Return of Condor Heroes (267 page)

Junbao fought as one who had never learned martial arts before, he just threw punches randomly; how could he injure the opponent? Yin Kexi heartily laughed, but actually he was distressed. He had been well known in the Jianghu world for dozens of years; nobody had the audacity to mock him. Who would have thought that he had to suffer humiliation by fighting with a young boy? The worse part was: he was not able to do anything … Even if Junbao’s punches were not hard, he eventually felt the pain.

Yin Kexi was anxious. His attacks were in vain. He wanted to kill the boy, but he was afraid of the others. He kept throwing punches, but the boy stood his ground. He was screaming with pain until Jueyuan repeatedly implored, “Benevolent Master Yin, please don’t kill my disciple; he is a very smart boy. He is bothering you because of the lost books; the treasured scriptures of our Sect. If the Abbot finds out, we will be severely punished. Little Monk implores you …” While to Junbao he said, “Junbao, remember your lessons. Use your brain, not your brawn. Follow the opponent’s movements, be flexible. Put your mind where he hits you …”

“That’s right!” Junbao loudly answered. Afterward, he did not scream anymore. Where Yin Kexi’s attack was, his mind was there. No more pain. Again Yin Kexi was puzzled. “Watch out, I will hit your head!” he threatened.

Junbao lifted his hand in anticipation, but he was tricked. Yin Kexi did not hit his head, but kicked with left leg so that the boy fell rolling to the ground. He kept rolling and came near Yang Guo.

“Benevolent Master Yin, why did you lie?” Jueyuan rebuked. “You said you were going to hit his head, you told him to watch out, but you kicked instead. You used trickery to deceive others.”

Huang Yaoshi and the others were very amused. In battle, emptiness is full, fullness is empty. One must use any trick that is unpredictable to the opponent.

Junbao was displeased. He rubbed the kicked part of his body and said, “I won’t stop until I search you!” He strode toward Yin Kexi.

Yang Guo stretched his arm to hold the boy. “Little Brother, wait a moment!” he said. Junbao was startled; he turned his head. He felt numbness from Yang Guo’s grip.

Yang Guo whispered, “All you did was let him hit you without hitting him back. You can’t do that. Let me teach you a move. And then you hit him and see what happens.” He then flicked his empty right sleeve in front to Junbao’s face while thrusting his left hand to the youngster’s chest. About half a foot away he suddenly changed direction to the boy’s waist. He whispered again, “Your Master was right, he said ‘put your mind where the opponent hits’. It is the same thing with your punch. Put your mind where your punch goes. As your Master said, use your brain, not your brawn.”

Junbao was delighted; he followed Yang Guo’s direction. He moved toward Yin Kexi, lifted his right arm toward Yin Kexi’s face while thrusting his left hand toward Yin’s chest. Yin Kexi lifted his hand to parry. Junbao could see the opponent’s movement; he suddenly moved his hand toward Yin’s ribs.

Yin Kexi had experienced the youngster’s punch before; it was not too hard. He also saw Yang Guo was giving the boy some pointers. He did not pay too much attention since he thought what harm could come from the kid’s hundred or two hundred punches anyway? But he was wrong. When the punch hit his ribs he felt an excruciating pain so that his body bent over. He almost screamed. Of course he was surprised, but also livid. He saw Junbao was going to repeat his attack. He waved his right hand toward Yin’s face and thrust his left hand toward Yin’s chest. Yin Kexi was already familiar with this move. He parried the thrust. Junbao was thrown toward, and hit, a rock so that his forehead was bleeding.

The youngster did not utter any words. He quickly wiped the blood away and walked toward Yang Guo. Kneeling in front of Yang Guo he said, “Benevolent Master Yang, please teach me another one.”

Yang Guo nodded. He knew Yin Kexi was paying attention now, so he whispered, “This time I teach you three moves. In the first, your left and right hands are interchangeable. It will look like you will use your left, but in actuality it will be your right. When you thrust your right, actually it will be your left.”

Junbao nodded. Yang Guo taught him the stance ‘Repelling the Heart Pressing the Stomach’ [tui xin zhi fu]. The boy memorized it well.

“And now the second move,” Yang Guo continued. “This time left is left and right is right.” He taught him the stance ‘To Extend in All Directions, Four Pass Through, Eight Reached’ [si tong ba da li]. Junbao went through it in his head twice and he would remember it forever.

