now the situation has changed, Huang Yaoshi was using his ‘pi kong zhang fa’ [splitting the air palm technique], creating strong gusts of wind, blocking his eight opponents’ attacks.
Speaking about martial art skills of Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and the others, Huang Yaoshi should not be able to penetrate within a ‘zhang’ of their defense by relying on his bare palm only; but in the Big Dipper Formation they moved forward and backward together, Sun Bu’er, Ke Zhen’e and Yin Zhiping three people’s martial art was comparatively weaker, as one person was compelled to draw back, the rest of the formation would have no choice but to follow. And so for each step forward everybody was forced to retreat two steps; they were separated farther and farther away from Huang Yaoshi, but the Big Dipper Formation was not the slightest bit chaotic.
By this time the Quanzhen Sect’s long swords were already too far to reach Huang Yaoshi’s body; it looked like he was just waiting for an opportunity to attack. Several moves later Hong Qigong said, “Hmm, so that’s how it is.”
“What is it?” Guo Jing busily asked.
Hong Qigong replied, “The Old Heretic Huang is deliberately forcing them to open up their formation, because he wants to learn the Big Dipper Formation’s mystery; that’s why he has not launched any killer attack yet. In less than ten moves he is going to reduce the circle once again.”
Although Hong Qigong had lost his martial art power, his judgment was still very clear; and sure enough, Huang Yaoshi hacking palm’s strength weakened and the Quanzhen Masters gradually tightened their encirclement. In less than a time to drink tea later everybody crowded together into one lump of people. Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and Hao Datong were simultaneously stabbing their swords into Huang Yaoshi’s body, but somehow when their swords almost reached Huang Yaoshi’s skin, they all missed by several inches. If not for their fast reactions, these four swords would have pierced a hole on their fellow apprentice’s body.
Fighting in this tight circle the difference between one move to the other was only a hair’s width. Guo Jing knew that as soon as Huang Yaoshi was well acquainted with the formation he would not leisurely fight these people anymore. To break the formation he must struck the weakest link, which was his Da Shifu and Yin Zhiping two people. He was too far from those people, if the situation became critical he would not have time to help, while right now he saw dangerous situations occur one after another. “Disciple goes down,” he said to Hong Qigong. Without waiting for an answer he dashed downstairs.
When he got near the battle situation was again changed; Huang Yaoshi continuously moved toward Ma Yu’s left side, but the more he moved the farther away he was from the crowd, as if he was trying to run away. Guo Jing held the dagger in his hand, ready to pound as soon as he had the opportunity. Suddenly Wang Chuyi let out a whistle and he, along with Hao Datong and Sun Bu’er, who formed the handle of the Big Dipper, turned forward from the left, to keep Huang Yaoshi in the middle of the formation.
Huang Yaoshi changed his position three times, but Wang Chuyi also moved the handle of the Big Dipper, just like Qiu Chuji was also moving the four stars of the Dipper, preventing Huang Yaoshi from occupying the position by Ma Yu’s left side. As he was making his fourth attempt suddenly Guo Jing understood, “Ah, right, he wants to steal the north polar star position.”
When he was treating his injury at the Ox Village, from behind the wall he saw the Quanzhen Seven Masters fought Mai Chaofeng, and later on Huang Yaoshi, using the Big Dipper Formation. Later on he learned in detail from Huang Rong the Big Dipper constellation and the north polar star; he knew that the ‘tian shu’ [sky pivot] and ‘tian xuan’ [sky jade/gem] were linked in a straight line with the north polar star. Since the north polar star is always on the north, every night the Big Dipper constellation would revolve around this star. Later on he was captured by the Beggar Clan on Mount Jun at the Dongting Lake, again he pondered about this Big Dipper constellation; not only did he gain more than a few understanding of the Big Dipper characteristics, but also the movement of the Big Dipper Formation, and applied this ingenious method to advance his own martial art skill.
