Chapter 11 - A Pause From RoamingYang Guo had dashed forward only two steps when suddenly a gust of wind brushed over his head, a person darted past and stood between him and the five clowns and laughed, “That was a great slumber!” It was the ‘Nine-Fingered Wondrous Beggar’ Hong Qigong. Yang Guo was delighted while the five clowns were startled and shocked. When Hong Qigong first lay down on the snow he really was sleeping, but woke up when the fifth clown stepped on him. He wanted to test the young man and see whether he could keep his promise of guarding him for three days. Every time Yang Guo checked his breathing, he would stop breathing and pretended to be dead. Now he was standing at the mouth of the path with an awe-inspiring air. His left hand made a semi-circle, his right hand pushed out a palm; it was his life’s proudest work, the stance of “Overcoming the Dragon with Regret” from the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”. The first clown couldn’t avoid it; he knew he couldn’t meet this stance head on but all he could do was to push his palms out and use his strength to fend off the attack. Hong Qigong was keeping his palm’s power in check; he only used ten percent of his internal energy but the first clown felt his arms go numb and his chest ache. The second clown saw that he was in danger; he was afraid that Hong Qigong’s palms will force him into the deep valley so he quickly stretched out his hand and pushed the first clown’s back. Hong Qigong’s palm power increased; the second clown moved back, almost slipping down into the deep valley. The fourth clown was standing behind them and stretched out his arm to support them. Hong Qigong’s palms power spread through them, it spread towards the fourth clown who in turn passed it onto the third clown and the third clown spread it towards the final one in the line, the fifth clown. The clowns had nowhere to hide and nowhere to run; in the blink of an eye, they were defeated by Hong Qigong’s single palm. Hong Qigong laughed, “You five scoundrels are evil and wicked you should be able to die without complaint under the single palm of the Old Beggar.” The five of them positioned themselves into the mount posture; they flared up their chi and united their internal energy to resist the single palm but they felt the force of the palm getting heavier. Their chests felt tighter and gradually it was becoming more difficult to breathe. Hong Qigong suddenly gave out a ‘yi’ call showing his surprise. He took back eighty percent of his palm’s power and said, “Your internal energy has its good points, who is your master?” The first clown still had his two palms pushing out against him; he struggled for breath as he said, “We are… are under the tutelage of Master Da’erba.” Hong Qigong shook his head and said, “Da’erba? I haven’t heard of him. Hmm, your internal energy can be spread mutually to each other, this kung fu is terrific.” Yang Guo thought, “To get Hong Qigong to say ‘terrific’, then it really must be terrific. Yet when I looked at their skills I thought they were very ordinary and none of them can beat me.” Hong Qigong asked, “What’s your sect?” The first clown said, “Our master is… is the second… second disciple of Western Tibet’s Holy…Holy Monk Jinlun Fawang.” Hong Qigong shook his head again, and said, “Western Tibet’s Holy Monk, Jinlun Fawang? I’ve never heard of him. Western Tibet has a monk, his name is Reverend Lingzhi, he I have seen; his kung fu is stronger than yours but his skills aren’t advanced. Your kung fu is good; hmm, it makes sense. Go and get your Grand Master here to fight with me.” The first monk replied, “Our Grand Master is a holy monk, the living Buddha, Mongolia’s number one martial artist, all knowing and all powerful. How…how…” The second clown noticed from Hong Qigong’s tone that he was going to spare them, but with the way that the first clown was replying they were cutting off their escape route so he quickly interrupted and said, “Yes, yes. We’ll quickly go and get our Grand Master here to duel with Hong Qigong. Only our Grand Master can fight with senior Hong. We juniors will raise our wine gourds and… and…” As he said this, there came a ‘duo’ ‘duo’ ‘duo’ sound; a person appeared from around the corner of the mountain. His body was upside down, each hand holding a piece of rock, walking with his palms, it was Western Poison Ouyang Feng. Yang Guo’s voice cracked as he called out, “Father!” Ouyang Feng did not bother to find out what was happening and leapt behind the five clowns and stretched out his right foot and placed it on their backs; a strong energy rushed through the five clowns. Hong Qigong was shocked with the sudden appearance of Ouyang Feng; he heard Yang Guo call him ‘Father’ and understood that he was his son; no wonder he was so good. He felt his arm sink as the opponent’s internal energy reached him; he quickly increased his strength and returned the attack. Since the second Mount Hua competition, Hong Qigong had not seen Ouyang Feng for over ten years. Although Ouyang Feng’s mind was unclear, he practiced the Contrary Nine Yin Manual”; the more he practiced the stranger his kung fu became, and the stranger it became the more powerful he became. Guo Jing and Huang Rong had recited a small portion of the manual to Hong Qigong; it made an impression on his kung fu and great progress in his martial arts. The final stage of the “Nine Yin Manual” is superior to the “Contrary Nine Yin Manual”, although Hong Qigong only knew a little; he wasn’t inferior to Ouyang Feng. Tens of years ago it was difficult to separate the two, since then they had both met new boundaries. Today they came across each other on Mount Hua for the third time, once internal energy went out; it was indeed hard to differentiate between the two. The ones that were to be pitied are the Five Clowns of the Tibetan Border; being sandwiched between two of the world’s most powerful fighters, they became the apparatus for kung fu practice. A sandbag for punches and kicks, they were cold for a while, then hot for a while, their breathing was tight and then slow, the bones all over their body made ‘ka la’ noises; it was a hundred times more excruciating than the most severe punishments. Ouyang Feng suddenly asked, “The