The Legend of the Condor Heroes

Seeing his enemy ahead it was very difficulty for him to be calm, but he knew he ought to be patient on the water; 'snap' the handle of oar was broken because he exerted too much energy. He was furious and anxious at the same time; he took a plank from the boat and used it to paddle the boat. Now instead of going faster he was going slower; the distance between his boat and the two people's boat gradually increased. By the time he managed to land the boat with a great deal of trouble, those two had already gone.

Guo Jing thought aloud, "I have to swallow my anger, I can't lose my life before avenging this enmity." He took a deep breath and spat three times; then he cocked his ears in full attention. He heard from behind the tavern faintly came the noise of blades splitting the air, mixed with people calling and responding each other; apparently it was not Qiu and Huang two people. Guo Jing looked around assessing the situation around him, and then tiptoeing into the Misty Rain Tavern. He saw nobody downstairs, so he rushed upstairs only to see by the window someone was leaning against the railings, looking out, his mouth was still noisily chewing something. It was none other than Hong Qigong.

"Shifu!" Guo Jing rushed forward and called out. Hong Qigong nodded his head, pointed outside and raised a cooked half lamb leg in his hand and took a big bite.

Guo Jing quickly went to the window. He saw flashing swords in the clearing behind the tavern, eight, nine people were surrounding Huang Yaoshi. Seeing the enemy was fighting a multitude of opponents he was slightly relieved; but after looking clearly at who these people were, he could not help but feel surprised. He saw his Da Shifu Ke Zhen'e wielding his iron staff with a young Taoist priest standing behind him. He thought, "How come Da Shifu is also here?" He looked again and found out that the young priest was Qiu Chuji's disciple Yin Zhiping; who was wielding his long sword to protect Ke Zhen'e's back, not to attack Huang Yaoshi. The other six were all Taoist priests, they were Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the rest of the Quanzhen Six Masters.

Guo Jing watched for a moment and realized the Quanzhen Sect was using their Big Dipper Formation to fight the enemy. Only the Changzhen Zi [Eternal Truth] Tan Chuduan had died, so the 'tian xuan' [sky jade/gem] position was occupied by Ke Zhen'e. Too bad his martial art skill was not on par with the others, plus he was not familiar with the formation, so Yin Zhiping was protecting his back while giving him directions. The Quanzhen Six Masters were brandishing their swords, advancing and retreating, dispersing and gathering together, keeping Huang Yaoshi inside their circle fighting an intense battle.

That day during the fierce battle at the Ox Village only two of the Quanzhen Seven Masters wielded their long swords; the rest of them were fighting using their bare palms, the battle was already very intense. This time there were seven long swords and one iron staff, so the fierceness was scary.

Huang Yaoshi remained barehanded; he floated around amidst the flashing swords and staff, as if he was forced to defend himself without being able to launch any counterattack; for dozens of moves he only moved around to avoid the enemies' blades without launching a single fist or kick. Guo Jing was secretly delighted, "Regardless of your resourcefulness, it will be difficult for you to run away from justice today."

Suddenly he saw that Huang Yaoshi swept his right foot around his body twice with his left foot firmly on the ground; compelling eight people to simultaneously withdraw three steps. "Excellent Sweeping Leaves Kick Technique!" Guo Jing praised.

Huang Yaoshi turned his head and waved his hand toward Hong and Guo two people upstairs and nodded his head in greeting. Guo Jing saw his face was relaxed and composed; he did not look like someone who was gasping for breath, which caused Guo Jing to be suspicious. He saw Huang Yaoshi's left palm sweep diagonally towards the top of Changsheng Zi [Eternal Life], Liu Chuxuan's head; so Huang Yaoshi had moved abruptly from defensive to offensive.

Actually Liu Chuxuan should not fend off against this palm; the 'tian quan' [sky power/authority], Qiu Chuji and the 'tian xuan' Ke Zhen'e should have made flank attacks from the side to rescue him; however, Ke Zhen'e was blind, unlike average people, he relied on his acute hearing, how could he guard against Huang Yaoshi's silent and brilliant palm technique? Qiu Chuji's sword flickered toward Huang Yaoshi's right armpit, Ke Zhen'e moved following Yin Zhiping's direction, but he was one step too late. Liu Chuxuan heard the palm slicing the wind just above his head, in his shock he threw himself to the ground and rolled away.

Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi realized the situation was critically dangerous, they launched a simultaneous flank attacks with their swords. Liu Chuxuan escaped the danger, but the Big Dipper Formation was broken. Huang Yaoshi laughed and dashed toward Sun Bu'er; he only moved for three steps, suddenly turned around and hit Guangning Zi [Infinite Peace] Hao Datong's chest. Hao Datong had never seen this kind of strange move, he hesitated slightly before stabbing his sword toward Huang Yaoshi's back. Huang Yaoshi moved like a rabbit, he broke through the encirclement and stood about two 'zhang's away from the crowd.

Hong Qigong laughed and said, "Old Heretic Huang, that was a very smart move!"

"I am going down," Guo Jing called out and moved toward the stairs.

"Slow down, slow down!" Hong Qigong said, "From the start your father-in-law has never hit back. At first I was worried about your Da Shifu, but looks like he does not have any intention to harm anybody."

Guo Jing returned to the window and asked, "How can you tell?"

Hong Qigong replied, "If he wanted to harm anybody, do you think that skinny monkey priest will still be alive? That little priest is not his match, not his match at all!" He took another bite at the lamb leg and said, "Before your father-in-law and Qiu Chuji arrived, I saw these old priests and your Da Shifu arrange their formation over there; but how can the Big Dipper Formation be learned in such a short time? Those old priests persuaded your Da Shifu to temporarily fill the empty position. Your Da Shifu clenched his teeth without saying anything. I don't know what enmity your Da Shifu has against your father-in-law. He followed that young priest to take the 'tian xuan' position; but in the end they still cannot block your father-in-law's deathly hand."

"He is not my father-in-law," Guo Jing said, full of hatred.

Hong Qigong was surprised, "Eh, what do you mean he is not your father-in-law?" he asked.

Clenching his teeth Guo Jing said, "He … he … humph!"

"How is Rong'er?" Hong Qigong asked, "You had an argument with her, didn't you?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with Rong'er," Guo Jing answered, "This old thief, he, he has killed my five shifus. My hatred to him is as deep as the ocean."

Hong Qigong jumped in surprise, he quickly asked, "Is that so?" But Guo Jing did not hear his question; his attention was focused on the fierce battle downstairs. By now the situation has changed, Huang Yaoshi was using his 'pi kong zhang fa' [splitting the air palm technique], creating strong gusts of wind, blocking his eight opponents' attacks.

Speaking about martial art skills of Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and the others, Huang Yaoshi should not be able to penetrate within a 'zhang' of their defense by relying on his bare palm only; but in the Big Dipper Formation they moved forward and backward together, Sun Bu'er, Ke Zhen'e and Yin Zhiping three people's martial art was comparatively weaker, as one person was compelled to draw back, the rest of the formation would have no choice but to follow. And so for each step forward everybody was forced to retreat two steps; they were separated farther and farther away from Huang Yaoshi, but the Big Dipper Formation was not the slightest bit chaotic.