Great banquet for heroes.

The next morning, while Yang Guo was eating breakfast in the hall, Guo Fu signaled him to the courtyard. The Wu brothers were at the side looking a bit troubled. Yang Guo was amused and went over to Guo Fu and asked, “You’re looking for me?”

Guo Fu laughed and said, “Yes, come with me outside, I want to ask what you’ve done in the last few years.”

Yang Guo exhaled deeply, thinking that it wasn’t easy to explain, even if he spoke for three days and nights he would not have finished, and how could he reveal these things to her?

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder to the main door, Yang Guo slightly turned his head and saw the two Wu brothers following. Guo Fu had noticed a long time ago and pretended that she didn’t see them and talked to Yang Guo. Yang Guo picked some insignificant events to talk about, he pushed and pulled making Guo Fu laugh. She knew that Yang Guo was keeping things from her but she still felt amused by his words. The two slowly walked to a Willow tree. Suddenly they heard a neigh; a skinny and scabby horse came hurrying over to Yang Guo, rubbing against him in an affectionate manner.

When the Wu brothers saw such an ugly horse, they couldn’t hold themselves back and burst out laughing. They went over to the two.

Wu Xiuwen laughed and said, “That precious horse is very special, only someone with your ability could one find a horse like that. When are you going to find me one like that?”

Wu Dunru said seriously, “That is a Da Shi Guo’s (Great Master Guo’s) priceless treasure, how could you buy it?”

Guo Fu looked at Yang Guo and then at the ugly horse, when she saw the two had the same dirty and pitiful appearance, she couldn’t resist laughing.

Yang Guo laughed and said, “I’m ugly, my horse is ugly, we’re a match. The horses that the Wu brothers ride must be very spirited horses.”

Wu Xiuwen said, “The horses that we ride are only a bit better than yours. Sister Fu’s red horse, now that is a precious horse. You’ve seen it before when you were on Peach Blossom Island.”

Yang Guo said, “So Uncle Guo gave the red horse to a girl.”

The four of them chatted as they walked. Guo Fu suddenly pointed to the west and said, “Look, mother’s teaching stick techniques again.”

Yang Guo turned his head and saw Huang Rong with an old beggar walking towards the mountainside, the two of them holding a stick in their hands.

Wu Xiuwen said, “Elder Lu is so dumb, he’s been practicing the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” for so long but he still hasn’t managed to learn it.”

When Yang Guo heard the words “Dog Beating Stick Technique” his heart trembled but he didn’t show any signs of it, he turned around and looked away, pretending to appreciate the scenery.

He heard Guo Fu say, “The “Dog Beating Stick Technique” is the treasure of the Beggar Clan; my mother said that the mastery and ingenuity of the stances are unbeatable. It has the most powerful stances in the world of weapons; you can’t just learn it in ten days or a fortnight. You said he’s dumb, are you very clever?”

Wu Dunru sighed and said, “It’s a pity that apart from the Chief of the Beggar Clan, no one is allowed to learn it.”

Guo Fu said, “If you become the Chief of the Beggar Clan in the future, Chief Lu will impart it to you. Even my father does not know this skill, there’s no need to cry.”

Wu Dunru said, “How can I be the Chief of the Beggar Clan? Sister Fu, why did Master’s wife select Elder Lu to replace her?”

Guo Fu said, “Over the last few years, my mother just held the title. The running of the clan is all done by Elder Lu Youjiao. All the many bothersome things that go on in the clan give my mother a headache. She said why is it necessary to have the name and not do anything; so why not pass the position on to Elder Lu and make it official. Once Elder Lu learns the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, my mother will pass on the position to him officially.”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Sister Fu, how exactly do you use the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”? Have you seen it before?”

Guo Fu said, “I haven’t seen it. Ah, I have seen it!” She picked up a branch off the ground and lightly attacked his shoulder and laughed, “It’s like this.”

Wu Xiuwen called out, “Fine, just see if I’ll let you go now you’ve called me a dog.” He stretched out his hand to grab her. Guo Fu laughed and jumped away. Wu Xiuwen chased after her. The two ran around a few times and returned to their original places.

Guo Fu laughed and said, “Little Brother Wu, don’t get angry. I’ve got an idea.”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Fine, tell me.”

Guo Fu said, “We’ll watch in secret, we can see exactly how special the “Dog Beating Technique” is.” Wu Xiuwen clapped his hand in agreement.

But Wu Dunru shook his head and said, “If Master’s wife finds out we are secretly trying to learn the skill she will lecture us severely.”

