The
night was quiet now. The only noise came from the heavy breathings of the many
Huashan apprentices.
“Hero
Linghu, aren’t you going to release my sealed pressure points, or are you
waiting for us to beg you?” Yue Buqun suddenly broke the silence in a chilling
tone.
Linghu
Chong was stunned. “Master, why…why are you kidding me like that? I…I’ll
help release your pressure points right away.” His voice trembled.
Getting
back onto his feet after some hard struggles, he staggered by Yue Buqun.
“Ma…Master,
which pressure points?” he asked.
Yue
Buqun was furious. He remembered how Linghu Chong had put on the act of stabbing
himself on Mount Huashan, not wanting to kill Tian Boguang. Then, of course, it
was just the same kind of act Linghu Chong was playing right now. This way, he
could let the fifteen masked men escape by intentionally not releasing his
Master’s sealed pressure points for a delay, afraid that his Master would
chase after those masked villains. At that thought, he yelled angrily, “Save
your breath!”
He
continued working on gathering his inner energy using the Divine Art of the
Violet Twilight in an effort to break open the sealed points. Ever since the
enemy had sealed his pressure points, he had been trying to break them open
using his strong inner energy. But the one who had sealed his points did it with
a tremendous amount of force, and in addition, among the sealed points were
Yu-Zhen, Tan-Zhong, Ju-Zhui, Jian-Zhen, and Zhi-Tang those major pressure
points. When he sent his inner energy flowing through his inner channels and
passages, the flow was somewhat blocked in those major points, which greatly
reduced the power of the Divine Art of Violet Twilight and made it very hard to
break them open.
Linghu
Chong wanted to help his Master in releasing the sealed pressure points, but he
simply didn’t have any strength left in him. Again and again, he struggled to
raise his arm, but every time the effort only made him feel sick while seeing
golden flickers circling in front of his eyes and hearing loud buzzing sound in
his ear. So all he could do was to lie next to Yue Buqun and wait for his Master
to release his pressure points with his own efforts.
Madam
Yue also lay on the ground facing down. Earlier in the state of fury, she had
accidentally misdirected her inner energy. As a result, not only couldn’t she
gather her strength at all, she couldn’t even lift her hand up to cover the
wounds on her legs.
It
was already daybreak by now, and the rain had finally stopped. People’s faces
became clearer and clearer in the dim light of dawn. A white and thick mist
appeared on Yue Buqun’s head as he worked hard on breaking his sealed pressure
points open. His face almost turned completely purple. Suddenly, he uttered a
loud roar as his inner energy finally broke through all his sealed pressure
points and begun circulation around his body. Leaping back onto his feet, he
circled around all of the Huashan apprentices, patting and smacking on some of
them while poking or pinching some others. Within moments, he had opened all the
sealed pressure points for everyone. Then sitting by Madam Yue, he started
sending his inner energy into Madam Yue through her pressure points to help her
redirect her own energy flow. Meanwhile, Yue Lingshan rushed forward hurriedly
and started tending the wounds on her mother’s legs.
Thinking
back about how narrowly everyone had escaped death the night before, all the
apprentices shivered in their hearts, feeling as if they were given a new life.
And the heartbreaking scene of the beheaded Liang Fa’s corpse only brought
down more tears from the many Huashan apprentices. Several female apprentices
burst into loud cries. The same thought floated in everyone’s mind,
“Fortunately big apprentice brother defeated the bunch of villains, or else it
would be dreadful to even contemplate.”
Seeing
that Linghu Chong was still lying in a puddle of mud, Gao Gengming strode by him
and prodded him up.
“Chong,
where are those fifteen masked men from?” Yue Buqun asked dryly.
“I…I
don’t know, Master,” Linghu Chong muttered.
“You
do know them, right? Are they your friends?” Yue Buqun asked again.
“I’ve
never met any one of them before last night,” Linghu Chong gasped in
astonishment.
“If
so, when I told you to keep them here, so we could interrogate them later, why
did you ignore my order?”
“I…I…was
too exhausted and couldn’t gather any strength. Even now…now….” His body
wobbled. It looked as if just to remain standing up was already a tough task for
him.
“What
a fine act!” Yue Buqun snorted.
Sweat
streamed down from Linghu Chong’s forehead. He bent his knees and knelt down
on the ground.
“I
was an orphan when I was young, and thanks to the immense kindness of Master and
Master-Wife, you took me under your wings and treated me like your own son. I am
indeed an unworthy apprentice, but I would never dare disobey my Master’s
orders or deceive Master and Master-Wife intentionally.”
“You
dare not to deceive me and your Master-Wife? Humph, then where did you learn
those sword arts of yours? Don’t tell me that a spirit just fell out of the
sky and taught you those in your dreams.” Yue Buqun scoffed.
“I
beg for your forgiveness, Master. The senior master who taught me the sword arts
specifically asked me to promise that I would keep his name a secret and never
tell anyone about the origin of the sword arts, not even my Master and
Master-Wife.” Linghu Chong explained hurriedly, bumping his head to the floor
again and again toward his Master.
“That’s
of course.” Yue Buqun sneered. “With such superb Kung Fu, it’s only
natural that you think nothing of your Master and Master-Wife. How would the
little bit of Kung Fu from our Huashan Sword School ever stand a chance against
a blow from your super sword? Didn’t that old man in mask mention it? You
should have been the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School all along.”
Daring
not to reply, Linghu Chong kept kowtowing as many thoughts flashed inside his
head. “If I don’t tell them how Grand Uncle-Master Feng taught me the sword
arts, Master and Master-Wife would certainly not forgive me. But a true man must
keep his own words. Even Tian Boguang, an evil rapist, didn’t let out anything
about Grand Uncle-Master Feng when the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies performed
the much torturing and torments on him. I owe Grand Uncle-Master a great debt of
gratitude; I will not let him down. My loyalty towards Master and Master-Wife is
true, and Heaven can be my witness. Being wronged like this temporarily is
really no big deal.”
“Master,
Master-Wife,” Linghu Chong said, “it’s not that I am so bold as to disobey
Master’s orders. There are really some unspeakable causes here. Please allow
me to beg that senior master and ask for his permission, so I can tell Master
and Master-Wife everything in a later date. By then, I would not dare to keep
any detail to myself.”
“Fine!
You can get up now,” Yue Buqun replied.
Linghu
Chong kowtowed to his Master again before standing up. Suddenly, both of his
knees gave out on him and he fell back to the kneeling position. Lin Pingzhi
happened to be standing next to Linghu Chong. Reaching his arm out, he propped
Linghu Chong up.
“Your
sword skills are excellent, and your acting skills are even better,” Yue Buqun
said with a sneer.
Afraid
to say another word, Linghu Chong kept his silence. “I can never say enough
about my gratitude to Master,” he thought aloud. “Even though he wronged me
this time, one day, the truth will eventually come to light. This whole thing is
so very odd. I really can’t blame the respectful Master for feeling
suspicious.” Though he had been wronged, he really had no resentments.
Madam
Yue’s voice rose in a warm tone, “If it weren’t for Chong’s ingenious
sword arts, not only would the entire Huashan Sword School be wiped out, perhaps
all the female apprentices would have suffered tremendous humiliation.
Regardless of who that senior master is, because he taught Chong the sword arts,
we have benefited from his grace a great deal. And regarding the origin of those
fifteen villains, I am sure we’ll find that out one day. How could they have
been Chong’s friends? Weren’t they going to slice Chong into shreds?
Didn’t Chong blind all of them with his stabs?”
His
head held high, Yue Buqun seemed to have fallen into a daze and didn’t hear a
single word from Madam Yue.
The
many apprentices soon found themselves busy with different things. Some started
a fire and worked on preparing breakfast; some dug a grave and buried Liang Fa.
After breakfast, everyone changed into dry clothes from their packs. All the
apprentices stared at Yue Buqun and waited for his command. “Are we still
going to Mount Songshan to have it out with Chief Zuo?” they all thought.
“Since Feng Buping has lost to big apprentice brother in the sword contest, he
would be too embarrassed to fight for the Huashan Sword School Head Master post
again.”
“Junior
apprentice sister, where do you think we should go?” Yue Buqun asked Madam
Yue.
“There’s
no need to go to Mount Songshan now. But since we are already far from Mount
Huashan, there’s no need to go back in any hurry, either,” Madam Yue
remarked. She was so afraid of the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and dared not to
go right back so soon.
“In
any case, since we have some time now, I think it’s a good idea to travel
around a bit and see the world. It would generate good experience for all the
apprentices,” Yue Buqun replied.
Yue
Lingshan was overjoyed. “Wonderful, Daddy….” She clapped her hands. But
she suddenly remembered that it would be very inappropriate to look so happy
when her senior apprentice brother Liang Fa had just been killed. She halted
abruptly only after one clap.
