Chapter - 4 Thinking of the Unforgettable Man Far Away (4)

Wuse said, "Very impressive "Whisking Acupoint Orchid Hand." May I ask how you address the lord of the Peach Blossom Island?"

Guo Xiang laughed, "The lord of the Peach Blossom Island? I call him old Eastern Heretic."

Huang YaoShi is her maternal grandfather. He is a strange, eccentric man and he calls his granddaughter little Eastern Heretic and Guo Xiang calls him old Eastern Heretic. Huang YaoShi is not angry when he hears it and he is even happy when he hears it.

Wuse was a robber in his early years. Although he has studied Zen for many years and has profound Buddhist knowledge, he still is very straightforward, otherwise, he couldn't be friends with Yang Guo. Seeing that this little girl is not willing to tell him, he wants to test her and find out. He smiled and said, "Young Miss, if you can withstand ten of my stances, I can guess your school."

Guo Xiang asked, "What if you cannot?"

Wuse laughed and said, "Well if you can withstand ten of my stances, I will have to listen to you."

Guo Xiang pointed at Jueyuan and said, "I met this reverend Jueyuan some years ago and I want to plead on his behalf. If I can withstand ten of your stances you have to promise not to give him anymore trouble."

Wuse was surprised, he knew that Jueyuan was very pedantic and stayed in the Library and watched over the scriptures and never met any outsiders. How did he meet this young girl? Wuse said, "We never did give him any trouble. He is sitting out his punishment, that is not giving him trouble."

Guo Xiang pouted and scoffed, "It seems to me that you just want to go back on your word."

Wuse clapped his hands and said, "Very well, if I lose I will carry threeteneight buckets of water for Jueyuan. Watch out, here I come."

Guo Xiang was thinking when she spoke to him, "This old monk seems to be a true expert. If he starts to attack first, I will have to try my best to defend myself and will reveal my parents' martial arts. The best thing to do is for me to attack first and try to gain the upperhand." When she heard him say "Watch out, here I come." she didn't give him time to attack first and raised her sword and aimed for his chest. This was a technique from the "Descending Flower Swordsmanship" namely "Thousands and Myriads of Purple and Red."

The tip of the sword kept moving, not revealing to the opponent where the sword was aiming for.

Guo Xiang yelled out, "The second stance!" the short sword turned around and came from bottom to top, this was called the "Celestial Gentry Topping Apart" which was a Quanzhen technique.

Wuse said, "Good, Quanzhen sword technique."

Guo Xiang said, "Not necessarily." Her short sword stabbed into the air and saw Wuse using an attack as a defense and using his fingers to grab her wrist. She was a bit afraid, "This old monk is very formidable, he can attack bare-handed under such a dangerous technique."

Seeing his fingers were coming closer, her sword dazzled a few times and used a technique from the "Dog Beating Stick", namely "Mean Hound Blocking the Road." And this stance belonged to the Sealing Formula.

Guo Xiang was close friends with the deceased leader of the Beggars Association Lu YouJiao, they occasionally drank wine and played mora together. Sometimes Lu would demonstrate his martial arts, although the "Dog Beating Stick" is only permitted to be used and learnt by the leader of the Beggars Association, Guo Xiang could learn a few stances from Lu. Furthermore, her mother Huang Rong and her brother-in-law were leaders of the Beggars Association. So she has seen this style a lot and could trick people into believing that she knew this style although she didn't know the exact secret of it.

Wuse's fingers just reached her wrist but he saw a bright light shining and the blade was coming towards his fingers in an excellently beautiful way. Almost cutting off his five fingers, but luckily his martial arts were high and he could avoid the attack by pacing back two steps. But his left sleeve was split. Wuse looked terrified and cold sweat was breaking out.

Guo Xiang was very amused and smiled, "What sword style is this?" In fact this wasn't a sword technique, she just used a stance from the "Dog Beating Stick" and used it as a sword stance. Because this style was magnificent, even Guo Xiang couldn't completely learn it, it was still capable to scare off this martial arts expert of Shaolin.

Guo Xiang thought, "If I learnt a few more stances from the "Dog Beating Stick" I could easily defeat this old monk.

She didn't give Wuse time to catch his breath and advanced forward. Her sword was slightly raised and she floated towards him. Her posture looked like a floating fairy, the blade was pointing at Wuse's legs. This was called "A Small Orchard for Chrysanthemum" which belonged to the Jade Maiden Swordsmanship. Guo Xiang learnt this technique from Xiao Longnü.

The Jade Swordsmanship was created by Lin ChaoYing, this style was not only swift and fierce but also refined, elegant and beautiful. All the monks never saw something that beautiful, they were all surprised and pleased. Because Shaolin sword styles were firm and fierce, for example, Luohan and Damo Swordsmanship. This Jade Maiden Swordsmanship was hardly known throughout the world of martial arts, the essence of it is the opposite of Shaolin styles but when it comes to superiority of the stances, it is not above Shaolin Swordsmanship.

But this technique was absolutely beautiful and celestial.

Even in Buddhist scriptures it is mentioned, "When the appearances are gracious and charming, when the manner is solemn, gentle and elegant. And behavior proper and gratifying. The watcher will not be bored."

Reverend Wuse was impressed by such a magnificent stance and hoped to see it more clearly so he moved away and waited till Guo Xiang attacked again.

Guo Xiang's technique now was changing directions a few times from east to west and from west to east. Zhang Junbao was mesmerized by it and was surprised to recognize this stance as "Extend in all Directions." three years ago Yang Guo taught Zhang Junbao this technique and Guo Xiang was there to see it and now is using it. This was originally a palm technique, now she used it as a sword stance, the power of this stance was not that powerful anymore but it was a very strange sword stance and Wuse was a bit frightened by it.

They reached the fifth stance now, and Wuse didn't have any idea who she was. In his younger years, he roamed the world and gained a lot of martial arts experience and insight. And now he is the elder of the Luohan Hall for more than ten years and has examined all styles of different schools and compared to Shaolin martial arts. So he was always very confident to recognize the martial arts of any expert within a few stances.

His limit with Guo Xiang of ten stances was already a very big margin. He never guessed that the parents, relatives, friends of Guo Xiang were all top martial arts experts and she learnt a few stances of each and every one of them, causing Wuse to be confused. Wuse now thought, "The only way for me now is to attack with strength, forcing to use her own martial arts to defend herself. If not, I cannot even guess her school after a hundred stances."

He turned around and used "Double Piercing Hands" and two fists aimed for Guo Xiang. She saw that his attack was fierce and didn't dare to block it and twisted her body and glided away from that attack. She remembered when Ying Gu fought against Yang Guo, Ying Gu used this style.