Return of Condor Heroes (130 page)

Ten or so stances later, Yang Guo was gradually being put on the back foot (a sign of coming defeat) and forced to retreat. Qiu Qianchi gave advice to Yang Guo repeatedly but he was furious with her for deliberately intending to get Xiao Longnu injured. He ignored her and said to himself, “Who needs your annoying words?” He unleashed four strokes and hummed, “The minutiae of a fine horse, a radiant and beautiful coat, the left grabs the many weak, the right receives the forgotten retreat.” The verses matched the sword stances and he performed the sword strokes with great elegance.

Gongsun Zhi was startled and said, “What?”

Yang Guo continued, “The galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away. Swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim.” The stances were grouped in fours, reflecting the verse. Where it said, ‘the galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away’, the sword stances were extremely quick; when it said, ‘swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim’, the sword strokes were swift and vicious yet also carried elegance along with it.

Gongsun Zhi had never seen these sword stances before. The verses were pleasing to the ear and he slowed down his attacks, trying to concentrate on the meanings behind each line. He knew that the sword stances and the verses matched each other; all he has to do is to grasp the meaning behind the verses and he’ll be able to defeat this swordplay.

Yang Guo continued, “Stopping at the orchid garden, the horse is fed at Mount Hua. The eyes return unto the swan, the hand strumming the five strings.” The verse was said with a modest tone but the sword strokes were towering and majestic, especially the last two stances which were extremely exquisite and sudden. It appeared to go to the east but went west, the sword hinted up but went down, one stance but two strokes, and it was difficult to tell what was real and what was false.

Xiao Longnu had now finished wrapping up her wound. She watched Yang Guo’s swordplay and felt it was pleasing to the eye; but she had never heard him talk about this swordplay before so she asked, “Guo’er, what swordplay is this; who taught you?”

Yang Guo laughed, “I thought of it myself. Gu Gu, is it good? A few days ago I was resting in bed from some injuries and I saw a book of poetry by the bed. I thought the poems were quite nice so I committed them to memory. At the heroes’ feast, Zhu Ziliu merged calligraphy into martial arts; I thought it would definitely be possible to merge poetry into martial arts.”

Xiao Longnu said, “It’s very good…”

Suddenly, Jinlun Fawang praised, “Brother Yang, I can only look on in awe at your intelligence and wisdom. The following verse is of course, “Bowing to and revering one’s content, the good mood of the heart is too obscure, fishing and searching for something, the trap is forgotten once the fish is caught.”

Gongsun Zhi’s mind lit up, “That monk is trying to help me.” He didn’t think about what the monk wanted but concentrated on the first line of the verse, ‘Bowing to and revering one’s content’, the sword will definitely be aimed upwards followed by a downwards stroke. He guarded his upper body with the black sword and chopped his gold saber from the middle of his body.

Jinlun Fawang was versed in both martial arts and culture. Although he lived in Tibet, he knew Han philosophies, their history and Confucian classics. When he heard Yang Guo reciting the poem, he knew from long ago what the following verses would be. He revealed this to Gongsun Zhi in hope that he would be able to use Gongsun Zhi to kill Yang Guo for him.

Gongsun Zhi did indeed manage to get the first move in when he heard this. Before Yang Guo unleashed his sword strokes, Gongsun Zhi had sealed off all of the sword’s paths while at the same time, chopping out his jagged golden saber from the middle of his body to attack him.

Luckily, Yang Guo had heard Fawang and was prepared for this, he didn’t continue on with his “Four Lined Poem Swordplay” and guarded his midriff with his sword while the middle finger of his left hand flicked out, striking the back of the golden saber.

Gongsun Zhi’s arm trembled and the joints in his hand felt slightly numb from this flick, he was shocked and thought, “This little punk has much strange kung fu.”

This flick of Yang Guo’s was the “Divine Release of the Flicking Finger” that Huang Yaoshi taught him; but he was unable to subdue his enemy because his internal energy wasn’t strong enough. If Huang Yaoshi performed this move, the jagged golden saber of Gongsun Zhi would have flown out of his hand as soon as it was struck. However, this flick of Yang Guo’s was still good enough to allow him to regain the upper hand; he moved his sword forward and used Huang Yaoshi’s “Jade Flute Swordplay”. The “Divine Release of the Flicking Finger” and “Jade Flute Swordplay” both concentrated on attacking the opponent’s pressure points. When they were used together, it was ingenious and subtle and even though Yang Guo’s mastery of these skills wasn’t refined; after a bout of urgent attacking it was still good enough to trouble Gongsun Zhi.

