by Jin Yong
With a roar, Peng Lianhu leapt towards Quan Jinfa and attempted to grab his weapon. Sensing Peng Lianhu’s intentions, Quan Jinfa quickly drew back his weapon and sent both ends of it - a scale mace and scale hook, flying towards Peng. For all of Peng Lianhu’s experience in the martial world, he had never seen anything like Quan Jinfa’s weapon before. With a ‘Weird Python Flip’, he dodged Quan’s attack and exclaimed: “What is this? You’re using a scale from the market as a weapon!”
Quan Jinfa retorted, “This hand scale of mine is for weighing you bunch of skinny pigs!”
In a fit of anger, Peng Lianhu rushed forward striking with both palms furiously. Quan Jinfa was, of course, unable to defeat his attack. Seeing his Sixth brother in danger, Han Baoju quickly went to his aid. Even though he no longer had his whip, his basic hand-to-hand ability was still quite powerful. However, even at two against one, Peng Lianhu still seemed almost impossible to handle. Ke Zhen’E maneuvered his staff, Zhu Cong brandished his fan, and both joined in the battle. Ke Zhen’E and Zhu Cong were much more powerful than the rest of their group, so naturally with their 298 Eagle Shooting Hero
addition, the battle tipped in the Freaks’ favor. Over on the other side, the battle between Hou Tonghai and Huang Rong had grown extremely intense. Hou Tonghai’s kung fu was by rights better than hers, but when he thought of this rascal’s Soft Hedgehog Armor and the thorns that resided in her hair, his fist and palm strikes did not dare come into contact with her body, much less grab her by her hair. Sensing his fear and hesitation, Huang Rong took full advantage and charged about brashly, forcing him to back away repeatedly.
Hou Tonghai shouted: “This is unfair. Take off your Soft Hedgehog Armor before we continue fighting.”
Huang Rong replied: “Sure, but you must first slice off those three lumps on your forehead, if not then it’s still unfair.”
Hou Tonghai retorted: “My three lumps do not hurt anyone!”
Huang Rong replied, “I feel disgusted when I see them, isn’t that giving you have a huge advantage? On the count of three, you slice off your lumps and I’ll take off my armor.”
Hou Tonghai replied angrily: “I will not!”
Huang Rong said, “It’s a very good trade-off, I think you should.”
Hou Tonghai exclaimed, “I will not fall for your tricks. I won’t slice them off no matter what you say!”
Ouyang Ke saw that the battle was not going well and thought, “I’ll kill these six scoundrels first. That wretch is unable to escape so we can finish her off later.” Wanting to show off his skills, he pointed both feet and displayed his family’s ‘Thousand Miles in a Flash’, a superior qing gong technique, and promptly appeared beside Ke Zhen’E.
He shouted, “Blind scoundrel, I’ll let you have a taste of your master’s prowess for being such a busybody.”
Moving forward, Ouyang Ke struck out with his right palm. Ke Zhen’E raised the end of his staff to meet the strike but caught nothing, only the sound of wind brushing past his right ear. Instead, the real attack came from the left with Ouyang Ke’s reverse left palm flying towards him. Ke Zhen’E dipped his head to avoid being struck and then used the ‘Diamond Guard’ staff technique to fiercely attack, but by this time, Ouyang Ke was embroiled with Nan Xiren. Skillfully weaving his way through them, Ouyang Ke had attempted fatal blows on all six Freaks within a short period of time.
From the beginning, Liang Ziwong’s eyes never shifted from Guo Jing. Seeing that the ‘Six Freaks’’ defeat was imminent, he immediately tried to grab Guo Jing with both arms. Guo Jing quickly resisted, but of course he was not Liang Ziwong’s match. After exchanging a few moves, Liang Ziwong had successfully grabbed him by the chest and his right hand gripped Guo Jing’s stomach. Guo Jing shrunk his stomach in anxiety and his clothes tore with a ripping sound and the bags of medicine had been snatched away. Liang Ziwong knew the bags contained medicine, he’d sniffed it out long ago and conveniently pocketed them. He followed with a second strike on Guo Jing. Guo Jing successfully struggled out of the grip on his chest and sprinted towards Mei Chaofeng, yelling, “Hey! Save me, quickly!”
