Master of Taohua Island.

Original translation by foxs

What he saw was six people – five men and one woman entering the hall, they were the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. They have been wandering around the north and south, and on that particular day had arrived at the Tai Lake, where they met some Jianghu people on a boat who received them attentively.

They have left their hometown for such a long time that they did not know the current affair of the martial arts world. They weren’t sure who these people were, so Zhu Cong exchanged some pleasantries with them. Turned out these people were Chief Zhang and his men from the Village of the Returning Wind.

They have received order from Lu Guanying to guard the lake and to report any unusual activities. They did not know who these six people were, and since these six wield weapons, they inclined to think these six were the enemies of the Old Village Master. Therefore, Manager Zhang acted in utmost prudence and received the six cordially, inviting them to enter the village; while at the same time sent report to the Village Master immediately.

Guo Jing however, was ecstatic to see his six masters. Quickly he knelt down and greeted them one by one, “First Master, Second Master, Third Master, Fourth Master, Sixth Master, and Seventh Master! All of you are here! This really is wonderful!” He was rather boorish; but through his spontaneity everybody could see his sincerity and genuine delight.

The Six Freaks were angry with him over Huang Rong affair, yet in all honesty they loved him dearly. They were pleasantly surprised to see him and all angers simply vanished into the thin air.

“Child, where is that female demon of yours?” Han Baoju could not help scolding him.

Han Xiaoying however, had a pair of sharp eyes. She saw Huang Rong wearing men’s clothing sat among the people. She tugged Han Baoju’s sleeve and whispered, “Calm down. We will talk this over later.”

Initially Village Master Lu also suspected that his enemies had arrived, but then he saw that these six were total strangers to him; moreover, Guo Jing had addressed them as his masters. He was relieved. Cupping his fists in respect he apologized, “I am invalid on the legs; please forgive me for not standing up to welcome you,” and immediately gave order to prepare another banquet table for the guests.

Without wasting another second Guo Jing immediately introduced his Masters. Village Master Lu was delighted, he said, “I have heard your illustrious names and admired you for a long time. It is very fortunate to finally meet you in person today.” His manner was very cordial.

Qiu Qianren on the other hand, did not show any interest in these six guests. He simply smiled faintly and kept eating and drinking.

Han Baoju was irritated and could not keep his temper. “And who is this gentleman?” he asked.

“I am pleased to introduce to you, Six Masters,” Village Master Lu proudly said, “This is the highly respected Senior of the Wulin world, the Taishan (Mount Tai) and the Big Dipper (or Big Bear) Constellation [meaning – the ultimate] of this present age.”

The Six Freaks were startled. “Is he the Peach Blossom Island Master Huang Yaoshi?” asked Han Xiaoying. “Could he be the nine-fingered divine beggar – Hong Qigong?” asked Han Baoju.

Village Master Lu smiled and explained, “No, he is neither. He is the iron palm floating on the water, Senior Qiu.”

“He is Senior Qiu Qianren?” Ke Zhen’E asked, surprised by the revelation.

Qiu Qianren laughed heartily, his face was smug.

By that time the villagers had finished preparing a new banquet table and the Six Freaks took their seats. Guo Jing wanted to sit with his masters. He tugged Huang Rong’s hand to go together, but Huang Rong simply smiled and shook her head. She was not willing to sit with the Six Freaks.

Village Master Lu laughed and said, “I thought Brother Guo did not know martial arts. Who would have known that you are the disciple of the well-known Masters. Truly my eyes are blind, could not see the hidden treasure right in front of me …”

Guo Jing stood up. “My skill is mediocre,” he said, “I was indeed taught by my Masters. I do not dare to show off in front of Village Master. I beg your forgiveness.”

Ke Zhen’E was delighted listening to their conversation. He was proud that Guo Jing was well-behaved.

Qiu Qianren suddenly said, “The Six Freaks of the South Jiangnan are the prominent characters of the Jianghu world. This old man has a very important matter to deal. It would be great if I could acquire your valuable assistance.”

