EASTERN HERETIC, WESTERN POISON (Book 2 of Legend Of The Condor Heroes)

The Three Tests Part 3

Hong Qigong turned back and laughed, "The Old Western Poison is crafty, when he said he would admit defeat, that means he is actually going to win. I don't believe what he said a bit."

"Well, then," Ouyang Feng replied, "Let me ask Qi Xiong's expert opinion again."

Hong Qigong flicked his sleeve and said, "Nothing better!"

"I see," Huang Yaoshi interrupted, "Your arrival today at the Peach Blossom Island is actually to show off your martial arts," he said with a smile.

Hong Qigong roared in laughter. "Yao Xiong is right! We come here to ask your daughter's hand in marriage, not to fight each other."

"I said earlier that I am going to give three subjects to test both gentlemen," Huang Yaoshi continued, "The one passes the test will be my son-in-law, but the one fails won't be going home empty handed either."

"What? Do you have another daughter?" Hong Qigong asked.

Huang Yaoshi smiled, "No, I don't. Even if I find another wife, I don't think we want to wait that long. Your brother has many other skills: medical, astrology and a lot of other stuff. The gentleman who fails the test, as long as he does not belittle my shallow knowledge and is willing to learn one particular subject, I am going to devote my time and will teach him with all my heart so that he won't leave the Peach Blossom Island empty handed."

Hong Qigong was fully aware of Huang Yaoshi's ability; he thought that if Guo Jing could not be his son-in-law but managed to learn just one skill from him, he would gain a lifelong benefit nonetheless. He thought whatever subject the test would be, Guo Jing would undoubtedly suffer a loss; and he felt bad for him.

Ouyang Feng saw Hong Qigong's reluctance, he snatched away that opportunity to say, "Good! Let it be that way! Yao Xiong had actually accepted my nephew's proposal, but he honored Qi Xiong's face. So let these two kids be tested. This way it won't damage our friendship." Turning toward Ouyang Ke he said, "Later if you lose, you will only have your own incapability to blame, you cannot blame anybody else. We will happily drink Brother Guo's 'xi jiu'. If later on you have a mind to create other problem, not only these two seniors won't let you go easily, I myself will not spare you."

Hong Qigong looked up and burst in laughter, "Old Poison, you are 90% sure that you are going to win. Your speech was actually directed to me and my disciple; what you are saying was 'be a dear and just admit defeat'."

Ouyang Feng smiled and said, "Who win and who lose, how would you know in advance? Even for people of our level, do you think it is easy to claim victory shamelessly? Yao Xiong, please present the subjects of your test."

Huang Yaoshi had determined to give his daughter to Ouyang Ke, therefore, he had to come out with three subjects that would guarantee victory for Ouyang Ke. However, first of all, a man of his stature could not be blatantly one-sided; secondly, he did not want to offend Hong Qigong. But while he was still carefully considering what he was about to say, Hong Qigong had opened his mouth, "We all live by our fists and kicks, the test Yao Xiong will administer must be related to martial arts. If your subjects are poetry or music; reciting scriptures or painting, then we – master and disciple, will simply admit defeat and take our butts out of here; no need to lose our faces."

"Naturally," Huang Yaoshi assured him, "The first subject is martial arts competition."

"That won't do," Ouyang Feng said, "My nephew is presently wounded."

Huang Yaoshi smiled. "I know that," he said, "I cannot let two brothers have martial arts contest on the Peach Blossom Island and damage their friendship."

"They are not going to fight?" Ouyang Feng was baffled.

"That's correct," Huang Yaoshi answered.

"That's so!" Ouyang Feng smiled, "Then the test giver will try each person's martial art?"

Huang Yaoshi shook his head, "No, if I do that, nobody can guarantee that I will be fair since I can make my moves heavy or light at will. Feng Xiong, you and Qi Xiong here have reached the pinnacle of your respective martial arts skill. The fight just now was the proof, you have fought for more than a thousand moves, yet nobody knows who gained victory or suffered defeat. Feng Xiong, you test Brother Guo, and Qi Xiong, you try Brother Ouyang."