“Look
how excited you get every time when I mention the word travel. Alright, we‘ll
let you have the fun. Lingshan, where would you like to go visit?” Yue Buqun
asked with a smile, looking toward Lin Pingzhi as he spoke.
“Daddy,
if we are going to have fun, we might as well have some big fun. I say the
further we go the better. It would be really disappointing if we head back after
only a hundred miles out or so. Why don’t we go visit Little Lin’s hometown?
Second apprentice brother and I have been to Fuzhou before, but too bad that I
had to disguise myself into an ugly girl and didn’t get to walk around much. I
didn’t see jack! The longan fruits in Fujian are so big and yummy. And
there’re also oranges, banyan trees, and narcissus flowers….”
Madam
Yue shook her head. “Fujian Province is thousands of miles away from here. We
don’t have that kind of money to travel! Unless Huashan School turns into the
Beggars Clan, and we just all beg our way through.”
“Master,
Master-Wife, we are only a couple of days trip away from Henan Province. My
grandparents live in Luoyang,” Lin Pingzhi said.
“Oh,
that’s right. Your grandfather Wang Yuanba, the Unbeatable Golden Blade, lives
in Luoyang,” Madam Yue responded.
“Both
of my parents have passed away. I would love to visit my grandpa and grandma so
they could get the details on my parents’ death. I am certain that my grandpa
and grandma would be honored to have Master, Master-Wife, and apprentice
brothers and sisters as their guests, and spend some time there. Then after
that, we can take our time on our tour and visit my hometown in Fujian. I was
able to seize a good amount of gold and jewels back from the Qingcheng Sword
School at the Changsha branch of the Escort House, so please don’t
worry…about the traveling expenses,” Lin Pingzhi replied.
Ever
since Madam Yue stabbed the Fruit Fairy, she had been in a constant state of
worry. It was all still so clear in her memory how four of the Fairies had
grabbed her arms and legs and lifted her off ground. Every time she thought of
it, she would freeze with terror. And then the horrifying scene of Chen
Buyou’s death, with blood and internal organs splashing everywhere as he was
tore into four pieces, would follow, driving her crazy with fear. Horrifying
nightmares had been haunting her for many nights. She knew clearly that they
were really fleeing from a calamity under the name of going to Mount Songshan to
reason with the Songshan Sword School. Seeing that Lin Pingzhi had invited
everyone to visit Fujian after her husband gave him a glance, she figured that
the further they could flee the better. Besides, her husband and herself had
never visited the south part of the country before, so it didn’t sound like a
bad idea to check it out at all. With these thoughts in her mind, she spoke with
a smile.
“Senior
apprentice brother, Little Lin is offering free food and lodging. Care to take
advantage of him?”
“Pingzhi’s
grandfather, Unbeatable Golden Blade, enjoys great fame in the central region.
I’ve been looking forward to meeting him someday, but unfortunately never had
the chance. Putian in Fujian Province is where the Southern Shaolin Temple
resides. It couldn’t have lacked reputable masters. Let’s pay a visit to
Luoyang and Fujian Province. It would certainly be a worthwhile trip if we are
lucky to make some friends along the trip.” Yue Buqun smiled.
Hearing
that the Master had agreed to go on a trip to Fujian for fun, the many
apprentices were all jubilant. Gazing at each other, Lin Pingzhi and Yue
Lingshan found themselves wild with joy.
Linghu
Chong was the only one in low spirit.
“Of
all the places, why did Master and Master-Wife pick Luoyang to visit apprentice
brother Lin’s grandpa and Fujian, which is thousands of miles away?” Linghu
Chong couldn’t help but think. “It is self-evident that they have decided to
betroth little apprentice sister to apprentice brother Lin. They are going to
Luoyang to visit the seniors of his family for an engagement, and when we get to
Fujian, they’d probably hold the wedding ceremony right at Lin Family’s
house. I am only an orphan who has no parents, nor relatives, while his family
owned Fortune Prestige Escort House, which has so many branches in so many
cities. How can I be any match for him? Apprentice brother Lin is going to
Luoyang to visit his grandpa and grandma. When I follow him there, what would I
have become?”
He
felt even more displeased seeing how the apprentice brothers and sisters all
bursting with joy with no regard to the tragic death of Liang Fa.
“Maybe
I should just leave quietly in the dark tonight after we settle in an inn,” he
thought aloud. “How can I just follow everyone else to enjoy apprentice
brother Lin’s free meals and spend his money, and then put on an air of
cheerfulness to congratulate little apprentice sister and him, wishing them to
live happily ever after?”
The
group of Huashan School hit the road again as Linghu Chong followed behind. Weak
and exhausted, he walked slower and slower, and soon, he fell far behind
everyone else. By noon, he decided to sit down on a big rock alongside the road
to catch his breath, when he saw Lao Denuo stride back in big steps.
“Big
apprentice brother! How do you feel? You must be tired. I’ll wait for you,”
Lao Denuo said.
“Oh,
thanks!” Linghu Chong replied.
“Master-Wife
has hired a wagon for you in the town ahead. It should be coming anytime now,”
Lao Denuo mentioned.
Warmth
swelled in Linghu Chong’s heart. “Although Master is suspicious of me,
Master-Wife is still treating me dearly,” he thought to himself.
Not
long after, a mule-pulled wagon showed up. Linghu Chong entered the wagon and
Lao Denuo accompanied him by his side. That night, when they settled in an inn,
Lao Denuo shared the same room with him. And in the following two days, Lao
Denuo never even went out of his sight. Linghu Chong was quite grateful that a
fellow apprentice brother was so kind to care for a wounded patient.
“When
junior apprentice brother Lao joined our Huashan School, he had already received
prior martial arts training. He is much older than I am, and wouldn’t even
spare much word with me during normal days. Who would have thought that he would
treat me with so much caring after what happened to me. All the other apprentice
brothers don’t even dare to talk with me much, after seeing the stern face
Master has shown me. The old saying is so true: As distance will test a
horse’s endurance, so will time reveal a person’s heart.”
At
the third night, as Linghu Chong was resting in bed with his eyes shut, some
kind of whisper suddenly caught his attention. It was little apprentice brother
Shu Qi whispering at the door.
“Second
apprentice brother, Master sent me to check with you if big apprentice brother
has done anything unusual today.”
“Hush!
Outside!” Lao Denuo hushed hurriedly and whispered back.
A
cold shiver ran through Linghu Chong’s heart. Just from these few words he had
realized what a tremendous suspicion Master actually had toward him. Master only
sent Lao Denuo to secretly keep a watch on his every move.
Shu
Qi walked away on tiptoes, and Lao Denuo walked by the bed slowly to check if
Linghu Chong had really fallen asleep.
Infuriated,
Linghu Chong almost wanted to leap onto his feet right away and yell at him, but
then he had a second thought.
“Why
should I blame him? He really has nothing to do with this. He is only following
Master’s order. Would he have dared to defy the Master?” So he forced back
his anger and pretended to have fallen asleep.
Lao
Denuo walked out of the room gingerly. Linghu Chong knew that he must have gone
to the Master for a report. He couldn’t help but sneer inwardly, “Humph, I
never did anything guilty. Even if you have ten or one hundred people watching
every step of mine, days and nights, I am open and aboveboard. What’s there
for me to be afraid of?”
Indignation
filled his heart as he breathed wildly, and suddenly, it triggered a slight
inner energy flow inside him. Waves of energy streams swirled inside him and
made him feel miserable. He held onto the headrest tightly and gasped loudly.
Only after a long while, the nausea finally went away. He sat up, threw on some
clothing, and started to put on his shoes, thinking, “Since Master is no
longer treating me like an apprentice of his, and instead, is on guard against
me as if I am a thief, why should I even bother to stay in the Huashan Sword
School? Maybe it would be better if I simply leave and not worry about whether
Master would ever understand me one day.”
Right
at that moment, he heard more whispers from under the window on the outside.
“Stay
down and don’t move,” a voice said.
“Sounds
like big apprentice brother is getting off his bed,” another voice replied.
The
two said those words in whisper, but because it was a silent night, besides that
Linghu Chong had excellent hearing abilities, he was actually able to hear every
single word clearly and also recognize that the voices belonged to two young
apprentice brothers of his. Apparently they were hiding in the courtyard to
guard the room in case Linghu Chong would flee.
Linghu
Chong clenched his fists hard. Cracks from his knuckles echoed in the silent
night. “If I leave now, they would think that my guilty conscience has
overcome me, and I am running away. Fine! Fine! I’d rather stay! You can do
whatever you want to me! What do I care?” he thought aloud.
“Waiter,
waiter! Bring me some wine!” he suddenly broke into a loud yell.
