de by the dagger.

Huang Rong was laughing hard, but upon hearing Guo Jing’s story she was silent for half a day with a deep frown on her face. Hong Qigong smiled and said, “The Old Beggar is once again capable of walking on my own feet, it was truly a blessing from Heaven. I don’t care if it was a true martial art or a fake one. Rong’er, you are afraid the Western Poison will see through this deception, aren’t you?” Huang Rong nodded. “The Old Poison has good eyesight,” Hong Qigong continued, “How can we fool him that easily? But life is full of uncertainties, right now it is useless to worry over nothing. Hear me now: Jing’er had recited the contents of the manual to me. There is a section which was called ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ [changing muscle forging bones] or something; I think it was very interesting. While we don’t have anything else to do, why don’t we practice it?”

These words were said with gentleness and indifference, but Huang Rong was aware of the urgency of the situation. What their master had said was very reasonable; therefore, she said, “Very well, Shifu, please teach us.”

Hong Qigong asked Guo Jing to recite the ‘yi jin duan gu pian’ twice, and then based on that he taught the two on how to practice it. He himself went out hunting or fishing, lighted the fire and cooked their meals. Several times Guo Jing and Huang Rong offered their help, but every time he shooed them away.

Quickly seven days had passed; Guo and Huang had made some progress in term of their energy cultivation. Inside his cave Ouyang Feng was also painstakingly studying his Manual, putting all his effort in doing so. Toward the evening of the eighth day Hong Qigong smiled and said, “Rong’er, how was your Master’s roasted wild goat?”

Huang Rong smiled but did not say anything, she simply shook her head. Hong Qigong laughed, “I can’t eat it myself. You two have finished the first part of your lesson; today you must rest your muscle and bones, otherwise your ‘qi’ will be obstructed and you will suffer injury. Alright, Rong’er, you prepare our meal tonight, Jing’er and I will go and build a raft.”

Guo Jing and Huang Rong were astonished, “Building a raft?”

“That’s right,” Hong Qigong said, “Do you want to accompany the Old Poison on this desolate island forever?”

Guo and Huang were delighted, they both voiced their agreement, and start to work immediately.

The hundred lumbers Guo Jing cut down the other day were piled neatly on the side. They cut the tree bark and wove them into ropes and tied the lumber together to make the raft. When Guo Jing used his strength to pull the rope, it snapped and broke. He thought the rope was not made strong enough. He tried pulling another rope, but as soon as he exerted a little strength, it also broke easily. Guo Jing was baffled, he stared blankly at the rope and did not know what to do.

From the other side of the hill Huang Rong came shouting with a wild goat in her hands. When going out to hunt for the goat she carried some pebbles to shoot the goat with; who would have thought that with only several jumps she had already overtook the goat. She turned around and grabbed the wild goat. Her body movement was so swift that she surprised even herself.

Hong Qigong smiled, “So the Nine Yin Manual is truly a wonderful manual; no wonder countless heroes and warriors were willing to risk their lives for it.”

Huang Rong was delighted, “Shifu, do you think we can beat the Old Poison now?” she asked.

Hong Qigong shook his head, “Not yet, it is still far from that,” he replied, “You have to train for another eight to ten years. His Toad Stance is not a small matter; no martial art can break it except Wang Chongyang’s Solitary Yang Finger”

Huang Rong pouted and said, “Then even if we train for another eight to ten years we may still won’t be able to defeat him.”

“That’s hard to say,” Hong Qigong concurred, “Perhaps the martial art in that book is fiercer than I thought.”

“Rong’er, please be patient,” Guo Jing said, “There is nothing wrong with learning a new skill.”

A few more days passed, Guo Jing and Huang Rong had finished the second part of the Changing Muscle Forging Bones. The raft was also ready. The three of them wove a sail from tree barks; they also prepared some fresh water and food on the raft. All along Ouyang Feng was indifferent to what they were doing; he simply watched their activities with a cold look.

One evening everything was ready, they planned on sailing the next day. Just before bed that night Huang Rong asked, “Do we have to say goodbye to them?”

“Not only that, we must make a ten year agreement with them,” Guo Jing answered, “They have bullied us so bad, how can we forget it?”

Huang Rong clapped her hands, “Absolutely! I pray to the Heaven to bless those two thieves that they can go back to the mainland, and also to give the Old Poison ten more years of life. Otherwise, to restore Shifu’s martial art quickly, so that in one or two years we can look for him; that would be even better.”

