I saw Madame Huang flipped one page after another, she read attentively from the beginning; her lips slightly moved which I thought a little funny. The Nine Yin Manual contains high-level secret of martial arts; even if she is well versed in literature, I am afraid she wouldn’t comprehend even half a word. She read slowly from the beginning to the end, taking her time. I became impatient waiting, until at last she flipped the last page. I thought she was done, but unexpectedly she turned to the first page and read again. But this time she read quickly, finished in only a time needed to drink a cup of tea. She gave that book back to me and smiled, ‘Big Brother Zhou, you have been deceived by the Western Poison; this is not the Nine Yin Manual!’ I was shocked. I asked, ‘What do you mean it isn’t? This is obviously left behind by my martial brother, it looks good to me!’ Madame Huang replied, ‘What use is its look? Ouyang Feng obviously swapped your book with this cheap copy on how to do fortune telling and divination’.”
“Could it be that Ouyang Feng had swapped the books before the Venerable Wang came out of the coffin?” Guo Jing asked.
“That was what I thought then,” Zhou Botong replied. “But I’ve already known for some time that Old Heretic Huang is very shrewd; I could not really believe what his mistress had said either. Madame Huang saw me stood silently; she knew I doubted her words, so she asked, ‘Big Brother Zhou, how do you know this is the real Nine Yin Manual?’ I told her, ‘Ever since my martial brother took possession of the book, nobody has ever seen the contents. Martial Brother had said that he fought for seven days and seven nights to avoid further bloodshed in the Wulin world, not for his personal gain. Therefore, he forbade Quan Zhen disciples to learn any martial art from the book.’ Madame Huang then said, ‘Venerable Wang had a just and upright heart; truly deserving an endless admiration. Even so, there are other people who would not hesitate to deceive him. Big Brother Zhou, you go ahead and take a look at the book.’ I hesitated, remembering my deceased martial brother’s last words I did not dare to defy. Madame Huang continued, ‘This is a book of divination that is available anywhere in Jiangnan; not worth half a ‘wen’ [currency, not sure the value]. Besides, even if this book is the real Nine Yin Manual, it is all right too look as long as you do not learn anything from it, isn’t it?’
So I opened the book and looked at the first page. To me the book seemed to be describing methods and techniques to practice martial arts; where was fortune telling and divination stuff? Madame Huang said, ‘I have played with this kind of book since I was five; I know the content from the beginning to the end. We the Jiangnan kids, nine out of ten are familiar with it. If you don’t believe me, just listen to this.’ Having said that words started flowing like water from her mouth; she recited the book from the beginning to the end. I looked at the book to see if she really was reciting it from memory. Indeed, not a single word was wrong. My body turned cold, like I was plunged into a hole full of ice. Madame Huang also said, ‘No matter which page you want me to recite, as long as you read the beginning, I can recite the rest for you. I have read this kind of book since I was little, I won’t forget its content.’ I pulled out several sections just as she said, and she did recite them without hesitation.
The Old Heretic Huang burst in laughter. I was really angry; I ripped the book to pieces and then burned it to ashes. Old Heretic Huang suddenly said, ‘Old Urchin, you don’t need to lose your urchin’s temper. Let me give you this soft hedgehog armor.’ I didn’t know I fell into his scheme; I thought I looked so sorry to him that he wanted to ease my feeling. I was still upset, besides, how could I take the treasure of Peach Blossom Island? So I only thanked him without taking his gift. I went back to my hometown and closed the door. I wanted to practice my martial art. I knew at that time that I was not Ouyang Feng’s match, so I determined to train hard for five years. I thought I would go the west to take the book back from the Western Poison. My martial brother left me the book and the old urchin could not keep it safe. How could I face martial brother in the underworld?”
“The Western Poison is so crafty, I know you must deal with him; but wouldn’t it be a lot better if you take Priest Ma, Priest Qiu and the others to come with you?” Guo Jing asked.
“Ay! I can only blame my own arrogance,” Zhou Botong said, “After suffering from humiliation I did not want to talk to Ma Yu and the others. If I did they would certainly see something was amiss. Several years later there arose a rumor among the Jianghu people that the Peach Blossom Island disciples, The Twin Killers of the Dark Wind had gotten hold of the Nine Yin Manual; they had mastered several kinds of exquisite martial arts from the book, and had created havoc everywhere. At first I did not believe it, but the rumor was getting stronger. A year later, Qiu Chuji came to my home. His visit was in connection with the Nine Yin Manual affair. He said that the book had really fallen into the Peach Blossom Island disciples’ hands. I was fuming mad and said, ‘Old Heretic Huang is not worthy to be my friend!’ Qiu Chuji was taken aback, ‘Martial Uncle, why did you say Huang Yaoshi was not worthy to be your friend?’ I told him, ‘He went to get the book back from Western Poison without consulting me, and did not give the book back to me.’”
“I think he intended to do it, but right after he got the book back it was stolen by his renegade disciples,” Guo Jing reasoned. “I know he was quite angry because of this, that he cut the legs’ ligament of his other innocent disciples and expelled them from his school.”
Zhou Botong shook his head. “You are as naive as I was, if this affair happened to you, you would surely be bullied without knowing it,” he said. “That day Qiu Chuji discussed martial arts with me, we talked at length before he finally left. Two months later he suddenly reappeared. He had visited Chen Xuanfeng and Mei Chaofeng, the couple that had stolen the Old Heretic Huang’s book. They were practicing ‘Nine Yin White Bone Claw’ and ‘Heart Destroying Palm’, two evil martial arts. He took a big risk to eavesdrop the Twin Killers of the Dark Wind’s conversation and found out that Old Heretic Huang did not get the book from Ouyang Feng. Not at all. He stole it from my own hands.”