The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 3 – Seeking a master in Mount Zhongnan, Part 7

Chapter 3 – Seeking a master in Mount Zhongnan, Part 7

“What is it?”

“How did my father die?”

Guo Jing’s face lost its colour, as he remembered the events of the Iron Spear Temple, his body trembled, unable to speak.

“Who caused my father’s death?”

Gu Jing did not reply.

Yang Guo remembered when he asked his mother the same question, she responded the same way. Although Guo Jing treated him like his own son, Huang Rong was neglectful of him. Although he was young, he felt that there was a hidden secret to this matter. He couldn’t hold back and shouted, “My father’s death was caused by you and Auntie Guo wasn’t it?”

Guo Jing was shocked, and slammed down his hand on the stone, and bellowed angrily, “Who told you these lies?” The power in his palm was great; because of his angry reaction the stone slab continually shook. Yang Guo saw his anger and said, “I’m sorry, I won’t ever say these sorts of things again, don’t be angry Uncle Guo.”

Guo Jing loved him very much, and when he heard Yang Guo’s apology, his feelings dissipated and he was about to comfort him when he heard a “hey” shout from behind, the voices behind it were startling. He turned around, and saw that it was two middle aged Taoists standing at the entrance to the mount; their eyes fixed on him, their faces with a furious expression. They were taking great interest in the stone slab and wanted to take a closer look at the two. The Taoists took a glance and then moved. Guo Jing saw that their steps were light; they possessed martial arts. He thought that since Mount Zhongnan is not far; the places around here should be filled with people from the Chongyang Palace. The two Taoists were about forty, and were the students of the Quanzhen Seven Masters. For as long as Guo Jing had lived on Peach Blossom Island in seclusion, he hadn’t sent news to Ma Yu. He wasn’t familiar with the students of Quanzhen, and only knew that Quanzhen had become famous so that Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chu must have accepted many students. Their name in Wulin had become increasingly famous; they had done heroic deeds, solved troubles and disasters, done countless good deeds. Whenever someone hears the name Quanzhen in Wulin, they could only admire it. He wanted to ascend the mount and greet Qiu Chuji, and it was luck that he could be accompanied by two of their students.

He stepped up his pace to the entrance of the mountain, only to see the two Taoists step up their pace to about one hundred feet in front of him, not turning back.

Guo Jing called out, “Please wait Taoist brothers, I have a request.” His voice was clear and strong, his voice could be heard near and far but the two Taoists did not stop but sped up again. Guo Jing thought, “Could those two be deaf?” He increased his efforts and within a few steps his was in front of them. He turned around and said, “Greetings.” He said this while carrying the luggage.

The two saw how swift his movements were and their faces changed. They saw he was carrying luggage, and thought he was going to circulate his chi and ambush them so they took a few steps and one evaded right, the other left then turned around and asked, “Who are you?”

Guo Jing said, “Are you two the students of Mount Zhongnan’s Chongyang Palace?”

The leaner of the Taoist replied, “Why are you here?”

Guo Jing said, “I’m an old friend of elder Qiu, I’ve come to see him, sorry for the trouble.”

The other shorter Taoist replied, “If you’ve the nerve go, why don’t you move!” As he said this he struck out a palm quickly. Guo Jing had to move right to avoid it. The two Taoists moved into position immediately after the palm moving left and right, wanting to attack together. Guo Jing was cut off in the middle. The two moves were called “Cutting off the Door”. It was the refined skills of the Quanzhen sect, how would Guo Jing not know it? He saw that the two Taoists did not ask for an explanation and had already used force to try to harm him. He was slightly startled, wondering whether there was a misunderstanding, he didn’t try to clear it up, nor did he try to evade as he heard two sounds, as two palms landed on the side of his body from the two Taoists.

From the two palms, Guo Jing already knew how strong they were. Guo Jin felt that the two Taoists internal energy was able, confirming that they were the students of Seven Masters of Quanzhen, and thought that he could be classed in the same generation as them. When the two palms were coming at him, Guo Jing had already circulated his chi for defense so all he needed to do was bring his internal strength up to the right level and he wouldn’t be hurt. But he also didn’t return the power in the palms, causing the Taoists palms to hurt and swell. It wasn’t serious; after some initial pain the feeling dissipated.

The Taoists had practiced that move for ten years, but the move didn’t even seem to affect him one bit, and they were astonished. They both gave a whistle; they leapt up and ferociously kicked out at Guo Jing’s chest. Guo Jing thought this was odd, “The students of Quanzhen have been taught the values of Taoism, and they treat people with great respect, why have these students started to use violence for no reason?”

He saw that the two used “The Mandarin Duck’s Looping Kick” (yuan yang lian huan tui) set of stances, but still his face did not change and he ignored the attack. He heard numerous crashing sounds as several footprints were left on his chest. The Taoists kicked out six times in all, as if they were kicking a sand bag. They relaxed only to see the enemy motionless, not even being harmed one bit. They were astonished since they had attacked harder than last time by several levels. They thought, “How come this crook is so powerful? Even our teacher and his apprentice brothers do not have this amount of skill.” They carefully studied Guo Jing; he had a dense eyebrows and large eyes, a sturdy body, clothed in rough clothes, like a villager, he had no intention of leaving and stood there, without making a sound.

Yang Guo saw that the Taoists were punching and kicking Uncle Guo but Guo Jing did not retaliate. He couldn’t stand it and shouted out, “You two smelly Taoists, why are you hitting Uncle Guo?”

Guo Jing quickly said, “Guo’er, keep your mouth shut. Come over here and greet the two Taoist brothers.”

Yang Guo walked forwards and thought, “What’s the matter with you Uncle Guo, why are you protecting them?”

The two Taoists gave each other a glance, and after two “sha” noises, they withdrew their swords from their waists. The short Taoist used the stance “Scour the Ocean to Slaughter the Dragon” (tan hai tu long) and aimed for Guo Jing’s lower body, the other used “Starry Wind Sweeping Leaves” (gang feng sao ye) and aimed to cut down Yang Guo’s right leg.

Guo Jing did not pay attention to the sword that was coming in at him, but instead looked at the skinny Taoist who was unleashing a lethal move and thought, “The child has not done anything to you, so why such a lethal move? How can it be that the sword is aiming to cut his leg in half?” He then moved his body, his left hand placed on the short Taoist’s sword handle, “Smoothly Pushing the Boat”, and lightly pushed to the left. The short Taoist turned his sword around involuntarily, and after a clashing sound, the skinny Taoist’s sword was intercepted, stopping his stance. Guo Jing used the enemy to fight the enemy, the move coming from the “Empty Hands Entering A Hundred Blades” set of kung fu, right now there are only two enemies, even if there was eight or ten people attacking at once, he could still used the enemy’s knife to attack the enemy’s sword, the enemy’s spear against the enemy’s whip, utilizing the enemy to attack the enemy, one beating many.

The two Taoist felt their wrists were getting numb, and starting to feel pain; they slanted their bodies and jumped away, turning their bodies. They stared at Guo Jing, frightened but also admiring him at the same time, they whistled out again and their swords were thrust out, once again.