Ode to gallantry, p.38
Ode to Gallantry, page 38
"Xiaocui, what do you want to say?" asked Ding Busi, his hands coming to a stop in their attacks.
The old woman turned to Shi Potian. "Young man," she said, "my body does not feel well. Send some internal strength over to me again."
"That is very good," Ding Busi remarked with a nod of his head. "Since you are unwilling to accept my assistance after the channels in your body became blocked from overpractising, it is good that you have asked him for help. His internal strength is actually quite powerful despite his poor skills in external martial arts."
The old woman snorted in disgust. "Yes," she replied in a cold voice. "You taught him his external skills, but not the internal one. Therefore, while his external skills are poor, his internal strength is rather powerful."
Ding Busi became angry. "How can you say that his external skills were taught by me?" he asked. "I have only taught him for half a day. But if he spends three to five years under my instruction, hmmph, no one among the younger generation would be his match!"
"What purpose is there if his accomplishments are exactly the same as yours?" asked the old woman. "He can already able to defeat you without learning your martial arts skills. On the other hand, I am afraid that he may not even be able defeat you if he knows your techniques. Now if his abilities become weaker the more he learns, would you say that it is good to learn from you, or otherwise?"
Stumped, Ding Busi hesitated for a moment before making his reply: "Look at his 'Hand of the Tiger's Claw' and the 'Jade Maiden Picks a Needle Up'. Are these not the techniques of my Ding Family?"
"They were taught by Ding Busan's grand-daughter, not you," answered the old woman. Then, she turned to Shi Potian and said, "Young man, come over here. Do not pay him any attention."
"Yes," answered Shi. Sitting down beside her, he placed a palm on her Ling Tai acupoint and began using his internal strength to unblock the channels in her body. This time, he sent the internal strength over in a very very slow manner, for he was afraid of causing her to throw up blood again.
By and by, the old woman raised her arm slowly and covered her face with her sleeve. She did not want Ding Busi to see her speaking, or hear what she was about to say. "When he fights with you again," she whispered to Shi Potian, "your palms must carry some internal strength in response. Simply bring the strength to your palms just like what you are doing now. When he sends his palms towards you, you should respond with the exact same move, meet his palms with yours and send your internal strength into his body. This old fellow wants to force you into the river so that you will drown. Therefore, you must remember this: Use whatever move that he is using against you. This is the only way that will ... will preserve the lives of the three of us."
Although the old woman had only known Shi Potian for a few shichen (1 shichen = 2 hours), she could already tell that he had a kind heart. If she had wanted him to make things difficult for Ding Busi on her behalf, he would have been likely to give the old man some concessions, instead of complying fully with her instructions. Thus, by saying 'the only way that will preserve the lives of the three of us', the old woman hoped to incite him to do his best because of the other two lives that were involved.
Shi Potian nodded.
Then, the old woman said, "You do not need to send me any more internal strength for the moment. When your palms and those of that old fellow meet again, you must not be slow in sending your strength out. Do it swiftly and with power; the more forceful it is, the better it will be."
"Will he throw up blood?" asked Shi Potian.
"No, he will not," answered the old woman. "I overpractised and lost all my internal strength. Hence, I threw up blood because I was unable to withstand the sudden force of your strength. That old fellow has a very rich level of internal strength; that is why he did not throw up any blood when you grabbed the acupoint on his back earlier. Is that not true? If you do not use all your strength, you will end up being jolted until you throw up blood yourself. If you are wounded, there will be no one else to protect my grand-daughter and me. The non-ambulant old woman and the immobile young girl will be trampled upon and humiliated by all and sundry."
Righteous indignation surged into Shi Potian's heart as soon as he heard these words. He felt that he could die immediately on behalf of the old woman and the young girl without a single frown on his brow. Yet, he knew nothing about the two women; he had no idea if they were good or evil.
The old woman moved her sleeve slowly away from her face. "Thank you very much," she said. "Since Ding Busi has not admitted defeat, you should go and exchange some moves with him. Sigh, having lived to such an old age, I have seen quite a number of true men and great heroes. Yet, I have never expected to have an old dog-bear coward before me just before I die. What a terrible injustice!"
