Chapter 9: Divine Finger Flick

Because Yang Guo caused such a commotion, Guo Jing and Lu Youjiao no longer had the mood to discuss anything for the time being. After dinner, once Yang Guo, Guo Fu, and the Wu brothers had returned to their rooms, only then did Guo Jing, Huang Rong, Lu Youjiao, and Ke Zhen'e begin seriously discussing how to deal with the Mongols.

Nobody had expected Yang Guo to slip out under cover of night and find a secluded mountain grove.

Just as he was preparing to practice the Toad Skill, he heard someone give a faint cough nearby.

"Who's there?"

Yang Guo looked around, but the woods were hazy and he could not see a single figure.

Just as he was starting to think it had all been an illusion...

Something shifted in front of him, and a man in green robes suddenly appeared five paces away, his face stiff and oddly expressionless.

Yang Guo recognized him at once as Huang Yaoshi and called out, "Senior!"

Huang Yaoshi asked in puzzlement, "You know me?"

Yang Guo shook his head, then nodded. "I saw you in Jiaxing that day!"

That day, the sealing technique Huang Yaoshi had used on Yang Guo's arm had been undone by Ouyang Feng, and Guo Jing never learned of it.

Yang Guo also never mentioned to Huang Rong and the others that he had run into Huang Yaoshi.

So in theory, Yang Guo should not have known Huang Yaoshi.

Huang Yaoshi said, "Has your poison injury healed?"

"Mm. Thank you for your concern, Senior."

Looking at the mask on Huang Yaoshi's face, Yang Guo felt an indescribable irritation. He could not understand why that old rogue Huang always liked to wear a mask.

Even his disciple Cheng Ying had started copying him.

Huang Yaoshi said, "I never like owing anyone a favor. If I had not been overconfident that day, you would not have been hurt by Li Mochou's Ice Soul Silver Needle poison. Besides, you traded your life for my disciple's life. That leaves you owed two favors."

"Your disciple?" So he had already taken Cheng Ying in as his student. Yang Guo was rather impressed by the old man's oddness. "If you hadn't saved me, I would have been beaten to death by Li Mochou. How could there be any talk of favors?"

"I say you are owed, then you are owed. Even if I saved you, two minus one still leaves me owing you one."

Huang Yaoshi's tone was flat and cool, but there was not the slightest room to refuse.

"How about this? I'll teach you a martial art. You can choose one of these three."

"Ah!" If I had known Huang Yaoshi was going to teach me kung fu, I would have agreed even if he said he owed me ten favors! Yang Guo thought, regretting it already.

"Four Direction Palm. It is all false and true, constantly shifting, unfathomable. Once unleashed, palm shadows fill every direction..." After speaking, Huang Yaoshi looked at Yang Guo.

But Yang Guo shook his head. He had never even heard of that palm technique.

No matter how powerful it sounds, I won't learn it.

Seeing Yang Guo shake his head, Huang Yaoshi went on. "Returning Wind Falling Leaf Sword. This swordplay was comprehended from drifting, falling leaves. The sword is light and swift, and its strikes are impossible to predict."

Yang Guo shook his head again. He seemed to have heard of it somewhere, but it was only some second-rate sword technique.

Was Huang Yaoshi trying to toy with me?

"This is the last martial art. Divine Finger Flick, just a bit of finger technique. If you don't want to learn it, you can choose one of the two before it."

If this kid chooses one of the first two, I'll just give him the manual.

But if he wants to learn Divine Finger Flick, that means he really does have the fortune to learn martial arts. In that case, I'll stay and teach him carefully for a few days.

Huang Yaoshi did not know that although Yang Guo had never actually learned the martial arts from The Return of the Condor Heroes, he knew the names of them all by heart.

"I'm really stupid. I think I'll just learn the finger technique, the one called Divine-what's-it-called..."

Yang Guo forced down his delight and answered in a very restrained tone.

"Divine Finger Flick!"

Huang Yaoshi could not help snorting coldly.

Seeing Huang Yaoshi at a loss, Yang Guo found it secretly amusing.

As a grandmaster, Huang Yaoshi did not bother arguing with Yang Guo. He immediately explained the secrets of Divine Finger Flick one by one: how to generate force, how to coordinate the fingers, how to flick straight toward a target.

When Yang Guo tried it himself, Huang Yaoshi suddenly stopped him. "You practice the Toad Skill!"

Yang Guo was startled. In his joy, he had forgotten all about the Toad Skill he had been practicing. Seeing Huang Yaoshi ask, he could only nod, though his heart was pounding with unease.

Huang Yaoshi went on, "Who else knows about it?"

His masked face revealed nothing at all.

Yang Guo said, "Uncle Guo knows. Aunt Guo knows too."

