EASTERN HERETIC, WESTERN POISON (Book 2 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

The Three Tests Part 1

Guo Jing saw everything. "Rong'er has always been good to me; she won't change her mind. Surely she doesn't want first meeting gift of yours," he thought. But unexpectedly he heard Huang Rong said with a smile, "Many thanks to you!" and extended her hand to receive it.

As soon as Ouyang Ke saw Huang Rong's snow-white skin and face as pretty as a flower his soul had already been sold; now that she was smiling at him his whole body melted, he thought, "Since her father had given her hand in marriage to me, naturally her attitude toward me is not the same as it was before." He felt smug. But suddenly some metal flashed toward him. "Not good!" he cried, and immediately bent his body backward using 'tie ban qiao' [iron bridge] stance.

"What are you doing?" Huang Yaoshi scolded his daughter. His left sleeve flicked and struck down the steel needle shot from Huang Rong's hand, while with the back of his right hand he pushed her shoulder back.

"Wah!" Huang Rong bawled. "Father, you'd better kill me," she cried. "I'd rather die than marrying this bad thing."

Ouyang Feng thrust the dragon pill into Huang Rong's hand while his other hand gently fended off Huang Yaoshi's palm. "Your daughter is just testing my nephew's martial art, why are you so serious?" Because he was striking his own daughter, naturally Huang Yaoshi's palm did not carry a lot of strength. Ouyang Feng's hand also did not carry a lot of force.

Ouyang Ke had straightened his body; he felt pain in his left chest, so he knew he was being hit by one or two needles. However, he was proud and did not want anybody else to know, so he kept a straight face. Only he was embarrassed. "She did not want to marry me after all," he thought.

Ouyang Feng smiled, "Yao Xiong, since our last meeting at the Mount Hua, we haven't seen each other for more than twenty years. Now that you have accepted my nephew's proposal whenever you have a business for me to do, your brother will not dare to refuse."

"Who dares to provoke you, Old Poison?" Huang Yaoshi replied. "You have stayed in the western region for twenty years, what new fierce martial arts have you mastered? Come, let me see."

As soon as Huang Rong heard her father mentioned 'new martial arts' her interest was piqued. She wiped her tears away and leaned to his father. Her eyes looked closely to Ouyang Feng. She saw a curving black staff in his hand; looked like it was made of steel. The head of the staff resembled a man's face; with its mouth open showing two rows of sharp teeth. The face looked ugly and fearsome. What was more amazing was there were a couple of silver-scaled snakes slithering up and down along the staff.

Ouyang Feng smiled. "I was inferior to you then, and now that I have wasted more than twenty years, I certainly won't be your match," he said. "We become in-laws now. I am thinking of staying in the Peach Blossom Island for a few days and asking your advice."

When Ouyang Feng sent an envoy to propose for his nephew Huang Yaoshi thought that Ouyang Feng was one of only a handful of people whose martial art could be compared to his own. Ouyang Feng was also an educated man, so must be his nephew. He knew his own daughter was stubborn and strong-willed. If she married just anybody, he was afraid she would bully her husband. Besides, he loathed that Guo kid whom his daughter liked. Ouyang Ke was not only highly educated, but was highly skilled in martial arts as well; not too many young men would hold a candle against him. That was the reason he accepted their proposal. But now he listened to Ouyang Feng's sweet mouth, he could not help but feel suspicious. He knew Ouyang Feng was crafty and sly; Ouyang Feng would not easily admit defeat to others in term of martial arts. His Toad Stance had been neutralized by Wang Chongyang's Solitary Yang Finger; could it be that he had recovered completely? So Huang Yaoshi took out his jade flute and said, "Honored guests come from afar, Little Brother is going to play a tune to entertain you. Please sit down and leisurely listen to this song."

Ouyang Feng knew Huang Yaoshi was going to play the [jade-colored tidal wave song] to test his internal strength; so he showed a faint smile and waved his left hand. Immediately the thirty-two white-dressed lantern-carrier maidens step forward and kneeled before them. Ouyang Feng smiled and said, "Your brother has acquired these thirty-two maidens from various regions in the west. Please accept them as my gift to an old friend. They are trained in singing and dancing; yet they came from uncultured places; of course they can't be compared to Jiangnan's beautiful maidens."

