e north. One particular day he saw the two white eagles at a small village; he knew either his daughter or grandchildren were around. So he decided to follow them, but he did not wish to be seen by his daughter and followed them from afar. When he saw that both Reverend Yideng and Zhou Botong could not defeat this monk, he was quite surprised. He thought that this monk was a worthy adversary and decided to intervene as well.

Jinlun Fawang struck his wheels together creating a loud ‘dang’ sound, similar to the cry of a dragon. He said, “I take it you are the Eastern Heretic Huang Yaoshi?”

Huang Yaoshi nodded and said, “Yes, I am, Reverend. What can I do for you?”

Fawang said, “Even back in Tibet we have heard that only the Eastern Heretic, Western Poison, Southern Emperor, Northern Beggar and Central Divinity were all-powerful in the Central Plains. It pleases me to see that you live up to your reputation. I would like to ask where the other four great masters are.”

Huang Yaoshi replied, “The Central Divinity, Northern Beggar and Western Poison have passed away many years ago. This Reverend Yideng here is the Southern Emperor and Brother Zhou is the younger martial arts brother of the Central Divinity.”

Zhou Botong came fast. He said, “If my martial arts brother was still alive, would you be able to withstand even ten of his stances?”

Reverend Yideng also came fast. Together with the Eastern Heretic, they formed a triangle surrounding Fawang. Fawang looked at Yideng; then at Botong; and finally at the Eastern Heretic. He sighed and threw his five wheels to the ground.

“If it were a one-on-one combat, I wouldn’t budge a single inch to any one of you,” he said wryly.

“You are right!” answered Zhou Botong, “But right now we are not having a competition on top of Mount Hua to fight over the title ‘The Number One Valiant Man under the Heaven’! Who would want to fight you one-on-one? Hey, Stinky Monk, you have done too many wicked deeds. You decide your own fate!”

“I have seen two out of the top five experts of the central plains,” said Fawang. “If I could die by your hands, I would not have any regrets. Only my highest skill: the ‘Dragon and Elephant Wisdom Dexterity Technique’ will not have an heir. I am the last one …”

Having finished his speech he lifted up his hand to smash his own head.

Zhou Botong was startled to hear the name ‘Dragon and Elephant Wisdom Dexterity Technique’, without hesitation he jumped forward and blocked the monk’s hand. “Hold on!” he shouted.

“I, the old monk, can be killed, but not insulted!” said Fawang valiantly. “What do you want?”

“You regret the ‘Dragon and Elephant Wisdom Dexterity Technique’ would not have any heirs,” he said, “Why don’t you teach it to me, then you kill yourself afterward. That way it wouldn’t be lost, would it?”

Before Fawang answered, they heard flapping wings followed by the female eagle flying up from the gorge, her mate on her back. Both birds were wet, which indicated water at the bottom of the chasm; maybe a well or a creek. The male eagle’s feathers were in disarray, but he was still breathing. His claws still held tightly Jinlun Fawang’s Buddhist cap.

As soon as the female eagle placed her mate on the ground, she flew back into the gorge. After a while she reappeared with Guo Xiang on her back.

Huang Rong was shocked, but happy. “Xiang’er! Xiang’er!” she called, and ran toward the bird. She took Guo Xiang off the bird’s back.

Fawang stood astounded to see Guo Xiang was all right. Zhou Botong still held his hand, but he had also seen what the female eagle had done. He looked at Reverend Yideng on his right and Huang Yaoshi on his left, made faces to them and winked.

Eastern Heretic and Southern Emperor saw his expression and immediately moved in unison. As a result, Fawang’s right side and left breast were struck by their powerful fingers. It didn’t matter if Fawang was a tough man, because his attackers were experts. One was ‘Divine Flicking Finger’ [Tan Zi Shen Tong] expert, while the other was ‘Solitary Yang Finger’ [Yi Yang Zi] expert. The Mongolian monk uttered an ‘unh’ sound and staggered. Zhou Botong added a punch to the ‘zhi yang’ [positive end] accupoint on his back, he laughed and said, “Go down!” Fawang’s knees gave out and he fell, sitting down on the ground.

The three experts saw this and were secretly impressed. “This monk is really strong, he was hit three times, yet he did not collapse to the ground, he only sat down …”

Afterward the three of them came to Guo Xiang. They were trying to comfort her.