five’s internal energy is very good. What sect are you from?” Yang Guo thought, “Even Godfather says their internal energy is very good; the five clowns indeed are not run-of-the-mill fighters.” He heard Hong Qigong say, “They said they are the grand disciples of Western Tibet’s Holy Monk Jinlun Fawang.” Ouyang Feng said, “Jinlun Fawang compared to you, who’s better?” Hong Qigong said, “Don’t know, I don’t think there’s much difference.” Ouyang Feng said, “How about compared with me?” Hong Qigong said, “He’s better than you a bit.” Ouyang Feng was shocked and called out, “I don’t believe it!” In between the exchange of words, the energy in the hand and foot increased. Hong Qigong sent out different levels of palm energy but they were all dispersed by Ouyang Feng’s foot energy; the power in the foot increased but it was difficult to move Hong Qigong back even half an inch. After this exchange both admired each other, they laughed and jumped back. The strong force within the Five Clowns of the Tibetan Border suddenly disappeared; they couldn’t stop themselves wobbling about as if they were drunk on wine. The five had the internal energies of two great fighters circulated to and fro between them, their internal organs had been seriously injured, the muscles weakened and bones softened; they had become invalids. They wouldn’t be able to fight off even a small child of seven or eight years of age. Hong Qigong shouted, “You five scoundrels, your lifelines haven’t reached their end today; it doesn’t matter anyway since you can’t do anymore harm, just crawl away. Remember to go and tell your Grand Master Jinlun Fawang to come to the central plains and find me so we can do a little sparring.” Ouyang Feng said, “With me too.” The Five Clowns of the Tibetan Border all agreed and limped away, supporting each other as they descended down from the peak. Ouyang Feng flipped upright and stared at Hong Qi Gong and then shouted, “Hey, your kung fu is very good, what’s your name.” After hearing this and seeing the confused look on his face, Hong Qigong knew that since he went mad over ten years ago, he hadn’t recovered and so said, “I’m called Ouyang Feng, what’s your name?” Ouyang Feng’s heart shook, he felt that the words ‘Ouyang Feng’ were very familiar but he couldn’t remember what he was called, and he shook his head and said, “I don’t know. Hey, what am I called?” Hong Qigong laughed and said, “You don’t even know your own name. Go home and think about it.” Ouyang Feng angrily said, “You must know, tell me.” Hong Qigong said, “Fine, you’re called Smelly Toad.” The word ‘Toad’ was very familiar to Ouyang Feng, when he heard this it felt right, but there was also a feeling that it was wrong. He and Hong Qigong had been adversaries for tens of years; the hate had been etched deeply into his mind, although he didn’t understand right now. Yet when he looked at him, Ouyang Feng felt aggravated. Hong Qigong saw him standing there in a daze, a fierce glow was in his eyes. Hong Qigong secretly put his guard up, indeed he heard Ouyang Feng shout out and ruthlessly throw himself forward. He didn’t dare hesitate and immediately used his “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”. The two fought in the wind and the slippery snow on a narrow path that was only about a foot wide; using their greatest skills with great effort in the battle. On one side was a two thousand foot deep chasm, just one little mistake and they would fall to their deaths; this was much more dangerous than fighting on flat, even ground. The two of them were now fairly old, though their vigor has lessened; their study of martial arts had reached an extremely pure level. The stances were pure and profound, so profound that everything was ingenious and masterly, only ten or so moves were exchanged. The two couldn’t stop themselves from admiring each other. Ouyang Feng said, “The Old Beggar is very lethal.” Hong Qigong laughed and said, “Smelly Toad is also terrific.” Yang Guo knew that the terrain was extremely dangerous, he was afraid that Ouyang Feng would fall down into the valley; but then he could see that Hong Qigong was in distress and hoped that he too would be safe. Ouyang Feng was his Godfather, he had deep feelings for him; nevertheless, Hong Qigong was gallant, he had the air of a great hero around him. As soon as he met him an impression was left in his heart. He had endured hunger, cold, extreme dangers in guarding Hong Qigong for three days and three nights. Although they didn’t say a word to each other in the three days, in Yang Guo’s mind, it was as if they both endured hundreds and hundreds of life threatening dangers together. Tens of stances later, Yang Guo saw that the two’s incomparably swift and powerful attacks had changed from dangerous to safe. He soon forgot about the safety of the two and concentrated on watching the masterly kung fu that was on display. The “Nine Yin Manual” is the peak of the world’s martial arts, he only knew odd fragments of it; now he saw the two use the theories of the manual within their stances. He couldn’t help himself from being shocked and surprised, he thought, “So even an ordinary sentence from the manual has so many ways to express its meaning.” Over a thousand stances passed, although the two had yet to use all their skills, their age was catching up with them. They felt they were getting out of breath and their hearts were beating faster, it was unavoidable that their arms and legs would get slower.” Yang Guo called out, “You two have been fighting for over half a day, you must be hungry, how about eating first and then carry on later?” As soon as Hong Qigong heard the word ‘eat’ he immediately jumped back and said, “Great idea, great idea!” Yang Guo had seen the fifth clown bring up cold food in a bamboo basket and had placed off to the side. He went to it and brought it over and opened the lid, he saw cold chicken and meat, white wine and cold rice; everything that was needed was there. Hong Qigong was delighted, he picked up a cold chicken and bit down with large bites hurriedly, eating noisily. Yang Guo picked up some cold meat and passed it to Ouyang Feng and softly said, “Father, where have you been all this time?” Ouyang Feng stared at him and said, “I’ve been searching