After
quite some shouting, the waiter finally answered and brought him some wine. One
cup after another, Linghu Chong slammed the wine down his throat. Soon he became
dead drunk and passed out. The next morning when Lao Denuo prodded him into the
wagon, half drunk and half awake, he just kept yelling, “Bring me more wine, I
want more wine!”
Several
days later, the Huashan group arrived at the city of Luoyang and settled in a
big inn. Lin Pingzhi went to his grandfather’s house by himself, first. Yue
Buqun and the bunch of apprentices all changed into clean clothing. Linghu Chong
never took off the mud stained long robe he wore in the fierce fight outside of
the monastery, so he was still covered with filth and looked very drunk. Yue
Lingshan came to him with a long robe in her hands.
“Big
apprentice brother, will you change into this robe please?”
“This
is Master’s robe. Why do you want me to put it on?” Linghu Chong asked.
“Little
Lin is inviting us to his family a bit later. Why don’t you put Dad’s robe
on?” Yue Lingshan answered.
“Who
said we have to put on nice clothing before visiting his family?” Linghu Chong
snubbed as he looked at Yue Lingshan up and down.
Yue
Lingshan wore a thin cotton-padded jacket with green silk tops paired with a
light green satin skirt. She had put on a thin layer of makeup on her face. Her
dark hair was neatly combed and shined beautifully with a flower shaped pearl
hairpin by the side. Linghu Chong remembered that she would only dress up nicely
during the Chinese New Year. Feeling bitter in his heart, he wanted to spill out
some more mocking words, but then he thought that a true man shouldn’t act so
narrow-mindedly, and held his tongue.
Yue
Lingshan felt somewhat embarrassed from Linghu Chong’s sharp stare. “If you
don’t want to, then you don’t have to change,” she said.
“I
am not used to wearing new clothes. I’d better not change then,” Linghu
Chong replied.
Not
wanting to argue with him, Yue Lingshan left with the robe still in her hands.
A
resonant voice rose from outside the door, “Head Master Yue has come such a
long way here, and I didn’t greet promptly. What a lack of manners!”
Yue
Buqun knew that it must have been the Unbeatable Golden Blade – Wang Yuanba
– who had come to the inn personally to greet them. Casting a pleased smile
toward his wife, he felt quite contented. After the couple greeted out, what
they saw was an old man in his seventies. His face shined in a healthy redness
while the bush of grey beard drifted in the breeze. He looked certainly hale and
hearty. In his left palm were two goose-egg-sized golden balls, which rubbed
against each other and echoed as he rolled them in his hand. It was common for
martial people to play with iron balls in their hands, but they would have been
made out of iron or steel. What Wang Yuanba had in his hands were two balls made
from pure gold, which not only were twice the weight of regular iron balls, but
also looked much more luxurious. As soon as he spotted Yue Buqun, he burst into
joy.
“What
an honor this is! Head Master Yue has such a great reputation in the Martial
World. I have been longing to meet you for the last twenty years. Now that you
have come to Luo Yang, what a wonderful event it is for the martial arts society
in the central region.”
He
shook Yue Buqun’s right hand again and again happily. The joy on his face was
truly sincere.
“My
wife and I have decided to bring our apprentices to travel around so they could
gain some experience in the world,” Yue Buqun said with a smile. “And you,
the Unbeatable Golden Blade Grandmaster Wang, the Great Master of the Central
Region, is the first on our list to visit, but the dozens of us are really being
crude to just show up so abruptly uninvited.”
“Alright
now, nobody is allowed to mention the words ‘Unbeatable Golden Blade’ again
in front of Head Master Yue. Anyone mentioning those words would be only putting
me done instead of flattering me. Mr. Yue, your saving of my grandson is a favor
tantamount to giving him a new lease on life. Starting from now on, the House of
Golden Blade and the Sword School of Huashan are both parts of one big family.
Come, come! All of you will move to my house. No one will be allowed to leave
until you have lived in my house for at least half a year. Head Master Yue,
I’ll even help you carry your luggage.”
“That’s
very kind of you! I certainly don’t deserve that!” Yue Buqun replied in a
hurry.
“Bofen,
Zhongqiang, kowtow to Uncle-Master Yue and Uncle-Master-Wife Yue,” Wang Yuanba
turned his head and called to his two sons standing behind him.
Wang
Bofen and Wang Zhongqiang both acknowledged and knelt down to salute. In a
hurry, the Yue Buqun couple also knelt down to salute back.
“Please
just call us by our names. ‘Uncle-Master’ would be so inappropriate. Even
just for Pingzhi’s sake, we are of the same generation,” Yue Buqun remarked.
Wang
Bofen and Wang Zhongqiang are both famous masters around the Henan Province and
Hubei Province. Though they had always admired Yue Buqun, neither of them really
wanted to kowtow to him. They had knelt down reluctantly only because their
father had told them to do so, so both were very pleased to see that the Yue
Buqun couple also kowtowed back to them. All four of them stood up after
saluting each other.
Yue
Buqun took a good look at the two: both brothers were tall, only that Wang
Zhongqiang was a lot chubbier in comparison, and both had temples plumped high
and strong veins and bones that could be clearly seen on their hands. Evidently,
the two brothers had great strength both internally and externally.
“All
of you come forward and show your respect to Grandmaster Wang and the two
Uncle-Masters,” Yue Buqun called out to the Huashan apprentices. “The House
of Golden Blade’s martial arts skills enjoyed a great reputation in the
central region of the martial society. Our Grandmaster in the last generation
also respected the House of Golden Blade very much. You are very fortunate to
have Grandmaster Wang and the two Uncle-Masters give you some pointers. I am
sure you will all benefit a great deal from this.”
“Yes,
Master!” the many apprentices replied in unison, and seconds later, the lobby
of the inn was filled with apprentices kneeling down on the floor, showing their
respects.
“You
really flatter me!” Wang Yuanba smiled brightly as Wang Bofen and Wang
Zhongqiang both cupped their hands and greeted back with a half salute.
Lin
Pingzhi stood by the side and introduced each of the Huashan apprentices to his
grandpa. The Wang Family was a wealthy family. Wang Yuanba had prepared presents
for each of the guests ahead of time. Each gift consisted of forty taels of
silver. The two brothers in the Wang Family took on the job of distributing the
presents. By the time Lin Pingzhi introduced Yue Lingshan, Wang Yuanba said to
Yue Buqun with a big grin.
“Little
brother Yue, your daughter is such a beautiful girl; is she engaged to anyone
yet?”
“The
girl is still too young. Besides, in a martial family like ours, a girl plays
with swords and knives all day long just like any boy would. She doesn’t know
anything about embroidering or cooking. Who would want such a wild girl to be
their daughter-in-law?” Yue Buqun also grinned.
“You
are really being modest!” Wang Yuanba replied with a beam. “An extraordinary
family would, of course, raise an extraordinary daughter. It is only natural
that lads from ordinary families would not have dared to claim kinship with her.
But you are right, it would be better if the girl learned some girly things.”
At that word, he lowered his voice and seemed to have lost in deep feelings.
Yue
Buqun knew that he must have thought of his daughter who had passed away in
Hunan Province not long ago, so he put on a solemn face and responded,
“Yes.”
Wang
Yuanba was a man of frank and open personality. He quickly put himself together
from the pain of losing a daughter and spoke again with a bright smile.
“Your
daughter is talented and beautiful. It would certainly be a difficult task to
find a young hero good enough to pair up with her.”
By
then, Lao Denuo had gone back in the inn room and prodded Linghu Chong out.
Staggering along, Linghu Chong kowtowed to neither Wang Yuanba nor the Wang
brothers, and only bowed down deeply.
“Linghu
Chong here shows his respect to Grandmaster Wang and the two Uncle-Masters,”
he said.
“Aren’t
you going to kowtow?” Yue Buqun frowned.
Wang
Yuanba had heard from his grandson earlier that Linghu Chong had severe internal
wounds, so he said with a smile, “Nephew Linghu is not feeling well. There’s
no need for excessive manners. Little brother Yue, your Huashan School’s inner
energy skill is said to be the best in the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, then I
am sure your wine tolerance must be extraordinary. Come on! Let’s go drink ten
bowls of wine each.”
Holding
Yue Buqun’s hand in his own, he led Yue Buqun out of the inn. Madam Yue, Wang
Bofen, Wang Zhongqiang, and the rest of the Huashan apprentices all followed
behind them. Many wagons and horses had been lined up outside of the inn with
fine-looking saddles and bridle; wagons for all the females and horses for the
males, ready to take the honorable guests. It was a mere two hours between the
time Lin Pingzhi headed out to inform the Wang Family and the time Wang Yuanba
came to the inn to greet his guests. Only from the fact that all the wagons and
horses had been ready in such a short time, one can easily tell the kind of
great power the Golden Blade Wang Family enjoyed in the city of Luoyang.
