by Jin Yong
Ouyang Feng clapped his hands three times and eight women brought out various musical instruments. They started playing while the other twenty-four women started dancing to the tune. The musical instruments as well as the tune were different from the ones commonly played in the Central Plains and they sounded weird to Huang Rong’s ears. She watched the front row women bend down, turn to the left and then back to the right; their bodies were very supple. The next row did the same as row after row danced in succession, resembling a large snake. After a while each woman spread both hands apart; from the tip of their left hand to the tip of their right hand, their bodies swayed following the tune reminding her of snakes slithering on the ground.
Huang Rong remembered Ouyang Ke’s ‘Spirit Snake Fist’, so she cast a glance towards him only to see that Ouyang Ke was staring intently at her. She hated him deeply and wished that her father had not intercepted her needles. She would find another way of taking his life and even if her father should force her to marry, that person was already dead. It was called the ‘Remove the Firewood from Under the Pot’ tactic. Having had this thought she was happy and a smile broke out on her face. Ouyang Ke saw her sudden smile and thought that she was smiling at him. He was so elated that he momentarily forgot the pain in his chest.
By now the dance movements of the women were getting more intense. Their bodies moved erotically as their hands caressed their own buttocks, then moved upwards to their breasts; then they unfastened their dresses so they showed their upper bodies and posed in various postures.
The men who herded the snakes had closed their eyes tightly; they did not dare to look. Even then their minds were disturbed.
Huang Yaoshi simply smiled, put the flute to his lips, and he started playing a tune. The women’s bodies suddenly shook and their dance movements became chaotic. A few bars later both their music and their dance were following the flute’s sound.
Ouyang Feng knew something was amiss; he clapped his hands and a maiden stepped forward carrying an iron zither [zheng]. Ouyang Ke began to feel his heart beating faster. The eight women playing the musical instruments had lost their self-control and followed the flute’s tune. The men in charge of the snakes jumped up and down like crazy men amongst the snakes.
Ouyang Feng played a few notes on his zither producing metallic sounds like an iron horse charging toward the enemy; the complete opposite to the soft murmuring sound of the flute. Huang Yaoshi smiled and said, “Come, come! Let us play a duet.” As soon as the flute left his lips, everyone was released from their hysterical condition.
“Everybody block your ears! Island Master Huang and I will play some music,” Ouyang Feng shouted. The people who came with him knew the song would not be an ordinary one; they immediately grabbed anything, including pieces of their own clothing that could be used to cover their ears. They put layer after layer of cotton and pieces of clothing over their ears; yet they still feared the sound would penetrate that barrier. Ouyang Ke also took out some cotton balls to plug his ears.
“My father plays his flute for your listening enjoyment; this is a big honor for you, yet all of you cover your ears. That is so rude! You come to Peach Blossom Island as guests, yet you dare to insult the host!” Huang Rong mocked.
“Don’t be rude!” Huang Yaoshi scolded her. “The ones who do not dare to listen to my flute actually have more sense. They have learned their lesson ... ha ... ha ... Your uncle’s iron zither skill is considered the best in the world, yet you dare to listen to him? Do you want to test yourself?” Then he took a silk handkerchief from his pocket, tore it in halves and told Huang Rong to cover up her ears with them.
Guo Jing was curious about the world’s best iron zither; he wanted to hear Ouyang Feng’s fierce method, so he came a few steps closer.
Huang Yaoshi turned to Ouyang Feng, “Your snakes cannot cover their ears.” Then he turned his head towards his deaf and mute servant. He made some gestures and the servant nodded his head. The servant then signaled the snakes’ herders to leave by waving his hand. These men had been waiting for an opportunity to get away from that place; as soon as Ouyang Feng nodded his head in approval, they hurriedly drove the snakes away with the deaf and mute servant leading the way.
Ouyang Feng said, “Your Brother’s martial arts are not good enough. I must ask Brother Yao to reduce your strength by thirty percent.” He sat cross-legged on a big rock with the zither on his lap and immediately used his right fingers to pluck some strings.