Hong Qigong thought, "This is very fair indeed. Old Heretic Huang is really smart to think of this method. Old Beggar will never come out with something like this." He laughed and said, "This method is not bad! Come, come, come! Let us play!" He beckoned Ouyang Ke.

"Wait!" Huang Yaoshi said, "There are some rules of the game we need to address. Rule number one: Brother Ouyang is injured, he cannot exert any energy, and therefore, both of them will be tested in term of martial arts, not in term of strength. Rule number two: The four of you will fight on top of these pine trees," he pointed to two big pine trees outside the bamboo pavilion, "The junior who falls to the ground first will lose. Rule number three: Feng Xiong and Qi Xiong, whoever puts too heavy pressure on the junior and accidentally injures him will lose."

"Injuring a junior is considered losing?" Hong Qigong mused.

"Certainly," Huang Yaoshi explained, "The two of you have such a high skill; if I don't have this rule, once you put forth a heavy hand, do you think the junior will live? Qi Xiong, if you even scratch Brother Ouyang's skin, you lost. The same goes to Feng Xiong. Between these two juniors, one will be my son-in-law; how can they be injured under your hands?"

Hong Qigong scratched his head and laughed, "Old Heretic Huang is really weird, really live up to his reputation. Injuring opponent will be considered lose; this strange rule has never been heard of in thousands of years. Fine! As long as it is fair, the Old Beggar will comply."

Huang Yaoshi gave a hand signal and the four of them jumped up the pine trees, forming two parties: Hong Qigong and Ouyang Ke on the right, Ouyang Feng and Guo Jing on the left. Hong Qigong still had an amused look on his face, while the other three looked serious, almost tense.

Huang Rong knew Ouyang Ke's martial art was actually higher than Guo Jing's; luckily he was injured. However, the competition on top of pine trees rely heavily on the lightness kungfu, which, obviously, Ouyang Ke had some advantage over Guo Jing. She was unable to not feeling anxious. In the meantime she heard her father's loud and clear voice, "I will count to three, then you can all start. Brother Ouyang, Brother Guo, whoever falls down to the ground first will lose!"

Huang Rong secretly thought of somehow helping Guo Jing, but Ouyang Feng's martial art was very high, how could she fight him with her present ability?

Huang Yaoshi had started to count, "One, two, three!" Four shadows danced on top of the pine trees, they have begun.

Huang Rong's gaze had never left Guo Jing, only to see he had fought for more than ten stances against Ouyang Feng in a blink of an eye. Both Huang Rong and Huang Yaoshi were secretly surprised, "How did his martial art suddenly improved by leaps and bounds? He managed to fight these many moves without showing any sign of defeat."

Ouyang Feng was anxious; gradually he increased his strength bit by bit. He was afraid to injure Guo Jing. Suddenly an idea came into his mind: both his legs rotated like a wheel, trying to sweep Guo Jing's away from the pine tree. Guo Jing used the 'fei long zai tian' [Dragon flies in the sky] of his 18-Dragon Subduing Palms; repeatedly leaping high, both palms hacking down like knives trying to hit his opponent's legs.

Huang Rong's heart was thumping madly. She turned her gaze toward Hong Qigong only to see the fight took a different path. Ouyang Ke was using his lightness kungfu; leaping to the east and dodging to the west, he did not want to engage even half of Hong Qigong's moves. Hong Qigong was compelled to chase him, but Ouyang Ke was always running around. Hong Qigong thought, "This stinky creature is cunning, he is trying to buy time. Guo Jing is a dumb kid, he actually fights against the Old Poison. This way he will certainly fall to the ground first. Humph! This little rapist! Do you think the Old Beggar cannot fold you under my arm?" Suddenly he leaped high into the air, ten fingers like two steel claws striking toward Ouyang Ke's head.

Ouyang Ke saw this incoming force was swift and fierce; certainly not a contest type attack, but was intended to take his life. He was shocked and hastily tried to flee to the right. Unbeknownst to him, Hong Qigong's attack was a false one. Hong Qigong had anticipated this movement, so as soon as Ouyang Ke turned right, Hong Qigong bent his waist mid-air and flew to the right. His hands came fast toward Ouyang Ke and clearly shouted, "I don't care if I lose; today I am going to kill you stinky kid first."