At that time, Qiu Qianchi called out again, “His sword is going for the waist, and his saber is chopping towards the neck”. “The sword is going to slash towards your right shoulder while his saber guards his left.” She called out every stance of Gongsun Zhi’s in advance.

Yang Guo now held the upper hand completely. With his poetry ceased, Fawang was unable to tell where his sword would go and couldn’t aid Gongsun Zhi.

Gongsun Zhi’s family art the “Yin Yang Twin Blades” were inspected thoroughly by Qiu Qianchi and then subsequently improved by her. All of Gongsun Zhi’s stances were known to her; no matter how sudden his changes were, Qiu Qianchi would call it out in advance. As they were absorbed in the battle, Qiu Qianchi suddenly called out, “Both his sword and saber are going to attack your upper body.” These words were called out at just the exact time as Gongsun Zhi sent out both his saber and sword; it was now difficult for him to change his stance halfway through. Yang Guo had more than enough time to block this attack.

Yang Guo lowered his head and dashed forward while protecting his back with his sword. His left finger came out and jabbed the opponent’s ‘Ocean of Air’ pressure point an inch and a half below the navel. Yang Guo was delighted with this successful attack at the first attempt. He thought that his opponent would suffer a serious injury with this attack but Gongsun Zhi’s leg came out, striking him on the jaw.

Yang Guo was shocked and leapt to the side a few feet. He then remembered how strange the pressure points were on this person; previously he had used the golden sphere silk belt to strike his pressure points but it had no effect on him. Gongsun Zhi came at him once again.

Qiu Qianchi called out once again, “His blades will cross, the right sword attacking left, the left saber attacking right.”

Yang Guo did not give it much thought and defended with all his might.

When it came to internal energy, Yang Guo was not a match for his opponent; he would have lost out long ago if it weren’t for Qiu Qianchi’s advice.

Yang Guo and Gongsun Zhi continued for another seven or eight hundred stances. The members of the valley watched with their hearts on the verge of jumping out of their mouths. At the same time Xiaoxiang Zi and the others were also fixed on the great battle, but they couldn’t tell who would win it. In the midst of the blurs of the saber and sword, one could see Gongsun Zhi panting while Yang Guo was soaked with sweat. The movements of the two were now not as quick as before.

Gongsun Lu E thought that if the two carried on like this, one of them would be seriously injured. Of course she didn’t want Yang Guo to lose; but she couldn’t bear to see her father get hurt, so she whispered to Qiu Qianchi, “Mother, tell them to stop. We’ll settle this by talking it over.”

Qiu Qianchi gave a ‘heng’ grunt and said, “Pour two bowls of tea.”

Lu E was confused but did as she was told and brought the bowls of teas to her mother. Qiu Qianchi took off the piece of bloody cloth that was wrapped around the wound on her head. When she was knocked into the pillar, blood poured out of her head and it was Xiao Longnu who tore off her sleeve and covered her wound. The bleeding on her head started again as she took off the cloth.

Lu E was alarmed and called out; “Mother!”

Qiu Qianchi called out, “I won’t die!” She threw the bloody cloth onto her knees and took the bowls. Her four fingers held the bowls but the thumb of each hand was in the tea. The blood on her thumbs mixed into the tea. She quickly swirled the tea and the traces of blood were gone. She called out, “You should be tired now; have a bowl of tea!” She said to Lu E, “Give one bowl of tea to each of them to quench their thirst.”

Lu E knew her mother hated her father deeply and wouldn’t have any good intentions towards him. This bowl of tea wasn’t meant to quench his thirst but to poison him. However, she poured the bowls of tea herself and there was no poison in any of them; they were just ordinary bowls of tea. It must be because her mother sympathized with Yang Guo. If her father didn’t have a bowl, he would not stop and Yang Guo would not be able to take a drink. She saw that the two were really very tired so she went to the middle of the hall and called out clearly, “Please have some tea!”

Gongsun Zhi and Yang Guo were both very thirsty; when they heard Qiu Qianchi call out; they both stopped and jumped backwards.