The
group soon arrived at the mansion of the Wang Family. The building looked tall
and majestic with a gate painted in vermilion. The two huge copper rings
attached to the gate must have been cleaned frequently as they dazzled
brilliantly in the sunlight. Eight brawny guards stood by the gate silently,
their arms behind their back, all ready to take commands from their Master. And
inside the gate, a huge black board hung from the girder with the words “Help
for a Just Cause” painted in gold. The words at the lower portion of the board
showed that a governor of Henan Province had inscribed the calligraphy.
That
night, Wang Yuanba put out a large banquet to welcome Yue Buqun and the rest of
the Huashan apprentices. Not only did he invite many famous masters in the local
martial arts society to welcome the noble visitors, among the guests were also
numerous wealthy business owners and local celebrities. Linghu Chong was the
Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, so other than his Master Yue Buqun,
he had the most seniority among all the male visitors. Noticing the filthy and
tattered clothing he was wearing and the listless face of his, all the guests
found themselves puzzled inside. But it was common knowledge that the Martial
World did not lack people of strange and unique behaviors. Didn’t elite
masters from the Beggars Clan all wear ragged clothing? Since he was the Head
Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, he couldn’t have been ordinary;
therefore no one had any belittling thought about Linghu Chong.
Linghu
Chong was seated at the second table, accompanied by one of the hosts, Wang
Bofen. Soon, the wine had gone around three times. Wang Bofen couldn’t help
but notice that Linghu Chong had maintained an indifferent face throughout the
time, and would only reply once a while to his attempt to make conversations –
apparently Linghu Chong didn’t really think much of him at all. Then he
remembered that earlier in the inn, Linghu Chong didn’t even kowtow to them,
yet had no problem accepting the present of forty taels of silver. Feeling very
displeased, he decided to change the topic to something in regards to martial
arts techniques. So he casually asked for Linghu Chong’s opinion on several
martial arts related questions that were in the advanced level, but Linghu Chong
only nodded and agreed, never really answering any of them.
Actually,
Linghu Chong didn’t have any ill feeling against Wang Bofen at all. It was
just that after seeing the luxurious life of the Wang Family, he realized that
the difference between his indigence and the wealth of the Wang Family was so
dramatic. It was almost like the difference between Heaven and earth. Lin
Pingzhi had changed into a long robe made of silk brocade after he came to his
grandfather’s house. He had a handsome face to start with, so after dressing
up, he looked extremely elegant and graceful. Linghu Chong simply couldn’t
help but feel a sense of inferiority and inadequacy.
“Even
if little apprentice sister didn’t become a couple with him and stayed the
same to me, what future would she have staying with a pauper like me?” he
thought.
All
his minds focused around Yue Lingshan, so naturally, regardless of what Wang
Bofen said to him, nothing really went into his ears.
Enjoying
a great fame in the martial arts society around the central region, Wang Bofen
had been used to people fawning on him left and right, yet tonight, he kept
getting snags from the young man named Linghu Chong. Normally, he would have let
his temper loose right at the beginning, but for the sake of his dead sister and
the fact that his father had great respect toward the Huashan Sword School, he
worked hard to hold his temper down and just kept toasting to Linghu Chong.
Every
time when someone toasted Linghu Chong, he would slam down the wine in his cup
without thinking, so before he even knew it, forty cups of wine or so had gone
down his throat. He used to have very good tolerance of wine. Even over a
hundred cups worth of wine wouldn’t have made a difference for him. But
because he had lost all his inner energy, his tolerance was reduced quite a bit.
And in addition, with a tremendous amount of anxiety gnawing at his heart, each
cup of wine seemed to have had a much greater effect on him. By the time he
drank up all those forty cups of wine, he was already feeling dizzy.
“This
lad doesn’t know the ways of the world at all,” Wang Bofen thought aloud.
“My nephew is your apprentice brother, so you should have called me an
Uncle-Master, or simply uncle. It is all right that you didn’t call me an
uncle, but how dare you ignore me completely like this? Very well! I am going to
get you drunk and let you make a fool out of yourself in front of all these
guests.”
Seeing
that Linghu Chong could barely keep his eyes open and was tipsy already, he said
with a smile, “Little brother Linghu is the Head Apprentice of the Huashan
Sword School, and sure enough, he is an outstanding young hero. Not only is his
Kung Fu skill extraordinary, his wine tolerance is also extraordinary. Servants!
Get rid of the tiny cup. Get Mister Linghu a big bowl and keep it filled!”
The
servants cheered and filled Linghu Chong’s bowl with wine. Throughout Linghu
Chong’s life, he had never stopped anyone from pouring wine for him, so as
soon as his bowl was filled, he would empty it down his throat. Not long after,
he had drunk up another five or six bowls worth of wine. Suddenly, with a wave
of his arm, he swept all the plates and cups in front of him off the table.
“Young
hero Linghu has had a drop too much! Better drink a cup of hot tea to sober
up,” guests from the same table all suggested.
“There’s
no way the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School would get drunk so
easily! Little brother Linghu, drink up!” Wang Bofen beamed as he filled
Linghu Chong’s bowl once again.
“Who…who
said I am drunk? Bottoms up!” Linghu Chong replied.
He
picked up the wine and started pouring it down with big swallows. Half of the
wine actually ended up dripping down his robe. All of a sudden, his body jerked
as he opened his mouth wide and started vomiting, and seconds later, the entire
tabletop was covered with “wine” and “dishes” that had been inside his
stomach just moments ago. People around the table dodged backward in shock while
a smirk ran across Wang Bofen’s lips.
Hundreds
of pairs of eyes were immediately fixed onto Linghu Chong. Yue Buqun and Madam
Yue both frowned, thinking, “This lad really doesn’t know how to behave in
formal occasions. He has just made a fool of himself in front of so many noble
guests.”
Lao
Denuo and Lin Pingzhi both rushed forward and held Linghu Chong in support.
“Big
apprentice brother, why don’t I walk you back to rest?” Lin Pingzhi
suggested.
“I…I
am not drunk. I can drink more. Give me more wine!” Linghu Chong rebuffed.
“Sure!
Sure! Someone brings some more wine out,” Lin Pingzhi replied.
“You…you…Little
Lin, why aren’t you spending time with little apprentice sister? What are you
dragging me for?” Linghu Chong cast a sidelong and bleary-eyed glance at Lin
Pingzhi.
“Big
apprentice brother,” Lao Denuo said, “let’s go take a break. There’s a
bit crowd here, we’ve got to watch our mouth.”
“Watch
my mouth? Humph! Master sent you to keep watch on me. Have you found any proof
yet?” Linghu Chong snapped.
Afraid
that Linghu Chong could speak anything without thinking in his drunkenness, Lao
Denuo held Linghu Chong’s arms and pushed him all the way into the guest room
at the back with the help from Lin Pingzhi.
Yue
Buqun also heard Linghu Chong’s words. Even though Yue Buqun was well
self-cultivated, he couldn’t help but show an annoyed face.
“Little
brother Yue,” Wang Yuanba soothed, “that was only nonsense from the mouth of
a drunken young lad. Why bother? Come on, let’s enjoy our wine!”
“The
lad is from the countryside and hasn’t had much chance with formal settings.
Will you please pardon him, Grandmaster Wang?” Yue Buqun replied with a forced
smile.
After
the banquet was over, Yue Buqun told Lao Denuo to stop following Linghu Chong
around and only watch him in secret.
It
was not until the next afternoon before Linghu Chong finally woke up.
Remembering none of what he had said the previous day, he found himself with a
terrible headache – almost felt as if his head had been cracked open. Taking a
look around, he found himself the only occupant of a neat and clean room. He
stepped out of the guest room but didn’t see any of his apprentice brothers.
After inquiring the servants, he learned that they all went to the Training Hall
at the backside to swap pointers in martial arts training with the sons and
apprentices of the Wang Family.
“Why
bother tangle up with them? I’d be better off just take a hike myself,”
Linghu Chong thought to himself as he stalked out of the gate and off to the
street.
Luo
Yang had been the capital for many different dynasties. There were many
good-sized buildings everywhere, yet the streets weren’t very busy. Linghu
Chong was not very literate and only had a very limited knowledge about history.
Staring at the many historical sites in the city of Luoyang, he had no idea as
to what they were and what they were for. Bored stiff, he strolled aimlessly
into a small alley. Then something caught his attention. Seven or eight local
punks were playing a game of gambling inside a small tavern. Pushing his way
through the crowd to the front, he took out the package of the present he had
received from Wang Yuanba the previous day. Retrieving the silver out, he joined
the game with keen interests. Not until dusk did he finally returned, tipsy from
drinking more wine. For the next several days, he kept going back to gamble and
drink with the bunch of local punks. In the first couple of days, he had some
good luck and won several taels of silver, but by the fourth day, he kept
losing, and soon his forty taels of silver were completely cleaned out.
