Return of Condor Heroes (114 page)

Fan Yiweng was stunned as he watched the beard that he has grown for half his life floating to the floor; he felt anger and sorrow at the same time. He went up and down as he picked up his staff and then shouted angrily, “If you don’t kill me, then don’t dream of leaving the valley.”

Yang Guo laughed, “I wasn’t planning on leaving in the first place!”

Fan Yiweng swept his staff towards his waist.

Ma Guangzou had fought with Fen Yiweng previously and had been on the receiving end; right now he was feeling rather pleased and said loudly, “Old Shortie, you face wasn’t the best sight in the first place; but after losing your beard, you look even weirder.”

When Fan Yiweng heard this, he clenched his teeth and fought even harder.

Yang Guo only knew what his soft beard techniques were like and didn’t know how strong he was; he saw the incoming staff and stuck out his scissors; a ‘dang’ sound was heard and his arms felt numb, the scissors had been bent out of shape.

Just one stance and the scissors were out of commission. The onlookers had seen Yang Guo gain victory but they didn’t predict that the weapons would change and the battle would continue. The difference between the two could be clearly seen, one was holding an extremely long and heavy weapon while the other was holding a piece of scrap metal.

Gongsun Lu’E could not hold back anymore and called out, “Master Yang, you’re not as strong as my senior apprentice brother; why continue?”

Valley Master Gongsun was beginning to get angry when he saw his daughter protecting an outsider; he glanced at her and saw her face was filled with concern. He then looked at Xiao Longnu and saw that her expression was calm, appearing like she had no concern for Yang Guo’s safety whatsoever; his anger immediately turned to joy. He thought, “So she has no feelings for that punk; otherwise, how could she have no concern for him now that he’s facing danger?”

He didn’t know that Xiao Longnu knew that Yang Guo was ingenious and his martial arts were above those of Fan Yiweng; when the two fight, victory is certain so there was no need for her to worry.

Yang Guo threw the bent scissors on the floor and said, “Old Fan, you’re not a match for me, just throw away your staff and surrender.”

Fan Yiweng said angrily, “If you can beat my staff then I’ll knock myself dead.”

Yang Guo said, “What a pity, what a pity!”

Fan Yiweng called out, “Watch this stance!” A stance of “Pushing Down the Peak of Mount Tai” was sent out towards his head. Yang Guo dodged to the side and his left foot was placed on the head of the staff. Fan Yiweng shook his hands, flinging the staff. Yang Guo followed the staff and was forced into midair, but his left foot was still standing steadily on the staff head. Fan Yiweng shook the staff a few times but couldn’t shake Yang Guo off. He was about to turn the staff when Yang Guo’s right foot advanced and he was actually running towards him on the staff.

In the eyes of Fan Yiweng and the onlookers, these two stances were inconceivably strange; but in reality, it was a technique of the Ancient Tomb sect that utilizes great lightness kung fu to defeat a long and large weapon.

Years ago when Li Mochou fought Wu Santong in Jiaxing, she stood on the chestnut tree that Wu Santong had used as a weapon and she couldn’t be shaken off by him. Li Mochou had used this type of martial art.

Fan Yiweng was stunned and in this time, Yang Guo’s left foot had advanced a step and he kicked out with his right towards his nose. Fan Yiweng was in an extremely distressing situation; the enemy was attached to his weapon. If he leapt backwards he would bring the enemy with him and would not be able to avoid that kick. His hands were holding onto the staff so he couldn’t use his hands to block; his beard had been cut off and couldn’t be used as defensive weapon. It was an urgent situation and he had no choice but to throw away the steel staff and leap back to avoid the kick.

A ‘dang’ sound was heard as one end landed on the floor. Before the other end landed as well, Yang Guo had picked it up in his hands.

Ma Guangzou, Nimoxing, Xiaoxiang Zi and the others cheered.

Yang Guo placed the staff on the floor and laughed, “What about it?”

Fan Yiweng’s face went red and said, “I was careless and fell for your trick, I’m not accepting it.”

Yang Guo said, “We’ll go again.” He threw the staff towards Fan Yiweng who stretched out his hand to catch it. However, when the staff was two feet in front of him, it suddenly swept up. Fan Yiweng clutched thin air while Yang Guo flew over and stretched out his arm, taking the staff once again. Ma Guangzou’s and the others’ cheers were becoming louder. Fan Yiweng’s face was now purple.

Fawang and Yin Kexi looked at each other and both secretly laughed, praising Yang Guo’s cleverness. Yesterday, Zhou Botong had shot out broken spearheads towards them with the force immediately taken back as soon as it shot out; after the spearheads flew out, they suddenly changed direction in midair; now Yang Guo was copying him. But there were four spearheads while there was only one staff; the staff was also heavy and to change the force was not hard; what Yang Guo had done was much easier than what Zhou Botong had done.

But Valley Master Gongsun and his disciples did not know what it was about and all were shocked.

Yang Guo laughed, “What? Do you want to go again?”

His beard had been cut and weapon taken but it was all due to cleverness; how could he admit defeat without any protest? He said loudly, “If you use real martial arts to beat me then I’ll admit defeat.”

Yang Guo chuckled, “In martial arts, ingenuity comes first. Your Master’s mind is unclear; of course the disciples he teaches will be lacking a bit. I’ll give you some advice; it’s better if you go and find another Master.” These words were an insult directed at Valley Master Gongsun.

