasn’t Xiao Longnu; it was Gongsun Lu’E who was standing in front of her father with her head hanging down. The Valley Master was sitting in the middle of the room while two disciples were holding long swords in their hands, guarding the left and right of Gongsun Lu’E.

The Valley Master took the thorny stick and said coldly, “E’er, you’re my own flesh and blood; why did you betray me?” Gongsun Lu’E lowered her head and didn’t say anything.

The Valley Master said, “Do you think I don’t know that you’ve fallen for the one named Yang? I said I was going to let him go; why were you so anxious? When I see him tomorrow I’ll betroth you to him, how about that?”

How would Yang Guo not know how Gongsun Lu’E felt about him; but right now when it was said aloud in public, his heart raced.

Gongsun Lu’E still did not say anything and kept her head lowered. After a while, she lifted her head and said clearly, “Father, all you’re thinking about right now is your marriage; what time you do have for your daughter?”

Valley Master Gongsun gave a ‘heng’ grunt and didn’t say anything.

Gongsun Lu’E continued, “You are correct; I admire master Yang’s decency and honesty, his passion and righteousness. But I know that there is only Miss Long in his heart. I saved him because… because I can’t stand what you have done; it is not because of him.”

Yang Guo was extremely moved by this and thought, “This scoundrel is so cruel and violent, yet he has a daughter who is so kind and righteous.”

Valley Master Gongsun’s face was unmoved. There were no signs of being angry on his face as he said dryly, “So according to you, I’m not an honest person; someone who’s not righteous and who’s not passionate?”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “I do not dare to describe father this way. But… but…” The Valley Master said, “But what?”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “Master Yang has been pierced by thousands and thousands of Passion Flower thorns; how can he withstand the suffering? Father, you’re merciful and kind, just let him go.”

The Valley Master chuckled, “I’m going to let him go tomorrow. I don’t need you to be so meddlesome.”

Gongsun Lu’E tilted her head and pondered; appearing as if she was weighing up whether she should say the words she had on her mind. Eventually her face became resolute and she said, “Father, you’re the one who raised me; that master Yang is an outsider I’ve just met; how can I betray you and help him? If father was really going to let him go and cure his poison, why would I need to take the great risk of going to the pill room?”

Valley Master Gongsun said sternly, “Then why did you go there?”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “I know that you have ill intent towards him. After you’ve forced Miss Long to marry you, you will kill master Yang to end Miss Long’s longing.

Valley Master Gongsun’s eyebrows raised again; he said coldly, “Huh, it looks like I’ve reared an ill boding tiger. I brought you up and here you are now, biting back at me. Give it!” He stretched out his hand.

Lu E said, “What does father want?”

The Valley Master said, “You’re still playing dumb? I want the Passionless Pill that cures the poison of the Passion Flower.” Lu E said, “I did not take it.”

The Valley Master stood up and said, “Then where did it go?”

Yang Guo examined the room; he saw the cupboards were lined with bottles of medicine and there were countless herbs hung on the wall. In the western side of the room were three pill cauldrons. This room looks like none other than that so called pill room. From the expression of Valley Master Gongsun, it appeared that Gongsun Lu’E would definitely face a heavy punishment.

He heard her say, “Father, it’s true, I entered the pill room by myself because I wanted to find the Passionless Pill for master Yang. But I searched for half a day and still couldn’t find it, otherwise, would I have been found out by father?”

Valley Master Gongsun said sternly, “The place where I hide this medicine is extremely secretive. The outsiders have stayed in the hall and have not left it. The Passionless Pill has suddenly disappeared; could it be that the pill grew legs and ran away?”

Lu E knelt on the floor and cried, “Father, spare master Yang’s life; just tell him not to enter the valley again and leave it at that.” The Valley Master chuckled, “If it was my life on the line, I don’t think you would kneel on the floor and beg someone to save me.” Lu E didn’t reply and just hugged his knees.

The Valley Master said, “You took the Passionless Pill; how can I save him now? Fine, if you don’t want to admit it that’s up to you. You can wait here for a day. Though you’ve stolen the pill, if you can’t get it to him, it will be of no use. I’ll let you go in twenty four hours!” He then advanced to the doors.

Gongsun Lu’E bit down as she said, “Father!”

The Valley Master said, “You’ve got something else to say?”

She pointed to the four disciples in green and said, “First dismiss them.”

The Valley Master said, “My valley is united as one; there’s nothing that’s said that can’t be said in front of the others.”

Gongsun Lu’E’s face went red and then immediately turned white. She said, “Fine, since you don’t believe my words then you need to see whether I have it on me.” She then began to take off her gown and skirt. The Valley Master quickly waved the disciples out and closed the door. After a short while, Gongsun Lu’E had taken off her gown and skirt and was now left with her undergarments. Indeed, she had nothing on her.

Yang Guo’s heart jumped when he saw her white gleaming body. He was a young man and Gongsun Lu’E had an attractive figure, her appearance elegant; his blood raced but then he immediately thought, “Because she’s trying to save my life, she didn’t hesitate to unclothe herself. Yang Guo ah Yang Guo, if you take another look you’re worse than an animal.”

He quickly closed his eyes but just as he was feeling troubled and confused, his forehead lightly knocked into the frame of the window.

Though only a faint noise was produced, Valley Master Gongsun noticed it; he went over to the three pill cauldrons and pushed the middle one out of the way. He moved the one in the east to the middle, he moved the one in the west to the east and finally he moved the one that was originally in the middle to the west. He said, “Since it’s like this, I’ll promise you to spare that punk’s life.”

Gongsun Lu’E was delighted and bowed, she quivered, “Father!”

The Valley Master sat down on a chair by the wall and said, “You know the rules of the valley. What is the punishment for entering the pill room without permission?”

Lu E lowered her head and said, “Death.”

The Valley Master sighed and said, “Though you are my daughter, I cannot break the rules of the valley, go in peace!” He drew out his black sword and raised it in midair; he said softly, “E’er, if you stop pleading for the one named Yang then I’ll spare you. I can only spare one of you, you or him?”

Gongsun Lu’E said quietly, “Him!”

Valley Master Gongsun said, “Fine, my daughter really is kind and righteous; much better than her father.” He waved his sword out and chopped downwards towards her head.

Yang Guo was shocked and called out, “Wait!” He leapt in through the window as he called out, “You should kill me!” His right foot touched the floor and he was about to stretch out his hand to grab the Valley Master’s wrist to stop the black sword from chopping down when the sole of his foot felt soft as if he was treading on thin air. Yang Guo knew something was wrong; he quickly roused his chi and his body leapt up. Valley Master Gongsun pushed his daughter on the shoulders with his palms. Gongsun Lu’E’s body quickly went backwards, knocking into Yang Guo.

After he leapt back up, of course, he went back down. Gongsun Lu’E had knocked right into his body and the two of them dropped straight down. There was nothing under their feet and they had yet to reach solid ground even after falling for hundreds of feet.

Though Yang Guo was frightened, he still remembered he had to protect the life of Gongsun Lu’E; he quickly held Gongsun Lu’E in his hands. There was just darkness in front of him; he didn’t know what they would land on; a mountain of knives or a forest of swords? Or would it be boulders or rocks? Before his thoughts were finished, a ‘pu tong’ sound was heard as the two fell into water, sinking downwards swiftly; there was actually a deep pool below the pill room.

End of Chapter 18.

Chapter 19 – The Old Woman Underground

Yang Guo grabbed the rope with both hands and climbed up it; he looked down and saw that Luu E and her mother had become two small black images in the indistinct evening light.

Falling hundreds of feet like this on to solid ground could only result in death; but as soon as Yang Guo felt himself splashing into water, he was delighted; he knew that his life was not in danger. The current was strong and he had plunged deep into the water; he felt himself sinking downwards without end as if the water was depthless. He held his breath and waited until he slowed down before he swam upwards with his right hand while holding Lu’E in his left hand. As soon as he reached the surface he took a breath and a sudden stench filled his nose; at the same time, the water on his left was breaking in waves, as if some large aquatic animal was coming towards them to attack.

A thought went through his mind, “That scoundrel trapped us down here, how can it be something good?” With his right hand he chopped a fierce palm towards the left side. A loud sound was heard as he struck a large solid object; a fierce turbulent wave followed. Yang Guo used the force from his palm to move to the right with Gongsun Lu’E.

He wasn’t a great swimmer; the reason why he was able to last so long underwater was because he used his internal energy to hold his breath. It was pitch black; all he heard was urgent splashing sounds from behind and to the left of him. He sent his right hand out and suddenly brushed against a cold and coarse object. It appeared to be the scales of that creature, he was shocked, “Could it be that there’s such a thing as a Venom Dragon in this world?” He used the force in his hand and soared upwards with the strange creature forced under water by him. He took a deep breath, since he planned to dive underwater once again; but his right foot actually landed on solid ground. He wasn’t prepared for this and the impact on his leg was all wrong; his right leg was in great pain.

But he was too happy to care about the pain in his leg; he stretched out his hand to examine the surroundings and found a rock face by the pool. He was afraid that the strange creature would continue its attack so he quickly climbed to higher ground. Once he sat down, he became calmer. Gongsun Lu’E had swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and she was half conscious. Yang Guo rested her on his lap and let her throw up the water. Then he heard scraping sounds on the rocks and a stench that was gradually becoming stronger and stronger; a few of the strange creatures from the pool had climbed out.

Gongsun Lu’E sat up and hugged Yang Guo’s neck; alarmed she said, “What’s that?” Yang Guo said, “Don’t be afraid; hide behind me.”

Gongsun Lu’E didn’t move, she just held him tighter and quivered, “Crocodiles, crocodiles!”

When Yang Guo was living on Peach Blossom Island, he had seen countless crocodiles on the island; he knew that they were extremely vicious and violent, much more than the tigers and wolves of the land. One day, he, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers saw them but they didn’t try to annoy them and kept their distance from them. Today unexpectedly, he had come across some crocodiles in this underground pool. He listened carefully and from the sounds, he could tell that there were three crocodiles getting closer step by step.

Gongsun Lu’E whispered, “Brother Yang, who would have thought that you and I would die in such a place?” Her voice was full of joy and comfort.

Yang Guo laughed, “Even if we are going to die, we first need to kill a few crocodiles before doing anything else.” At that time, the first crocodile was already within ten feet of Yang Guo’s leg; Lu’E called out, “Hit it quickly!”

Yang Guo said; “Just a little longer.” He stretched out his right foot and hung it down by his side; the crocodile advanced a few feet and opened its mouth, biting viciously at his leg. Yang Guo pulled his leg back and sent out a kick, striking the crocodile squarely in the jaw. The crocodile somersaulted in the air and landed back in the pool. The pool splashed and the other crocodiles in it clamored; but the other two crocodiles kept on advancing.

Though Yang Guo was poisoned by the Passion Flowers, his martial arts had not been affected in any way; the kick he just performed had a force of hundreds of kilos behind it. After he kicked the crocodile his foot ached slightly. However, the crocodile that he kicked was still moving freely after it landed back in the pool. He thought, “I can’t do anything to all these crocodiles empty-handed; if I continue like this me and Miss Gongsun will eventually end up in their stomachs. I must think of something else; how can I kill all these crocodiles?” He stretched out his hand in search of a large rock to use as a weapon; but there wasn’t anything on the rock face, not even a speck of sand. He heard the other two crocodiles getting closer and quickly asked, “Have you got a sword with you?”

Gongsun Lu’E said, “With me?” She remembered how she took off her gown and dress; all she was wearing now was her underwear. Now, she was in the arms of Yang Guo; she immediately became embarrassed and her body flushed with heat. But deep in her heart, there was a sweet feeling of joy.

Yang Guo was just worried about being attacked by the crocodiles at the moment; he did not notice anything wrong with her. He heard the two crocodiles were now within ten feet of him, and there were another two behind him. It would be of no use to send out a palm and knock them back into the pool; after a short while they would come back again. It would just be a waste of effort; so he gathered energy and waited for the crocodiles to get within three feet of him before sending out both palms, striking the crocodiles on the head. The crocodiles weren’t that swift in turning and they couldn’t move out the way when the palms arrived. But their skin was thick; they were just knocked unconscious and slipped back into the pool. Just at that time, the other two crocodiles behind him arrived; Yang Guo kicked one off the rock face with his left foot. The kick was very heavy; he could not hold Gongsun Lu’E steady and she slanted to the side, slipping downwards off the rock face.

Gongsun Lu’E called out in shock; her right hand braced against the rock face and she circulated her internal energy to leap back up. Yang Guo stretched out a hand to grab her and pulled her back up. This setback allowed the other crocodile to press close to him; it opened its jaws and bit down towards Yang Guo’s shoulders. There wasn’t enough time to punch or kick it away, he could only move out of its way. As soon as its jaws close, it might actually bite down on Lu’E. With this danger in mind he quickly sent out both hands; one pulled the upper jaw and the other pulled the lower; he circulated his internal energy and gave a shout, a cracking sound was heard as the jaws of the crocodile snapped and it immediately died.

Though Yang Guo had killed this vicious crocodile, his back had broken out in a cold sweat. Lu’E said, “Are you hurt?”

Yang Guo heard her voice was gentle and concerned; his heart was moved slightly and he said, “No.” But the force he had just used was too ferocious and his arms ached.

Lu’E observed that the crocodile was not moving and was lying there on the rock dead; she was in awe of Yang Guo and said, “How did you kill that crocodile empty-handed? And how can you see so clearly in this darkness?”

Yang Guo said, “I’ve lived with my Gu Gu for many years in the ancient tomb; all I need is the faintest light and I’ll be able to see things.” When he mentioned living in the tomb with his Gu Gu, he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a sigh. Suddenly an excruciating pain broke out in his body. It was extremely difficult to endure, and he hollered and shouted and at the same time, he kicked the dead crocodile back into the pool.

Two crocodiles were climbing up onto the rock face just at that time; when they heard his inhuman calls, they were so frightened that they slipped back into the water. Gongsun Lu’E quickly held his arm and with her other hand, brushed across his forehead gently, hoping that she would be able to lessen his pain.

Yang Guo knew that even if he hadn’t fallen into this dangerous situation, he would not live for more than a couple of days because of the poison; he had heard the Valley Master say that the pain would keep on increasing over the next thirty-six days before he finally died. The pain was so unbearable that even if he endured it a few more times, he’d eventually give in to the pain and kill himself. But when he dies, Gongsun Lu’E will have no one to protect her; that would be terrible for her and he thought, “The reason she’s in this danger is because of me. No matter what pain I’m in I must endure it; hopefully the Valley Master will still have some love for his daughter and will come to save her.” As he thought about this, his thoughts of Xiao Longnu disappeared for the time being and the pain lessened; he said, “Miss Gongsun, don’t be afraid, I think that your father will come for you. He hates me only and has always loved you; he must be feeling very regretful right now.”

Gongsun Lu’E cried, “When my mother was alive, father really did love me. But after mother died, he became cold towards me. However, I know that… I know that in his heart he doesn’t hate me.” She stopped for a while and thought of many strange and hard-to-explain things; she said, “Brother Yang, I’ve suddenly thought of something; my father has always been afraid of me.”

Yang Guo said surprised, “He’s afraid of you? That’s strange.”

Lu’E said, “I just feel that whenever my father sees me he doesn’t seem to be at ease; it’s like he’s got something hidden in his heart and is afraid that I will find out about it. Over the past few years, he’s been avoiding me and doesn’t want to see me.”

She had noticed that her father’s expression had been strange; though she wondered about this, she reached the same conclusion every time; the reason he’s changed is because he was deeply hurt by her mother’s passing away. But this time, falling into the crocodile pit was definitely her father’s plan. He had moved the pill cauldrons in the pill room to activate the collapsing floor. If her father hated Yang Guo and wanted to kill him, all he had to do was keep the antidote for the Passion Flower poison away from him and he would have little chance of living. Now that Yang Guo had fallen into the crocodile pit, the chance of him escaping death was next to none; so why did her father push her into the crocodile pit as well? What fatherly love was there in that push? This wasn’t a slip due to anger, he had planned this. The more she thought about it, the sadder she became because it was becoming clearer and clearer to her. There were many words and actions of her father that she did not understand and just used the reason ‘eccentric behavior’ to explain it all. Right now, as she thought, it appeared that the word ‘fear’ was more apt. Her father fearing her was something that she could never have conceived.

The crocodile pool broke out in a thrashing roar as all the crocodiles fought over the dead crocodile; they’d stopped climbing up onto the rock face for the time being.

Yang Guo saw that she was deep in thought and asked, “Maybe your father has some kind of hidden secret and you’ve somehow stumbled upon it by accident?”

Lu’E shook her head and said, “No. My father’s actions are honorable; he is very fair, and everyone in the valley had great respect for him. His treatment of you really is wrong; but he has never done such uncharacteristic things like this before.”

Yang Guo did not know about the past affairs of the Passionless Valley and so it was hard for him to help her guess what the reasons were behind all this.

The crocodile pool was deep underground and was cold like an ice cave; the two were wet and felt the effects even more. Yang Guo had trained on the Chilled Jade Bed and took no notice of such insignificant coldness; but Gongsun Lu’E kept on shivering and searching for warmth in Yang Guo’s arms. Yang Guo knew that this girl would be feeling frightened and sad right now; as he watched the struggle in the crocodile pool he wanted to make her laugh. The crocodiles were opening their mouths and showing vicious teeth, looking extremely terrifying, so he laughed, “Miss Gongsun, we’re going to die together today; when you reincarnate in the next life, what do you want to reincarnate as? Whatever happens, I don’t want to change into one of these unsightly crocodiles.”

Gongsun Lu’E smiled a little and said, “Then you should change into a narcissus flower; it’s beautiful and fragrant, and it’s something that everyone loves.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The only types of people who are worthy of changing into those kind of flowers are people like you. If it’s me, I’ll get changed into some ugly daisy or chrysanthemum.”

Lu’E laughed, “If the Yan Luo Wang (ruler of hell) tells you to change into a Passion Flower, would you?”

Yang Guo was silent and did not reply. He was feeling great resentment and thought, “With Gu Gu’s and my “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Sword”, that scoundrel is not our match. At the time he was on his back foot he was about to lose. But things had to happen this way. Gu Gu had been pierced by the Passion Flower in the sword room. When we were about to use swordplay which requires the users to be as one and to be filled with love to make use of its power, the poison prevented it. This is fate; I can’t do anything about it. I wonder how Gu Gu is right now?” As soon as he thought about Xiao Longnu again, his body broke out in pain all over.

When Gongsun Lu’E heard him stay silent, she knew that she shouldn’t have mentioned the Passion Flower; she quickly changed the subject and said, “Brother Yang, you’re able to see the crocodiles while all I see in front of me is darkness.”

Yang Guo laughed, “The crocodiles are extremely ugly, it’s better not to see them.” He patted her on the back gently to console her; but as soon as he touched her, he felt something cold, smooth and soft. Then he remembered how she undressed herself in front of her father in the pill room. She only had on her underwear; her shoulders and neck were uncovered. Yang Guo was slightly alarmed and quickly pulled back his hand. Lu’E thought about how he could see things in the dark; her semi clothed self would be seen clearly by him and she couldn’t stop herself from calling out ‘Oh no!” She automatically moved away a little.

Yang Guo sat a little distance away from her and took off his gown to cover her with. As he took it off, not only did he think about Xiao Longnu, but he also thought about Cheng Ying who made a gown for him and Lu Wushuang who was willing to die for him. He blamed himself for letting down the kindness of all these beautiful girls, and he felt guilt for not being able to repay them. He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a long sigh.

Gongsun Lu’E straightened the gown and tied the belt around herself. Suddenly she felt a small package in the gown’s pockets; she took it out and handed it over to Yang Guo, saying, “What’s this? Do you need it?”

Yang Guo took it in his hands and felt that it was fairly heavy; he said, “What is this?” Lu’E laughed, “I found it in your pockets, why are you asking me about it?”

Yang Guo looked at it and saw that it was a small package covered in rough cloth; he had never seen it before and immediately opened it. There was a sudden light in front of his eyes; four objects were within that package. One of them was a little dagger; on the handle was a pearl of the size of a long yan stone. It glimmered and sparkled, the light shining on Gongsun Lu’E’s graceful face; he thought, “People say that pearls are lights of the night, it appears that this isn’t a lie.”

Lu’E suddenly screamed, “Yi!” She stretched out her hand towards the package and picked up a small emerald colored jar; she called out, “This is the Passionless Pill.”

Yang Guo was shocked and delighted; he asked, “This is the medicine that cures the poison of the Passion Flowers?”

Lu’E shook the jar a few times and felt that something was in the jar. She said with delight, “Yes, I was looking for this in the pill room for half a day; when did you take it? How did you take it? How come you haven’t taken it yet? You don’t know that this is the Passionless Pill, right?” In her delight, her questions were non-stop, not allowing Yang Guo any time to reply.

Yang Guo scratched his head and said, “I don’t know anything about this, this… this jar of medicine; how did it get into my pockets? This really is strange.”

In the light of the pearl on the dagger, Lu’E could see clearly what other things were in the package. Besides the dagger and the emerald colored jar of the Passionless Pill, there was a square piece of sheep skin about seven or eight inches in length and half of a Spirit Fungus (Lingzhi). A thought went through her mind and she said, “This piece of Spirit Fungus was the piece that was broken off by the Old Urchin.”

Yang Guo said, “The Old Urchin?”

Lu’E said, “Yes. I’m in charge of the fungi room and this is the fungus from the ‘Hundred Jade Plate’. The Old Urchin turned the sword, pill, fungi and library rooms upside down. He destroyed books and stole swords; he kicked over the cauldrons and ripped up the fungi; this is all the handiwork of the Old Urchin.”

Yang Guo suddenly understood and said, “Yes, yes.” Lu’E quickly asked, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “This package was placed on me by Senior Zhou Lao.” He now knew that Zhou Botong had the intention of aiding him; because of this, he changed his naming of ‘Old Urchin’ to ‘Senior Zhou Lao’.

It also became clear to Lu’E, she said, “So he gave it to you.”

Yang Guo said, “I didn’t even know that he gave it to me. This Wulin Senior does as he pleases in the world; his movements are mysterious. When he took my mask and scissors I didn’t notice it; when he put this package on me I felt nothing. My abilities are not even half as good as his.”

Lu’E nodded and said, “Yes, father said that he stole things from the valley and said that he must be captured but… but he took off all his clothes in front of so many people and showed that there was nothing on him.”

Yang Guo laughed, “He had hidden the package on me before that and actually managed to deceive the Valley Master by taking off his clothes.”

Lu’E opened the emerald colored jar and covered it with her left hand, shaking the contents into the palm of her hand. A square looking pill came out of the jar onto her palm; the pill was extremely dark and its smell was overpowering. Most pills are round so one can easily swallow it; but if it was from a slab of medicine, it will be long and flat.

Yang Guo had never seen a square pill before; he took the pill from Lu’E and examined it closely.

Lu’E shook the jar a few times again and patted the jar into her palm a few times before saying, “That’s it, there’s only one pill; take it now, it’ll be terrible if it falls into the pool.”

Yang Guo was about to put the pill in his mouth when he heard her say ‘there’s only one pill’, he was stunned and asked, “Only one? Has your father got any more?”

Lu’E said, “That’s why it is so precious; because there is only one pill. Otherwise why would my father get so angry?” Yang Guo was shocked and quivered, “My Gu Gu has this poison as well; how will your father save her?”

Lu’E sighed, “I once heard from my senior apprentice brother that there were originally many Passionless Pills in the pill room; but for some reason, there was only one left. This pill is extremely hard to produce; there was no way to gather all the precious herbs and medicine to make any more. Because of this, my senior apprentice brother warned us that we must be extremely careful of the Passion Flower; if it’s a little pierce from it, one will recover from it after a few days; if that happens it’s not too serious. But if the poison is deep, it will be difficult for the Valley Master to act because one pill can only save one person.”

Yang Guo kept on saying ‘Oh no’ and then said, “How come your father hasn’t come to save you yet?”

Lu’E immediately knew what he was thinking and saw him placing the pill back into the jar; she let out a light sigh and said, “Brother Yang, how can my father feel no shame in light of your love for Miss Long? You’re hoping that I’ll be able to take the pill back up and save Miss Long’s life.”

Yang Guo showed a little smile as his thoughts were revealed, he said, “Of course I hoped that such a kind girl as you will leave this dangerous place safely; but I also hope that my Gu Gu’s life can be saved. Even if I cure my Passion Flower poison, I won’t last long if I stay down here in this crocodile pit. Of course saving my Gu Gu is more important.” He thought, “Gu Gu’s beauty is unparalleled; it’s normal that someone like the Valley Master would want to marry her. But when Gu Gu refused to marry him, he lured her to the sword room to harm her. He really is evil; now he knows that the only Passionless Pill has been taken away, there is no way to cure the Passion Flower poison in Gu Gu. She just has thirty six days to live and all he’s concerned about is making her submit to him; even the crocodiles in this pit have more heart than him.”

Lu’E knew that no matter how hard she tries to persuade him to take the pill it will be of no use; she regretted telling him that there was only one pill so she said, “This Spirit Fungus can’t cure poisons but it can strengthen one’s body, eat it quickly.”

Yang Guo said, “Yes.” He broke the piece of Spirit Fungus into two; he put one piece into his mouth and put the other piece in front of Lu’E’s mouth, he said, “We don’t know when your father will let you go, so eat this piece to help protect yourself against this cold.”

