The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Linghu Chong entered the cave, and a big smooth rock on the floor soon caught his eyes.

"For the last several hundred years, many grandmasters of our Huashan Sword School must have sat on this rock before, which really smoothed out the rock surface. I, Linghu Chong, am the number one troublemaker of Huashan Sword School nowadays, so of course I am destined to sit on this rock. Master has been really kind to me. He had waited until today to send me here to sit on this rock," Linghu Chong thought to himself.

"h.e.l.lo rock!" He patted on the big rock gently and muttered. "You"ve probably been lonely for many years. But Linghu Chong is here to be your company now."

Sitting down on the rock, he found his eyes only one foot away from the rock wall. Then something caught his attention. The words "Feng Qingyang" were carved on the left side of the rock wall. Those must have been carved using a sharp blade – the vigorous strokes were almost half-an-inch deep into the rock.

"Who"s this Feng Qingyang?" Linghu Chong couldn"t help but ask himself. "He is probably a senior master of our school who was once punished to meditate here. Oh, I see. My Grandmaster"s name has a "Qing" in it and he belongs to the "Qing" generation of Huashan masters. This senior master named Feng must be my Grand Uncle-Master then. It takes great strength to carve something like that. His Kung Fu must have been outstanding. How come Master and Master-Wife never mentioned him before? I guess this senior master must have pa.s.sed away a long time ago."

He closed his eyes and worked on his breathing exercises for about an hour before standing up again to stretch out. Going back into the cave and sat back down on the rock, he started pondering upon the question, "When I meet people from the Demon Cult, should I simply draw my sword and kill him right away with no questions asked and with no regards? Doesn"t the Demon Cult even have a single good person? But if he were a good person, why would he join the Demon Cult in the first place? Even if he had joined the Demon Cult by mistake, he could have quit immediately. If he didn"t quit, then he must be willing to collaborate with evil and harm innocent people."

Instantly, many scenes appeared in his mind. Those were all scenes Master, Master-Wife, and other senior masters in the Martial World had told him before, things about the many kinds of murders the Demon Cult members had committed: The entire family of Master Yu in Jiangxi Province, a total of twenty-three, were taken prisoner by the Demon Cult and all were nailed onto tree trunks. Even the three-year-old child was no exception. Two of Master Yu"s sons groaned for three days and three nights before finally pa.s.sing away. When the Head Master of Dragon-Phoenix Saber in Jinan, Zhao Dengkui, held the wedding ceremony for his son, members of the Demon Cult forced their way into the crowds, beheaded the newly weds and placed their heads on top of the gift table claiming them to be wedding gifts. When old Hero Hao in Hanyang had his seventieth birthday party and invited many friends in the Martial World over, no one had known that the Demon Cult had planted bombs right underneath the room for the ceremony. The sudden explosion killed and wounded countless number of people, including Uncle-Master Ji from the Taishan Sword School, who lost an arm in this tragedy. Uncle-Master Ji had told this story himself, so it had to be true. Then he remembered when he met Uncle-Master Sun of the Songshan Sword School, whose both arms, feet and eyes were cut out. He was screaming nonstop, "The Demon Cult did this. Seek revenge for me! The Demon Cult did this. Seek revenge for me!" At that time the Songshan Sword School had already sent people to help, but with such severe wounds, there was really not much to be done. Remembering the image of two empty holes on Uncle-Master Sun"s face with blood gushing out continuously, Linghu Chong could not help but quiver.

"Demon Cult members really have committed too many cruel crimes," he thought. "So when Qu Yang and his granddaughter saved me, they must have had ill intentions. When Master asks me again if I will kill with no hesitation when I see members of the Demon Cult, my answer will be: Why should I hesitate? Of course I will draw my sword and attack with no question asked."

Finally able to think it through, Linghu Chong had an ease of mind. With a long roar, he jumped backwards toward the opening of the cave. Turning his body around while still in mid-air, he opened his eyes again after landing squarely on the ground. Looking down at his feet, he found his feet almost on the edge of the steep cliff, only two feet from the very brink of the cliff. If he had used just a little more strength when he jumped up and had landed two more feet further, he would have fallen into the bottomless abyss and have his body smashed into pieces. He had actually calculated the distance well in his head before he closed his eyes and jumped backwards. Since he had made his mind up to kill the Demon Cult members on first sight and didn"t have any more burdens on his mind, he just wanted to have a little risky fun.

"I am still not brave enough. I should have jumped at least another feet closer to the edge for the real fun," Linghu Chong thought, when sounds of giggles and clapping suddenly rose from behind.

"Big apprentice brother! That was so cool!" It was the voice of Yue Lingshan.

Linghu Chong was very delighted. He turned around and saw Yue Lingshan carrying a meal basket.

"Big apprentice brother, I"ve brought you your dinner," Yue Lingshan announced happily. She sat the meal basket on the ground, went into the cave, and sat on the big rock facing the rock wall. "This is a really cool trick of yours! Let me give it a try."

Linghu Chong knew that this trick was indeed a very dangerous one. Even when he tried it earlier, he was ready to give it all up. Yue Lingshan"s Kung Fu skills were much less compared to his, and if she couldn"t calculate her strength right, it would be disastrous. But because she was really in the mood at the moment, he couldn"t hold her back. So he stood right next to the brim of the cliff and waited.

Intending to make sure she could beat the big apprentice brother, Yue Lingshan went over the calculation in her head quickly and then pushed the ground hard with her toes. After her body had left the ground, she also turned her body around in the mid-air. Hoping to land closer to the edge of the cliff than Linghu Chong did, she used a little bit extra strength, but when her body started to fall, fear suddenly overwhelmed her and she had to open her eyes. Seeing the bottomless abyss right in front of her eyes, she screamed in terror.