Naturally, the group of punks kicked him out of the game. Feeling quite
infuriated, Linghu Chong kept asking for more wine, but after only a couple of
kettles of wine were served, the bartender asked.
“Young
man, you’ve lost all your money in the gambling game. How are you going to pay
for the wine?”
“Write
it under my tab. I’ll pay you tomorrow,” Linghu Chong replied.
“Our
business is very small. We don’t give credits to anyone, not even relatives or
close friends.” The bartender shook his head.
Infuriated,
Linghu Chong snarled, “How dare you think I don’t have any money!”
“Sorry,”
the bartender replied with a smirk, “show your money and you’ll get your
wine! No money, no wine, no credit!”
Linghu
Chong glanced over himself. His ragged and tattered clothing certainly didn’t
help convince the bartender that he might be a wealthy man. Other than the long
sword by his waist, he really didn’t have anything else that might be worth
any money, so he untied the long sword from his waistband and threw it onto the
table.
“Take
this to the pawnshop!” he said.
Wanting
to win more money out from him, one of the punks replied in a rush, “Sure!
I’ll pawn it for you!” He took the long sword and left.
With
that assurance, the bartender took out another two kettles of wine for Linghu
Chong. By the time Linghu Chong finished one, the punk had returned with some
small pieces of silver.
“It’s
pawned for three taels and four ounces,” the punk said as he gave the silver
and the pawn ticket to Linghu Chong.
Linghu
Chong weighted the silver in his hand. It didn’t even weigh a full three
taels, but he didn’t complain and went straight back into the gambling game.
The game lasted till around dusk when the three taels of silver exchanged hands
again – from both losing in the gambling and paying for the wine he drank.
“Hey,
loan me three taels of silver. I’ll pay you back double the amount if I
win,” Linghu Chong said to a punk named Twitch-Lip Chen.
“What
if you lose?” Twitch-Lip Chen asked with a snicker.
“If
I lose, I’ll pay you back tomorrow,” Linghu Chong answered.
“How
do I know if you have money at home or not? If you lose, how are you going to
pay me back? Are you gonna sell your bitch or your sister then?” Twitch-Lip
Chen mocked.
Linghu
Chong’s anger exploded. He raised his arm and slapped Chen across the face
with a backhand. By then, he had consumed a good amount of wine and was already
half drunk. Reaching out, he snatched the small pile of silver in front of
Twitch-Lip Chen.
“What
the hell! This son of a bitch is a mugger,” Twitch-Lip Chen yelled out loud.
The
group of punks all came from the same clan, and immediately, they swarmed
forward and started throwing punches toward Linghu Chong. Having no sword in his
hand and having no strength to defend himself, Linghu Chong was pushed down on
the ground. The punks punched and kicked, and within moments, gave Linghu Chong
bruises all over his face and his body.
Sounds
of hoof beats rose. Several horses came by in short trots.
“Move
out of the way! Get lost!” someone on the horseback yelled and whipped his
horsewhip to drive away the punks.
Linghu
Chong just lay still on the ground face down and couldn’t even get up.
A
girl’s voice suddenly cried out, “Isn’t that big apprentice brother?” It
was the voice of Yue Lingshan.
“Let
me take a look,” another voice answered. It was Lin Pingzhi this time.
Lin
Pingzhi dismounted from his horse and then turned Linghu Chong’s body around.
“Big apprentice brother? Are you ok?” he cried out in shock as soon as he
recognized Linghu Chong’s face.
“I
got drunk! And I lost my bets!” Linghu Chong squeezed out a wry smile and
shook his head.
In
a hurry, Lin Pingzhi propped him up and helped him onto the horseback. Besides
Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan, there were four other riders in the pack – they
were the two daughters of Wang Bofen and the two sons of Wang Zhongqiang,
cousins of Lin Pingzhi. The six of them had set out in the morning to tour
around the various temples and historical sites in the city of Luoyang, and were
on their way back home after the fun. They certainly didn’t expect to find a
Linghu Chong all beat up in the middle of the small alley. All four of them were
astounded.
“The
Huashan Sword School is a member of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance,” they
thought. “When Grandpa mentioned about them, he would always praise dearly.
And when we exchanged pointers with them in martial arts a couple of days ago,
they did each show outstanding Kung Fu skills. Isn’t this Linghu Chong the
Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School? How come he couldn’t even
overcome several local punks? But if Linghu Chong’s nose was really bleeding
so badly, how could this not be true? How odd!”
Returning
back to Wang Yuanba’s mansion, Linghu Chong slowly recovered after several
days of good rest. Yue Buqun and Madam Yue were both aggravated at the news that
Linghu Chong went gambling with some local rascals and went in a fistfight after
losing his money, and neither of them paid a visit to him. By the fifth day,
Wang Jiaju, the younger son of Wang Zhongqiang, walked in Linghu Chong’s room
excitedly.
“Big
brother Linghu, I’ve vented the spleen for you today! I gathered up the seven
punks who beat you up that day and gave them each some good lashes.”
Linghu
Chong didn’t really mind this incident much, so he replied casually,
“That’s really not necessary. I got drunk that day, and it was really my
fault to start with.”
“Nah,
they can’t do that to you. You are a guest of the Golden Blade Wang Family.
How can the Golden Blade Wang Family let its guest get beat up in the city of
Luoyang and not get even? If we don’t straighten this out, would others still
show the same kind of respect to the Golden Blade Wang Family?” Wang Jiaju
disagreed.
Deep
inside Linghu Chong’s heart, he had already disliked the “Golden Blade Wang
Family.” Now when he heard Wang Jiaju mention the “Golden Blade Wang
Family” left and right, as if the “Golden Blade Wang Family” was the most
powerful and influential family in the entire Martial World, he couldn’t help
but mock, “It sure takes the Golden Blade Wang Family to deal with a bunch of
punks and rascals.”
As
soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted saying them. Just when he
was about to apologize, Wang Jiaju had responded with a stern face.
“Brother
Linghu, what are you talking about? If it weren’t for my brother and I who
drove those seven punks away, would you still be alive today?”
“I
do owe the two of you a debt of gratitude for saving my life,” Linghu Chong
replied with a casual smile.
Wang
Jiaju could tell from how Linghu Chong said the words that it was sarcastic and
that he didn’t mean it at all. Feeling more irritated, he snapped.
“You
are the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, yet you couldn’t even
handle a couple of local punks and rascals in Luoyang. Humph, aren’t people
going to say that you don’t deserve your reputation?”
At
this time, Linghu Chong really didn’t care about anything. So he replied, “I
don’t even have a reputation to start with, what’s there to deserve or what
not?”
“Brother,
what are you discussing about with brother Linghu?” a voice rose from outside
the door. Then the curtain was lifted and a man walked in. It was Wang Jiajun,
the elder son of Wang Zhongqiang.
“Brother,
I thought I’d be doing him a favor and help vent his anger, when I gathered up
those seven punks, and gave each of them some good lashing. Who would have
thought that this Hero Linghu would blame me for interfering?” Wang Jiaju
exclaimed angrily.
“Ah,
there’s something you don’t know,” Wang Jiajun responded. “I just heard
from apprentice sister Yue a moment ago that this brother Linghu is very good at
concealing his real abilities. That day outside the monastery of the Buddha of
Herb, he blinded fifteen first-class fighters’ eyes with only one swing of his
long sword. What brilliant sword art that must have been! Got to be very rare
indeed! Ha-ha!” His grin had a sense of mockery. Obviously he didn’t believe
a single word from Yue Lingshan.
Wang
Jiaju also let out a big grin. “I suppose the martial arts skills of those
fifteen first-class fighters must be far from the martial arts skills of the
local punks in Luoyang then! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!”
Those
words didn’t bother Linghu Chong a bit. He chuckled and then simply sat down
on his chair, swaying back and forth gently with his arms around his right knee.
Wang
Jiajun was actually sent here by his father and his uncle to interrogate Linghu
Chong. Originally, the brothers Wang Bofen and Wang Zhongqiang had told him to
try to coax secret using kind words without offending the guest, but seeing the
arrogant look on Linghu Chong’s face and how he had treated the two brothers
like dirt, he lost his temper.
“Brother
Linghu, would you be kind enough to answer a question of mine?” He raised his
voice high.
“Certainly,”
Linghu Chong answered.
“I
heard from cousin Pingzhi that when my uncle and aunt passed away, brother
Linghu was the only one there to attend upon,” Wang Jiajun said.
“That’s
right.” Linghu Chong nodded.
“Then
it was you, brother Linghu, who passed the last words from my uncle and aunt to
my cousin Pingzhi?” Wang Jiajun continued.
“Correct,”
Linghu Chong replied.
“Then
how about my uncle’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’?” Wang Jiajun
pressed on.
At
these words, Linghu Chong stood up abruptly. “What did you say?” he yelled
loudly.