"Your Brother does not enjoy this kind of gift very much," Huang Yaoshi replied, "Since my wife passed away, I regard the world's beautiful women as dung. I do not dare to accept Brother Feng's generous gift."

"What's the harm in some entertainment to pass the time away?" Ouyang Feng laughed.

Huang Rong noticed that these women's skin was fair, lighter in color. Their statures were tall, some had blond hair and blue eyes; their noses were high and their eyes deep; totally different from the women from the Central Plains. But they were all beautiful, carrying a seductive look that would attract casual onlookers.

Ouyang Feng clapped his hands three times and eight women took out various musical instruments. They started playing the instruments while the other twenty-four women started dancing to their tune. The musical instruments as well as the tune were different from the ones commonly played in the Central Plains; they sounded weird in Huang Rong's ears.

She saw the front row women bent down, turning to the left and then back to the right; their bodies were very supple. The next rows did the same, row after row dancing in succession, resembled a large snake. After a while each woman extended both their hands apart; from the tip of their left hand to the tip of their right hand, their body swayed following the tune; reminding her of snakes slithering on the ground.

Huang Rong remembered Ouyang Ke's [spirit snake fist]; so she cast a glance toward him, only to see that Ouyang Ke was closely staring at her. She hated him to the guts and wished that her father would not intercept her needles. She would find another way of taking his life that even if her father would force her to marry, the person was already dead. It was called the 'remove-firewood-from-under-the-pot' tactic. Having this thought she was happy and a smile broke on her face. Ouyang Ke saw her sudden smile, and thought that she was smiling to him. He was elated that he momentarily forgot the pain in his chest.

By now the dance movements of the women were getting more intense. Their bodies moved erotically, their hands caressed their own buttocks, moving upward to their breasts, and unfastening their dress they showed their upper bodies and posed in various postures.

The men who shepherd the snakes have early on closed their eyes tight; they did not dare to look. Even then their minds were disturbed.

Huang Yaoshi simply smiled and put the flute on his lips he started playing a tune. The women's bodies suddenly shook; their dance movements were chaotic. A few bars later both their music and their dance were following the flute's sound.

Ouyang Feng knew something was amiss; he clapped his hands and a maiden stepped forward carrying an iron 'zheng' [zither?]. Ouyang Ke started to feel his heart beating faster. The eight women playing the musical instruments have early on lost their control and totally following the flute's tune. The men in charge of the snakes jumped up and down like crazy among the snakes.

Ouyang Feng played a few notes on his zither; producing metallic sound like an iron horse charging toward the enemy; in contrast with the soft murmuring sound of the flute. Huang Yaoshi smiled and said, "Come, come! Let us play a duet." As soon as the flute left his lips, everybody was relieved from their hysterical condition.

"Everybody stop your ears! Island Master Huang and I will play some music," Ouyang Feng shouted. The people who came with him knew the song would not be a small matter; immediately they took anything, including ripping their own clothes, that could be used to cover their ears. Layer after layer they put cotton and pieces of clothes over their ears; yet they were still afraid the sound would penetrate that barrier. Ouyang Ke also took some cotton balls to stop his ears.

"My father plays his flute for your listening enjoyment; that was a big honor to you. Yet all of you cover your ears. That is so rude! You come to the Peach Blossom Island as guests, yet you dare to insult the host!" Huang Rong mocked.

"Don't talk about rudeness here!" Huang Yaoshi scolded her. "They who do not dare to listen to my flute actually have more sense. They had learned their lessons ... ha ... ha ... Your uncle's iron zither's skill is considered best in the world; and you dare to listen to him? Do you want to test yourself?" Then he took a silk handkerchief from his pocket, tore it in halves and told Huang Rong to cover up her ears with them.

Guo Jing was curious about the world's best iron zither; he wanted to hear Ouyang Feng's fierce method, so the came even closer a few more steps.

Huang Yaoshi turned to Ouyang Feng, "Your snakes cannot cover up their ears." Then he turned his head toward his own deaf and mute servant. He made some gesture and the servant nodded his head. The servant then signaled the snakes' shepherds to go away by waving his hand. These men had been waiting for an opportunity to get out of that place; as soon as Ouyang Feng nodded his head in approval, they hurriedly drove the snakes away; with the deaf and mute servant showing the way.