Linghu Chong reached out and caught her left arm while she was still in the air. When Yue Lingshan landed back onto the ground, she found her feet only one foot away from the very brink of the cliff. It was indeed closer than what Linghu Chong had achieved. Before her heart even had time to fall back into her chest, she was already claiming her victory.

"Big apprentice brother, I landed further than you did!"

Seeing her frightened face as white as a sheet, Linghu Chong patted her gingerly on the back. "Better not try this trick again. If Master or Master-Wife ever hear about this, they would definitely scold me harshly, maybe even punish me for another year of meditation facing the wall here."

Yue Lingshan felt a little better now. She took two steps back and said with a big grin, "Then I need to be punished too. We can meditate facing the wall here together. Wouldn"t that be fun? We can have a contest everyday to see who can jump further."

"Us two, meditate here together everyday?" Linghu Chong repeated the words while throwing a glance at the cave, a breeze of happiness swelling in his heart, thinking, "If I get to spend an entire year together with the little apprentice sister here without any disruptions, then I"d be as happy as a worry-free fairy? Alas, it will never happen."

"I am afraid that Master will have you meditate in the "House of Integrity" and ban you from leaving there, then we won"t be able to see each other for an entire year," he said.

"That"s not fair!" Yue Lingshan immediately complained. "How come you can have fun here, and I have to be a prisoner in the "House of Integrity"?" Knowing clearly that her parents would have never allowed her to accompany the big apprentice brother here on the cliff, she changed the subject.

"Big apprentice brother, Mom told Monkey Six to bring you food everyday at first. I told Monkey Six, "Sixth apprentice brother, I know you are a monkey and all that, but climbing up and down the "Cliff of Contemplation" is no easy task. Why don"t you let me help you and do it for you? So, how are you going to repay me for this favor?" Monkey Six said, "I dare not to loaf on the job given by Master-Wife. Besides, big apprentice brother is the one that treats me the best. I am so glad that I"ll be bringing food to him for an entire year and will be able to see him once everyday. I don"t mind even if it"s no easy task." Big apprentice brother, don"t you think Monkey Six is very mean?"

"Well, he was telling the truth." Linghu Chong smiled.

Yue Lingshan continued. "Monkey Six also said, "I"ve always wanted to ask for advice from big apprentice brother about Kung Fu questions. But every time as soon as you show up, you"d be kicking me away, not allowing any more conversation with the big apprentice brother." Big apprentice brother, do I ever do things like that? Isn"t Monkey Six talking garbage here? He then said, "Hey, for the entire next year, I will be the only one who can go up the "Cliff of Contemplation" to see big apprentice brother. You won"t even have a chance." I got mad, but he paid no attention. Later…later…."

"Later you threatened him with your sword?" Linghu Chong guessed.

"No." Yue Lingshan shook her head. "Later I got real upset and started crying. Monkey Six then came to me and begged me to bring food to you."

Staring at her cute little face, Linghu Chong could see the slight swelling right next to her eyes. Sure enough, she must have had quite some weeping. Deeply moved, he thought, "She is so good to me. I"d be willing to die a thousand times for her."

Yue Lingshan opened the meal basket. Taking out two plates of dishes, together with two pairs of chopsticks and two rice bowls, she set them on a big rock with a flat top.

"Two sets of chopsticks?" Linghu Chong uttered.

"I"ll eat together with you. Look, what"s this?" Yue Lingshan"s face split into a big grin when she took out a small wine-calabash from the bottom of the meal basket.

Linghu Chong was very addicted to wine. Seeing the calabash of wine, he stood up and bowed deeply to Yue Lingshan. "Thank you so-o-o much!! I"ve been worrying about having no wine to drink for an entire year. You just saved my life!"

Yue Lingshan uncorked the wine-calabash and then pa.s.sed it to Linghu Chong. "There"s not much here. I can only steal one small calabash of wine for you everyday. If I try to steal too much, my mom might find out about it," she explained with a smile.

The Huashan Sword School rule said that an apprentice meditating on the "Cliff of Contemplation" would be prohibited from eating any meat, which was why the kitchen only prepared a big plate of boiled vegetables and a plate of Tofu for Linghu Chong. But considering herself going through the punishment together with her big apprentice brother, Yue Lingshan found the dishes quite enjoyable. After dinner, the two chatted with no specific topics for another hour. Only when it was already in the nightfall, did Yue Lingshan go down the cliff.

From then on, Yue Lingshan would bring food up the cliff around dusk everyday, and the two would have dinner together. At noon the next day, Linghu Chong simply ate the leftovers from previous day"s dinner as his lunch.

Although Linghu Chong lived alone atop the cliff, he didn"t feel lonely at all. Every morning after he woke up, he would meditate with breathing exercises and also practice the Huashan style inner energy and the sword arts taught by his Master. He also spent time pondering upon and going over Tian Boguang"s fast knife chops and the move created by Master-Wife – Unrivaled and Unmatched, The Thrust of Ning. There was only one thrust in this The Thrust of Ning move, but it contained many techniques from Huashan style inner energy and Huashan sword arts. Linghu Chong knew that he was not at the level to execute this move yet. If he had tried to use it, he would only make a fool out of himself, so he worked hard everyday in advancing himself with his Kung Fu skills. Thus, although he was punished to meditate by facing the wall to think over his mistakes, he didn"t do any of those. Other than having some chats with Yue Lingshan every evening, he simply worked hard on his Kung Fu skills with dedication. Two months pa.s.sed like that, and it started to get colder and colder each day atop the cliff. Some more days later, Madam Yue finished making Linghu Chong a new set of cotton-padded coat and had Lu Dayou bring it to him up the cliff.

