novelFeather Coat (1)
| ← Ch.08 | Ch.10 → |
Shui Sheng and Hua Tiegan were expressionless, not knowing from where the blood sabre monk could unleash such remarkable martial arts.
Di Yun gasped for breath as his throat was let loose. He wanted to stay alive and jumped up at once, but his right leg was still broken and he let out an "Ayo!" before falling back down again. He supported himself with his right hand and got up with his left leg. He saw the Blood Sabre Elder with both legs facing the sky and his head sunk inside the snow. He did not understand what happened and rubbed his eyes to take a closer look. All he saw was that the Blood Sabre Elder was stuck head first in the snow without the slightest trace of movement.
When Di Yun jumped up, Shui Sheng was afraid that he would hurt her and brandished her sabre in front of her a few times and retreated a few steps. She fixed her gaze on him completely and watched his every move. All she saw was a confused expression stretched across his entire face as he scratched his head in perplexity.
All of a sudden, Hua Tiegan complimented: "This little monk's divine martial arts are matchless, truly unrivalled in this world. You managed to kill that old perverted monk with one simple kick. Such a kick must have contained the power of at least a thousand pounds! This act of chivalry has really earned my utmost respect."
As Shui Sheng heard up to this point she could not bear it anymore and scolded: "Stop blabbering nonsense, don't you think people will feel disgusted when they hear it?"
Hua Tiegan said: "That blood sabre monk was vicious and cruel to the extreme, everyone wants to kill him. This little monk placed righteousness before family and rid the world of such a menace, truly a remarkable accomplishment. Such an act of greatness is hard to come by and is truly gratifying." He saw that both legs of the blood sabre monk were stiff as a corpse and it was obvious that he was dead. At once he began to flatter and praise Di Yun.
Although his personality was somewhat shady, but in his life he had done many heroic deeds and had a sense of justice, never had he committed any act of evil. Otherwise, how could he have sworn brotherhood with Lu Tianshu, Liu Chengfeng, and Shui Dai for over a dozen years? However, today he accidentally killed one of his sworn brothers Liu Chengfeng and his state of mind suffered a surge; his normal heroic spirit disappeared in a flash. Furthermore, he was humiliated greatly by the blood sabre monk, causing his many years of repressed vile and repulsive character to suddenly emerge all at once. In only the span of a few hours, it was as if he had become a completely different person.
Di Yun said: "You said... you said I... I kicked him to death?"
Hua Tiegan said: "That is without a doubt. If little monk does not believe it, you can slice off his legs with the blood sabre and then lift him up to see if he's really dead or not." At this point, every scheme he considered was filled with malicious intents.
Di Yun gave a sideways glance at Shui Sheng. Shui Sheng knew that he wanted to take the blood sabre from her and retreated another step in fright. Di Yun shook his head and said: "You don't have to be scared, I won't hurt you. Just now you didn't kill me along with the old monk, you have my gratitude." Shui Sheng groaned but did not respond.
Hua Tiegan said: "Niece Shui, you are acting incorrectly. This little monk wants to express his gratitude, you should thank him in return. Earlier the old vicious monk wanted to kill you, if not for the little monk's tenderness towards women, he would not have risked his life to save you, then how would you still be alive?"
When Shui Sheng and Di Yun both heard him say the words "tenderness towards women" they both gave him a glance. Although Shui Sheng was indeed a beautiful young lady, when Di Yun saved her, he was only concerned about "saving an innocent life". The way Hua Tiegan spoke suggested that Di Yun actually harboured malicious intentions. Shui Sheng was already extremely suspicious around Di Yun, now upon hearing Hua Tiegan's words, it only served to reinforce her hatred towards him. She could not tell whether she hated Hua Tiegan or Di Yun more, she only knew that they were both crafty and evil people. As she gazed upon her father's corpse, she could not help but feel heartbroken and rushed towards the corpse and began to cry.
Hua Tiegan smiled and asked: "Little monk, may I ask for your religious name?"
Di Yun replied: "I am not a monk, do not call me one. I only wore this monk outfit to disguise myself, I had no other choice."
Hua Tiegan was delighted and said: "That is wonderful. So little monk is actually not... no, no! Damn it! Damn it! May I ask for hero's honourable name?"
Although Shui Sheng was crying, she heard their conversation very clearly. When she heard that Di Yun was actually not a monk, she became skeptical. She heard Di Yun reply: "My surname is Di, I am an unknown nonentity, a person who has many times narrowly escaped from the brink of death. How can you call me a hero?"
Hua Tiegan remarked: "Excellent! Excellent! Hero Di is brave and courageous, a perfect match for my talented Niece Shui. Looks like I will definitely have to play matchmaker. Wonderful! Wonderful! So it turns out that Hero Di is actually not a monk. Once your hair grows back and you change your clothes, then there will be no mistake about it, and we don't have to worry about having you leave a monastic order." He had already affirmed that Di Yun was a monk from the Blood Sabre Clan who only cared about Shui Sheng's beauty without even realizing it.
Di Yun shook his head and replied: "Do not speak such nonsense. If we can get out of this valley, I will never see you again, nor will I ever see Lady Shui again."
Hua Tiegan was stumped for words and did not understand his meaning. At once he changed his attitude and laughed: "Oh, I understand. I understand!"
Di Yun glared at him and asked: "You understand what?"
Hua Tiegan spoke softly: "Hero Di must be in an intimate relationship with another beauty from your monastery so you are unwilling to take Lady Shui as your wife. Hehe, you can still be man and wife for several days, why not?"
