Jinlun Fawang's eyes sometimes opened and sometimes closed, it was as if he didn't care about what happened in the battle but in actual fact, he saw everything clearly. When he saw Huo Dou was losing he suddenly called out, "A gu si jin de er, mi ma ha si deng, qi er qi er hu!" The crowd didn't know what these Tibetan sentences were but Huo Dou knew, his master was reminding him not to defend so tightly, he needs to start using the "Ferocious Wind Rapid Thunder Skill" against the enemy, Huo Dou started to whistle, the fan on the right and his sleeve on the left created a strong gust of wind, rushing forwards to Zhu Ziliu.
The force of the wind was very strong, the crowd who were watching couldn't help but move backwards slowly, they heard him making thunderbolt like noises with his mouth, they all thought that apart from using weapons, fists and kicks, this "Ferocious Wind Rapid Thunder Skill" also uses the surprising calls of thunder to subdue and control the opponent; it is a very powerful technique. Zhu Ziliu's sleeve took flight, he carried himself proudly and matched him.
The two of them went back and forth for over a hundred moves, Zhu Ziliu had finished writing the 'Zi Yan Tie', the intention of his pen changed, his moves were slow and delayed, the pen strokes were fine and stiff, overflowing with ancient intent.
Huang Rong soliloquized, "There's an ancient saying: 'The fine and obstinate direction leads to the soul', this "Stone Carving of Commending the Wrong Path", never has there been such a display."
Huo Dou continued to use the "Ferocious Wind Rapid Thunder Skill" but because the opponent's strength was strong, the power in his fan increased as did the volume of his shouts and calls. The people who were watching the fight in the main hall cold not stand still; step by step they retreated to the courtyard.
Huang Rong saw Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu were sitting shoulder to shoulder by the pillar, they were only about ten feet away from the battle, deep in conversation, completely ignoring the battle. The wind that Huo Dou generated had completely no effect on them. She saw Xiao Longnu's belt floating in the wind but Xiao Longnu was unmoved, she just stared lovingly at Yang Guo. The longer that Huang Rong looked, the more curious she became, in the end, she was concentrating on these two more than the battle between Huo Dou and Zhu Ziliu, she thought, "That little girl looks like she possess advanced martial arts, Guo'er and she are so close, I wonder which eminent master is she a disciple of?"
Xiao Longnu was now twenty years old, she had lived in the ancient tomb all her life, avoiding the sunlight, her skin was especially soft and delicate, her internal energy was high, from her appearance, she looked like a sixteen or seventeen year old. Before Xiao Longnu met Yang Guo, experiencing happiness, anger, grief and joy was a rare thing for her. Emotions have the greatest harmful affect on the body and its appearance; and she had spent the last two years like a normal person. If she actually followed her master's teachings and practiced with a clear mind, not only could she meet her hundredth birthday, but when she reaches that age, her appearances would be the same as a normal fifty year old. Because of this, in Huang Rong's eyes, Xiao Longnu looked younger than Yang Guo, her childlike and innocent air was even more obvious than Guo Fu, no wonder Huang Rong thought that she was a little girl.
Now, Zhu Ziliu's pen was becoming unsightly, but its power was becoming stronger, the delivery of the pen was like a spider web, strong yet soft. Huo Dou was secretly alarmed; it was gradually becoming harder for him to grasp his kung fu.
Jinlun Fawang shouted, "Ma mi ba mi, gu si hei si."
No one knew what those eight words meant but the words shook everyone's ears, leaving a ringing sound in them.
Zhu Ziliu was getting impatient, he thought, "If he changes his technique again, I don't know when this battle will end. I am fighting in Dali's name for the Song in this first round, I must not lose. Otherwise shame will be bought onto our nation and school." He suddenly changed his calligraphy style again, the pen didn't appear to be writing words, it now resembled a hatchet hacking into rocks.
Guo Fu managed to see what was happening and asked her mother, "Uncle Zhu is carving words?"
Huang Rong smiled and said, "My daughter is not stupid, the finger technique he's now following is the 'shi gu' script. This is the scriptwriting that one uses in the spring and autumn period; it's the characters that can be seen when one uses a hatchet to carve words on a stone drum. See whether you can recognize the words that Uncle Zhu is writing."
Guo Fu followed the pen but saw that every word he wrote was windy and twisty, all looking like a small painting, she didn't know one word.