for you.” Yang Guo’s heart ached and thought, “There is someone on this world that actually loves me like this.” He held his arm and said, “Father, you are Ouyang Feng. Senior Hong is a good person, don’t fight him.” Ouyang Feng pointed to Hong Qigong and said, “He’s Ouyang Feng, Ouyang Feng is a bad person.” Yang Guo saw that his mind was confused and felt sad. Hong Qigong laughed and said, “You’re right, Ouyang Feng is a bad person, Ouyang Feng deserves to die.” Ouyang Feng looked at Hong Qigong and then at Yang Guo. He exhausted his strength trying to remember but his mind and memories were still scrambled. Yang Guo fed Ouyang Feng some food and then stood up, he said to Hong Qigong, “Senior Hong, he is my Godfather. He has a severe mental illness, his mind is confused, please pity him and don’t make it hard for him.” Hong Qigong heard this and nodded a few times, and said, “Young man, so he’s your Godfather.” Who could have expected that Ouyang Feng would suddenly leap up and called out, “Ouyang Feng, we can’t find a winner using our fists and kicks, we’ll compete again using weapons.” Hong Qigong shook his head and said, “There’s no need to compete, let’s just say you win.” Ouyang Feng said, “What win or lose? I must kill you.” He stretched out his hand and broke off a branch; he took off the twigs and leaves from the branch forming a staff. He attacked downwards at Hong Qigong’s head. His snake staff was famous years ago, it was extremely lethal, although there wasn’t a snake at the head of this staff, before the attack arrived, the wind produced was so strong that it made if difficult for Yang Guo to breathe. Yang Guo quickly dived out of the way. When he looked up at Hong Qigong, he saw him pick up a branch and used it as a short rod, the two battled again. Hong Qigong’s “Dog Beating Stick Technique” has nothing like it in the world, but he doesn’t use it casually; apart from this technique, he has many refined and ingenious rod stances and right now he was using them. This heated battle was another spectacular fight like the last one with fists and kicks; the stick was like an elusive dragon, the staff like an efficacious dancing snake. It was like watching a rainbow traveling across the sky or a shooting star chasing after the moon, the fight held Yang Guo entranced as he watched. The staff and stick went to and fro, they fought until dusk, and again it was difficult to separate the two. Yang Guo saw that the ground was extremely dangerous; the mountain was covered with ice and snow and was extremely slippery. The two of them were old, if they fought for much longer they would definitely loose their footing so he loudly called out, telling them to stop. But Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng were fighting with great pleasure, why would they stop? Yang Guo knew that mentioning food to Hong Qigong made him stop, so he thought that luring him with good food would be effective. So he went to the wild mountainside and dug up some mountain herbs and yams, started a fire and roasted them. Hong Qigong smelt the fragrant scent and called out, “Smelly Toad, I don’t want to fight with you, eating is more important.” He ran to Yang Guo’s side and picked up two clumps of mountain herbs and ate them. Although they burnt his mouth he kept on chewing. Ouyang Feng rushed over and raised his staff over Hong Qigong’s head chopping down. Hong Qigong ignored him and threw him a clump of the mountain herbs and called out, “Just eat!” Ouyang Feng stopped. He caught it and started to eat it, forgetting about the heated battle they were just in. That night the three of them slept in a cave. Yang Guo wanted to help his Godfather regain his memories and mentioned past events to him. Ouyang Feng stood there in a daze not replying, sometimes he would hit his head with his fist, showing that he’s trying extremely hard to remember but he could not, it was extremely hard for him. Yang Guo worried that he would get even crazier so made him go to sleep, he himself was tossing and turning and couldn’t sleep. He was thinking about the fist and palm stances that the two used, the more he thought about it the more excited he got. He couldn’t stop himself and got up quietly. Studying them, he felt that the ingenuity and mastery of the stances was boundless; he practiced into the middle of the night until he was extremely tired and went to sleep. The next morning, Yang Guo had not yet wakened up from his sleep when he heard gusts of wind from outside the cave, in between them were the sounds of leaping and jumping. He quickly hurried outside to see Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng battling each other heatedly again. He sighed and thought, “These two old seniors aren’t acting their age, what’s the point of fighting like this?” He could only sit aside and watch. He saw Hong Qigong’s stances and understood every stance and every move but it was difficult for him to grasp Ouyang Feng’s strange stances, every time Hong Qigong seemed to gain the upper hand, Ouyang Feng’s strange stances would bring them to a level pegging again. The two of them battled in the day and slept at night, they fought for four days running, both of them were exhausted but neither of them dared to let slip even half a stance. Yang Guo pondered, “Whatever happens tomorrow I mustn’t allow them to fight again.” That night he waited for Ouyang Feng to go to sleep and then quietly said to Hong Qigong, “Senior, please come outside, I have something to say.” Hong Qigong followed him outside. About a hundred feet away from the cave, Yang Guo suddenly got down on his knees, and kept on kowtowing, yet he didn’t say a word. Hong Qigong was startled but understood; he knew that Yang Guo wanted him to have pity on Ouyang Feng and his illness and leave. He laughed at the sky and said, “So be it.” After only walking away for a few tens of feet, his garments were held in a gust of wind, Ouyang Feng darted out of the cave and swept out his staff angrily shouting, “Old Beggar, trying to escape?” Hong Qigong conceded three stances to him as he tried to find a path of escape but he was held up by the gusts of wind created by the staff. When skilled fighters are dueling, one mustn’t concede even half a move, Hong Qigong had the