Return of Condor Heroes (90 page)

He raised his sword and thrust towards Jinlun Fawang. Xiao Longnu saw that he was using the techniques of the “Jade Heart Manual” so she followed and attacked from the side; she hadn’t given any thought to it, when she saw Yang Guo attacking the monk, she too started to fight him to aid Yang Guo.

Jinlun Fawang used his wheel to block the two swords, but he didn’t like how cluttered the restaurant was, it hindered his movements. On one occasion he was fighting using his wheel, on another he kicked away the chairs and tables.

Yang Guo was thinking, “If we meet you head on, we’ll definitely lose; only by obstructing you will we last a little longer.” He saw that Jinlun Fawang was kicking away the tables and chairs, he did the opposite and pushed the tables and chairs in between them. His and Xiao Longnu’s lightness kung fu was superb, they darted around, not fighting the enemy properly; they would suddenly throw a jug of wine over, suddenly tip the dishes over causing the restaurant to be covered in wine and juices from the dishes.

Huang Rong took this opportunity to snatch Guo Fu back. After Da’erba fell under Yang Guo’s “Soul Altering Spell” he was out of it; sometimes he would be awake, sometimes in a daze. Huo Dou was seriously injured with the poison and the rest of the Mongolian warriors weren’t very skillful; how could they fend off Huang Rong?

Yang Guo called out, “Auntie Guo, leave quickly!”

But Huang Rong saw that the stances of Jinlun Fawang were lethal; even if Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu used all their strength it would be difficult for them to defend against the attacks. As of now they were able to fend him off by fighting like this, but once Jinlun Fawang finds a weakness and then makes his lethal move, how could their lives remain intact? Huang Rong thought, “He’s risking his life for me, how can I look out for myself only and leave?” She stood at the entrance of the stairs, quietly watching the battle.

But the Wu brothers kept on urging Huang Rong, “Master wife, let’s go, you’re not feeling well, you need to take care.”

At first Huang Rong ignored them but when they kept on pressing her she said angrily, “What use is it to learn martial arts if you don’t behave with ‘heroic’ values? What use have you got living in this world? The one named Yang is a hundred times better than you. Huh, you brothers better think well about this.”

The brothers felt embarrassed, their good intentions dismissed just like that by their Master’s wife.

Guo Fu picked up the broken leg of a table off the floor and called out, “Brother Wu’s, let’s all fight him.”

Huang Rong held her back and said, “Going up there with your lowly kung fu, do you want to die?”

Guo Fu pouted, not believing her mother. She saw that the stances that Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu weren’t anything special, sometimes their form looked Masterly but the sword stances weren’t at all lethal.

Every time Jinlun Fawang went to attack, the chairs and tables would impede him while Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu moved around vibrantly, flying here and suddenly darting there, fighting as they floated around.

He had a thought, he suddenly used the force in his legs, non-stop sounds of ‘ka la ka la’ were heard as the overturned tables and chairs were crushed and broken. He used the iron wheel in his hands to attack while his legs used the “Thousand Kilogram Fall”; the chairs and tables all broke wherever his legs were. After a while, the upstairs of the restaurant became covered by a layer of broken wood. The three of them battled on the debris without any obstructions.

Jinlun Fawang moved around in large steps, the iron wheel flashing around, ‘lang lang’ sounds were heard, his arms in motion as he attacked the two ferociously. There were now fewer tables and chairs in the way, so Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu had to use real martial arts to defend against him. Jinlun Fawang did not give an inch, on the fourth stance he smashed forward fiercely, a ferocious gust of wind rushed forward before the iron wheel even arrived.

Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo both thrust forwards, the sword tips striking the wheel, they were able to block this wheel with their combined strength but the swords were bent by the force.

The two used all their strength to repel the wheel, Yang Guo then thrust forward attacking the enemy’s upper body, Xiao Longnu cut urgently across the enemy’s left leg. Jinlun Fawang kicked out towards Xiao Longnu’s wrist, the iron wheel swerved and attacked Yang Guo’s neck. Yang Guo ducked and crouched to avoid the iron wheel. At that time, Jinlun Fawang suddenly let go with his right hand, the iron wheel dropped downwards towards Yang Guo’s head, at the same time Jinlun Fawang tried to grab Xiao Longnu’s shoulders with his free hand.