Huang Rong smiled and said, "That's an ancient style of calligraphy (used in Zhou dynasty c11 to 256BC), no wonder you wouldn't know any of them; even I can't recognize all of them."
Guo Fu clapped and said, "Naturally, it'll be even harder for that Mongolian idiot to recognize them. Mother, take a look at him, his head is full of sweat and his legs and arms are all over the place."
Indeed, Huo Dou could only recognize a word or two of this ancient style of calligraphy. Since he doesn't know what the opponent is writing, of course he will not be able predict where the pen will attack. It was now difficult for him to respond.
Zhu Ziliu kept on producing word after word of this ancient calligraphy, the characters were profound with an ancient air, and the power of the "Solitary Yang Finger" which the calligraphy style uses as a base also increased.
Huo Dou's fan waved out but he was a bit too slow to take it back, Zhu Ziliu's pen moved and scripted an ancient character on his fan. Huo Dou took a look and asked uncertainly, "Is that 'net'?"
Zhu Ziliu laughed and said, "Wrong, that is 'you'." He then wrote another character on his fan.
Huo Dou said, "Most probably that's 'moon' isn't it?"
Zhu Ziliu shook his head and said, "Wrong, that's 'hence'."
Huo Dou was discouraged, he shook his fan to shake off the pen tip and stop Zhu Ziliu from writing on his fan but he didn't predict that Zhu Ziliu would suddenly sent out a left palm to attack. Huo Dou sent out a palm to block this but this allowed Zhu Ziliu in and he wrote another two characters on his fan but because there wasn't much time, the characters were not written in the ancient calligraphy style but cursive calligraphy.
Huo Dou recognized these characters and called out; "Barbarian!"
Zhu Ziliu laughed and said, "Correct, it is 'You are hence a barbarian'."
Everyone hated the Mongols for invading their country and killing their citizens, hate and anger was in their hearts; when they heard Zhu Ziliu insulting Huo Dou by saying 'You are hence a barbarian', they all cheered and shouted.
Huo Dou could not handle Zhu Ziliu's "Solitary Yang Book Finger" with the cursive and ancient calligraphy, he was already afraid. When he heard the cheers and calls, he was even more disturbed. He saw Zhu Ziliu's pen shaking and waving, writing three ancient characters in a row in midair, how could he think about trying to recognize these characters?
He could only force himself to fight on; he raised his fan to try to protect his vital points on his chest when suddenly he felt his knee go numb. His pressure point had been sealed by the opponent's pen as it turned. Huo Dou's knee felt numb and wanted to collapse, but he thought if he kneels, he would have no face. He took a deep breath and surged a current of chi towards the pressure point in his knee. He wanted to leap away and admit defeat when Zhu Ziliu's pen came in like lightning, sealing his pressure point again. Zhu Ziliu used his pen to replace the finger, using the tip of the pen to make use of the "Solitary Yang Finger" technique, continuously attacking. Could Huo Dou defend against this? His knee became numb and he eventually knelt down onto the floor, his face was devoid of colour.
All the heroes cheered with thunderous noise. Guo Jing said to Huang Rong, "Your ingenious plan worked." Huang Rong gave a slight smile.
The Wu brothers were watching from the side, when they saw the boundless changes of their Martial Uncle Zhu's "Solitary Yang Finger", they were both in awe, and were thinking, "Martial Uncle Zhu's internal energy is profound and strong, embedding itself into calligraphy, there are many ingenious and masterly aspects within it. I don't know when I will be able to reach such a stage."
One called out, "Brother!"
The other called, "Little brother!"
The both of them were thinking of the same thing and were about to say something in praise of their Martial Uncle's martial arts. Suddenly Zhu Ziliu called out, 'ah', they quickly turned their heads and saw that he had fallen.
Everyone was shocked at this sudden change of events. After Huo Dou had admitted defeat, Zhu Ziliu had come over to unseal his pressure point. The technique of sealing pressure points using the "Solitary Yang Finger" is completely different than conventional pressure point sealing; it is extremely difficult for others to unseal it so Zhu Ziliu went over to him and tapped his sides a few times, circulating his chi to unseal his pressure point. He couldn't have known that as soon as Huo Dou's pressure point was unsealed, there was an opportunity for Huo Dou to take advantage of him. He gave a grunt and before he stood up, he activated a booby trap in his fan; four poison nails flew out from the fan's spine, all of them hitting Zhu Ziliu in the body.
