ho would have thought that the gentler and more comforting his words were, the more Huang Rong was overwhelmed and she cried even louder. It was not until much later did her cry eventually became sobs as she tried to regain her composure.

Hearing his promise Guo Jing was ecstatic, but upon turning his head around he saw the scholar and the farmer’s stiff eyebrows and bulging eyes; they were staring at him with angry looks on their faces. Guo Jing felt bad while thinking, “We can reach this place entirely due to Rong’er’s craftiness, no wonder they are mad. Reverend Yideng is this compassionate, yet his disciples were determined to hinder us. I wonder why?”

He heard Reverend Yideng say, “Child, how did you get injured? How did you get to this place? Why don’t you tell your uncle everything?” And so Huang Rong wiped her tears and told him how she mistook Qiu Qianren as Qiu Qianzhang, how she took his palms strike and everything that happened.

When Yideng heard the name Iron Palm Qiu Qianren, he frowned slightly, but immediately went back to listening Huang Rong attentively. While speaking, Huang Rong kept her eyes open to see Yideng’s face; even though his frown was very slight it did not escape Huang Rong’s eyes. When she got to the point where they met Ying Gu at the Black Marsh forest and how she gave them direction to find this place, Reverend Yideng’s countenance once again momentarily changed; he lowered his head in deep thought, seemingly he was reminiscing over past events, and was grieved and pained over them.

A moment after Huang Rong shut her mouth Reverend Yideng heaved a sigh and asked, “And then what happened?”

Huang Rong continued by recounting how the fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar had used all possible means to make things difficult for them. The woodcutter easily let them go up the mountain, therefore, she said some praising words on his behalf; but to the rest of them she added some spices to make their offenses worse than they were. Deliberately she made the scholar and the farmer mad.

Several times Guo Jing interrupted her, saying, “Rong’er, don’t talk nonsense; these Uncles are not that bad!” But Huang Rong kept talking like a spoiled child in front of Reverend Yideng, telling him all kind of things, making the faces of the two disciples standing behind Yideng turn red and blue. They did not dare to open up their mouths in the presence of their master.

Reverend Yideng repeatedly nodded his head, “(Sigh), how can you treat guests coming from afar like that? These kids were really rude towards friends; I am going to tell them to apologize to you two later.”

Huang Rong stared at the scholar and the farmer with a smug expression; meanwhile her mouth did not stop; she told everything until how they ended up at the temple’s gate. “Afterwards I gave that drawing for you to see, and you asked me in; then they did not dare to hinder us anymore,” she said.

“What drawing?” Yideng was surprised.

“It’s about some eagle, some pigeon, and someone cutting his own flesh,” Huang Rong replied.

“Whom did you give it to?” Yideng asked.

Before Huang Rong could answer the scholar took the drawing from his pocket and presented it with both hands. “Disciple has it,” he said, “Shifu has not finished meditation just now, I have not presented it to Shifu yet.”

Yideng held out his hand to take the drawing, he smiled to Huang Rong and said, “You see, if you did not mention it, I wouldn’t know a thing.” Slowly he opened up the drawing and looked at it; he knew what the drawing meant. He smiled and said, “Turned out others were afraid I would not help you and sent this drawing to stir me up. Don’t you think they underestimated the Old Monk too much?”

Huang Rong turned her head to see anxiety and deep concern on the scholar and the farmer’s faces; she felt strange. “Why is it that when they heard their Shifu promise to treat me they looked like they are losing their lifeblood? Is the medicine the most precious pill that they hate to give it up?” She turned her head back to see Yideng was carefully examining the drawing. He brought it under the sunlight to see the quality of the paper, he lightly flicked it several times; his face showed suspicions.

“Did Ying Gu draw this picture?” he asked Huang Rong.

“Yes,” Huang Rong answered.

Yideng was silent for half a day then asked again, “Did you see it with your own eyes when she did it?”

Huang Rong knew something was amiss; she tried to recollect what happened that time and said, “When Ying Gu wrote those, her back was toward us. I saw her pen moved, but I did not see with my own eyes whether she was writing or drawing.”

“You said she gave you two other pouches; let me see the contents of the other pouches,” Yideng said.

Guo Jing took the pouches from his pocket and Yideng examined them; his face changed slightly. “Indeed that is so,” he muttered softly. He gave the three sheets of paper to Huang Rong and said, “Yao Xiong is an expert in calligraphy and paintings; your educational background came from your family, certainly you understand connoisseurship. Why don’t you take a look at these three sheets and tell me what you think.”