intention of conceding to him and immediately fell into danger. It was a desperate situation; many times he almost lost his life to the staff. He saw the staff heading straight for him, attacking his lower abdomen; he knew that this stance must have a lethal move to follow it. He couldn’t avoid it and let him have this stance. He raised his stick to block it. He suddenly felt a powerful internal energy surging through the staff, he couldn’t stop himself from being shocked, “You want to compete internal energy with me?” He thought, “The enemy’s internal energy is arriving, there is no other way to defend apart from using my own internal energy to block it.” He quickly circulated his internal energy and prepared to defend. If they lose concentration for a split second and get struck by the opponent’s weapon or palm, their internal energy will be all over their body and will defend against the attack. Although they would be injured, it won’t be anything serious. Now that they are competing with internal energy, they couldn’t concede to the other one iota; they had reached a stage where it wouldn’t finish unless one died. The two of them had fought each other many times in the past, and each time both were worried about their own safety and how strong the other was. Normally they wouldn’t use such a dangerous way to attack each other since they were afraid that in their quest to seek glory, they would be disgraced instead and lose their lives for no purpose. But Ouyang Feng wasn’t thinking properly; he hadn’t managed to gain victory in the last few days so suddenly circulated his internal energy to attack. Tens of years ago, Hong Qigong hated Ouyang Feng to the bone, but now he was old and had mellowed. Now Ouyang Feng was mad and Yang Guo had pleaded for his life; Hong Qigong had no intentions of killing him, so he circulated his chi throughout his ‘dan tian’. He just defended and didn’t attack, waiting for Ouyang Feng to exert all his energy. He didn’t know that his opponent’s internal energy was like the waves of a large river, the source of it incessantly sending out waves of internal energy. After one wave, came another, there was no sign of it weakening but instead it was getting fiercer and fiercer. Hong Qigong always believed that his internal energy was profound. In these past years he had refined his fierce internal energy to new levels; even if he couldn’t beat Western Poison, if he used all his energy to defend, he would not lose. But who could have guessed that after all these exchanges of internal energy, Ouyang Feng was getting stronger and stronger. Hong Qigong remembered the time when he was competing internal energy with Ouyang Feng with the Five Clowns of the Tibetan Border sandwiched in between them; Ouyang Feng had sent out his internal energy with his foot three times, each time stronger than the last. He noticed, at that time, that before the first wave of internal energy had dissipated the second wave had arrived, after the second wave arrived, the third followed. If he just defended and let him keep on pressing, it would definitely be hard to defend against. Only by returning his own energy between the gaps and forcing him to defend will he stop Ouyang Feng from amassing a great force. Once he thought about this he immediately circulated his internal energy and attacked. The two’s bodies shook as the energies collided. When Yang Guo saw the two competing internal energy he was extremely worried; if he attacked Hong Qigong’s back, he would help his Godfather gain victory. He looked at Hong Qigong and saw a head full of white hair, and within his commanding air there was a compassionate and merciful part. In the spaces between his heroic natures there was peacefulness to go with it. He couldn’t stop himself from bowing down to him, not to mention that he had responded to his plea and was willing to leave. How could he harm him? The two of them froze for a while, white smoke came out from Ouyang Feng’s head, and gradually it became denser and denser, like steam coming from a steamer. Hong Qigong had also used all his strength to defend; right now he had no way to control whether or not he would harm his opponent’s life. If he could just protect himself that would be fortunate enough. They competed from dawn until morning, from morning until midday until Hong Qigong gradually felt his internal energy draining away. However, his opponent’s internal energy kept on surging towards him like a violent storm. He quietly said, “So the madder the old poisonous animal gets, the more powerful he becomes; the Old Beggar’s life is going to end today.” He knew that his battle would have an ending; he now had no way to avoid this and could only use all his strength to resist. But he didn’t know that Ouyang Feng’s internal energy was also declining due to exhaustion, it was hard for him to maintain his palm’s power. They continued for another four hours until it got dark. Yang Guo saw that their faces had changed; he thought that if they battled any longer, they would definitely perish together. The difference in internal energy between him and the two was vast. If he wanted to break them up himself, most probably he would not be able to separate them. Instead he would lose his life in the attempt. He delayed for a while and saw Ouyang Feng’s face looked worried and Hong Qigong was out of breath, he thought, “Even if it is dangerous I need to save their lives.” So he went and broke off a tree branch and got down on his knees between the two; he circulated his chi around his body to protect himself and stretched out his branch placing it in between the staff and stick. Who could have known that this separation would not waste any energy? The two’s internal energy rushed into the branch and after meeting his circulated chi, the energies were dispersed. A strong bow cannot pierce a silk cloth; although the Northern Beggar and Western Poison are two of the most renowned men in the world of Wulin, they had spent many days consuming and exhausting their energy. After being disturbed by his interference, the two of them fell onto the ground, their faces grey as ash and it was hard for them to move. Yang Guo was alarmed and called out, “Father, Senior Hong, are you okay?” The two of them struggled