When skilled fighters duel, when a win or loss is declared, they cannot act again. Never mind that everyone was watching, who could have guessed that that he would suddenly launch an ambush? If Huo Dou had launched his projectiles in the middle of the duel, even though the booby trap was ingenious, he would not have succeeded in harming his opponent. When Zhu Ziliu was unsealing his pressure point, he was only an inch away from him. The weapon was activated close to the body, even if one's skills were higher, it would have been difficult to avoid this attack. The poison on the nails was produced from the snowy mountains of Western Tibet and is very lethal. As soon as Zhu Ziliu was struck with the nails, his body broke out in unbearable pain; it was difficult for him to stand up properly.
Everyone was shocked and angry, they were all pointing at Huo Dou, insulting and cursing him, saying that he was a brazen scoundrel and despicable.
Huo Dou laughed and said, "The 'Little Prince' has turned defeat into victory, what shame is there in that? Before we started, we did not forbid the use of projectiles. If that brother Zhu succeeded in using a projectile against me, I would have admitted defeat."
Though not everyone agreed with what he said, they did not have a reply to his words, but the insults and curses kept on coming.
Guo Jing dashed over and picked up Zhu Ziliu, he saw the four nails sticking out of his chest, his face looked strange. Guo Jing knew that the poison on the nails was extremely exotic, he quickly sealed three main pressure points to slow down the blood flow, the veins were completely sealed stopping the poison from reaching his heart. He asked Huang Rong, "What should we do?"
Huang Rong frowned without replying, she knew that if she wanted to cure this poison, the antidote must come personally from Jinlun Fawang or Huo Dou. For the time being, she paced back and forth without an idea.
When Diancang Yuyin saw that his apprentice brother was poisoned, he was worried and angry; he tucked in his gown, wanting to dash forward and fight Huo Dou.
Huang Rong was still thinking about the plan, she thought, "The opponent has already won a match, if Brother Fisherman goes, Da'erba will be the one who will be sent out to meet him, and we won't have a way to win." She quickly said, "Brother, please wait!"
Diancang Yuyin asked, "What for?"
Though Huang Rong was wise and clever, she couldn't give a reply, they had already lost the first match, and there will be some difficulty in the last two matches.
Huo Dou used a trick to beat Zhu Ziliu and he stood at the front of the hall pleased with himself, he took a look all around and felt that he was on top of the world. In the corner of his eye he saw Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo sitting shoulder to shoulder on a stone base, holding each other hands, engaged in conversation. They completely ignored his victory as if nothing had happened; he couldn't stop himself from getting angry and pointed his fan at Yang Guo, shouting out, "Bastard; get up!"
All of Yang Guo's attention was on Xiao Longnu, though the world is a big place, there was nothing that would distract him. Because of this, the heated battle between Huo Dou and Zhu Ziliu was nothing to him; he didn't see or hear it.
In the years he lived with Xiao Longnu in the tomb, he didn't know that he had etched Xiao Longnu deep into his heart and soul, in life or death. That day when Xiao Longnu said she wanted to be his wife, it was such a sudden event, he had never thought about this before and, startled, he could not think of a reply. After Xiao Longnu had disappeared, he repeated in his heart hundreds of times, "I want her, I want her. Even if I die immediately, I want Gu Gu to be my wife."
The love between he and Xiao Longnu bloomed unconsciously, after they departed, the love kept on flourishing without stop. Yang Guo wasn't afraid of anything, Xiao Longnu was blind to the world and its ways, they just knew that if they desired to love, they loved, if they desired happiness, then they'd get happiness, what had it to do with other people? One didn't care and the other didn't understand, in the midst of a thousand people in the middle of a heated battle, the two of them were holding hands talking to each other, wrapped in love.
When Huo Dou cursed him, Yang Guo was still oblivious of him. Huo Dou wanted to curse him further when Jinlun Fawang ordered, "Our side has won the first round, and we can now proceed onto the second round."
Huo Dou glanced at Yang Guo with hate and then returned to his table and said clearly, "We have won the first round, my apprentice brother Da'erba will fight in the second round, which hero from the other side will come out to meet him?"
Da'erba took out a weapon from his Buddhist robe and went to the middle of the hall. When everyone saw his weapon, they were all shocked; it was a long coarse golden rod. The "Golden Demon Subduing Rod" was around four feet long, the ends of the rod were thick and rough, and the body of the rod glittered with a golden light. It appeared that the weapon was made out of pure gold; it was a lot heavier than an identical rod made out of steel.
