Chapter 43: One Yin, One Yang

When they reached the side of the stables, Zhao Ti said: "Duan Yanqing and the Southern Sea Crocodile God will only block me. You ride your horse and charge out. You have ties with Wanchou Valley, so they may not strike. Rui Pozi and those people probably can't stop you."

Mu Wanqing's gaze shifted: "And you?"

Zhao Ti said: "I'll come out after. You wait for me on the road ahead."

Mu Wanqing was briefly silent, then said: "I won't nag or try to persuade you. Just be careful."

When they reached the front gate, Duan Yanqing's eyes blazed as he looked over, and the Southern Sea Crocodile God waved his crocodile-head scissors beside him: "Boy, come over and meet your death."

Zhao Ti said nothing, gave a slight smile, his body drifted like a wisp of smoke, a single sword strike aimed at both men. Meanwhile Mu Wanqing mounted the black horse, shot a short arrow from her sleeve, and charged straight outside.

Zhao Ti's internal energy had now advanced greatly; he had opened up the Ren and Du meridians, and his sword moves were different once more. Sunflower true qi densely coated the blade, lending the exchanges an added chill and ghostly allure.

In the blink of an eye, several dozen moves had passed. Seeing that Mu Wanqing's side had vanished from sight, Zhao Ti swept his right-hand sword across at Duan Yanqing while his left index finger jabbed toward the Southern Sea Crocodile God.

This was an opening. Duan Yanqing's eyes lit up at the sight, his steel staff feinted upward, and with a sharp "chi!" the force of the One Yang Finger pierced through the air.

Zhao Ti suddenly twisted his body. Just after Duan Yanqing unleashed the One Yang Finger, he raised one finger and jabbed toward Duan Yanqing in turn.

On each finger of a person's hand there are seven acupoints: Shaoshang, Shangyang, Erming, Zhongchong, Guanchong, Shaochong, and Shaoze.

Anyone who practices internal-style finger techniques must train one of these seven acupoints. When advanced finger techniques project true qi outward to harm, it must surge out from some particular acupoint.

Now that Zhao Ti's Phantom Yi Yin Zhi had reached the fourth layer, he could project true qi outward, but only the Shaoshang acupoint belonging to the Greater Yin meridian was usable. That was the main channel; the other acupoints were not part of the Greater Yin proper meridian and still required further training.

The true qi of the Phantom Yi Yin Zhi did not hiss and crackle like the One Yang Finger; its sound was ethereal and gloomy, shooting straight toward the Shanzhong acupoint on Duan Yanqing's chest.

Duan Yanqing was greatly shocked within. He had not expected such a change. He dodged in a panic, but a beat too late. The finger wind grazed his body, and instantly a chill swept over him; he could not help but shiver.

"What finger technique does Your Excellency use?"

Zhao Ti said nothing. His finger flicked once more, Phantom Yin true qi surged out again, heading toward Duan Yanqing. Duan Yanqing raised his staff and fired off a One Yang Finger force. The two streams of internal energy collided, abruptly producing a sharp "tssss" sound.

What majestic internal force. Zhao Ti felt that the other's One Yang Finger force was yang-fierce and blazing. Unlike before when it had merely dodged, now with the finger winds clashing he could sense that thick, heavy momentum, and could not help exclaiming: "Truly a fine finger technique!"

"Laosan, get out of the way!" Duan Yanqing's chest and abdomen swelled, and the Southern Sea Crocodile God hastily dodged aside.

Duan Yanqing's steel staff jabbed out in rapid succession, One Yang Finger forces crisscrossing through the air.

Zhao Ti laughed heartily, took several finger strikes head-on, and gained a bit more understanding of the technique. Then, borrowing the force of the collision between the two streams of finger wind, his body drifted out beyond the courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, the subordinates of the Four Great Evils and the people of Wanchou Valley did not dare block him. Rui Pozi and the others had even feared facing Mu Wanqing's sleeve arrows head-on; now seeing Zhao Ti sweep toward them, their faces all changed color and they turned and dodged.

The Southern Sea Crocodile God saw this and wanted to give chase. Duan Yanqing said: "Laosan!"

The Southern Sea Crocodile God said: "Boss?"

Duan Yanqing shook his head: "I myself cannot deal with him. If you chase after him, you'll only be throwing your life away…"

Zhao Ti unhurriedly made his way along the road. He was still using the body movement from the Sunflower Manual. Lingbo Weibu was a footwork based on the sixty-four hexagrams, unmatched in its transformations during combat, but for traveling it was not as swift as the lightness art recorded in the Sunflower Manual.