The next day before the crack of dawn Hong Qigong awoke; indistinctly he heard some noise from the shore. He quickly called, “Jing’er, did you hear that noise from the beach?”

Guo Jing got up immediately and jumped down the tree. Once he saw what happened on the beach he could not stop cursing; immediately he rushed forward to pursue. By this time Huang Rong was also awoke and ran after him, calling out, “Brother Jing, what’s the matter?”

Guo Jing shouted from a distant, “Those two wicked thieves stole our raft.” Hearing this Huang Rong was shocked.

By the time they got to the beach Ouyang Feng had already carried his nephew on the raft, raised the sail and had already several ‘zhang’s away from land. Guo Jing was furious, he was about to jump into the ocean to pursue, but Huang Rong pulled his sleeve and said, “They are already too far.”

Ouyang Feng laughed a big laugh, “Many thanks for the raft!” he shouted.

Guo Jing stomped his feet in rage, furiously he kicked a red sandalwood tree nearby. Suddenly Huang Rong got an idea, “I got it!” she called out. She took a big rock then placed it on the tree branch. She wanted to use the tree as a slingshot. “Pull this tree,” she said, “We will hurl the rock out.”

Guo Jing was delighted. He braced his legs on the tree root and pulled the trunk backward with all his might. Sandalwood tree was strong but pliable; it bent almost completely down but did not break. Guo Jing let his hands go and with a whooshing sound the big rock flew to the sea and fell by the raft’s side, creating a ‘zhang’ high big splash.

“Pity!” Huang Rong called out. She took another rock, aimed carefully and let go. This time the rock hit the raft right on, but the raft construction was too good, it did not break. Two people launched three more rocks, but all of them fell into the water.

Seeing all their rocks missed their target, Huang Rong got a crazy idea. “Quick, use me as the cannonball!” she shouted. Guo Jing was startled, unclear of what she meant. Huang Rong explained, “Hurl me into the sea, I’ll deal with them.”

Guo Jing knew her water skill was excellent, her lightness kungfu was excellent too; he saw no danger in complying with her request. He drew his dagger out and put it in her hand. “Be careful,” he said. He pulled the tree one more time. Huang Rong sat steadily on the branch and called out, “Fire away!”

Guo Jing released his grip and Huang Rong’s body flew to the sky. She somersaulted twice in the air and plunged into the water several ‘zhang’s away from the raft. It was a beautiful scene to behold. Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew were dazzled; they did not know what she was going to do.

Huang Rong went deep into the water. She did not emerge from the water, but swam underwater toward the raft instead. Once she saw a black shadow overhead she knew she had arrived at the bottom of the raft. Ouyang Feng randomly hit the water with the oar, but he could not hit her at all.

Huang Rong held up her dagger, ready to sever the rope tying up the wooden raft; but suddenly she came up with a bright idea. She reduced the strength of her hand only cutting lightly on the ropes, leaving a third part intact; so that the raft would not be disintegrated until the rough waves of the open sea hit it. She turned around and dove away, emerged to the surface about dozen of ‘zhang’s away; she gasped for breath, pretending she could not catch the raft. Ouyang Feng laughed wildly and hoisted the sail. Not too long afterwards the raft had traveled far away.

While waiting for her to arrive at the beach Hong Qigong and Guo Jing were cursing incessantly; but they saw Huang Rong’s smug expression and were puzzled. After hearing what happened they were delighted to no end. “Even though we are sending these two wicked men to the bottom of the ocean, we will have to start work from the beginning again,” Huang Rong said.

Three people ate their meals with high spirit then they cut some lumbers again and built another raft. Several days later they were ready, and when the southeast wind blew, they hoisted the tree bark sail, left the island heading to the west. Huang Rong gazed her eyes toward the island, which was getting smaller and smaller, she sighed and said, “Our lives were almost gone on that island; but leaving it today, my heart is filled with sadness.”

“We can always revisit the island in the future,” Guo Jing said.

Huang Rong clapped her hands, “Good! We must come back. When that time comes, you can’t go back on your words. But first, let us give this small island a good name. Shifu, what do you think?”

“You crushed that little bastard’s legs with a big rock on that island,” Hong Qigong said, “Let us call it ‘ya gui dao’ [crushing ghost island]. What do you say?”

Huang Rong shook her head. “That is not very elegant,” she said.

“If you want elegance, why did you ask the Old Beggar in the first place?” Hong Qigong said, “If you ask me, the Old Poison ate my urine on the island, I’ll say we call it ‘chi sui dao’ [eat urine island].”