“Mother, he’s down there …” said the girl to her mother, “He’s down there … go help him, please …” Guo Xiang only managed to utter those words before she fainted. Yideng immediately checked her pulse. “She is all right!” he said, “She is just in shock.” Then he slowly massaged the girl’s wrist. Not too long after, Guo Xiang slowly regained her consciousness.

“Where is Big Brother?” she asked. “Is he up here?”

“Is Yang Guo in the gorge below?” asked Huang Rong. Guo Xiang nodded. “He is!” she said, lowering her head; and then added in her heart, “If he is not down there, why would I jump down?”

“Is there any water down there?” Huang Rong asked again, seeing her daughter’s wet clothes. Guo Xiang nodded her head, and then closed her eyes. She was still too weak to say anything, only her finger pointed to the gorge.

“Yang Guo is down there, only the eagle can help him,” said Huang Rong. Then she whistled, calling her bird, but strangely after she had whistled several times the bird did not respond. Huang Rong felt strange; the birds have always obeyed her commands for dozens of years. Why didn’t it respond this time? It had never happened before. Once again she whistled, loud and long.

Suddenly the bird flew up high into the clouds. She flew in circles emanating a sad cry. And then she dove down very fast. Huang Rong was shocked. “Not good!” she cried in her heart. Then she called, “Hey, Eagle!”

Her calling was in vain; the bird continued diving down and smashed onto a mountain rock. Her head was smashed, her wings broken, she died instantly.

Everybody was stunned. They ran toward the birds only to find the male eagle’s body was cold; he too was dead. No wonder his mate was disconsolate and wanted to die too. They all uttered a long sad sigh.

Huang Rong was the most upset; those two birds were her companions since she and the birds were young. She shed tears involuntarily.

Observing all this, Li Mochou’s song echoed in Lu Wushuang’s mind:

‘O mortals, what is love? That binds beyond life on earth?

To all corners, in pair we fly… braving summer and winter, by and by…

Union is bliss, parting is woe, agony is boundless, for a lovelorn soul, sweetheart…

Give me word, trail of clouds drifting forward…

And mountains capped with snow, whither shall my lonesome shadow go?’

When she was a young girl, Lu Wushuang followed her master – Li Mochou, everywhere. Oftentimes, in the dead of the night, when she thought she was dreaming, she heard her master sing this song. She did not know the true meaning of love then, but now she saw it with her own eyes. She thought, “If the female eagle were still alive, she would be flying alone through the clouds and over snow-capped mountains. She was alone, her shadow solitary; how could she live any longer?” Without her realizing it, tears welled up her eyes.

“Shi Fu, Shi Jie,” said Cheng Ying. “Brother Yang is inside the gorge below, how can we rescue him?”

Huang Rong wiped her tears. “Xiang’er, tell me the exact condition of the gorge’s bottom,” she asked, “What was happening to you?”

Guo Xiang was already feeling better. “As soon as I plummeted down into the gorge, I hit the water at the bottom,” she answered, “I was shocked and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls. I don’t know how, but I was immediately pushed back up to the surface. And then Big Brother, Yang Da Ge, pulled my hair, he lifted me up …”

Hearing this Huang Rong was relieved. “Was there a big rock or something else where you could set your feet on?” she asked.

“There was a big tree right next to the water.”

“Hmm …” said her mother. “Why did you fall down?”

“That was also the first question Brother Yang asked me when he pulled me up,” answered the girl. “I took my golden needle out, I gave it to him and I said, ‘I come to ask you to take care of yourself, don’t be shortsighted’. He looked at me without blinking. Not too long after the male eagle fell into the water, followed by his mate. The female eagle took her mate up, then she came back to rescue me. Brother Yang told me to go up, he didn’t say anything else. He lifted me up on the eagle’s back. Mother, tell the bird to go back down and rescue Brother Yang …”

Huang Rong didn’t want to tell her daughter that the birds were dead. She took off her coat and wrapped it around her daughter’s body.

“I believe Yang Guo is not in grave danger right now,” she said, turning to her companions, “Let us make a long rope to rescue him.”

That was a great idea. Everybody scattered to gather tree bark and braided it into a rope.

All except for Jinlun Fawang – whose accupoints were sealed, and Guo Xiang – who was too tired, worked hard. Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang and Yinggu braided, while Yideng, Zhou Botong, Huang Yaoshi and Huang Rong gathered tree bark. They were not skilled at making rope; therefore, when the sky darkened all they had was a little over a hundred ‘zhang’s [around 300 meters] of rope.

