Return of Condor Heroes (70 page)

Zhao Zhijing saw that Guo Jing more or less believed him and became anxious, he said, “You… you bastard talking such crap, the name of Quanzhen has been tarnished by... by”

Guo Jing believed that what Yang Guo said was the truth. Huang Rong’s face was not moved, she saw Yang Guo’s eyes sparkled and he had a clever expression on his face; she thought, “This child is extremely crafty, there must be a lie somewhere.” She said, “From what you said, you don’t know any martial arts? All these years in Quanzhen were wasted?” As she asked these questions she slowly got up, she suddenly stretched out her left hand and sent put a palm towards the crown of his head. The fingers of the palm was aiming for the head’s ‘Hundred Meetings’ pressure point, the base of the palm was heading for the ‘Rising Star’ pressure point that was an inch from the hairline, these two main pressure points were fatal. If there was a heavy blow to these places the person would die, there would be no saving them.

Guo Jing was shocked and he called out; “Rong’er!” But Huang Rong was extremely fast, this palm was her family’s “Descending Brave Divine Sword Palm”, there was no warning, as soon as the hand moved the palm arrived; if Guo Jing wanted to save him, it was too late.

Yang Guo moved back slightly and wanted to avoid it, but with Huang Rong’s kung fu, now that she had attacked, just how would he dodge it; he saw the palm going towards his head. Yang Guo was shocked, he quickly stretched out his arm to react but his mind had a quick thought, his right arm moved slightly and then hung down. Someone such as Guo Jing who was greatly skilled but slow in thought would not understand what was happening; they would quickly repel this attack. But Yang Guo was extremely quick, he immediately understood, “Auntie Guo is trying to test my kung fu, if I avoid this palm, then it will show that I’ve been lying.” He saw Huang Rong’s attack was fatal, if she wasn’t testing out his kung fu and he himself didn’t react, wouldn’t that mean he will have lost his life in vain? In a flash he fired up his stubborn nature and thought, “Fine, if I die then I die!” Though his kung fu may not be as good as Huang Rong’s, if he wanted to stretch out his hand and repel her palm, it wouldn’t be hard, but now he risked his life and didn’t move his arms.

Indeed Huang Rong was testing his kung fu with this stance, as soon as the palm reached his head she didn’t increase her strength, she saw a frightened and shocked expression on his face. He didn’t stretch out his hand to repel this attack and he didn’t secretly circulate his chi to protect his vital pressure points, showing he didn’t know an ounce of martial arts. She smiled and said, “I didn’t teach you kung fu because I wanted what was best for you. It looks like the Taoists of Quanzhen had the same thought as me.”

She returned to her seat and quietly said to Guo Jing, “He really hasn’t learned any of the Quanzhen’s martial arts.” As soon as she said this, her mind secretly called out, “Ai yo, something’s wrong! I almost fell for his lie.” She remembered how when he was little he used the “Toad Stance” to attack Wu Dunru; he had some kung fu foundation. Even if he hasn’t made an inch of progress but knew she was about to strike with her palm, he would definitely block the attack. She thought, “Young man, young man, you’re too clever, if you scrambled and waved your hands in a frantic state to block my attack, I might have believed your lie. But there is one point that doesn’t make sense in your charade, you’ve left a flaw.” She didn’t reveal this and thought that she would watch him and see what other schemes he’ll come up with. She looked at Zhao Zhijing and then at Yang Guo, and she just smiled slightly.

Zhao Zhijing saw Huang Rong test out a stance on Yang Guo who didn’t fight back, he knew that Yang Guo had managed to conceal his kung fu from her, displaying even more signs that he was in the wrong. His anger erupted and said loudly, “That bastard is very crafty; if Chief Huang couldn’t find anything then let me try.” He went over to Yang Guo and pointed to his nose and said, “Little bastard, you really don’t know any martial arts? If you don’t defend, I will not hold back, if you want to live or die, it’s up to you.” He knew that Yang Guo’s kung fu was above his, but under his fatal attacks, there would be no other option for him but to reveal the truth. If he still kept up this charade, he might as well take his life. The worst that would happen is he will lose the Guo’s couple’s friendship and be heavily punished by his sect’s leader. Fury filled his chest, hate filled his guts, he thought, “You knew that Chief Huang wouldn’t harm your life that’s why you were so bold; you acted very well. Let’s see if you still have the guts to keep up the charade?” His sleeve waved, he was about to attack.

