by Jin Yong
Ouyang Ke was anxious. “His stances are limited, and given enough time, I am sure I can gain the upper hand. Where did the three additional stances come from?” he thought. He did not know that Guo Jing’s three additional moves were actually useless; but he was a little bit wary since he was hit before. He slowed his pace and concentrating his strength on defense, carefully studied Guo Jing’s new moves. After a while he could see the flaw. “Right! He has not mastered these moves yet, that was the reason he did not use them at the beginning,” he thought. While still moving his body around he thrust his left hand to divert Guo Jing’s attention and at the same time swung his right leg straight toward Guo Jing’s left hip.
Guo Jing was not able to use his three self-developed stances to their full extent yet. Suddenly seeing his opponent attack his weak point, he was nervous. As he was launching a palm, he suddenly retracted it halfway and diverted his palm to parry his opponent’s kick.
Huang Rong was secretly disappointed. “To hesitate in a match like this is truly martial arts biggest taboo. In this one single move Jing ge ge has wasted seven or eight opportunities. Not only that, even if he won’t be able to injure the enemy, he should be able to defend himself. By turning his palm around like that, he actually made the flaw bigger,” she reasoned. She knew for sure that Ouyang Ke had put all his strength into that kick and Guo Jing might not be able to parry it. Immediately seven or eight steel needles flew swiftly from her hand.
Ouyang Ke quickly drew the folding fan from his waist and in one fluid motion opened it and waved it gently to block the needles. He was sure all needles were knocked down so he did not slow down his kick toward Guo Jing. He was confident Guo Jing would get hit hard and fall to the floor; but then he felt a slight numbness as though the acupoint above his ankle was sealed. His kick did not stop, but it had lost all its strength. Ouyang Ke leaped back in great surprise. “Which meddler was brave enough to backstab your Young Master?” he fumed, “Come out if you have guts ...”
But before he finished he heard a noise from above and something flew his way. He lifted his hand to block that thing, but it came too fast. Before he knew it something had entered his mouth. It was a little bit salty and hard. He was startled and frightened. Quickly he spat that thing out. As it turned out it was a chicken bone.
Nervously he looked above him, but at that precise moment more debris came down on him. He quickly leaped sideways while spitting the dust from his mouth. Just as he opened his mouth several chicken bones came hitting his teeth. They were not knocked out but it was painful! Ouyang Ke was wild with rage. Suddenly he saw something fly down from a shadow on the roof beam above; he immediately launched a palm to strike that something. He managed to knock it down to the floor only to see that something was a half-eaten chicken foot. Then he heard the shadow on the beam explode in laughter. “How is the beggar’s stealing chickens skill?”
Huang Rong and Guo Jing leapt with joy as soon as they heard his voice. “Qigong!” they shouted together.
Everybody looked up and saw Hong Qigong sitting on the roof beam, his legs spread and with half of a chicken in his hand, which he ate enthusiastically. The Beggar Clan people bowed and open their mouths together, “Clan Leader! We wish you well Senior.”
Ouyang Ke saw it was indeed Hong Qigong and his heart sank. “If what he threw at me was not chicken bones but projectiles, I would be dead by now. Real men are not afraid of defeat; the most important thing now is escaping.” He bowed and said, “Uncle Hong, your nephew kowtows to you.” His mouth said ‘kowtow’ but he did not kneel.
Hong Qigong was still chewing the chicken. “Are you not returning to the west? You have committed evil acts here, do you want to end your little life in the ‘Central Plain’ [zhong yuan]?” he asked indistinctly.
“In the Central Plain Uncle Hero is invincible,” Ouyang Ke replied. “As long as Uncle Hero shows mercy and did not come here to bully the young and the weak, your young nephew has nothing to fear. My uncle has instructed me that if I ever see Uncle Hong I should be respectful to you. He warned me about the difference between our skill levels and that Junior simply could not even touch you. Should I insist on trying I would be the laughingstock of all the heroes of the world.”
Hong Qigong laughed heartily and said, “You flatter me and try to prevent me from fighting you. But there are actually a lot of people on the Central Plain who want to kill you. I don’t have to move my finger if I really want you dead. Earlier you said that you have seen my skills of stealing chickens, stroking dogs, begging for food and catching snakes and you belittled those skills, did you not?”
