Return of Condor Heroes, page 188
“Who…Who?” he asked hastily.
“Before I tell you, you have to promise me one thing,” Yang Guo answered, “You have to promise you won’t run away as soon as I mention this person’s name.”
The Old Urchin Zhou Botong was capricious and naïve, but he was not stupid. If he were, how could he reach such a high level in the martial realms? Therefore, as soon as he heard what Yang Guo said, he deduced correctly. “In this whole wide world there are two people I do not dare to see,” he said. “The first one is Emperor Duan; the other is Concubine Yinggu. Other than these two, I am not afraid of anybody else.”
“Looks like I’ll have to provoke him,” Yang Guo thought. So he said, “You do not dare to see them because you were defeated at their hands.”
“No, it’s not like that,” the old man contradicted. “Old Urchin sinned against them; that was why I don’t have face to see them.”
Yang Guo was surprised. Now he understood why the old man acted like he did. Yang Guo tried approaching from a different direction. “They are in grave danger and their lives are threatened,” he said. “Do you have the heart not to do anything?”
Zhou Botong was shocked. He loved and respected Yideng and Yinggu very much. If they were in trouble, he wouldn’t hesitate to help up to the point of sacrificing his own life. However, he saw Guo Xiang was smiling, and her countenance did not show any sorrow. He realized Yang Guo’s trick and laughed heartily. “Are you trying to trick me?” he asked. “Emperor Duan has a very high level of martial arts. How could he be in grave danger? Even if he is facing a formidable enemy and he lost, do you think I could win?”
Yang Guo didn’t know what to do. “All right, let me just tell you the truth,” he said. “Yinggu has been thinking about you, she wants to see you and talk with you.”
The old man’s face changed abruptly. “Brother Yang!” he snapped. “If you mention that name one more time, you’ll have to leave “bai hua gu”. Don’t blame me if I don’t make an exception.”
Even though he had been through a lot of things, Yang Guo was still a proud man. He waved his sleeve and with a loud voice said, “Brother Zhou, I don’t think you’ll easily achieve your desire to drive me out of this valley.”
“Huh! Huh! Do you want to fight with me?” asked the old man.
“Yes, I want to ask a lesson or two from you,” he answered. “Let us make a bet: if I lose, I will leave this valley without further ado. But if you lose, you’ll have to see Yinggu.”
“No! Can’t be!” shouted the Old Urchin. “First, how could I lose to a kid? Second, if I did, I still don’t want to see Concubine Liu [Liu Gufei].”
“Aren’t you ashamed?” asked Yang Guo irritated. “If you win, you are free not to see her, but if you lose, you still don’t want to see her, what kind of bet is that?”
“Just shut your mouth up!” snapped the old man. “I don’t want to see her, I am not going too. Protect yourself!”
This time the Eagle Hero was really dumbfounded. He could not be persuaded, he could not be forced. If they really fight, Yang Guo didn’t have any confidence of victory. He stood there blankly, uncertain of what to do.
As we know, Zhou Botong was crazy about martial arts. Even when he lived alone at the “Hundred-Flower Valley” he trained everyday. He always wanted to find a sparring partner; however, with his high level of martial arts, where could he find a suitable match? Therefore, seeing Yang Guo was willing to spar with him, he was itchy to start the fight. Without wasting a single moment Zhou Botong cried, “Watch out!” and started the fight with his “Vacant Fist”. Yang Guo parried with a palm but felt there was something wrong with the power of the fist; it seemed as if it wasn’t there. He considered using soft palms as a response but decided against it, as it would be too risky so he used hard palms even though it wouldn’t match. He used the palm techniques that he developed over the years against the tide’s waves. Three stances later, flower petals were flying around everywhere and after another three, branches from trees fell. At first Yang Guo was worried that Zhou would not be able to take his fierce and overbearing palm because of his advanced age. He withdrew the power from his palm as soon as he sent it out, but after six stances, Yang Guo knew Zhou’s internal energy was very profound and so did not hold anything back. The “Vacant Fist’s” ingenuity was above the martial arts that he was using.
