Chapter 5: Superior Martial Arts

Yang Guo was, after all, a modern man. Although he had once disliked Guo Fu intensely when he read about her in the book, now that he was facing her in person, this exquisitely pretty young woman did not seem hateful at all. On the contrary, he found her beautiful and adorable.

Thinking of those old tales of grooming a little beauty from youth, a spark lit in Yang Guo's heart. He pulled out every trick he had and made Guo Fu laugh with delighted giggles.

Of course, Yang Guo's way of coaxing people was not the same as the Wu brothers' ingratiating flattery. His carried a trace of flirtatious teasing.

It made the charming young woman laugh with pleasure, blush with embarrassment, and feel her heart race in a way she could not quite explain.

Fortunately, Huang Rong and Guo Jing were still out gathering herbs because they were worried about Yang Guo's poisoned injury, and partly because they were also looking for Ouyang Feng's whereabouts.

Otherwise, if Huang Rong had seen her precious daughter being so easily stirred by Yang Guo, she would surely have hated him even more.

Knowing when to stop, and knowing that it was best to leave the young beauty hanging just enough to make her heart restless, Yang Guo suddenly said he was sleepy. He kissed Guo Fu's pretty little face, then slipped back across the room to sleep.

Guo Fu had been laughing just moments before, and when Yang Guo said he was going back to sleep, she felt a little reluctant to let him go. She never expected him to steal a kiss, and at once she blushed with embarrassment and irritation, though beneath that there was also a sweetness even she herself had not noticed.

When she saw Yang Guo vanish from sight, she cursed him fiercely as a lecherous rogue and then returned to her room with her face still red.

Back in his room, Yang Guo truly was exhausted. He could not even be bothered to take off his outer robe. He climbed onto the bed, pulled the covers over himself, and soon drifted into a hazy sleep.

In his dream, a crowd of Daoist-looking men came chasing after him with swords in hand. He fled in panic, running wherever there was a path, while thorns in the mountain woods snagged his clothes and left one cut after another on his body.

Through the haze, he saw not far ahead a girl in white standing there, like an immortal maiden descended from the heavens.

Yang Guo was overjoyed and shouted again and again, "Auntie, Auntie."

Then his cries turned into, "Long'er, Long'er."

But the white-clad fairy ignored him completely and instead drifted away toward the distance, faint and remote as drifting smoke.

Before long, the world around him became empty.

A fierce sense of loss surged through him, and Yang Guo jolted awake from his sleep.

That white-clad fairy was still lingering in his mind, but when he opened his eyes, all he saw was a face full of stubble. The jarring contrast made Yang Guo stagger back several steps.

A cool breeze brushed over him, bringing a chill, and only then did he realize he was no longer in the inn.

"Ah, old man, it's you?" Even though he had already known Ouyang Feng would come back, he had never expected that the man would actually haul him out to some desolate wilderness.

Ouyang Feng frowned. "Don't call me old man. Call me father!"

Yang Guo cursed inwardly, but out loud he obediently called Ouyang Feng father.

Hearing Yang Guo call him father, Ouyang Feng was instantly delighted. He laughed heartily and said, "Good, good. What a good son you are."

Seeing how excited Ouyang Feng was, Yang Guo cursed him in his heart, but his words became even more obedient as he called him father again.

Ouyang Feng laughed even more happily. "Good, good, good. Good son, come. I'll teach you the martial art I am most proud of in my entire life."

As he spoke, he crouched low, gave three guttural croaks, then thrust out both hands. With a thunderous bang, half the earthen wall in front of him toppled at once, kicking up a choking cloud of dust and dirt.

Yang Guo knew the Toad Skill was immensely powerful, but after all he had come from the modern world. Seeing such a miraculous feat with his own eyes, he was left staring dumbly, tongue out, stunned and delighted all at once. "What kind of martial art is that? Can I learn it?"

Ouyang Feng said proudly, "This is called the Toad Skill. As long as you're willing to work hard, of course you can learn it."

Yang Guo shouted, "I'll definitely work hard. I'll learn this number-one martial art in the world no matter what!"

Pleased by Yang Guo's praise, Ouyang Feng grew even more proud. At once, he taught Yang Guo the introductory mental method for cultivating the Toad Skill. This was one of the peerless arts among all martial arts in the world.

A toad is a creature that first hides in the soil for a long time, gathering its strength. Once it emerges, it does not need to eat much.

The Toad Skill also emphasized the method of storing power and building force. That made its internal cultivation extremely difficult. If one practiced it even slightly wrong, one could be seriously injured, or even cough up blood and die. For that reason, back then Ouyang Feng had never passed it on even to his own son Ouyang Ke.

But now he was excited and his mind was muddled. Without weighing the consequences, he taught it without reservation to this newly taken adopted son.

Fortunately, Yang Guo understood how dangerous it was. He memorized every word Ouyang Feng said with utmost care, and whenever there was anything he did not understand, he asked for it to be explained in detail.

Luckily, his memory was astonishing and his comprehension excellent, and he managed to grasp seven or eight parts of the Toad Skill.

One of the pair was eager to teach, the other eager to learn, and before they knew it several hours had passed.

Yang Guo's talent in martial arts was far beyond what Ouyang Ke had possessed back then, and Ouyang Feng was delighted in his heart.

Watching the moonlight grow faint, Ouyang Feng, though still in a good mood, said to Yang Guo, "All right, that's enough for today. Go back first."

At the same time, because he was in such a good mood, his mind had never felt so clear. There were also some things from the past that he had never been able to figure out, and now that his head was clear, he wanted to think about them properly.

By now Yang Guo had learned this superior, peerless martial art, and he had also grown a little closer to Ouyang Feng. He told Ouyang Feng to come find him again later, and then he returned to the inn.