“The third move is ‘Who Killed the Deer’ [lu si shui shou]. It involves front and rear exchange, it is more complex than the others, so you can’t make mistake. You don’t understand accupoints sealing technique, that’s fine. I will mark his back. If you press that, you will be able to control him.” While talking Yang Guo also moved his finger to give an example, he said, “Remember, this move relies on footwork. Understand it?”

“Yes,” Junbao nodded and walked toward Yin Kexi.

Yin Kexi had watched Yang Guo carefully; he said in his heart, “These three stances are good. They are difficult to counter if they came from Yang Guo himself, but he taught that kid in front of my eyes. Did he think Yin Kexi is as stupid as an ox or a wooden horse? Ah Yang Guo, you underestimate me too much!”

Because he was filled with anger, Yin Kexi did not think straight. As soon as Junbao came in front of him, he immediately attacked the boy’s shoulder. His punch was right on target.

Junbao remembered Yang Guo’s instructions, he let the attack come, he didn’t even dodge it, he only gritted his teeth. Yin Kexi hit using five parts of his strength; his objective was to frighten the kid. Junbao screamed in pain, his shoulder made a popping sound; but he ignored it and attacked with the first move.

Yin Kexi had watched Yang Guo’s instructions; he had thought of ways to fend off the attack, but he did not hear Yang Guo’s words. He thought he would punch the kid to the ground as he did before.

But Junbao’s attack was beyond his expectation: he parried the boy’s right hand punch with his left, but the attack was a fake one; while his right hand also grabbed in vain. Suddenly his stomach was hit very hard and he began to sweat profusely.

“Brother Yang that was a well executed “Repelling the Heart Pressing the Stomach”!” Zhou Botong praised while laughing heartily.

Yin Kexi was stunned, but Junbao had already attacked him with the second stance, “To Extend in All Directions”, which could be interpreted as the punch would come from all directions. He still felt pain when the boy flashed in front of his eyes. He thought this attack would be similar to the previous one; from left to right and vice versa; therefore, he counterattacked by moving to the left; half defense, half counterattack. But again he was tricked.

Junbao was able to execute his stance well. Both his hands hit Yin’s shoulder, chest and back. He moved nimbly, his hands fast; it was a pity his inner strength was still weak. Yin Kexi did not feel excessive pain, but he was frantically fending off the punches and dodging here and there.

Jueyuan watched his predicament and shouted, “Benevolent Master Yin, you are wrong! You must remember that there is no definite meaning of front and rear, left and right. Who lags behind will actually gain the initiative; and who initiates the attack will be under the opponent’s power.”

Yang Guo was impressed. “This Monk is right,” he thought. “He happens to know very well the essence of martial arts. His words were very valuable. I originally thought he only let his disciple fight; but he also gives valuable instructions. Yin Kexi had achieved a high level of martial arts, but I doubt he would grasp this lesson even if he were given five more years to ponder it.”

He was right; Yin Kexi did not realize the meaning behind Jueyuan’s words. He thought the monk was just mocking him to disturb his concentration.

“Hey donkey head [derogatory name for monk], don’t talk rubbish!” he snapped. “Oh, ouch … ouch!”

He screamed in pain because his left thigh had been kicked by Zhang Junbao. He was enraged and lifted both his hands; he intended to attack at the top of his strength. He ignored Junbao’s attack and all he wanted was to vent his anger.

Junbao was nervous to see his fierce countenance; his hair and whiskers stood up. Junbao called out. He was about to leap back when he heard his master say, “Junbao, our strength against his! Quick, quick! Take rigidity from flexibility. Borrowing strength with ‘Four Taels Against a Thousand Jin’ [si liang bo qian jin]!”

Jueyuan was teaching the essence of Jiu Yang Zhen Jing; unfortunately it was too late. No matter how smart Junbao was, he could not grasp it in a short moment. Because of his anxiety, Junbao could not breathe. He could see Yin Kexi was really angry and was going to kill him.

At that critical moment he heard the swishing noise of a small stone flying toward Yin Kexi. The stone was really small, yet it made Yin Kexi clench his teeth and move a step backward. It was Yang Guo who helped Junbao. He had picked a couple of flowers, squeezed them in his hand and made a small flower ball. He then flicked the small stone with “Divine Flicking Finger” and immediately flicked the flower ball right after that.

Yin Kexi was trying to avoid the stone by moving backward, but the flower ball which came later hit his [da zhui xue] accupoint on his back accurately. The ball did not hit hard, but it left a flower juice mark on his clothes.