One day, a windstorm swept by in the morning, and by noon, big snowflakes had started swirling out of the sky. Seeing the heavy dark clouds gathering in the sky, Linghu Chong could tell that the snow would be lasting for quite a while. "The road up the cliff is very steep and dangerous. By dusk the road must be very slippery. Little apprentice sister shouldn"t try to bring me any food in a day like this," he couldn"t help thinking. But there was no way of communication for him to send the message. In great worries, he could only wish that Master and Master-Wife would know about this and stop little apprentice sister from coming.

"How could Master and Master-Wife not know about the fact that little apprentice sister has been bringing food for me instead of sixth apprentice brother? Maybe they just pretended to not know and paid no attention. If little apprentice sister tried to climb up the cliff today, a single slip would cost her life. I guess Master-Wife would ban her from climbing up the cliff for sure," he thought.

Linghu Chong waited anxiously until dusk, casting a glance down the cliff every once a while. Seeing that it was getting darker and darker and Yue Lingshan never showed up, Linghu Chong felt a bit relieved. "Tomorrow morning, sixth apprentice brother will bring the food up. I hope little apprentice sister will never take on the risks."

He was about to go back in the cave to sleep when rustling sounds of somebody climbing the snow-covered road to the cliff came to his attention. Then Yue Lingshan"s voice rose, "Big apprentice brother…big apprentice brother…!"

Greatly surprised but also greatly delighted, Linghu Chong rushed by the side of the cliff. In the shower of the big snowflakes, he could see Yue Lingshan struggle her way up the cliff in slips and skids. Restricted by the order from the Master, Linghu Chong dared not to step even one step down the cliff, only reaching out with his hand to try to catch Yue Lingshan. As soon as Yue Lingshan"s left hand touched his right hand, Linghu Chong grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her up the cliff. Under the dim light, Yue Lingshan appeared to have snow all over her; even her hairs were covered in snow. There was a big swelling on the left side of her forehead and blood was still dripping down slowly from the cut. "You…you…." Linghu Chong was lost in words.

Yue Lingshan bit her lip as if she was going to start crying. "I fell, and the meal basket fell into the valley. You…you"ll be hungry tonight."

Linghu Chong"s heart was swelled with gratefulness and with compa.s.sion. He pressed gingerly on her wound with his sleeve and said affectionately, "Little apprentice sister! The mountain road is too slippery. You shouldn"t have come up here."

"I don"t want you to starve. And…and, I wanted to see you," Yue Lingshan muttered.

"But if you had fallen into the valley as a result, how could I ever face Master and Master-Wife again?" Linghu Chong said.

"Get rid of that worrying face of yours! See, I am fine here. It"s just that I am too impotent. I lost the meal basket and the wine-calabash right before I almost made it up the cliff," Yue Lingshan said.

"I only want you to be safe. I don"t mind if I have to starve for ten days," Linghu Chong said compa.s.sionately.

"Half way up, the road was so slippery. I gathered all my inner energy and jumped a couple of times. Hey, I actually made it up that real steep slope by the "Five Pine-Trees." I was so scared of falling down into the valley at that moment." Yue Lingshan gasped.

"Little apprentice sister," Linghu Chong demanded, "promise me that you"ll never risk your life for me again. If you had really fallen down into the valley, I would have jumped down after you for sure."

Yue Lingshan looked at Linghu Chong with warmth and happiness blazing in her eyes. "Big apprentice brother, why do you worry so much? If I had fallen down on my way to bring you food, it would be the result of my own carelessness. Why would you feel so guilty?"

"It"s not about feeling guilty." Linghu Chong shook his head slowly. "If it were sixth apprentice brother who was bringing food to me and fell down into the valley and got killed, will I jump down the valley after him?" He shook his head slowly as he spoke. "I will try my best to take good care of his parents and his family. But I won"t jump off the cliff to die along with a friend."

"But if I had died, then you wouldn"t want to live any more?" Yue Lingshan asked slowly.

"That"s correct. Little apprentice sister, it wasn"t because you were bringing me food. Even if you were bringing food for someone else and died because of that, I wouldn"t have wanted to stay alive."

Yue Lingshan gripped onto Linghu Chong"s hands tightly, her heart filled with tenderness and affection. "Big apprentice brother!" she called out gently.

Linghu Chong had an urge to embrace her in his arms, but still couldn"t gather enough courage to do so. The two of them simply stared at each other quietly, neither one moved an inch. Big snowflakes kept pouring down from the sky and soon the two looked almost like two snowmen.

After a long while, Linghu Chong finally broke the silence. "You can"t go down the cliff all by yourself tonight. Did Master and Master-Wife know that you came up here? It would be better if they can send someone up to get you."

"This morning, out of the blue, Dad received a letter from the Songshan Sword School"s Alliance Chief Zuo, saying that they need to discuss something urgent, so he and Mom had left Mount Huashan today," Yue Lingshan said.

"Then does anyone else know that you came up here?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Nope. n.o.body. Second, third, forth apprentice brothers and Monkey Six all headed to Mount Songshan together with Mom and Dad, and no one knows that I came up the cliff to see you. Otherwise, Monkey Six would have fought with me for the chance to bring food up for you, and that would be very troublesome! Oh, that"s right. The chap Lin Pingzhi saw me coming up. But I told him to shut his mouth if he wanted to be spared of a good beating tomorrow."

"Wow, what an impressive senior apprentice sister." Linghu Chong grinned.