In just a flash of an eye, the two had fallen into great danger. Huang Rong gave an ‘ah’ cry and was about to go forward to save them when she saw Yang Guo swerve and fly just above the floor, before he touched down, the sword went towards Jinlun Fawang’s back. That stance achieved two aims at once, attacking and defending at the same time, solving the crisis he was in. He used the idea of ‘surrounding Wei to save Zhao’, and stopped Jinlun Fawang from attacking Xiao Longnu. This stance was called “The Wild Goose Attacks from the Side”, a technique from Quanzhen swordplay.

Jinlun Fawang gave a ‘yi’ call, before the iron wheel fell on the floor, the back of his right leg knocked against the wheel sending the wheel flying up with ‘lang lang’ noises, smashing towards Yang Guo’s head. In the midst of danger, Yang Guo had used a stance of Quanzhen swordplay which was surprisingly effective, so he used another Quanzhen stance, “The White Rainbow Traveling Across the Sky”, the flat side of the sword struck the wheel.

The sword was light, the wheel heavy, that attack originally had no chance, but the strike was just at the right place, fulfilling the martial art theory of ‘Four Liang Moving a Thousand Jin’, and the iron wheel changed directions, flying towards Jinlun Fawang’s head. Guo Fu clapped her hands as she watched with delight.

Jinlun Fawang dared to release his weapon because he thought that his enemies had no way to receive the wheel; if the opponent used their weapon to strike out against the wheel, even if it was a heavy whip or saber, once it meets the wheel the weapon will be knocked from the opponent’s hand. He could not have predicted that Yang Guo had the ability to redirect the wheel! Jinlun Fawang was furious, he caught the wheel and secretly used his spin technique and sent the wheel flying out again. This time his internal energy was more pressing, the wheel made no sounds because the iron wheel was spinning too fast and the spheres in the wheel could not collide with each other. When Yang Guo struck the wheel for the first time, he used the techniques of the “Nine Yin Manual” unwittingly, this time when he stretched out his sword to strike the wheel; a ‘dang’ noise was heard as the sword shook out of his hands. Jinlun Fawang immediately used “The Falling Obelisk Hand”, heavily smashing towards him. Yang Guo wasn’t completely familiar with the techniques of the “Nine Yin Manual”; this time the force he put behind his strike was incorrect.

When Xiao Longnu saw Yang Guo was in danger, she twisted her trim waist and urgently thrust her sword forward. The force of this stance had an assured lethalness, the appearance attractive and extremely graceful; she was actually using the martial arts of the final stage of the “Jade Heart Manual”.

Huang Rong and her daughter watched with joy and both called out; “Wonderful!”

Jinlun Fawang took back his palm and leapt away, he used his wheel to fend off the sword. Yang Guo took this opportunity to recover his sword. Yang Guo really had escaped from the death’s clutches just now, but when one is at death’s door they are especially alert. He suddenly had a thought, “When Gu Gu and I both use the “Jade Maiden Swordplay”, it was difficult for us to defend against him. But when I used the “Quanzhen Swordplay” and Gu Gu the “Jade Maiden Swordplay” we actually managed to turn danger into safety. Could it be that the final stage of the “Jade Heart Manual” is used this way?”

He immediately called out, “Gu Gu, “The Traces of Waves at Heaven’s Cliffs”!” As he said this he slanted his sword and thrust forward.

Xiao Longnu didn’t give it much thought and followed his instructions and used the “The Traces of Waves at Heaven’s Cliffs” as stated in the manual, she waved her sword and chopped forward. The names of the stances are the same but they had a difference, one of them was a lethal sword stance from the “Quanzhen Swordplay”, the other a dangerous stance from the “Jade Maiden Swordplay”. When the two were used in unison, the power of it immediately increased to a frightening level.

Jinlun Fawang had no way to block both of the swords so he quickly moved back; two ‘chi’ sounds were heard as the swords thrust at his body. Luckily, he dodged appropriately, the two sword tips brushed past him and just made some holes in his clothes. He broke out in a cold sweat from the shock.

