Peng Lianhu knew that if she landed her strike on his ‘Corner Pool’ accupoint then his whole arm would become numb and useless, so he was suddenly forced to change his strike to avoid her counter strike. He was shocked that not only did this very young lady have outstanding skills and speed, but she also knew accupoint kung fu. Although he had seen many types of kung fu in his time, he had never seen this ‘Orchid Touch’ accupoint style before.
The ‘Orchid’ style relies upon speed, accuracy, surprise and purity. Of these, purity was the most important. It requires graceful execution and an easy, relaxed manner to execute properly, as if the person using it had not a care in the world. If it was executed with too much urgency or viciousness then it would lose its advantage in a fight.
As Huang Rong executed the ‘Orchid’ style everyone else watched in astonishment. Peng Lianhu laughed, “Little girl, what is your good name please? Who is your honorable master?”
Huang Rong smiled and replied, “This sprig of plum blossoms is quite pretty is it not? I must go and put it into a vase!” She didn't answer Peng Lianhu at all. Everyone else looked at her suspiciously wondering where on earth she came from.
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Hou Tonghai said sternly, “Elder Peng asked your name. What's the matter, didn't you hear?”
Huang Rong asked innocently, “He asked something?”
Peng Lianhu had actually seen Huang Rong earlier in the day, in disguise, making fun of Hou Tonghai; seeing her here now, acting so impertinently, he suddenly thought, “That filthy beggar boy was actually you in disguise!” Suppressing a laugh he said, “Old Hou, don't you recognize who that girl is?”
Hou Tonghai was shocked. He looked Huang Rong over a couple of times while Peng Lianhu said,
“You were chasing someone around in circles all day today, how could you forget?”
Hou Tonghai looked blankly at Huang Rong until at last he recognized her, “Yeah, that filthy boy!”
When he was chasing Huang Rong, he never stopped cursing her as ‘Filthy boy’. Even though ‘he’
had now become a ‘she’ he couldn’t help but curse her as before. He raised both fists and charged at her only to grab air as Huang Rong deftly dodged aside.
The ‘Dragon King of the Demonic Group’ Sha Tongtian's body became a blur as he moved forward and clasped Huang Rong’s right wrist calling out “Where are you running to?”
Huang Rong’s left hand shot up and struck at his eyes with two fingers, but Sha Tongtian was too fast and grabbed her left wrist as well. Huang Rong struggled to free herself, but try as she might she was not able to. Instead she shouted, “Shameless!”
Sha Tongtian asked, “What’s shameless?”
“Big men bullying a girl and trying to take advantage of her!” she replied indignantly.
Sha Tongtian was surprised at this comment. He was after all a famous elder martial artist and this did appear to be a case of the strong bullying the weak. He relaxed his grip and said, “Go into the hall and we will talk.” Huang Rong saw she had no alternative but to enter the Hall.
“Before we do any talking let me cut this filthy tyke down to size first!” Hou Tonghai angrily demanded as he raised his fists to strike.
Peng Lianhu stopped him, cautioning, “First we need to find out who her Shifu is and what school she belongs to.” He could tell from her fighting style and appearance that she must be from a great school. It would be better to find out who she was before doing anything too hasty. Hou Tonghai didn't pay any attention to him and launched an attack at Huang Rong.
She stepped aside and responded, “So you really want to fight eh?”
“You're not going to get away”, Hou Tonghai retorted. He was afraid that if she did get away he would never be able to catch her again.
“If you want to have a little competition with me, that’s not a problem.” she said as she took up a full wine bowl from the table and placed it on her head. She then grabbed another full wine bowl in each hand and continued, “Do you dare to take up this challenge?”
Hou Tonghai was suspicious, “What kind of mischief is this?”
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Huang Rong looked around at the assembled guests and smiled as she said, “This big-horned uncle and I have no deep grievance. If I am able to defeat him, what happens then?”
Hou Tonghai angrily stepped forward and yelled, “You defeat me? Listen you smelly little brat, this is a carbuncle not a horn. Take a good look and stop spouting crap!”