Fan Yiweng thought, “My study of martial arts is lacking and I’ve disgraced my Master; if I really can’t win then I’ll commit suicide to apologize to Master.” He clenched his teeth and stood up straight.

Yang Guo swept the steel staff towards him and placed it in his hands, he said, “Be careful this time; if you lose your staff again, you won’t be able to blame anyone else.”

Fan Yiweng did not reply. He held the end of the staff tightly with his right and thought, “You’ll only be able to take away this staff if you cut off my right arm.”

Yang Guo called out, “Careful!” He flung himself forward until his left hand rested on the end of the staff; the index and middle finger of his right hand went towards his opponent’s eyes; at the same time, his left foot had flipped upwards and was holding down the staff’s body. This was a stance from the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, “Stealing the Staff from the Mouth of the Tiger”.

On the previous two times that Yang Guo took the staff, though everyone thought his movements were special, they all saw what happened clearly. But this time even Fan Yiweng didn’t know what was going on; he just blinked and the staff was in the hands of the opponent again. Only Jinlun Fawang with his profound martial arts knowledge and his experience of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” knew that Yang Guo had used one of the skills of this stick technique.

Ma Guangzou called out, “The ‘No Beard Long Beard’. Are you in awe now?”

Fan Yiweng called out, “He used witchcraft, and it isn’t real martial arts, why should I admit defeat?”

Yang Guo laughed, “How will you admit defeat?”

Fan Yiweng said, “Only if you use real martial arts to beat me, then I’ll admit defeat.”

Yang Guo returned the staff to him and said, “Fine, we’ll go another couple of stances.”

Fan Yiweng was extremely worried about his clever empty-handed staff snatching techniques; he thought, “No matter how much advantage I get, when he’s at a point where he can hold me off no longer he’ll suddenly use his witchcraft. It would be difficult for me to win.” So he said, “I use such a large and long weapon yet you are empty handed, even if I win you won’t take it.”

Yang Guo laughed, “You’re afraid of my “Empty Hands Entering A Hundred Blades” kung fu; fine, I’ll use a weapon.” He scoured the room and all he saw were bare walls, there wasn’t one single weapon that he could use. However, in the courtyard there were two large willow trees; it had many branches and had emerald green leaves hanging down from it. He looked at Xiao Longnu and said, “Since you want to have Liu as a surname, I’ll use a willow branch as a weapon!” He leapt into the courtyard and broke off an inch thick branch; it was about four feet long. The length and thickness was similar to the Beggar Clan’s Dog Beating Stick. The branch still had its leaves which gave the weapon elegance.

Xiao Longnu’s mind was fluttering all over the place; she had no plans for the future, the longer that Yang Guo was in her sight, the harder it was for her to leave him. She pondered to herself, “Though separating from Yang Guo was heartbreaking, she had a thought about this a hundred times and was able to tolerate it.” Right now, he was here in person in front of her very eyes; every word of his, every action, every smile and even his anger, all of them moved and stirred her heart. She wanted to go inside and stop seeing and hearing him but how could she? She lowered her head and didn’t say anything; but she was feeling as if a thousand steel knives were cutting right into her heart.

Fan Yiweng was furious when he saw Yang Guo pick a willow branch as a weapon, treating this as if it was a game and showing no respect towards him at all. He didn’t know that within the softness of the willow branch there was also toughness and that he was going to use the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” with it. Though it couldn’t compare with the bamboo treasure of the Beggar Clan, it was a lethal weapon that matched any precious sword or saber.

Ma Guangzuo said, “Brother Yang, just use my saber!” He took the saber out of the sheath and the blade glimmered; it really was a sharp blade.

Yang Guo saluted with his arms and laughed, “Thank you! This brother isn’t a bad person; it’s just a pity that he follows the wrong Master. His martial arts are poor and just a willow branch will be enough to beat him.” The willow branch moved forward and attached itself to the steel staff.

Once again, Fan Yiweng heard him insult his Master; he was thinking that this time it will be a life and death battle; he was not going to hold anything back. He waved the staff around which generated noises within the air and started to use his eighty-one stances of the “Spilling Water Staff”. The reason behind the name ‘Spilling Water’ is that no splash or spill of water can advance; the staff stances were extremely tight and unyielding.

At first, the staff was swift and powerful, but after a few stances, he felt that the staff was gradually moving towards one side. The head of the staff felt skewed and the wind generated by the staff was becoming weaker.

Yang Guo was using the “Dog Beating Stick Technique’s” ‘coil’ theory; the branch was attached to the staff head and when the staff moved to the east, the branch moved to the east; when the staff was flipped upwards, the branch followed; but at the final stage, his internal energy forced the staff to pull or push a little more in another direction and staff head moved out of the control of Fan Yiweng. This particular ‘coil’ formulae of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” is derived from the advanced martial art theory of ‘four liang moving a thousand jin’, subtle and ingenious, this theory far exceeded the methods of ‘using force against force’ or ‘using the current to move the boat.’

The onlookers were becoming more and more surprised; they could not believe that the very young Yang Guo would possess such ingenious martial arts. They saw that Fan Yiweng’s staff was gradually becoming weaker while Yang Guo’s willow branch was becoming stronger.

Thirty stances later, Fan Yiweng’s staff was completely under the control of the willow branch; the more strength Fan Yiweng used, the more incontrollable the staff became. In the end, he felt as if he had entered an extremely strong cyclone, making him dizzy and dazed, completely losing his bearings.

Valley Master Gongsun’s hand came down on the stone table, and called out, “Yiweng, stand down!”