Ouyang Feng said, "Your Brother's martial art is not good enough. I must ask Yao Xiong to reduce your strength by thirty percent." He sat cross-legged on a big rock with the zither on his lap and immediately used his right fingers to pluck some strings.

The original the 'qin zheng' [zither from the short-lived Qin dynasty (221-207BC)] produced sad and shrill sound. This western region iron zither produced an even more intensely sorrowful noise. Guo Jing did not understand music, but the zither sound had affected his feeling. The louder the zither sound, the harder his heart beat. The quicker the zither sound, the quicker his breath had become. He felt his heart was thumping really bad, almost jumping out of his throat. It was really an uneasy feeling. After listening some more time he felt his heart beat intensified; and he struggled hard to keep his consciousness. "If this zither is getting harder and harder, how could I not getting killed by its sound?" he thought; and immediately retreated a few steps back and circulated his 'qi' according to the Quan Zhen's method. After a while he managed to calm his heart and the zither sound did not adversely affect him too much.

The zither sound was getting more intense and in Guo Jing's mind it resembled the metallic armor of a cavalry charging full steam ahead. A thin sound of jade flute appeared riding smoothly in the midst of the clamoring sound of the zither. Guo Jing was trembling; his face was red hot and he was sweating profusely. Quickly he circulated his internal energy trying to calm himself.

Although the zither was loud, it was not able to drown the flute. Two distinct sounds intermingled, creating an eerie melody. The iron zither screamed like an ape of the Wuxia Gorge or a ghost cry in the dead of the night; while the flute sang like a phoenix from the Kunlun mountains or a soft murmur of a woman inside her chamber. One resembled a heartrending cry of a mournful soul; while the other carried a feeling of one leisurely wandered through the wilderness. One high, the other low; one rushing forward, the other leisurely retreating; no one overpowered the other.

Initially Huang Rong watched these two played music with smile on her face; but afterwards she saw their expressions were getting serious. Her father stood up and started to walk around while blowing his flute. His steps were actually following the 'ba gua' [Eight Diagram]. She knew this was the footwork her father followed when he was cultivating his internal energy; showing her how fierce the battle was for her father that he was forced to use up all his strength. Turning toward Ouyang Feng she did not see anything better. Thick steam was coming out from the top of his head; his sleeves were fluttering following his hands' movement plucking the strings; creating gusts of wind blowing everywhere. His face looked seriously focused on his zither playing; obviously he did not dare to act careless.

In the bamboo groove Guo Jing listened to the music attentively. He was pondering in his heart what had these two instruments – the iron zither and the jade flute, had to do with martial arts? They sounded so evil to him; how could the sound affect other people's heart and mind? At first he was too busy circulating his 'qi' and calming his heart and mind, but gradually he was able to control himself and was able to follow the movements of flute and zither sounds. A little while later he started to realize that those two sounds were actually battling each other. When one sound was on the offensive, the other took a defensive position; sometimes one was attacking the other furiously, while the other blocking the attack while waiting for a good opportunity to counterattack; really it was no different than a battle between two martial arts masters. After pondering some more time suddenly it dawned on him, "That's right! The Island Master Huang is having an internal energy match against Ouyang Feng." Because he wanted to understand better, he closed his eyes but open wide his ears with full attention.

He began to hear the two sounds were alternately gaining victory or suffering defeat. Being music illiterate the sound of music would not affect his spirit; but he did feel openness in his heart, like he was looking at something bright. His mind wandered back to when Zhou Botong taught him the 72-stance Vacant Fist; which stemmed from the words 'empty/vacant/open' and 'clear/bright'. With his mind open wide and clear he can 'see' every detail in the internal energy fight between Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng clearly. True, his internal energy was still inferior compared to those two experts, but he had improved greatly without even realizing it; besides, as a spectator he could see better than those two who were involved in the battle. He often wondered why Zhou Botong could not resist the flute sound, while with an inferior strength he could. He did not know that Zhou Botong carried a heavy guilt inside his heart because of what he did in the past. So it was not purely because of one's internal energy strength one could withstand the flute sound.

