by Jin Yong
"Pei! It is ‘old sword’s affection is deep’, not ‘old ruler’s affection is deep’!”
"Don’t you see those two iron rulers in Zhang Jiaozhu’s hands?”
"After that, Mrs. Song did not have a heart to kill Zhang Jiaozhu with a vicious blow. Won’t it be ‘the old hand’s affection is deep’?”
Meanwhile, the stances launched by the three monks and Zhang Wuji were getting slower; the changes were also getting more subtle.
Zhou Zhiruo’s martial art skill grew at a fantastical rate; her victory over Wudang's Second Hero was the peak of her achievement. However, speaking about internal energy cultivation, compared
to Yu Lianzhou and Yin Liting, she actually fell far behind. This moment, Zhang Wuji’s battle with the three Shaolin monks had reached an all-out, real-skill stage; there was no leeway for a shortcut, no opening for Zhou Zhiruo to attack. Now and then her flexible whip would sweep and strike forward, but as soon as it bumped into the four people’s internal energy, it would bounce back immediately.
Less than an hour later, the Jiu Yang Shen Gong inside Zhang Wuji’s body flowed out rapidly. The Sheng Huo Ling in his hands created ‘swish, swish, swish’ noise. Originally, the three monks’ countenances were different from each other, but at this time their faces were dark red, their Buddhist robes bubbled up as if they were blown by a strong gale. On the other hand, there were not any visible changes in Zhang Wuji’s clothes. His superiority had been established by this fact alone. If he fought them one-on-one, or even one-on-two, he would have scored a victory early on.
Zhang Wuji’s cultivation of Jiu Yang Zhen Qi was immeasurably deep to begin with. After receiving instructions from Zhang Sanfeng, he further developed his ‘chi’ with cultivation technique of Taijiquan. Right now, the longer he fought, the stronger he was. He would win an endurance race, since he could fight an all-out battle for one or two ‘sichen’ [1 sichen = 2 hours] more, waiting for the opponents to exhaust their own strength.
The three Shaolin also realized that a prolonged battle would be detrimental to their side. Suddenly they let out a high-pitched shout together. Three long whips rotated rapidly, the whips turned into blur shadows that it was difficult to see which one was real and which one was a mere shadow.
Zhang Wuji focused his gaze on the incoming whip; he blocked them one by one, while anxiety started to grow in his heart. "Although Zhiruo’s martial art is marvelous, her days of training were, after all, not too many. Our joint power cannot be compared to [maternal] grandfather and Yang Zuo Zhi. I can’t do it based on my strength alone. It looks like we are going to be defeated again today. If I can’t save Yifu this time, what do I do?” As his heart was anxious, his internal energy was somewhat reduced. The three monks seized this opportunity to press on; their attacks grew more dangerous, surrounding Zhang Wuji from all sides.
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning a thought came into Zhang Wuji’s mind. He recalled Xie Xun’s affection toward him when he was little on the Bing Huo [ice and fire] Island. He also remembered although Xie Xun was blind, he braved the danger by re-entering the Jianghu, all because of him. If he could not save him today, he definitely did not want to live alone.
He saw that Du Nan’s long whip was threatening his back. Disregarding his own safety, his left hand reached up to let the whip strike his arm, but he dissipated the incoming force using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi. The Sheng Huo Ling tablet in his right hand blocked the pair of whips of Du E and Du Jie. Like a giant bird he suddenly pounced to the left, but his body turned around midair and suddenly he grabbed Du Nan’s long whip, and wound it once around the trunk of the green pine tree in which Du Nan was sitting.
This maneuver was truly unthinkable; Zhang Wuji raised his left arm, pulled the whip and wound it around the tree trunk. Du Nan was greatly shocked; he hastilypulled back. Zhang Wuji’s change of movements were amazingly fast; he also pulled the rope to counter Du Nan’s force. Although the bough of the pine tree was thick, almost half of it had already scooped out hollow by the three monks to protect them from the wind and the rain. This time, a very tough and durable long rope wound around it, and Zhang Wuji and Du Nan’s internal energy pulled it at the same time, a loud crashing sound was heard as the pine tree broke right at the hollow part, with the top portion of the tree came crashing down from the sky.
