Yin Zhiping assumed the offensive position immediately and to his surprise he found the opponent’s saber power to be quite strong. He realized he had recklessly underestimated his opponent when his left arm was almost chopped off. His heart quivered and he hastily concentrated his attention on facing the attack and responding accordingly. Utilizing his school’s special skill of calming his mind and spirit, he used slow steps with quick hand movements. Only by doing this did he gradually gain the upper hand.
For the past several months, Lu Guanying had received his father’s instructions so he’d progressed by leaps and bounds. but the length of his training was too short for him to be compared to Yin Zhiping who was the main disciple of Qiu Chuji.
Huang Rong watched this fight through the small mirror. She saw Yin Zhiping gradually take the lead and she cursed in her heart. “This ‘xiao za mao’ [lit. small mixed-up hair – a derogatory term for Taoist priest] was disparaging my father. If Jing ge ge was not injured, I would certainly teach you some lessons about the heretical Peach Blossom Island martial arts. Aiyo! This is not good!”
She saw Lu Guanying’s saber strike with a familiar stance which Yin Zhiping intercepted and diverted with his whisk. Then he twisted his hand and his finger moved with exceptional speed towards the crook of Lu Guanying’s elbow. Lu Guanying felt his arm go numb and his saber fell to the floor. Without showing any mercy, Yin Zhiping swept his whisk towards Lu Guanying’s face while loudly shouting, “This is the Quanzhen Sect’s martial arts…remember it well!” His whisk was made of horse’s tail mixed with strands of silver. Should Lu Guanying’s face get hit, it would certainly be slashed with countless cuts.
Lu Guanying understood the danger and quickly ducked. The whisk followed by sweeping downward. Suddenly a tender voice shouted, “Older Martial Brother Yin!” Miss Cheng thrust her sword to block the whisk. Lu Guanying took that opportunity to leap back and pick up his saber from the floor.
Yin Zhiping laughed coldly, “Good! Younger Martial Sister Cheng…you are helping an outsider.
Come! You two lovers can fight me together.”
“You … you …” Miss Cheng stammered.
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‘Swish! Swish! Swish!’ Yin Zhiping swept his fly-whisk three times, forcing her to move her hands and feet in an uncoordinated manner. Lu Guanying saw her precarious situation, so he raised his saber and joined the two against one fight. Miss Cheng did not want to fight her martial brother, so she jumped back.
“Come!” Yin Zhiping said, “He cannot fight me alone. In a while you will come and help again him anyway.”
Huang Rong watched these three people fighting each other with amusement. Just as she was wondering how this matter could be resolved, she suddenly heard some noises from the door. She saw Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian, along with Wanyan Honglie, Yang Kang, and the others coming in together.
They had been waiting for Hou Tonghai for a long time and he had not come back. Sha Tongtian was concerned for his martial brother. Gathering his courage, he quietly came over to take a look.
He saw two people fighting inside the inn and noticed their martial arts skills were only average. He waited for a long time but could not see anybody else. He was afraid to go in alone, so he went back, gathered the others, and brought them back to the inn.
Yin and Lu saw these people come in so they leaped back and stopped fighting. They asked these newcomers for their names, but Sha Tongtian only stepped forward with arms open and grabbed both men’s wrists. Meanwhile, Peng Lianhu stooped down and untied Hou Tonghai’s hands.
Hou Tonghai had been suffering for nearly half a day and was really angry. Without taking the cloth from his mouth, he roared and threw himself at Miss Cheng, attacking her with his palms. Miss Cheng evaded by moving backward in a circle. Hou Tonghai’s face was purple from the bruising he’d received and his fists went straight, up and down, as he fiercely attacked Miss Cheng.
“Hold on!” Peng Lianhu repeatedly said. “Let’s talk first.” But since Hou Tonghai’s mouth and ears were stopped with cloth, how could he have heard anything?
The acupoint on Lu Guanying’s wrist was grabbed by Sha Tongtian. He felt half his body go numb and he could not move. Seeing Miss Cheng in danger and Hou Tonghai acting like a mad tiger, he struggled hard and without knowing where the strength came from, shook loose from Sha Tongtian’s grip. Then he fiercely threw himself towards Hou Tonghai.