Mei Chaofeng thought to herself, “There are still many things I don’t understand about that mysterious school of nei gong.” Still breathing hard, she said aloud: “Come, take hold my legs; don’t be afraid of that old bat.”
Guo Jing knew that holding her legs was easy, but to escape afterwards would be hard. So he did not dare to go close to her and instead sprinted wildly around her in circles. Although Guo Jing had already entered the perimeter of her ‘Poison Silver Dragon Whip’, Liang Ziwong still followed him relentlessly, nevertheless wary of a sneak attack. Mei Chaofeng pinpointed Guo Jing’s position with her hearing and unleashed her silver whip across the ground towards his legs.
Although Huang Rong was engaged in a duel with Hou Tonghai, she held the upper hand with her Soft Hedgehog Armor and had always been looking out for Guo Jing. First he was captured by Liang Ziwong but she was too far away to help and was anxious to the extreme. Then Guo Jing sprinted into Mei Chaofeng’s perimeter. Her whip flew towards him and he was unable to dodge. Out of anxiety, Huang Rong flew in their direction and threw herself in front of the whip. Mei Chaofeng’s silver whip withdrew after hitting a target and circled back, wrapping itself around Huang Rong’s waist. Huang Rong was thrown up into the air and shouted: “You dare hurt me, Mei Ruohua?”
Hearing Huang Rong’s voice gave her a huge shock. She thought, “My whip is tipped with reversed hooks. Now that I’ve injured her, Shifu has even more reason not to spare me. But I have already come this far, and either way I have betrayed my school. I’ll kill her first.” Raising her silver whip, she pulled Huang Rong closer to her and laid her on the ground, thinking that all the hooks must have torn deep into her flesh by now. She never expected the hooks to only tear Huang Rong’s clothing, leaving her body completely unharmed. Huang Rong said laughingly, “You tore my clothes, I want compensation!”
Mei Chaofeng was surprised to hear no hint of pain in her voice then thought, “Ah, Shifu has given his Soft Hedgehog Armor to her.” Feeling lenient, she said aloud, “That was my fault. I will replace them with a nice new set of clothing.”
Huang Rong signaled Guo Jing to come over and he did so. The two of them now stood ten feet or so from Mei Chaofeng, where Liang Ziwong did not dare to venture.
Over at the other battle, the ‘‘Six Freaks’ of Jiangnan’ had formed a tight circle with their backs towards each other and were trying their best to resist Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Ouyang Ke and Hou Tonghai. This was a formation they had mastered on the steppes of Mongolia. When faced with tough opponents, this formation made it unnecessary for them to defend their backs and instantly increased their power by half. But Sha, Peng and Ouyang were simply too strong and danger came from all directions; the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ were far from being their match. Not long after, Han Baoju’s arm was injured. Han Baoju knew that if he left the formation there would be an opening for their opponents to exploit and their lives and Guo Jing’s would be in grave danger. He could only grit his teeth and hold on with great effort.
Of their opponents, Peng Lianhu was the most vicious in his attacks and repeatedly targeted Han Baoju. Guo Jing saw that the situation was urgent and rushed towards them with flying feet. With the double palm technique ‘Separating Cloud and Moon’, he aimed for Peng Lianhu’s back. Peng Lianhu let out a chilling laugh and with a wave of his hand deflected Guo Jing’s attack. In just three moves, Guo Jing found himself in a dangerous position.
Huang Rong saw that he was unable to escape and in her anxiety suddenly remembered the saying: ‘A simple man is sinless, but a man wearing a piece of jade will be sinned against.’ So, she yelled: “Mei Chaofeng, you stole my father’s ‘Nine Yin Manual’, hand it to me now so I can return it to him!”
Mei Chaofeng went cold and did not respond. Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Ouyang Ke and Liang Ziwong immediately shifted their attention to Mei Chaofe
ng and attacked her. All four harbored the same thought, “The ‘Nine Yin Manual’ is the world’s top martial arts manual and it’s been with the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ all along...” Now the four couldn’t care less about anything else and their focus was to kill Mei Chaofeng and obtain the manual.
Mei Chaofeng began brandishing her silver whip and for the moment, none of them dared to venture within its perimeter. Seeing them lured away by the ‘Nine Yin Manual’, Huang Rong whispered to Guo Jing urgently, “Let’s go!”