Shui Sheng found it hard to suppress her anger when she heard these words. Slap! Slap Slap! Slap! She ran over to Hua Tiegan and slapped him hard on the face four times. Di Yun watched blankly as he thought that all of this had nothing to do with him. After a while, the Blood Sabre Elder still did not move in the slightest.
Several times, Shui Sheng watched to go forward and cut off his legs with her sabre, but she did not dare to. She only watched as her father lied motionless on the ground, knowing that she would never feel his affection ever again, and cried softly: "Daddy! Daddy!" Obviously, Shui Dai did not reply. Shui Sheng's tears dripped on the snow and melted it slightly, thereafter it merged with the snow and became ice.
Because Hua Tiegan's acupoint was not yet released, he flattered Di Yun to get on his good side. The more he spoke, the more sappy his words became. Di Yun ignored him and lied down on the snow to rest. After Di Yun successfully interlinked his Ren and Du meridians, he felt very invigorated, a warm current passing through the insides of his body. From the front of his chest to his back, the energy kept on channelling in a continuous cycle. Every time it completed one cycle, he would feel energy all over his body. Although he was still in great pain from the injuries he received from Shui Sheng, because his internal energy increased greatly, he could repress it somewhat. He was afraid of such a strange occurrence, coming and going just like that. At once he lied down motionless and let the Ren and Du meridians channel its energy automatically.
Shui Sheng got up and slowly moved towards the Blood Sabre Elder and saw that the monk was completely lifeless. Gathering up her courage, she brandished the sabre and sliced off his left leg. A small slashing sound was heard as the leg promptly fell on the ground. However, what was strange was that it did not bleed at all. Shui Sheng looked closely and realized that the blood had clotted to ice. It turns out that the blood sabre monk really died some time ago.
Shui Sheng was both delighted and sad. She held on to the blood sabre around her leg and thought: "Now that my daddy is dead, I don't want to live anymore! How will this vicious little monk torture me? If he wants to violate me in any way, I will kill myself at once."
Hua Tiegan watched closely at their actions and was delighted as he thought: "Although this little monk is vicious, he currently has no intention of killing me. As soon as my acupoint is unsealed, I will take his life, even that little doll Shui Sheng will be mine." All these despicable thoughts rushed to his head at once.
After an hour or so, Di Yun realized that his flow of energy still did not stop channelling, so he began to channel his energy according to the methods of the Heavenly Glow taught by Ding Dian. At once, the uncontrollable surges of energy inside his body were now in his control, it was as easy as nodding his head or raising his hand. He felt both surprised and delighted.
After channelling his energy for half a day, he stood up and with the support of a twig, walked towards the blood sabre monk. He saw that his body was completely in the snow while both legs were badly mutilated by Shui Sheng. It was without a doubt that he was dead. Di Yun thought that this person was wicked and evil and deserved to die, but after all he was benevolent towards him and he could not help but feel sorry. So he decided to pull out his corpse and place it firmly on the ground, then buried it with snow. Although it was hasty, it could still be considered a burial place. As for why the blood sabre monk suddenly died, Di Yun was perplexed without the slightest clue. This person's martial arts was profound, there's no way that he died from one simple kick.
Shui Sheng watched Di Yun's actions closely. She saw several bald eagles spiralling in the sky with the intention of scavenging on her father's corpse, so she imitated Di Yun and buried her father. At first, she wanted to bury Liu Chengfeng and Lu Tianshu as well, but one died on top of a cliff and the other died on the deepest parts of the valley; she realized she was incapable of retrieving them and did not bother.
Hua Tiegan said: "Little monk, the three of us must be really tired and hungry by now. Earlier I saw there was horse meat at the top, may I request that you bring it here. After we eat we can come up with a plan to get out of here."
Di Yun knew of his personality and did not respond. Hua Tiegan pleaded repeatedly but to no avail. Shui Sheng said: "That meat belongs to my horse, it cannot be eaten by such a shameless person." Di Yun nodded in approval and gave a glance at Hua Tiegan.
Hua Tiegan urged: "Little monk..."
Di Yun said: "I already told you that I am not a monk, stop calling me that."
Hua Tiegan said: "Right, right. Hero Di. Hero Di has successfully killed the blood sabre monk with one kick, you will most certainly be renowned throughout the world. When I get out of this valley, the first thing I'll do is announce to everyone everything that happened today: The great Hero Di dashed on bravely with no regard for his own personal safety, willing to rescue Lady Shui at any cost and killed the blood sabre monk. This is an act that will be top news across the martial world."
Di Yun said: "I am a prisoner, nameless and without reputation, who would believe your words? You should really stop talking now."
Hua Tiegan said: "My humble name has a little bit of reputation in the realm. If I speak out, people will believe me for sure. Hero Di, may I request that you retrieve the horse meat and give me a piece to eat."
Di Yun became fed up and scoffed: "Why should I give you horse meat? In the future you will say how worthless I am. Who do you think I am? Can I be bestowed upon such a name?" As he thought of all the injustices and cruelty he suffered throughout the years, he could not supress his anger and resentment.
Hua Tiegan did not actually want to eat the piece of horse meat. Although he was indeed hungry, but what was it to go without food with a day or so? He was only afraid that the little evil monk would flare up and kill him. To ask for horse meat is pressing by retreating, attacking by defending. He did not expect that the monk would not get the meat for him. His heart began to feel apologetic and lost all of his murderous intent.
Di Yun saw that the sky was turning dark, the west wind blowing swiftly into the valley. He said to Shui Sheng: "Lady Shui, why don't you take a rest inside the cave?"
Shui Sheng was startled and thought he harboured malicious intent. At once she retreated two steps and held tightly onto her blood sabre horizontally in a defensive position. She shouted: "Little vicious monk, if you take another step I will kill myself!"