Guo Fu said, “We are just going to watch, we’re not trying to learn it in secret. Anyway, an ingenious and masterly kung fu such as this, how could you learn it after just a few glances? Big brother Wu, so do you count as someone who’s amazing?”

After this put down, he just smiled slightly. Guo Fu continued, “Last night when we were in the study eavesdropping, did my mother shout at anyone? You’re just a little chicken. Little Brother Wu, let’s go.”

Wu Dunru said, “Fine, fine, your reasoning does make some sense; I’ll go with you.”

Guo Fu said, “Is it possible that you don’t want to watch one of the world’s best skills? It doesn’t matter if you don’t go, once I’ve learned it I’ll come back and beat you with it.” As she said this she raised her stick and waved it at him.

The three of them had heard about the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” a long time ago and were fascinated by it but they had never seen what it looked like. Guo Jing once discussed martial arts with them; he told them how years ago on Mount Jun Huang Rong used the technique at the Beggar Clan’s gathering to beat everyone there and claimed the position of the Chief of the Beggar Clan. The three of them listened enchanted. Right now Guo Fu was encouraging them to take a look, though Wu Dunru spoke out against it, in his heart there wasn’t anything he wanted to do more. He pretended to be coerced into it and all he’s doing is listening to Guo Fu’s suggestion; if they are found out then his Master’s wife can’t blame him.

Guo Fu said, “Brother Yang, you come as well.”

Yang Guo was gazing at the faraway mountains as if he was absorbed in thought and didn’t hear what they said. Guo Fu called out again and Yang Guo turned his head around, his face looked lost, he asked, “Fine, fine, follow you where?”

Guo Fu said, “Don’t ask; just follow me.”

Wu Dunru said, “Sister Fu, why do you want him to come, he won’t understand; his dumb brain is going to make some noise, how can Master’s wife not notice?”

Guo Fu said, “Relax, I’ll take care of him. You two go first; brother Yang and I will follow. The four of us will make too much noise with our footsteps.”

The Wu brothers didn’t want to but they knew they couldn’t defy Guo Fu’s orders. The two of them walked ahead discontentedly.

Guo Fu called out, “We’ll hide in a large tree nearby first; my mother will not notice if we are careful and don’t make any noise.” The Wu brothers nodded in reply and quickened their steps.

Guo Fu glanced at Yang Guo and saw his clothes were extremely ragged and torn, she said, “When we get back I’ll get mother to buy you some new clothes; once you’ve changed, you won’t be as ugly.”

Yang Guo shook his head and said, “I was born ugly; even if I change clothes and tidy myself up I’ll still be ugly.”

Guo Fu said fine and didn’t take it to mind; she glanced at the backs of the Wu brothers and gave out a light sigh.

Yang Guo said, “Why are you sighing?”

Guo Fu said, “My mind is really troubled, you wouldn’t understand.”

Yang Guo saw a delicate redness on her face, her eyebrows slightly wrinkled, she really was an extremely beautiful girl. Compared to Lu Wushuang, Wanyan Ping and Yelu Yan, she was more beautiful than they. His heart was moved slightly and said, “I know why you are so troubled.”

Guo Fu said, “That’s strange, how would you know? You really are talking rubbish.”

Yang Guo said, “Fine, if I guess correctly, you can’t deny it.”

Guo Fu placed her little white and tender finger against her right cheek, her pupils glimmered, a smile was on her lips and said, “Fine, take a guess.”

Yang Guo said, “It’s not simple. The Wu brothers both like you, they both try to please you, and it’s hard for you to give up one of them.”

After hearing this, Guo Fu’s heart raced. He knows about this, the Wu brothers know about this, her parents know about this and even Ke Zhen E knows about this. But it was hard for anyone to mention it; everyone knew in their hearts but no one mentioned a word about it. Now, Yang Guo suddenly mentioned this matter, she couldn’t stop her face from going red; she was happy but sad, she wanted to laugh but also wanted to cry, droplets of tears rolled from her eyes.

Yang Guo said, “You’re thinking ‘Big Brother Wu is courteous and reliable, Little Brother Wu can keep me entertained. The two of them are both handsome, their martial arts are excellent and they treat me with respect and listen to me. The elder has his good points, the younger has his strong points; I’m just one person, how can I marry two men?”

Guo Fu listened to him startled, after she heard his last sentence, she said, “Your mouth is full of rubbish, who wants to pay attention to what you say?”