"An old dog-bear coward?" asked Ding Busi angrily. "Both of them are not old, and you are certainly not talking about yourself. So are you cursing me?"
"A man who has three-tenths of knowledge about himself can perhaps still be considered as not entirely ruined," answered the old woman with a smile. "Ding the Fourth, would it not be easy to have him killed? Just go ahead and use some moves that you have not taught him, and I assure you, he will not be able to handle them at all."
"How can Ding the Fourth be so shameless?" roared the old man in anger. "Look carefully, and you will see that I have taught him every move I used."
Satisfied that she had achieved her goal of getting Ding Busi to make that very statement, the old woman sighed and fell silent.
Meanwhile, Ding Busi let out a snort of disgust and said in a loud voice: "Big Rice Dumpling, I am about to execute 'Sailing a Boat Against the Currents' (Ni4 Shui3 Xing2 Zhou1). I have taught you this move, so you had better not forget its response." Bending his knees slightly to lower his body, the old man sent his left palm into a vertical upwards sweep.
Alerted by the words 'Sailing a Boat Against the Currents', Shi Potian bent his knees slightly and sent his left palm into a vertical upwards sweep as well.
"That is wrong!" shouted Ding Busi. "That is not how you deal with this move!" Then, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realised that Shi Potian's right palm was about to touch his own left hand. As his heart went cold, he thought: This young fellow's internal strength is very powerful, so much so that I am afraid that it is above mine. If I enter into a duel of internal strength with him, things will not be any fun. Hence, the old man withdrew his left palm at once and sent his right one out in a forward push. This move was known as 'An Amazing Peak Appears Unexpectedly' (Qi2 Feng2 Tu1 Qi3).
Remembering the old woman's words, Shi Potian executed 'An Amazing Peak Appears Unexpectedly' as well, this time with three-tenths of his internal strength in his palm.
Ding Busi was taken aback, for the oncoming force from his opponent's palm was so strong that the resulting movement in the air could be felt even before the palm itself reached its target. Hence, he quickly resorted to another move.
Shi Potian paid close attention to the old man and imitated everything he did. Since he did not have to recall the responses that were needed to deal with the old man's moves, he could concentrate on exercising and accumulating his internal strength where it was needed. Consequently, his palms began to create a breeze as they moved through the air. The power that accompanied his strikes became increasingly stronger as well.
Soon, Ding Busi became so wary of his opponent that he had to move cautiously lest their palms met. He was afraid of being drawn into a duel of internal strength that pitted a relentless force against the other, should the hands of both parties become stuck together. There were several occasions during which he noticed some flaws in Shi Potian's moves, but he ended up withdrawing his hands and changing his own moves as soon as the younger man imitated him.
Since his name was established in the realm of the rivers and lakes, Ding Busi had fought with numerous renowned pugilists and highly-skilled masters of martial arts. However, he had never had an opponent like Shi Potian, who copied each move he made, regardless of what it was. If the opponent had been another reputable man, such a manner of fighting would naturally come close to being called 'shameless'. Hence, he could have had the fight stopped there and then. Unfortunately, Shi Potian happened to be the exact opposite of Ding's previous opponents. Despite the immense reservoir of internal strength in Shi's body, he did not know any external martial arts skills at all. Therefore, the two men had had an agreement in which the fight would proceed only with the moves that the old man had taught the younger one. By imitating Ding's moves to the 'T', Shi's actions were perfectly justifiable in the face of their agreement.
Ding Busi started to curse and swear in a fit of impatience, yet there was nothing he could do to Shi Potian.
After fifty or sixty moves, Shi began to grasp the methods of exercising and utilitising his internal strength. Consequently, each successive fist or palm that he sent out was more powerful than the one before it. Soon, the *hu-hu* sound of moving air could be heard on the bow of the boat, as if a strong wind had begun to blow.