“Senior Qiu was just about to explain the matter when the six guests arrived,” explained the Village Master. “Now would Senior please enlighten us?”

Qiu Qianren complied, he said, “For us who live in the Jianghu world, the ultimate purpose of our existence is chivalry: helping the suffering people. Right now we see it with our own eyes the Jin army is moving south. If our Song Dynasty cannot discern good from bad and is not willing to surrender, as soon as the war breaks I wonder how many lives will perish? As the saying goes, ‘shun tian zhe chang, ni tian zhe wang’ [following Heaven’s will means prosperity, opposing Heaven’s will means death]. Therefore, this old man is going to the South to make contact with the valiant people of the South; to take arms together with the Jin army and attack the Song Dynasty from both sides, to render it helpless, and thus it does not have any choice but surrender. If we succeed, not only we will gain riches and honor, but the gratefulness of the common people as well. That way our martial arts skills are not useless, and we do not render these two characters ‘xia yi’ (chivalry) in vain.”

Hearing this, the Six Freaks’ countenances were flushed. Both Han brother and sister were ready to open their mouths. Luckily Quan Jinfa – who sat between them, quickly pulled their sleeves and signaled with his eyes toward the Village Master, hinting that they should wait to see how the master would respond.

So far Village Master Lu had showed great admiration to Qiu Qianren; but to suddenly listen to his speech he was unable to restrain his great surprise. He forced a smile and said, “Even though Junior is unworthy, my body is as worthless as mere grass, but I have never dared to forget loyalty. The Jin army is going south to attack my country; they mean harm to the people. Junior will certainly join other Jiangnan heroes to fight the invaders to my death. Senior, what you just said, was that to test me?”

“Brother Lu, how could you be so short sighted?” Qiu Qianren asked. “What good is it to help the Song fight the Jin? Most likely you will end up as Yue Wu Mu, who suffered a tragic death at the Crisis Pavilion.”

Listening to this the Village Master Lu was shocked and angered at the same time. Initially he thought he could count on Qiu to help him deal with the Twin Killers of Dar Wind; who would have thought that he was persuaded to betray his own country instead. It was useless to possess a high skill of martial arts if the person had such a low character and this shameless. He flicked his sleeve and said, “Junior is facing a formidable enemy even tonight. I was going to ask Senior to help me uphold the justice; but since we do not hold the same value, I do not dare to entertain your honorable presence even if blood would splash from my neck. Please!” He cupped his fists. His intention was clear; he did not want the guest to stay any longer.

The Six Freaks of Jiangnan – along with Guo Jing and Huang Rong, were delighted and secretly admired their host.

Qiu Qianren smiled, but did not say anything. His left hand gripped the wine cup, his right hand moved toward the cup mouth, revolving the cup around in his hand. Suddenly he flipped his right hand and flicked the cup away. To everybody’s amazement the cup was cut smooth into two parts: the cup bottom and about half an inch of porcelain ring. To crush the cup is not difficult, but to cut the cup smooth was a demonstration of profound energy worthy of everybody’s respect.

Village Master Lu realized he was being threatened. But while he was still hesitating, Horse God Han Baoju had already leaped out of his seat. Angrily he called out, “Shameless scoundrel, let us see who is superior, you or I!”

Qiu Qianren did not falter. “I have heard the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’s stellar reputation for a long time. Today I want to see whether what I heard is true or not. All six of you, come!”

Village Master Lu knew Han Baoju was no match to the old man. He was delighted to hear the old man challenged all six of them. He quickly said, “The Six Freaks of Jiangnan always move forward and backward together. Facing a single enemy or fighting an army, the six go together, not a single one of them willing to be left behind.”

Zhu Cong understood very well the Village Master’s intention. “Very well,” he said, “let us six brothers and sister fight this famous Wulin character!” He waved his hand and immediately his five brothers and sister left their seats.