Worried
that Linghu Chong might launch a sudden attack against him, Wang Jiajun took a
step back.
“My
uncle owned the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ and asked you to give it
to my cousin Pingzhi. Why haven’t you given it to him?” he charged.
Hearing
such irresponsible calumniation from him, Linghu Chong trembled in rage.
“Who…who said that there’s an ‘Evil-Resisting Sword…Sword
Manuscript’ for…for me to give to apprentice brother Lin?” he asked with a
trembling voice.
“If
there isn’t one, why do you look so scared and can’t even talk right?
Aren’t you showing a guilty conscience?” Wang Jiajun challenged with a
smirk.
“Brothers,
I am a guest here in your house. Do these words of yours represent what your
father and grandpa think of me, or simply what the two of you think of me?”
Linghu Chong asked, working hard to control his temper.
“I
am just asking you a casual question. What’s the big deal? It has nothing to
do with my grandpa or my dad. But it is well known in the Martial World that the
Evil-Resisting Sword Art of the Lin Family in Fuzhou is a very powerful sword
art. Since Uncle Lin passed away so abruptly, and the precious ‘Evil-Resisting
Sword Manuscript’ that he always carried with him disappeared all of a sudden,
as his close relatives, we certainly want to hear about it,” Wang Jiajun
replied.
“Little
Lin sent you to ask me the question, didn’t he? Why doesn’t he come and ask
himself?” Linghu Chong mocked.
“Cousin
Pingzhi is your junior apprentice brother. How would he ever dare to ask you?”
Wang Jiaju let out some laughs.
“Now
with your Luoyang Golden Blade Wang Family backing him up, humph, you sure can
force me to talk now. Why don’t you go get Lin Pingzhi now?” Linghu Chong
sneered.
“You
are the guest of the house. We dare not force you to talk. The two brothers of
us are simply curious about it; that’s why we asked the question. If brother
Linghu is willing to answer, that would be great. If you do not want to answer,
then there’s really nothing we can do about it,” Wang Jiajun said.
Linghu
Chong nodded. “I don’t want to answer. There’s nothing you can do about
it. Please leave me alone now!”
The
Wang brothers gazed at each other in speechless despair. Neither had expected
Linghu Chong to be so straightforward and closed the topic so quickly. Wang
Jiajun cleared his throat and then tried to start the conversation again.
“Brother
Linghu, you blinded fifteen first-class fighters’ eyes with only one thrust of
your sword. This move is brilliant. Perhaps you learned it from the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,’ didn’t you?”
Linghu
Chong was dumbfounded. Cold sweats broke out all over his body and his hands
trembled. It had all become so clear to him now: “I have been wondering about
this for many days. Why didn’t Master, Master-Wife, and the bunch of
apprentice brothers and sisters feel grateful that I saved their lives, yet they
all became suspicious of me? Now I know! That’s it! So they are all convinced
that I embezzled Lin Zhennan’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript.’ Since
they’ve never seen the Dugu Nine Swords before, and I refuse to let out the
secret that Grand Uncle-Master Feng trained me in sword art, when they saw that
my sword skills progressed so tremendously, all of a sudden, after spending
several months on top of the ‘Cliff of Contemplation,’ they all concluded
that I had learned brilliant sword techniques from the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript.’ If that wasn’t the case, where else would I be able to learn
such terrific sword arts? It was such a coincident that Grand Uncle-Master Feng
showed up and taught me sword arts. No one would ever have expected that. But
when the Lin Zhennan couple passed away, I was the only one by their side, so
naturally everyone would assume that the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’,
the ultimate sword art book that many elite masters would cast greedy eyes on,
had fallen into my hands. It is understandable that others would have guessed
like that. But Master and Master-Wife have brought me up, and little apprentice
sister is as close to me as a real sister. They all know me well yet didn’t
trust me on this one. Humph, you have really belittled me!” At that thought,
his face naturally showed the expression of indignation.
“I
guessed it right, didn’t I?” Wang Jiajun said with a triumphant grin on his
lips. “Where is the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ then? We are not
interested in reading it at all. All we want is to return the manuscript to its
rightful owner. Just give the sword art manuscript back to cousin Lin, will
you?”
“I’ve
never seen any ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’.” Linghu Chong shook his
head. “Chief Master Lin and his wife were taken prisoners, first by the
Qingcheng Sword School, then by ‘Hunchback of the North’ Mu Gaofeng. If he
had any sword art manuscript on him, they would have found it first.”
“Precisely!”
Wang Jiajun immediately followed. “The ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’
is so precious. Why would my uncle and aunt carry it everywhere with them? Of
course they had hid it in a very secret place, and only before they passed away,
they asked you to pass the message on to cousin Pingzhi. Who would have
thought…who would have thought that…? Humph!”
“Who
would have thought that you would go find it behind everyone’s back and
embezzled it to be your own!” Wang Jiaju finished the sentence for his
brother.
The
more Linghu Chong heard, the angrier he became. He really didn’t want to argue
any more, but since this was a very important matter, he would not want to take
the blame for it. So he responded.
“If
Chief Master Lin really had such a brilliant sword arts manuscript, he should
have become invincible himself. Why couldn’t he even defeat a couple of
apprentices from the Qingcheng Sword School and was taken prisoner by them?”
“That…that….”
Wang Jiaju could not find any answer to that question and became tongue-tied.
Wang
Jiajun, on the other hand, had a glib tongue. He argued, “That wasn’t
unique. Brother Linghu, you learned the Evil-Resisting Sword Art and achieved
outstanding sword skills, yet you couldn’t even defeat several punks and
rascals and was taken prisoner by them. How are you going to explain that then?
Ha-ha, it’s called pretending. It’s too bad that you have gone a bit too far
this time. The Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School couldn’t even
defend himself against several punks on the Luoyang streets. No one will ever be
convinced by this act of yours. And since this is completely impossible, then it
must be a trick. Brother Linghu, why don’t you listen to my advice and just
admit it?”
Under
normal circumstances, Linghu Chong would have answered back sarcastically. But
what had happened was such a coincidence, which set him right under the
spotlight with the most suspicion. He cared nothing about the “Golden Blade
Wang Family” or the young Wang brothers, but he couldn’t let Master,
Master-Wife, and little apprentice sister be suspicious of him.
“I,
Linghu Chong, have never seen anything called ‘Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript.’ What Chief Master Lin from Fuzhou told me before he passed away I
have already passed on to apprentice brother Lin without omitting a single word.
If I had lied about any part of it, may Heaven cast me down to Hell for eternal
suffering and never bring me back,” Linghu Chong spoke with a solemn face. He
positioned his hands behind his back after those words, his face looking
awe-inspiring with ultimate righteousness.
“Did
you think you can get yourself off the hook so easily just by swearing a casual
oath? We are talking about a serious matter concerning a secret martial arts
manuscript here. Did you think everyone is plain stupid?” Wang Jiajun grinned.
“So
what’s your idea then?” Linghu Chong asked while forcing himself to stay
calm.
“Please
pardon our boldness, but we’d like to make a body search on you, brother
Linghu,” Wang Jiaju suggested. He paused for a second and then added with a
smirk, “That day when brother Linghu was seized by those seven punks and
couldn’t move a muscle, they could have searched all over you, couldn’t
they?”
“You
want to make a body search on me? Humph! Are you saying that I am a thief?”
Linghu Chong mocked with a sneer.
“We
dare not!” Wang Jiajun replied. “Since you stated that you never took the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art,’ why be afraid to let us search you? Once we do a
body search on you and there isn’t any sword manuscript on you, you would be
cleared from suspicion. Wouldn’t you want that?”
“Fine!
Why don’t you go get apprentice brother Lin and apprentice sister Yue, so the
two of them can be witnesses?” Linghu Chong nodded his agreement.
But
Wang Jiajun didn’t like the idea at all, fearing that as soon as he walked
away and left his brother alone with Linghu Chong, Linghu Chong would be able to
overpower his brother with ease. But if both of them went together, then of
course Linghu Chong would hide the “Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript” and
they would have no chance of finding it ever again. So he rejected.
“The
search would still be the same. If you aren’t afraid of the search, why use so
many excuses?”
Linghu
Chong thought to himself, “I agree to let you search my body only because I
want to prove my innocence in front of the Master, Master-Wife, and little
apprentice sister, the three of them. Whether you believe me or not, what do I
care? There’s no way I am going to let your filthy claws touch my body if
little apprentice sister weren’t here.” So he shook his head slowly.
“Just
the two of you? I am afraid you are not worthy of searching me!”