By then, Ding Busi did not dare to show the slightest bit of indolence or neglect. As he faced Shi Potian with all he had, he wondered: What sort of anomaly is this young fellow supposed to be? Could his stupidity be a deliberate act of hiding his evil intentions, when he is -- in reality -- a master pugilist with extremely high accomplishments in martial arts?
As the fight wore on, Ding Busi began to find it increasingly difficult to avoid his opponent's palms. Fortunately for him, Shi Potian remained focused on copying his moves, so the old man did not have to worry about any unexpected attacks. After a few more moves, Ding made several arcs with both his palms and struck diagonally out. Known as 'Meeting an Endless Stream on the Left and the Right' (Zuo3 You4 Feng2 Yuan2)(8), the move relied on the situation at that specific moment in the fight to determine whether the palms were launched towards the left or the right.
Stinking little fellow, you cannot imitate me now, can you? thought Ding Busi in delight. How would you know the direction from which my palms will attack?
Sure enough, Shi Potian found the old man's move so difficult to follow that he asked: "Are you attacking to the left or the right?"
"Make a guess!" answered Ding Busi, laughing gleefully as his palms continued to move.
Both alarmed and frightened, Shi Potian had no alternative but to raise both his palms and push them towards Ding Busi's hands. He did not know the direction from which his opponent's palms would come, so he sent his internal strength to the left and the right at the same time.
The sight of the oncoming palms gave Ding Busi a terrible shock, for he felt that the silly young man before him had copied his skilful combination of false and concrete motions in an incomparably clumsy way. With 'Meeting an Endless Stream on the Left and the Right' becoming 'Both Left and Right' (Yi4 Zuo3 Yi4 You4), the simultaneous use of both palms had totally eliminated the exquisiteness of the original move. In addition, Shi Potian's actions had also violated the essentials of pugilistic studies(9). Consequently, the old man found himself drawn irrevocably into a duel of internal strength with his young opponent.
As a burst of crisis-induced perspiration appeared on his forehead, Ding Busi had a flash of inspiration. Raising both his hands, he sent the force of his palms into the sky. Known as 'The Heavenly King Holds the Pagoda Up' (Tian1 Wang2 Tuo1 Ta3), this move was originally meant for dealing with opponents who leaped up and attacked while still in mid-air. It should not have been used in the first place, because Shi Potian was not airborne.
But the young man had been imitating every move that his older opponent made. So when Shi saw Ding executing 'The Heavenly King Holds the Pagoda Up', he raised his palms and struck upwards with a *hu* sound without understanding the reason for it.
Then, as they continued to hold their palms up towards the sky, the two men looked at each other.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Ding Busi burst into loud laughter. When Shi Potian saw the animosity of his opponent fading away, he began to laugh aloud as well. A'Xiu, who could see the goings-on as she leaned against a wooden pillar in the cabin, broke into a beautiful smile.
However, the old woman had other thoughts. "Shameless, shameless!" she said. "You are unable to defeat the child, so you have resorted to this devilish trick just to deceive him!"
Yet, Ding Busi was not bothered by the old woman's accusations. Instead, he felt very pleased with his own quick-wittedness, for he had been able to come up with such a strange way of avoiding a duel of internal strength with Shi Potian, as well as the impending danger, in a mere flash of time. Laughing in delight, he said: "I do not have any grievances or resentments against this young fellow, so why should I take his life with a burst of internal strength?"
Before the old woman could respond with more sarcastic remarks, the boat shook several times and surged downstream. As it turned out, the boat had entered a narrower part of the river where the currents were very swift.
"Xiaocui, we have arrived at the Isle of the Azure Conch!" announced Ding Busi with a gleeful laugh. "You and your grand-daughter, as well as Big Rice Dumpling, are all invited to go ashore and stay!"
The old woman's countenance changed at once. "No, I am not going!" she said in a trembling voice. "I would rather die than to set a single foot on your ghastly island!"
"What is wrong with going ashore and staying for a few days?" asked Ding Busi. "You are my highly esteemed guest. You will be able to recuperate well in my home, for it is a very comfortable place with good food and drinks, as well as a comprehensive range of renowned and valuable medicinal products(10)."