"Of course!" Yue Lingshan let out a big smile. "Somebody is finally calling me senior apprentice sister now. If I don"t put on the manner of a senior, what a waste would that be? It"s not like you. Everybody calls you the big apprentice brother. What do you care?" The two of them broke into a laugh.

"Well, then you can"t go back down tonight. Why don"t you spend the night in the cave and plan on going back down tomorrow morning?"

Linghu Chong held Yue Lingshan"s hand and walked her into the cave. The cave was quite small, just big enough for the two of them to stay in, and not much room left after that. The two of them sat down facing each other and chatted until late night. Yue Lingshan finally dozed off and fell asleep. Afraid that she might catch a cold, Linghu Chong took off the cotton-padded coat he was wearing and tucked it around her. In the dim light reflected by the snow outside, he could vaguely see her cute little face.

"Little apprentice sister has such deep affection for me. Even if I have to die for her and be smashed into ten thousand pieces, I will not regret it," Linghu Chong thought to himself.

In the silence, he soon fell into an even deeper thought. "I lost my parents when I was still little. Luckily, Master and Master-Wife brought me up and treated me like their own son. I am the head apprentice of the Huashan Sword School. Not only did I become an apprentice earlier than everybody else, but also my Kung Fu skills were way above the rest of the apprentice brothers. One day I will probably take over the responsibility from Master and become the Head Master of Huashan. Now with little apprentice sister treating me like this, it would be impossible for me to ever repay the great kindness from my Master. But I"ve always been doing things with no restrain and have kept Master and Master-Wife angry with me. I"ve really disappointed their expectations. I must thoroughly rectify my errors starting from now on. Otherwise, I would be failing not only Master and Master-Wife, but also little apprentice sister."

Staring at the lovely hair of Yue Lingshan, which rustled gently from her breathing, Linghu Chong drifted into deep thoughts when he suddenly heard Yue Lingshan murmuring, "Hey, chap Lin, you are not behaving yourself! Come over here to let me give you a good beating!"

Linghu Chong was surprised. But seeing Yue Lingshan turning her body to the side with her eyes shut tight and her breathing falling back into a normal rhythm, he realized that she was just having a dream. Quite amused, he thought, "Finally getting to be a senior apprentice sister to someone, she probably has been acting in a real c.o.c.ky way. During these days, apprentice brother Lin must have been ordered around left and right, and probably had enough of suffering. She can"t even stop bullying him in her dreams."

Guarding by Yue Lingshan"s side, Linghu Chong did not sleep at all. Yue Lingshan had been totally exhausted the previous evening, so she slept till it was already late in the morning before waking up. Finding Linghu Chong staring at her with a smile, she returned with a smile and then said with a yawn, "Did you wake up early in the morning?"

Linghu Chong didn"t tell her that he had not slept at all during the night. "What dream did you have? Did you beat up apprentice brother Lin?" he asked with a grin.

"Did you hear me talk in my dreams?" Yue Lingshan asked after thinking for a moment. "This chap Lin is so stubborn. He just doesn"t want to listen to me. Hha, I scold him not only in day times, but also when I am sleeping."

"How did he get on your nerves?" Linghu Chong asked.

"I dreamed that I had asked him to go practice sword skills with me in the waterfall, but he had all kinds of excuses and simply didn"t want to go with me. I finally tricked him into going. And as soon as he got to the waterfall, I pushed him down the waterfall."

"Oops, you can"t do that. You are going to get him killed," Linghu Chong commented with a smile.

"It"s only a dream. It"s not real. Why are you worrying so much? Are you afraid that I really might kill this chap?"

"Well, what one thinks about in day time, one dreams about it at night. You must have really thought about killing apprentice brother Lin during the day, and you kept thinking about it, that"s why you dreamed about it at night."

Yue Lingshan showed a winkled nose. "This chap is useless. He has been practicing the entry-level sword art form for three months now, and it still looked far from right. Yet he is the dedicated type and kept practicing days and nights. I get mad just looking at him practicing. What do I have to think about if I want to kill him? All I need to do is to raise my sword and then bring the sword swishing sideway. A sure kill with a single blow!" She slashed out with her right hand and performed a move of Huashan sword arts.

"Cloud by the Hill – Chap Lin"s head falls off!" Linghu Chong burst into laughter.

"If I actually use this Cloud by the Hill move, his head will fall off for sure." Yue Lingshan giggled loudly.

"You are the senior apprentice sister. When a junior apprentice brother has problem with his sword practice, you should be giving him some pointers, not drawing your sword to kill for no specific reasons. All new apprentices of the Master will be your junior apprentice brothers. What if when Master takes in one hundred new apprentices, and you decided to kill ninety-nine of them in a couple of days? What are we going to do then?" Linghu Chong joked.

"You are absolutely right about that! I"ll only kill ninety-nine of them and make sure I leave one alone. If I kill all of them, then who is going to call me senior apprentice sister?" Yue Lingshan held onto the side of the rock wall and almost laughed herself silly.

"If you killed ninety-nine junior apprentice brothers, the one hundredth one would be running away for sure. You still won"t be able to maintain your senior apprentice sister status." Linghu Chong suggested.

"By then I"ll make you call me senior apprentice sister." Yue Lingshan grinned.

"I have no problem calling you senior apprentice sister. But are you going to kill me or not?" Linghu Chong asked jokingly.

"If you listen to my orders, then I won"t kill you. If you don"t, then I will." Yue Lingshan also said jokingly.

"Little apprentice sister, I beg you to show some mercy with your sword!"

