The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 9

Chapter 24 – Shocking and dreadful, Part 9

In his dazed state, Nimoxing had no more strength to resist Fawang’s pull; his left arm loosened but his right arm was still clutching onto the back of Fawang.

Fawang laughed coldly, “Your legs have contracted a lethal poison, why aren’t you trying to save yourself and instead still trying to struggle with me?”

These two sentences made Nimoxing look down at his legs. His lower legs had swollen up badly, if he didn’t do something about it soon, his life would be in danger. He clenched his teeth and took out the Iron Snake weapon from his waist and cut his lower legs off. Blood poured out copiously and he passed out. Fawang admired this steely behavior and now that he was a cripple and no longer a threat to him, he decided to help him. He sealed his knees’ ‘Crooked Spring’ accupoints and his thigh’s ‘Five Li’ accupoints to stop the bleeding. He then took out some medicine for external wounds and tore off Nimoxing’s outer garment to bandage his legs.

A lot of Indian martial artists have practiced pain resisting arts such as sleeping on a bed of nails or sitting on a seat of knives. Nimoxing was well versed in such arts and as soon as his wounds stopped bleeding he awoke and sat up saying; “Good, since you’ve saved me, we’ll forget all our past feuds.”

Fawang showed a bitter smile, “Though you’ve lost your legs, the poison in your body has been cleansed, but I’m still in danger.” So he sat down with his legs folded and circulated his chi, slowly forcing out the poison from his foot. It took him an exhausting two hours to force just a minute amount of the poison out.

The two of them rested in the remote valley for a few days. Fawang used his advanced internal energy to force the rest of the poison out and Nimoxing’s wounds no longer bled. Nimoxing made two crutches from some tree branches and the two made their way out of the valley. They soon came across a group of Mongolian soldiers and they made their way back to Khubilai’s camp. On the way back, they came across the same town that Zhen and Zhao were in.

When Zhao Zhijing and Zhen Zhibing saw Fawang, they looked at each other in shock. They both were present at the Heroes’ Gathering at Da Xingguan and saw Fawang demonstrate his amazing martial arts. Both remembered when his disciples Da’erba and Huo Dou attacked the Chongyang Palace years ago; even some of the Quanzhen Masters found them difficult to contend with. They were filled with fear of this encounter. The two signaled to each other with their eyes and wanted to slip away.

That day at Da Xingguan there were hundreds or thousands of heroes attending the gathering, Zhao and Zhen may have recognized Fawang but Fawang did not recognize them. Though Fawang saw that the restaurant was in a rough state, but since it was during a time of war, this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. This fruitless attack on Xiangyang that ended with defeat was not going to be his greatest moment in front of Khubilai. All he was thinking about at the moment was how to cover it up; he didn’t care about the Taoists who were eating their meal.

Just at this time, there was a commotion outside the restaurant, and group of Mongolian soldiers came bursting in. As soon as they saw Zhen and Zhao, they all roared and went forward to capture them. Zhen Zhibing saw that Fawang was sitting near the door, if they dashed out past him, most probably he would intervene so he said quietly, “Exit through the backdoor!” He pushed a table and bowls and plates, causing a sudden noise as they crashed to the floor. The two of them leapt back and ran towards the backdoor.

Just as he was about to make it to the backyard, Zhen Zhibing glanced over at Fawang and saw him holding a cup. Thinking to himself, “He’s ignoring what was going on in the restaurant.” He was delighted and thought, “He’s not going to interfere.” Suddenly, a black blur came at him; the short Western regions person had come and was waving his left hand, striking out at the heads of Zhen and Zhao with his crutch. Zhen Zhibing and Zhao Zhijing had never seen this person before, but seeing his swift movements and powerful attacks, they immediately lowered their shoulders and dodged to the side.

Hitting thin air, Nimoxing cried out ‘Oh’, these two Taoists weren’t weaklings and he was slightly surprised. He used his left crutch as a support and then attacked with his right crutch, blocking the Taoists path. The two of them unsheathed their swords and attacked from both sides, trying to force him back and make a path for an escape.

Though Nimoxing’s martial arts were stronger than that of Zhen and Zhao, he had lost his legs only just recently and had yet to fully recover. Fighting with his crutches against the two would require at least one crutch to remain on the ground at all times. A few stances later, he could no longer keep it up. Fawang walked forward slowly and saw Zhao Zhijing’s sword going for Nimoxing’s chest. Nimoxing raised his crutch to block the attack and as he did so, Zhen Zhibing went for his right side. This stance was extremely vicious, Nimoxing had to abandon his crutch and push back if he wanted to avoid it. Fawang took a stride forward and met with Nimoxing’s flying body; Fawang supported him with his left arm and then placed his right hand on Nimoxing’s arm. Nimoxing’s crutch and Zhao Zhijing’s sword had yet to separate at this point. Fawang transferred his internal energy through the crutch. Zhao Zhijing felt his arm shaking violently and half his upper body began to grow hot, a ‘dang’ sound was heard as he dropped his sword.

