Legend of Condor Heroes Book 2 Read online

  She Diao Ying Xiong Chuan (Eagle Shooting Hero)

  by Jin Yong

  Translators:

  Minglei Huang,

  Foreva,

  Strunf,

  Patudo,

  Taihan,

  Du Gu seeking a win, SunnySnow,

  James Worsley,

  Rayon,

  Xuelian,

  Xfiberloss,

  Hugh (aka IcyFox), William Lee Chong Beng, Daniel Shultz,

  Bluebook,

  Owbjhx,

  Gimel Gimeno,

  Frans Soetomo

  Editors:

  James Gataiant, Percy Cael,

  Qiu Shuyi,

  Elif Kaya

  Disclaimer

  This work is an unofficial fan translation of Jin Yong's She Diao Ying Xiong Chuan. The Copyright owner is Jin Yong and the publisher of his original Chinese text. The copyright owner of the English translations posted here is the respective translator(s). No part of this translation may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner(s) nor be otherwise circulated for commercial purpose. Except for Chapter 26, this translation is from the 2nd Edition.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 11 - Changchun Admits Defeat

  Guo Jing said, surprised, “They’ve all left? Did t

  Chapter 12 -The Proud Dragon Shows Remorse

  “In that case, I will take you to see Master Qigon

  Chapter 13 - The Crippled Person of Five Lake

  Qiu Qianren smiled slightly and answered, “To thin

  Chapter 14 - The Master of Peach Blossom Island

  End of Chapter 14.

  End of Chapter 15.

  End of Chapter 16.

  End of Chapter 17.

  Hong Qigong was amused to see Huang Yaoshi, who ro

  Chapter 19 - Great Waves, School of Sharks

  End of Chapter 19.

  Chapter 11 - Changchun Admits Defeat

  Translated by James Worsley

  On the eighth day, Guo Jing finally managed to reach the peak. Stretching out his hand, he hauled Huang Rong up and they jumped up and down in jubilation, delirious in their triumph. Then, hand-in-hand, they slid down the waterfall once more.

  Seeing his martial brother in critical danger, Sha Tongtian leapt over to quickly try and break Mei Chaofeng's grip. As soon as their hands met they both felt their arms struck by a sudden ache. Meanwhile over to their left came the sound of darts whizzing through the air. Peng Lianhu was throwing his darts directly at Mei Chaofeng. She deftly shifted her arm and threw Hou Tonghai straight towards the stream of darts. “Aiyo!” yelled Hou Tonghai as the darts smacked into his body.

  Huang Rong called out “Congratulations Three-Horned Dragon! You managed to catch so many darts!”

  Sha Tongtian, seeing the amazing power of Mei Chaofeng's throw and his martial brother down on the ground seriously injured, leaped towards Hou Tonghai and with a stretch of his hand pulled him upright. Hou Tonghai flew up like a paper sparrow but looked as if he would collapse again. There was no strength left in his body. Sha Tongtian had accidentally hit his three carbuncles.

  All these events happened within a blink of an eye. While this was going on Ouyang Ke and Liang Ziwong were attacking Mei Chaofeng from the front and rear in concert with Sha Tongtian who was attacking from the right.

  Mei Chaofeng was able to judge from the sound of the darts in the air where they were. She sent them flying back in four directions towards Ouyang, Liang, Sha and Peng. She asked Guo Jing “What does ‘Gather the Five Elements’ mean?”

  Guo Jing replied “The eastern ghost is wood, the western soul is metal, the southern spirit is fire, the northern essence is water and the central will is earth.”

  Mei Chaofeng called out “Aiyo! I might have guessed that earlier! What does the ‘Perform the Four Harmonious Signs’ mean?"

  Guo Jing replied, “Hide the eyes, concentrate the hearing, regulate the breath and seal the tongue Qi”

  Mei Chaofeng sighed, “Ah, so that is the original meaning. What about the ‘Five Primary Chambers’?”

  Again Guo Jing replied, “Don't use your eyes to see, rather locate your soul in the liver; don't use your ears to listen, rather locate your essence in the kidneys; don't use your mouth to chant, rather locate your spirit in the heart; don't use your nose to smell, rather locate your soul in your lungs; don't move with your four limbs, rather locate your mind/concentration in your spleen. These are the ‘Five Primary Chambers’.”