Di Yun stared blankly and replied: "Please do not be mistaken, how would I harbour any evil intentions?"
Shui Sheng said: "You little monk have a face of a human but the heart of a beast, a dagger hidden in smiles. You are even more vicious than the old monk. I won't fall for your tricks."
Di Yun was unwilling to think further and thought: "As soon as the sky turns bright tomorrow I will get out of here. What Lady Shui or Hero Hua, I will never see either of them ever again." At once he stationed himself far away and slept on a large rock.
Shui Sheng thought that the further the monk went, the craftier and evil he was. She thought that it was a scheme and that he intended to violate her in the middle of the night. She did not dare to rest inside the cave for fear that she would not have an escape route when the monk arrives. She was so frightened and felt as if she was in a battlefield as she held the blood sabre firmly on her right hand. Her eyelids began to droop down and she reminded herself: "I can't fall asleep, this monk is extremely vicious."
But she was both mentally and physically exhausted, how could she not sleep? Gradually, she grew hazy and drifted into a sleep.
When she was conscious again she felt the brightness of early morning sun irritate her eyes. She woke up at once and saw that the blood sabre was no longer in her hands. She became alarmed and looked around, but saw that the blood sabre remained untouched beside her leg.
Shui Sheng picked up the blood sabre at once. She raised her head and saw that Di Yun was moving in a faraway place, holding a twig in hand, slowly making his way out of the valley. Shui Sheng was delighted, and thanked heavens that he was going to leave.
Indeed, Di Yun was trying to find a way out of the valley. However, there were no paths out from the north or northeast direction, while the other three directions were surrounded by the walls of the cliff. It was evident that there was no way out, there was no point in trying. There was a small probability that there could be an exit in the southeast direction, but the accumulation of snow was over a hundred feet deep. There would be no hope to escape until the snow begins to melt and his leg begins to heal. He had been exhausted for over half a day, and upon staring blankly at the peaks of the valley, he felt dismayed.
Hua Tiegan asked, "Hero Di, how is it?"
Di Yun shook his head and replied, "There is no way out."
Hua Tiegan thought: "You may not be able to get out, but how can I, Hua Tiegan, be compared with a little monk like you? Come afternoon when my acupoint unblocks itself, you will witness my power." His expression did not change the slightest as he said: "Don't worry, wait until my acupoint unblocks itself, I will be able to us out of here."
Shui Sheng realized that Di Yun had never violated her in any way and her anger began to diminish. However, she still remained vigilant and kept a good distance away from him without even saying a word. Di Yun did not beseech her to understand him either, but when he saw how she was treating him, he felt resentful and only hoped that he could get out of here sooner. However, the snow covered the mountain completely and there was simply no way out. He could not help but become disappointed.
When afternoon came, Hua Tiegan suddenly laughed out loud and said: "Niece Shui, your uncle wants to eat a few pounds of your horse meat. After we get out of here, I will return the favour." He got up at once and made his way to the roasted horse meat, took a piece and began eating it. It turns out that his acupoint automatically released itself after some time.
As soon as Hua Tiegan's acupoint was released, he became more arrogant and overbearing. He thought that since the Blood Sabre Elder was already dead, even if Di Yun and Shui Sheng were to join forces to fight him, they would not be his match. However, it would still be best to get out of the valley as soon as possible, and when that time comes, he would first kill Di Yun and then deal with Shui Sheng. Even if he were to not kill her, he would still intimate her so that she would not speak out her mind. All the despicable deeds he did yesterday, how could he let it be revealed to the outside world?
He executed his lightness martial arts to examine his surroundings. He saw that the snow from the avalanche earlier sealed the valley completely. If he and the other members of Luohua Liushui did not rush in before the avalanche, they would have been trapped outside with no way in. At this point, all the paths out of the valley were covered by piles of snow which were over a hundred feet deep and stretched over a few kilometers wide. It is possible that he could travel under the snow up to a hundred feet or so, but how could he stay under for several kilometers? Besides, it would be difficult to distinguish direction beneath the snow and he would most likely be suffocated. It was only the beginning of November and it would take over half a year until the beginning of summer. The valley was completely surrounded by snow, how could they find anything to eat that will last five or six months?
Hua Tiegan returned outside the cave and his expression was extremely serious. He sat down for a long time and took out a piece of horse meat from his bosom, chewing slowly amidst his thoughts. After he finished his horse meat completely, he spoke softly: "By the time of next year's Dragon Boat Festival, we should be able to get out of here."
Di Yun and Shui Sheng were situated about three dozen feet away from him on each side. Although his words were quiet, they could both hear it as if it was roaring like thunder. The two of them gazed upon their surroundings at once and only saw that snow all around. It would be difficult to find even grass or tree bark to eat. Both wondered: "How will I last until next year?"
At this time, the sounds of eagles crying were heard as they soared in the air. The three of them looked up together and saw seven or eight eagles flying in the distance and thought: "Only if I could fly like an eagle would I be able to get out of here."
Although Shui Sheng's horse was fat and well built, but with the three of them eating away every day, it would not even last a full month. Come another seven or eight days, even the head and all its intestines would be eaten away completely.
Hua Tiegan, Di Yun, and Shui Sheng did not say a word to each other. Occasionally, they would look at each other, but when they made eye contact, they would immediately look away. Several times, Hua Tiegan had the intention of killing Di Yun and Shui Sheng, but thought that if he were to kill the two of them, the feeling of being all alone in the valley would be unbearable. Besides, he thought that the two of them were under his control and was not in a hurry to finish them off.
