Cheng Ying smiled warmly and nodded. Lu Wushuang interrupted, “You think you are cleverer than most people; but compared with Island Master Huang, there’s a long way to go.”
Yang Guo laughed and said, “I’m Sha Dan, I’m dumber than most people; I’m Sha Gu’s good brother.”
The five of them soon arrived on the hill. There was a small hut beside a large tree, it was broken and dilapidated; there was a piece of paper nailed onto the door. On it were four lines:
The master of Peach Blossom Island,
Disciples he has many,
Five against one,
It’s the laughing stock of Jianghu!
Huang Yaoshi laughed and casually picked up two pebbles and placed them in between his middle finger and thumb, after a ‘chi’ ‘chi’ sound, the pebbles shot forward forcefully. A ‘pai’ sound was heard as the two small pebbles, from over ten paces away, knocked the doors open.
When Yang Guo was on Peach Blossom Island, he heard from Guo Fu that her grandfather had a skill called the “Divine Flicking Finger”; today, he saw it with his own eyes and it far exceeded the tales about it; he was in awe.
Once the doors opened, they saw Li Mochou sitting on a mat on the floor, her hands holding her fly whisk, her eyes closed; she looked collected and was meditating just like a Taoist. She was in the hut by herself; Hong Lingbo was nowhere to be seen.
A thought went through Yang Guo’s mind and he understood, “She’s laughing at Island Master Huang for having many disciples and winning through numbers, that’s why she sent Hong Lingbo away to make it even more apparent. She’s confident not because she can defend against Island Master Huang, it’s because since she’s by herself. With Island Master Huang’s status, it would not be appropriate to attack her.”
The memories of her parents death and the torment she’s had through the years stirred in Lu Wushuang; she suddenly drew out her sword and called out, “Cousin, Sha Dan, we don’t have the same restraints as Island Master Huang about fighting her, let’s all attack her.”
Sha Gu rubbed her knuckles and palms and said, “And me!”
Li Mochou opened her eyes and glanced across at the five; a look of contempt was on her face and she closed her eyes again; it was as if she was ignoring the enemies in front of her. Cheng Ying looked at her master, waiting for his orders.
Huang Yaoshi sighed and said, “Indeed, old Heretic Huang has many disciples, if any of my four senior disciples Qu, Chen, Mei, Lu were here, how would she be allowed to say a word?” He then waved his hand and said, “Let’s leave.”
The four of them did not understand what he was thinking and followed him back to the hut. They saw that he was unhappy; he went to bed and didn’t even eat supper.
Yang Guo slept on the bed next to his and recalled the things he said with Sha Gu; he then pondered about Li Mochou, and he thought, “She’s laughing at us because its five against one. I’ve recovered from my injury now, with my strength alone I might not lose to her; why don’t I sneak away and fight a round with her. This way I can clear her insults about me and Gu Gu and help Island Master Huang vent his anger.”
He made his decision and dressed himself quietly. Though he was impulsive, he did things rather carefully; he knew Li Mochou was a very strong foe, if he made just one wrong move he would die by her hands. So he sat on his bed circulating his chi and prepared himself, once he was at his peak, he would go and fight the duel to the death.
He had sat there for around an hour when suddenly his eyes lit up, chi was everywhere in his body and he couldn’t stop himself from calling out. The call was like the roar of a dragon, like a tiger bellowing in a deep valley, the sound spreading far and wide.
Huang Yaoshi had noticed that he was awake when he had got up to dress himself; when he heard this extraordinary call, he was shocked and delighted. He hadn’t predicted that Yang Guo’s internal energy would make a break through right at this time.
When someone’s internal energy reaches a certain stage, they would unconsciously call out.
Later on in the Ming Dynasty, the Da Ru King Yang Ming was practicing his chi in the middle in the night in his encampment when he suddenly made a prolonged call, shocking his entire camp.
Yang Guo’s chi was abundant and it was hard for him to control, the bellow spread for many li.
Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang were extremely startled; even Li Mochou was frightened when she heard it. But she thought that it was Huang Yaoshi who was exercising his chi, there was no need to be afraid since he wasn’t going to do anything.