  The ‘Four Harmonious Signs’ and ‘Five Primary Chambers’ were key techniques contained in the ‘Nine Yin Manual’ practiced by Taoist priests. Not having anyone to explain the meanings of these key phrases to her, Mei Chaofeng had struggled without success for over ten years to understand them. Now with Guo Jing's explanations she suddenly understood everything and was delighted. Again she pressed for more information "Now, how do I perform the ‘Gathering Three Flower Tops’. This technique was the crucial key to putting everything together. She had strived all those years for just this key point so she listened intently for Guo Jing's answer.

  Guo Jing replied, “Essence is transformed into Qi, Qi is transformed into Spirit.....”

  294 Eagle Shooting Hero

  Mei Chaofeng, by concentrating on Guo Jing's words, became less attentive to the fight and her four opponents. Just as Guo Jing was saying the two sentences she was struck on her left shoulder and right side by Ouyang Ke and Sha Tongtian's fists. She felt a severe pain that was hard to bear.

  Huang Rong had planned to have Mei Chaofeng obstruct their enemies in a fight while she and Guo Jing took the opportunity to slip away. She never expected that Guo Jing would be dragged into the fight as well by becoming a conveyance to carry Mei into the battle. This made it impossible for them to get away. Now she became both worried and angry.

  Meanwhile Mei Chaofeng was becoming alarmed at being suddenly put on the defensive and called out, “Hey! What did you do to annoy so many fierce opponents? Where is Shifu?” At this time Mei Chaofeng’s thoughts were conflicting. On the one hand she was hoping her old Shifu would appear and see with his own eyes how she was helping to save his daughter from the savage onslaught of these four highly skilled martial artists and would leap in to help her dispatch them. On the other hand, when she thought about how wild and strange his nature was, she was struck with terror at the thought of meeting him again.

  Huang Rong called out, “He's coming soon, but why worry.. .these guys are no match for you. Even if you just sit on the ground none of them would be able to harm a hair on your head.” She was hoping that with a bit of flattery Mei Chaofeng would feel emboldened enough to let Guo Jing go and fight it out alone. However Mei Chaofeng had already begun to feel that she would not be able to manage the four opponents by herself. She was already showing signs of despair and no amount of flattery was going to make her change her mind. Further more, she still had a few more questions to ask Guo Jing about the secrets of the manual and was not about to let him go even if she could win the fight sitting alone on the ground.

  After a few more strikes were exchanged, Liang Ziwong leaped into the air with a sudden cry. Mei Chaofeng knew someone was executing a sneak attack and extended both arms to block and sweep in defense. She felt her hair being pulled upwards by Liang Ziwong. Huang Rong saw the situation was critical and struck outwards with her fist towards Liang Ziwong's back. Liang Ziwong hooked his right hand backwards and grabbed Huang Rong's wrist while maintaining his grip on Mei Chaofeng's hair. Mei Chaofeng struck upwards and forced Liang Ziwong to release his grip in order to avoid being hit by her powerful attack.
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br />   Peng Lianhu had been fighting with Mei Chaofeng for a while before he became aware that she was actually one of the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’. Seeing Huang Rong aiding her he called out, “You lying brat! You denied that you are a disciple of the evil ‘Dark Winds’ sect but it's obvious that you are!”

  Huang Rong laughed, “She.my Shifu? Even if she trained for another hundred years she still wouldn't be good enough to become my Shifu!”

  Peng Lianhu saw clearly that Huang Rong's kung fu attacks were very similar to those of the ‘Dark Wind's’ school yet she not only continued to deny she was a disciple, but actually went so far as to insult Mei Chaofeng. He couldn't think of why she would be doing this and it astonished him.

  Sha Tongtian yelled, “To kill the man, first shoot his horse!” and shot a kick towards Guo Jing with his right foot. This change of tactics took Mei Chaofeng off guard. She thought, “This kid's martial arts skills are very low. He can't possibly defend himself against their attacks. If I don't act fast I'll be dispatched by them.” There was the sound of a low whistle as she bent low and shot out her hand as if to grab Sha Tongtian's foot. Ouyang Ke took advantage of this moment to launch an attack against her back. However Mei Chaofeng just let out a ‘humph’ and shook her right hand causing something to flash in the moonlight. All of a sudden a silver whip appeared, dancing and weaving all around her and Guo Jing, forming an impenetrable barrier.