After some days, Shui Sheng's suspicion and resentment for Di Yun decreased substantially, and she finally went inside the cave to sleep. When December came around, the temperature inside the valley was even colder than before, the north wind blew against them the entire night and they trembled to the bone. As Di Yun had completed the Heavenly Glow, he continued to practice and his internal energy would increase by a percent every day. However, his clothes were thin and in this world of ice and snow, he found it difficult to endure. Sometimes, Shui Sheng would look outside the cave and see him shiver without any intention of setting foot inside the cave. She thought that although this monk was vicious, he still had courtesy.
By now, Di Yun's various injuries had healed completely; even his broken leg was reconnected and he could walk without trouble. Sometimes, he would remember that his leg was fixed by the Blood Sabre Elder, and could not help but feel sad.
Now that the horse meat was finished, finding food became a serious problem. In the past few days, Di Yun searched laboriously around for food which became increasingly scarce and only managed to find bits and pieces. The reserves of food he saved up were rudely taken away by Hua Tiegan. Shui Sheng thought: "When a renowned hero faces a calamity, he stoops even lower than a little vicious monk from the Blood Sabre Clan!"
That night, on the third watch, Shui Sheng was awoken as she heard the sound of dispute. Di Yun scolded: "You cannot touch Hero Di's body!"
Hua Tiegan replied coldly: "In another few days, I will eat you alive! I am eating the dead first to allow you to live for a few more days!"
Di Yun said: "We would rather eat tree barks and grassroots than eat a person!"
Hua Tiegan scolded: "Out of my way! What does it matter to you? If you annoy me further I will kill you immediately."
Shui Sheng rushed out of the cave at once and saw that Hua Tiegan and Di Yun were standing beside her father's corpse. Shui Sheng yelled: "Don't touch my daddy!" and rushed forward. She saw that the snow covering her father's corpse was already brushed aside as Hua Tiegan grabbed Shui Dai firmly by the chest with his left hand. Di Yun shouted: "Drop him now!"
Shui Sheng could only utter: "You... you..."
A flash of cold light was seen as Hua Tiegan drew his short spear from his sleeve, slanting it in front of him in an offensive position. At once, he aimed to attack Di Yun's chest. This stroke was executed remarkably fast. Although Di Yun's internal energy had increased substantially, his external techniques were taught by Qi Zhangfa and were nothing impressive. Now that he was suddenly attacked by an expert like Hua Tiegan, how could he endure? In a moment of hesitation, the short spear had already pierced his chest. Shui Sheng cried out in alarm and did not know what to do.
Hua Tiegan had intended to pierce the spear through him completely from front to back, but unexpectedly, when the tip of the spear met his chest, it was obstructed and would not pierce through. Nevertheless, the power of the spear was remarkable, and Di Yun fell backwards from the force of the attack. He flipped over his left hand and hit the pole of the spear with his palm. With a loud crack, the web between Hua Tiegan's forefinger and thumb cracked as the spear flew out of his hand and into the distance. This palm was so strong that it caused Hua Tiegan to do a somersault before he tumbled backwards. The short spear was tossed into the pile of snow without a trace.
Hua Tiegan was completely taken aback and thought: "This little monk's martial arts is marvellous, he is not worse than the old monk!" He rolled backwards several times before he got up and ran away.
What Hua Tiegan did not know was that the reason his spear could not pierce through was because it was obstructed by Di Yun's dark silkworm vest. However, his stance was executed with much power and caused Di Yun to suffocate slightly. When Di Yun's air could not circulate properly he fainted on the ground. If not for the fact that he had already completed the Heavenly Glow, that spear would have took his life at once. Hua Tiegan's martial arts, in comparison with Zhou Qi who also pierced Di Yun in the chest that day in Jingzhou; although Di Yun had the protection of the dark silkworm on both occasions, the difference between the power of these two attacks was over five-fold.
The moon illuminated in the night sky. When the two bald eagles saw Di Yun lying on the snow, they began to spiral around in circles. When Shui Sheng saw that Di Yun lied on the snow lifelessly, she thought that he was killed by Hua Tiegan. She was delighted as she thought: "The little monk is finally dead. From now on I don't have to be afraid of anyone violating me." But she thought further: "Hua Tiegan wanted to eat my daddy's corpse and this little monk died as a result of trying to protect him. But this little monk most likely harbours malicious intentions, he wants to deceive me... deceive me... hmph, I will not fall for his tricks. But now that he is dead, if Hua Tiegan comes back for my daddy, what can I do? Even worse, he might violate me... no, he won't... he is my uncle after all, he would not go so far as to... but this person is so obscene... completely shameless... he will do anything. Ai... hopefully, this little monk is not actually dead..."
She held the blood sabre on her hands and slowly walked to Di Yun. She saw that he did not move in the slightest and lied facing upward on the snow, but the muscles in his face twitched slightly, it was clear that he was still alive. Shui Sheng was delighted; she bent down and extended her finger to his nose to check for his breath and felt two surges of blazing hot air blowing on her finger.
Shui Sheng was startled and retracted her hand at once. She thought that even if Di Yun was not dead, he would still have very faint breathing. How would she know that he would exhale such hot air? She did not know that Di Yun's internal energy was profound now; even though he was unconscious, his breathing was still strong. However, as he had only recently completed such a profound internal art, he could not yet remain calm and unflustered; he had not yet reached the stage of harmonizing his energy naturally.
Shui Sheng thought: "This little monk is unconscious, but when he wakes up and sees me standing beside him, that would not be good." She turned her head and saw that Hua Tiegan was watching the two of them from afar.