Lu’E saw that he was concerned for her and couldn’t bear to refuse, so she opened her mouth.

This Spirit Fungus had been grown for hundreds of years; not long after the two ate it, they felt an extremely comfortable warmth throughout their bodies, a boost in their energy and they felt sharper.

Lu’E suddenly said, “Father must have known that Zhou Botong had stolen the Passionless Pill. He was lying to Miss Long when he said he was going to cure you; and when he was forcing me to hand over the Passionless Pill, he was acting then as well.”

Yang Guo had thought about this awhile ago but he didn’t want to make her sadder so he kept quiet about it. When he heard her realizing this on her own he said, “When your father let’s you out, you need to be extremely careful; the best thing for you to do is leave the valley as quickly as possible.”

Lu’E sighed, “You don’t know my father; since he’s pushed me down here into this crocodile pit he will never change his mind and rescue me. He was already worried about me; after this event, how can he allow me to live? Brother Yang, will you let me die with you?”

Yang Guo was about to say a few words to comfort her when he suddenly heard another crocodile climbing onto the rock face, its front foot stepping onto sheepskin from the package. Yang Guo had a thought, “That sheepskin looked kind of strange.” He picked up the dagger and stabbed it between the eyes of the crocodile; a ‘pu’ sound was heard as it went straight through. The dagger that he was holding was actually extremely sharp and was capable of chopping gold and cutting jade. The crocodile struggled a little bit before falling back into the pool on its back, dead. Yang Guo said with delight, “Now that we’ve got this dagger, those crocodiles in the pool have run out of luck.”

He picked up the sheepskin with his left hand and brought the dagger over, using the faint light from the pearl to carefully study it. The sheepskin was coarse on one side and there was nothing odd about it; but turning it over revealed drawings of many buildings, rooms, rocks and the like.

Yang Guo looked at it for a while but didn’t find anything strange about it, he said, “This sheepskin is of no use to us.”

Lu’E had been looking over his shoulder all along and suddenly said, “That’s a map of our Narcissus Manor of the Passionless Valley. Look, that’s the brook that led you here, that’s the main hall, that’s the sword room, that’s the fungi room and that’s the pill room…” She pointed to the map as she said this.

Yang Guo suddenly called out and said, “Look, look.” He pointed to a drawing of water underneath the pill room. Lu’E said, “That’s the crocodile pool. Ah… there’s a passageway here.”

The two could see that there was a passageway drawn next to the crocodile pool and their spirits rose. Yang Guo matched the map to the crocodile pool and said, “If the map’s right, after passing through the passageway there’ll definitely be an exit. But…”

Lu’E interrupted, “But what’s strange is that the passageway is going downwards; this crocodile pool is already deep underground; where will the passageway lead if it keeps on going further down?” The passageway on the map finished at the edge of the sheepskin, they didn’t know where it leads.

Yang Guo said, “Has your father or senior apprentice brother ever mentioned this crocodile pool before?”

Lu’E shook her head and said, “I only learned today that there were so many terrifying things hidden underneath the pill room; even senior apprentice brother may not know about it. But… but to keep all these crocodiles alive will require regular feeding, why does father…” She trembled all over as she thought about how evil her father was.

Yang Guo took a look around and noticed a dark circular shape behind the rock face; it appeared to be the entrance to a tunnel but it was too faraway. He wasn’t really sure; he thought, “Even if that is the passageway, I don’t know what other kinds of vicious creatures might be lurking around in there. If we come across them it might be even more dangerous for us than the situation we are in now. Even so, we can’t sit here and wait for death; we’re going to die anyway, so we might as well take the risk in trying to find a way out. All I want is for Miss Gongsun to get out of this danger and pass the antidote on to Gu Gu.” So he passed the dagger into the hands of Lu’E and said, “I’ll go take a look; be careful of the crocodiles.” His right foot touched the rock face and he flew away into the pool. Lu’E called out in alarm. Yang Guo’s right foot landed on the stomach of the dead crocodile and used it to leap forward; he then landed on the back of a crocodile with his left foot. The crocodile sank into the water while Yang Guo leapt to the other shore; he pressed his body against the rock and searched the surface with his hand. He called out, “There’s a large cave over here!”

Gongsun Lu’E’s lightness kung fu was not anywhere as good as his; she didn’t dare to leap over to the cave like he did. Yang Guo thought that if he went back to carry her on his back, their weight will increase. Not only will their leaping be inconvenienced, they will not be able to use the crocodiles as supports. But since it had come to this he had to risk it and called out, “Miss Gongsun, soak your gown and throw it over to me.”

Lu’E did not know what he was going to do but did as she was told; she took off her gown and gave it a quick soak in the pool then hurriedly pulled it back up. She made two knots in the gown, forming a ball; she called out, “Its coming!” She circulated her internal energy and shot it over.

Yang Guo caught it and untied the gown. He found a place to secure his footing and used his left hand to grab tightly onto a piece of jutting rock. His right hand swung the wet gown and he said, “Listen carefully.”

He swung the wet gown forward and waved it about, a ‘pai’ sound was heard as he struck the mouth of the cave. He struck it three times in a row and asked, “Can you tell where the cave is?”

Lu’E had listened and could tell where it was, she said, “Yes.”

Yang Guo said, “Jump forward and grab the gown, I’ll pull you over.”

Lu’E opened her eyes wide and tried to see but all she saw was darkness; she was really frightened and said, “I… I can’t…”

Yang Guo said, “There’s no need to be scared. If you miss the gown and fall into the pool, I’ll dive in immediately to save you. We were afraid of the crocodiles when we first came here; but now we’ve got this dagger which can slice metal like butter, what have we got to fear?”

He then sent the gown forward.

Gongsun Lu’E clenched her teeth and pushed out with her feet against the rock face; her body flew up into the air and she heard the noise from the flapping gown and stretched out her hands towards it. Her right hand grabbed the lower half of the gown but her left hand grabbed thin air. As soon as Yang Guo felt his arm go heavy, he immediately swung the gown towards the cave. He was afraid that she would slip so he quickly leapt over to her and lightly grabbed her waist, holding her steadily by the cave entrance.

Gongsun Lu’E was delighted and called out; “Brother Yang that was a great idea.”

Yang Guo laughed, “We don’t know what kind of vicious beasts are hiding in this passageway; we’ll just let fate decide.” He then bent his body and went into the cave.

Lu’E handed the dagger to Yang Guo and said, “You take it.” Yang Guo gave her the gown and she covered her body with it.

The cave was extremely narrow; the two of them could only go through it on their hands and knees. The dampness from the crocodile pool caused the cave floor to be damp and slippery and the stench was extremely unpleasant.

Yang Guo crawled along and laughed, “This morning we were enjoying the beauty of the Passion Flowers; flowers were everywhere, birds were singing and we were surrounded by fragrant scents. After just a few hours the scenery has changed to this; I really have caused you great trouble.”

Lu’E said, “How can it be blamed on you?”

After crawling along for a while, the passageway gradually became higher and they were able to walk along it. They walked for a very long time but still they did not reach the end. The ground became flatter and flatter.

Yang Guo laughed, “Looks like our bitter experience is turning to joy; we’re slowly reaching safety.”

Lu’E sighed and said, “Brother Yang, I know you’re not feeling in the best of spirits, but you don’t have to try to cheer me up...” Before she finished her words, there was a sudden laugh from the left up ahead, “Ha-ha, ha-ha, ha-ha!”

What they heard just now was definitely laughter but it sounded sad; within the ‘ha-ha ha-ha’ sound there was mourning and sorrow. Yang Guo and Gongsun Lu’E had never heard a sound like this. It didn’t sound like calls or laughter. There was also the fact that they were deep down in a cave in complete darkness and weren’t prepared for such a noise. This was much more frightening than coming upon some kind of vicious beast. Though Yang Guo was brave, he couldn’t stop himself from jumping; his head bumped into the roof of the cave painfully.

Gongsun Lu’E was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat with goose bumps all over and hugged his legs. The two of them didn’t know what to do; they didn’t dare to advance or retreat.

Lu’E whispered, “Is it a ghost?” She said these words very quietly; but after these words the same voice called out, “Yes, I’m a ghost, I’m a ghost, ha-ha, ha-ha!”

Yang Guo thought, “Since they called themselves a ghost, this person isn’t one.” So he said loudly, “I am Yang Guo, and along with me is Miss Gongsun. The two of us have run into some danger and we’re just trying to find a way to escape it; we have no ill intentions...”

That person interrupted, “Miss Gongsun? What Miss Gongsun?”

Yang Guo said, “The daughter of Valley Master Gongsun, Gongsun Lu’E.” No further sound came; it was as if that person had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

When that person was howling out with their cry that wasn’t a cry and a laugh that wasn’t a laugh, the two of them were extremely frightened. But they were even more frightened after this sudden silence in the darkness; the two of them clung to each other, not daring to make a single move.

After a long time, the person suddenly shouted out, “What Valley Master Gongsun; is it Gongsun Zhi?” The words were filled with anger but they could now clearly tell it was a woman’s voice.

Gongsun Lu’E plucked up her courage and said, “My father’s name is indeed Zhi, does Old Senior know my father?”

The person chuckled coldly and said, “Do I know him? Ha-ha, do I know him?” Lu’E did not dare to interrupt and just kept silent. After a while, the person shouted, “What’s your name?”

Lu’E said, “Junior’s name is Lu’E, the Lu (green) as in red and green, E (calyx) as in the calyx of a flower.” The person gave a heng’ grunt and asked, “What is your birth date?”

Lu’E was afraid that this person was asking for her birth date because she wanted to use witchcraft to harm her; she whispered in Yang Guo’s ear, “Should I say it?”

Before Yang Guo could reply, the person chuckled and said, “You’re eighteen this year, your birthday is on the third day of the second month, and you were born at the ‘Xu’ hour (7-9 p.m.), correct?”

Gongsun Lu’E was shocked and called out, “You… you… how do you know?” Suddenly she was filled with an indescribable feeling; she knew that this person would not harm her and she brushed past Yang Guo hurrying forward. After turning two bends, her eyes were suddenly dazzled by the light; before her she saw a half clothed granny sitting on her knees on the floor, her face full of anger and with a great presence.

Lu’E gasped and stood there stunned. Yang Guo was afraid that she was in danger and quickly hurried after her.

He saw that the old granny was sitting a natural grotto; there was a large ten foot wide hole in the roof which allowed sunlight in that came from over a thousand feet above. Most likely she accidentally fell down into the hole and couldn’t get out. This grotto was deep underground; even if one called and shouted, a passer by may not hear them. What really was extraordinary was that she was actually still alive after falling from so high. He saw many date trees in the places where the sunlight reached; could it be that she somehow landed on the trees just right, saving her life in the process? He saw that she only had tree bark and leaves to cover herself up with; she must have been trapped in this grotto for years. So long that her clothes have all been worn to shreds.

The granny ignored Yang Guo completely and just looked up and down at Lu’E; suddenly she gave a bleak laugh and said, “Miss, you have grown up beautifully.”

Lu’E returned the compliment with a smile and went forward to greet her, “How do you do Old Senior.”

The granny faced the sky and laughed with her neither cry nor laughter howl; she said, “Old Senior? Ha-ha, I’m great; I’m great, ha-ha, ha-ha!” After she said this, anger filled her face.

Lu’E did not know how she offended her by saying these respectful words; she was very frightened and looked back at Yang Guo for help.

Yang Guo knew that it would be unavoidable for the granny to lose her mind after being stuck down here for such a long time; he shook his head towards Lu’E and smiled a little, trying to say that there was no need to treat her seriously. He studied the terrain, trying to think of a plan to get out. Though the hole in the roof of the grotto was high, with his lightness kung fu, it might not be an impossible task if he took the risk.

But Lu’E was just concentrating on the granny; she saw that most of her hair had fallen out and was almost completely bald; her face was full of wrinkles but her eyes were still full of vigor. The granny was looking at Lu’E without blinking too; the two of them stared at each other, ignoring Yang Guo.

After looking at her for a while, the granny said, “You’ve got a red birthmark on your waist on the left side, haven’t you?”

Lu’E was shocked and thought, “Even father may not know about my red birthmark; how does this granny know about this? She also knows my birthday and time; it looks like this granny has a deep tie with my family.” So she said softly, “Granny, you must know my father and my dead mother, isn’t that right?” The granny was startled and said, “Your dead mother? Ha-ha, of course I know her.” Her tone suddenly became stern and shouted, “Have you got a birthmark on your waist? Quickly let me take a look. If you’re lying I’m going to kill you right where you’re standing.”

Lu’E turned her head and looked at Yang Guo, her face blushing. Yang Guo quickly turned away and kept his back towards her. Lu’E took off her gown and uncovered her white gleaming waist. Indeed there was a red thumb size birthmark on her waist; the red and white contrasted each other, like a red plum in the middle of a field of snow, looking extremely adorable.

The granny just took one look and she trembled all over; her eyes were filled with tears and she opened her arms, calling out, “My precious, mother has been thinking about you bitterly.”

Lu’E looked at her expression and suddenly her natural instincts were stirred, she threw herself on her and cried, “Mother, mother!”

Yang Guo was startled when he heard one of them call out ‘my precious’ and the other call out ‘mother’; he turned around and saw the two hugging each other tightly. Lu’E was shaking while the granny was in tears; Yang Guo thought, “Could it be that this granny is actually Miss Gongsun’s mother?”

The granny’s eyebrows suddenly rose and her face was filled with an air of death, just like Valley Master Gongsun when he fought. Yang Guo silently called out, “No!” He was afraid that the granny would harm Lu’E and dashed forward. But all she did was push Lu’E lightly away on her shoulders and shout, “Stand up, I’m going to question you.”

Lu’E was startled; she moved away from her and called out; “Mother!”

The granny said sternly, “Why did Gongsun Zhi send you here? He wanted you to come here to lie to me with your sweet talk, didn’t he?”

Lu’E shook her head and said, “Mother, you’re actually still alive, mother!” Her face was filled with both joy and sadness, showing a daughter’s love; how can this be faked?

The granny kept on asking sternly, “Gongsun Zhi said I was dead, didn’t he?”

Lu’E said, “I have been filled with sadness over the years; I thought that I was a child without a mother. But my mother had actually been alive all this time; I’m really overwhelmed with joy today.”

The granny pointed to Yang Guo and said, “Who’s he? Why did you bring him here?”

Lu’E said, “Mother, listen to me.” She then told her how Yang Guo entered the valley, how he contracted the Passion Flower poison, how the two fell down into the crocodile pool; she told it all from the beginning. But she kept the matter of Valley Master Gongsun marrying Xiao Longnu from her in case her mother would be disturbed by this and break out in a jealous rage.

Whenever Lu’E was unclear on something, the granny would ask her carefully about it. Apart from the matter about Xiao Longnu, Lu’E did not keep anything from her. The more the granny heard, the more peaceful she became; her expression towards Yang Guo was also getting more and more pleasant. When Lu’E described how Yang Guo killed crocodiles and how he protected her, the granny kept on calling out, “Good, good! Little kid, looks like my daughter hasn’t picked you without good reason.”

Lu’E’s face went red and she lowered her head.

Yang Guo knew that it wasn’t conveniently to explain all the intricacies within all these events right now so he said, “Auntie Gongsun, we first need to come up with an escape plan; how do we get out?”

The granny’s face sank and shouted, “What Auntie Gongsun? Don’t ever say the words Auntie Gongsun again. Don’t think that because I look frail I can’t do anything; if I want to kill you it’ll be as easy as turning my palm.”

A sudden ‘bo’ sound was heard as something came out of her mouth, a ‘zheng’ sound was heard as it knocked Yang Guo’s dagger to the ground.

Yang Guo felt his arm tremble severely; his five fingers couldn’t hold on and the ‘dang’ sound heard was the dagger striking the floor. Yang Guo leapt backwards in shock; he saw that there was a date stone by the dagger, spinning around on the floor. He was still in shock as he thought, “With the force that I grip the dagger with, even if it was Jinlun Fawang’s golden wheel, Da’erba’s golden rod or Valley Master Gongsun’s jagged saber, they wouldn’t be able to knock the dagger out of my hands. Though I wasn’t prepared, this granny just spat out a date stone from her mouth to do this; this person’s martial arts really are awesome.”

Lu’E saw his face change color and she quickly said, “Brother Yang, my mother won’t harm you.” She went over to him and tugged his hand; she turned to her mother and said, “Mother, tell him how to greet you. He doesn’t know yet.”

The granny laughed and said, “Fine, this old woman’s name will never change; the people of Jianghu call me the ‘Iron Palm Lotus Qiu Qianchi’. What should you call me? Ha-ha, shouldn’t you be kowtowing to me and calling me ‘mother-in-law’?”

Lu’E quickly said, “Mother, don’t you know, there’s nothing between brother Yang and I, he… he just has good intentions towards me and nothing else.”

Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “Nothing else? Nothing between you? Where are your clothes? Why have you only got underwear on? Why are you covered by his gown?” She suddenly pitched her voice up and screamed, “If the one named Yang is thinking about being shameless like that Gongsun Zhi I’m going to make sure that he dies without a *complete corpse. [*Refers to hacking the body apart.] The one named Yang, are you going to marry my daughter?”

Yang Guo saw that she spoke madly and was impervious to reason; how could she force him to marry her daughter after just speaking a few words? But if he bluntly refuses, it would be extremely embarrassing for Lu’E. There’s also the fact that this granny’s martial arts are extremely high and her character extremely weird; if he said any words that were just slightly displeasing, she would kill him immediately. He saw that the most important thing right now was for the three of them to get out of this place so he said, “Please relax Old Senior; Yang Guo is not a man without a conscience; I will never dare to forget the kindness that Lu’E has shown me.” These words were extremely agreeable; though he didn’t agree to marry Lu’E, the words pleased the ears of Qiu Qianchi; she nodded, “You’d better not.”

Gongsun Lu’E of course knew what Yang Guo meant by this; as she looked at Yang Guo, there was a look of disappointment in her eyes and she lowered her head. A while passed before she said to Qiu Qianchi, “Mother, how did you get down here? Why did father say that you were dead and let me stay saddened for all these years? If I’d known you were here, I would have risked my life to come and find you.” She saw that her mother was unclothed; if she let her mother wear Yang Guo’s gown then she would be insufficiently dressed; so she tore the back and front of the gown and draped it over her mother’s shoulders.

Yang Guo was saddened when he saw what a state the gown that Xiao Longnu had made for him had fallen into; it stirred the Passion Flower’s poison and his body broke out with unbearable pain once again.

When Qiu Qianchi saw this, her face moved slightly and her right hand searched for something on her person; but after a thought, her hand came out empty handed.

From her mother’s expression and actions, Lu’E had an inkling of her mother’s thoughts; she pleaded, “Mother, can you cure the Passion Flower’s poison that brother Yang has in him?”

Qiu Qianchi said in a subdued manner, “I have my own troubles being trapped down here; if others can’t save me, how can I save others?”

Lu’E said anxiously, “Mother, if you save brother Yang, he will definitely help you. Even if you can’t save him, brother Yang will do all he can to help you. Isn’t that right brother Yang?” Yang Guo did not have a good opinion of Qiu Qianchi but he should help her on behalf of Lu’E; so he said, “Of course. Senior has been down here for so long, you must be very familiar with the layout and terrain of this place; can Senior tell me one or two things about it?”

Qiu Qianchi gave a long sigh and said, “Though this place is deep in the ground, it’s not that difficult to get out.” She looked at Yang Guo and said, “You must be thinking that if it’s not hard, how come I’m still down here? Ai… The tendons in my arms and legs were destroyed long ago, and all my martial arts went with it.”

Yang Guo had noticed a while ago that there was something different about the movements of her arms and legs. But Lu’E was shocked when she heard this, she asked, “You did this by falling from up above?”

Qiu Qianchi said gloomily; “No! A person did this to me.”

Lu’E was even more shocked by this and quivered, “Mother, who did this to you? We must take revenge against that person.” Qiu Qianchi chuckled, “Revenge? Will you be able to do it? The person who destroyed my tendons is Gongsun Zhi.”

Ever since Lu’E found out that she was her mother, she had a feeling that something like this had happened; but when she heard this with her own ears, she trembled all over and asked, “Why… why?”

Qiu Qianchi glanced coldly at Yang Guo and said, “It’s because I killed someone, a young beautiful girl; huh, it’s because I killed Gongsun Zhi’s beloved.” When she reached this point, her teeth chattered as she bit down. Lu’E was frightened and moved back a little away from her mother while getting closer to Yang Guo. The grotto became silent.

Qiu Qianchi said suddenly, “Are you hungry? There are only dates for food in this grotto.” After she said this, she got on all fours and crawled forward like a wild beast; her movements were very swift. Lu’E and Yang Guo both felt awful when they saw this sight. But Qiu Qianchi had been crawling like this for years and didn’t think anything of it. Lu’E was about to dash forward to help her when she saw that she had already reached the base of a large date tree.

Years ago, a date seed must have been blown down into the grotto by the wind and sprouted down here, growing and blossoming and slowly flourishing; and from that one seed, fifty or sixty trees eventually grew. If a date seed had not been blown down here or if it had fallen onto infertile ground, Yang Guo and Lu’E would have come across upon a pile of bones. Who could think that this pile of bones would be an eminent member of Wulin? And Lu’E would never know that this was actually her mother.

Qiu Qianchi gathered a date stone from the floor and placed it into her mouth; she raised her head and spat out, the date stone shot upwards for tens of feet and struck a branch; the branch swayed and tens of dates rained downwards from the branch.

Yang Guo nodded and thought, “So after her tendons were ruined she managed to learn this great date stone spitting skill. The saying ‘heaven never seals off all its exits’ isn’t a lie.” His spirits were roused as he thought about this.

Lu’E picked up the dates from the floor and divided them up for her mother and Yang Guo to eat; she ate a few her self as well. In the middle of this underground grotto, she was serving her mother and acting just like a little hostess.

Qiu Qianchi has endured one of the most tragic experience in anyone’s life; hate had been gathered up in her heart over the last ten years. Even if she wasn’t a hot tempered person and was a peaceful, kind natured woman, she would still have changed into this unreasonable person. But a mother’s love is a natural instinct; when she saw the daughter she had been thinking about night and day had grown into such a beautiful girl, her temper was calmed. The warmth of her love towards her daughter was gradually stirred and she asked, “What has Gongsun Zhi been saying about me?”

Lu’E said, “Father has never talked about mother. When I was little I asked if I looked like my mother. What illness did mother die of? Father would suddenly break out in a temper and scold me for a while, telling me not to bring this up ever again. A few years later I asked him again and once again, he shouted at me.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “What were you thinking?”

Tears formed in Lu’E’s eyes and she said, “I thought that my mother must have been a beautiful, gentle woman and father loved you deeply. Whenever other people mentioned you he would be extremely upset and sad; from then on I didn’t dare to ask him about you again.”

Qiu Qianchi chuckled and said, “You must be extremely disappointed; your mother isn’t a beautiful and gentle woman but a vicious, cruel and ugly old hag. If you knew about this, I think you would rather not see me.”

Lu’E stretched out her arms to hug her around the neck and said tenderly, “Mother, you’re how I imagined you would be.” She turned to Yang Guo and asked, “Brother Yang, my mother is beautiful, isn’t she? She treats me well and she treats you well, right?” Her words were filled with sincerity; in her heart, she looked upon her mother as the greatest woman in the world.

Yang Guo thought, “She might have been beautiful when she was younger but how can you say that she’s beautiful now? You’re right when you said that she treats you well but she might not have any good intentions in her heart towards me.” But since Lu’E asked like this, he could only reply, “Yes, you’re right.” His tone was not anywhere near as sincere as Lu’E’s; Qiu Qianchi knew it straight away when she heard it, she thought, “Heaven has pitied me and has given me the chance to see my daughter again; though she is filled with respect and love for me now, it would be difficult to ensure that it will be like this forever. I need to tell her about all the bitterness and wrong that I’ve suffered.” So she said, “E’er, you asked, how did I get here? Why Gongsun Zhi said that I’d died? Sit down, I’ll tell you all about it.”

Qiu Qianchi said slowly, “Gongsun Zhi’s ancestors were officials in the Tang court. Later on, because they wanted to avoid the troubles of the court, they decided to reside here in this secluded valley. His ancestors worked as military officials and his family’s martial arts can be classed as a respectable skill; but his real advanced martial arts were taught to him by me.” Yang Guo and Lu’E both felt rather surprised by this.

Qiu Qianchi said proudly, “You two are still young, of course you wouldn’t understand the principles within them. The Iron Palm Clan Chief, the ‘Iron Palm Water Floater’ Qiu Qianren is my brother. Yang Guo, tell Lu’E about the Iron Palm Clan.”

Yang Guo was startled and asked, “The Iron Palm Clan? I’m not very knowledgeable; I really don’t know what the Iron Palm Clan is.”

Qiu Qianchi scolded him, “Little punk, you dare tell lies in front of me! The Iron Palm Clan is famous throughout the world. Along with the Beggar Clan, we’re classed as the world’s two greatest clans; how can you not know?”

Yang Guo said, “Junior has heard of the Beggar Clan before but the Iron Palm Clan…”

Qiu Qianchi was exasperated and scolded, “Ha-ha, you’ve practiced martial arts and you don’t even know anything about the Iron Palm Clan…”

Lu’E saw that her mother’s face had reddened with anger; she interrupted and tried to persuade her, “Mother, brother Yang is not even twenty yet; he has studied with his Master deep in the mountains ever since he was young; of course there are things about the Wulin that he doesn’t know.”