to breath and didn’t reply. Yang Guo wanted to move them into the cave to rest but Hong Qigong lightly shook his head. Yang Guo knew that the two were severely injured and could not be moved. That night he slept between the two, afraid that they would get up in the middle of the night and fight again. The two of them couldn’t even circulate their chi to recuperate, how could they fight each other? The next morning, Yang Guo saw that they looked like they were on the point of death, they looked worse than yesterday. He was alarmed and flustered; he dug up some more mountain herbs and roasted and fed it to them. On the third day, the two of them showed signs of being a little better. Yang Guo moved them into the cave, placing them on either side with him in the middle. They rested like this for several days. Once Hong Qigong regained his appetite he started to recover. Ouyang Feng didn’t say anything but his expression was calm, Yang Guo tried to get him to talk but he wouldn’t say anything. That day, the two of them were lying on the ground facing each other when Hong Qigong suddenly called out, “Smelly Toad”, do you revere me now?” Ouyang Feng said, “Revere what? I still have many stances that I haven’t used, once I use them all, you’ll be beaten into dust.” Hong Qigong laughed and said, “What a coincidence, I too have many kung fu that I haven’t used yet. Have you heard of the Beggar Clan’s “Dog Beating Stick Technique”?” Ouyang Feng trembled, and thought, “The “Dog Beating Stick Technique” sounds familiar, it seems to be extremely potent, could it be that the Old Beggar knows it? But how come he hasn’t used it when we’ve been fighting for our lives? He’s probably used it already. Or, he doesn’t know it.” So he said, “What’s so special about the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”?” Hong Qigong was regretful; during the days when he was fighting with him, all he had to do was just use a few stances of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” and he would definitely be able to subdue him. But he felt that Ouyang Feng was mentally unstable so he already has an advantage over him. Using the Beggar Clan’s treasured “Dog Beating Stick Technique” against him wouldn’t be fair. It was not the actions of a hero. But who knew that although his mind was unstable, his kung fu did not decline one bit. In the end, both of them ended up seriously injured. He wanted to use this set of skills but he had no energy to do so. When he heard Ouyang Feng ask this question he couldn’t take it and had a thought, he signaled to Yang Guo telling him to lower his ear and said, “I am the Beggar Clan’s previous chief, do you know that?” Yang Guo nodded, in Chongyang Palace he heard the Taoists talk about the famous people of the world. They said that the Beggar Clan’s previous chief the “Nine Fingered Wondrous Beggar” Hong Qigong had supreme martial arts and was courageous, a real hero. Hong Qigong said, “I have a set of techniques that I’m going to teach you. This set of techniques is passed onto the Beggar Clan’s chief only and never to outsiders. Because your Godfather is belittling me with his words, I want you to perform it for him to see.” Yang Guo said, “Since this skill of Senior’s is never passed on to outsiders, this junior will not learn it. My Godfather’s mind hasn’t recovered yet, there is no need for Senior to torment him.” Hong Qigong shook his head and said, “If you learn the stances but don’t know the formulae to accompany it, should you face an enemy, it would be useless. And so, you can’t really say that I’m teaching you kung fu. I don’t want you to attack your Godfather, just demonstrate it to him and once he sees it, he will understand.” Yang Guo thought, “Since that this set of kung fu is a treasure of the Beggar Clan, my Godfather may not be able to beat it; why should I help you to defeat my Godfather?” He rejected the offer, saying that he can’t learn the secret skill of the Beggar Clan. Hong Qigong saw through him and loudly said, “Smelly Toad”, your Godson knows that you can’t beat my “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, he doesn’t dare to demonstrate it to you.” Ouyang Feng was angry and called out, “Son, I have many great skills that I haven’t used yet, why should I be afraid of him? Quickly demonstrate it for me.” The two were forcing him, he had no other response but to go over to Hong Qigong’s side. Hong Qigong told him to take a branch and taught him a stance of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, “The Stick Beats Two Dogs”, carefully describing it to him. Yang Guo understood immediately and demonstrated it. Ouyang Feng saw that the stick technique was indeed wondrous and powerful, it would be difficult for him to overcome it straight away, he thought for a while and taught a staff technique stance to Yang Guo. Hong Qigong gave a slight smile and said, “Fine, here’s another stance.” The two of them then compared martial arts with their mouths and tongues. They continued until night fell, only ten or so moves were exchanged yet Yang Guo was exhausted and sweating all over. The next morning they continued, and they carried on for three days, by then, the thirty six stances of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” were described. Though there were only thirty six stances, the changes in between them had boundless ingenuity, in the end, Ouyang Feng took longer and longer to come up with a solution. But the stances that he came up with attacked and defended at the same time, the strength and power of them was excellent; when Hong Qigong saw this he let out a sigh of respect. By the night of that day, Hong Qigong described the thirty-sixth stance “No Dogs Under Heaven” sixth change. This was the “Dog Beating Stick Technique’s” final stance and final change; once this stance was used, there would be a stick everywhere and when the internal energy arrived, had there been eighty evil dogs, all of them would be killed at the same time. It was called “No Dogs Under Heaven” because of this, the ingenuity and mastery of the rod technique had reached the highest echelons of martial arts. Ouyang Feng couldn’t think of a reply. He spent that night tossing and turning as he pondered that stance. Before Yang Guo woke up