The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

"Did you say no way? Let"s give it a try and see if there"s really no way!" Mu Gaofeng said angrily. He pushed even harder.

Lin Pingzhi fought with all his strength and struggled to stand up, but he felt as if he was under a thousand-pound rock, and simply could not, so he pushed on the ground with his hands and struggled some more. Gradually, Mu Gaofeng put more and more strength into the push. Lin Pingzhi could hear his neck joints cracking because of the pressure.

"Kowtow or not? Just a bit more strength from my hand would break your neck," Mu Gaofeng said while laughing loudly.

Lin Pingzhi"s head was pushed down inch by inch, and soon was only half foot from the ground. "I won"t! I won"t!" he kept on yelling.

"Let"s see how you won"t kowtow." Mu Gaofeng used a little bit more strength and Lin Pingzhi"s forehead went two inches closer to the ground. Suddenly, Lin Pingzhi felt heat coming from his back and a stream of smooth energy fed into his body; the push atop his head suddenly felt like nothing. He pushed at the ground and then easily stood up.

This was a complete surprise for Lin Pingzhi. To Mu Gaofeng, the surprise was even greater. The inner energy that overwhelmed his strength seemed to be the famous "Divine Art of Violet Twilight" of the Huashan Sword School. He had heard before that this style of inner energy started off indistinct, like the twilight in the sky, but the stamina had great persistency, and the strength would be later released like a storm with devastating power. That was why it got its name of "Violet Twilight." Astonished, Mu Gaofeng quickly put his hand back on Lin Pingzhi"s head, but as soon as his hand touched Lin Pingzhi"s forehead, a stream of persistent energy rose from Lin"s forehead and shocked his hand. Mu Gaofeng felt numbness in his arm and dull pain coming from his chest.

Mu Gaofeng stepped back. "Is that Brother Yue of the Huashan Sword School?" he asked with a dry smile. "Why are you hiding behind the corner to play tricks on a hunchback?"

Smiling, a man with the look of a scholar strolled out from behind the corner of the wall. Waving a folding fan leisurely in his right hand, he looked very graceful.

"Brother Mu," the man greeted, "after so many years, you still look so young and energetic. How wonderful!"

Mu Gaofeng immediately recognized him. He was indeed "Gentleman Sword" Yue Buqun, Head Master of the Huashan Sword School. Mu had always been in dread of him. Now since Mu was caught bullying a junior who basically had no Kung Fu skills, and because Yue even gave the young lad a helping hand, Mu Gaofeng felt very awkward.

"Brother Yue," he grinned, "you are just getting younger and younger. I wish you could be my Master and teach me this "Yin Yang Nourishment"[4] method."

"Bah! You hunchback, stop the silly jokes. When old friends reunite, there are many good topics to talk about, yet you only spout nonsense! How would I know such a lewd method?" Yue Buqun rebuffed.

"n.o.body"s going to believe that you don"t know that nourishment method, otherwise, how do you manage to look as young as my grandson when you are actually almost sixty years old?" Mu Gaofeng said.

When Mu Gaofeng"s hand moved away from his forehead, Lin Pingzhi had already jumped back several steps. He looked at the scholarly man carefully. The man had a long goatee and a neat and clean face that shined with honesty and integrity. Admiration rose from within Lin Pingzhi"s heart. Hearing Mu Gaofeng calling him "Brother Yue of the Huashan Sword School" and figuring out it was this man who had just saved him, it suddenly dawned on him.

"Could this graceful man be the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School, Mr. Yue? But his age is far from what I expected. He looked like a forty year old man. Lao Denuo is his apprentice, but is much older than him." After he heard Mu Gaofeng"s comments regarding Yue"s way of staying young, he suddenly remembered what he had heard from his mother before: "When a Kung Fu master reaches the highest state with his inner energy, he can not only extend his life span, but also recover his youthful vigor." Maybe this Mr. Yue had reached that state. His admiration grew even more.

"Brother Mu is kidding me again," Yue Buqun said with a light smile. "Brother Mu, this young man is a dutiful son, also a man of integrity. He is good material for an apprentice; no wonder Brother Mu likes him so much. All the trouble he has today originated from his saving my daughter Lingshan in Fuzhou. I really could not just stand aside and not do anything. Will you please show him mercy for my sake?"

Mu Gaofeng appeared to be amazed. "What? Just with the little Kung Fu he has, he could save niece Lingshan? We probably have to reverse that; it was more likely that niece Lingshan"s sharp eyes picked out this handsome boy…."
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Knowing that the hunchback was a mean and obscene person and that there probably wouldn"t be any good comments coming from his mouth, Yue Buqun quickly cut him off.

"When people from the chivalrous side encounter trouble, they help those in need. The help could be as much as risking one"s life, or as little as giving a word of advice. It doesn"t really matter how great one"s Kung Fu skills are. Brother Mu, if you are determined to take him as your apprentice, why don"t you let the young man ask permission from his parents first, and then come to submit himself to you. Wouldn"t that be a win-win solution?"

Mu Gaofeng knew well that once Yue Buqun stepped in, things would simply not go as he had wished. So he shook his head.

"I just had a sudden impulse and wanted to take him as my apprentice. But I"ve lost that interest. Even if this lad kowtows to me ten thousand times now, I won"t take him any more."

Out of the blue, he gave Lin Pingzhi a hard kick, which sent him into the air and sprawling twenty feet away. Yue Buqun did not expect that in any way. Mu Gaofeng had shown no sign of a sudden kick. Once his leg was extended, it was already too late to stop him. Lin Pingzhi jumped up immediately after he landed, and did not appear to have been injured.

"Brother Mu, why are you acting like a child? I"ll have to say you are the one getting younger now," Yue Buqun said.

"Relax, Brother Yue," Mu Gaofeng grinned. "Although I am bold, I would never dare to offend this…this your…hha…I don"t even know what he"s going to become of yours. See you! Good-bye! I"d never thought even the famous Huashan Sword School would be interested in the "Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script"." He started stepping back as he spoke.

Yue Buqun jumped forth. "Brother Mu, what are you talking about?" he demanded loudly. Suddenly, his face seemed to turn a violet color. But the violet color only stayed for a brief moment before returning to Yue"s normal coloration.

Mu Gaofeng saw the color change and felt a shiver from his heart. "So that was indeed the "Divine Art of Violet Twilight" of the Huashan Sword School!" he thought. "Yu Buqun has good sword skills on top of this amazing inner energy. I"d better not get into a fight with him." So he let out a grin. "I have no clue as to what that Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script is. I am only joking about it since I saw how Yu Canghai of the Qingcheng Sword School worked hard to get his hands on it. Brother Yue, please don"t mind me." He turned around and walked away.

Yue Buqun watched until Mu Gaofeng disappeared into the darkness of the night. Letting out a sigh, he murmured, "People having that level of Kung Fu skills are rare in the Martial World, but he would rather abandon himself to…." He held back the word "vice" to himself and just shook his head in disappointment.

Lin Pingzhi came rushing over, knelt down in front of him and started to kowtow.

"I beg you, Master, to take me as your apprentice. I promise to follow your word of advice and obey all school rules. I will never dare to not listen to the Master"s word."

"If I take you as my apprentice, Hunchback Mu will probably start a rumor saying that I robbed him of his student." Yue Buqun smiled lightly.

"As soon as I saw you, Master, I felt unspeakable admiration. It"s my honest wish from the bottom of my heart to become your apprentice," Lin Pingzhi said while kowtowing nonstop.

"Very well," Yue Buqun smiled, "I will take you. But you have not asked permission from your parents yet. We need to find out if they agree or not."

"If I am lucky enough to become your apprentice, my parents would be very grateful. There would be no reason why they would object. The villains of the Qingcheng Sword School captured my parents. I will need the Master"s help in that matter," Lin Pingzhi said.