Qiu Qianren also stood up; he picked his chair up and strolled to the center of the hall, laid down the chair and sat down; his right foot above his left. Calmly he said, “This old man will fight you sitting down.”

Ke Zhen’E and the others were startled. He knew that the old man would not dare to act so arrogantly if he did not have a very high level of martial arts.

While his six masters have not made any move yet, Guo Jing quickly moved forward. He had heard amazing stories about this old man’s kungfu, and knew his masters were not this old man’s match. He had received his masters’ kindness and even though he knew the risk, he stepped in front of his masters and boldly said, “Junior is asking for some lessons from the Senior.”

Qiu Qianren was surprised, but then exploded in laughter. “It wasn’t easy for your parent to raise you. Why would you waste your unworthy life for nothing in this place?”

Ke Zhen’E and the others called out almost in unison, “Jing’er, move back!”

But Guo Jing was determined. He was afraid his masters would hold him back, so without saying anything he bent his left leg a little bit and moved his right palm in a circular motion, and then thrust it forward, hard. It was the Proud Dragon Showing Remorse from the ‘18 Dragon-Subduing Palms’, which he had trained hard unceasingly up to that day; therefore, it could not be compared with when Hong Qigong first taught him.

Qiu Qianren had seen Han Baoju’s skill when he leaped out of his seat. It wasn’t extraordinary. Naturally, he thought Han’s disciple would not be good either. It was beyond his comprehension that Guo Jing’s attack was so fierce. He was shocked and hastily leaped up from his chair, only to hear a loud cracking sound. His chair was destroyed by Guo Jing’s palm.

“Confounded kid!” he shouted angrily when his body had landed back on the ground.

Guo Jing was a bit wary; he did not dare to advance. “Senior, please give me some pointers,” he said politely.

Huang Rong wanted to disturb Qiu Qianren’s mind, she called out, “Brother Jing, don’t be so polite to this old scoundrel!”

The old man was livid! Ever since he roamed the Jianghu, who would dare to call him ‘old scoundrel’ in front of his face? He was about to jump and thrust his palm to attack her, but suddenly remembered his own reputation. He sneered and lifted his right hand and positioned his left hand on his eyebrows. And then right when Guo Jing moved sideways to fend, redirected his hand to make a claw and retracted it, while the hand on his eyebrows moved forward in circular motion. His right hand followed, changed from fist to palm.

Huang Rong called out, “What’s so special about the move? That is the Lone Goose Leaves the Flock from the Open Arm Six Arms Technique!”

Qiu Qianren was surprised she recognized his move. It was indeed the Open Arm Six Arms Technique, which was created based on the Open Arm Five Elements Technique. It was not an extraordinary move; but he had perfected this move for decades. The word ‘open’ here actually meant that his right and left arms were interchangeable. Guo Jing saw his right hand coming fast, while his left hand moving to the right, then the right hand went back and supported the left hand. So both hands were supporting each other, increasing the strength of both hands. Very fierce.

Guo Jing had seen his amazing strength, and then actually faced him in combat. He was a little bit nervous and did not dare to counterattack. He kept stepping back.

Qiu Qianren thought, “This kid could destroy a chair due to his strength, but actually his martial arts is only so-so.” He immediately launched several stances: ‘chuan zhang shan pi’ [lit. penetrating palm hacking down in a flash], ‘liao yin zhang’ [lit. lifting the cloud palm technique], ‘kua hu deng shan’ [lit. step across the tiger to climb a mountain], getting stronger with each stance.

Huang Rong was anxious seeing Guo Jing was losing. She approached the two with the intention of stepping in if Guo Jing was in danger.

Guo Jing saw her coming near, he turned his head to see her anxious face and could not help but feel nervous. Qiu Qianren saw this and wasting no time he attacked with ‘bai she tu zhi’ [White Snake Spitting Sign], his palm hit Guo Jing squarely on the chest.