Huang Rong didn't pay any attention to him and continued addressing the others. “Let him and I compete with three full bowls of wine each. Who ever is the first to spill a drop will be considered the loser, is that fair enough?” She had seen Liang Ziwong, Peng Lianhu and Sha Tongtian in action and knew that she would be no match for any of them in a fight. However if this three horned dragon, with more teasing, can be enticed to fight using lightness skills and quick wits she will have the advantage. If you were to compare true martial ability she may not be his equal but she thought,
“Right now my only chance is to play the fool and hope they don't find me a threat and let me go.”
Hou Tonghai yelled, “Who wants to play monkey tricks with you!” and with that he launched another fierce attack.
Huang Rong again dodged still holding the wine and laughed, “Ok! I'll hold the three bowls of wine and you can attack without any bowls. Let's compete!”
Hou Tonghai was more than twice as old as she. Although his name was not as famous as that of his martial brother Sha Tongtian, he was still a fairly respected member of the martial arts world. To receive such a taunt in front of his peers was enough to make him even angrier. Without further thought he grabbed three bowls of wine, placing one on his head and the others in his hands. He bent his left leg and sent a vicious kick towards Huang Rong with his right.
Huang Rong laughed, “Well done! This shows the talents of a true hero.” She then began to display her ‘Lightness’ qing gong by moving all around the room. Hou Tonghai launched a series of kicks at her but she was able to avoid them all. Everyone began to roar with laughter seeing such a ridiculous fight.
Huang Rong kept her upper body completely steady as she glided about the room. Lumbering behind her, taking large steps was Hou Tonghai. She began spinning as she moved, her skirt forming a circle, as she alternated between dodging and attacking. She tried to use her elbows to knock over one of Hou Tonghai's wine bowls; however he was always able to avoid her attacks.
Liang Ziwong thought to himself, “This girl's kung fu is certainly considerable; but all things considered, she is still no match for brother Hou. However who wins and who loses is of no concern to me.” His main concern was for the treasured medicinal herbs in his storeroom, so he turned and headed out the door to find the thief.
He thought, “The four medicines listed on the prescription, ‘Dragon's Blood’, ‘Pseudo Ginseng’,
‘Bear Gallbladder’ and ‘Myrrh’ are the same as those the Prince ordered to be bought up. Those herbs are nothing special and not very expensive, so their loss is minimal; but what does concern me is what else he may have taken while he was in there.
o0o
Guo Jing was beginning to lose consciousness as the snake squeezed tighter and tighter. From the smell and the feel of the snake's breath on his face he knew its head must be getting closer. If the 254
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snake was able to bite him he would surely die. The snake’s body was already brushing against his mouth. His body was immobile, held fast in the snake’s deadly vice-like grip. His left hand, which was desperately trying to hold back the snake, was growing weaker. The only thing that he could move was his head and mouth; so he opened his mouth and bit hard into the snake’s neck.
The snake began to writhe and squeeze even tighter as it felt pain from Guo Jing’s teeth. Guo Jing felt a gush of snake blood flow into his mouth. It tasted extremely bitter and was hard to bear. He didn't know if it was poisonous or not but he was too afraid to let go and spit it out. He feared that he might not get a second chance to bite the snake again so he had no option but to swallow. He also thought that the more blood the snake lost the more strength it would also lose and would eventually loosen its grip. He redoubled his efforts to suck out the snake’s blood and continued to swallow. After continuing this for a while his stomach became full and the snake did gradually begin to loosen its grip. Finally, after a few spasms, the snake loosened its grip entirely and moved no more.
Guo Jing was by now exhausted and had to lean heavily against the table to remain upright. His first thought was to flee; however both his legs were still numb from the lack of blood flow so he was forced to wait for the circulation to reach all of his limbs again. After a few minutes he felt his body getting hotter as if he was burning up. He was very worried but after a short while he found that he could move again. However the feeling of extreme heat still coursed through his body. When he pressed the back of his hand against his cheek it felt burning hot.
The packets of medicine were still safely in his coat. “Now that I have the medicine I can help Wang Chuyi. Mu Yi and his daughter, though innocent of any wrong doing, were locked up by Wanyan Kang and are likely to be killed. I must help them escape before I leave.” With this thought he left the storeroom and, after looking for the right direction, headed off to the prison where Mu Yi and his daughter were being held.