Yue Buqun nodded. "Alright! Get up! Let"s go look for your parents." He turned and shouted, "Denuo, Liang Fa, and Lingshan, you can come out now."

A group of people walked out from behind the wall. Lin Pingzhi recognized them as the apprentices of the Huashan Sword School. It turned out that they had all arrived a while ago. Yue Buqun had told them to hide behind the wall, and only to come out after Mu Gaofeng had left, thus saving some embarra.s.sment for Mu Gaofeng.

"Congratulation on taking a new apprentice, Master!" the Huashan apprentices all said cheerfully.

"Pingzhi," Yue Buqun said with a smile on his face, "you have met these senior apprentice brothers a while back in the small teashop. Now go ahead and pay your respects to them."

The old man was second senior brother Lao Denuo; the big, tall apprentice was third senior brother Liang Fa; the apprentice who had dressed as a porter was fourth senior brother Shi Daizi; the one holding an abacus was fifth senior brother Gao Genming; then there was sixth senior brother Lu Dayou. Each of these apprentices was the type not easily forgotten. Seventh senior brother Tao Jun and eighth senior brother Ying Luobai were two young apprentices. Lin Pingzhi saluted them one by one.

Giggles came from behind Yue Buqun"s back. A gentle but crisp voice asked, "Daddy, am I a senior apprentice sister or a junior apprentice sister?"

In a daze, Lin Pingzhi recognized the wine-selling girl as the one called "little apprentice sister" standing by all the other Huashan apprentices. She was actually the Master"s daughter. Sticking her head out from behind Yue Buqun"s back, showing only half of her snow-white face, she quickly glanced at Lin Pingzhi with her rolling eyes then hid back behind Yue Buqun again.

Lin Pingzhi thought, "I remember the girl in the wine shop had a very ugly pox-covered face. How did her face change?"

In the dim moonlight, he could not see the girl"s face clearly when she stuck her head out and then drew it back so hurriedly, but even so, he could tell that the face was a pretty one. He then remembered.

"She did mention that she disguised herself when she sold wine outside of the town of Fuzhou. Sister Dingyi also said that she had taken on a very grotesque disguise. Obviously, she intentionally concealed her face with an ugly disguise."

"Everyone here all joined the school later than you, but they still call you little apprentice sister. You are destined to be called little apprentice sister, so of course it"s little apprentice sister again." Yue Buqun laughed.

"No way!" the girl declared with a grin. "Starting from now on, I am going to be a senior apprentice sister. Daddy, junior apprentice brother Lin will have to call me senior apprentice sister. Later when you get another one hundred or two hundred apprentices, they all have to call me senior apprentice sister."

Giggling, she walked out from behind Yue Buqun. Under the dim moonlight, Lin Pingzhi could vaguely make out a pretty oval face and a pair of bright eyes looking straight at his face. Lin Pingzhi bowed deeply.

"Senior apprentice sister Yue, I only gained Master"s mercy and became an apprentice today. The one who becomes an apprentice earlier is the senior. Of course I am the junior apprentice."

Yue Lingshan was very pleased. She turned to her dad. "Daddy, he called me senior apprentice sister out of his own free will. I didn"t force him."

Yue Buqun laughed. "He had just joined our school, and you are already talking about "forcing." He will probably think that everyone in our school is like you, the seniors forcing their wills upon the juniors. What a frightening prospect!"

All the apprentices laughed at these words.

"Daddy," Yue Lingshan said, "big apprentice brother was hiding here to recover from his wounds. He was struck by that stinky Taoist Priest, and is in serious condition. Let"s go find him quickly."

Yue Buqun frowned and shook his head. "Genming, Daizi, you two go carry big apprentice brother out," he said.

Gao Genming and Shi Daizi answered in unison and both jumped into the room through the window. But soon they reported, "Master, big apprentice brother is not here. There"s no one in the room." Candlelight spilled through the window when they lit the candle in the room.

Yue Buqun frowned even more as he really did not want to enter such a disreputable place. "You," he said to Lao Denuo, "go in there and check it out."

"Yes, Master!" Lao Denuo answered and then walked toward the window.

"I"ll go check too," Yue Lingshan suggested.

Yue Buqun grabbed at her arm. "Nonsense! You are not allowed to go into places like this."

Yue Lingshan almost cried. "But…but big apprentice brother is so badly wounded…I am afraid that he will die."

"Don"t worry," Yue Buqun whispered, "he had the "Heavenly Connecting Glue" of the Heng-Shan Sword School applied already. He won"t die."

"Daddy, how…how did you know?" Yue Lingshan was surprised while cheerful.

"Shut up! Don"t be so noisy!" Yue Buqun cut her off.

Linghu Chong was already badly wounded before he took the energy blow from Yu Canghai"s palm strike. His wounds pained him greatly and he spat out more blood, but his mind was still clear. He heard the arguments between Mu Gaofeng and Yu Canghai, how everybody left, and how his Master had showed up. He was a man who feared nothing except his Master. As soon as he heard his Master talking to Mu Gaofeng, thoughts of how his Master would punish him for all the mischief he had gotten into crossed his mind. The worry was so great that he even forgot about the pain from his wounds.

He turned to the bed and whispered, "A disaster is about to strike! My Master is here! Let"s get out of here!" Right after these words, he staggered out the room steadying himself against the wall.

Qu Feiyan dragged Yilin from under the quilt and followed him. Seeing how Linghu Chong teetered along and was on the brink of falling down at any second, Yilin and Qu Feiyan both rushed over and supported him by his arms. Linghu Chong clenched his teeth and walked through a corridor. He knew that his Master had outstanding eyes and ears; the moment he walked out, the Master would know about it. Seeing a big room to the right, he immediately walked into it.

"Close…close the door and the window," he said.

Qu Feiyan followed his instruction and shut the door and window. Linghu Chong could not maintain his composure any longer and collapsed onto the bed, breathing hard.

The three of them kept very quiet, and after a long while, they heard Yue Buqun"s voice far away saying, "He"s not here. Let"s go!" Linghu Chong let out a long breath and felt much more relaxed.

After some time had pa.s.sed, someone came into the backyard and called out in a low voice, "Big apprentice brother? Big apprentice brother!" It was Lu Dayou.

Linghu Chong thought, "Monkey Six has always been the closest to me." He almost answered when he suddenly heard the bed-curtain shaking. It was Yilin trembling in fright when she heard somebody approaching. "If I answer Monkey Six," Linghu Chong thought, "I could really ruin the little Sister"s reputation." So he kept his silence.

Lu Dayou walked past the window while calling "big apprentice brother, big apprentice brother" all the way. The calling receded further and further and finally faded into the night.

"Hey, Linghu Chong," Qu Feiyan suddenly broke the silence, "are you going to die?"

"How can I die? If I die, it would really hurt the reputation of the Heng-Shan Sword School, and I"d be letting them down!" Linghu Chong answered.

"How do you figure?" surprised, Qu Feiyan asked.

"I"ve had so much of that magical medicine of the Heng-Shan Sword School, both inside and outside. If I still can"t be healed, I"d be letting…letting this Sister of the Heng-Shan Sword School down." Linghu Chong replied.

"Yep! If you died, you would really be letting her down!" Qu Feiyan grinned.

Knowing how seriously Linghu Chong had been wounded and seeing how he was still making jokes, Yilin admired his att.i.tude and also felt a bit less stressful.

"Big brother Linghu, you"ve just taken a hit from Yu Canghai. Let me see your wounds again."

Linghu Chong struggled to sit up, but Qu Feiyan said, "Never mind your manners. Lie down." Linghu Chong felt so weak that he really could not sit up, so he lay back down.

