he ground leaving about an inch of the tip above surface and then he covered them with sand and dirt to conceal the shininess of the needles. The cave entrance was blocked with a fire and the cave was filled with smoke; Fawang and Nimoxing did not see what Yang Guo had done.

After he had finished his trap, Yang Guo went over to Li Mochou and said quietly, “I’ve got a plan, try to stop the baby from crying.” He then called out, “Great, there’s an exit; we can get out of here.” His voice was filled with joy.

Li Mochou was surprised and actually believed that there was another exit.

Yang Guo then whispered into her ear, “It’s a lie; I’m trying to lure that bald bastard into my trap.”

Fawang and Nimoxing were shocked when they heard this and believed that they had escaped. It seemed to be true when it suddenly became quiet and the cries of the baby died down. How could they know that Yang Guo had covered the cries of the baby with his sleeve? Nimoxing did not take any time to think and immediately flew around to the other side of the mountain to stop them. Fawang however took his time and noticed that cries of the baby were just muted; they were not coming from afar. He knew that it was Yang Guo trying to trick him into going around the back of the mountain so he could escape with the baby.

He chuckled, “Do you think I’m stupid!” He hid beside the entrance of the cave and armed himself with his wheels as he waited for Yang Guo to come out.

Yang Guo then called out, “Martial Uncle Li, that scoundrel has gone, let’s leave.” Suddenly he whispered, “We’ll both shout in surprise at the same time and trick him into the cave.”

Li Mochou didn’t know what he had planned but she was well aware of his cunning after falling for his tricks before. Since he was sure of his plan, it would definitely work. Luckily for her, the baby was still in her hands, so after driving away Fawang, Yang Guo would still have no choice but to bring the “Jade Maiden’s Manual” to her. She nodded.

Both of them cried out, “You…!” Yang Guo pretended that he was wounded and called out, “Why… why?” He then whispered, “Pretend that you are about to die.”

Li Mochou said furiously, “You… though I… have died by your hands today, I’m… not going to die alone.” Her voice silenced.

Fawang was delighted when he heard this, he thought that the two had fought over the baby and had destroyed each other before even leaving the cave. He was afraid that the baby would die along with them and if that happened, he would not be able to blackmail Guo Jing. So he brushed away the fire and entered the cave. Just two steps in; he felt a pain in the bottom of his foot.

He made a swift adjustment, and before he trodden down fully, he immediately pushed back with his right root and leapt back out of the cave. When he landed, his left leg was numb and he almost fell down. With his profound internal energy, even after suffering several hacks and slashes from a knife, he could still remain upright; he realized at once that he had trodden on something extremely poisonous. Just as he was about to take off his shoe and examine the wound, he heard Nimoxing returning and he was calling out, “That lying punk, there’s no entrance at the back, the Guo couple are still in there.”

Fawang took his hand away from his shoe and acted normal, saying, “You’re right, but there’s no more noise coming from the cave, they must have fainted from the smoke.”

Nimoxing was delighted when he heard this thinking that finally he has managed to capture Guo Jing alive. However, he did not give a second to himself to think about why Fawang would allow him to do this without a fight. He whirled his Iron Snake to protect himself as he dashed into the cave.

Yang Guo had planted the needles in such a way that no matter how large or small your stride is, you will, step into one of them. Nimoxing was short, had small steps and a fast pace, his right foot stepped onto one and before he could react, his left foot stepped onto another. India is a hot and dry place and the people there don’t wear shoes, Nimoxing was no different; though his feet had been conditioned to be as hard as leather, the Soul Freezing needles are extremely sharp and they punctured his feet. He was a manly fellow; a little pain was nothing to him. He used his Iron Snake to check if there were sharp objects and found nothing. Just as he was about to continue on his way to catch Guo Jing and his wife, his legs suddenly went limp and he collapsed. It was only now that he knew that the poison on the sharp objects was extremely venomous and he quickly rolled out of the cave.

He saw that Fawang had taken off his shoe and was holding a black and swollen left foot. Fawang was using his internal energy to suppress the poison.

Nimoxing was furious and he roared, “Bastard, you fell for that trap so why the hell didn’t you tell me about it?”

Fawang smiled, “I fell for it and you fell for it, both of us have suffered.”

