Chapter - 314 Willingly Disfigure a Handsome Face (8)

Before Zhang Wuji's feet landed on the ground Ku Toutuo dropped the sword and with a grunt sent out his palm forward. Zhang Wuji heard the gust of wind and knew that this palm carried a lot of strength. It was truly not a small matter; obviously the opponent was testing his internal strength. He turned his right palm around and met the incoming palm head-on, while his left foot finally touched the ground.

In an instant Ku Toutuo's force flowed out like a stream. Zhang Wuji used the power of the seventh level of 'qian kun da nuo yi' to gradually dissipate the incoming force. Suddenly he shouted loudly and pushed back; it was like the dam on a mountain lake suddenly burst and the water flooded out with an earth shattering force. Zhang Wuji was actually returning Ku Toutuo's palm strength to its owner. It was the combination of ten opponent's palm strength into one; the world had never seen such force. If Ku Toutuo was hit, his wrist bone, arm bone, shoulder bone, and his ribs would be broken; blood would spurt out and he would have turned into a heap of shapeless pulp as he died a miserable death.

At this moment a pair of palms stuck to each other. It was impossible for Ku Toutuo to escape. Suddenly Zhang Wuji's left hand grabbed his chest and flung him up; Ku Toutuo's big body flew up. With a loud 'Bang!' the rocks behind him flew all over the place. Zhang Wuji's matchless palm strength had hit the rocks on that mound.

Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao, who were watching from the side, both cried out in alarm. They knew Ku Toutuo and their cult leader were staking it all in that internal energy competition. They thought it would take at least the time needed to drink tea for the match to reach its conclusion; who would have thought that the moment of life and death had arrived in just a short time. These two had a lot in their mind to say, but it was too late for them to open their mouths. Now that Ku Toutuo had landed on the ground, safe and sound, their palms were wet with cold sweats.

As his feet touched the ground Ku Toutuo's hands made a sign like a blazing flame in front of his chest; he bowed to pay his respect to Zhang Wuji and said, "Xiao Ren [lit. little/lowly person] is 'guang ming you zhi' [Right Emissary of the Brightness] Fan Yao; I pay my respect to Jiaozhu [Cult Leader]. I thank Jiaozhu for sparing my life. Xiao Ren also asks forgiveness for my offensive behavior." He had never talked for more than ten years, so his intonation was rather unnatural.

Zhang Wuji was pleasantly surprised; not only this mute Ku Toutuo could talk, but he was also his own Cult's Right Emissary of the Brightness. It was truly beyond what he expected. He Busily held out his hands to raise him up and said, "It turns out that you are our Cult's Fan Youshi [Right Emissary Fan]. I am extremely happy. We are family, so you don't have to be overly courteous."

Actually when they arrived at the rock mound, Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao had already guessed with 30% certainty; only Fan Yao's appearance was greatly changed that they did not dare to say anything. When he displayed his martial art, they were 70, 80% sure; now that he mentioned his own name, they rushed forward held his hands tightly. Yang Xiao stared at his face for half a day with tears streaming down his face. "Fan Xiongdi [Brother Fan]," he said, "Gege [big brother] missed you very much."

"Xiongdi," Yang Xiao said, "How did your appearance change like this?"

"If I didn't deform my own face, how can I deceive that traitor, the 'hun yuan pi li shou' [Lightning Hands of the Originating Formation] Cheng Kun?" Fan Yao said.

As soon as they heard him, they realized that he intentionally destroyed his own face to get close to the enemy. Yang Xiao's heart was moved. "Xiongdi," he said, "You have suffered greatly." In the past Yang Xiao and Fan Yao were known in Jianghu as the 'Xiao Yao Er Xian' [Xiao and Yao, two immortals]; because they both were outstandingly handsome men. Fan Yao had deliberately made his own face unbearably ugly; truly not many people could match his pain and suffering.

Wei Yixiao had never been close to Fan Yao; but this time he could not help but be deeply moved. He knelt down and saluted, "Fan Youshi," he said, "Today Wei Yixiao truly submits to you."

Fan Yao also knelt down to return his salute. Smiling he said, "Wei Fuwang's 'qing gong' [lightness kungfu] is matchless in this world. Your divine skill is even better than in the past. Last night Ku Toutuo broadened his outlook."

Yang Xiao looked around and said, "This place is not too far from the city; the enemy has ears and eyes everywhere. We'd better go farther up and talk on the mountain ahead."

Four people ran for about ten 'li's and stop on the back of a small hill, where they were able to see for several 'li's around and thus did not have to worry anybody would hide and listen secretly, yet from a distant nobody would be able to see them. They sat down and told each other what happened after they were separated.

That year Yang Dingtian suddenly disappeared without any trace; the Ming Cult's leaders fought with each other over the Cult Leader position. Nobody was willing to submit, so the Cult split up. Fan Yao still believed their Cult Leader had not passed away, so he wandered the Jianghu alone to look for his whereabouts. Several years passed and he had not found the slightest trail. Afterwards he thought that perhaps their Cult Leader was harmed by the Beggar Clan, so he secretly captured many Beggar Clan's important people and tortured them to force a confession; still he did not find any clue, while in the process he had killed many innocent Beggar Clan members.

Later on he heard the escalating sharp dispute among the Ming Cult leaders; some people even went everywhere looking for him, they wanted to appeal to him. Fan Yao had never wanted to be the Cult Leader; he was also not willing to be involved in this power struggle. Hence he went as far as possible for fear that his brethren would find him. Thereupon he grew a long beard and disguised himself as an elderly scholar; wandering everywhere, free and unrestrained.

One particular day he saw someone at a bustling street in Dadou; he recognized that person as Madame Cult Leader's martial brother Cheng Kun. He could not help to be secretly shocked. By that time there was a rumor in the Wulin world that many skilled pugilists were murdered, and there was always this message written on the adjacent wall: 'The killer is Lightning Hands of the Originating Formation Cheng Kun'. He wanted to investigate this case, but also wanted to inquire the Yang Jiaozhu's whereabouts to Cheng Kun; thereupon he followed Cheng Kun from a safe distance.

He saw Cheng Kun enter a restaurant, where two older men were waiting; they were the Xuanming Elders. Fan Yao knew Cheng Kun's martial art level was high, so he sat on a rather far away table, drinking wine. He could only hear those three people talking indistinctly, but the words 'must destroy the Brightness Peak' were heard clearly. Hearing his cult was in danger Fan Yao could not ignore it; he followed those three secretly and saw them entering the Ruyang [a place in Henan] 'wang fu' [lit. king mansion – governmental palace]. Later he found out that those two Xuanming Elders were martial art experts under the employment of the Prince of Ruyang.