Qu Feiyan lit a candle. Yilin could see blood all over Linghu Chong"s robe, so she threw away all worry about propriety, gently lifted his long robe, and wiped off the blood around the wounds with a towel hanging by a rack. Taking the "Heavenly Connecting Glue" from her pocket, she applied all of the remainder onto Linghu Chong"s wounds.

"What a waste to put so much precious medicine on me!" Linghu Chong laughed.

"Big brother Linghu," Yilin said, "you were badly wounded all because of me. This medicine is the least I can offer, even if…even if…." She did not know what to say, so just mumbled a little and then continued, "Even my respectful Master praised you as a young hero who is always ready to take on villains for a just cause. Because of that she even got into an argument with Master Yu."

"No need to praise me. As long as the respectful Sister doesn"t scold me, I"d be completely thankful!" Linghu Chong grinned.

"Why would my Master scold you?" Yilin said. "Big brother Linghu, just rest quietly for twenty-four hours, and if your wounds don"t break open again, you should be alright." She took out another three "White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills" and helped Linghu Chong to take them.

"Sis," Qu Feiyan said out of a sudden, "you stay here and be his company. Watch out for bad guys who want to get him. My grandpa is still waiting for me. I got to go."

"No! No!" Yilin cried in worry. "You cannot go. How can I stay here by myself?"

"Isn"t Linghu Chong here too?" Qu Feiyan grinned. "You are not all by yourself?" She turned around and started heading out.

Yilin was greatly concerned. She jumped forth and gripped Qu"s left arm. In her rush, she had used the holding technique of the Heng-Shan Sword School and grabbed her arm tightly.

"Don"t go!" she cried.

"Ouch! Are you trying to fight me?" Qu Feiyan chuckled.

Yilin blushed and then let go of her arm. "My good girl, please stay and keep me company," she pleaded.

"Okay, okay. Fine! I"ll stay to be your company. Linghu Chong is not a bad guy, why are you so afraid of him?" Qu Feiyan said.

"Sorry, Qu, did I hurt you?" Yilin asked while feeling less awkward.

"Nah, it doesn"t hurt, but Linghu Chong seems to be hurting a lot," Qu Feiyan said.

Yilin was in a shock. She lifted the curtains and checked immediately, only finding Linghu Chong sleeping soundly with both of his eyes shut tight. She felt Linghu Chong"s breathing with her hand and could tell that he was breathing in a good rhythm. Just when she felt a bit better, she heard Qu Feiyan"s giggles and the sound of the window opening. She turned around in a hurry and saw Qu Feiyan jumping out of the window.

Yilin was astounded and felt completely lost. She walked next to the bed and called, "Big brother Linghu? Big brother Linghu! She…she just left." But the effect of the medicine had kicked in. Linghu Chong was completely out. He didn"t hear any of Yilin"s words. Trembling, Yilin was very frightened. It took her a long while before she gained enough strength to shut the window.

"I"d better leave soon," she thought aloud. "What if big brother Linghu wakes up and then starts talking to me? What am I going to do then?" Then she thought, "He is so weak right now, even a child could kill him easily. How could I leave him and just flee the scene?"

In the dark night, occasional dog barks echoed from deep alleys far away. Other than those occasional sounds, there was just dead silence. People from the brothel had fled a long time ago. It almost felt as if Linghu Chong behind the bed curtain was the only person left in the entire world beside her. Yilin sat stiffly on a chair, afraid to move. After what seemed an eternity, c.o.c.kcrows could be heard from all directions; it was almost dawn. Yilin started to worry again.

"It"s going to be daybreak soon, and then people would be arriving. What should I do?"

She had been a Buddhist ever since she was a small child, and had always been taken care of by Sister Dingyi, so she really lacked real life experience on how to handle difficult situations. She could only worry, having no idea of what to do.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from the alley outside. It seemed to be from three or four people. The sound of their footsteps could be clearly heard in the stillness of dawn. The group stopped in front of the gate of the Jade House.

"You two search the east side. The two of us will search the west side. If anyone spots Linghu Chong, make sure you capture him alive. He is very badly wounded and won"t be able to resist," a voice said.

When Yilin first heard the sound of people coming, she was terrified. Then when she heard them talking about capturing Linghu Chong, she formed a resolve in her mind, "No matter what, I will protect big brother Linghu and never let him fall into the bad guys" hands." As soon as she made up her mind, fear seemed to slip away and her brain started functioning again. She rushed over by the bed and pulled out the bed sheet. After quickly wrapping Linghu Chong in the sheet, she picked him up in her arms, blew out the candlelight, pushed open the door gently, and then sneaked out. She couldn"t tell which direction she was going, and just made sure she was walking in the opposite direction from which the voices came. Soon she pa.s.sed a vegetable garden and arrived at the back door. The back door was already half open. When the occupants of the brothel left, they probably just left it open in their hurry. She carried Linghu Chong out of the back door and dashed along the small alley. In no time, she had reached the town wall.

"I must get out of the town. There are simply too many enemies for big brother Linghu," she thought. She walked along the town wall and as soon as she reached the town gate, she dashed out.

She kept running nonstop for at least three or four miles. She intentionally picked small roads that led into the mountains. When there were no more roads, she found herself in a small valley. Feeling a tad relieved, she looked down at Linghu Chong and found him staring right into her eyes, a smile on his face.

Yilin almost panicked. Her arms started quivering, and Linghu Chong"s body slipped out of her arms. "Oops!" she cried out and rapidly bent down and extended her arms with a move called "Carry the Holy Scripture." Luckily, her reactions were quick, and she caught him before he hit the ground. But because she lost her balance, she staggered before regaining her balance.

"Sorry!" she said hurriedly. "Are your wounds still hurting?"

"I am fine. Why don"t you take a rest?" Linghu Chong smiled.

Yilin had completely forgotten about herself when she was running away from the Qingcheng apprentices. All she could think of was how to keep Linghu Chong out of danger. Now when they were finally safe, she felt like her body was ready to fall apart. She used up her last bit of strength and put Linghu Chong down on the meadow gently, and then collapsed onto the meadow breathing hard, trying to catch her breath.

"You forgot to control your breathing when you were running," Linghu Chong said with a smile. "That is a big no for…for us martial arts students. It makes one more likely…more likely to get hurt."

Yilin blushed slightly. "Thanks for the advice, big brother Linghu. My Master had taught me the same thing before, but I forgot in all the commotion." She paused for a second and then asked, "How are your wounds?"

"They don"t hurt as much now, but they"re just a bit itchy and numb," Linghu Chong said.

"Great! Great!" Yilin exclaimed. "When a wound gets itchy and numb, that means it"s healing. I didn"t expect it would start healing this fast."

Linghu Chong was quite moved seeing Yilin"s joy. "It"s all due to the magical medicine of your respectful school." He let out a sigh. "Too bad that we had to suffer humiliations from those low-life scoundrels because of my wounds. If we had fallen into Qingcheng"s hands earlier, it would be no big deal if I got killed right away, but most likely they would have try to humiliate us even further," he said grouchily.

"So you heard everything?" Yilin asked. She felt completely embarra.s.sed when she thought about how he could have been staring at her for the entire time she carried him while running away; her face reddened.

Linghu Chong didn"t realize that she was actually feeling embarra.s.sed, and thought she was just exhausted from so much running.

"Apprentice sister, why don"t you do some of the breathing exercises of your school to help harmonize your inner energy, so you don"t suffer any internal injuries?"

"Alright," Yilin agreed.

