Chapter 12 – Great banquet for heroes, Part 12
Guo Jing was delighted and was just about to ask her when suddenly wind sounds created by weapons could be heard, everyone turned their heads and saw the Wu brothers using their long swords fighting with Huo Dou and his fan. The Guo couple and the disciples of Reverend Yideng Diancang Yuyin and Zhu Ziliu were worried about their safety so all of them concentrated on the battle.
The Wu brothers heard Huo Dou was rude towards them in his words, calling them little punks, these words were heard by everyone, how could they live this down? Never mind the fact that they just saw their Master’s wife snatch the bamboo stick back from him. They thought that although he beat Lu Youjiao, it was because Lu Youjiao’s kung fu wasn’t up to scratch, not because that this person is terrific. They also thought that since they both had been taught great martial arts by Guo Jing, if one of them can’t beat him the two of them will definitely be able to overcome him. They didn’t care about competing over three or four rounds, they really were like newborn calves that were not afraid of tigers, the brothers signaled with their eyes and thrust out their swords together.
However, though Guo Jing’s martial arts were high, he had yet to pass on most of his skills to his disciples. He himself understood the theories of advanced martial arts but when he was passing it on, he wasn’t able to express clearly its meanings. The Wu brother’s natural endowments were just average to normal, how much could they learn in just a few years? In just a few moves, their long swords were controlled by Hou Dou; they were unable to use them fully. Hou Dou wanted to show off in front of these people, he saw Wu Xiuwen’s sword coming in and threw up his left index finger holding up the sword on the flat side, the fan waved across and the base struck the top of the blade, a ‘zheng’ sound was heard as the sword snapped in two. The Wu brothers were shocked, Wu Xiuwen quickly leapt out of the way, Wu Dunru was afraid that his brother would be hurt so he extended his sword towards Huo Dou’s back forcing him to stop his attack. Huo Dou had predicted this move, he didn’t turn back and folded his fan sending it backwards. The two weapons met, the fan hitting against the flat side of the sword, Huo Dou twisted his fingers around twice. Only his fingers moved but the Wu Dunru’s sword followed the fan in turning around, his joints would definitely twist out of place if he didn’t let go. He could only loosen his hand and let go of the sword. He leapt back and saw the sword flying upwards, the sword glimmered in the candlelight before it fell down to the floor.
The Wu brothers were shocked and angry, although they were empty handed they were not afraid. Wu Dunru’s left hand hung horizontally in the air, holding the position of a stance of “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”. Wu Xiuwen’s right hand hung down, his left index finger slightly crooked; as soon as the enemy attacks he would use the “Solitary Yang Finger”.
Hou Dou saw that these stances looked serious, he was wary and didn’t dare to look lightly upon them, he thought, “Winning up to this point is enough, there is no need to refuse something good, asking for more is not in my interests.”
The “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” and “Solitary Yang Finger” are first class skills in the world of martial arts, though the Wu brothers’ internal energy was weak, the stances they put out were perfect. When normal people saw it they didn’t think much of it, but in the trained eyes of Huo Dou, he knew that it wasn’t that simple, he laughed and then bowed with his hands, he said, “Please sit down, we are just trying to find a winner, not fighting to the death.” His tone sounded a lot more polite.
The Wu brothers’ faces showed signs of embarrassment; they knew that fighting empty handed with him will most probably result in an even more embarrassing defeat. The two of them hung their heads with a gloomy expression and retreated to the side, but not going back to where Guo Fu was.
Guo Fu dashed forward and called out, “Wu Brothers, the three of us will go up and fight him again.” The crowd looked on. Guo Fu’s right hand held her sword and her left hand waved out, she said, “We three, apprentice brother and sister, will go up together.”
Guo Jing shouted, “Fu’er, stop making trouble!” Guo Jing was the person that Guo Fu most feared; she could only retreat a few steps and stare angrily at Huo Dou.