Qiu Qianchi ignored her and kept on grumbling.

Twenty years ago, the Iron Palm Clan was indeed very famous; but at the second Mount Hua competition, the Iron Palm Chief Iron Palm Water Floater Qiu Qianren entered religion and the tutelage of the Reverend Yideng. The Iron Palm Clan dispersed immediately after that. When the Iron Palm Clan was dispersing, Yang Guo had just been born and no one had ever mentioned the clan to him before, so naturally he wouldn’t know anything about it. His mother Mu Nianci had actually lost her virtue to his father Yang Kang on Iron Palm Peak; his mother became pregnant and Yang Guo was conceived. Now as Qiu Qianchi talked about this, his eyes stared, not knowing how to reply. Qiu Qianchi had been in the Passionless Valley for almost thirty years; she has not heard about the changes in the Wulin world. She just knew that the Iron Palm Clan had been famous for hundreds of years, so they must be flourishing even more at the present time. But now she heard that Yang Guo hadn’t even heard of the three words ‘Iron Palm Clan’ before; of course she would break out in a thunderous rage.

Yang Guo was being insulted and cursed at for no reason at all; at first he forced himself to take it; but as it went on, the insults were beginning to go too far. He was starting to get angry and was about to answer back when, just as he was going to open his mouth, he saw Lu’E staring at him. Her eyes were filled with tenderness and her face was looking apologetic. Yang Guo’s heart softened and his face showed a helpless expression; he was beginning to feel contented as he thought, “The worse your mother treats me the better you treat me. The old bat’s words just brush past the ears, while the beauty’s warmth goes to my heart.” His brain became active as his heart relaxed; suddenly he thought, “Miss Wanyan Ping’s martial arts appeared to be of the same school as Gongsun Zhi; she also said that she practiced the “Iron Palm”; she must have some kind of connection with the Iron Palm Clan.”

He closed his eyes and recalled that when Wanyan Ping fought Yelu Qi, he could remember about seventy or eight percent of it. When he fought Gongsun Zhi just a few hours ago, his attacks and form were even clearer in his mind and he called out, “Ah, I remember.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “What?”

Yang Guo said, “Three years ago I saw an extraordinary Wulin Senior battle eighteen men from the world of Jianghu; he fought them all empty handed. In the end he seriously injured nine of them and killed the other nine. I heard this great person say that he was from the Iron Palm Clan.”

Qiu Qianchi asked quickly, “What did this person look like?”

Yang Guo made it up as he went along and said, “This person was bald and was around sixty years of age, his face glowed and he was tall, he wore a green gown and said he said his surname was Qiu…”

Qiu Qianchi suddenly shouted, “Bullshit! My two brothers are not bald, they are not tall and they have never worn green before. You saw that I’m tall and bald so you said they’re bald as well?”

Yang Guo thought, “Crap!” But his face remained unmoved and he laughed, “There’s no need to rush me; I didn’t say this person was your brother. Could it be that everyone who’s named Qiu is your brother?”

Qiu Qianchi could say nothing after this rebuttal and asked, “What were his martial arts like?”

Yang Guo stood up and performed a few fists of Wanyan Ping’s mixed up with the form and palms of Gongsun Zhi; eventually he became more and more fluid in his actions and the grotto was filled with elegant palms and powerful punches. Though his stances were slightly wrong, it was somewhat better than the original palm techniques of Wanyan Ping. His natural movements covered up all the places that were out of form with Wanyan Ping’s techniques. His hand and leg movements were tight and complete and whenever he sent out a palm, he would deliberately put extra effort in it to make it more vicious.

Qiu Qianchi watched with great joy, she called out, “E’er, E’er, that’s the martial arts of our Iron Clan Palm, watch carefully.”

Yang Guo performed these stances with Qiu Qianchi pointing out the stances and explaining the lethal aspects of them from the side.

Yang Guo was amused and thought, “If I carry on any longer she’ll see through me.” He then stopped and said, “At this point, the Wulin senior had won and there wasn’t a need to carry on.”

Qiu Qianchi was delighted and said, “You’ve remembered a lot of the stances wrongly, your hand movements are incorrect as well; but to perform it as you did is really something that is difficult to do. What was the name of this Wulin Senior? What did he say to you?”

Yang Guo said, “This extraordinary person’s movements were like a divine dragon. After he won he flew away. I just heard from the remaining nine injured men and they were blaming themselves saying, how could we give trouble to Master Qiu of the Iron Palm Clan? Weren’t we signing our own death warrants?”

Qiu Qianchi said with delight, “That’s right, the one named Qiu is most probably a disciple of my brother.” Qiu Qianchi loved martial arts; but for the last ten years she hadn’t been able to move her arms and legs freely. Now, as she saw Yang Guo perform her clan’s martial arts, she was thrilled and was itching to have a go. She then started to lecture the two about her clan’s palm techniques and lightness kung fu.

Yang Guo was anxious to get out as quickly as possible so he could deliver the antidote to Xiao Longnu. Though what he heard was advanced and refined martial arts that would benefit him, when he thought about the suffering of Xiao Longnu, how could he keep a frame of mind for learning martial arts? He then signaled to Lu’E with his eyes.

Lu’E understood and said, “Mother, why did you teach father martial arts?” Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “Call him Gongsun Zhi! Why father this and that?” Lu’E said, “Yes. Mother, please go on.”

Qiu Qianchi said, with hate in her voice; “Huh!” After a while she continued, “This happened twenty years ago. My two brothers got into an argument…”

Lu’E interrupted, “I’ve got two uncles?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Don’t you know?” Her tone became stern with a hint of scolding. Lu’E thought, “How would I know?” She replied, “No, no one’s ever told me before.”

Qiu Qianchi sighed and said, “You… you really don’t know anything. Pitiful… pitiful!” After a while she continued, “Your uncles are twins, your older uncle is called Qiu Qianzhang, your second uncle is Qiu Qianren. Their voices, figure and faces were the same, but the two’s characters and fate were very different. Second brother’s martial arts are extremely high but first brother’s martial arts were very ordinary. Second brother taught me martial arts but first brother and I were a lot closer to each other. Second brother was the chief of the Iron Palm Clan; he had many clan matters to deal with and was busy with his own martial arts, so we saw very little of each other. When he taught me martial arts, he was strict and didn’t say much to me. But first brother was very close to me; he would say, sister this and sister that. Later on when the two argued, I sided with first brother.”

Lu’E said, “Mother, what did the two uncles argued about?”

Qiu Qianchi’s face suddenly showed a hint of a smile and said, “This matter is not serious but not too insignificant either; it’s just that my second brother was too obstinate. When second brother became the chief of the Iron Palm Clan, his name ‘Iron Palm Water Floater Qiu Qianren’ was famous throughout the world of the Wulin. Very few knew my elder brother’s name. Whenever my elder brother went out, he would sometimes borrow my second brother’s name for convenience. The two of them looked the same and were real brothers, so what’s so bad about borrowing his name? But second brother didn’t see it this way; he would argue about this all the time, saying elder brother was a swindler and trickster. My elder brother had a good temper; whenever second brother scolded him he would just laugh and apologize. One time, second brother went too far. I couldn’t do anything and so added a few words to help first brother. This brought trouble onto me and we argued. I left the Iron Palm Peak in anger and never returned.”

“I roamed Jianghu by myself. One time, I was pursuing a scoundrel and came to the Passionless Valley by accident. This was punishment for the bad deeds in my last life and I met Gongsun Zhi… this evil… this evil scoundrel. We eventually got married. I was older than him by a few years and my martial arts were a lot stronger than his. After we got married not only did I teach him martial arts, I looked after his everyday needs; he didn’t have to do anything in the valley. His family’s martial arts have its ingenious aspects but there were too many holes in them. It was me who thought about it carefully and helped him improve it. One time, a strong enemy attacked; if it wasn’t for me driving them away, this Passionless Valley would have been flattened long ago. Who could have predicted that this scoundrel would repay these deeds with ingratitude? After he grew his wings he forgot about where all his martial arts came from, and who saved him in his time of danger.” She then spurted out a load of insults and curses with the insults becoming eviler as it went on.

Lu’E blushed when she heard this; she felt that insulting her husband like this in front of Yang Guo was a bit embarrassing. She kept on calling out, “Mother, mother!” But how could she stop her? Yang Guo loved it; he hated Gongsun Zhi too and enjoyed these insults immensely. He couldn’t stop himself from adding a few words to stir Qiu Qianchi’s mood further. If it wasn’t for Lu’E, he too would have opened his mouth and insulted him as well.

Qiu Qianchi exhausted her insults until nothing new could be added; she had repeated everything she said and had to stop. She continued, “That year I was pregnant with you and it was unavoidable that my character would become a bit more anxious and worried. Who knew that while it seemed like he treated me the same on the outside, he was having an affair with a maid behind my back. After you were born, he still carried on with this maid. I didn’t know anything; I thought that after we had this beautiful daughter, he would treat me better. I was deceived by them for a few years. One day I accidentally stumbled across them and heard them discussing about leaving the valley together and never returning.”

“I was hiding behind a tree and heard that scoundrel say that he was worried about how high my martial arts were and the further they went the better; how I was too controlling and didn’t give him any freedom. He said he only felt alive when he was with that bitch maid. I had always thought his feelings for me were real, but when I heard this I was so angry that I almost fainted. I wanted to dash forward and kill the two right there and then. Although he was heartless, I still looked back fondly upon the many years of us being a husband and wife. He was originally a good person, this must be the fault of that seducing bitch using her charms on him. I held my anger and stood behind the tree, listening carefully.”

“I heard them say that two days later I’ll be meditating for seven days and nights without leaving the room. They would take this chance to leave the valley, and by the time I’ve found out seven days later, they’ll be long gone. I shivered when I heard this; heaven must have pitied me to give me this chance to see through their plans. Otherwise, where on earth would I be able to find them seven days later?” By this point, her teeth were chattering with fury.

Lu’E asked, “What was the young maid called? Was she beautiful?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Crap! Beautiful my arse! This maid seduced him through her words; whatever the bastard said she agreed with and she would sweet talk him saying that he was the greatest man on this earth, that he was a great hero. Huh, that bitch was called Rou’er. That Gongsun Zhi with his sinful ancestors, what stance or form of his that I don’t know? He’s a great hero? He’s not even worthy to be a follower of my big brother; if he tried to pour wine for my second brother he would be kicked out on his butt.”

By this point, Yang Guo was beginning to feel a little sympathy for Gongsun Zhi, he thought, “It must be because you were too controlling and that your looking down on him was what forced him to finally fight back.”

Lu’E was afraid that her mother would break out in another bout of non stop cursing, so she asked quickly, “Mother, what happened then?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “The two animals had decided that in the morning on the third day, they’ll meet there again and leave together. They said that in the two upcoming days they’ll need to be extremely careful and not leave any clues as to what they were doing in case I found out. The two then continued on with talking rubbish. The bitch looked at the bastard captivated, as if she were looking at someone more important than the Emperor; revering him more than gods and goddesses. That bastard felt proud of himself; he kept on praising himself and then hugged and touched that slut. Their shameless actions almost angered me to death right there and then. Early on the third day, I pretended to meditate in the meditation chamber while Gongsun Zhi came over and peeked in a few times through the window. I waited for him to leave and then utilized my lightness kung fu and rushed to their meeting place. That bitch had arrived there before him. Without saying a word I grabbed her and tossed her into a Passion Flower thicket ” Yang Guo and Lu’E both gasped.

Qiu Qianchi glanced at them and continued, “After a while Gongsun Zhi arrived; there is no need to describe the panicky state he was in when he saw Rou’er rolling about and crying out in pain in the Passion Flowers. I leaped out from behind the tree and held him with my two hands then threw him down into the thicket as well. The valley has an antidote to the Passion Flower poison that had been passed down from generation to generation; it is called the Passionless Pill. Gongsun Zhi struggled and picked himself up; he then helped that slut off the ground and rushed to the pill room, wanting to get the Passionless Pill to cure their poison. Ha-ha, guess what they saw?”

Lu’E said, “Mother, what did they see?”

Yang Guo thought, “You must have destroyed all the Passionless Pills; what else could it be?”

Qiu Qianchi did indeed say, “Ha-ha, when he got to the room, he saw a bowl filled with frosty arsenic water and hundreds of Passionless Pills soaking in the bowl. If he wanted to take the Passionless Pill he would have to take in the poison of the frosty arsenic water; if he didn’t take it, he would still die. The method of producing the Passionless Pill is a family secret. It is extremely difficult to get all the precious herbs and medicines to produce them. To make a batch of Passionless Pills requires the spring dew and autumn frost; it will take three years to make. He then rushed to the meditation chamber and begged on his knees for their lives. He knew that I would muse over on our marriage and wouldn’t destroy all the pills, keeping some just in case. He struck himself across the face many times; he cried and swore that if I spared the two them he would send Rou’er away and never see her again. And he said he would never dare to do such a thing again.”

“As I heard him beg, his mouth kept on talking about Rou’er. I was angry and took out a Passionless Pill and put it on the table. I said, ‘There is only one Passionless Pill left. Only one of you can live. You know that it would be of no use if you each take half. You decide whether you want to save her or save yourself.’ He immediately took the pill with him and hurried to the pill room. I followed after him. By that time, the bitch was in unbearable pain and was rolling about on the floor.

Gongsun Zhi said, ‘Rou’er, go in peace. I’ll follow you in death.’ He then drew out a sword.

When Rou’er saw how loving he was, she was extremely touched and said, ‘Good, good. We’ll be a husband and wife in the underworld.’ Gongsun Zhi pierced her chest with the sword and killed her.

“I was outside the pill room looking in through the window and was slightly alarmed, I was afraid that the second move will go for his throat. When he raised the sword, I was about to call out to him to stop; but then I saw him wiping the blood away from his sword on Rou’er’s body before putting the sword back into it’s sheath. He turned to the window and said, ‘Sister Chi, I’m willing to repent; I’ve killed that bitch with my own hands, just spare me.” He lifted his hand towards his mouth and swallowed the Passionless Pill. This wasn’t something that I had expected, but since it had ended this way and he was repenting sincerely, I was very pleased. He then planned a feast to apologize to me. I scolded him for awhile and he kept on saying that he deserved to die and he swore hundreds of poisonous oaths, saying that he would never betray me again.”

Yang Guo thought, “You’re falling into his trap!” However Lu’E was in tears.

Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “What? You pity that bastard?” Lu’E shook her head and didn’t say anything. She was actually crying at her father’s cruelty and heartlessness.

Qiu Qianchi continued, “I drank two cups of wine and chuckled; I then took out another Passionless Pill from my pockets and placed it on the table. I laughed, ‘You might have acted a bit too fast; I was just testing what kind of person you were. If you had begged for just a little while longer I would have given two pills to you. You would have been able to save the life of that little beauty, wouldn’t that have been great?”

Lu’E quickly asked, “Mother, if he actually did beg you for a little while longer, would you have given him two pills?”

Qiu Qianchi thought for a while and said, “I don’t know. At that time, the thought of saving that slut passed through my mind. If I saved her and sent her away, then Gongsun Zhi would have been touched by this and might have actually come back to me, not daring to do such things again. But all he cared about was his life and he quickly killed his own lover. That can’t be blamed on me.” “Gongsun Zhi picked up the Passionless Pill and looked at it for a long while before he raised his cup and laughed, ‘Sister Chi, that’s in the past, why bring it up? It’s better to kill that girl and tie things up neatly. Let’s drink.’ I was slightly suspicious when he kept on telling me to drink but I was feeling great and joyful and actually became quite drunk. By the time I woke up, I was already down in this grotto and the tendons in my arms and legs had been destroyed by him. That bastard did not have the guts to see me again. Huh, he must have thought that I’d died long ago.”

When she finished talking about this, her eyes suddenly developed a fierce light and her expression was terrifying. Yang Guo and Lu’E both turned away, not daring to look her in the eye. The three of them didn’t say a single word for a long, long time.

Lu’E took a look around and all saw that the only things in the cave were rocks, hair and grass; she said somberly, “Mother, have you been relying on these dates only for all these years?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Yes. Do you think that bastard would send me food?” Lu’E hugged her and cried, “Mother!”

Yang Guo said, “Has Gongsun Zhi ever mentioned an exit to this grotto?”

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, “He never mentioned that there was such a grotto and pool beneath the manor in all the years we were married. If there was another exit, that bastard would not have put me here. He put those crocodiles in the pool afterwards; he was still afraid that that I would somehow manage to get out.”

Yang Guo looked around and saw that indeed there was no other way out apart from the entrance. He lifted his head and looked at the hole in the grotto roof. It was at least a thousand feet off the ground, the tallest tree down there was just forty or fifty feet tall, even if twenty of them were stacked together they would not reach the roof. He thought for a while but couldn’t come up with anything. He then said, “I’ll take a look from the top of the tree.” He then leapt on top of a date tree and saw that there were bumps and grooves higher up the stone walls; it wasn’t like down below where it was all smooth and slippery. He then climbed up along the wall and was getting higher and higher; he was pleased and turned back to Lu’E and called out, “Miss Gongsun, if I can get out I’ll let a rope down and get both of you out.”

He climbed up about six or seven hundred feet; with his outstanding lightness kung fu, he managed to turn all the dangers he met along the way into minor obstacles. But when he was about seventy or eighty feet away from the entrance, the walls became smooth and slippery without any hand holds and the walls slanted inwards as well. You wouldn’t be able to get out unless you were a fly.

Yang Guo took a look around and saw that the opening of the cave was around ten feet wide; more than enough space for someone to pass through. He had a plan and slipped back down to the bottom of the grotto and said, “We can get out! But we’ll need a long rope.” He then took out the dagger and cut bark off the date trees and tied them into a rope. Gongsun Lu’E was delighted and helped him. Although the two were quick, they had to work for over four hours. The sky was dark before they finished forming an extremely long rope made out of tree bark.

Yang Guo held the rope and tugged it a few times with force; he said, “It won’t snap.” He then used the dagger to cut off a branch that was around fifteen feet in length and tied one end of the rope to the middle of the branch and wrapped the rope up around it. He then climbed up along the wall again until he neared the top. He then used the “Thousand Kilogram Fall” in his legs to secure his footing and circulated energy into his arms. He shouted out, “Get up!” He threw the tree branch towards the opening of the cave. He used just the right amount of energy and when the branch came back down, it hung across the opening of the cave. Yang Guo pulled the rope to make sure the branch was secure across the opening of the cave. Just two tugs, after which he felt the branch was tight, secure and would be able to take his weight. He called out, “I’m going up!” He grabbed the rope and climbed up it; he looked down and saw that Lu’E and her mother had become two small black images in the indistinct evening light.

He used more strength in his hands and climbed up even quicker; in a short while he had reached the branch that was hanging across the opening of the cave. He bent his arms and a ‘hu’ sound was heard as he flew out of the cave and landed on the ground.

He took in a few deep breaths and then stood up. He saw that a bright moon had risen in the east above the mountains. He had been trapped down in the pool and grotto for half a day; now as he gained freedom, he felt an indescribable comfort and thought, “Will I feel no boredom at all if I stay in the tomb with Gu Gu? It is clear that the affect of the surroundings depends on one’s feelings; if one wants to get out but can’t they’ll feel troubled in their hearts; but for those who don’t want to get out, getting out will create misery.” He then lowered the rope.

As soon as Qiu Qianchi saw Yang Guo climb out of the cave, she cursed her daughter, “Stupid girl, how can you let him get out by himself? Why would he still be worried about us once he gets out?”

Lu’E said, “Mother, relax, brother Yang is not that sort of person.”

Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “All men are the same; what good men are there?” She then turned her head towards her daughter and looked at her carefully, she said, “Stupid girl, you’ve been taken advantage of by him haven’t you?”

Lu’E’s face went red and said, “Mother, what are you trying to say, I don’t understand.”

Qiu Qianchi was even angrier and said, “If you don’t understand then why did your face go red? Let me tell you, when it comes to men you cannot give them one single step, you cannot be careless; can’t you see what happened to your mother?” Just as she was beginning to carry on non-stop, Lu’E got up and caught the rope. She tied it around tightly around her mother’s waist and smiled, “Look, does brother Yang care about us or not?” She then tugged on the rope signaling to Yang Guo that she had tied her mother in place.

Qiu Qianchi gave a ‘heng’ grunt and said, “Let me tell you, once we get back up you better make sure you hold onto him tightly and don’t give him an inch. Zhang fu, zhang fu (zhang fu=husband, zhang= ten feet), within ten feet they are still your husband but once outside of ten feet, they’re not your husband anymore, do you understand? Your grandpa named your mother Qianchi, a thousand (qian) feet (chi) is a hundred zhang, ha-ha, what husband is there outside of a thousand feet?”

Lu’E was amused but sad at the same time; she thought, “Mother’s thinking really is wishful; he hasn’t got a place for me in his heart.” Her eyes went red and she turned her head.

Qiu Qianchi was just about to say something when she felt the rope around her waist tighten and her body lifted upwards slowly into the air. Lu’E looked at her mother and although she knew that Yang Guo would immediately lower the rope to rescue her, she was alone in this grotto all by herself for the time being and started to tremble with fear.

Yang Guo pulled Qiu Qianchi out of the cave and untied the rope from her waist. He lowered the rope down for a second time. Only after wrapping the rope around her waist did Lu’E relax a little; she pulled on the rope and felt it tighten around her waist; her body rose up into the air. She saw that the date trees at the bottom of the cave were getting smaller and smaller, while the stars above her were getting brighter and brighter. Just a few more tens of feet and she would be able to get out of the cave.

Suddenly she heard someone shout out from the opening followed by the rope getting loose and her body fall straight back down. What chance is there of staying alive while dropping hundreds of feet? Lu’E screamed and almost fainted; she felt her body plummeting downwards but could do nothing about it.

Yang Guo was pulling Lu’E up and saw that he was about to bring her out when suddenly he heard footsteps from behind him; someone had actually come to attack him from behind. He was extremely startled by this; he couldn’t worry about trying to turn around to fight off the attacker and just pulled the rope as quickly as possible.

He heard the attacker shout; “What are you doing sneaking around here?” The sound of a ferocious wind followed, and an extremely long and heavy weapon was sent out towards his back.

From the sounds of the weapon, Yang Guo knew it was the short man Fan Yiweng; with this danger he could only return his left hand and push the staff away, dispersing the force of this attack. Fan Yiweng couldn’t see Yang Guo’s face in this darkness but knew that his opponent was highly skilled. He took back his staff and swept the staff out again towards his opponent’s waist; he had put all his strength behind this attack and really wanted to break his opponent into two pieces.

Yang Guo was holding up Lu’E along with the fairly weighty long rope with his right hand only, in a little while he would struggle to keep control. When he saw the staff come towards him again, he again sent out his left palm to disperse the attack. He didn’t predict that this attack of Fan Yiweng’s was so ferocious, when his left palm met the staff his whole body trembled, his right hand couldn’t hold on and the rope slipped with Lu’E plummeting downwards.

From the screams of Lu’E, one could tell that she was at the top of the grotto; Qiu Qianchi and Yang Guo both called out. Yang Guo didn’t care about defending himself against the staff and sent his left hand forward as he bent to take the rope. But the force that Lu’E was falling down with was extremely high; the weight of Lu’E and the rope along with their plummeting speed created a force of about a thousand kilos. Yang Guo just held the rope for a little while before the force pulled him forwards headfirst towards the entrance of the cave. Though his martial arts were high, he couldn’t make a single move right now.

Qiu Qianchi’s martial arts had been lost along with the tendons in her arms and legs; she could only watch anxiously from the side as the rope outside the cave became shorter and shorter. Once the rope reaches its end, Yang Guo and Lu’E would fall tragically to their deaths. The end of the rope flew towards Qiu Qianchi as the rope pulled down quickly with Yang Guo and Lu’E’s weight. As it neared its end, Qiu Qianchi had an idea, “You evil bastard, I’m going to take you with us.” She made sure of her aim and struck the rope, though there wasn’t much force behind the push, she managed to get the direction right and made it wrap around Fan Yiweng’s waist tightly a few times.

Fan Yiweng felt the rope around his waist tighten and quickly used the “Thousand Kilogram Fall” to steady himself. But he had both Yang Guo’s and Lu’E’s weight to contend with along with their plummeting force; it brought him step by step closer towards the cave entrance. Fan Yiweng saw that just another step forward and he too would fall into the cave. With this shock he quickly held the rope with his left hand and braced himself against the cave with his right hand, he gave a shout as he used the cave for support and actually managed to stop the rope.

At that time, Lu’E was just a few tens of feet off the ground; she really was a hairsbreadth away from death. The most powerful force is the force of a falling object, a little stone falling from such a height would have tremendous force in it, by the time Fan Yiweng had exerted all his strength to oppose the falling force, his hands only had two hundred or so kilos to contend with, this was nothing to him. His right hand held the rope and he moved his left hand towards his waist to untie the rope to let his enemy fall when suddenly he felt a subtle pain on his back, a sharp object was pressed against the ‘Spirit Stage’ pressure point below his sixth vertebrae; a woman’s voice shouted, “Quickly pull them up! Damage to the ‘Spirit Stage’ will lead to ruin of the veins!”

Fan Yiweng was shocked, these words of “damage to the ‘Spirit Stage’ will lead to ruin of the veins” were the exact words of warning that his Master had told him when teaching him pressure point sealing martial arts. He didn’t dare to go against this person’s orders and pulled Yang Guo and Lu’E up with his arms. The falling force he had just opposed was extremely ferocious; right now he felt pressure in his chest and a desire to throw up blood. He knew that he had suffered an internal injury and he shouldn’t use any force; but his life was in the hands of his enemy, he could only risk his life and comply. He pulled Yang Guo up very easily and then felt his chest widen, his limbs became limp and he threw up blood violently before falling down onto the ground.

