Guo Jing did not understand; he pulled Huang Rong’s sleeve and, signaling her with his eyes, asked for an explanation. Huang Rong’s countenance was sad; she lifted her right hand and made a chopping action toward her left arm. Guo Jing finally understood, “Oh, she is going to chop off her own arms.” His mind kept wandering, “This Mei Chaofeng is really wicked, but she repented. Why is the punishment so harsh? I need to talk to Rong’er; perhaps we can ask her father to show mercy.”
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While he was still thinking, Huang Yaoshi beckoned him to come over and asked, “Your name is Guo Jing?” Guo Jing stepped forward and made an obeisance. “Disciple Guo Jing is at Senior Huang’s service.”
“You are the one who killed my disciple Chen Xuanfeng, aren’t you? Your skill must be extraordinary, eh?” Huang Yaoshi said.
Guo Jing understood his sarcasm; his heart turned cold. “I was very young and ignorant. Senior Chen seized me; I was scared and panicked. I injured him inadvertently.”
Huang Yaoshi snorted and coldly said, “Chen Xuanfeng was indeed my rebellious disciple; but it was our right to punish him. How could a disciple of Peach Blossom Island be punished by an outsider?” Guo Jing was dumbstruck.
Huang Rong quickly came to his rescue. “Father, he was only six, what did he know?” Huang Yaoshi did not like what he heard; he continued, “The old man Hong usually does not take disciples and he is very proud of his ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’; but he taught you fifteen moves, so you must have something good in you. If not, you must have sweet-talked him into teaching you.
You have defeated my disciple with his skill; next time he sees me, I bet he will boast to no end.”
“Father, the sweet talk part was indeed true,” Huang Rong said with a smile. “But it was not him, it was I. He is just a simple honest kid. Your words were too harsh, you have frightened him.”
After he lost his wife, Huang Yaoshi was very fond of his daughter. In fact, he was too lenient with her so that she became spoilt. That day he scolded her she immediately ran away from home. He thought that being a spoilt kid and after wandering Jianghu for a while Huang Rong would be destitute and in bad condition. Who would have thought that she was not thin and pale, but as tender and beautiful as ever? Then he saw her affection towards Guo Jing and how she was always trying to protect him. Secretly he was jealous because she had never shown the same affection to him. His jealousy turned to anger. He ignored his daughter and said to Guo Jing, “By teaching you the old Beggar obviously does not hold me in high regard. He let you defeat Mei Chaofeng; he thinks my disciples are a bunch of nobodies …”
Huang Rong understood that her father was upset because Mei Chaofeng was defeated by the
‘Eighteen-Dragon Subduing Palms’. She hurriedly said, “Who says Peach Blossom Island disciples are nobodies? He was lucky because Mei Shijie’s eyes are blind, what’s so special about that? If they were fighting fair and square, he would have been defeated a long time ago. Let your daughter prove it to you.” She jumped out and called to Guo Jing, “Come! Let me use the skills my Father taught me to fight Hong Qigong’s special skill.”
She knew that by this time both Guo Jing and she had improved tremendously. They were more or less equally matched. She thought that as long as they could fight fairly for about a hundred moves her father would be satisfied. Guo Jing understood her intention; besides, Huang Yaoshi did not say anything, so he agreed and said, “You are always superior to me. All right, I will let you beat me a couple more times.” And he immediately walked to Huang Rong.
“Watch out!” Huang Rong called out. Her hand swept horizontally with a gust of wind, it was the
‘Heavy Rain Fierce Wind’ stance [yu ji feng kuang] from the ‘Peach Blossom Divine Sword Palm
[tao hua shen jian zhang]. Guo Jing immediately countered using the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’. However, he was very fond of Huang Rong so did not use his full strength. Unfortunately, 440
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the ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ relied heavily on strong internal energy; in terms of palm techniques, it could not be compared to the exquisite moves of ‘Peach Blossom Divine Sword Palm’. After several moves he was hit several times by Huang Rong’s fist. Huang Rong, on the other hand, knew that Guo Jing was strong and resilient, so to appease her father she used her full strength. “Aren’t you going to admit defeat?” she called out loudly. Her mouth said those words, but her hands did not stop hitting him.
