DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 2 of 5 (Shrouding Screen In Suzhou) by Jin Yong

Giving Pointers To Gathered Heroes At The Water Pavilion Part 3

The two elders, seeing that Sima Li was unable to achieve victory despite a long battle, suddenly let out a sharp whistle, then rolled on the floor towards them, attacking Zhu Baokun's lower extremities.

Most of the people who use short weapons, save for females, knew various rolling and jumping techniques which would cause the opponent to be uncertain as to how to respond. Zhu Baokun, too, was originally very familiar with this attack of theirs, known as the 'Thunder God's Earth Explosion', but with his hands occupied defending against Sima Li's awl and mace, he had nothing left to guard against the two elders. All he could do was run around and try to dodge or jump away. Elder Jiang's steel mace struck at him from the left, while elder Meng's awl stabbed from the right. Zhu Baokun leapt up and delivered a flying kick to elder Meng's lower jaw. Elder Meng cursed, "Son of a tortoise, so you are going all out?" He dodged to the side. Elder Jiang charged forwards, delivering a sweeping attack with his mace, just as Sima Lin's mace struck towards Zhu Baokun's forehead. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Zhu Baokun had to choose between the lesser of two evils. Lifting his weapon, he blocked Sima Lin's attack, while receiving a stiff blow to his left leg from Elder Jiang's mace.

Although the mace was small, the crushing force of its blows was very formidable. Zhu Baokun felt the pain in the very marrow of his bones. For the moment, he couldn't even be sure as to whether or not his leg bone was already snapped. With a clanging sound, two maces met and sparks exploded. He then let out a cry as elder Meng's awl pierced his left leg as well.

He was actually capable of dodging this strike, but if he had done so, the 'Thunder God's Earth Explosion' technique which the two elders were using would have united and transformed into the 'Earth Goddess's Thunder Web' attack, which he would have been unable to resist. Since his left leg might already be broken, he might as well just let it receive some more punishment. Within a few more strokes, bright blood began to splash from his leg, spraying red dots all across the walls.

Wang Yuyan saw Ah Zhu crease her forehead and pucker her lips in a frown. She knew that Ah Zhu hated watching this bunch of people battle against each other here and dirty her clean and tidy house. Smiling, she called out, "Hey, stop fighting! If you have problems, let's talk them out. Why be so unreasonable?" Sima Lin and the others wanted to execute the 'evil traitor who murdered their master' on the spot. Zhu Baokun was willing to stop fighting, but how could he? Seeing how the four of them continued to fight violently and ignore her words, and how it was primarily Sima Lin and the two elders who kept the fight going, she said, "All of you, stop fighting!" Sima Lin roared back, "I will not live under the same sky with the man who murdered my father! How can I not avenge him? What are you babbling about?" Wang Yuyan said, "If you don't stop, I'm going to help him!"

Sima Lin's heart went cold. He thought to himself, "This beautiful girl sees very clearly and thoroughly. I imagine her martial arts skills are excellent as well. If she helps the other side, things would get a bit troublesome." Then he thought, "With so many experts of our Qingcheng sect here, if push comes to shove we can mob them. Can it be that we'll all be defeated by such a delicate-looking girl?" He added more force to his blows, pelting vicious blows towards Zhu Baokun like the beating of the rain or the raging of the wind.

Wang Yuyan said, "Mr. Zhu, first use, the 'Force of Li Cunxiao Striking the Tiger', then use 'Zhang Guolao Riding the Donkey Backwards'!" [As the reader will have guessed, Li Cunxiao and Zhang Guolao are famous legendary figures.] Zhu Baokun was startled. He thought to himself, "The first stance belongs to the Qingcheng sect, but the second comes from the Penglai sect. These two definitely cannot be mixed together. How can I use them in succession?" But right now, the situation was critical. How could he have the time to ponder in depth? He executed the 'Force of Li Cunxiao Striking the Tiger' technique, and with a pair of 'dang' sounds, just managed to block two mace blows from Sima Lin and elder Jiang. Following this, he turned around and took three crooked steps backwards, each step taken precisely before an ambushing awl attack by elder Jiang. This stance which elder Jiang used was a combination attack using both the mace and the awl, with three strikes in total. It was extremely sinister and vicious. Each step Zhu Baokun took, he staggered as though he were drunk, and the execution was totally unorthodox. But at the most critical moment of each attack, he managed to avoid the opponent's ruthless strikes. It was as though the two of them had practiced this in advance and were now showing off their abilities.

