The Return of the Condor Heroes

Chapter 17 – The hidden Loveless Valley, Part 10

Fan Yiweng chopped out a right palm and Ma Guangzou moved his head to dodge, however, this was a dummy move and a fist came out from his left hand, landing squarely on Ma Guangzou’s nose.

Ma Guangzou called out and returned a punch. When it came to martial arts, Fan Yiweng was much better than Ma Guangzou; but his beard was trapped and he couldn’t move his head, so the punch landed on his cheekbone. One tall and one short, the two of them began to fight. Though Fan Yiweng was on top, he could not escape from his opponent.

Jinlun Fawang saw that the hall had fallen into chaos; five people from his side had come out and yet still they were unable to take care of the Old Urchin. This was a bit too shameful. Sounds of ‘qiang lang’ ‘qiang lang’ were heard as he took out two wheels, one silver and one bronze. One swept from left to right and the other from right to left forming two arcs of light as they flew towards Zhou Botong. The ringing sounds were urgent and frightening.

Zhou Botong did not know how powerful they were and said, “What are these?” He stretched out his hand to grab them.

Yang Guo called out, “You can’t catch them!”

Yang Guo threw the steel staff upwards. A ‘dang’ sound was heard and the thick, long staff was sent flying towards the corner of the room as sparks flew and dust rose up from the wall. The bronze wheel came back to Fawang and he once again sent it with his left hand. The wheel flew swiftly towards the beam.

After this, Zhou Botong knew that it wasn’t good to annoy this monk. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight off all of them so he flipped downwards and called out, “Excuse me everyone, the Old Urchin has to leave, we’ll play again another day.” He then ran towards the door. However, four disciples in green had blocked the exit with a large fish net.

Zhou Botong had experienced the fish net before and called out, “Oh no!” He wanted to escape through the window on the eastern side. He saw a green blur and the window was covered by a fish net as well.

Zhou Botong leapt back into the middle of the room and saw that in all four directions there were four disciples in green holding a fish net, blocking his path. Zhou Botong then leapt up onto the beam and used the stance “Surging Sky Palm” to break a large hole in the ceiling. He was about to leap out through the hole when he raised his head and saw that there was also another fish net above. He had nowhere to go and leapt back to the floor. He pointed to the Valley Master and laughed, “Old yellow face, why do you want to keep me here? Do you need a playmate?”

Valley Master Gongsun said dryly, “All you’ve got to do is return the four things that you took and I’ll immediately let you go.”

Zhou Botong said surprisingly, “What use have I got with your smelly things? Even if a person could learn martial arts to a state equal to yours, who cares?”

Valley Master Gongsun slowly walked to the middle of the hall. He brushed the dust off his clothes and said, “If today wasn’t my wedding day, I would definitely exchange a few stances with you. Just leave the items of the valley here and leave.”

Zhou Botong was furious and called out, “So, you say that I’ve definitely stolen something from you? That’s crap, what have you got here in this valley?” He then started to take off his clothes and very soon, he was stark naked. The Valley Master called out to him to stop but was ignored. Zhou Botong then showed his garments inside out, indeed, there was nothing there. The female disciples in the hall were distressed and turned their heads away.

This turn of events was something that the Valley Master had not predicted. The missing objects from the library, pill room, fungi room and sword room were very important and had to be recovered; could it really be that the missing objects were not stolen by the Old Urchin?

Just as he was in deep thought, Zhou Botong clapped his hands and said, “Look at you, you’re old but why do you not act your age? You speak without thinking and you act mad and crazy, you do such an embarrassing thing in public, aren’t people going to laugh their teeth out?”

These words should have been said to him but he got it in first. The Valley Master didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and did not have a reply. He saw that Fan Yiweng was still battling Ma Guangzou so he shouted, “Get up Yiweng, stop tangling with the guest.”

Zhou Botong laughed, “Long beard, I like your temper, the two of us can be friends.”

In actual fact, Fan Yiweng has been strict and disciplined all his life; he only fought Ma Guangzou because he had no choice. He wanted to stand up many times but his beard was wrapped around Ma Guangzou’s arm and he had no way to escape.

Valley Master Gongsun frowned slightly and pointed to Zhou Botong saying, “I’m afraid that it is you who is embarrassing himself in public and it is you whose actions are laughable.”

Zhou Botong said, “I came out of my mother’s womb naked and I’m pure and innocent as I stand naked now, what’s wrong with that? Look at how old you are yet you still want to marry a beautiful young girl, ha-ha, laughable, laughable!” Those words were like a hammer that smashed into the chest of the Valley Master; his yellow face became red and he couldn’t say anything.

Zhou Botong called out, “Oh no, I’m afraid I might catch a cold without wearing any clothes.” Suddenly he dashed towards the exit.

As soon as the four disciples in green saw the blur, they immediately moved positions and threw the net over him, trapping him in the net. They felt him struggling fiercely and they tied the corners of the net then carried him over to the Valley Master. The fish net was made out of extremely pliable and soft golden silk; even a precious sword or saber would not find it easy to cut through it. The hand movements of the four disciples were unusual and swift, the net covered heaven and earth as it was brought forward. Even an extremely skilled martial artist would find it difficult to deal with. The only disadvantage was that it required four people to work it; one person alone will not be able to use it. The four of them were extremely proud of themselves after they caught him in one swoop; but when they saw the Valley Master examine the net, he had an expression of displeasure. They quickly looked down; they were shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. They quickly opened the net up and let two people out; it was Ma Guangzou and Fan Yiweng.

No one could predict that Zhou Botong would suddenly dash out stark naked without his clothes. His hand movements were extraordinarily quick; he had picked up Ma Guangzou and Fan Yiweng and threw them in the net. When the four disciples took in the net, he quickly dashed out. The deception was unnoticeable.

The Valley Master’s face was full of humiliation because of what Zhou Botong had done; and even Fawang and the others felt shame in their hearts. They were all thinking, “I class myself as a first rate fighter of Wulin and yet all of us together were unable to capture that mad old man, that is shameful.” Only Yang Guo was pleased; he had great respect for Zhou Botong and thought that if he was captured, I would definitely think of a way to rescue him. Since he’s managed to escape by himself, then it couldn’t be better.