Huang Yaoshi’s intelligence was a hundred folds better than Guo Jing’s; he was also well-versed in astronomy and the study of yin-yang wu hang [lit. negative and positive five lines]. After he failed to break the Quanzhen Seven Masters’ Big Dipper Formation during the battle at the Ox Village he meditated over this for a long time, until he finally comprehended the flaw of this formation.
Guo Jing was thinking about this formation because he wanted to ‘learn’ it; while Huang Yaoshi thought it was not worth his time to learn Wang Chongyang’s technique, so he concentrated on ‘breaking’ the formation. He knew that all he needed to do was to snatch the north polar star position, and the formation would break; or at least if he occupied the central position, he would be able to control the formation, he could wait leisurely for the enemy to be exhausted, while he himself would stand in an invincible position.
The Quanzhen Masters were also aware that he was trying to break the formation by stealing the crucial position; they were inwardly anxious. If Tan Chuduan were still alive, the seven of them could move as one body, certainly they would not let Huang Yaoshi steal the north polar star position. This time the ‘tian xuan’ was occupied by Ke Zhen’e and Yin Zhiping; which, admittedly had inferior martial art skill, and were not familiar with the formation technique, as a result the Big Dipper Formation’s effectiveness was significantly reduced.
Ma Yu and the others knew that a prolonged fight would not do them any good; moreover, Guo Jing was standing on the side, if Huang Yaoshi was in a real danger, as a son-in-law, how could he not help? But their martial uncle’s and brother’s death must be avenged. Their deceased master Wang Chongyang was the number one martial artist of the world; if six of his disciples joined forces against one Huang Yaoshi and still could not gain any victory, the reputation of Quanzhen Sect would be ruined.
They heard Huang Yaoshi laugh and say, “I didn’t know Chongyang’s disciples are so stubborn that they do not know what’s good for them!” While talking he moved swiftly towards Sun Bu’er and hacked with his palms three times. Ma Yu and Hao Datong raised their swords to rescue her. Huang Yaoshi slightly leaned sideways to evade the swords, ‘swish! swish! swish!’ he hacked three more times toward Sun Bu’er.
The Master of the Peach Blossom Island’s palm technique was naturally very exquisite. Even if Wang Chongyang lived again, or Hong Qigong recovered from his injury, they would not be able to evade these six palms easily; how could Sun Bu’er block them off? She saw the palm was coming swiftly, she had no choice but to brandish her sword in a flower pattern and furiously protect her face with all her might. Suddenly Huang Yaoshi swept his legs repeatedly and kicked her six times. These ‘luo ying shen jian zhang’ [falling (leaves) divine sword palm technique] and ‘sao ye tui’ [sweeping leaves kick technique] were the Peach Blossom Island’s ‘kuang feng jue ji’ [fierce wind stunt/unique skill]; if the enemy did not retreat within the first six moves, the next six moves would follow, faster than the previous ones. Within six by six, thirty six moves even if a hero or a warrior could avoid the slap, he would not be able to evade the kick.
Ma Yu and the others noticed that Huang Yaoshi concentrated his ferocious attack toward Sun Bu’er; immediately they came to her rescue, as a result, in this pressing situation the formation became disorderly. Ke Zhen’e was blind, so the movement of the formation was somewhat delayed; Huang Yaoshi let out a long laugh and he was already on Ke Zhen’e’s back. “Aiyo!” suddenly Ke Zhen’e heard someone cry out in midair, that person was flying to the top of the roof of the Misty Rain Tavern. It turned out that Huang Yaoshi grabbed Yin Zhiping’s back and threw him away.
The gap in the formation was getting bigger. Without giving the enemy any opportunity to mend the formation, Huang Yaoshi dashed toward Ma Yu, fully expecting Ma Yu to evade. To his surprise as his sword fended off the attack, the sword in Ma Yu’s left hand went straight toward Huang Yaoshi’s eyebrow; his movement was steady, backed by a profound internal energy.
