Chapter 11 – Exhausted from travels, Part 10
Zhao Zhijing wanted to say, “I’m not his Master”, but he took a look at Sun Bu’Er and managed to restrain himself. But who knew that Yang Guo would say loudly, “He’s not my Master!”
When he said this, Guo Jing and Huang Rong were both extremely shocked; Guo Fu and the Wu brothers who were hiding behind the bookshelf were also extremely surprised. The master disciple relationship was very significant in the world of Wulin, there’s a saying, “A Master for one day, a Father for life.”
Guo Jing was brought up the Jiangnan Seven Freaks and was taught martial arts by Hong Qigong; he was very grateful to his Masters. Ever since he was young he believed that the ways of his Masters were right and proper. How would he know that Yang Guo would dismiss his Master in public, and say such treasonous and heretical things? He got up and pointed at Yang Guo; his voice trembled as he said, “What…what… what did you say?” He wouldn’t scold anyone but his face went green, he was very angry. Huang Rong had very rarely seen him get so angry; she whispered to him, “Brother Jing, that child has always been bad; there is no need to get angry over him.”
Yang Guo was actually afraid but when he saw his loving Uncle Guo change his face to such an angry expression, he made a decision and thought, “Nothing is greater than death, and the worst that will happen is that you people will kill me.” So he said clearly, “My character has always been bad, but I have never begged you to teach me martial arts. You two are eminent people of the Wulin world, why was it necessary for you to use such a crafty plan to harm a child who doesn’t have a mother or father?” When he said ‘who doesn’t have a mother or father’, he pitied himself, his eyes became slightly red but he bit down on his lips and thought, “Even I die today, I won’t shed a single tear.”
Guo Jing angrily said, “Your Auntie Guo and Master taught you martial arts sincerely because of the friendship between me and your deceased father, who… who used a crafty plan? Who…who wants to harm you?” He wasn’t the most articulate; he stuttered even more now that he is angry.
Yang Guo saw how impatient he was and spoke even slower, “Uncle Guo has treated me very well, I will never forget this.”
Huang Rong slowly said, “Auntie Guo has wronged you; if you want to remember this for the rest of your life that’s up to you.”
At this stage, he might as well boldly go on, he said, “Auntie Guo has not treated me badly, nor has she wronged me. You said you were going to teach me martial arts, in reality, you taught me to study. You didn’t teach me an ounce of kung fu. Studying is a good thing; this nephew has learned a few more words and heard you speak about the stories of the past. But those old Taoists” He pointed to Hao Datong and Zhao Zhijing and said furiously, “There will be a day when I will take my revenge.”
Guo Jing was shocked and quickly asked, “Whaa…What? What revenge… what happened?”
Yang Guo said, “The one named Zhao calls himself my Master, he didn’t teach me any martial arts, fine, but he ordered many young Taoists to beat me up. Auntie Guo didn’t teach me martial arts and the Quanzhen sect didn’t teach me martial arts, I could only take the beatings. The one named Hao saw that there was a Grandma that loved me, and he killed her. The rotten Taoist named Hao, speak, isn’t this the truth?”
When he remembered how Grandma Sun died for him, he ground his teeth and wanted to leap over to Hao Datong and kill him.
Hao Datong was an eminent Taoist of Quanzhen, he had learned martial arts, and he had reached a deep level in both areas. He accidentally killed Grandma Sun and in all these years he hadn’t had a moment’s peace. This was the most hateful thing he had done in his life. The Seven Masters of Quanzhen had killed countless people in their lives, but all the people they had killed were scoundrels, traitors and crooks; they had never harmed an innocent. Now, he heard Yang Guo blaming him in front of everyone, he couldn’t stop his face from turning grey. The events of that day when he made Grandma Sun throw up blood with his palm flashed in front of his eyes. He didn’t have a weapon so he stretched out his left hand and took a long sword from Zhao Zhijing’s waist.
Everyone thought that he wanted to stab Yang Guo with the sword, Guo Jing took a step forward to protect Yang Guo but who could have known that he would turn the long sword around with the handle facing Yang Guo and say, “Correct. I killed the wrong person. Take revenge for Grandma Sun, I won’t retaliate.”
When everyone saw him do this, they were surprised. Guo Jing was afraid that Yang Guo would take the sword and harm him so he called out, “Guo’er, don’t be impolite.”
