by Jin Yong
“Doesn't she have any vital points?” he wondered, surprised and afraid. Han Baoju had collected his whip by now, and the Six, moving their weapons, surrounded Mei Chaofeng. However, she didn't seem at all impressed. Her bare hands, with which she tried to seize their weapons, appeared as efficient as claws made out of steel. The Freaks were particularly worried since it seemed that their adversary's nickname was not exaggerated. ‘Iron Corpse’ appeared to have, effectively, a body of iron! She had just received two strokes on the back, inflicted by the weighing scales of Quan Jinfa, without apparently causing her any injury. They knew that she had succeeded in pushing the resistance of her body to an extreme. Apart the sharpened tip of Zhang Ahsheng’s large knife and the sword of Han Xiaoying, she seemed to not fear any of the other weapons. She didn't even try to avoid them! Her only desire was to attack.
She increased speed and seized Quan Jinfa’s arm who was too slow trying to escape. The other five moved quickly, but were too late; Mei, with a violent stroke, pulled a piece of flesh from his arm.
“All those that practice the iron body technique,” Zhu Cong thought, “must possess a nodal practice location which is impossible for them to protect using this technique. This point is particularly vulnerable and a small touch is sufficient to severely wound or kill them... Where could this shrew's nodal location be?” He bounded to the right, to the left, moving the fan, trying successively to touch the meridian point ‘Meeting of the Hundred’ on the top of the head, the point ‘Screen of the Spring’ on the throat, then the point ‘Tomb of the Mind’ in the hollow of the navel, followed by the point ‘Hollow of the Middle’ on her back... He tried about ten points, all the while thinking that, if she takes particular care to defend a point.. .that will be her nodal location.
The significance of his back and forth movements didn't escape Mei Chaofeng. “Lowly ‘Scholar’,” she shouted, “my technique is perfect to the point that I don't have a nodal location!”
She struck and seized Zhu’s wrist. Although surprised, this man fortunately had a quick mind and agile hands. Before Mei could plant her nails in his flesh, he had pulled back his wrist and slipped his fan into his adversary's hand while whispering, “Careful, there’s poison on the fan!”
Suddenly feeling a hard object in her hand, Mei Chaofeng, speechless and afraid of the poison, threw the fan to the ground.
Zhu Cong used this opportunity to escape and move several steps back. He looked at his hand, the back of which showed five bloody grooves, and felt a flush of cold sweat. The fight had only lasted a short time and not only had the Freaks not finished her off, but three of their number were already wounded. If ‘Copper Corpse’ arrived, they would all lose their lives. Zhang Ahsheng, Han Baoju and Quan Jinfa were already quite tired and covered with sweat. Only Nan Xiren, whose neigong was more powerful, and Han Xiaoying, lighter bodied, didn't seem tired; whereas their enemy became more and more violent. Zhu Cong suddenly saw, in the pallid gleam of the moon, the three heaps of skulls on the left. He shivered, and then had an idea; he hurried towards the hole where Ke Zhen’E was hidden, while shouting. “Run for your lives!” The other understood and moved back while still fighting.
“Bastard children from nowhere,” Mei Chaofeng sneered, “you wanted to trap me here, but now it is too late to run away!” She rushed after them. Nan Xiren, Quan Jinfa and Han Xiaoying did their best to engage her, while the three others united their strength to raise the slab of stone. It was just in time, because Mei Chaofeng had seized Nan Xiren’s iron rod and was moving her claws in direction of his eyes.
“Come quickly and help us”, Zhu Cong shouted. He pointed his finger upward and made gestures with his other hand, as if calling for the help of someone hidden on the heights. Surprised, Mei Chaofeng couldn’t stop herself from raising her eyes; but all she saw were the low clouds veiling half the moon... There was no one up there!
“Seven steps right!” Zhu Cong shouted. At these words, Ke Zhen’E threw six poisoned projectiles seven steps to his right, two at head height, two to the middle and two below, while bounding out of the hole. The other Freaks attacked from all sides at the same time. Mei Chaofeng let out a shriek of pain; two projectiles had reached her eyes! Fortunately for her, her agility allowed her to move her head back immediately, so that the invisible projectiles didn't penetrate into her brain, but she had definitely been blinded!