the next morning, Ouyang Feng suddenly called out, “I’ve got it… I’ve got it. Son, use this staff stance to break his.” His voice was excited and urgent at the same time. Yang Guo could hear that there was something wrong with him, he took a look and was shocked. Though Ouyang Feng was old, his internal energy was profound, so the hair on his face and head was grey white in colour; but he had exerted himself too much that night thinking. In just a night his hair became completely white, as if he’d suddenly aged ten years. Yang Guo was sad, he wanted to ask Hong Qigong to stop the competition, but Ouyang Feng repeatedly forced him to do as he said, in the end he could only comply. This stance was extremely complicated, Ouyang Feng repeated it and explained it until Yang Guo understood and did as he was instructed. When Hong Qigong saw this stance his face changed. He was lying on the floor, unable to move; suddenly he somehow gained divine strength and leapt up calling out, “Old poisonous animal, Ouyang Feng! Today, Old Beggar is in awe of you.” He jumped forward and hugged him tightly. Yang Guo was startled, he assumed that he was trying to harm his Godfather. He tried to pull him away but Hong Qigong was holding on tightly, he was unable to pull him away. He heard Hong Qigong laugh and called out, “Old poisonous animal, Ouyang Feng, you actually thought of a stance to break mine, you really are something! Good Ouyang Feng, good Ouyang Feng.” After many days of fighting and a whole night of thinking, Ouyang Feng had exhausted all his strength. When he heard Hong Qigong call him ‘Ouyang Feng’ three times, suddenly something lit up in him. His mind was like a mirror, all the events of the past came before his very eyes; he also laughed and called out, “I’m Ouyang Feng! I’m Ouyang Feng! I’m Ouyang Feng! You’re the Old Beggar Hong Qigong!” The two white haired men hugged each other and laughed. After a bout of laughter, the voices became quieter, then suddenly stopped, and the two of them lay motionless. Yang Guo was shocked and kept on calling out, “Father, Senior!” neither replied. Yang Guo pulled Hong Qigong’s arm, but as soon as he did so the arm hung limp, he was dead. Yang Guo was startled and bent over to take a look at Ouyang Feng; he too had all lost signs of being alive. Though the two’s laughter has ended, their faces still held a smile, and the valley quietly echoed back the sounds of two people laughing. Northern Beggar and Western Poison had been adversaries for many years and they hated each other. And now they ended up dead together on Mount Hua. The two of them were enemies when they were alive, but just before they died they were hugging each other and laughing. All the feuds and arguments that they have had over the years were ended with a laugh! Yang Guo was shocked and sad at the same time; he had no idea what to do. He remembered that Hong Qigong pretended to be dead for three days and three nights, could it be that the two of them were pretending to be dead? But judging from how they looked, it didn’t appear that they were pretending. He thought, “Maybe after dying for a while they’ll come back to life. Their martial arts are extremely good; they wouldn’t die just like that. Maybe they are competing again, seeing who can fake death the longest.” He guarded the two for seven days and nights and every time a day passed, a bit of his hope drained away. He saw that the two’s faces had changed colour and knew then that they had really passed away. He sobbed for a while, and then, in the side of the cave, he dug two holes and buried the two extraordinary figures of the Wulin world. The weapons they used and Hong Qigong’s wine gourd were buried with them. He saw that the footprints that the two had left when they were fighting had turned to ice, the prints were still here yet their bodies have now been placed in the ground. Yang Guo stepped into the footprints and reminisced, he couldn’t stop himself from being depressed again. He then thought about how even with their frightening abilities, in the end they were buried by someone the world despised. What is fame, what is reputation; it’s just a dream that’s finished. He kowtowed eight times in front of their tombs, thinking, “Though Godfather was brilliant, in the end he was a level below Hong Qigong.” When the “Dog Beating Stick Techniques” were demonstrated, Godfather had to think for quite a while before he overcame them, if he really faced this in battle, who would allow him to carefully study it and then think of a way to counter it?” After many sighs, he found a path down the mountain and left it behind. This time when he was leaving the mountain, he was trusting in his footsteps again, he didn’t distinguish between east, south, west or north. He thought that since the world is a large place, he was alone, he would wander around and when his time comes, he’ll lie on the ground somewhere and die. He hadn’t been on Mount Hua for a month, yet to him it was like many years had passed. When he was ascending the mountain, he was thinking about how everyone looked down on him, he was full of hate and anger. As he descended, he felt life was like a passing cloud, if others respect him or look down on him it’s all the same. What’s it have to do with him anyway? At such a young age, he was resentful of the world’s customs, he won’t rise in respect for the world. Within a day’s time he arrived at a wild place in Xianan; he took a look around and saw withered trees and wilted grass everywhere. The grass was fluttering in the wind. The sound of quiet hoofs could be heard in the west, dust and smoke rose, after a short while, tens of wild horses galloped past about a mile or so in front of him. He saw the herd of horses galloping wildly, freely, Yang Guo also felt carefree and joyous. With wild lands in front of his eyes and horses galloping afar, the world was vast and had no obstructions. Just as he was feeling satisfied he suddenly heard a horse hissing out for mercy from behind. Yang Guo turned around and saw a yellow haired skinny horse pulling a cart of firewood slowly along the main road. He thought that the horse must have seen the other horses galloping freely in the wild lands. It was toiling with hard work and it hissed out