Huang Yaoshi was forced to lean sideways to evade, he could not restrain from praising, “Good! You deserve to be the Quanzhen Sect’s head disciple.” Suddenly his leg swept downward, kicking Hao Datong’s leg while at the same time he stooped down to snatch Hao Datong’s sword and stabbed it toward his chest. Liu Chuxuan was shocked; he wielded his sword to parry. Huang Yaoshi laughed a big laugh and flicked his hand. ‘Crack!’ both swords were broken.
A dark green shadow flashed, the Master of the Peach Blossom Island was moving toward the north polar star position. By this moment the formation was in total chaos, nobody was able to stop him. The Quanzhen Masters cried out bitterly, they knew Huang Yaoshi was about to exercise mastery over them. Ma Yu heaved a deep sigh and was about to throw his sword to admit defeat and ready to take whatever punishment the enemy would send their way. Suddenly he saw the dark green shadow flashed back; there was already someone occupying the north polar star position. It was Guo Jing.
Among the Quanzhen Masters, only Qiu Chuji was overjoyed; he had seen Guo Jing staked it all in attacking Huang Yaoshi at the Drunken Immortal Tavern. Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi knew Guo Jing was kind-hearted and honest; even though they thought he was going to help his father-in-law, certainly he would not harm his own shifu Ke Zhen’e. The rest of the Masters were shocked, they saw Guo Jing had already occupied the north polar star position; as soon as these father-in-law and son-in-law joined hands, Quanzhen Sect would die without any burial place. But they were even more surprised to see Guo Jing was attacking Huang Yaoshi with a bare left palm and a sword in his right hand.
As he succeeded in breaking the formation, Huang Yaoshi wanted to force Quanzhen Sect to admit they were wrong; who would have thought that suddenly someone was occupying the north polar star position. His attention was focused on fighting the Quanzhen Masters, so without looking back he sent his palm backward using the ‘pi kong zhang’ toward the enemy’s chest. That person stretched out his left palm to parry the incoming force, yet he did not move even for half a step. Huang Yaoshi was surprised, he thought, “Very few people in the world have the strength to block my palm, who is this person?” He turned his head to look and saw that it was Guo Jing.
By this time Huang Yaoshi was surrounded by the enemies front and rear; if he could not drive Guo Jing away, the Big Dipper Formation would outflank him from behind and that would put him in a very dangerous situation. He sent out three palm attacks in succession toward Guo Jing, one palm was fiercer than the last, but each time Guo Jing simply blocked it away. The fourth palm contain a fake and a real attack, expecting Guo Jing to take advantage of an opening and launch a counterattack; who would have thought that Guo Jing only took a defensive position and did not counterattack. Guo Jing lifted the dagger up in front of his chest, while his left palm slowly swept across his own lower abdomen. In this way although he received one stance with two attacks from Huang Yaoshi, both attacks were neutralized.
Huang Yaoshi was startled, he thought, “This dumb kid knew how to defend and break the formation; he steadily defending the north polar star position and did not want to move even half a step. Ah, right, he must have received Quanzhen Masters’ instruction and came here to help them to fight me.”
He did not know that his guess was only half correct. Guo Jing did indeed know the secret of the Big Dipper Formation, but he learned it from the Nine Yin Manual and not from the Quanzhen Masters. As Guo Jing was facing the enemy with whom he held an enormous enmity, he suppressed his anger to keep his position; it was as if his feet were firmly planted to the ground, he simply turned his eyes blind to whatever trick Huang Yaoshi used to tempt him to attack.
Huang Yaoshi groaned silently; he thought, “This dumb kid doesn’t know when to proceed and when to retreat! Humph! Even if Rong’er blames me, I am going to hurt you today; otherwise you won’t want to back off.” His left hand made a circle about seven inches in front of his chest, his right palm rode on the left hand; borrowing the strength from the left hand it was propelled forward, the force doubled. But before it hit Guo Jing’s face, he suddenly remembered, “If he doesn’t evade, this palm will certainly cause him a heavy injury. Whatever the reason, Rong’er will not be happy for the rest of her life.”