Huang Rong and the Six Freaks – as well as Master Lu and his son, all cried in alarm. They thought with Qiu’s strength hitting such a vital part, Guo Jing must have been dead or at least severely injured.

Guo Jing was also shocked, so he immediately circulated his chi and lifted both arms up. Strangely, he did not feel too much pain, which puzzled him to no end. Huang Rong saw him staring blankly, thought that he was internally injured and was about to pass out. She immediately jumped forward to support him and asked anxiously, “Brother Jing, are you all right?” Her heart was so shaken that tears flowed from her eyes involuntarily.

Guo Jing’s response was unexpected, “I am all right! Let me try again.” He stuck his chest out and walked toward Qiu Qianren, boldly said, “You are the Senior Hero Iron Palm, hit me again!”

Qiu Qianren was furious; he immediately hit another palm to Guo Jing’s chest with all his might. But instead of collapsing, Guo Jing laughed loudly and shouted, “Masters! Rong’er! This old scoundrel’s skill is only ordinary. As long as he did not hit me, his secret was safe, but as soon as he hit me, his secret is revealed!” His word was followed by a sweep of his left arm; forcing Qiu Qianren to step back. “You can feel my palm too!” he shouted.

Qiu Qianren saw his movement and thought, “You said ‘palm’ but your hand forms a fist, do you think I am blind?” He underestimated Guo Jing’s attack; he simply blocked the fist with both hands in front of his chest. Who would have known that Guo Jing was using the ‘long zhan yu ye’ [Dragon Fight out of the Field], the most mysterious stance of the ‘18 Dragon-Subduing Palms’; where both left and right arms could be either solid or void without any specific rule.

Qiu Qianren saw Guo Jing’s left arm moved while his right arm loose; but suddenly the right arm thrust forward and hit Qiu Qianren on the right shoulder, followed by a punch on his chest. Qiu Qianren’s body flew out of the hall through the main entrance like a kite with broken string!

Everybody uttered a startled cry. But somebody suddenly appeared at the entrance. She held Qiu Qianren on his collar, entering the main hall in big strides. She put Qiu Qianren down on the floor and stood stoically at the center of the hall. Her face was cold without any expression. Her long hair scattered on her shoulder. Her head looked up. She was none other than the Iron Corpse Mei Chaofeng. Every heart skipped a beat.

Behind her was another person no less peculiar than the Iron Corpse. That person was tall and rather thin; wearing a dark green robe. His countenance was pale and expressionless. Other than his rolling eyes, the rest of his face was stiff like a wooden statue. He stood still and stiff like a standing corpse. As soon as everybody saw this person, a chill crept on their backs. They immediately turned their gaze away from this person, did not dare to look at his face anymore; their hearts thumping.

Master Lu was perplexed. He would never think that the world famous Qiu Qianren would unexpectedly collapsed just from the first blow of his opponent. He was going to smile, but seeing Mei Chaofeng arrived his smile froze.

Wanyan Kang saw his master and was very excited. He immediately stepped forward to pay his respect. Everybody could see these two: master and disciple were actually similar in appearance and could not help but were astonished.

Master Lu raised his cupped fists and said, “Martial Sister Mei, it’s been twenty long years. Finally we meet here. How is Martial Brother Chen?”

The Six Freaks exchanged glances with Guo Jing. They clearly heard Master Lu calling her ‘Martial Sister’, and could not help but feel dismayed. Ke Zhen’E was upset. “We fall into a trap today,” he said. “Mei Chaofeng alone is not easy to deal with, now she has her martial brother along.”

Huang Rong on the other hand secretly nodded her head. “This Master’s martial arts and literature knowledge, as well as his general conduct and manner of speaking resemble those of my father. I had suspected he must have a family relationship with us. Who would have thought he is my father’s disciple.”

Mei Chaofeng coldly replied, “Is the speaker my martial brother Lu Chengfeng?”