The original ‘qin zheng’ [a zither from the short-lived Qin dynasty 221-207 BC] produced a sad and shrill tone. This Western Region iron zither produced an even more intensely sorrowful sound. Guo Jing did not understand music, but the zither’s tune affected his feelings. The louder the zither’s sound, the harder his heart beat. The quicker the zither’s tune, the faster his breathing became. His heart was thumping very hard, almost jumping out of his throat. It was an intensely uneasy feeling. After listening a while longer he felt his heart beat intensify and he had to struggle hard to stay 532 Eagle Shooting Hero
conscious. “If this zither keeps getting stronger and stronger, how can I not be killed by its music?” he thought. He immediately retreated a few steps and circulated his ‘chi’ according to the Quanzhen method. After a while he managed to calm his heart and the zither’s music no longer adversely affected him very much.
The zither’s music was getting more intense and in Guo Jing’s mind it resembled the metallic clamor of armored cavalry charging at full speed. The thin tune of the jade flute seemed to ride smoothly in the midst of the clamoring zither’s tune. Guo Jing was trembling; his face was red from heat and he was sweating profusely. Again he quickly circulated his internal energy trying to further calm himself.
Although the zither was loud, it was not able to drown out the flute. Two distinct tunes intermingled, creating an eerie melody. The iron zither screamed like an ape from the Wuxia Gorge [one of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River] or a ghost’s cry in the dead of the night, while the flute sang like a Phoenix from the Kunlun Mountains or the soft murmur of a woman inside her chamber. One resembled the heartrending cry of a mournful soul, while the other carried the feeling of someone leisurely wandering through the wilderness. One high, the other low; one rushing forward, the other leisurely retreating; neither overpowered the other.
Initially Huang Rong watched as these two played music with smile on her face; but later she saw their expressions were getting serious. Her father stood up and started to walk around while playing his flute. His steps were actually following the ‘Eight Trigrams’ [ba gua]. She knew this was the footwork her father followed when he was cultivating his internal energy; it showed her how fierce the battle was for her father as he was forced to use all his strength. Turning toward Ouyang Feng she did not see anything better. Thick steam was coming from the top of his head as his sleeves fluttered following movements of his hands as he plucked the strings. Gusts of wind blew everywhere. His face looked totally focused on his zither playing; obviously he did not dare to be careless.
In the bamboo groove Guo Jing listened to the music attentively. He was pondering in his heart what these two instruments - the iron zither and the jade flute - had to do with martial arts? They sounded so evil to him; how could the sounds affect other people’s hearts and minds? At first he was too busy circulating his ‘chi’ and calming his heart and mind, but gradually he was able to control himself and follow the flow of flute and zither sounds. A little while later he began to realize that those two sounds were actually battling each other. When one sound was on the offensive, the other took a defensive position. Sometimes one attacked the other furiously, while the other blocked the attack while waiting for a good opportunity to counterattack. It really was no different than a battle between two martial arts masters. After pondering some more it suddenly dawned on him, “That’s right! Island Master Huang is having an internal energy match with Ouyang Feng.” Because he wanted to understand better, he clo
sed his eyes and gave his ears full attention.
He began to hear the two sounds were alternately gaining victory or suffering defeat. Being musically illiterate the sound of the music could not affect his spirits; but he did feel openness in his heart as though he was looking at something bright. His mind wandered back to when Zhou Botong taught him the seventy-two stance ‘Vacant Fist’ whose origins stemmed from the words ‘empty/vacant/open’ and ‘clear/bright’. With his mind fully receptive and uncluttered, he could clearly ‘see’ every detail of the internal energy fight between Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng. True, his internal energy was still inferior to those two experts, but he had improved greatly without even realizing it. Besides, as a spectator, he could see better than those two who were involved in the battle. He’d often wondered why Zhou Botong could not resist the flute’s sound while with inferior internal strength he could. He did not know that Zhou Botong carried heavy guilt in his heart because of what he had done in the past. Therefore it was not purely due to one’s internal energy strength that one could withstand the flute’s sound.