Seizing the opportunity when Du E and Du Jie, two monks were still stunned by this turn of events,
Zhang Wuji struck with both palms, with a loud shout he pushed the pine tree where Du E was sitting. In this strike he put the entire life-long cultivated strength into his palms. The pine tree could not stand and snapped off at once.
The two broken pine trees, along with their branches and leaves, fell down on the tree where Du Jie was sitting. These two trees carried the momentum of several thousand catties. Zhang Wuji flew up and landed on the third tree. His feet pushed down and the tree broke. It swayed in the air and slowly fell down. The noise of the broken trees intermingled with the cry and shouts of the crowd of heroes.
Zhang Wuji threw the two Sheng Huo Ling tablets in his hands toward Du E and Du Jie. The two monks were busy dodging the falling trees, and now they had to deal with the incoming Sheng Huo Ling tablets; the movements of their hands and feet became chaotic. Zhang Wuji bent his knees and rolled underneath the falling trees, which had not reached the ground yet. He had entered the Jin Gang Fu Mo Quan’s center. Using the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi technique, his palms pushed and turned, and the boulder covering the dungeon was shoved open.
"Yifu, come out, quick!” he called out. Afraid that Xie Xun was unwilling to come out, without waiting for a reply, Zhang Wuji put one hand down the hole and grabbed the back of Xie Xun’s collar and lifted him up.
Right this moment, Du E and Du Jie’s whips arrived. Zhang Wuji was forced to let Xie Xun down. He took out two more Sheng Huo Ling tablets from his bosom and threw the tablets toward the two monks. Quick as lighting his hands grabbed the tip of the whips. Du E and Du Jie were about to exert their internal energy to pull the whips back, but the two Sheng Huo Ling tablets had already arrived in front of their faces with speed that did not give them any leeway. The two monks did not have any choice but let their whips go as they hastily jumped back. It was the only way they could evade the Sheng Huo Ling attack.
In the meantime, Du Nan’s left palm was threatening Zhang Wuji’s chest. "Zhiruo,” Zhang Wuji called out, "Stop him!” Slanting his body sideways to evade, he carried Xie Xun in his arms. As soon as he managed to get Xie Xun out of the three pine trees encirclement, Shaolin Pai would not have anything to say.
"Humph,” Zhou Zhiruo snorted, but she hesitated, while Du Nan’s right palm followed his left.
Zhang Wuji turned his body around to avoid the vital acupoint on his back from being hit, letting the palm to land on his shoulder instead.
Carrying Xie Xun, Zhang Wuji wanted to break out from the pine trees. "Child Wuji,” Xie Xun said, "In all my life I have committed grave sins. In this place I am listening to the scripture about repentance, my heart is at peace. Why do you insist on taking me out?” While saying that, he tried to struggle free.
Zhang Wuji knew Yifu’s martial art skill was very high; if he stubbornly refused to go, he could be very difficult to be dealt with. "Yifu,” he said, "Please forgive Child’s offense!” The five fingers of his right hand moved lightning fast, sealing several acupoints on Xie Xun’s thigh, chest and abdomen, rendering Xie Xun immobile temporarily.
Because of this slight delay, the palms of the three Shaolin monks had struck by. "Leave him!” they barked.
Zhang Wuji was aware that the palms of these three monks had surrounded him from all directions. Before the palms arrived, the wind generated by these palms had already pressing him. He had no other choice but put Xie Xun down on the ground, and then lifted his palms to block.
"Zhiruo,” he called out, "Quickly take Yifu out!” His palms shook, forming a circle, and he sent his palm strengths to engage
the palms of the three monks so that none of them could leave to stop Zhou Zhiruo. It was the highest technique of the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi; his palms moved randomly, making it hard to tell which one was real, holding the three monks’ palm strengths together like glue.
Zhou Zhiruo leaped into the circle toward Xie Xun. "Pei!” Xie Xun spat, "Lowly woman ...”
Zhou Zhiruo reached out and sealed his mute acupoint. "Surnamed Xie,” she scolded, "I have come to rescue you with good intentions. Why do you insult me? Your crimes have reached the heavens; your life is hanging by the thread in my hand. Do you think I cannot kill you?” While saying that, she raised her right hand with her five fingers forming a claw, ready to strike the top of Xie Xun’s head.
Zhang Wuji was very anxious to see this. "Zhiruo, no ...!” he hastily said.