“Yes, I am,” answered Master Lu. “Has Martial Sister been well since our last meeting?”

“Why did you ask?” answered Mei Chaofeng. “Both my eyes are blind. Can’t you see it? Your Martial Brother Xuanfeng has been murdered a long time ago. That was your expectation, wasn’t it?”

Master Lu was both pleasantly surprised and shocked. The Twin Killers of the Dark Wind had roamed the Jianghu and turned it upside-down. How could the Copper Corpse be murdered? But he was also relieved because he had one less formidable enemy; moreover, the one left behind was blind. However, he recalled their apprenticeship together at the Peach Blossom Island, and could not help but feeling sad. “Who had killed Martial Brother Chen?” he sighed and asked. “Has Martial Sister sought revenge?”

“I have wandered everywhere looking for them,” Mei Chaofeng answered.

“Let Little Brother help you,” Master Lu said. “Afterward we can sort out our own business.”

“Humph!” Mei Chaofeng sneered.

“Mei Chaofeng!” Han Baoju could not hold himself. He slapped the table and shouted, “Your archenemies are here!”

He was going to pounce on her, but Quan Jinfa quickly pulled him back. Mei Chaofeng on the other hand, was taken aback. “You … you …” she stammered.

At that time Qiu Qianren – who was silent because he felt chest pain from Guo Jing’s punch, felt his pain subsided. He opened his mouth to say, “What is it you were talking about? Revenge? Why, your own master was killed and you don’t know it? What kind of hero are you?”

“What did you say?” Mei Chaofeng almost screamed. She tightly crushed Qiu Qianren’s hand that he cried in pain, “Let go! Let go!”

Mei Chaofeng ignored him, “What did you say?” she repeated.

“The Master of Peach Blossom Island has been killed!” Qiu Qianren answered.

Lu Chengfeng was really shocked. “Is that true?” he anxiously asked.

“Why not true?” Qiu Qianren answered. “He was surrounded and killed by the Quan Zhen Seven Masters, Wang Chongyang’s disciples.”

Before he finished speaking Mei Chaofeng and Lu Chengfeng have already cried loudly. With a loud thud Huang Rong fell backward from her chair; passed out. Everybody else initially did not believe that with his expertise Huang Yaoshi would easily be killed by anybody, but since it was the Quan Zhen Seven Masters, they had to believe. They knew very well the combined power of Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and the others would be difficult for Huang Yaoshi to fight.

Guo Jing panic, he hugged Huang Rong and called out, “Rong’er, wake up!” He saw Huang Rong’s countenance was deathly pale and her breathing uneven; he was even more anxious and called his masters, “Master! Master! Help!”

Zhu Cong immediately came over and examined her nose. “Don’t worry,” he said. “She was only shocked; she is not going to die.” Then he rubbed her ‘lao gong xue’ [lit. fatigue palace acupoint] slowly transferring his internal energy.

Huang Rong slowly recovered. “Father? Father! I want my Father!” she cried.

Lu Chengfeng was surprised, but immediately realized. “She is Master’s daughter. No wonder she knew about the ‘Nine Flower Dew Jade Pill’.” He shed some tears and loudly called out, “Little Martial Sister, let us go to those scoundrel priests from Quan Zhen to seek revenge. Mei Chaofeng! Are you … are you coming or not? If you don’t go, let me fight you to the death right now! It … it was because of you that Master had met his fate.”

Lu Guanying saw his father was too deep in sorrow to speak coherently. He quickly support him and urged, “Father, please don’t be so sad. We need further consideration.”

