Soaring Swallows Startle Dragons

The Return to the Origin Manual

Part 4 (23)

Master One Yang frowned in anger. “A real man’s word is like a mountain. Is it possible that I would renege on what I have said? You need not fear that I will break our agreement. I’ll give you the Return to the Origin manual first.” He handed the yellow silk bundle over to him.

Qiu Yuan accepted the Return to the Origin manual and said coldly, “If I mistrusted you I wouldn’t have told you the truth. In order to dispel the snake venom inside her you must first boil a hundred catties of vinegar to fumigate and force the venom to collect at the site of her bite wound, then take medicine to get rid of the remaining venom. It will take a hundred days to take effect.”

Master One Yang let out a derisive laugh. “It will take at least a day to get out of these mountains. Will she be able to make it that long?”

Qiu Yuan raised the white jade vial in his hand. “This Jade Dew Detoxifying Elixir is specially made to dispel all kinds of snake venom. If it were some ordinary snakebite, just one pill would be enough, no problem. Now I’ll use the whole vial of Jade Dew Detoxifying Elixir’s power to protect her six receptacles and her vital acupoints so that the snake venom doesn’t attack her heart. She will be able to hold out for more than two days. Once out of the Kuocang Mountains a prescription can be drawn up to remove the venom from her body.”

Master One Yang sighed and took the white jade vial and turned to Junior Sister. There was a faintly black cast to her forehead and the area of the bite wound on her right wrist had turned purple. He was as upset as can be and slowly went over to her and pulled the vial stopper and emptied out two pills and said in a low voice, “Take these two pills and well hurry on out of the mountains.”

Master Wise Perfected was at a critical juncture in circulating her qi and was completely unaware of what Master One Yang said to her.

Greatmaster Clear Karma said, “Don’t disturb her while she’s circulating her qi. She can take it when she’s finished.”

Now Master One Yang had lost his earlier composure and his face was wreathed in worry. Greatmaster Clear Karma had a thought: It seems their relationship goes beyond mere sectmates. That struck a chord in his heart and he thought back to the love of his youth. He looked over at Xialin. The young lady’s big eyes were wide and she looked dejected staring at Shifu’s wound, two lines of tears streaming down her cheeks.

Suddenly they heard a loud shout from Wen Gongtai and his green bamboo staff suddenly swept out with Roiling Waves, Flowing Sand at Qiu Yuan, and the fingers of his left hand fanned out to snatch the Return to the Origin manual from him.

Snakeman was not quick enough to engage his foe and rapidly flipped back eight or nine spans, but the Two Geese of Diancang had their power stored up, waiting to release it. Before Qiu Yuan had gotten his bearings the Two Geese pounced from the left and right, four palms striking hard along with their forcewind. This strike used all of the Geese’s power so it was extraordinarily forceful and unbelievably fast. Qiu Yuan was unable at the moment to adapt to it and his left shoulder was hit by Goose Among the Clouds’s sweeping palm forcewind. His whole body swayed twice and Windchaser Goose switched from a strike to a grab and in a flash snatched Return to the Origin from Qiu Yuan’s hand. Then with two bounds he reached the side of the cliff, and holding the manual in his right hand, he climbed with his left, hoisting himself up by the short pines, clambering dangerously up the cliff.

All this happened in a just a few seconds. Eight Armed Divine Codger and the Two Geese of Diancang were all first-rate masterhands of the martial world, and when they stored up and released their power it struck like lightning. By the time Master One Yang and Greatmaster Clear Karma knew what was happening, Windchaser Goose had already snatched Return to the Origin and climbed more than ten staves up the cliff.

The most put out naturally was Eight Armed Divine Codger. Had he not attacked, even if the Two Geese had moved at once they would have difficulty making off with the manual. He never imagined himself, grandmaster of a generation, had been willing to commit the most heinous offense in the martial world in suddenly launching an attack, only to give the Two Geese of Diancang an opening. He was raging with fury and abandoned Qiu Yuan and went after the Two Geese of Diancang instead.