From her reaction, Yang Guo knew he had guessed correctly, he quietly repeated, “I’m just one person, how can I marry two men?”

After repeating it a few times, Guo Fu still seemed to have something on her mind; it was as if she didn’t hear him.

After a while she said, “Brother Yang, tell me, who do you think the better of the brothers?” She asked this quite suddenly. Though she and Yang Guo were childhood friends, there was still some animosity between the two even though they not seen each other for a long time. Now that they’re grown up, how can she reveal such things to him? Yang Guo is a lively person, as long as you don’t get on the wrong side of him, he will joke with you, laugh with you, in a flash he will make you feel as if you were in a spring breeze, as if you were drinking a beautiful wine. Anyway, Guo Fu had gone over this hundreds and thousands of times in her mind. She felt that both of them had their good points; when it came to playing around and joking, she got on with Wu Xiuwen very well, but when it came to doing something serious Wu Dunru was much better. She was a girl going through puberty; she would alternate from being angry with them, or be pleased with them. She made the brothers fall in love with her; in her heart she was really troubled, she didn’t know who to treat better. As she and Yang Guo raised this point she couldn’t help herself but ask this question.

Yang Guo laughed and said, “I don’t think either of them is good.”

Guo Fu was startled and asked, “Why?”

Yang Guo laughed and said, “If those two are good then what chance have I, Yang Guo, got?” He had been used to joking around with Lu Wushuang on the road and he didn’t mean what he just said, he was just teasing her when he said it.

Guo Fu was stunned, she was a girl who was used to being pampered and treated well, no one has ever said half an offensive word to her. Right now she didn’t know whether or not to be angry; she put on serious face and said, “If you don’t want to say, fine, who wants to joke with you? Let’s go.” As she said this she utilized her lightness kung fu and hurried along the small path to the mountainside.

Yang Guo felt there was no point to this and thought, “Why am I mixing with these three? I’d rather be far away and be on my own!” He turned around and slowly walked away, thinking, “The Wu brothers think that girl is a goddess, they’re afraid that she won’t marry them. If they really marry her, and spend everyday with such a pretty yet bullying girl, they will definitely experience more pain than joy, huh; crazy people like them are very funny.”

Guo Fu hurried for a while and assumed that Yang Guo would go after her and apologize; but after stopping for a while there was no trace of Yang Guo. She had a thought and said, “That person does not know martial arts, of course he won’t be able to catch up. She turned around and returned to see that he had actually gone in the opposite direction. She thought this was strange and went over to Yang Guo. She asked, “Why aren’t you coming?”

Yang Guo said, “Miss Guo, please tell your parents that I’ve gone.”

Guo Fu was shocked and said, “You’re fine, so why are you leaving?”

Yang Guo gave a dull laugh and said, “There’s no reason, originally I came here for no real reason, and now that I’ve been here I feel I should go.”

Guo Fu has always like crowded atmospheres; although she didn’t think very highly of Yang Guo, listening to him joking felt fresher and newer than listening to the Wu brothers. She really didn’t want him to leave, she said, “Brother Yang, we haven’t seen each other a long time, I have many things to say to you. Anyway, tonight is the ‘Heroes Feast, all the heroes from all over the world will be gathering here, why don’t you want to experience this?”

Yang Guo said, “I’m not a hero, if I’m actually there, won’t I just become an object of ridicule in front of all the heroes?”

Guo Fu said, “That makes sense.” She pondered for a while and said, “There are many people in the Lu Manor who don’t know martial arts, just eat and drink with the servants.”

When Yang heard this he was very angry, he thought, “Little Bitch, you class me with nobodies.” His face didn’t show any signs of anger; he laughed and said, “That’s a pretty good idea.” He had wanted to leave but now had a change of heart, he decided he was going to do something that would embarrass and disgrace her. Guo Fu was used to being pampered and cared for. She wasn’t wise and didn’t understand worldly matters; she didn’t have any ill intent in her words and didn’t know that she had deeply offended someone.

She saw that Yang Guo had changed his mind, she laughed and said, “Let’s go, if we’re late and mother gets there first, we won’t be able to peek.” She hurried ahead with Yang Guo following behind, he appeared out of breath and his footsteps seemed heavy showing that he was extremely clumsy and inept. They easily arrived in time at the place where Huang Rong normally taught Lu Youjiao the stick techniques. They saw the Wu brothers in a tree looking out. Guo Fu leapt up on the branch and then reached out her hand to Yang Guo pulling him up. When Yang Guo held her soft and warm hand, he couldn’t stop his heart from stirring but immediately thought, “Even if you were ten times as beautiful, you can’t compare with my Gu Gu.”

