Fu Junchuo's heart went with them. She decided right then and there to try her best to see if there was any way she could reverse the hopeless situation [orig. ‘reverse the rotation of the sky'], to train them well. Her heart grew warm as she said, "It's late, I want to go to bed a bit early tonight.”
Although Song Shidao a hundred times, a thousand times unwilling, he had no choice but to do as she wished, i.e. to end the dinner banquet.
Kou Zhong actually wanted to ask what the relationship between the He Clan's jade annulus and the Ci Hang Jing Zhai, but first, he was afraid Fu Junchuo would not be happy, second, he was dying to start learning the Great Method of Nine Mysteries. Thereupon he kept his mouth shut and, along with Xu Ziling, simply followed Fu Junchuo back to their room.
Inside Fu Junchuo's cabin, the three of them sat cross-legged facing each other in a triangle. Moonlight penetrated the room, shedding its ray on Fu Junchuo's body, making her look more like Guanyin Dashi descending to the mortal world.
With solemn expression Fu Junchuo spoke softly, "Do you know why I left and then came back to rescue you from the hands of that county magistrate, and then at Danyang we separated, but again I could not help returning to you?”
Looking at her serious expression, Kou Zhong did not dare to crack a joke, he seriously replied, "Is it because Niang cherishes us?”
Fu Junchuo sighed and said, "You can say that. Among Yuwen Huaji's personal attendants, there is one sent by our Gaoli King, that's why after I sent you to Beipo County, I made a secret contact with him, inquiring about the condition of Yuwen Huaji's injury.”
Xu Ziling happily said, "So Yuwen Huaji was also injured?”
"Of course,” Fu Junchuo proudly said, "How could my Jiu Xuan Shengong [divine power of nine mysteries] stay idle and not inflict any damage? How could he not be injured? But he can be considered rare, he only needed to meditate for a couple of sichen [i.e. 4 hours] and already his strength was completely restored. Just from this fact I can deduce that he is still one layer above me. At the same time, I can also deduce that in order to get the ‘Secret to Long Life', he won't spare any effort to hunt and capture you. That's why I came back to rescue you, these two little demons. How can I let that tyrant of ten thousand evils live long?”
Kou Zhong forced himself to say, "Niang can always take our ‘Secret to Long Life' away and then find any place to bury it; clean hands clean feet, it's much better than being burdened by the two of us!”
Fu Junchuo cut him off, "I simply don't like doing unethical things like that.”
Xu Ziling's heart was touched. He asked, "Then why did Niang want to leave us at Danyang?”
Fu Junchuo heaved a deep sigh. She said grimly, "Didn't we get together in the end? I don't know why I treated you, these two irritating little demons, well. I was thinking of leaving you at Danyang, giving you enough traveling expense so that you could go your own way, and just forget about it. But after thinking deeper, Yuwen Huaji is able to utilize the power of the world's government officials, in the end you won't escape his evil claw; hence I couldn't help but coming back to you. Do you think I fancy that Song Shidao? Not a chance! I had made up my mind long ago to die for my country; how could I be interested in man-woman relationship? I just want to borrow their ship to get you two far away from danger. Once the ship docks at the pier, we will leave the ship to go ashore, flee to the rebel territory, then that Yuwen Huaji will be helpless to catch you.”
Kou Zhong resolutely said, "We might as well destroy the ‘Secret to Long Life' first, so that even if that Yuwen Huagu manages to catch up with us, he still won't get the treasured book.
Fu Junchuo and Xu Ziling were greatly surprised; they had never expected that this kid, who was usually greedy for wealth and greedy for benefit, would be willing to make this kind of sacrifice.
Fu Junchuo nodded. "Hearing Xiao Zhong [little Zhong] said so, I am really happy,” she said, "But for the time being, we are not that desperate yet. Let me teach you the meditation skill first. But you must promise me on an oath that before the day you reached the first level of qi and mind connection, you are not allowed to mingle out in Jianghu. Just quietly find a small town, hide from the chaos of war, and peacefully and happily live the rest of your lives.”
Xu Ziling's eyes turned red as he said, "Niang! You are really good to us.”
Kou Zhong was also deeply moved, "Even if our own Niang came back to life, they wouldn't be as good as you.”
The two boys immediately made an oath.
Fu Junchuo taught them to put their palms together in front of their chest, and then she said, "Prior to training your skill, you must train your character first. Remove all distracting thoughts, and then sit cross-legged with left leg facing out, right leg facing in, use yang [positive/male principle in Taoism] to embrace yin [negative/female principle]; left hand thumb pinches the middle finger, right hand thumb enters the left hand and make a circle. Right hand on the outside, using yin to surround yang. This is called Nine Mysteries Meridian Chain Secret. The four limbs also join together as a chain. Four gates tightly closed to guard the median.”
Xu Ziling was puzzled, "Niang, didn't you say that Great Method of Nine Mysteries is heavy on spirit and light on form? Why do we have to pay particular attention to form like this?”
Fu Junchuo was speechless for half a day. Finally she sighed and said, "If you really can succeed in mastering this divine skill, you must establish a sect, with your innovative idea you could be a peerless great master. I have never questioned the method like you do. But I can only teach you based on a proven method. If you can figure out other ways, you can always try it. But your heart and the method must be in agreement with each other; otherwise an unexpected disaster might occur.”
Kou Zhong sighed in admiration, "Niang is indeed open-minded, the Shifus teaching their disciples in the martial art court have never taken this kind of approach.”
Thereupon Fu Junchuo explained in details the position and capacity of the Eight Extraordinary Channels[10] and all major acupuncture points, while repeatedly pointing to these acupoints on their bodies.
By the time the two boys memorized everything, it was already the third watch of the night [between 11pm - 1am].
This moment the big ship suddenly slowed down. From the shore they could hear a faint howling.
All three people's countenance changed.
[10] Eight Extraordinary Channels (Qi Jing Ba Mai) - These consist of the channels of Ren, Du, Chong, Dai, Yinwei, Yangwei, Yinjiao and Yangjiao. They differ from the Twelve Regular Channels in that they neither pertain to any organ, nor do they share an exterior-interior relationship between each other. Their main function is to regulate the circulation of energy (qi4) and blood in the Twelve Regular Channels. When the regular channels are satiated, excess qi and blood flow into the Eight Extraordinary Channels to be stored for later use. (Huang Yushi, wuxiapedia.com)