Chapter 5 – Tomb of the living dead, Part 16
Yang Guo thought, “So she has caught a Taoist to fight with ; that will be interesting. It will be best if she caught that Zhao Zhijing; after being taken care of by Gu Gu, he will have to endure my punches and kicks without being able to retaliate, that’ll be great fun.” As he followed Xiao Longnu, the more he thought about it, the happier he was.
Xiao Longnu turned a few bends, pushed open a door, and entered a chamber lit with candles. The room was small; it was difficult to turn around with the two of them in there. The ceiling was low, and if Xiao Longnu stretched out her arm she would be able to touch the ceiling. Yang Guo didn’t see any Taoists; he was slightly disappointed and asked, “Where is the Taoist you caught?”
Xiao Longnu said, “What Taoist?”
Yang Guo said, “Didn’t you say you were going to catch so people to help practice kung fu?”
Xiao Longnu said, “Who said anything about people? It’s in there.” She went over the corner of the room and picked up a bag; she untied the bag and tipped it upside down, three sparrows flew out.
Yang Guo thought, “Oh, so Gu Gu went out to catch so sparrows.”
Xiao Longnu said, “Catch the three sparrows and give them to . You mustn’t harm their wings or claws.”
Yang Guo said, “Fine!” He threw himself forward to catch them. But the sparrows were swift and quick; they flew to the west and darted to east. Yang Guo was out of breath, his head covered with sweat, yet he couldn’t even touch a feather of theirs.
Xiao Longnu said, “You won’t catch them like that, I’ll teach you a way.” She then taught him the technique to jump high and dart low, and the ability to catch things quickly. Yang Guo had realized that she caught the sparrows to teach him kung fu; he made sure he rembered this. Although he understood the formulae and thod, it wasn’t easy to use it straight away. Xiao Longnu let him practice, and left the room.
On the first day Yang Guo wasn’t able to catch one. After supper he practiced on the Chilled Jade Bed. On the second day, he could jump higher than before, and his arm movents were much quicker. On the fifth day he eventually managed to catch one. Yang Guo was excited and quickly told Xiao Longnu. He couldn’t guess that she wouldn’t have any words of praise or encouragent. She calmly said, “What use is catching one; you must catch all three.”
Yang Guo said, “I’ve already caught one, how hard could it be to catch all three?” He was mistaken; he tried for two days but wasn’t able to catch them. Xiao Longnu saw that the sparrows were tired, so she fed them and then let them fly off. She then caught another three for him to practice with. By the eighth day, Yang Guo managed to catch all the sparrows in one go.
Xiao Longnu said, “It’s ti to go up to Chongyang Palace.”
Yang Guo was alard and said, “Why?”
Xiao Longnu didn’t reply and took him out of the tomb. Yang Guo had not seen daylight in seven days, when he was in the daylight again, he struggled to open his eyes. The two of them arrived at Chongyang Palace. Yang Guo was worried, he kept on glancing at Xiao Longnu but she was expressionless, he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Then he heard her call out in a clear voice, “Zhao Zhijing, co out quickly.”
When they arrived at Chongyang Palace, there were people who had gone in and gave the ssage of their arrival. After she finished speaking, out ca tens of Taoists. Two young Taoists supported Zhao Zhijing, his face was haggard, his eyes deep, he had no way of standing up by himself. When the Taoists saw the two of them, they all held their weapons tightly and angrily glared at them.
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