Guo Fu quietly asked, “My mother hasn’t arrived yet?”

Wu Xiuwen pointed to the west and quietly replied, “Elder Lu is practicing over there, Master and Master’s wife went away to talk about something.”

The only person that Guo Fu is afraid of is her father, when she heard that he was here she felt slightly uneasy. But when she saw Lu Youjiao holding a bamboo stick pointing to the east and stirring to the west, she forgot her fear and quietly said, “That’s the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”?”

Wu Dunru said, “Most likely. Master’s wife was teaching him when Master came over and said he had something to discuss with her, he led her to the side while Elder Lu practiced by himself.”

Guo Fu watched a few stances and felt that it was sluggish and didn’t see anything special about it, she said, “Elder Lu hasn’t learned it yet, and it isn’t nice to watch, let’s go.”

Yang Guo saw that the stances that Elder Lu was using were identical to the ones that Hong Qigong taught him on top of Mount Hua, he chuckled in his heart, “That girl doesn’t know anything.”

The Wu brothers always followed Guo Fu’s orders, they were about to jump down when they heard footsteps below; the Guo couple were walking over.

They heard Guo Jing say, “Of course a decision about Fu’er’s future can’t be decided so lightly and suddenly. But Guo’er is young; it is unavoidable that young people will get into trouble. That business with the Quanzhen sect doesn’t seem to be all his fault.”

Huang Rong said, “I don’t care about him causing trouble at Quanzhen. You are respecting the long friendship between the families of Yang and Guo, as you should. But Yang Guo is very crafty, the more I look at him the more he looks like his father, how can I relax and allow Fu’er to get married to him?”

When Yang Guo, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers heard this, they all were shocked. The four of them knew that the Guo and Yang families had some ties but they didn’t know that the previous generations had such deep ties. They could never have guessed that Guo Jing wanted to betroth his daughter to Yang Guo. That sentence affects all four of them, they all listened carefully, their hearts all racing.

Guo Jing said, “Brother Yang Kang was unfortunate that he ended up in the Jin palace and fell in with the wrong crowd. That’s how he ended up like he did, in the end he died without a full corpse. (a soul?) Had he been in the care of Uncle Yang Tiexin, he would never have ended up like that.”

Huang Rong sighed as she remembered the frightening events of that night at Jiaxing’s Iron Spear Temple, her heart froze and she quietly said, “You could say that.”

Yang Guo does not fully understand his background, he knew that his father died earlier by someone’s hand but his own mother never revealed how he died or who killed him. Now he heard Guo Jing talking about his father and mentioned ‘ended up in the Jin palace and fell in with the wrong crowd’ and ‘died without a full corpse’, his body quivered as if he was struck by lighting, his face turned grey. Guo Fu glanced at him and saw that he was looking like he was in a trance; she was frightened and worried that he would suddenly fall and drop to his death.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong sat down on a rock with their backs to the tree. Guo Jing lightly stroked Huang Rong’s arm and warmly said, “Since you’ve been carrying our second child, your body has not been feeling well; quickly pass on all the responsibilities of the Beggar Clan to Lu Youjiao so you can rest properly.”

Guo Fu was delighted, “So mother’s having a baby, it’ll be great to have a little brother. How come mother never told me about this?”

Huang Rong said, “I don’t worry about the matters of the Beggar Clan that much. What I’m worried about is Fu’er’s future.”

Guo Jing said, “Since the Quanzhen won’t take in Guo’er, I’ll teach him myself. He’s a very clever boy, once he’s learned all my skills in the future, the brotherly vow between his father and I won’t have been in vain.”

Yang Guo now knew that Guo Jing was his father’s sworn brother, the words ‘Uncle Guo’ had a real meaning behind it, when he heard Guo Jing treating him with love in his words he was touched, tears almost rolled from of his eyes.

Huang Rong said, “That’s what I’m afraid of, in case he’s too clever for his own good. That’s why I taught him to study and didn’t teach him any martial arts. I hoped that he would become a deep, understanding and righteous man, even if he didn’t know any martial arts. I would have happily betrothed Fu’er to him in that case.”

Guo Jing said, “You have always planned everything to the last detail. This idea would have been good but with Fu’er’s temper and martial arts, wouldn’t having her to marry a weak scholar be a bit harsh for her? Tell me, how could she respect him? In my opinion such a couple would not get on well with each other.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “You’re shameless! So the reason why we are such a good couple is because you have better martial arts than me. Hero Guo, come, come, come, let’s have a duel.”