When Hua Tiegan failed to kill Di Yun and was further attacked by his palm, he became startled and frightened. But now he saw that Di Yun was lying down on the ground motionless and did not know whether he was dead or alive. After some time, he saw that Di Yun still did not get up and began to move forward step by step. At this point his right arm was slightly numb and in pain, if Di Yun were to suddenly wake up he would run away at once.
Shui Sheng became alarmed and shouted: "Don't come over here!"
Hua Tiegan laughed maliciously and said: "Why can't I come here? A person who is alive tastes better than a person who is dead. We may be fortunate enough to split him into two shares, why not?" As he said this, he moved closer. Shui Sheng had no way of stopping him and began to shake Di Yun heavily and said: "He's coming, he's coming!"
Hua Tiegan saw that Di Yun was still unconscious and was thrilled. At once he leaped over and raised his right palm to strike him. Shui Sheng brandished her blood sabre and executed a stance of "Golden Needle Escapes Calamity" to attack Hua Tiegan. What she executed was a sword stance, but the edge of the blood sabre was exceptionally sharp and there was formidable power in this strike. Hua Tiegan had lost his short spear and was now fighting bare-handed, he was afraid that he would be cut by the sabre and did not dare to underestimate his opponent. At once he executed his martial arts of battling a weapon without a weapon with the intent of taking his opponent's weapon away.
Di Yun semiconsciously heard Shui Sheng's shout of "He's coming, he's coming!" and did not understand what she meant. After hearing some more shouts and disputes, he opened his eyes. The moonlight reflected the blood sabre that was brandishing against Hua Tiegan.
Although Shui Sheng had the advantage of a weapon, firstly she did not know how to use a sabre, and secondly her martial arts were far inferior. It was not long before she began to retreat in her attacks. She did not bother trying to wound her opponent and could only hope that the weapon in her hand would not be taken away. As she fought, she kept yelling "Hey! Wake up! He wants to kill you!"
Di Yun became alert and trembled as he thought: "That was close! She saved my life. If she did not resist Hua Tiegan, I would have died a long time ago. Although I have the protection of the dark silkworm vest, if he aimed for my head, I would have died for sure." At once he jumped up and attacked Hua Tiegan with his palm. Hua Tiegan countered with his own palm. A loud clash was heard as both of them fell on the ground. Di Yun's internal energy was profound while Hua Tiegan's palm techniques were brilliant; the two palms were equally matched.
Hua Tiegan had a high level of martial arts and knew how to shift gears. Once he fell on the floor, he got back up again and attacked with a second palm. Di Yun could not get up in time and could only return a palm while sitting down. Although he was sitting down, his palm strength did not suffer. Another clash was heard as Di Yun was shocked and flipped two somersaults, while Hua Tiegan was rebounded three steps. The flow of blood and energy in his chest was circulating fast and he thought: "This little vicious monk actually has such profound internal energy!" However, when the two of them clashed palms, he knew that his opponent's technique was nothing remarkable. At once he mustered up his courage and attacked with his palm a third time.
Di Yun was still sitting down as he countered again with his palm. However, he did not expect that Hua Tiegan's palm was light and swift and swept past his face. Di Yun's palm only hit thin air while Hua Tiegan's palm hit Di Yun squarely on the chest. Fortunately, Di Yun had the protection of the dark silkworm vest and did not sustain any injuries. However he could not endure the impact of the blow. As soon as he wanted to get up he fell back down. Hua Tiegan saw that his attack succeeded and immediately followed with another palm. Although he became renowned through his proficient use of the Zhongping Spear and was even nicknamed "Zhongping Undefeated", he was also proficient at attacking with his palms and legs. At this point he executed a stance of the "Yue Family Palm". The palm was light and swift; a palm on the left and a palm on the right, in ten strokes, four or five successfully hit Di Yun. When Di Yun tried to counter with his own palm Hua Tiegan would dodge it cleverly. The gap between their martial arts was much too great. Even if Di Yun's internal energy was greater, he could not find a good way to execute it.
Eventually, Di Yun could only cover his head and face with both hands. He could not defend at all against Hua Tiegan's attacks. As soon as he tried to get up, he would fall back down. Hua Tiegan wanted to finish him off quickly and increased the ferocity of his attacks. Di Yun spat out blood three times and his movements became slow and sluggish.
At first when Shui Sheng saw the two of them in such an intense battle, she did not dare to interfere. But upon seeing Di Yun on the verge of death, at once she brandished her sabre and attacked Hua Tiegan from behind. Hua Tiegan evaded the attack and flipped his hand over to seize her weapon. Di Yun exerted all his strength and stroke out with his right palm, the remarkable force of the palm wind blew on Hua Tiegan as it approached. Hua Tiegan could not dodge in time and could only counter with his own palm. In terms of a pure internal energy competition, Hua Tiegan was not his match. All of a sudden, he began to see stars and felt numbness on half his body, he felt wobbly and could not balance himself.
Shui Sheng shouted: "Let's go! Let's go!" She pulled Di Yun inside the cave. The two of them quickly covered up the entrance with large rocks. Shui Sheng grasped the blood sabre firmly and guarded on the side. The entrance of the cave was narrow and some of the larger rocks could not obstruct it. But for Hua Tiegan to enter the cave, he would have to shift a few pieces of rock first, and as soon as he did so, Shui Sheng would brandish her sabre and cut off his hands.
After a while there was no more activity outside. Shui Sheng said: "Little vicious... little..." She was used to calling him "little vicious monk", but at this point they had to join hands to oppose a common enemy, if she were to continue to call him "little vicious monk" it would be quite rude. She changed her words and said: "How are your injuries?"
