The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

"Tian Boguang," Linghu Chong answered, "we don"t belong to the same sides of the society. You have committed numerous crimes and harmed many innocent people. Everyone in the Martial World hates your guts. I drank three bowls of wine with you because I think you are someone upright and not some kind of shameless filthy scoundrel. Our relationship stops right here. You"ve brought me two jars of great wine, but even if you put all the precious jewels and treasures right in front me, do you think you can buy Linghu Chong to be your friend?" He yelled as he drew his long sword, "Tian Boguang, let me try your fast knife chop moves one more time!"

Tian Boguang didn"t draw his knife. He shook his head with a slight smile on his face. "Brother Linghu, your respectful school"s sword art is brilliant, but you are still too young and haven"t grasped the depth of it. Right now with your sword skills, you are still no match for me."

Linghu Chong thought for a second and then nodded in agreement. "What you said is very true. Within the next ten years, Linghu Chong would stand no chance of ever killing you, brother Tian." With a loud clanking sound, he sent his long sword back into the sheath.

"Whosoever understands the times is a great man!" Tian Boguang burst into loud laughter.

"Linghu Chong is only a n.o.body in the Martial World. I suppose you made nothing of hardships to Mount Huashan not for my head on my neck. We are enemies, not friends. No matter what you want me to do, I won"t do it." Linghu Chong announced.

"But you haven"t even given yourself a chance to hear my proposal yet." Tian Boguang was amused.

"Precisely!" Linghu Chong said. "No matter what you propose, I won"t agree. Since I can"t beat you in a fight, I"d better lubricate my heels and have the run for it." Before the word even faded in the air, he had already turned around the corner to the back of the cliff.

Linghu Chong knew well that Tian Boguang could run very fast. That was how he got his nickname "Ten Thousand Miles Loner." He had good knife skills, but there were plenty of people in the Martial World who could beat him. He had been committing various crimes for the last ten years or so. Yet because he was always on good alert and had first-cla.s.s Qing-Gong skills, during the several times when the Chivalry Side gathered a good amount of people to hunt him down, no one was even able to touch him. For this reason when Linghu Chong started running, he ran with all his strength.

He thought he was fast, but Tian Boguang was even faster. Only after Linghu Chong dashed out some thirty feet, he already found Tian Boguang blocking the way in front of him. He turned around immediately heading toward the front of the cliff, thinking that he might be able to jump down the cliff to the lower slope, but only after about ten steps, Tian Boguang had caught up with him again and blocked in front of him with his arms stretching out, laughing hectically.

"No chance of running away, I guess we"ll have to pick a fight! Brother Tian, you can"t blame me if I call for help now!" Linghu Chong took three steps back and shouted.

"Well," Tian Boguang said with a grin, "if your respectful Master can come, then it would be my turn to lubricate my heels and take the run for it. Too bad Mr. and Madam Yue are in Eastern Shanxi right now, which is at least a hundred and fifty miles away from here, and would have no chance of coming back to save you. You do have some apprentice brothers and sisters, but if they come up the cliff, none of them would make a decent opponent. All the guys would lose their lives for nothing, and all the girls…hha, hha." The tone of his laughter was filled with ill intentions.

Linghu Chong gasped. He thought to himself, "The "Cliff of Contemplation" is far away from the Huashan Sword School"s main hall. Even if I shout with all my might, the apprentice brothers and sisters probably still won"t be able to hear a thing. This fellow is an infamous rapist, what if he b.u.mped into little apprentice sister…oops! That was a close call! Luckily I wasn"t able to run away earlier, or else, Tian Boguang would have gone to the main hall of Huashan Sword School to look for me for sure, and then naturally he would b.u.mp into little apprentice sister. If the pretty and lovely little apprentice sister had fallen into the evil rapist"s hands, I…I"d deserve ten-thousand deaths." He rolled his eyes and quickly made up his mind. "Right now the best thing to do probably is to muddle with him perfunctorily and to stall him for more time. Hence I can"t take him by force, I"ll have to take him by strategy. As long as I can stall him till Master and Master-Wife make it back to Mount Huashan, then everything would be fine."

"Fine! I can"t win in a fight, nor can I run away, nor can I find any help…." Linghu Chong put his hands out and shrugged, signaling that he had given up and Tian Boguang could do anything as he please.

"Brother Linghu, you must have misunderstood me and thought that I am here to give you trouble. It is actually something that will benefit you in a good deal, and you will definitely thank me sincerely for that later," Tian Boguang said with a broad smile.