“Good! You are very good!” shouted Zhou Botong. “This is a match I have always wanted.”
The perimeter of their forces was getting larger as the fight progressed, which forced Guo Xiang to step back. The eagle stayed close to Yang Guo, protecting its breast with its left wing while the right wing was a little bit open. The eagle understood the fierceness of this match and it never took its piercing gaze from Yang Guo, ready to step in if Yang Guo had any trouble.
After a while, Zhou had used all seventy-two stances of his “Vacant Fist”. He had the advantage of better technique but his internal energy could not compare with the overbearing and boundless force of Yang Guo. With eyes open wide Guo Xiang watched these two people exchanging blows. She knew they weren’t fighting as enemies; still, a fight between two highly skilled martial artists was very unpredictable. The slightest mistake could mean death. Cold sweat poured out of her body.
After seeing his “Vacant Fist” could do nothing to Yang Guo, he secretly praised him and then suddenly changed stances and used his left-right technique to fight. His left and right hands used different fist techniques, so that suddenly, Yang Guo was fighting against two Zhou Botongs.
Yang Guo was already at a disadvantage when it was one hand versus two, now it became even more so. One time, when Xiao Longnu fought Jinlun Fawang, she had just learned the “Dividing Ones Mind” skill from Zhou. When the couple met again, Yang Guo had lost his right arm. Xiao Longnu was afraid she might make him sad, so she did not say anything about the technique. Yang Guo was slightly alarmed and could only increase the power in his palm and used his sleeve to take some of the attacks.
As somebody who had trained in martial arts since she was little, Guo Xiang did not understand the fist techniques being exchanged, but she could see who had gained the upper hand and who was having difficulty. She was flustered. Then Guo Xiang remembered her father’s lesson on the ‘Dividing Ones Mind” skill, which he demonstrated before Guo Polu and herself. She saw what Zhou Botong was doing and it looked to her he was using her father’s skill. She wasn’t sure whether her father learned the skill from this old man, or the other way around. Anyway, she saw an opportunity to give Yang Guo a hand, so she shouted, “Old Urchin! Stop! Not fair! Big Brother does not want to fight you anymore!”
Surprised, Zhou Botong leaped back. “Why not fair?” he snapped. “You stole that skill from my father and used it against Big Brother,” she answered. “Aren’t you ashamed?”
After hearing the young girl called Yang Gou ‘Big Brother’ naturally Zhou Botong thought she was Yang Guo’s younger sibling. And because he did not know Yang Guo’s father, he only laughed and said, “This skill was my own invention. How could you say I stole it from your father?”
“Fine,” said the young Miss. “Even if what you said was true, you still used two arms, while Big Brother only has one. Is that fair? If my Big Brother had two arms, you would’ve been beaten a long time ago.”
“What you said is true,” the old man confessed. “But I am sure that even if he had two arms; he still could not use this skill of mine.” Then he laughed jovially.
Guo Xiang grunted. “Shame on you!” she mocked, “You just said that because you know Big Brother’s arm cannot re-grow. If you are a valiant man (ying xiong), you wouldn’t take any advantage of your opponent’s disability.”
“Fine… In that case I am going to use only a one fist technique,” said the old man.
Guo Xiang stuck out her tongue. “Still shame on you, still unfair, because you use two arms against Big Brother’s one,” she snickered.
“Darn it!” shouted the old man, annoyed. “What should I do then? Shall I ask a woman to chop off one of my arms?”
Guo Xiang was shocked, “Which woman had chopped off Big Brother’s arm?” she wondered in her heart. Then she smiled and said, “It’s OK then. You don’t have to chop off your arm. It would be fair if you just tie up one arm and fight Big Brother using only the other one.”
The Old Urchin laughed a big laugh. He thought that this way of fighting would be fun. Besides, he thought that he wouldn’t necessarily lose even if he is using a single arm. So he placed his right hand in his belt prepared to fight. He said, “Come now! This way you will not regret it even if you lose.”
