Yang Guo looked at her, judging from her expression she had already thought of a plan, he pretended he didnât know and said, âIf you were feeling well, me and you could beat Fawang; or if we could get my Master to come here, then that would be a way as well.â
Huang Rong said, âHow can my health recover over such a short period of time? We donât know where your Master has gone. I have another plan; it involves the rock formation. This formation was devised by my father, there are hundred of variations; we havenât used even twenty percent of them yet.â Yang Guo was shocked and pleased, he sighed in awe as he thought about the knowledge that Huang Yaoshi possessed.
Huang Rong said, âMy Master only taught you the stances of the âDog Beating Stick Techniqueâ, and youâve only heard the main points of the formulae while you hid in the tree. Iâm now going to teach you all the profound and subtle variations and changes of this technique.â
Yang Guo was delighted but he pretended to dismiss this, he said, âIâm afraid that wonât do, the âDog Beating Stick Techniqueâ is passed onto the Beggar Clanâs Chief only, it has never been passed onto an outsider.â
Huang Rong rolled her eyes, she said, âWhat are you trying in front of me now? My Master has taught you thirty percent of this technique, you learnt another twenty percent when you eavesdropped, today Iâll teach you another twenty percent. The final thirty percent relies on your intelligence and how you grasp and understand the technique; no one can teach you this. One, no one is teaching you the whole thing, two, todayâs situation is desperate, just follow the order.â
Yang Guo knelt down on the ground and bowed to her, he smiled and said, âAuntie Guo, when I was young you said you were going to teach me martial arts, today you are teaching me.â
Huang Rong gave a subtle smile and said, âYouâve always bitterly kept this in your heart, havenât you?â
Yang Guo said, âHow would I dare?â
Huang Rong then quietly imparted all the aspects of the âDog Beating Stick Techniqueâ to him.
From outside the rock formation, Jinlun Fawang saw Yang Guo kowtowing to Huang Rong, the two of them laughed as they talked, he didnât know what on earth they were trying now. It appeared that they were confident about the situation, and it looked like they werenât even giving him a second thought. Though he was angry, he had always been careful and meticulous; though he knew that their martial arts could not compare with his, the two of them are extremely crafty. Why should he be careless and fall into their traps? He wanted to see through what they had in mind and then make his decision.
Luckily, he slowed his attacks; without the distraction of the enemy, Huang Rong passed on everything to Yang Guo in under an hourâs time.
Yang Guoâs intelligence and perception was a hundred times better than Lu Youjiao; if you asked him one thing he knew ten, if you ask him to raise one point he raised three. He had spent a great deal of effort in learning this technique and had pondered hundreds of times on the things he didnât understand. Because of this fact, when Huang Rong advised and pointed him in the right direction, he immediately understood and grasped everything about the technique.
From afar, Jinlun Fawang saw that Huang Rong looked at ease, her lips moving slightly yet Yang Guo was scratching his ear and touching his cheeks; he didnât know what the two were conjuring up, most probably it wasnât to his best interests, he should break up their conversation.
After listening to the important aspects, Yang Guo asked ten or so difficult questions. Huang Rong explained it all to him. She said, âGood, since you can ask these questions then that means you understand a great deal. The second stage is to trap the monk in the formation.â
Yang Guo was startled and said, âCapture him?â
Huang Rong said, âWhatâs so hard about that? With you and I teamed up, weâve got more intelligence and strength than needed. Right now, Iâm going to explain the key points of this rock formation to you. You most probable wonât be able to understand it in such a short time but luckily you have a great memory, all youâve got to do is remember thirty six different types of changes.â She then started to list them: how the green dragon appears as the white tiger, how the black forces transforms into the vermillion sparrow.
The rock formation was derived from Zhuge Liangâs âCentral Map of the Eight Formationsâ. Years ago, Zhuge Liang had set up a formation on the shores of the Changjiang River using stone slabs. After Dong Wuâs general Lu Xun entered the formation, it was difficult for him to escape.
Now, Huang Rong had set up one of Zhugeâs methods, but because time was pressing, Huang Rong did not set up the formation completely, however only a few things were missing. Even so, the formation disturbed Jinlun Fawang, he stared at the five of them but he didnât dare make a move.
The thirty-six variations of this formation were very complicated, even with Yang Guoâs intelligence he could only remember ten or so changes.
It was now evening, Jinlun Fawang slowly waited to make his move.
Huang Rong said, âWith these ten or so changes; itâs enough to trap him. Go out and lure him into the formation, Iâll then change it and trap him in there.
Yang Guo was delighted and said, âAuntie Guo, if I visit Peach Blossom Island again, would you be willing to teach me this type of skill?
Huang Rong gave a smile, and said, âIf you are willing to visit the island, why wouldnât I be willing to teach you this? You risked your life and saved Fuâer and I twice now, could I still treat you the same way as before?â
When Yang Guo heard this, he was filled with an extremely relaxed and comfortable feeling throughout his chest; what does it matter whether Huang Rong teaches him or not? He felt that even if he had a hundred deaths he would not have any regrets. He raised his bamboo stick and exited the formation calling out, âRusty old Jinlun Fawang if youâve got guts then come over and go through three hundred stances with me!â
Jinlun Fawang was worried that they had planned something in the formation to ambush him; he couldnât have asked for more when he saw Yang Guo coming out of the formation. The iron wheel rang âqiang lang langâ as he chopped out. He was afraid that Yang Guo would escape back into the formation if he started to lose; after the first two stances, he had already blocked his path back, forcing him as far away from the formation as possible.
How could he know that after Yang Guo learned the important aspects of the âDog Beating Stick Techniqueâ his technique was superb? When he used the eight key formulae of âtripâ, âchopâ, âcoilâ, âpokeâ, âstirâ, âsealâ, âleadâ and âturnâ, the variations and changes were indeed subtle and ingenious. When he made a careless attack, Yang Guo poked him in the leg, though he managed to shut his pressure point to the danger and stop injury, the pain lasted a long time.
He didnât dare be careless after he suffered that attack, he spun his wheel and concentrated on the battle; though his opponent was just a young man in his teens, he treated him as formidable enemy. He attacked with respect and defended tightly, looking upon him as a great Master.
When he did this, Yang Guo immediately felt he couldnât hold on; though the âDog Beating Stickâ was ingenious, it is difficult to perform straight after learning it. Yang Guo used the âsealâ formulae to block the attack of the iron wheel and then shifted his legs, suddenly going east and then surging west.