These words angered Lake Tai’s Mo Li Peak’s chief, the section leader, ‘Golden Rock’ who shouted, “Bastard, I am going to beat you!” With that, he rushed into the study, stretched out both fists and using the stance ‘Sounds of the Striking Bells’ aimed towards Wanyan Kang’s Taiyang accupoint. Wanyan Kang gently shifted his body and flipped his left palm to grab hold of the back of his opponent’s robe before swinging him out of the door.
Lu Guanying, having seen Wanyan Kang’s vicious strokes, was secretly alarmed. He knew that none of the section heads were his match and yelled, “Excellent skills, let me exchange a few stances with you. Let’s go out into the yard.” Lu Guanying knew that his opponent was strong and was afraid that if they fought in the study, one of them would accidentally harm his father and his guests, since none of them knew how to fight.
Wanyan Kang answered, “It’s the same wherever we fight, why not just stay here? Please display your stance section leader!” Actually, his words were hinting at another meaning. What Wanyan Kang was actually thinking in his heart was, “I only have to use a few stances to defeat you, why bother changing the place of the fight?”
Lu Guanying, seething, said, “Alright, since you are the guest, please start first.”
Wanyan Kang relaxed his right palm and used his left palm to attack Lu Guanying’s chest. His first stance already used the ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claw’, and was intended to injure his opponent immediately.
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Lu Guanying mentally scolded, “Arrogant fellow, let me show you what I am capable of.” He sucked in his chest subtly but did not retreat. Instead, he used his right fist to attack his opponent’s moving elbow, while two of his left fingers pointed towards Wanyan Kang’s face, with the intention of piercing his eyes. Wanyan Kang saw that his stances were swift and was a little nervous. He secretly thought to himself, “Who would have thought there would be such a skilled fighter in this out of the way place?” With that, he hurriedly retreated half a step, flipped his wrist and aimed at Lu’s arms. Lu Guanying twisted to his left and put both hands together in the form of a pouch with the thumb and index finger of one hand facing those of his other hand. The move was none other than ‘Holding the Moon Against One’s Chest’. Wanyan Kang knew that his opponent was strong and did not dare underestimate him any longer. He became serious and displayed the Quanzhen fist techniques which Qiu Chuji had taught him. Lu Guanying was the favorite pupil of Honorable Kumo of the Yun Qi monastery. He learned the fist techniques of the Xian Xia School, which was affiliated with the Shaolin monastery in the hills of Henan. Therefore, the skills Lu Guanying learned were orthodox; he was cautious of his opponent and used different skills to counter whatever his opponent used. He knew that Wanyan Kang’s claw techniques were superior and thus made sure that he didn’t let Wanyan Kang’s fingers touch his body. When he saw the chance to attack Wanyan Kang, he used his legs. His teacher had taught him, “Use your fists thirty percent and your legs seventy percent. Your hands are just like fans; concentrate on using your kicks.”
Lu Guanying learned skills that did not belong to his family and his kicking techniques were excellent. The longer the two fought, the faster their stances became and they looked like two dancing shadows sparring with each other in the study. Guo Jing and Huang Rong did not want Wanyan Kang to recognize them and retreated to the side of a bookshelf and secretly observed the fight. Wanyan Kang was getting agitated the longer he fought and secretly thought to himself, “If this goes on, even if I can defeat him this round, there will still be others wanting to spar with me.
By that time, how will I have any energy left for fighting?”
His skills were actually much superior to Lu Guanying’s; but because he had nearly drowned and swallowed so much water he’d lost quite a bit of energy and his body was exhausted. Furthermore, it was the first time he’d been trapped in this sort of situation and was somewhat nervous and therefore allowed Lu Guanying to gain the upper hand for more than ten stances. He forced himself to concentrate and put more force into his attacks. A cracking sound was heard as Lu Guanying’s shoulder was injured by Wanyan Kang’s fist. Lu Guanying stumbled and retreated backwards. He saw that his opponent was using this chance to attack further and leaped up, kicking his right leg forward towards Wanyan Kang’s chest. The stance, called ‘Bosom Kick’ is a very swift and powerful one which Lu Guanying had practiced since young. He had tied himself to a rope so as to develop his speed since the stance emphasizes the swiftness of the kick such that the opponent is caught by surprise and cannot defend himself in time.
Wanyan Kang felt a pain in his chest and he twirled his right hand jabbing his fingers into Lu Guanying’s calf. He used his left palm and thrust towards Lu Guanying’s calf while yelling,
“Down!”
