The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Day and night those two people trained together. Guo Jing was a young man, he did not need too much sleep; but even when he did, Zhou Botong wouldn't let him to. He kept urging him to train. Guo Jing fell down seven, eight hundreds times. His body was swollen and hurt all over, full of purple bruises. Fortunately he was strong, so he just gritted his teeth and doggedly learned and finally mastered Zhou Botong's special skill which he created during his fifteen years inside the cave, the 72-move 'kong ming quan' [lit. empty and clear fist technique – the Vacant Fist].

Two people were so engrossed in training martial arts that they did not know how many days had passed. Guo Jing was thinking about Huang Rong all day, but since he was unable to seek her, he had to be content in waiting painstakingly. Several times he wanted to go with the mute servant who delivers their meals to find her, but every time, Zhou Botong called him back.

One day right after lunch Zhou Botong said, "You have mastered the entire Vacant Fist. After this I won't be able to make you fall easily; so we have to change they way we play."

"Very well. How should we play?" Guo Jing laughed and asked.

"We play as four people fighting each other," Zhou Botong replied.

"Four people?" Guo Jing was perplexed.

"Absolutely!" Zhou Botong said. "Four people. My left hand is one person, my right the other. Your pair of hands are two other people. Four separate individuals, nobody helps anybody else. Four people in a tangled battle! That should be more interesting."

Guo Jing's interest was piqued. "It certainly is interesting; too bad I cannot separate my left and right hands," he smiled and said.

"I meant to teach you later," Zhou Botong said. "For now, let us just have a three-way fight." His pair of hands made two people and attack Guo Jing immediately. He separated himself into two different entities, each hand launched different stance, they did not complement each other; totally different from one person using two hands. When his left hand was giving Guo Jing a hard time, his right hand would come to Guo Jing's rescue. Likewise when his right was gaining an upper hand, his left would fight his right. When Guo Jing gained an upper hand, his both hands would fight together like two people facing one opponent. In short, it was like three separate individuals fighting each other. After fighting for a while they stopped for a rest.

Guo Jing thought this way of playing was so amusing; he could not help but remembering Huang Rong. He thought if she were there, three people would be able to fight as six individuals. He was sure Huang Rong would be very interested.

Zhou Botong was full of enthusiasm. As soon as Guo Jing caught his breath he immediately taught him how to divide his hands in a mutual hands combat. This technique was actually more difficult than the Vacant Fist.

There was a saying, 'Mind cannot be divided,' and somewhere along the same line, 'Left hand draws a square, right hand draws a circle; is not a good habit.' But this mutual hands combat technique was precisely dividing one's mind into two, and the way to train it was by drawing a square with the left hand and a circle with the right hand. Guo Jing practiced doing the drawings. Initially his square resembled a circle, and his circle looked like a square. He painstakingly practiced for a long time before he finally got the hang of it; both hands could draw perfect square and circle at will.

Zhou Botong was very excited. "If you haven't practiced our Quan Zhen's internal energy cultivation – which enables you to combine inner and outer strength, how could you master this mutual hands combat technique so quickly?" he said. "Now, use your left hand to launch 'nan shan quan' [south mountain fist technique] and your right hand 'yue nu jian' [Yueh Maiden sword technique]." These were the martial arts Guo Jing learned from Nan Xiren and Han Xiaoying. Guo Jing knew these techniques by heart, but launching them at the same time with different hands was actually very difficult.

Zhou Botong was dying to play the 'four people mutual combat', so he urged Guo Jing to train. He himself did not stop giving instructions and pointers. A few days later Guo Jing had mastered the mutual hands combat technique. Zhou Botong's delight was unspeakable. "Come, come!" he urged, "Your left hand and my left one form an alliance against your right hand and mine. Let us have a martial art contest."

Guo Jing was still young, how could this kind of game not interest him? Immediately his right hand fought Zhou Botong's left while his left hand fiercely fought Zhou Botong's right. Nobody had ever seen or heard about this kind of battle.

While they were fighting each other and themselves, Zhou Botong incessantly gave Guo Jing pointers on how to attack swiftly and fiercely, and how to form a stable defense. Guo Jing listened and committed each and every one of them in his memory.

Zhou Botong only wanted to have an interesting playtime, but Guo Jing's mind came up with other thoughts. One day when they were playing, he thought, "If our legs can also be divided, wouldn't two people be able to fight as eight individuals?" But he knew if he brought this up, Zhou Botong would go on indefinitely, so he refrained himself from saying anything.

Several more days passed. Guo Jing and Zhou Botong fought as four separate individuals. Zhou Botong was having fun; he fought and laughed heartily. Guo Jing's skill was still shallow, so when one of his hands was unable to withstand, the other involuntarily would come to its rescue. Zhou Botong's fists moved rapidly, Guo Jing was not able to keep up fighting as four separate individuals, so oftentimes he became one individual fighting two people, as in three people mutual combat. But his two hands launched different moves, so it was like two Guo Jing fought together hand-in-hand against two opponents.

Zhou Botong laughed heartily, "You are fighting disregarding the rules," he said.

Guo Jing jumped back. He was silent for a while than opened his mouth, "Big Brother, I have been thinking of something."

"What is it?" Zhou Botong asked.

"Well, your both hands can launch completely different moves. Why can't they work together as two people facing a common enemy? This technique can be very useful; if your enemy is strong, you can divide your mind and helping yourself. Although the force won't be doubled, but the stances would enjoy a great advantage."

Zhou Botong had created the mutual hands combat technique out of his boredom living in the cave alone. It never occurred to him that he could actually use the technique in a real combat. Now that Guo Jing reminded him a thought suddenly came flashing back and forth in his mind. Suddenly he leaped out of the cave and walked back and forth on the cave entrance; laughing incessantly.

Guo Jing saw a sudden change in his action like an evil spirit possessed him; he became anxious and called out, "Big Brother, what happened to you? What is it?"

Zhou Botong did not answer; but he kept laughing. After a while he said, "Brother, I am coming out of this hole! I am not going to urinate, I don't have a bowel movement; but I am coming out."

"You are!" Guo Jing exclaimed.

Zhou Botong smiled, "Right now my martial art is number one in the world, why should I fear Huang Yaoshi? I only hope he would show up so I can beat him really good."

"Are you sure you can defeat him?" Guo Jing asked.

"Actually my martial art is still a notch below his, but by dividing my mind I can be two people against one; nobody can defeat me. Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qigong, Ouyang Feng; their martial arts are superb, but how can they defeat two Zhou Botongs?" Guo Jing was delighted; what Zhou Botong said was very reasonable.