Junbao was saved from danger. He leaped to the west, but did not run away. On the contrary, he continued his attack with Yang Guo’s “Who Killed the Deer”.

Yin Kexi hesitated. He had experienced several punches from this youngster, “On the first move the left and right were interchangeable, the second move they were straight; I wonder what the third move will be?” Yang Guo was ingenious, he developed that move based on the old saying, ‘qin shi qi lu, tian xia gong zhu zhi’ [lit. Qin (Dynasty) lost its deer, everybody was chasing after it]; how could Yin anticipate the move?

No matter how hard Yin Kexi tried to keep up he got behind. Junbao moved fast, flashing to the left and right, and in no time he was behind Yin’s back. At that time the moon was already high in the sky. Junbao could see the thumb-size flower juice mark. Without wasting any time he hit the mark. He thought, “Benevolent Master Yang is so good, without my being able to see it, he has given me the promised mark …”

Yin Kexi did not move quickly enough, before he realized it his back had been hit by Junbao’s finger. This [da zhui xue] is the meeting point of three arteries. He felt a sudden numbness and he collapsed to the ground.

Except for Xiaoxiang Zi, everybody cheered! They praised, “A very nice “Who Killed the Deer”.”

“Excuse me!” Junbao said and searched his fallen opponent’s body. Unfortunately he did not find the sutra book he was looking for. He turned his eyes to Xiaoxiang Zi.

Xiaoxiang Zi was not stupid. He understood the boy’s intention. His skill level was almost the same as Yin Kexi’s. Therefore, if Yin Kexi has fallen, he would not gain victory either. Without waiting he brushed his long robe and said, “I don’t have the books you are looking for. Farewell!” He paid no attention to Yin Kexi and immediately leaped southward to escape.

Unexpectedly Jueyuan flicked his sleeve; his body flew past him blocking Xiaoxiang Zi’s way. Xiaoxiang Zi was fast, Jueyuan was even faster. Without further ado Xiaoxiang Zi attacked the monk’s chest. He exerted his whole energy toward his both hands.

“Watch out!” Yang Guo, Zhou Botong, Reverend Yideng and Guo Jing cried simultaneously. They knew the fierceness of this blow. While they were still shouting, a loud crash was heard. The monk’s chest was squarely hit by the ‘book thief’. They groaned inwardly, “Damn!”

Even though his attack hit the monk’s chest, Xiaoxiang Zi was the one who suffered from this blow. He flew away like a kite without a string; his body flew several meters and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Jueyuan did not have any martial arts, but he has mastered the ‘Nine Yang Manual’. His body could be controlled at will. He did not dodge Xiaoxiang Zi’s attack, but his body reacted to external force naturally. A soft blow would produce a softer reaction, and a hard blow would produce an even harder reaction. Xiaoxiang Zi’s blow was very forceful; therefore, the reaction force was also enormous. Xiaoxiang’s strength bounced back and he injured himself severely.

The spectators were pleasantly surprised; they secretly praised this monk’s profound internal energy. But Jueyuan was dumbfounded, he softly murmured, “Amitaba Buddha, Amitaba Buddha.” Zhang Junbao immediately leaped over and searched his body. As with Yin Kexi, he did not find any books. He stood still in bewilderment.

“I overheard their conversation. I am sure they stole the books,” Yang Guo said, “I wonder where they hid them.”

“Let us torture them and force their confession,” Wu Xiuwen proposed.

“Please, please …” Jueyuan said, “don’t …”

“I believe they won’t confess even if we chop one off their arms or legs,” Huang Rong quipped. She knew very well these two’s characters.

While everybody was at loss as to what to do next, they heard a monkey’s cry from the western peak. They turned their head and saw the Divine Eagle chasing a dark green ape. The ape was big, but it was no match for the Eagle. The ape frantically ran and shrieked incessantly.

“Brother Eagle, have mercy on the monkey, let him go,” Guo Xiang ran toward the Eagle.

The Eagle understood, it stopped and stood still.

Yin Kexi woke up and stood. He helped Xiaoxiang Zi to stand; then beckoned to the ape. The ape rushed to his side; it seemed like it had been tamed by them. They leaned against the ape and limping, walked away down the mountain. Yang Guo and the others felt pity and let them go.

Guo Xiang saw Junbao’s forehead was still bleeding; she took her handkerchief out and dressed the wound. Junbao was very grateful; he was about to open his mouth to express his gratitude when he saw tears welling up in Guo Xiang’s eyes. He did not know why the Miss was heartbroken.