Huo Dou saw that she was beautiful and desirable, he laughed as he nodded his head. Guo Fu gave him a glance and turned her head away, ignoring him.
The Wu brothers were really frightened that Guo Fu would ridicule them, now they saw her shielding them, showing care for them, they felt great comfort in their hearts.
Huo Dou opened his fan and fluttered it a few times and then said, “Of course that last battle does not count. Hero Guo, the three people from our side will be my master, my apprentice brother and I. My kung fu is the weakest; I’ll be in the first round. Who have you elected to fight? Whoever wins or loses, it is now not a game.”
Guo Jing heard that his wife had a plan for a guaranteed victory; he knew that she was cunning and intelligent and had hundreds of ideas. Though he didn’t know what ingenious plan she had in mind he had great confidence in her and said loudly, “Fine, we will decide this over three rounds.”
Huo Dou knew that the strongest person on the opposite side was Guo Jing, his master has no match on earth, he will definitely beat him. Though Huang Rong used a strange move to take the stick back, judging from her delicate and apprehensive appearance if she really fought she may not be that strong. The others don’t even need any consideration, his eyes swept across the crowd and then said, “If anyone has another suggestion then please express it now. Once victory is decided, then the orders of the Wulin Chancellor must be followed.”
The heroes wanted to agree but they had seen him defeat Lu Youjiao and the Wu brothers one after the other sparingly; they didn’t know what other abilities he hadn’t shown yet, none of them dared to interrupt and all turned their heads towards the Guo couple.
Huang Rong said, “You are competing in the first round, your apprentice brother in the second, your master in the third, that’s decided and won’t change right?”
Huo Dou said, “That is correct.”
Huang Rong said quietly to those around her, “Our victory is assured.”
Guo Jing said, “How?”
Huang Rong said quietly, “Now, the king wins when the third class ‘si’ (team of four horses) competes against his first class ‘si’.” After she said this she looked at Zhu Ziliu. Zhu Ziliu laughed as he continued quietly, “Beat the king by using first class ‘si’ against his second class ‘si’; beat the king by using middle class ‘si’ against his third class ‘si’. The result of these races was that Tain Ji lost the first one but won the last two and received a thousand gold bars from the king.” Guo Jing looked blank; he didn’t understand what they were talking about.
Huang Rong whispered into his ear and said, “You’re well versed in military techniques, have you forgotten the ingenious plan of the ancestor of military strategies Sun Bin?”
Guo Jing immediately remembered the times when he read ‘Wu Mu Yi Shu’ (a book containing military strategies) when he was younger; Huang Rong had told him a story; Qi’s general Tain Ji and the King of Qi had a horse race, the stake was a thousand gold bars. Sun Bin taught Tian Ji a method that would guarantee victory; use his third class horses to compete against the King of Qi’s first class horses, use his first class horses against King of Qi’s second class horses, use his second class horses against the king of Qi’s third class horses. The result was two wins and a loss, winning the thousand gold bars. Now, Huang Rong was using this idea.
Huang Rong said, “Apprentice brother Zhu, with your “Solitary Yang Finger”, beating that Mongolian Prince is not a hard thing to do.”
Years ago, Zhu Ziliu had been a lawyer and a governor in Dali; he was an educated and intelligent man. The martial arts of the school of the Mu Li Duan’s rely on one’s understanding. When Zhu Ziliu first entered the tutelage of the Southern Emperor, his kung fu was the worst out of the four disciples ‘Fisherman, Woodsman, Farmer, Scholar’; ten years later he moved up to second place, now his martial arts were much higher than his three older apprentice brothers. Reverend Yideng treated his four disciples equally, he taught them all the same kung fu; in the end it was Zhu Ziliu who had understood the most, especially the “Solitary Yang Finger”, he had refined it to a superb state. Right now his kung fu could not compare with Guo Jing, Ma Yu and Qiu Chu Ji but he was better than Wang Chuyi, Hao Datong and the others.
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