Nimoxing and Ma Guangzou burst out laughing, Yin Kexi and Yang Guo too couldn’t hold in their laughter and laughed; only Jinlun Fawang kept his self-control and along with the Valley Master, the two appeared as if nothing had happened.
Fan Yiweng swung his staff a little and created a gust of wind, he said, “I was thinking my beard is too long, since you want to be a barber and help me trim it, nothing could be better, let’s fight!”
Xiaoxiang Zi lifted his head and looked up at the beam of the hall in thought, it appeared that he didn’t hear his words. Suddenly, his right arm came out like lightning and the scissors cut towards the man’s beard.
Fan Yiweng would never have dreamed he would actually attack while sitting in the chair; he had no time to dodge and urgently dropped his staff down. His body lifted up and somersaulted through the air about ten feet off the floor with the staff still on the floor.
Xiaoxiang Zi’s attack was extremely quick and Fan Yiweng’s dodge was also very swift; in that cut and dodge, the two skilled martial artists had displayed their advanced martial arts. But Fan Yiweng still suffered by that attack; though he managed to avoid that cut, three strands of his beard were cut off by the tip of the scissors.
Xiaoxiang Zi was extremely proud of himself. He picked up the three strands of beard with his left hand and blew the strands of hair which flew towards his bowl of tea on the table. A ‘ping pang’ sound was heard as the bowl fell onto the floor and shattered.
Yang Guo and the others knew that he was putting on a show and that it was his breath that forced the bowl to drop on the floor. But Ma Guangzou did not know this and thought that the strands of beard had great power after being blown by Xiaoxiang Zi. He called out loudly, “Xiaoxiang Zi, your strands of beard are really something!”
Xiaoxiang Zi laughed, he opened and closed the scissors then called out, “Short beard, do you want to test out my Dog Fur Scissors again?”
Though everyone could see that he was laughing, his face remained unmoved; they were becoming more and more shocked by him. They were thinking, “When someone reaches an advanced state in their internal energy, they can be angry and delighted without showing it on their faces, even to the point where the face looked emotionless. But it is unheard of that someone can laugh so heartily but keep that fearful face.” His face was too unsightly for the eyes; everyone just took one look and immediately turned away again.
Fan Yiweng was now furious after being ridiculed again and again; he bowed to the Valley Master and said, “Master, today this disciple cannot continue treating the guests with respect.”
Yang Guo was extremely surprised, “That short man is a lot older than the Valley Master; how can he call him Master?”
The Valley Master nodded his head slightly and gently waved out his left hand.
Fan Yiweng swept out his staff towards the chair that Xiaoxiang Zi was sitting on; though he was a short man he possessed incredible strength, the hundred kilo (220 lb) staff swept out and created a great gust of wind.
Though Yang Guo and the others were on the same side as Xiaoxiang Zi, they did not know exactly how skilled he was. They all watched the two battle with great concentration.
The staff was now half a foot away from the leg of the chair. Xiaoxiang Zi lowered his left hand and actually stretched it out to grab the head of the staff and at the same time, he cut forward towards his opponent’s beard with the scissors.
Fan Yiweng was extremely angry, he thought, “You actually dare to look down on me like this!” He swung his head to the side and his beard moved to the side while the staff continued its sweep and struck Xiaoxiang Zi’s palm.
The others called out and stood up; they all thought that Xiaoxiang Zi’s palm would have suffered a serious injury.
But Fan Yiweng felt as if his staff had struck water, soft as if nothing was there; he knew something was wrong and quickly pulled back. However, Xiaoxiang Zi’s twisted his wrist and kept his hold on the staff.
Fan Yiweng felt his opponent immediately pushing outward so he immediately sent the staff forward. The force he applied was ferocious; he assumed that Xiaoxiang Zi would have to leave his seat but he didn’t predict that the opponent would again leap away with his chair, this time to the left as the staff thrust towards thin air. He had no choice but to release his grip on the head of the staff.
Fan Yiweng’s left hand twisted above his head and the staff made a circle and was sent towards his opponent’s head.
Xiaoxiang Zi wanted to ridicule him and leapt up about ten feet with the chair and actually passed over the staff.
The others saw that his hands techniques were extraordinary and swift; though he was in the chair, he moved as if he was not, they all called out in appreciation.
