Chapter - 228 Ambidextrous Fighting (6) (1/2)

Day and night those two people trained together. Guo Jing was a young man, he did not need too much sleep; but even when he did, Zhou Botong wouldn't let him to. He kept urging him to train. Guo Jing fell down seven, eight hundreds times. His body was swollen and hurt all over, full of purple bruises. Fortunately he was strong, so he just gritted his teeth and doggedly learned and finally mastered Zhou Botong's special skill which he created during his fifteen years inside the cave, the 72-move 'kong ming quan' [lit. empty and clear fist technique – the Vacant Fist].

Two people were so engrossed in training martial arts that they did not know how many days had passed. Guo Jing was thinking about Huang Rong all day, but since he was unable to seek her, he had to be content in waiting painstakingly. Several times he wanted to go with the mute servant who delivers their meals to find her, but every time, Zhou Botong called him back.

One day right after lunch Zhou Botong said, ”You have mastered the entire Vacant Fist. After this I won't be able to make you fall easily; so we have to change they way we play.”

”Very well. How should we play?” Guo Jing laughed and asked.

”We play as four people fighting each other,” Zhou Botong replied.

”Four people?” Guo Jing was perplexed.

”Absolutely!” Zhou Botong said. ”Four people. My left hand is one person, my right the other. Your pair of hands are two other people. Four separate individuals, nobody helps anybody else. Four people in a tangled battle! That should be more interesting.”

Guo Jing's interest was piqued. ”It certainly is interesting; too bad I cannot separate my left and right hands,” he smiled and said.

”I meant to teach you later,” Zhou Botong said. ”For now, let us just have a three-way fight.” His pair of hands made two people and attack Guo Jing immediately. He separated himself into two different entities, each hand launched different stance, they did not complement each other; totally different from one person using two hands. When his left hand was giving Guo Jing a hard time, his right hand would come to Guo Jing's rescue. Likewise when his right was gaining an upper hand, his left would fight his right. When Guo Jing gained an upper hand, his both hands would fight together like two people facing one opponent. In short, it was like three separate individuals fighting each other. After fighting for a while they stopped for a rest.

Guo Jing thought this way of playing was so amusing; he could not help but remembering Huang Rong. He thought if she were there, three people would be able to fight as six individuals. He was sure Huang Rong would be very interested.

Zhou Botong was full of enthusiasm. As soon as Guo Jing caught his breath he immediately taught him how to divide his hands in a mutual hands combat. This technique was actually more difficult than the Vacant Fist.

There was a saying, 'Mind cannot be divided,' and somewhere along the same line, 'Left hand draws a square, right hand draws a circle; is not a good habit.' But this mutual hands combat technique was precisely dividing one's mind into two, and the way to train it was by drawing a square with the left hand and a circle with the right hand. Guo Jing practiced doing the drawings. Initially his square resembled a circle, and his circle looked like a square. He painstakingly practiced for a long time before he finally got the hang of it; both hands could draw perfect square and circle at will.

Zhou Botong was very excited. ”If you haven't practiced our Quan Zhen's internal energy cultivation – which enables you to combine inner and outer strength, how could you master this mutual hands combat technique so quickly?” he said. ”Now, use your left hand to launch 'nan shan quan' [south mountain fist technique] and your right hand 'yue nu jian' [Yueh Maiden sword technique].” These were the martial arts Guo Jing learned from Nan Xiren and Han Xiaoying. Guo Jing knew these techniques by heart, but launching them at the same time with different hands was actually very difficult.

Zhou Botong was dying to play the 'four people mutual combat', so he urged Guo Jing to train. He himself did not stop giving instructions and pointers. A few days later Guo Jing had mastered the mutual hands combat technique. Zhou Botong's delight was unspeakable. ”Come, come!” he urged, ”Your left hand and my left one form an alliance against your right hand and mine. Let us have a martial art contest.”

Guo Jing was still young, how could this kind of game not interest him? Immediately his right hand fought Zhou Botong's left while his left hand fiercely fought Zhou Botong's right. Nobody had ever seen or heard about this kind of battle.