Lu E first took the tray of tea to her father. Gongsun Zhi knew that it was Qiu Qianchi who ordered her to bring these bowls of tea to him, so there’ll definitely be something wrong with it. Most likely they had poison in them. He held up his hand and said to Yang Guo, “You drink first.”

Yang Guo had no fear and casually picked up a bowl of tea; he placed it on his lip and took a sip.

Gongsun Zhi said, “Good, I’ll have that bowl!” He took Yang Guo’s bowl from his hand.

Yang Guo laughed, “It was your daughter who poured the tea; don’t tell me you think there’s poison in them?” Yang Guo took the other bowl of tea and drank it in one go.

Gongsun Zhi looked at his daughter’s face and saw that it was calm and relaxed, he thought, “Lu E loves that punk, of course there would be no poison in his cup of tea; I’ve already swapped the bowls, what have I got to be afraid of?” He too drank the bowl of tea in one go and then clashed his weapons, saying, “There’s no need for a break, continue. Huh, if it weren’t for that old witch giving you tips, you would have died from my black sword and golden saber long ago even if you had ten lives to spare.”

Qiu Qianchi replaced the bandage on her head and said evilly, “His “Closure of the Pressure Points” has been defeated; you can hit his pressure points.”

Gongsun Zhi felt a slight taste of blood on his tongue and was shocked; a shock that was indescribable. This particular family art has one big drawback; the practitioner cannot taste an ounce of meat otherwise this art will be neutralized immediately. His ancestors were afraid that they’d taste meat by accident and so passed a strict order in the valley; no one can eat meat. Though the others didn’t practice this art, they were still forced to be vegetarians. Gongsun Zhi had always been very careful; but how would he have known that Qiu Qianchi would actually use such an evil plan and put her own blood in the bowls of tea?

Yang Guo was not affected by drinking this bowl of blood containing tea; but the “Closure of the Pressure Points” technique that Gongsun Zhi had been training bitterly all his life was gone, just like that.

He turned his head around in fury and looked at Qiu Qianchi who had a plate of dates on her knees that had been served to the guests. She was eating them and savoring the taste. She said slowly, “I told you before, twenty years ago, this art of the Gongsun family is hard to learn yet easy to neutralize; it’s not worth practicing.”

Fire erupted in Gongsun Zhi’s eyes and he raised his weapons, dashing forward towards Qiu Qianchi. Lu E was alarmed and dashed in front of her mother to protect her. Suddenly a gust of wind brushed past her ear; it sounded like some kind of projectile.

Gongsun Zhi howled. Blood poured down from his right eye; he turned around and dashed out of the hall with his sword and saber. A trail of blood was left in his wake. His wretched howl was getting further and further away, gradually getting quieter and quieter until silence fell within the mountain walls of the valley.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering how Qiu Qianchi achieved this.

Only Lu E and Yang Guo knew that she had used her date stone spitting kung fu to do this.

When Gongsun Zhi and Yang Guo were fighting, she had placed seven or eight date stones in her mouth in advance. She saw that Gongsun Zhi’s martial arts had improved greatly; even if she made a sneak attack, he would be able to avoid them. When he’s on his guard, it would be difficult to harm him. Because of this, she waited until he was completely absorbed in the battle before using the blood tea to defeat his “Closure of the Pressure Points” technique. While he was reacting furiously, she took the opportunity to suddenly launch her date stone at him. This was the one and only martial art she had and she trained it vigorously over the years; the power and accuracy of it was not below any of the world’s greatest projectile arts. If it wasn’t for Lu E dashing forward and blocking her view, not only would both eyes of Gongsun Zhi’s be blinded; the pressure point between his eyes would have also been struck. This would have immediately sent him to his death.

Lu E couldn’t bear this. She stood there stunned for a while; before calling out, “Father, father!” She wanted to go after him.

Qiu Qianchi said sternly, “If you want your father then go; don’t ever see me again.”

Lu E stopped her feet; she was in a difficult position; but then she thought about how all of this was the fault of her father. All the suffering that her mother endured was tens of times greater than what he endured. Anyway, her father had long gone and she couldn’t catch up even if she wanted to. She stopped and turned from the door, silently heading back into the hall slowly, with her head hung down.