Yang Guoâs lost all his strength by this grab, but there wasnât a shred of fear in his heart, he said, âGu Gu loves me with all her heart; I treat her the same way. Uncle Guo, if you want to kill me then do it. But I will never change my mind.â
Guo Jing said, âI treat you like my own son, I cannot allow you to do wrong and not change.â
Yang Guo said proudly and boldly, âI havenât done anything wrong! I havenât done anything bad! I havenât harmed anyone!â Those words were like the sounds of metal clanging.
Everyoneâs heart shook when they heard this; his words really did have some reason in them. If a Master and disciple didnât say anything and they got married on some remote island or deserted location then no one would know about it, it would not affect anyone. But publicly announcing such a wrong really contradicts the mentality of the people of this time, and means becoming the scum of Wulin.
Guo Jing raised his palm and mournfully said, âGuoâer, my heart is in great pain, do you understand? Iâd rather you die than let you do bad things, do you understand?â As he reached this point, his voice choked.
When Yang Guo heard him say this, he knew that if he didnât change what he said, Uncle Guo would kill him with one palm. Though he was crafty and sly at times, at this point, nothing could compare with his stubbornness, he said clearly, âI know I havenât done anything wrong, if you donât believe it then kill me.â
Guo Jing raised his palm; what chance has he of living if the palm landed on his head? Everyone watched without making a sound, hundreds of eyes stared at his palm.
Guo Jingâs palm stopped in midair for a second and he looked at Yang Guo again. He was biting down on his lips, his brows wrinkled. What Guo Jing saw was the picture of his father, Yang Kang, from years ago. His heart ached and he let out a long sigh, he loosened his right hand and said, âThink well about what youâre doing.â He turned around and went back to his place; he didnât take another glance at Yang Guo, his face was full of hurt and grief. He was extremely disheartened.
Xiao Longnu signaled to him with her hand and said, âGuoâer, these people are extremely unreasonable, letâs go.â She didnât know that just now, Yang Guoâs life was hanging by a thread.
Yang Guo thought that the word âunreasonableâ was extremely apt, he stepped towards the exit, holding Xiao Longnuâs hand as they went out. Outside the manor, they lead the skinny horse along as they made their way.
Everyone watched their backs as they left, a few were shocked, others despised them, some were regretful and a number of them were angry.
Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu walked shoulder to shoulder; it was deep into the night now. The two of them had finally reunited with each other; all the things that had happened today, the heated battle, the arguments, they were all clearly forgotten. They felt as though they were in heaven right now; all those wasted days they had lived apart before were in vain. Now there was no need to worry about the days that were to come. The two of them were linked to each other by thought; they didnât exchange a word as they walked on silently. The two arrived at a willow tree and sat down by the tree trunk. They gradually grew tired and fell asleep. The skinny horse was grazing on grass faraway, making quiet neighing noises.
The sky was bright when they woke up; the two looked at each other and smiled. Yang Guo said, âGu Gu, where are we going?â
Xiao Longnu pondered for a while and said, âLetâs go back to the tomb.â Ever since sheâd left the tomb she felt that, although outside was bustling and flourishing, it wasnât as carefree and comfortable as the tomb. Yang Guo was deep in thought, âIf I could spend the rest of my life with Gu Gu in the tomb, I would have no other desires.â Before, he longed for the outside world, hoping that she would let him leave the tomb but after going outside, he too longed for the quite life in the tomb. The two of them slowly started to head north. One still called the other âGuoâerâ, the other one still called the other âGu Guâ, and they both felt that being together and calling each other this way felt the most natural.
By midday, the two started to talk about Jinlun Fawangâs martial arts, they both said that his martial arts were excellent; it would be extremely hard to defend against it.
Xiao Longnu suddenly said, âGuoâer, we havenât completed the final stage of the âJade Heart Manualâ, can you remember it?â
Yang Guo said, âI can remember it but we spent a lot of time pondering about it and still were unable to succeed; it seems like thereâs something wrong somewhere.â
Xiao Longnu said, âOriginally, I didnât understand it but last night when the Taoist nun took her precious sword out, it allowed me to remember something.â
Yang Guo recalled the stance that Sun BuâEr used last night and immediately understood, he called out, âAh yes, yes, it requires the kung fu of the Ancient Tomb to be used simultaneously with the kung fu of Quanzhen, no wonder weâve been going wrong.â
When Lin Chaoying developed the âJade Heart Manualâ alone in the ancient tomb, she wanted to defeat the techniques of the Quanzhen sect; but her love for Wang Chongyang still had not been extinguished. When she devised the final stage, she imagined that one day she would be fighting shoulder to shoulder with her lover. Because of this, the stage requires one person to use the techniques of the âJade Heart Manualâ, the other Quanzhen martial arts, mutually aiding each other and attacking together. That day, Lin Chaoying was filled with thoughts of love and affection, she was wrapped up in them; all those feelings were placed into this stage.
The pair of swords being horizontal and vertical is not the main aim; the most important aspect lies in fighting the enemy together hand in hand. But it wasnât appropriate to mark this matter of the heart down clearly on the rooms ceiling. When Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo first practiced, their love had yet to blossom; they had no way to understand what their Ancestor Grandma sought. When they studied, both of them practiced the formulae of their own sect so of course they could not grasp the intricacies within.
Both of them now understood; they went and broke off a willow branch each, and began to study the stances. Xiao Longnu slowly used the âJade Maiden Swordâ, Yang Guo used the sword techniques of Quanzhen. After many stances, they felt that it was difficult to use them together harmoniously. The two of them did not envisage that when Lin Chaoying developed this particular swordplay, she was imagining herself fighting shoulder to shoulder with Wang Chongyang against an enemy. Every stance and move was designed to mutually protect the other. Right now, when Xiao Longnu and Yang Guo were studying it, they were treating each other as the enemy, thrusting and attacking each other. Killing the opposition was not what was intended. In reality, Lin Chaoying and Wang Chongyang were the first class fighters of the world at that time; there wasnât anyone that was a match for just one of them. This particular set of unity kung fu didnât have much use; it was just the unrestrained imagination of Lin Chaoying, showing her heartâs feelings. When she developed this swordplay her martial arts had already reached their pinnacle; the stances, postures and power were pressing, tight and continuous, not allowing a hair to be out of place. Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu did not understand the workings within and so, of course, it would be difficult for them to achieve this final level.