At this moment Guo Jing and Huang Rong were enjoying happiness and contentment in their hearts; they did not want to mind other people’s business. But hearing ‘The Old Urchin’ three characters their hearts were stirred. They both jumped at the same time and pursued those two men. The men’s martial art skills looked ordinary; they did not have the slightest idea that they were being followed. Leaving the town they ran for about five, six ‘li’s more before turning into a valley. They heard continuous shouts and curses coming from behind the mountain.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong picked up their speed and followed into the valley. They saw that a bunch of people were gathered on a part of a field. Two of them had torches in their hands. In the middle of the field Zhou Botong was sitting motionless. It was not clear if he was alive or dead. Facing Zhou Botong there was someone sitting cross-legged, wearing a red ka.s.saya; it was Lingzhi Shangren [lit. upper/above man, a respectful term to address Buddhist monk]. He too, was motionless. On Zhou Botong’s left there was a cave. Its entrance was small, so anybody wanted to enter must stoop down. Outside the cave there were five, six people shouting and cursing, but n.o.body dared to get within a few ‘zhang’s of the cave, as if they were afraid something might come out of the cave and hurt them.

Guo Jing recalled one of the night walkers say, “The Old Urchin has fallen into Brother Peng’s trick;” and now he saw Zhou Botong was sitting motionless just like a corpse. He was afraid that Zhou Botong was injured; he was very anxious and was about to jump forward when Huang Rong pulled his arm and whispered, “Before we do anything, let’s investigate what happened first.”

Two people hid behind a mountain rock and looked at the people outside the cave. It turned out they were all old acquaintances: Shen Xian Lao Guai [Ginseng Immortal Old Freak] Liang Ziweng, Gui Men Long w.a.n.g [Dragon King of Guimen (lit. ghost gate)] Sha Tongtian, Qian Shou Ren Tu [Thousand Hands Butcher] Peng Lianhu, San Tou Jiao [Three Headed Scaly Dragon] Hou Tonghai, plus the two night-walkers they followed earlier. The light from the torches illuminated their faces and Jing and Rong recognized those two as Liang Ziweng’s disciples; Guo Jing had fought them the first time he learned the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms.

Huang Rong thought that now these people were not Guo Jing’s and her matches; she looked to all directions but did not see anybody else. With a low voice she said, “With the Old Urchin’s skill, how could these several fellows defeat him? It seems like the Western Poison Ouyang Feng is lurking somewhere.”

She was about to think of a way to investigate further when Peng Lianhu shouted loud and clear, “Thief male servant bird! [I know this one sounds weird, but it is the literal translation. I’ll leave it to the editors to find a more suitable curse words … J] If you don’t come out, Old Man here will smoke you out!”

From the cave came a stern voice, “Whatever stinky tricks you have; bring it on!”

Guo Jing recognized it was his Da Shifu [First Master] Ke Zhen’e’s voice; he did not care if Ouyang Feng was lurking around somewhere. “Shifu!” he shouted, “Your disciple Guo Jing is here!” His hands had already made some moves while he was still shouting. He grabbed Hou Tonghai’s back and flung him aside.

The people outside the cave were thrown into confusion. Sha Tongtian and Peng Lianhu made a simultaneous attack. Liang Ziweng turned around Guo Jing’s back, ready to make a sneak attack. Ke Zhen’e inside the cave heard everything; he raised his hand and launched a ‘du ling’ [poisonous water caltrop] toward Liang Ziweng’s back.

The projectile carried a fierce gust of wind. Liang Ziweng hastily lowered his head; the ‘du ling’ flew over his head, cutting several strands of his hair. He was so shocked that cold sweats trickled down his back. He knew Ke Zhen’e’s secret projectiles contained a violent poison on it; the other day Peng Lianhu nearly got killed under this weapon. Hastily he leaped back several ‘zhang’s, stretched out his hand to feel the top of his head. Luckily his scalp was not injured. Straightaway he took some ‘tou gu ding’ [Bone Penetrating Nails] from his pocket and walked quietly toward the left of the cave; he wanted to enter the cave to extract his revenge.

He was just about to raise his hand when suddenly his wrist was numb; something hit his hand. With a clanking noise the ‘tou gu ding’ fell to the ground. And then he heard a female voice said with a laugh, “Kneel down! Or you’ll eat my stick!”

Liang Ziweng quickly turned his head and saw Huang Rong stood smiling, with a bamboo stick in her hand. He was scared and angry at the same time; his left palm struck toward her shoulder, his right hand tried to grab the bamboo stick. Huang Rong stepped aside to evade his left palm, but did not move the bamboo stick, she let him to have a good grip on it. Liang Ziweng was delighted, he held out his hand, thinking that if this young girl did not let go, he would s.n.a.t.c.h the stick away. As soon as he pulled, he did indeed manage to pull the bamboo stick away, but unexpectedly the end of the stick shook and slid right out of his palm. By this time the end of the bamboo stick had entered his circle of defense. His hands were so close to the stick that he hurriedly reached back to grab; but he was too late. A dark green shadow flashed and ‘slap!’ his head was squarely hit by the bamboo stick.

Overall his martial art skill was not weak; in this critical moment he was still able to throw himself to the ground and he rolled away more than a ‘zhang’ away before he sprang back up. He looked with a shocked expression at this young girl with bright eyes and ivory teeth. The top of his head was hurting, his mind was confused, and his face looked awkward.

Huang Rong said with a laugh, “Do you know the name of this stick method? You have been beaten by me, so what did you turn into?”

Liang Ziweng had suffered hardship under this Dog Beating Stick Technique in the past; he was beaten half dead and half alive under Hong Qigong’s hands. It had been several years since then, but he still had a lingering fear in his heart. He noticed that the stick was indeed Hong Qigong’s Dog Beating Stick, and the stick method was indeed Hong Qigong’s Dog Beating Stick Technique, used up against him. It looked like this young girl was truly Hong Qigong’s heir. With the corner of his eyes he saw Sha and Peng two people continuously step back under the power of Guo Jing’s palms without being able to counterattack; he called out, “In honor of the Old Hong Bangzhu [Clan Leader Hong] we’d better go!” He called out his two disciples and turned around to flee.

Guo Jing’s left elbow circled around forcing Sha Tongtian to retreat three steps; followed by the sweep of his left hand. Peng Lianhu saw that this palm carried a strong gust of wind, he did not dare to take it head-on, he hastily stepped aside to evade. Guo Jing’s right hand made a hook, grabbed his back and lifted him up.

Peng Lianhu was rather short, being lifted high in the air his legs were kicking around frantically. He tried to hit and kick to free himself, but he did not have any strength left. He saw Guo Jing’s left hand make a fist, ready to strike his chest like a hammer pounding a nail; how could he endure this strike? He hastily shouted, “What date is today?”