At this moment, he was engaged in a stake-it-all battle with the three monks, in which everybody was exerting the internal energy cultivation of their entire life. The three monks did not have any intention to kill him, but in this kind of battle, they had reached the critical moment; where either they injured the enemy, or they themselves would perish. There was simply no room for either side to yield to the opponent.
As Zhang Wuji opened his mouth, his ‘chi’ was decreased slightly. The three monks’ ‘topple-the-mountain-and-overturn-the-sea’ kind of palm strength immediately surged in. Zhang Wuji had no choice but increase his own strength in defense. Both sides were in a stalemate situation. Their strengths were interlocking each other. They had to continue until victory or defeat was decided, without any chance to escape midway.
Zhou Zhiruo’s claw was hung midair, but she did not continue her strike. Casting a cold sidelong glance toward Zhang Wuji she said with a cold laugh, "Zhang Wuji, when you abandoned me during the wedding ceremony in Haozhou that day, did you ever imagine there will be a day like today?”
Zhang Wuji’s mind was divided into three parts: he was anxious over Xie Xun’s safety, he was angry that she chose this critical moment to settle an old score, and he was busy fending off the three monks’ palm strength, which was flooding in towards him. Even if he was completely focused, he would most likely still lose in the end. Much less now that his mind was in confusion, he was facing a more imminent catastrophe. Cold beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, streaming down to his chest and back, soaking his clothes.
Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Wei Yixiao, Shuo Bude, Yu Lianzhou, Yin Liting, and the others were all shocked to see this critical situation. They all had the same thought, namely, they wanted to save Zhang Wuji. Even if they had to lose their lives in the process, they would not regret it. However, they all realized that their own strength was inadequate. Not only they could not break the fight, even if they did attack the Shaolin three monks, the three monks would easily divert the external force toward Zhang Wuji, adding to the force he had to withstand. In the end, instead of helping him, they would harm him.
Raising his voice, Kong Zhi called out, "Three Shishu [martial (younger) uncle], Zhang Jiaozhu has shown kindness to our Sect; please be lenient to him.”
But the battle between these four people had reached the stage where they could not back off. Zhang Wuji had never had any intention to harm the three monks. The three monks remembered Zhang Wuji had helped them out of trouble the other day, they were also waiting for an opportunity to stop the battle. Only, both sides were in the ‘qi hu nan xia’ [riding a tiger, hard to get off] predicament. The spirituality of the three monks had transcended the material world. It was not that they turned a deaf ear to Kong Zhi’s cry; they did want to acknowledge him, but they were unable to do so.
Wei Yixiao’s shadow flashed by. Like a floating blue smoke, he slipped into the middle of the broken pine trees. He wanted to pounce on Zhou Zhiruo, but he saw Zhou Zhiruo’s right hand was still suspended in the air. If he pounced on her, her claw would certainly strike down on top of Xie Xun’s head. If Xie Xun died, Zhang Wuji’s heart would be greatly grieved and he would die immediately under the three monks’ hands. Thereupon, when Wei Yixiao was less than a ‘zhang’ away from Zhou Zhiruo, he halted his steps in hesitation and did not dare to make a further move.
That moment, everybody on the peak looked like a statue; nobody dared to neither move nor make any noise. Suddenly Zhou Dian laughed and strode forward.
Yang Xiao was startled. "Dian Xiong,” he shouted, "Don’t be reckless.”
Zhou Dian ignored him; he walked toward the three Shaolin monks and with a smiling face said, "Three great monks, do you eat dog meat?” Reaching into his pocket, he produced a boiled dog leg and waved it in front of Du E’s face.
These past two days, Shaolin Temple only served vegetarian dishes to its guests. Zhou Dian loved to drink wine and eat meat; how could he stand eating green vegetables and tofu every day? He went out the previous night to steal a dog and cooked it. After eating his fill, he still had a dog leg, which in this critical moment he used to disturb the Shaolin three monks’ concentration.
As soon as they saw it, Yang Xiao and the others were delighted; they thought, "Zhou Dian usually acts like a lunatic, but this time his move is brilliant.” They knew that in an internal energy battle, the key was the combatant’s concentration. As Zhou Dian stepped forward to create trouble, even if only one of the monks got angry, his concentration might be broken and Zhang Wuji would be victorious.