The roped slipped once more as he loosened his hand. Qiu Qianchi called out, “Quickly save her!” Yang Guo did not need any prompts; he grabbed the rope and eventually pulled Lu’E up. Lu’E had fainted from shock after being dropped down and pulled up so many times. Yang Guo first sealed the ‘Hidden Rabbit’ and ‘Large Bone’ pressure points of Fan Yiweng to stop his arms and legs from moving before waking Lu’E up.

Lu’E regained consciousness slowly; when she opened her eyes she did not know where she was; under the moonlight she saw Yang Guo laughing and looking at her. She threw herself into his arms and called out, “Brother Yang, are we dead? Is this the underworld?”

Yang Guo laughed, “Yep, we’re both dead.”

Lu’E noticed something was wrong with his tone; there was a hint of teasing behind it and she moved backwards to look at his face clearly. She saw her mother looking at her with her expression that was neither a smile nor a scowl; Lu’E was embarrassed and called out, “Mother!” She stood up.

Yang Guo saw that although Qiu Qianchi had lost her martial arts, she was still able to subdue Fan Yiweng and saved his life as a result. He had much respect for her and asked, “How did Senior subdue that shortie?”

Qiu Qianchi gave a faint smile and raised her hand; there was a sharp stone in it. She taught Gongsun Zhi’s pressure point sealing techniques and Fan Yiweng was taught by Gongsun Zhi. The same things were passed from Qiu Qianchi down to Fan Yiweng with no difference in the formulae. She had placed the sharp stone on Fan Yiweng’s ‘Spirit Stage’ pressure point and called out the frightening words of “damage to the ‘Spirit Stage’ will lead to ruin of the veins”; how could Fan Yiweng not get alarmed? But with the strength in Qiu Qianchi’s hand and with such a small stone, how could she cause ‘ruin of the veins’?

Right now Yang Guo’s thoughts were only about the safety of Xiao Longnu. Since Lu’E and Qiu Qianchi are safe and Fan Yiweng subdued, he said, “You two wait here for a while, I need to deliver this Passionless Pill.”

Qiu Qianchi was surprised and said, “What Passionless Pill? You’ve got a Passionless Pill?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes, please take a look to see whether it’s the real thing.” He then took out the little jar and removed the square shaped pill from it.

Qiu Qianchi took it from him and sniffed it a few times before saying, “This is it, how did it get into your hands? Since you’ve got the poison why haven’t you taken it yet?”

Yang Guo said, “It’s a long story, I’ll tell Senior all about it once I’ve delivered the pill.” He took the pill back and was about to go on his way. Lu’E was sad and concerned for him, she said quietly, “Brother Yang, you must avoid my father, don’t let him see you.”

Qiu Qianchi shouted, “You still call him father! If you ever call him father again then don’t call me mother.”

Yang Guo said, “I’m delivering this pill to my Gu Gu to cure her poison; Valley Master Gongsun will not stop me.” Lu’E said, “If he tries to do something evil to you again, what then?”

Yang Guo laughed wryly and said, “Then I’ll just deal with it one step at a time.” Qiu Qianchi asked, “You’re going to see Gongsun Zhi, aren’t you?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Fine, I’ll go with you; maybe I’ll be able to help.”

All Yang Guo wanted to do was to deliver the pill to Xiao Longnu; he hadn’t even made a plan yet; when he heard these words of Qiu Qianchi, his mind suddenly lit up. “If that scoundrel’s wife is there, how can he marry Gu Gu?” In his delight he suddenly thought, “But there is only one Passionless Pill; though I’ll be able to save Gu Gu, death is unavoidable for me.” He became depressed as he thought about this.

Lu’E watched the sudden changes on his face, from delight then to distress; she then thought about her parents meeting up again and what kind of trouble that would bring. Her heart was in confusion and turmoil.

But Qiu Qianchi was feeling great, she said, “Lu’E, carry me on your back.”

Lu’E said, “Mother, you need to wash first and change your clothes.” She was really afraid of what would happen when her parents meet up again and was just hoping to delay things as much as possible. Qiu Qianchi said angrily, “I’m in rags, I’m dirty all over, whose fault is this? Could it be…?” She suddenly thought about the times when her brother Qiu Qianzhang pretended to be her second brother Qiu Qianren; he had frightened countless members of the world of Wulin by doing this. The tendons in her arms and legs had been destroyed so even if she sees Gongsun Zhi, how is she a match for him? How could she take revenge? The only thing she could do is pretend to be her second brother and frighten Gongsun Zhi; she’ll then wait for an opportunity to take his life. Luckily he had never seen her second brother before and he must have thought that she had died in the grotto long ago; he would have no suspicions. Another thought went through her mind, “We’ve been husband and wife for so many years; how will he not recognize me?”

When Yang Guo saw the troubled expression on her face, he was fairly certain of what she was thinking and said, “Senior is afraid that Gongsun Zhi will recognize you, right? I’ve got something on me that may help.” He took out the human skin mask and put it on her; a terrifying face was now seen instead.

Qiu Qianchi was delighted and took the mask, she said, “Lu’E, we’ll first go and hide in the forest behind the manor. Go and get me a coarse grass linen gown and get me a large fan, and don’t forget.” Lu’E nodded and picked up her mother.

Yang Guo took a look around and saw that they were on the peak of a mountain. There were luxuriant forests everywhere; he could see the stone manor. It was a couple of li away.

Qiu Qianchi sighed and said, “This peak is called the Angry Ghost Peak. Stories about the peak have been passed down from generation to generation in this valley, saying that there are ghosts around here. No one dares to come up here. Who could have thought that my return into this world would be by way of this Angry Ghost Peak?”

Yang Guo shouted at Fan Yiweng, “What are you doing here?”

Fan Yiweng showed no fear and shouted, “Just kill me quickly, stop your babbling.” Yang Guo said, “Valley Master Gongsun sent you here?”

Fan Yiweng said angrily, “Yes, Master ordered me to scout the surroundings in case there were evil scoundrels around; master was right, there are people sneaking around who are up to no good.” As he talked, he took a look at Qiu Qianchi; he didn’t know who this old granny was and why on earth did Miss Gongsun call her mother. Fan Yiweng was older than the Gongsun couple; when Gongsun Zhi took him as a disciple, Qiu Qianchi had already been trapped down in the grotto. Because of this, he didn’t recognize her; but from the words of the three, he knew they were plotting something against his Master.

From his words, Qiu Qianchi could tell that he was extremely loyal to Gongsun Zhi; she was furious and said to Yang Guo, “Quickly kill that short man, don’t leave trouble for the future.”

Yang Guo turned around to Fan Yiweng and saw that he showed no fear; he respected the fact that he was a good man and wanted to spare him. Right now he needed help from Qiu Qianchi and couldn’t disobey her. He said, “Miss Gongsun, take your mother and make your way, I’ll follow immediately once I’ve killed him.”

Gongsun Lu’E knew that her senior apprentice brother was a righteous and good man; she couldn’t bear to see him die and said, “Brother Yang, my senior apprentice brother is not a bad person…”

Qiu Qianchi shouted angrily, “Go, go! You don’t listen to anything I say, what use have I got for a daughter like you?” Lu’E didn’t dare to say anything else and searched for a way down the peak.

Yang Guo went to Fan Yiweng and whispered, “Brother Fan, the pressure points of your arms and legs have been sealed; they will unseal by themselves in twelve hours time. I haven’t got anything against you and I can’t kill you.” He then utilized his lightness kung fu and chased after Lu’E.

Fan Yiweng had closed his eyes and was waiting for his death; there was no way that he could have predicted that Yang Guo would treat him like this. He was stunned and couldn’t say anything; he opened his eyes and watched the three disappear into the darkness.

Yang Guo was anxious to see Xiao Longnu and didn’t like the slow pace of Lu’E so he said, “Senior Qiu, I’ll carry you for a while.”

At first Lu’E was worried about the frosty reception between Yang Guo and her mother; but when she heard that he was willing to carry her, she was delighted and said, “It’s your turn to work a little.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “I carried this beautiful daughter in my womb for nine months and she became yours with just a word, don’t you think that I deserve to be carried by you for a while?”

Yang Guo was startled but felt it was inappropriate to reply; he put her on his back and stirred his chi, then shot down the mountain like an arrow from a bow.

Qiu Qianren was named the ‘Iron Palm Water Floater’; his lightness kung fu could be as considered as the best in Wulin. Years ago when he was chased by Zhou Botong for ten thousands of miles, he went from the central plains straight to Xuyu. Even with Zhou Botong’s great martial arts he wasn’t able to catch up with Qiu Qianren. Qiu Qianchi’s martial arts were taught to her personally by her brother; before her martial arts were lost, her lightness kung fu was first class. Now, as she was being carried by Yang Guo, she felt him move as if his feet weren’t touching the ground and he was flying along. He was running fast and steadily; she gave him much respect and was surprised, “This little kid’s lightness kung fu is completely different to my clan’s but it is definitely not below that of the Iron Clan’s martial arts; I cannot look down on him.” She had felt that her daughter was losing out in not marrying this kid; but her daughter had decided there was nothing she could do. Right now she was beginning to feel that this future son in law was deserving of her daughter.

In a short while Yang Guo reached the bottom of the peak. He turned around to look for Lu’E and saw that she was still somewhere around the middle. After a long while she reached the bottom of the mountain; by that time she was breathing heavily and her forehead was covered with sweat.

The three of them made their way quietly to the back of the manor. Lu’E did not dare to go into the manor and went to a neighboring building to borrow clothes for herself and the gown and fan that her mother wanted. She also borrowed a gown for Yang Guo. Qiu Qianchi wore the human skin mask and put on the gown; her hand held the fan and she let Yang Guo and Lu’E support her as they made their way into the manor.

As they made their way, the three of them were filled with thoughts. Qiu Qianchi had not been back here for over ten years; as she returned to old grounds, she felt a great release. But then she saw that grand red lanterns were hung at the door of the manor; she took a closer look and saw that the doors were decorated for a celebration; drums and music could also be heard from inside the hall.

All the servants were startled when they saw Qiu Qianchi and Yang Guo; but when they saw Lu’E with them, they didn’t dare to say anything.

The three went straight into the hall and saw that it was filled with guests; most of them were the neighbors of the Narcissus Manor of the Passionless Valley. Gongsun Zhi was dressed in a groom’s outfit and stood on the left. The bride was standing on the right wearing a Phoenix Hat and red veil; though her face was covered, one could see that she had a fine figure; this was Xiao Longnu.

The firelight in the courtyard flickered. Three loud noises were heard. The person leading the procession sang, “The time has come, the newlyweds bow to the heaven and earth!”

Qiu Qianchi laughed; it made the candlelight flicker and tiles of the house tremble. She said clearly, “If the newlyweds bow to the heaven and earth, what about the wed of old?”

Though the tendons in her arms and legs were snapped, her internal energy was not affected. She had nothing to do in the grotto and practiced bitterly night and day. Her ten years of cultivation was superior to those who’ve cultivated for twenty years. As these words were shouted out, the ears of all the people in the room rang. The room darkened as ten or so candles went out.

Everyone was shocked and all turned their heads. Gongsun Zhi was already shocked when he heard the shout; but when he saw Yang Guo and his daughter safe and sound beside this concealed guest, he was even more startled; he shouted, “Who’s this guest?”

Qiu Qianchi tightened her throat and chuckled, “You and I have a close relationship; are you pretending that you don’t know me?” When she spoke these words she had submerged her chi into her ‘dan tian’; though she didn’t speak loudly, the words reverberated far and wide. Mountains surrounded the Passionless Valley and after a while the echoes came back with repetitions of “You don’t know me? You don’t know me?”

Jinlun Fawang, Yin Kexi and Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were watching the procession from the side; when they heard Qiu Qianchi’s voice, they knew that an eminent person had arrived and everyone looked at each other.

Gongsun Zhi saw this person was wearing a coarse grass linen gown and was holding a fan; the description of his brother in law Qiu Qianren from his wife matched this person and this person’s internal energy was amazing. But the face looked odd; it looked like the face of Zhou Botong when he was disguising himself as Xiaoxiang Zi. There must be something awry here. He prepared himself and said coldly, “I have never met this guest before so isn’t this close relationship a joke?”

Yin Kexi was versed in Wulin affairs; when he saw Qiu Qianchi’s coarse grass linen gown and fan, his mind lit up and asked, “Could it be that Iron Palm Water Floater Qiu Qianren senior Qiu Lao is here?”

Qiu Qianchi laughed and fluttered her fan a few times before saying, “And I thought that all the people who knew this old and useless man had all died long ago; so there’s one remaining.”

Gongsun Zhi was unmoved and said, “Are you really Qiu Qianren? I’m afraid that it’s just some lying scoundrel.”

Qiu Qianchi was shocked and thought, “This bastard is clever; how does he know that I’m not my brother?” She couldn’t see how he saw through her and just chuckled, not replying.

Yang Guo ignored the games of the couple and dashed over to Xiao Longnu. He held the Passionless Pill in his right hand and lifted the veil across her face with his left hand, he said, “Gu Gu, open your mouth.”

Xiao Longnu’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Yang Guo again; her shock and delight amassed together at once and she said, “You… you are indeed better.” She knew that Gongsun Zhi was an evil and cruel man; she only agreed to marry him because she wanted to save Yang Guo’s life. When Yang Guo suddenly appeared in front of her again, she thought that Gongsun Zhi had kept to his word and cured his poison.

Yang Guo placed the pill in her hand and said, “Quickly swallow!”

Xiao Longnu did not know what it was but did as she was told. After a short while, she felt a cool air penetrating through her ‘dan tian’.

The hall broke out in chaos; when Gongsun Zhi saw that Yang Guo had come here again to cause trouble, he wanted to go up and stop him; but he was worried about the concealed strange guest. He didn’t know whether or not that person really was his brother-in-law Iron Palm Water Floater Qiu Qianren and didn’t dare make a move for the time being.

Yang Guo tore off Xiao Longnu’s Phoenix Hat and red veil; then pulled her to the side and said, “Gu Gu; that scoundrel Valley Master is going to suffer, let’s watch.”

Xiao Longnu was confused and just leaned on Yang Guo; she didn’t know what to say.

Ma Guangzuo felt unspeakable delight when he saw Yang Guo suddenly appearing here again. He went to him and kept on asking questions; the thought of him disturbing the two never entered his mind. Yin Kexi had heard that twenty years ago, Qiu Qianren shook the world of Wulin and was extremely famous. Now he heard the laugh and shout which echoed throughout the valley; his internal energy was extremely high and he wanted to meet him. He stepped forward and bowed, saying “Today is Valley Master Gongsun’s day of celebration; has Senior Qiu Lao come for the celebrations as well?”

Qiu Qianchi pointed to Gongsun Zhi and said, “Do you know who that person is to me?” Yin Kexi said, “I don’t know, but I would like to know.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “You need to ask him yourself.”

Gongsun Zhi asked again, “Are you really the Iron Palm Water Floater? That’s strange!” He clapped his hands and said to a disciple in green, “Go to the library and bring the box from the shelf on the eastern side to me.”

Lu’E did not know what to do and just pulled a chair over for her mother to sit down in.

Gongsun Zhi was surprised, “How come she and that Yang scum are still alive after falling into the crocodile pool?”

In a short while, the disciple returned with the box and handed it over to Gongsun Zhi. Gongsun Zhi opened it and took out a letter. He said frostily, “Years ago, I received a letter from Qiu Qianren. If you really are Qiu Qianren then this letter is a fake.”

Qiu Qianchi was shocked and thought, “Ever since brother and I argued, we’ve never contacted each other; why did he send a letter to me all of a sudden? What’s in the letter?” She then said loudly, “When did I write a letter to you? That really is a load of bull.”

When Gongsun Zhi heard her accent, he suddenly remembered someone. He was shocked and his back broke out in a cold sweat; but he immediately thought, “It can’t be, it can’t be; she died long ago in that grotto, she’s just a pile of bones now. But who exactly is this person?” He opened the letter and read it out loud: “To Brother Zhi and Sister Chi: Ever since first brother died at the hands of Guo Jing and Huang Rong on Iron Palm Peak…”

When Qiu Qianchi heard this line she was filled with hurt and sorrow; she shouted, “What? Who said my brother is dead?” The sibling love between she and Qiu Qianzhang was extremely deep; when she heard news of his death her whole body shook and her voice changed. Originally she had submerged her chi into her ‘dan tian’ and it was difficult to distinguish whether her voice was a male’s or female. Now, as her feelings were brought out, the words ‘who said my brother is dead’ were said with a female voice.

Gongsun Zhi heard that the person in front of him had a female voice and said ‘my brother’, he was shocked even further; but now he was certain that this person in front of him is definitely not Qiu Qianren, he continued reading:

“…this stupid brother had been extremely shameful in not holding our sibling relationship together and creating this hostility between us; all the blame is on this stupid brother. I pondered in the middle of the night and realized all the countless evil deeds I have done. At the second Mount Hua tournament, Reverend Yideng enlightened this stupid brother; I dropped my knife of slaughter and followed the ways of Buddha. I have just begun my studies; apart from Buddha’s teachings my mind is always on the joyous days of the past with brother and sister. I wish to make up for the things I’ve done before it’s too late. Fate is a hard thing to judge.

From monk Ci’en.”

Qiu Qianchi had been sobbing during all this; by the time Gongsun Zhi finished reading the letter she could hold it in no longer and cried out, “Big brother, second brother, you need to know the suffering I’ve been through.” She took off the mask and shouted, “Gongsun Zhi, do you remember me?” This sentence was shouted out sternly, another seven or eight candles in the hall blew out while the ones that stayed alight flickered.

In the gloomy candlelight, an old woman with a long face and wretched expression could be seen; everyone trembled in fear and no one dared to say anything. The hall was silent and everyone’s heart was pounding. Suddenly, an old servant who was standing in the corner threw himself forward and called out, “Matron, Matron, you’re not dead.” Qiu Qianchi nodded and said, “Second Uncle Zhang, you remember me.”

This old servant was extremely loyal; when he saw his Matron alive and well, he was delighted and kept on kowtowing, calling out, “Matron, this really is something to rejoice.”

Apart from Jinlun Fawang and the others, all the guests were residents of the valley; most of the people over thirty or forty years of age could remember who she was and they all rushed forward with their questions.

Gongsun Zhi shouted loudly, “Stand back!”

The crowd was alarmed and moved back. They saw him pointing to Qiu Qianchi, shouting out, “Witch, why have you returned? You’ve actually still got the face to see me?”

Lu’E had been hoping that her father would admit his mistakes and get back together with her mother. But when her father came out with this, she became emotional and rushed to her father; she knelt down on the floor and called out, “Father! Mother’s not dead, mother’s not dead. Quickly apologize and ask for her forgiveness.”

Gongsun Zhi chuckled, “Ask her for forgiveness? What have I done wrong?”

Lu’E said, “You trapped mother down that grotto and let her stay down there to suffer for over ten years. Father, how could you do that to her?”

Gongsun Zhi chuckled, “It was she who first harmed me; do you know that? She pushed me in the flower thicket and let me endure the suffering of the piercing of thousands and thousands of thorns; do you know that? She placed the antidote in frosty arsenic water, putting me in a situation where if I took it I’d die, if I didn’t I’ll still die; do you know that? She even forced me to… to kill my lover; do you know that?”

Lu’E cried, “I know that, it was Rou’er.”

Gongsun Zhi had not heard this name for over ten years; his face changed as he heard it and he faced the sky, mumbling, “Yes, it was Rou’er, it was Rou’er!” He pointed to Qiu Qianchi and said with revulsion, “It was that evil and cruel witch who forced me to kill Rou’er!” His face was becoming more and more mournful; he quietly called out, “Rou’er… Rou’er…”

Yang Guo felt that sinful couples were not good people. He was poisoned himself and had only a few days to live; he just hoped that he could spend these few days with Xiao Longnu in peace. He didn’t care about which one of the Gongsun couple was wrong or right; he lightly tugged on Xiao Longnu’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go.”

Xiao Longnu said, “Is that woman really his wife? Was she really trapped down in a cave by her husband for over ten years?” She could not believe that such an evil person could exist.

Yang Guo said, “That couple is taking revenge on each other.”

Xiao Longnu thought for a while and whispered, “I don’t understand this; could it be that she was the same as me and forced into marrying him?” In her thoughts, if two people aren’t forced into marriage then they’ll be loving and compassionate towards each other; how could they harm each other?

Yang Guo shook his head and said, “There are many bad people in the world, while there’s only a few who’re good; the thoughts of these people are hard to fathom…”

Suddenly Gongsun Zhi shouted, “Move!” His right leg lifted up and Lu’E’s body flew away; she had been kicked by her father.

Her body was flying straight towards Qiu Qianchi’s upper body. Qiu Qianchi could not move her arms and legs; she could only lower her head to avoid her. But Lu’E was coming in too fast; a ‘peng’ sound was heard as she crashed into the shoulders of her mother. Qiu Qianchi fell backwards with the chair, her bald head crashing into the stone pillar behind her. Blood stained the stone pillar and she couldn’t crawl back up. After being kicked by her father, Lu’E was on the floor as well, lying unconscious.

End of Chapter 19.

Chapter 20 – A Hero’s Imperative

The Mongolians attacked Xiang Yang once again. Arrows and stones were sent towards the city like rain and hail. The soldiers at the front of the attack placed ladders around the city of Xiang Yang and climbed up. The city was guarded tightly; groups of eight soldiers held a wooden ram in the arms and were knocking the ladders off the city walls.

Yang Guo wanted to keep himself away from this dispute but when he saw how cruel Gongsun Zhi was, his anger erupted and he decided to step forward to argue with him. Just as he was about to do this, Xiao Longnu dashed forward and picked up Qiu Qianchi. She patted her ‘Jade Pillow’ pressure point a few times and controlled the bleeding. She then tore off a piece of cloth from her sleeve and covered her wound before shouting at Gongsun Zhi, “Mr. Gongsun, she is your wife, how can you treat her like that? Since you’ve already got a wife, why do you still want to marry me? Even if I married you, won’t you treat me just as you’ve treated her?”

Those three sentences were asked fervently; Gongsun Zhi’s tongue was tied and he couldn’t reply. Ma Guangzuo couldn’t help himself and cheered.

Xiaoxiang Zi said coldly, “This Miss is right.”

Gongsun Zhi really did love Xiao Longnu; though he was made speechless by her he didn’t get angry, he was just embarrassed; he lowered his tone and said to her, “Sister Liu, how can you compare yourself with that evil woman? I can’t love you enough; if I have any ill intent towards you then let heaven condemn me where I stand.”

Xiao Longnu said coldly, “All I need is him to love me; even if your love for me is a hundred times stronger I wouldn’t care.” She then went over to Yang Guo and held his hand.

Yang Guo was filled with resentment, he thought, “Gu Gu loves me like this yet I just have a few days to live and it’s all because of this bastard.” He pointed to Gongsun Zhi and shouted, “You said you have no ill intent towards my Gu Gu, huh! You left me for dead and then lied to my Gu Gu to get her to marry you; is that good intent? She’s been poisoned by the Passion Flowers and you know that there isn’t an antidote to cure her, yet you don’t tell her, is that good intent?”

Xiao Longnu was shocked and quivered, “Is this true?”

Yang Guo said, “Don’t worry; you’ve already taken the antidote.” He then smiled a smile that was filled with grief along with joy, he thought, “I’ve given the antidote to you; I’m willing to die for you.”

Gongsun Zhi looked at Qiu Qianchi and then looked at Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo; his eyes swept across them and jealousy, yearning, anger, shame, embarrassment and disappointment all filled his heart and disturbed him. Although he had great self control, he had now fallen into a semi mad state. He suddenly bent down and took out his yin yang twin blades from under their red cover; he clashed them together and shouted, “Fine, fine! We’ll all die together!”

Everyone gasped; they would never have thought that he had actually brought weapons to his wedding ceremony. Xiao Longnu chuckled, “Guo’er, we don’t have to be respectful to such an evil person.”

A ‘qiang lang’ sound was heard as she took out a pair of swords from underneath the bridal gown; it was the ‘Gentleman’ and ‘Lady’ swords. Though she wasn’t versed in the ways of the world, she did not have an ounce of mercy in her when dealing with such evil people. When she went to take revenge for Grandma Sun, she frightened all the Taoists of Chongyang Palace witless and the Blithe Sage Hao Datong almost lost his life to her. The thought of killing him entered her mind when Gongsun Zhi had stopped her and Yang Guo from getting back together today. She had hidden the weapons beneath her gown so that when Gongsun Zhi cured Yang Guo, she would immediately take the opportunity to attack him with Yang Guo at her side. If it didn’t work then she would kill herself for Yang Guo; not allowing herself to be sullied in this Passionless Valley.

All the guests were shocked when they saw that both of them had prepared weapons. Only Fawang and the others, who were experienced, knew that this celebration would end in tragedy and weren’t surprised. They were only surprised with the fall of Qiu Qianchi in one attack; this did not match the abilities of someone with the profound internal energy she had just shown.

Yang Guo took the ‘Gentleman’ sword from Xiao Longnu and said, “Gu Gu, today we’ll kill that man to take revenge for me.” Xiao Longnu’s ‘Lady’ sword trembled and she said surprised, “Take revenge for you?”