Ouyang Ke hastily answered, “Your young nephew was not aware this old hero is Uncle Hong’s disciple. It was very disrespectful of me. I beg Uncle and this old hero’s forgiveness.”
Hong Qigong leaped down from the beam. “You called him ‘the old hero’ but he was defeated by you. Aren’t you the hero then? Ha ... ha ... aren’t you ashamed?”
Ouyang Ke was angry, but knew his martial arts were too far below Hong Qigong’s so he did not dare to say anything wrong. He suppressed his anger and did not make a sound.
“Your skills were imparted by that old Western Poison and you are thinking of running amuck in the Central Plain. Humph ... did you really think I am already dead?” Hong Qigong said.
“Uncle holds the same rank of honor as my uncle; Junior will have to listen to Uncle’s instructions,” Ouyang Ke said.
“Is that so?” Hong Qigong said. “You are saying that I’ve put you on the spot; that the older bully the younger?” Ouyang Ke did not say anything, which was the same as agreeing to what Hong Qigong was saying.
“Even though the Old Beggar is the leader of all beggars, old and young alike, not all beggars are my disciples,” Hong Qigong continued. “This man surnamed Li has learned a superficial amount of my martial arts; how could he be regarded as my successor? His ‘Wandering Strides’ fist technique has not yet reached perfection. You belittled my stealing chickens and stroking dogs skill, humph ... if the old beggar really takes a disciple, he wouldn’t be inferior to you.” “Naturally,” Ouyang Ke agreed. “Uncle Hong’s disciple would be much stronger than your nephew. But your martial arts skill is too high; it wouldn’t be easy for anybody to learn.”
“Your mouth is sweet,” Hong Qigong said, “But I am sure you are scolding me in your heart.”
“Your nephew does not dare,” Ouyang Ke answered.
“Qigong, don’t believe his lies,” Huang Rong quipped. “He scolds you in his heart all right and he scolds you really bad. He said that although your martial arts are not bad, it only benefits you; you don’t have the ability to teach. Even if you teach your stealing chickens and stroking dogs’ skills to the end of your life, nobody would be able to learn it to perfection.”
Hong Qigong just stared at her. He snorted and mumbled, “This little girl knows how to provoke me.” He turned his head and said, “So? This kid dares to scold me?” Suddenly he stretched out one hand and, quick as lighting, he snatched the folding fan from Ouyang Ke’s hand. He unfolded the fan and saw some painted peonies and two characters ‘Xu Xi’. He did not know that Xu Xi was a poet from the Northern Song Dynasty. Although the peonies were beautifully painted, he still said, “Not good!” There were several lines of characters written on the fan and at the end was a signature, ‘Young Master of the White Camel Mountain’ [bai tuo shan shao zhu]. It was Ouyang Ke’s handwriting.
“What do you think of these characters?” Hong Qigong asked Huang Rong.
Huang Rong raised her eyebrows and said, “Very crude. But what do you expect? A spoiled rich kid like him wouldn’t know how to write. I bet he hired a pawnshop clerk to write those characters.”
Ouyang Ke prided himself on being both a martial arts and literature expert, which was actually not too far from the truth. Upon hearing Huang Rong’s words he was really angry. He shot a glare towards her, only to see in the candlelight the corners of her eyes showed a v
ery faint smile. She looked so sweet and innocent that his anger vanished into thin air.
Hong Qigong spread the fan in his hand, raised it, and wiped his mouth with it. He had just eaten a chicken, so his mouth was greasy. As soon as he did that, the painting and calligraphy were completely destroyed. Then he casually crumpled the fan, made a paper ball and tossed it to the floor.
Other people would think nothing of it, but not Ouyang Ke; his fan’s spines were made of steel. The fan was his weapon. It was a demonstration of profound internal energy. He was terrified.
“If I personally fight you, you will die unsatisfied. So I am going to take a disciple and let him fight with you,” Hong Qigong said.
Ouyang Ke pointed to Guo Jing. “This fellow has fought with me for dozens of stances. If Uncle Hong had not appeared, I would have gained the upper hand. Brother Guo, don’t you agree?” he said.