Guo Jing saw him borrow the strength of his left hand to launch a palm attack, he knew the incoming force would not be a small matter; gritting his teeth he launched the ‘xian long zai tian’ [dragon appears on the field], a stake-it-all stance from the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms. He realized his martial art was far inferior to the enemy’s; he would suffer serious injury if he took the incoming palm head-on, but in order to evade the attack, he would have to leave the north polar star position, which would set him back into a more difficult situation. Hence in this one move he was ready to sacrifice his own life. Who would have thought that as his palm was about a foot away from his face, Huang Yaoshi suddenly withdrew his attack and called out, “Dumb Kid, go away! Why do you make things difficult for me?”
Guo Jing held his sword tight, he looked at Huang Yaoshi with full attention to protect himself against any trick he might do; he did not reply. By now the Quanzhen Masters had already reorganized their formation; they made encirclement some distance away from Huang Yaoshi’s back, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
“Where is Rong’er?” Huang Yaoshi asked.
Guo Jing still did not answer, his face looked gloomy, his eyes spouted anger. Seeing his expression Huang Yaoshi’s suspicion grew; he was afraid his daughter had met some accident. “What did you do to her? Speak up!” he barked.
Guo Jing gritted his teeth and bit his lips; his right hand, which was holding the sword, slightly trembled. Huang Yaoshi’s attention was focused on him; each slight movement Guo Jing made did not escape his eyes. Seeing Guo Jing’s unusual expression he was even more alarmed. “Why is your hand trembling? Why aren’t you talking?” he called out.
Guo Jing recalled how his shifus died a horrible death on the Peach Blossom Island, grief and indignation burst forth in his heart; his body shook violently, his eyes bloodshot. Seeing him not willing to talk, tears streaming down his face, Huang Yaoshi was more alarmed. He knew his daughter had a heated argument with Guo Jing over the Princess Huazheng’s affair; he was afraid Guo Jing had killed Huang Rong. He kicked his feet and pounced forward.
As soon as Huang Yaoshi made his move Qiu Chuji thrust his long sword out, at the same time the Big Dipper Formation started to move. Wang Chuyi and Hao Datong attacked from Huang Yaoshi’s left and right, one with sword in his hand, the other with a bare palm. Guo Jing’s palm neutralized the incoming attack, while his dagger stung with a lightning speed to make a counterattack move. Huang Yaoshi did not fend it off; he flipped his hand over trying to seize the dagger. Although his movement was accurate and swift, Wang Chuyi’s sword had already arrived at his back; he had no choice but to twist his waist to evade, and thus his fingers missed Guo Jing’s dagger by two inches. Guo Jing used this opportunity to stab forward. This fierce battle was several times more intense than the previous one.
The Quanzhen Masters’ sole desire was to kill Huang Yaoshi to avenge Zhou Botong and Tan Chuduan. Huang Yaoshi knew perfectly well that there was a misunderstanding here, but he was a proud man, he also felt that as someone of higher rank it would be beneath his dignity to explain. He wanted to defeat them completely; to make them throw their swords and surrender, and then he would make everything clear. Thereupon he launched attack after attack while being lenient; otherwise, although Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the others might be able to defend themselves, but how could Sun Bu’er and Yin Zhiping keep their lives? Unexpectedly Guo Jing appeared and not only he did not help Huang Yaoshi, but it seemed like he hated Huang Yaoshi to his death. Huang Yaoshi thought that if Guo Jing did not kill Huang Rong, why was he so afraid of him?
This time Huang Yaoshi did not show any mercy; he wanted to grab Guo Jing and ask for some explanation. If Guo Jing did indeed kill Huang Rong, even if he tore him apart to pieces it would not be enough to vent his anger. Unfortunately Guo Jing occupied the north polar star position; although Yin Zhiping had not crawled down from the Misty Rain Tavern’s roof, the battle situation had been reversed. The Big Dipper Formation moved like a billowing wave; they launched offensive moves without ceasing.