Before he reached his target, Peng Lianhu swept his leg and sent him tumbling down and immediately pounced on him. He grabbed Lu Guanying by the back of his neck and lifted him up.
“Who are you?” he asked. “Where is that fellow who played the ghost?”
Suddenly, the door creaked and opened slowly. Everyone turned their heads at once, but nobody came in. Peng Lianhu and the others could not help but feel shivers of fear in their hearts. Just as suddenly, a female head with disheveled hair was at the door. Liang Ziweng and Lingzhi Shangren jumped up in fright and even shouted, “This is not good…a female ghost!”
Peng Lianhu could see that she was just an ordinary country girl. “Come in!” he shouted.
Sha Gu walked in with a giggle and, while sticking out her tongue, she said, “Wah, so many people!”
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Liang Ziweng was the one who shouted, “Female Ghost!” earlier and now he could see that she was just a poor peasant girl with tattered clothes and a silly demeanor. Filled with shame, he became angry. He jumped forward and shouted, “Who are you?” Stretching out his hand, he grabbed her arm. Who would have thought that Sha Gu would withdrew her arm, flip her hand, then her palm struck with the Peach Blossom Island’s ‘Jade-Green Wave Palm technique’ [bi bo zhang fa]?
Although her skill was unrefined, the stance was subtle and wonderful to see. Liang Ziweng did not defend against her counterattack at all. ‘Slap!’ Sha Gu’s palm hit the back of his hand hard.
Liang Ziweng was stunned and angry at the same time. “Good!” he called out. “You are only playing dumb!” He rushed forward with both fists raised. Just as Sha Gu stepped back to evade, she suddenly pointed towards his shiny bald head and burst out laughing. This laughter caught everyone by surprise. Liang Ziweng was stunned and stopped dead in his tracks for a few seconds…then he ferociously resumed his attack. Sha Gu raised her hands to block, but staggered back. She knew she was not his match, so she turned around and tried to run away, but Liang Ziweng would not let her escape. He stretched his left leg to block her, while his elbow struck backwards, followed by his fist. Sha Gu’s nose was hit hard and she felt her head spinning. She cried out, “Sister who eats watermelons, come out quickly! Help me! Somebody is hitting me!”
Huang Rong was startled and thought, “My not killing this dumb girl was a big mistake. She is bound to bring us disaster.” Suddenly she heard a soft ‘humph’ sound. It was so soft, almost inaudible, but Huang Rong’s heart jumped with delight. “Father is here!” she thought. Quickly she looked through the small hole and saw Huang Yaoshi wearing a human-skin mask, standing on the doorstep. Nobody saw him come and it seemed as if he had just arrived…but it also seemed as if he had been there before anybody else came. He stood motionless like a piece of wood, without showing the least bit of emotion on his face. Anyone who saw him could not help but shudder. He did not have a green face nor did he have fierce teeth and he did not even look loathsome or ugly, but in all honesty, nobody could say that his face belonged to a living person.
Sha Gu had only exchanged three stances with Liang Ziweng but Huang Yaoshi could immediately tell that she was using the martial arts of his school. With a head full of questions he asked, “Miss, who is your master? Where is he?”
Sha Gu simply shook her head and stared at him blankly. She suddenly clapped her hands and laughed. Huang Yaoshi frowned and he knew she must have had some relations with his disciples.
If not their disciple, then she must be of their family or a relative. He was very fond of and tended to be over-protective towards his disciples. In no way would he allow anybody to bully them. Mei Chaofeng was a renegade disciple of his and she had committed a great crime against her master.
Yet when she was defeated by Guo Jing, Huang Yaoshi would still help her, much less Sha Gu, who was a naïve and child-like young girl. Therefore he said, “Dumb kid…others hit you, why don’t you hit back?”
That day on the boat, when Huang Yaoshi was looking for his daughter, he did not wear a mask, so his appearance was not the same as today and nobody recognized him, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Wanyan Honglie, Yang Kang and Peng Lianhu, remembered his voice and tentatively guessed his identity. Peng Lianhu knew this evil man must not have good things in mind and also guessed that the ghost in the Imperial Palace last night might be this man. He knew there was no way he could fight him, so while there was the opportunity, he was thinking of launching his thirty-sixth stratagem, namely…running away.
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Sha Gu said, “I can’t hit him!”