"Comfortable my fart!" snapped the old woman angrily, using an expletive as she became more panicky about the situation that she was in.
As the surging waves of the swift-flowing river struck the boat, Shi Potian followed the gaze of Ding Busi towards the right. There, he saw a peak rising from the water, a lush expanse of greenery that was pointed at the top and rounded at the base. Since the peak looked just like a spiral shell, Shi guessed that it was the Isle of the Azure Conch.
"Pull in over there," said Ding Busi to the boatman.
"Yes!" the boatman replied.
Then, Ding Busi bent down, lifted the anchor and stood on the bow. He would toss the anchor on to the island as soon as the boat went near enough.
Shi Potian spoke: " Laoyezi, since this old lady is unwilling to go to your home, why are you ..." But before he could finish, the old woman leapt up, grabbed A'Xiu by the arm and dived into the river.
"No!" shouted Ding Busi. He turned and made a backhanded grab for the women, but how could he have reached them on time?
A *plonk* was heard. A splash of water followed and the two women disappeared beneath the waves.
Greatly startled, Shi Potian grabbed a plank from the deck and leapt into the river as well. As he did, he pushed off against the side of the boat with both his feet, and flew straight out over the water. Consequently, he managed to enter the river just beside the two women, although he had leapt a moment after the old woman did.
Shi Potian did not know how to swim, so he began swallowing water as soon as the waves struck him. Bent on rescuing the women, he held on to the plank with his right hand and started grabbing randomly in the water with his left. He caught the old woman's hair in his hand almost at once, and refused to loosen his grip. By then, the current of the river had swept the trio downstream.
It did not take long before Shi Potian's head felt dizzy and his vision became blurred, yet he was still swallowing water from the river. Suddenly, his body shook and a burst of pain was felt on his waist. He had knocked hard into a rock.
Greatly delighted, Shi Potian stretched out his legs, stood firmly on the rock and quickly pulled the old woman towards him. Fortunately, the old woman's arms were still wrapped tightly around her grand-daughter. However, Shi found it difficult to tell if the two women were alive or dead. Nevertheless, he picked both of them up at the same time and stumbled shakily ashore.
Shi Potian reached dry land after walking for only ten zhang (33.33 metres). Suddenly, he heard the old woman snapping at him: "Rude fellow! How dare you grab me by the hair!"
Startled, Shi Potian quickly replied: "Yes, yes! I am really sorry."
"How dare you ..." the old woman continued, only to utter a *wa* and throw up the water that she had swallowed earlier.
A'Xiu spoke up: "Grandmother, if it were not for this Elder Brother here and his act of rescue, we who are unable to swim would have been ... been ..." At this point, she began throwing up water as well.
"In that case," said the old woman, "this young fellow here has indeed done us a favour by saving our lives. All right, I will not hold the rude act of grabbing me by the hair against him."
A'Xiu smiled. "That was something that could not be avoided during the rescue," she said. Then, turning to Shi Potian, she added, "Elder Brother, we would like to really ... really thank you for this." At this point, she was still in Shi's arms, with only a chi (33.33 cm) between her eyes and his. She averted her gaze to avoid meeting his eyes when she spoke, but when she and her grandmother threw up, they could not avoid doing it all over Shi's body.
Fortunately, Shi Potian was already wet from the earlier ordeal, so it did not matter if he had more water splashed on him. However, A'Xiu's face turned very red, for she felt very embarrassed about it.
"All right," said the old woman. "You can put us down now. This is the Isle of the Purple Smoke, a place that is not far from the residence of that old monster. We have to prevent him from coming over to nag."
"Yes, yes!" answered Shi Potian.
As he was about to put the two women down, someone spoke up suddenly from behind some trees: "The young fellow is probably still alive. We must find him."
Shocked, Shi Potian whispered: "Ding Busi has caught up with us." Then, he picked the two women up and ducked into a clump of trees. He did not dare to move after that.
By and by, footsteps were heard on the withered grass, and two people walked by. One of them was an elderly man, and the other was but a young girl. Shi Potian was hit by a wave a fear far greater than the sight of Ding Busi, for he could see from their backs that the duo were none other than Ding Dang and Ding Busan.
