uish/recognize look’. Elif, can you think of a better translation?]; early on she had guessed the awkward situation among the three people, Wu Qingying, Wei Bi and Zhu Jiuzhen, correctly. Deliberately enraging Wu Qingying, her intention was precisely that she would stab her to death quickly. She saw a blue ray flashed and the sword had already arrived at her chest. Suddenly, something flew noiselessly and struck the sword. ‘Whoosh!’ the sword was knocked out and flew more than a dozen ‘zhang’ away before it fell on the ground.

In the darkness, nobody saw clearly how Wu Qingying’s sword left her hand and flew away, but this kind of force, even if she intentionally wanted to throw it away, she might not have the ability to do so. It was obvious that the peasant girl had a powerful helper.

In their shock, the six people took several steps backward. They looked around, but there were only open spaces in all directions; there were no hills, trees or thick bushes in which someone might be hiding. As far as their eyes could see, not even half a shadow of other people was to be seen. The six of them looked at each other in alarm and uncertainty.

“Qing’er,” in low voice Wu Lie said, “What happened?”

“Seemed like a very fierce secret projectile,” Wu Qingying replied, “It knocked my sword out of my hand.”

Wu Lie again looked around, but did not see any other people. “Humph,” he said, “Perhaps this slave girl played a trick on you.” But in his heart he felt strange, “She was definitely hit by my Yi Yang Zi [Solitary Yang Finger], how could she still have the strength to shake Qing’er’s sword away? This girl’s martial art is truly demonical.” He strode forward and struck the peasant girl’s left shoulder with his palm. He was using his entire strength with the intention to crush her shoulder bone, so that she would lose her martial art skill and thus give his daughter the opportunity to do to her as she wished.

It seemed that the peasant girl’s shoulder bone would be crushed soon, when suddenly she raised her left arm and met his palm with hers. ‘Crash!’ Wu Lie felt a burning sensation in his chest; the opponent’s palm felt like a raging storm, a torrential flood which was impossible to resist. “Ahh!” he cried out loudly as his body flew backwards, and ‘Bang!’ it hit the ground, hard. Fortunately his martial art skills were superb that as soon as his back touched the ground, he leaped back up. But blood was bubbling up in his chest and abdomen, his vision blackened and his head spun, so that he had just straightened up his body and regulated his breathing when his body swayed and in the end he tumbled down on the ground again.

Wei Bi and Wu Qingying were greatly shocked. They rushed to prop him up, but suddenly He Taichong said, “Let him lie down for a while longer!”

Wu Qingying turned her head and angrily said, “What did you say?” In her heart she thought, “Father has just fallen under the enemy’s attack yet you take delight in his misfortune and ridicule him?”

He Taichong said, “His ‘chi’ and blood bubbled up, he needs to calm down quietly.”

Wei Bi understood immediately. “Yes!” he said, and gently laid his Shifu back to the ground.

He Taichong and Ban Shuxian looked at each other in great surprise. They had fought the peasant girl before, and although her stances and techniques were exquisite and her skill was above average, her internal energy was mediocre. When she exchanged palms with Wu Lie, it was obvious that the internal strength that jolted Wu Lie was extraordinarily strong. This had puzzled them to no end.

In her heart, the peasant girl was even more shocked. When her acupoints were sealed by Wu Lie, she fell into Zhang Wuji’s bosom, completely unable to move. Very soon Wu Qingying’s sword would have stabbed her, but suddenly something flew and shook the sword, while a stream of charcoal hot energy flowed through her leg, burst into her ‘fu tu’ and ‘feng shi’ acupoints and flushed the sealed acupoints open. Her body shook; lowering her head, she saw Zhang Wuji’s hands were gripping both of her ankles, the stream of hot energy rushing into her body continuously via the ‘xuan zhong’ [hanging bell] acupoint.

