Fan Yiweng was shocked and he quickly did a somersault to get out of the way; just one slight delay and his beard would have been cut off. This wasnât an ordinary kind of shock. The people who were watching called out quietly.
The reason Yang Guo had asked Blacksmith Feng to make this pair of scissors was so that he could use it against Li Mochouâs fly whisk. Li Mochou uses her âDivine Five Poison Palmâ and her fly whisk to sweep through Jianghu; her fly whisk techniques were superb. Before Yang Guo could use the scissors to neutralize her fly whisk techniques, he had to first think carefully about how to use it; how heâd need to thrust forward when the fly whisk swayed around; how heâd cut when the fly whisk came forward to attack him. How could he know that before he had the chance to use it against Li Mochou, he would actually came across a person in the Passionless Valley who uses his beard as a weapon? Yang Guo thought, âNo matter how good your beard is; it canât be better than Li Mochouâs fly whisk.â He had no fear and pressed forward with the scissors.
Fan Yiweng had spent over ten years in training his beard technique; because he had his hands for protection, his beard was more lethal than the conventional whip or fly whisk. His head swung around and bought his beard forward; at the same time he threw out two palms towards Yang Guo.
A while go, Zhou Botong had tried to use the scissors to cut off his beard; but instead of cutting it off, the beard wrapped around the scissors, and he could only admit defeat. Everyone had seen the martial arts of Zhou Botong; everyone knew that Yang Guo could not compare to him. Who knew that in the hands of Yang Guo, the scissors swept, cut and threatened; going to and fro like it was in a dance? It was actually better than the way Zhou Botong had handled the scissors and everyone marveled. In the proficiency of martial arts and internal energy level, of course Yang Guo was miles behind Zhou Botong; but he had carefully studied the stances of Li Mochouâs fly whisk and had devised scissors stances to counter them. Because the way the beard was used was similar to that of the fly whisk, the scissors were indeed effective against the beard and Yang Guo got the upper hand. Of course this was different to the unplanned and unstructured scissor techniques of Zhou Botong. But Fawang and the others did not know the reason behind it; they saw with their own eyes Zhou Botong thrusting the scissors towards him. In accordance with his character, this would be something that he would devise to cause trouble. Yang Guo was most proficient with a sword and Fawang knew this.
On many occasions, Fan Yiweng was almost injured by the scissors and as a result, he stopped looking down on Yang Guo. He changed his stance and swung his beard wildly around, striking out in all directions, attacking forward and sweeping across. This actually formed another set of stances. Yang Guo cut downwards many times but each time he caught thin air, he also felt the wind from his opponentâs palms was fierce. Sometimes the beard was a decoy while the palm was real, at other times the palms lured the opponent and the beard attacked; this was a set of ingenious martial arts that the world of Wulin had never seen before.
In a short while, tens of moves were exchanged. Yang Guo thought, âThe Valley Master is vicious and cruel; his martial arts would definitely be much better than this shortie; if I canât beat the disciple, how can I beat the Master?â He became slightly impatient. But Fan Yiwengâs beard was thicker and longer than Li Mochouâs fly whisk; as the beard spread out, there really were no weaknesses.
After a few more stances, Yang Guo concentrated on his opponent. He saw his opponentâs head swinging around; he had a ludicrous appearance and his beard was getting faster and faster. His head was swinging around especially fast and suddenly he had a thought; he had found a way to break this martial art of his. Yang Guo leapt back five feet and called out, âHold off!â
Fan Yiweng stopped his attack and said, âSince youâve admitted defeat little brother, just leave!â
Yang Guo shook his head as he laughed and said, âAfter your beardâs been cut, how long will it take to grow back?â
Fan Yiweng said, âWhatâs it got to do with you? Iâve never cut my beard before.â
Yang Guo shook his head and said, âPity, pity!â
Fan Yiweng said, âPity what?â
Yang Guo said, âIn three stances Iâm going to cut off your beard.â
Fan Yiweng thought, âYou and I have already fought for tens of stances and weâre at a draw; you must be dreaming if you think you can win in just three more stances.â Fan Yiweng shouted, âWatch this stance!â His right palm came chopping out.
Yang Guo slanted his left palm and smashed down with the scissors in his right hand, attacking the opponentâs forehead on the left side. He was tall, when the scissors attacked his opponentâs head it cut downwards. Fan Yiweng slanted his head to avoid the attack but then, Yang Guoâs left palm came downwards across his forehead on the right side. There was a vicious force behind the chop; Fan Yiweng quickly moved his head to the left. The opponentâs attack was fast, his reaction was also very swift and his beard followed him and swung upwards. Yang Guoâs scissors had been opened and was guarding the right; a âkaâ sound was heard as the scissors cut down. He cut off over two feet of the beard.
Everyone called out and all felt shocked; they saw that he did indeed succeed in cutting off Fan Yiwengâs beard in three stances.
After fighting for a long time, Yang Guo eventually found out that when Fan Yiwengâs beard was flung to the left, his head would first move right; when the beard was swung upwards, his head would first hang down; he cursed himself for being so stupid, âHis beard is on his head, if the beard moves, he will of course first move his head. I didnât attack the source and tangled with his beard, what an idiot.â He planned his three attacks and then told him that he would cut off Fan Yiwengâs beard in three stances.
Fan Yiweng was stunned as he watched the beard that he has grown for half his life floating to the floor; he felt anger and sorrow at the same time. He went up and down as he picked up his staff and then shouted angrily, âIf you donât kill me, then donât dream of leaving the valley.â
Yang Guo laughed, âI wasnât planning on leaving in the first place!â
Fan Yiweng swept his staff towards his waist.
Ma Guangzou had fought with Fen Yiweng previously and had been on the receiving end; right now he was feeling rather pleased and said loudly, âOld Shortie, you face wasnât the best sight in the first place; but after losing your beard, you look even weirder.â
When Fan Yiweng heard this, he clenched his teeth and fought even harder.
Yang Guo only knew what his soft beard techniques were like and didnât know how strong he was; he saw the incoming staff and stuck out his scissors; a âdangâ sound was heard and his arms felt numb, the scissors had been bent out of shape.
Just one stance and the scissors were out of commission. The onlookers had seen Yang Guo gain victory but they didnât predict that the weapons would change and the battle would continue. The difference between the two could be clearly seen, one was holding an extremely long and heavy weapon while the other was holding a piece of scrap metal.