It had stopped snowing by then. Afraid that when apprentice brothers and sisters found out that Yue Lingshan had been missing they might start slanderous gossips, which could be disastrous for little apprentice sister"s reputation, Linghu Chong urged Yue Lingshan to go back down after some short chats.

"I want to stay here a bit longer to play. Mom and Dad are both not at home. It"s very boring!" Yue Lingshan still didn"t want to go.

"My good apprentice sister, in the last couple of days, I just created some more moves for the Chong-Ling Sword Art. As soon as I can leave the cliff, I"ll go with you to practice sword skills in the waterfall. Alright?"

After quite some coaxing, Linghu Chong finally succeeded in getting her off the cliff back home.

At dusk that day, Gao Gengming brought food up the cliff instead. He said that Yue Lingshan caught a cold and was having fevers. She had to rest in bed, but she thought about the big apprentice brother and had asked him to make sure not to forget bringing some wine when he brought the food up. Linghu Chong was greatly shocked and suffered great worries. He knew that she had a terrible fall the previous evening and was probably terribly scared, which caused all the illness, and wished dearly that he would be able to rush down the cliff to pay a visit to her. Although he had starved for two days, with the meal right in front of him, he only felt a lump in his throat and could hardly swallow.

Gao Gengming knew that big apprentice brother and the little apprentice sister were a loving couple, and that was why as soon as Linghu Chong heard about her illness, he became very worried. So he tried to comfort him.

"Big apprentice brother, don"t be too worried. Yesterday we had a lot of snow. Little apprentice sister must have spent too much time in the snow playing and caught a cold. For people who practice inner energy like us, such a little cold is really nothing. After taking some medicines, it will be gone in no time," he persuaded.

But Yue Lingshan remained sick for over two weeks. Only after the Yue couple had returned to Mount Huashan and rid the fever for her using Huashan style inner energy was she able to recover slowly. By the time she was finally able to get up to the cliff, it was already over twenty days later.

After suffering such a long parting, both felt great joy tempered with sorrow. Yue Lingshan stared at Linghu Chong"s face and burst out a cry, "Big apprentice brother, did you get sick too? How come you look so thin?"

Linghu Chong shook his head. "I didn"t get sick. I…I…."

"You…you were thinking of me. And you lost weight because of the worries." Yue Lingshan suddenly realized. She burst into tears. "Big apprentice brother, I am all recovered by now."

"I watched the road days and nights waiting for this very moment. Thank Heavens! You came at last!" Linghu Chong muttered, holding Yue Lingshan"s hand tightly.

"Actually, I saw you many times," Yue Lingshan said.

"What? You saw me many times?" Linghu Chong asked in surprise.

"Yeah! While I was ill, I saw you all the time when I closed my eyes. That day when my fever worsened, Mom said that I kept talking to you in my dreams. Big apprentice brother, Mom has learned about that night when I spent the night up here."

Linghu Chong blushed and felt some uneasiness. "Was Master-Wife angry?" he asked.

"Mom wasn"t angry about it. But…but…." Yue Lingshan suddenly blushed and stopped abruptly.

"But what?" Linghu Chong asked.

"I am not telling you," Yue Lingshan declared.

Noticing the affected shy expression on Yue Lingshan"s face, Linghu Chong"s heart quivered. He immediately pulled himself together and said, "Little apprentice sister, you just got better. You really shouldn"t come up here so soon. I knew you were gradually getting better. Everyday when fifth apprentice brother or sixth apprentice brother brought food up for me, they all told me about you."

"Then how come you are still so thin?" Yue Lingshan asked.

"Well, as soon as you fully recover, I will gain my weight back." Linghu Chong answered with a smile.

"Tell me the truth. How much did you eat at each meal these days? Monkey Six said that you didn"t touch your food at all and only drank a lot of wine. He tried to persuade you, but you simply wouldn"t listen to him. Big apprentice brother, why don"t you…take good care of yourself?" At those words, tear drops started rolling in her eyes again.

"Nonsense! Don"t listen to him. Monkey Six always likes to exaggerate. Why would I only drink wine and not eat?" Linghu Chong denied.

A breeze of cold wind swept by and sent Yue Lingshan shivering. It was a very chilly day. The cliff didn"t even have a single tree to block the cold wind. It was already very cold on top of Mount Huashan; it was even colder here on the cliff.

"Little apprentice sister," Linghu Chong said quickly, "you have not fully recovered yet. You"d better not catch a cold again. Go back down the cliff. Wait till one day when the sun comes out and after you have fully recovered, then you can come up to see me again."

"I"m not cold. We are getting snow and windstorm everyday. Who knows when we will have sunshine again?" Yue Lingshan complained.

"But what if you get sick again? I…I…," Linghu Chong said in a worried tone.

Seeing the thin and pallid face of Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan thought, "If I get sick again, he"ll get sick too for sure. That will surely get him killed with no one here taking care of him at all." So she had to agree. "Fine. I am leaving now. You take good care of yourself. Don"t drink that much wine. Have at least three bowls of rice every meal. I"ll go talk to Dad and tell him that you are not feeling well. You need more nutritious food. You can"t live off only vegetables."

"I will not violate the prohibition. Seeing you getting better is enough nourish for me already. I am sure I will start gaining weight in a couple of days. My dear, please go back now," Linghu Chong urged.

"What did you call me?" Her cheeks going red, Yue Lingshan asked in a low voice, love and affection swelling in her eyes.

Feeling a little bit shy, Linghu Chong immediately answered, "I just blurted that out. Little apprentice sister, please don"t mind."

"Why would I mind? I like you to call me that." Yue Lingshan replied.