Huang Rong smiled while waving her hand; she leaned her head sideways to think. She saw a cluster of red clouds on the horizon, like bright luster of gems glamorously hovering over the island. “Let’s call it ‘ming xia dao’ [bright red cloud island]!” she called out.

“Not good, not good!” Hong Qigong countered, “That was too elegant.”

Guo Jing listened to master and disciple arguing, he smiled and did not say anything. He did not care whether the island had an elegant name or a vulgar name; but deep down in his heart he thought ‘ya gui’ or ‘chi sui’ were more interesting than ‘ming xia’.

Carried by the blowing wind they sailed for two days, the wind did not change its course. Toward the evening of the third day Hong Qigong and Huang Rong were asleep while Guo Jing was in charge of the rudder for the night. Amidst the ocean breeze and rolling waves suddenly he heard somebody shout, “Help! Help!” twice. The voice sounded like a clashing cymbals, it could be heard clearly amidst the screaming wind and waves.

Hong Qigong sat up and said in a low voice, “That’s the Old Poison.” They heard the shout one more time. Huang Rong grabbed Hong Qigong’s arm, “It’s a ghost, it’s a ghost!” she said with a trembling voice.

It was the end of the sixth month, the night was dark and moonless; there were only several stars scattered sparsely on the dark night. The sea was pitch-black; a scream in the middle of the night would make anybody terrified to the bone.

“Is that the Old Poison?” Hong Qigong called out. His internal energy was lost, so his voice did not travel too far. Guo Jing gathered the ‘qi’ on his ‘dan tian’ and called out, “Is that Uncle Ouyang?”

From a distant they heard Ouyang Feng answered, “It is me, Ouyang Feng. Help!”

Huang Rong was still terrified, “It doesn’t matter whether it is a man or a ghost, let us just leave, quick!”

“Help him,” Hong Qigong suddenly said.

“No, no!” Huang Rong quickly answered, “I am scared.”

“It’s not a ghost,” Hong Qigong said.

“Even if it is a man we still don’t have to help,” Huang Rong said.

“Helping others in distress is one of our Beggar Clan’s rules,” Hong Qigong said, “You and I are two generations of the Clan Leader; we can’t abandon the honorable customs handed down from the previous generations’ leaders.”

“The Beggar Clan’s custom is not right,” Huang Rong countered, “Clearly Ouyang Feng is a scoundrel, when he becomes a ghost, he will still be a scoundrel ghost. It doesn’t matter if it is a man or a ghost, we should not help.”

“It is the Clan’s regulation, we can’t change it,” Hong Qigong said.

In her heart Huang Rong was very angry. They heard Ouyang Feng’s voice in the distant again, “Qi Xiong [Brother Qi], are you really ‘jian si bu jiu’ [seeing death, do not help]?”

Huang Rong said, “I got it! Brother Jing, wait until you can see Ouyang Feng clearly, then strike him dead with your stick. You are not a Beggar Clan’s member, you don’t have to observe this unreasonable rule.”

Hong Qigong was angry, “Taking advantage of somebody else’s precarious condition; is that the righteous way of the warrior?”

Huang Rong did not have any choice, helplessly she watched Guo Jing steer the raft toward the voice. In the deep dark of the night they vaguely saw two men on the water rocked by the wave; next to their heads was a lumber. It looked like after their raft broke Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew had clung onto that piece of lumber until now.

“Let him make an oath never to harm anybody else, then we will rescue him,” Huang Rong said.

Hong Qigong sighed, “You don’t know the Old Poison’s character; he would rather die than surrender. He won’t make this kind of promise. Jing’er, rescue them.”

Guo Jing bent down and grabbed Ouyang Ke’s collar, lifting him up to the raft. Hong Qigong was eager to help and he forgot his martial art was gone. He held out his hand and Ouyang Feng took it. He wanted to borrow the strength and leap to the raft. But because of his pull Hong Qigong unexpectedly fell into the sea with a splash. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were shocked; they jumped into the sea immediately and saved Hong Qigong. Huang Rong angrily scolded Ouyang Feng, “My Shifu has a good heart rescuing you; how could you drag him into the sea instead?”

Ouyang Feng knew Hong Qigong had lost his martial art; otherwise, how could this simple pull make a martial art expert fall into the sea? But he had been immersed in the water for several days, he was extremely weary. He did not dare to look up, he lowered his head and said, “I … I did not mean to. Qi Xiong, please don’t blame your brother.”

Hong Qigong laughed heartily, “Well said, well said. Only the Old Beggar’s real skill is known to you now,” he said.

