She thought to herself, “ His teacher is really weird, I wonder whether she looks frightening as well.” After placing the skull back into place, she secretly hoped to herself, “ I hope that teacher will get the belt and immediately go and save him. I hope that you will teach him proper so that he kick his bad habits and change his ways.”
She was thinking about the chained up but handsome sweet-talker Wanyan Kang when she felt someone gently patting her shoulder. She was shocked and did not dare turn around. Due to her nervousness, she accidentally fell onto the pile of skulls. Mu Nianci used her arms to clench her chest and turned around. She had just turned around when someone patted her shoulder gently again.
She turned around about six more times but still could not spot the person behind her, she didn’t know whether it was ghost or a demon. Mu Nianci broke out in cold sweat and did not dare move. Quivering, she asked, “ Who are you?”
The person placed his head near her neck and sniffed before laughing out, “ What a nice scent! Guess who am I.”
Mu Niaci hurriedly turned around and saw a scholarly dressed man, a fan in his hand with a charming expression: It was one of the culprits who had forced her godfather to death back in Beijing, Ouyang Ke. She was both surprised and angry and since she knew that she was not his match, she turned to run. Ouyang Ke was however, already in front of her, laughing out aloud with arms stretched out, ready to hug her if she took a few more steps forward. Mu Nianci hurriedly retreated a few steps and ran to her right, but had only ran a few steps when Ouyang Ke was in front of her again. She ran in all directions but still could not escape him.
Ouyang Ke saw the pale colour on her beautiful face and was delighted. He knew that he could capture her in one move but he wanted to play the cat and mouse game with her, trapping her but letting her off again. Mu Nianci knew that she was in danger and pulled out a green dagger, aiming for his head.
Ouyang Ke laughed and said, “ Aiyah, don’t be rough.”
He twisted his body, grabbed her arms with his left hand while holding her waist with his right arm. Mu Nianci struggled but felt numb at her throat and her dagger was already snatched away by Ouyang Ke. She managed to free herself after awhile, only to be captured into his arms again. This was like the time Ouyang Ke held Huang Rong at Wanyan Kang’s residence; his opponent’s pulse froze the hand movement and could not move at all.
Ouyang Ke laughed lightly and said, “ Accept me as your teacher and I’ll immediately release you and teach you this stance. But I’m afraid that by that time, you won’t want me to let go of you already.”
Mu Nianci was trapped by his arms and Ouyang Ke used his right hand to gently brush against her cheeks. She knew that he was up to no good and was so frightened that she passed out unknowingly. After awhile, Mu Nianci woke up but she felt numb and weak all over. Someone was hugging her tightly and in the confusion, she thought it was Wanyan Kang and was delighted but after she opened her eyes, she realized that the person hugging her was Ouyang Ke. She was bashful and nervous and struggled to stand up only to realize that her could not move. She opened her mouth to call out but realized that Ouyang Ke had staffed a handkerchief in her mouth. She saw him sitting on the ground but he wore an anxious expression. On both sides of Ouyang Ke were eight women in white who each had a weapon in their hands, all of them staring suspiciously but silently at the pile of skulls.
Mu Nianci was curious and tried thinking what they were up to. When she turned around, she was scared out of her wits as she saw thousands of green snakes behind Ouyang Ke. The snakes were motionless but were hissing with their tongues out; the moonlight shone on the thousands of red tongues, which looked like a sea of red tongues; it was a frightening sight. Amongst the snakes stood three men in white with long poles in their hands; it was the exact same men Mu Nianci had seen earlier. She didn’t dare look anymore and turned back. It was then that she saw the shiny gold belt amongst the nine skulls and thought anxiously, “ Ah, they must be waiting for his teacher. From their expressions, they must have prepared to deal with his teacher. But his teacher is traveling alone, then how can he defeat so many people? And there are so many poisonous snakes around as well.”
She was extremely anxious and hoped that Wanyan Kang’s teacher won’t come. But she also hoped that his teacher would know what to expect and come prepared, defeating all these evil people and save her. After waiting for more than half an hour, the moon rose even higher and she saw Ouyang Ke constantly looking up at the moon. She thought to herself, “ Will his teacher only appear when the moon shifts to the middle of the sky?”
She saw the moon rise above the top of a tree. The surroundings were empty, the wild worms were making noises and there were sounds of birdcalls in the distance. Ouyang Ke glanced at the moon once more before placing Mu Nianci into the arms of a woman beside him. He took out his fan with his right hand and stared on the corner of the hill. Mu Nianci knew that the person they were waiting for was coming soon. The silence was soon broken by a strong and piercing flute tune, which grew nearer after awhile. A figure flashed by and a woman with long hair suddenly appeared from the cliff. As she passed by the cliff, she slowed down and it seemed like she had noticed that there were people nearby. It was iron corpse, Mei Chaofeng.
After Mei Chaofeng had gotten the a few verses of the secret formulas for the cultivation of her internal energy, she studied them carefully and it was not more than a month before her legs recovered and she could work normally. Furthermore, her internal energy had improved tremendously. Ever since she found out that the Six Freaks of Jiangnan had returned from Mongolia, she had started to plot for revenge, following the little prince as he set out for his mission. She practiced her skills every night. Mei Chaofeng found riding the boats with many people inconvenient and thus decided to travel by herself every night, and had arranged to meet Wanyan Kang in Suzhou. She did not know that Wanyan Kang was in the hands of the Heroes of Lake Tai nor was she aware that Ouyang Ke who wanted to take revenge on her for killing his men and humiliating him earlier, as well as to lay hands on her “Nine Yin Manual” had earlier spied on and found out her whereabouts, and had thus got together thousands of snakes and is now secretly waiting for her at the spot she practices her skills every night. She had just passed the cliff when she heard the breathing of several people and stopped in her tracks immediately to listen. She heard tons of weird noises behind the group of people.