The old woman turned to Shi Potian. "Young man," she said, "my body does not feel well. Send some internal strength over to me again."
"That is very good," Ding Busi remarked with a nod of his head. "Since you are unwilling to accept my assistance after the channels in your body became blocked from overpractising, it is good that you have asked him for help. His internal strength is actually quite powerful despite his poor skills in external martial arts."
The old woman snorted in disgust. "Yes," she replied in a cold voice. "You taught him his external skills, but not the internal one. Therefore, while his external skills are poor, his internal strength is rather powerful."
Ding Busi became angry. "How can you say that his external skills were taught by me?" he asked. "I have only taught him for half a day. But if he spends three to five years under my instruction, hmmph, no one among the younger generation would be his match!"
"What purpose is there if his accomplishments are exactly the same as yours?" asked the old woman. "He can already able to defeat you without learning your martial arts skills. On the other hand, I am afraid that he may not even be able defeat you if he knows your techniques. Now if his abilities become weaker the more he learns, would you say that it is good to learn from you, or otherwise?"
Stumped, Ding Busi hesitated for a moment before making his reply: "Look at his 'Hand of the Tiger's Claw' and the 'Jade Maiden Picks a Needle Up'. Are these not the techniques of my Ding Family?"
"They were taught by Ding Busan's grand-daughter, not you," answered the old woman. Then, she turned to Shi Potian and said, "Young man, come over here. Do not pay him any attention."
"Yes," answered Shi. Sitting down beside her, he placed a palm on her Ling Tai acupoint and began using his internal strength to unblock the channels in her body. This time, he sent the internal strength over in a very very slow manner, for he was afraid of causing her to throw up blood again.
By and by, the old woman raised her arm slowly and covered her face with her sleeve. She did not want Ding Busi to see her speaking, or hear what she was about to say. "When he fights with you again," she whispered to Shi Potian, "your palms must carry some internal strength in response. Simply bring the strength to your palms just like what you are doing now. When he sends his palms towards you, you should respond with the exact same move, meet his palms with yours and send your internal strength into his body. This old fellow wants to force you into the river so that you will drown. Therefore, you must remember this: Use whatever move that he is using against you. This is the only way that will ... will preserve the lives of the three of us."
Although the old woman had only known Shi Potian for a few shichen (1 shichen = 2 hours), she could already tell that he had a kind heart. If she had wanted him to make things difficult for Ding Busi on her behalf, he would have been likely to give the old man some concessions, instead of complying fully with her instructions. Thus, by saying 'the only way that will preserve the lives of the three of us', the old woman hoped to incite him to do his best because of the other two lives that were involved.
Shi Potian nodded.
Then, the old woman said, "You do not need to send me any more internal strength for the moment. When your palms and those of that old fellow meet again, you must not be slow in sending your strength out. Do it swiftly and with power; the more forceful it is, the better it will be."
"Will he throw up blood?" asked Shi Potian.
"No, he will not," answered the old woman. "I overpractised and lost all my internal strength. Hence, I threw up blood because I was unable to withstand the sudden force of your strength. That old fellow has a very rich level of internal strength; that is why he did not throw up any blood when you grabbed the acupoint on his back earlier. Is that not true? If you do not use all your strength, you will end up being jolted until you throw up blood yourself. If you are wounded, there will be no one else to protect my grand-daughter and me. The non-ambulant old woman and the immobile young girl will be trampled upon and humiliated by all and sundry."
Righteous indignation surged into Shi Potian's heart as soon as he heard these words. He felt that he could die immediately on behalf of the old woman and the young girl without a single frown on his brow. Yet, he knew nothing about the two women; he had no idea if they were good or evil.
The old woman moved her sleeve slowly away from her face. "Thank you very much," she said. "Since Ding Busi has not admitted defeat, you should go and exchange some moves with him. Sigh, having lived to such an old age, I have seen quite a number of true men and great heroes. Yet, I have never expected to have an old dog-bear coward before me just before I die. What a terrible injustice!"