Yang Guo had the help of the ‘Chilled Jade Bed’ and had practiced the important aspects of the “Jade Heart Manual” and “Nine Yin Manual”; his accumulated internal energy had become profound. A few days before, Huang Yaoshi had helped him to recuperate, but Island Master Huang’s internal energy was of a different nature to his. It was provoked by this extremely profound internal energy, now he couldn’t control himself and released a long bellow.
The bellow continued for a while before gradually it quieted and then stilled.
Huang Yaoshi thought, “I have always thought that my talents were not of this earth, yet I had to wait until I was thirty before reaching such a stage. This young man has reached this stage at least ten years before me; I wonder what events he has encountered?” He waited for Yang Guo to finish and stand up before asking, “Tell me, what do you think is Li Mochou’s most powerful skill?”
When Yang Guo heard this, he knew that his intentions had been seen through and replied, “It is the “Divine Five Poison Palm” and her fly whisk techniques.”
Huang Yaoshi said, “Correct, since your internal energy has some foundation it shouldn’t be difficult to neutralize her most proficient skill.”
Yang Guo was delighted and bowed down to him. Yang Guo was very proud; though he recognized Huang Yaoshi was a senior and his abilities were superb, he wouldn’t lower his head to him. Now that he heard that the martial arts Li Mochou used to roam the realm could be neutralized, how could he not be in awe?”
Huang Yaoshi then taught him the skill of the “Divine Flicking Finger” to neutralize Li Mochou’s “Divine Five Poison Palms” and a sword technique derived from his “Jade Flute Swordplay” to neutralize the fly whisk techniques.
Yang Guo listened to him point out the important aspects of these techniques and then asked him to explain some of the difficulties; he concentrated and committed them to memory. But he felt that although these two types of martial arts are profound and masterly, to make some progress, one will need to practice for at least a year. If he wanted to reach a stage where he would be able to beat her, it would take three years and no less. He said, “Island Master Huang, there is no way to beat her right now.”
Huang Yaoshi said, “Three years will pass in the blink of an eye. Then you’ll be twenty one or twenty two years of age, and will have learned these two types of martial arts. Isn’t that enough?”
Yang Guo said, “I’m… I’m not doing it for me…”
Huang Yaoshi patted his shoulder and said warmly, “When you kill her for me three years from now, I will be extremely touched. Years ago I destroyed my disciples, shouldn’t I get some kind of payback today?” He gave a long sigh after he said this.
Yang Guo knelt down and kowtowed eight times to him and then called out, “Master!” He knew that Huang Yaoshi had passed on martial arts to him so that he will be able to cleanse the four lines of Li Mochou’s insult. To do this, they will have to be recognized as master and disciple.
But Huang Yaoshi knew that his ties with the Ancient Tomb were extremely deep, he would be unwillingly to accept another master so he helped him up and said, “When you fight that witch, you are my disciple, at all other times, you are my friend. Little brother Yang, do you understand?”
Yang Guo laughed and said, “To be able to make a friend like you really is a glorious event.”
Huang Yaoshi said, “The two of us meeting is the luck of three generations.” The two of them laughed, their sounds moving the four walls.
Huang Yaoshi once again explained in detail the secrets and ideas of the “Divine Flicking Finger” and the “Jade Flute Swordplay” to him. Yang Guo noted that he was explaining them thoroughly and knew that he was about to leave.
He said gloomily, “We’ve just met and now we are about to part; when will we be able to meet again?”
Huang Yaoshi laughed and said, “The two of us are linked; even if we are at the opposite ends of the world, we’ll still be like neighbors. If in the future I find out that someone is blocking your marriage, even if I’m ten thousand li away, I will rush back and help you.”
Yang Guo was comforted by this promise and laughed, “I’m afraid that the first person who will come out and stop this marriage will be your loved one.”
Huang Yaoshi said, “She marries her ideal man and forgets about the suffering and bitterness of others? My precious daughter only listens to her husband, ha-ha, ‘obey the husband when married’, that really is something!” He laughed loudly after he said this and turned around and left the room, in a flash his laughter could be heard tens of feet away, he really moved like a divine dragon leaving no trace.
