Eagle Shooting Hero 2(30)

“Since her father has given her hand in marriage to me, her attitude towards me is naturally not the same as it was before.” He felt smug. But suddenly something metal flashed towards him. “Not good!” he cried, and immediately bent his body backwards using the ‘Iron Bridge’ [tie ban chiao]

stance.

“What are you doing?” Huang Yaoshi scolded. His left sleeve flicked and struck down most of the steel needles shot from Huang Rong’s hand, while with the back of his right hand he pushed her shoulder back.

“Wah!” Huang Rong bawled. “Father, you’d better kill me,” she cried. “I’d rather die than marry this bad thing.”

Ouyang Feng thrust the ‘Dragon’ pill into Huang Rong’s hand while his other hand gently fended off Huang Yaoshi’s palm. “Your daughter is just testing my nephew’s martial arts, why are you so serious?” Because he was striking his own daughter, Huang Yaoshi’s palm naturally did not carry a lot of strength. Ouyang Feng’s hand also did not carry a lot of force.

As Ouyang Ke straightened his body, he felt pain in his left chest; he knew he’d been hit by one or two needles. However, he was proud and did not want anyone else to know, so he kept a straight face. But he was embarrassed. “She does not want to marry me after all,” he thought.

Ouyang Feng smiled, “Brother Yao, since our last meeting at Mount Hua, we haven’t seen each other for more than twenty years. Now that you have accepted my nephew’s proposal, should you have some business to complete, your brother will not dare to refuse his assistance.”

“Who dares to provoke you, Old Poison?” Huang Yaoshi replied. “You have stayed in the Western Region for twenty years, what fierce new martial arts have you mastered? Come, let me see.”

As soon as Huang Rong heard her father mention ‘new martial arts’ her interest was piqued. She wiped her tears away and leaned on her father. Her eyes looked closely at Ouyang Feng. She saw a curved black staff in his hand and looked like it was made of steel. The head of the staff resembled a man’s face with its mouth open showing two rows of sharp teeth. The face looked ugly and fearsome. What was more amazing was that there were a couple of silver-scaled snakes slithering up and down the staff.

Ouyang Feng smiled. “I was inferior to you then, and now that I have wasted more than twenty years, I certainly still won’t be your match,” he said. “We’ve become in-laws now. I am thinking of staying on Peach Blossom Island for a few days and asking your advice.”

When Ouyang Feng sent an envoy to propose marriage for his nephew, Huang Yaoshi thought that Ouyang Feng was one of only a handful of people whose martial arts could be compared to his own.

Since Ouyang Feng was an educated man, so his nephew must be as well. He knew his daughter was stubborn and strong-willed. If she married just anybody, he was afraid she would bully her husband. Besides, he loathed that Guo kid whom his daughter liked. Ouyang Ke was not only highly educated, but was highly skilled in martial arts as well; not too many young men would hold a candle to him. That was the reason he accepted their proposal. But now as he listened to Ouyang Feng’s sweet mouth, he could not help but feel suspicious. He knew Ouyang Feng was crafty and sly and Ouyang Feng would not easily admit defeat to others in term of martial arts. His Toad 530



Eagle Shooting Hero

Stance had been neutralized by Wang Chongyang’s Solitary Yang Finger; could it be that he had recovered it completely? Huang Yaoshi took out his jade flute and said, “Honored guests who come from afar, Little Brother is going to play a tune to entertain you. Please sit down and listen to this song.”

Ouyang Feng knew Huang Yaoshi was going to play the ‘Jade-Colored Tidal Wave song’ to test his internal strength, so he showed a faint smile and waved his left hand. The thirty-two white-dressed lantern-carrier maidens immediately stepped forward and kneeled before them. Ouyang Feng smiled and said, “Your brother has acquired these thirty-two maidens from various regions in the west. Please accept them as my gift to an old friend. They are trained in singing and dancing even though they come from uncultured places; of course they can’t be compared to Jiangnan’s beautiful maidens.”

“Your Brother does not enjoy this kind of gift very much,” Huang Yaoshi replied, “Since my wife passed away, I regard the world’s beautiful women as dung. I do not dare to accept Brother Feng’s generous gift.”