Nimoxing could no longer control his anger as he sputtered, “I… no need capture Guo Jing…Nimoxing…rotten monk…a fight to the death!”

He could no longer use his legs; Nimoxing pushed the ground with his left hand and threw himself forward at Fawang while his right hand smashed down towards Fawang’s head with his Iron Snake. Fawang raised his bronze wheel to block the Iron Snake and then swept his arm across, throwing his elbow out. With his body in midair, it was difficult for Nimoxing to avoid this blow; Fawang’s elbow came at him extremely fast and struck him in the shoulder.

Nimoxing may have been thick boned, but this attack from Fawang left him in great pain. In such a state of fury he didn’t give a damn about his life and threw himself at Fawang again. He hugged him tightly and bit down on Fawang’s ‘Qi Abode’ pressure point. If everything was normal, Nimoxing would never be able to get so close to Fawang and hug him. Even if he did manage to grab him, how would he ever get a clear path towards Fawang’s ‘Qi Abode’ pressure point? But right now, Fawang had fallen victim to an extremely lethal poison and was using all his internal energy to suppress it at the ‘Bending Spring’ pressure point. As long as he didn’t let the poison spread, the most serious thing that would happen to him is the loss of a foot; his life would be safe. When Nimoxing threw himself at Fawang, Fawang had in effect lost his internal energy and was relying on his external martial arts to fend him off. Nimoxing however was giving everything he had and he bit down on the pressure point and didn’t let go.

Fawang hooked out his right foot and with Nimoxing having lost use of his legs, they both fell down. Fawang tried to pull him off but with a vital pressure point held down, his strength had diminished, how could he pull him off? He could only hold Nimoxing’s ‘Great Shuttle’ pressure point on his neck to stop him from making a fatal blow. The two were great martial artists but after falling victim to poison, they were now brawling on the ground, and not reflecting their martial arts status.

The two of them rolled around and were getting dangerously close the edge of a cliff. Fawang saw what was happening and he called out, “Let go, another roll and we’ll fall to our deaths.”

But Nimoxing had lost all his senses, with his internal energy unoccupied, his was greater than Fawang’s and Fawang was unable to stop Nimoxing from pushing forward. Just a few inches away from falling into a deep chasm, Fawang’s survival senses came to life and he called out, “Guo Jing’s here!”

Nimoxing stopped and said, “Where?” As he said this, his mouth loosened. Fawang’s pressure point was no longer blocked and he regained his strength, sending out a left palm. Nimoxing knew that he had been tricked and he lowered his head and threw his waist forwards.

Fawang’s palm was meant to force Nimoxing back but he had forgotten that, after being poisoned, Nimoxing’s legs were no longer in his control, how could he jump back? Instead of sending him back, Nimoxing was now going forward and the two bumped into each other, knocking them over the edge.

When Li Mochou knew that Yang Guo’s plan had worked, she secretly praised him. After hearing Fawang and Nimoxing struggling with each other, she thought the danger was over and was about to exit the cave. Suddenly she heard the two letting out a strange scream.

This was the scream of the two when they fell over the edge. With the cliff being over a hundred yards away and with a boulder blocking their view, they could not see what was happening.

Li Mochou said, “Hey kid, what are they up to?”

Yang Guo could not have guessed that the two had actually fallen off a cliff and said, “That damn monk is very sly, it could be possible that he is copying our trick of being injured to lure us out.”

Li Mochou agreed and whispered, “Yes, they must be trying to trick us out to get my antidote.” She walked to the entrance in order to take a look at what exactly was happening.

Yang Guo said, “Be careful of the needles.” As soon as he said this he regretted his words; “Why should I warn that witch?”

Li Mochou quickly pulled her feet back. The fire at the entrance of the cave was now out and she could not see in the dark like Yang Guo could, if she had continued her steps, she would surely have stepped onto the needles. She may have the antidote but the poison was very lethal, it would leave her in great pain. If she had stepped on one, Yang Guo would have taken advantage and she might have died by her own poisonous needles.

She said, “Remove the needles, why should we stay in here?”

Yang Guo said, “Let’s wait for the poison to finish them off.”

Li Mochou scoffed at his reply. She was extremely wary of Yang Guo, the longer she stayed with him in the cave the more danger she was exposed to. When it came to martial arts, she wasn’t confident that she could defeat him and she certainly wasn’t going to out think him. She lowered her head and tried to think of a way out.

