The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Lu Chengfeng and his son, along with the Six Freaks were greatly amazed. "The strength from this man's fingers is amazing; how is he capable of giving the pebble this kind of force? Even an arrow would not create such a strong noise. If this pebble hits someone, wouldn't that someone's bones be shattered by it?" they thought.

By now Huang Rong had stopped her intervention. She stood and stared blankly at that strange man. In the meantime Guo Jing was starting to lose; Mei Chaofeng's attacks became swifter and fiercer.

Suddenly two loud hums were heard; two pebbles flew from the strange man's hand. The first one was slower than the latter one. The latter hit the first and two pebbles broke into pieces and flew to all directions. Mei Chaofeng took that opportunity to pounce on Guo Jing. He stumbled trying to avoid the attack. Remembering Nan Xiren's advice, 'da bu guo, tao!' [if no match, run!] he turned around and ran away.

Out of the blue Huang Rong cried out, "Father!" And she rushed toward the strange man, threw herself at his bosom and loudly cried, "Father! Your face … what happened to your face …?" Nobody expected this, so the strange man stood still without saying anything.

Guo Jing turned around and saw Mei Chao Feng stood very close to him. She was trying to listen to the sound of the pebble. Guo Jing saw a very good opportunity and sent his right palm slowly toward her shoulder using only about 10% of his strength. But as soon as his palm hit, his left palm followed with a full strength. Mei Chao Feng was squarely hit by both palms and fell tumbling down; she was not able to stand back up.

Lu Chengfeng heard Huang Rong called that strange man her father; he was overwhelmed with joy and sorrow at the same time. He forgot his legs were lame and jumped toward the man, but fell face down on the floor.

The strange man let his left arm in Huang Rong's embrace and lifted his right hand to slowly take off a thin mask from his face. He was wearing a genuine skin mask; no wonder his face was emotionless like that of a corpse. His true complexion was clear and good-looking, with a hint of sadness yet bore an aura of dignity around him; resembling an image of deity.

Huang Rong had not dried her tears yet she screamed in joy; snatched the mask and wore it on her own face while bouncing up and down and hugged that man's neck, giggling incessantly. That man was indeed the Peach Blossom Island Master, Huang Yaoshi.

"Father, why did you come over here?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear. "That old man Qiu had said bad things about you. Why didn't you teach him a lesson?"

"Why did I come?" Huang Yaoshi sternly asked. "I came looking for you!" Huang Rong was ecstatic, she clapped her hands and shouted, "Father! You are looking for me? Wonderful! That's just wonderful!"

"What do you mean 'wonderful'?" Huang Yaoshi asked. "Do you think it was wonderful to find a useless girl like you?"

Huang Rong felt bad. She knew after losing the second half of the Nine Yin Manual to his own disciple, Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng, her father had determined to master the skill with his own intelligence. He once said that the Nine Yin Manual was created by a human being. If other man could create it, why wouldn't he be able to re-create it? He then made a vow not to leave the Peach Blossom Island until he had mastered the skill. Unexpectedly his prodigal daughter had run away that he was forced to break his own vow and came looking for her.

"Father, I promise to be a good daughter and will listen to you from now on until the day I die," Huang Rong solemnly promised.

Huang Yaoshi was very happy to find his daughter well; and now listening to her promise had put him in an excellent mood. "Help your Shijie to get up," he said.

Huang Rong immediately complied. Lu Guanying also helped his father to kneel down in front of their Master. Huang Yaoshi sighed and said, "Lu Chengfeng, you are a good disciple. I was wrong to lose my temper and act rash by falsely accusing you."

Lu Chengfeng was sobbing. "Master, are you well?" To which Huang Yaoshi replied, "Luckily I am not irritated to death." Huang Rong looked at her father with a naughty look, "Father, you were not talking about me, were you?" Huang Yaoshi snorted and said, "You are part of it."

Huang Rong stuck her tongue and diverted his attention. "Father, let me introduce you to my friends. These are the well-known heroes of the Jianghu, the Six Freaks of Jiangnan; Brother Jing's Masters."

Huang Yaoshi did not even look at them. "I don't want to meet outsiders," he said coldly. The Six Freaks was irritated by his arrogance, but since the man owned a god-like martial art, they kept their peace.

"Do you have anything you'd like to take home with you?" Huang Yaoshi asked his daughter. "Get them and let's go home together."

"Nothing," Huang Rong answered with a smile. "But I do have something I need to give back to Martial Brother Lu." She took out the Nine Flower Revealed Jade pills from her pocket and gave them back to Lu Chengfeng. "Lu Shige (Elder Martial Brother Lu), these pills are not easy to make. We have two pills from you and that's enough."

Lu Chengfeng waved his hand and said to Huang Yaoshi, "The disciple has seen the Benevolent Master today. I am extremely joyful. I want to present those pills to you. I wonder if you could stay for a while in my humble abode. I will be …"

"Is he your son?" Huang Yaoshi interrupted him, pointing toward Lu Guanying. "He is," answered the disciple.

Lu Guanying did not wait for his father prompting. He immediately bent his knees and kowtowed several times and said, "Grand Martial Disciple pays his respect to Grand Martial Master."

"It's all right!" Huang Yaoshi said. Without bending his body he extended his left hand as if he was helping Guanying to stand up; but then unexpectedly his right hand struck Guanying's shoulder.

Lu Chengfeng was shocked! "Master, he is my only son …" Huang Yaoshi's palm was not light. Lu Guanying was thrown back seven, eight steps, then he fell face down on the floor.

"You are very good," Huang Yaoshi told Lu Chengfeng. "You have not passed your skill to him. Is he a disciple of the 'xian xia pai' [immortal red clouds sect]?"

Lu Chengfeng was relieved to know his master was only testing his son's martial art. "Your disciple did not dare to disobey our school's rule. I did not dare to teach my skill to others without Benevolent Master's permission. This child is indeed the disciple of 'ku mu da shi' [Reverend Dead Wood] of the 'xian xia pai'."

Huang Yaoshi sneered, "Kumu dare to call himself 'Reverend' [da shi could also mean 'big/grand master'] with his skill? Your skill exceeds his a hundred fold. Starting tomorrow you will teach your own son. Xian Xia Pai's martial arts do not hold a candle compared to ours."

Lu Chengfeng was ecstatic, he hastily told his son, "Quick! Express your gratitude to the Grand Martial Master!" Lu Guanying immediately kowtowed some more to Huang Yaoshi. Huang Yaoshi lifted his head, completely ignoring Guan Ying.

Lu Chengfeng had learned martial art in the Peach Blossom Island; even though both his legs were lame he did not lose any skill pertaining to his upper body. He realized very well the superiority of his own school. He had seen it with his own eyes how hard Lu Guanying trained, yet his achievement was limited. He was really upset, but since he did not dare to violate his school's rule, he had to restrain himself. And in order not to disappoint his son, he pretended he did not know martial arts at all. Now that his master had given him permission he knew his son's martial art skill would improve in leaps and bounds; how could he be not happy? He wanted to say some grateful words, but he was choked.