Linghu Chong felt a warm current coursing through his heart. All he could think of was to embrace her tightly in his arms. But he immediately told himself, "She has shown me such affection. How could I ever disgrace her with such disrespectful behavior?" So he turned his head aside in a hurry, and only said in a soft voice, "Walk slow when you go down the cliff, one step at a time. Take a rest if you need to. Don"t just run all the way down like you used to do in other days."

"I won"t," Yue Lingshan answered as she turned around slowly and walked toward the road down the cliff.

Hearing the sound of her steps getting further and further, Linghu Chong turned his head back, only seeing Yue Lingshan standing a few dozen feet away down the road staring at him. For a long while, the two just stared at each other silently.

"Walk slow. It"s time for you to get back," Linghu Chong finally said.

"Yes," Yue Lingshan answered and this time really started heading back.

In that day, Linghu Chong felt a kind of joy he had never experienced before in his entire life. Sitting on the rock, he couldn"t resist his urge to laugh out loud. He suddenly burst out a long roar, and it echoed around the valley again and again. The roar seemed to be shouting the words, "I am so happy! I am so happy!"

The next day, it snowed again, and sure enough, Yue Lingshan did not come up. Linghu Chong heard from Lu Dayou that she was enjoying a speedy recovery and was getting better and better everyday. That truly cheered him up.

Another twenty or so days pa.s.sed before Yue Lingshan came up the cliff again. She had a basket full of Zong-Zi[1] this time. After looking at Linghu Chong"s face carefully for a moment, she smiled. "You didn"t lie. You sure gained quite a few pounds back."

"You"ve recovered well. I am so happy to see you healthy." Seeing the ruddy complexion on Yue Lingshan"s cheeks, Linghu Chong also smiled.

"I"ve been bugging Mom every day so that I could bring your food up, but Mom just wouldn"t let me. She kept saying that it was too cold, or it was too humid. She almost sounded as if as soon as I come up the cliff, I"ll drop dead. I said that big apprentice brother has stayed on the cliff for days and nights. I don"t see him getting sick. Mom said that big apprentice brother has very high inner energy; I am simply not in the same league. Hey, Mom was praising about you. Aren"t you happy to hear that?"

Linghu Chong nodded. "I really miss Master and Master-Wife. I wish I could see them soon."

"Yesterday I spent a whole day helping Mom wrapping Zong-Zi. I thought to myself, wouldn"t it be nice if I could bring you some? And guess what? Before I even opened my mouth to ask today, Mom had already said to me, "Take this basket of Zong-Zi to Chong." What a surprise!"

Linghu Chong felt a lump in his throat, thinking, "Master-Wife is so nice to me."

"These Zong-Zi just came out of the pot; they are still hot. Let me peel some for you." Yue Lingshan went in the cave and started unwrapping the bamboo leaves outside of the Zong-Zi. Soon, appetizing smell filled the small cave.

Taking the unwrapped Zong-Zi Yue Lingshan handed to him, Linghu Chong took a bite. Even though the Zong-Zi only had vegetarian stuffing, the mixture of straw mushrooms, lotus seeds, broad beans and other ingredients gave it a very delicious flavor.

"Little Lin and I picked those straw mushrooms the day before yesterday…," Yue Lingshan bragged.

"Little Lin?" Linghu Chong was lost.

"Oh, That"s junior apprentice brother Lin. I"ve been calling him Little Lin these days. He came to me the day before yesterday and told me that there was straw mushrooms under those pine trees at the east slope. He even went with me and spent half a day picking them. But we only found enough to fill a half basket. While there"s not much, it sure is tasty, isn"t it?"

"Yummy! I almost swallowed my tongue together with it. So, little apprentice sister, you don"t yell at him now?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Why not! Anytime he doesn"t listen to me, I yell at him. But he sure learned how to behave himself these days, so I don"t yell at him as much now. And when he works hard and progress a little with his sword practice, I praise him a little, "Aha, Little Lin, this move looks not too shabby, much better than yesterday. But it"s still not fast enough. Practice more! Practice more!" Hha!" Yue Lingshan said amusingly.

"Are you teaching him sword arts?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Yep! He speaks Fujian dialect. Apprentice brothers and sisters are having a hard time understanding him. I"ve been to Fuzhou before and it"s easier for me to understand his words, so Dad asked me to help him with his sword art whenever I have time. Big apprentice brother, since I can"t come up here to see you all the time, when I get bored, I might as well teach him a couple of moves. Little Lin is no dummy. He can learn quickly."

"I see. So you are the senior apprentice sister and the instructor. No wonder he dares not to disobey you." Linghu Chong laughed.

"I wouldn"t say that. Yesterday when I asked him to go hunt pheasants with me, he didn"t want to go, and said that he had not gotten the moves White Aurora Shooting to Sun and Heaven Hanging Upside Down right and needed to practice more."

Linghu Chong was a bit surprised. He asked, "He has only been in our Huashan Sword School for several months, how come he is already practicing moves like White Aurora Shooting to Sun and Heaven Hanging Upside Down? Little apprentice sister, our Huashan sword arts require the pract.i.tioner to follow each of the steps. It would be harmful to try to advance too quickly."

"Don"t worry about it. I won"t be teaching him irresponsibly," Yue Lingshan explained. "Little Lin is always eager to excel. He practices days and nights. Every time when I want to chat a little, in less than three sentences, he would start asking questions about sword arts. Sword forms that will take others three months to grasp will only take him half a month. When I wanted him to go play with me, he would never agree frankly."

Linghu Chong fell silent, and all of a sudden, some kind of indescribable annoyance filled his heart. He took another bite, and then just stared at the Zong-Zi in his hand blankly.