Huang Rong took the papers to take a look and immediately said, “These two sheets are ordinary ‘yu ban zhi’ [jade register paper], but the drawing was made on a ‘jiu jian zhi’ [old cocoon paper], a rarely seen type of paper.”

Yideng nodded his head, “Hmm, in calligraphy and painting I am a layman, what do you think about this drawing?”

Huang Rong examined the drawing carefully; she smiled and said, “Uncle is only pretending to be a layman! You have known from the start that it was not Ying Gu who draw this picture.”

Yideng’s countenance slightly changed, “Then it is true it was not her painting? I am only guessing based on logic, I really was not looking at the drawing.”

Huang Rong tugged his arm, saying, “Uncle, look, the writing on these two sheets of paper are delicate and elegant while the stroke on this drawing is very stiff. Hmm, this drawing is made by a man. Yes, I am sure it is a man’s pen-stroke. This man did not know a thing about calligraphy or painting, but his pen-stroke is powerful, it even penetrated the paper to its back … This ink looked very old, I think it is even older than my own age.”

Reverend Yideng heaved a heavy sigh; he pointed his finger to a book on top of a bamboo table, signaling the scholar to fetch it. The scholar walked over and fetched it, and handed it over to his master. Huang Rong saw on the yellowing page of the cover two rows of characters that read, ‘The Great Buddist Scripture by Maming Bodhisattva. Translated by ‘san cang jiu mo luo shen’ [name of a saint] of Guizi in the Western Region.’ She thought, “I am not going to understand anything if he starts preaching to me.”

Yideng casually flipped open the cover of the book, put the drawing next to it and said, “Take a look.”

“Ah!” Huang Rong softly exclaimed, “The same paper quality.” Yideng nodded.

Guo Jing did not understand, he whispered, “What paper quality is the same?”

Huang Rong said, “Look carefully, isn’t the paper quality of this book the same as that drawing?”

Guo Jing looked over carefully; the paper of the book was coarse and thick, mixed with strands of yellow silk threads, exactly the same as the paper of the drawing. “They are the same,” he said, “So what?”

Huang Rong did not reply, she looked at Reverend Yideng, waiting for an explanation.

Reverend Yideng said, “This book was brought by my martial brother from the western region.”

During the entire time Guo Jing and Huang Rong talked to Yideng, they had not paid any attention to the Indian monk; only now did they turn their gaze to him. He was sitting cross-legged on the meditation mat, as if he was oblivious to the discussion of these people.

“This book came from the western region, this drawing also came from the western region,” Yideng continued, “Have you ever heard of the western region’s White Camel Mountain?”

Huang Rong was startled, “Western Poison Ouyang Feng?” she asked.

Yideng slowly nodded, “Correct,” he said, “This picture was drawn by Ouyang Feng.” Hearing this Guo Jing and Huang Rong were shocked and could not say anything for a while.

Yideng smiled and said, “This Ouyang fellow had planned this for a long time; he truly anticipated far ahead.”

“Uncle,” Huang Rong said, “I didn’t know this drawing came from the Old Poison; this man always harbors evil intentions.”

Yideng smiled and said, “For a Nine Yin Manual men can do great things.”

“This drawing has something to do with the Nine Yin Manual?” Huang Rong asked.

Yideng saw her excitement and surprise, he noticed her cheeks turned red; looked like she was straining and was able to stay awake due to her strong internal energy. Thereupon Yideng held out his hand to support her right arm and said, “Let’s talk about this some other time, right now it is more important to treat your injury.”

Yideng helped her up and walked slowly toward the building next door. When they arrived at the door opening, the scholar and the farmer exchanged a glance and together they rushed toward the door. They knelt down and said, “Shifu, let your disciples try to treat this Miss’ injury.”

Yideng shook his head, “Do you think your skill is sufficient? Can you treat her until she is completely cured?”

The scholar and the farmer said, “Disciples will try to do our best.”

Yideng’s face turned serious. “Human life is an important matter, how can you easily try?”

The scholar said, “These two came here by some evil people’s direction; definitely without any good intention. Although Shifu’s mercy is abundant, you can’t fall into evil people’s treacherous plan.”

Yideng heaved a sighed, “What did I teach you day in and day out? Go and take a good look at this picture.” While speaking he gave the drawing in his hand away.

The farmer knocked his head to the ground and said, “This drawing was made by Ouyang Feng; Shifu, this is Ouyang Feng’s evil plan.” While speaking thus his anxiety was obvious; tears flowing down his cheeks.

