Heaven-relying Sword And Dragon-slaying Sabre

He saw four men with unsheathed weapons in their hands surrounding a tall and big man. That man was facing the enemies with an empty hand. He was none other than Jin Mao Shi Wang Xie Xun.

Zhang Wuji took a quick glance and saw that although his Yifu was blind, although he was surrounded by four men, although he faced four weapons barehanded, he did not by any chance lose his imposing air. Zhang Wuji had never seen his Yifu fight an enemy before; now that he had the opportunity to witness several stances, he was very happy. "Jin Mao Shi Wang's prestige shook the world in the past; it certainly was not an empty reputation," he said to himself, "Yifu's martial art skill is above 'Qing Yi Fu Wang' [Green-Winged Bat King]; I'll say he is on par with (maternal) grandfather."

The four people's martial arts were certainly not bad either. From where he was, near the boat, looking to the hill, Zhang Wuji was not able to see their faces clearly; but he could see that they were wearing raggedy clothes with cloth sacks on their backs. Obviously, they were from the Beggar Clan. Three other men stood on the side, ready to join the battle.

Zhang Wuji heard someone was saying, "Hand over the Tulong Saber … we'll spare your life … precious saber in place of your life …" The strong wind from the hill transmitted the voice intermittently, making him difficult to understand clearly what they were saying; but Zhang Wuji knew that these people were here to snatch the precious Tulong Saber.

He heard Xie Xun laugh a big laugh and say, "The Tulong Saber is in my possession. The Beggar Clan's stinky thieves; if you have the ability then get it from me." His hands and feet did not slow down the least bit when his mouth was speaking.

In a flash Jin Hua Popo had run ashore; amidst the coughing she said, "Beggar Clan's Heroes, welcome to the Ling She Island. You did not come and talk to Lao Po, but disturb the Ling She Island's honorable guest. What do you want?"

"This is indeed the Ling She Island," Zhang Wuji thought, "Listening to Jin Hua Popo, apparently Yifu is her invited guest. Yifu has said that in any event he won't be willing to leave Bing Huo Island and return to the Central Plains; how come on Jin Hua Popo's invitation he was willing to come? How could Jin Hua Popo find out Yifu's whereabouts?" Questions after questions grew in his heart.

Hearing the host had arrived, the four people on the hill wanted to subdue Xie Xun as quick as possible; they attacked more urgently. But in doing so, they had actually violated a major principle in the study of martial art. Xie Xun was blind, thus he depended on the wind generated by the weapons to distinguish the enemies' positions. The faster these four people moved their hands, the stronger the wind generated by their weapons.

Xie Xun let out a long laugh. 'Bang!' he hit one enemy squarely on his chest. That man let out a long miserable scream and fell straight down from the hill into the rocks below. His skull broke and his brain splattered everywhere.

One of the three people standing on the side shouted, "Back off!" With a light movement he stepped forward, his fist floating in the air with strength that was sometimes there and sometimes not there, making it hard for Xie Xun to distinguish the sound. Sure enough, it was not until the fist was only a few inches from him that he finally realized it. He hastily tried to block the attack; his movement was awkward, he was truly in a very difficult situation.

The three men who fought previously moved back quickly; while an old man who was standing on the side took over their place. This old man incorporated the same technique as the first man; his palm was also light. Several stances later Xie Xun was forced to block to the east and evade to the west; he was in a really dangerous situation.

"Ji Zhanglao [Elder Ji], Zheng Zhanglao [Elder Zheng]!" Jin Hua Popo shouted, "Jin Mao Shi Wang is inconvenienced by his eyes; you are fighting him with this despicable method. You are enjoying a reputation as Jianghu's heroes for nothing." She was talking and walking to the hill at the same time, with the help of her walking stick.

She was walking in faltering steps, as if a mountain breeze would blow her off the hill; but actually she was moving very fast. Supported by the stick, it looked like she was riding the wind, floating forward; with several strikes of her stick she quickly reached the waist of the hill. Zhu'Er followed closely behind her, but just in a short moment she fell behind.

Zhang Wuji was concerned over his Yifu's safety, he quickly ran up the hill. Zhao Min followed behind him. In a low voice she said, "With this Old Granny here, Shi Wang [Lion King] will not be in grave danger. Don't do anything yet, you'd better hide your identity first."

Zhang Wuji nodded and followed behind Zhu'Er. By now all he could see was Zhu'Er's graceful and slender body. If he did not know Zhu'Er's face, wouldn't he think she was an extremely beautiful woman, not inferior to Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo, and Xiao Zhao, three girls? Once he had this thought, immediately he scolded himself, "Zhang Wuji, oh, Zhang Wuji, your Yifu is facing a grave danger, yet you are looking at a girl and seizing her up, whether she is a beautiful woman or not."

In a short moment, the four of them had reached the peak of the hill. They saw that Xie Xun was keeping his hands close to his body, in a defensive position without even trying to attack. Only when the enemy's fist or kick came near did he use a little bit of 'qin na' [grappling technique] to parry the attack. This way he was able to hold out against the enemy momentarily, but it would be difficult for him to score a victory.

Zhang Wuji stood underneath a cluster of pine trees. He saw his Yifu's face was full of wrinkles, and there were more white hair on his head; he looked a lot older than the last time they parted. Zhang Wuji guessed that for the past dozen of years he was living alone on that desolate island, he must have passed the days with difficulty. Zhang Wuji was grieved, he felt blood rushing up in his chest and could not help but feel a strong urge to fight the enemy for him. He stepped forward to get a closer look at the enemies. Zhao Min understood his intention; she lightly pinched his hand and shook her head.

"Ji Zhanglao," Jin Hua Popo said, "Your 'yin shan zhang da jiu shi' [lit. nine great style of 'yin' (negative, female, of 'yin and yang') mountain palm] is famous throughout the Jianghu; why are you stealthily changing it to 'mian zhang zhao shi' [lit. cotton palm style]? Zheng Zhanglao is even more unspeakable; you conceal the 'hui feng fu liu quan' [lit. returning wind brushing away the willow fist (technique)] inside the 'ba gua quan' [eight-diagram fist (technique)]. Of course Jin Mao Shi Wang Xie Daxia [great hero Xie] does not know that … (cough, cough) …"

Since Xie Xun could not see the enemies' style, he was at a great disadvantage over them. Moreover, Ji and Zheng two elders were extremely cunning; by deliberately concealing their style, Xie Xun was having trouble predicting their moves. As Jin Hua Popo exposed their trick, Xie Xun's confidence grew. He waited until Zheng Zhanglao was about to change his fist technique, suddenly he struck straight ahead; his fist collided with Zheng Zhanglao's fist. Zheng Zhanglao staggered back two steps until he bumped into a tree stump. Ji Zhanglao thrust his palm from the side to protect his companion, forcing Xie Xun to stop from pursuing him.