Yang Guo knew that he wouldn’t be able to avenge Grandma Sun in front of Guo Jing and Huang Rong; he said coldly, “You know that Uncle Guo won’t let me attack, so why are you pretending to be so gracious? If you really want me to kill you, then why don’t you hand me over the sword in a place where there isn’t anyone about?”
Hao Datong was a Senior of Wulin, he was made speechless by the words of this young man. He couldn’t hand over the long sword or take it back; he circulated his chi through his hands and forced the sword to snap in half. He flung the sword on the floor and gave a long sigh, he said, “It’s finished, it’s finished!” He exited the study. Guo Jing wanted to persuade him to remain behind but his head did not turn back.
Guo Jing looked at Yang Guo and then at Sun Bu’Er and the others, he thought that from what had happened, the child has not lied. He thought for a while and said, “Why didn’t Quanzhen teach you any martial arts? What have you been doing for the past few years?” As he said this, his words had slowed down a lot more.
Yang Guo said, “When Uncle Guo went up Mount Zhongnan, he defeated hundreds of Taoist without reply, even if Ma, Qiu, Liu, Wang and the others didn’t mind, would the others just forget about it? They couldn’t do anything to Uncle Guo but could it be that they wouldn’t vent their anger on a child like me? They wished they could kill me; why would they teach me martial arts? These few years I have experienced days where there was no light, the fact that today I have the chance to see Uncle Guo again is all down to heaven opening its eyes.”
Those words did not mention the fact that he expelled himself from Quanzhen and pushed all the blame on Guo Jing. He said he had endured ‘days where there was no light’, this wasn’t a lie exactly, when he was living in the tomb, he didn’t see much light or day. When Guo Jing heard these words, he couldn’t stop his pity and compassion from rising.
Zhao Zhijing saw that Guo Jing more or less believed him and became anxious, he said, “You… you bastard talking such crap, the name of Quanzhen has been tarnished by… by”
Guo Jing believed that what Yang Guo said was the truth. Huang Rong’s face was not moved, she saw Yang Guo’s eyes sparkled and he had a clever expression on his face; she thought, “This child is extremely crafty, there must be a lie somewhere.” She said, “From what you said, you don’t know any martial arts? All these years in Quanzhen were wasted?” As she asked these questions she slowly got up, she suddenly stretched out her left hand and sent put a palm towards the crown of his head. The fingers of the palm was aiming for the head’s ‘Hundred Meetings’ pressure point, the base of the palm was heading for the ‘Rising Star’ pressure point that was an inch from the hairline, these two main pressure points were fatal. If there was a heavy blow to these places the person would die, there would be no saving them.
Guo Jing was shocked and he called out; “Rong’er!” But Huang Rong was extremely fast, this palm was her family’s “Descending Brave Divine Sword Palm”, there was no warning, as soon as the hand moved the palm arrived; if Guo Jing wanted to save him, it was too late.
Yang Guo moved back slightly and wanted to avoid it, but with Huang Rong’s kung fu, now that she had attacked, just how would he dodge it; he saw the palm going towards his head. Yang Guo was shocked, he quickly stretched out his arm to react but his mind had a quick thought, his right arm moved slightly and then hung down. Someone such as Guo Jing who was greatly skilled but slow in thought would not understand what was happening; they would quickly repel this attack. But Yang Guo was extremely quick, he immediately understood, “Auntie Guo is trying to test my kung fu, if I avoid this palm, then it will show that I’ve been lying.” He saw Huang Rong’s attack was fatal, if she wasn’t testing out his kung fu and he himself didn’t react, wouldn’t that mean he will have lost his life in vain? In a flash he fired up his stubborn nature and thought, “Fine, if I die then I die!” Though his kung fu may not be as good as Huang Rong’s, if he wanted to stretch out his hand and repel her palm, it wouldn’t be hard, but now he risked his life and didn’t move his arms.
Indeed Huang Rong was testing his kung fu with this stance, as soon as the palm reached his head she didn’t increase her strength, she saw a frightened and shocked expression on his face. He didn’t stretch out his hand to repel this attack and he didn’t secretly circulate his chi to protect his vital pressure points, showing he didn’t know an ounce of martial arts. She smiled and said, “I didn’t teach you kung fu because I wanted what was best for you. It looks like the Taoists of Quanzhen had the same thought as me.”
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