She sat down cross-legged and tried to work her inner energy with the breathing techniques taught by her Master. But she felt very uneasy and simply could not calm herself down to focus on the breathing exercises. Every other minute, she would glance at Linghu Chong to see if his wounds had gotten any better or worse, or if he was looking at her. At the fourth glance, her eyes happened to catch Linghu Chong"s eyes. With a big shock, she immediately shut her eyes tightly. Linghu Chong, on the other hand, started laughing loudly. Yilin blushed even more and asked shyly, "Why…why are you laughing?"

"Nothing," Linghu Chong said. "You are still young and probably don"t do well with the meditative exercises. If you can"t calm down and get focused, then don"t force yourself. Uncle-Master Dingyi must have taught you that if you work too hard on your exercises, it actually does more harm than good. Especially for breathing exercises, you need to find yourself in a calm state." He paused a moment to catch on with his breath, and then continued, "Don"t worry! My base energy is refilling itself slowly. Even if those Qingcheng crooks come after us, there"s no need to be afraid. We"ll just let them demonstrate…demonstrate that "b.u.m b.u.m Back…Back…. ""

"Demonstrate the Qingcheng Sword School"s "Geese Landing in Sand" technique." Yilin smiled.

"Right!" Linghu Chong grinned. "That"s good. The "b.u.m b.u.m Back" part does not sound very graceful. Let"s just call it the "Qingcheng Sword School"s Geese…Landing in Sand" technique!" After saying the last word, he had to catch his breath again.

"Don"t talk too much! Take a good long nap," Yilin suggested.

"My Master is also in the town of Hengshan now! I wish I could get up right now and go to Uncle-Master Liu"s house to watch the fun," Linghu Chong murmured.

Yilin noticed Linghu Chong"s lips were chapped and his eye sockets were also very dry. It must have been because he had lost so much blood. He was in terrible need to drink some water.

"Let me go find some water for you. You must be thirsty, right?" she asked.

"On our way here, I saw lots of watermelons in the field to the left. Why don"t you go get some?" Linghu Chong suggested.

"Alright." Yilin stood up and checked her pockets, but could not find any money. "Big brother Linghu, do you have any money with you?" she asked.

"For what?"

"For the watermelons of course!"

"Did you actually want to pay for them?" Linghu Chong grinned. "You can just go pick some. There"s n.o.body living close by. The owner must live far away. Who are you going to buy from?"

"But to take without consent is…is stealing," Yilin mumbled, "and that"s the second prohibition in the Five Prohibitions. We can"t do that. If we don"t have any money, we can beg alms from them. I am sure they will be kind enough to give us a watermelon."

Linghu Chong became impatient. "You little…." He wanted to say "you little silly nun," but because of her efforts on his behalf, he stopped at the word "little."

Yilin could tell that he was disgruntled, so she dared not to say a word and simply walked toward the direction they had come from looking for the watermelon field. After about a mile"s walk, she did see several acres of field full of watermelons. Only chirping from cicadas filled the air. There was no one around at all.

"Big brother Linghu wanted to have some watermelon, but these watermelons all belong to someone, how can I steal from him?" she murmured to herself.

She strode another half a mile and walked on top of a small rise to look around, but still could find no one, not even a shed or a hut, so she had to walk back to the watermelon field. Standing in the middle of the field, she hesitated for a long time before finally sticking her hands out to pick a melon, but then she pulled her hands back when she remembered the prohibition told many times by her Master, that one should never steal from others. She wanted to walk away from the field, but then Linghu Chong"s thirsty face appeared in her mind. She clenched her teeth and put her palms together,[5] then prayed inwardly, "Dear Buddha, I really don"t want to steal. It"s all because big brother Linghu…big brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon." But when she thought about it again, "big brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon" really wasn"t a great reason. She was so worried that teardrops started emerging in her eyes. She held a watermelon with both hands and then lifted it up; the stem broke easily.

"He has saved my life," she thought, "what"s the big deal if I have to fall down to h.e.l.l and never be reborn again? The one who commits the crime will be the one responsible. It"s me, Yilin, who broke the prohibition. It has nothing to do with big brother Linghu." She held the watermelon in her arms and then walked back.

Linghu Chong never really took common rules and prohibitions seriously. When he heard Yilin talking about begging alms for a watermelon, he simply a.s.sumed this nun was too young and inexperienced. He had never expected the matter of getting a watermelon to be such a great moral dilemma for her. When he saw Yilin back with the melon, he was very pleased.

"Good apprentice sister! What a well-behaved little girl!" he praised.

Yilin felt a shock in her heart when she heard how he had called her, and almost dropped the watermelon. She quickly wrapped it with the front of her robe. Linghu Chong laughed.

"Why are you so worried? Was someone after you because you stole his watermelons?"

"No, no one is after me." Yilin blushed and then sat down slowly.

The sun had risen from the east; it was a sunny day. Linghu Chong and Yilin were sitting by the shady side of the mountain, and the sun had yet to reach their side. All the trees around them had been washed by the recent rain and looked greener than usual. Clear and fresh air filled the valley. Yilin collected herself, and then pulled out the broken sword by her waist. Seeing the broken tip of the sword, she thought, "That villain Tian Boguang really had high Kung Fu skills. If it weren"t for big brother Linghu risking his life to save me, I wouldn"t be sitting here in peace." She glanced at Linghu Chong from the corner of her eyes and saw a bloodless face with sunken eye sockets. "For him," she thought, "even if I have to violate more rules and break more prohibitions, I will have no regrets. To steal a watermelon is really nothing." By then, she finally cleared all the guilt from her mind. She wiped the broken sword clean with a corner of her robe, and then sliced the watermelon open. A sweet smell quickly filled the air.

"Good melon!" Linghu Chong sniffed and then shouted. "Apprentice sister, I just remembered a joke. In the Lantern Festival earlier this year, when several fellow apprentices of our Huashan Sword School got together to drink wine, little apprentice sister Lingshan composed a riddle. It went, "A small dog on the left and a dumb melon on the right. What"s the character?" At that time, sixth junior apprentice brother Lu Dayou – he"s the one who was looking for me last night – was sitting to her left. I was sitting to her right."

"This riddle of hers was really joking about you and the apprentice brother Lu." Yilin smiled.

"Right! This riddle is not hard at all. The answer is the character "hu" in my name Linghu Chong. [6] It was an old joke that she read from a book. It just happened that sixth junior apprentice brother was sitting to her left and I was sitting to her right. And now, by coincidence, next to me, it"s a small dog on one side and a big melon on the other." Linghu Chong pointed at the watermelon and then pointed at Yilin with a big smile on his face.

"Aha, you are really calling me a dog," Yilin said.

She cut the melon into slices. After taking out the seeds, she handed him one. Linghu Chong took a bite. The melon was very sweet and soothing; he quickly finished it. Yilin was very delighted in seeing how he enjoyed it. Since Linghu Chong was eating while half lying down, the juices dripped all over his robe. Yilin cut the second slice into smaller pieces and handed them to him one piece at a time. Eating this way, juices stopped dripping all over him. Seeing that every time when he stuck his hand out to take the small pieces, his wound would hurt because of the arm movements, she started feeding the small pieces of melon directly into his mouth. It took Linghu Chong almost half a melon before he realized that Yilin had not had any of the melon herself.

"Have some yourself."

"I"ll wait till you"ve had enough."

"I"ve had enough. Go ahead and eat!"

Yilin felt thirsty, so after putting several more pieces into Linghu Chong"s mouth, she put a small one into her own mouth. Seeing that Linghu Chong stared at her without blinking, she felt shy and turned around with her back toward him.

"Wow, how pretty!" Linghu Chong suddenly exclaimed. His voice was filled with complement.

Yilin felt extremely embarra.s.sed. "Why did he suddenly say I am pretty?" she thought. She felt like getting up and running away but couldn"t make up her mind. She felt her whole body burning; even her neck reddened because of shyness. Then she heard Linghu Chong saying, "Look, how pretty! Did you see that?"

