For the last several months Lu Guanying had received his father’s instructions so that he enjoyed progress by leaps and bounds, but the days of his training were too short to be compared to Yin Zhiping who was a main disciple of Changchun.
Huang Rong was watching this fight through the small mirror; she saw Yin Zhiping gradually take the lead, she cursed in her heart, “This ‘xiao za mao’ [lit. little mixed-up hair – a derogatory term to Taoist priest] was scolding my father. If Jing Gege was not injured, I would certainly teach you some lessons on the heretical Peach Blossom Island’s martial art. Aiyo! Not good!”
She saw Lu Guanying’s saber strike down with a familiar stance, Yin Zhiping intercepted it with his whisk and diverted the saber away; then turning his hand over his finger moved with an exceptional speed toward the crook of Lu Guanying’s elbow. Lu Guanying felt his arm go numb and his saber fell down to the ground. Without showing any mercy Yin Zhiping swept his whisk toward Lu Guanying’s face while loudly shouted, “This is Quanzhen Sect’s martial art, remember it well!” His whisk was made of horse’s tail mixed with strands of silver threads; once Lu Guanying’s face got hit, it would certainly be slashed with countless cuts.
Lu Guanying understood the danger, he quickly ducked and the whisk followed by sweeping downward. Suddenly a tender voice was shouting, “Yin Shige!” Cheng Yaojia thrust her sword to block the whisk. Lu Guanying took that opportunity to leap back and pick his saber from the ground.
Yin Zhiping coldly laughed, “Good! Cheng Shimei, you are helping an outsider. Come! You two lovers can fight me together.”
“You … you …” Cheng Yaojia stammered.
‘Swish! Swish! Swish!’ Ying Zhiping swept his whisk three times, forcing her to move her hands and feet in a disorderly manner. Lu Guanying saw her precarious situation he raised his saber and joined the fight two against one. But Cheng Yaojia did not want to fight her martial brother, so she jumped back.
“Come!” Yin Zhiping said, “He cannot fight me alone. Otherwise, in a while you will come and help him anyway.”
Huang Rong watched these three people fighting each other in amusement; she was wondering how this matter could be resolved when suddenly she heard some noise from the door. She saw Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian, along with Wanyan Honglie, Yang Kang, and the others came in together.
It turned out they had been waiting for Hou Tonghai for a long time and he did not come back. Sha Tongtian was concerned over his martial brother, so gathering his courage he quietly came over to take a look. He saw inside the inn two people were fighting; their martial art skills were only average. He waited for a long time but did not see anybody else. He was afraid to come in alone, so he went back and summoned the others, taking them back to the inn.
Yin and Lu two people saw these people came in; they leaped back and stopped fighting. They asked these newcomers, but Sha Tongtian swayed and stepped forward with arms open wide, grabbing both men’s wrists. Meanwhile Peng Lianhu stooped down and untied Hou Tonghai’s hands.
Hou Tonghai had been suffering for half a day; he was really angry. Without taking out the cloths in his mouth he roared and threw himself at Cheng Yaojia, attacking her with his palms. Cheng Yaojia evaded by moving backward in a circle. Hou Tonghai’s face was purple from the bruise; his fists went straight up and down fiercely attacking Cheng Yaojia.
“Hold on!” Peng Lianhu repeatedly said, “Let’s talk first.” But Hou Tonghai’s mouth and ears were stopped with cloths, how could he have heard anything?
The acupoint on Lu Guanying’s wrist was grabbed by Sha Tongtian; he felt half of his body went numb, he could not move. But seeing Cheng Yaojia in danger and Hou Tonghai was like a mad tiger; he struggled hard and without knowing where the strength came from, he shook Sha Tongtian’s grab loose and fiercely threw himself toward Hou Tonghai.
Before he reached his target Peng Lianhu swept his leg and sent him tumbling down and immediately Peng Lianhu pounced on him. He grabbed Lu Guanying by the back of his neck and lifted him up; “Who are you?” he asked, “Where is that fellow who played ghost?”
Suddenly the door creaked and it opened slowly. Everybody turned their head at once, but nobody came in. Peng Lianhu and the others could not help but feel shivers of fear in their hearts; suddenly a female head with disheveled hair sticking out was at the door. Liang Ziweng and Lingzhi Shangren jumped up in fright; they even shouted, “Not good! A female ghost!”
Peng Lianhu saw clearly that she was just an ordinary country girl; “Come in!” he shouted.
Shagu walked in with a giggle, sticking out her tongue she said, “Ah, so many people!”
Liang Ziweng was the one shouted, “Female Ghost!” earlier, now he saw she was just a poor peasant girl with tattered clothes and silly demeanor; out of shame he became angry. He jumped forward and shouted, “Who are you?” Stretching out his hand he grabbed her arm. Who would have thought that Shagu withdrew her arm and flipped her hand, then her palm struck with the Peach Blossom Island’s ‘bi bo zhang fa’ [jade-green wave palm technique]. Although her skill was not refined, the stance was subtle and wonderful. Liang Ziweng did not guard against her counterattack at all. ‘Slap!’ Shagu’s palm hit the back of his hand, hard.
Liang Ziweng was stunned and angry at the same time. “Good!” he called out, “You are playing dumb!” He rushed forward with both fists straight up. Shagu stepped back to evade, suddenly she pointed toward his shiny bald head and burst out in laughter.
This laughter caught everybody by surprise; Liang Ziweng was stunned and he stopped dead on his tracks for a few seconds; only then he ferociously resumed his attack. Shagu raised her hands to block, but she staggered back. She knew she was not his match, so she turned around, trying to run away. But Liang Ziweng would not let her escape, he stretched his left leg backward to block her, while his elbow struck backward, followed by his fist. Shagu’s nose was hit hard until she felt her head spinning. She cried out, “Sister who eats the watermelon, come out quickly! Help me! Somebody is hitting me!”
Huang Rong was startled, she thought, “Not killing this dumb girl was a big mistake; she is bound to bring us disaster.” Suddenly she heard a soft ‘humph’ sound. It was so soft, almost inaudible, but Huang Rong’s heart jumped in delight. “Father is here!” she thought. Hastily she looked through the small hole and saw Huang Yaoshi wearing a human-skin mask, standing on the doorstep.
Nobody saw him come, as if he had just arrived, but also as if he had been there before everybody else came. He stood motionless like a log of wood, without showing the least bit of emotion on his face. Everybody who saw him could not help but shudder. He did not have a green face nor did he have fierce teeth; he did not even look loathsome or ugly, but in all honesty nobody could say that his face belonged to a living person.