Chapter Twenty: Peeping and Transferring Power

  In the evening, Ling Yun and Guo Jing returned to his home together. Guo's mother, Li Ping, was delighted to hear that Ling Yun was from Jiangnan. When she found out that Ling Yun was also from Lin'an, she became even more enthusiastic and immediately ordered Guo Jing to slaughter cattle and sheep to entertain Ling Yun. Afterwards, she arranged for Ling Yun to stay at their home.

  In the next two days, Linghu Chong basically stayed with Guo Jing all the time. When Jiangnan Six Freaks taught Guo Jing martial arts, he would retreat far away to avoid misunderstanding from Jiangnan Six Freaks. Jiangnan Six Freaks were also very suspicious and didn't know where Guo Jing got this new friend from, so they had some doubts and precautions about Linghu Chong.

  However, Ling Yun had already thought of an excuse, saying that he was also a Jiangnan native, and since childhood, he had often heard people talk about the heroic deeds of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan. He deeply admired them, especially after hearing that they had made a bet with Qiu Chuji to find Guo Jing in the desert, which filled him with even more respect. So, after achieving some success in martial arts and starting his Jianghu training, he specially came to the northern grasslands to catch a glimpse of the unparalleled heroic duo of the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan and Guo Jing.

  Ling Muyun's words, although largely untrue and exaggerated about the Jiangnan Six Freaks, were not entirely insincere. Previously, he had only known of their exploits through books, without any personal experience or deep emotional connection. However, after coming to the desolate north and personally experiencing the hardships, he couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence for the Jiangnan Six Freaks, who had toiled in this harsh land for over a decade for the sake of a promise. As a result, Ling Muyun's words were spoken with relatively little psychological resistance, sounding quite natural.

  After listening to Ling Mu Yun's words, the suspicion of Jiang Nan Liu Guai towards Ling Mu Yun was greatly reduced. Everyone loves to hear others praise themselves, and in this regard, whether it is a king or a saint, no one can be an exception. The Jiang Nan Qi Guai attaches great importance to the name of chivalry, otherwise they would not have traveled thousands of miles to the desert to find and teach Guo Jing just because of a bet with Qiu Chuji. In the harsh and cold land of the north, they endured for over a decade, even sacrificing a brother's life, the price was not small. Now, after hearing Ling Mu Yun say this, they suddenly felt a sense of pride and self-respect, feeling that all these years of suffering were worth it, and their impression of Ling Mu Yun also improved greatly.

  As a result, people like Ma Wangshen, Han Baoju, Nan Shanqiaozi Nan Xiren, Noisycity Knight Hidden Quan Jinfah and Yue Nu Jian Han Xiaoying all believed in Ling Muyun's words. Only two of the six freaks, Fei Tianbian Ke Zhen'e, who was the most radical and suspicious, and Miao Shou Sheng Zhu Cong, who was the smartest and most cunning, still had doubts about Ling Muyun. However, since they couldn't find any suspicious points on Ling Muyun's body, they could only hide their doubts in their hearts and observe quietly.

  For the past two days, Linghu Chong had also been watching Guo Jing's bitter practice with a mixture of emotions that could only be described as heartbreaking. Even simple moves required dozens or hundreds of repetitions to master. Among them, the flying bat Ke Zhenwu, the southern mountain woodcutter Nan Xi Ren and the city knight Yan Qing, who taught three people's martial arts, were slightly better because their martial arts took a strong and fierce path, Guo Jing was relatively easy to understand. However, the wonderful book of Zhu Cong, the Vietnamese swordswoman Han Xiaoying, and the whip method of Ma Wanggong Han Baoju made Guo Jing practice as if he had a donkey's head on a horse's body, even Linghu Chong, who was watching from the side, felt sorry for him. If not for being familiar with the original work, Linghu Chong would never have believed that this stupid Guo Jing in front of him could grow up to become one of the top five masters in the world.

  On the third day, it was Han Baoju's turn to teach Guo Jing the Golden Dragon Whip technique. When Han Baoju was teaching, Ling Yunqiu instinctively kept a safe distance away. After Han Baoju finished teaching and left on horseback, Guo Jing began to practice on his own. Only then did Ling Yunqiu approach him. But when he got closer, Ling Yunqiu couldn't help but pause for a moment, as Guo Jing's body had red and blue marks all over it, just like he had been whipped by someone.

  It turned out that this soft whip was different from other whips. If the force wasn't applied just right, not only would it fail to hurt the enemy, but it would also end up hurting oneself. Guo Jing was already clumsy, and practicing this skill was even more difficult for him. He often misapplied his strength and ended up hitting himself instead, so his whip skills didn't improve, and he ended up with a body full of injuries. Just as Ling Zhiyun was approaching, Guo Jing's attention wavered slightly, and the force in his hand went wrong again. The long whip in his hand suddenly coiled back and struck him squarely on the forehead, leaving a large bump.

  "Ah yo!" Guo Jing cried out in pain, stopping the whip in his hand. He looked at Linghu Chong with a pleading expression: "Ling brother, take a look at my whip technique and tell me where I'm going wrong. Why can't I seem to get the same feeling as Master Wong Yung's?"

