The Legend of the Condor Heroes

"What do you think, Third brother?" Ke Zhen'E asked.

Han Baoju wasn't sure which way to decide, but he saw tears in the eyes of Han Xiaoying. She seemed so sad: "I'll take Fourth brother's side," Then he said, "I won't ever be able to kill Jing'er."

Thus, three 'Freaks' were of the opinion to use violence on Guo Jing; the other three wanted a more measured approach.

"If Fifth brother was still among us," Zhu Cong sighed, "it would be possible for him to break this deadlock…"

Hearing him mention Zhang Ahsheng, Han Xiaoying was heart broken again. Holding back her tears, she quietly said, "How could we not want to avenge our Fifth brother? Let's obey our elder Brother's wish!"

"In that case," Ke Zhen'E said. "Let's go back to the camp."

Back in their ger, they stayed silent, the air of death surrounding them.

That night, when Guo Jing arrived at the summit of the cliff, the Taoist was already there. Seeing the young man, he spoke to him in a low voice and showed him something next to the big rock where they usually trained.

"Look!"

Guo Jing approached and saw in the moonlight the pile of nine skulls. He jumped back. "The 'Twin Killers of the Dark Winds'!" he said with a trembling voice. "They've come again!"

"You know of the 'Twin Killers of the Dark Winds'?" the Taoist asked.

The young man told him of the terrifying fights that night, in the course of which his Fifth Shifu lost his life. He also told of how he frantically struck out with his knife and killed Chen Xuanfeng. The visions of that night were so vivid in his mind that he could not stop himself from shivering. When he stabbed 'Copper Corpse', he was very young, but the terrifying images had been engraved deeply in his memory.

"'Copper Corpse' caused so much suffering," sighed the Taoist, "yet he died by your hand!"

"My Shifus often speak of the 'Twin Killers of the Dark Winds'. My Third Shifu and Seventh Shifu say that 'Iron Corpse' should be dead… But Eldest Shifu always says: 'Not for sure! Not for sure'! For these nine skulls to be here, 'Iron Corpse' can't be dead…" He shivered. "Did you see Mei Chaofeng?" he asked.

"I arrived here not long ago," the Taoist answered, "And I immediately noticed this pile of skulls. Has 'Iron Corpse' come here to take revenge on your Shifus and you?"

"The Eldest Shifu made her blind," Guo Jing said, "we are not afraid of her."

The Taoist took a skull in his hand and carefully examined it. "This person has a kung fu of terrifying power," he said while nodding his head. "I fear that your six Shifus are not strong enough to face her. Even if I lend them some assistance, we still may not defeat her!"

He was so sure of what he was saying, that Guo Jing was stunned. "Ten years ago," he said, "she was not blind and yet she did not succeed in defeating my seven Shifus. Today, we are eight… You… will you help us in this danger or not?"

"I've thought about it for a little while," the Taoist answered after an moment of silence, "but I don't understand how her fingers can be this powerful… As says the proverb: 'Those that wish you well don't come to find you, those that come to find you don't wish you well'! Since she dares to come to take revenge, she is very sure of her chances."

"What reason did she have for arranging the skulls here? Won't we be extra cautious after seeing them?"

"I imagine that it must be a part of the ritual of practicing the 'Nine Yin White Bone Claw'… Because it is so difficult to climb, she must think that no one comes to the summit of this cliff. By sheer luck, we stumbled on it!"

Fearing that Mei Chaofeng might already be going to fight his masters, Guo Jing said, "I am going to warn my Shifus."

"Well thought," the Taoist approved. "Tell them that you pass on a message from a good friend; they are to keep themselves aside for a while and take time to find the best solution… There's no reason to face her needlessly."

Guo Jing agreed; but at the very moment he was going to let himself slip down from the cliff, the Taoist grabbed him and jumped behind a large rock where they hid themselves. Guo Jing was going to ask him what was going on when the Taoist put his hand over his mouth. He shrank against the rock, not daring to make a sound, only risking a quick look.

A short time later, a shadow moved up the other side of the cliff. In the moonlight, long hair floated in the wind: it was Mei Chaofeng. The other side of the hill was even steeper than the cliff; because she was blind, she probably wouldn't have noticed the difference. That was a stroke of luck, because the 'Six Freaks' were hidden on this side. If she had come up here, she would not have failed to meet them, and they would be fighting already!

Mei Chaofeng turned around suddenly; a frightened Guo Jing lowered his head quickly. Then he remembered that she was blind, and he stood up slowly. He saw that she was sitting with her legs crossed on the big rock where he trained every day. Then she began breathing exercises. He now understood that this way of breathing and mastering the breath constituted the practice of the neigong. He felt a sudden appreciation for the Taoist's teaching.

A little later, he heard crackling coming from the body of Mei Chaofeng; at first occasional, then faster and faster, just like when one grills peanuts in a wok and they explode. The noise came from the inside of her body that remained immobile. Guo Jing didn't know that it was a strange and superior form of the neigong, but he was still very impressed.

The crackling lasted for a long time. Then the rhythm slowed until it stopped completely. Guo Jing saw her rise slowly, her left hand took something from her waist that she swung like a long silver snake. Startled at first, he then saw that it was a very long whip.

The Golden Dragon Whip of his Shifu Han Baoju didn't exceed six feet, but this one had to be more than twenty feet long!

She turned around slowly and the light of the moon illuminated a face that still was very pretty. With her long hair and her eyes closed, she seemed sinister and frightening. In the silence, one could hear her sigh and whisper, "My bastard husband, could it be that in the Hell, you also think of me every day?"

Holding her whip by its middle section, she quietly laughed and began to train. This whip seemed to dance in a curious way; the movements were slow and didn't make any noise. She made a stroke to the east, followed by an astounding one to the west; every strike more unbelievable than the last. Suddenly her hand slipped and caught the end of the whip so that all of its length reached a big rock. It wrapped around and raised it, as if it was a hand. Guo Jing was stunned by this. The whip, after flinging the rock far away, moved back towards his head. In the moonlight, he could see distinctly that the end of the whip held about ten very sharp hooks.

Guo Jing was already holding his knife. Seeing the whip coming his way, he was going to avoid the stroke, without even thinking about it. Then he felt his arm go numb and a hand pushed him to the ground. Like silvery lightning, the end of the whip passed above his head. Covered with a cold sweat he thought, "If my Taoist friend had not stopped me in time and my knife touched it, the whip would certainly have smashed my skull!" Fortunately, the Taoist did it efficiently and quietly and Mei Chaofeng didn't notice anything.