Di Yun said: "I'll manage..."
All of a sudden, they heard the sound of Hua Tiegan laughing outside the cave."The two scoundrels are hiding together in a cave doing unmentionable deeds." Shui Sheng felt a warm sensation on her face as she heard this. In truth, she was actually a bit scared, because she had already identified Di Yun as a "perverted monk" who was extremely dishonourable. To be stuck in the same cave as him was indeed a great risk, she could not help but move a few steps to the left, trying to distance herself from him as far as possible.
She heard Hua Tiegan continue: "If you don't stop your illicit love affair, this old man will have to roast some meat. Haha! Haha!"
Shui Sheng was alarmed and said: "He wants to eat my daddy! What do we do?"
Di Yun had already suffered so much grief and injustice in the past few years. Upon hearing Hua Tiegan's venomous slander, how could he repress his anger? At once he pushed the rocks aside and rushed out like a wild tiger and attacked Hua Tiegan. Hua Tiegan avoided two palms and drew an arc with his left palm while his right palm came from behind his back. Not even in his dreams would Di Yun expect him to attack in such a way, and with a loud crash he was hit firmly on his upper back. Di Yun spat out a mouthful of blood and felt dizzy. He felt as if the person in front of him transformed into Wan Zhenshan, Wan Gui, the magistrate of Jiangling county, the gaolers, Ling Tuisi, and Bao Xiang... the appearance of many vicious people who had insulted and abused him in the past. At once he spread out both arms and hugged Hua Tiegan tightly.
Hua Tiegan punched Di Yun squarely on the nose. At once his nose started bleeding profusely, but it was as if Di Yun could not feel the pain, and the two arms around Hua Tiegan became tighter and tighter. Hua Tiegan found it difficult to breathe and was actually a bit frightened. He also saw that Shui Sheng was approaching with the blood sabre. Hua Tiegan became alarmed and pounded Di Yun's flank with both fists. Di Yun felt the pain and could not use any more strength in his arms. Hua Tiegan struggled and broke himself free from Di Yun's grip. He did not dare to tangle with this lunatic anymore and leapt backwards continuously until he was over a hundred feet away.
Shui Sheng saw as Di Yun's body swayed back and forth, unable to keep his balance. His entire face was covered in blood. She wanted to go forward and support him but she was afraid. She approached cautiously a few steps when Di Yun suddenly shouted: "I am a vicious and perverted monk, don't come near me. I don't want to tarnish the daughter of the great Hero Shui. Go away! Go away!" Shui Sheng listened as he spoke in such a harsh tone and his expression was vicious. She was intimidated and retreated a few steps.
Di Yun gasped for breath as he made his way to Hua Tiegan, barely able to keep his balance. He shouted: "All of you vicious people, Wan Zhenshan, Wan Gui... you can't harm me... can't kill me. Come over here and let's fight... magistrate and prefect... come fight me now! You can only bully the benevolent, if you have any guts then let us fight to the death..."
Hua Tiegan thought: "This person has gone mad, he's a lunatic!" He backed away as far as he could.
Di Yun faced upward at the sky and yelled: "All of you evil people, all the malicious people under heaven, come fight me. Di Yun is not scared of you! You have locked me in prison, pierced my scapula, sliced off my fingers, stolen my martial sister, poisoned my Brother Ding, trampled my leg, wronged me as a perverted monk... I am not scared! Even if you cut me into mincemeat, I am still not scared!"
Shui Sheng listened to his loud cries and felt both afraid and pitiful in her heart. She heard him say how they pierced his scapula, sliced off his fingers, stole his martial sister, and trampled his leg. She was moved and thought: "It turns out that this little vicious monk has actually suffered so much injustice. I was the one who trampled his leg with my horse." She further heard him say that they wronged him as a perverted monk and thought: "Could it be that he isn't... supposing that he is, he has not acted rudely towards me in these days, maybe he turned into a good person?"
Di Yun cried so hard that his voice became hoarse and he collapsed on the snow. Hua Tiegan did not dare to approach him. Shui Sheng did not dare to approach him either.
Two bald eagles continued to spiral around in the air. Di Yun collapsed on the ground and did not move. Suddenly, a bald eagle descended and pecked at his forehead. Di Yun was in a state of subconscious and dizziness. When the eagle pecked at him, he immediately awoke. The bald eagle saw that he moved and hurriedly fluttered its wings. Di Yun yelled: "Even a creature like you is picking on me!" At once he gathered up his strength and stroke out with his right palm. The bald eagle was only about a meter away from him and was completely shaken up by this attack. At once it stopped fluttering and dropped on the ground.
Di Yun grabbed the bald eagle and burst into laughter. Immediately he bit the bald eagle on the stomach. The bald eagle flapped its wings and tried its hardest to break free. Di Yun only felt a mouthful of eagle blood burst into his mouth as he continued biting the eagle, as if an influx of energy was flowing into his body. He danced around and gesticulated for joy, shouting: "You want to eat me? I will eat you first! I will eat you!"
Hua Tiegan and Shui Sheng saw as he ate the live eagle like a complete lunatic. Their faces changed colors as they were overwhelmed with shock and horror.
Hua Tiegan was really afraid that this lunatic would go crazy again and try to take his life. He thought that if the lunatic were to get a hold of him again he would be in trouble, so he wanted to get as far away as possible. He looked at the east side of the valley and thought that the way this lunatic captured the bald eagle was a good method. At once he lied supine on the ground and pretended to be dead. Indeed, the bald eagle did fall for this trick, but when it came to peck at him, he could not successfully knock down the eagle with his palm strike. His internal energy was much inferior to Di Yun; although his palm technique was remarkable, the eagle was quick-witted and dodged his attack, it was much faster than he was.
