Chapter - 204 Divine Dragon Shakes Its Tail (7)

The Beggar Clan people were surprised, "This move obviously is Li Sheng's unique skill, the [divine dragon swing its tail], how come this young man can use it? Moreover, his movement is superior to that of Li Sheng." By now they have already pulled Li Sheng – who had come to his senses, to the side. He also recognized not only the [divine dragon swing its tail], but other stances as well. He saw Guo Jing's moves were exquisite and powerful; he was amazed. "This '18 Dragon-subduing Palms' is Clan Leader Hong's special skill. Because I had no regard for my own life and rendered a great service, the leader had generously rewarded me with one stance. Where did this youth learn the full set of 18 stances?" Obviously he did not realize Guo Jing only knew 15 stances.

Ouyang Ke was also amazed. He secretly admired Guo Jing's progress. "How could this kid's martial art improve so much in just two months?"

In a short time they have already exchanged about forty moves. Guo Jing had repeatedly used his 15 stances several times. It was enough for him to defend himself; but in all honesty he had to admit that Ouyang Ke's martial art was several levels above his, so he realized he would not win.

Another ten or so moves later Ouyang Ke changed his tactics. He swiftly moved to all directions to divert Guo Jing's attention then he launched quick attack from unexpected direction. Guo Jing tried hard to fend off but his left hip was kicked. He stepped backward and was limping. Luckily his stances were concentrated on his palms, so he could still launch his 15 moves in succession.

Ouyang Ke did not dare to press on for a while. He tried to force an opening in Guo Jing's defense line. About a dozen or so moves later he did see an opening and immediately launched an attack. Guo Jing had finished all 15 moves and was about to repeat the whole set. After the fifteenth stance 'jian long zai tian' [dragon appeared from (rice) field] he could have launched the first stance, 'kang long you hui' [the proud dragon show remorse]; but he could also repeat the last stance, 'jian long zai tian'. His mind was not quick enough, he pondered, "Shall I repeat from the beginning, or shall I reverse the order?" This slight hesitation was enough for Ouyang Ke. He immediately took advantage of this small flaw and attacked toward Guo Jing's shoulder.

Guo Jing was taken aback; he did not have any chance to think which one of the 15 stances he could use to parry that attack, so in reflex he stepped backward and slapped his opponent's hand. It was a move without following any martial art principles; it was a move without a move. But it took Ouyang Ke by surprise and his arm was squarely hit. Ouyang Ke was shocked; he leaped back and immediately examined his arm. Luckily even though it hurt, but it was not broken.

Guo Jing was delighted with this unexpected result. He thought, "I realized there are three areas on my body which are not protected well: my shoulder, left hip, and right waist. If only I can develop more stances using my both hands …" His mind was still reeling when Ouyang Ke had launched another attack.

Guo Jing was not the smartest kid on the block. Even if he painstakingly racked his brain for ten days or two weeks, he would not necessarily come out with even half of a new move; much less now he was engaged in a fierce combat, how would he have a chance to think? All he could do was clumsily modifying whatever principle he had learned from the dragon palms just to protect his shoulder, left hip and right waist; these three areas.

Ouyang Ke was anxious. "His stances were limited, and given enough time, I am sure I can gain an upper hand. Where did these three additional stances come from?" he thought. He did not know that Guo Jing's three additional moves were actually useless; but he was a little bit wary since he was hit before. So he slowed down his pace and concentrating his strength on defense, carefully studied Guo Jing's new moves. After a while he could see the flaw. "Right! He had not mastered these moves yet, that was the reason he did not use them at the beginning," he thought. While still moving his body around he thrust his left hand to divert Guo Jing's attention; and at the same time swung his right leg straight toward Guo Jing's left hip.

Guo Jing was not able to use his three self-developed stances to their full extend yet. To suddenly see the opponent attacked his weak point, he was nervous. Actually he was launching a palm, but suddenly retracted it halfway and diverted his palm to parry his opponent's kick.

Huang Rong was secretly disappointed. "To hesitate in a match like this is truly martial art's biggest taboo. In this one single move Brother Jing had wasted seven, eight opportunities. Not only that, but even if he won't be able to injure the enemy, he should be able to defend himself. By turning around his palm like that, he actually made the flaw bigger," she reasoned. She knew for sure that Ouyang Ke had put all his strength in that kick; Guo Jing might not be able to parry it. So immediately seven, eight steel needles flew hard from her hand.

Ouyang Ke quickly drew the folding fan on his waist and in one fluid motion open up the fan and waved it gently to block the needles. He was sure all needles were down; hence he did not slow down his kick toward Guo Jing. He was confident Guo Jing would get hit hard and fell to the ground; but then he felt a slight numbness like the acupoint above his ankle was sealed. His kick did not stop all right, but it had lost all its strength. Ouyang Ke leaped back in great surprise. "Which meddler is brave enough to backstab your Young Master?" he fumed, "Come out if you have guts …"

But before he finished he heard a noise from above and something flew his way. He lifted his hand to fend that thing, but it came too fast. Before he knew it something had entered his mouth. It was a little bit salty and hard. He was startled and scared. Quickly he spat that thing out. Turned out it was a chicken bone.

Nervously he looked around above him; but at that precise moment some debris came falling down on him. He busily leaped sideways while spitting the dust from his mouth. Just as he opened his mouth, several pieces of chicken bones came hitting his teeth. They were not knocked down, but it was painful! Ouyang Ke was wild with rage. Suddenly he saw something flew down from a shadow on the roof beam above; immediately he launched a palm to strike that something. He managed to strike it down to the ground only to see that something was actually half-eaten chicken claw. Then he heard the shadow on the beam exploded in laughter. "How is the beggar's stealing chicken skill?"

Huang Rong and Guo Jing leaped in joy as soon as they heard his voice. "Qigong!" they shouted together.

Everybody looked up and saw Hong Qigong sat on the roof beam, his feet splayed out; half of a chicken in his hand, which he ate enthusiastically. The numerous Beggar Clan people bowed and open their mouths together, "Clan Leader! We wish you Senior well."

Ouyang Ke saw it was indeed Hong Qigong; his heart sank. "If what he threw to me was not chicken bones but projectiles, I would be dead by now. Real men are not afraid of defeat; most important thing now is escaping." He bowed and said, "Uncle Hong, your nephew kowtows to you." His mouth said 'kowtow' but he did not kneel down.

Hong Qigong was still chewing the chicken. "Are you not returning to the west? You have committed evil acts over here, do you want to deliver your little life in the 'zhong yuan' [Central Plain]?" he asked indistinctly.