"You have done many evil deeds and gained yourself a notorious reputation. Despite how beneficial this thing you speak about is for me, I, Linghu Chong, will preserve my own purity and never wallow in the mire with you." Linghu Chong waved him off.

"I am the infamous evil rapist, but brother Linghu is the proud disciple of the number one gentleman in the Martial World – Mr. Yue. Of course you can"t wallow in the mire with me. But if that"s the case today, why not before?" Tian Boguang grinned.

"What do you mean by "if that"s the case today, why not before"?" Linghu Chong asked.

"In the Huiyan Wine House of Hengyang, brother Linghu, you and I had the companionship of drinking on the same table," Tian Boguang claimed.

"Linghu Chong is a big alcoholic. We were just having a couple of drinks together. It was nothing."

"In the Jade House of Hengshan, brother Linghu, you and I had the same aesthetic pleasure of visiting prost.i.tutes in the same brothel."

"Bah!" Linghu Chong spit to the ground. "At that time I was severely wounded and had been rescued. I was just recovering in the Jade House temporarily. What has that got anything to do with visiting prost.i.tutes?"

"But in the Jade House, didn"t you have the great pleasure of sleeping with two gorgeous and lovely girls under the same quilt?" Tian Boguang split into a big grin.

Linghu Chong felt a great shock in his heart. He yelled out loud, "Tian Boguang, you"d better watch you mouth! I have a clean reputation, and those two girls are also as pure as crystal and jade. If you keep spilling out such filthy lies, I won"t be so easy on you."

"What good does it do if you don"t go easy on me today? If you want to uphold the clean reputation of the Huashan Sword School, you should have treated those two girls with some respect. Why did you get under the same quilt with those two girls and rubbed up and down in front of all those heroes of the Qingcheng Sword School, Hengshan Sword School, and Heng-Shan Sword School, stopping at nothing? Hha, hha!"

Infuriated, Linghu Chong threw a fist at him fiercely, which Tian Boguang easily dodged with a big grin.

"It"s no good trying to deny it! If you hadn"t gotten petty advantages of those two little girls on the bed under the quilt, why would they all get lovesickness for you today?"

Linghu Chong thought to himself, "This man is a shameless rascal. It is possible that anything would come out of his mouth. If I tangle myself with him in such an inexplicable way, who knows what more garbage is going to come out of his mouth? That day in Huiyan Wine House of Hengyang, he fell for my trick. That was the most galling shame and humiliation he has ever had in his entire life. It"s the only thing I can use to shut him up." At that thought, instead of getting outraged, he smiled.

"I was wondering why did brother Tian come such a long distance to Mount Huashan. Who would have thought that your Master, the little nun Yilin, had sent you to bring two jars of great wine to me, thanking me for finding her such a well-behaved apprentice? Hha, hha!"

Tian Boguang flushed, but soon calmed down. "The two jars of wine are tokens of my own regard. But my coming to Mount Huashan surely is related to Little Sister Yilin," putting on a serious face, he said.

"Little Sister? No, no, no! Isn"t she your Master now? What a true man says cannot be unsaid. Are you trying to go back on your own words? Apprentice sister Yilin is an outstanding apprentice from a famous school. It was really your good fortune to have found such a Master. Hha!"

Tian Boguang was outraged. He grabbed onto his knife handle and almost drew the knife. But he pulled himself together and spoke coldly.

"Brother Linghu, you don"t have good Kung Fu with your hands, but you surely have outstanding Kung Fu with your tongue."

"Since I am no match for you in a fight with sword, knife, punches, or kicks, all I can do is to take some petty advantage from you with my tongue, brother Tian." Linghu Chong grinned.

"In the fight with the tongue, I candidly admit my defeat. Brother Linghu, it"s time for you to come with me now," Tian Boguang demanded.

"No way! I am not going even if I have to die!" Linghu Chong declared.

"Do you know where I am asking you to go to?" Tian Boguang asked.

"I don"t know and I don"t care. Either to go up the heavens or go down to h.e.l.l, wherever Tian Boguang goes, Linghu Chong won"t go."

Tian Boguang shook his head slowly. "Brother Linghu, I am here to invite you to pay a visit to Little Sister Yilin," he said.

"You rascal, has apprentice sister Yilin fallen into your hands again? How dare you offend your superior and be so disrespectful to your own Master?" Linghu Chong was shocked.