Ouyang Ke was startled that Hong Qigong was able to turn his body mid-air; he was scared and froze for a moment, especially listening to Hong Qigong's shout. He did not dare to parry this attack, so frantically he stepped back to an empty air. He fell down from the tree with this thought in his mind, "I lost this first test!" But then suddenly he heard rustling noise beside him, turned out Guo Jing was also falling down from the tree next to him.

After fighting Guo Jing for quite a while, Ouyang Feng lost his patience, "If I let this kid fight me for another fifty moves; where would I keep the Western Poison's pride?" he thought. Suddenly a wicked thought came into his mind. His left hand moved lightning fast toward Guo Jing's neck while shouting loudly, "You go down!"

Guo Jing ducked this attack and lifted his left hand and tried to parry with the back of his hand. But Ouyang Feng suddenly put more force to his hand. "You ... you ..." Guo Jing stammered. He was going to say, "You didn't follow Huang Yaoshi's rule?" but was not able to say it because he was forced to use all his energy to withstand this attack. Ouyang Feng smiled and coldly said, "I what?" and put more force to his hand.

Guo Jing was trying to get a strong foothold for fear that he might be internally injured by this Toad Stance force. Who would have imagined that the tremendous force pushing him down suddenly disappeared without a trace. Fortunately for him that his skill was improved; if not, he wouldn't be able to withstand Ouyang Feng's force which was suddenly getting stronger and suddenly disappeared. Luckily it was similar to the 72 moves of Vacant Fist he learned from Zhou Botong, in which a hard force contained a softness in it. Otherwise, he would be injured just like when he fought Huang Yaoshi at the Cloud Manor, where his hand was caught and broken. Nevertheless, because of this, he lost his balance and was thrown down from the tree head first.

Ouyang Ke fell down right side up, while Guo Jing fell upside down, both men saw the ground was approaching fast. Seeing Guo Jing falling beside him Ouyang Ke had an idea; he stretched his hands toward Guo Jing's legs. He wanted to use Guo Jing as a stepping stone, so he would be able to jump back up while Guo Jing would certainly fall faster to the ground. Or so he thought.

Huang Rong saw Guo Jing's precarious situation and called out, "Aiyo!" But then strangely it was Guo Jing whom she saw jumped back up to the tree, while with a loud crashing sound Ouyang Ke was hitting the ground. Guo Jing landed on a tree branch and was out of breath, panting profusely.

Huang Rong was extremely delighted. She did not see clearly how it happened; how in a critical moment Guo Jing was able to turn defeat into victory, but she was delighted nonetheless and was unable to restrain herself from crying out, "Aiyo!" But these two 'aiyo's carried entirely different emotions.

By that time Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong have already come down. Hong Qigong was laughing hard, repeatedly uttering, "Wonderful! Wonderful!" Ouyang Feng's face was green from anger. "Qi Xiong," he gloomily said, "Your smart disciple's martial art is so diverse to include even the Mongolian wrestling skill."

Hong Qigong laughed, he said, "I don't know how to wrestle, so it wasn't me who taught him. You can't blame me."

What really happened was: Guo Jing was pushed down by Ouyang Ke, he fell faster down. He saw Ouyang Ke's legs flying up right in front of him. He did not have time to think. In that critical moment he instinctively stretched both arms to grab Ouyang Ke's calves; pulling himself up by twisting his body from the upside-down position to the upright on. It was precisely the wrestling technique the Mongolians practiced.

The Mongolians have trained and perfected their wrestling techniques for generations; they were considered one of the bests. Guo Jing grew up in the Mongolian desert. Before he even learned martial arts from the Six Freaks of Jiangnan he had played and wrestled everyday with Tuolei and his friends. So Mongolian wrestling to him was as natural as eating rice. Otherwise; by nature his was slow, he was falling down, fast; even if he knew Mongolian wrestling technique he would not have enough time to think. It was not like: when falling down and seeing a pair of legs in front of him, he thought, "Oh, a pair of legs, nice! Hey, why don't I use these legs to jump back up there." It happened so fast, that even after he managed to land his feet on the tree branch he still did not know what happened and that he had won against all odds.