He went to the middle of the hall and bowed to the heroes, and then threw his metal rod up in the air. The golden rod fell down and with a crash sound; two of the large jade flower bowls on the floor were smashed. The rod buried itself one foot into the floor. This was meant as a warning; he was a shriveled and skinny monk but he had the ability to use such a weapon, indicating the level of martial arts he had.
Huang Rong thought, "Brother Jing can subdue this rude monk but Fawang will fight in the third round, then our side will have no one to fight him, the match will be over. This is unspeakable; I'll go and force myself to fight using masterly kung fu to battle him." She raised the Dog Beating Stick and said, "I'll go!"
Guo Jing was extremely shocked and quickly said, "You can't...you can't. Your body is not well, how can you fight?"
Huang Rong felt that there was no other way to achieve victory, if they lost this round then there will be no need for the third round. Just as she was hesitating, Diancang Yuyin called out, "Chief Huang, allow me to fight that evil monk." When he saw the condition that his apprentice brother was in after contracting the poison, his heart was burning and he wanted to take revenge. Huang Rong had no other good ideas, she thought, "We can only struggle on, if he beats the monk, brother Jing will fight Jinlun Fawang to settle this." So she said, "Please be careful apprentice brother."
The Wu brothers took the pair of metal oars that their Marshal Uncle used to him. Diancang Yuyin held them under his arms and went to the middle of the hall. His eyes were red with fury as he circled Da'erba. Da'erba didn't know what it was about, when he saw him walking around him, he turned with to him. Diancang Yuyin suddenly called out, his oars waved out as he hacked down towards his head. Da'erba's movements were extremely fast; he quickly picked up his Golden Subduing Rod and raised it up in response. The rod and oars met, the clashing sound rang in everyone's ears. Both of them felt a slight pain and both knew their opponent's power was strong, and then they both leapt backwards. Da'erba said a sentence in Tibetan while Diancang Yuyin insulted him in a Dali dialect. Though the two didn't understand the other, they suddenly came close to each other again, the oars and rod came out at the same time, another clashing sound of gold and metal colliding was heard.
This battle was completely different to the graceful and civil fight between Huo Dou and Zhu Ziliu. The two of them fought like copper versus iron, brute force against brute force, the two of them fought with advanced external hard kung fu. The oars and rod created gusts of wind; the onlookers were shocked and astonished.
Diancang Yuyin's natural strength was already high; when he was serving Reverend Yideng he lived in secret in Xiangxi, he used his irons oars to row upstream against the current everyday, his arms became like steel. He is the first disciple of Reverend Yideng and was under his teaching for the longest time. Because he was simple and crass, Reverend Yideng had always treated him with care and love. His natural ability was lacking, his internal energy couldn't compare with Zhu Ziliu's. However, his external hard skills were extremely powerful. Right now, the two were competing with their external hard skills, his strong point; his oars flew up and down as he attacked. Each metal oar was about fifty kilos (110+lbs) but he lifted them up as if they were light, he was as fluid as normal people with sabers or swords that weighed a few kilos.
Da'erba has always thought shi natural strength was unbeatable; he couldn't have guessed that he would meet a man with such divine strength in the central plains. Not only was the opponent's strength high, his stances were also profound, he needed all his efforts to use his golden rod. The rod attacked the oars, the oars attacked the rod; the two of them attacking more than defending.
When Zhu Ziliu and Huo Dou were fighting, the people who were watching were forced backwards because of the great gusts of the winds they generated. Now, three extremely heavy weapons were clashing; along with resisting the wind generated by the weapons, the loud noises created by the clashing of the weapons was also extremely hard to endure. Most of them covered their ears as they watched.
Under the candlelight, the golden rod glittered, the two steel oars were like two streaks of black, the weapons swirled and tangled with each other; the fight was becoming more and more spectacular.
The crowd had never seen such a battle in their lives. Of course there had been even more dangerous and perilous situations, but when skilled fighters compete with internal energy one with another; the effects are on the inside. From the outside, it looks very ordinary. When it came to the stances and the countering techniques of weapons and fists, it had ingenious and refined aspects but it couldn't compare with the ferocious aspects of the stances. It is extremely rare to see someone with Diancang Yuyin's kind of divine strength, but it is even rarer to see two people with the same kind of divine strength engaged in such a heated battle as this one.