Now Guo Jing heard Ouyang Feng’s zither crushing Huang Yaoshi’s flute with a force as powerful as a thunderbolt. The flute evaded to the east and dodged to the west and as soon as there was a gap in the zither’s tune the flute would counterattack immediately. After a while the zither gradually slowed down, while the flute got more intense. Suddenly Guo Jing remembered the theory behind the ‘Vacant Fist’ which he’d memorized. It said, ‘hard must not last long and soft must not defend long’. He thought, “In not too long the zither will launch a counterattack.” Sure enough, when the flute slowed a little bit, an abrupt clank was heard as the iron zither again assumed the offensive.
Guo Jing had memorized the theory well, but his perception of it was still low. Zhou Botong did not explain the meaning of the words he passed on to Guo Jing so his overall comprehension was perhaps only about ten percent. Now, as he listened to the music battle between Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng, he began to understand who was doing what. It followed the theory he had memorized so well. Inwardly he was delighted. The ‘Nine Yin Manual’ contained some very advanced martial arts theories. If it were left to him to dissect the theory, even with someone’s assistance, he would probably spend more than a year trying to understand what it said. But as he listened to the two tunes colliding he kept comparing the battle to the theory. However, he saw some discrepancies between the theory and a real battle situation and he attributed those discrepancies to his own shallow comprehension. For example, there were several occasions where Huang Yaoshi was obviously gaining the upper hand as long as he kept the flute’s tune constant. Then, Ouyang Feng was not able to withstand it. But Ouyang Feng also missed several opportunities to exploit to his advantage. Guo Jing had initially thought they were being modest and had backed off; but as he listened more, that didn’t appear to be the case.
His intelligence might not be high, but after those two people repeatedly made similar mistakes he began to realize that the flute and zither had a lot of holes in their defenses. After listening for a little bit more a thought came into his mind, “Compared to the theory of the ‘Vacant Fist’, their offense and defense have flaws and deficiencies; could it be that the theory passed on by Brother Zhou is better than both Island Master Huang’s and Western Poison’s martial arts?” But then he changed his mind, “Nah! It couldn’t be! If Brother Zhou’s martial arts are really better than Island Master Huang’s, how could those two fight countless battles over fifteen years and he still be stranded inside that cave?”
He racked his brain for a long time without coming to any conclusions; then he heard the flute tune climbing higher and higher until, if it went still higher, Ouyang Feng’s defeat would be decided. But the flute was not able to climb any higher; it had reached its peak. Guo Jing stifled a laugh, “I was really dumb! There is a limit to what one can achieve. Among the desires of the heart, nine out of ten cannot be achieved. I know that if my fist could generate a ten thousand catty force [5000kg / 11,000+lb], I will be able to crush my opponent to dust; but how can my fist develop that ten thousand catty force? Seventh Master often said, ‘Looking at others easily carrying a burden on a pole does not mean we can do the same without breaking our back.’ If merely carrying a burden follows this principle, how much more so do martial arts?”
The sounds of music became increasingly fierce and it sounded like those two were engaged in hand-to-hand combat, or fighting at very close quarters with naked blades. Victory or defeat would be decided very soon. Guo Jing was worried for Huang Yaoshi when he suddenly heard a long and loud whistle coming from the direction of the sea.
Both Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng were startled and the flute and the zither slowed down. The whistle came nearer and nearer. It sounded like someone was on a boat coming towards the island. Ouyang Feng moved his hand and stroked two metallic notes, ‘clank, clank.’ The distant whistle went higher to overpower the zither. Not too long afterwards Huang Yaoshi’s flute joined in. Sometimes the flute was fighting the long whistle and sometimes it tangled with the zither in a close fight. The three distinct sounds were fighting each other.
Guo Jing had played ‘four-people combat’ with Zhou Botong, so he did not have any problems dividing his mind to distinguish between the different sounds. He knew a senior with a very high level of martial arts had arrived.
Soon the person uttering the long whistle had arrived at the forest. The whistle rose high then low. It sometimes sounded like a dragon’s cry or a lion’s roar and sometimes resembled a wolf’s howl or an owl’s cry. Then it sounded like a strong wind blowing through the forest which suddenly turned into a gentle rain showering the flowers. It was constantly changing.