Nimoxing’s internal energy was lacking but his changes in stance were extremely swift. As soon as he saw Zhao Zhijing’s sword fall from his hands, he immediately swung his crutch towards Zhen Zhibing and trapped his sword. Fawang touched Nimoxing’s arm once again. Zhen Zhibing saw what had happened to Zhao Zhijing previously so he immediately circulated his internal energy to counter the attack. Fawang’s internal energy had both softness and hardness within, after a ‘kala’ sound, the sword broke, leaving Zhen Zhibing with a broken sword in his hand. Fawang lowered Nimoxing to the ground lightly and then stretched out his hands, placing them on the shoulders of the two. He smiled, “Why come to arms with strangers? With your martial arts, you two must be first class fighters of the central plains, why don’t we sit down and have a chat?”

There didn’t seem to be any malicious intent in his movements but once his hands touched them, the two could not move. All they felt was a force like a thousand jin (500kg / 1kg=2.2lbs) pressing down on their shoulders. All they could do was try to circulate their internal energy to resist the force; how could they even reply? If they opened their mouths, their internal energy would disperse and their bones from their shoulder to their waist would surely be crushed.

The soldiers who rushed in had by now completely surrounded them. The leader of the pack was a Noyan and he recognized Fawang, who was the First Protector of Mongolia and commanded great respect from Khubilai. He immediately went up to Fawang and bowed, “Your eminence, these two Taoists stole our horses and beat up our soldiers, thank you for your eminence’s help…” Before he finished, he glanced over at Zhen Zhibing a few times and suddenly asked, “Is this the person Zhen Zhibing?”

Zhen Zhibing nodded but he did not recognize this man.

Fawang loosened his grip on the two and reduced the force he was exerting and thought, “These two Taoists are only forty years of age or so yet their internal energy is so pure.”

The Mongolian Noyan said, “Does Master Zhen not recognize me? Nineteen years ago, we were eating roast lamb in the desert, I’m Sa Duo.”

Zhen Zhibing looked at him carefully and said with delight, “Oh, yes, that’s right! I didn’t recognize you with that beard!”

Sa Duo smiled, “I’ve ridden thousands of li (1 li = 0.5km) all over the lands; all my hair has gone white yet you haven’t changed much. No wonder Genghis Khan claimed practicing Taoists are immortal.” He turned to Fawang and said, “Your eminence, this Taoist has visited the Western regions in the past, he was a guest of Genghis Khan, it could be said that he’s one of us.” Fawang nodded and released his hands from their shoulders.

Years ago, Genghis Khan had invited Qiu Chuji to Western regions to see him, hoping he could learn the secrets of immortality. Qiu Chuji traveled thousands of li and took nineteen disciples with him. Zhen Zhibing was his senior student so he of course was within the group. Genghis Khan sent two hundred men to accompany Qiu Chuji and his disciples. Sa Duo was just a lowly soldier at that time and he was within that group; that is why he was able to recognize Zhen Zhibing. He had fought for over twenty years and his deeds were rewarded with a promotion to the position of Noyan. He was delighted with this unexpected meeting with Zhen Zhibing. He had great respect for Zhen Zhibing and laughed off what happened with the horses. Sa Duo asked him about the well being of Qiu Chuji and the others that were on the expedition, and as he talked the past, his pride became visible.

Fawang had also heard about Qiu Chuji before and knew that he was Quanzhen’s best fighter. He saw that Zhen Zhibing’s and Zhao Zhijing’s martial arts weren’t bad and thought that the reputation of the Quanzhen is deserved. We were lucky that he was able to strike first and take the initiative, otherwise, had a fight really broken out, it would take him at least twenty or thirty stances to beat them.

Suddenly there was a blur at the door and a girl in white entered. Fawang, Nimoxing, Zhen Zhibing and Zhao Zhijing were all alarmed to see that this girl was Xiao Longnu. Only Nimoxing had no fear of her and said, “The Passionless Valley’s bride, greetings!”

Xiao Longnu nodded slightly and then sat down in the corner at a small table. She ignored everyone and quietly ordered some mushroom noodles from a waiter.