as it lamented for itself. The horse was so skinny that its breast bone was sticking out, its four legs had no muscle and they were as thin as branches. Its fur was patchy, its skin was covered in scabies, and there were numerous traces of blood from wounds caused by whipping. A rude man was sitting on the cart, he disliked that the horse was going slow and whipped it incessantly. Yang Guo has suffered by others many times before; when he saw the horse suffering such punishment, it felt like he himself was suffering the whippings. His chest ached and tears almost escaped from his eyes. He stood in the road and angrily shouted, “Hey you, why are you whipping the horse?” The rude man saw a kid in torn and old garments looking like a beggar blocking the road, he raised his whip and shouted, “Move out of the way now, don’t you want your life?” As he said this he slapped his whip on the horse’s back again. Yang Guo was furious and called out, “If you hit the horse again, I’ll kill you.” The man laughed and lashed out at Yang Guo’s head. Yang Guo stretched out his hand to take the whip and turned it around. He swung the whip and it made a tangling loop around the man’s neck and pulled him down, beating him on the head and face. Although the skinny horse was ugly, it was very lively, when it saw the man getting beaten; it neighed with delight and stretched out its head rubbing Yang Guo on the leg, displaying signs of affection. Yang Guo pulled apart the cart’s collar and harness then patted the horse on the back. He pointed in the direction of the other horse’s trail and said, “Go, no one’s going to harm you anymore.” The horse reared and neighed, and galloped forward. But the horse’s body was weak; he wasn’t able to continue this sudden burst. It galloped for around a hundred feet then its front legs weakened and it fell onto the ground. Yang Guo couldn’t bear it, he ran over and picked up the horse by its stomach and shouted, “Up”, pulling the horse back onto its feet. The man saw Yang Guo’s unbelievable strength and was frightened, so frightened that he didn’t want his cart of firewood. He picked himself up and ran. About half a mile away, he shouted, “There’s someone strong stealing horses and firewood!” Yang Guo thought this was funny. He pulled up some green grass for the horse. He saw that the horse had such an unfortunate life and couldn’t help but feel linked with it. He stroked the horse’s neck and said, “Horse, horse, follow me from now on.” He held its rope and walked slowly to a town. He bought some barley for the horse to eat. On the second day the horse seemed to regain its spirit and so he rode it slowly. At first the horse struggled along and limped, when wasn’t losing its footing it would stumble, but the further it walked the better it got. After seven or eight days of having enough to eat, it regained its strength; its steps as light as if it were flying. Yang Guo couldn’t speak his delight and took even more care of it. One day Yang Guo was in an outdoor restaurant awaiting an order when the horse walked over to a table and kept neighing at a bowl of wine on the table, as if he wanted to drink the wine. Yang Guo was curious and ordered a large bowl of wine and placed it on the table, and then stroked the horse’s head. The horse drank it all in one go; its tail raised its legs stepped, it was feeling very pleased. Yang Guo felt that this was interesting and called some more wine; the horse drank over ten bowls one after the other, and wasn’t finished. Yang Guo wanted to call for more wine but the waiter saw he was dressed in ragged garments and afraid that he had no money to pay so said that they didn’t have any more wine. Afterwards he got on the horse. The horse was under the influence of the wine and took large steps, galloping like crazy; the trees by the side of the road receded, it was extremely fast. When a normal spirited horse galloped, it would gallop steadily. Though this horse was fast, its body would be high and then low, jolting about very uncoordinated, if it weren’t for the fact that Yang Guo possessed excellent lightness kung fu, he would not have been able to ride it. The horse also had another strange characteristic, whenever there was another animal on the road, it would speed up and overtake it, no matter if it was a cow, horse, pony or donkey, it would gallop past them before slowing. This proud and competitive air seems to have come about because of the suffering it has had in its life. Yang Guo thought that this thousand-mile colt has been trapped in the hands of the villager, wasting half its life; now that its spirit is free, it wants to gallop and fly over the lands. This behavior was similar to Yang Guo’s; the man and horse were like good friends. He was bored sometimes and would play with the horse, in a few days he was happy again. He has been heading south and had arrived at the banks of Han Shui. As he rode the horse he thought about how he teased Lu Wushuang and tricked the Li Mochou Master and disciple team, he couldn’t stop laughing. He then remembered he didn’t know where Xiao Longnu was or when they were going to meet again, he became sad and despondent. That day he traveled until noon and on the road he kept on seeing beggars. From their appearances, most of them knew kung fu, he thought, “Could it be that the matter between Wifey and the beggars hasn’t finished yet? Or could it be that the Beggar Clan has summoned all these people to fight with Li Mochou? I must take a look.” He didn’t like the Beggar Clan much, but because he admired Hong Qigong, he couldn’t stop himself from feeling close to the Beggar Clan. He thought as long as the beggars don’t trouble Lu Wushuang he will give them the news that Hong Qigong had passed away. He carried on for a while and saw the road was filling up with more and more beggars. When the beggars saw Yang Guo they were surprised, there was no difference in the way they were dressed but if there wasn’t an urgent matter, members of the clan would not travel by horseback. Yang Guo ignored them and slowly carried on. He continued until afternoon when suddenly he heard the cries of eagles in the air; two white eagles flew past, and descended ahead of him. He heard a beggar say, “Chief Huang is here, there’s