Tian Boguang yelled angrily, "My Master is someone else. He had pa.s.sed away many years ago. Don"t you ever mix up Little Sister Yilin in this matter again." He paused for a moment to calm himself down and then said, "Brother Linghu, Little Sister Yilin misses you very much. She thinks of you days and nights. I consider you a friend, that"s why I will never dare to be disrespectful to her again. You can relax. Shall we go now?"

"I am not going! How many times do I have to repeat myself, one thousand times, ten thousand times?" Linghu Chong claimed.

Tian Boguang showed a slight smile but didn"t say a word.

"What are you smiling about? Because your Kung Fu is better than mine, you think you"ll just force your will upon me and take me down as a prisoner?" Linghu Chong mocked.

"I have no hostility toward you, brother Linghu, and really don"t want to offend you in anyway. But I surely don"t want to set out in high spirits and return disappointed."

"Tian Boguang, you have excellent knife skills, and it would be a piece of cake for you to kill me or wound me. You can kill Linghu Chong, but you won"t succeed in humiliating Linghu Chong. At most, I"ll just let you take away my life, but to take me prisoner so you can take me down Mount Huashan, that"s absolutely impossible!"

"I am just doing a favor for someone inviting you to pay a visit to Little Sister Yilin. That"s the true and only intention. Why are you so uptight?" Tian Boguang turned his head and eyed Linghu Chong from the corner of his eyes.

"If it"s something I don"t" want to do, even my Master, Master-Wife, Five Mountains Sword Alliance Chief, or the Emperor himself won"t be able to force me, not mentioning you. Here"s my final answer: I am not going! Even if I have to say it ten thousand times or one hundred thousand times, the answer is still the same," Linghu Chong said with determination.

"You are too stubborn. I am afraid I"ll have to give offense now." With a loud clank, Tian Boguang drew his knife.

"You have offended me at the very beginning when you planned to take me prisoner," Linghu Chong rebuffed angrily. "I guess the "Cliff of Contemplation" on top of Mount Huashan is going to be the place where I depart this life." He let out a clear roar and also drew his sword.

Tian Boguang took a step back and slightly frowned. "Brother Linghu, we have neither scores to settle nor grudges between the two of us. Why do we have to fight in the expense of our lives? Why don"t we have a bet?"

Linghu Chong secretly felt pleased. He thought to himself, "A bet? That"s perfect! If I lose, I can still argue my way out, even if I have to use some lame excuses." But instead, he said, "What bet? If I win, I won"t go, and if I lose, I won"t go just the same."

"I see," Tian Boguang said with a smile. "The head apprentice of the Huashan Sword School is so scared of Tian Boguang"s fast knife chops, he doesn"t even have the guts to take on thirty knife moves of mine."

"What am I scared of? What"s the worst, me dying under your blade? So what?" Linghu Chong mocked angrily.

"Brother Linghu, it"s not that I look down upon you or anything, but I am afraid that you won"t be able to fend off even thirty moves of my fast knife chops. As soon as you fend off thirty moves of my fast knife chops, I"ll turn my b.u.t.t around and get out of here right away. No more babbling. But if I get lucky and beat you within thirty moves, you"ll have to go down Mount Huashan with me and pay a visit to Little Sister Yilin," Tian Boguang declared.

In the instant, Linghu Chong had gone through Tian Boguang"s knife moves once in his head. He thought, "After the last two fights with him, I"ve pondered over all the powerful techniques of his fast knife chops many times. And on top of that, I"ve also asked Master and Master-Wife about them. If all I need to do is to guard myself so I don"t lose, couldn"t I even fend off thirty moves of his?"

"Fine, I"ll see your thirty moves!" Linghu Chong yelled as he thrust his sword toward Tian Boguang. He had used an advanced move of the Huashan sword art called Graceful Phoenix right at the beginning. The blade of his sword vibrated and made a buzzing sound as rays of reflection covered Tian Boguang"s entire upper body.

"Nice sword move!" Tian Boguang praised as he blocked it with his knife and took a step back.

"That"s one!" Linghu Chong shouted out and immediately followed with another attack – Green Pines Welcoming Guest.

"Another nice one!" Tian Boguang praised again.

He knew that there must be numerous additional techniques hidden in the move, so he dared not to fend it off with his knife and simply dodged to the side in a slide. The dodge shouldn"t really be counted as a move, but Linghu Chong immediately shouted.

"That"s two!"

Before the words even faded, he had already started another attacking move. Soon, Linghu Chong had already launched five attacking moves continuously. Tian Boguang either blocked them or dodged them, never starting his counter-attack, yet Linghu Chong had already counted up to number five. When Linghu Chong started his sixth move by thrusting his sword upward from a lower angle, Tian Boguang gave a loud roar and brought his knife swishing down through the air. The knife and the sword clashed in the midair and Linghu Chong"s long sword was knocked down instantly.