The
more Linghu Chong objected to the search, the more the two Wang brothers were
convinced that the “Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript” was hidden on Linghu
Chong’s body. If they were able to find the “Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript,” then firstly, they would look really good in front of their
father and uncle, and secondly, they’ve heard that the “Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript” contained superior sword art techniques, and since they were the
ones who found it, Cousin Lin would have no choice but to let them borrow the
manuscript and take a look at it. Wang Jiajun had seen with his own eyes the
other day that Linghu Chong couldn’t even defend himself when the several
rascals subdued him and gave him a good beating. He concluded that Linghu Chong
must be only good with sword techniques, but not hand combat techniques. It
would be a perfect opportunity right now when Linghu Chong had no sword in his
hands. So he threw a meaningful glance at his brother before speaking to Linghu
Chong again.
“Brother
Linghu, better not refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. It’s not going to
be a pleasant scene if we get on the wrong side of each other.”
With
those words, the two brothers closed in on Linghu Chong.
Suddenly,
Wang Jiaju squared his shoulders and charged forward. Linghu Chong raised his
arm to block. “Hey, you hit me!” Wang Jiaju yelled out loud as he locked
Linghu Chong’s wrist and then pushed down with his elbow. Knowing that Linghu
Chong is the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, not someone to be
overlooked, he applied the joint manipulation techniques of the Wang Family with
all his strength.
Linghu
Chong was an experienced fighter. As soon as he saw Wang Jiaju charging in like
that, he knew the opponent was all hostile. He had many different counter
attacks in mind with this block. When the opponent locked his wrist, he could
have turned his arm over and thrust it down in an angle to launch his
counter-attack, but because he had lost all his inner strength and even though
he executed the technique the right way, there was no strength behind it. He
felt a tingle from the joint on his right arm and then heard a crack. Wang Jiaju
had broken his right elbow. Excruciating pain immediately consumed him.
Wang
Jiaju was quite ruthless. As soon as he broke Linghu Chong’s right arm with a
push, he threw a claw hand and dislocated Linghu Chong’s shoulder immediately
after.
“Brother,
quick! Search him!” he shouted.
Kneeling
down on Linghu Chong’s legs with his left leg to prevent Linghu Chong from
throwing any kicks, Wang Jiajun reached into Linghu Chong’s chest pocket and
began to empty it. Suddenly, his hand came to contact with a thin booklet. He
took it out quickly.
“Here
it is! Here it is! Here’s Uncle Lin’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript’!”
The
two brothers flipped the booklet open in a rash. There were three words written
on the first page in ancient scripts[1] – Smiling Proud
Wanderer. The Wang brothers were only roughly literate. If those words had been
written in normal script, they would have recognized them. But since they were
all in ancient scripts, they had no clue. Flipping to the next page, they saw
even stranger symbols and characters all over the page. They didn’t know that
those were actually symbols and characters for music scores, and since they had
assumed that this was none other than the “Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,”
by now, all their suspicious had been cleared away.
“Evil-Resisting
Sword Manuscript! Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript!” the two brothers shouted
in unison.
“Let’s
show it to Father,” Wang Jiajun suggested. He took the booklet and ran out.
“You
shameless thief!” Wang Jiaju cursed as he kicked Linghu Chong in the waist
heavily. After spitting on Linghu Chong’s face, he also ran out of the room.
At
first, Linghu Chong felt as if his chest was going to explode from the
unbearable fury. But then he thought, “Those two brats are simply idiots.
Their grandfather and father can’t be so stupid. When they find out that this
is only a music score, for sure they would come to apologize.” Waves of pain
came from his dislocated shoulder and elbow. He couldn’t help but groan.
“I’ve lost all my inner strength, and can’t even defend myself against
punks and rascals off the street. I am a good-for-nothing now. What’s the
point of staying alive in this world, then?”
He
lay on the bed, sweating in pain. Tears streamed down as he grieved over
himself. But remembering that the Wang brothers must be returning soon, he wiped
off his tears so that he wouldn’t show a sign of weakness.
After
a long while, sound of footsteps rose. The Wang brothers rushed back in a hurry.
“Go
see my grandpa,” Wang Jiajun said with a sneer.
“No
way!” Linghu Chong rebuffed angrily. “Your grandpa should have come here to
apologize to me. Why should I go see him?”
The
Wang brothers burst into loud laughter.
“My
grandpa apologizes to you? Dream on! Let’s go!” Wang Jiaju scoffed.
The
two brothers grabbed onto Linghu Chong’s robe, picked him off the bed, and
carried him out.
“Your
Golden Blade Wang Family still calls yourself chivalrous? You are arrogant and
conceited, despicable and shameless,” Linghu Chong cursed.
Wang
Jiajun slapped Linghu Chong with a backhand, which bruised Linghu Chong’s face
and blood started dripping down his lips. But Linghu Chong kept on cursing while
the Wang brothers carried him all the way into the Back Hall.
Wang
Yuanba and the Yue Buqun couple had been waiting in the Back Hall. Wang Bofen
and Wang Zhongqiang also sat by Wang Yuanba. But that didn’t keep Linghu Chong
from spilling profanities non-stop.
“Golden
Blade Wang Family, what a shameless and contemptible family. I’ve never seen a
family so low and dirty in the entire Martial World!”
“Chong,
shut up!” Yue Buqun yelled with a stern face.
Hearing
his Master’s rebuke, Linghu Chong finally stopped cursing, but he still glared
at Wang Yuanba with angry eyes.
Holding
the music score booklet in his hand, Wang Yuanba asked casually, “Nephew
Linghu, where did you get this ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’?”
Raising
his head high, Linghu Chong laughed out loud.
“Chong,
when a senior asks you a question, you answer to the best knowledge of yours.
How dare you to be so rude? Where are you manners?” Yue Buqun admonished.
“Master,”
Linghu Chong answered, “because of my internal wounds, I have no strength left
in me. And look how those two brats have treated me? Humph, is this how a guest
should be treated?”
“Our
Wang Family would never dare offend a good friend or a noble guest,” Wang
Zhongqiang replied. “But you have failed the trust from a dying man and
pocketed the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ to be your own. That’s the
act of a thief. The Golden Blade Wang Family in Luoyang is an honest family. How
can we still treat you like a friend?”
“All
three generations of your Wang Family keep on saying that this is the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript.’ Have you ever seen the ‘Evil-Resisting
Sword Manuscript’ before? How are you so sure that this is the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’?” Linghu Chong challenged.
Wang
Zhongqiang dazed for a second before replying, “This booklet was found on you,
and apprentice brother Yue also confirmed that this is not a martial arts
manuscript of the Huashan Sword School, then how can it not be the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’?”
Fuming
with anger, Linghu Chong couldn’t help but laugh. “If you claim that this is
the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,’ then ‘Evil-Resisting Sword
Manuscript’ it is! I wish your Golden Blade Wang Family will have a wonderful
time learning the techniques and master the invincible sword arts. From now on,
your Wang Family in Luoyang can be called the Ultimate Blade and Sword! Ha-ha!
Ha-ha!”
“Nephew
Linghu,” Wang Yuanba said, “please don’t take offense on what my
grandchildren did to you. Everyone makes mistakes. As long as one will admit his
mistake and correct himself, he will still be treated with respect. Since you
have already given out the sword arts manuscript, just for the sake of your
Master, I will not investigate any further. Starting from today, no one will
ever mention this incident again. Why don’t I put your dislocated shoulder and
elbow back, first.” At that word, he stood up and walked toward Linghu Chong
and reached for Linghu Chong’s left hand.
“Hold
it! I don’t need you to play up to me,” Linghu Chong snapped, taking two
abrupt steps back.
“What
playing up to you?” Wang Yuanba was stunned.
“I
am not a puppet. So you just break my arm when you feel like it and put it back
when you change your mind?” Linghu Chong growled. He walked a few steps to the
left until he was in front of Madam Yue and then called out, “Master-Wife!”
Madam
Yue heaved a sigh and then put his dislocated joints back to place.
“Master-Wife,
this clearly is a music score booklet for zither and flute. These people of the
Wang Family are totally illiterate and insist on saying that it is the
‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript.’ What a big joke!” Linghu Chong
explained.
“Grandmaster
Wang, is it alright if I take a look at this booklet?” Madam Yue said to Wang
Yuanba.
“Ah,
here you go, Madam Yue.” Wang Yuanba handed the booklet over.
After
flipping through several pages and browsing through, Madam Yue herself had no
clue as to what this booklet was about.
“I
can’t read music scores myself, though I have seen sword art manuscripts
before. This booklet really doesn’t look like a sword art manuscript.
Grandmaster Wang, is there anyone in your house that knows how to play zither or
flute? We might as well ask him to take a look, then we would know for sure,”
Madam Yue suggested.
Wang Yuanba hesitated, afraid that if this really were just a
music score booklet, how embarrassing it would be. So he didn’t answer right
away. Wang Jiaju, on the other hand, was a total blockhead, and shouted in a
loud voice.
