Guo Jing was lost in thought. Zhou Botong continued, “Some of Huang Shang’s enemies had been about forty or fifty years of age; add another forty years plus, how could they not die? Ha ... ha ... ha
... Actually he did not have to trouble himself by training his martial arts and developing new techniques; all he had to do was outlive his enemies. Forty plus years and Heaven would take care of his personal enemies for him.”
Guo Jing nodded. “Well then, should I look for Wanyan Honglie to avenge my father or not?” he wondered in his heart.
Zhou Botong again said, “However, learning martial arts diligently could bring endless pleasure to one’s life. If one did not practice martial arts, what other interesting thing is worth doing? There are endless toys and gadgets in the world, but after playing with them for a while you will get bored eventually. With martial arts, the more you play, the more interesting it becomes. Brother, don’t you agree?”
Guo Jing only made an ‘hmm’ sound noncommittally, showing neither his approval nor disapproval. He admitted that knowing martial arts could be fun; but it was also hard work. He had trained in martial arts since he was very young and he could not say the training was ‘fun’. He had to work hard and suffer, without a single day of leisure.
Zhou Botong saw he was not showing much enthusiasm, “Why didn’t you ask me what happened next?” he asked.
Guo Jing hastily said, “Right! What happened next?”
Zhou Botong was sulking, “If you don’t prompt me every now and then I will lose my eagerness for telling you the story.”
“Yes, yes, Big Brother, what happened next?” Guo Jing prompted.
“Huang Shang thought, ‘I realize I am old now and do not have too many years for good works.’ He had taken those several dozens of years of pain to master the martial arts techniques of almost every martial arts school in the world. But after all those years, who would enjoy his work? How could he let his life-long work be wasted just like that? Therefore, he decided to compile the techniques he had mastered into a two-volume book. What would that be?”
“What is it?” Guo Jing asked.
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“Ay! Don’t tell me you cannot guess this one,” Zhou Botong said.
Guo Jing thought for a moment, then asked, “Is it the ‘Nine Yin Manual’?”
“We have talked for half a day about the origin of the ‘Nine Yin Manual’; why do you still ask?”
Zhou Botong scolded.
Guo Jing smiled, “Well, Little Brother was afraid to make another incorrect guess.”
Zhou Botong continued, “After compiling the ‘Nine Yin Manual’, Huang Shang wrote it as a disguised literary book; my martial brother later found out about it. Huang Shang had hidden the book in a very secret place so that for dozens of years nobody knew of its existence. For some reason this book appeared later and the Wulin world was troubled. Everybody wanted to get hold of it. It was a dog-eat-dog situation. My martial brother said that the heroes who fought over this book and lost their lives came from all parts of the Wulin world; the number was over a hundred people.
Every time someone got hold of it and practiced for half-a-year or a year, somebody else would find that person and snatch the book. Who knows how many times the cycle repeated or how many lives it cost. The one who got it would try to avoid others, but the pursuers were so numerous and in the end they would always find that person. Sometimes they used force, sometimes trickery and I don’t know how many times the book changed hands.”
“If that’s the case, then this book is actually the most damned thing for mankind,” Guo Jing said. “If Chen Xuanfeng did not have this book he would have been able to live peacefully with Mei Chaofeng in some remote village and Island Master Huang would not have looked for him. If Mei Chaofeng did not have this book, she would not be in her wretched condition today.”
“Brother, why do you have such a negative feeling towards the book?” Zhou Botong asked. “The martial arts contained inside the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ are very profound and divinely wonderful. If someone is able to learn even a little bit of it, how could that someone’s life not be changed? Even though it has created disasters, what does that have to do with it? Didn’t I say that not everybody was dead because of it?”
“Big Brother,” Guo Jing said, “That is because you are so fascinated with martial arts.”