“Good Miss,” Ouyang Feng said, “Could you spare something for us to eat? We have been hungry for several days.”

Huang Rong replied, “We have food and water on this raft enough only for three people. I can give you some, but then what do we eat?”

“Very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Please give a little bit of food to my nephew then, his legs are heavily injured, he won’t survive without food.”

“In that case let’s make a deal,” Huang Rong said, “Your viper hurt my Shifu; he has not recovered until now. Give him the antidote.”

Ouyang Feng groped his pocket and produced two vials, handed them over to her and said, “Miss, please take a look; the vials were drowned in the water, the antidote has been washed out clean!”

Huang Rong took the vials, she shook them and sniffed them; the vials were really filled with seawater. “In this case, tell us prescription of the antidote, as soon as we are ashore we can brew some.”

“If I want to swindle you, I can always give you any prescription, you won’t know if it is genuine or fake; but how can Ouyang Feng be this kind of person?” Ouyang Feng said, “Let me tell you the truth: my vipers are the most poisonous in the world, nothing can match its lethality; if one is bitten, although one won’t immediately die due to one’s excellence in martial art, within eight times eight, sixty-four days half of one’s body will be paralyzed and one will be invalid for the rest of one’s life. I have no problem giving you the antidote prescription, but not only the ingredients are hard to find, it also requires processing of three successive winters and summers. By the time the antidote is ready, I am afraid it would be much too late. I have told you the truth, if you still want to take my life it is entirely up to you.”

Huang Rong and Guo Jing listened to him, they secretly admired him; they thought, “Although this man is evil and cruel, he did not lost his dignity as a grand master of his martial art school in a matter of life and death.”

“Rong’er,” Hong Qigong also said, “He is telling the truth. A man’s life has been decided by fate; the Old Beggar has nothing to be worried about. You give them something to eat.”

Huang Rong’s heart was secretly crushed, she knew her master would not recover from his injury. Silently she took a roasted wild goat leg and tossed it toward Ouyang Feng. Ouyang Feng tore some meat for his nephew first before he took a big bite and chewed the meat.

Huang Rong coldly said, “Uncle Ouyang, you have injured my master, in the second Sword Meet of Mount Hua you will be the winner among the heroes. Let me congratulate you first.”

“That is not necessarily true,” Ouyang Feng replied, “There is at least one person in this whole wide world who can heal Qi Xiong’s injury.”

Guo Jing and Huang Rong jumped in shock so that the raft was leaning to one side. They both asked in unison, “Is that true?”

While biting the mutton leg Ouyang Feng said, “Only it is very difficult to ask this person to help. Your Shifu also knows about it.”

Two people’s eyes turned to their master. Hong Qigong smiled, “You know it is difficult, why did you say it?”

Huang Rong pulled her master’s sleeve, asking for explanation, “Shifu, tell us. Even if it is difficult, we still have to try. I will ask my father to help, surely he’ll find a way.” Ouyang Feng softly snorted. “What are you snorting about?” Huang Rong said. Ouyang Feng did not answer.

Hong Qigong said, “He was laughing at you to think your father is all powerful. But that person is really not a small matter, how could your father make that person help?”

Huang Rong was astonished, “That person! Who is that person?”

Hong Qigong continued, “Let’s not talk about that person’s high level of martial art skill, even if he is so weak that he can’t even kill a chicken, the Old Beggar will never harm others to benefit my own self.”

Huang Rong hesitantly said, “High level of martial art skill? Ah! I know. He is the Southern Emperor, Emperor Duan. Shifu, let’s ask him to heal your injury, how does that harm others to benefit yourself?”

“Go sleep! Don’t ask anymore questions. I prohibit you from bringing this matter up anymore. Understand?” Hong Qigong said. Huang Rong did not dare to say anything; she was afraid Ouyang Feng might steal their food, so she leaned against the food bucket and sleep.

Waking early the next morning Huang Rong looked at Ouyang Feng uncle and nephew, she jumped in fright, because the complexions of those two were very pale, their whole bodies swollen from being under seawater these past several days.

The raft was sailing until about ninth hour [3-5pm] when they saw a dark line in the distant. It appeared to be land. Guo Jing was the first to jump up and shout in delight. A time needed to eat a bowl of rice later they could see clearer, it was indeed land. The sea was calm, the sun was shining brightly, scorching those people, making them miserable. Ouyang Feng suddenly stood up; he swayed his body a little bit and stretched out his hands, grabbing both Guo Jing and Huang Rong. With the tip of his foot he also kicked and sealed Hong Qigong’s acupoint.