Guo Jing and Huang Rong watched with sweating palms. Guo Jing said, "Rong'er, do you think our side will win?"
Huang Rong said, "I can't make it out right now."
In reality, how would Guo Jing not know what was happening in the battle, but he hoped that his wife would say 'Yuyin can win' so his heart could be comforted.
Tens of moves passed but their energy didn't decrease; instead it became even more vigorous. Diancang Yuyin called out as he attacked with his oars to increase his clout.
Da'erba asked, "What did you say?" He spoke in Tibetan, how would Diancang Yuyin understand?
He too called out, "What did you say?" Da'erba didn't understand either.
The two of them assumed that they were insulting each other, they fought fiercely, the chairs and tables in the hall flew up. The crowd was worried that the one of them would lose concentration and hit one of the pillars in the hall, causing the hall to collapse.
Jinlun Fawang and Huo Duo were both secretly alarmed, if this battle continued on for much longer, even if Da'erba gains victory, he will be severely injured. But how could the fight stop with the two battling so heatedly?
The two of them leapt and jumped around, calling out as they fought violently, the yellow glow and dark trail forced the candlelight to darken; suddenly, a ferocious heaven shattering noise was heard, the two of them called out and leapt away at the same time.
When the oar in Yuyin's right hand collided with the golden rod, the two of them were using all their strength, the handle of the oar was narrow and not as firm as the golden rod, hence, the oar snapped in half. The blade part flew away and a 'dang' sound was heard as it dropped in front of Xiao Longnu.
Xiao Longnu was completely absorbed in conversation with Yang Guo, she was unaware and the oar blade part struck her on the toes of the left foot. She gave out a cry of 'ai ya' and leapt up. When she called out in pain, Yang Guo was alarmed and quickly asked, "Are you hurt?" Xiao Longnu rubbed her toes, the wincing at the pain that could be seen on her face.
Yang Guo was furious; he turned around to look for the person who used the metal slab to hurt his Gu Gu. He saw Diancang Yuyin holding the handle of the broken oar in his right hand and was disagreeing with Da'erba; he wanted to use his single oar to fight him. Da'erba shook his head; he knew that the enemy's strength and stamina compared to his was six of one and half a dozen to the other. If they continued, it would be difficult to get a result, since now he has the advantage in weaponry; the winner of this round is himself.
Huo Dou stood up tall and said clearly, "We have won two rounds out of the three; the position of the Chancellor belongs to my master, everyone..."
Before he finished, Yang Guo said to Yuyin, "How did your steel oar break, how did it fly over and hit my Gu Gu?"
Yuyin said, "I... I..."
Yang Guo said, "Your steel oar is poorly made, quickly go and apologize to my Gu Gu." Diancang Yuyin saw that he was a little boy and didn't pay him any attention. Yang Guo suddenly stretched out his arm and snatched the broken handle out of his hand and called out, "Quickly go and say sorry to my Gu Gu."
Huo Dou was interrupted by him and was furious, he shouted, "Little bastard! Get out of the way!"
Yang Guo called out, "Little bastard is insulting who?"
When Huo Dou heard him say 'Little bastard is insulting who" he replied without much thought, "Little bastard is insulting you!" How would he know that boys from the south had always talked in this manner to argue, he wasn't concentrating and fell into the trap.
Yang Guo laughed out loud and said, "Correct, it is a little bastard who's insulting me!"
Everyone in the main hall was very worried and anxious, but after hearing this young man's sudden comment, everyone broke out in laughter. Huo Dou was furious; he took out his folded fan and attacked Yang Guo's head.
Everyone had just seen Huo Dou in action and knew that his martial arts were terrific, if the fan lands on Yang Guo's head, if he didn't die, he would be severely injured, they all called out, "Hold it!" "You can't bully someone younger."
Guo Jing darted out and was about to snatch the fan away when Yang Guo ducked down and darted underneath Huo Dou's arm. The handle of the oar swirled round; Yang Guo used the "Dog Beating Stick Technique's" 'coil' formulae and tripped up Huo Dou's legs. Huo Dou could not stand up properly, he stumbled and almost fell onto the floor. Huo Dou was highly skilled, he changed the stumbling force into a leaping force, he leapt into the air and came down steady.
Guo Jing was startled, he asked, "Guo'er, what's the matter?"