Chapter - 264 The Greater (3)

Though this cut wasn't deep, it was long, at least five or six inches long.

Gongsun Zhi thought, "The two of them are guarding each other, I can't hurt the one named Yang; if this continues, with the old hag giving advice, I'll die by this bastard's sword." Years ago, in order to save his own life he killed his lover; in this desperate situation he couldn't care about Xiao Longnü anymore. He moved his black sword and swiped his saber, slashing towards Xiao Longnü's shoulders.

Yang Guo was alarmed, he stretched his sword forward to protect her from this attack when he heard Qiu Qianchi call out, "Stab his waist." Yang Guo was startled and thought, "Gu Gu is being attacked right now, how can I not save her? But each time Senior Qiu Lao has given me advice, it has a deeper meaning behind it. It looks like this is a 'surrounding Wei to rescue Zhao' plan." He changed his mind and the sword arrived at Gongsun Zhi's waist. Suddenly Xiao Longnü called out, her right arm was cut and the 'Lady' sword fell onto the floor. Gongsun Zhi's black sword slanted across and blocked Yang Guo's sword.

Yang Guo was extremely shocked and quickly called out, "Move back, I'll take him by myself." His love and care for her was stirred and his chest broke out in an aching pain again. Xiao Longnü's injury was not slight; she moved backwards and tore off a piece of her sleeve, wrapping it around her wound. Yang Guo fought with his life; he was furious with Qiu Qianchi and glanced at her with rage.

Qiu Qianchi chuckled, "Why are you blaming me? I'm just helping you defeat your enemy; who's trying to help you to rescue someone? Ha-ha, what's her life got to do with me? It's better if she dies!"

Yang Guo said angrily, "You and your husband are a perfect match; there isn't an ounce of goodness in either of your hearts!"

Qiu Qianchi just chuckled; she didn't get angry and remained composed as she concentrated on the battle.

Yang Guo glanced over at Xiao Longnü and saw her leaning on a chair with her wound wrapped up. It looked like it wasn't serious and his spirits were roused. His sword techniques suddenly changed from "Quanzhen Swordplay" to "Jade Maiden Swordplay". Gongsun Zhi saw his sword stances had been steady and cautious; but suddenly they were now supple and lively, graceful and attractive. It was as if Yang Guo had changed into another person. Gongsun Zhi was surprised and thought, "This person is extremely crafty, what is he trying now?" After taking a few stances, he felt that his opponent's swordplay had the same elegant and lofty air of a distinguished family; the same type of swordplay that Xiao Longnü had used. All Gongsun Zhi's doubts were erased and he attacked with both his sword and saber.

Ten or so stances later, Yang Guo was gradually being put on the back foot (a sign of coming defeat) and forced to retreat. Qiu Qianchi gave advice to Yang Guo repeatedly but he was furious with her for deliberately intending to get Xiao Longnü injured. He ignored her and said to himself, "Who needs your annoying words?" He unleashed four strokes and hummed, "The minutiae of a fine horse, a radiant and beautiful coat, the left grabs the many weak, the right receives the forgotten retreat." The verses matched the sword stances and he performed the sword strokes with great elegance.

Gongsun Zhi was startled and said, "What?"

Yang Guo continued, "The galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away. Swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim." The stances were grouped in fours, reflecting the verse. Where it said, 'the galloping wind and the flashing lightning, the chasing image flying away', the sword stances were extremely quick; when it said, 'swift and powerful from the central plains, appearance is the aim', the sword strokes were swift and vicious yet also carried elegance along with it.

Gongsun Zhi had never seen these sword stances before. The verses were pleasing to the ear and he slowed down his attacks, trying to concentrate on the meanings behind each line. He knew that the sword stances and the verses matched each other; all he has to do is to grasp the meaning behind the verses and he'll be able to defeat this swordplay.

Yang Guo continued, "Stopping at the orchid garden, the horse is fed at Mount Hua. The eyes return unto the swan, the hand strumming the five strings." The verse was said with a modest tone but the sword strokes were towering and majestic, especially the last two stances which were extremely exquisite and sudden. It appeared to go to the east but went west, the sword hinted up but went down, one stance but two strokes, and it was difficult to tell what was real and what was false.

Xiao Longnü had now finished wrapping up her wound. She watched Yang Guo's swordplay and felt it was pleasing to the eye; but she had never heard him talk about this swordplay before so she asked, "Guo'er, what swordplay is this; who taught you?"

Yang Guo laughed, "I thought of it myself. Gu Gu, is it good? A few days ago I was resting in bed from some injuries and I saw a book of poetry by the bed. I thought the poems were quite nice so I committed them to memory. At the heroes' feast, Zhu Ziliu merged calligraphy into martial arts; I thought it would definitely be possible to merge poetry into martial arts."

Xiao Longnü said, "It's very good…"

Suddenly, Jinlun Fawang praised, "Brother Yang, I can only look on in awe at your intelligence and wisdom. The following verse is of course, "Bowing to and revering one's content, the good mood of the heart is too obscure, fishing and searching for something, the trap is forgotten once the fish is caught."

Gongsun Zhi's mind lit up, "That monk is trying to help me." He didn't think about what the monk wanted but concentrated on the first line of the verse, 'Bowing to and revering one's content', the sword will definitely be aimed upwards followed by a downwards stroke. He guarded his upper body with the black sword and chopped his gold saber from the middle of his body.

Jinlun Fawang was versed in both martial arts and culture. Although he lived in Tibet, he knew Han philosophies, their history and Confucian classics. When he heard Yang Guo reciting the poem, he knew from long ago what the following verses would be. He revealed this to Gongsun Zhi in hope that he would be able to use Gongsun Zhi to kill Yang Guo for him.

Gongsun Zhi did indeed manage to get the first move in when he heard this. Before Yang Guo unleashed his sword strokes, Gongsun Zhi had sealed off all of the sword's paths while at the same time, chopping out his jagged golden saber from the middle of his body to attack him.

Luckily, Yang Guo had heard Fawang and was prepared for this, he didn't continue on with his "Four Lined Poem Swordplay" and guarded his midriff with his sword while the middle finger of his left hand flicked out, striking the back of the golden saber.

Gongsun Zhi's arm trembled and the joints in his hand felt slightly numb from this flick, he was shocked and thought, "This little punk has much strange kung fu."

This flick of Yang Guo's was the "Divine Release of the Flicking Finger" that Huang Yaoshi taught him; but he was unable to subdue his enemy because his internal energy wasn't strong enough. If Huang Yaoshi performed this move, the jagged golden saber of Gongsun Zhi would have flown out of his hand as soon as it was struck. However, this flick of Yang Guo's was still good enough to allow him to regain the upper hand; he moved his sword forward and used Huang Yaoshi's "Jade Flute Swordplay". The "Divine Release of the Flicking Finger" and "Jade Flute Swordplay" both concentrated on attacking the opponent's pressure points. When they were used together, it was ingenious and subtle and even though Yang Guo's mastery of these skills wasn't refined; after a bout of urgent attacking it was still good enough to trouble Gongsun Zhi.