Yang Guo stood there for a while stunned and then sat down and went over the two martial arts that he had just learned. Not long after, the sky became bright. He saw the door open, Cheng Ying had entered with blue green cloth and a blue green gown in her hands; she gave a little smile and said, “Try this on, see whether it fits you.”
Yang Guo was extremely touched; his hands trembled slightly as he received it.
Their eyes met and he saw that Cheng Ying’s eyes were full of love and boundless tenderness. He went over to the side of the bed and tried the new gown. He felt that the gown fitted perfectly and said, “I’m… I’m… I’m really grateful.”
Cheng Ying showed another smile but immediately a depressed expression was on her face, she sighed and said, “Master has gone, I don’t know when I’ll be able to see him again.” She was about to sit down and say something when she saw a yellow image at the door that immediately disappeared. She knew it was her cousin outside and thought, “That girl has too many thoughts, it’s not appropriate for me to stay in his room for too long.” She stood up and slowly walked out.
He carefully studied the gown and noticed that the stitching was careful and tight, he thought, “She and Wifey treat me the same but my heart belongs to someone else, I can’t love any others. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll be giving those two a lot of grief.” He thought about this for half a day. He was also afraid that when he leaves, Li Mochou would come and attack them. He went to her hut to take a look and saw that in its place was a pile of ash, Li Mochou had burned the hut and left.
The enemy had left and so that night, he wrote a parting letter by candlelight; he thought about the two girls’ love and felt depressed. He saw that his letter wasn’t worded with great aptitude and his handwriting was poor; he was afraid that Cheng Ying would laugh and so ripped the letter up. That night he tossed and turned in his bed as he tried to sleep.
In his blurry state, he suddenly heard Lu Wushuang tapping his door and calling out, “Sha Dan, Sha Dan! Quickly come and take a look.” Her voice sounded rather anxious and afraid.
Yang Guo got up, dressed himself, and opened the door; he felt a slightly chilly breeze and the sky wasn’t bright yet.
Lu Wushuang’s face was filled with fear and pointed at the outside of the door. Yang Guo followed her hand and was shocked; there were four blood red handprints on the door. Li Mochou must have come over to survey the group and found that Huang Yaoshi had left; the four prints were left to tell them that she was going to kill the four of them.
Cheng Ying came out after them and asked, “When did you see this?”
Lu Wushuang said, “Before the sky started to get bright.” Once she said this, her face went red. She was longing for Yang Guo and had paced back and forth below his window.
Cheng Ying pretended that she didn’t know and said, “Luckily you didn’t bump into her. The sun has begun to rise, that witch won’t come again today. We’ve still got time to plan.” The three of them returned to Yang Guo’s room and discussed what to do about the situation.
Lu Wushuang said, “She had a taste of Sha Gu’s kung fu the other day, how come she’s not afraid of her?”
Cheng Ying said, “Apprentice sister’s fork technique only has a few stances. She went away and thought about it carefully and must have come up with a way to neutralize it.”
Lu Wushuang said, “However, Sha Dan has recovered from his injury; with the two Sha people together, won’t their power be great?”
Yang Guo laughed and said, “With Sha Dan plus a Sha Gu, you’ve got dumb and dumber, what power?”
The three of them continued their discussion for a while but couldn’t come up with any great plan. They thought about the four of them fighting together; they won’t be able to beat her but could protect themselves. They decided on fighting her with all their might when she came again the next day.
Yang Guo said, “The two Sha people will join up and fight her from the front, you two attack from the sides. Let’s go find Sha Gu and practice our plan.”
The three of them called for Sha Gu but there was no reply. They didn’t know where she was and the three of them began to worry. The three of them split up to search for her.
Cheng Ying searched for a little while and suddenly saw Sha Gu lying on a pile of rocks, her breathing was weak. Cheng Ying was alarmed and quickly took off her clothes to take a look; she saw that there was a red palm print on her back; she had fallen victim to Li Mochou’s “Divine Five Poison Palm”. Cheng Ying quickly called for Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang and then fed a ‘Nine Flower Jade Dew’ pill to her.
Yang Guo remembered the method to cure this palm from the ‘Five Poison Codex’ and quickly circulated his internal energy and controlled her pressure points.