Eagle Shooting Hero 2(80)

Everybody looked at him in silence and their hearts were filled with unspeakable fear. Even Ouyang Feng was anxious; he gathered his ‘qi’ in his ‘dan tian’, his whole body alert, ready to take any attack. The entire boat was unusually quiet. Suddenly Huang Yaoshi let out a long laugh, sounding like a never ending dragon’s roar.

This latest development took everybody by surprise and they were startled. They saw him facing skyward, laughing wildly and getting louder and louder. His laughter caused a chill in the air; those who listened to it felt more and more miserable. Gradually the laughter turned into weeping, a very sad weeping. The people could not bear it any longer; they felt like they shared his grief and were about to shed tears as well.

Ouyang Feng was the only one who knew his temperament well and knew that he used to sing and cry for no specific reason, hence he was not affected. But listening to him weeping so miserably he thought, “If he keeps crying like this, the Old Heretic Huang will inevitably injure himself. In past days Ruan Ji mourned the death of his mother and in doing so vomited a lot of blood. The Old Heretic Huang could experience the same fate as that person from the past. It was a pity my iron zither was lost when my boat sank, otherwise I could have played it and made his crying more interesting. This man has an unusual character; once he unleashes his uncontrolled emotions he will most likely suffer a serious internal injury. When it’s time for the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua I will surely miss a worthy and formidable opponent. Ay! What a great loss! What a pity, what a pity!”

After crying for a while Huang Yaoshi lifted his jade flute and struck the rail of the boat while singing, “Why did God make someone’s life so short? Why did someone die when all the hair on his head turned white, while the other died because of disaster or child-birth. The previous calamity had not yet passed, when the new one has come along. Morning had just blossomed, but the evening has already come, the dew came with the dawn and evaporated immediately. The departed cannot be pursued, the emotion suddenly fails. The high heaven does not have stairs; to whom shall I pour out my complaints to?”

With a ‘Crack!’ the jade flute was broken in two. Without turning his head Huang Yaoshi walked to the bow. Venerable Lingzhi dashed forward to block him and coldly said, “You wept and you laughed like a madman, what do you think you are doing?”

“Reverend, don’t …” Wanyan Honglie called out, but before he finished, Huang Yaoshi’s right hand stretched out and grabbed Venerable Lingzhi’s neck. Turning him midair until his feet were Eagle Shooting Hero

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facing upward Huang Yaoshi threw him down and his fat bald head penetrated the deck up to his shoulders.

It seems that in the martial arts Venerable Lingzhi practiced, his neck was his weakest point. As soon as he made his move, a highly skilled martial artist like Ouyang Feng, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi could immediately see this flaw and attack his weakest point.

Huang Yaoshi continued singing, “The sky’s eternal, the earth unchanging, how long will a man live? The past, the future, everything passes unawares; there is a time for everything.” A dark green shadow flashed and he had already moved to his own boat, turned the rudder and sailed away.

The people on board were about to rescue Venerable Lingzhi who remained motionless; they did not know if he was alive or dead. Then suddenly they heard a grunt and the deck hatch opened and out came a young man. He was handsome, with red lips and white teeth, and a face like crown jade; it was Wanyan Honglie’s son, Yang Kang, who’s former name was Wanyan Kang.

After having a disagreement with Mu Nianci he kept remembering Wanyan Honglie’s words,

‘unlimited riches and honor’; soon after he contacted a Jin government office in the north to get information about him. Not long after, he found his father and thus accompanied him to the south.

When Guo Jing and Huang Rong came onboard, he caught a glimpse of them and immediately hid inside the cabin, not daring to come out. He only peeked through a crack in the cabin’s door and from there he clearly saw everything that happened on the deck. When the people were eating and drinking he was afraid Ouyang Feng was Guo Jing’s accomplice. He hid in the boat’s hold and eavesdropped on the conversations at the banquet table, trying to find out Ouyang Feng’s real intentions. Only after Huang Yaoshi left did he finally decide that he had nothing to worry about, so he opened the hatch-cover and came out.

Venerable Lingzhi’s fall was truly severe; fortunately, due to his hard training, his head was strong.