"An old dog-bear coward?" asked Ding Busi angrily. "Both of them are not old, and you are certainly not talking about yourself. So are you cursing me?"
"A man who has three-tenths of knowledge about himself can perhaps still be considered as not entirely ruined," answered the old woman with a smile. "Ding the Fourth, would it not be easy to have him killed? Just go ahead and use some moves that you have not taught him, and I assure you, he will not be able to handle them at all."
"How can Ding the Fourth be so shameless?" roared the old man in anger. "Look carefully, and you will see that I have taught him every move I used."
Satisfied that she had achieved her goal of getting Ding Busi to make that very statement, the old woman sighed and fell silent.
Meanwhile, Ding Busi let out a snort of disgust and said in a loud voice: "Big Rice Dumpling, I am about to execute 'Sailing a Boat Against the Currents' (Ni4 Shui3 Xing2 Zhou1). I have taught you this move, so you had better not forget its response." Bending his knees slightly to lower his body, the old man sent his left palm into a vertical upwards sweep.
Alerted by the words 'Sailing a Boat Against the Currents', Shi Potian bent his knees slightly and sent his left palm into a vertical upwards sweep as well.
"That is wrong!" shouted Ding Busi. "That is not how you deal with this move!" Then, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly realised that Shi Potian's right palm was about to touch his own left hand. As his heart went cold, he thought: This young fellow's internal strength is very powerful, so much so that I am afraid that it is above mine. If I enter into a duel of internal strength with him, things will not be any fun. Hence, the old man withdrew his left palm at once and sent his right one out in a forward push. This move was known as 'An Amazing Peak Appears Unexpectedly' (Qi2 Feng2 Tu1 Qi3).
Remembering the old woman's words, Shi Potian executed 'An Amazing Peak Appears Unexpectedly' as well, this time with three-tenths of his internal strength in his palm.
Ding Busi was taken aback, for the oncoming force from his opponent's palm was so strong that the resulting movement in the air could be felt even before the palm itself reached its target. Hence, he quickly resorted to another move.
Shi Potian paid close attention to the old man and imitated everything he did. Since he did not have to recall the responses that were needed to deal with the old man's moves, he could concentrate on exercising and accumulating his internal strength where it was needed. Consequently, his palms began to create a breeze as they moved through the air. The power that accompanied his strikes became increasingly stronger as well.
Soon, Ding Busi became so wary of his opponent that he had to move cautiously lest their palms met. He was afraid of being drawn into a duel of internal strength that pitted a relentless force against the other, should the hands of both parties become stuck together. There were several occasions during which he noticed some flaws in Shi Potian's moves, but he ended up withdrawing his hands and changing his own moves as soon as the younger man imitated him.
Since his name was established in the realm of the rivers and lakes, Ding Busi had fought with numerous renowned pugilists and highly-skilled masters of martial arts. However, he had never had an opponent like Shi Potian, who copied each move he made, regardless of what it was. If the opponent had been another reputable man, such a manner of fighting would naturally come close to being called 'shameless'. Hence, he could have had the fight stopped there and then. Unfortunately, Shi Potian happened to be the exact opposite of Ding's previous opponents. Despite the immense reservoir of internal strength in Shi's body, he did not know any external martial arts skills at all. Therefore, the two men had had an agreement in which the fight would proceed only with the moves that the old man had taught the younger one. By imitating Ding's moves to the 'T', Shi's actions were perfectly justifiable in the face of their agreement.
Ding Busi started to curse and swear in a fit of impatience, yet there was nothing he could do to Shi Potian.
After fifty or sixty moves, Shi began to grasp the methods of exercising and utilitising his internal strength. Consequently, each successive fist or palm that he sent out was more powerful than the one before it. Soon, the *hu-hu* sound of moving air could be heard on the bow of the boat, as if a strong wind had begun to blow.
By then, Ding Busi did not dare to show the slightest bit of indolence or neglect. As he faced Shi Potian with all he had, he wondered: What sort of anomaly is this young fellow supposed to be? Could his stupidity be a deliberate act of hiding his evil intentions, when he is -- in reality -- a master pugilist with extremely high accomplishments in martial arts?
