HEAVEN SWORD DRAGON SABRE Book 2 of 2

Disaster Arose Within The Broken Impenetrable Fortress Part 4

Suddenly Yang Xiao interrupted in cold voice, "Shuo Bude, are you talking about me?"

Shuo Bude said, "My name is 'Shuo Bude' [can't say]; I won't say anything that is not supposed to be spoken. Whoever has done the deed, he understands. This is called 'the teeth chew the wontons, the stomach knows how many'."

"Humph," Yang Xiao snorted, but did not say anything.

Suddenly Zhang Wuji was startled by a realization: "Hey, how come I am not cold anymore?" When he was hit by Yuan Zhen's 'huan yin zhi', the cold was unbearable, but after a while, surprisingly the cold 'chi' completely vanished.

What actually happened was: he was hit by the 'yin' poison of the 'xuan ming shen zhang' [black/mysterious and deep divine palm], which lasted until he was seventeen when the poison was completely eradicated from his system. During the seven years, day in and day out his body was fighting the cold poison; thereupon his body developed a natural defense against the cold, just like blinking his eyes or breathing, which he instinctively does. Much less after he trained the Jiu Yang Shen Gong, although he had not reached perfection yet, the last hurdle had not been passed, the 'yang' 'chi' inside his body was quite abundant, so that without taking too much time, the 'yin' poison was completely driven out.

In the meantime, Shuo Bude continued, "Ever since our Great Song perished under the hands of Mongolian Tatars, the Ming Cult becomes the mortal enemy of the imperial government more and more, because our Cult has taken the duty to drive out the invaders. Only it's a pity that for the past few years the Ming Cult has become like a dragon without a head. Because the masters within the Cult are fighting over the Jiaozhu position, we have been constantly killing each other. In the end, some washed their hands and lived in seclusion; some founded another sect and became the Jiaozhu. After our Cult fell apart, the enmity with the prestigious schools and orthodox sects grew deeper, until finally we reached the situation we are in today. Yuan Zhen Heshang, did you hear even half a sentence of lie in what I just said?"

"Humph," Yuan Zhen said, "No lies, no lies! You all are in front of the death's door, why would you tell any lie?" While he said that, he slowly stood up and took a step forward.

"Ah!" Yang Xiao and the Five Wanderers cried out in alarm.

Although they all knew he was going to recover first, they did not expect his internal strength to be this profound that even after being hit by Qing Yi Fu Wang Wei Yixiao's 'cold ice soft palm', his recovery would be this quick. They watched his imposing stature; as his left foot took another step forward, his body was as steady as a rock.

Yang Xiao laughed coldly. "Kong Jian Shen Seng's distinguished disciple really is not to be trifled with, but you have not answered my question earlier. Could it be that there is some dubious affair in this matter that you cannot tell the truth?"

"Ha ... ha ..." Yuan Zhen laughed while taking another step forward. "You are not going to die with your eyes closed before knowing all the details, aren't you?" he said, "You asked me how I knew the secret passages in the Brightness Peak, how I could pass through the layer upon layer of natural stronghold, and stealthily [as before, the original was 'deity does not know, demon does not aware'] going up the mountain peak. Very well, I am going to tell you, gentlemen, the truth. It was your own precious Cult's Yang Dingtian Jiaozhu, husband and wife, who personally lead me up here."

Yang Xiao shivered involuntarily; he thought, "Based on his status, there is no way he would tell a lie; but how can there be such thing?"

Meanwhile, Zhou Dian had already cursed, "You are just releasing your eighteen generation ancestors' fart! This secret passage is the Brightness Peak's greatest secret, it is our Cult's sacred passageway. Although Yang Zuoshi [left emissary] is a Guangming Shizhe [emissary of the Brightnes], Wei Dage [big brother] is a Hu Jiao Fa Wang, they have never walked on that passage. Only the Cult Leader, one man, can use this secret passage. How could Yang Jiaozhu take you, an outsider, into this secret passage?"