The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 8 – Girl in white, Part 2

Chapter 8 – Girl in white, Part 2

Shen Zhifan said, “You came on your own; so we can’t fight with you. We’ll give you a deadline of ten days. In ten days you need to bring four helpers to meet us.”

The girl answered, “I’ve said I’ve already got my help; against you bunch of nobodies why do I need to get more people?”

Shen Zhifan angrily said, “Little girl, you really are bold.” His words were meant to be insults and he managed to force himself to ask, “Are you from the Ancient Tomb sect?”

The girl said, “So what if I am? So what if I’m not? You stupid old Taoist, do you have the guts to fight with me or don’t you?”

Shen Zhifan saw that she was alone but was sure that she had strong back-up and had them nearby. He was also afraid that he would invite trouble from the Ancient Tomb’s Li Mochou so he said, “Miss, I have a question; why did you hurt members of my sect for no reason? If it was our fault, then I will publicly apologize to your master, but if Miss can’t give a good reason then forgive us for being impolite.”

The girl chuckled and said, “Of course it was those two bullish Taoists’ fault and I just taught them a lesson. If there weren’t so many scoundrels in the world, why would I cut off their ears?”

Shen Zhifan saw that she was extremely brash and couldn’t help being startled. The beggar named Chen was old but he still had a temper; he took a step forward and shouted, “Little girl, you are talking to Seniors here, how come you haven’t got off your donkey?” As he said this he shot forward towards the black donkey and stretched out a hand to grab her right arm. His hand came out extremely quick. The girl wasn’t able to dodge it and she was grabbed immediately. Her right hand was also the hand that was holding her blade, so she wasn’t able to use it to repel the attack. Unexpectedly, the cold light of the saber moved, the girl’s arm twisted and the curved blade sliced down. Beggar Chen was startled and quickly let go. At least he was alert, and quickly changed his stance but the blade had cut two fingers. He quickly leapt back and drew out a saber and called out, “Bitch, you must be bored with your life.” The beggar named Han drew out a lead hammer, and Shen Zhifan drew out his sword. Ji Qingxu and Pi Qingxuan took hold of their swords’ handles and pulled them out. But they felt that something was wrong with the sword’s weight. Both of them called out ‘Ai!’ in shock, the swords in their hands were broken.

When the girl saw the two Taoists’ expressions she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. Yang Guo was lamenting at this time, when he heard the girl laugh he looked at the two Taoists’ embarrassed expression. He couldn’t stop himself from turning his tears into laughter. He saw the girl bend her waist and hack down with her saber at Pi Qingxuan’s head. Pi Qingxuan quickly pulled back his head but he didn’t know the move wasn’t finished, a slight turn of the wrist and the saber turned in the air and eventually cut Pi Qingxuan’s right cheek; blood started to flow from it. The other four were alarmed and angry, they quickly surrounded her. The Taoists Pi and Ji retreated to the rear, their hands holding onto the broken swords. They didn’t want to throw them away but they weren’t much use. They didn’t know what to do.

The girl called out clearly, her left hand pulled on the reins and the donkey dashed forward. Beggar Chen and Han were the closest, the blade and the hammer both attacked. Shen Zhifan followed and used Quanzhen’s sword techniques, every stance aiming for the important points of the enemy. Yang Guo saw that although his sword skills were vicious, compared with Zhao Zhijing and Zhen Zhibing, their skills were far apart. Out of the Taoists with the name Zhi, he was the lesser skilled. Yang Guo was now calm, he studied the girl’s face carefully; he saw that she had a pretty oval face and she was younger than him by a year or so. It’s no wonder the inn owner didn’t believe that the ‘beautiful girl in white’ was his older sister. Though she wore white, her skin was slightly dark; it was very different from the brilliant snow white of Xiao Longnu. He saw that her saber stances were light and swift and seemed to be derived from the Ancient Tomb sword stances; there were more stabs and thrusts and rather less chops and hacks.

Yang Guo watched for a few stances and thought, “Indeed she is using our sect’s kung fu, could it be that she is a student of Li Mochou?” Yang Guo thought that both sides weren’t good people and he didn’t care less who won or lost; but then another thought entered his mind. “How could you be the ‘beautiful girl in white’? You’re not even worthy to be my Gu Gu’s maid.” He folded his arms behind his head and lay down facing the sky, watching the battle.

For the first ten moves or so, the girl was able to hold her own; she was on the donkey’s back, attacking from above with the saber. The five of them had no choice but to jump back and dodge. Another ten moves passed, Ji Qingxu saw that the broken sword in his hand was useless, then thought suddenly entered him and he called out, “Apprentice brother Pi, follow me.” He quickly headed to the nearby woods and picked a fine small tree; he chopped its roots and branches with his broken swords and made a large club. Pi Qingxuan did the same. The two attacked from the left and right, thrusting toward the donkey.

