Chapter - 375 East And West are Forever APart Like Orion And Antares (9)

Zhang Wuji resisted with a lot of effort and only managed to fight them evenly; it was not until twenty, thirty stances later that he slowly started to gain an upper hand. It was at this moment that the Wind and Cloud, Three Emissaries, howled in one voice and jumped to their ship, toward the Pingdeng Wang, with the intention of snatching him back to redeem their guilt of striking him earlier.

Xie Xun heaved the Ping Deng Wang and brandished him around, making a large circle around him. This time, how could the Wind and Cloud, Three Emissaries, dare to act rashly? They hastened to the left and dodged to the right, while trying to find a hole to launch their attack.

Suddenly Juming Wang grunted and tumbled down. Zhang Wuji reached down trying to grab him, but Liuyun Shi and Huiyue Shi's pair of tablets came to block, while Miaofeng Shi scooped Juming Wang to bring him back to their own ship.

Qixin Wang and Cloud and Moon Emissaries were forced to face Zhang Wuji together; their coordination was not as when they were fighting with their own respective partners. After several more stances, they knew it was hard to score a victory. Three people successively let out a whistle and retreated to their ship.

After calming himself down, Zhang Wuji said, "These people definitely knew the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi; but somehow their techniques are different, making it difficult for me to deal with."

"Our Cult's Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi originated from Persia," Xie Xun said, "But after they passed it on to us several hundred years ago, they lost their own copy. So what they preserved, according to Taj-kis, was only some shallow and superficial knowledge. For that reason, they sent Taj-kis to the BrightnessPeak to get the manual back."

"Their martial art foundation really is superficial, so their knowledge is indeed only skin deep," Zhang Wuji said, "But the way they use it was truly ingenious. Obviously, they knew something significant that was the key to their skill, which I have not penetrated through. Hmm, in the seventh level of the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi, there are some passages I have not mastered yet; could it be the key?" While saying that, he sat down on the deck with his head between his hands, thinking hard. Xie Xun and the others did not dare to make any noise, for fear they would disturb his train of thought.

"Aiyo," suddenly Xiao Zhao called out in alarm. Zhang Wuji looked up only to see Wind and Cloud, Three Emissaries, was taking someone to the presence of the eleven Precious Tree Kings. That person was a hunchback, with a walking stick in her hand; she was none other than Jin Hua Popo.

Zhihui Bao Shu Wang who was sitting on the second chair shouted her some questions. Jin Hua Popo leaned her head sideways and shouted back, "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

Zhihui Wang sneered; he stood up and reached out with his left hand, pulling the entire white hair from Jin Hua Popo's head, exposing a clump of silky hair as black as crow. Jin Hua Popo turned her head sideways, trying to hide her face. But Zhihui Wang's right hand reached out suddenly to peel a layer of skin from her face.

Zhang Wuji and the others could see clearly that what Zhihui Wang peeled was a human skin mask. Instantly Jin Hua Popo turned into a very beautiful woman, with creamy white skin, almond shaped eyes, and cheeks like peach. Her countenance was glowing; her beauty was truly indescribable.

As Taj-kis' true appearance was exposed, she might as well throw away the walking stick, and she stood there smiling bitterly. Zhihui Wang asked her some questions again, and she replied in Persian. As those two people exchanged words, the countenances of the eleven Precious Tree Kings were getting more and more serious.

"Miss Xiao Zhao," suddenly Zhao Min asked, "What are they talking about?"

With tears in her eyes Xiao Zhao said, "You are so smart, you knew everything; why didn't you prevent Xie Laoye Zi from talking?"

Zhao Min was puzzled, "Prevent him from talking what?" she asked.

Xiao Zhao replied, "Initially, they did not know who Jin Hua Popo was. Later on, they found out that she is the Zi Shan Long Wang; but they had never guessed that Zi Shan Long Wang is the Holy Maiden Taj-kis. Popo had made a great effort in concealing her identity from them. Xie Laoye Zi's second condition was for them to release Sheng Nu Taj-kis; although his intention was good, he inadvertently revealed her secret to Zhihui Bao Shu Wang. Xie Laoyezi's eyes cannot see, of course he did not know that Jin Hua Popo's appearance was radically changed that nobody would recognize her. Miss Zhao, you can see everything clearly, could it be that you haven't thought about it?"

In reality, when listening to Xie Xun's story on the little boat, Zhao Min had early on guessed correctly that Jin Hua Popo was the Persian Ming Cult's Holy Maiden Taj-kis, but she had never guessed that in the eyes of the Persian leaders, her true identity was by no means uncovered. She was about to open her mouth to retort back, but noticing that Xiao Zhao was speaking miserably, she vaguely guessed that Xiao Zhao must have had some unusual relationship with Jin Hua Popo. She did not have the heart to speak harshly and only said, "Xiao Zhao Meizi [(younger) sister, term of endearment], I certainly have not thought about it. If I had an ill-intention to harm Jin Hua Popo, let me die a horrible death."

Xie Xun was even more remorseful; he did not say anything. But he had made a decision in his heart that even if he had to lose his life, he would save Taj-kis from danger.

Sobbing, Xiao Zhao said, "They blame Jin Hua Popo, saying that she got married and committed apostasy against the Cult, they … they are going to burn her to death."

"Xiao Zhao," Zhang Wuji said, "Please don't worry, as soon as there is an opportunity, I am going to go over and save Jin Hua Popo." He was accustomed to call her 'Popo', but if he looked at Zi Shan Long Wang right now, even though she was middle-aged, but her gracefulness and beauty was not inferior to Zhao Min, Zhou Zhiruo, and the others; she even looked like Xiao Zhao's elder sister.

"No, no," Xiao Zhao said, "You cannot fight Eleven Bao Shu Wang, plus the Wind and Cloud Three Emissaries; don't deliver your life in vain. Right now they are discussing how they are going to take the Pingdeng Wang back."

"Humph!" Zhao Min hatefully said, "Even if they take Pingdeng Wang back, his face has already imprinted with these lines of characters; he will look so ugly."

"What imprinted characters?" Zhang Wuji asked.

"That yellow bearded emissary's Sheng Huo Ling struck his left cheek …" Zhao Min said, "Ah, Xiao Zhao!" suddenly she remembered something. "Xiao Zhao Meizi," she asked, "Do you know Persian characters?"

"I do," Xiao Zhao replied.

"Come here and look," Zhao Min said, "What is written on Pingdeng Wang's face?"

Xiao Zhao came near Pingdeng Wang and leaned over his head; she saw his left cheek was swollen badly and three lines of Persian characters were imprinted on it. Turned out each one of the Sheng Huo Ling was engraved with characters. Miaofeng Shi had accidentally struck Pingdeng Wang, and the characters on the Sheng Huo Ling were transferred to his flesh. Only, the part where Sheng Huo Ling met the flesh was no more than two 'cun's wide and three 'cun's long [1 cun is approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm)], so the inscription was incomplete.

Xiao Zhao had followed Zhang Wuji into the secret passage of the BrightnessPeak, and had memorized the Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi manual; although Zhang Wuji had never forbidden her, she had never trained it, but she knew the theory of this martial art by heart. When Zhang Wuji encountered a difficulty during training of the seventh level and he was forced to skip several lines, Xiao Zhao had memorized those lines well. Presently, looking at the characters on Pingdeng Wang's face, she could not help from blurting out, "This is Qian Kun Da Nuo Yi theory!"