As the fight wore on, Ding Busi began to find it increasingly difficult to avoid his opponent's palms. Fortunately for him, Shi Potian remained focused on copying his moves, so the old man did not have to worry about any unexpected attacks. After a few more moves, Ding made several arcs with both his palms and struck diagonally out. Known as 'Meeting an Endless Stream on the Left and the Right' (Zuo3 You4 Feng2 Yuan2)(8), the move relied on the situation at that specific moment in the fight to determine whether the palms were launched towards the left or the right.
Stinking little fellow, you cannot imitate me now, can you? thought Ding Busi in delight. How would you know the direction from which my palms will attack?
Sure enough, Shi Potian found the old man's move so difficult to follow that he asked: "Are you attacking to the left or the right?"
"Make a guess!" answered Ding Busi, laughing gleefully as his palms continued to move.
Both alarmed and frightened, Shi Potian had no alternative but to raise both his palms and push them towards Ding Busi's hands. He did not know the direction from which his opponent's palms would come, so he sent his internal strength to the left and the right at the same time.
The sight of the oncoming palms gave Ding Busi a terrible shock, for he felt that the silly young man before him had copied his skilful combination of false and concrete motions in an incomparably clumsy way. With 'Meeting an Endless Stream on the Left and the Right' becoming 'Both Left and Right' (Yi4 Zuo3 Yi4 You4), the simultaneous use of both palms had totally eliminated the exquisiteness of the original move. In addition, Shi Potian's actions had also violated the essentials of pugilistic studies(9). Consequently, the old man found himself drawn irrevocably into a duel of internal strength with his young opponent.
As a burst of crisis-induced perspiration appeared on his forehead, Ding Busi had a flash of inspiration. Raising both his hands, he sent the force of his palms into the sky. Known as 'The Heavenly King Holds the Pagoda Up' (Tian1 Wang2 Tuo1 Ta3), this move was originally meant for dealing with opponents who leaped up and attacked while still in mid-air. It should not have been used in the first place, because Shi Potian was not airborne.
But the young man had been imitating every move that his older opponent made. So when Shi saw Ding executing 'The Heavenly King Holds the Pagoda Up', he raised his palms and struck upwards with a *hu* sound without understanding the reason for it.
Then, as they continued to hold their palms up towards the sky, the two men looked at each other.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Ding Busi burst into loud laughter. When Shi Potian saw the animosity of his opponent fading away, he began to laugh aloud as well. A'Xiu, who could see the goings-on as she leaned against a wooden pillar in the cabin, broke into a beautiful smile.
However, the old woman had other thoughts. "Shameless, shameless!" she said. "You are unable to defeat the child, so you have resorted to this devilish trick just to deceive him!"
Yet, Ding Busi was not bothered by the old woman's accusations. Instead, he felt very pleased with his own quick-wittedness, for he had been able to come up with such a strange way of avoiding a duel of internal strength with Shi Potian, as well as the impending danger, in a mere flash of time. Laughing in delight, he said: "I do not have any grievances or resentments against this young fellow, so why should I take his life with a burst of internal strength?"
Before the old woman could respond with more sarcastic remarks, the boat shook several times and surged downstream. As it turned out, the boat had entered a narrower part of the river where the currents were very swift.
"Xiaocui, we have arrived at the Isle of the Azure Conch!" announced Ding Busi with a gleeful laugh. "You and your grand-daughter, as well as Big Rice Dumpling, are all invited to go ashore and stay!"
The old woman's countenance changed at once. "No, I am not going!" she said in a trembling voice. "I would rather die than to set a single foot on your ghastly island!"
"What is wrong with going ashore and staying for a few days?" asked Ding Busi. "You are my highly esteemed guest. You will be able to recuperate well in my home, for it is a very comfortable place with good food and drinks, as well as a comprehensive range of renowned and valuable medicinal products(10)."
"Comfortable my fart!" snapped the old woman angrily, using an expletive as she became more panicky about the situation that she was in.