This turn of events happened so quickly that before she had time to think about it, Wu Lie’s palm had already come down. Without thinking she raised her hand up, thinking that broken hand would be better than crushed shoulder bones. Who would have thought that as soon as two palms collided, Wu Lie was jolted more than a ‘zhang’ backwards by her own palm? She was startled and thought in her heart, “Could this ugly freak bum actually be a martial art master with immeasurably deep skill?”

He Taichong was wary; he did not dare to contend in palm strength with her. Unsheathing his sword, he said, “I want to receive instructions in sword technique from Miss.”

The peasant girl laughed. “I don’t have any sword!” she said.

“Not a problem,” Wei Bi said, “I’ll lend you mine!” Raising his sword, he aimed the tip of the sword toward the girl’s chest and exerting himself, he threw the sword away.

The peasant girl reached out and caught the sword in her hand. She laughed and said, “Your martial art skill is lacking too much, your thrust did not kill me!”

Being a leader of a Sect, He Taichong did not want to take advantage of a younger generation. “You may start,” he said, “I will yield to you for three stances before I will attack!”

The peasant girl thrust her sword toward He Taichong’s groin. He Taichong snorted in anger. “A junior is being impolite!” he said in low voice, while lifting his sword to block. But there was a ‘Crack!’ sound as both swords broke at the same time.

He Taichong’s face changed greatly; his shadow swayed and he withdrew half a ‘zhang’ backwards.

“What a pity! What a pity!” the girl exclaimed inwardly. Turned out Zhang Wuji transmitted his Jiu Yang Shen Gong to her body, but she did not know how to unleash the formidable power of Shen Gong’s, which resulted in both swords being broken. If she was able to utilize the power to attack the enemy, only the enemy’s sword would be broken, while the sword in her hand would stay intact.

Ban Shuzian was greatly astonished. “What happened?” she asked in a low voice.

He Taichong’s arm was still numb and aching. “Demonical!” he said with a bitter smile.

Ban Shuxian drew her sword out. With a cold face she said, “I want to receive instructions.”

The peasant girl spread out her hands, her meaning was clear: she did not have any sword. Ban Shuxian pointed towards Wu Qingying’s sword, which was fallen on the ground about a dozen of ‘zhang’ away. “Take that sword!” she ordered.

The peasant girl did not dare to be away from Zhang Wuji’s hands; she had no choice but lift the broken sword in her hand, she laughed and said, “This broken sword is all right!”

Ban Shuxian was angry. She mused, “This dead girl is too arrogant to despise me like this.” She was not like He Taichong who maintained his position in every aspect as an older generation of high skill level; her sword circled around and pierced the peasant girl’s neck. The peasant girl raised her broken sword to block, but Ban Shuxian’s sword technique was light and agile to the extreme; the sword quickly cut down on the peasant girl’s left shoulder. She quickly flipped her sword to fend off. Ban Shuxian again changed her sword to stab the right side of her body. Ban Shuxian successively attacked eight times like a whirlwind, but all along she did not dare to meet the peasant girl’s broken sword. She only displayed the exquisiteness of her swordsmanship without giving the opponent any opportunity to use her internal energy.

The peasant girl blocked to the left and parried to the right; soon she repeatedly fell into dangerous situations. Her swordsmanship was far inferior to Ban Shuxian to begin with, now that she only had a broken sword in her hand and did not dare to move her feet, she could only defend without any possibility of attacking.

Several stances later, the tip of Ban Shuxian’s sword flashed and made a slash on the peasant girl’s left arm. In Kunlun Pai’s sword technique, once one gained the upper hand, one would not allow the enemy even half a chance to take a breather, and pressed on with follow-up stances to advance.

“Ah!” the peasant girl cried out as her shoulder was hit by the sword. “Hey!” she called out, “Aren’t you going to help me? Are you going to just watch me being killed?”

Ban Shuxian took two steps back; holding the sword horizontally across her chest, she looked all around, but did not see anybody. Immediately her sword vibrated and the tip created cold plum flowers as she attacked the peasant girl again. The peasant girl frantically brandished her broken sword. After blocking three sword moves, the opponent’s sword was getting amazingly fast, but her defense was also amazingly swift. It was a situation where the eyes must be clear and the hands must be quick, there was simply no leeway for miscalculations.