Yang Guo was filled with sadness in his heart but he couldn’t tell her about it, he just said, “This bastard has harmed many people.” He flipped his sword and went for Gongsun Zhi’s left side. He knew that this battle was extremely dangerous; though Xiao Longnu’s Passion Flower poison had been cured, he was still poisoned. If they come together and used the “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Swordplay” and stirred feelings of love, he would break out with unbearable pain. He kept his eye on the enemy and used “Quanzhen Swordplay”; every stance and form of his was extremely stringent and cautious. If these stances were performed by Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the other old Taoists, the stances will of course be performed steadily and controlled, profound and intense. In the hands of Yang Guo it displayed maturity beyond his years but his stances were slightly less smooth.

Gongsun Zhi knew that when the two used their combined swordplay they were powerful so he immediately used the “Yin Yang Wild Blades” with the black sword in his right hand and the gold saber in his left. His stances were getting fiercer and fiercer with every stroke. The “Quanzhen Swordplay” that Yang Guo was using was developed by Wang Chongyang; though it wasn’t vicious and fierce like the opponent’s, it was subtle and had variations. Yang Guo defended cautiously and did not attack as he received three stances. Xiao Longnu called out and raised the ‘Lady’ sword, attacking Gongsun Zhi’s back.

Gongsun Zhi was furious, he thought, “This beautiful girl was going to be my wife and now she’s joined an outsider to attack me.” He continued thinking, “The evil bitch coming back here suddenly and revealing all the things I’ve done has caused me to lose my respect and all face. Not only can’t I force sister Liu to marry me; it looks I won’t be able to keep my position here in the valley.” Though today’s matters are troublesome, he was going to rely on his martial arts to get him out of this mess. All he wanted to do was beat Yang Guo, kidnap Xiao Longnu and run away. He didn’t know that Xiao Longnu’s Passion Flower poison had been cured and still thought that she had less than thirty six days to live; he was still going to force her to marry him. His thoughts were becoming more and more evil and the wild twin blades in his hands were becoming more vicious by the minute.

Xiao Longnu used the “Jade Maiden Swordplay” so that when Yang Guo and she become one, they would be able to unleash the power of the “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Swordplay”. But his eyes did not glance over at her once; he was just concentrating on himself as he fought.

Xiao Longnu was extremely surprised and asked, “Guo’er, why aren’t you looking at me?” Her love was gradually being stirred and the light from her sword suddenly enhanced.

When Yang Guo heard her voice, his heart trembled and his chest broke out with an unbearable pain. His sword slowed and a ‘chi’ sound was heard as the black sword cut his sleeve. Xiao Longnu was alarmed and unleashed three stances in a row, blocking Gongsun Zhi’s attack.

Yang Guo said, “I can’t look at you or listen to you.” Xiao Longnu said tenderly, “Why?”

Yang Guo was afraid that he would meet danger again and replied coarsely, “If you want me to die then continue talking to me!” As soon as his anger stirred the pain immediately stopped and he received the stances of Gongsun Zhi’s black sword.

Xiao Longnu was extremely sorry and said, “Don’t be angry, I won’t say anything more.” Her mind suddenly lit up, “My poison has been cured but his hasn’t! He got the antidote but he didn’t take it and returned here to give it to me.” She was extremely touched and the love in her was boundless; as soon as this feeling grew, the power of the “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Swordplay” enhanced greatly. The stances that she unleashed protected all of Yang Guo’s vital points. Since she was protecting Yang Guo, Yang Guo should protect her, but he didn’t dare to glance over at her; and so she was completely unprotected and exposed to the enemy’s attack. Gongsun Zhi’s eyes were very sharp; he discovered the weakness in just a few stances but he didn’t want to harm a single hair of Xiao Longnu’s head. He directed all his vicious sword and saber stances towards Yang Guo. He was attacking like a crashing wave but Yang Guo was defending like an unmovable cliff. With Xiao Longnu using all her efforts to protect him, all of Gongsun Zhi’s attacks were actually rendered useless.

By this time, Lu’E had wakened up and stood next to her mother watching the battle. She watched as Xiao Longnu concentrated only on guarding Yang Guo, ignoring all dangers to herself; she couldn’t help but ask herself, “If that was you, could you disregard all the dangers to yourself to protect him?” She sighed lightly and said, “I would definitely be able to act like Miss Long, but he would not act the same way towards me.”

Just at this time, Qiu Qianchi hissed, “The false saber is not a saber; the false sword is not a sword!”

Both Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were startled when they heard this, they didn’t know what she meant by these two sentences.” Qiu Qianchi called out, “The saber is a saber, the sword is a sword!”

Yang Guo had fought Gongsun Zhi twice; all along he has been pondering about where the essence of the “Yin Yang Wild Blades” lies but the light, airy black sword chopped solidly while the heavy gold saber was swift and flighty, following the way of the sword. The stances he was using were the complete opposite to the orthodox martial arts theories. It would be fine if the saber was using sword techniques only and the sword was using saber techniques only; but the reality was, that in the midst of the sword techniques there were saber stances; buried within the saber stances were the lethalness of sword strokes. The variation was mysterious and difficult to grasp; when he heard those words of Qiu Qianchi he thought, “Could it be that the sword techniques of the saber and the saber techniques of the sword are all illusions?” He saw the black sword chopping across his shoulders; this was definitely a saber stance. He then treated it as a sword and extended his ‘Gentleman’ sword forward; the swords collided and they both took a step back. Only then did he know that the black sword was still just a sword, and the saber stances that he was using were merely trying to confuse his opponent. But if the opponent’s martial arts were slightly poor, the saber techniques would still able to cause harm.

With this immediate success, Yang Guo was delighted and continued to search for weaknesses in the opponent’s sword and saber. He was thinking that although the jumbled stances were masterly, the ways of these blades would not be refined. A few more stances passed when he heard Qiu Qianchi say, “Attack his right leg; attack his right leg.”

Yang Guo saw that Gongsun Zhi’s saber was like a blur; there was no open space to attack on his lower body at all. But he thought that, although Qiu Qianchi was not able to perform martial arts anymore, her knowledge was still there. She was the one who taught Gongsun Zhi martial arts; she would definitely know what was real and what was false; so he listened to her and attacked his right leg. Gongsun Zhi swept his saber across and there was no way to hit his right leg; but as he did this, his left shoulder and left side were left unprotected. Yang Guo did not wait for Qiu Qianchi to prompt him and flashed his sword towards him, cutting through his gown underneath his armpit.

Gongsun Zhi cursed and leapt back; he stared angrily at Qiu Qianchi and shouted, “Old witch; do you think I’m going to let you go?” He then continued to attack Yang Guo with the saber and sword.

Yang Guo raised his sword to block the attack. Qiu Qianchi continued, “Kick his back!”

The two of them were facing each other, there was no way he could kick his back; but Yang Guo was confident in Qiu Qianchi. He knew that there was a deeper meaning behind her words; he didn’t care what would happen and dashed towards the back of his opponent. Gongsun Zhi used his saber to cut backwards.

Qiu Qianchi called out, “Pierce his forehead.”

Yang Guo thought, “I’ve just turned towards his back and now you’re telling me to pierce his forehead?” It was an urgent situation and he didn’t give it much thought, he turned back towards the enemy’s front and he was just about to pierce his enemy’s forehead when Qiu Qianchi called out, “Cut his arse!”

Lu’E watched with sweaty palms; she knitted her eyebrows and thought, “By calling madly like this, isn’t mother helping father instead?” She kept her thoughts to herself but Ma Guangzuo couldn’t contain himself and he shouted out, “Brother Yang, don’t fall into the trap of that old woman; she wants to kill you.”

Yang Guo had twisted and turned many times and had an inkling as to what her meaning was; when she called out go forward he turned forward and when she shouted go backward he immediately dashed behind him. Indeed, after a few twists and turns, Gongsun Zhi’s right side was uncovered. Yang Guo sent his sword towards Gongsun Zhi’s right side and a ‘chi’ sound was heard as it the sword cut through his gown, piercing about an inch into Gongsun Zhi’s side; blood immediately flowed down his side.

The crowd gave an ‘ah’ call and stood up. Fawang and the others now understood. Qiu Qianchi was not instructing Yang Guo on how to gain victory; she was instructing him on how to gain an opportunity to win in a situation where it was impossible to gain victory. She was not pointing out the weakness of Gongsun Zhi, but was trying to make Yang Guo force a flaw in the opponent from his flawless stances. After being prompted by Qiu Qianchi a few times, Yang Guo immediately understood this advanced martial art notion; he was in awe of her and thought, “If the opponent is a skilled fighter, what flaws will they show in their stances? This piece of advice from this senior is more than enough for a lifetime’s use.”

But to force a flaw in Gongsun Zhi required not only for one’s martial arts to be higher than his, but one must also be familiar with his stances. A person must be clear on all his variations and reactions over ten stances beforehand, before luring him step by step into making an error. Only Qiu Qianchi was able to do this. Yang Guo understood but he was not able to realize it. He heard her prompt and the sword suddenly flashed out, attacking Gongsun Zhi’s back, front and sides urgently. Over twenty stances later, Gongsun Zhi’s leg was cut.

Though this cut wasn’t deep, it was long, at least five or six inches long. Gongsun Zhi thought, “The two of them are guarding each other, I can’t hurt the one named Yang; if this continues, with the old hag giving advice, I’ll die by this bastard’s sword.” Years ago, in order to save his own life he killed his lover; in this desperate situation he couldn’t care about Xiao Longnu anymore. He moved his black sword and swiped his saber, slashing towards Xiao Longnu’s shoulders.

Yang Guo was alarmed, he stretched his sword forward to protect her from this attack when he heard Qiu Qianchi call out, “Stab his waist.” Yang Guo was startled and thought, “Gu Gu is being attacked right now, how can I not save her? But each time Senior Qiu Lao has given me advice, it has a deeper meaning behind it. It looks like this is a ‘surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao’ plan.” He changed his mind and the sword arrived at Gongsun Zhi’s waist. Suddenly Xiao Longnu called out, her right arm was cut and the ‘Lady’ sword fell onto the floor. Gongsun Zhi’s black sword slanted across and blocked Yang Guo’s sword.

Yang Guo was extremely shocked and quickly called out, “Move back, I’ll take him by myself.” His love and care for her was stirred and his chest broke out in an aching pain again. Xiao Longnu’s injury was not slight; she moved backwards and tore off a piece of her sleeve, wrapping it around her wound. Yang Guo fought with his life; he was furious with Qiu Qianchi and glanced at her with rage.

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, “Why are you blaming me? I’m just helping you defeat your enemy; who’s trying to help you to rescue someone? Ha-ha, what’s her life got to do with me? It’s better if she dies!”

Yang Guo said angrily, “You and your husband are a perfect match; there isn’t an ounce of goodness in either of your hearts!” Qiu Qianchi just chuckled; she didn’t get angry and remained composed as she concentrated on the battle.

Yang Guo glanced over at Xiao Longnu and saw her leaning on a chair with her wound wrapped up. It looked like it wasn’t serious and his spirits were roused. His sword techniques suddenly changed from “Quanzhen Swordplay” to “Jade Maiden Swordplay”. Gongsun Zhi saw his sword stances had been steady and cautious; but suddenly they were now supple and lively, graceful and attractive. It was as if Yang Guo had changed into another person. Gongsun Zhi was surprised and thought, “This person is extremely crafty, what is he trying now?” After taking a few stances, he felt that his opponent’s swordplay had the same elegant and lofty air of a distinguished family; the same type of swordplay that Xiao Longnu had used. All Gongsun Zhi’s doubts were erased and he attacked with both his sword and saber. Ten or so stances later, Yang Guo was gradually being put on the back foot (a sign of coming defeat) and forced to retreat. Qiu Qianchi gave advice to Yang Guo repeatedly but he was furious with her for deliberately intending to get Xiao Longnu injured. He ignored her and said to himself, “Who needs your annoying words?” He unleashed four strokes and hummed, “The minutiae of a fine horse, a radiant and beautiful coat, the left grabs the many weak, the right receives the forgotten retreat.” The verses matched the sword stances and he performed the sword strokes with great elegance.

Gongsun Zhi was startled and said, “What?”

Yang Guo continued, “The galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away. Swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim.” The stances were grouped in fours, reflecting the verse. Where it said, ‘the galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away’, the sword stances were extremely quick; when it said, ‘swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim’, the sword strokes were swift and vicious yet also carried elegance along with it.

Gongsun Zhi had never seen these sword stances before. The verses were pleasing to the ear and he slowed down his attacks, trying to concentrate on the meanings behind each line. He knew that the sword stances and the verses matched each other; all he has to do is to grasp the meaning behind the verses and he’ll be able to defeat this swordplay.

Yang Guo continued, “Stopping at the orchid garden, the horse is fed at Mount Hua. The eyes return unto the swan, the hand strumming the five strings.” The verse was said with a modest tone but the sword strokes were towering and majestic, especially the last two stances which were extremely exquisite and sudden. It appeared to go to the east but went west, the sword hinted up but went down, one stance but two strokes, and it was difficult to tell what was real and what was false.

Xiao Longnu had now finished wrapping up her wound. She watched Yang Guo’s swordplay and felt it was pleasing to the eye; but she had never heard him talk about this swordplay before so she asked, “Guo’er, what swordplay is this; who taught you?”

Yang Guo laughed, “I thought of it myself. Gu Gu, is it good? A few days ago I was resting in bed from some injuries and I saw a book of poetry by the bed. I thought the poems were quite nice so I committed them to memory. At the heroes’ feast, Zhu Ziliu merged calligraphy into martial arts; I thought it would definitely be possible to merge poetry into martial arts.”

Xiao Longnu said, “It’s very good…”

Suddenly, Jinlun Fawang praised, “Brother Yang, I can only look on in awe at your intelligence and wisdom. The following verse is of course, “Bowing to and revering one’s content, the good mood of the heart is too obscure, fishing and searching for something, the trap is forgotten once the fish is caught.”

Gongsun Zhi’s mind lit up, “That monk is trying to help me.” He didn’t think about what the monk wanted but concentrated on the first line of the verse, ‘Bowing to and revering one’s content’, the sword will definitely be aimed upwards followed by a downwards stroke. He guarded his upper body with the black sword and chopped his gold saber from the middle of his body.

Jinlun Fawang was versed in both martial arts and culture. Although he lived in Tibet, he knew Han philosophies, their history and Confucian classics. When he heard Yang Guo reciting the poem, he knew from long ago what the following verses would be. He revealed this to Gongsun Zhi in hope that he would be able to use Gongsun Zhi to kill Yang Guo for him.

Gongsun Zhi did indeed manage to get the first move in when he heard this. Before Yang Guo unleashed his sword strokes, Gongsun Zhi had sealed off all of the sword’s paths while at the same time, chopping out his jagged golden saber from the middle of his body to attack him.

Luckily, Yang Guo had heard Fawang and was prepared for this, he didn’t continue on with his “Four Lined Poem Swordplay” and guarded his midriff with his sword while the middle finger of his left hand flicked out, striking the back of the golden saber.

Gongsun Zhi’s arm trembled and the joints in his hand felt slightly numb from this flick, he was shocked and thought, “This little punk has much strange kung fu.”

This flick of Yang Guo’s was the “Divine Release of the Flicking Finger” that Huang Yaoshi taught him; but he was unable to subdue his enemy because his internal energy wasn’t strong enough. If Huang Yaoshi performed this move, the jagged golden saber of Gongsun Zhi would have flown out of his hand as soon as it was struck. However, this flick of Yang Guo’s was still good enough to allow him to regain the upper hand; he moved his sword forward and used Huang Yaoshi’s “Jade Flute Swordplay”. The “Divine Release of the Flicking Finger” and “Jade Flute Swordplay” both concentrated on attacking the opponent’s pressure points. When they were used together, it was ingenious and subtle and even though Yang Guo’s mastery of these skills wasn’t refined; after a bout of urgent attacking it was still good enough to trouble Gongsun Zhi.

At that time, Qiu Qianchi called out again, “His sword is going for the waist, and his saber is chopping towards the neck”. “The sword is going to slash towards your right shoulder while his saber guards his left.” She called out every stance of Gongsun Zhi’s in advance.

Yang Guo now held the upper hand completely. With his poetry ceased, Fawang was unable to tell where his sword would go and couldn’t aid Gongsun Zhi.

Gongsun Zhi’s family art the “Yin Yang Twin Blades” were inspected thoroughly by Qiu Qianchi and then subsequently improved by her. All of Gongsun Zhi’s stances were known to her; no matter how sudden his changes were, Qiu Qianchi would call it out in advance. As they were absorbed in the battle, Qiu Qianchi suddenly called out, “Both his sword and saber are going to attack your upper body.” These words were called out at just the exact time as Gongsun Zhi sent out both his saber and sword; it was now difficult for him to change his stance halfway through. Yang Guo had more than enough time to block this attack.

Yang Guo lowered his head and dashed forward while protecting his back with his sword. His left finger came out and jabbed the opponent’s ‘Ocean of Air’ pressure point an inch and a half below the navel. Yang Guo was delighted with this successful attack at the first attempt. He thought that his opponent would suffer a serious injury with this attack but Gongsun Zhi’s leg came out, striking him on the jaw.

Yang Guo was shocked and leapt to the side a few feet. He then remembered how strange the pressure points were on this person; previously he had used the golden sphere silk belt to strike his pressure points but it had no effect on him. Gongsun Zhi came at him once again.

Qiu Qianchi called out once again, “His blades will cross, the right sword attacking left, the left saber attacking right.” Yang Guo did not give it much thought and defended with all his might.

When it came to internal energy, Yang Guo was not a match for his opponent; he would have lost out long ago if it weren’t for Qiu Qianchi’s advice.

Yang Guo and Gongsun Zhi continued for another seven or eight hundred stances. The members of the valley watched with their hearts on the verge of jumping out of their mouths. At the same time Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were also fixed on the great battle, but they couldn’t tell who would win it. In the midst of the blurs of the saber and sword, one could see Gongsun Zhi panting while Yang Guo was soaked with sweat. The movements of the two were now not as quick as before.

Gongsun Lu’E thought that if the two carried on like this, one of them would be seriously injured. Of course she didn’t want Yang Guo to lose; but she couldn’t bear to see her father get hurt, so she whispered to Qiu Qianchi, “Mother, tell them to stop. We’ll settle this by talking it over.”

Qiu Qianchi gave a ‘heng’ grunt and said, “Pour two bowls of tea.”

Lu’E was confused but did as she was told and brought the bowls of teas to her mother. Qiu Qianchi took off the piece of bloody cloth that was wrapped around the wound on her head. When she was knocked into the pillar, blood poured out of her head and it was Xiao Longnu who tore off her sleeve and covered her wound. The bleeding on her head started again as she took off the cloth. Lu’E was alarmed and called out; “Mother!”

Qiu Qianchi called out, “I won’t die!” She threw the bloody cloth onto her knees and took the bowls. Her four fingers held the bowls but the thumb of each hand was in the tea. The blood on her thumbs mixed into the tea. She quickly swirled the tea and the traces of blood were gone. She called out, “You should be tired now; have a bowl of tea!” She said to Lu’E, “Give one bowl of tea to each of them to quench their thirst.”

Lu’E knew her mother hated her father deeply and wouldn’t have any good intentions towards him. This bowl of tea wasn’t meant to quench his thirst but to poison him. However, she poured the bowls of tea herself and there was no poison in any of them; they were just ordinary bowls of tea. It must be because her mother sympathized with Yang Guo. If her father didn’t have a bowl, he would not stop and Yang Guo would not be able to take a drink. She saw that the two were really very tired so she went to the middle of the hall and called out clearly, “Please have some tea!”

Gongsun Zhi and Yang Guo were both very thirsty; when they heard Qiu Qianchi call out; they both stopped and jumped backwards.

Lu’E first took the tray of tea to her father. Gongsun Zhi knew that it was Qiu Qianchi who ordered her to bring these bowls of tea to him, so there’ll definitely be something wrong with it. Most likely they had poison in them. He held up his hand and said to Yang Guo, “You drink first.”

Yang Guo had no fear and casually picked up a bowl of tea; he placed it on his lip and took a sip. Gongsun Zhi said, “Good, I’ll have that bowl!” He took Yang Guo’s bowl from his hand.

Yang Guo laughed, “It was your daughter who poured the tea; don’t tell me you think there’s poison in them?” Yang Guo took the other bowl of tea and drank it in one go.

Gongsun Zhi looked at his daughter’s face and saw that it was calm and relaxed, he thought, “Lu’E loves that punk, of course there would be no poison in his cup of tea; I’ve already swapped the bowls, what have I got to be afraid of?” He too drank the bowl of tea in one go and then clashed his weapons, saying, “There’s no need for a break, continue. Huh, if it weren’t for that old witch giving you tips, you would have died from my black sword and golden saber long ago even if you had ten lives to spare.”

Qiu Qianchi replaced the bandage on her head and said evilly, “His “Closure of the Pressure Points” has been defeated; you can hit his pressure points.”

Gongsun Zhi felt a slight taste of blood on his tongue and was shocked; a shock that was indescribable. This particular family art has one big drawback; the practitioner cannot taste an ounce of meat otherwise this art will be neutralized immediately. His ancestors were afraid that they’d taste meat by accident and so passed a strict order in the valley; no one can eat meat. Though the others didn’t practice this art, they were still forced to be vegetarians. Gongsun Zhi had always been very careful; but how would he have known that Qiu Qianchi would actually use such an evil plan and put her own blood in the bowls of tea?

Yang Guo was not affected by drinking this bowl of blood containing tea; but the “Closure of the Pressure Points” technique that Gongsun Zhi had been training bitterly all his life was gone, just like that.

He turned his head around in fury and looked at Qiu Qianchi who had a plate of dates on her knees that had been served to the guests. She was eating them and savoring the taste. She said slowly, “I told you before, twenty years ago, this art of the Gongsun family is hard to learn yet easy to neutralize; it’s not worth practicing.”

Fire erupted in Gongsun Zhi’s eyes and he raised his weapons, dashing forward towards Qiu Qianchi. Lu’E was alarmed and dashed in front of her mother to protect her. Suddenly a gust of wind brushed past her ear; it sounded like some kind of projectile.

Gongsun Zhi howled. Blood poured down from his right eye; he turned around and dashed out of the hall with his sword and saber. A trail of blood was left in his wake. His wretched howl was getting further and further away, gradually getting quieter and quieter until silence fell within the mountain walls of the valley.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering how Qiu Qianchi achieved this.

Only Lu’E and Yang Guo knew that she had used her date stone spitting kung fu to do this.

When Gongsun Zhi and Yang Guo were fighting, she had placed seven or eight date stones in her mouth in advance. She saw that Gongsun Zhi’s martial arts had improved greatly; even if she made a sneak attack, he would be able to avoid them. When he’s on his guard, it would be difficult to harm him. Because of this, she waited until he was completely absorbed in the battle before using the blood tea to defeat his “Closure of the Pressure Points” technique. While he was reacting furiously, she took the opportunity to suddenly launch her date stone at him. This was the one and only martial art she had and she trained it vigorously over the years; the power and accuracy of it was not below any of the world’s greatest projectile arts. If it wasn’t for Lu’E dashing forward and blocking her view, not only would both eyes of Gongsun Zhi’s be blinded; the pressure point between his eyes would have also been struck. This would have immediately sent him to his death.

Lu’E couldn’t bear this. She stood there stunned for a while; before calling out, “Father, father!” She wanted to go after him. Qiu Qianchi said sternly, “If you want your father then go; don’t ever see me again.”

Lu’E stopped her feet; she was in a difficult position; but then she thought about how all of this was the fault of her father. All the suffering that her mother endured was tens of times greater than what he endured. Anyway, her father had long gone and she couldn’t catch up even if she wanted to. She stopped and turned from the door, silently heading back into the hall slowly, with her head hung down.

Qiu Qianchi sat on her chair and looked to either side of her; she chuckled, “Good, you’ve all come here for a celebratory drink; won’t everyone’s mood being ruined if we don’t have a drink?” Her icy cold eyes gave everyone goose bumps; they were all afraid that she was going to spit out some kind of strange projectile without any warning. The people of the valley were afraid while Fawang, Yin Kexi and the others prepared themselves.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were both surprised with the state that Gongsun Zhi ended up in. They both let out a long sigh and reached out for each other’s hand, holding it tightly. The two’s thoughts were as one and they made their way towards the exit.

When they reached the door, Qiu Qianchi suddenly shouted, “Yang Guo, where are you going?”

Yang Guo turned around and made a long bow to her before saying, “Senior Qiu Lao, Miss Lu, we’ll be leaving now.” He knew that he didn’t have long to live and so he didn’t say things like ‘I’ll see you again’.

Lu’E returned the greeting and kept silent in misery.

Qiu Qianchi’s face was filled with anger and she shouted, “I’ve betrothed my only daughter to you and you do not call me mother-in-law? And you’re leaving just like that?”

Yang Guo was startled and thought, “Though you’ve betrothed your daughter to me, I didn’t say that I accepted.”

Qiu Qianchi said, “We’ve got everything here, decorations, candles and guests. We’re martial artists, we’ll get straight to the point; you two are getting married today.”

