Chapter - 350 The Heavy Sword of the Condor (7)

Xiao Longnü revealing a grimacing smile and did not wish to continue the contest any longer. She caught a glimpse in the pine lined path a blooming rosebush nearby within thirty feet of her. The flowers were delicate and fragrant and seemed like they were about to fall. Suddenly she was reminded of the place where she was cut off by the rosebushes with Yang Guo while learning "Pure Heart of the Jade Maiden Manual". She thought: "Since I'll never see Guo'er again, then I'll think of him before I die." Her facial expression was gentle and soft as it is was absorbed into a moment of contentment.

Fawang and his teammates had surrounded her in all four directions; if they wanted to they could've finished her in one stroke. But suddenly they noticed a wave of abnormality highlighted on her face, appearing as though she had forgotten about defending herself from the enemy. All were astonished, and wondered whether she was up to those dirty old sorcery tricks again. Four different weapons wavered in mid-air but didn't come down. But within that pause, Nimoxing's steel snake was the first to move forward.

Then all of a sudden beside him was the sound of wind soughing; it appeared that someone had stretched out a sword to strike him. Nimoxing frantically got back his steel snake to obstruct the sword but hit nothing but empty air. Then he saw a person in motion, it was none other than Zhen Zhibing who scrambled in front of Xiao Longnü. He was delivering his own sword to her. Xiao Longnü at this point seemed possessed as though nothing is within her sight, nor can she hear with her ear, and had already abandoned the matter of engaging in a hand-to-hand combat. Then she felt her left hand had been given a sword, and smoothly clung onto it.

The onlookers couldn't help but cry out in alarm after suddenly catching sight of Zhen Zhibing entering the danger zone of the five top-notch fighters. For him, it was no different than if he were digging his own grave.

Fawang was acquainted with him, and did not wish to harm his life. So thereupon his left arm met his shoulder by force and pushed him away. His right hand's wheel swayed towards Xiao Longnü. Zhen Zhibing was curious as to why she had no intentions to fight anymore. Desperately trying to think, his eyes understood that she'd be dead if this wheel grazed her. Without caring for his own safety he flung himself forward, and screamed: "Xiao Longnü, watch out!" Then used the back of his own body and obstinately blocked against Fawang's golden wheel.

Whenever Fawang's golden wheel swings out, its remarkable power alone could split rocks and slice mountains, what chance does Zhen Zhibing have of withstanding that? So he immediately dove out of the way. After Xiao Longnü caught the sword given her by Zhen Zhibing, she was as immovable as before and she continued to firmly hold the sword erect whilst in a trance. Zhen Zhibing flew out, and arrived on the sword's end, spearing through his chest. When Xiao Longnü came to her senses, a dawning realization swept across her mind and she was certain that he saved her life. Staring down at his back wounded by the wheel and his chest pierced by his own sword, and she knew both were mortal wounds. In a split second her all consuming hatred converted to compassion, and softly spoke: "Why did you do this?"

Zhen Zhibing's life was near its last gasp; as soon as he heard the four words of 'Why did you do this?' couldn't hold back his wild joy. And said: "Long Guniang, I'm deeply…deeply sorry for what I've done to you; I could never amend with my selfless actions. Will…will you forgive me?"

Xiao Longnü stared blankly again, and recollected the time when she heard his conversation with Zhao Zhijing at the Guo's residence in Xiangyang. A thought just skimmed across her mind: "Guo'er had always been deeply affectionate with me, and even once swore that he would never be unfaithful to me. Then without notice he's made up his mind to marry Guo Guniang and abandoned me like nothing happened, and didn't give a seconds care about the after-effects. He must've learned that I was once raped by this filthy scoundrel." Her heart was innocent, even when she followed the tracks of the two Taoists Zhen Zhibing and Zhao Zhijing; this notion never came up in her mind. Once she was abruptly reminded by Zhen Zhibing, her mind's compassion immediately spiraled back into hatred. Her fury has in fact tenfold, clenching her teeth; her right hand's sword immediately drew on his chest and pushed forward. However in all her life she had never taken somebody's life. Although her bosom was filled with grief and indignation, the sword that was to be thrust through his chest never happened to everyone's surprise.

Qiu Chuji observing to one side saw his beloved pupil die a violent death. He was distressed as though a dagger struck through his heart; the incident happened faster than anyone could imagine, and he failed to reach him in time to rescue him. Xiao Longnü's first sword strike can be said to have been caused by Fawang. But the second sword strike was intentional. He didn't have the slightest knowledge of the tortuous details. During these six months he's been without rest, for the most part thinking of how to negate Xiao Longnü's maneuvers. In the recent month apart from this he had nothing else to think about. Xiao Longnü had been established as his own Quanzhen sect's archenemy, but he definitely could not believe Zhen Zhibing was willing to sacrifice his life to save her. His eyes seeing her sword strike out again he immediately leapt in front. With his left hand's five fingers whisking her wrist and his right palm aimed squarely for her face. Qiu Chuji's martial arts occupied first place amongst the Quanzhen Seven Masters. The circumstances forced him to make that move, and his palm's might was very forceful.

That jerk did manage to pull Xiao Longnü's wrist, and the sword was instantly out of her grasp. Without waiting for the sword to drop on the ground, she reached out her hand and regained possession of it. Then she followed up with a lunge forward across to Qiu Chuji's chest. During this moment, Zhen Zhibing shrieked in pain as he sank down on the ground with blood gushing out of his wounds. Xiao Longnü's left sword pointed towards Qiu Chuji's lower abdomen. Now that both her swords have combined harmoniously, its power has rapidly amplified. Qiu Chuji's martial arts maybe profound, but within three strokes, he was in a helter-skelter state. Wang Chuyi noticing the situation wasn't right, dashed forward to lend a hand, pushing Fawang and others to one side.

Jinlun Fawang and his motley crew felt surprised when they saw Xiao Longnü fight against the Quanzhen Five Masters, but knew that this change of events was beneficial for them. He thought it would be a good idea to watch them commit fratricide. All of them gave each other a wink, and backed off several paces. They were waiting for a real victor to emerge between Xiao Longnü and the Quanzhen Five masters, and then they'd step in to tidy up the final phase of the chess game.

As the top fighters come to blows, every move was mortal; nobody dared to risk any room for error. That's why even when Qiu Chuji and his peers were aware that the situation was odd they knew it would be hard to solve easily. But since the battle had commenced, where could they find the spare time to consider all of this? The Quanzhen Five masters were unarmed, when confronting Xiao Longnü's marvelous and improper methods of swordplay, the single month spent on initiating a skill called "Seven Star Rally" did not even have any chance of being put to good use. In a moment, Hao Datong and Liu Chuxuan both were harmed by her swords, but both persisted and guarded every martial brother's safety. Then 'zung' sound, Sun Bu'Er was struck by a sword.