“What’s the harm in some entertainment to pass the time?” Ouyang Feng laughed.

Huang Rong noticed that these women’s skin was fair and light in color. They were tall in stature and some had blond hair and blue eyes; their noses were high and their eyes deep so they were totally different from the women of the Central Plains. But they were beautiful and had a seductive look that would attract casual onlookers.

Ouyang Feng clapped his hands three times and eight women brought out various musical instruments. They started playing while the other twenty-four women started dancing to the tune.

The musical instruments as well as the tune were different from the ones commonly played in the Central Plains and they sounded weird to Huang Rong’s ears. She watched the front row women bend down, turn to the left and then back to the right; their bodies were very supple. The next row did the same as row after row danced in succession, resembling a large snake. After a while each woman spread both hands apart; from the tip of their left hand to the tip of their right hand, their bodies swayed following the tune reminding her of snakes slithering on the ground.

Huang Rong remembered Ouyang Ke’s ‘Spirit Snake Fist’, so she cast a glance towards him only to see that Ouyang Ke was staring intently at her. She hated him deeply and wished that her father had not intercepted her needles. She would find another way of taking his life and even if her father should force her to marry, that person was already dead. It was called the ‘Remove the Firewood from Under the Pot’ tactic. Having had this thought she was happy and a smile broke out on her face. Ouyang Ke saw her sudden smile and thought that she was smiling at him. He was so elated that he momentarily forgot the pain in his chest.

By now the dance movements of the women were getting more intense. Their bodies moved erotically as their hands caressed their own buttocks, then moved upwards to their breasts; then they unfastened their dresses so they showed their upper bodies and posed in various postures.

The men who herded the snakes had closed their eyes tightly; they did not dare to look. Even then their minds were disturbed.

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Huang Yaoshi simply smiled, put the flute to his lips, and he started playing a tune. The women’s bodies suddenly shook and their dance movements became chaotic. A few bars later both their music and their dance were following the flute’s sound.

Ouyang Feng knew something was amiss; he clapped his hands and a maiden stepped forward carrying an iron zither [zheng]. Ouyang Ke began to feel his heart beating faster. The eight women playing the musical instruments had lost their self-control and followed the flute’s tune. The men in charge of the snakes jumped up and down like crazy men amongst the snakes.

Ouyang Feng played a few notes on his zither producing metallic sounds like an iron horse charging toward the enemy; the complete opposite to the soft murmuring sound of the flute. Huang Yaoshi smiled and said, “Come, come! Let us play a duet.” As soon as the flute left his lips, everyone was released from their hysterical condition.

“Everybody block your ears! Island Master Huang and I will play some music,” Ouyang Feng shouted. The people who came with him knew the song would not be an ordinary one; they immediately grabbed anything, including pieces of their own clothing that could be used to cover their ears. They put layer after layer of cotton and pieces of clothing over their ears; yet they still feared the sound would penetrate that barrier. Ouyang Ke also took out some cotton balls to plug his ears.

“My father plays his flute for your listening enjoyment; this is a big honor for you, yet all of you cover your ears. That is so rude! You come to Peach Blossom Island as guests, yet you dare to insult the host!” Huang Rong mocked.

“Don’t be rude!” Huang Yaoshi scolded her. “The ones who do not dare to listen to my flute actually have more sense. They have learned their lesson … ha … ha … Your uncle’s iron zither skill is considered the best in the world, yet you dare to listen to him? Do you want to test yourself?” Then he took a silk handkerchief from his pocket, tore it in halves and told Huang Rong to cover up her ears with them.

Guo Jing was curious about the world’s best iron zither; he wanted to hear Ouyang Feng’s fierce method, so he came a few steps closer.

Huang Yaoshi turned to Ouyang Feng, “Your snakes cannot cover their ears.” Then he turned his head towards his deaf and mute servant. He made some gestures and the servant nodded his head.

The servant then signaled the snakes’ herders to leave by waving his hand. These men had been waiting for an opportunity to get away from that place; as soon as Ouyang Feng nodded his head in approval, they hurriedly drove the snakes away with the deaf and mute servant leading the way.