Jinlun Fawang and the others had just seen Yang Guo fight Gongsun Zhi with his life for Xiao Longnu; when they heard Qiu Qianchi say this they all knew that there was going to be another great show. They looked at each other; some showed a wry smile and some were shaking their heads slightly. Yang Guo held Xiao Longnu’s elbow with his left hand and his right hand held the handle of the ‘Gentleman’ sword. He said, “I am extremely touched by senior Qiu Lao’s offer. But my heart belongs to someone else.” He moved backwards slowly after he said this. He was afraid that Qiu Qianchi would spit out date stones at them in anger and so he held his sword just in case.

Qiu Qianchi’s angry eyes swept over Xiao Longnu and said coldly, “Huh, that little seductress is indeed beautiful; no wonder both old and young go mad over her.”

Lu’E said, “Mother, brother Yang and Miss Long decided to marry each other long ago; I’ll tell you all the details later on.”

Qiu Qianchi replied angrily, “What kind of person do you think your mother is? How can I take back what I’ve said? The one named Yang, my daughter is beautiful and she’s more than worthy of you. But even if she was an ugly troll, I’m still going to make you marry her today.”

When Ma Guangzuo heard how unreasonable she was he couldn’t stop himself from laughing and calling out, “This particular couple in this valley are a perfect match: the husband forces a young girl to marry him while the wife forces a young man to marry her daughter and they don’t want anyone else but them, right or wrong?”

Qiu Qianchi said coldly, “Wrong!”

Ma Guangzuo opened his mouth and laughed out loud. Suddenly a ‘bo’ sound was heard as a date stone flew towards the center of his eyes; the stone came like lightning and there was no way to avoid it. Ma Guangzuo lifted his head in shock; a ‘pai’ sound was heard as three of his front teeth were knocked loose. Ma Guangzuo was furious and roared while he threw himself forward. Another two ‘bo’ sounds were heard as the ‘Linking Jump’ pressure point on his right groin and the ‘Yang Pass’ pressure point on his left leg were struck. Both his legs went limp and he fell down onto the floor, unable to get up.

Those three date stones were extremely quick. Yang Guo knew that Qiu Qianchi would make her move when Ma Guangzuo was laughing and drew his sword to go to save him; but it was too late. He picked him up and unsealed his pressure points. Ma Guangzuo admitted defeat; this bald old woman didn’t move her legs or arms and was able to defeat him just by opening her mouth. He had great respect for her; he spat out the teeth and said with a mouthful of blood, “Old woman, you’re more powerful than me; the one named Ma does not dare to offend you again.”

Qiu Qianchi ignored him and stared at Yang Guo. She said, “You’ve decided to not marry my daughter, true?”

Gongsun Lu’E couldn’t bear to suffer such embarrassment in front of everyone and took a dagger from her waist. She pointed it at her chest and said loudly, “Mother, if you ask again, then I’ll kill myself right in front of your very eyes.”

Qiu Qianchi opened her mouth and a stone shot out, hitting the handle of the dagger. There was great power behind that stone; the dagger flew and planted itself inches into a wooden pillar, the handle quivering in the candlelight.

Everyone gasped.

Yang Guo knew that his time would be wasted if he remained here for much longer so he flicked his blade with his finger and said clearly with the resonation of the blade, “The lonely rabbit, going east watching west. The clothes are not of new; the person is not like that of before.” He motioned his sword in a flurry and turned around with Xiao Longnu’s hand held in his.

When Lu’E heard the last two sentences, ‘the clothes are not of new, the person not like that of before’, her hurt became even greater; she took off the ragged gown that Yang Guo had given her. She went to him and offered it back to him, saying, “Brother Yang, it’s better to have old clothes.”

Yang Guo said, “Thank you.” He stretched out his hand to take it. He and Xiao Longnu knew that Lu’E was deliberately standing in front of them so her mother wouldn’t be able to attack them with the date stones. Xiao Longnu had a faint smile on her face and nodded her head, showing her thanks.

Lu’E moved her lips to the side, telling them to leave quickly.

Qiu Qianchi mumbled ‘the clothes are not of new, the person is not like that of before’ a few times before she suddenly raised her voice and said, “Yang Guo, you don’t want my daughter; but don’t tell me that you don’t want your life as well?”

Yang Guo gave a bitter laugh and backed another step out of the hall.

Xiao Longnu’s heart trembled and said, “Wait.” She asked clearly, “Senior Qiu Lao, have you got an antidote for the Passion Flower poison?”

Lu’E had been thinking about this all along. Yang Guo gave the only Passionless Pill that her father had to Xiao Longnu while his poison had yet to be cleared. The only hope that he had was her mother, who might have a way to cure this poison. But she knew that her mother would use this to blackmail Yang Guo, to force him into marrying her; this is why she hadn’t mentioned this before. But in this urgent situation she could no longer care about her embarrassment and turned herself around, saying, “Mother, if it weren’t for brother Yang, you would still be trapped down in that cave. Brother Yang has not done anything to offend you. We need to pay back this kindness; please cure his poison.”

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, “Repay kindness with kindness? Repay vengeance with vengeance? How can the world’s vengeance and kindness be distinguished like that? Was that thanks I got from Gongsun Zhi?”

Lu’E said loudly, “I hate men whose hearts are not loyal, men who like the new and forget those of old. If the one named Yang Guo wanted to leave his lover of old and marry me, I’d rather die than marry him.”

Those words rang in Qiu Qianchi’s ears, but after a thought, she immediately knew what her daughter was trying to do. Her daughter loved him dearly and if he agreed to marry her, she would leap for joy. Because the situation was pressing, her daughter was just hoping that she would save him first before doing anything else.

Jinlun Fawang, Yin Kexi and the others looked at each other in amusement as they watched this second show of a forced marriage. Fawang now knew that Yang Guo had been poisoned and he was feeling pleased. He hoped that Yang Guo would stick to his choice, by refusing to marry Lu’E to save his life; but he was worried about the craftiness of Yang Guo who might lie about the marriage to get the antidote and then refuse. Then he thought that even if Yang Guo tried something, he’s there to see through him and alert Qiu Qianchi to his tricks.

Qiu Qianchi’s eyes swept across all the guests slowly and then said, “Yang Guo, amongst the people here there are those who wish that you live and those who wish that you die. Think about whether you want to live or die.”

Yang Guo placed his arm around Xiao Longnu’s waist and said with a clear voice, “If either of us can’t marry the other, then we’d rather die together.”

Xiao Longnu smiled sweetly and said, “Yes!” The two of them were as one; their love for each other was so deep that life and death was no longer anything important.

Qiu Qianchi did not understand Xiao Longnu and said, “If I don’t save him then he will die, do you understand this? Do you know that he can only live for another thirty six days?”

Xiao Longnu said, “If you do agree to save him and let us be together for a few more years then of course we’ll be extremely touched. If you refuse, we’ve still got thirty six days together, that’s fine as well! In any case, if he dies, I won’t carry on living.” Her beautiful face showed no signs of concern as she said this.

Qiu Qianchi looked at her and then looked at Yang Guo; she saw the two staring at each other, their love for each other so passionate, their devotion to each other so intense. This was something that she had never experienced nor even thought about before. So such devoted lovers actually existed in this world. When she saw how dedicated they were, she couldn’t help but muse over her and Gongsun Zhi and the way they ended up. She gave a long sigh and tears rolled down her cheeks.

Lu’E went to her and threw herself into her arms; she cried, “Mother, just cure him please; then we’ll go and find uncle; he misses you, doesn’t he?”

Qiu Qianchi’s tears stirred her compassion, but then she immediately thought about the words in the letter from her brother Qiu Qianren; “Ever since first brother died at the hands of Guo Jing and Huang Rong on Iron Palm Peak…”

She herself was crippled and her brother had become a monk, saying something like ‘I dropped my knife of slaughter and followed the ways of Buddha’; does this mean that her brother’s death can never be avenged? Yang Guo’s martial arts weren’t weak; though he refuses to marry her daughter she could order him to help her avenge her brother.

She then said, “There were actually quite a lot of Passionless Pills; but apart from three pills, the rest were ruined by me when I soaked them in frosty arsenic water. Out of the three pills, that bastard Gongsun Zhi took one, another he took from me when I was drunk and that was the pill that you gave to that girl. There is only one pill remaining in this world. This pill has been with me for over twenty years. If one doesn’t prepare a Passionless Pill for themselves while living in the Passionless Valley, then they are not in complete control of the fate of their lives. Right now, I haven’t got long to live and my daughter might not stay here for much longer…” She then took out the last remaining Passionless Pill on this earth slowly and broke it in two with her nail. She took half a pill and placed it in her palm before saying, “I can give you the pill. You don’t want to marry my daughter, fine but you have to promise to do one thing for me.”

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu looked at each other, both surprised with her sudden kindness. The two weren’t worried about life and death; but since there’s a way for them to live, of course they’d be happy to take this chance. Both said at the same time, “We’ll do our best to fulfill Senior’s request.”

Qiu Qianchi said slowly, “I want you to get me the heads of two people.”

When Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu heard this, they both thought that she wanted them to kill Gongsun Zhi. Yang Guo had no good feelings towards Gongsun Zhi and now that he’s lost an eye and his “Closure of the Pressure Point” has been destroyed, it won’t be hard to kill him even though he still has his other martial arts remaining. But he was Gongsun Lu’E’s father; the girl loves Yang Guo deeply, but killing her father might cause great distress for her and he couldn’t help but hesitate.

Xiao Longnu thought that although Gongsun Zhi was evil, he was still the one who saved her life. From Qiu Qianchi’s expression, if she didn’t kill him Qiu Qianchi would never agree to give the pill to Yang Guo.

Qiu Qianchi saw that they had troubled expressions on their faces and said coldly, “I don’t know what ties these two people have with you but I must kill them.” She then flung half of the pill lightly upwards in her hand.

From her tone, it didn’t appear that she was talking about Gongsun Zhi so Yang Guo asked, “With whom does Senior Qiu Lao have a feud? Whose head do you want me to take?”

Qiu Qianchi said, “Didn’t you hear that scoundrel when he was reading out that letter? The names of the people who killed my brother are Guo Jing and Huang Rong.”

Yang Guo was delighted and called out, “That’s great. Those two people killed my father; even if Senior Qiu Lao didn’t ask I’d still kill them.” Qiu Qianchi’s heart trembled and said, “Is this true?”

Yang Guo pointed to Jinlun Fawang and said, “This Reverend has crossed paths with those two people. I told him about this matter before.”

Qiu Qianchi looked at Fawang and he nodded his head and said, “But at that time, brother Yang helped Guo Jing and Huang Rong to oppose me.” Xiao Longnu and Lu’E were both furious with Fawang for trying to stir up trouble time after time; they both stared at him with anger.

Jinlun Fawang ignored them and smiled, “Brother Yang, did such a thing happen?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes. Once I’ve avenged my father I’ll need to exchange a few stances with Reverend Jin.” Jinlun Fawang folded his arms and said, “Good, good!”

Qiu Qianchi held up her left hand and said to Yang Guo, “I don’t care if this is true or false, just take this pill.”

Yang Guo went forwards to accept it when he saw that it was just half a pill and immediately understood, he laughed, “I need to get their heads in exchange for the other half?”

Qiu Qianchi nodded and said, “You really are clever; you didn’t need anyone to tell you.”

Yang Guo thought, “It’s better to take half a pill than take nothing.” He took the half pill and swallowed it.

Qiu Qianchi said, “There was only one Passionless Pill left in the whole wide world. You’ve just taken half of it. The other half will be kept in an extremely secretive place. If you bring the heads of Guo Jing and Huang Rong in eighteen days time then I’ll give you the other half. Even if you hold me at knifepoint and threaten me or throw me down that cave again I will never give it to you. The word of Qiu Qianchi’s is as solid as rock, I’ve never taken back what I’ve said. To all the guests, please leave on your own accord. Master Yang, Miss Long, we’ll meet again in eighteen days time.” She then closed her eyes and ignored everyone.

Xiao Longnu asked, “Why have you set a deadline of eighteen days?”

Qiu Qianchi said with her eyes closed, “The Passion Flower poison in his body originally would have reacted in thirty six days time. Now that he’s taken half a passionless pill, the poison has all come together and is now concentrated in one place; the poison will now react twice as quickly. The poison will be cleared if he takes the other half of the antidote eighteen days from now, otherwise… otherwise… ha-ha!” After she said this, she waved out her hand, ordering everyone to go quickly.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu both knew that this person does not listen to reason and so the two bid farewell to Lu’E and quickly left the Narcissus Manor. Yang Guo couldn’t be bothered to find a boat to get out of the valley and instead, he and Xiao Longnu utilized their lightness kung fu and left the valley by going over the mountains.

Yang Guo had stayed in this valley for only three days; but within these three days, he had experienced many near deaths. Now that he’s left this place of danger with his lover, it was like he was in a different world.

It was now dawn. The two of them stood on top of a mountain ridge shoulder to shoulder and looked down at the valley. As the morning light sparkled on the luxuriant emerald forest, their eyes were filled with the green color. They felt filled with boundless joy; their hearts floating and swaying around as if they were at one with the clouds.

Yang Guo held Xiao Longnu’s hand and the two walked up to a locust tree. He said, “Gu Gu…” Xiao Longnu leaned on him and smiled, “I don’t think you need to call me Gu Gu again.”

Yang Guo had stopped viewing her as his Master long ago; the reason he called her ‘Gu Gu’ was because he was used to it. When he heard this, his heart was filled with a sweet feeling and he stared into her black eyes. He said, “What should I call you?”

Xiao Longnu said, “Call me whatever you want; it’s up to you.” Yang Guo thought for a little while and said, “The happiest time of my life was when we were in the tomb together. At that time, I called you Gu Gu. Just let me call you Gu Gu until I die.”

Xiao Longnu laughed, “I used to spank you in those days; were they happy days?”

Yang Guo stretched out his arms and embraced her. Yang Guo’s soul was completely enchanted as he smelled the fragrance of Xiao Longnu’s scent mixed up with the scents of the surrounding flowers and trees. He seemingly lost himself and said softly, “Let’s just live like this happily for the next eighteen days; we don’t need to go and kill Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Living happily and peacefully for eighteen days is better than rushing about and fighting for our lives.”

Xiao Longnu smiled and said, “We’ll do whatever you say. Before, I wanted you to listen to me; but from now on, I’ll listen to you.” She has always had an icy cold disposition; but now she was filled with love. She felt warm all over and felt that the greatest thing in life was to listen to Yang Guo with all her heart and soul.

Yang Guo looked at her startled; and said slowly, “Why are there tears in your eyes?”

Xiao Longnu took his hand and stroked her cheek gently with the back of his hand. She said tenderly, “I… I don’t know.” After a while, she said, “It must be because I love you too much.”

Yang Guo said, “I know what you are sad about.”

Xiao Longnu lifted her head and suddenly tears burst from her eyes as she threw herself into his arms. She cried, “Guo’er, you… you… we’ve only got eighteen days; how is that enough?”

Yang Guo patted her shoulder lightly and said softly, “No, it’s not enough.”

Xiao Longnu said, “I want you to treat me like this forever; I want a hundred years, a thousand years, ten thousand years.”

Yang Guo lifted her head and kissed her on her pale red lips. He said resolutely, “Fine, we’ll go kill Guo Jing and Huang Rong.” When he tasted her tears on his tongue, the love is his heart was stirred and his whole body felt like as if it wanted to explode.

Suddenly, a voice laughed out loudly from some high place to the left of them and said, “You don’t have to be that intimate.”

Yang Guo turned his head around and saw Jinlun Fawang, Yin Kexi, Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing and Ma Guangzuo standing shoulder to shoulder about a hundred feet away. The person who said this was Jinlun Fawang. When the two left the valley hurriedly together, Fawang and the others followed. The two of them were oblivious to everything around them; they didn’t see or hear anything but each other. When the two stood below the locust tree acting lovingly towards each other, they did not notice that Fawang and the others were watching them from faraway.

Yang Guo recalled the many times that Fawang tried to stir trouble for him in the valley which almost cost him his life on many occasions. If he could turn back time he would chose to kill Fawang. He had the chance when Fawang was recuperating on the mountain top instead of helping him. He’s meant to be a great Master of this generation; yet he repays kindness with ingratitude.

Xiao Longnu saw the fiery anger in Yang Guo’s eyes and said, “Ignore them, those people will never experience a second of the happiness that we have.”

Ma Guangzuo called out, “Brother Yang, Miss Long, let’s leave. There’s nothing around here in these wild mountains; no wine, no meat, it’s boring around here.”

Yang Guo just wanted to spend some quiet time with Xiao Longnu but these people had to come and disturbed them. However, he knew that Ma Guangzuo meant well and so he said clearly, “Brother Ma, you go first, I’ll be there in a second.”

Ma Guangzuo said, “Fine, just hurry up when you’ve finished.”

Jinlun Fawang laughed, “Who needs you to worry about them? They just want to spend eighteen days here on this wild mountainside.”

Everyone had heard Qiu Qianchi talk about how Yang Guo’s poison would react in eighteen days. When Ma Guangzuo heard this he couldn’t stop himself from getting angry and grabbed hold of Fawang’s sleeve, cursing him, “Bald scoundrel, you really are evil! We came here together with brother Yang; you should have helped him but you didn’t. Instead you tried to stir things up; what are you trying to do?”

Fawang gave a wry smile and chuckled, “Are you going to let go?”

Ma Guangzuo said angrily, “I’m not letting go; what are you going to do about it?” Fawang threw his right fist towards his face.

Ma Guangzuo said, “Fine, you want to fight?” He raised his massive hand to grab Fawang’s fist but this fist of Fawang’s was a decoy; his left hand suddenly came out and pushed him on the back. He used soft and hard force at the same time, causing the great body of Ma Guangzuo to fly away and down the mountainside. Luckily for Ma Guangzuo, the mountainside was covered in long green grass and he was thick skinned so he wasn’t seriously injured. However, his forehead was covered in green bruises. He roared and climbed back up.

When Yang Guo saw the two starting to fight, he knew that Ma Guangzuo would suffer at Fawang’s hands so he went forward to help him. But it was too late; he had moved just three steps and Ma Guangzuo had already been sent tumbling downwards.

Though Ma Guangzuo wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box; but he knew how to protect his life. He saw that he would not be able to beat that monk face to face and he cried and hollered, “Oh no, oh no, that bald bastard’s broken my arm.”

Xiaoxiang Zi and Nimoxing did not like the fact that Jinlun Fawang had been proclaimed the First Protector of Mongolia by Khubilai; they were now even angrier with him when they saw how brutish he was; the two glanced at each other.

Xiaoxiang Zi said, “Reverend’s martial arts are indeed excellent, you are worthy of the title of the First Protector of Mongolia.”

Fawang said, “You’re too kind.” Fawang knew that the two wanted to make their move on him right now while Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were also edging forward to make their move. As to what Yin Kexi was thinking, Fawang wasn’t too sure. He knew his martial arts were strong; but if the five great fighters join together and attack him all at once, not only will he not be able to fight them off; but his life will also be threatened. While his mouth replied dutifully, in his mind he was thinking of a way to escape.

While Ma Guangzuo was calling and hollering, he was making his way slowly towards Fawang. Suddenly, he threw out a fist and struck the back of Fawang’s head. With Fawang’s abilities, this sneaky attack of Ma Guangzuo’s would never have succeeded; but at this moment in time, he was just concentrating on Yang Guo, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others. The idiot he had ignored actually managed to strike him on the back of his head. This attack was hammer like; hammering him into a starry daze. In his anger, Fawang sent his elbow backwards striking Ma Guangzuo squarely in the chest. Ma Guangzuo called out and his body fell forward right onto the shoulders of Fawang. Fawang’s legs bent a little and he dashed straight down the mountainside.

Yang Guo was the first one to chase after Fawang as everyone shouted. Though Fawang had a great three hundred ‘jin’ (150kg/330lbs) body on his shoulders, he still moved like the wind. Yang Guo, Xiao Longnu, Nimoxing and the others all had first-rate lightness kung fu; but since Fawang made the first move, they were not able to catch up with him for the first hundred feet. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu increased their speed and gradually got closer to him.

Fawang suddenly stopped and he turned his head around. He laughed, “Fine, are you all going to come up on me at once or will it be one on one?” He held Ma Guangzuo and placed his head next to a large rock on the mountainside. He was about to smash Ma Guangzuo into the rock. Yang Guo went around him to first block his way before saying, “If you kill him, then of course we’ll all attack you at once.”

Fawang laughed and threw Ma Guangzuo to the ground before saying, “Do you think I’d trouble myself with this kind of idiot?” He then sent his arms into his gown and out came a white light in his left hand and a yellow light in his left; he had taken out his silver and bronze wheels. He clashed the wheels together and the sounds resonated throughout the valley. He said arrogantly, “Who’s first?”

Yin Kexi laughed, “I’m just a merchant, so I’ll just watch from the side and see everyone test each other’s skills.” Fawang thought, “That’s one less strong foe for me to face.”

Xiaoxiang Zi thought that he should let someone else go first and allow them to wear Fawang down a bit before he stepped in and finished him off. So he said, “Brother Ni, your martial arts are better than mine, please go ahead!”

When Nimoxing heard his words, he knew what Xiaoxiang Zi was planning; but then he thought about how good his martial arts were. He was matchless in India and had never met a match in his life; even if he can’t beat Fawang he wouldn’t lose to him. He went over to one side and casually grabbed hold of a large rock. He shouted, “Fine, I’ll test out your two circular things.” He picked up the large rock and smashed it towards Fawang’s chest. This rock was at least three hundred ‘jin’ and everyone was startled when they saw him using this to fight.

Jinlun Fawang did not know that this dwarf would possess such strength and actually use a large rock to attack him. He didn’t dare to meet it head on and dodged to the side and swept his bronze wheel across the back of Nimoxing. Nimoxing used the large rock to block the attack. The wheel and rock collided with each other and sparks flew everywhere with the sound of the collision echoing throughout the valley.

Fawang’s left arm felt slightly numb and he thought, “This dark dwarf’s martial arts are extremely strange, I cannot be careless. But even if he was stronger, how long can he last holding up such a large stone?” So he moved his wheels, circling it around Nimoxing’s body.

Yang Guo helped Ma Guangzuo up and then stood next to Xiao Longnu. Both were surprised with Nimoxing’s great strength and his strange martial arts.

The two of them battled for a while before suddenly Nimoxing shouted, “A Po Xing!” He lifted the large rock and shot it forward towards Fawang.

This throw was one of the greatest skills of Indian monks; it was called “Elephant Shooting of Shijia”. In the scriptures it recorded; ‘When Shijiamouni (Buddha) was still a prince, he left the city one day and found an elephant blocking his path. He lifted the elephant by the legs and shot it up into the sky. The elephant came back down three days later and when it landed it made a deep ditch, now called the Shooting Elephant Ditch. This was of course just a story that describes the unimaginable wonders of Buddhism. The later Indian martial artists developed a powerful external martial art, that allowed the user to shoot large objects and was subsequently named after this story. Nimoxing called upon the divine strength of this technique and shot the boulder towards Fawang. The large rock traveled extremely fast towards Fawang, creating a ferocious wind as it went forward.

Though Fawang was greatly skilled, he still didn’t dare to receive such a large heavy object head on and moved out of the way. Nimoxing suddenly flew up and struck the large stone with his palms, sending the stone back towards Fawang once again. This second attack was much stronger than the first because it was the combined force of the second propulsion from his palms with the remaining force from the first attack.

Fawang was better at martial arts than Nimoxing; but because he had never seen this “Elephant Shooting of Shijia” he was actually forced on the back foot. When he saw the rock coming towards him again, he could only move out of the way once again. Nimoxing pressed his advantage and the force of the rock become more and more ferocious as he repeatedly increased the force behind it.

Fawang thought, “If this continues I’m going to lose to this dark dwarf; I need to think of something else. Luckily he’s up by himself; when I kill him that zombie face would not dare to come up against me. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu have been poisoned and won’t be able to use their “Pure Heart of Jade Maiden Swordplay” smoothly.”

Suddenly, the thunderous sounds of horses were heard from nearby. Flags fluttered in the air as a group of men on horseback rushed towards them. Fawang and Nimoxing were in the middle of a heated battle and had no time to look. Yang Guo and the others saw it was a division of Mongolian soldiers on horseback armed with bows and sabers. About a hundred feet from Yang Guo and the others, the leader of the division held up his hand to order his men to stop. The soldiers all reigned in their horses.

Below the flag, a person watched the battle from his horse for a while before riding up towards them and called out, “Stop, stop!” This person wore a yellow gown and carried an iron bow; it was the Mongolian Prince Khubilai.

When Nimoxing heard his voice, he struck the rock with his palms and sent it rolling down the mountainside. Vast amounts of dust and dirt were thrown up as the boulder rolled down the slope.

Khubilai leapt off the horse and held Fawang with his left hand and Nimoxing with his right. He laughed, “So you two are exchanging a few stances here; it really was a great spectacle.” He knew that the two were having a real battle but he said this to keep the face of both sides. Fawang gave a wry laugh and said, “Brother Ni’s martial arts has its good points; a rare sight, a rare sight.”

Nimoxing’s eyes glared at him and said, “I thought the First Protector of Mongolia would be someone extraordinary, but you’re just… bah!”

Fawang was furious and thought, “Do you really think I can’t beat you?” He was just about to say something when Khubilai laughed, “This place has everything, but where’s the wine? Men, bring wine! We’ll drink three bowls here!”

Mongolians have always lived in the wild and made the world their home. Eating and drinking outside was no different than eating in a hall to them. One of the guards brought some wine and food to them and laid a rug on the ground.