  Peng Lianhu thought to himself, “If we don't kill her now, when her husband, ‘Copper Corpse’ arrives, we will be in deep trouble!” The events of that night when Chen Xuanfeng died had not become known in the martial world. However the infamy of the ‘Twin Killers of the Dark Winds’ was widely known and their reputation was such that even highly respected martial artists such as himself were filled with dread at the thought of facing both of them together.

  Mei Chaofeng's ‘Poison Silver Dragon Whip’ was powerful in the extreme. If anyone approached from any direction they would die instantly. But Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziwong and Ouyang Ke were not about to give up so easily. Suddenly there was the sound of a whistle and Peng Lianhu began tunneling in the ground! Mei Chaofeng was prepared to defend against the sky and all four directions but not from below! At the sound of digging she became greatly alarmed and struck a palm down on the ground.

  Seeing Guo Jing in danger, Huang Rong was about to rush to his aid but Mei Chaofeng was one step quicker. Using her long Silver Whip, she had already woven a defensive barrier around herself and Guo Jing, making it impossible for Huang Rong or anyone to penetrate it. However, Huang Rong knew that with Mei Chaofeng’s individual might alone, she would not be able to successfully defend against Peng Lianhu’s attack for much longer. Sensing that the situation was dire, Huang Rong yelled, “Everyone hold it, I have something to say.” But Peng Lianhu of course paid no heed to her. Why should he?

  Huang Rong was preparing to raise her voice again when a voice from atop the wall said, “Everyone hold it, I have something to say.” Huang Rong turned her head and saw six figures on top of the wall, some tall, some short and in the darkness, she could not make out their faces clearly. Peng Lianhu and the others knew that some people had arrived, but did not know if they were friend or foe. At present, the battle was growing ever more intense and nobody could bring themselves to stop. Two people leapt down from the wall and headed straight for Ouyang Ke; one waving a whip and the other raising a staff.

  The short plump man that held the whip exclaimed, “You lecher, let’s see you escape this time!” Upon hearing this voice, Guo Jing yelled gladly, “Shifu! Save me!” The six people that just arrived were the ‘‘Six Freaks’ of Jiangnan’.

  After parting from Guo Jing at the inn, the ‘Freaks’ had followed the eight girls from the ‘White Camel Mountain’. When they discovered that Ouyang Ke was leading his concubines to abduct innocent girls at night, they fought him. After all, how could the ‘‘Six Freaks’ of Jiangnan’ sit by and do nothing while such atrocities were being committed? Although Ouyang Ke was highly-skilled, the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ had spent more than a decade on the steppe working hard and had improved significantly since they left the Central Plains. Surrounded by six fighters, Ouyang Ke was hit by Ke Zhen’E’s staff and subsequently had his left little finger dislocated, courtesy of Zhu Cong’s Bone Dislocation technique. Left with no choice, Ouyang Ke was forced to leave the abducted girls behind and flee. The two concubines that had accompanied Ouyang Ke on the mission, however, were killed by Nan Xiren and Quan Jinfa.

  After escorting the teenage girls back to their homes, the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ went in pursuit of Ouyang Ke. But Ouyang Ke was extremely sly; he took another route and therefore, the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ were unable to locate him. They knew that, individually, none of them were his match, so they did not dare to split up to search. Fortunately, the girls who rode on white camels had a strange and distinct dress, so it was not difficult to ask around for their whereabouts. This being so, the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ pursued them all the way to the Zhao Palace.

  Ouyang Ke’s white robes stood out in the darkness and Han Baoju together with Nan Xiren attacked immediately. Hearing Guo Jing’s call, the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ were both surprised and glad. Zhu Cong and the rest looked more closely and saw that the person weaving the barrier with a long silver whip was none other than ‘Iron Corpse’, Mei Chaofeng! Mei was sitting on Guo Jing’s shoulder and it certainly looked like Guo Jing had fallen into her clutches. With their faces pale with shock, Han Xiaoying immediately brandished her sword and rushed forward as Quan Jinfa tumbled into the silver whip’s defensive radius, both hoping to rescue Guo Jing. Peng Lianhu and the others thought it strange that six people should suddenly arrive. Now these six people were attacking both Ouyang Ke and Iron Corpse, making it even more impossible to tell whose side they were on.