Jing and Rong two people were puzzled, “How does the evil plan relate to treating an injury?” they thought.

Reverend Yideng gently said, “Get up, get up. Don’t make our guests’ hearts uneasy.” His voice was gentle, but full of resolution. The two disciples knew it was useless to argue further; they stood up with their heads hung low.

Reverend Yideng took Huang Rong to the next door building. He beckoned Guo Jing and said, “You also come.” Guo Jing followed them entering the room.

Yideng unrolled the bamboo curtain hung above the door down. He took an incense stick and stuck it on the burner on top of a small bamboo table.

The four walls of the room were drab, other than the small bamboo table there were only three meditation mats. Yideng ordered Huang Rong to sit on the middle mat while he himself sat cross-legged on the mat next to her. He turned his gaze toward the bamboo curtain and said to Guo Jing, “You stay and guard that door, don’t let anybody come in, including my own disciples.” Guo Jing complied.

Yideng closed his eyes, but suddenly he opened his eyes and added, “If they resort to violence you must fight. Your martial sister’s life depends on it. Remember, it’s very important.”

“Yes!” Guo Jing said, but actually he was confused, “His disciples revere him, how can they dare to disobey their master’s order and come barging in?” he thought.

Yideng turned toward Huang Rong and said, “Relax your whole body; no matter how much you feel hurt or itchy, you must not resist at all.”

Huang Rong smiled, “I consider myself dead already.”

Yideng also smiled, “You are such a smart doll.” He closed his eyes immediately, his eyebrows hung down, he circulated his energy. When the incense was about an inch burnt suddenly he leaped up, left palm on his chest, right index finger stretched out, slowly he pointed his finger toward the ‘bai hui’ [hundred joins] acupoint on Huang Rong’s head. Huang Rong’s body slightly jumped up involuntarily; she felt a stream of heat flowing from the top of her head down.

Reverend Yideng retracted his finger immediately, without moving his body his second finger hit the ‘hou ding’ [rear peak] acupoint located about one ‘cun’ five ‘fen’ [1 cun is approximately 1 inch, 1 fen is about 1 third of a centimeter (a little over 1/8 of an inch)] behind the ‘bai hui’ acupoint. Successively he hit the ‘qiang jian’ [powerful space], ‘nao hu’ [brain door], ‘feng fu’ [wind manor], ‘da zhui’ [big spine], ‘tao dao’ [pottery way], ‘shen zhu’ [life pillar], ‘shen dao’ [divine way], along the ‘ling tai’ [soul platform] downward; so that when the incense was halfway burnt he had already hit thirty consecutive main acupoints of the ‘du mai’ [supervised arteries or channels] group on her body.

By this time Guo Jing’s martial art knowledge and experience was already incomparable to the past. He stood on the side watching Yideng’s finger move slowly, his arm floating in the air. He hit these thirty acupoints with thirty different acupoint sealing techniques. Each one was a mind opening technique; admittedly the Six Freaks of Jiangnan had never taught him this kind of technique, the ‘sealing acupoint section’ in the Nine Yin Manual also did not contain this technique. He had never seen anything like this before, he had never even heard about it. He was having a blurred vision just by watching; his tongue tied. He only knew that Reverend Yideng was demonstrating an upper class martial art; it never crossed Guo Jing’s mind that Yideng was using his lifetime cultivated energy to open up Huang Rong’s eight main arteries.

After the ‘du mai’ group was done, Yideng sat down to take a rest. After Guo Jing lighted up another incense he leaped back up and started to hit Huang Rong’s ‘ren mai’ [assigned arteries/channels] group consisting of twenty-five acupoints. This time his hand movements were very swift; his arms vibrated, just like dragonflies soaring above the water. Just in one breath he had finished hitting all ‘ren mai’ acupoints. These twenty-five moves were lightning fast, but each finger movement did not miss even a single hair width.

Guo Jing was frightened and full of admiration at the same time; he thought, “(Sigh) There is such skill in the world!”

Meanwhile Yideng had started with the ‘yin wei mai’ [negative preserved arteries/channels] consisting of fourteen acupoints. Once again he used different technique; this time he moved powerfully like a flying dragon or striding tiger. Although Yideng was wearing a kassaya [Buddhist robe], but in Guo Jing’s eyes he did not look like a monk who followed the three-treasure way, but an emperor, ruler of tens of thousands people.