Lu Guanying was actually standing on one foot but after that strong push by Wanyan Kang, he lost his balance and fell backwards towards his father. Master Lu stretched out his left arm and caught Lu Guanying before gently placing him on the floor. When he saw the blood that flowed from his son’s leg he was shocked and furious. Master Lu shouted, “How are you connected to the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’?”
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Everyone was surprised when Master Lu intervened. Wanyan Kang and the various section leaders were unaware that Master Lu knew martial arts; even his son, Lu Guanying did not know it.
Everyone thought that because Master Lu was crippled, it was natural that he would not know martial arts and could not fight. Even since he was young, Lu Guanying never asked about or probed into his father’s affairs. Who would have expected that that move which Master Lu displayed to save his son would be steady and strong? Huang Rong had seen the iron ‘Eight Trigrams’ on the study’s lintel last night and had pointed it out to Guo Jing. They were the only ones who did not seem that surprised.
When Wanyan Kang heard Master Lu ask about the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’, he froze for a moment before answering. “What are the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’?” Although Mei Chaofeng had taught him martial arts, she never told him about her past and Wanyan Kang did not even know her name. It was therefore understandable that he did not know anything about the
‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’.
Master Lu was furious and shouted, “Who are you bluffing? Who taught you the deadly ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’?”
Wanyan Kang replied, “I have no time to listen to more of your nonsense, good bye!” With that, he turned and headed towards the door.
The various section leaders were furious and took up their weapons, ready to guard the doorway.
Wanyan Kang turned towards Lu Guanying and laughed coldly, “Didn’t you give your word just now?”
Lu Guanying was pale and waved his arm saying, “Heroes of the lake keep to their promises; brothers, let him go. Brother Zhang, please lead him out.”
The section leaders were all unwilling to do so but since the Junior Master had given orders, they could not oppose him. Leader Zhang said, “Follow me then. I bet a rascal like you would not be able to find the way out yourself.”
Wanyan Kang said, “Where are my men?”
Lu Guanying replied, “We let them all go.”
Wanyan Kang pointed to him and said, “Good, you are a man of your word. As for the rest of you leaders…until we meet again.” He said rudely and arrogantly.
Just as he was about to leave the room, Master Lu suddenly called out, “Hold it! This Elder here is untalented but would like to have a taste of your ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claws’.”
Wanyan Kang stopped in his tracks and laughed, “Alright!”
Lu Guanying hurriedly said, “Father, you should not deal with this rascal at your age.”
Master Lu replied, “Don’t worry, his ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claw’ is not up to standard yet.” He stared at Wanyan Kang and said weakly, “I am crippled and am unable to move, come here.”
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Wanyan Kang laughed but did not move. Lu Guanying’s leg wounds were hurting but he did not want his father to fight with Wanyan Kang and leaped out of the door shouting, “I will represent my father to exchange a few blows with you.” Wanyan Kang laughed and said, “Good! Let’s practice again.”
Master Lu shouted, “Ying’er move away!” With that, he leaped up, his left arm gripped the couch he was sitting on and he used his left arm’s strength to support the weight of his body. His right palm lashed out towards Wanyan Kang’s head. At the sound of the crowd’s anxious gasps, Wanyan Kang raised his hands to counter the blow but felt his left wrist trapped. He’d seen the swift shadow of his opponent’s palm which was heading towards his shoulder, but Wanyan Kang did not expect his opponent’s seizing stance to be so fast and unique. He hurriedly used his right hand to strike back while struggling to free his left hand from his opponent’s grasp. Master Lu shifted his weight onto Wanyan Kang’s wrist and was able to float in midair. His left palm unleashed several killer strikes while Wanyan Kang used all his strength to escape his grip; but to no avail. He tried to unleash a flying kick towards Master Lu but missed. The crowd was delighted as they watched the ongoing fight. Master Lu raised his palm, ready to unleash a strike onto Wanyan Kang when the latter stuck out his fingers and aimed towards Master Lu’s palm. Master Lu suddenly lowered his palm and struck Wanyan Kang’s shoulder accupoint. Wanyan Kang felt his upper body going numb and following that, his right wrist was also seized by Master Lu. Two sounds were heard before Wanyan Kang’s wrists were released. Master Lu’s stance was very quick as he used his right hand to push against Wanyan Kang’s waist while his left hand pushed against Wanyan Kang’s shoulder, thus borrowing Wanyan Kang’s strength to leap back steadily onto his couch. Wanyan Kang felt both legs giving way and he collapsed. The section leaders were stunned and it was only after a moment’s silence that they started to cheer.