After Di Yun drank the eagle blood, the energy and blood in his chest and stomach began to circulate and he passed out again. When he woke up, the sky was already bright and he felt hungry again. He naturally grabbed the dead eagle beside him without thinking twice and took a bite. As he took a bite, he felt an aromatic fragrance, the taste was not bad! He looked at the eagle and was bewildered at what he saw—all the feathers on the eagle were pulled out cleanly and the eagle was actually roasted and warm. He recalled that he drank several mouthfuls of eagle blood before he slept. Who was the one who roasted the eagle for him? If it was not Shui Sheng, could it be the vicious Hua Tiegan?
Last night when he cried and cursed so heavily, a lot of the grief and indignation in his heart was released. Now that he woke up, he felt feel from worry. He saw that Shui Dai was once again buried properly in the snow. He looked inside the cave and saw Shui Sheng resting against a rock. Di Yun thought: "She has also been without food for a few days, but she roasted the eagle for me without saving any for herself. Such good conscience is hard to come by. Hmph, she believes herself to be an honorific daughter of a renowned hero and looks down on me. If you look down on me I will look down on you, so what?" After a while he thought: "She helped me roast the eagle; even if she looks down on me, I can't let her starve to death."
At once he lied down on the ground looking dead as a corpse. Within an hour, he managed to strike down four eagles with his palm attacks and gave two to Shui Sheng. Shui Sheng took and prepared the other two eagles as well. Then without saying a word, she gave the two roasted eagles back to him.
There were many bald eagles in this valley that depended on scavenging corpses and carrions for food. It was such a natural instinct that even upon seeing their various comrades fall victim to Di Yun, they nonetheless continued to fall for his trick every single time. Di Yun's internal energy and the strength of his palm strikes was increasing by the day. Eventually, he did not even need to feign death; if an eagle would land on a branch to rest or fly past him, he would be able to shoot it down with one palm. There were often snow geese coming and going, pecking at various worms and insects buried in the snow, which served as another source of food for Di Yun and Shui Sheng.
December soon approached, but Di Yun had lost his sense of time. Every eight or ten days there would be a large snowstorm and the valley would be extremely cold for the entire day and night. Apart from gathering branches and roasting eagles, Shui Sheng would spend the remaining of her time inside the cave. Di Yun never said a single word to her, nor did he ever step foot inside the cave.
A large snowstorm approached one night. When Di Yun woke up the next morning, he felt a warm sensation around his body. He looked and saw that there was a black object covering his body. He was startled and pushed it aside. He saw it was an article of strange clothing. This clothing was made by threading bird feathers one by one; the black feathers were from the bald eagles while the white feathers were from the wild geese. The coat was long and covered up to his knees, it must have taken several thousand or tens of thousands of feathers to complete.
As Di Yun held on to the feather coat he felt his face flush red. He knew that it was Shui Sheng who made it for him, the effort of threading thousands upon thousands of feathers together was truly painstaking, not to mention that there were no scissors or needles and threads in the snow, how did she complete it? He spread out the feather coat to look at the feathers and saw that a small hole was pierced at the root of each feather and the thread was light yellow. He figured that she must have used her hairpin as a needle and her light yellow garment as a thread."Heh, women are so strange. Isn't she just causing trouble for herself?"
Then he remembered the incident at the Wan household several years ago. He was attacked and beaten into a pulp by the eight disciples of the Wan clan, even his new garment was torn apart. When his martial sister Qi Fang saw this, she sewed and mended the garment back together for him. The events of that day were still crystal clear in his mind: Qi Fang sat next to him while she mended his garment; her hair brushed against his chin and his face became tickly. He smelled the faint fragrance of her skin which caused ripples in his heart. Di Yun called "Martial sister" and Qi Fang said: "Water Spinach, don't talk, don't let others wrong you as a thief."
As he thought up to this point, his throat became clogged as tears began to drop down his face. His vision became blurry and he thought: "Indeed, they have mistaken me for a thief. Is it because when martial sister mended the garment for me, I said something wrong?" But he had already suffered so many crises and injustices in the past few years, he no longer believed in such nonsense."Hmph, if others have the intent to wrong me, even if I was born a mute, would they not still find a way? Martial sister is truly sincere to me, but the Wan family is wealthy and prestigious and Wan Gui is much more handsome than I, so who can I blame? Even worse, when I was injured that day and hid in the firewood room, she actually told her husband to capture me for a reward. Hah!"
Suddenly, he was again filled with grief and misery that he could not repress. He began to laugh wildly. He walked in front of the cave and threw the feather coat on the ground. Then he trampled over it several times and shouted: "I am a vicious monk, how am I deserving of wearing young lady's clothing?" With a flying kick he sent the feather coat flying inside the cave, then he turned around and laughed wildly as he strode his way out.
Shui Sheng spent an entire month to complete this feather coat. She thought that this "little vicious monk" protected her father's body unconditionally without a single word of complaint, and they had only survived to this day because of his ability to strike down birds. When she saw that he was enduring the cold weather outside the cave she could not bear it and sewed a feather coat for him to keep him warm. However, her good intentions were not appreciated; he actually kicked the feather coat inside the cave and she had to suffer his rude humiliation. She was both ashamed and furious. Unable to restrain her emotions, she began ripping apart the feather coat, her tears dripping on the feathers.
She would never have guessed that when Di Yun turned around and laughed, the front of his garment was actually filled with many drops of tears. However, he shed tears because he grieved at his own misfortune, because of his martial sister's coldness towards him...