When Zhou Botong and Guo Xiang were having their debate, Yang Guo didn’t say anything. He was never afraid others would mock him because of his disability. On the contrary, he was proud because with only one arm he could beat anybody. Therefore, he was slightly miffed when he saw Zhou Botong do this because he felt he was looking down on him. “Old Urchin!” he said, “By doing that you are looking down on me. Aren’t you thinking that a one-armed Yang Guo couldn’t beat you? Huh! If I lose, I would immediately …” Lashing his anger out, he was going to say that he would immediately kill himself right then and there. But suddenly he remembered his upcoming rendezvous with Xiao Longnu. He stopped before finishing his sentence.
Guo Xiang regretted her words. She was childishly thinking that she was doing Yang Guo some good. She did not remember that Yang Guo was a Chivalrous Hero (Da Xia), therefore, he would not want anybody to look down on him. Quickly she approached Yang Guo and said, “Big Brother, my mistake …” and then she came to the old man and took his arm out of the belt. She said, “Old Urchin, with his single arm Big Brother will defeat you. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try.”
Without waiting for his answer, Yang Guo leaped and chopped out a left palm. Zhou replied with a left fist and didn’t use his right arm. He felt it was unfair to use both arms.
Twenty stances passed. Yang Guo was upset since even with one arm the Old Urchin was not easy to defeat. The ‘yang’ness [from yin-yang: yin – soft, cold, yang – hard, hot] in Zhou’s fist and palms gradually surfaced. This type of energy was opposite to Zhou Botong’s ‘yin’ energy of the “Vacant Fist” technique. Yang Guo noticed the change and suddenly recognized the “Demon Subduing Fist” of the “Nine Yin Manual” in the tomb. Yang Guo shouted, “What’s so special about the ‘Demon Subduing Fist’? Use two hands and take my ‘Melancholic Sad Palms [An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang].
Zhou was shocked; one, Yang Guo actually knew what technique he was using and two, what in the world was ‘An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang’? Zhou was knowledgeable in the martial arts from the various sects of the world but he had never heard of this martial art before. He looked at Yang Guo and saw him with his arm bent, his eyes seemingly far away. His legs seemed to float and his front was completely open – his form contradicted martial arts norms. Zhou went forward to test him out and threw a fist towards Yang Guo’s stomach.
He was afraid that he would hurt his opponent so he only put thirty percent power in his fist. Just as his fist was about to make contact, Yang Guo’s stomach and chest contracted and then extended outwards. Zhou leapt back in shock – skilled fighters contracting their bodies to avoid attacks was fairly normal but he has never seen someone use their chest and stomach to actually attack someone. He was utterly surprised and shouted, “Uh, what kind of technique was that?”
“This was An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang’s thirteenth stance, ‘Muscles Jumping with the Frightened Heart’ [Xin Jing Rou Tiao],” came the answer.
“Huh? I’ve never…never heard of such technique before,” he said.
“Of course you haven’t,” said Yang Guo, “I developed this ‘An Ran Xiao Hun Zhang’ myself. This technique has seventeen stances.”
As we remember, after being separated from Xiao Longnu at the ‘Broken Heart Cliff’, with the eagle’s encouragement, he trained against the tide’s waves. Apart from gradually strengthening his internal energy, he practiced no new martial arts. He couldn’t forget his wife and as time passed, he was more and more depressed from loneliness. One day while walking by the sea, out of boredom he started to throw a few fists and kicks about. By now, his internal energy was at a very high level – anything he threw out contained great power. One of his light palms landed on a turtle’s back and smashed its shell. From then on, he developed a complete set of palm techniques that were completely different from conventional martial arts. The palms relied on internal energy and not on complicated fist techniques.
Yang Guo had learned various first class martial arts from several experts since his childhood. From the Quanzhen, he learned the purest nei-gong techniques. From Xiao Longnu, he learned the “Jade Maiden Sword and Palm” techniques. From the manual inscribed on the Ancient Tomb’s walls, he learned the “Nine Yin Manual”. From his adopted father, Ouyang Feng, he inherited the ‘Toad Stance’ and the ‘Reversing Blood Flow’ techniques. From Hong Qigong he got the ‘Dog Beating Stick’, from Huang Yaoshi he received the “Divine Flicking Finger” and “Jade Flute Swordplay”. Except for the “Solitary Yang Finger” from the Southern Emperor, it could be said that he had mastered the specialty of the Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Northern Beggar and the Central Divinity. By analyzing and combining these various techniques, it was not too difficult for him to create a brand new fist technique.