Then he added, "Senior, are you not willing to teach me anymore?"

"Keep practicing!"

Huang Yaoshi asked no further questions and resumed teaching him Divine Finger Flick.

They kept at it until deep into the night, then stopped and agreed to meet there again the next evening.

Just as Yang Guo was about to leave, Huang Yaoshi asked, "Did that guest who came looking for your Uncle Guo today say anything?"

It turned out Huang Yaoshi had happened to see Lu Youjiao boarding a boat for Peach Blossom Island, in such a hurry that he must have had something important to report.

With his daughter on his mind, Huang Yaoshi had quietly followed him.

But Huang Yaoshi had an eccentric temper and disliked crowds. Even though he wanted to know what was going on, he was unwilling to show himself.

He did not want to be dragged into staying by his daughter and son-in-law.

Then after dinner he saw Yang Guo sneak out, so he came looking for Yang Guo to get to the bottom of it. Only his pride held him back from asking sooner.

Yang Guo, however, understood exactly what Huang Yaoshi was thinking, so he told him that Lu Youjiao had reported repeated Mongol incursions along the border.

Huang Yaoshi sighed inwardly. War was about to break out, and he did not know whether his daughter and son-in-law would leave Peach Blossom Island to defend Xiangyang this time.

"What we talked about tonight is not to be told to a second person!" After warning Yang Guo, Huang Yaoshi departed gracefully.

The next day, Huang Rong was still teaching Yang Guo the Four Books and Five Classics. Yang Guo followed along, nodding and swaying as he read, but his eyes stayed fixed on Huang Rong without blinking.

He admired Huang Rong's peerless, fairy-like beauty, her tall, full breasts, and her narrow waist slender as a willow branch.

Because she was wearing a ru skirt, Yang Guo could not admire Huang Rong's snowy, smooth legs, but thankfully he could still take in her rounded, perky rear.

This stunning married woman, Huang Rong, sharply noticed the heated look in Yang Guo's eyes. Her exquisite face flushed slightly, and just as she was preparing to give him a fierce lesson, she discovered that his gaze was clear and innocent, without the slightest trace of impure thoughts.

Her heart was instantly both shy and annoyed, and she thought bitterly, Yang Guo, you little rascal, one day I'll show you.

Thunk. Yang Guo was reciting the lines from the book out loud, but his mind was on the Divine Finger Flick he had learned the night before. Before he realized it, his right hand had assumed the finger-flicking posture, and when he got into the flow, a burst of finger force shot out.

"What was that sound?" Huang Rong happened to be turned away and did not see it.

"A sound? What sound?" Yang Guo looked around blankly, then gave Huang Rong an innocent look.

"Then where were you just reading to?"

"I got to 'then...,' uh, I forgot!" Yang Guo had been thinking about Divine Finger Flick. How could he possibly remember what he had been reading? He was only following along by rote anyway.

"You..." Huang Rong shook her head. If she were to say Yang Guo was slow, the truth was that he could recite the Analects after only one reading and could even explain their meaning.

But if she were to say he learned quickly, he was always wandering off in thought.

In no time at all, she had no idea where his soul had flown off to.

Scold him, and he would just grin shamelessly, tossing out a few words that ended up making her laugh instead.

Really...

Looking at how completely unguarded he was with her, she did not even know whether it was right or wrong to be on guard against him.

Well, never mind.

In a few days she would have to teach him martial arts anyway, or she would not know how to answer Jing-ge.

Huang Rong glared at Yang Guo.

This little sly fox.

Too lazy to keep lecturing him, she went on reading from the book.

Yang Guo froze for a moment again. Huang Rong's allure was simply too overwhelming.

On top of that, she was at precisely the age when a woman was most intoxicating to men. Her exquisite, mature charm was enough to leave one dazed, and every smile or frown tugged at the heartstrings. Looking at her set Yang Guo's blood hot, and the hotter it got, the more he felt that it would not matter if he simply stayed by her side like this forever.

"Hey! What are you spacing out for? Keep reading along!" If Yang Guo were two or three years older, Huang Rong might have noticed something wrong with his gaze. But now? Sigh. He was still just a child.

At noon, Lu Youjiao took his leave and returned to the Beggars' Sect.

And after Lu Youjiao left, Huang Yaoshi saw that Guo Jing and the others showed no sign of leaving the island, and only then did he relax.

He taught Yang Guo for several more days and inwardly sighed at how astonishing the boy's talent was. In just a few days, Yang Guo had reached the point where there was nothing more for him to teach.

Then he thought of Cheng Ying, who had been left behind at that farmhouse, and did not dare linger too long.

That night he told Yang Guo a word or two, and left the island the next day.