As Lu and Cheng two people saw this lunatic come back, they were slightly startled. But before the man arrived they had already caught the bad smell he was bringing. Hou Tonghai pondered, “I heard people say that men are more vicious than women, but female ghost is more dangerous than the male one.” Therefore, he lifted the bundle and threw it toward Cheng Yaojia.
Cheng Yaojia called out in alarm; she moved sideways to evade. Lu Guanying had already lifted up a long bench to strike the bundle. It fell to the ground and broke, dung flew everywhere, bad smell attacked their nostrils making them want to throw up.
Hou Tonghai shouted loudly, “Double-headed ghost, quickly go back to your original form.” Lifting his fork he attacked Cheng Yaojia ferociously. He was simple-minded, but his martial art skill was not bad. His fork attack was both rapid and fierce.
Lu and Cheng two people were alarmed; they both thought, “This man is obviously a Wulin expert; he is by no means a lunatic.”
Lu Guanying saw Cheng Yaojia as a lady from a renowned family, she looked so frail and tender that a whiff of wind might blow her away. He was afraid this mad man might hurt her, so he lifted the long bench to parry the three-pronged steel fork. “Who are you, Sir?” he asked. Hou Tonghai ignored his question and stabbed him three times with his fork. Lu Guanying kept using the bench as his weapon and repeatedly asked his name.
Hou Tonghai noticed that although the ghost’s martial art skill was not weak, but actually it was entirely different from the mysteriously appearing and disappearing ghost of last night. He concluded it was the result of his dung attack earlier. He was very smug and called out, “You, the enchanting ghost, want to know my name so that you can put a curse on me, don’t you? Your master won’t fall into your trick.”
Initially he called himself ‘Master Hou’, but now that he got a sudden inspiration he omitted the word ‘Hou’ and only used the word ‘Master’ to avoid the ghost from throwing up a curse on him. The steel rings on his fork made a ding-dong noise as he intensified his attack.
Lu Guanying’s martial art was inferior to his opponent to begin with; and now he was using a bench as a weapon. He wanted to draw the saber on his waist but did not have any chance to do so. He was forced to step back so that after a while his back was already against the wall, covering the small hole through which Huang Rong was looking out.
Hou Tonghai stabbed with his steel fork, Lu Guanying hastily moved sideways to evade. ‘Bang!’ the fork pricked the wall, less than a foot away from Huang Rong’s hole. Before he pulled his fork back, the bench in Lu Guanying’s hand struck vertically toward the top of his head. Hou Tonghai’s foot flew to kick Lu Guanying’s hand, while his left fist attacked Lu Guanying’s face. The bench fell from Lu Guanying’s hands, while he was forced to duck to avoid the blow. Meanwhile Hou Tonghai had withdrawn his steel fork from the wall.
Cheng Yaojia saw the critical situation; she jumped forward and pulled the saber from Lu Guanying’s waist, then handed it over to him. “Many thanks!” Lu Guanying said. He had never imagined that in this critical moment this polite and charming girl would have the courage to enter such a fierce battle and draw the saber to help him.
He saw a bright flickering light from the steel fork coming into his chest; immediately his saber went up horizontally in front of his chest and ‘clang!’ sparks flew everywhere. The steel fork was forced sideways, but he felt a chest pain. It seemed like this lunatic’s strength was not small; but with a saber in his hand he was greatly encouraged.
After exchanging several stances both men’s feet had stepped over the dung and brought it everywhere they treaded. In the beginning Hou Tonghai was fighting with trepidation; he always thought about darting out the door to escape, he did not dare to use all his strength. But the longer they fought, he saw the ghost was unable to defeat him; obviously his enchantment was restrained by the dung. He became bolder and his attacks became fiercer. In the end Lu Guanying was having a hard time blocking his attacks.
At first Cheng Yaojia was afraid of the dung on the ground; she stood up in a corner watching the fight. But then she saw this handsome young man would lose his life under the lunatic’s steel fork; she hesitated for a moment, finally she made up her mind and drew a sword from her bundle. She called out to Lu Guanying, “Xiang Gong, I … I am going to help you. Please pardon me.” Her manner was truly thorough; she was apologizing before helping someone to fight. Her sword flashed toward Hou Tonghai’s chest.
She was the Qing Jing San Ren [Sage of Tranquility], Sun Bu’er’s disciple; naturally she was well-versed in the Quanzhen Sect’s sword technique. Hou Tonghai had anticipated her move; he thought that the double-headed ghost had transformed itself into two, and the female ghost would attack him soon as an evil spirit, so he was not surprised. But Lu Guanying was pleasantly surprised. He saw her movement was quick, her sword technique exquisite; his heart was full of admiration. His own saber was starting to be chaotic, he was sweating profusely; now suddenly someone came to help, his spirit rose.
At first Hou Tonghai was quite worried by the female ghost’s fierceness, but after a few stances he noticed that although her sword technique was proficient, but her strength was just ordinary; moreover, she looked nervous. Probably she had not been a ghost for long, she had not reached the ‘old ghost’ level yet. Thereupon he gradually felt relieved. His three-pronged fork created strong gusts of wind. One against two, he still was able to attack more than his opponents.
Watching from the other room Huang Rong was very anxious; she knew Lu and Cheng two people would eventually fall under their enemy. She wanted to lend them a hand, but she must not leave Guo Jing even for half a step. Otherwise, with her intelligence and abundant experience it would be very easy for her to play tricks on this Three-headed Scaly Dragon.
She heard Lu Guanying call out, “Miss, go away, you don’t have to entangle yourself with him.”
Cheng Yaojia knew he was worried that she might be injured and wanted to fight this mad man alone; she was very grateful, but she also knew fighting alone he would not be able to resist the enemy. She shook her head, unwilling to draw back.
Lu Guanying fought furiously, he shouted to Hou Tonghai, “As a real man you are making things difficult for a young girl, what kind of hero are you? Just deal with me, a man surnamed Lu, and let this Miss go.”