Guo Jing called out, “Please wait!” He was afraid that he would harm Yang Guo’s life and wanted to intervene.

Huang Rong tugged his sleeve and quietly said, “Don’t do anything.”

She knew that Zhao Zhijing was extremely angry, his attacks would not be light, and Yang Guo had no way to avoid his attacks by mere luck. When he defends, the truth will come out. How would Guo Jing know that there are so many other things going on here; he was worried but knew that his wife’s plans had never failed before. He didn’t say anything else and just took one step forward, if there was a real danger he would still be able to make a rescue.

Zhao Zhijing said to Sun Bu’Er and Zhen Zhibing, “Martial Uncle Sun, apprentice brother Zhen, that bastard is pretending that he doesn’t know martial arts, I am forced with no other option but to test him myself. If he keeps it up to the end and I kill him, please be a witness for me in front of our leader, Martial Uncle Qiu and my Master.”

Sun Bu’Er knew what had happened with the incident of Yang Guo expelling himself from the Quanzhen sect. She saw him using his wits and craft to make sure Zhao Zhijing could not back down and make sure it was Quanzhen sect who was in the wrong. She hoped Zhao Zhijing would force him to use his martial arts and chuckled, “That disobedient disciple and traitor to our Quanzhen sect. Killing him wouldn’t be anything serious.” She is an eminent Taoist, how could she tell someone to kill? Those words were actually meant to scare Yang Guo, wanting him to stop pretending.

Zhao Zhijing had his Martial Uncle’s support and was even more daring; he raised his right foot and aimed for Yang Guo’s abdomen. The stance Flying Past Heaven’s Mountains” had softness within its hardness; in the yang there was yin, it was a really lethal stance. Though this kick was very powerful, it wasn’t very profound; it was a stance that is taught when one first enters the Quanzhen sect. It was a very ordinary stance when it is used, and as long as someone knows a little kung fu, they would be able to neutralize it. On the first day of practicing martial arts, the disciples of Quanzhen would first learn the stance of “Flying Past Heaven’s Mountains” and then “Force of the Retreating Horse”; this was the stance to avoid the stance of “Flying Past Heaven’s Mountains”. One attack one defense, this was the most basic set of kung fu.

By using this stance, he wanted Guo Jing and Huang Rong to understand one thing, “Even if I did not teach him advanced martial arts, could it be that I didn’t even teach him the basic kung fu of our sect’s very first lesson?”

When Yang Guo saw the kick come, he did not use the “Force of the Retreating Horse”; his left hand hung down protecting his abdomen. Zhao Zhijing saw that he was so bold that he didn’t even move or dodge, he didn’t hold back on his kick and kicked straight across, when the tip of his foot was about three inches away from Yang Guo’s abdomen, he saw in the moonlight Yang Guo’s left thumb slightly sticking out, aiming for his right foot’s ankle ‘Large Opening’ pressure point.

If he kicked out with power, before the tip of the foot had reached the abdomen, his pressure point will be sealed first; the opponent wouldn’t actually seal the pressure point themselves. As the foot strikes his finger, it will be struck on the pressure point, sealing it in the process.

He was the best fighter of Quanzhen’s third generation; in the midst of danger he quickly changed his stance, he turned and changed the direction of the kick, his right leg passing Yang Guo’s side. At least he was able to avoid the trap but his body was off balance, and his face turned red.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong were behind Yang Guo and didn’t see his thumb, they thought it was because Zhao Zhijing was holding back, at the very last second he changed his stance. But Sun Bu’Er and Zhen Zhibing could see this clearly. Zhen Zhibing didn’t say a word.

Sun Bu’Er stood up and shouted, “Little punk, very crafty!”

Zhao Zhijing’s left palm hung in the air, his right palm aimed to chop across Yang Guo’s left cheek; this stance of “Purple Lightning Striking through Words” was a refined stance of advanced martial arts. As the palm arrives halfway, the direction suddenly changes, originally aimed to the left cheek it now was aiming to chop down on his neck on the right side. How could he know that Yang Guo has learned the “Jade Heart Manual” to a very fluent state, the manual was the Black Star of Quanzhen’s kung fu. Every lethal fist techniques and palm stances that Wang Chongyang invented were all defeated ingeniously by Lin Chaoying years ago. When Yang Guo saw his left palm hanging in the air, he quickly covered his head with his arms as if he was scared, his left index finger hid itself by his neck on the right side but because he covered it with his right palm, Zhao Zhijing had no way to see it. As soon as the palm arrives, Yang Guo’s right hand slanted slightly, a ‘bo’ sound was heard as the finger sealed the ‘Back Stream’ pressure point on Zhao Zhijing’s palm.