Guo and Huang were taken up by surprise, their vital acupoints were sealed; immediately half of their bodies were numb. Startled they asked, “What are you doing?” Ouyang Feng grinned evilly, but did not say anything.

Hong Qigong sighed, “The Old Poison is very conceited; he is not willing to accept other’s mercy. We have saved his life; if he did not kill his saviors, how can his heart be at peace? Ay, I can only blame my own benevolence of heart, rescuing others in the middle of the night, forgetting this fact, that now I endanger the lives of these two weary kids.”

“You knew it very well,” Ouyang Feng said, “Also the Nine Yin Manual is in my hand, if I leave a copy in this boy surnamed Guo’s mind, I will only invite infinite misfortune for myself.”

Hearing him mentioning the Nine Yin Manual Hong Qigong’s heart was stirred; with a loud voice he recited, “Nu er qi liu, ha gua er, ning xie qi qia, ping dao er …”

Ouyang Feng was startled; he recognized the sentence to be the one among hundreds of difficult sentences he did not know the meaning of. Listening to Hong Qigong recited it, he thought Hong Qigong understood the meaning, he thought, “There are many strange sentences in the manual, there must be a key to unlock its secret. If I kill these three, I am afraid there is nobody else in this world who understands it; then my taking possession of the manual will be in vain.” Therefore, he asked, “What does it mean?”

Hong Qigong replied, “Hun hua cha cha, xue gen xu bat u, mi er mi er …” Even though he had listened to Guo Jing reciting the strange sentences of the manual, how could he memorize everything? He was just talking nonsense, but his face showed a deep veneration.

Ouyang Feng actually thought the sentences carried a very profound meaning, he focused his attention and thought deeply. Hong Qigong shouted, “Jing’er, now!”

Guo Jing pulled back his left hand, sent out his right palm while his left leg flew forward simultaneously. Actually when Ouyang Feng sent out his kick and launched a surprise attack, his vital acupoint was grabbed and he was unable to move, but Hong Qigong had talked nonsense and confused Ouyang Feng, causing him to lose his concentration and thus slightly loosen his grip. Guo Jing grabbed this opportunity to free himself and launched a counterattack. Guo Jing had trained the Changing Muscle Forging Bones to the second stage, although he did not learn any new fist of kick techniques, his original strength was actually increased by at least 20%. This one pull, one palm and one kick were executed without any extraordinary move, but the force within his attack was unexpectedly very strong.

Ouyang Feng was taken by surprise; besides, the raft was narrow, there was no space to withdraw; he was forced to raise his hand to fend off, but his grip on Huang Rong did not loosen up.

Guo Jing’s fist and palm went out one after another, attacking the enemy like a violent storm. He was well aware that on this narrow raft if he ever let Ouyang Feng attack with his Toad Stance, then all three of them would be dead without any burial grounds. This flurry of attacks forced Ouyang Feng to withdraw half a step.

Huang Rong leaned sideways slightly, baring her shoulder to bump Ouyang Feng’s body. Ouyang Feng was secretly amused, he thought, “This little girl wants to bump me, just how much skill does she think she has? Don’t blame me if I bump you clear to the ocean.” He had just finished his thought when Huang Rong’s shoulder arrived. Ouyang Feng did not evade nor tried to parry, he appeared not to pay any attention; but suddenly he felt pricking pain on his chest. Out of pain he realized immediately that she was wearing the Peach Blossom Island’s treasure, the ‘ruan wei jia’ [soft hedgehog armor]. By now he was already at the edge of the raft, so he could not go back even for half a step. Her armor was full of sharp needles, which he could not deal with. Hence, hastily his left hand let go of her vital acupoint and flung her to the side.

Huang Rong did not have any space to set her foot on, she was going to fall into the water. Guo Jing reached behind his back and grabbed her, while his left hand was still attacking the enemy. Huang Rong drew out her dagger and rushed forward to attack.

Ouyang Feng stood by the edge of the raft, the water kept splashing his legs; but no matter how hard Guo Jing and Huang Rong attacked, they were not able to force him to fall into the water.

Hong Qigong and Ouyang Ke were unable to move, both of them helplessly watch the ferocious fight. Their hearts were thumping madly, watching the evenly matched fight, where the difference between life and death was just as narrow as a strand of hair’s width. They were both bitterly wishing they could help their side.