Yilin turned slightly and saw him pointing at the west sky. She looked following his finger and saw a beautiful rainbow in the distant sky extending out from behind the trees. She then realized Linghu Chong"s comment "how pretty" was referring to the rainbow, and she had interpreted it in a totally different way. She felt quite embarra.s.sed. But the embarra.s.sment now was also combined with a slight disappointment, very different from the embarra.s.sment earlier, which also had a bit of shyness and a bit of joy in it.

"Listen carefully! Did you hear that?" Linghu Chong asked.

Yilin leaned her body and listened carefully. She could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water coming from where the rainbow had started.

"Sounds like a waterfall," she replied.

"Exactly! After so many days of rain, there must be waterfalls all over the valley! Let"s go take a look!"

"You…you"d better just quietly rest a few more moments," Yilin suggested.

"There are only bare stone around here, so dull! I think it"s better to go watch the waterfalls," Linghu Chong insisted.

Yilin did not want to oppose his will, so she propped him up. She blushed when she suddenly thought: "I"ve had him in my arms twice. The first time was when I thought he had died. The second time was when I was fleeing from danger. Although he is still wounded badly, he is completely conscious. How can I hold him in my arms again? He is insisting on going to the waterfall. Could it be that…that he wants me…?"

While she was still hesitating, Linghu Chong had picked up a broken tree branch as his crutch and started walking slowly. Seeing that, Yilin realized that she had gotten the wrong idea again.

Yilin quickly rushed over and held Linghu Chong"s arm. She criticized herself inwardly, "What"s wrong with me? Big brother Linghu is a true gentleman. Why am I so capricious and always am thinking weird thoughts? Maybe because I am alone with a man, and just want to protect myself? Although he and Tian Boguang are both men, one has high morals while the other has none. I really shouldn"t put them into the same category."

Linghu Chong staggered along, yet was able to keep himself supported. After a few moments, they pa.s.sed by a big rock. Yilin propped Linghu Chong by the rock to sit down and rest.

"Here"s a nice spot too. Do you absolutely have to go over there to watch the waterfall?" she asked.

"If you say this is a good spot, I"ll stay here for a while and be your company." Linghu Chong smiled.

"Fine, fine. The scenery is better over there. If you feel happier watching the waterfall maybe your wounds will heal faster." Yilin gave in.

Linghu Chong smiled and slowly stood up. The two slowly turned around a small pa.s.s, and were suddenly embraced by the thunder-like sound of a waterfall. After another short distance, the sound became even louder. After walking through a small wood, a waterfall appeared in front of their eyes like a white stripe hanging from the cliff above.

"We have a waterfall by the side of the Jade Maiden Peak at Mount Huashan also," Linghu Chong said cheerfully. "It"s even bigger than this one. It looks similar though. Little apprentice sister Lingshan and I always practice our sword art skills by the waterfall. Sometimes when she gets mischievous, she will even run through the waterfall."

Yilin suddenly realized when she heard the name "little apprentice sister Lingshan" was mentioned the second time. "He insisted on coming to the waterfall despite of his wounds not to enjoy the scenery. He was thinking of his little apprentice sister Lingshan." For some reason, she felt a great pain in her heart as if someone had just given it a hard punch.

Linghu Chong went on, "Once when we were practicing sword arts by the waterfall, she tripped and fell down, almost falling into the deep pool at the bottom. Luckily I grabbed hold of her quickly enough. That could have been one dangerous accident!"

"Do you have many apprentice sisters?" Yilin asked dryly.

"We have a total of seven female apprentices," Linghu Chong replied, "and little apprentice sister Lingshan is the daughter of the Master. We all call her little apprentice sister. The other six are apprentices of Master"s wife."

"Oh, so she"s Uncle-Master Yue"s daughter. Does she…she…she getting along well with you?"

Linghu Chong sat down slowly. "I am an orphan with no parents. Fifteen years ago when the respectful Master and Master-Wife took me as an apprentice out of mercy, little apprentice sister was only three. I was much older than she was, so I always carried her out to pick fruits and chase rabbits. We grew up together. Master and Master-Wife don"t have a son, so they treated me like their own son. Little apprentice sister is just like my own sister."

"Oh," Yilin answered. After a short while, she said, "I am also an orphan with no parents. I was taken in by my Master and had been a nun ever since I was a child."

"What a pity!" Linghu Chong exclaimed. Yilin turned toward him and looked at him questioningly. "If you weren"t an apprentice of Uncle-Master Dingyi," Linghu Chong said, "I could have begged Master-Wife to take you in as an apprentice. We have lots of apprentice brothers and sisters. With twenty some people, it"s really lively. After practices, we just play around in groups. Master and Master-Wife don"t really discipline us much. When you meet my little apprentice sister, you will surely like her and make good friends with her."

"Too bad I don"t have such good luck!" Yilin said. "But in the White-Cloud Nunnery, Master and apprentice sisters are all very nice to me. I…I…am very happy too."

"Yes, yes! I didn"t mean anything by my remarks! Uncle-Master Dingyi"s sword skills are almost G.o.dlike. When my Master and Master-Wife speak of sword arts from different schools and styles, they always mention your respectful Master. The Heng-Shan Sword School is no less than the Huashan Sword School in any way!"

"Big brother Linghu," Yilin said, "the other day when you said to Tian Boguang that fighting while standing up, Tian Boguang was the fourteenth best in the Martial World; Uncle-Master Yue was eighth. Then how is my Master ranked?"

Linghu Chong began laughing. "I was just fooling Tian Boguang. There isn"t any ranking like that. Everyone"s Kung Fu skills change every single day. Some get better, and some get worse because of old age or the like. How could someone actually rank all of them? Tian Boguang does have high Kung Fu skills, but probably not good enough to be fourteenth in the entire Martial World. I intentionally ranked him high to make him happy."

"Oh! So you were just fooling him." Yilin sat there, staring at the waterfall blankly for a while, lost in thought. Then she asked, "Do you always like to fool people?"

Linghu Chong grinned. "That depends. I wouldn"t say "always." Some people you can fool, and some people you cannot. When my Master and Master-Wife ask me about things, of course I wouldn"t dare try to fool them."

"Oh," Yilin hummed. "Then how about your fellow apprentice brothers and sisters?" She originally wanted to ask, "Do you fool your little apprentice sister Lingshan?" but for some reason, she was afraid to put the question forth so boldly.

"Well, that depends on who it is, and what it"s about," Linghu Chong said with a smile. "We apprentice brothers always play jokes on each other. If we don"t fool people, there would be no fun!"

"Even with apprentice sister Lingshan? You fool her too?" Yilin finally asked.

Linghu Chong had never thought about this before. He frowned and thought for a while. Throughout his life, he had never fooled her on important issues. So he said, "For important things, I will never fool her. If we were just playing together, then of course there would be some fooling and joking."

In the White-Cloud Nunnery, Yilin"s Master did not laugh much and enforced every strict nunnery rules. The apprentice sisters also maintained cold emotionless expressions most of the time. Although fellow apprentices cared for each other, very seldom would one tell a joke, much less play jokes on each other. There were quite a few young and vivacious secular girl apprentices under Uncle-Master Dingjing and Uncle-Master Dingxian, but they rarely joked with the nun apprentices. She spent her entire childhood in loneliness and lived a quiet life. Other than breathing exercises and martial arts training, all she did was to drum on the wooden fish and read Buddhist scriptures. When she heard Linghu Chong talking about the fun among Huashan apprentices, she longed for it.

"It would be really fun if I could go with him to play at Mount Huashan," she thought. Then she figured, "After all the major disturbances I caused this time, Master surely wouldn"t let me out again once we get back to the nunnery. Playing at Mount Huashan would only be wishful thinking. Even if I did go to Mount Huashan, he would be accompanying his little apprentice sister all the time. I don"t know anyone else, who"s going to keep me company?" A sudden sadness came over her; tears almost rolled down her cheeks.