His heart felt light. He had not expected that in just a few short days his martial arts had advanced so greatly, and the Phantom Yin Finger had reached the stage of projecting internal qi outward. At this time he raced along the path for nearly an hour, not feeling the slightest fatigue.

Now the bright moon hung at midnight, Bai Guang hazy, the trees on either side of the road casting faint shadows, illuminating Shanhe like a dream.

He saw not far ahead a black horse appear, on it a slender girl wearing a black gauze veil. She peered at him to make sure, then said in a clear voice: "You… get on the horse!"

Zhao Ti leaped onto the horse's back. The girl's body gave a start, but she steadied her tone: "Hold on tight!"

The black horse shot forward like wind and lightning, running toward the northwest.

The fish-belly white of dawn appeared on the horizon. They arrived at a stream, where the girl reined in, dismounted, then tossed the reins into Zhao Ti's hand: "This horse is called Black Rose. Treat it well. In a few days I'll go to Dali's Wuwei Temple gate to find you and take it back."

Zhao Ti said: "Where is Miss Mu headed?"

Mu Wanqing said: "I'm going back to wait for my Master. If Master doesn't see me, she'll go look for me at Wanchou Valley. She has to find me before she can rest easy."

Zhao Ti nodded, said no more, urged the horse on, and galloped toward Dali City.

Dali City lay to the northwest of Weichu Prefecture. He stopped for a meal and rest at a small town in the evening, and by the next morning he had entered the ancient city of Dali.

The city was prosperous and ancient, with many famous sights, and its commerce was fairly developed. He headed straight for the meeting spot he had arranged with Zhou Dong and the other.

When they had left the Eastern Capital that day, they had agreed that if they were separated by any mishap, they would meet at Wuhua Tower in Dali City.

Wuhua Tower was built in the Tang dynasty. Both Nanzhao and Dali had used it as a guesthouse for receiving foreign envoys and the rulers of the various small barbarian states.

Before Zhao Ti had even reached the tower, he saw a big fellow standing under a tree by the road, his face full of anxious expression.

He walked up a few steps and laughed: "Guangzu."

The big fellow was none other than Zhou Dong. The moment he saw Zhao Ti, delight immediately showed on his face, and he hurried over to bow: "Young Master, I've finally waited for you!"

Zhao Ti nodded: "Where's Su Da?"

Zhou Dong said: "Su Da is on the other side of the tower. I'll go call him over." So saying, he went that way to find him.

A moment later, the two returned together. Su Da bowed and was about to speak, when Zhao Ti said: "This isn't the place to talk. Let's go to the inn first."

Zhou Dong and the other were staying in Chengnan of Dali City. They arrived shortly. Once inside the room with the door shut, Zhao Ti asked and learned that the two of them, after going around the mountain that day, had not yet crossed the Lancangjiang when they ran into subordinates of the Southern Sea Crocodile God.

The Southern Sea Crocodile God had always been wantonly murderous, and his subordinates were the same—killing without asking right from wrong. The two sides had collided and started fighting.

Although Zhou Dong and the other could not be considered top-tier experts, dealing with these subordinates was more than easy. But they had not expected the Southern Sea Crocodile God to arrive midway. The two were no match for him and were chased a great distance. In the end they had to hide and recuperate. After waiting two more days they crossed the Lancangjiang, but did not see Zhao Ti on the other side. However, they did see the secret signal Zhao Ti had left.

The two followed the secret signal all the way, but it broke off midway. At that time Zhao Ti was practicing his Wu Gong inside a mountain cave far off in the Black Forest, so the two discussed it and came directly to Dali.

After hearing this, Zhao Ti asked about their injuries. Su Da said: "Young Master, I'm already healed. That Southern Sea Crocodile really was fearsome. If not for Brother Zhou's help, I'm afraid this subordinate would already be dead at his hands."

Zhao Ti smiled, then told the two to rest, and fell to thinking on his own.

Besides finding Langhuan Fudi, he had another purpose in coming to Dali: to take a look at the One Yang Finger, and if possible, obtain the manual.

The Dali One Yang Finger was passed to sons, not daughters, and even less to outsiders. Only later, when Duan Yu's grandson Master Yideng, Duan Zhixing, in order to subdue his great enemy the Western Venom Ouyang Feng, broke the rule against passing it to outsiders and first transmitted this Beiming Divine Skill to Wang Chongyang, and then to the four disciples Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar.

So if he wanted to obtain the One Yang Finger, he would have to rack his brains. He couldn't just openly seize it—the experts of Tianlong Temple were like clouds and it would be hard to get it that way. As for stealing it, he disdained such a thing. For a moment he fell into deep thought.