These three ambushing strikes were extremely ingenious, but the dodges were even more exquisite. All of the members of the Qin family stronghold watching were rapt and breathless. After every dodge, they let out an exclamation in unison, and by the time all three attacks were dodged, they had let out three mighty shouts. The faces of the disciples of the Qingcheng sect were very gloomy to begin with, but now they looked all the more terrible to behold.

Duan Yu shouted out, "Wonderful, wonderful! Brother Zhu, whatever Miss Wang tells you to do, do it. I promise you won't lose out by doing so!"

When Zhu Baokun executed this 'Zhang Guolao Riding the Donkey Backwards' technique, he had no idea what the results might be. His head was filled with a murky fog, and he felt that life and death were the same, and had long since cast away any hopes of living. He didn't imagine that these two techniques from the Qingcheng sect and the Penglai sect could actually be executed together and allow him to evade those three vicious blows. The panic in his heart was far greater than even that of the members of the Qin family stronghold, or of the members of the Qingcheng sect.

He heard Wang Yuyan call out, "First execute 'Han Xiangzi Embraces the Snow of the Blue Gate', then execute the 'Crooked Path Opens to the Netherworld'!" The first technique belonged to the Penglai sect, and the second belonged to the Qingcheng sect. Without even thinking, Zhu Baokun drew a circle in front of him using his mace and his awl in a defensive sealing movement. Just at this moment, Sima Lin and elder Meng thrust at him with their awls. The three of them had actually executed their attacks at the same time, but in the eyes of outsiders, it seemed as though Zhu Baokun had completed his defensive movement first, while Sima Lin and elder Meng, despite seeing his defensive movement and finding no flaws in his defense, still insisted on using a large amount of energy in a useless attack. Their two awls connected with his mace, and with a clanging sound, the two awls were flicked aside. Zhu Baokun didn't hesitate at all, and immediately stooped down and launched a backwards piercing strike with his awl.

Elder Jiang was just about to strike him from behind. He never imagined that Zhu Baokun's awl would strike at him at this moment, from this angle. The 'Crooked Path Opens to the Netherworld' technique belonged to the Qingcheng sect, and elder Jiang knew it by heart. Using the attack in such a manner was totally antithetical to the basic principles of Qingcheng sect martial arts. If Zhu Baokun, while practicing martial arts, had normally executed the technique in such a way, elder Jiang would have burst into loud laughter. But by using such an unreasonable attack, elder Jiang was put into a position where he was about to commit suicide, as he was rushing forwards with his body in line with the tip of the awl. He knew that he was in a disastrous position, but couldn't retract his charging force in time. With a puffing sound, the awl pierced into his waist. His body swayed, and he fell to the floor. Two disciples of the Qingcheng sect ran forwards, grabbed him, then carried him away.

Sima Lin cursed, "Zhu Baokun, you son of a turtle, you just hurt martial-uncle Jiang with your own hands. You can't claim this is false as well, right?" Wang Yuyan said, "I told him to hurt elder Jiang. Please, stay your hands!" Sima Lin angrily said, "If you're really so capable, tell him how to kill me!" Wang Yuyan smiled. "Mr. Zhu, first use the technique, 'Iron-Crutched Li Passes Through a Tunnel Into the Front Yard Beneath the Moon,' then use the technique, 'Iron-Crutched Li Discusses the Way in a Jade Cavern.'"

