Chapter 17 – The hidden Loveless Valley, Part 16
Yang Guo said, “We’ll go again.” He threw the staff towards Fan Yiweng who stretched out his hand to catch it. However, when the staff was two feet in front of him, it suddenly swept up. Fan Yiweng clutched thin air while Yang Guo flew over and stretched out his arm, taking the staff once again. Ma Guangzou’s and the others’ cheers were becoming louder. Fan Yiweng’s face was now purple.
Fawang and Yin Kexi looked at each other and both secretly laughed, praising Yang Guo’s cleverness. Yesterday, Zhou Botong had shot out broken spearheads towards them with the force immediately taken back as soon as it shot out; after the spearheads flew out, they suddenly changed direction in midair; now Yang Guo was copying him. But there were four spearheads while there was only one staff; the staff was also heavy and to change the force was not hard; what Yang Guo had done was much easier than what Zhou Botong had done.
But Valley Master Gongsun and his disciples did not know what it was about and all were shocked.
Yang Guo laughed, “What? Do you want to go again?”
His beard had been cut and weapon taken but it was all due to cleverness; how could he admit defeat without any protest? He said loudly, “If you use real martial arts to beat me then I’ll admit defeat.”
Yang Guo chuckled, “In martial arts, ingenuity comes first. Your Master’s mind is unclear; of course the disciples he teaches will be lacking a bit. I’ll give you some advice; it’s better if you go and find another Master.” These words were an insult directed at Valley Master Gongsun.
Fan Yiweng thought, “My study of martial arts is lacking and I’ve disgraced my Master; if I really can’t win then I’ll commit suicide to apologize to Master.” He clenched his teeth and stood up straight.
Yang Guo swept the steel staff towards him and placed it in his hands, he said, “Be careful this time; if you lose your staff again, you won’t be able to blame anyone else.”
Fan Yiweng did not reply. He held the end of the staff tightly with his right and thought, “You’ll only be able to take away this staff if you cut off my right arm.”
Yang Guo called out, “Careful!” He flung himself forward until his left hand rested on the end of the staff; the index and middle finger of his right hand went towards his opponent’s eyes; at the same time, his left foot had flipped upwards and was holding down the staff’s body. This was a stance from the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, “Stealing the Staff from the Mouth of the Tiger”.
On the previous two times that Yang Guo took the staff, though everyone thought his movements were special, they all saw what happened clearly. But this time even Fan Yiweng didn’t know what was going on; he just blinked and the staff was in the hands of the opponent again. Only Jinlun Fawang with his profound martial arts knowledge and his experience of the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” knew that Yang Guo had used one of the skills of this stick technique.
Ma Guangzou called out, “The ‘No Beard Long Beard’. Are you in awe now?”
Fan Yiweng called out, “He used witchcraft, and it isn’t real martial arts, why should I admit defeat?”
Yang Guo laughed, “How will you admit defeat?”
Fan Yiweng said, “Only if you use real martial arts to beat me, then I’ll admit defeat.”
Yang Guo returned the staff to him and said, “Fine, we’ll go another couple of stances.”
Fan Yiweng was extremely worried about his clever empty-handed staff snatching techniques; he thought, “No matter how much advantage I get, when he’s at a point where he can hold me off no longer he’ll suddenly use his witchcraft. It would be difficult for me to win.” So he said, “I use such a large and long weapon yet you are empty handed, even if I win you won’t take it.”
Yang Guo laughed, “You’re afraid of my “Empty Hands Entering A Hundred Blades” kung fu; fine, I’ll use a weapon.” He scoured the room and all he saw were bare walls, there wasn’t one single weapon that he could use. However, in the courtyard there were two large willow trees; it had many branches and had emerald green leaves hanging down from it. He looked at Xiao Longnu and said, “Since you want to have Liu as a surname, I’ll use a willow branch as a weapon!” He leapt into the courtyard and broke off an inch thick branch; it was about four feet long. The length and thickness was similar to the Beggar Clan’s Dog Beating Stick. The branch still had its leaves which gave the weapon elegance.
Xiao Longnu’s mind was fluttering all over the place; she had no plans for the future, the longer that Yang Guo was in her sight, the harder it was for her to leave him. She pondered to herself, “Though separating from Yang Guo was heartbreaking, she had a thought about this a hundred times and was able to tolerate it.” Right now, he was here in person in front of her very eyes; every word of his, every action, every smile and even his anger, all of them moved and stirred her heart. She wanted to go inside and stop seeing and hearing him but how could she? She lowered her head and didn’t say anything; but she was feeling as if a thousand steel knives were cutting right into her heart.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)