Linghu Chong did not notice. He stared at the waterfall and said, "Little apprentice sister and I are working on a set of sword arts that will have moves working along with the falling water. Apprentice sister, do you know what the purpose is?"

"I don"t know." Yilin shook her head. Her voice choked, but Linghu Chong didn"t notice that either.

"When we fight somebody," he went on, "if he has a good level of inner energy, then the fierce inner energy is released along with his punches or weapon slashes. The inner energy, although invisible, will knock our swords away. When little apprentice sister and I practiced our sword skills in the waterfall, we a.s.sumed the power from the falling water to be the inner energy from the enemy, so we not only had to block the enemy"s energy attack, but also tried to redirect his own inner energy back at him."

"So were you able to get it done?" seeing that Linghu Chong was in high spirits, Yilin asked.

"Nope! Nope!" Linghu Chong shook his head. "It"s so hard to create a new set of sword arts! And we couldn"t really create any new moves, just modifying some of the Huashan Sword Art moves we had learned from the Master to thrust in the waterfall. Even if we did come up with some kind of new ideas, they were just for fun; it would be useless in a real fight. Otherwise, why was I beat up so badly by Tian Boguang?" He made a short pause while moving his hands about slowly. "I just thought of another move!" he said happily. "After I recover from my wounds, I can try it out with little apprentice sister."

"What"s the name of this set of sword arts of yours?" Yilin asked gently.

"I really didn"t want to have a new name for it, but little apprentice sister insisted on giving it one. She called it "Chong-Ling Sword Art," because it was created by both her and me," Linghu Chong said with a smile.

"Chong-Ling Sword Art. Chong-Ling Sword Art. Hmm, in the name of the sword art, there"s your name and there"s her name too. When you pa.s.s it on to later generations, everyone will know it was…was created by the two of you."

Linghu Chong laughed. "My little apprentice sister said that because she"s like a little child. With our incomplete understanding of martial arts, we are not qualified to create any sword arts. Don"t tell this to anyone else. If others hear about this, they"d be laughing their a.s.ses off!"

"Of course, I won"t tell anyone," Yilin said. She stopped for a moment and then smiled. "Actually, others have already heard about how you created your own sword art."

Linghu Chong was astounded. "Really? Did apprentice sister Lingshan tell others?" he asked.

"It was you who said it to Tian Boguang." Yilin grinned. "Didn"t you say that you created a set of sword art thrusting at flies while sitting down?"

Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter. "I was making things up with him. You still remember that, huh?" When he laughed loudly, the muscles around the wound moved and he grimaced with discomfort.

"Oh no! It"s my entire fault! Your wounds are hurting again! Please don"t speak anymore. You need to rest quietly," Yilin said.

Linghu Chong closed his eyes. But after only a short while, he opened them again. "I just thought the scenery here was better, but now that we"re by the waterfall, we can"t see the rainbow any more."

"The waterfall has the beauty of a waterfall; the rainbow has the beauty of a rainbow," Yilin said.

Linghu Chong nodded. "That"s absolutely right! There are no perfect things in the world. When one works so hard to go after something, once he gets it, it"s no big deal anymore, but the things he had in his hands would have been lost."

"Big brother Linghu, what you just said has profound meaning behind them. It"s a pity that my understanding of Buddhism is too shallow, and could not understand the full extent of it. If my Master heard your words, she would be able to come up with a good explanation."

"What profound meaning? What do I know? Hmm, I am tired!" Linghu Chong let out a sigh and then slowly closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed down and soon he fell asleep.

Yilin stayed by Linghu Chong"s side, and gently whisked a leafy branch to drive away mosquitoes and other bugs from him. After a couple of hours, she felt tired too, and almost fell asleep. But she suddenly thought, "When he wakes up later, he will definitely get hungry. There"s not much to eat around here. Why don"t I go get a couple more watermelons? They would help to rid our thirst and hunger." So she strode back to the watermelon field and picked two more melons. Afraid that someone or wild animals might bother Linghu Chong while she was away, she rushed back. Only after she saw him sleeping soundly, did she relax and sat down quietly besides him.

Linghu Chong opened his eyes. "I thought you had gone back," he said with a smile.

"Gone back?" Yilin was surprised.

"Aren"t your Master and apprentice sisters still looking for you? They must be worried," Linghu Chong said.

Yilin hadn"t thought about that at all. Now hearing these words, she got worried. "When I see Master again later sometime, will she be angry at me?" she wondered.

"Apprentice sister, thank you for being my company for so long. You have already saved my life. You should really go back now," Linghu Chong said.

"No!" Yilin shook her head. "How can I leave you out in the middle of nowhere by yourself, with no one to take care of you?"

"When you get back to Uncle-Master Liu"s house, you can tell my junior apprentice brothers in secret. Then they will come to take care of me."

Yilin felt really sad. "So it"s really because he wants the company of his little apprentice sister, and the sooner I go get her the better," She thought. Not able to suppress her sadness, she started weeping; teardrops started dripping down to the ground.

Seeing her cry, Linghu Chong was caught in surprise.

"Why…why are you crying? Are you afraid to get punished by your Master when you get back?" he asked.

Yilin shook her head.

"Oh, I see. You are afraid to b.u.mp into Tian Boguang again. Don"t be afraid, from now on, he will only run away from you as soon as you are in sight. He will never dare meet you again." Linghu Chong said.

Yilin shook her head again and more teardrops fell down on the ground.

Linghu Chong was confused. "Well…err…my mistake. I apologize. Little apprentice sister, don"t get mad," he pleaded.

Hearing his gentle words, Yilin felt better, but then she thought, "He said these words in such a soft-spoken and submissive way; obviously he was used to apologizing to his little apprentice sister, and now just blurted them out without thinking." So she blubbered and stamped her feet on the ground.

"I am not your little apprentice sister. You…you…all you can remember is your little apprentice sister," she complained.

After the words were blurted out, she immediately regretted it. "I am a nun, why am I saying things like this to him? That"s very inappropriate," she thought. Her face flushed and she turned aside.

Linghu Chong looked at her. Her face was completely reddened while teardrops were still rolling down her cheeks. It was almost like a small red blossom by the waterfall, its petals sprinkled with drops of water, charming and delicate. "Wow, she is so pretty. Really no less than apprentice sister Lingshan," he thought.

"You are much younger than I am. Our Five Mountains Sword Alliance is like same root different branches. We are all apprentice brothers and sisters. Of course you are my little apprentice sister, too. Tell me how I have offended you, will you?" he said softly.

"You did not offend me. I know you want me to leave so you don"t get mad at me and won"t have bad luck. You said it before: one sees a nun, one loses…." She didn"t even finish her sentence and just kept on sobbing.

Linghu Chong could not help but feel amused. "Aha, so she wants to get even with me for the Huiyan Wine House incident. Well, I admit I should apologize for that!" he thought.

"Linghu Chong was such a jerk and said so much nonsense. The other day in Huiyan Wine House, I said so many wrong things and offended your entire respectful school. I really should be punished!" He raised his hand and gave himself a couple of slaps in the face.

Yilin turned back in a hurry. "Don"t…don"t…I…don"t blame you. I…I just don"t want to bring you bad luck."

"Very punishable!" Linghu Chong said, and slapped himself one more time.

"I am not angry now. Big brother Linghu, don"t…don"t beat yourself," Yilin said in a hurry.

"You"re not angry anymore?" Linghu Chong asked. Yilin shook her head. "But you are not smiling at all. Isn"t that still being angry?" Linghu Chong said.