“That goes without saying,” Zhou Botong smiled. “Those who practice martial arts have endless pleasure. Common people are so foolish; some love to study to become government officials; some love gold or exquisite jewels; some love beautiful women; but those who find pleasure in martial arts, won’t those people be able to do much more in times of emergency?”
“Little Brother has practiced a little bit of shallow martial arts, but I have not yet learned to have any endless pleasure from it,” Guo Jing said.
Zhou Botong sighed. “Silly kid, silly kid; then why did you practice martial arts?” he asked.
“Masters wanted me to practice, I practiced,” Guo Jing replied.
Zhou Botong shook his head. “You are really dumb,” he said. “I am telling you: a man may not like the food he eats; he may not love his own life, but he cannot not practice martial arts.”
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Guo Jing replied while thinking, “This Brother of mine is really addicted to martial arts and that’s why he acts so crazy.” He said, “I noticed that the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ practiced the martial arts of the ‘Nine Yin Manual’; it was completely evil. Those absolutely cannot be practiced.”
Zhou Botong shook his head. “Those ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ did not train correctly. The
‘Nine Yin Manual’ is upright and honest, how could it be evil?”
Guo Jing had seen Mei Chaofeng’s martial arts with his own eyes, so he did not believe what he heard.
Zhou Botong asked, “Where were we in the story?”
“You talked about the heroes of the world fighting over the ‘Nine Yin Manual’,” replied Guo Jing.
“That’s right!” Zhou Botong said. “Afterwards, the troubles kept getting bigger and more complicated so that the likes of the Quanzhen Sect’s Leader, Peach Blossom Island Master Old Heretic Huang and Beggar Clan Leader Hong had to intervene. Those five people agreed to meet at Mount Hua and have a contest. Whoever possessed the highest martial arts skill would get the book.”
“And the book fell into your martial brother’s hand,” Guo Jing said.
Zhou Botong’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! My martial brother Wang and I were good friends; he had not yet become a priest when we became good friends. Later on he taught me martial arts. He said I practiced martial arts like crazy and was too determined; it did not fit well with the Taoist way of seeking peace and perfection. That is the reason why, though my martial arts are from Quanzhen, my martial brother did not let me become a Taoist priest. That, precisely, was what I expected.
Amongst my martial brother’s disciples, Qiu Chuji was the one with the highest martial arts skill.
My martial brother did not like it and said Qiu devoted too much time practicing martial arts and neglected to cultivate his Taoist faith. He said that whoever wanted to practice martial arts must do so diligently; while those who entered the Taoist way must do so with a simple heart. Those two did not go together very well. Ma Yu inherited my martial brother’s Taoist faith, but his martial arts are actually inferior to Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi.”
“The Quanzhen Sect Master Wang, how did he become both a Taoist saint and a martial arts master?” Guo Jing asked.
“His natural talent was that incredible. He was able to master martial arts quite easily, while I had to practice hard and diligently.” Zhou Botong answered. “Where were we in the story? Why did you divert my attention with your question?”
Guo Jing smiled. “You were talking about your martial brother obtaining the ‘Nine Yin Manual’.”
“That’s right,” Zhou Botong said. “After he had the book in his possession, he did not learn anything from it. He put the book inside a stone box and buried it underneath the flagstone where he sat meditating daily. It seemed strange and I asked him what was going on. He smiled but did not say anything. I became anxious, but he simply told me to go and think about it. Go ahead and try to guess… why did he do that?”
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“Was he afraid somebody might come and steal it from him?” Guo Jing said.
Zhou Botong repeatedly shook his head, “No, no! Who would dare to steal a Quanzhen Sect Master’s belongings unless that person was bored of his own life?”
Guo Jing pondered for a long time. Suddenly he jumped up and exclaimed, “That’s right! That book should be hidden away really well; better yet, it should have been burned.”
Zhou Botong was astonished; he stared hard at Guo Jing. “My martial brother at that time said the same thing; but every time he was going to do it, he hesitated at the last moment. Brother, you are not that smart, how did you guess correctly?” he asked.