Chapter - 496 A Gentleman is Gullible Because of His Righteous Conduct (5)

Zhou Zhiruo turned her body sideways to evade; Yin Liting followed with 'da kui xing' [the Great Bear Constellation] and 'yan zi chao shui' [swallow hunts over the water]. His sword drew a big circle in the air, his right hand pierced straight forward, surprisingly, it also carried light 'swish, swish, swish' noise.

Zhou Zhiruo swung her slender waist like a pendulum, dodging the attacks one by one. "Yin Liu Xia," she said, "I gave you three stances to repay your kindness on Mount Wudang in the old days." As the last word came out of her mouth, the flexible whip in her hand shook like a cobra and struck directly into Yin Liting's chest.

Yin Liting quickly evaded to the left; but the whip changed its course midway and curved toward him. Yin Liting countered with 'feng bai he ye' [the wind sweeps lotus leaves]. His sword pared down. The whip and the sword collided, creating a light scratching noise. Yin Liting felt a burning sensation on the palm of his hand; the sword nearly fell off.

He was greatly shocked. "I thought her stances were strange but her internal energy was in par with mine," he mused, "Who would have thought that her internal energy is also strange beyond measures." Refocusing his attention, he launched the Taiji Sword by creating random circles, generating an extremely tight defense around his body.

The flexible whip in Zhou Zhiruo's hand was like a string of soft silk thread, like a weightless object. Her body flashed to the east and to the west, dashed forward and backward, yet the whip was always fluttering around Yin Liting.

Zhang Wuji's amazement grew as he watched the battle. "The way she moves the whip is entirely different from Du E, Du Nan and Du Jie, three eminent monks." At first, he thought that Emei Pai still had some heretical martial art that he was unaware of, but as he watched she move with demon-like agility, which differed greatly from Mie Jue Shitai's movements, against his will, a vague feeling of fear crept into his heart.

Suddenly Fan Yao exclaimed, "She is a ghost, she is not a human!"

His words echoed what was in Zhang Wuji's mind that he shivered involuntarily. If he were not in the field where the sun was still shining brightly and people were standing all around him he would have thought that Zhou Zhiruo had died and her ghost picked up a whip and fought with Yin Liting.

In all his life, he had seen countless of strange martial arts, but Zhou Zhiruo's footwork and whip technique, which was like the wind blowing willow branch, or the water floating duckweed, was truly beyond anybody's imagination. In that moment, he felt as if he was awakened from a nightmare and was shivering from fear, "Could it be that she practices some kind of demonic skill? Or she is being possessed by some monster?"

Zhou Zhiruo's movements were strange, but Taiji Sword was developed from Zhang Sanfeng's Taijiquan [Taiji fist], which he created in his later years. It was the pinnacle of the sword technique, which came from the culmination of his life-long comprehension of martial art theory. Yin Liting unleashed his entire strength and skill into his continuous sword movements. Although he was unable to injure the opponent, his defense was flawless, enough to hold his ground.

Suddenly, someone called out with a strange voice and strange intonation, "Aiyo! Song Qingshu is about to breathe his last. Zhou Da Zhangmen [great sect leader], if you don't pay your last respect to your husband, you will considered a dishonorable widow!"

Everybody turned their eyes toward the voice. It was Zhou Dian. He knew that in their entire lives, Wudang disciples put great emphasis to the internal energy cultivation to control their breathing. In facing the enemy, they were like 'the Mount Tai collapsed in front of their eyes, their countenances would not change; an elk hit their left ears, their eyes did not blink.' So he intended to help Yin Liting by disrupting Zhou Zhiruo's attention.

"Hey, hey, Miss Zhou Zhiruo of the Emei Pai," he called again, "Your husband is about to die, he has some last words for you. He says he has three times seven, twenty-one, and four times seven, twenty-eight, illegitimate children outside. He wants that after he dies, you will take a good care of them, so that he won't die with open eyes. Will you or will you not consent to his request?"

As the crowd of heroes heard him blabber such nonsense, some of them could not help but snicker. But Zhou Zhiruo acted as if she did not hear anything.

"Aiyo," Zhou Dian called out, "It's too bad! Miejue Lao Shitai, how have you, Senior, been doing? Long time no see. You, Senior, has never looked better. Your spirit must have possessed Miss Zhou; the way she plays this flexible whip is indeed very attractive!"

Suddenly, Zhou Zhiruo's shadow flashed several 'zhang's backward. She lashed her long whip over her right shoulder. The tip of the whip curved up from the ground toward Zhou Dian's face. Initially she was more than a dozen 'zhang's away from the Ming Cult's thatched shelter, but just like a dragon swooping down from the sky, the flexible whip suddenly arrived at his face like an arrow.

Zhou Dian was happily blabbering with spittle coming out of his mouth. He did not expect in the middle of a fierce battle, Zhou Zhiruo was able to launch a sudden attack with her whip. As he was stunned, the long whip had already arrived at his face. Zhou Zhiruo did not even turn her head, but it was as if the back of her head grew a pair of eyes; the tip of the whip was pointing right on his nose.

As Zhou Zhiruo flung the long whip backward, two of her left-hand fingers repeatedly pierced toward Yin Liting. Within seven of such attacks, she had covered the entire vital acupoints on Yin Liting's head, face and the front of his chest.

Yin Liting was unable to attack the opponent. He also could not turn back his sword to pare her arm. With no other choice, he launched the 'feng dian tou' [nodding phoenix] by bending his knees to dodge the attacks.

In the meantime, from the Ming Cult's thatched shelter came a loud 'bang!' followed by a series of crashing noises. Turned out Yang Xiao, who was standing on the side, and had keen eyes and quick hands, hurled the wooden table in front of him to block Zhou Zhiruo's whip. As the whip struck the table, wooden splinters flew all over the place. The teapots and teacups on the table were also thrown to all directions, splashing hot tea to numerous people around them.

As her attack missed, Zhou Zhiruo no longer paid Zhou Dian any attention. Her flexible whip coiled back and stormed toward Yin Liting.

Holding the hilt of a sword in his hand, Yu Lianzhou had been standing on the side. But after watching for half an afternoon, he still could not predict the essence of her whip technique. "Even if I have to fight, in Taiji Sword technique I am not any better than Liudi [sixth younger brother]. But if the fight is prolonged, this woman's internal energy might be insufficient, and then relying on our resilience, we might score a victory."

He saw Yin Liting's sword going back and forth, opening and closing, the 'yin' and 'yang' elements intertwined with each other. Yin Liting was unleashing the instructions given by their benevolent master, Zhang Sanfeng to the fullest. He thought that in all his life he had never seen his Shidi [younger martial brother] unleash this kind of brilliant swordsmanship. Today, while facing a life and death situation, he was able to display the most refined of their school's sword technique. Wudang Pai's martial art paid particular attention to resiliency; the longer the fight, the stronger they were. The longer they were able to hold their ground, the greater the chance they would not get defeated.