Eagle Shooting Hero 2(61)

“Master is useless now and that ‘jerk’ is better than you in martial arts. For now you can only pit your wits against him.” Huang Rong said, “Master, after resting a few days, you’ll recover and take his useless life with one palm, won’t that settle it?”

Hong Qigong regretfully said, “I’ve been poisoned by the poisonous snake as well as Western Poison’s deadly palm. I’ve already used all of my martial abilities to purge the poison but there is some left within me. Even if I survive, my martial arts will be affected. Your master is just another old man without any powerful skills.” Huang Rong quickly said, “No, no, Master, you aren’t, you aren’t!” Hong Qigong said, “I, the old beggar, have never taken things seriously, but now it has come to this and I can’t deny it.”

He paused, and then gravely said, “Child, Master has no choice but to request a huge favour from you… it’s extremely difficult to accomplish… will you accept?” Huang Rong quickly said, “Yes, yes! Master, tell me.” He sighed, and then said, “Our time together as master and disciple has not been long and I didn’t get to teach you very much martial arts. Now that you’re facing a strong opponent, I have no choice but to thrust a great burden on you, or I will not be at ease.”

Huang Rong knew that he was usually carefree and easygoing; but now he was so hesitant that she knew it must be some extremely important responsibility. She said, “Master, please tell me. Your injuries were caused by you trying to help your disciple escape from Peach Blossom Island. Even if I die a horrible death, I can hardly repay you. I’m just afraid I’m too young to carry out your instructions.” Hong Qigong happily said, “So you agree to it?” Huang Rong said, “Yes. Please say it.”

Hong Qigong stood up unsteadily, cupped his hands, and bowing to the north said, “Ancestors, the Beggar Clan you founded passed to my hands. I am now unfortunately incapable of bringing virtue to our clan. Today the matter is urgent and I have to pass on my responsibilities. May the Ancestors in Heaven bless us, help this child avoid trouble and bring our clan to greater heights.” When he Eagle Shooting Hero

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finished, he bowed to the north once more. Huang Rong was both shocked and curious when he said that.

Hong Qigong said, “Child, kneel down.” Huang Rong knelt down and Hong Qigong took his green bamboo stick and raised it over his head. He saluted it and placed it in her hands. Huang Rong was extremely shocked and said, “Master, you want me to be the Beggar Clan… the Beggar Clans’…”

Hong Qigong said, “Exactly. I am the eighteenth generation Leader of the Beggar Clan, and now you are the nineteenth Leader. Now let’s thank our ancestors.”

At this stage Huang Rong did not dare to disobey and could only imitate Hong Qigong’s actions and bowed with both hands cupped. Hong Qigong suddenly coughed and spat out some phlegm which landed on Huang Rong’s clothing. Huang Rong was secretly sad and thought, “Master’s injuries are indeed serious… he doesn’t even have the strength to spit properly.” However she pretended that nothing was amiss. He sighed, “When the Beggars pay their respects to you in future, there will be a disgusting ritual. Ah, this will be hard on you.”

Huang Rong smiled, thinking, “The beggars are filthy and rough, how could any of that be unexpected?” Hong Qigong drew a deep breath. His face was pale but in his heart it felt as though he had just put down a large rock and he was very pleased. Huang Rong helped him lie down. He said, “Now that you’re the Leader, I am an Elder in the Clan. Although the Elders are respected by the Leader, when there’s something to be done the Leader has to give the order. This rule was laid down by our founders, so you must follow it to the letter. When the Leader issues an order, all the beggars must obey it.”

Huang Rong became depressed and worried, thinking, “We’re on this deserted island and I don’t know how we can return to the Central Plains. Moreover Jing ge ge is dead and I have no desire to live. Now Master suddenly wants me to be some so-called Clan Leader and command all the beggars under the sky; how on Earth am I going to do that?” But when she saw her master’s condition, she did not want to worry him further and could only agree to anything he proposed.

Hong Qigong said, “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month of this year, the four Elders of our Clan will hold a gathering at the lakeside Cave-Courtyard in Yueyang City and hear my announcement of the new Leader. You only need to take the bamboo rod there and they will understand my intentions. Every matter within the Clan will be dealt with by the four Elders, so I can leave it to them. But I have to send you, such an adorable child, into the midst of the filthy beggars; this will be really hard on you.”