Feeling pain and rage, she struck downward with her two palms; but Ke Zhen’E had already escaped to one side. They heard two thuds, because her palms had hit a rock. Made even more furious, she sent out a kick that struck the slab and made it fly off. The Seven, afraid of the strength of her attacks, remained carefully to the side.
Since she couldn't see them any longer, she thrashed out with her senses, striking, scratching, and kicking. She looked like a furious tiger, or a demon, breaking everything in her path, while raising clouds of dust, breaking the branches of the trees, all without hurting any of her enemies, who were sufficiently far away, holding their breath. Later, her vision became completely dark, and she knew that the poison had taken effect. “Who did this?” she said with a terrifying voice. “Say it quickly, so that I die knowing who killed me...”
Zhu Cong made a gesture in direction of Ke Zhen’E to ask him to be quiet and to let Mei die in ignorance. Then he remembered that his Older Brother was blind, how could he have seen his gesture?
“Mei Chaofeng.” Ke said with an icy voice, “Do you remember ‘Divine Dragon Soaring through the Sky,’ Ke Pixie, and ‘Bat Soaring Through the Heavens,’ Ke Zhen’E?”
Mei Chaofeng responded with a thunderous and terrifying laugh. “So Old Bastard, you didn’t die! You’re the one that used the poisonous projectiles, aren’t you? Have you come to avenge ‘Divine Dragon Soaring Through the Sky’s’ death?” “Precisely! Since you haven't died yet.. .that suits me well!”
Mei sighed and stayed silent.
The Seven Freaks remained on guard. At that moment, the moon was nearly hidden by the dark clouds, and everyone felt the insidious and penetrating cold. Mei Chaofeng stood immobile like a stone statue, her hands alongside her body, and the moon light reflecting off her sharp nails. The strong wind that blew from behind her raised her long hair. Han Xiaoying, who was in front of her, saw blood oozing from her eyes. Suddenly, Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa shouted at the same time, “She attacks, Older Brother!”
As their voices resounded again, Ke Zhen’E sensed a hit was about to arrive on his chest. He bounded into the air by delivering a heavy stroke to the ground with his staff, and landed on top of a tree that was behind him. The blow delivered by ‘Iron Corpse’ missed its target; instead, she planted her ten fingers in the trunk of the tree. The Six Freak’s faces were pale with terror. Had Ke Zhen’E lingered for only one second, the nails would be planted in his body. How would he have been able to escape alive?
Having missed her adversary, Mei Chaofeng released a sudden long and weird howl, very piercing, but with a power that carried far.
“How unfortunate”, Zhu Cong thought, “she calls her husband ‘Copper Corpse’ for help.” Quickly, he shouted, “It is time to finish her!”
He mobilized all his energy into his arm and heavily hit Mei Chaofeng’s back, while Zhang Ahsheng raised a big stone which he brought down at her head.
‘Iron Corpse’, who had just lost her vision, didn't yet know how to protect herself by using her hearing, like Ke Zhen’E. The big stone, while coming down, made a noise that she could hear and she quickly avoided it. But she could not avoid Zhu Cong’s stroke. Even though she had trained her body for extreme resistance to accupoint strikes, the ‘Scholar’ not only had quick hands but also strong ones; she felt a stabbing pain in her back.
Zhu Cong wanted to take advantage of his position and continued to hit her, but Mei Chaofeng counter-attacked with a slash of her claws, and he moved back.
Just as the other Freaks got ready to step in, they heard a long howl coming from far away. It had the same
tonal quality that Mei had used a while ago, and it gave them the creeps. Shortly, a second howl was heard, but this time a lot nearer.
“That person moves quickly,” the Seven thought, alarmed.
“Be careful, that is ‘Copper Corpse’!” Ke Zhen’E shouted.
Han Xiaoying ran over and looked down the hill; she saw a shadow approaching at a quick pace, howling. Mei Chaofeng had adopted a defensive stance, no longer attacking. She concentrated her internal energy to arrest the progress of the poison in her body, while waiting for her husband's arrival to help destroy the enemy.
