The Legend of the Condor Heroes: Starting from the Bodyguard

Chapter 104 A Narrow Escape: Saving the Divine Condor

Flowers fall to the wind, water flows eastward; each has its own destiny, so there's no need to envy others.

Zhang Wangyue often said this to Hu Yanlei, Wang Kui, and others.

The head镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) of Fu'an knew that Zhou Yan's martial arts skills had improved significantly in the past six months, which was related to a great opportunity, but none of them had asked Zhou Yan about it.

Meanwhile, in the forest near the Snake Valley in Xiangyang, Liang Xiaowu and three other troop carriers received an opportunity from Zhou Yan.

The gallbladders from the purple and slightly lighter-colored Bosphorus snakes were given to Huang Rong. The remaining gallbladders were distributed by Zhou Yan to the other members of the gang. Liang Xiaowu practiced external martial arts and did not know the internal methods of guiding qi, so he could not guide qi and blood to generate internal strength. However, the gallbladders had the effect of soothing the meridians and unblocking the collaterals.

As the saying goes, "For every inch the tendons grow, the strength increases by three percent." This increase in strength leads to explosive muscle power. Before they knew it, several of the warriors were practicing martial arts in their spare time, and their punches and kicks were incredibly powerful.

Liang Xiaowu has a talent for martial arts, and Zhou Yan estimates that after this escort mission, he will be qualified to participate in the selection of escorts when he returns to Fu'an.

Mei Chaofeng also benefited. When she encountered obscure Taoist terms in the "Nine Yin Manual," she constantly consulted Zhou Yan and embarked on the correct path of cultivation. She not only completely cured her physical paralysis, but also improved her skills.

Iron Corpse owes no favors; in exchange for techniques, the lower volume of the True Scripture, the Heart-Shattering Palm, falls into Zhou Yan's hands.

Zhou Yan knew that Mei Chaofeng had also taught this technique to Wanyan Kang, but in the world of The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the latter's internal strength was too weak to unleash its full power.

Zhou Yan felt that this skill, when mastered, was similar to the Wudang Cotton Palm in the world of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber in the Condor Trilogy. The palm force could penetrate hard armor and pass through objects. When a palm struck the body, there would be no mark on the surface, but the inside would be injured.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhou Yan had acquired two of the martial arts techniques from the Nine Yin Manual. With several advanced martial arts skills already under his control, the techniques recorded in the Nine Yin Manual that he was most interested in now were the Yi Jin Duan Gu Zhang and the She Xing Li Fan.

Unfortunately, this is in the first volume.

Over the course of several days, Zhou Yan continued to hunt snakes in Snake Valley. Huang Rong consumed more than ten snake gallbladders, and with Zhou Yan's treatment addressing both the symptoms and the root cause of her injuries, the effects were gradually becoming apparent.

Huang Rong's condition improved day by day, and she was able to gradually regulate her internal energy.

Zhou Yan also consumed snake gallbladders to nourish his blood and qi and stimulate his internal energy. Within a few days, the internal energy he had cultivated for a month grew. However, he also discovered a problem: the effects of ordinary snake gallbladders were really limited, and he still needed the purple gallbladder of a large venomous snake.

The seventh day of snake catching had arrived.

Zhou Yan now hunts snakes, but he no longer hunts the thumb-thick Bosphorus snake; he only hunts large snakes with purple gallbladders.

He never encountered the divine eagle in Snake Valley, so he thought he would take some time to walk around the surrounding valleys to see if he could spot the giant eagle.

As dusk fell, the reddish-orange sunset drifted across the sky. After hunting five large snakes deep in Snake Valley, Zhou Yan left the valley and headed to his camp in the forest.

Liang Xiaowu and the medicine boy fetched water and picked wild chrysanthemums and orange leaves.

Zhou Yan meditated and cultivated, extracting the storage acupoints of the Jade Guanyin, while Huang Rong slowly circulated her qi to heal her injuries after consuming snake gall.

Before the sun had set, a sharp cry of an eagle suddenly filled the air.

His voice was slightly hoarse, passionate and desolate.

Zhou Yan leaped to his feet.

Mei Chaofeng, having lived in the desert for a long time, was familiar with the sound of eagles. She exclaimed in surprise, "It's an eagle!"

Huang Rong stopped circulating her qi and got up, curiously following the sound, but to no avail. The white clouds drifted by, and though she heard the sound, she saw no eagle.

The eagle's cry rose again, and Zhou Yan sensed that it was filled with irritability and anger.

Zhou Yan's heart skipped a beat. The giant eagle had met its match. Was it a giant python or a human? If it was a human, could it be Gongsun Zhi?