Zhu Baokun replied, "Yes!" He thought to himself, "Within the Penglai sect's martial arts techniques, there are only the stances, 'Lu Chunyang Passes Through a Tunnel Into the Front Yard Beneath the Moon' and 'Han Zhongli Discusses the Way in a Jade Cavern.' How did Iron-Crutched Li get mixed up into this? Most likely, this girl's understanding of our school's martial arts technique still has its limits, and she misspoke." But at this critical moment, Sima Lin and elder Meng definitely would not give him the chance to ask her to clarify. All he could do was use his normal techniques and execute 'Lu Chunyang Passes Through a Tunnel Into the Front Yard Beneath the Moon'.

This technique, 'Passing Through a Tunnel Into the Front Yard Beneath the Moon', was originally meant to be executed by taking a large step forward, and was possessed of natural grace and elegance, as though someone were flying through the air. But after his left leg received two serious wounds, when he took a large step he was limping. How could he appear to be like Lu Chunyang? He looked one hundred percent like Iron-Crutched Li. But even though he was forced to limp forwards, he still received a great advantage from this motion. The two awl strikes which Sima Lin had just struck out with hit nothing but the air. Next, when he executed the 'Han Zhongli Discusses the Way in a Jade Cavern' technique, his left leg was still limping and his entire body was inclined towards the left. He used the mace in his right hand as a fan, sweeping it across his body. Just at this moment, elder Meng's head came into contact with his mace. With a clapping sound, the mace hit him right in the mouth. Ten of his teeth were immediately knocked out of his mouth and fell to the floor. It was so painful that he yelled and jumped up like a madman. He threw away his weapons, pressing both hands to his mouth as he sat down on the floor.

Sima Lin was secretly shocked, but for the moment didn't know what to do. Should he continue to fight, or temporarily withdraw and gain his revenge another day? The two techniques which Wang Yuyan had instructed Zhu Baokun use were simply too miraculous. She had calculated that after those three earlier techniques, elder Meng would charge towards Zhu Baokun's right hand side. When Zhu Baokun struck out with his hammer at that moment, it was perfectly aligned with elder Meng's mouth. Since Zhu Baokun's leg was crippled, 'Han Zhongli Discusses the Way in a Jade Cavern' turned into 'Iron-Crutched Li Discusses the Way in a Jade Cavern,' and the mace struck out at an angle. If he hadn't been crippled and the mace came out normally, it would have missed by a few inches. Her calculations were extremely ingenious and her predictions of the opponent's actions were very accurate. It truly was shocking and astonishing.

Sima Lin thought to himself, "If I want to kill Zhu Baokun, this son of a turtle, first I'll need to think of a way to shut this girl's mouth and keep her from giving him advice." But just as he was trying to think of a strategy by which he could harm Wang Yuyan, he heard her say, "Mr. Zhu, you are a disciple of the Penglai sect. For you to deceive your way into the Qingcheng sect in order to steal their martial arts is extremely inappropriate. However, I do believe that you were not the one who harmed the old master, Sima Wei. Based on your level of martial arts, even if you taught another expert the skills of the Qingcheng sect, he definitely would not be able to use the 'Moon Destroying Awl' technique to kill old master Sima Wei. But you are still to blame for stealing other people's martial arts secrets. Quick, go apologize to sect-leader Sima, and we'll consider this matter settled."

Zhu Baokun thought that her words were just. In addition, she had saved his life, as he had only escaped from danger based on her advice. He could not disobey her commands, and immediately bowed deeply towards Sima Lin. He said, "Martial-brother sect-leader, it is your junior brother's fault..."

Sima Lin leapt to one side, then fiercely cursed, "You bastard, you son of a turtle, you still have the face and the audacity to call me your martial-brother sect-leader?"

Wang Yuyan called out, "Quick! 'Sauntering About the East China Sea!'