"Big apprentice brother, did you swallow your tongue? Why have you stopped talking?" Yue Lingshan pulled at Linghu Chong"s sleeves.

Absentmindedly, Linghu Chong put the remaining of the Zong-Zi in his mouth. Somehow, the supposedly delicious Zong-Zi got stuck in his mouth and he couldn"t swallow it down.

Yue Lingshan pointed at him and giggled hard. "Aren"t you too impatient? See, you got it stuck to your teeth."

With a wry smile, Linghu Chong swallowed hard and finally managed to send it down his throat. He thought to himself, "I am really being stupid! Little apprentice sister loves to play. Since I can"t go down the cliff, she wanted apprentice brother Lin to be her company. That"s really quite normal. Why am I being so narrow-minded and getting mad at that?" So he relaxed a little and said with a smile, "You must have worked on this one. See how tight did you wrap it? It got my tongue and my teeth all stuck together."

Yue Lingshan burst into loud laughter. After a few moments, she commented, "Poor big apprentice brother, who has to be a prisoner on top of the cliff. See how gluttonous you are!"

The next time when she came up the cliff again, it was already over ten days later. Other than the meal basket, she also brought a small basket with half basket of pine nuts and chestnuts.

During the ten days, Linghu Chong"s neck probably had gotten longer from all the anxious looking down the cliff. Every time he asked about little apprentice sister from Lu Dayou when he brought food up, Lu Dayou would always look queer and speak in an odd way. Linghu Chong got suspicious, but simply couldn"t get a straight answer out of him. When Linghu Chong pressed really hard sometimes, Lu Dayou would always answer, "Little apprentice sister is doing great. She practices sword art diligently everyday. Maybe Master didn"t want her up the cliff so she wouldn"t be disturbing big apprentice brother"s meditation here."

Now when he finally saw Yue Lingshan again after all the waiting, his joy was unspeakable. She seemed to be glowing with health and radiating vigor, looking even prettier than how she looked before the illness. Linghu Chong couldn"t help but think, "She has fully recovered. Why did she wait so long before coming up the cliff again? Did Master or Master-Wife ban her from coming up here?"

Seeing the puzzled look in Linghu Chong"s eyes, Yue Lingshan suddenly blushed. "Big apprentice brother, I hadn"t come up to see you for so many days. Are you mad at me?" she asked.

"Why would I be mad? Master and Master-Wife must have told you not to come up, haven"t you?" Linghu Chong said.

"Yeah. Mom just taught me a new sword art form. She said that this sword art form has so many complicated variations, if I had come up the cliff to chat with you, I"d lose my focus."

"Which sword art form?" Linghu Chong asked curiously.

"Take a guess!" Yue Lingshan challenged.

"Yang-Wu Sword Form?"

"Nope."

"Xi-Wu Sword Form?"

"Try again!" Yue Lingshan shook her head.

"Could it be the Fair-Maiden Sword Form?"

"That"s my mom"s specialty. I am not even qualified to give the Fair-Maiden Sword Form a try yet." Yue Lingshan stuck her tongue out and made a face. "Ok, let me tell you. It"s The Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword!" she said triumphantly.

Linghu Chong was taken by slight surprise. "You start to learn The Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword now? Oh, that really is a very complicated sword form," he said happily. All his suspicion melted away.

Although the set of Jade Maiden Sword form only had nineteen stances, every stance had very complicated changes and variations. If the pract.i.tioner couldn"t memorize all those, he wouldn"t even be able to fully use just one stance. He had heard from Master about it before, "The Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword mainly focus in the fancy variations and changes. The form is quite different from our school"s main focus – Inner Energy Drives the Sword. Since female apprentices tend to have less strength from their arms, when they encounter with a tougher opponent, they can use this sword form to counter with artful moves. But all the male apprentices have no need to learn it." That"s why even Linghu Chong himself had not learned it before. Based on Yue Lingshan"s current skill level, it seemed that she was not ready to learn this sword form yet. Before, Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan and some other apprentice brothers and sisters had watched how Master and Master-Wife showed the set of sword form. Master had attacked using many different sword art forms from different sword schools and styles, but Master-Wife only defended with this Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword form. The Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword were actually well matched with the hundreds of excellent sword moves in a dozen different styles. All the apprentices watching by the side were dumbfounded in amazement. Yue Lingshan had begged her mother to teach her this sword form by then, and Madam Yue had answered, "You are still too young. First, you don"t have the skill level yet. Secondly, this sword art form requires a lot of brainpower. You should probably wait till you are twenty years old before learning this sword form. In addition, this sword form is used for countering sword moves from other sword schools. If you only work with apprentice brothers and sisters in our own school, you"d end up practicing how to counter Huashan sword art. Chong knows a lot of different Kung Fu and he probably remembers many different sword moves from other sword schools. He can probably practice with you in the future." This was an episode that happened about two years ago, and n.o.body ever mentioned it again. Who"d expect that Master-Wife actually taught her this sword form?

"Master must be in a real good mood these days to practice sword art with you everyday," Linghu Chong said.

This sword form focused on adapting itself to changing conditions and not restricting oneself to certain moves or postures, that was why right from the beginning, the pract.i.tioner would need to practice with a partner. Within the Huashan Sword School, Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong were the only two having good knowledge about sword arts from other sword schools. Thus, since Yue Lingshan was learning The Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword, Yue Buqun had to be working with her to attack her with other sword school"s sword moves.

Yue Lingshan flushed slightly again. "Dad doesn"t have that much time. It was Little Lin who helped me to practice," she said bashfully.
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"Apprentice brother Lin? Does he know many sword moves from other sword schools?" Linghu Chong asked in surprise.