Huang Yaoshi tried several times to penetrate Guo Jing’s defense but failed, he started to get impatient. Each time he launched a fierce attack the Quanzhen Masters were always there to block him. He wanted to launch a deathly attack and kill some of them to break the formation, but the Big Dipper Formation gradually tightened its encirclement. He started to think that although he could shake himself loose, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed.
Fighting for a while Ma Yu pointed his sword and called out, “Hold on!”
The Quanzhen Masters held their hands, firmly stood on their respective positions. Ma Yu said, “Huang Daozhu [Island Master Huang], you are a prominent grandmaster of your martial art school; how can we, the younger generation, dare to offend you? Today we rely on sheer number to fight you; it is because the situation forces us to do so. We want to know how you are going to settle the blood debts of our Zhou Shishu [martial uncle] and Tan Shidi [martial (younger) brother]!”
With a cold laugh Huang Yaoshi said, “What else there is to say? Just go ahead and kill the Old Heretic Huang to protect the Quanzhen Sect’s reputation; won’t that be great? Be on your guard!” Without moving his body or lifting up his arm his right palm had already chopped toward Ma Yu’s face.
Ma Yu tried to evade sideways in panic, but Huang Yaoshi’s palm came without warning; this feign hack was immediately followed by the real attack. This combination of void and solid was a killer stance from the ‘luo ying shen jian zhang fa’. Huang Yaoshi had perfected it for ten years; he intended to use it in the second sword meet of Mount Hua. This stance was not designed to fight a group of enemies, but it was very effective in a one on one combat. Danyang Zi’s [Scarlet Sun] skill might be profound, but how could he be the Eastern Heretic’s match?
It would be better if Ma Yu did not evade; once he moved to the right, the second attack came. Ma Yu groaned inwardly, “Not good!” He was going to block by stretching out his hand, but the enemy’s palm had already arrived at his chest. As soon as Huang Yaoshi exerted his strength, Ma Yu’s internal organs would be shaken and he would suffer serious internal injury.
The Quanzhen Five Masters were shocked; swords and palms came to the rescue, but how could there still be time? They saw Ma Yu was at the point of death, surprisingly Huang Yaoshi laughed and withdrew his palm; he said, “If I break your formation this way, you won’t accept your defeat easily. The Old Heretic Huang may die, but how can I let myself be the laughingstock of all the heroes under the sky? Good Priests, come, let us fight!”
Liu Chuxuan snorted and shook his fist, Wang Chuyi followed with his sword; the Big Dipper Formation was ready to go into action. It was to be the seventeenth stance, Wang Chuyi was supposed to move after Ma Yu. He stabbed his sword into the air, ready to strike; but Ma Yu did not move forward, on the contrary, he retreated two steps backward and called out, “Hold it!” Everybody held their steps again. Ma Yu said, “Huang Daozhu, thank you for holding your hand.”
“You flattered me,” Huang Yaoshi replied.
Ma Yu said, “Reasonably said, right now wanbei’s [younger generation, he was referring to himself] life should have been gone, and this formation developed by my deceased master should have been broken by you. If we know good from evil, we should admit defeat and throw ourselves at your mercy. But we do not dare not to seek revenge because of our deep enmity with you. After this matter is settled, wanbei will slash my own throat as a gesture of gratitude toward Daozhu.”
Huang Yaoshi’s expression was gloomy, he waved his hand and said, “It’s useless to talk too much, you can just begin. The matter of kindness and enmity in this world is difficult to understand.”
