Eagle Shooting Hero 2(8)
Hong Qigong said, “The Old Poison raises snakes for a living; this set of the ‘Snake’s Flexible Skin’ [ruan pi she] fists technique must be developed from the movements of venomous snakes’. It was brilliant. The old beggar has not been able to devise a method to overcome it. Just consider yourself lucky. Now, get out of my way!”
Ouyang Ke’s heart turned cold. “Uncle warned me a thousand times not to use this ‘Spirit Snake Fist’ [ling she quan] unless in an extremely dangerous situation. Today I have let the old beggar see it. If my uncle finds out, I will be in big trouble.” His self-satisfaction disappeared almost immediately. He bowed toward Hong Qigong and walked out the temple.
“Hold on a second! I have something to say,” Huang Rong called out. Ouyang Ke halted his steps; his heart beat faster. But Huang Rong did not pay any attention to him. She turned toward Hong Qigong and bowed respectfully. “Qigong,” she said. “You have to accept two disciples today. Good things come in pairs; you have accepted a male disciple, now you must accept a female one.
Otherwise I won’t let you off easily.”
Hong Qigong shook his head. “I have already made an exception by accepting one disciple,” he smiled. “The old beggar doesn’t want to talk about it. Moreover, your father is also highly skilled in martial arts, how could he let you take the old beggar as your master?”
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Huang Rong pretended to be suddenly enlightened. “So, you are afraid of my father!” she exclaimed. Hong Qigong was provoked, but he was actually very fond of her. “Me? Afraid of your father?” he said with a straight face. “All right, I’ll take you as my disciple. I want to see if Old Heretic Huang will eat me alive.”
Huang Rong smiled. “You’ve said it, you can’t take it back,” she said. “You know, my father oftentimes remarked that after Wang Chongyang died, amongst the martial experts in this world, only you and he were the two people that counted. The Southern Emperor and the rest of them are not even in his books. I am sure father will love that I take you as my master. Master, how does a beggar catch a snake? Please teach me this skill first.”
Hong Qigong was not sure he knew her intentions, but he did know the young girl was smart. She must have had some clever trick up her sleeve. So he explained simply, “Grab the snake seven inches from its head. Use your two fingers like a pair of tongs. As long as you pinch the snake at seven inches, no matter how venomous the snake is, it won’t be able to move.”
“What if the snake is very big?” Huang Rong asked.
“Lure it to bite your left hand, then, use your right hand to hit it at seven inches,” Hong Qigong answered.
“Do you have to be extremely quick?” Huang Rong asked again.
“Of course,” Hong Qigong replied. “You have to put some ointment on your left hand, so even if it gets bitten by the snake you won’t get hurt.”
Huang Rong nodded. She winked at Hong Qigong and asked, “Master, please apply the ointment to my hand.”
Catching snakes was the Beggar Clan’s specialty. Hong Qigong had never used any ointment or antidote; he would simply beat the snake with his stick. But, seeing Huang Rong’s meaningful glance, he took the scarlet gourd from his back, which actually contained some wine, and applied the wine to both of Huang Rong’s palms.
Huang Rong sniffed her palms, made a face, and said to Ouyang Ke, “Hey, I am now a world famous beggar, the Old Hero Hong’s disciple. I am asking for a lesson on the ‘Snake’s Flexible Skin’ from you. But I must warn you that my hands are full of the antidote to your poison, so you must be careful.”
“Having a match with you is exactly what I hoped for,” Ouyang Ke thought. “I don’t care what witchcraft is on your hands, as long as I don’t touch them.” So he smiled brightly and said, “I am willing to die by your hands.”
Huang Rong said, “Your other martial arts are so sloppy and ordinary, I only want to fight your stinky snake moves. If you use any other martial arts, you lose.”
“Whatever Miss says, I wouldn’t dare to disobey,” Ouyang Ke said.
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Huang Rong laughed. “I can’t believe a bastard like you would have a very sweet mouth,” she said.
“Watch out!” As soon as she finished speaking her fist came flying with Hong Qigong’s
‘Wandering Strides’ technique.