Lu Chengfeng ignored his son, he cried louder. “Mei Chaofeng! You bitch! How you have done me much harm! You are shameless! You ran away with your man, it was all right with me, but why did you have to steal Master’s Nine Yin Manual as well? In his anger he had severed our legs’ ligament, we four martial brothers. Not only that, he expelled us from the Peach Blossom Island. I was hoping Master would change his mind and have compassion on us who didn’t do anything deserving our punishment. Now he passed away, my hope is shattered …”

“I always thought you are spineless,” Mei Chaofeng scolded, “and you are still spineless. Three – four times you have taken other people to deal with us, forcing us – husband and wife to be without shelter, we had to run away for our lives and ended up suffering in the Mongolian desert. Now you don’t have guts to seek revenge for our Master, but nagging to settle your own old debts with me. I’ll say we go and find those seven scoundrels and deal with them. If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you!”

All the while Huang Rong was still weeping, “Father! I want my Father!”

Zhu Cong intervened, “Let us ask more clearly,” he said, walking toward Qiu Qianren. He brushed some dust on Qiu Qianren’s clothes and apologetically said, “My young disciple was ignorant and had offended you, he has no regard of seniority.”

Qiu Qianren was angry, “I am old, my eyes are not clear, I let it slipped. Come, let us fight again!”

Zhu Cong patted his shoulder, pulled his left hand gently and persuaded with a smile, “Senior is an expert, no need to fight with him.” As soon as they got to the table, Zhu Cong picked a wine cup up with his left hand, while his right hand covered the cup mouth, revolving it around just like Qiu did, and flicked the cup to the table.

With a clanking sound the wine cup landed on the table, broken into two parts: the cup bottom and about half an inch of porcelain ring. Exactly like what Qiu Qianren demonstrated earlier. Everybody was amazed!

Zhu Cong smiled and said, “Senior’s skill is extraordinary. Junior has stolen it from you. Please forgive my offense. Many thanks to you.”

Qiu Qianren’s face changed color immediately. Now everybody knew there must be some tricks somehow, but nobody knew what was really going on.

“Jing’er, come here!” Zhu Cong called, “Let me teach you a trick, later on you can use it to deceive other people.”

Guo Jing came near, and Zhu Cong showed him a ring on his left middle finger. “This is the Senior Qiu’s belonging, I borrowed it from him a moment ago. You go ahead and put it on you,” he said while taking the ring off his own finger.

Qiu Qianren was startled, then fuming mad. He did not understand how the ring on his finger could move to Zhu’s finger. In the meantime Guo Jing had already taken the ring. Zhu Cong explained, “This ring has a diamond piece on it, the hardest material on earth. Put the diamond tip on the wine cup and rotate the cup with your right hand.”

Guo Jing did so. Now Lu Guanying and the others started to understand. They were unable to restrain a smile and softly murmured among themselves. Guo Jing turned the cup in his right hand and sure enough, the cup was smoothly broken into two parts. If one looked carefully, actually the diamond had left a deep mark on the porcelain pieces; so it wasn’t profound internal energy at all.

Huang Rong was amused, she was smiling through her tears; but then the memory of her father came flooding back and she cried again.

“Don’t cry, Miss,” Zhu Cong comforted her, “This Senior Qiu loves to deceive people, and his words cannot be necessarily true.” Huang Rong was puzzled; she looked at him with a questioning look.

“Your father, the Venerable Huang’s martial art is so profound, how could he be easily killed by other people?” Zhu Cong said with a smile. “Also, the Quan Zhen Seven Masters are respectable people, plus, they have no enmity with your father. How could they kill him without any reason?”

“Perhaps it was over Qiu Chuji and the other ox-nose’s [derogatory term for Taoist priests] martial uncle Zhou Botong’s business,” Huang Rong expressed her guess.

“What business is that?” Zhu Cong asked.

“You don’t know,” Huang Rong said, crying again. Even with her intelligence, she was not really sure what was really happening. First of all, it has something to do with her mother; that Huang Yaoshi did not want to talk too much about. Second, the business between her father and Zhou Botong was more complicated than her young mind could grasp. She did not want to believe the Quan Zhen Seven Masters would attack her father, but the fact was: she was not sure.