“Dead girl, your hand is quick!” Ban Shuxian praised.

The peasant girl did not want to be beaten; she cursed back, “Dead Granny, your hand is not slow either.”

But Ban Shuxian’s swordsmanship was from a major school with dozens of years of training. Her mouth was speaking while her hand did not slow down ever so slightly. On the other hand, the peasant girl was no more than seventeen, eighteen years of age; even if she was trained under a great master, how could she copy Ban Shuxian’s calm and composed manner even in a fierce battle? As soon as she opened her mouth, her attention was slightly distracted and she felt pain on her wrist immediately as the broken sword in her hand flew away.

“Ah!” the peasant girl cried out in fear as the tip of Ban Shuxian’s sword threatened the lower part of her side.

Ding Minjun had been watching from the side without doing anything. Now that she saw a small opening, because it was too late to draw her sword, she launched the stance ‘tui chuang wang yue’ [push out the window to look at the moon], in which both of her palms struck toward the peasant girl’s back. Right this moment, Wu Qingying also leaped in, her leg flew to kick the peasant girl’s right waist.

The peasant girl was so frightened that she felt her heart was about to jump out of her throat. Suddenly she felt her whole body was boiling as if she had fallen into a raging furnace. Without thinking she stretched out her finger to flick Ban Shuxian’s sword. At the same moment her back was struck by the palms and her waist was kicked.

“Aiyo! Aiyo!” two miserable screams were heard. Ding Minjun and Wu Qingying were thrown backward, while the sword in Ban Shuxian’s hand was reduced to a half-section broken sword.

Turned out when Zhang Wuji saw the desperate situation, he sent out his entire ‘zhen qi’ [real ‘chi’] to the peasant girl’s body in great speed. By this time, his cultivation of the Jiu Yang Shen Gong had reached about thirty, forty percent of perfection; his power was indeed not small. As a result, Ban Shuxian’s sword, both of Ding Minjun’s wrist bones, and Wu Qingying’s right toes, were all broken.

He Taichong, Wu Lie, and Wei Bi were stupefied; they were momentarily at a loss. Ban Shuxian tossed the broken sword on the ground. “Let’s go!” she bitterly said, “Haven’t we disgraced ourselves enough?” while her eyes shot a fierce glare toward her husband. Her belly was full of resentment, which she wanted to vent on him.

“Yes!” He Taichong replied. Two people rushed away side by side. In a short moment they had already gone.

Kunlun Pai’s ‘qing gong’ [lightness skill] was excellent; certainly it ranked among the top within the Wulin world. As far as how Ban Shuxian would vent her anger toward He Taichong as soon as they reached home, whether by punishing him by making him kneel in front of her sword, or by subjecting him to another strange Kunlun Pai sword stance, it was not for the outsiders to know.

With one hand supporting his Shifu and the other supporting his martial sister, Wei Bi walked slowly away. The three of them were afraid the peasant girl would pursue and attack them; yet they were unable to run away as fast as He Taichong, husband and wife did. Each step they took was laden with anxiety.

The bones on both of Ding Minjun’s wrists were broken, but her feet were not injured. Gritting her teeth and bearing the pain, she walked away alone.

Pleased with herself, the peasant girl laughed heartily. “Ugly freak! You …” she said, but before she could finish, she passed out suddenly.

Turned out as soon as Zhang Wuji saw the six people took off their separate ways, he released her ankles. Immediately the Jiu Yang Zhen Qi [the true/real ‘chi’ from Nine Yang] filling her body dispersed that it was as if her body was drained and her limbs and her entire bones were without any strength.

Zhang Wuji was startled, but immediately realized what had happened. Both his thumbs lightly pressed the ‘si zhu kong’ [empty bamboo silk] acupoint on the ends of her eyebrows and transmit a little bit of ‘Shen Gong’.