Windchaser Goose Ye Hui had used his senior sectbrother Goose Among the Clouds Liao Kun’s palm strike at Qiu Yuan to snatch Return to the Origin. Liao Kun let his junior sectbrother take the manual and climb the cliff while he drew the hooksword from his back and held it out crosswise to block the way. Wen Gongtai angrily caught up with him and struck out his green bamboo staff with Cold Moon Over Blue Waves, while Liao Kun’s hooksword hooked the green bamboo staff out and up with Wildfire Burns the Heavens. Wen Gongtai swept his wrist down and the bamboo staff changed to Diamond Pull of the Tail. Goose Among the Clouds leapt up, and before his hooksword could change to another move, Eight Armed Divine Codger ‘s green bamboo staff launched three masterstrokes of his Demon-Subduing Staff in a row, green light like lightning, staff forcewind screaming, attacking with overwhelming force.

These three ferocious attacks were like an iceberg breaking apart and toppling over, and now that Goose Among the Clouds had lost the initiative, all his skills were in vain. To late to put them to use, he had been forced back to the edge of the valley. Eight Armed Divine Codger was hung up on Return to the Origin and was in no mood to get tangled in a fight with Liao Kun. His green bamboo staff struck fiercely with another move, Open Up the Mountain to Divert the Stream, thinking to force Goose Among the Clouds out of the way so he could climb up the cliff and go after Ye Hui.

Liao Kun was forced back more than a stave by Wen Gongtai’s fierce attacks, and he was livid, there was no way he was going to make way. He circulated qi to his right arm and pushed the force into the tip of his hooksword, and with a shout his hooksword met Eight Armed Divine Codger’s move head on with Solitarily Propping up the Five Marchmounts. Wen Gongtai was forced back three steps by the the power of all of Liao Kun’s strength, but Goose Among the Clouds suffered greatly for it, rocked so that his blood roiled and his qi surged, the crook of his thumb became hot, and he nearly dropped his hooksword.

Inwardly he was shocked. He thought, that old man Eight Armed Divine Codger really is deserving of his reputation, I really have to be careful facing him. He was just having this thought as Wen Gongtai had his power gathered and chopped out with his palm, strong forcewind gusting right at him. This strike was extraordinarily ferocious, just like a thousand violent waves rolling amidst a boundless sea

Goose Among the Clouds didn’t dare take it head on but flipped to the right to dodge it, and Wen Gongtai’s palm forcewind slammed into the cliff face sending grit and chips of stone flying, dust filling the sky. Eight Armed Divine Codger took this chance to use his Soaring Swallow Rides the Waves lightness skill, and in the blink of an eye he had scaled several staves up the steep cliff. Liao Kun, anxious, took his hooksword and gave chase.

Master One Yang, on the other hand, was indifferent to the Return of the Origin manual. The most important thing to him was Master Wise Perfected’s life, so he didn’t get involved in the fight for the manual between the Two Geese of Diancang and Eight Armed Divine Codger, but rather walked quickly up to Snakeman Qiu Yuan and asked, “How is your left shoulder? Can you endure it?”

Qiu Yuan sighed. “I never imagined Wen Gongtai, as a venerated sectmaster, would launch a surprise attack. If he had not attacked me first, the Two Geese of Diancang’s sudden attack would not have been able to hurt me.”

Master One Yang said, “It’s for the best that Brother Qiu lost the Return to the Origin manual. Though that book is an unrivaled rare treasure, it’s also a weapon for killing. Our Kunlun School had it for no more than a day and it cost a life, all for nothing. Qiu Yuan’s willingness to tend to my junior sectsister’s wound will cost her her martial arts, that’s no big deal. But she can only live for ten more years. Ten more years will go by like a snap of the fingers…”

He stopped here and heaved a deep sigh and tears trickled down his face.

Qiu Yuan was also deeply moved, He hung his head for a long time, then looked up and said, “If Dao Senior wants to avenge his junior sectsister, wait till I’ve treated her wound and you and I can have a fight to the death!”

Master One Yang gave a faint smile. “We can discuss that later. Whether or not Kunlun seeks revenge is not up to me. Rather, what about your left shoulder? Do you need my help?”

Qiu Yuan said, “If the Two Geese of Diancang have shattered my shoulder bone then I will cut my left arm off. I won’t die.” He tried circulating his qi through his left shoulder and felt a sharp pain. He was actually unable to raise his left arm.

Master One Yang stepped forward and suddenly grabbed Qiu Yuan’s left arm and lifted it, his left palm taking hold and pressing on the “Wind Palace” acupoint behind his shoulder. It hurt so bad that sweat rolled down Qiu Yuan’s forehead, but he endured it silently.

