The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Huang Yaoshi raised his head, looking at the starry sky above and slowly said, "You have taken the Nine Yin Manual voluntarily. I did not teach you nor did I tell you to practice it. You know what to do." He paused for a moment then said, "This is the third."

Mei Chaofeng was silent for a moment; she did not fully grasp her master's intention. After pondering in her heart she suddenly understood. With a trembling voice she said, "After I have completed the first two assignments, your disciple knows how to get rid of the 'jiu yin bai gu zhua' and 'cui xin zhang' I have learned."

Guo Jing did not understand; he pulled Huang Rong's sleeve and signaling her with his eyes, asking for an explanation. Huang Rong's countenance was sad, she lifted her right hand and made a chopping action toward her left arm. Guo Jing finally understood, "Oh, she is going to chop her own arms." His mind kept wandering, "This Mei Chaofeng is really wicked, but she repented. Why is the punishment so harsh? I need to talk to Rong'er; perhaps we can ask her father's forgiveness."

While he was still thinking, Huang Yaoshi beckoned him to come and asked, "Your name is Guo Jing?" Guo Jing stepped forward and paid an obeisance. "Disciple Guo Jing at Senior Huang's service."

"You are the one who killed my disciple Chen Xuanfeng, aren't you? Your skill must be extraordinary, ha?" Huang Yaoshi said.

Guo Jing understood his sarcasm; his heart turned cold. "I was very young and ignorant. Senior Chen seized me up; I was scared and panic. I had injured him inadvertently."

Huang Yaoshi snorted and coldly said, "Chen Xuanfeng was indeed my rebellious disciple; but it was our right to punish him. How could a disciple of Peach Blossom Island be punished by an outsider?" Guo Jing was dumbstruck.

Huang Rong quickly came to his rescue. "Father, he was only six, what did he know?" Huang Yaoshi did not like what he heard; he continued, "The old man Hong usually did not take disciple, and he was very proud of his '18-dragon subduing palms'; but he had taught you 15 moves, you must have something good in you. If not, you must have sweet-talked him into teaching you. You have defeated my disciple with his skill; next time he sees me, I bet he would boast to no end."

"Father, the sweet talk part was indeed true," Huang Rong said with a smile. "But it was not he, it was I. He is just an honest kid. Your words were too hard, you have scared him."

After he lost his wife, Huang Yaoshi was very fond of his daughter. In fact, he was too lenient to her that she was spoilt. That day he scolded her and she immediately ran away from home. He thought being a spoilt kid, after wandering the Jianghu for a while Huang Rong would be destitute and was in bad condition. Who would have thought that she was not thin and pale, but was tender and beautiful as ever? Then he saw her intimacy with Guo Jing; how she was always trying to protect him. Secretly he was jealous because she had never shown the same affection to her father. His jealousy turned to anger. He ignored his daughter and said to Guo Jing, "By teaching you the old Beggar obviously did not hold me in high regard. He let you defeat Mei Chaofeng; he thought my disciples are a whole bunch of nobodies …"

Huang Rong understood that her father was upset because Chaofeng was defeated by the '18-dragon subduing palms'. She hurriedly said, "Who says the Peach Blossom Island disciples are nobody? He was lucky because Mei Shijie's eyes are blind, what's so special about that? If they were fighting fair and square, he would be defeated a long time ago. Let your daughter proves it to you." She jumped out and called Guo Jing, "Come! Let me use the skills my Father taught me to fight Hong Qigong's special skill."

She knew by that time both Guo Jing and she had improved tremendously. They were more or less equally matched. She thought that as long as they could fight fairly for about a hundred moves her father would be satisfied. Guo Jing understood her intention; besides, Huang Yaoshi did not say anything, so he agreed and said, "You are always superior to me. All right, I will let you beat me up a couple more times." And he immediately walked to Huang Rong.

"Watch out!" Huang Rong called out. Her hand swept horizontally with a gust of wind, it was the 'yu ji feng kuang' [heavy rain fierce wind] from the 'luo ying shen jian zhang'. Guo Jing immediately counterattacked using the '18-dragon subduing palms'. However, he was very fond of Huang Rong; hence did not use his full strength. Unfortunately, the '18-dragon subduing palms' relied heavily on strong internal energy; in term of palm technique, it could not be compared to the exquisite moves of 'luo ying shen jian zhang'. So after several moves he was beaten several times by Huang Rong's fist. Huang Rong on the other hand, knew that Guo Jing was strong and resilient, so to appease her father she used her full strength. "Aren't you going to admit defeat now?" she called out loudly. Her mouth said those words, but her hands did not stop beating him.

Huang Yaoshi sneered, "What kind of acrobatic show are you demonstrating?" Nobody saw him moved, but suddenly he was near the two, stretched both hands to grab and throw them away. Although the movements were similar, actually he only flung his daughter to the side, while his right arm threw Guo Jing at full strength. His intention was obvious, he wanted Guo Jing to roll around on the ground. However, although Guo Jing was not able to resist the throw, he was able to turn his body midair, that when he landed, he did not fall down, but stood firmly on the ground. His face was pale and was about to throw up.

Instead of praising his skill, Huang Yaoshi's anger flamed. "I don't have any disciple to fight you. Come! Let me take your few stances."

Guo Jing hastily bowed and said, "Even if I have courage as high as the sky I still would not dare to fight Senior."

Huang Yaoshi sneered. "Humph, fight me?" He coldly said. "You are not my match, kid! Tell you what, I will stand still here, you attack me with your '18-dragon subduing palms'; if I ever move or raise my hand to parry, you win."

"Disciple still does not dare," Guo Jing said.

"I don't care! Dare or not, you have to fight me!" Huang Yaoshi said.

Guo Jing did not know what to do. "I don't have any choice; I'd better hit him several times, I think he is going to borrow my own strength to shake me up. So what if I have to fall some more times?" he thought.

Huang Yaoshi saw him hesitating, but his face had shown his willingness to try. So he urged him, "Quickly hit me! If not, I am going to hit you!"

"Since Senior commanded me to, I would not dare to disobey," Guo Jing said. He bent his body and moved his hand in a circling motion, launching the 'kang long you hui'. He was afraid he might injure Huang Yaoshi; also, he worried that if he used his full strength the counterattack would be fierce; therefore, he used only 60% of his strength. His palm struck Huang Yaoshi's chest; but to his surprise his palm slid like the chest was slick with oil. "Why, you didn't even want to hit me," Huang Yaoshi mocked. "Do you think I cannot take the overwhelming power of the '18-dragon subduing palms'? Is that it?"

"Disciple did not dare," Guo Jing answered. Then he launched his second move, the 'huo yue zai yuan' [leaping the abyss(?)]. This time he did not restrain anything. Exhaling his breath his left palm lunged toward Huang Yaoshi's throat, his right palm swiftly moved in front of the left, went straight to Huang Yaoshi's lower abdomen.