Silence filled the cave. The two were preoccupied with their own thoughts. Suddenly, the baby cried. Ever since she was born, she hadn’t been fed; it was a cry of hunger.

Li Mochou chuckled, “Where’s my apprentice sister? Don’t tell me that she’s going to let her child starve to death?”

Yang Guo replied, “Who said its Gu Gu’s child, its Hero Guo’s.”

Li Mochou said, “Do you think using Hero Guo’s name would scare me? If it were someone else’s child, why would you risk life and limb for it, it’s got to be the bastard child of you and her.”

Yang Guo shouted angrily, “Yes, I do want to marry Gu Gu but we’re not married yet, how can we have a child? Watch your words.”

Li Mochou scoffed, “If you want me to watch my words then you should watch your actions.”

Yang Guo worshipped Xiao Longnu, how could he not be furious? He shouted, “My Master is pure and chaste, don’t tarnish her name.”

Li Mochou said, “Pure and chaste sounds so nice, it’s just a shame that the virginity spot on her arm is gone.”

A whooshing sound was heard as Yang Guo thrust his sword towards her chest. He shouted, “You can insult me but not my Master, I’m going to kill you.” Whoosh, swish, swoosh; three strokes in a row were unleashed. His swordplay was clever, his eyes could see in the dark, Li Mochou only survived because she could hear the weapon coming through the air. Though she didn’t get hit, these stances left her staring at death. Luckily for her, Yang Guo was watching out for the baby, he held back on his most threatening stances in case she decided to take the child with her.

The two of them fought for over ten stances when suddenly the baby gave a howling cry before falling silent.

Yang Guo was afraid and immediately took back his sword. His voice was shaking as he said, “You’ve hurt the baby?”

When Li Mochou saw how much he cared for the baby, she was even more convinced that he was the father and said, “Right now it’s alive, but if you don’t follow my orders, do you think I’ll keep it alive?”

A chill went through Yang Guo. He knew that she was a cold blooded murderer; if someone merely offended her just one little bit she would kill them and destroy their whole family. Killing a newly born child would be nothing to her. He said, “You are my Martial Uncle, as long as you don’t insult my Master, of course I’ll follow your orders.”

Li Mochou could hear that he was willing to back down and knew that as long as the baby was in her hands, he could do nothing. She said, “Fine, I won’t insult your Master, you’ll obey me. Go out and take a look and see how they are doing against the poison.”

Yang Guo obeyed and went outside. He took a look around and didn’t see anyone, but he was wary that Fawang was hiding around somewhere so he hacked and slashed the surrounding trees and bushes. He found no one so he returned to the cave and said, “They’re gone, the poison must have scared them off.”

Li Mochou said, “Huh, even if they ran, how far are they going to get after falling victim to my poison? Go and pick up the “Soul Freezing Needles” from the cave entrance and hand them over to me.”

After hearing the non-stop cries of the baby, he knew that he should go out and find something for the baby to eat so he followed her instructions. He wrapped his hand with a piece of cloth and gave the needles back to her.

Li Mochou put the needles away and headed for the exit. Yang Guo followed and asked, “Where are you taking the baby?”

Li Mochou said, “Back to my home.”

Yang Guo said anxiously, “Why do you want the baby? It’s not yours.”

Li Mochou blushed before saying with a serious tone, “What are you saying? If you hand over the Ancient Tomb’s “Jade Maiden’s Manual”, I’ll hand the baby back to you without harming a single of its hair.” She then started to use her lightness kung fu and headed north.

Yang Guo followed her and said, “You’ve got to feed her some milk first.”

Li Mochou turned around with a flushing face and shouted, “What the hell are you saying boy?”

Yang Guo said with surprise, “What? I’m just saying that the baby needs milk, otherwise, won’t she starve?”

Li Mochou said, “I’m a pure and chaste virgin, how will I have milk for her?”

Yang Guo smiled, “Martial Uncle Li, I’m saying that you should find some milk for her to drink, I’m not asking for your milk…”

When Li Mochou heard this, she couldn’t help but laugh. She had stayed single and chaste, she lived a life of swords and sabers, and she knew nothing about caring for a child. She said, “Where can we get milk? How about feeding her rice?”

Yang Guo said, “Has she got any teeth?”