Guo Jing thought, “Turned out Ma Daozhang and the others fight him to avenge their Shisu and Shidi. But Zhou Dage [Big Brother Zhou] is still alive and well, also Tan Daozhang’s death has nothing to do with Huang Daozhu. However, if I explain the real situation the Quanzhen Masters will withdraw themselves from the battle, leaving Da Shifu and me two people; how can we be his match? Let’s not talk about avenging Shifus’ death, we can’t even guarantee we will still be alive by the time we are done.” But then he remembered, “If I do not tell the truth, how am I going to be different from a coward? Shifus often said that we might lose our head, but not our righteousness.” Thereupon with a loud and clear voice he said, “Ma Daozhang, Qiu Daozhang, Wang Daozhang, your Zhou Shisu has not died yet; and it was Ouyang Feng who killed Tan Daozhang.”
“What did you say?” Qiu Chuji was surprised. Thereupon Guo Jing recounted how he treated his injury inside a secret room at the Ox Village, how from behind the wall he saw and heard Qiu Qianzhang fabricate a rumor to incite both sides to fight each other, how Ouyang Feng place the blame on Huang Yaoshi, he told them everything. Although he was clumsy with words, everybody understood his explanation very clearly.
The Quanzhen Masters were listening, half believing and half doubting. Qiu Chuji loudly asked, “Are you telling the truth?”
Guo Jing pointed his finger to Huang Yaoshi and said, “Disciple hates this old thief that I do not wish to live in the same earth with him, why would I help him? Only it was the truth, so disciple cannot keep his mouth shut.”
The Six Masters knew him as an honest person; moreover, he had shown so much hatred toward Huang Yaoshi, so what he said must be the truth.
It was beyond Huang Yaoshi’s expectation to hear him saying things in his favor; he was astonished and asked, “Why do you hate me so much? Where is Rong’er?”
Ke Zhen’e cut him off, “You don’t know what you did? Jing’er, although we can’t win, we must fight this old thief to our deaths.” Finished speaking he lifted his iron staff and swept it toward Huang Yaoshi.
Hearing his shifu, Guo Jing knew that he was forgiven; he felt very happy and immediately tears flowed down his face. “Da Shifu,” he called out, “Er Shifu and the others, they … all five of them died a miserable death!”
Huang Yaoshi was grabbing the head of Ke Zhen’e staff with an outstretched hand, he turned to Guo Jing and asked, “What did you say? Zhu Cong, Han Baoju and the others were nicely received as guests on my island, why did you say they are dead?”
Ke Zhen’e furiously tried to pull his iron staff, but it did not even budge. Huang Yaoshi asked Guo Jing again, “Disregarding your elders and superiors you talked nonsense to me, attacking me like crazy, is that because of Zhu Cong and the others?”
Guo Jing’s eyes looked like they were spurting blood; he called out, “You have harmed my five Shifus with your own hands, and now you pretend you did not know?” Lifting his dagger up, he stabbed it forward with a straight arm.
Huang Yaoshi moved the iron staff in his hand to block; ‘bang!’ the staff and the dagger collided, sparks flew out everywhere. The dagger was so sharp that it actually nicked the iron staff. Huang Yaoshi asked again, “Who saw it?”
Guo Jing said, “I buried my Five Shifus with my own hands, are you saying that I slander you?”
Hung Yaoshi laughed coldly and said, “So what if you slander me? For all my life the Old Heretic Huang come and go alone; why would I deny killing these several people? You are correct, I killed your shifus!”
Suddenly a female voice was calling out, “No, Father, it wasn’t you. Don’t take the blame on your own shoulder.”
Everybody turned their heads around and saw the one who spoke was indeed Huang Rong. They had been so engrossed in the fierce battle that nobody knew she had arrived. As Guo Jing saw her again, he was lost in thought, he did not know whether he should feel happy or anxious.
As Huang Yaoshi saw his daughter was alive and well, he was very happy; his hatred toward Guo Jing disappeared, he laughed a big laugh and said, “Good child, come, let Father hug you.”
For the past several days Huang Rong had been suffering a lot of heartache, it was only today she heard a loving word for the first time; she dashed forward and threw herself into her father’s bosom and cried, “Father, this dumb kid slandered you, he … he also bullied me.”