Guo Jing laughed and said, “Fine, Chief Huang, give me your best.” A light sound was heard as Huang Rong lightly patted on Guo Jing’s shoulder.

After a while Huang Rong sighed and said, “Ah… this matter is complicated, even with Guo’er to one side, how can you separate the two Wu brothers? In your opinion, who is better?”

Guo Fu and the Wu brother’s hearts naturally jumped. This wasn’t related to Yang Guo but he wanted to hear Guo Jing’s opinion of the two.

He heard Guo Jing go ‘hmm’ and didn’t say anything for a while, in the end he said, “I can’t give my opinions on them on small matters. Only when a person is faced with an important matter will they show their real character.” His voice became soft and said, “Fu’er is still young, we can still wait a few years. It could be that by then everything will have sorted itself out and we won’t have to worry about it. There’s no need to exert your self too much when teaching Lu Youjiao the stick techniques. In the last few days I’ve noticed that you don’t seem to look well, I’m worried. I’ll go and find Guo’er and talk to him.” After he said this he got up and walked to the road.

Huang Rong sat on the rock and evened her breathing for a while before she instructed Lu Youjiao to come over and perform the techniques. Lu Youjiao displayed all thirty-six strokes of the technique, but Lu Youjiao had yet to understand the formulae. Huang Rong kept her patience and explained everything more clearly to him.

The stances of the “Dog Beating Stick Techniques” are of course ingenious and masterly, and the formulae behind it extremely clever and ingenious, otherwise how could a little bamboo stick become the treasure of the Beggar Clan? Even with Ouyang Feng’s great skills he had to think deep and hard for a long while; how could the opponent overcome a stance or half a move?

Huang Rong had used a month’s time to teach Lu Youjiao the stances. Now she recited the formulae and the principles behind the changes a few times, and told him to remember this. When it comes to understanding and being able to use the skill, it depends on the person’s ability and intelligence. The Master cannot teach the disciple this.

Guo Fu and the Wu brothers did not understand the stick techniques, they didn’t have a clue as to what was going on. What the ‘seal’ point was like, how the ‘coil’ aim was meant to be, how the eighteenth change transforms into the nineteenth change and how the nineteenth change can be altered into the twentieth change. The three of them wanted to leap down from the tree but were afraid that Huang Rong would discover them; they hoped that she would go through it quickly and then leave with Lu Youjiao. But who could have guessed that Huang Rong had decided to hand over the position of Chief to Lu Youjiao today before the ‘Heroes Feast’. She decided she would impart all the formulae to him now, if he didn’t understand it she would slowly go over it with him later on. According to the rules of the clan, when he takes over the position he must have learned the “Dog Beating Stick Technique”; this is why that she spoke almost non-stop for around two hours. However, Lu Youjiao wasn’t the most gifted and he was now old, his memory is fading, how could he remember all this in just a short time? Huang Rong kept on going, passage after passage; it was hard for him to remember everything. Huang Rong had met Guo Jing when she was fifteen and was used to being around someone who was slow and not the most gifted. She was angry about Lu Youjiao’s poor memory. The rules of the clan states that the formulae to the technique must be passed on down orally and must not be written down. Otherwise writing it down and letting him slowly memorize it would have saved a lot of effort and energy.

That day on the peak of Mount Hua after both Hong Qigong and Ouyang Feng had suffered internal injuries in their duel, Hong Qigong had taught Yang Guo every stance and every change so that he could perform it for Ouyang Feng. But he didn’t teach him a single word of the formulae that are needed when fighting an enemy. Hong Qigong thought that without the formulae, the techniques would be useless to him. This doesn’t really go against the rules of the clan and at the time he wasn’t fighting Ouyang Feng for real, so there was no need to pass on the formulae to the technique. Who could have guessed that Yang Guo would now hear the whole thing in its entirety? He was over a hundred times more gifted than Lu Youjiao; after just three recitations he was able to remember the whole thing without forgetting a word, but Lu Youjiao still wasn’t able to remember as he recited it ambiguously.

When Huang Rong became pregnant for the second time, she became careless one day while meditating and disturbed the chi of the fetus; because of this she has become very weak. Today she had taught for over half a day and had become very tired, she sat on the rock and rested, she closed her eyes for a while and then called out, “Fu’er, Ru’er, Wen’er, Guo’er, come down at once!”

The four of them were shocked and thought, “So she knew we were here long ago!”