Li Mochou opened her mouth and shook her head, saying, “Not even one.”

Yang Guo said, “We’ll go to a village, find a woman who’s just given birth and can produce milk to feed her, how about that?”

Li Mochou said with delight, “You are indeed full of ideas.”

They climbed to the top of a hill and looked all around. Far away in the west, there was smoke. The two of them traveled very quickly and arrived at a small settlement in a short period of time. The area around Xiangyang had been incinerated and the Mongols had destroyed the large towns and villages near the main roads, the only types of settlements remaining were those in the wild and secluded valleys.

Li Mochou checked the houses one by one and when she got to the fourth one, she found a woman feeding a year old child. Li Mochou was delighted that she had found someone, she went in and picked up the child from the woman’s arms and flung it away towards a bed. She then placed the baby girl’s mouth in the woman’s breast and said, “This child’s hungry, feed it.”

The woman’s child was flailing its arms and legs, crying its eyes out on the bed. The woman quickly went to pick up her child. When Yang Guo saw that the woman was exposed, he quickly turned his back to her before hearing Li Mochou say, “I told you to feed my child, didn’t you hear? Who told you to hold your own child?” Yang Guo heard a thud and quickly jumped around just to see the woman’s child by the wall with its head covered in blood.

The woman was distraught and put Guo Jing’s daughter down and threw herself onto her child, crying and sobbing as she did so.

Li Mochou was furious and she lifted her fly whisk to strike down onto the woman’s back.

Yang Guo quickly used his sword to block this blow and thought, “How can there be such an irrational woman?” However, the words that came out of his mouth were, “Martial Uncle Li, if you kill her, there won’t be anyone else left to feed the child.”

Li Mochou replied angrily, “I’m looking out for your child yet here you are sticking your nose in where it’s not wanted.”

Yang Guo thought, “This child isn’t mine yet you keep on saying so, and if it is, then how can I be sticking my nose in?” He smiled and said, “The baby is hungry, the most important thing right now is to feed her.” He then stretched out his hands for her.

Li Mochou raised her fly whisk and blocked his arm, saying, “You dare pick her up?”

Yang Guo took a step back and smiled, “Fine, fine! You take her.”

Li Mochou picked up the baby and was just about to place it back into the arms of the woman when she discovered that she was gone. While the two were arguing, the woman had slipped out with her child. Li Mochou was filled with rage and dashed outside to see the woman running away. She flew up and struck down with her fly whisk with a gust of wind; both mother and child died under that strike. She went to find another woman to feed the child but the settlement was filled with men. Li Mochou became even angrier and she killed a few people at random. She then picked up a burning stick from a stove and set a few thatched houses on fire before leaving the settlement.

Yang Guo sighed to himself when he saw how vicious Li Mochou was. They didn’t say a word as they wandered across the plains for several li. The baby had cried itself to sleep in Li Mochou’s arms.

Li Mochou suddenly stopped in her tracks; there were two leopard cubs in front of her playing with each other. She took a step forward with the intention of kicking them away when she heard a roar from the side as a leopard leapt at her. She was startled by this and moved to the left. The leopard immediately turned around and leapt forward once again, clawing and slashing. Li Mochou raised her fly whisk and struck the leopard between the eyes. The leopard growled in pain and became even more vicious showing its sharp white teeth. It crouched on the ground and stared at its enemy with its gleaming eyes, waiting for a chance to attack.

Li Mochou waved out her left hand and shot out two needles at the leopard’s eyes. Yang Guo called out, “Wait!” He blocked the needles with his sword while at the same time the leopard pounced; it leapt ten feet into the air speeding at him. Yang Guo leapt up and after knocking the needles out of the air with his sword, he punched the leopard on the spine. The leopard was in pain from this blow but immediately after it landed, it attacked again. Yang Guo moved to the side and sent out a left palm with half his energy. The leopard was sent rolling back.

Li Mochou wondered what he was up to; the needles that she had shot out would have killed the leopard, why is he wasting so much effort to save it? She watched as Yang Guo sent out a left palm here and right palm there, keeping the leopard on the ground. He was relentless but each palm of his avoided the vitals of the leopard. The leopard’s roars were becoming quieter and quieter, and after ten palms, it could take it no longer and ran away. Yang Guo was prepared for this and reached out for its tail to pull it back but after being defeated, the leopard ran away dejected with its tail hanging down between its legs and Yang Guo missed. He was about to use his lightness kung fu to chase after it when he saw the leopard turn around and call to its cubs to run. Yang Guo now knew what to do and he picked up the cubs, one in each hand.