  Actually, Linghu Chong had been getting anxious watching Guo Jing practice martial arts for the past two days, so he couldn't help but give him some pointers. Since Linghu Chong practiced the Nine Yin and Nine Yang, two great mysterious skills that contained the essence of martial arts, his eyesight was unique and his understanding of martial arts was even deeper than the Six Freaks of Jiangnan, Guo Jing's legitimate masters. As a result, the effect of his guidance was much better than that of the Six Freaks. After guiding him many times, Guo Jing also knew that Linghu Chong's martial arts skills were very impressive and he was happy to seek his advice when his masters were not around.

  Ling Mu Yun spread his hands, saying with a hint of helplessness: "Brother Guo, I've never practiced whip-like soft swordsmanship before, and as for whip techniques, I'm completely clueless. This time, I won't be able to help you."

  "Oh, I'll just continue practicing myself then." Guo Jing said with a slightly depressed tone, and immediately regained his spirit to practice again.

  Guo Jing practiced the Golden Dragon Whip technique with great difficulty, his head aching terribly. The long whip in his hand was like a python trying to break free from its grasp, shaking and swinging wildly, as if it would strike back at him at any moment. After just over a dozen rounds of practice, his forehead, arms, and thighs were all covered in dark bruises. However, Guo Jing had great perseverance, and despite this, he did not show the slightest sign of discouragement, gritting his teeth and persisting.

  Jing saw Guo Jing's persistence and secretly admired him, but seeing Guo Jing continue to torment himself, he couldn't bear to watch anymore. He looked up at the sky and found that the sun had already set in the west, so he called out to Guo Jing to head back together.

  Guo Jing shook his head and refused, saying: "I'll practice for a while longer, you go back first."

  "Alright, I'll head back first then. You shouldn't practice too late either." Ling Mu Yun said, before mounting his horse and heading back to the residential camp alone.

  After Ling Yun walked away, Guo Jing practiced for a while longer, feeling both pain and fatigue. He lay down on the grassy plain and fell asleep, snoring loudly. When he woke up again, the moon had already risen from behind the mountains. His whip wounds throbbed with pain, and his entire body ached all over. Guo Jing struggled to get up from the ground, looked at the sky and saw that it was getting late, and was about to head back home when he suddenly caught sight of a distant cliff. He seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly felt a surge of determination. Gritting his teeth, he said: "If he can climb up there, why can't I?" After saying this, he didn't go back home but instead ran towards the foot of the precipice.

  Rushing to the foot of the cliff, Guo Jing pulled himself up with vines and creepers, step by step, climbing upwards. He had only climbed six or seven zhang high when he encountered a smooth and steep cliff face that rose up like a wall, with not a single blade of grass growing on it - where could he possibly find another foothold? He gritted his teeth and tried twice, but each time he managed to climb one step higher, he slipped back down, narrowly avoiding a fatal fall. Knowing it was hopeless, he let out a sigh and wanted to give up and come down, but when he looked down, he was so frightened that his soul almost left his body.

  Guo Jing didn't know that at the same time he was stuck on the cliff, there was another person who was just as anxious, and that person was Ling Zhu. It turned out that after Ling Zhu returned, she saw that it had already gotten dark but Guo Jing still hadn't come back, so she came out to look for him. Unexpectedly, before she even arrived at the location, from a distance she vaguely saw a figure climbing up the cliff. As she got closer, who was it if not Guo Jing?

  Ling Mu's heart was racing with anxiety: "This foolish kid is idle and has nothing better to do, so he goes climbing cliffs. Isn't this just asking for trouble? With his limited lightness skills, if he's not careful, won't he end up killing himself?"

  "Wait a minute, wasn't Ma Yu teaching him internal skills on the cliff in the original story? Is he going to go find Ma Yu on the cliff?"

  Ling Muyun stopped in his tracks, looked up at the top of the cliff, and wanted to see if Ma Yun was there. Although it was late, the sky was clear with a bright moon, and under the moonlight, Ling Muyun vaguely saw a figure on top of the high cliff. Ling Muyun's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately crouched down and hid in the grass, so as not to be seen by the person on the cliff.

  At this moment, Guo Jing slowly began to move upwards, his body twisting and turning for a moment before moving up another inch. There seemed to be a metallic glint in his hand as he used the sharp blade to dig into the hole and borrow force to climb up. However, he moved extremely slowly, and his body was unstable, seeming like he would fall off the cliff at any moment, making people watch with bated breath.

  "You're a good kid, grab the rope, I'll pull you up!"

  Just then, a long laugh came from the top of the cliff, and a rope fell down from the top of the cliff to Guo Jing's eyes. Guo Jing was overjoyed, hastily wrapped the rope around his waist and tied it tightly, then the person on the cliff pulled the rope and lifted Guo Jing up.

  As Guo Jing climbed up the cliff, Ling Zhu also secretly let out a sigh of relief. He knew that next, Ma Yu would teach him the orthodox internal skills of the Quanzhen School, and for the time being, he wouldn't be able to come down, nor would there be any danger. So, he didn't continue to stay and quietly retreated backwards, waiting until he was far away and making sure he wouldn't be seen by Ma Yu on the cliff, before hurrying back to the camp.