The girl slowly regained her consciousness. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was lying on Zhang Wuji’s bosom while he was looking at her with a smile on his face; for some reason she felt very bashful. She leaped up immediately, and stared at him with a face that seemed like smiling yet she was not smiling. Suddenly she reached out toward his left ear and twisted it with all her strength.

“Ugly freak,” she scolded him, “You deceived me! You possess such a fierce martial art skill, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Aiyo!” Zhang Wuji cried out in pain, “What are you doing?”

The peasant girl laughed and said, “Who told you to deceive me?”

“When did I deceive you?” Zhang Wuji replied, “You did not tell me you know martial arts, I did not tell you I know martial arts either.”

“All right,” the peasant girl said, “I’ll forgive you this time, considering you have helped me big time just now, your merit compensates for your crime, I am not going to press charges. How’s your leg? Can you walk?”

“Still cannot,” Zhang Wuji replied.

The peasant girl sighed and said, “Finally good intentions are being repaid well. If I did not remember you and wanted to see you one more time, you would not help me.” After pausing for a moment, she continued, “If I knew your martial art skill level is much stronger than mine, I would not have to kill that witch girl Zhu Jiuzhen.”

Zhang Wuji’s face darkened. “I did not ask you to kill her,” he said.

“Aiyo, aiyo! Turns out you still have this beautiful lady in your heart,” the peasant girl said, “My bad, I killed your sweetheart.”

“Miss Zhu was not my sweetheart,” Zhang Wuji replied, “Even if she were more beautiful, she had nothing to do with me.”

“Well! That’s strange,” the peasant girl exclaimed in amazement, “She had harmed you this bad, yet you don’t like it when I killed her to vent your anger?”

Zhang Wuji indifferently said, “There are too many people who have harmed me. If I want to kill each and every one of them to vent my anger, I would have gone on an endless killing spree. Besides, there were some people who deliberately harmed me, but actually I feel sorry for them. Take Miss Zhu for example, she had always been scared and edgy every day, she was afraid her Biaoge [older male cousin] would not get along well with her, she was always anxious that he would take Miss Wu as his wife. This kind of person, do you think she would be happy?”

The peasant girl got angry. “Are you mocking me?” she said.

Zhang Wuji was taken aback, he did not expect that talking about Zhu Jiuzhen would offend the girl in front of him right now. “No, no,” he busily said, “I was talking about how everybody has his or her own misfortunes. If others were unfair to you and you killed them, that is really not good.”

The peasant girl laughed. “If you learned martial art not to kill people, then why did you learn it?” she asked.

Zhang Wuji hesitantly said, “After we mastered the martial art skill, when bad people mistreat us, we can resist them.”

“My utmost admiration!” the peasant girl mocked, “Turns out you are such an upright gentleman, a very good man!”

Zhang Wuji looked at her with a blank expression on his face. He always felt that somehow this girl’s demeanor seemed familiar, he felt somehow this girl was related to him.

The peasant girl closed her mouth and asked, “What are you looking at?”

Zhang Wuji replied, “My Mama often laughed at my Papa who was indiscriminately good toward others, saying that he was a soft-hearted scholar. When she said that, her tone and her manner was exactly the same as yours just now.”

The peasant girl blushed. “Pei!” she spat, “You are mocking me again. You said I look like your Mama, then you yourself look like your Papa!” Although she was angry, her eyes were actually laughing.

Zhang Wuji hurriedly said, “The Heaven above, if I had the intention of mocking you, let me be condemned by the Heaven and the Earth.”

“Talk is cheap,” the peasant girl said, “Even if you did mock me, there is nothing serious about it. Why do you have to swear an oath?”

They had just talked to this point when suddenly there was a clear whistle coming from the northeast. The whistle was bright and long, obviously it was coming from a woman. The whistle was responded by someone nearby; apparently it was Ding Minjun who had not gone too far. Ding Minjun immediately stopped.

The peasant girl’s countenance changed slightly; she said in a low voice, “Someone from Emei Pai is coming.”