When afternoon came, Di Yun killed four birds as usual and placed them in front of the cave. Shui Sheng roasted the birds and gave half to him. The two of them did not exchange a word and did not even dare to make eye contact.
Di Yun and Shui Sheng were some distance apart and each ate at their own roasted bird when suddenly from the northeast direction footsteps could be heard. Both looked up into the distance and saw Hua Tiegan carrying a ghost head sabre on his right hand while his left hand was holding a long sword and laughed heartily. Di Yun and Shui Sheng both got up at once. Shui Sheng went back to the cave and took out her blood sabre. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Catch!" and threw the sabre toward Di Yun.
Di Yun caught the sabre and wondered: "Why does she trust me so much that she is even willing to part with her sabre? Hmph, she wants me to risk my life to battle Hua Tiegan. Hmph! I, Di Yun, am not your slave."
At this time, Hua Tiegan increased his pace and when he got closer he laughed and said: "Congratulations! Congratulations!"
Di Yun stared at him and said: "What is there to congratulate?"
Hua Tiegan said: "I congratulate that you and Lady Shui are happy together now. She is willing to give you her sabre. Would she even be willing to give you her body? Haha! Haha!"
Di Yun scolded: "You call yourself a hero of the Central Plains, yet you are a petty fellow who thinks of such despicable and filthy deeds!"
Hua Tiegan laughed: "In terms of being despicable and filthy, how can I compare with the various members of the Blood Sabre Clan?" As he said this he approached closer. He sniffed a few times and said: "Mmm, very fragrant! Very fragrant! I would like to take a bird, is that alright?"
Had Hua Tiegan asked nicely Di Yun would have agreed for sure, but when he saw how mischievous and frivolous he was, he became angry and said: "Your martial arts is much higher than mine, don't you know how to catch your own birds?"
Hua Tiegan replied: "I am just lazy."
As the two of them were speaking, Shui Sheng approached behind Di Yun and shouted: "Uncle Liu! Uncle Lu!" She saw Hua Tiegan holding the long sword of Liu Chengfeng and the ghost head sabre of Lu Tianshu. The north wind blew against Hua Tiegan and flipped over his garment, revealing that he had another two layers of clothes underneath; the Taoist vest of Liu Chengfeng and the copper coloured gown of Lu Tianshu.
Hua Tiegan was calm and collected as he asked: "What is it?"
Shui Sheng said: "Did you... did you... did you eat them?" She already figured that Hua Tiegan found their two bodies and ate them.
Hua Tiegan reprimanded: "What does it matter to you?"
Shui Sheng trembled: "Uncle Lu, Uncle Liu... they... they were your sworn brothers..."
If Hua Tiegan actually had the ability to hunt birds, he would not have eaten his sworn brothers' corpses. He tried every possible means to catch them. At first, he was able to catch one or two eagles. But after a few days, the eagles no longer fell for his trick. He did not have the internal energy of the Heavenly Glow like Di Yun so he was unable to knock the eagles down with his palm. He had no other alternative but to eat the corpses of his two sworn brothers. Now that he was finished with them, he held sword in hand with the intent of killing Di Yun and Shui Sheng. That combined with the corpses of Shui Dai and the Blood Sabre Elder may barely last him until early summer when the snow melts.
When he heard Shui Sheng say such words, his face flushed red. He also began to salivate as he smelled the aroma of the roasted bird meat. At once he raised his ghost head sabre and rushed towards Di Yun, slashing left and right. Di Yun raised his blood sabre to counter. Ting! The two sabres clashed intensely and the ghost head sabre advanced upwards and swiped down. The ghost head sabre was a remarkable sabre but it could not compare to the sharpness of the blood sabre. However, its blade was massive and the blood sabre could not cut it down. That day when Lu Tianshu clashed his sabre with the Blood Sabre Elder, the ghost head sabre was slashed three times by the blood sabre leaving three jags. Today it would happen again, another jag was left on the sabre as the blood sabre cut it.
Although Hua Tiegan was not an expert of the sabre, his martial arts was high. When he brandished his sabre Di Yun found it hard to resist. In only a few stances Di Yun had no choice but to retreat. Hua Tiegan did not pursue; he bent down and picked up the remaining half of the roasted bird on the ground and ate it. He complimented: "Very good! Very good! The taste is amazing, simply amazing!"
Di Yun looked back at Shui Sheng and both of them trembled. The last time they fought, Hua Tiegan was empty-handed, but this time he had a sabre in hand. The first time they thought, even if Di Yun was hit by his punches or kicks he would only cough up blood and sustain injuries, it was not enough to take his life. But this time he had a weapon in hand, if Di Yun were to be careless he would lose his life at once. Furthermore, Hua Tiegan brought an extra weapon for backup, so he really did have an overwhelming advantage.
After Hua Tiegan finished eating the bird, he was still not satisfied. He saw that there was another inside the cave and fetched it. He wiped his mouth and said: "Very good. Your cooking skills are really first class." He lazily turned around then suddenly jumped and slashed his sabre toward Di Yun. This stance was executed remarkably fast and Di Yun did not guard properly against it and his head was nearly cut in half. He hastily warded off the attack with his sabre. Hua Tiegan was afraid of his profound internal energy; he knew that if he were to clash swords with him, he would be at a disadvantage and his arms would be numb. At once he slanted his sabre and slashed sideways. Within three swipes, Di Yun was already flustered. Then his left arm was scraped by the ghost head sabre.
Shui Sheng shouted: "Don't fight! Don't fight! Uncle Hua, I will give you some of my roasted meat."
| ← Ch. 08 | Ch. 10 → |