Even though she felt the rope was not long enough, Cheng Ying put it into the gorge anyway. She tied one end to a rock and the other end to a tree stump and threw the rock into the gorge. The rope slid down, penetrating the thick fog below and vanished from their sight.

These seven people worked hard all night long without taking any rest. The next morning Guo Xiang was strong enough to help. Huang Rong asked her how she got captured by Fawang to help pass the time.

The rope was getting longer and longer. They did not hear anything from Yang Guo down below. Huang Yaoshi was restless; he took out his jade flute and played a song. The sound of the flute echoed and flowed down into the gorge. Usually, as soon as Yang Guo heard the flute, he would whistle in response. When the song ended the gorge was still quiet, still no response, and only a thin mist rising up.

Huang Rong thought hard. She chopped a piece of wood, and carved this letter: “Are you all right? Please respond.” Then she threw the wood into the ravine.

They waited some more, still nothing … They looked at each other with anxiety in their eyes.

“Even though this gorge is deep, I believe our rope has reached its bottom,” said Cheng Ying. “Let me go down and take a look.”

“Let me!” Zhou Botong did not wait for an answer. Immediately he grabbed the end of the rope and climbed down, agile as a monkey, and disappeared into the fog below. About an hour later he reappeared, his hair and beard was covered with moss. He shook his head.

“Not a single shadow or footprint was there, let alone Yang Guo? No ‘niu guo’ [a live ox], no ‘ma guo’ [a live horse] either [play on words: ‘guo’ of ‘Yang Guo’ also means ‘live’],” he said. They looked at Guo Xiang and were perplexed.

Guo Xiang was almost crying, “I am sure Brother Yang was down there, where could he go?” said the girl. “He was sitting next to the big tree by the water.”

Cheng Ying didn’t say anything; she grabbed the rope and start climbing down. Lu Wushuang followed suit. And then Yinggu, Zhou Botong, Huang Yaoshi and Yideng did the same. They were worried about Yang Guo, but they were also curious.

“You have not recovered Xiang’er, don’t come down,” Huang Rong counseled her daughter. “Don’t make your mother worry about you. If your Brother Yang is down there, we certainly will rescue him, won’t we?”

Guo Xiang was anxious, but she agreed with her mother. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Huang Rong looked at Jinlun Fawang, she thought, “He has been sealed for more than twelve hours. He is highly skilled, perhaps he has managed to unseal some of his accupoints …” Thus she came to him and sealed some more of his accupoints: ‘ling tai’ [soul platform] on his back, ‘ju que’ [gigantic imperial city] just below his chest, ‘qing ling yuan’ [clear and cold abyss] on his two arms. Only then did she slide down the rope.

Huang Rong held the rope loosely and let her body fall down fast; then tightened her grip to slow her fall. She did that several times and a short while later arrived at the bottom, and sure enough, she saw a body of water like a pond or a spring. Huang Yaoshi and the others were standing on the shore. She looked around but there was no Yang Guo. On her left she saw several big trees, where about thirty beehives were hung. The Jade Bees were flying around.

“Brother Zhou, could you catch a bee for us to look at, please?” she said to the Old Urchin. “Let’s see if it has characters on its wings.” Botong complied, he caught a bee. “No characters here,” he said.

Huang Rong looked around. All she could see were rock walls a few hundred meters high. There was no way out. There were only those few peculiar looking trees; she didn’t know what kind of trees they were. She looked up, and all she could see was thick fog covering the gorge, she couldn’t even see the sun. She was thinking hard when suddenly Botong shouted, “Here! This one has characters on it.”

Madam Guo quickly looked, and sure enough, she saw the same letters on this one, ‘I am at the Passionless Valley’s bottom’. This made her think some more, she believed the answer must be in the water below. Among the seven people, her water skill was the best. She made up her mind. She tucked her clothes up, took a ‘Nine Flower Jade Dew Pill’, put it in her mouth to repel any venomous bugs or snake bites, and jumped into the water.

The deeper Huang Rong dived, the colder the water temperature was. She felt the cold creeping into her bones. She opened her eyes underwater, but all she could see was the deep bluish green water. The water felt like ice. She was puzzled, but determined to continue her investigation. She went to the surface for another deep breath, and dived again. She went further this time, and she felt a strong buoyancy force pushing her back up. The deeper she went, the stronger the force was. She exerted her energy but it was no use, she could not reach the bottom no matter what. Except for the cold temperature, the water did not show anything special anyway. Therefore, she went back to the surface in defeat.