Guo Jing nodded his head, “I might lose.” Ouyang Ke smiled with satisfaction.
Hong Qigong looked up and laughed. “Jing’er, are you my disciple?” he asked.
Guo Jing recalled he kowtowed to Hong Qigong, but Hong Qigong returned those kowtows. “Junior is not fortunate enough to be your disciple,” he quickly replied.
“Did you hear?” Hong Qigong asked Ouyang Ke.
Ouyang Ke was dissatisfied. “You can’t fool me; where did this kid’s exquisite palms come from?” he asked.
Hong Qigong turned toward Guo Jing. “If I don’t make you my disciple, that little girl brat will not let me die peacefully. She will pester me with hundreds of evil schemes forever. I guess the old beggar has to admit defeat. All right, bow to me; I’ll take you as my disciple,” he said.
Guo Jing was ecstatic. Quickly he dropped to his knees and quickly kowtowed several times while calling out, “Master!” That day at ‘Returning Cloud Manor’ he had recounted to his six masters how Hong Qigong had taught him most of the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’. The Six Freaks of Jiangnan were very happy and all said it was a pity this highly skilled extraordinary character of the Wulin world was not willing to take Guo Jing as his disciple. They told him that if Hong Qigong happened to reveal his willingness to take him, Guo Jing should accept without reservation.
Huang Rong was even happier. She smiled broadly and said, “Qigong, I have helped you find a very fine disciple. My contribution is not small. Starting today you will have somebody you can call your successor. How will you thank me?”
Hong Qigong made a face at her, “Kiss my ass!” Then he turned to Guo Jing and said, “Stupid kid [sha xiao zi - it’s a vulgar term, lit. foolish/dumb etc.], let me first teach you three stances.” He immediately taught Guo Jing the last three stances of the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ right in front of everyone. Of course, compared to Guo Jing’s own three desperately-brewed stances, these moves were a world apart.
Ouyang Ke said to himself, “This old beggar’s martial arts are outstanding, but he is not too smart. He is concentrating on teaching his disciple, totally forgetting that I am standing here, watching.” With rapt attention he watched Guo Jing’s every move. But he did not see anything extraordinary. Sometimes Hong Qigong whispered something into Guo Jing’s ear. He guessed it must be the theory behind these three moves. Sometimes Guo Jing would nod his head, but most other times he just stood there, staring blankly or shook his head. Hong Qigong would repeat what he just said until Guo Jing reluctantly nodded his head; obviously he did not fully comprehend the theory. “This guy is really stupid,” he thought, “This short period of time is not enough for him to learn the three stances. I might as well take the opportunity to study them.”
In the meantime Hong Qigong had Guo Jing practice them six or seven times. “Good, smart disciple,” he said. “You have mastered about fifty percent of these three stances. Now go and beat this lecherous thief for me.”
“Yes,” Guo Jing answered and moved forward two steps and launched a palm toward Ouyang Ke. Ouyang Ke slanted his body and counterattacked with a fist. Thus the two engaged in a fight again.
The secret of the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ lies in the exact timing of energy exertion. The moves themselves were quite simple. That was the reason that although Liang Ziweng, Mei Chaofeng and Ouyang Ke’s martial arts were higher than Guo Jing’s, he was able to fight them without losing ground. Just a moment ago Ouyang Ke was watching Hong Qigong pass on the three stances to Guo Jing and he knew Guo Jing had not fully comprehended the moves while he himself had memorized the stances. Yet, now that he was fighting Guo Jing, he found it difficult to overcome those three stances.
Guo Jing, on the other hand, had now mastered the complete set of the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’. He was able to use it from head to tail and back to head again. The fierceness of the original fifteen moves he had already mastered was greatly increased.
Ouyang Ke had used four different kinds of martial arts, yet he could only match Guo Jing without being able to gain the upper hand. Dozens of moves later he started to get anxious. “If I don’t use my family’s unique skills I may lose,” he thought. “I was trained by my uncle since childhood. How come I cannot defeat the old beggar’s disciple who received instructions just a moment ago? I am afraid the old beggar will look down on my uncle.”