As the surging waves of the swift-flowing river struck the boat, Shi Potian followed the gaze of Ding Busi towards the right. There, he saw a peak rising from the water, a lush expanse of greenery that was pointed at the top and rounded at the base. Since the peak looked just like a spiral shell, Shi guessed that it was the Isle of the Azure Conch.
"Pull in over there," said Ding Busi to the boatman.
"Yes!" the boatman replied.
Then, Ding Busi bent down, lifted the anchor and stood on the bow. He would toss the anchor on to the island as soon as the boat went near enough.
Shi Potian spoke: " Laoyezi, since this old lady is unwilling to go to your home, why are you ..." But before he could finish, the old woman leapt up, grabbed A'Xiu by the arm and dived into the river.
"No!" shouted Ding Busi. He turned and made a backhanded grab for the women, but how could he have reached them on time?
A *plonk* was heard. A splash of water followed and the two women disappeared beneath the waves.
Greatly startled, Shi Potian grabbed a plank from the deck and leapt into the river as well. As he did, he pushed off against the side of the boat with both his feet, and flew straight out over the water. Consequently, he managed to enter the river just beside the two women, although he had leapt a moment after the old woman did.
Shi Potian did not know how to swim, so he began swallowing water as soon as the waves struck him. Bent on rescuing the women, he held on to the plank with his right hand and started grabbing randomly in the water with his left. He caught the old woman's hair in his hand almost at once, and refused to loosen his grip. By then, the current of the river had swept the trio downstream.
It did not take long before Shi Potian's head felt dizzy and his vision became blurred, yet he was still swallowing water from the river. Suddenly, his body shook and a burst of pain was felt on his waist. He had knocked hard into a rock.
Greatly delighted, Shi Potian stretched out his legs, stood firmly on the rock and quickly pulled the old woman towards him. Fortunately, the old woman's arms were still wrapped tightly around her grand-daughter. However, Shi found it difficult to tell if the two women were alive or dead. Nevertheless, he picked both of them up at the same time and stumbled shakily ashore.
Shi Potian reached dry land after walking for only ten zhang (33.33 metres). Suddenly, he heard the old woman snapping at him: "Rude fellow! How dare you grab me by the hair!"
Startled, Shi Potian quickly replied: "Yes, yes! I am really sorry."
"How dare you ..." the old woman continued, only to utter a *wa* and throw up the water that she had swallowed earlier.
A'Xiu spoke up: "Grandmother, if it were not for this Elder Brother here and his act of rescue, we who are unable to swim would have been ... been ..." At this point, she began throwing up water as well.
"In that case," said the old woman, "this young fellow here has indeed done us a favour by saving our lives. All right, I will not hold the rude act of grabbing me by the hair against him."
A'Xiu smiled. "That was something that could not be avoided during the rescue," she said. Then, turning to Shi Potian, she added, "Elder Brother, we would like to really ... really thank you for this." At this point, she was still in Shi's arms, with only a chi (33.33 cm) between her eyes and his. She averted her gaze to avoid meeting his eyes when she spoke, but when she and her grandmother threw up, they could not avoid doing it all over Shi's body.
Fortunately, Shi Potian was already wet from the earlier ordeal, so it did not matter if he had more water splashed on him. However, A'Xiu's face turned very red, for she felt very embarrassed about it.
"All right," said the old woman. "You can put us down now. This is the Isle of the Purple Smoke, a place that is not far from the residence of that old monster. We have to prevent him from coming over to nag."
"Yes, yes!" answered Shi Potian.
As he was about to put the two women down, someone spoke up suddenly from behind some trees: "The young fellow is probably still alive. We must find him."
Shocked, Shi Potian whispered: "Ding Busi has caught up with us." Then, he picked the two women up and ducked into a clump of trees. He did not dare to move after that.
By and by, footsteps were heard on the withered grass, and two people walked by. One of them was an elderly man, and the other was but a young girl. Shi Potian was hit by a wave a fear far greater than the sight of Ding Busi, for he could see from their backs that the duo were none other than Ding Dang and Ding Busan.