Seeing its cubs being captured, the leopard no longer cared about its life and threw herself at Yang Guo once again. Yang Guo threw the cubs at Li Mochou and called out, “Catch them but don’t kill them.” He leapt up higher than the leopard and aimed to land on its back. When he landed, he pulled at its ears. The leopard used all her strength to throw Yang Guo off but she was no longer in control of her movements.

Yang Guo called out, “Martial Uncle Li, quickly get some tree bark and make some rope to tie it up.”

Li Mochou said with annoyance, “I don’t have time to mess around with you.” She turned around to walk away.

Yang Guo said quickly, “Who’s messing? This leopard can give milk!”

Li Mochou now understood and was filled with delight, she laughed, “Only you would come up with something like this.” She then went off and tore off ten pieces of tree bark and made a rope with it. She first tied its mouth before tying its legs.

Yang Guo patted the dust off himself and smiled. The leopard could not move and its eyes showed that it was filled with fear.

Yang Guo stroked its head and said, “We just want your milk, and we won’t kill you.”

Li Mochou then placed the baby at a teat. The baby was starving and suckled immediately. The leopard could provide a lot of milk and as soon as the baby was full she closed her eye and slept.

Their gaze never left the baby girl as she fed and fell asleep. The two were filled with delight as they watched her smiling in her sleep and they smiled at each other.

The smile shared between these two dissolved most of the wariness between them. Li Mochou’s face was filled with tenderness and she hummed a song as she held the baby in her arms. Yang Guo found some soft hay and made a bed on a large rock beneath a shady tree. He said, “Let her sleep here!”

Li Mochou quickly signaled with her hand, telling him to be quiet. Yang Guo stuck out his tongue and made a face at her. As he watched the baby sleep peacefully, he gave a sigh of relief before turning his heads to the cubs who were feeding off their mother.

The scent of flowers filled the air, a warm breeze blew through their clothes, the aura of death disappeared as both man and beast felt at ease.

Yang Guo had been through hell and high water in the past few days and it was only now that he could unwind. But it was in the strangest of circumstances; there was a cold blooded murderer to one side of him and a vicious beast on the other.

Li Mochou sat beside the baby and used her fly whisk to chase away the forest’s flies. Her fly whisk had killed countless people and could send shivers down the spines of the people of Wulin; yet now it was doing the first kind thing it had ever done.

Yang Guo watched Li Mochou as she stared at the baby. Sometimes there was a smile, at others there would be sadness on her face. She would look overwhelmed then suddenly, peace would fill her face. Yang Guo guessed that she must have been looking back on her life. He did not know much about her; all he knew were a few things that Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang had told him. Behind all these cruel and vicious acts was someone who must have endured bitter suffering; he had always hated her but right now, he couldn’t stop himself from pitying her a little.

After a while, Li Mochou lifted her head and her eyes met Yang Guo’s. She was slightly taken aback by this. She said quietly, “It’s getting dark, what are we going to do about tonight.”

Yang Guo looked around and said, “We can’t take that big leopard with us, we’ll find a cave to spend the night in for the time being and decide on what to do tomorrow.” Li Mochou nodded her head.

Yang Guo looked all around and eventually found a cave that was just about suitable. He gathered some long grass and made a small and large bed in the middle of the cave. He said, “Martial Uncle Li, rest here, I’ll go find something to eat.” He then went off in search of some food. He was back within the hour with three rabbits and some wild fruits. He untied the leopard’s mouth and fed one of the rabbits to it. He then gathered some firewood and roasted the other two rabbits for Li Mochou and himself. Afterwards, Yang Guo said, “Martial Uncle Li, go to sleep, I’ll go outside and guard the cave.” He took out a long rope and suspended it between two trees, and slept on the rope in midair.

This didn’t surprise Li Mochou at all; after all, it was a skill of the Ancient Tomb. Apart from occasionally traveling with her disciple Hong Lingbo, she had always wandered alone. Tonight she had spent time with Yang Guo who tended to all her needs; what a contrast it was to the all the times she spent alone in the wild. As she thought about this, she sighed.