By now Guo Jing heard Ouyang Feng's zither was crushing Huang Yaoshi's flute with a force as powerful as a thunderbolt. The flute evaded to the east and dodged to the west, and as soon as there was a gap in the zither sound, the flute would counterattack immediately. After a while the zither gradually slowed down, while the flute was getting more intense. Suddenly Guo Jing remembered the theory behind the Vacant Fist which he memorized. It said, 'hard must not last long soft must not defend long'. He thought, "Not too long the zither will launch a counterattack." And sure enough, when the flute was slacking a little bit, abruptly a clank sound was heard, the iron zither again assuming the offensive position.

Guo Jing had memorized the theory well, but his perception was still low. Zhou Botong did not explain the meaning of the words he passed on to Guo Jing. Perhaps his overall comprehension was only about ten percent. Now listening to the battle in music between Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng he started to understand who was doing what; it agreed with the theory he had memorized so well. Secretly he was delighted. The Nine Yin Manual contained some very advance theories of martial arts. If it were left to him to dissect the theory even with somebody's assistance he would probably spend more than a year just to understand what it said. But now listening to two sounds collided he kept comparing the battle to the theory. However, he saw some discrepancies between the theory and the real battle situation; but he attributed those discrepancies to his own shallow comprehension. For example, there were several occasions where Huang Yaoshi was obviously gaining an upper hand; as long as he kept the flute sound steady Ouyang Feng would not be able to withstand. But Ouyang Feng also missed several opportunities to be exploited to his advantage. Guo Jing initially thought they were being modest and backed off, but as he listened more; it didn't appear to be the case.

His intelligence might be low, but after those two people repeatedly made the similar mistakes he began to realize that the flute and zither had a lot of holes in their defense. After listening for a little bit more a thought came into his mind, "Compared to the theory of Vacant Fist, their offense and defense have flaws and deficiencies; could it be that the theory passed on by Brother Zhou is better than both Island Master Huang's and Western Poison's martial arts?" But then he changed his mind, "Nah! It couldn't be! If Brother Zhou's martial art is really better than Island Master Huang's, how could those two fight countless battles for fifteen years and he is still stranded inside that cave?"

He racked his brain for a long time without any conclusion when he heard the flute sound was climbing higher and higher until if he went higher still, Ouyang Feng's defeat would be decided. But the flute was not able to climb any higher; it had reached the peak. Guo Jing stifled his laugh, "I was really dumb! There is a limit to what one can do. Among the desires of the heart, nine out of ten cannot be achieved. I know that if my fist could generate a ten thousand catties force, I will be able to crush my opponent to dust; but how can my fist develop those ten thousand catties of force? Seventh Master often said, 'Looking at others carry a burden on a pole easily does not mean we can do the same without breaking our back.' If merely carrying a burden follows this principle, how much more does martial art?"

The sound of music was increasingly fiercer; and it sounded like those two were engaged in a hand-to-hand combat, or fighting in a very close distance using naked blades. Victory or defeat would be decided very soon. Guo Jing was worried for Huang Yaoshi when suddenly he heard a long and loud whistle coming from the direction of the sea.

Both Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng were startled; the flute and the zither were slowing down. The whistle came nearer and nearer. It sounded like someone was sailing on a boat coming toward the island. Ouyang Feng moved his hand and stroked two metallic notes, 'clank, clank.' The distant whistle went higher to overpower the zither. Not too long afterwards Huang Yaoshi's flute joined in. Sometimes the flute was fighting the long whistle; sometimes it entangled the zither in a close fight. The distinct sounds were fighting each other.

Guo Jing had played 'four-people combat' with Zhou Botong before, so he did not have any problem dividing his mind to distinguish different sounds. He knew a senior with a high level of martial art had arrived.

By then the person uttering the long whistle had arrived at the forest. The whistle turned high and low; sometimes sounded like a dragon's cry or a lion's roar; sometimes resembled a wolf's howl or an owl's cry; but it also sounded like a strong wind blowing through the forest which suddenly turned into a gentle rain showering the flowers. It was constantly changing.

The flute sound was clear and bright, the zither sound was intensely mournful, yet the combination of the three made a mysteriously wonderful sound; did not sound bad at all. Three different sounds entangled each other in a close fight.

