She wiped the perspiration off her forehead, and said apologetically, “I’m really stupid, taking such a long time to master it!” Hua Hui answered, “You’re not stupid at all, and can be considered extremely intelligent. Don’t look down on this stroke, for it can change beyond imagination and extremely powerful. Ordinary people take eight to ten days to master it, and then they might not achieve as much as you have. To deal with top pugilists, one stroke will be of no use. But to defeat two crooks, it is more than enough! Rest a while before you go out to kill them.” Li Wenxiu was stunned: “Is a mere one stroke enough?”

How could Li Wenxiu know how good were the skills of the Two Greats of Min Bei? When she saw that he was angered, she had no option but to brace herself up. She moved away the rocks which had sealed the entrance. In her right hand she held the meteor hammer, and she used her left to pick a poisoned needle from the ground. She yelled, “d.a.m.nable crooks, the poisoned needles are here!” When the two bandits, who had been guarding the entrance of the cave, heard “the poisoned needles are here”, they were frightened out of their wits, and swiftly retreated. The one surnamed Song realised that if she had wanted to fire poisoned needles at them, she would obviously not give them a prior warning. Since she had yelled in such a manner, it probably meant that she would not fire poisoned needles at them. But he had witnessed three of his companions perish in succession after being hit by the needles, and so did not dare to take too large a risk. Li Wenxiu chased after them unhurriedly. The fear she felt was no less than that felt by both bandits. All three of them were extremely frightened. They finally pa.s.sed through the narrow pa.s.sageway which was about ten zhang long.

When the bandit surnamed Quan looked back, Li Wenxiu raised her left hand. Fl.u.s.tered, he stumbled and fell. The one surnamed Song thought that he had been hit by a poisoned needle. Quickening his pace, he fled out of the cave. Then the one surnamed Quan also dashed out. Both men protected their bodies with their sabres. One of them said, “Let’s deal with that girl out here!” The other said, “That’s right, we’ll able to see clearly when she fires poisoned needles at us.” At this time, the sun was setting in the hills. The bright golden light shone on their faces. They tilted their heads slightly, so that the sunlight would not shine directly into their eyes. Suddenly, they heard a feminine voice cry out from inside the cave: “The poisoned needles are here!” They hurriedly dodged to the side, only to see two bottle gourds fly out of the cave. Then Li Wenxiu leapt out. At first, they were taken aback. But when they saw that she was holding two withered bottle gourds, they laughed in spite of themselves. But in their laughter was also wariness. Li Wenxiu’s heart beat furiously. She had only learnt a bit of martial arts, and did not know whether this stroke was really usable. When she was young, she had learnt some martial arts from her parents. But after her parents died, she did not practice martial arts anymore, and forgot completely about them. As she faced these two fierce-looking bandits, she was well and truly terrified. The best thing she could do without dueling would be scaring them off, by making an empty show of strength. Loudly, she cried, “If you still do not flee, my master ‘One Finger Shakes Jiangnan’ will come out! His killing of people using poisoned needles is as easy as taking something out of a bag. You are really audacious to dare to set yourself against him!” These two bandits were common characters, and had vaguely heard of ‘One Finger Shakes Jiangnan’ many years ago. But since they had no connections with him, they did not put his name to heart. They glanced meaningfully at each other, and thought, “If we catch this girl as soon as possible so that she can be taken to First Master Huo and Second Master Chen, we will have done a huge service to them. Who cares if he shakes Jiangnan or Jiangbei?” Calling out in chorus, they leapt towards her from both the left and right sides.

Li Wenxiu was stunned: “How shall I use this ‘Stars and Moon Vying for Splendour’ stroke, since they are both attacking me simultaneously?” Hua Hui had wholeheartedly taught her how to deliver strokes to hit the enemy’s acupoints, but had forgotten to teach her how to deal with them if both of them attacked her together. After all, when exchanging strokes with opponents, there would be a myriad changes in delivering the strokes. How much could one teach another in two to four hours? Li Wenxiu was in a frantic tangle, and leapt three chi (about 1.5 metres) to the right. The bandit surnamed Quan was standing on her right, and was the first to dash towards her. Without a single care, she swung both bottle gourds outwards. In her anxious state, she delivered the stroke ‘Stars and Moon Vying for Splendour’ only half-correctly. The left hammer did hit his Shang Qu Acupoint located on his chest, but the right hammer hit the blade of his long sabre. With a swish, the gourd was sliced open by the blade. Yellow sand flew everywhere.

The one surnamed Song ran up, and had almost reached her. He did not expect that a large amount of yellow sand would fly out of the gourd. Some ten grians of sand went into his eyes, and raising his hands, he quickly rubbed his eyes. Li Wenxiu swung her hammer outwards again, but since the the right hammer had split, its power was lessened. It did hit his back, but not his Ling Tai Acupoint. But when this flying hammer weighing seven or eight jin made contact with his back, he stumbled. Without opening his eyes, he threw himself forwards and grabbed hold of Li Wenxiu’s shoulders. Li Wenxiu cried, “Aiyo!” Using her left hand, she hurriedly pushed him away. But in her flurry, she had forgotten that she still a poisoned needle in her hand. The push made the poisoned needle p.r.i.c.k his belly. His arms stiffened, and he died.

Although he had died, his arms still grasped her very tightly. Li Wenxiu struggled vigorously but was unable to shake him off. Hua Hui (I don’t know how come he suddenly appears here, maybe the text I got off the internet is inaccurate) sighed, “Stupid girl, when you were learning, you were excellent, but when you put it into practical use, you make a mess!” Lifting his leg, Hua Hui kicked him in the tailbone. The corpse loosened its grip, and fell backwards.

Li Wenxiu had not recovered from her fright. She turned to look at the bandit surnamed Quan, and saw that he was lying straight on the ground. His eyes were open wide, and he was motionless. He had been killed after her sand-filled bottle gourd had hit one of his vital acupoints. Li Wenxiu had killed five people in succession in a single day. Although she had avenged her parents’ deaths and resisted evil, she still felt uneasy. Gazing at the two corpses sadly, she could not help but burst into tears. Hua Hui smiled, “Why are you crying? Isn’t the stroke ‘Stars and Moon Vying for Splendour’, which I taught you, excellent?” Li Wenxiu sobbed, “I… I killed people again.” Hua Hui said, “What is killing a few little crooks worth? When I regain my martial arts skills, I will impart all of them to you. When you have mastered all of them, we’ll return to the Central Plains. Then, both master and disciple will control the pugilistic world, unrivalled by no one. Come, come to my house to take a rest and have a cup of hot tea or two.” As he spoke, he led her towards the back of the forest on the left side. After walking for about a li, they pa.s.sed a row of white birches and arrived in front of a thatched cottage.