Chapter - 192 Master of Taohua Island (8)

Mei Chaofeng realized the fierceness of his attack; she jumped back to elude. Huang Rong and the others were greatly shocked by Guo Jing's revelation. Almost together Ke Zhen'E with his iron staff followed by Huang Rong and the rest of the Six Freaks jumped and surrounded Mei Chaofeng.

"Mei Shijie!" Huang Rong shouted, "You have already lost! How could you keep fighting? Quickly take the antidote out and save him!"

Mei Chaofeng felt Guo Jing's attack was both swift and fierce; she did not dare to lose her concentration by replying to Huang Rong's remark; but in her heart she was delighted, "The more you exert your energy, the quicker the poison will attack your system. If I were to die here and now, I have succeeded in seeking my husband's revenge."

Guo Jing felt his vision blurred and his head dizzy; his whole body felt weak. He gradually lost control of his left arm; that he decided to stop fighting. The poison started to enter his system. If he had not drunk the snake's blood he would have died by now.

Huang Rong saw his stupor condition and loudly called out, "Brother Jing! Get back!" Taking out her butterfly steel needle she jumped toward Mei Chaofeng.

Guo Jing heard her call and it raised his spirit. He thrust his left palm with the eleventh stance of the '18-dragon subduing palms', the 'tu ru qi lai' [sudden movement(?)]; only his arm moved slower than it was supposed to.

Huang Rong, Han Baoju, Nan Xiren and Quan Jinfa; four people moved together to attack Mei Chaofeng; but they saw Guo Jing's palm squarely hit Mei Chaofeng's shoulder and she fell down without even try to fend off. Mei Chaofeng relied on her ears to locate her opponent's movement; and Guo Jing's attack was so slow it did not make any noise, that was the reason she was easily hit.

Huang Rong was startled, but Han, Nan and Quan, three people had simultaneously threw themselves on Mei Chaofeng's body to seize her. But she struggled and was able to send Han Baoju and Quan Jinfa flying backward; while at the same time struck backward to grasp Nan Xiren's arm. Nan Xiren saw this attack and rolled himself out of the way.

Mei Chaofeng took advantage of this chaotic situation to leap up, but unexpectedly Guo Jing's palm arrived at her back and she tumbled down one more time. Guo Jing's palm was swift and silent, but actually it was weak. Even though she was hit on her vital part, she was not injured.

After sending his attack twice Guo Jing's energy was depleted; he staggered and fell down right next to Mei Chaofeng. Huang Rong immediately threw herself his way to protect him.

Mei Chaofeng heard someone was falling on her side, without wasting a single moment she sent her five fingers to grab, but to her surprise she felt pricking pain. She realized she had hit the thorns on Huang Rong's 'ruan wei jia' [soft hedgehog armor]. Hastily she used 'li yu da ting' [carp style leaping] to get away.

Suddenly somebody shouted, "Take this!" and something was thrown her way. Mei Chaofeng did not know what was being thrown to her; so she just lifted her right arm to parry. That thing fell down and broke to pieces. Turned out it was a chair.

That chair was followed by another thing, bigger than the first. This time the Iron Corpse stretched her left hand to grab. It was a tabletop; wide and slippery, so she could not have a good grasp. Who threw all these things to her? It was Zhu Cong. He immediately threw a couple of table legs her way. Mei Chaofeng lifted her leg and kicked the table away. Zhu Cong eluded the table but at the same time stretched his right hand and suddenly Mei Chaofeng felt three things fell down her collar. They were cold and slippery, and kept wiggling inside her clothes. She was scared, "What are these things? Is it some witchcraft or secret weapons?" Hastily she groped around her clothes and caught three goldfish.

She was relieved, but suddenly she froze! Her porcelain bottle of antidote had disappeared, along with her dagger and the scroll of Nine Yin Manual, which was wrapped around the dagger.

The three goldfish were from the fish bowl that was crushed when the roof collapsed. Zhu Cong knew Mei Chaofeng was careful and could not easily deceived, unlike Peng Lianhu or Qiu Qianren; so he used the goldfish to divert her attention while at the same time executed his quick hand to pull away Mei Chaofeng's pocket's content. He took the porcelain bottle out, pulled its plug and took it to Ke Zhen'E to smell while whispered softly, "Well?"

Ke Zhen'E himself was an expert in using poison. As soon as he smelled the antidote he said, "To be taken orally, also to be applied to the wound. This is the antidote."

Mei Chaofeng heard their conversation and immediately realized what happened. Furiously she leaped toward them. Ke Zhen'E swung his iron staff to block her, assisted by Han Baoju's 'jin long bian' [golden dragon whip], Quan Jinfa's 'cheng gan' [balance beam – a merchant's weight scale], and Nan Xiren's 'chun gang bian dan' [carrying pole made of pure steel]. Mei Chaofeng quickly put her hand to her waist to retrieve her own whip but suddenly she heard a gust of wind from a sword coming her way. It was Han Xiaoying. She was forced to parry this attack first.

Meanwhile Zhu Cong gave the antidote to Huang Rong. "Have him swallow some, then spread some on his wound," he said. And then he also put the dagger he took from Mei Chaofeng to Guo Jing's pocket. "This dagger was yours," he said and joining his brothers and sister he lifted his iron fan to attack Mei Chaofeng. The six had trained hard these past ten years and had improved their martial arts considerably; therefore, this battle was many times fiercer than the one on that Mongolian barren hill.

Lu Chengfeng and his son were amazed witnessing this fierce battle. "Mei Chaofeng's martial art is no doubt swift, fierce and ruthless; but these Six Freaks of Jiangnan are certainly live up to their names," they thought. "Ladies and gentlemen, please stop! Please listen to what I have to say!" Lu Chengfeng loudly shouted. But both parties were fighting fiercely, who would actually have time to listen to him?

Not long after he took the antidote, Guo Jing was slowly regaining his consciousness. The poison attacked his system fast, but the antidote also neutralized it fast. His wound was still hurting, but he was able to move his left arm. After putting the dagger away he immediately jumped and joined the battle. As before, he started slowly, and when his palm was almost touching Mei Chaofeng's body, he added more strength. It was the stance 'zhen jing bai li' [hundred li's shocks]. Mei Chaofeng was busy fending off her attackers and could not hear Guo Jing's palm. Suddenly she was hit and fell down immediately right at the moment when Han Baoju's whip and Nan Xiren's pole were coming down on her.

Guo Jing bent his waist and parried these two weapons. "Masters! Please forgive her!" he shouted. The Six Freaks complied. They held their weapons and leaped back.

Mei Chaofeng stood up and got ready to fight again. Knowing that Guo Jing was fierce and she could not see, she took out her 'du long yin bian' and readied it in front of her. Guo Jing did not move, "We are not going to fight you anymore. You are free to go!" he shouted.

Mei Chaofeng put her whip back and said, "Please give my manual back." Zhu Cong was puzzled. "I did not take your manual," he said. "You know the Seven Freaks have never lied." He did not realize that the skin wrapped around the dagger was the Nine Yin Manual.