The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Mei Chao Feng heard that it was Huang Rong's voice and this gave her a huge shock. She thought: "My whip is littered with reversed hooks. Now that I've injured her, Shifu has more reason not to spare me. But I have already gone this far, and either way I have already betrayed my school. I'll kill her first." Rousing her Silver Whip, she pulled Huang Rong closer towards her and rested her on the ground, thinking that all the hooks must have tore deep into her flesh by now. She never expected the hooks to tear only Huang Rong's clothes, leaving her body completely unharmed.

Huang Rong said laughingly: "You tore my clothes, I want compensation!"

Mei Chao Feng was surprised to hear no hint of pain in her voice, then thought: "Ah, Shifu has naturally given his Soft Hedgehog Armor to her." Feeling lenient, she said aloud: "That was my fault. I will return you a nice new set of clothing."

Huang Rong signaled for Guo Jing to come over, and he did so. The two of them now stood 10 feet or so within Mei Chao Feng, somewhere Liang Zi Weng did not dare to venture.

Over at the other end, the 6 Freaks of Jiang Nan had formed a tight circle with their backs towards each other's and were trying their best to resist Sha Tong Tian, Peng Lian Hu, Ouyang Ke and Hou Tong Hai. This was a formation they had mastered in the deserts of Mongolia. When faced with tough opponents, this formation made it unnecessary for them to defend their backs and instantly increased their power by half. But Sha, Peng and Ouyang were simply too strong and the dangers came in all directions; the 6 Freaks were far from their match. Not long after, Han Bao Ju's arm was injured. Han Bao Ju knew that if he left the formation there would be a loophole for their opponents to exploit, their lives and Guo Jing's would be in grave danger. Thus, he could only grit his teeth and hold on with great effort.

Among their opponents, Peng Lian Hu was the most vicious in his attacks and repeatedly targeted Han Bao Ju. Guo Jing saw that the situation was urgent and rushed towards them with flying feet. With the double palm technique "Separating Cloud and Moon", he aimed for Peng Lian Hu's back. Peng Lian Hu let out a chilling laugh and with a wave of his hand, dismissed Guo jing's attack. In just three moves, Guo Jing found himself in a state of emergency.

Huang Rong saw that he was unable to escape and in her anxiety, suddenly remembered the saying: "A simple man is sinless, but a man wearing a piece of jade will be sinned against." Thus, she yelled: "Mei Chao Feng, you stole my father's Jiu Yin Sutra, hand it to me now so I can return it to father!"

At this, Mei Chao Feng went cold and did not respond. Sha Tong Tian, Peng Lian Hu, Ouyang Ke and Liang Zi Weng immediately shifted their attention to Mei Chao Feng and attacked. All four harbored the same thought: "The Jiu Yin Sutra is the world's top martial arts manual. So it really has been with the Twin Killers of the Dark Winds all along…" At present, all four couldn't care less about anything else. Their only focus was to kill Mei Chao Feng and obtain the Jiu Yin Sutra.

Mei Chao Feng began brandishing her Silver Whip and for the moment, none of them dared to venture within its perimeter. Seeing them being lured away by the Jiu Yin Sutra, Huang Rong whispered to Guo Jing urgently: "Let's go!"

At this moment, a figure emerged from the thicket and was hurrying towards them. It shouted: "Gentlemen! Father requires your help with something urgent." The person wore a gold cap crookedly on his head and his voice was filled with worry. He was none other than the little prince, Wan Yan Kang.

Peng Lian Hu and the others all thought: "Prince Zhao has been generous in exchange for our services. Now that there is something urgent, how can we not go to his aid?" At this thought they backed off reluctantly, not bearing to give up the Jiu Yin Sutra. Their gaze still lingered on Mei Chao Feng.

Wan Yan Kang said softly: "My mother… my mother has been abducted by villains. Father has requested that you help to rescue her, please set off at once."

Wan Yan Hong Lie had originally led his troops out of the Palace to chase Bao Xi Ruo, but they lost sight of her after a while. Remembering the resourceful pugilists in his residence, he hurriedly sent his son to summon them. Wang Yan Kang was caught up in anxiety and the night was dark, so he did not notice Mei Chao Feng seated on the ground.

Peng Lian Hu and the others thought: "Oh my, the Consort has been abducted? If we don't go to her rescue, what are we here for?" They further thought: "It must be the 7 Freaks. 6 of them have led us here to distract us, allowing the other to go abduct the Consort. This Jiu Yin Sutra or whatever will have to wait. Anyway, with so many accomplished fighters around, I can't hope to claim the Sutra for myself. I'll need to come up with a plan some other time." With that, they hurriedly followed Wang Yan Kang. Liang Zi Weng trailed behind, still longing for the blood in Guo Jing's body. He actually didn't care about rescuing the Consort but was alone in wanting to stay behind, and so had no choice but to follow miserably.

Guo Jing called: "Hey, return me my medicine!" Fuming, Liang Zi Weng turned and fired a bone-penetrating projectile straight at his head. The projectile cut through the night wind with incredible strength.

Zhu Cong dashed forward and deflected the projectile with the handle of his fan. As the projectile fell, he caught it with his left hand and held it to his nose to have a sniff. "Ah," he said, "seals throats when it sees blood, this Bone-Penetrating Meridian Nail.

Hearing the name of his secret weapon startled Liang Zi Weng; he spun around and yelled: "What?"

Zhu Cong went up to him and stretched out his palm, the Meridian Nail resting on it. He said lightly: "I'll give it back to you, old mister!"

Liang Zi Weng retrieved it calmly. He knew that with Zhu Cong's low level of wu gong, he could not harm him. Zhu Cong saw that Liang Zi Weng's left sleeve was dirtied with mud and grass, and used his own sleeve to swipe the dirt away.

Liang Zi Weng said angrily: "I don't need your bootlicking!" With that, he turned around and left.

Guo Jing was in a miserable position. If he went back just like that without the medicine, all the night's misadventures would have been for naught; but if he tried to snatch it forcefully, he would undoubtedly be defeated by Liang Zi Weng. He was just hesitating when Ke Zheng'E said: "Let's go back." Ke Zheng'E leapt to the top of the Palace walls, and the other 5 Freaks followed suit.

Pointing at Mei Chao Feng, Han Xiao Ying said: "Elder brother, what about her?"

Ke Zheng'E replied: "We promised Priest Ma to spare her life."

Huang Rong did not acknowledge the 6 Freaks and leapt on to the other end of the wall, grinning.

Mei Chao Feng hollered: "Little martial sister, where is Shifu?"

Huang Rong giggled and said: "Of course my father is in Peach Blossom Isle, why do you ask? Are you going to pay him a visit?"

Mei Chao Feng seethed, her breath growing heavier and quicker. After a moment, she said: "Didn't you just say that Shifu was on his way here?"