A dozen or so moves later Guo Jing raised his hand to parry Ouyang Ke’s fist which suddenly turned around and hit Guo Jing’s skull from behind. Guo Jing was stunned. He ducked to avoid a blow while simultaneously throwing a fist slanting upward. Ouyang Ke stepped sideways and sent another fist. Guo Jing did not dare to parry that fist; he dodged to the right. Who would have thought that Ouyang Ke’s arm would suddenly move like a whip! Guo Jing clearly saw it was aiming at his left side but suddenly twisted to the right and struck Guo Jing’s shoulder.
Guo Jing was hit three times in a short period of time. These three hits were heavy; he was anxious for he had no idea how to deal with them. “Jing’er, stop!” Hong Qigong called out, “Let’s just admit defeat this time.”
Guo Jing leaped back about ten feet; he felt pain in the parts hit. To Ouyang Ke he said, “Your martial arts are really brilliant; turning your arm around like that was really odd.” Ouyang Ke was proud of himself; he cast a boastful look toward Huang Rong.
Hong Qigong said, “The Old Poison raises snakes for a living; this set of the ‘Snake’s Flexible Skin’ [ruan pi she] fists technique must be developed from the movements of venomous snakes’. It was brilliant. The old beggar has not been able to devise a method to overcome it. Just consider yourself lucky. Now, get out of my way!”
Ouyang Ke’s heart turned cold. “Uncle warned me a thousand times not to use this ‘Spirit Snake Fist’ [ling she quan] unless in an extremely dangerous situation. Today I have let the old beggar see it. If my uncle finds out, I will be in big trouble.” His self-satisfaction disappeared almost immediately. He bowed toward Hong Qigong and walked out the temple.
“Hold on a second! I have something to say,” Huang Rong called out. Ouyang Ke halted his steps; his heart beat faster. But Huang Rong did not pay any attention to him. She turned toward Hong Qigong and bowed respectfully. “Qigong,” she said. “You have to accept two disciples today. Good things come in pairs; you have accepted a male disciple, now you must accept a female one. Otherwise I won’t let you off easily.”
Hong Qigong shook his head. “I have already made an exception by accepting one disciple,” he smiled. “The old beggar doesn’t want to talk about it. Moreover, your father is also highly skilled in martial arts, how could he let you take the old beggar as your master?”
Huang Rong pretended to be suddenly enlightened. “So, you are afraid of my father!” she exclaimed. Hong Qigong was provoked, but he was actually very fond of her. “Me? Afraid of your father?” he said with a straight face. “All right, I’ll take you as my disciple. I want to see if Old Heretic Huang will eat me alive.”
Huang Rong smiled. “You’ve said it, you can’t take it back,” she said. “Y
ou know, my father oftentimes remarked that after Wang Chongyang died, amongst the martial experts in this world, only you and he were the two people that counted. The Southern Emperor and the rest of them are not even in his books. I am sure father will love that I take you as my master. Master, how does a beggar catch a snake? Please teach me this skill first.”
Hong Qigong was not sure he knew her intentions, but he did know the young girl was smart. She must have had some clever trick up her sleeve. So he explained simply, “Grab the snake seven inches from its head. Use your two fingers like a pair of tongs. As long as you pinch the snake at seven inches, no matter how venomous the snake is, it won’t be able to move.”
“What if the snake is very big?” Huang Rong asked.
“Lure it to bite your left hand, then, use your right hand to hit it at seven inches,” Hong Qigong answered.
“Do you have to be extremely quick?” Huang Rong asked again.
“Of course,” Hong Qigong replied. “You have to put some ointment on your left hand, so even if it gets bitten by the snake you won’t get hurt.”
Huang Rong nodded. She winked at Hong Qigong and asked, “Master, please apply the ointment to my hand.”
Catching snakes was the Beggar Clan’s specialty. Hong Qigong had never used any ointment or antidote; he would simply beat the snake with his stick. But, seeing Huang Rong’s meaningful glance, he took the scarlet gourd from his back, which actually contained some wine, and applied the wine to both of Huang Rong’s palms.
Huang Rong sniffed her palms, made a face, and said to Ouyang Ke, “Hey, I am now a world famous beggar, the Old Hero Hong’s disciple. I am asking for a lesson on the ‘Snake’s Flexible Skin’ from you. But I must warn you that my hands are full of the antidote to your poison, so you must be careful.”