Chapter - 115 Iron Spear, Damaged Plough (10)

"Who's there!" shouted the man as he dashed forward with his hands raised in a claw stance.

Guo Jing could only raise his arms to block the strike. In the light of the two lanterns he was now able to clearly see that his attacker was none other than Wanyan Kang!

As it turned out, the bodyguard, after releasing the prisoners, had hurriedly reported the consort's actions to the young prince. Wanyan Kang got a shock when he heard this.

He thought to himself, "Mother's heart has always been too soft and she never sees the consequences of the old man and his daughter getting away! If my ShiFu were hear about this, and were to bring them to face me, how could I deny what's been going on! I would really be in deep **** (trouble)!"

He immediately rushed to search for them and see if he could cut them off in time before they really escaped from the palace. Running into Guo Jing was the last thing he expected.

Both of them had already fought heavily that day and now they meet again in the middle of the night, one in a hurry to rush back with medicine, the other in a hurry to kill two people so as to seal their lips, thus they fought even more(?) tenaciously now. Guo Jing tried to escape a couple of times but was always blocked by Wanyan Kang. When Guo Jing saw the bodyguard coming forward drawing out his sword ready to assist his master he thought things were going badly indeed!

Liang Ziwong thought that Huang Rong was about to be defeated when turned to leave but to his surprise he heard a cry from the crowd that indicated a change of situation. Huang Rong suddenly raised up both her arms and head sending the three bowls of wine soaring straight up in the air. She then swung both her fists towards Hou Tonghai and struck using a move called "Eight Steps to overtake the moon" (or something like that). Because Hou Tonghai was carrying the wine bowls he couldn't block the strike so instead he had to dodge quickly to the left. Huang Rong followed through with a flash of her right hand leaving Hou Tonghai no option this time but to block with his arm. Not only was he unable to stop the wine from spilling in his hands, but the bowl perched atop his head also tipped over and fell with a crash to the floor.

Huang Rong instantly leaped back and caught two of her bowls in mid air while the remaining one fell neatly on her soft cloud like hair, all without spilling so much as a drop of wine. Everyone present could not help quietly murmuring, "Excellent" upon seeing such a brilliant performance of skill. Ouyang Ke however didn't murmur his praise, but said it out rather loudly. Sha Tongtian shot him and angry glare

but Ouyang Ke did not notice and again called out, "Brilliant indeed!"

Hou Tonghai's cheeks flushed red, "Try that again!"

Huang Rong laughed and scrapped her cheek with a finger saying, "Now, now, aren't you ashamed?"

Sha Tongtian seeing his junior disciple's loss of face gave a grunt, "Young girl you are certainly full of devious tricks. Tell us, who is your master?"

Huang Rong smiled sweetly, "I'll tell you tomorrow. Right now I must be on my way."

Without appearing to bend a leg or take a step Sha Tongtian suddenly appeared in the doorway blocking Huang Rong's exit. Only just a few minutes earlier Huang Rong had already learnt just how powerful Sha Tongtien's Gongfu was when he had grabbed and locked both of her hands and this latest "Change form exchange place" maneuver only served to highlight just how powerful and opponent he would be. Although she felt a slight wave of worry, her face didn't betray her feelings.

Instead she gave a slight frown and asked in a slightly annoyed tone, "Why are you blocking my way?"

Sha Tongtian replied, "I want you to tell me which school you belong to and why you came barging into the palace."

Huang Rong arched her pretty eyebrows and asked, "And what if I don't tell you?"

Sha Tongtian snapped, "When the dragon king of the demonic sect asks a question, there is no choice but to answer!"

Huang Rong saw that she was surrounded in the hall and there wasn't much chance of her making a run for it. She saw Liang Ziwong was about to leave and so called out to him pleading sweetly, "Uncle! This bad man is blocking my way and won't let me go home."

Liang Ziwong laughed when he heard her grumbling in such a cute manner, "The dragon king has only asked you a question, why don't you be a nice girl and answer him? I'm sure he will let you go then."

Huang Rong laughed in her most charming way and replied, "But I just don't feel like answering." And then to Sha Tongtian, "OK – If you don't make way, I'll just have to dash through."

Sha Tongtian laughed coldly, "Only if you have the ability to get through."

Huang Rong demanded, "You must not lay a finger on me!"

Sha Tongtian replied, "What need is there for me, the dragon king, to move a finger in order to stop a little girl like you."

Huang Rong exclaimed, "Good, It's settled then. A gentleman cannot go back on his word. Dragon King Sha, do you see that?" She pointed with her left hand off to one side of the room. Sha Tongtian looked over to where she was pointing and at this point Huang Rong made a dash to get past him whilst he was distracted.

She moved with blinding speed, but Sha Tontian's reaction was even faster. He shot his right two fingers up and aimed towards her eyes as she moved forward. If she didn't stop she would be blinded. Luckily she was agile enough to stop in time and leap back away from the danger. She immediately tried again and again from many different angles but each time she found her way blocked no matter how quickly she moved. Finally when she found her nose almost smashing into Sha Tongtian's shiny bald head threatening to stain it with blood from her broken nose she gave up with a little shriek of frustration.

Liang Ziwong laughed heartily, "Dragon King Sha is a master at this, there is no point in continuing. Why not just admit defeat?" He then turned off and set off at a rapid pace back to his medicine store room.

As soon as he stepped into the room he smelt fresh bood and knew that all was not well. He looked down and saw by the glow of his torch the shriveled body of his prized red snake. All it's blood had been drained and his stores of medicines were strewn about the place. Liang Ziwong's blood ran cold – 20 years of work had been destroyed in one night! He clutched the body of his dead snake and couldn't control his tears.

Later he killed a seriously wounded senior (master?) and from inside his sack he took a manual of martial art's secrets along with ten or so prescriptions for the preperation of different types of medicines/drugs/potions. Study of this book combined with use of these drugs would lead to martial arts of incredible power. Part of the preparation of the drugs required the raising of a special type of venomous snake. He searched deep in the forests and mountains to find this type of snake and fed it upon the most precious of herbs and other medicines. The snakes body was originally black, but over the years as her fed it cinnabar it gradually began to turn into a bright red. After twenty years of feeding the snake it had only just a few more days to complete it's transformation when he was called to Yan Jing to meet with the Prince. When the snake was ready he only need drink the blood of the snake and meditate to gain the full benefit of the martial arts power which would make his gongfu more powerful than ever. Now to see his lifes work not only lost to him, but to possibly in addition have someone else benefit instead was more than he could bear.