Then he laughed heartily, but because of his injury he began to cough before he finished laughing.

Huang Rong massaged his back for a while until he stopped coughing. Hong Qigong sighed, “This old beggar is really useless now, ah, I don’t know when I’ll recover. I have to rush into teaching you the ‘Dog Beating Skill’.” Huang Rong was wondering why this stick skill had such a horrible name.

She thought that no matter how fierce a dog might be, she could kill it with one punch. She saw no need to learn this skill, but her master was deadly serious, so she could only agree.

Hong Qigong said, “Although you are now the Clan Leader, you don’t have to change your personality; if you want to be playful and mischievous, go ahead and be so. We beggars have no restrictions and we do as we please. If we worried that ‘this won’t do and that won’t do’, we might as well be judges or ministers. If you do not think highly of the ‘Dog Beating Skill’, simply say so!”

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Huang Rong laughed, “Disciple is wondering what kind of dog could be so tenacious that it requires a specialized skill to handle it.” Hong Qigong said, “Now that you’re the head of all the beggars, you’ll have to act like one. With your rich dress and your rich girl’s attitude, the dog would be only too pleased to listen to you; why would you need to hit it? But if we beggars run into such dogs it’s a different story. The old saying goes: ‘the poor not armed with sticks get bullied by dogs’. You have never been poor so you don’t know what it’s like to be one of them.”

Huang Rong clapped and laughed, “Master, you’re wrong there!” Hong Qigong was perplexed and asked, “Why?” Huang Rong said, “On the third month of this year, I escaped from Peach Blossom Island to play around, and I disguised myself as a beggar. Whenever there were fierce dogs bothering me, all I had to do is give them a kick and they would scramble away.” Hong Qigong said, “Yup, but if the dog is too fierce then you’d have to use a stick to hit it.”

Huang Rong thought, “What dog could be so fierce?” Then she realized what he meant and shouted,

“Oh yeah, bad guys are dogs too!” Hong Qigong smiled and said, “You’re really clever. If…” He wanted to say that Guo Jing would not have known it, but his heart turned sour and he stopped.

When Huang Rong heard him stop in mid-sentence, she understood what he was thinking, felt bitterness in her heart and wanted to cry; but now that Hong Qigong needed her help she seemed all grown-up while Hong Qigong seemed like a youth, so she controlled herself and only turned her head away. The tears, however, fell like pearls.

Hong Qigong was as sad as her and he knew that consoling her was useless, so he talked about serious matters, saying, “The thirty-six moves of the ‘Dog Beating Skill’ was created by our Ancestors and can only be passed down from one Clan Leader to the next without letting anyone else know about the skill. Our Clan’s third Leader far surpassed previous Leaders and he greatly improved this skill. After hundreds of years, when our Clan faces any strong opposition, our Leader would personally come forward and use this skill to defeat our enemies.”

Huang Rong began to pay attention and then sighed softly, asking, “Master, when you were fighting with Western Poison on the boat, why didn’t you use it?” Hong Qigong said, “This skill is very important to our clan, so even though I didn’t use it, he may not have won. Who’d know he could be so despicable as to poison me after I saved his life?” Huang Rong saw that he was becoming depressed, so she tried to distract him and said, “Master, please teach me so that I can kill him to avenge you.”

With a stony-faced laugh Hong Qigong picked up a piece of firewood and leaned against the cave wall. He recited the formula and executed the steps, thus passing on all thirty-six moves to her. He knew Huang Rong was extremely intelligent but was afraid that he would not live long, so he passed everything on to her in one shot. Although the name ‘Dog Beating Skill’ was crude, the changes within were subtle and the techniques profound; it was one of the best martial arts skills ever created. It was therefore the reason that this skill was passed down like a precious heirloom.

Although Huang Rong was very clever, she could only remember the general skills and forgot some of the finer details. How could she understand it in such a short time? After he was done, a sweating Hong Qigong took a deep breath and said, “I didn’t teach it well, but… that’s all I can do for now.”