The girl quietly said, “Shameless!” She waved her saber at them to fend them off and became distracted. Beggar Han’s hammer and Shen Zhifan’s sword arrived. The girl quickly used a risky technique; she lowered her head and slanted her body, the hammer’s wind swept over her face. A clashing sound was heard as the saber met with the sword and at that moment the black donkey cried out in pain and reared. Ji Qingxu had struck it with the club. Beggar Chen did a roll and used his saber techniques. The flat side of his saber struck heavily down on the donkey’s leg; the donkey immediately rolled over. The young girl was now unable to fight them from the donkey’s back. She saw a sword coming straight at her and immediately flew away; she grabbed Pi Qingxuan’s stick and snapped it in half. Her legs landed on the ground and she slashed across with her saber, repelling beggar Chen’s chop.

Yang Guo was startled, “What? Is she hurt?”

The girl was actually slightly lame in her left leg, from the leap, one could see her restricted movements, and this is why she had refused to come down from her donkey. Yang Guo’s heroic nature was moved and he wanted to intervene and help her. But a thought entered his mind, “Gu Gu and I were fine living in the tomb; it was that evil woman Li Mochou who caused us to be in this situation. That girl pretends to be my Gu Gu, wanting people to call her the ‘beautiful girl in white’, she’s shameless!” He turned away and stopped watching.

But he kept on hearing the continuous sounds of clashing weapons and wasn’t able to curb his curiosity, he turned his head again. He saw that the situation had now changed, the girl was now dodging east and evading west, and she was defending more than attacking. Suddenly the Han beggar’s metal hammer came flying in, the girl moved her head and dodged it, at the same time, Shen Zhifan’s sword slashed across. A ‘ding’ sound was heard, her silver hair loop was cut; half her hair swept down. The girl’s brows raised, her mouth opened, a frosty look came upon her face as she turned her hand and slashed across.

Yang Guo saw her angry expression and his heart shook, “When Gu Gu was angry, she looked exactly like this.” Because the girl became angry Yang Guo decided to help her. He picked up seven or eight stones and placed them in his pocket. He glanced at her again and saw that she was in a frantic situation.

Shen Zhifan called out, “What exactly is your relationship to the ‘Scarlet Serpent Deity’ Li Mochou? If you don’t tell us truthfully, don’t blame us for our actions!”

The girl’s saber slashed across, hooking across the back of his head. Shen Zhifan couldn’t predict that she would do this and wasn’t able to block.

Beggar Chen quickly called out, “Careful!”

Ji Qingxu fiercely struck the curved saber with his large stick and managed to save the life of Shen Zhifan. The five saw that her stances were all ruthless, not leaving anything to chance. In a short while, the girl continuously unleashed a series of dangerous stances. Shen Zhifan was sure that she was connected to Li Mochou somehow; if news of this ever got to that evil woman, he would have boundless troubles. He saw that she indeed did not have any back up, now was a good chance to kill her and seal her mouth. Every stance he used was aiming to wound the girl.

Yang Guo saw that the girl was now staring danger in the face; he had no time to delay so he flipped up and got on the bull’s back. He hung his legs from its back and dangled down underneath and then poked the bull in the buttocks. The bull started to dash at the six.

The six of them were absorbed in battle when they suddenly saw a mad bull rushing forward; they were all alarmed and leaped out of the way. Yang Guo was dangling below the bull and saw the pressure points on the backs of the five men, the pebbles shot out, they were struck in the ‘Soul Entrance’ and the ‘Spirit Hall’ pressure points. He heard calls of ‘Ai Ya!’ and the five felt their arms become numb; their weapons dropped from their hands. Yang Guo then sent the bull up the slope. He dropped down from the bull’s stomach onto the ground and called out, “Oh no, the bull’s gone mad!”

Shen Zhifan’s pressure points were sealed and his weapon escaped from his hand; but he didn’t see the enemy do this and thought that this was the deed of the girl’s backup. That person was highly skilled, how did he dare to fight anymore? Luckily his legs were still able to move, he quickly ran away but he still remembered his friends and called out, “Brother Chen, Brother Han, let’s go!” The others didn’t think about it and followed. Pi Qingxuan lost his bearings and was actually running towards the girl. Ji Qingxu called out, “Apprentice brother Pi, over here!” Pi Qingxuan was about to turn around when the girl took a step forward and chopped down with her saber. Pi Qingxuan was alarmed, he didn’t have a weapon and quickly dodged to the side, but how would he know that the girl’s saber wasn’t chopping down in a fixed direction, it went east and then west, the light of the blade glimmered as it was about to slash down across his face. Pi Qingxuan raised his arm; a ‘ca’ sound was made as the saber hacked off four fingers. He had yet to feel the pain as he quickly turned around and ran away.

Beggar Han ran ten or so steps and saw that the girl did not follow and thought, “That Bitch is lame, how can she chase us?” When he considered that she was lame, he glanced at her left leg, then turned around and hurried away. How would he know that look angered the girl, she couldn’t contain her fury and shouted out, “Scoundrel, don’t you think I can’t catch up with you?” She lifted her saber and swung it around a few times; a ‘fu’ sound was made as she threw it. She saw the saber glimmer in midair, a ‘pu’ sound was heard as the saber plunged itself in the left shoulder of beggar Han. That person kept on running with the saber in his back. In a short while, the five of them had escaped into the forest.