Khubilai looked at Xiao Longnu and was shocked, “There’s actually a girl with such beauty here on this earth.” He saw Yang Guo and her holding hands, standing next to each other intimately; he asked Yang Guo, “Who’s this girl?”

Yang Guo said, “This is Miss Long; she is my Master and she is also my wife.”

After the life and death experiences in the Passionless Valley; the world’s customs and traditions meant absolutely nothing to him. He deliberately wanted everyone in the world to know that ‘I, Yang Guo, have married my Master’.

Mongolians weren’t as strict as the Han when it came to adhering to custom and tradition. When Khubilai heard this he wasn’t surprised, but instead, he had great respect for Xiao Longnu when he heard that she was the one who taught Yang Guo martial arts. He laughed, “You two are indeed a match made in heaven, excellent, excellent. Everyone, let’s congratulate these two.” He raised his bowl of wine and drank it all in one go.

Fawang gave a wry laugh before he too raised his bowl and drank it all in one go. The others followed and Ma Guangzuo drank three bowls in one go.

Xiao Longnu did not hate or like Mongolians; but when she heard Khubilai praising her and Yang Guo as a great match, she was wild with joy. She drank half a bowl of wine and her face became even more beautiful. She thought, “All the Han say that I and Guo’er can’t marry each other; while this Mongolian Prince kept on saying excellent, excellent. It looks like Mongolians are more knowledgeable than the Han.”

Khubilai laughed, “I missed everyone here while you were gone for these past three days. However, matters at Xiangyang were getting urgent and so I was unable to continue hosting our esteemed guests. I‘d left requests for you at the camp to meet up with the army at Xiangyang to aid us. Things will go a lot smoother now that we’ve met here.”

Fawang asked, “Your Highness, how has our army been doing in our attacks on Xiangyang?”

Khubilai frowned and said, “Lu Wenhuan, the General who’s guarding Xiangyang, is just a mediocre General; the person I’m worried about is Guo Jing.”

Yang Guo’s heart trembled and asked, “Is Guo Jing really at Xiangyang?”

Khubilai said, “This Guo Jing is my Senior. He was my father’s sworn brother and was my grandfather Genghis Khan’s most beloved General. This person was both brave and wise; he commanded an army at Xiyu and used an extraordinary plan to succeed in his task. My father once said to me, ‘The Song courts are led by an incompetent Emperor and scheming ministers; they have timid Generals and a weak army. Although they have great numbers they will not be able to defend against our skilled army. But if you come across Guo Jing, you must be careful. Father’s foresight was indeed right; our army has attacked Xiangyang many times but all attempts have been unsuccessful. The reason behind all this is Guo Jing.”

Yang Guo stood up and said, “That Guo Jing is the person who killed my father; I would like to request the order to assassinate him.”

Khubilai said with pleasure, “I have gathered all you heroes together for this exact task. But from what I hear, Guo Jing is the best martial artist of all the Han and he’s got many able people under his command. I have ordered many warriors to go and assassinate him but all have failed. They were either captured or killed; none of them returned. Brother Yang might be brave but it would be difficult for you to achieve this on your own. I want to send everyone here to go into Xiangyang and to work together to kill him. Once this person is killed, Xiangyang will fall.”

Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others all stood up; they crossed their arms and said, “We will use every ounce of our strength to follow your Highness’ order.”

Khubilai was delighted and said, “It doesn’t matter who kills Guo Jing, and those who go along to help will also be greatly rewarded. However, the Khan will be informed of the name of the person who killed Guo Jing, be given the title of Viscount and be called The Greatest Warrior of Mongolia.”

Xiaoxiang Zi, Nimoxing and the others did not care about the Viscount position; but if they got the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia, they’ll be famous throughout the world, and achieve their life’s dream. The influence of the Mongolian army has spread far and wide; they have countless li of territories in the western regions and have taken two thirds of the land of China. It would take a fast horse a year to travel from the centre of their empire to its boundaries. If they had the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia, all of the world’s heroes, bar none, will be in awe of them. Everyone’s spirits were motivated and even Fawang reacted to this news; there was a glint in his eyes when he heard it.

Yang Guo gave a bitter laugh and shook his head. Xiao Longnu looked at him lovingly but she was thinking, “Who cares about the title of Viscount, or the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia? I just hope that you can stay alive and well.”

Everyone drank a few more bowls of wine and then stood up. A Mongolian soldier led some horses to them. Yang Guo, Xiao Longnu, Fawang and the others leapt onto the horses and followed Khubilai, riding southwards towards Xiangyang.

It was a scene of destruction along the way; nine out of ten buildings were empty and the ground was covered with corpses. Whenever the Mongolian soldiers see Han, they would kill them with unrestrained violence. Yang Guo was furious when he saw this and wanted to stop them. But he hesitated because of Khubilai, and thought, “The Mongolians are so violent and cruel and treat my Han people worse than animals; after I’ve killed Guo Jing and Huang Rong, I’m going to kill a few of the evilest Mongolian soldiers to vent my anger.”

A few days later, they arrived outside of Xiangyang. The two sides had now been fighting for around a month and the ground was covered with the remnants of battle; broken spears lay strewn everywhere; blood and bodies covered the ground.

When the Generals and commanders of the army outside Xiangyang learned of the Fourth Prince Khubilai’s arrival, they went to greet him thirty li outside of Xiangyang. The sounds of the horses’ hoofs and the clanging of the soldiers’ armour reflected the grandeur of the army. When the Generals and commanders saw Khubilai’s banner, they all leapt off their horses and kneeled down by the roadside.

Khubilai rode up near them and reigned in his horse. He took a look around and didn’t say anything for a long while. He then gave a ‘humph’ grunt and said, “Xiangyang city has been under attack for so long yet you still have not captured it; isn’t that a disgrace to the mighty Mongolian army?”

All the Generals and commanders replied at the same time, “We deserve to die; please punish us your Highness.”

Khubilai whipped his horse and galloped forward. All the Generals and commanders kept themselves down on the ground for a long time, not daring to get up.

Yang Guo saw that Khubilai was very peaceful and easy going towards him, Fawang and the others; but when he was disciplining his army he was very strict. He thought, “The Mongolian army is so strong and so disciplined; how can the Song defend against them?” He frowned as he thought about this.

Early next morning, the Mongolians attacked Xiangyang once again. Arrows and stones were sent towards the city like rain and hail. The soldiers at the front of the attack placed ladders around the city of Xiangyang and climbed up. The city was guarded tightly; groups of eight soldiers held a wooden ram in their arms and were knocking the ladders off the city walls. After a prolonged attack, a hundred or so Mongolian soldiers eventually managed to get themselves on top of the city walls. The Mongolian army hollered and another hundred or so soldiers climbed up towards the walls for support. The watchman’s rattle rang urgently and a group of archers appeared, shooting arrows down on the advance, forcing them back. Another group of Song soldiers appeared with torches in their hands and they burned the ladders, sending the Mongolians on the ladders plummeting down to the ground.

Shouts and calls could be heard from the city as a group of men appeared on the walls with long spears and sharp sabers, attacking the Mongolians who had climbed up onto the city walls. This group of men did not wear the uniform of the Song army; some wore short black garments, while some wore long green gowns. When they attacked, they didn’t attack in a group; their movements were swift and showed that they possessed martial arts. The Mongolians who had managed to get themselves on top of the city walls were all great warriors of the Mongolian army and had never met their match before. But when they came across this group of Han, they were all killed. Some died on the city walls while others fell to their deaths. There was an especially commanding Han in the Song army. This person wore a grey gown and was fighting empty handed; he scanned the walls and when he saw Han soldiers in distress, he would immediately dash over and help them. Wherever his palms went, Mongolian soldiers fell; it was like a tiger in amongst a herd of sheep.

Khubilai was commanding this battle himself and when he saw how brave and heroic this Han was, he was stunned and didn’t say anything. After a while he sighed and said, “Out of all the warriors in the world, who can compare with this man?”

Yang Guo was standing beside Khubilai and asked, “Highness, do you know who that is?” Khubilai was startled and said, “Could it be that he’s Guo Jing?”

Yang Guo said, “Yes!”

By this time, most of the hundreds of Mongolians soldiers who had climbed up the city walls had been killed. Only three brave Sergeants of the Jagen (100 man squad) still survived and they were fighting on in a corner with their spears and shields. A Noyan (rank in Mongolian army, leader of a division of 10,000) below blew their horn and another group of soldiers attacked the city walls, intending to bring the three remaining Jagen Sergeants back to safety.

Guo Jing roared and stepped forward. One of the Jagen Sergeants thrust his spear forward towards him. Guo Jing grabbed the spear and pushed forward. He then kicked out at the shield of another Jagen Sergeant with his left leg. Though these two Jagen Sergeants had great valor, how could they resist the divine strength from such a push and kick? They somersaulted down from the wall and fell to their deaths.

The third Jagen Sergeant was fairly old and had grey hair. He knew that today was the day when he would meet his maker. He swung his long saber wildly like a mad tiger. Guo Jing stretched out his left hand and grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the saber. He was about to chop down with his right hand when he suddenly stopped in alarm. The Jagen Sergeant recognized Guo Jing and called out, “Jin Dao Fu Ma (Golden Blade Consort), it’s you!” Note: He was betrothed to Genghis Khan’s daughter Hua Zhen during his time in Mongolia. He was actually one of the soldiers that accompanied Guo Jing when he was sent to conquer the western regions. When Huang Rong made the plan to take Samarkand, he was amongst the first warriors who made the attack on the city.

Guo Jing recalled past memories and said, “You are E’er Dou?”

The Jagen Sergeant cried when he saw that Guo Jing remembered his name and he called out, “Yes, yes it’s me.”

Guo Jing said, “Fine, I’m going to spare your life today because of what happened in the past. If I capture you again, there will be no mercy.” He turned to one of his aides and said, “Get a rope and send him back down!” Two soldiers tied a rope around E’er Dou’s waist and lowered him.

E’er Dou was a famous warrior in the Mongolian army; when the Mongolian soldiers saw him being lowered down on a rope by the Song army, they were surprised. They didn’t know what had happened and retreated a few hundred feet. The Song soldiers at the top of the city stopped firing their arrows and the two sides ceased the battle for the time being.

When E’er Dou got down, he turned to Guo Jing and bowed to him on the ground. He said clearly, “Since Jin Dao Fu Ma (Golden Blade Consort) is here, this servant will not dare fight again.”

Guo Jing stood at the top of the wall with a commanding aura around him and shouted out, “The commander of the Mongols, listen: Years ago the Mongols and Han worked together to get rid of the Jin; why are you Mongols now invading our land and killing our citizens? We have ten times more people than you Mongols have. If you don’t quickly retreat then we’ll gather our armies and kill the hundreds of thousands of soldiers that you have. We’ll not even leave them with a body that can be buried.” He spoke in Mongolian with great vigor. Though the wall was high and there was a large distance between the two armies, the Mongolian soldiers could hear every single word clearly and they couldn’t stop themselves from looking at each other pale faced.

A Noyan led E’er Dou to Khubilai and told him what had happened. E’er Dou then told Khubilai about how he followed Guo Jing on the expedition to the west and described how the Jin Dao Fu Ma (Golden Blade Consort) used his troops like a god. How he subdued and defeated the enemy, explaining all this with great enthusiasm.

Khubilai’s face turned heavy and shouted, “Execute him!” E’er Dou called out, “Please, I’ve done nothing!”

The Noyan said, “Please your Highness, this E’er Dou has achieved many great deeds for our army…”

Khubilai waved his hand and four guards came. They took E’er Dou away and executed him, bringing his head back to Khubilai. All the Generals trembled with fear.

Khubilai said to the Noyan, “Apart from the money owed to E’er Dou’s family for his services to the army, give his wife ten ‘jin’ (5kg/11lbs) of gold, thirty slaves and three hundred livestock.”

The Noyan was puzzled but replied, “Yes, yes.”

Khubilai said, “I’ve killed him yet I’m also rewarding his family; you do not understand this, do you?” All the Generals bowed to him and said, “Please enlighten us your Highness.”

Khubilai said clearly, “That Jagen Sergeant bowed down to Guo Jing and talked about how powerful Guo Jing is; shouldn’t he die for disturbing the morale of the soldiers? But he was brave and led the attacks; he fought with his life up until he reached the final man, shouldn’t he be rewarded?” All of the Generals bowed to him.

But after this event, the Mongolian army’s morale was low. Khubilai knew that if he continued to battle on today, he would just suffer more loses. He was exasperated when he saw the hundreds of corpses of his experienced spirited soldiers lying across the battlefield. He then looked at the fortified wall of Xiangyang; it was guarded tightly and there was no way to break through. He couldn’t stop himself from releasing a sigh. He immediately gave the order to retreat back forty li.

Two of his guards looked at each other and both said, “This servant would like to share the burdens of your Highness and will go to dampen the morale of the Song.” They leapt onto a horse and galloped towards the city. The two mounted their bows and shot the arrows towards Guo Jing.

The two were skilled riders and their archery skills were accurate; their horse galloped like the wind and the arrows were shot out like lightning. By the time warning cries were heard from both the top and bottom of the city walls, the arrows had reached Guo Jing’s chest and stomach. It appeared that Guo Jing had no way to avoid the arrows; but he gathered his hands towards himself and grabbed the arrows. He then raised his hands and shot the arrows back. Before the two guards had turned their horses around, the arrows had arrived and shot through their chests. The two fell onto the ground. The Song army at the top of the city wall cheered thunderously.

Khubilai was not pleased and ordered his men north. The army had traveled for a few li when Yang Guo said, “There is no need to be troubled your Highness; I will now go to the city to take Guo Jing’s life.”

Khubilai shook his head and said, “That Guo Jing is both valiant and wise; he indeed does live up to his reputation. This matter is more troublesome than I thought it would be now that I’ve seen him with my own eyes.”

Yang Guo said, “I lived with Guo Jing for many years and I have helped him before; he will have no suspicions about me. There’s a saying; a spear out in the open is easy to dodge, but an arrow in the dark is hard to avoid.”

Khubilai said, “When you were standing next to me watching the battle, you were afraid that he would recognize you from the top of the city’s walls?”

Yang Guo said, “I was wary of this so when you were attacking the city, Miss Long and I wore hats to cover our faces and fur garments to hide our bodies; he would not be able to recognize us.”

Khubilai said, “Well then, I hope you succeed. I will keep my word about the rewards.”

Yang Guo casually thanked him and he was about to turn around to Xiao Longnu to leave with her when he saw Jinlun Fawang, Xiaoxiang Zi, Yin Kexi and the others with strange expressions. His mind lit up, “These people are afraid that I’ll get the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia if I succeed in killing Guo Jing; they’ll definitely try to stop me.” He turned to Khubilai and said, “Your Highness, I have something to tell you. The reason I am going to assassinate Guo Jing is because I want to avenge my father’s death and because I need his head in exchange for an antidote to save my life. If I succeed in helping your Highness, I cannot accept the title of the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia.”

Khubilai asked, “Why?”

Yang Guo said, “My martial arts can’t compare with these people; how can I be the Greatest Warrior of Mongolia? I can only make my move if your Highness promises me this.”

Khubilai heard him say this with great sincerity and thought that this really was what he wanted. He then looked at the expressions of the others and then knew what he meant by this. He said, “Since you’ve decided this, I can’t change your mind. I will not force you.”

When Fawang and the others heard this, they indeed did show signs of relief.

Yang Guo turned his horse around and headed for Xiangyang with Xiao Longnu. They took off the disguises along the way and dressed themselves back into Han clothing. It was beginning to get dark by the time they reached the walls of the city; when they got there, a closed gate greeted them. Soldiers with torches were patrolling the city walls. Yang Guo called out, “My name is Yang Guo, and I’ve come to see Guo Jing, Master Guo.”

The General who was guarding the city walls heard his calls and saw that he was accompanied by a girl. He immediately went to tell Guo Jing the news.

After a while, two youngsters arrived at the top of the city wall and looked down at them. One of them called out, “So it’s brother Yang. There are only two of you?”

When Yang Guo saw the Wu brothers he thought, “When Guo Jing killed my father, I wonder whether or not the Wu brother’s father was there to help him?” He said, “Big brother Wu, second brother Wu, is Uncle Guo in the city?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Come in.”

The soldiers opened the gate and lowered the drawbridge to allow Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu through.

The Wu brothers led the two to a large house. Guo Jing’s face was filled with joy and he dashed out of the house to meet Yang Guo. He greeted Xiao Longnu and then held Yang Guo’s hand and smiled, “Guo’er, you’ve come here just in time. The Mongols are attacking us intensely and you can help me now that you’re here; the citizens of the city are very fortunate.”

Xiao Longnu was Yang Guo’s Master and Guo Jing treated her as an equal, politely inviting her into the house while he treated Yang Guo with great care.

Guo Jing held Yang Guo’s left hand. When Yang Guo thought about the act that his father’s murderer was doing now, pretending to be caring and loving towards him, he really wanted to draw out his sword and kill him right there and then. But he was worried about how good Guo Jing’s martial arts were so he didn’t dare to make a rash move. He forced himself to smile and said, “I wish Uncle Guo great health.” He was filled with anger and did not kneel down to him. Guo Jing was a broad-minded person and did not take little details like this to heart.

When they arrived in the hall, Yang Guo wanted to go and see Huang Rong. Guo Jing laughed, “Your Auntie Guo is about to give birth and hasn’t been feeling well in the last couple of days; you can see her in a few days time.”

Yang Guo was delighted and thought, “Huang Rong is extremely wise and clever; I was afraid that she would be able to see through my plan. But she’s ill at the moment; it looks like even heaven wants me to succeed.”

As they were talking, a soldier came in and reported, “General Lu requests Master Guo’s presence at a feast to celebrate our victory against the Mongols today.”

Guo Jing said, “Go and tell the General, thank you for the invitation. However, I have a guest and cannot attend.”

The soldier looked at Yang Guo and saw that he was just a young man with nothing special about him; he didn’t know why Guo Jing would treat him with so much respect that he would actually reject the General’s invitation to the celebratory feast because of him. His mind was full of questions as he went back to report this to Lu Wenhuan.

Guo Jing prepared a family meal in the inner hall in honour of Yang Guo’s and Xiao Longnu’s arrival. Zhu Ziliu, Liu Youjiao, the Wu brothers and Guo Fu were in attendance. Zhu Ziliu kept on thanking Yang Guo, saying that only he could have gotten the antidote from Huo Dou to cure his poison. Yang Guo just gave a lifeless smile and said a few modest words.

Guo Fu saw that Yang Guo had an aloof expression on his face. She called out, “Brother Yang.”

Guo Jing scolded, “Fu’er, if it weren’t for brother Yang risking his life to save you from the hands of Jinlun Fawang, not only would you have been in trouble but also your mother; why aren’t you thanking him?”

Guo Fu stood up and said, “Thank you brother Yang for saving me.”

Yang Guo said, “We’re not strangers, why is there a need to say thanks?”

Guo Fu didn’t say anything and sat down. During the meal, Guo Fu frowned and it seemed that there was something on her mind. The Wu brothers were seemingly avoiding her glances. But Liu Youjiao and Zhu Ziliu were extremely happy and were chatting about the victory against the Mongols.

By the time dinner finished, it was around eleven o’clock. Guo Jing told his daughter to take Xiao Longnu inside to rest and he himself took Yang Guo to his room to sleep in the same bed. When Xiao Longnu was about to go inside, she glanced at Yang Guo, telling him to be careful. Her face was filled with love and concern. Yang Guo was afraid that his intentions would be revealed and so turned his head away, not daring to look at her directly.

Guo Jing led Yang Guo to his room and praised Yang Guo for saving Huang Rong, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers from Jinlun Fawang at the restaurant and the stone formations. He then asked about what had happened to him afterwards.

Yang Guo was afraid that he might let something out if he talked too much; and so he kept the events of how he met Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang, Sha Gu and Huang Yaoshi from him. He just said, “After I was injured, I recuperated in a wild valley. Afterwards, I met my Master again and we decided to come here to help Uncle Guo.”

Guo Jing got himself readied for bed and said, “Guo’er, there is a strong enemy pressing against the boundaries of our land; the Song Empire is in great danger. Xiangyang is a barrier for our Song land; if this city falls then the thousands and millions of citizens that we have will become the slaves of the Mongols. I have seen the brutality of the Mongols when they kill with my own eyes; it causes one’s blood to boil.”

When Yang Guo heard this, he remembered the tragic and terrifying scenes of the actions of the Mongols he encountered during his travels. He couldn’t stop his teeth from clenching in anger and his chest filled with fury.

Guo Jing continued, “Why do we learn martial arts? Lending a helping hand and getting people out of danger is of course something that we must do; but this is just one of the minor parts of being a hero. The people of Jianghu call me ‘Hero Guo’ because they respect me for serving my country and my people and guarding Xiangyang without care for my life. But my abilities are limited, I cannot get my people out of this trouble; I really am not worthy of the title ‘Hero’. You are ten times more intelligent than me; your future achievements will definitely exceed mine. I just hope that you remember these words, ‘a hero’s imperative is to serve your country, to serve your people’. You will be a famous true hero of the people if you remember this.”

These sincere words moved Yang Guo. He saw that Guo Jing had a stern face on him and although Guo Jing was his father’s murderer, Yang Guo couldn’t help but feel respect for him. He replied, “Uncle Guo, after you’ve gone, I will definitely remember the words that you have said tonight.”

How would Guo Jing know that Yang Guo was planning to assassinate him tonight? He stretched out his hand and stroked his hair and said, “Yes, bend your body to the task until your dying day. If our country perishes then your Uncle Guo’s life will go along with it. I have heard that Khubilai is skilled in warfare; he retreated today but he will come back to attack again soon. There’s definitely going to be a great battle in the upcoming days. It’s going to be a spectacular battle. It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep.”

Yang Guo replied, “Yes.” He undressed himself for bed and hid the dagger from the Passionless Valley on him. He thought, “I’ll wait until you’re deep in your sleep and then stab you; even if your martial arts were a hundred times better, how could you avoid this attack?”

Guo Jing had fought in a great battle today and he immediately fell asleep. How could Yang Guo sleep with the thoughts that he had? He lay on the bed and listened to the breathing of Guo Jing. Every inhalation and exhalation was spaced out with an extremely long gap; he admired how profound Guo Jing’s internal energy was. Some time passed. It was silent everywhere with the exception of the noises from the guards. He sat up quietly and felt out the dagger from underneath his clothes. He thought, “I’ll kill him first and then go kill Huang Rong. She’s a pregnant woman, what can she do? Once I’ve killed them, I’ll immediately go back to the Passionless Valley with Gu Gu to get the other half of the antidote. Once I’ve got the antidote, I will go back to the tomb with Gu Gu and enjoy the pleasures of life; who cares about whether this empire is Song or Mongol?”

He felt extremely pleased with himself as he thought about this; but suddenly he heard the crying of a baby from one of the neighboring residences. He then heard the mother of the baby comforting it; the baby gradually stopped crying and fell asleep.

Yang Guo’s heart trembled and remembered the time when he saw a Mongolian soldier holding up his spear in midair with a baby hanging off the end of it; the baby had not died and was crying miserably. He thought, “It would be easy for me to kill Guo Jing now; but once he dies, it will be difficult to protect Xiangyang. This city has thousands and thousands of babies; won’t they all be killed by the Mongolian soldiers for fun? My avenging of my father will lead to countless deaths, is this right?”

But then he thought, “If I don’t kill him, how can I get the antidote from Qiu Qianchi? If I die, Gu Gu will not live on.” Nothing in the world could compare to his love for Xiao Longnu and he made up his mind, “Fine, fine, who cares about the lives of Xiangyang; who cares about the Empire of the Song? When I was suffering, who cared about me apart from Gu Gu? The people of the world don’t love me; why should I love the people of the world?” He raised the dagger and gathered all his strength into his right hand. He aimed for Guo Jing’s chest.

The candlelight in the room had gone out long ago but Yang Guo had the ability to see things in the dark. When he was about to thrust the dagger, he glanced over at Guo Jing’s face. There was a peaceful expression on his face and he was in a deep sleep; all the love that Guo Jing shown him when he was younger suddenly surfaced in his heart. How he treated him lovingly on the Peach Blossom Island; how he took him all the way to Mount Zhongnan to learn martial arts; how he betrothed his only daughter to him. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking, “Uncle Guo is a straight and honest man; he is an extremely sincere and kind person; he cannot be the person who killed my father. Could it be that Sha Gu was confused and was talking rubbish? If this knife goes forward and kills an innocent man, I won’t be able to redeem this with ten thousand deaths. I’ll wait; I need to make sure.”

He put away his dagger slowly and thought about all the things that had happened since he’d met the Guo couple; pondering over every single memory. He remembered how Huang Rong always felt uneasy with him around; there were many times when she and Guo Jing were talking about something but would immediately change the subject once she saw him. There was no question about it; the couple was keeping something from him. He continued thinking, “When Auntie Guo took me as a disciple, how come she only taught me to read and write and didn’t teach me martial arts? Could it be that the reason why Uncle Guo treats me so well is because he’s trying to make himself feel better about killing my father? But if he really did kill my father then how come he is not wary of me at all? He lets me sleep with him and gives me the chance to kill him with one stab of a knife. He was troubled as his thoughts went to and fro like the tides.

Though Guo Jing was sleeping, he noticed that Yang Guo’s breathing was quickening and he opened his eyes. He asked, “Guo’er, what is it?” Yang Guo trembled a little and said, “It’s nothing.”