Ouyang Ke let the fist pass to his side. Huang Rong followed with her left leg kicking horizontally, while her right hand formed a hook. It was a stance from the ‘Peach Blossom Divine Sword Palm’, her own family heritage. Unfortunately Huang Rong was still too young and the time she spent on training was limited; however, this time her purpose was a victory, so she used whatever kungfu she knew, regardless of who passed it on to her.
Ouyang Ke saw the exquisiteness of her moves; he did not dare to be careless. His right arm extended and suddenly curved back to hit her shoulder. This move from the ‘Spirit Snake Fist’ was swift. His hand almost touched Huang Rong’s body when he suddenly remembered that she was wearing the soft hedgehog armor. Had he proceeded, wouldn’t his fist be dripping with blood?
Huang Rong quickly dodged and sent both her palms whishing toward an opening on his face.
Ouyang Ke brushed his sleeve and parried her palms.
Huang Rong’s body was protected by the soft hedgehog armor, her hands were covered with ointment; the only part unprotected was her face. Ouyang Ke was in a predicament; he was getting attacked without any chance to hit back. Even though the ‘Spirit Snake Fist’ was wonderful; he was forced to fly east and dodge west trying to elude Huang Rong’s attack, while keeping himself from touching her palms. “If I hit her face to gain victory, that would be offensive to her, and if I pull her hair, I treat her rudely; other than that I can’t think of anything else,” he thought. But he suddenly had an idea. He stepped aside and quickly tore the corner of his sleeve; ripped it into two parts and wrapped them around his hands. With protected hands he tried to grab Huang Rong’s palms.
“You lost!” Huang Rong jumped out of the arena and called out. “That’s not the ‘Stinky Snake Fist’.”
“Oh, I forgot,” Ouyang Ke said.
“Your ‘Stinky Snake Fist’ is not that special, it cannot defeat Hong Qigong’s disciple,” Huang Rong continued. “At the Zhao Palace you defeated me, but that was because you had Liang Ziweng, Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Reverend Ling Zhi, and also that wart-headed Hou Tonghai at your side. I was overwhelmed by sheer numbers; also I did not want to get into trouble, so I admitted defeat. All right, now that we have defeated each other, let’s just have a match to decide victory or defeat.”
Li Sheng and the others were taken aback, they thought, “Even though this young girl’s martial arts are good, she is definitely not this man’s match. She won by using a trick. Why would she add something superfluous and ruin the victory? What else does she want to prove?”
Hong Qigong on the other hand fully realized that this girl was full of clever tricks; she must have something in mind to trick the enemy. So he simply smiled but did not say anything. He continued gnawing the chicken leftovers and ate noisily; like that chicken was the best food in the world.
“Why are you so serious?” Ouyang Ke laughed. “You’ll win or I’ll win, it doesn’t make a difference. But if you really want to play, I will accompany you.”
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“At the Zhao Palace we were surrounded by your friends. Had I won, they would surely attack me; thus I was not willing to fight you seriously,” Huang Rong said. “But now you have your friends,”
she pointed to the female disciples/concubines in white, “and I also have my friends. Although you have more friends than I do, I am not afraid. Let us fight just like we did before: you may draw a circle on the ground; we will follow the same rule; whoever steps out of the circle first, loses. I have kowtowed and taken Senior Hong as my master; I also have highly skilled martial siblings, including this young man. You do not have to tie your hands behind your back as before.”
Ouyang Ke was amused. What she said was partly funny, but also, if you thought about it, it did make sense. So he planted his left foot on the floor, and used it as the axis; while his right foot was stretched three feet away. He turned around and made a circle about six feet in diameter.
The Beggar Clan people did not like him, but seeing this they could not help but secretly praise him.
Huang Rong entered the circle and said, “Are we going to fight the ‘soft’ way [‘wen’ – literary] or
‘hard’ way [‘wu’ – military, or martial arts]?”
Ouyang Ke was baffled, “You are eccentric,” he said in his heart, but his mouth asked, “How do fight the ‘soft’ way? And how do you fight the ‘hard’ way?”
“If we fight the soft way, I attack you three times, you don’t counterattack; then you attack me three times, I won’t counterattack,” Huang Rong explained. “If we fight the hard way, we can fight each other at will. You can use your ‘Dead Snake Fist’ or ‘Live Mouse Stance’, I don’t care. Whoever steps out of the circle first, loses.”