"He only knows the family Kung Fu of his – Evil-Resisting Sword Art. Dad said that even though the Evil-Resisting Sword Art isn"t that powerful at all, it has some interesting variations in the moves, which would be good for me to compare to. He wanted me to counter Evil-Resisting Sword Art as the starting point for my Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword training."

"I see." Linghu Chong nodded.

"Big apprentice brother, are you upset?"

"No. Why would I be upset? You are learning an advanced form of our Huashan sword arts now. I feel very happy for you! Why should I be upset?"

"But you don"t look very happy."

"Which stance are you on now?" Linghu Chong squeezed out a smile and asked.

Yue Lingshan didn"t answer. After a long time, she finally said, "I see. Mom said to let you help me practice, but I am having Little Lin do it, that"s why you are upset. Am I right? But think about it, big apprentice brother, in the short while, you won"t be able to come down from the cliff, and I am just too anxious to learn this sword form. I just can"t wait for you any longer."

"You are talking childishly again. We are all apprentice brothers and sisters, so it"s all the same no matter who practices with you," Linghu Chong said in laughter. He paused for a second and then went on, "I know you"d rather have apprentice brother Lin practice with you than having me."

"Nonsense!" Yue Lingshan blushed again. "Compared to you, Little Lin"s skill level is miles away. What good does it do me practicing with him?"

Linghu Chong thought to himself, "Apprentice brother Lin has only joined the Huashan Sword School for several months. Even if he were a super genius, how good could he get?" So he said, "Of course there"s benefit here. Wouldn"t you feel great when you can beat him with every single one of your moves?"

"Humph, just with his clumsy Evil-Resisting Sword Art, does he actually expect to defeat me?" Yue Lingshan giggled.

Linghu Chong had long known that the little apprentice sister was the type who always wanted to win. When she sparred with Lin Pingzhi, most likely she was able to use the newly learned sword art with facility, and was able to enjoy advantage with every single move. Lin Pingzhi"s Kung Fu level was very low, and he probably made a perfect spar partner. When Linghu Chong thought about that, his depression went away immediately. "Then let me try a couple moves with you. Let"s see how good you are with your Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword," he suggested, smiling.

Yue Lingshan was overjoyed. "Wonderful! Today…today before I came up…I actually planned…." With a shy smile, she drew her long sword.

"You came up the cliff today just to show me the sword art you just learned? Good, go ahead!" Linghu Chong said.

"Big apprentice brother, your sword skills have always been better than mine. But after I learn this set of Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword well, you won"t be able to bully me anymore." Yue Lingshan grinned.

"When did I ever bully you? You are wronging the good guy here."

"Don"t you want to draw your sword?" Yue Lingshan got into her starting position.

"Not so soon!" Linghu Chong said. He shifted his left hand into the starting position and then thrust his right hand out quickly. "This is from the Qingcheng Sword School"s Pine-Wind Sword Art. This move is called Thundering Pine Wave!" He pretended that his hand was a sword and thrust it toward Yue Lingshan"s shoulder.

Yue Lingshan turned to the side and stepped back while waving her sword to block toward Linghu Chong"s hand. "Look out!" she called out.

"Don"t try to be nice. I"ll draw my sword when I can"t defend myself."

"How dare you fight my Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword with your bare hands?" Yue Lingshan snapped.

"That"s because you have not mastered it. Once you master it, I won"t be able to fight you with my bare hands."

Yue Lingshan had been practicing the Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword very hard these days. She felt that she had advanced quite a lot in her sword skills, and even if compared to first cla.s.s sword masters in the Martial World, she would be no less. The reason why she didn"t come up the cliff for the last ten days was to keep this a secret from Linghu Chong, so she could give him a big surprise with one brilliant feat, and thus make Linghu Chong think highly of her. But now he was actually belittling her and only wanted to fight her Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword with his bare hands, she couldn"t help but feeling annoyed.

"If by accident I cut you or something, don"t blame me. Don"t tell my mom or dad either." She pulled a long face.

"That"s of course. You do your best. If you give ground in anyway, you wouldn"t be showing your true skills." Linghu Chong"s left hand suddenly chopped out as he spoke. "Look out!" he yelled.

"What…what! Is your left hand a sword too?" Yue Lingshan shouted in astonishment.

If Linghu Chong had really chopped down, Yue Lingshan would have been injured in the shoulder. He held on his strength and explained, "Some people in the Qingcheng Sword School do use double swords."

"That"s right! I"ve seen some Qingcheng apprentices carrying double swords. How did I forget that? Watch out!" Yue Lingshan launched a counter attack.

Seeing that the thrust drifted swiftly, Linghu Chong figured this must be an advanced move out of the Jade Maiden Sword. He praised, "This one is very good. Just not fast enough."

"Still not fast enough? A little bit faster, I would have chopped off your arm."

"Go ahead and try to chop it off." Linghu Chong used his right hand as the sword and chopped toward her left arm.

Yue Lingshan was a bit annoyed. She waved her sword quickly and swiftly and started using the Nineteen Stances of Jade Maiden Sword she had been practicing one move after another. Out of the total nineteen stances of moves, she could only remember nine, and within the nine stances, she could really only use six. But these six stances were already quite powerful. Whenever she pointed the sword somewhere, Linghu Chong would have a hard time getting close to her in that direction. Linghu Chong circled around her as they fought. Every time when he tried to attack his way in, he was forced back by her sharp sword moves. Once he had to jump backward quickly and ended up b.u.mping his back on a piece of rock that was sticking out.

Yue Lingshan was very pleased with herself. She asked in a grin, "Don"t you want to draw your sword now?"