“Whatever it was, I’d say this old man’s word is a little bit smelly,” Zhu Cong said.

“You mean he was only … only …,” Huang Rong stuttered.

“Yes, he was just farting!” Zhu Cong laughed. “He has so many tricks stored in his pocket; guess what he would do with them.” Then he groped into his pocket and produced some things which he placed on the table. Among those things were two bricks, some dry grass, a piece of cloth to light up fire, a knife with the same purpose, and a flint.

Huang Rong took a brick and as soon as she tightened her grips she could feel the brick was soft. She crushed it harder and without too much effort the brick crumbled into powder. After listening to Zhu Cong’s words her sadness was greatly reduced. Her face broke into a smile, showing up her two dimples. “This brick was made from bread flour. He was using it to demonstrate his profound internal energy earlier.”

Qiu Qianren’s face turned from pale to red and back to pale. He was greatly ashamed. He thought with the news of Huang Yaoshi’s death everybody’s attention could be diverted that he would find an opportunity to escape. Who would have thought that his scheme was revealed by Zhu Cong. He flicked his sleeve and turned around to walk out. But Mei Chaofeng reached backward and snatched his body, then threw it on the ground.

“You said my Master passed away, did you tell the truth?” she asked menacingly. Qiu Qianren was too much in pain to say anything, he was only whimpering.

Huang Rong saw the grass was half burnt; she immediately realized what happened. “Second Master, try to light the grass, put it inside your sleeve then inhale and exhale.”

The Six Freaks of Jiangnan initially had some problem with Huang Rong, but Qiu Qianren’s trickery had united them in facing the common enemy. Zhu Cong happily complied. Actually he liked Huang Rong’s cunning mind and her eccentricity; and now Huang Rong called him ‘Second Master’ he liked her even more. He did what was asked and while doing that, he even closed his eyes and swayed his head solemnly.

Huang Rong clapped her hands in delight. “Brother Jing,” she said laughing happily, “Didn’t we see this old man practicing his internal strength a while ago exactly like this?” She walked to Qiu Qianren’s side and said, “Stand up!” She pulled him up, but suddenly struck his ‘shen dao’ [holy way?] acupoint under his fifth rib on his back with her left hand, using the ‘lan hua fu xue shou’ [orchid acupoint sealing technique]; while shouting loudly, “Tell me, did my father die? If you say he did, I will take your life away!” With a flip of her hand she placed a shiny butterfly shaped steel on his chest.

Everybody was amused hearing her threat. She asked him the truth but she didn’t want him to say Huang Yaoshi was dead.

Qiu Qianren was writhing in pain, also suffering from itch. “I am afraid he is not dead yet. I don’t know …” he said, trembling.

Huang Rong beamed from ear to ear. “Very good!” she said, “I will spare you.” She struck his ‘que pen’ [open basin] acupoint to ease up his suffering.

Lu Chengfeng thought, “Little Martial Sister’s question was one-sided and really missed the point.” So he asked, “You said my Master has been killed by the Quan Zhen Seven Masters, did you see it with your own eyes, or did you just hear it from somebody else?”

“I heard it from somebody else,” Qiu Qianren replied. “Who was it?” Lu Chengfeng pursued.

Qiu Qianren hesitated, but finally said, “It was Hong Qigong.”

“When did he tell you that?” asked Huang Rong.

“About a month ago,” Qiu Qianren answered.

“Where did you two meet?” Huang Rong asked again.

“At the summit of Mount Tai [taishan],” Qiu Qianren answered. “We were having a match and he lost to me. He unintentionally mentioned this.”

Huang Rong was ecstatic. She hopped around like a little kid. Her left hand grabbed his chest, her right hand pulled away some of his beard. Giggling she said, “Hong Qigong lost to this old scoundrel? Martial Sister Mei, Martial Brother Lu, don’t listen to him, he was just … just …” Being a girl she didn’t have a heart to say vulgar language.

Zhu Cong continued for her, “He wa