As he dodged, Liang Ziwong thought, “This person lives in this dark cave but acts as though she is dwelling in a bright and sunny place. She was able to accurately find my vital point, how can she not be a witch or a demon?”
Realizing the critical situation he was in, he executed a half somersault to avoid the attack, and sent out a backward palm in an effort to shake her off. His palm was ten times stronger than before, and he thought that this asthmatic sounding person definitely would not have the internal energy to resist. Then he suddenly heard a loud cry as he felt the enemy's arm heading violently towards him, the fingertips already making contact with his shoulder. Liang Ziwong's left hand felt the opponent's ice-cold wrist, her body, appearing as though it was not made of flesh and bone, once more tried to attack. He immediately rolled away and rushed out using his hands and feet to crawl out of the tunnel. Panting heavily he thought, “I have lived for dozens of years but I have never encountered such a strange event! I don't even know if she is a woman or a ghost! I must inform the prince of this matter.” He hastily ran back to the Fragrant Snow Hall. On the way, he thought: “I don’t know if that creature is a woman ghost or female demon, but now that the boy has fallen into her hands, she will naturally suck all that precious blood from his body.” He sighed and thought, “Due to a strange combination of circumstances I met that thieving boy. Then, after raising the snake and refining its blood, I had to run into that female ghost. I nearly lost my life in both encounters. Could the fabrication of the pill of longevity really be against the will of Heaven and envied by ghosts and deities, so that I would fail on the verge of success?”
When Guo Jing heard him moving farther and farther away, he felt greatly relieved and fell on his knees, kowtowing to the woman as he said, “Junior politely thanks old senior for saving his life.”
The woman had been able to match Liang Ziwong's moves earlier, but now she was exhausted, causing her injury to act up. She coughed and wheezed as she said, “Why did the old Monster want to kill you?”
Guo Jing, “Taoist Elder Wang was injured and needed medicine to treat his injuries. The disciple then came to the palace to...” Suddenly, he thought, “This person lives in the Zhao Palace compound, how do I know she's not in league with Wanyan Honglie?” He stopped talking immediately.
The woman said, “Mmm, so you have stolen the old Monster's medicine. I have heard that he is very knowledgeable in the research of medicines and their properties, so you must have stolen a miraculous pill or a marvelous drug.”
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Guo Jing, “I took some of his medicine to treat an internal injury, but he was so angry he wanted to kill me. Is the old senior injured? Disciple has several medicines, four samples of ‘pseudo ginseng’,
‘dragons blood’, ‘bear's gall’, and ‘myrrh’. Taoist Elder Wang does not have to use all of it, if old senior...”
The woman angrily said, “Whether I'm injured or not, what concern is it of yours?”
At this juncture, Guo Jing could only say hastily, “Yes, yes.” But after only a moment, he heard her gasping for breath and could not restrain himself from saying again, “If old senior cannot walk, junior offers to carry you out of here.”
The woman scolded, “Who is old? Who are you to say that someone is old?”
Guo Jing no longer dared to utter a sound, thinking that she did not want to leave. However, he had always been unable to stay content with half answers, so even though he knew that he ought to keep his silence he once again asked, “Whatever you want, I can go get it for you.”
The woman laughed coldly and said, “You are as nosy as a woman but your heart is good.” She stretched out her left hand to pull on his shoulders. Guo Jing felt his shoulder snap and the sharp pain that followed, but he was able to keep himself from falling on top of her. He suddenly felt an icy coldness as the woman's arm wound around his neck. Then he heard her bark the order, “Carry me to the exit.”
Guo Jing thought, “That’s what I offered in the first place!” Thereupon, he bent at the waist and slowly made his way out of the tunnel.
The woman said, “I am compelling you to carry me on your back. I won't owe anyone any favors.”
It was then that Guo Jing understood that this woman was very arrogant and was unwilling to receive any kindness from her juniors. As he walked out, he raised his head and saw the stars in the sky. He could not help letting out a sigh as he thought; “Only a moment ago, I was saved from death when I fell into this black hole and there was someone waiting to help me. If I told Rong’er about this, even she would not believe it. He was used to climbing cliffs with Ma Yu and even though that hole was like a deep well, he was actually able to climb up effortlessly.