  Peng Lianhu halted his attack and, still using his ‘Earthen Palm’, got out of the whip’s radius. “Everyone stop fighting, I have something to say,” he shouted. Like a large booming bell, his shout rang loudly in everyone’s ears. Liang Ziwong and Sha Tongtian were the first to stop fighting.

  Ke Zhen’E could tell from his shout that this person was a force to be reckoned with and called out, “Third brother, seventh sister, don’t be rash!”

  Hearing their Eldest brother’s orders, Han Baoju and the rest backed off. Mei Chaofeng had also withdrawn her silver whip and was breathing hard. Huang Rong stepped forward and told her, “You have reaped much credit for yourself this time. My father will be pleased.” Using both arms, she motioned to Guo Jing, telling him to toss Mei Chaofeng away.

  Guo Jing understood Huang Rong, and knew that she had spoken to Mei Chaofeng to distract her. He said to her, “The ‘Three Flowers Gathered Atop’ is Essence transformed into Qi, Qi transformed into Spirit, Spirit transformed into Nothingness. Remember that!”

  Mei Chaofeng pondered, then asked: “How does one transform?” Suddenly, she felt her body soaring through the air. While she had been dwelling on the deeper meanings of this nei gong (internal energy) mantra, Guo Jing had used the opportunity to toss her more than ten feet away. At the same time, he summoned his internal energy and leapt backwards; even before he landed, Mei’s ‘Poison Silver Dragon Whip’ was already flying towards him, its hooks sparkling brightly.

  Han Baoju exclaimed, “Not good!” He unleashed his own whip and the two whips met. Suffering waves of shock from the extremely close encounter, Han Baoju’s whip was snatched by her Poison Silver Dragon Whip. Just as Mei Chaofeng was about to land hard on the ground, her outstretched palm met it first and she lightly seated herself. Having heard Ke Zhen’E’s voice and fighting briefly with Han Xiaoying, she knew the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’ must have arrived. Her was heart filled with loathing and, at the same time, a little fear. She thought to herself, “I have searched in vain for them everywhere and now they have delivered themselves to me. If it were any other day, I would’ve thanked the heavens, but on this
night I am surrounded by other strong enemies and found them hard to handle. With the addition of these seven scoundrels, I cannot possibly hope to live past

  tonight.” She gritted her teeth and decided: “I have no grudge with Liang Ziwong and the others. As for the ‘Seven Freaks’, I will fight them to the death and make sure that if I perish, they perish with me. One dead ‘Freak’ make one less and I’ll take as many as I can with me.” Gripping her Poison Silver Dragon Whip, she listened carefully to the ‘Seven Freaks’ movements and wondered, “Out of seven only six came, I wonder where the other is hiding?” She did not know that the Smiling Bhudda, Zhang Ahsheng, had been killed by her husband on that fateful night on the steppes.

  The ‘Six Freaks’, Sha Tongtian and the others knew the power of her silver whip and stood far away from her, being careful not to stray within forty to fifty feet of her. For a moment, all was silent. Zhu Cong whispered to Guo Jing: “Why are they fighting? Why were you helping that wretch?”

  Guo Jing replied: “They wanted to kill me, but she saved me.” But Zhu Cong and the other Freaks remained puzzled.

  Peng Lianhu called out: “What business do you have, sneaking into the Palace in the middle of the night? Provide your names.”

  Ke Zhen’E replied coldly: “My surname is Ke. We are seven brothers, and people call us the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’.”

  Peng Lianhu said, “Ah, so it is the Seven Heroes from Jiangnan. I have long admired you.”

  Sha Tongtian said in a strange voice: “Wonderful, the ‘Seven Freaks’ have come knocking on my door! I have long wanted to spar with you and see just how good you are.”

  After hearing the name ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’, he immediately remembered the shame his four disciples had suffered. In one swift movement, he moved forward. Appraising the ‘Seven Freaks’, he saw that Ke Zhen’E was blind, Han Xiaoying was a woman, Quan Jinfa was skin and bones, Han Baoju was short and fat and Zhu Cong had the air of someone cultured but not of a pugilist. Only Nan Xiren had the bold, proud qualities of a fighter. Not wanting to waste his time on the rest, he struck straight at Nan Xiren’s head. Nan Xiren stuck his pole in the ground and met Sha Tongtian’s palm with his own. After a few moves, it was clear that Nan Xiren was not his match. Han Xiaoying and Quan Jinfa readied their weapons, sword and scale respectively, and rushed forward to help.