Once Master One Yang was finished, he said, “Try again, can you lift your arm?”

Qiu Yuan did as told and raised his left arm twice. “Thank you for setting my broken bone. It seems the Two Geese of Diancang’s power is really limited. I was caught off guard yet they only managed to break my shoulder bone. If it had been Wen Gongtai’s palm strike, the bone would have been shattered for sure.”

By now Master Wise Perfected had finished circulating her qi. Master One Yang paid no more attention to talking to Snakeman and hurried over to Junior Sister and took out the Jade Dew Detoxifying pills. Tong Shuzhen knelt down before Shifu and helped her swallow them.

Master Wise Perfected took five pills. She looked up and saw the yellow silk bundle missing from Master One Yang’s back and frowned. “Where’s your Return to the Origin manual?”

Master One Yang said sadly, “It wasn’t an auspicious thing, I don’t want it.”

Master Wise Perfected gave a sad, bitter smile. “You thought to use Return to the Origin to exchange for my life? Actually you thought wrong, I’m probably not going to make it.” Her starry eyes twinkled and she glanced twice at Qiu Yuan.

Master One Yang couldn’t bear to tell her that she had to lose all her martial arts, only to be able to live another ten years longer. He just consoled her in a low voice, “The gold thread snake’s rare venom is not incurable. Qiu Yuan has agreed to treat you and help dispel the snake venom.”

Master Wise Perfected smiled faintly and looked up to the sky and said slowly, “When I was circulating my qi I could feel that the venom had reached my internal organs. My qi has blocked from my vital acupoints. Don’t listen to anyone’s lies!”

Qiu Yuan cut in, “As long as the venom has not invaded your heart, lungs, or liver, your life can still be saved. It’s just that all your martial arts power will be lost. The venom won’t flare back up for ten years.”

Master Wise Perfected was shocked. This was more upsetting than her dying. Her eyes shifted to Qiu Yuan and sheer laughed icily. “Then it would be better for me to just die. What false mercy are you giving me”

Snakeman thought back to how Master Wise Perfected shown mercy on him with her sword strikes earlier and he was alarmed and ashamed. He hung his head and said nothing.

Master One Yang smiled and said comfortingly, “Ten years is not that long, but it’s not that short either. Once your snake venom has been treated, we’ll find a quiet place to live and I’ll take good care of you and be with you for those ten years.”

A blush appeared on Master Wise Perfected’s distressed face and she broke out into a smile. She looked over at him bashfully, but she couldn’t hide the joy in her heart.

Shen Xialin blinked away tears and said, “Mm! Me and Big Brother Huan will be with Shifu too. For ten years we won’t leave your side.” She turned to Yang Menghuan. “Big Brother Huan, will you go too?”

Menghuan nodded. “Of course I’ll go.”

Xialin’s dimples showed as she smiled and cuddled up in Master Wise Perfected’s arms. “When we get there I’ll catch a white crane and raise it, and when it gets big I’ll teach it to catch an inkscaled ironplated snake for you.”

Master Wise Perfected stroked her hair. “Pity that I haven’t taught you anything since you became my disciple, and Shifu went and got hurt by someone’s treachery.”

Shen Xialin shook her head, but before she could say anything they suddenly heard several shouts and Windchaser Goose Ye Hui, shouldering Return to the Origin and holding his Tiger Tail Whip, came leaping down the cliff whence he’d come, Eight Armed Divine Codger Wen Gongtai and Goose Among the Clouds Liao Kun hot on his heels one behind the other.

The three of them had gone and come back. Master One Yang thought this strange and was about to stop them to inquire, but Qiu Yuan stole ahead and, heedless of his broken shoulder, leapt up and held his Flying Dragon Cudgel out crosswise to block Windchaser Goose Ye Hui’s route. Windchaser Goose’s Tiger Tail Whip snapped out with Divine Dragon Wags Its Tail, and Qiu Yuan half turned to the side, Flying Dragon Cudgel slanting up at the tip of the whip with Face the Wind, Carry the Sun. Ye Hui retracted his whip and hesitated. He was already next to Qiu Yuan and pushed his left hand out level, right wrist pulling back, and his Tiger Tail Whip shot back, the tail end spooling back in a downward slanting chop at his shoulder.