Zhu Cong made a sign to Quan Jinfa and the two men hid themselves in the brush. ‘Iron Corpse’ was dangerous by herself, but from the speed of ‘Copper Corpse’, Zhu Cong suspected that he could be even stronger than his wife. It was obviously impossible to defeat them when they were together. On the other hand, a chance existed if they took them by ruse.
Suddenly, Han Xiaoying uttered a shriek of surprise; she saw, in front of the running shadow, another smaller silhouette that was also climbing the hill. This silhouette moved more slowly, and, because it was small, no one had seen it before. She watched more attentively and saw that it was a child, Guo Jing certainly. Surprised and delighted, she hastened to meet him.
She was not very far from him and the downward slope was easy to descend, but ‘Copper Corpse’, a remarkable expert in lightness kung fu, was gaining on him quickly. Han Xiaoying hesitated: “I am not skilled enough to face ‘Copper Corpse’... But the child is going to fall into his hands, how can I not help?” She accelerated and shouted, “Quickly, child, run faster!”
Seeing her, Guo Jing uttered a yell of joy, unconscious of the imminent danger that threatened him.
For years, Zhang Ahsheng had been secretly in love with Han Xiaoying, but never dared express his feelings towards her. Seeing her running into terrifying danger, he feared for her safety and sprang forward to catch up and protect her.
On top of the hill, the other Freaks had stopped attacking Mei and observed the slope of the hill, keeping their invisible projectiles concealed, ready to intervene.
In the blink of an eye, Han Xiaoying reached Guo Jing; she took his small hand and turned on her heels to run back with him. They had hardly started, when she felt Guo Jing’s hand slip from her grip. The child uttered a loud scream; Chen Xuanfeng had grabbed him from behind. Han Xiaoying turned around with an agile move and, using the sword stroke ‘The Phoenix Nods it’s Head’, feinted towards the enemy's left armpit; then, moving to the side, raised the tip of the sword for a quick and precise thrust, aimed at his eyes. It was the very essence of the sophisticated technique of ‘The Sword of the Yue Maiden’.
Chen Xuanfeng took the child under his left arm, parried the stroke with his right, deflecting the blade. He followed with the palm stroke ‘To Push the Skiff while Following the Current’. The young woman retracted her weapon and moved away. But the arm of Chen Xuanfeng suddenly seemed to lengthen by half a foot. Han Xiaoying, who originally had the impression that she was outside of his range, was reached and struck on the shoulder. She fell to the ground.
This exchange took place in a flash. The merciless ‘Copper Corpse’ followed with a stroke of his claws directly at the top of Han Xiaoying’s head. The ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’ was a dangerous and cruel technique which destroyed flesh and broke bones. The stroke could not fail to penetrate the skull of the young woman. Zhang Ahsheng was some steps away and understood the danger; without thinking about his own safety, he threw himself on top of her, protecting her with his body. The claw fell, and the five fingers of ‘Copper Corpse’ penetrated the ‘Smiling Dhuda’s’ back. Zhang Ahsheng let out a terrifying howl and tried to reach his enemy's chest with his large knife. Chen Xuanfeng defended against it, causing the weapon to drop. ‘Copper Corpse’ returned with another palm against Zhang as he lay on the ground. Frightened, the other Freaks shouted as they hurried to their rescue.
“My ‘Shrew’,” shouted Chen Xuanfeng, “what happened here?”
Eagle Shooting Hero “They destroyed my eyes!” Mei Chaofeng replied with anger while leaning against a tree. “If you let one of them escape, my ‘Bastard’ husband, you will deal with me!”
“No worries, my ‘Shrew’,” Chen Xuanfeng shouted, “Not one will escape alive. You... Are you hurt? Don't move...”
‘Copper Corpse’ slammed down his hand again at the head of Han Xiaoying. Han used the move ‘A Lazy Dunce makes a Somersault’, and she escaped rolling.
“Do you believe you will be able to escape me?” mocked Chen, raising his left hand.