All could see she was cold; her lips were blue and her hair white from the frost. They were astonished. Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang promptly gathered sticks and lit a fire for Huang Rong to warm herself up.

In the meantime Guo Xiang was waiting above, she thought very hard, “Why wouldn’t Brother Yang come up? Did my grandfather and mother persuade him to come? What was the real reason he tried to kill himself? Was it because Xiao Longnü had passed away and they wouldn’t see each other anymore?”

While she was lost in thought, she heard Jinlun Fawang groaned, “Aiyo! Aiyo!” “You asked for it!” said Guo Xiang, “Who told you to kill so easily? Hmm…”

Jinlun Fawang did not reply, but he kept making groaning noises while his eyes looking at her begging for mercy. By nature Guo Xiang was kindhearted. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Are you really sick?” she asked.

“Your mother has sealed [ling tai] accupoint on my back and [ju que] below my chest. Those sealed accupoints made me suffer like a million ants were biting me,” the monk answered, “It is not only so painful but itchy as well. Why didn’t your mother seal my ‘shan zhong’ [heart center] and ‘yu zhen’ [jade pillow] accupoints?”

Guo Xiang was startled. She understood from learning with her mother, that [shan zhong] and [yu zhen] were two of the vital accupoints. A little injury on these two could cause death.

“My mother does not wish for your death,” she said. “You do not thank her, but keep whining incessantly!”

Jinlun Fawang showed a proud look. “If she sealed my [shan zhong] and [yu zhen], she would make my back and chest numb,” he said, “She would cause me less pain. I have trained to this high level; I wouldn’t be injured that easily. Could it be that she really wishes for my death?”

Guo Xiang did not believe him. “Don’t you lie to me!” She countered. “Mother said that if [shan zhong] and [yu zhen] were sealed, you would certainly die! You are only experiencing itchiness and a bit of pain. Take heart. My mother and the others will be here shortly.”

Jinlun Fawang did not respond. “Miss Guo,” a little later he asked, “How would you say my treatment of you was along the way?”

“Not a single complaint,” answered Guo Xiang. “But you have killed the Long Beard Ghost and the Big Head Ghost. You have also caused the death of my two eagles. Even if your treatment of me was a lot better, I still cannot accept what you have done.”

“Very well!” shouted the monk, “An eye for an eye! You kill me to avenge the death of your friends and your birds! But remember that I have treated you well along the way; how would you repay me for that?”

“You tell me how I can repay you.”

“You have to seal my [shan zhong] and [yu zhen],” answered the monk. “That way you would lessen my suffering. That way you repay my kindness.”

Guo Xiang shook her head. “You want me to kill you?” she asked, “I will not do that.”

“But I am a man as tough as a mountain!” Fawang insisted, “Even if you seal those accupoints, I will not easily die. Later when your mother is here, I will beg for her mercy. Do you really think I’d like to die?”

Seeing his pitiful condition, Guo Xiang pondered his words. “Very well,” she thought, “I will lessen his suffering.” Then she sealed his [shan zhong] and [yu zhen] accupoints. Fawang immediately felt relieved. “Yes! I feel better,” he said. “Please hit harder.” Guo Xiang complied, she hit harder.

Fawang’s eyebrows twitched, he smiled. He did not show any sign of injury, but his countenance changed from red to white, and from white back to red again.

“OK, please hit even harder now,” he again said. Guo Xiang complied; she hit harder utilizing the technique her parents taught her.

“Good!” finally Fawang shouted. “My chest is not tight anymore! You see, I am not dead, am I?”

Guo Xiang was astonished. “Let me hit your [yu zhen] one more time!” she said. She’d gently hit him then, but she hit him really hard this time.

“Thank you! Thank you!” said Fawang. He immediately closed his eyes. A little while later he suddenly leaped up and said with a loud voice, “OK, let’s go!”

Miss Guo was flabbergasted. “You … you …” she stammered.

Fawang’s left hand flew out and grabbed the girl’s arm. “Let’s go!” he said. “Jinlun Fawang’s skill is without equal under the heavens. How could I not know all about this rudimentary skill?” As soon as he finished talking, he immediately walked forward, dragging Guo Xiang along.

“Liar! Liar!” Guo Xiang shouted; she regretted her actions and thought, “My knowledge is so shallow, I don’t even know this rudimentary technique existed.” How would she know the ‘tui jing zhuan mai, yi gong huan xue’ [transferring blood flow passage, exchanging accupoints position] was not rudimentary at all? Fawang had trained himself in this difficult technique since the time he was still in Tibet. It was not superior to Ouyang Feng’s technique in which he was able to reverse the blood flow in his whole body; but it was not less strange or less difficult to master. When Guo Xiang hit his [shan zhong] and [yu zhen] accupoints, he secretly transferred that energy to unseal the other accupoints.