The three monks turned a blind eye to him; they completely ignored Zhou Dian. Zhou Dian took the dog leg to his open mouth and took a bite. "Smells good, tastes good!” he said, "Three great monks, why don’t you take a bite?” Seeing the monks did not even blink, he brought the dog leg closer to Du E’s mouth.
As he was about to shove the dog leg into Du E’s mouth, several monks watching from the side shouted, "Baldy Dian, back off quickly!”
As soon as the dog leg touched Du E’s lips, suddenly Zhou Dian’s arm shook, half of his body turned numb. ‘Bang!’ the dog leg fell to the ground.
Turned out at this moment Du E’s entire body was covered with his internal energy that he was in the ‘fly cannot penetrate’ realm. As soon as his four limbs and hundreds of bones met with an external force, the force would bounce back.
"Aiyo! Aiyo! Terrible, terrible!” Zhou Dian cried out, "You don’t want to eat my dog meat, that’s all right. Why did you have to snap it out to the ground? Now it is dirty and wasted. I want compensation, I want compensation!” His hands and feet were flailing all over the place; he raised
a clamor.
Unexpectedly, the three monks’ concentration was so deep that they were not disturbed by any external demonic influence. Zhou Dian flipped his right hand and fished a short blade from his bosom. "Since you don’t appreciate my kindness by eating my dog leg, Laozi [old man - referring to self] will risk everything to fight you.” His blade slashed his own face that immediately he was dripping with blood.
The crowd of heroes shouted in shock. Zhou Dian used the short blade to make another slash. His face was covered with blood; he looked terrifyingly fearsome. Regardless of who saw this kind of scene, their hearts would be shocked and disturbed. But in their deep concentration, the Shaolin three monks’ eyes, ears, nose and tongue seemed to be closed to the world outside. Not only they did not see the scene Zhou Dian was making, they even seemed unaware of his presence, which was very closed to their bodies.
"Good monk,” Zhou Dian loudly called out, "If you don’t compensate my dog leg, I’ll die in front of you!” Lifting his short blade, he thrust it into his own heart. Because his Cult Leader was in such a dire situation, he was determined to kill himself to disturb the concentration of the three monks.
Suddenly a yellow shadow flashed by; someone flew in and snatched the short blade away from his hand. The yellow shadow then continued sideways, with five fingers striking toward the top of Zhou Zhiruo’s head. The technique used was exactly the same as the one Song Qingshu used to kill the Beggar Clan’s elders. Zhou Zhiruo’s five fingers were less than a foot away fro
m Xie Xun’s head, but the enemy’s movement was simply too fast; she had no alternative but to turn her hand over to block this attack.
Zhang Wuji’s internal energy level was very strong; it was not inferior to the combined energy of the three monks. However, in terms of ‘forgetting everything’, his meditation skill fell short. He could not reach the stage of ‘looking without seeing, hearing without listening’ of the outside influence. Seeing that Zhou Zhiruo’s hand was threatening Xie Xun, his mind was immediately thrown into confusion. He also saw Zhou Dian stepping forward to create trouble, and then drawing his blade to commit suicide. He saw everything clearly and was even more anxious.
Currently, his internal breathing was boiling, he was about to spurt out some blood and perish. To suddenly see that woman in yellow gown leaping forward into the circle, snatching the short blade from Zhou Dian’s hand, and attacking Zhou Zhiruo, Zhang Wuji knew that Xie Xun was out of danger. His heart was delighted and his internal energy was growing so that he was able to neutralize the three monks’ internal energy attacks one by one. As a result, now the four of them were back into the stalemate situation.
Although Du E and the others were not affected by outside disturbance, they were able to differentiate the subtle decrease and increase of either side's strength. They realized the sudden increase of the opponent force, but the force did not change from defensive to offensive; which was precisely the best opportunity to withdraw without endangering either side. The three monks’ minds were interlinked; they concurrently reduced their own power. Zhang Wuji followed by reducing his own power one notch. The three monks then reduced their power another notch. By ‘you reduce one notch, I reduce one notch’, in a short time both sides had withdrew their power completely.
Four men laughed together and stood up at the same time. Zhang Wuji cupped his hands and bowed low. Du E, Du Jie and Du Nan also clasped their palms to return the propriety. Almost together they said, "My utmost admiration!”