At this moment, a figure emerged from a thicket and hurried towards them. It shouted, “Gentlemen! Father requires your help with something urgent.” The person wore a gold cap crookedly on his head and his voice was filled with worry. It was none other than the young prince, Wanyan Kang. Peng Lianhu and the others thought, “Prince Zhao has been generous in exchange for our services. Now that there is something urgent, how can we not go to his aid?” With this thought they backed off reluctantly, not wanting to give up the ‘Nine Yin Manual’. Their gaze still lingered on Mei Chaofeng.
Wanyan Kang said softly: “My mother... my mother has been abducted by villains. Father has requested that you help to rescue her, please start at once.”
Originally, Wanyan Honglie had led his troops out of the Palace to chase Bao Xiruo, but they lost sight of her. Remembering the resourceful martial artists in his residence, he hurriedly sent his son to summon them. Wanyan Kang was caught up in anxiety and the night was dark, so he did not notice Mei Chaofeng seated on the ground.
Peng Lianhu and the others thought, “Oh my, the Consort has been abducted? If we don’t go to her rescue, what are we here for?” They further thought, “It must have been the ‘Seven Freaks’. Six of them kept us here to distract us, allowing the other to abduct the Consort. The manual will have to wait. Anyway, with so many accomplished fighters around, I can’t hope to claim it for myself. I’ll need to come up with a plan some other time.” With that, they hurriedly followed Wanyan Kang. Liang Ziwong trailed behind, still longing for the blood in Guo Jing’s body. He actually didn’t care about rescuing the Consort but was alone in wanting to stay behind and had no choice but to follow miserably.
Guo Jing called, “Hey, return my medicine!” Fuming, Liang Ziwong turned and shot a bone-penetrating projectile straight at his head. The projectile cut through the night air with incredible strength.
Zhu Cong dashed forward and deflected the projectile with the handle of his fan. As the projectile fell, he caught it with his left hand and held it to his nose to have a sniff. “Ah,” he said, “seals throats when it touches blood; this is a ‘Bone-Penetrating Meridian Nail’.
Hearing the name of his secret weapon startled Liang Ziwong; he spun around and yelled, “What?”
Zhu Cong went up to him and held out his palm; the Meridian Nail was resting on it. He said lightly: “I’ll give it back to you, old master!”
Liang Ziwong retrieved it calmly. He knew that with Zhu Cong’s level of kung fu, he could not harm him. Zhu Cong saw that Liang Ziwong’s left sleeve was covered with mud and grass and used his own sleeve to swipe the dirt away. Liang Ziwong said angrily, “I don’t need your bootlicking!” With that, he turned around and left.
Guo Jing was in a miserable position. If he went back without the medicine, all the night’s misadventures would have been for naught; but if he tried to regain it forcefully, he would undoubtedly be defeated by Liang Ziwong. He was still hesitating when Ke Zhen’E said, “Let’s go.” Ke Zhen’E leapt to the top of the Palace wall and the other five ‘Freaks’ followed suit.
Pointing at Mei Chaofeng, Han Xiaoying said: “Elder brother, what about her?”
Ke Zhen’E replied: “We promised Priest Ma to spare her life.”
Huang Rong did not acknowledge the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ and leapt on to the other end of the wall, grinning.
Mei Chaofeng hollered: “Little martial sister, where is Shifu?”
Huang Rong giggled and said, “My father is, of course, on Peach Blossom Island, why do you ask? Are you going to pay him a visit?”
Mei Chaofeng seethed, her breath growing heavier and quicker. After a moment she said, “Didn’t you just say that Shifu was on his way here?”
Still laughing, Huang Rong replied, “He doesn’t know you’re here, but rest assured I’ll tell him for you. I’m sure he’ll come straight away. Don’t worry, I’m not bluffing.” Enraged, Mei Chaofeng braced herself with both hands and sprung up suddenly. With staggering steps, she charged towards Huang Rong.
Mei Chaofeng had lost the use of her legs as a result of intensely practicing a nei gong she didn’t understand. A stream of Qi had flowed down to her ‘dan tian’ (energy field) and was unable to work its way back up, paralyzing her lower body. She had stubbornly attempted to work the Qi back upwards but the harder she tried, the stronger the resistance she met.
