Chapter 17 – The hidden Loveless Valley, Part 4
Lu’E frowned slightly and said, “Didn’t you hear me?”
The two spoke for a while and the sun gradually rose up in the sky. Lu’E suddenly realized something and said, “Quickly go back, don’t let my fellow apprentices see us together talking, they’ll tell my father.”
Yang Guo pitied her situation and stretched out his left hand to hold her hand and patted her on the back with his right, consoling her.
Gongsun Lu’E’s eyes showed that this touched her, she lowered her head and suddenly her face went red.
Yang Guo was afraid that his thoughts would lead to Xiao Longnu again and cause his finger to break out in a severe pain again, he quickly rushed back to the stone house that he was staying in.
Before he even got back to the stone house he could hear the bellows of Ma Guangzou, complaining how his stomach can’t survive on water and vegetables and how could these sweet and bitter flower petals be eaten. Are they trying to kill me?
Yin Kexi laughed, “Brother Ma, you better hide all the valuables that you have; I think the Master of the valley has ill intent.”
Ma Guangzou didn’t know he was being ridiculed and nodded his head in agreement.
Yang Guo returned to the room and saw a few dishes filled with the petals of the Passion Flower on the table. He watched them eat the petals with squinting faces and he was amused as he thought about how even Jinlun Fawang the monk was affected by effects of the passion flower.
He picked a cup of water and took two sips when he heard footsteps approaching, a man in green came in, bowed to them and said, “Our Master will now see his guests.”
Fawang, Nimoxing and the others were all great Masters, no matter where they went, the Master of that place would come out and personally greet them; even Mongolia’s Fourth Prince Khubilai showed great respect to them. They could never have thought that the Master of this secluded valley would be so impudent, they all were angry and thought, “When I see that rude Valley Master I’m going to show him a thing or two.”
The six of them followed the man in green for a li or so and suddenly came across a swaying green bamboo forest. Bamboo was rare in the north and such a large piece of bamboo forest was even rarer. In the middle of the forest, the light fragrant relaxing scent of flowers could be noticed. As soon as they passed through the forest, the scent suddenly became overwhelming; everywhere in front of them were Chinese narcissi. A shallow pond with a depth that was less than a foot was filled with the flowers. These flowers were also something that was usually seen in the south, why could they be found here in this mountain valley?
Fawang thought, “There must be some hot springs below the mountain that keeps the ground and air warm.”
Every five feet or so was a Mu Chun plant, the man in green darted across the pond over them. The six followed but Ma Guangzou was heavy and had poor lightness kung fu; though his footsteps were large they weren’t large enough to takes steps of five feet or so. After stepping on a few plants, he decided to drop into the pond and follow them by wading instead.
They followed a green stone path and from afar, they saw a large stone building built under the cover of the mountains. The seven advanced towards it. Outside the building were two young attendants who were holding a fly whisk in their hands. One of the attendants went inside the house to tell the Master of their arrival while the other opened the door to receive them.
Yang Guo thought, “I wonder whether the Valley Master will come and receive us in person?” Before his thoughts were settled, a bearded old man in green came out of the house.
This old man was extremely short, no more than four feet tall, his appearance was strange but the strangest thing about him was his exceedingly long thick beard that hung down to the ground. He was wearing a dark green gown and had a green rope tied across his waist.
Yang Guo thought, “This Valley Master looks so weird yet his daughter is so beautiful.”
The old man bowed deeply to him and said, “It is our luck to have such prestigious guests, please come in for tea.”
When Ma Guangzou heard the word ‘tea’, he frowned deeply and said loudly, “Drink tea! What place doesn’t have tea? Why must I come to this place for it?”
The long bearded old man did not know what he meant; he glanced at him and then bowed again receiving the guests.
Nimoxing thought, “I’m a short man but the Master of this valley is even shorter. You win on shortness but let’s see who wins on martial arts.” He barged forward to the front, stretched out his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.” He took the old man’s hand and immediately used the strength in his hands.
The others took a couple of steps back when they saw the two stretching out their hands to receive each other, they knew that when two great Martial artists exchange forces, it will be something out of the ordinary.
Nimoxing first used twenty percent of his power in his hands but he found that the opponent did not counterattack nor block; he was slightly surprised and increased another twenty percent. He felt that is was like holding a slab of solid wood. He increased another twenty percent of the force in his hands. A faint green air glimmered across the old man’s face and his hand was still like a rigid piece of wood.
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