They were only a few meters away when Fawang suddenly had an evil thought. He saw the end of the rope tied to a tree stump. He thought that if he cut the rope, Zhou Botong, Yideng, Huang Yaoshi, Huang Rong and the others would die in the gorge, since they would have no other way of coming back up. Therefore, he kicked the ground and leaped toward the tree and grabbed the rope, ready to severe it.

Guo Xiang saw his movement; she was shocked. She knew what he was up to. She could not stay silent. Her arm was still held in the monk’s hand. When her other hand was within reach of the monk’s body, she made her move and hit his ‘yuan ye’ [deep pool liquid] accupoint beneath his ribs.

Jinlun Fawang had underestimated the girl and now he had to suffer the consequence. That hit was right on target. He was stunned and immediately felt half of his body stiffened, his strength gone.

With one pull Guo Xiang was able to free herself. She went behind him and threatened, “I am going to push you down smelly monk! I hope you’ll die!”

Fawang was shocked, but he didn’t show it. He laughed a big laugh. He secretly exerted his internal energy to unseal his accupoint. He said, “How could you hurt me with your meager skill?”

Guo Xiang did not know that her hit actually sealed Fawang’s accupoint and that Fawang’s body was stiff. If she pushed, he would certainly fall down. But she was afraid to repeat her past mistake, that if she touched his body one more time the monk would be able to free himself. Didn’t she hit the monk and in the end Fawang was free? Therefore, instead of pushing him, she jumped down and got away from him. She ran toward the chasm and shouted, “I’d rather die with my mother!” She was going to jump down into the gorge.

Jinlun Fawang was extremely shocked. He breathed in and out deeply, and eventually his sealed accupoint was clear. Abandoning the rope he quickly jumped after the girl.

Guo Xiang kept running between big rocks and among the trees. If she were out on a plain, Fawang would certainly catch up with only two leaps. Right now the monk had to play her game. There were a lot of old trees and big rocks scattered around the Broken Heart Cliff. By running around like this Guo Xiang was able to elude him. It was like they were playing tag. Fawang leaped over the trees and with ‘Wild Duck Descends the Plain [yan luo ping sha] techniques he was able to grab Guo Xiang’s arm once again.

Guo Xiang was shocked; she thought she could get away from him. She struggled in vain; but then she opened her mouth and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Mother!”

Fawang quickly covered her mouth with his free hand. Meanwhile a voice was heard from a distance, it was Lu Wushuang, “Uh, where did little Guo Xiang go?”

“Pity, pity …” Fawang’s heart turned cold. “I have wasted too much time.” He regretted the fact he failed to cut the rope; he was forced to seal the girl’s mute accupoint and took her away as quickly as he could run. He was so confused that he couldn’t think straight. He only heard Lu Wushuang’s voice. If he attacked her, how could Wushuang fight him? It was just that he had suffered a bitter defeat from Zhou Botong, Reverend Yideng and Huang Yaoshi; so when he heard someone was coming he thought everybody had arrived.

Huang Rong and the rest were still at the gorge’s bottom. They could not find any footprint or traces of blood, in case Yang Guo was injured. Finally they decided to go back up and discuss this matter later. Lu Wushuang was the first to go, followed by Cheng Ying and Yinggu. When Huang Rong showed up, she was startled to hear them calling her daughter, “Little Guo Xiang! Little Guo Xiang! Where are you?” The women were puzzled at seeing neither Guo Xiang nor Jinlun Fawang.

Huang Rong climbed a tall tree to get a good look around. In the meantime Huang Yaoshi together with Reverend Yideng and Zhou Botong arrived. They were perplexed and anxious. They looked around the valley, but could not find anything.

When they reached the valley’s entrance, they saw one of Guo Xiang’s shoes.

“Shi Jie, don’t you worry,” Chen Ying said, “Fawang must have taken Guo Xiang along with him to the south. Guo Xiang left her shoe behind to give us clue. She’s just as smart as her mother.”

Huang Rong believed Cheng Ying was right. She was relieved since Guo Xiang would not be in any immediate danger. Didn’t Fawang want to take Guo Xiang as his disciple, to inherit his ‘Dragon and Elephant Wisdom Dexterity Technique’?