The ‘yin wei mai’ group finished, without taking a rest Reverend Yideng continued with the ‘yang wei mai’ [positive preserved arteries/channels] consisting of thirty-two acupoints. This time he did it long distance; for instance, he moved about a ‘zhang’ away from Huang Rong, then suddenly pounced forward and hit the ‘feng chi’ [wind reservoir] acupoint on Huang Rong’s neck, followed by leaping backward. He did this in succession, without any perceivable pause.

Guo Jing thought, “Fighting closely with an expert is dangerous; by using this technique not only I can overcome the enemy, but putting up a strong defense as well. This is a very wonderful technique.” With rapt attention he watched Yideng go back and forth; the movements were truly marvelous. It was especially difficult to attack and withdrew that fast, with matchless agility of a fish darting in the water or a rabbit running away from the hunter. Suddenly a thought came into his mind, “When I fought Ying Gu, her body was very slippery. For a third part her technique resembled the Reverend’s attacking acupoint technique; seemed like she got her inspiration from the Reverend, but her skill is fallen short, far below his.”

Two incense sticks later Reverend Yideng had finished with her ‘yin wei mai’ and the ‘yang wei mai’ two arteries [or channels] groups. When he started the ‘ju gu’ [gigantic bone] acupoint on her neck, suddenly Guo Jing’s heart stirred, “Ah! Doesn’t the Nine Yin Manual contain this? I was so stupid not to understand this earlier.” Silently he recited the Manual while watching Reverend Yideng’s movements and compared them with the Manual; he found out that Reverend Yideng’s sealing acupoint technique carried infinite variations. It was like Reverend Yideng was acting out and opening out the secret of the marvelous martial arts in the Nine Yin Manual. Guo Jing had not learned enough and he did not dare to learn Yideng’s Solitary Yang Finger, but with his knowledge of the Manual he had quite a comprehension of this unique skill.

At last the ‘dai mai’ [band/belt arteries/channels] group were opened successfully. The blood was flowing unobstructed through all the seven groups of passageways contained in the manual. ‘Dai mai’ was the passageway looped around the waist like a belt. Presently Reverend Yideng was behind Huang Rong’s back, walking backward with his finger pointed backward slowly hitting her ‘zhang men’ [section gate] acupoint.

The ‘dai mai’ consisted of eight acupoints. Yideng stretched out his hand slowly, as if with great difficulty; his mouth gasping for breath, his body swaying, like he could not even support his own weight.

Guo Jing was shocked; he saw beads of perspirations trickling down Yideng’s forehead, sweat dripping down like rain from the tip of his long eyebrows. Guo Jing wanted to step forward and help, but he was afraid he might mess things up. He turned to look at Huang Rong’s condition and saw her clothes were soaked with sweat. She was knitting her brows and biting her lips; like she was trying to resist unbearable pain with all her might.

Suddenly Guo Jing heard a ‘shua’ sound, the bamboo curtain behind him was opened and somebody shouted loudly, “Shifu!” and somebody barged in through the door.

Almost without thinking Guo Jing launched the ‘divine dragon swings its tail’; his right palm swung backward and with a slapping sound it hit that person’s shoulder. Guo Jing turned around to see somebody was staggering two steps backward; it was the fisherman.

Because his iron boat and iron oars were stolen he was unable to go upstream the creek to the mountain peak; he had to take a long walk more than 20 ‘li’s around the back of the mountain. Upon arriving he heard his Shifu has already started treating that young miss’ injury; he was very anxious and rushed toward the room with the intention of imploring his master not to do that. Unexpectedly he was pushed back by Guo Jing’s attack. He stood back up to try again. In the meantime the woodcutter, the farmer, and the scholar three people had also arrived outside the door.

“It’s over; what else can we stop?” the scholar angrily said.

Guo Jing turned around to see Reverend Yideng sit cross-legged on the meditation mat, his face deathly pale, his monk robe completely soaked in sweats. Huang Rong was lying down on the floor, unmoving; it was not clear whether she was dead or alive. Guo Jing was very shocked; he rushed forward to prop her up. First thing he noticed was a fishy stench coming out of her nose. He looked at her face and found it was bloodless bluish pale, but the faint black shadow on her face had actually gone. He held out his hand to feel her breathing and was greatly relieved to find a steady albeit weak breathing.

The fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar were sitting around their master in silence, with apprehensive looks on their faces. Guo Jing kept his eyes on Huang Rong. He saw her face gradually turn pink, he was ecstatic; who would have thought that the pink turned to red and very soon her cheeks were fiery hot. A short moment later beads of perspiration started to form on her forehead while her countenance was gradually turning back to white. This cycle happened three times, every time she was sweating profusely.