He said to Mei Chaofeng, "Please take care of the camp here. I'm going to investigate."

"Hmm." Mei Chaofeng was taciturn.

Zhou Yan carried an iron bow and a steel sword, his movements fluid and graceful as he wielded the "Golden Goose Skill," his body as swift as a flying duck or a swallow darting through the forest, rushing towards the direction from which the eagle's cry came. After traveling six or seven miles at lightning speed, he reached the valley where the "Night-Shining Jade Lion" had once fought the giant eagle. There, Zhou Yan saw the divine eagle again, accompanied by more than twenty men in green.

Sixteen men in green were seen shifting positions, and four fishing nets, some horizontal, some vertical, some flat, some slanted, were constantly changing, trapping the giant eagle inside.

Eight other men in green were watching the scene, holding fishing nets. In the twilight, Zhou Yan could see the gleaming blades on the nets.

Zhou Yan's gaze swept past the giant eagle and landed on the person directing the fishing net formation.

The man in the lead, dressed in a royal blue robe, was none other than Gongsun Zhi. Beside him was a short, stocky man holding a dragon-headed cane, whom Zhou Yan also recognized as Fan Yiweng.

Zhou Yan took out his bow and drew an arrow.

He dared not underestimate the "fishing net formation" of the Valley of Heartbreak. The giant eagle was brave and strong, but this "fishing net formation" had captured the Old Urchin in the world of The Condor Heroes.

Once entangled in a fishing net, the eagle is in danger.

With a flick of his left elbow, Zhou Yan brought the iron bow to life in the twilight. He drew an arrow from the quiver with his left hand, nocked it, drew the bowstring, tightened the reins, and released it. With a "thud," the long arrow disappeared into the sunset, heading straight for the green-clad man holding a fishing net dozens of feet away.

With one arrow fired, the others moved in parallel with the "fishing net formation," firing three more arrows in quick succession into the distance. As they shifted, the iron bow in their hands was drawn again, the bowstring humming, and four more arrows shot out like lightning.

Zhou Yan aimed at the green-clad man who was catching a giant eagle with a fishing net. Caught off guard, how could he defend himself? The green-clad man, who was holding the fishing net and positioned himself, suddenly felt a sharp, stabbing sensation from his legs. Before he could even realize what was happening, he was thrown to the ground by the arrow. In an instant, six green-clad men, hit by arrows, fell to the ground one after another, their hysterical screams echoing through the valley.

Zhou Yan fired eight arrows in a flash, but the last two long arrows were knocked away by Gongsun Zhi's serrated knife.

But the fishing net formation was immediately broken.

The giant eagle flapped its wings, sending sand and stones flying, and broke free from the formation. With a cry, it spotted Zhou Yan in the distance and ran swiftly like a steed. In the blink of an eye, it was beside Zhou Yan, gently flapping its wings with a pleased expression.

When Gongsun Zhi saw Zhou Yan, his face turned ashen.

He was skilled in alchemy, and ever since he saw the giant eagle, he knew that the feathered beast was a treasure trove, and the large, blood-red growth on its head must be the result of years of eating snakes and insects, accumulating toxins.

Gongsun Zhi was envious and kept thinking about how to capture the giant eagle, but Qiu Qianchi stopped him every time he mentioned the idea.

Taking advantage of Qiu Qianchi's sudden enlightenment of the martial arts, he brought his capable disciples to hunt eagles under the guise of gathering herbs and refining pills, only to find that Zhou Yan had another idea.

Zhou Yan gently stroked the eagle's neck. The eagle was quite docile. He felt that he and the eagle had supported each other through thick and thin, and now the eagle had completely accepted him.

The eagle screeched and turned around, its scarlet eyes glaring at Gongsun Zhi and the others.

Zhou Yan, holding a bow, said, "Valley Master Gongsun, we meet again."

"You've ruined my plans time and again, do you think I can't kill you?"

"Then come on over."

Zhou Yan raised the iron bow in his hand.

Gongsun Zhi weighed his options as his expression shifted. That beast was incredibly strong, and he might not be a match for it. Many disciples in the valley had been shot. Given that kid's cunning, he would definitely not engage in close combat. He must be using the giant eagle to distract the enemy and shoot arrows from the shadows. It would be impossible to defend against it at night. If the enemy had other helpers, he would definitely be at a disadvantage.

"Just wait and see, kid."

“Master, I’ll deal with that brat. You capture the ugly eagle.”

Gongsun Zhi said in a deep voice, "Saving lives is the priority, let's go."

"Master is considerate."

Fan Yiweng felt quite guilty and hurriedly led the remaining men in green to help the disciple who had been wounded by the arrow. The group then slowly retreated.

(End of this chapter)