He’d made a hole in the deck, but his head was not injured and he was only a little bit dizzy. He calmed himself and pushed with both hands on the deck to heave his body up and stood.

The people looked at the round hole in the deck and then looked at each other in amazement. They thought it was funny, but felt it was inappropriate to laugh, so they kept their faces straight, but looked very awkward.

Wanyan Honglie broke the silence by saying, “Son, meet Mr. Ouyang.”

Yang Kang immediately knelt in front of Ouyang Feng and kowtowed to him four times. This was a very big honor, surprising everyone. At the Zhao Palace Yang Kang had felt great admiration towards Venerable Lingzhi; but today he had seen Ouyang Feng, Zhou Botong and Huang Yaoshi, one after another, grab his neck and toss him back and forth like he was a baby. Only then did he realize there was a sky above the sky and there was another man above a man. He recalled the disgrace of being held captive at Cloud Manor on Lake Tai, and of when he was afraid of and lost his nerve to fight Guo Jing and Huang Rong at the Liu ancestral hall in Baoying…all because his skill was inferior to others. Now there was a man with very high skills in front of him and he wanted to take him as his master. After paying Ouyang Feng such respect he turned to Wanyan Honglie and said, “Father, your son wants to take this gentleman as my master.”

Wanyan Honglie was delighted, quickly he stepped forward and bowed in respect to Ouyang Feng, saying, “My young child likes to learn martial arts, only he has not yet met a suitable master. If Sir

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does not refuse this request and is willing to bestow instructions, Little Prince and son will be forever grateful.”

The others thought that being the young prince’s master was the wish of all of them; who would have thought that Ouyang Feng would simply return the greeting and say, “There has always been a rule in the Old Man’s martial arts school that our knowledge will be bestowed on one disciple only and no one else. The Old Man has already taken my nephew as my disciple; I can’t take another one. For this I beg the Prince’s forgiveness.”

Seeing that Ouyang Feng did not grant his request Wanyan Honglie did not press the issue. He ordered his men to prepare more food and wine. Yang Kang, on the other hand, was quite disappointed.

Ouyang Feng smiled and said, “I don’t deserve to be the young prince’s master, but it will not be difficult for the Old Man to give you some pointers on martial arts. We will talk about it later.”

Yang Kang had seen Ouyang Ke’s many concubines and they had received instructions in martial arts from him; but because they were not his disciples their skills were nothing extraordinary.

Listening to the way Ouyang Feng said it, he was not in the least enthusiastic, but his mouth was obliged to utter some grateful words. He had not realized that Ouyang Feng’s skill was not to be compared with his nephew’s; receiving one or two instructions on martial arts from an expert of Ouyang Feng’s caliber would give him sufficient skill to boost his power and prestige among the heroes of the Wulin world.

Ouyang Feng noticed his expression and realized his intention to give instructions was not very well received; he never raised this matter again.

During the banquet they talked about Huang Yaoshi’s arrogance and rudeness; they praised Venerable Lingzhi for fooling him so well. Hou Tonghai said, “That man’s martial art’s skills are truly high and it turns out that stinky girl is his daughter; no wonder her ways are crafty.” While saying that he turned his attention towards Venerable Lingzhi’s bald head. After staring for a while he turned his gaze toward Lingzhi’s fat neck, and then he used his right arm to grab his own neck.

“Hey, hey,” he mocked and asked, “Shige [Older Martial Brother], those three used a grabbing skill, what kind of technique was that?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Sha Tongtian rebuked him.

Venerable Lingzhi could not hold his patience any longer and he stretched out his left hand to grab the three carbuncles on Hou Tonghai’s forehead. Hou Tonghai quickly shrank his body and slid under the table. Everybody laughed and cheered.

Hou Tonghai reappeared in his chair and said to Ouyang Feng, “Master Ouyang, your martial arts skill is very high indeed! How about you teach me the skill of grabbing someone’s fat neck?”

Ouyang Feng smiled but did not answer. Venerable Lingzhi glared at Hou Tonghai.

Hou Tonghai turned his head and asked again, “Shige, that Huang Yaoshi was crying and singing; what was he saying?”

Sha Tongtian glowered at him, not knowing how to answer. “Who cares about the gibbering of a madman?” he said.