probably going to be an assembly tonight.” Another beggar said, “Will Hero Guo come?” The first beggar replied, “The two are never apart.” he saw Yang Guo reign in his horse listening to their words; he gave him a glance and closed his mouth. When Yang Guo heard the names Guo Jing and Huang Rong he was slightly alarmed, and then in his heart laughed coldly. “Earlier I lived in your home, ate your food and you made a fool out of me; then I was young and useless and I suffered a lot. Right now I’m relying on the world, who needs your support?” He had another thought, “Why don’t I pretend I have nowhere to go and have come to them for help and then see how they treat me.” He then found a quiet place and messed up his hair. Then he punched himself in the left eye, he scratched his cheek a few times; there was now a blue green bruise on his left eye and there were some red marks on his face. His clothes were already torn and old but he tore them even more making them look even more ragged. He rolled in the mud and dust a few times and then got up on the horse that was covered in scars and skin ulcers. Indeed, he now looked like he was a person with nowhere to go and on his last legs. As soon as he finished he limped back to the main road, he didn’t ride on the horse and walked amongst the beggars. He didn’t lead the horse along, the horse just followed on its own. Someone from the Beggar Clan asked whether he was on his way to attend the great feast, Yang Guo stared and didn’t reply and slipped back into the crowd, walking back and forth. The group of people wound along the road and eventually came up to a large, old and ruined temple. He saw the two white eagles roosting on top of a pine tree in front of the temple. One of the Wu brothers was holding a dish, while the other took a slab of meat from the dish and flung it towards the eagles. Yang Guo had seen the two before when they teamed up with Guo Fu to fight Li Mochou, but at that time he was too busy thinking about Guo Fu. He didn’t take the two to mind, but now he took a closer look at the two. He saw Wu Dunru looked intense, he was concentrating one hundred percent, on the other hand Wu Xiuwen was active and lively; he ran to east and darted to the west, not taking a moment’s respite. Wu Dunru was wearing a purple coloured Chong silk gown, Wu Xiuwen was wearing a large blue coloured Shandong silk gown, and around their waists were tied an embroidered satin ‘hero’ sash. They were indeed young heroes, standing out from the crowd. Yang Guo went up to them and made a bow, and stammered, “Greetings… greetings brothers Wu, I hope you’ve been…been well.” At this time there were beggars everywhere around the temple, all their clothes were ragged, so although Yang Guo was covered in dirt, he did not look out of place in the crowd of beggars. Wu Dunru returned the favour and glanced up and down at Yang Guo, he couldn’t recognize him and said, “Forgive my inexperienced eyes, what is brother’s name?” Yang Guo said, “There is no need to worry about such a lowly name, little brother… little brother wants to meet with Chief Huang.” Wu Dunru thought his voice sounded slightly familiar, he was about to question him when a voice like a silver bell came from the entrance of the temple, “Big brother Wu, I asked you to buy me a soft horse whip, have you bought it?” Wu Dunru quickly moved Yang Guo aside and walked forward saying, “I bought it ages ago, give it a test, does it feel right?” He fished out a horse whip from his pocket as he said this. Yang Guo turned his head and saw a girl in a light green dress hurrying from the temple’s doors; her brows were curved, her little nose slightly raised, her face like white jade, her smile like a flower, it was Guo Fu. The adornments in her hair weren’t extravagant, only a pearl was worn in her hair, the light make her look as if she was adorned with jade gem make up. Yang Guo only gave her a glance but he couldn’t stop himself from having a feeling of inferiority; he turned his head and didn’t look back. Wu Xiuwen also dashed forward and the two brothers spent all their effort talking to her. After speaking with Guo Fu for a while, Wu Dunru remembered Yang Guo and turned around saying, “You’ve come because of the ‘Heroes Feast’?” Yang Guo did not know what the ‘Heroes Feast’ was and just answered agreeably. Wu Dunru summoned one of the beggars with his hand and said, “Take care of this friend, tomorrow take him to Da Xingguan.” After he said this he turned his attention back to Guo Fu and ignored him. The beggar agreed and after greeting each other, asked for his name. Yang Guo told him truthfully. He was a nobody. Of course the beggar won’t have heard of his name before and wouldn’t think anything of it. The beggar called himself Wang Shisan; he was a second band Beggar Clan member. He asked, “Where has brother Yang come from?” Yang Guo said, “From Xiaxi.” Wang Shisan said, “Ah, Brother Yang is from Quanzhen sect?” As soon as he heard the words ‘Quanzhen sect’ Yang Guo’s head ached, he shook his head and said, “No.” Wang Shisan, “Brother Yang you’ve got the ‘Heroes’ invitation with you?” Yang Guo was startled and said, “I’ve just wandered around Jianghu, how can I call myself a hero? I have met your clan’s chief Huang once before, I only want to see her and ask for some money to return to my home.” Wang Shisan’s eyebrows wrinkled and he thought for a while and then said, “Chief Huang is receiving the heroes at the moment, I’m afraid that she won’t have time to see you.” Yang Guo had deliberately made himself such a sorry sight, the lower the regard the other person had for him, the prouder he’ll get, he made himself more pitiful and pleaded earnestly. The members of the Beggar Clan are all people from poor environments, they have always helped those in need and distress; they would never look down on other poor people. Wang Shisan heard him speak with such grief and woe, and so said, “Little brother Yang, have a meal first, tomorrow we’ll go to Da Xingguan together. I’m your big brother, I’ll go and tell the elders, who in turn will inform our chief. We’ll wait and see what orders she gives, how about that?”
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Topic: Picked up new e30, whadya think (Read 9155 times)