Huang Yaoshi slightly shook his head, he thought, "This Guo Jing is a slow-witted kid. This victory is obviously because of sheer luck." He gave his decision, "The first test was won by Guo Xianzhi [Worthy Nephew]. But Feng Xiong please not to worry, you have taught your honorable nephew well. Who knows he will score victories for the second and third tests."

"Then please Yao Xiong present the second test," Ouyang Feng replied.

"The second test will be ..." Huang Yaoshi started, but before he could finish Huang Rong had cut him off, "Father, obviously you are one-sided. Just a moment ago you said you would only test their martial arts skill, how come you want to test other subjects? Brother Jing, you might as well admit defeat and leave."

"What do you know?" Huang Yaoshi said, "After reaching certain level of martial art skill, do you still want to fight everyday? Yes, we are martial arts people; but unlike ordinary military people, we don't live on martial arts day by day. We don't amuse ourselves by jousting to find a spouse ..." Listening to this part Huang Rong stole a glance toward Guo Jing. Guo Jing was also looking at her. They were thinking of the same thing: Mu Nianci and Yang Kang, who met each other at the capital by 'joust to find a spouse'. In the meantime Huang Yaoshi had continued his speech, "... My second test subject therefore is asking these two Xianzhis to listen to this old man playing a tune on my flute."

Ouyang Ke was ecstatic; he thought, "What did this stupid kid know about wind or string instrument? The victory is mine for sure."

Ouyang Feng on the other hand, was not so sure. He suspected Huang Yaoshi was going to test these two persons' internal energy strength by the flute sound. He knew Guo Jing's level of internal energy to be quite strong; his nephew not necessarily could exceed him. Also, he was afraid his nephew would be internally injured by Huang Yaoshi's flute sound. He said, "Juniors' internal energy cultivation is shallow, I am afraid they won't be able to listen to Yao Xiong's elegant melody. I wonder if Yao Xiong would consider ..."

Huang Yaoshi did not give him a chance to finish, "My song is an ordinary one, without any high level of internal energy. Feng Xiong, set your heart in peace." Toward Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing he said, "Xianzhis please take a bamboo stick each; follow my music by tapping it to the rhythm. The one who can follow better will win the second test."

Guo Jing stepped forward and cupped his hands, "Island Master Huang, disciple is very slow and stupid. I know nothing about music; let me admit defeat for the second test."

"Don't be hasty; don't be hasty," Hong Qigong intervened, "In the worst case you will lose, why don't you try? Are you afraid that others will laugh at your face?"

Guo Jing thought his master made some sense; seeing Ouyang Ke took a bamboo stick he did the same.

"Qi Xiong, Feng Xiong," Huang Yaoshi smiled, "Younger brother will show off his inability." Lifted the jade flute to his lips he started to blow. This part of his song did not carry any internal energy and it wasn't any different than any ordinary person would play.

Ouyang Ke listened attentively, trying to follow the rhythm, and then he started tapping his bamboo stick correctly. Guo Jing did not have a clue; he held his bamboo stick high in the air but did not dare to tap it. Only after Huang Yaoshi had played about the time it needed to drink a cup of tea, he started to move his stick.

The Ouyangs, uncle and nephew were very smug. They thought that this time victory was guaranteed. Since the third subject would be another literary related, they were ninety percent sure they would win.

Huang Rong was anxious; she lightly tapped her right hand finger to her left knuckles; with the hope Guo Jing would follow. Who would have known that Guo Jing was staring blankly at the sky, lost in thought; obviously he did not see her signal.

Huang Yaoshi kept blowing the flute; Guo Jing raised his hand and struck the bamboo stick right in between two beats of the music. Ouyang Ke stifled his laugh, thinking that this stupid kid always strike on the wrong beat. Guo Jing struck again, still in between the two music beats. He had struck his bamboo stick four times, all were on the wrong places.

Huang Rong shook her head in dismay, "My stupid brother does not understand anything about music," she thought, "Father shouldn't have tested him." Having had this thought, she racked her brain, trying to find a way to disrupt the test. But when she turned her gaze toward her father she was surprised; her father showed astonishment in his face. She heard Guo Jing tapped several more times; the flute sound suddenly became a little bit sluggish, but it went back to its original tempo immediately.