The flute sound was clear and bright, the zither sound was intensely mournful, yet the combination of the three made a mysteriously wonderful sound which did not sound too bad at all. The three different sounds engaged each other in a close fight.
Guo Jing was amazed and could not help exclaiming, “Wonderful!” But once he closed his mouth he realized he had made a big mistake. He scurried away, but it was too late! A green shadow flashed by and Huang Yaoshi was standing in front of him. The three sounds were no longer heard. Huang Yaoshi lowered his head and said, “Good Boy, come with me.”
Guo Jing did not have a choice and meekly greeted, “Island Master Huang.” With the hair on the
back of his neck raised he followed Huang Yaoshi back towards the bamboo pavilion.
Huang Rong still had her ears covered with silk, so she did not hear Guo Jing’s exclamation. Now Guo Jing suddenly appeared and she was pleasantly surprised. “Jing ge ge! You have finally come ...” she called out. She was joyful, yet sad at the same time; before she could finish speaking tears were already rolling down her cheeks. She rushed forward and threw herself onto Guo Jing’s chest. Guo Jing opened his arms and embraced her tightly.
Now that Guo Jing had appeared, Ouyang Ke was annoyed; then as he saw how intimate Huang Rong was with Guo Jing and his heart burned hot with hatred. With a gust of wind his fist flew toward Guo Jing’s face. “Stinky kid ... you are here too!” he shouted.
He thought his martial arts skill was higher than Guo Jing’s and furthermore, his attack could be
considered a sneak attack and Guo Jing was unprepared. Lashing out in hatred, he thought he might break Guo Jing’s nose. Not in his wildest imagination could he know that the Guo Jing now was not the same Guo Jing as when they fought each other at the Baoying Ancestral Hall. Guo Jing saw a fist coming and he leaned to the side to evade; then his left hand launched the ‘Swan Gradually Lands’ [hong jian yu liu] while his right hand launched the ‘Proud Dragon Shows Remorse’; both from the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’.
The ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ were unparalleled in the world; one move was very difficult to withstand, much less two stances at the same time. How could Ouyang Ke face them? Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng were actually sta
nding close-by, but they did not anticipate Guo Jing’s counterattack. Both were startled and were unable to do anything.
Ouyang Ke saw his opponent’s left hand threatening his right side. He knew the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ were very fierce and he could evade but could not parry. Quickly he leaned his body to the left at exactly the same time as Guo Jing’s right hand’s ‘Proud Dragon Shows Remorse’ came in. ‘Crack!’ his upper torso was squarely hit and one of his ribs was broken.
He was aware of the fierceness of his opponent’s attack, so when Guo Jing’s hand arrived he had already focused his internal energy into his chest to protect his heart and lungs against the incoming force. Furthermore, as soon as he was hit he tried to lessen the injury by trying to jump up. The incredible force from Guo Jing’s hand had added to his own energy and sent him flying towards the bamboo pavilion’s roof. He managed to land standing, albeit staggering badly; then slowly slid down. He was terribly embarrassed and his chest hurt badly. He walked back slowly.
Guo Jing’s counterattack had surprised both the Eastern Heretic and the Western Poison and taught Ouyang Ke a lesson he wouldn’t easily forget. It also received Huang Rong’s accolades. She clapped her hands and bounced up and down with great happiness. Guo Jing himself did not realize that his martial arts had improved tremendously. He simply thought that Ouyang Ke was being careless and was caught off guard. He was afraid Ouyang Ke would launch a counterattack, so he withdrew two steps and waited for his opponent with rapt attention.
Ouyang Feng glared angrily at Guo Jing as he called out loudly, “Old Beggar Hong . congratulations on your fine disciple!”
Huang Rong had removed the silk handkerchief from her ears and upon hearing Ouyang Feng’s loud call she knew Hong Qigong had arrived. Truly a savior sent from heaven. She rushed outside the bamboo groove and loudly called, “Shifu! Shifu! [Master]”