Ouyang Feng’s martial art was actually far above Guo and Huang’s combined power, but he was immersed in the water for several days; almost half of his strength was gone. Although Huang Rong’s martial art was not too high she was wearing the soft hedgehog armor, plus her hand was holding a sharp dagger. These two offensive and defensive weapons were enough to give Ouyang Feng some headache. On top of that, Guo Jing’s 18-Dragon Subduing Palms, his 72 stances of Vacant Fist, Mutual Hands Combat Technique, as well as recently trained Changing Muscles Forging Bones from the Nine Yin Manual combined together had made him a formidable opponent. These three people were engaged in a close fight on the raft.

After a while Ouyang Feng’s palm was getting stronger; Guo and Huang started to fall under his attack. Hong Qigong was very anxious watching this fierce battle. Amidst the dancing palm shadow Ouyang Feng’s left leg kicked out with a strong gust of wind. Huang Rong did not dare to parry and was forced to somersault and she fell into the water.

Suddenly facing a strong enemy alone Guo Jing was feeling strained. Luckily after falling into the water on the left side of the raft, Huang Rong swam across the bottom of the raft and rebounded from the right side and swept her dagger toward Ouyang Feng’s chest. Now Ouyang Feng had to face enemies on both sides.

While fighting courageously, Huang Rong secretly thought of plans to overcome this situation, “If this fight continues, our martial arts are still inferior to his, in the end we will fall under his hands. The only way to defeat him is under water.” As soon as this thought entered her mind, she swept her dagger out and cut the sail rope; the sail immediately fell down, the raft now carried by the waves, no longer moved forward. Huang Rong drew back two steps, wrapped the rope several times on Hong Qigong’s body, and then again several turns on a lumber from the raft, making two tight knots.

As Huang Rong left the battle, Guo Jing was not able to withstand the enemy much longer. He managed to block three successive stances, but the fourth stance forced him to step backward. Ouyang Feng did not want to let him go, his palms continuously attacked. Guo Jing was forced to step backward again, with ‘yu yue yu yuan’ [fish jumping out of the abyss] he managed to block another stance, but for the next stance he was forced to move backward again that his left foot stepped on an empty air. In this critical time he did not getting nervous, his right foot immediately flew forward to block the enemy from attacking further. As a result, ‘spash!’ he also fell into the water.

The raft was being rocked hard; Huang Rong took this opportunity to also leap onto the sea. Two people pushed and pulled the raft, trying to overturn it. They knew Ouyang Ke would be drowning to his death; also, in the water Ouyang Feng was not their match. Hong Qigong’s body was tied to the raft. These two people took a risk by dealing with the Western Poison first before trying to save their master.

Ouyang Feng understood their intention very well; he raised his foot on Hong Qigong’s head and loudly shouted, “Two kids, listen to me! If you rock the raft one more time, I will kick immediately!”

Huang Rong understood her first plan was foiled; she proceeded with her second plan: she took a deep breath and dove underneath the raft, cutting the ropes with her dagger. She knew they were not too far from the land; after drowning Ouyang Feng, uncle and nephew, she thought they could ride on lumbers and came ashore without too much problem.

‘Crack! Crack!’ the wooden raft was broken into two halves. Ouyang Ke was on the left half, while Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong were on the right half. Inwardly Ouyang Feng was anxious; quickly he stretched his hand to grab his nephew; then he stooped looking into the water, ready to strike Huang Rong if she cut another rope.

From under the water Huang Rong could see Ouyang Feng’s shadow clearly. Knowing his next attack would be very fierce, she did not dare to cut another rope. Both sides were in deadlock for a long time. Huang Rong swam several ‘zhang’s away and took another deep breath, then dove right back in, waiting for an opportunity to launch her attack.

With concentrated attention both sides were waiting for an opportunity. For a moment the sea turned very calm. The sun was shining brightly over their heads. The ocean seemed so calm and peaceful; but on this half wooden raft, one above and one below, there was a very thick murderous intention.

Huang Rong thought, “If this half raft is cut into two, the waves would certainly turn it over.” While Ouyang Feng thought, “As soon as she pokes her head out, I am going to slap the water. The vibration should be enough to scatter her brain out. Once this little girl is gone, the little thief surnamed Guo should not post any problem to me.” Two people waited without blinking their eyes, both were itchy to strike.

Suddenly Ouyang Ke pointed to the left and called out, “A boat! A boat!”

Hong Qigong and Guo Jing turned their heads and saw a big boat with a dragon ship head, its sail was fully raised, it approached riding the wind and breaking the waves. A moment later Ouyang Ke saw someone st