Because he had one arm, he did not try to achieve victory with variations in stances but instead he deliberately chose to go against martial arts norms. Also, the names of this palm technique came from a line in one of Jiang Yan’s works (a poet of the Southern Dynasties). This was the first time that the palms have met such a strong opponent as Zhou Botong.
Zhou Botong became even more excited when he heard this was a palm that Yang Guo had invented himself and said, “Good! I want to see this brand new technique.” He continued to fight – with one hand. Yang Guo faced the sky as if he didn’t even notice that Zhou was there and arched a palm towards his face and then downwards. The palm’s power dispersed all around.
Zhou knew that there was no way to avoid the palm’s power and sent out his palm to meet it. The palms collided and Zhou wobbled; he felt his chest tighten – his martial arts were not weaker than his opponent’s but palm for palm, he could not compete with Yang Guo’s heavy and overbearing palm. “Good!” he praised, “What was that stance?”
“It was ‘Causing One to Worry’ or ‘Overbearing Sadness’ [Gei Ren Yau Tien].” Yang Guo called out, “Watch out! The next stance is ‘Out of Nothing Came Something’ [Wu Zhong Sheng You].”
The Old Urchin laughed heartily, “Interesting! Very interesting!” he shouted, “Kid, how did you come up with those weird names?”
Yang Guo hung his arm down in a completely unprepared form. As soon as Zhou’s fist came near him, Yang Guo suddenly moved everything; his left palm, right sleeve, kicks, head, butt, even his chest, back, stomach and waist attacked – they all contained a level of energy capable of injuring an opponent.
Zhou could never predict a move such as this. In a flash, over ten different stances came at him at once. ‘Out of Nothing’ was one stance but it contained tens of variations within. Even someone with martial arts as high as Zhou’s, he was forced to step back. In this situation, he couldn’t help but also use his right arm to fend off the attack. He had to use all his efforts to block this attack, counterattacking never came into the equation. Nevertheless, he managed to block all the attacks and quickly leapt back in case of some more weird moves.
“Old Master Zhou!” cried Guo Xiang, “Two arms are not enough! You need three!” The old man laughed heartily and repeatedly nodded his head as a very high compliment to Yang Guo.
Yang Guo was impressed that Zhou was able to block all these profound sudden attacks and called out the next stance, “Watch this next stance: ‘Dragging Mud with Water’ [Tuo Ni Dai Shui].”
Both the old man and the young girl cheered, “Very nice! That sounds very nice!” he shouted.
“Don’t you praise me just yet. Take this one!” Yang Guo countered. His right sleeve flowed like water and his left palm slid out heavily like flowing mud and sand.
Zhou recalled something that his apprentice brother Wong Zhongyang told him about Huang Yaoshi. Huang Yaoshi had a palm technique he invented called the ‘Palms of the Five Elements’, the five elements were contained within the palms. Right now, Yang Guo’s right sleeve was like North’s water and his left palm was like Central’s earth, light and swift along with heavy and fierce. Zhou did not dare delay and immediately used the ‘Vacant Fist’ with his left hand and the ‘Demon Subduing Fist’ with his right; light against light, heavy against heavy. After the two attacks came together, they both shouted and moved back a couple of steps.
After those four stances, they both had great respect for each other. Yang Guo stood and stared blankly for a moment. He understood that Zhou was the strongest opponent his palms had ever met and if there was going to be a victor; an internal energy competition would be needed. If they did that, there was a possibility that one or maybe both of them would be heavily injured or even die – something he was not prepared to do after what happened to Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng. Why would he do something like that to such a benevolent man as Zhou Botong? He swallowed his pride and bowed to him saying, “Senior Zhou, I admit defeat.” He then turned to Guo Xiang and said, “Little Sister, we failed to invite Senior Zhou. Let us leave!”
