Chapter - 161 Repentance of the Haughty Dragon (14) (1/2)

”Who do you fear?” Hong Qicong said.

”I am afraid we won't be able to deal with the immortal ginseng fairy,” Huang Rong said. ”I fear that we will die at his hands.”

”Death follows death,” Hong Qicong laughed. ”Who doesn't die?”

”I don't fear death,” Huang Rong reasoned. ”I fear being captured and it being made known that I followed your teachings and made you food. They might compel me to make for them the same dishes I made for you - the dishes I learned from the Jade Flute family on Plum Blossom island, including the '24 Bridges on a Moonlit Night.' Wouldn't you be embarrassed if others kept eating these?”

Hong Qicong knew Huang Rong was just trying to get him to teach them more kung fu. But when he thought about others eating her sumptuous dishes, he couldn't bear the thought. ”Who are these people?” he said.

”There is the Yellow River ghost, Sha Tongtian, who might eat my dishes,” Huang Rong said. ”He would spoil all my little dishes.”

Hong Qicong shook his head and said, ”What can Sha Tongtian do? In another one to two years, Guo Jing can surpass him if he practices.”

Huang Rong then suggested the Tibetan monk Ling Zhi and Peng Lianhu.

”Their techniques are like farts.” Hong Qicong said. ”What can they do?”

Then Huang Rong mentioned the master of White Camel Mountain, Ouyang Ke.

Shuddering, Hong Qicong asked about the styles employed by Ouyang Ke. After hearing Huang Rong's description, he said, ”Yes, it's him!”

Huang Rong noticed Hong Qicong's serious expression. ”This Ouyang Ke is very powerful?” she said.

”What can this Ouyang Ke do but fart?” Hong Qicong said. ”No, it is his uncle, the old poison, who is very strong.”

”The old poison?” Huang Rong said. ”He might be strong to others but surely not to you.”

Hong Qicong didn't answer and looked as if he were deeply contemplating the matter.

”We weren't too far apart over 20 years ago,” he said finally. ”But in the 20 years since then, he must have made great progress in his skills compared to me, given that he isn't lazy or gluttonous like me.”

Hong Qicong laughed. ”That isn't to say he would find me easy to deal with.”

”He can't possibly defeat you,” Huang Rong said.

Hong Qicong shook his head.

”That remains to be seen,” he said. ”Fine, old poison's nephew will certainly be difficult for you to deal with, but he's not that big of a problem. I will stay with you for another half month, and you will make me two dishes every day. But if you repeat one dish, I will immediately leave you.”

After getting her heart's desire, Huang Rong proceeded to make a number of different dishes with skillful variations, including pot stickers, various dumplings, fried rice, lunar new year cakes, steamed rolls and rice noodles.

Hong Qicong taught them the essence of fighting by reacting to the enemy and changing the defense of the body. He did not teach the last three moves of the ”18 Dragon-Subduing Palms”

Nevertheless, Guo Jing's understanding of the first 15 palms solidified under Hong Qicong's continued tutelage, as did the skills he learned from the Six Freaks of Jiangnan. His improvement was not negligible.

In over 35 years of training in the martial arts, Hong Qicong had learned a lot of diverse techniques. He passed on some of these strange fist techniques to Huang Rong Although the skills possessed many strange variations, the techniques were inferior to the simple power of the first 15 palms of the ”18 Dragon-Subduing Palms.” Furthermore, Huang Rong only learned them to amuse herself.

Guo Jing was practicing his palms one evening, when Huang Rong climed a tree to gather bamboo shoots and plums for an unconventional dish called ”The Three Friends of Winter,” which tastes of three distinct flavors.

Hong Qicong couldn't stop himself from drooling. He then suddenly bent into a thicket of grass and fished out a two-foot-long blue snake.

”Snake!” Huang Rong shouted.