Chapter 21 – Fierce fight in Xiangyang, Part 13
Ma Guangzuo was stunned and stopped his bronze rod in midair. He said with shock, “Brother Yang, why are you fighting me?”
Yang Guo insulted, “You Dumbass, what do you think you’re doing? Get away!” The long sword quivered as several stances were thrust forward. Ma Guangzuo could do nothing but retreat. Yang Guo pierced forward furiously and forced him back step by step. Ma Guangzuo had long legs and every step of his was the equivalent of two ordinary steps by a normal person. Ten steps later and they became quite a distance away from Guo Jing and the others.
The sword glimmered in front of his eyes. He could never have dreamed that Yang Guo would suddenly try to kill him and even if he used every ounce of strength he had, he would not be able to fend off these attacks by Yang Guo.
Yang Guo waited until he had retreated back a few more steps before quietly saying, “Brother Ma, do you know that I’ve just saved your life?”
Ma Guangzuo said loudly, “What?”
Yang Guo said quietly, “Keep your voice down, don’t let the others hear.”
Ma Guangzuo said with his eyes wide open, “Why? I’m not afraid of that Guo Jing.” These words were still said clearly and loudly. To him, he was speaking at a normal tone but to others his voice was like someone was shouting and hollering.
Yang Guo said, “Okay don’t speak, just listen to me.” Ma Guangzuo listened to him and nodded. Yang Guo said, “That Guo Jing knows witchcraft. All he has to do is to recite a curse and he’s able to chop someone’s head off. It’s better if you run away as far as possible.”
Ma Guangzuo’s eyes opened wider when he heard this and believed his words though he had doubts.
Yang Guo wanted to save his life and he knew if he said that Guo Jing’s martial arts were too high, he would never admit defeat; but if he said that Guo Jing knew witchcraft, this slow witted person would probably be scared. He continued, “You tried to smash his head in with your rod but before you even touched his head, the rod bounced back up, isn’t that strange? That merchant’s martial arts are excellent but how come as soon as he went up to fight him, he was injured?” Ma Guangzuo was becoming slightly more convinced and nodded his head but looked over at Fawang and the others.
Yang Guo knew what he was thinking and said, “That monk knows how to write charms. He gave one to that zombie and one to that dwarf, if you have one on your body, you will be protected against witchcraft. Did that monk give you one?”
Ma Guangzuo said angrily, “No.”
Yang Guo said, “Yes, that old baldy didn’t give me a charm as well. We’ll sort him out afterwards.”
Ma Guangzuo said loudly, “You’re right. What should we do?”
Yang Guo said, “We’ll watch from the side, the further away the better.”
Ma Guangzuo said, “Brother Yang, you’re a great friend. It was lucky you told me about this.” He put away his weapon and watched the battle from afar.
Guo Jing was using the great Wulin skill the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms”. Fawang and the others kept tight on him thinking that even if his internal energy was more profound, he would not be able to keep up so powerful a palm technique for much longer. But Guo Jing had been practicing the “Nine Yin Manual” diligently for the last twenty years; at first his real power did not show but tens of stances later, the “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” suddenly became powerful and then suddenly gentle, from great hardness came softness. This was something that Hong Qigong did not manage to grasp all those years ago. By using this kind of palm technique to fend off these three fighters, not only did he remain on an even level with them, he was able to counterattack when he had the chance and he was getting more and more fluent as he went on.
Yang Guo watched in awe from the side. He too had practiced the “Nine Yin Manual” in the ancient tomb; but because he had no one to instruct him, he didn’t know that the manual’s arts were this extraordinary. He followed Guo Jing’s palm techniques with the teachings of the manual in mind and immediately he understood countless profound fist theories. His mind concentrated on this and for the time being, he forgot about killing Guo Jing to avenge his father.
Fawang’s martial arts and Guo Jing’s martial arts were separated by the smallest of margins; Guo Jing may have had more fortunate encounters than Fawang but Fawang was twenty years older than he and had twenty years worth of internal energy more than Guo Jing. If the two fought one on one, they would have to exchange over a thousand stances to decide who was better. With first-rate fighters such as Nimoxing and Xiaoxiang Zi by his side, it shouldn’t have been difficult to gain victory over Guo Jing. But Guo Jing’s “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” were too powerful and along with his palm technique, he was using Quanzhen’s “Big Dipper Formation”. He went to and fro as he fought and it was as if he had separated into seven. Another reason why he was still holding them off was because of his immediate victory over Yin Kexi; this was a warning to the others and the remaining three made defense their main priority and did not dare to make a rash attack. Although it was three against one, Guo Jing still held his own against them.
After a few more stances, the power in Fawang’s wheel gradually increased. The force of the attacks from Nimoxing’s iron snake was increasing as well.
Guo Jing was getting anxious and thought, “If this continues, I won’t be able to hold them off. Guo’er is over fighting with that giant. That giant’s martial arts are just average, Guo’er will be able to manage. I need to get over to him as soon as possible and think of a way to get out of this place.” The four were putting all their concentration into their battle and did not dare to even blink; they did not notice Yang Guo and Ma Guangzuo were just watching their battle.
Suddenly a strange whistling noise was heard. Xiaoxiang Zi leapt up several feet into the air and pointed his Ku Sang rod downwards. Guo Jing stepped to the side to avoid it when suddenly everything went dark; a black smoke was being emitted from the Ku Sang rod. A stench filled Guo Jing’s nose and he felt slightly faint. He called in alarm to himself and knew that there was something poisonous within the Ku Sang rod and he quickly moved backwards.
Xiaoxiang Zi had seen Guo Jing had definitely taken in the black smoke but he did not faint. He was extremely shocked and thought, “Lions, tigers and any kind of wild beast would faint as soon as they come across my toad poison. But it doesn’t seem to have any kind of effect on him; that is strange.” He leapt up once again and shot out some more poison from his rod.
Years ago when Xiaoxiang Zi was practicing martial arts in the wild mountains of Hunan, he saw a toad that was hiding itself in a broken coffin. It had poisoned a large python to death. He understood what the toad had done and gathered some toads to extract the venom from them. He developed a poisonous dust and secreted it in the Ku Sang rod. There was a lever at the end of the rod. When his finger pressed down on the lever it would shoot the poison out. The higher above he fires the poison from, the more effective it becomes. He has used this poisonous dust on pythons and wild beasts before and it knocked them out immediately; but he could not have guessed that Guo Jing’s internal energy was so profound that he was actually able to suppress the effects of the poison.
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