“Mmm,” Huang Rong moaned softly then she opened her eyes. “Jing Gege, where is the stove, uh, the ice?” she asked.

Hearing her voice Guo Jing’s delight was unspeakable, with a trembling voice he said, “What stove? What ice?”

Huang Rong looked around, shook her head and smiled, “Ah, I was having a nightmare,” she said, “I saw Ouyang Feng, Ouyang Ke and Qiu Qianren. They put me inside the stove to be roasted; and when I was hot, they put ice to cool me down. Once I cool down they put me back into the stove. (Sigh), it was really scary. Uh, how is Uncle?”

Yideng slowly opened up his eyes and smiled, “Your injury is healed, all you need is a day or two of total rest – you can’t move unnecessarily; and you will be all right.”

“I don’t have any strength left in my entire body,” Huang Rong said, “I can’t even lift up a finger.” The farmer was looking at her angrily. Huang Rong ignored him, she turned to Yideng and said, “Uncle, you have spent so much energy to treat me, you must be very tired. I have some Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills, made according to my father’s recipe. How about you take some?”

Yideng happily said, “Good, I did not think you would bring these energy-booster miracle pills. That year when we had the Sword Meet of Mount Hua each one of us was dead tired after the competition; your father gave us some of these pills and the effectiveness was marvelous.”

Guo Jing quickly took the small bag of pills from Huang Rong’s backpack and handed it over to Yideng. The woodcutter went to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of clear water, while the scholar poured the pills on his palm and presented them to his master.

Yideng laughed, “Why so many? These pills are not easy to make, we’ll just take half.”

The scholar anxiously replied, “Shifu, all the miracle pills in the world won’t be enough.”

Yideng conceded since he felt extremely exhausted; he took several dozens of Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills from his disciple’s hand and swallowed them all, washed by a bowl of clear water. He turned to Guo Jing and said, “Take your Shimei [Martial (younger) Sister] to have a couple of days’ rest and then you can go down the mountain. You don’t need to see me again. Hmm, I have something I want you to promise me.”

Guo Jing bowed to the ground and ‘bonk, bonk, bonk, bonk’, knocked his head to the floor. Huang Rong ordinarily loved to joke around and be casual with everybody. Even in the presence of her father and her master she still did not follow proper junior-senior relationship; yet this time she actually bowed down reverently and said with a low voice, “Uncle has saved my life, I will not dare to forget even for a moment.”

Yideng smiled and said, “It’s better if you forget about it; don’t let it hang in your mind.” Turning his head to Guo Jing he said, “Don’t tell anybody that you have come up this mountain; don’t ever tell it, even to your Shifu.”

Guo Jing was just thinking about taking Hong Qigong up the mountain to ask Yideng to treat his injury; hearing this he could not help but was taken aback and did not know what to say.

Yideng smiled and continued, “Later on don’t even bother to come back here, since very soon we are going to move away.”

“Where are you moving to?” Guo Jing hastily asked. Yideng smiled without say anything.

Huang Rong said in her heart, “Silly Brother, because their whereabouts has been discovered by us they will have to move away; how can he tell you?” She thought about how Yideng, master and disciples, had spent a lot of effort laboriously developing this place and now because of her they would have to abandon everything; she felt sorry and thought it would be difficult for her to pay back this kindness. No wonder the fisherman, the woodcutter, the farmer and the scholar did everything they could to prevent them from going up the mountain. Thinking of this she turned her gaze toward the four disciples, wanted to say something to express her apology and gratefulness but she could not find any appropriate words.

Suddenly Reverend Yideng’s countenance changed, his body swayed and he fell to the ground. The four disciples, along with Guo Jing and Huang Rong were extremely shocked; they rushed forward trying to help. They saw his face twitching like he was trying to suppress a great pain. The six of them were very anxious, they stood around with their hands hanging down, nobody dared to make any noise.

About the time needed to drink a cup of tea later Yideng’s face showed a faint smile, he said to Huang Rong, “Child, did your father personally make these Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills?”

“He did not,” Huang Rong replied, “It was my martial brother Lu Chengfeng who made them according to my father’s secret recipe.”

“Have you ever heard your father said that these pills would be harmful if taken excessively?” Yideng asked further.