Huang Yaoshi sneered, “What kind of acrobatic show are you demonstrating?” Nobody saw him move, but suddenly he was near the two, stretching both hands to grab and throw them away.
Although the movements were similar, he only flung his daughter to the side, while his right arm threw Guo Jing at full strength. His intention was obvious; he wanted Guo Jing to hit the ground hard. However, although Guo Jing was not able to resist the throw, but he was able to turn his body in midair; when he landed, he did not fall down, but stood firmly on the ground. His face was pale and he looked about ready to throw up.
Instead of praising his skill, Huang Yaoshi’s anger flared. “I don’t have any disciples to fight you.
Come! Let me test your few stances.”
Guo Jing hastily bowed and said, “Even if I had courage as high as the sky I still would not dare to fight Senior.”
Huang Yaoshi sneered. “Humph, fight me?” He coldly said. “You are not my match, boy! Tell you what, I will stand here while you attack me with your ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’; if I even move or raise my hand to parry, you win.”
“Junior still does not dare,” Guo Jing said.
“I don’t care! Dare or not, you have to fight me!” Huang Yaoshi said.
Guo Jing did not know what to do. “I don’t have any choice; I’d better hit him several times, but I think he is going to borrow my own strength to shake me up. So what if I have to fall a few more times?” he thought.
Huang Yaoshi saw him hesitating, but his face showed his willingness to try. So he urged him,
“Quickly hit me! If not, I am going to hit you!”
“Since Senior commanded it, I would not dare to disobey,” Guo Jing said. He bent his body and moved his hand in a circling motion, launching the ‘The Proud Dragon Shows Remorse’. He was afraid he might injure Huang Yaoshi; also, he worried that if he used his full strength the counterattack would be fierce. Therefore, he used only sixty percent of his strength. His palm struck Huang Yaoshi’s chest; but to his surprise his palm slid like the chest was slick with oil. “Why, you didn’t even want to hit me,” Huang Yaoshi mocked. “Do you think I cannot take the overwhelming power of the ’Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’? Is that it?”
“Junior does not dare,” Guo Jing answered. Then he launched his second move, the ‘Leaping the Abyss’ [huo yue zai yuan]. This time he did not hold back. Exhaling, his left palm lunged toward Huang Yaoshi’s throat, his right palm swiftly moved in front of the left, going straight to Huang Yaoshi’s lower abdomen.
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“Now you are fighting,” Huang Yaoshi said. Hong Qigong had Guo Jing train this stance against a pine tree. The tree needed to be still, then Guo Jing was supposed to hit it with a sudden movement.
Only then did he manage to break the tree. He had practiced this stance thousands of times. But as soon as his palm touched Huang Yaoshi’s clothes he felt Huang Yaoshi’s abdomen shrink and his palm was sucked in; he felt pain because his wrist joint was dislocated. He immediately leaped back several feet. His hand hung limp.
The Six Freaks of Jiangnan saw that Huang Yaoshi’s body did not move, nor did he lift a hand to parry; yet he was capable of dislocating Guo Jing’s wrist. They were amazed but also worried.
“You have to receive my palm also!” Huang Yaoshi suddenly shouted, “I want to let you know which one is superior, the Old Beggar’s ‘Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms’ or my Peach Blossom Island’s martial arts.” Before he finished speaking a gust of wind had already blown toward Guo Jing. He endured his pain and jumped to avoid the attack. Unexpectedly Huang Yaoshi did not continue his palm but swept his legs instead. Guo Jing went tumbling down.
Huang Rong was alarmed. “Father, no!” she cried, and quickly jumped forward and bent down to protect him.
Huang Yaoshi did not stop; he simply changed his fist to an open palm. He grabbed his daughter’s vest and lifter her up, while his left fist went straight toward Guo Jing.
The Six Freaks of Jiangnan realized that if Guo Jing got hit, he would certainly die or at least suffer a very heavy injury. They moved at once. Quan Jinfa was the first. He struck Huang Yaoshi’s left arm with his steel balance arm. Huang Yaoshi calmly put his daughter aside; waved both hands casually and that steel balance arm changed direction; striking the long sword in the hands of Han Xiaoying. Both the balance arm and the sword broke into four pieces.
“Master … !” Lu Chengfeng called out. He wanted to ask his master to stop, but knowing his master’s temperament well, he did not dare to continue.