“Grandpa,
our accountant, Mr. Yi can play the flute. We can ask him to take a look at
this. This clearly is the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript.’ How can it be a
music score booklet?”
“There
are many types of martial arts manuscripts. Some people would intentionally
write martial arts formulas or techniques in the form of a music score in order
to keep it a secret so others wouldn’t be able to pry about. That’s not at
all surprising,” Wang Yuanba immediately added.
“If
this mister in your house knows how to play the flute, then he would be able to
tell if this really is a sword arts manuscript or a music score for flute,”
Madam Yue insisted.
Having
no other choice, Wang Yuanba asked Wang Jiaju to get Mr. Yi, the accountant of
the house. Soon he came back together with Mr. Yi.
Mr.
Yi was a thin and short man in his fifties. He had a sparse goatee on his chin,
but his clothing looked neat and clean.
“Mr.
Yi, will you please take a look at this booklet and tell us if it’s an
ordinary zither score or flute score?” Wang Yuanba asked.
Mr.
Yi opened the zither portion of the booklet and glanced over a couple of pages.
“Sorry, I don’t know much about this part.” He shook his head.
He
quickly skimmed to the flute portion of the booklet, and suddenly his eyes
brightened as he started humming along the music score in a low voice and
drumming two of his fingers on the table simultaneously. After a while, he shook
his head again.
“This
can’t be right!”
He
continued humming alone, but suddenly the pitch of his voice went very high, and
only seconds later, it dropped very low.
“This
is impossible! Well…well…I really don’t understand this,” he muttered
with a frown.
“Is
there anything suspicious about this booklet? Is it very different from an
ordinary music score?” Wang Yuba asked with a happy face.
“Oh
Master, please look here.” Mr. Yi pointed at the flute score. “This is the
Gong major[2]
here, but it suddenly turned into the Wei minor. That’s totally against
musical theories, and it would be impossible for a flute to play. Then from here
it suddenly turned into the Jiao major. That’s something I’ve never seen
before. It’s simply impossible to play such music using a flute.”
“Humph,
you don’t know how to play it doesn’t mean others don’t know how to play
it!” Linghu Chong sneered.
“You’re
absolutely right!” Mr. Yi nodded. “But if someone is able to play music like
this, I would sincerely admire him from the very bottom of my heart! Certainly
the very bottom of my heart! Unless…unless it is he in the East Town….”
“You
said that this is no ordinary flute score, and some of the tones are impossible
to play using a flute, right?” Wang Yuanba cut him off.
“Ah,
yes! Definitely not ordinary! Definitely not ordinary! I will never be able to
play something like that. Unless it is he in the East Town….” Mr. Yi nodded.
“Which
great musician in the East Town can play this music?” Madam Yue asked.
“Well…I
can’t guarantee it, but…but there’s this Elder Bamboo-Green from the East
Town who can play both the zither and the flute,” Mr. Yi answered. “Maybe he
can play it. His skills in playing the flute are way better than mine. Way
better indeed! We are not even talking about the same league here! Certainly not
the same league!”
“If
this is no ordinary music score for flute, then there must be more behind it,”
Wang Yuanba said.
Wang
Bofen had been listening quietly by the side. He suddenly cut in, “Father,
isn’t the Four Ways Six Harmonies Knife Form of the Eight Diagrams Knife Dojo
in Zhengzhou also recorded in a music score?”
Wang
Yuanba immediately understood. He knew that his son was just making things up.
The family of the Eight Diagrams Knife Dojo Head Master, Mo Xing, had been
in-laws with the Wang Family for generations. Their Dojo didn’t have anything
named the Four Ways Six Harmonies Knife Form. But he figured that since the
Huashan Sword School only focused in sword arts, whether another school had this
knife form or not, Yue Buqun most probably wouldn’t have known, even though
Yue Buqun had good knowledge of the Martial World. So he nodded.
“That’s
right! That’s right! In-law Mo certainly mentioned about it several years
back. Recording knife arts or sword arts in music scores is nothing unusual at
all.”
“Since
it’s nothing unusual at all, then would you, Grandmaster Wang, enlighten me
and tell me what exactly are recorded in these two music scores?” Linghu Chong
asked with a smirk.
“That…Alas,
my son-in-law had passed away, therefore, other than you, I am afraid there’s
not another one who would be able to understand the secret in the music
score.” Wang Yuanba heaved a long sigh.
If Linghu Chong had wanted to plead innocent, he could have
simply told the origin of the “Smiling Proud Wanderer” music score, but then
inevitably, he would have to mention about how the Hengshan Sword School’s
Great Mr. Mo had killed Great Songyang Palm Fei Bin, and that would certainly
bring severe consequences; also, once Master found out that the music score was
really related to the Demon Cult Elder Qu Yang, for sure Master would have it
destroyed right away, then he would not be able to fulfill his promise to the
dead. With these in his mind, he held his anger and responded calmly.
“Since
this Mr. Yi mentioned that there’s an Elder Bamboo-Green who is an expert in
music, why don’t we take the music score over to let him examine it?”
“That
Elder Bamboo-Green is a weirdo who acts like a mad man. How can we believe any
word out of his mouth?” Wang Yuanba shook his head.
“But
we must get to the bottom of this matter,” Madam Yue replied. “Chong is our
apprentice and Pingzhi is also our apprentice. We can’t grant favor to either
side. To find out who’s right and who’s wrong, we might as well ask that
Elder Bamboo-Green to give a judgment.” She didn’t want to say that this was
a dispute between Linghu Chong and the Golden Blade Wang Family, so she
conveniently replaced the Wang Family with Lin Pingzhi.
“Mr.
Yi, would you please send a wagon for this Elder Bamboo-Green?” Madam Yue
requested.
“Well,
this old gentleman is a very eccentric folk. When people ask him for favors, if
it’s something that he doesn’t care, he won’t pay any attention to it even
if you kowtow to him at his door. But if he decides to intervene, you can’t
even push him away,” Mr. Yi replied.
“That
sounds just like us martial people,” Madam Yue nodded. “I suppose this Elder
Bamboo-Green must be a senior master in the martial arts society. Senior
apprentice brother, we have certainly been really ignorant.”
“That
Elder Bamboo-Green is merely a craftsman skilled in making baskets and floor
mats with bamboo strips. He is no martial master,” Wang Yuanba replied with a
smirk. “He plays the zither and the flute well and also paints pictures of
bamboos. Many people buy his paintings. He is just an old craftsman posing as a
lover of art, and does attract a certain local crowd.”
“It
would be a pity if we don’t pay a visit to such a figure while we are in
Luoyang. Grandmaster Wang, would you please be kind enough to accompany us and
pay a visit to such an elegant craftsman?” Madam Yue asked.
Seeing
that Madam Yue was quite determined to go, Wang Yuanba had to agree. So led by
Mr. Yi, Wang Yuanba, his sons and grandsons set out for the East Town with the
Yue Buqun couple, Linghu Chong, Lin Pingzhi, Yue Lingshan, and other Huashan
apprentices.
The
group went through several small streets and came upon a very narrow alley. A
large bush of bamboos occupied the end of the ally. Swaying gently in the
breeze, they set an elegant tone to the surroundings. As soon as the group
stepped into the alley, dim sound of zither play echoed in their ears pleasantly
– someone was playing a song. The alley appeared to be so refreshing and
peaceful that it almost seemed as if this was an entirely different world
totally isolated from the crowded city outside.
“This
Elder Bamboo-Green certainly knows how to enjoy life!” Madam Yue whispered.
Suddenly,
a clank echoed as one of the zither strings snapped, and the zither play halted
abruptly.
“Respectful
guests have arrived at my humble shack. Is there something you want to see me
about?” an old voice rose from inside.
“Elder,
we have this odd zither and flute music score. Would you be kind enough to
examine it for us?” Mr. Yi announced.
“You
have a zither and flute music score and want me to examine it? Ha-ha, you really
flatter an old craftsman,” Elder Bamboo-Green answered.
Before
Mr. Yi even had a chance to respond, Wang Jiaju had already shouted out,
“Grandmaster Wang from the Gold Blade Wang Family is here to visit.”
He
had thought that because his grandfather was a very important figure in the city
of Luoyang, as soon as he mentioned his grandfather’s name, the old craftsman
would for sure rush out to greet them, but all he got in return were Elder
Bamboo-Green’s sneers.
“Golden
Blade or Silver Blade, it’s no better than the old craftsman’s rusty iron
blade. An old craftsman doesn’t need to visit Master Wang, and there’s no
need for Master Wang to visit an old craftsman, either.”
Wang
Jiaju was infuriated. “Grandpa, this old craftsman is a moron with no manners.
We don’t need to see him. Let’s go home,” he said loudly.
“Since
we are already here, we might as well ask Elder Bamboo-Green to take a look at
the music score,” Madam Yue insisted.