Guo Jing was amazed and could not help exclaiming, "Wonderful!" But once he closed his mouth he realized he had made a mistake. He scurried away, but it was too late! A green shadow flashed by and Huang Yaoshi was standing in front of him. The three sounds were not heard anymore. Huang Yaoshi lowered his head and said, "Good Boy, come with me."

Guo Jing did not have any choice but stood up and meekly greeted, "Island Master Huang." With the hair on his back raised up he followed Huang Yaoshi walking toward the bamboo pavilion.

Huang Rong still had her ears covered with silk, so she did not hear Guo Jing's exclamation. Now suddenly Guo Jing appeared she was pleasantly surprised. "Brother Jing! You have finally come ..." she called out. She was joyous, yet sad at the same time; before she could finish tears had already flowed down her cheeks. She rushed forward and threw herself into Guo Jing's bosom. Guo Jing opened his arms and embraced her tightly.

Since Guo Jing appeared, Ouyang Ke had been annoyed; now he saw how intimate Huang Rong with Guo Jing, his heart was burning hot with hatred. With a gust of wind his fist flew toward Guo Jing's face. "Stinky kid! You are also here!" he shouted.

He thought his martial art skill was higher than Guo Jing's; furthermore, his attack could be considered sneak attack, Guo Jing was unprepared, so he thought he might break Guo Jing's nose thus lashing out his hatred. But not in his wildest imagination that Guo Jing now was not the same as Guo Jing then, when they fought each other at the Baoying ancestral hall. Guo Jing saw a fist coming by, he leaned to side to evade, then his left hand launched 'hong jian yu liu' [wild geese rising from the shore] while his right hand launched the Proud Dragon Repents; both from the 18-Dragon Subduing Palms.

The 18-Dragon Subduing Palms were unparalleled in the world; one move was very difficult to withstand, much less two stances at the same time. How could Ouyang Ke face them? Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng were actually standing close-by; but they did not anticipate Guo Jing's counterattack. Both were startled yet were unable to do anything.

Ouyang Ke felt his opponent's left hand was threatening his right side; he knew this 18-Dragon Subduing Palms were very fierce; he could evade but could not parry. Quickly he leaned his body to the left exactly at the same time Guo Jing's right hand's Proud Dragon Repents came by. 'Crack!' his upper torso was squarely hit; and one of his ribs was broken.

Actually he was aware of the fierceness of the opponent's attack; when Guo Jing's hand arrived he had already focused his energy on his chest to protect his heart and lungs against the incoming force. Furthermore, as soon as he was hit he tried to lessen the injury by trying to jump up. But the incredible force from Guo Jing's hand had added to his own energy and sent him flying toward the bamboo pavilion's roof. He managed to land standing up albeit staggering badly; then slowly slid down. He was awfully embarrassed and his chest was hurt badly. Slowly he walked back.

Guo Jing's counterattack had surprised both the Eastern Heretic and the Western Poison; gave Ouyang Ke a lesson he wouldn't forget easily; and acquired Huang Rong's accolade. She clapped her hands and bounced up and down with great happiness. Guo Jing himself did not realize that his martial art had improved tremendously. He simply thought that Ouyang Ke was being careless and was caught off guard. He was afraid Ouyang Ke would launch a counterattack; so he withdrew two steps waiting for the opponent with rapt attention.

Ouyang Feng glared angrily toward Guo Jing; loudly he called out, "Old Beggar Hong! Congratulations on your fine disciple!"

Huang Rong had taken out the silk handkerchief from her ears; hearing Ouyang Feng's loud call she knew Hong Qigong had arrived. Truly a savior sent from heaven. She rushed outside the bamboo groove and loudly called out, "Shifu! Shifu! [Master]"

Huang Yaoshi was astounded, "Why did Rong'er call the Old Beggar Hong 'shifu'?" Right at that moment Hong Qigong appeared with a scarlet wine gourd on his back, a bamboo staff in his right hand, Huang Rong's hand in his left, smiling broadly entering the bamboo groove.

Huang Yaoshi and Hong Qigong greeted each other and exchanged some pleasantries. Then Huang Yaoshi turned to his daughter and asked, "Rong'er, what did you call Qigong?"

"Senior Qigong has taken me to be his disciple," replied Huang Rong.