Yilin squeezed out a smile, but out of the blue, for no reasons, she felt greater sadness and could not help weeping again, so she turned away at once.

Linghu Chong suddenly let out a long sigh. Yilin slowly stopped weeping and asked quietly, "Why…why did you sigh?"

Linghu Chong laughed hard inwardly. "After all, she"s just a little girl, and is falling for this trick of mine too!" he thought. He had been Yue Lingshan"s companion ever since he was a child. Yue Lingshan would lose her temper now and then and stop talking to him no matter how he coaxed her. Regardless of what he said, she would not pay any attention. Then Linghu Chong would put on an act to arouse her curiosity, and then get her to come ask him. Yilin had never been at odds with anyone before, so of course it worked like a charm. In no time, she fell for his trick. Linghu Chong let out another long sigh and turned away silently.

"Big brother Linghu, did I get you upset? It was my fault, please don"t pay…pay any attention to it," Yilin said.

"No, you didn"t get me upset," Linghu Chong said.

Yilin could see his worried face, but had no idea that he was actually laughing loudly inwardly and had pretended the whole thing, so she got worried.

"I got you to hit yourself. Let me…let me hit myself to make it even."

She raised her hand and slapped herself in the right cheek. Before she could slap herself again, Linghu Chong had sat up and gripped her wrist. But because of the body movement, his wound gave him a great pain, and he could not help it but groan.

"Ah, lie…lie down quickly. Don"t hurt your wounds," Yilin said hurriedly. She helped him to lie down slowly while blaming herself, "Ah, I am so stupid. I cannot do anything right. Big brother Linghu, is it…hurting badly?"

Linghu Chong"s wound does hurt pretty badly. If it were in some other time, he would never admit it. But now he had an idea. "I"ll have to do such and such to get her smiling again." He scowled and let out several snorts.

Yilin was very concerned. "Hopefully it won"t…won"t start bleeding again," she murmured.

She felt his forehead with her hand and was pleased to find that he didn"t have a fever. After a few moments, she asked gently, "Are you feeling a bit better?"

"Still hurts badly," Linghu Chong said.

Yilin pulled a long face and had no idea what to do.

"Wow, it hurts! I wish sixth…sixth apprentice brother were here," Linghu Chong muttered.

"Why, he has special painkillers?" Yilin asked.

"Yeah! His mouth is the painkiller. I"ve been wounded pretty badly before, and was in terrible pain. Sixth apprentice brother is really good in telling jokes. When I listen to his jokes and laugh at them, I forget about the pain from my wounds completely. I really wish he were here. Ouch…woo…it really hurts…au…ouch!"

Yilin felt that she was in an awkward position. People under Master Dingyi wore a dry face everyday while reading Buddhist scriptures, praying to Buddha, and practicing martial arts. It was very rare in the White-Cloud Nunnery to actually hear any laughter. For her to tell a joke was almost against her nature. She thought, "Apprentice brother Lu Dayou is not here, and big brother Linghu wants to hear some jokes, I guess I"ll have to tell the jokes, but…but…I don"t know any joke." A sudden idea popped into her head and she remembered something.

"Big brother Linghu, I don"t know how to tell jokes, but I"ve read a book of scripture in our Scripture Room that seemed to be interesting. It"s called the "Scripture of Hundred Parables." Have you read it before?"

Linghu Chong shook his head. "Nope. I never read any books, especially Buddhist scriptures."

Yilin blushed slightly. "I am so stupid to ask such a foolish question. You are not a Buddhist; of course you don"t read Buddhist Scriptures." She paused and then went on, "The book "Scripture of Hundred Parables" was written by a great Indian monk named Gazena. There are many interesting stories in the book."

"Great! I love interesting stories. Tell me some!" Linghu Chong encouraged her.

Yilin smiled as countless of stories flashed through her memory. "Ok, let me tell you the parable of the "Plough Breaking Head." A long time ago, there was this bald headed man. He was naturally bald, and didn"t have a single hair on his head. For some reason, he got into an argument with a farmer. The farmer had a plough in his hands, so he took the plough and struck at the bald man"s head. That blow broke the skin of the man"s head and it started bleeding, but the bald man only laughed and took the abuse without dodging. Bystanders felt it very strange and asked him why he didn"t dodge the attack but rather laughed at it. The bald man said with a big smile, "That farmer is so dumb that when he did not find any hair on my head, he thought it was a rock, and then proceeded to use his plough to break the rock. If I dodged, wouldn"t I be agreeing that he was the smart one?""

Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter. "Wonderful story!" he exclaimed. "That bald man was a real character! Even if he has to lose his life taking a beating, he shouldn"t budge."

Seeing Linghu Chong"s happy face, Yilin felt great contentment. "Let me tell you another one called the parable of the "Doctor Making Princess Grow Up"," she said. "Once upon a time, a king had a daughter. The king was a very impatient man. Seeing that the princess was just a little baby, he really wanted her to grow up fast. One day, he called upon the royal doctor and ordered him to make a special kind of medicine for the princess, so that when the princess took the medicine, she would grow up immediately. The royal doctor said, "It is possible to make such special medicine, but to collect all the ingredients and to refine them would require a lot of work. Please let me take the princess home and work on the medicine immediately. I will try to get it done as fast as I can, but your majesty cannot press me." The king said, "Fine, I won"t press you." The royal doctor carried the princess back to his own home and then started reporting to the king everyday that he was working on getting the ingredients and refining them. Twelve years went by. The royal doctor then reported to the king, "I have finished making the special medicine and the princess took the medicine today." He brought the princess to the king. The king was very pleased to see that the little baby had grown into a slim and graceful young girl. He praised the royal doctor"s excellent skills since right after taking the special medicine his daughter did grow up. So he granted him great quant.i.ties of gold and jewels."

Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter again. "You said the king was an impatient man," he said, "but he was actually not impatient at all. Didn"t he wait twelve years? If I were the royal doctor, I only need one day to change the baby princess into a seventeen year old slim and graceful young girl princess."

Yilin stared at Linghu Chong with her eyes wide open. "How would you manage to do that?" she asked.

Linghu Chong grinned. "Apply "Heavenly Connecting Glue" dressing outside and take "White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills" inside."

"Those are medicines for cuts and bruises, how can they make one grow taller and older?" Yilin asked, laughing.

"That"s right. After I carry the baby princess back home, I"d get four tailors…."

"Why would you get four tailors?" Yilin was even more confused.

"For making new dresses, of course." Linghu Chong replied. "I"d have them measure your size and make a set of royal gowns the same night. The second morning, after you put them on, with an exquisite phoenix coronet on your head, a silk skirt with a hundred flower patterns, and a pair of slippers embroidered with golden thread and decorated with pearls on your feet, you can gracefully walk into the palace. First you call his majesty three times, then bow down to salute while saying, "My royal father, after I took the royal doctor Linghu Chong"s magical medicine, I grew up in one single night." When the king sees such a beautiful and lovely princess, he will burst with so much joy that he would never bother to check if you were real or not. Then, I, the royal doctor Linghu Chong, would of course get a handsome reward!"

Yilin giggled uncontrollably while listening to Linghu Chong. When he finally finished, she laughed so hard that she had to bend down and could not straighten herself up. After laughing for a long while, she said, "You are definitely smarter than the royal doctor in the "Scripture of the Hundred Parables." Too bad that I…I am so ugly, and don"t look like a princess at all."

"If you are ugly, then there is n.o.body who could call themselves pretty in this world. In all the ages, there must have been tens of thousands of princesses, but none can compare to you," Linghu Chong said.

Yilin was overjoyed to hear him complementing her so earnestly. "Did you meet all those tens of thousands of princesses?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course! I checked them out one by one in my dreams," Linghu Chong said.