Guo Fu said, “Mother, you really are great, nothing can be kept from you.” As she said this she used a stance of “The Forest Sends a Sparrow” and lightly leapt down in front of her. The Wu brothers followed while Yang Guo climbed down slowly.

Huang Rong gave a ‘heng’ sound and said, “You wanted to steal a look with your kung fu? If I couldn’t even notice you little rascals, I’m afraid that when that I’m traveling around Jianghu I’d be ambushed in half a day.”

Guo Fu felt embarrassed by her mother’s comments but knew that her mother was lenient and wasn’t afraid of being scolded by her. She laughed and said, “Mother, I brought these three along to take a look at the world famous “Dog Beating Stick Technique”, but who knew that when Elder Lu uses it, the skill doesn’t look good at all. Mother, perform the skill for us.”

Huang Rong laughed and took the bamboo stick from Lu Youjiao’s hand, she said, “Fine, watch out, I’m going to trip a little puppy.”

Guo Fu concentrated on her lower body, as soon as the bamboo stick comes towards her, she will immediately jump and avoid the trip. Huang Rong’s bamboo stick flashed across, Guo Fu quickly leapt up, her legs were half way away from the ground when the bamboo stick came across and skillfully and lightly tripped her up. Guo Fu got up and called out, “I’m not taking about that! It was my fault.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Fine, you chose what you want to do.”

Guo Fu steadied herself in the Mount Posture and stood solidly, she had another thought and then said, “Big brother Wu and little brother Wu, come to my side and get into the Mount Posture as well.” The Wu brothers did as they were told and stood solidly. Guo Fu stretched out her arm and hooked it around the Wu brothers’ arms combining the strength of the three, as solid as Mount Tai. She said, “Mother, I’m not afraid of you, only father’s “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” can push us.”

Huang Rong gave a slight smile and waved the stick across the three’s faces, a strong gust of wind rushed upon them. The three of them all moved backwards to avoid it, the Mount Posture of the lower body loosened as a result. Huang Rong’s bamboo stick returned and used the ‘turn’ formulae, the stick brushed across the three’s legs, the three of them could not stand steady and all fell down at the same time. At least the three’s kung fu had a good foundation, their bodies had just touched the ground slightly and they up immediately.

Guo Fu called out, “Mother, that’s just trickery; I’m not taking about that either.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Just now I passed on the eight formulae to Lu Youjiao, ‘trip’, ‘chop’, ‘coil’, ‘poke’, ‘stir’, ‘lead’, ‘seal’ and ‘turn’; which one uses reckless strength? You said this is trickery, that’s correct, in the martial arts, ninety percent of it is used to trick someone, as long as you’ve tricked a skilled fighter, you’ve won. Only your father’s “Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms” type of martial arts uses real kung fu to battle and doesn’t use any sort of trickery. But how many people in the world can reach such a stage?”

These words made Yang Guo nod in secret, he remembered the formulae that Huang Rong had recited and combined it with the stances that Hong Qigong taught him, the ingenuity and mastery behind it really was boundless. Though Guo Fu and the others understood what Huang Rong said, they didn’t appreciate the meaning behind it.

Huang Rong continued, “The “Dog Beating Stick Technique” is Wulin’s most unique kung fu, it forms a branch on its own, and does not involve any other sect’s kung fu. If you just learn the stances but don’t know the formulae to accompany it, it is useless. Even if you are extremely clever it will be very difficult to come up with formulae to accompany the stances. But if you just know the formulae without me personally teaching you the stances, and only know the eight words ‘trip’, ‘chop’, ‘coil’, ‘poke’, ‘stir’, ‘lead’, ‘seal’ and ‘turn’, the result is the same. Because of this I’m not afraid of letting you four rascals eavesdrop. If I teach any sort of kung fu, without my permission, you must not eavesdrop or practice in secret ever, understand?”

Guo Fu agreed and laughed, “Mother, why should I try to practice your kung fu in secret? Could it be that you have other skills that you dare not teach me?”

Huang Rong used the bamboo stick to lightly hit Guo Fu’s behind, she laughed, “Go and play with your two Wu brothers. Guo’er, I want to speak with you. Elder Lu, take your time, if you can’t remember it all I’ll teach you again tomorrow.”

Lu Youjiao, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers went on their way back to the Lu Manor, only Yang Guo remained.

Yang Guo’s heart raced, he was afraid that Huang Rong knew that he had secretly learned the “Dog Beating Stick Technique” and know wanted to take his life.

Huang Rong saw the frightened expr