Guo Jing laughed, “If you’re not used to sleeping with someone, then I’ll go and sleep on the table.” Yang Guo said quickly, “No, it’s nothing important.”

Guo Jing said, “Fine, just go to sleep. We martial artists need to make sure our states of mind are well rested.” Yang Guo replied, “Yes.”

Another while passed. Yang Guo could not hold it in any longer and asked, “Uncle Guo, that year when you took me to Mount Zhongnan, I asked you a question at the Cow Head Monastery at the foot of Mount Zhongnan.”

Guo Jing said, “What was it?”

Yang Guo said, “When I asked the question you became furious and smashed down on a stone obelisk; that was why you got all the trouble from the Quanzhen Taoists; do you remember what I asked?”

Guo Jing thought for a while and said, “Yes, I remember, that day you asked me how your father died.” Yang Guo stared at him and said, “No, I asked you who killed my father.”

Guo Jing said, “How do you know that someone killed your father?” Yang Guo choked, “Could it be that my father died just like that?”

Guo Jing stayed silent for a while before giving out a sigh and said, “It was no one’s fault but his that he died like that.”

Yang Guo sat up; he was extremely emotional and said, “You’re lying! How can someone cause their own death? Even if my father killed himself, someone must have forced him to do it.”

Guo Jing felt sad and tears rolled down from his eyes. He said slowly, “Guo’er, your grandfather and my father were very close; your father and I were sworn brothers. If your father was killed by someone don’t you think I would have avenged his death?”

Yang Guo shook all over and he wanted to say, “You’re the one who killed him, how can you avenge him?” But he knew that if he said this, Guo Jing would be wary of him and if that happened, it would be difficult to assassinate him. He nodded his head and stayed silent.

Guo Jing said, “Your father’s death is a long complicated story, it cannot be explained in one sentence. When you asked me all those years ago, you were still young; you wouldn’t have understood all the causes behind it. That is why I didn’t tell you then. You can distinguish between right and wrong now that you’ve grown up. Once we’ve made the Mongols retreat, I’ll tell you all about it from the beginning.” He then laid his head back on his pillow and went to sleep.

Yang Guo had always known him to be completely honest; if he said something it was truthful and he never lied. But when he heard his words he wasn’t convinced and was semi suspicious of him. He cursed himself, “Yang Guo, Yang Guo, you have always done things with an indomitable will; whatever you dared to do you did, why are you acting so timid today? Could it be that you’re afraid of how good his martial arts are? If I keep on changing my mind tonight and lose this opportunity, Huang Rong might find out about my motives in the near future. When that happens, I’m afraid that even Gu Gu will be killed without a corpse that can be buried as well.”

When he thought about Xiao Longnu, his spirits stirred again and he stretched out his hand to check the dagger. The dagger tip was hot after being pressed against his body.

Guo Jing’s left foot flicked up against the wall and he flew up over ten feet. His right feet followed and he rose up another ten feet. Silence broke out on the battlefield as tens of thousands spectators fixed their eyes on him.

Yang Guo was just about to take his dagger out and stab Guo Jing when he suddenly heard three light flicks on the outside window. He quickly shut his eyes and kept still.

Guo Jing immediately woke up alarmed and said, “Rong’er? Is there some kind of problem?” No more noises came from the window.

Guo Jing saw that Yang Guo was in a deep sleep and could hear his even snoring. He saw how easily he slept and didn’t want to wake him, so he got up from the bed quietly and went to the door. He opened the door and saw Huang Rong in the courtyard signaling him with her hand. Guo Jing went to her and said quietly, “What’s the matter?”

Huang Rong did not reply and lead him to the garden. She took a look all around before saying, “I heard you and Guo’er’s conversation. He’s up to no good, do you know that?”

Guo Jing was startled and asked, “He’s up to no good?”

Huang Rong replied, “I could tell from his words that he’s been suspicious of you killing his father.” Guo Jing said, “He may be suspicious but I’ve promised that I’ll tell him all about the reasons for his father’s death in detail.” Huang Rong said, “Are you really going to tell him everything?”

Guo Jing said, “I have always blamed myself for his father’s tragic death. Though Brother Yang Kang went down the wrong path, we did nothing to save him.”

Huang Rong gave a ‘humph’ and said, “How could he be saved? I just wished that I’d killed him earlier. If I had, would your Masters have died on Peach Blossom Island?” When Guo Jing recalled this bitter event, he couldn’t prevent himself from heaving a long sigh. Huang Rong said, “Brother Zhu sent Fu’er to tell me that there’s something odd with Guo’er and she told me how you two were going to sleep on the same bed. I was worried that something might happen and I have been on guard by the window all along. It’s better not to sleep in the same room as him. You should know that people’s thoughts are hard to fathom. His father… his father died from poison as a result of striking me on the shoulder.”

Guo Jing said, “It can’t be said that you killed him.”

Huang Rong said, “Both of us had the thought of killing him in our minds and in the end he did die because of me. Although we didn’t kill him with our own hands, there’s not much difference.”

Guo Jing thought deeply for a while and said, “You’re right. I won’t tell him about this. Rong’er, you’ve been up for half the night, quickly go back to your room and rest. After tonight, I’ll move to the camp.” He knew that his wife’s wisdom exceeded his a hundred times and although he didn’t believe that Yang Guo had any ill intent towards him, he did as she said. He stretched out his hand and put his arm around her waist and led her slowly into the inner halls. He said, “Guo’er used every ounce of strength he had to take back the position of the Chancellor of Wulin for us. He knows what’s right and wrong when it comes to matters of the country; he risked his life in saving you and Fu’er twice; how can his father compare with his heroic nature?”

Huang Rong nodded her head and said, “Yes, this is something that’s wonderful to see in this young man, but he has two clouds hanging over him. One is the reasons for his father’s death and two, his relationship with his Master. I made Miss Long leave him but Guo’er seems to be all- knowing; somehow he found her again. From their expressions, it looks like they’ll never be separated again.”

Guo Jing kept silent for a while and then suddenly said, “Rong’er, you’re even more all-knowing than Guo’er; think of a way to stop Guo’er from going down the wrong path.”

Huang Rong sighed and said, “I don’t even know what to do about our daughter let along Guo’er. Brother Jing, I just have you in my heart and you have just me in yours. But our daughter isn’t like us; she has two men in her heart, she treats each of the Wu brothers the same. This makes things difficult for us parents.”

Guo Jing accompanied Huang Rong to her room and helped her onto her bed. He covered her with a blanket and held her hand, sitting by the bed waiting for her to go to sleep. The pair had been busy with defending the country and hadn’t had a chance to spend any quiet time with each other like this. The two looked at each other, in silence, in peace.

Huang Rong held her husband’s hand and brushed it gently across her cheeks. She whispered, “Brother Jing, you name our second child.” Guo Jing laughed, “You know I’m not good at that; why are you making fun of me?”

Huang Rong said, “You still say that you’re not able. Brother Jing, there’s no one in the world that’s better than you.” She said these words with great sincerity.

Guo Jing lowered his head and kissed his loving wife on her face gently. He said, “If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Guo Polu, but what if it’s a girl?” He thought for a while and shook his head saying, “I can’t think of one, you think of a name.”

Huang Rong said, “Elder Qiu named you ‘Jing’ so that you would not forgot the shame of the Jing Kang years. The Jin have been destroyed but now the Mongolians are threatening us. This child is going to be born in Xiangyang; we’ll call her Guo Xiang so in the future she’ll remember that she was born in this city when it was surrounded by warring soldiers.”

Guo Jing said, “Good, but hopefully she will not be like her sister. She’s grown up now and she still makes us worry about her.”

Huang Rong smiled lightly and said, “It doesn’t matter if we have to worry but…” She gave a sigh and said, “I really hope that it will be a boy so that the Guo’s will have an heir.”

Guo Jing stroked her hair and said, “A boy or a girl; will it not be the same? Just go to bed, don’t think too much.” He pulled the blanket over her and blew out the candles. He returned to his room and saw Yang Guo in a deep sleep. The chime for the third hour could be heard. He returned to the bed and slept.

How would he know that when he was talking to his wife, Yang Guo was hiding behind the pavilion and heard every single word they said? When Guo Jing returned to the inner halls with his wife, Yang Guo stood there in a daze. His mind was repeatedly going over what Huang Rong had said, “I just wished that I killed him earlier… his father died from poison as a result from striking me on the shoulder… both of us had the thought of killing him in our minds and in the end he did die because of me.” He thought, “There’s no more doubts, my father died because of the two them. Huang Rong is really wily; she’s already suspicious of me. If I don’t make my move today then I don’t think I’ll ever get another chance like this.” He then returned to the room and slept on the bed quietly, waiting for Guo Jing to return.

Guo Jing slipped himself on to the bed and heard Yang Guo’s faint snoring. He thought, “This child sleeps so soundly.” He rested his head lightly on the pillow, afraid that he would wake him up. A short while passed and he was about to fall asleep when he suddenly felt Yang Guo turning his body around slowly but while he was turning over, his snoring continued. Guo Jing was startled, “Everyone stops their snoring when they turn over in their sleep. There’s something wrong with his breathing, could it be that when he’s practicing his internal energy he circulated it in the wrong way? This isn’t anything trivial.” The thought of Yang Guo pretending to sleep never entered his mind.

Yang Guo slowly turned around slowly and saw that Guo Jing did not notice him so he continued his faint snoring and got down from the bed. He had wanted to make his move while he was beneath the blanket but he was worried about how close he was to Guo Jing. It would be extremely dangerous for him. If Guo Jing sends out a last gasp palm at him then surely he would be killed. He had thought about sitting up to do it but he was still worried about how good Guo Jing’s martial arts were. In the end he decided to first get off the bed and stab Guo Jing in one of his vital areas before escaping out of the window. He was also afraid that if he stopped his snoring, Guo Jing would notice, so he kept up the pretence while he got down from the bed. But by doing this, Guo Jing was fooled even more. Guo Jing was thinking, “Could it be that the child has a sleepwalking disease? If I make a noise now, he would break out in a shock, his chi in his dan tian would surge the opposite way and he would immediately fire deviate.” So he didn’t make a move and listened out for his actions.

Yang Guo took out his dagger slowly and braced it against his chest with his right hand. He made his way to the bed step by step and suddenly gathered his chi into his arm to make his attack. Just as he was about to thrust the dagger, he heard Guo Jing call out, “Guo’er, what kind of nightmare are you having?”

Yang Guo was extremely shocked and he immediately darted out of the window. He was fast but Guo Jing was faster; before he touched the ground Guo Jing had already managed to grab him. Yang Guo’s thoughts went to despair, he knew that his enemy was much stronger than him and it would be of no use to resist so he closed his eyes and kept silent. Guo Jing carried him back into the room. He placed him on the bed and sat him up with his hands hanging down in front of him, assuming the form of practicing Xuan Men chi. Yang Guo was bitter and afraid, “I wonder what kind of evil method he’s going to use to torture me.” He suddenly remembered Xian Long Nu. He breathed in deeply and wanted to call out to her, “Gu Gu, I’ve been captured, quickly run away.”

When Guo Jing saw him suddenly breathe in deeply and circulate his chi, he was even more convinced that he was having problems with the circulation of his chi and thought, “In a situation like this one can only breathe in slowly and shallowly, it’s extremely dangerous to breathe in so quickly and deeply like this.” He quickly placed his palm against Yang Guo’s lower abdomen. Yang Guo’s ‘dan tian’ was suppressed by Guo Jing’s profound internal energy and he couldn’t call out. He was concerned for Xiao Longnu’s safety and struggled until his face went red but with his ‘dan tian’ suppressed, he couldn’t move an inch. Guo Jing said slowly, “Guo’er, you were too anxious in circulating your chi; this is called desiring speed and not transmission. Stop moving, I’ll help return your chi back to their original sources.”

Yang Guo was startled and didn’t know what he meant by this; but then he felt a warm gradual chi entering his ‘dan tian’ from his palms that was extremely comforting. He then heard Guo Jing say, “Slowly expel your chi and slowly let this warm chi transmit through the ‘Water Divide’ to the ‘Interior Strengthening’ through the ‘Great Tower Gate’, ‘Turtledove Tail’ to the ‘Jade Hall’, ‘Florid Canopy’, first clear the conception vessel, ignore the other meridians.

After hearing these words and feeling his chi clearing his meridians, he more or less gathered what was happening. He thought, “Shocking! He thinks I’ve lost my mind due to me suffering a fire deviation.” He secretly circulated his internal energy and deliberately let his chi run wild, appearing not to be in control. Guo Jing was worried and increased the power in his palms, gathering his wild chi into one place. Yang Guo’s internal energy was now not shallow. Guo Jing found it slightly difficult to cope for a while when Yang Guo sent his chi surging wildly around his body. He had to waste around an hour’s time before he managed to return his contrary chi back into their original channels.

After this struggle, Yang Guo was completely drained of strength and Guo Jing too was extremely tired. The two of them sat in meditation. The sky lightened before they had recovered.

Guo Jing smiled, “Guo’er, are you okay now? I didn’t know that your internal energy has reached such a good level already; even I almost couldn’t control it.”

Yang Guo knew that in trying to save himself, Guo Jing had wasted a lot of his internal energy and was touched by this. He said, “Thank you uncle Guo for saving me; last night I was almost crippled.”

Guo Jing thought, “Last night while you were confused, you actually raised a dagger to kill me; luckily you didn’t know about this, otherwise wouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?” He was afraid that if Yang Guo knew about this he would feel sorry about it so he changed the subject and said, “Come with me outside of the city, we’ll take a look at the city’s defenses.”

Yang Guo replied, “Yes!” The two of them mounted a warhorse each and rode shoulder to shoulder outside of the city.

Guo Jing said, “Guo’er, the internal energy of the Quanzhen sect is the most orthodox in the world, though progress is slow, you will not run into any trouble. You can learn other sect’s and school’s martial arts but when it comes to internal energy it would be advisable to practice Xuan Men martial arts. We’ll study this together once the enemy has retreated.”

Yang Guo said, “Don’t tell Auntie Guo about me fire deviating last night. If she finds out she’ll laugh at me for learning Long Gu Gu’s unorthodox martial arts and blame me for making Uncle Guo suffer.”

Guo Jing said, “Of course I won’t say. Miss Long’s martial arts aren’t unorthodox; it’s just that you weren’t concentrating and didn’t practice with a clear mind.” Yang Guo knew that if Huang Rong found out about this she would immediately know the truth. When he heard Guo Jing promise not to tell Huang Rong, his mind relaxed.

The two of them headed west of the city and arrived at a stream. Guo Jing said, “Though this is a small stream, it is very famous; it is called the Tan Torrent.”

Yang Guo said, “Oh. I have heard people talk about the story of the Three Kingdoms; they mentioned that Emperor Liu of Shu leaped over the Tan Torrent on horseback. So, the Tan Torrent is located here.”

Guo Jing said, “The horse that Liu Bei rode that year was called De Lu; the horse handler said that it would harm its rider. But in the end De Lu actually leaped over the Tan Torrent and escaped from the pursuing army, saving Emperor Liu of Shu’s life in the process.” When he talked about this, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Yang Guo’s father Yang Kang. He gave a heavy sigh and said, “The people of the world are just the same as the horse Du Lu; to the good it does good, to the evil it does evil. Is there such a thing as a definite good or evil person? The only difference between the two is that there is a contrast in thought.”

Yang Guo’s heart trembled and he took a look over at Guo Jing. There was an extremely hurt expression on his face; it appeared that these words weren’t meant as an attack on him. Yang Guo thought, “Your words might be right but what is good? What is evil? You and your wife killed my father, could that be the actions of someone who’s good? Your words really are brash; you don’t know how shameful you are.” He had always had great respect for Guo Jing; but from now, whenever he remembers how his father died at their hands, evil thoughts filled his mind.

The two rode on for a little while and arrived at the top of a hill. From above one could see the flow of Han going southwards; refugees from all over were descending on Xiangyang. Guo Jing stretched out his horsewhip and pointed at the refugees. He said, “The Mongolians must have intensified their slaughter of our people in Sixiang, destroying the homes of our citizens. They’re abominable.”

Looking down from the hill, one could see, by the side of the road, a stone slab with some words written on it. It said: Minister of Works for the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu’s hometown lies there.

Yang Guo said, “Xiangyang is no ordinary city. So the hometown of this great poet is here.”

Guo Jing swept his whip and recited, “The great city unlike metal, the small cities of over ten thousand zhangs… the joined clouds of lined up battles, the flying birds unable to rise beyond. Self-guarding with ruin, how can Xi Dou be recovered? … Struggling with long halberds, history needs one man.”

Yang Guo heard him recite this with great passion and he recited it himself; “Self-guarding with ruin, how can Xi Dou be recovered? Struggling with long halberds, history needs one man. Uncle Guo, this is a really good poem, was it written by Du Fu?” Guo Jing said, “Yes. A few days ago, your Auntie Guo and I were discussing the defense of Xiangyang and this poem by Du Fu came up. She wrote it out for me. I really like this poem but my memory is bad. I went over this poem many times but all I can remember are just a few lines. There have been many educated men in our history who have written poems; but over the years, they have proclaimed Du Fu as the greatest poet of all and it’s all because of his worry for his nation and people.”

Yang Guo said, “You said, ‘a hero’s imperative is to serve your country, serve your people’, literature and martial arts are different but the same can be applied to both.”

When Guo Jing heard him grasp this he was delighted and said, “I do not understand much about literature; but no matter what one becomes in their life, a merchant, a slave, a solider, as long as the thought ‘serve your country, serve your people’ is there, one can be a true man, a true hero.”

Yang Guo asked, “Uncle Guo, do you think you will be able to defend Xiangyang?”

Guo Jing thought for a while and then pointed to the hills and trees to the west before saying, “In Xiangyang’s history, the most famous person is Zhuge Liang. Twenty ‘li’ (10km) west of here is a thriving place. It was the place where he lived in seclusion. Coarse people like me can’t fathom the deeds that he did saving our nation and bringing peace to our people. He once said that all he knew was that one must follow the phrase ‘bending your body to the task until your dying day’. Whether it would lead to success or failure, he didn’t know. When your Auntie Guo and I talked about whether Xiangyang can be defended or not; we ended up with these same words.”

Just as they were talking, they saw that the refugees who were at the doors of Xiangyang had suddenly turned around while the refugees behind kept on flowing forward towards Xiangyang. It was chaos.

Guo Jing was shocked and said, “Why aren’t the guards letting them into the city?” He galloped towards the city and saw a line of archers with their bows armed pointing at the refugees. Guo Jing called out, “What are you doing? Quickly open the gates.” When the guards saw that it was Guo Jing, they quickly opened the gates and let him and Yang Guo in.

Guo Jing said, “These people are being persecuted by the Mongolians, why aren’t you letting them in?”

The general guarding the gates said, “General Lu said that spies have hidden themselves amongst the refugees; we cannot let them in for that reason.”

Guo Jing shouted, “Even if there are one or two spies, how can we show no regard for these hundreds of lives? Quickly open the gates.”

Guo Jing has been guarding the city for a long time now and had many great achievements; though he did not have an official post, the general guarding the city did not dare to disobey his orders and opened the city gates. At the same time, he ordered a messenger to report this to Lu Wende.

Old and young all converged on the city. Suddenly, a dust cloud appeared far away; the Mongolian army was moving in from the north. The Song soldiers scattered and went back inside the walls of the city. A large group of people stood out in front of the oncoming enemy; they were all clothed in rags and all had a stick in their hands, none had a real weapon and they were scattered. They called out, “Don’t shoot arrows here; we’re Song citizens as well!”

The Mongolian army however sheltered themselves behind the refugees.

Ever since the times of Ji Si Khan, whenever the Mongolian army attacked a city, they would first send the citizens of the surrounding country towards the city they were attacking. If the soldiers who were guarding the city weakened their resolve at this sight, the Mongols would immediately come forward and attack. By using this method, the Mongolian army was able to slaughter the citizens of the nation they were attacking and defeat their opposition in the city, killing two birds with one stone. It was extremely brutal and cruel but effective. Guo Jing had been with Mongolian army a long time and knew about this tactic, but there was nothing he could do to counter it. The Mongolian soldiers held the spears and long sabers to the front as they forced the citizens of the Song forward. The people were forced closer and closer and the people closest the city began to climb up the ladders.

Lu Wende rode his horse and took a look around at what was happening. When he saw the urgent situation they were in he immediately ordered, “Defending the city is the main priority, fire the arrows!”

Arrows rained down and many people were struck. Those who weren’t fell back. The Mongolian army chopped heads with their sabers and pierced bodies with the spears and the refugees were forced back towards the city. Yang Guo stood next to Guo Jing and watched this tragic scene in anger.

Lu Wende called out, “Fire the arrows!” Arrows rained down once more. Guo Jing shouted, “Stop, you can’t kill good people!”

Lu Wende said, “In such an urgent situation, even if it is a good person, we have to kill them.” Guo Jing shouted, “No, how can you kill good people wrongly?”

Yang Guo’s heart trembled, “You can’t kill good people wrongly! How can you kill good people wrongly?”

Guo Jing called out, “My Beggar Clan brothers and my Wulin friends follow me!” He then rushed down towards the city gates. Yang Guo followed him.

Guo Jing said, “You suffered an injury when practicing chi last night; you cannot exert any kind of strength today. Go back to the city wall and watch what’s happening.”

Yang Guo saw his fellow Han being treated worse than animals by the Mongolian army and wanted to go down with Guo Jing and do some killing. He was startled when he heard this but he couldn’t tell Guo Jing that last night was just an act; so he returned back up the city wall. Guo Jing led a group of people and opened the western gate. They rushed out and attacked the Mongolian flank. The Mongolian troops who were forcing the refugees forward turned towards Guo Jing.

The people Guo Jing was leading were good fighters of the Beggar Clan and patriots that had been gathered from all over China. They shouted and attacked; over a hundred Mongolian soldiers were immediately forced off their horses. The Mongolian army saw that their thousand soldiers were not able to fend them off and so another thousand came forward from the side. The Mongolian soldiers were all experienced, brave and vicious; though the group Guo Jing was leading knew martial arts, they were not able to subdue the Mongolians for the time being. When the refugees saw that the Mongolian soldiers were not pushing them forward any longer, they scattered.

A horn blew from the east and two Minghan regiments (division of 1000 men) surged forward. Another two Minghan regiments from the west dashed forward and surrounded Guo Jing and his group. Lu Wende was scared witless when he saw the might of the Mongolian army; how would he dare to send men out for a rescue?

Yang Guo stood at the top of the city walls and kept on going over what Guo Jing had said, “You can’t kill good people wrongly! How can you kill good people wrongly?” When he saw Guo Jing surrounded he thought, “All the guards had to do was to let some arrows fly and kill a few people and they would have been able to stop this Mongolian attack. The reason Uncle Guo is in all this danger is because he didn’t want to kill good people wrongly. He doesn’t know these people yet he risks his life to save them; why did he want to kill my father?”

He saw the tragic killing below but all he could think about was this riddle; “He and my father were sworn brothers; this isn’t any ordinary kind of relationship, but in the end he still wanted to harm him. Could it be that my father was an evil person?” Ever since he was little he had always thought of his father as someone who was chivalrous, brave and heroic; one of the greatest men on earth. To acknowledge that his father was an evil person was something that he could not do. But in his heart, he had the feeling that his father could not compare to his Uncle Guo; but whenever he had this feeling, he forced it back down. Right now however, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about this point.

The cries below the city walls were ear shattering. Guo Jing and his group dashed left and surged right but they still were unable to break out. Zhu Ziliu led a group of men and the Wu brothers and Guo Fu led another to save them; but the Mongolian horn was blown once again and another four Minghan units surged forward to the city gates. Khubilai was indeed skilled in warfare. If the city gates opened to save Guo Jing and the others, the four divisions would break into the city.

Lu Wende was shocked senseless now and ordered, “Do not open the city gates!” Two hundred men who were ordered to guard the gates were told to kill anyone daring to try to open the gates. General Wang led a group of archers at the top of the city walls and they fired their arrows incessantly.

Chaos ruled both outside and inside the city while Yang Guo’s mind was in the same state; sometimes he wished that Guo Jing would perish in this battle, while at others, he wished that Guo Jing would be able to drive the enemy back.

Suddenly, the formation of the Mongolian soldiers was broken up; thousands of mounted soldiers collapsed back to the sides as though the tides swept them. Guo Jing galloped ahead with a long spear in his hands. The Han behind him formed a tight formation and they surged forward. They managed to get to the city gates. Guo Jing turned his steed around and went to defend the back of the group. His long spear knocked seven or eight Mongolian Generals off their steeds. The Mongolian soldiers stopped pressing for the time being.

Lu Wende relied on Guo Jing heavily and when he saw him escape danger he was ecstatic; he quickly called out, “Open the gates! But only a little, don’t open the gates too wide!”

The city gates opened three or four feet and just allowed one rider in at a time. All the men returned to the city. The yellow flag of the Mongolian army was waved and two divisions of soldiers on horseback charged forward from both sides. Lu Wende called out, “Brother Guo Jing, quickly get back into the city! We can’t wait for the others.”

How could Guo Jing enter the city while he still had men outside? He turned his horse back and killed two Mongolian soldiers that had ridden up to him.

But once the army was in motion, they moved like the waves of the sea. Guo Jing was skilled in martial arts, but how could one person defend against the attack of a large army?

Zhu Ziliu saw the situation was urgent and quickly lowered down a rope. He called out, “Brother Guo, grab it.”

End of Chapter 20.