Fan Yiweng saw that his opponent was highly skilled; he poured all his concentration into this battle, the staff created gusts of wind as he moved it around. He knew that hitting him would not be easy but if he smashes his chair, he will be able to get the initiative.
But Xiaoxiang Zi’s martial arts were extraordinary; his right hand continued to open and close the scissors and suddenly cut towards his beard while Xiaoxiang Zi’s left hand used the “Trapping Hand Technique” to snatch his staff.
In the blink of an eye the two had tens of exchanges; though they appeared to be equal, Xiaoxiang Zi had not left his chair, not giving an ounce of respect towards his opponent.
Jinlun Fawang was shocked inside, “Who would have thought that zombie would actually possess such great abilities?”
More exchanges passed between the two; Fan Yiweng kept on using sweeping stances across the floor, while Xiaoxiang Zi kept on leaping up in the chair, getting quicker and quicker.
The Valley Master suddenly called out, “Don’t hit the chair, otherwise you can’t handle him.”
Fan Yiweng was startled but then immediately understood, “While he’s sitting in the chair, I can only fight him to a draw. If his legs were on the ground, then my beard will be cut off in just a few stances.” He suddenly changed his stances and urgently waved and twisted the staff around. A circle of silver light covered the short man in green while on the outside there was a zombie like person leaping up and down without stopping. This was a strange rarely seen spectacle.
The Valley Master knew that Xiaoxiang Zi was deliberately trying to make a fool out of Fan Yiweng; if it continued he would definitely suffer. The Valley Master then stood up and slowly left the table. He said, “Yiweng, you are not a match for that Master, come back.”
Fan Yiweng obeyed his Master and said loudly, “Yes!” He straightened his staff and was about to take it back when Xiaoxiang Zi called out, “That won’t do, that won’t do!” He flew up from the chair and threw himself down onto the staff. A ‘ka la’ sound was heard as the staff smashed the chair into pieces; but the staff was held onto by Xiaoxiang Zi with his left hand. Xiaoxiang Zi steadied his left leg and opened the scissors. Fan Yiweng’s beard was hanging between the blades, a cut now and his beard would be gone.
Who knew that the long beard that Fan Yiweng grew was an extremely soft lethal weapon; the technique for using it is along the same lines as a whip, a chain and a whisk. His head moved slightly and the beard whipped around escaping from the blade of the scissors and wrapped up the scissors instead; he moved his head backwards and a great force pulled the scissors forward.
Xiaoxiang Zi called out loudly, “Ai yo, old shortie, your beard is pretty powerful; Xiaoxiang Zi is in awe of you.” One had his beard wrapped around the scissors whereas the other had his hand holding onto the staff, there was no result for the time being.
Xiaoxiang Zi laughed out loud and said, “Interesting, interesting!”
Suddenly a grey blur flashed in from the front door; this person was extremely quick and was pushing both his palms forward towards the back of Xiaoxiang Zi.
The Valley Master shouted, “Who is it?”
This attack was quick and vicious and it was certain to hit its target. Xiaoxiang Zi released his grasp of the staff and turned his left palm around and pushed out at the opponent below the elbow, immediately dispersing the power of his palms.
The person angrily said, “You bastard, I’m going to kill you!”
Yang Guo and the others were incredibly surprised when they saw this person; they all called out, “Xiaoxiang Zi!” The person who had dashed forward and attacked was Xiaoxiang Zi. Can he divide into two? And why was he attacking his own double? They were all puzzled by this.
Once they had settled down, they saw that the person who was tangling with Fan Yiweng was dressed in the clothes of Xiaoxiang Zi; everything was correct from the shoes to the hat. Though his face looked like a zombie, it was not the face of Xiaoxiang Zi. The person who had entered had the face of Xiaoxiang Zi but he was dressed in green. The man in green sent his claw like hands out towards the back of the Xiaoxiang Zi who was holding the scissors and called out, “What kind of hero attacks from an ambush?”
Fan Yiweng was slightly surprised when he saw help had come; this person was dressed in the valley’s uniform but he did not know him. He placed his staff to the side and saw the two zombie-like people battle each other.
It was now clear to Yang Guo, the person who was holding the scissors must have stolen his mask as well. He put it on, changed into Xiaoxiang Zi’s clothes and then came here to the hall to stir up trouble. Because Xiaoxiang Zi’s face normally was like that of a corpse, no one was able to tell. Though Yang Guo had worn the mask himself, but he did not know what he looked like when wearing the mask. When Cheng Ying had her’s on, he didn’t dare to look at her too often. He was actually deceived by this person.