Jinlun Fawang urgently moved back another two steps to avoid the tip of the swords. He then heard Yang Guo call out, “‘Flowers under the Moon’!” The attack came downwards, like an icy wheel hanging in the air; a light glimmering crossed the floor. Xiao Longnu’s sword quivered, like a flower fluttering in the wind, cutting across to and fro, dazzling Jinlun Fawang’s eyes, he didn’t know where the attacks were coming from, he could only leap back to avoid it.

Yang Guo called out, “‘Drinking Wine Purely’!” The sword handle was raised, the sword tip aimed downwards, like raising a wine jug and pouring the wine. Xiao Longnu’s sword was the opposite, the tip aiming upwards towards her cherry lips, like raising a cup of wine and drinking it.

Jinlun Fawang saw that the sword stances of the two were becoming stranger and stranger, but they were matching each other; all the weaknesses of one were covered by the strengths of the other, and the lethal aspects of the stances were increasing without end. He was becoming more and more frightened, thinking, “The world is a large place, indeed there are many able people; how could I ever dream of such unimaginable swordplay in Tibet? Ai! I’m just a frog at the bottom of the well; I have seen little of the world’s heroes.” He was disheartened and looked even more like a defeated man.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu had studied this final level of swordplay many times without reward, now they were in extreme danger, the two of them concerned for each other. Both put the other’s life above theirs as they rescued their lover first, fulfilling the main aim of this swordplay. Every stance of this swordplay displays actions done by two, perhaps “Stroking the Zither and Playing the Flute”, or maybe “Sweeping Snow and Preparing Tea”, or perhaps “Playing Chess under the Pine” or “Exchange of the Cranes by the Pond”, all of them show a male and female together. The gracefulness and exquisiteness of the stances really was indescribable.

Lin Chaoying, lost in the game of love, spent the rest of her life in the tomb. She was versed in all the martial arts and literature, music and other arts; in the end she incorporated all the things she had learned in her life into this set of martial arts. When she was developing this set of martial arts, she was trying to comfort herself; how would she know that tens of years later, a pair of lovers would use this set of martial arts to fight off a strong enemy. This was something that she could never have predicted.

At first Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu did not completely understand the swordplay’s ingenuity but eventually as they kept on using it, their proficiency in the swordplay kept on getting better. If the male and female who used this set of sword plays weren’t lovers, there would be many aspects of the swordplay they would not be able to comprehend. The two would not have a feeling of being linked with each other. If it were friends who were teaming up they would be too polite, if it were a senior and junior it wouldn’t be suitable to rely on each other. However, if it were a husband and wife, they would be able to use some of the Masterly aspects of this swordplay, but without the feelings of being drowned in love, the shyness, the feeling of being close yet far, the pain of gains and losses, they would be a level lower. Now Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were deeply in love but they had yet to marry, their hearts were concerned about the hardships of the future, they were joyous and sad, sweet and bitter, this feeling of gradually being linked with each other was what Lin Chaoying had intended to create when she developed the “Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Sword”.

Huang Rong watched from the side and she saw Xiao Longnu’s cheeks going red, looking shy; Yang Guo would glance over at her all the time, returning her affection. Though they were fighting a strong enemy, they displayed their delights and joys, and the appearance of being deeply in love. Huang Rong couldn’t stop from being startled, but at the same time she was infected by the two and she began to remember feelings and events when she fell in love with Guo Jing.

The restaurant was filled with the noise of a life and death battle, but in the midst of this, unexpectedly, there were the boundless feelings of love showing.

Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were now in tune with each other, it was even harder for Jinlun Fawang to defend. He regretted the fact that he had smashed up the chairs and tables earlier on, otherwise, with the table and chairs as obstructions, the enemies’ attacks would not be as lethal and swift. He saw that if he continued, he would definitely lose his life. He retreated down the stairs, step by step. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu attacked from above and they saw that they were about to drive him away.

Huang Rong called out, “Rid the evil completely, Guo’er, don’t let him go.”

She saw that the reason why Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu could beat Jinlun Fawang was because of this ingenious swordplay. It was somewhat fortunate that they had come up with this. If they spared Jinlun Fawang today and let a person with such abilities in martial arts go back and study for a way to defeat this swordplay, when the need to take his life arises again in the future, the task would be extremely difficult.