Once again, it was Zhao Zhijing himself who forced his own pressure point to be sealed by hitting it on his finger; Yang Guo knew what the opponent would do and prepared his finger in place. Once Zhao Zhijing’s pressure point on his palm was sealed, his arm immediately went numb; he knew he had fallen into his trap. He was furious and his left leg came sweeping out.

Yang Guo called out, “Oh no!” He bent his left arm and placed his elbow two and a half inches above his waist. When Zhao Zhijing’s left leg came, the elbow struck his ankle’s ‘Reflecting Sea’ and ‘Great River’ pressure points. This kick came out of fury; it was kicked with great strength. The pressure points were severely struck, his left leg went numb and he kneeled down on the floor.

Sun Bu’Er saw that her martial nephew was being embarrassed, she stretched out her left arm and pulled him up with her hand and then pushed his back a few times, unsealing his pressure points. Yang Guo quickly backed away. He saw that she unsealed Zhao Zhijing’s pressure points with ease. He knew that her martial arts were far superior Zhao Zhijing’s. Yang Guo was afraid of her and kept a distance between himself and Sun Bu’Er. Though she had been practicing Taoism for many years, she was still very stubborn and strong. She saw that his kung fu was extremely crafty, it looked like that it was their sect’s Black Star; if she fought herself she might not be able to win, so she called out, “Let’s go!” She then said goodbye to Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Her sleeve swept out and she leapt out of the study through the window, and then jumped up onto the roof.

Zhen Zhibing had seemed to be out of it all this time; he wanted to tell Guo Jing and Huang Rong what happened when Zhao Zhijing angrily shouted, “What more is there to talk about?” He pulled on his sleeve and the two of them leapt out of the window and then followed Sun Bu’Er.

With Guo Jing’s and Huang Rong’s awareness, of course they knew that Zhao Zhijing’s pressure points had been sealed, but Yang Guo had not stretched out his finger, could it be that a eminent person was secretly helping him?

Guo Jing immediately went over to the window to take a look, where was the person? Guo Jing thought that as Zhao Zhijing was about to kill him, he couldn’t bear to and so pretended to have his pressure points sealed and left in the confusion. However, Huang Rong could see this was the doing of Yang Guo, firstly because she was behind him and couldn’t see his elbow and secondly, she was not aware of the existence of a martial art skill such as the “Jade Heart Manual”. This enabled the prediction of the enemy’s reaction and countered the skills of Quanzhen without reply; she wasn’t able to understand exactly what had happened. She wouldn’t act like Guo Jing and view others with the heart of a gentleman. When she saw the four Quanzhen Taoists sweeping their sleeves and leaving, it was very impolite, secretly, she was furious. She pondered and turned around to see Guo Fu’s dark green shoes sticking out from under the bookshelf, she immediately called out, “Fu’er, what are you doing here?”

Guo Fu laughed and came out with a silly look on her face and said, “Me and the Wu brothers are looking for a book to read.”

Huang Rong knows that the three of them have never been interested in books, why would they have suddenly taken an interest today? One look at her daughter’s face and she knew that they must sneaked in earlier to hide so they can eavesdrop on what was happening. As she was about to tell them off, a Beggar Clan member came with news of a guest arriving, she took a look at Yang Guo and then she and Guo Jing went out to meet the guest.

Guo Jing said to the Wu brothers, “Brother Yang is a childhood friend of yours, take good care of him.”

The Wu brothers had never been friendly with Yang Guo; right now they looked at the state that he was in. They knew that he hadn’t learned any martial arts at the Quanzhen sect and was called ‘bastard, animal’ by his Master. They looked down on him even more; they summoned a servant and told him to take care of Yang Guo.

However, Guo Fu was very curious about Yang Guo, she asked, “Brother Yang, why doesn’t your Master want you?”

Yang Guo said, “There are many reasons. I’m dumb and lazy, I have a bad temper and I don’t know how to treat the relatives of my Master well. ‘Buying horse whips and donkey whips and what nots’.”

When the Wu brothers heard this their faces changed, Wu Xiuwen was the first who couldn’t control himself anymore and shouted, “What did you say?”