Huang Yaoshi embraced his daughter and said with a smile, “The Old Heretic Huang always does as he pleases, ever since dozens of years ago ignorant people have always put the crime of the world on your father’s head, so what difference will it make to add several more crimes to the pile? The Five Freaks of Jiangnan were your Mei Shijie’s [martial (older) sister] archenemies, so of course I killed them with my own hands.”
“No, no,” Huang Rong anxiously said, “It wasn’t you. I know it wasn’t you.”
Huang Yaoshi showed a faint smile and said, “That dumb kid is so bold, he dares to bully my good child. Just watch, Father will teach him a lesson.” He had just finished speaking when suddenly like a lightning the back of his palm struck, without a shadow, without a trace. Guo Jing was thinking about what these father and daughter were talking about, when ‘slap!’ he felt a burning sensation on his left cheek. He was just about to raise his hand to block, but Huang Yaoshi’s palm had already returned to Huang Rong’s head, gently stroking her elegant hair.
This palm made a loud noise, but actually the force was weak; Guo Jing felt his cheek burning, but he did not suffer any injury. He was at a loss; did not know whether he should charge forward or he should stay where he was.
Ke Zhen’e heard the slap on Guo Jing’s face, he was afraid Huang Yaoshi might have stricken him with a deadly blow. “Jing’er, how are you?” he anxiously asked.
“I am all right,” Guo Jing replied.
Ke Zhen’e said, “Don’t listen to this demon and this witch telling lies. I don’t have eyes to see, but your Si Shifu [Fourth Shifu] said: he saw this old thief killed your Er Shifu and forced to death your Qi [Seventh] …” Guo Jing did not wait for him to finish, he charged forward toward Huang Yaoshi. Ke Zhen’e followed by wielding his iron staff.
Huang Yaoshi let his daughter go and evaded Guo Jing’s palm, while at the same time stretched his hand to grab Ke Zhen’e’s iron staff. This time Ke Zhen’e had guarded against his grab so that Huang Yaoshi missed the staff. Master and disciple joined hands fighting a tight battle with Huang Yaoshi.
Although Guo Jing had repeatedly met some outstandingly able people and had learned not a few of wonderful martial art skills, he was still too far behind compared to this grandmaster of a martial art school, the Master of the Peach Blossom Island. Even with Ke Zhen’e’s help he could not do much. After only about twenty, thirty moves he had already moved his hands and feet with great difficulty.
Qiu Chuji thought, “In a critical time Quanzhen Sect has received these master and disciple’s help; currently these two are in the brink of defeat, how can we sit down and watch without doing anything? Whether Zhou Shishu is alive or dead, we need to defeat the Old Heretic Huang first, then we’ll talk later.” Brandishing his sword he called out, “Ke Daxia [Chivalrous Hero], go back to your position!”
By this time Yin Zhiping had already crawled down form the Misty Rain Tavern’s roof. Although he was black and blue and had a swollen nose from the fall, he did not suffer a serious injury. He rushed toward Ke Zhen’e’s back and wielded his sword to protect him. Once again the Big Dipper Formation went into action, encircled Huang Yaoshi, father and daughter in the middle.
Huang Yaoshi was enraged, he thought, “Before it was a misunderstanding, so I can understand you attacking me; but after this dumb kid explained everything this crowd of mixed-up hairs still rely on sheer numbers to attack me. Do you think the Old Heretic Huang cannot kill people?” Like a flash of shadow he had already moved toward Ke Zhen’e’s left.
Huang Rong saw the murderous look on her father’s face; she knew his hands would not be light, her heart turned cold. She saw that Wang Chuyi and Ma Yu blocked her father’s palm; Ke Zhen’e’s iron staff ferociously struck toward her shoulder while his mouth shot curses, “Unforgivable lowly criminal, female demon! The Peach Blossom Island’s ****!”
Huang Rong had never been willing to swallow the least bi