"Hey, why do you always dream about princesses?" Yilin grinned.

Linghu Chong chuckled and said, "When one thinks too much…." He suddenly remembered that Yilin was only an innocent and artless young nun. By joking with him, she had already violated her vows, how could he still carry on with her without any consideration? When he thought of that, he immediately became serious and faked a yawn.

"Ah, big brother Linghu, you must be tired. You should close your eyes and nap for a while," Yilin said.

"Yes! Your jokes really worked magic. My wounds are not hurting anymore," Linghu Chong said.

He had wanted Yilin to tell jokes so she would stop crying and smile again. Now that she was smiling, his goal had been accomplished, so he slowly closed his eyes.

Yilin sat by his side and gently whisked the branch again to drive away bugs. The sound of croaking frog could be heard from streams in the distance almost like a sweet lullaby. Yilin started feeling fatigue. Her eyelids were getting heavier and heavier; she couldn"t keep her eyes open and finally dozed off into her own dream world.

In the dream, she wore the beautiful dress of a princess and walked into a magnificent palace. A handsome young man by her side held her hand, and he seemed to vaguely resemble Linghu Chong. Then the two of them started floating into the air and above the clouds. She just felt unspeakable joy and relaxation. Suddenly an old nun ran after them, scowling, with a sword in her hand. It was the Master! Yilin was shocked! She heard her Master yelling, "You dirty little swine, you not only didn"t follow the rules of the nunnery, but dared to be a princess, and mix yourself up with this loafer!" Master grabbed her arm while yelling and started pulling insistently. Instantly, everything fell into complete darkness. Linghu Chong disappeared, and Master also disappeared, leaving her falling through the heavy dark clouds. Yilin screamed in fear, "Big brother Linghu, big brother Linghu!" Her entire body became weak and she could move neither her arms nor her legs. Not able to struggle, she screamed more and suddenly found herself waking up from a nightmare and being stared at by Linghu Chong, his eyes wide open. Yilin blushed. "I…I…," she mumbled shyly.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Linghu Chong asked.

Yilin"s face blushed again. "I am not sure." Then with a quick glance, she found Linghu Chong having an unusual expression on his face; it seemed as though he was trying to control some severe pain.

"Your…your wounds are hurting badly?" she asked hurriedly.

"It"s no big deal," Linghu Chong said, but his voice was shaking. Soon, big drops of sweat beaded on his forehead. Yilin could easily tell that he was in great pain.

Yilin was very worried and kept asking herself, "What should I do? What should I do?"

She took out a handkerchief and wiped the perspiration from his brow. When her little fingers brushed Linghu Chong"s forehead, it felt as if she had just touched a piece of burning coal. She once heard from her Master that when a person was wounded by knife or sword cuts and became feverish it would be very dangerous. Out of desperation, she started reciting Buddhist scriptures.

"For all living creatures, when trouble happens, if he calls Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name with absolute faith, then Bodhisattva Guanyin[7] would hear him and help him out of the trouble. If the one calling Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name were trapped in a big fire, fire would not be able to burn him, all because of the holy power of the Bodhisattva. If he were washed away by big waves, then when he calls Bodhisattva"s name, he would be drifting to a shallow spot…."

The scriptures were from the "Scripture of Magical Power from Bodhisattva Guanyin." At the beginning, her voice was still trembling, after a while, she gradually calmed down. Hearing Yilin"s melodious voice getting calmer and calmer, Linghu Chong could tell that she had full faith in the magic power of the scripture.

She continued, "If one were about to be murdered, and he calls Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name, the murderer"s knife and staff would fall into pieces, thus protecting him from danger. If demons came to bother people, one can call Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name, then the demons wouldn"t be able to see him, not mentioning hurting him. If one has shackles around his body, no matter whether he is guilty or not, if he calls Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name, then all shackles would break loose and fall to the ground, he can then be freed from the restrain…."

Linghu Chong felt his amus.e.m.e.nt grow at these words and eventually let out a chuckle.

"What…what"s so funny?" Yilin asked in surprise.

"If I had known that, I wouldn"t have to learn Kung Fu," Linghu Chong quipped. "If a villain or my personal enemy wanted to kill me, all I…I would need to do is to call upon Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name and the villain"s knife would fall to pieces, and I would remain safe…safe and sound."

"Big brother Linghu, don"t be disrespectful to the Bodhisattva," Yilin remonstrated. "If I don"t recite the scriptures with my full heart and faith, it would not work."

She went on, "If fierce beasts surrounded you and you were frightened by their sharp teeth and claws, you could call Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name, and all the beasts would quickly leave. When you see venomous serpents and scorpions, you can call Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name and praise her holy power, then they will go back to their lairs. When lightening and thunders strike the ground and hail and heavy rain start pouring down, one can call Bodhisattva Guanyin"s name and praise her holy power so that the bad weather would stop and disappear. For all living creatures, there are so many difficulties, but the holy and wonderful power from Bodhisattva Guanyin will help us get through all of them…."

Linghu Chong could hear the sincerity in her voice. Although her voice was low, she was really praying for help with all her heart and had full faith to Bodhisattva Guanyin. It seemed that she had opened her whole heart to the Bodhisattva and was supplicating and praying deep from her heart for the Bodhisattva to show her magical power and stop Linghu Chong from suffering. She was almost like saying, "Bodhisattva Guanyin, I beg you to take away all the pain and suffering from big brother Linghu and transfer all of it to me. You can change me into a swine, or send me to h.e.l.l, but please alleviate big brother Linghu of his misery…."

Later on, Linghu Chong could no longer discern her words, only the sound of her praying, so sincere and earnest. Unbidden tears filled Linghu Chong"s eyes. He lost his parents when he was just a child. Master and Master-Wife took good care of him, but because he was always naughty and mischievous, they gave him more punishment than kind affection; among the fellow apprentices, every one respected the big apprentice brother, and dared not to go against his wishes. Little apprentice sister Lingshan was close to him, but had never shown such care and selfless affection that would accept all manner of misery in exchange for his safety and joy. Feelings of grat.i.tude welled up in his chest; in his eyes, the little nun seemed to have a holy halo around her body.

Yilin"s prayers became softer and softer; in her vision, there seemed to be a real Bodhisattva Guanyin standing in front of her, waving a willow branch and spreading dew to help the needy and relieve the distressed. And every call to the Bodhisattva was a direct plea to ask for mercy for Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong"s heart was filled with grat.i.tude and peace, and soon fell asleep to the gentle and faithful sound of the scriptures.

.......

[1] In Buddhism, monks and nuns are required to shave their heads, but in Taoism, Taoist Priests are not required to shave their heads.

[2] "Xiang" is another name of Hunan Province.

[3] According to Buddhism theory, there are eighteen levels of h.e.l.l. The eighteenth level is the bottom-most one, and also the worst one. When one dies, he falls to one of the h.e.l.ls. The smaller the number, the better it is, because then he can be reborn sooner. If one falls to the eighteenth h.e.l.l, then he will have to spend eternity in h.e.l.l, and never have a chance to be reborn.

[4] In Chinese philosophy and religion, two principles, one negative, dark and feminine (Yin) and one positive, bright, and masculine (Yang), from whose interaction all things are produced and all things are dissolved. Here Mu Gaofeng is referring to a method of having intercourse with multiple females and use the energy absorbed to nourish one"s own health. This method is actually recorded in ancient Chinese medicine books, but most people consider this p.o.r.nography.

[5] A Buddhist"s way of praying.

[6] The Chinese character "hu" is a combination of the character of "dog" and the character of "melon".

[7] Bodhisattva Guanyin is a very famous Buddha. Most believe Bodhisattva Guanyin is a female, but others believe Bodhisattva Guanyin is a male. He/she is the main Buddha nuns pray to.