At this moment, her senses were consumed with fury, so much so that she forgot about her paralysis. She was in a state where she had disengaged from her body and was only aware of a violent surge of anger rushing up to her heart. Suddenly her legs had become part of her body again and she charged towards Huang Rong. Shocked that Mei Chaofeng had regained the use of her legs, Huang Rong leapt down to the other side and fled into the night.
Suddenly regaining the use of her legs, Mei Chaofeng thought, “Eh, how come I can walk now?”
With this thought, a sudden wave of numbness washed over her legs and she fell, losing consciousness.
For the ‘Six Freaks’ to kill her now would be an easy task; but they had promised Ma Yu to spare
her life. So they leapt over the wall and left the palace with Guo Jing.
Han Xiaoying was the most anxious and hurriedly asked, “Jing’er, how did you end up here?”
Guo Jing roughly sketched the events leading up to this point.Wang Chuyi coming to his rescue, getting poisoned at Wanyan Kang’s banquet, stealing the medicine, bumping into Mei Chaofeng in the tunnel, et cetera. For the moment, however, he did not mention the Yang family saga.
Zhu Cong said, “Let’s hurry and see how Priest Wang is coping.”
o0o
Having just been reunited with his wife, Yang Tiexin felt an inexpressible mixture of joy and sadness. Carrying her in his arms, he leapt out of the palace. His foster daughter Mu Nianci was anxiously waiting outside the palace walls when she saw him carrying a woman in his arms. Surprised and curious, she asked, “Father, who is she?”
Yang Tiexin replied, “She’s your mother. Let’s go.”
Mu Nianci said, bewildered, “My mother?”
Yang Tiexin said, “Hush, we’ll talk afterwards,” and sprinted off urgently.
After a time, Bao Xiruo slowly regained consciousness. It was near daybreak and in the dim light, she saw that the person bearing her was the husband she had been thinking of day and night for eighteen years. She didn’t know if it was real or just an illusion. She felt like she was in a dream and reached out to caress his face. Her voice quivered as she spoke, “Tie-ge, am I dead too?”
Crying joyfully, he replied in a gentle voice, “Both of us are alive and well.” His sentence was interrupted by shouts from behind. Light from torches lit the area as soldiers quickly streamed forward. Raising their swords and spears, they yelled, “Don’t let the Consort’s kidnapper escape!”
Yang Tiexin quickly surveyed their surroundings but there was no place they could hide. He thought, “The heavens have pitied us husband and wife and allowed us to reunite against the odds. Even if I were to die now, I would have nothing left to wish for.” He called to Mu Nianci, “Here, hold your mother.”
The scene at Lin’an’s Ox Village eighteen years ago suddenly sprang into Bao Xiruo’s mind: her husband fleeing with her in his arms, the cries of soldiers in the night and the eighteen years of separation and grief that followed. Sensing that the tragedy was to repeat itself, she held on stubbornly to her husband, refusing to let go. The soldiers were getting near and Y
ang Tiexin thought it better to die fighting than be captured and humiliated. With that, he pried his wife’s fingers away and entrusted her to Mu Nianci. Turning around, he charged towards the soldiers and with a fist, knocked out a foot soldier and seized his spear. With a spear in hand, Yang Tiexin was even more lethal. The troops’ commander, Tang Zude, was speared in the leg and promptly fell off his horse. With their leader down, the rest of the soldiers scampered away in all directions. Seeing there were no skilled pugilists amongst them, Yang Tiexin felt slightly relieved even though it was a pity not to have been able to grab a horse. The three of them continued their escape.
By this time it was morning. Bao Xiruo noticed the bloodstains on her husband’s clothes and said, frightened, “Are you hurt?”
Hearing this, Yang Tiexin was suddenly aware of a sharp pain in his arm. Because he had exerted too much strength during the fight, the wound from Wanyan Kang’s claws had re-opened and was now bleeding profusely again. Earlier he had been fixated with escaping and was not aware of the pain; but now both arms felt stiff and weak and he was unable to lift them. Bao Xiruo was about to bandage his wounds when loud calls came from behind and the dust from countless pursuing soldiers appeared. With a bitter smile, Yang Tiexin said, “No need to bandage.” He turned and said to Mu Nianci, “Child, run for your life! Your mother and I will stay here.”
Mu Nianci successfully fought back tears and raised her head proudly, saying, “The three of us will die together.”
Confused, Bao Xiruo asked, “How. how is she our daughter?”