Huang Rong was stunned, she thought, “Is there something wrong with these Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills?” She hastily said, “Father said the more the better; only because these pills were not easy to make, he did not want to take too much.”

Yideng lowered his head and knitted his brows for half a day; finally he shook his head and said, “Your father can be considered a genius, but his actions are unpredictable; how can I guess what he is up to? Could it be that he was punishing your Martial Brother Lu by giving him a fake recipe? Or could it be that your Martial Brother Lu had a grudge against you and mixed some poison into the pills?”

Hearing the word ‘poison’ everybody called in alarm in one voice. “Shifu, are you poisoned?” the scholar asked.

Yideng smiled and said, “It’s a good thing your Shishu [Martial (younger) Uncle] is here; even a more lethal poison won’t kill anybody.”

The four disciples could not hold their anger anymore, they cursed Huang Rong, “Our Shifu was so kind to save your life, but you have the guts to actually harm other with poison?” They surrounded Guo Jing and Huang Rong, ready to strike.

This turn of events happened so abruptly that Guo Jing was at a loss; he did not know the best action to take. Ever since Yideng’s first question Huang Rong had correctly guessed that the Nine Flowered Jade Dew Pills had caused a disaster. Her mind quickly recalled the succession of events concerning these pills since she received them at the Cloud Manor [gui yun zhuang]; when she arrived at the thatched hut in the Black Marsh forest she remembered how Ying Gu brought the pills to the other room and examined them for quite some time before she re-appeared. Suddenly a thought came into her mind like bright light. “Uncle, I know it!” she called out, “It was Ying Gu.”

“It was Ying Gu?” Yideng asked.

Immediately Huang Rong told him everything that happened inside the thatched hut in the Black Marsh forest. She furthermore said, “She repeatedly warned me not to take any of these pills; apparently it was because she had already mixed some poison in them.”

“Hmm,” the farmer sneered angrily, “She was really good to you; she was afraid you might die.”

Ever since she learned that Yideng was poisoned Huang Rong’s heart was full of regrets; she did not feel like arguing. She lowered her head and said, “She was not afraid to kill me, but she was afraid that if I take the pill then Uncle would not be poisoned.”

Yideng could only sigh, “Karma, karma,” he said. His face turned gentle. He turned toward Guo Jing and Huang Rong and said, “This is the result of my own sin; it has nothing to do with you. It was that Ying Gu; and I am reaping what I sow. You go ahead and take some rest, then you can go down the mountain, there is no need to worry over me. Although I am poisoned, my martial brother is here and he is an expert in healing poison related sickness.” He finished speaking; he closed his eyes and did not say another word.

Jing and Rong two people bowed. They saw Yideng’s face showed a smile, he waved his hand lightly. Two people did not dare to tarry much longer, they slowly turned around and went out. The young monk was waiting outside, he led two people to rest at a small building in the rear courtyard. The little building was also empty except for a couple of bamboo couches and a small bamboo table. Not too long afterwards two older monks came in with some vegetarian dishes; “Please eat,” they said.

Huang Rong was still concerned over Yideng’s condition. “Is Reverend well?” she asked.

“Xiao Seng [lowly monk] does not know,” the old monk replied with a sharp voice. He bowed and went out the door.

“Listening to their voice I thought they were women,” Guo Jing said.

“They are eunuchs,” Huang Rong said, “They must be Emperor Duan’s former attendants.”

“Oh,” Guo Jing muttered. Their minds were filled with concern, how could they eat?

The courtyard was secluded and very quiet, with light breeze occasionally stirred the bamboo leaves. After a long time Guo Jing broke the silence, “Rong’er, Reverend Yideng’s martial art skill is very high.

“Hmm,” Huang Rong mumbled. Guo Jing continued, “Our Shifu, your father, Zhou Dage [Big Brother Zhou], Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren, these five people’s martial art is also high, but they won’t necessarily superior to Reverend Yideng.”

“In your opinion, which one among these six is the Number One in the world?” Huang Rong asked.

Guo Jing hesitated for half a day before answering, “I think each one of them has their strengths and weaknesses, it’s really difficult to judge. This one is stronger than that one, yet that one is fiercer than this one.”

“What about ‘wen wu quan cai’ [well versed in both literature and martial art]? Who’s the best?” Huang Rong asked.

“Without question your father is the best,” Guo Jing replied.

Huang Rong was very proud; she smiled showing her dimples, beautiful as flowers. But then suddenly she sighed and said, “That’s why it’s very strange.”

“What do you mean ‘strange’?” Guo Jing ha