He concentrated for a while and recognized the martial arts of the person holding the pair of scissors, he called out, “Zhou Botong, give back my mask and scissors.” He then leapt into the middle of the hall and stretched out his hand to snatch the pair of scissors back.
This person was Zhou Botong. He’d had a lapse in concentration and was captured by the fish net of the four disciples of the valley. But Zhou Botong possesses amazing abilities; just a slight lapse in concentration by the four disciples and he immediately broke out of the fish net. Afterwards he hid behind some rocks. He had planned to turn the valley over but then he saw Yang Guo and the other five. In the middle of the night, he ambushed Xiaoxiang Zi; he sealed his pressure points and moved him outside of the house. Then he changed into his clothes. Zhou Botong had great lightness kung fu and he comes and goes without a trace; Xiaoxiang Zi was still asleep when this happened and even Jinlun Fawang didn’t notice anything. After he changed clothes, Zhou Botong returned to the stone house and lay down by Yang Guo, and then stole the scissors and mask from his bag. When they woke up the next morning, no one actually noticed anything amiss.
Xiaoxiang Zi tried to unblock his pressure points after they were sealed but Zhou Botong’s pressure point sealing skills were powerful; it was six hours before he was able to move his limbs again. At that time, he had only his undergarments on. He was extremely angry and when a valley disciple passed by, he immediately took his clothes and hurried to the stone building. When he got there, he saw a person dressed in his clothes in a heated battle with Fan Yiweng; his anger was uncontrollable and he threw his palms forward viciously.
Zhou Botong saw Yang Guo coming forward and began to use his skill of left right mutual combat; his left hand came out and in as he fought Yang Guo while his right hand used the scissors and forced Xiaoxiang Zi to stay back. When the scissors opened, the distance between the blades was two feet; if his head were in between the blades when it closed, his head would separate from his neck. Though Xiaoxiang Zi was furious, he did not dare to get close.
When the Valley Master first saw Zhou Botong fight Fan Yiweng, he was already secretly in awe. Now he saw him using two hands to fight two people separately, it was as if he were divided into two. The “Yin Yang Twin Blades” that he practices has some similarities to the technique that Zhou Botong was using; but how could he do two things at the same time like Zhou Botong was doing? He also saw Xiaoxiang Zi’s claws were like steel, his stances vicious, and he saw that Yang Guo was graceful and elegant, his form and posture exquisite, he pondered, “There are many able people in this world. The two old men are indeed terrific; though this young man’s internal energy is shallow, his form, fists and kicks are filled with elegance.” He then said clearly, “Please hold your fists.”
Yang Guo and Xiaoxiang Zi leapt back at the same time. Zhou Botong took off his mask and threw the mask along with the scissors towards Yang Guo and then called out, “I’ve had enough fun, I’m going!” His legs lightly touched the ground and he leapt up onto a beam up in the ceiling.
The valley’s disciples gasped when Zhou Botong showed his face. Gongsun Lu’E called out, “Father, it’s that old man.”
Zhou Botong laughed as he sat on the beam. The beam was thirty feet off the floor; though there were many good fighters in the hall, to follow him and leap up in one go was something that none of them could do.
Fan Yiweng was the Master of the passionless valley’s senior disciple and was older than his Master. Apart from his Master, he was the most skilled fighter of the valley; after being ridiculed by Zhou Botong many times, how could he not be angry? He was short and skilled at climbing; his body leapt up and grabbed a pillar, climbing up it like an ape. Zhou Botong loved it when someone tangles with him, he saw him climbing up but couldn’t wait for him to reach the beam so he stretched out his hand to receive him.
How would Fan Yiweng know that that it was a kind gesture? When he saw his right hand stretching out towards him, he stretched out his finger and poked the ‘Great tomb’ pressure point on Zhou Botong’s wrist. Zhou Botong felt a slight sensation in his hand and immediately sealed off his pressure point and loosened his muscles. Fan Yiweng felt that his finger was poking something like cotton wool; he quickly pulled his finger back. Zhou Botong’s palm turned and struck the back of his arm with a very crisp sound, he called out, “One basket of barley, two baskets of barley, you and me slap the great barley!”