Zhang Ahsheng, severely wounded and confused, saw that his beloved was in danger of being killed. Mobilizing every last bit of strength, he sent a kick toward the enemy's hand. Chen planted his fingers in Zhang’s leg. Zhang, goaded by the pain, straightened up and wrapped his arms around his aggressor. Chen caught him by the neck, wanting to throw him far away, but the ‘Smiling Dhuda’, fearing still that he would hurt Han Xiaoying, stubbornly refused to release him. ‘Copper Corpse’ gave him a violent blow to the head that stunned him. The butcher fainted, and his grip relaxed.
The intervention of Zhang had given the young woman enough time for her to jump to her feet and take the fight to Chen. She didn't dare approach him closely and was content to whirl around the enemy using her lightness technique.
“Fifth brother,” she shouted, “how do you feel?” She had made two whirls round Chen, when the others arrived and joined in. Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa immediately threw their invisible projectiles.
‘Copper Corpse’ was surprised to see so many enemies of this strength. “We are in the middle of the deserted steppe,” he thought, “where did these expert fighters come from? My ‘Shrew’,” he shouted, “these skilled people, who are they?”
It’s the members of the ‘Bat Soaring Through the Heaven’s’ group. The leader is the brother of ‘Divine Dragon Soaring through the Sky’.
“Good, a group of bastards we've never met. Never mind, we will kill them anyway!”
Fearful of his wife's injury, he shouted, “And you my ‘Shrew’, are you seriously wounded? Tell me at least that it doesn’t threaten your life?”
“Hurry up and slaughter them”, Mei Chaofeng shouted furiously. “I am not dead yet...”
Seeing his wife leaning on the tree and not coming to lend him assistance, Chen understood then that, in spite of her usual stubbornness, she was seriously injured. Worried, he hoped to eliminate the enemy as soon as possible and take care of her. At this moment, five Freaks were surrounding him; only Ke Zhen’E remained aside ready to intervene at any time.
Chen Xuanfeng threw Guo Jing to the ground and sent a punch in the direction of Quan Jinfa. Quan, worried about the child, ducked to avoid the stroke and used this chance to snatch up Guo Jing. A somersault got them out of the enemy’s range. This movement, named ‘The Mischievous Cat Catches the Mouse’, is used to avoid and save at the same time. It had been executed with agility and precision. Even Chen Xuanfeng was in awe of his move.
‘Copper Corpse’ was cruel by nature; the stronger his adversaries were, the more he wanted to make them die with atrocious suffering. Because they had injured his beloved wife he wanted it even more. The ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ had, for a long time, trained in two dangerous techniques; the ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’ and the ‘Heart Breaker’ palm. He had now mastered them to eight or nine tenths of their power. With a terrifying howl, he attacked his enemies without worrying about his own safety, attacking with deadly strokes every time.
The five knew that their lives were at stake at this precise moment and didn't take his attacks lightly. They mobilized all their strength to defend themselves. But they could not approach the enemy too closely since he was so dangerous.
Han Baoju decided to attack, using the technique ‘Whip at the Even Soil’, rolling on the ground and delivering whip strokes from all sides at Chen Xuanfeng’s legs. Chen, troubled by t
his unexpected attack, received a stroke on the back from Nan Xiren’s stick that made him utter a scream of pain. He turned around and stretched his claws towards the ‘Wood Chopper’.
Nan didn’t have the time to retract his stick for defense because he sensed the claws coming at him. He fell backwards to escape. Then he heard popping sounds coming from the joints of ‘Copper Corpse’, whose arm suddenly stretched out an extra several inches. His hand was against the ‘Wood Chopper’s forehead. In a fight between experts, the murderous strokes were often avoided by one or two inches. Nan Xiren had thought that the extension of his adversary's arm had reached its extreme, yet it had stretched still farther! How would the ‘Wood Chopper’ escape this stroke? He soon felt the tips of Chen’s nails on his forehead...
In panic, he raised his left arm and seized the enemy's wrist with a ‘Catch and Control’ technique, trying to block it. At that moment, Zhu Cong jumped on the back of ‘Copper Corpse’ and jammed his forearm onto the adversary's throat in order to strangle him. By doing that, he fully exposed his own chest, but to save the life of his sworn brother, he didn't worry about breaking the elementary precautionary rules of fighting.