As soon as they exited the hole, the woman asked, “Who taught you your lightness kung fu? Tell me quickly!” Her arm suddenly tightened, compressing Guo Jing's throat so he was gasping for breath. Alarmed, he hastily circulated his internal energy to resist. The woman was intentionally trying to test his skill by tightening her grip, but she paused before gradually relaxing.
She loudly exclaimed, “Surprise, the peasant boy knows the internal energy skills of the Taoist orthodox school. You said that Taoist Elder Wang was injured, by what name is this Taoist priest called?”
Guo Jing thought, “You have rescued me, so whatever you ask, I will answer you truthfully. To do otherwise would be barbaric!” He immediately replied, “Taoist Elder Wang is Wang Chuyi, but others call him the ‘Jade Sun’.”
Suddenly, he felt the woman on his back begin to shake and heard her breathe out heavily, “You are a Quanzhen Sect disciple? That...that is very good.” As soon as she said this, she could not contain her delight and she went on to ask, “Who is Wang Chuyi to you? Why do you call him ‘Taoist Eagle Shooting Hero
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Elder’? Why not Shifu [master], Shi Zi (martial uncle younger than a persons Shifu], or Shi Bo (martial uncle older than a persons Shifu)?”
Guo Jing, “I am not a Quanzhen Sect disciple, but ‘Scarlet Sun’ Ma Yu taught me his breathing techniques.”
The woman said, “Mmm, so you studied the internal energy methods of the Quanzhen. That is good.” After a moment, she asked, “Who then is your Shifu?”
Guo Jing replied, “Disciple has seven teachers, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. First Shifu is called
‘Soaring Through the Heavens Bat’ and is surnamed Ke."
The woman began coughing violently, the sound bitter and sour as she said, “That is Ke Zhen’E!”
Guo Jing, “Yes.”
The woman said, “You come from Mongolia?”
Guo Jing said, “Yes.” But in his heart, he wondered, “How did she know I come from Mongolia?”
The woman said slowly, “Your name is Yang Kang, is it not?” Her tone of voice changed from gloomy to angry.
Guo Jing said, “No. Disciple is surnamed Guo.”
The woman hesitated for a moment before saying, “You sit on the ground.”
Guo Jing did what he was told and sat down. The woman then reached inside her bosom to fish out an object which she placed on the ground. This object was wrapped in a piece of cloth. When she revealed the thing, the star light shone on it, showing a dazzling and impressive looking dagger handle. Guo Jing thought it looked familiar and so he took a closer look; the dagger continued to shine brightly and on its handle were engraved the two characters ‘Yang Kang’. It was indeed the knife he’d used to kill ‘Copper Corpse’ Chen Xuanfeng. The year that Guo Xiaotian and Yang Tiexin met ‘Eternal Spring’ Qiu Chuji, he gave them daggers as presents. Both made the promise that if their wives gave birth to sons, the sons would become sworn brothers and if two daughters, they would become sworn sisters. However, if they are of different genders, then they would become husband and wife. The two fathers then exchanged their daggers as a token of their faith.
This was the reason why the dagger with the inscription ‘Yang Kang’ ended up in Guo Jing's hands.
When he was younger, he did not know what the two characters ‘Yang Kang’ meant but the shape of the dagger was enough for him to recognize it. He thought, “Yang Kang…Yang Kang?” But he did not remember that this name had been spoken by the princess only minutes ago.
While he was hesitating, the woman clamped his hand to prevent him grabbing the dagger as she shouted, “You recognize this dagger, do you not?” If Guo Jing was more quick-witted and heard how sad and shrill her voice sounded, he would have felt compelled to turn his head and look at her.
Instead, he thought only of the other's kindness in saving his life, “This person saved my life.
Certainly, that means she is a good person.” Therefore, he was not the least bit suspicious as he immediately replied, “Ah, yes! When I was young, I once used this dagger to kill an evil man. That evil man suddenly disappeared, along with the precious dagger ...”
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As he spoke, he felt the arm around his neck tighten suddenly, strangling him. In the midst of danger, he bent his arm and pushed it backwards but his wrist was held by that woman's outstretched left hand. The woman later relaxed her right arm, allowing her body to drop so that she was sitting on the ground as she shouted, “Who do you think I am?”