"Sixth move, seventh move, eighth move, ninth move, tenth move!" Tian Boguang yelled out.

Every time when he counted one, he would throw a chop at the same time. He counted five moves, and he chopped five times. Every chop swished straight down through the air; he didn"t even change his move at all. Each chop landed heavier than the previous one. When the sixth chop came down, Linghu Chong felt that his entire body had been trapped in the energy stream from the blade slicing down and he couldn"t even breathe, but he gathered all the strength he could and blocked upwards anyway. With a loud clank, the knife and the sword smashed into each other. Linghu Chong"s arm instantly went numb and the long sword fell from his hand and landed on the ground. Tian Boguang threw another chop. Linghu Chong simply closed his eyes and ignored it.

"How many moves now?" Tian Boguang asked, laughing loudly.

Linghu Chong opened his eyes and answered, "Not only your knife skills are better than mine, your arm strength and inner energy are also way better than mine. Linghu Chong is no match for you."

"Then let"s go!" Tian Boguang smiled in triumph.

"Nope. I am not going!" Linghu Chong shook his head again.

"Brother Linghu, I consider you a true man who keeps his own promises. You have lost within thirty moves. Why are you going back on your words?" Tian Boguang pulled a long face.

"At first, I didn"t believe that you can beat me within thirty moves. Sure, I have lost, but I never said that I would go with you if I lose to you, did I?" Linghu Chong argued.

Tian Boguang thought that it was really he himself who had said that and Linghu Chong surely never said anything close, so he placed his knife across in front of him and said with a sneer, "There"s a character "Hu" in your name and the name sure fits the person. [6] Ok, you didn"t say it, so what?"

"When I lost to you earlier, it was only because you had more strength than me. I am not giving in yet. Let me take a rest, then we can try it again," Linghu Chong said.

"Fine. I"ll wait till you admit your loss, yourself." Tian Boguang sat on a rock with his hands on his hips and looked at Linghu Chong with a big smile.

Linghu Chong thought to himself, "This villain is insisting on having me leave Mount Huashan. I wonder what kind of evil plan he has. The real reason must have nothing to do with paying a visit to apprentice sister Yilin. He isn"t a real student of apprentice sister Yilin, and apprentice sister Yilin would be scared out of her wit as soon as she sees him, how could she ever maintain contacts with him? But he keeps pestering me at the moment. How can I get out of it?"

He remembered the six chops from Tian Boguang just a minute ago. Those chops had no special techniques to go with them yet the power of the chops was tremendous, and he really had no idea how to fend them off. He suddenly got an idea.

"That night when Great Mr. Mo killed Great Songyang Palm Fei Bin in the remote valley, Great Mr. Mo used the flashy and unpredictable Hengshan style sword art. If I use that to fight Tian Boguang, I am sure I won"t lose. There are many deadly moves amount the Hengshan style sword art drawn on the rock wall in the back cave. If I go back there and learn some thirty or forty moves, I should be able to put up a decent fight with Tian Boguang." But then he thought, "Hengshan style sword art is a fine and ingenious sword art. How can I master it in such a short time? Alas, that was just my wishful thinking."

Seeing the fast changing expression on Linghu Chong"s face, in one minute being happy, but in the next minute looking totally worried, Tian Boguang grinned.

"Brother Linghu, have you thought of a CUNNING TRICK to defeat my knife moves?"

Hearing that Tian Boguang raising his voice specifically at the words "cunning trick", Linghu Chong"s anger rose. "There"s no need for any CUNNING TRICKS just to defeat your knife moves. You are being really wordy and annoying here. I can"t think well when you keep distracting me like that. I am going to go inside the cave now to think it through. Don"t you come and disturb me."

"Fine! You go ahead and think REAL HARD. I won"t disturb you." Tian Boguang agreed.

Linghu Chong noticed that Tian raised his voice again at the words "real hard." He cursed in a whisper to himself and entered the cave. He lit a candle and then climbed back into the back cave. Wasting no time, he went straight to the side of the rock wall with drawings of Hengshan style sword art. Seeing all the different forms of magical and profound sword moves with endless variations, he was dumbfounded. If he hadn"t seen them with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such brilliant and fluctuating moves actually existed in the world.

"In such a short time, it"s simply impossible for me to learn the sword art well. I"d better pick several of the most unpredictable and weird variation techniques and memorize them well. When I go out again, I"ll use them with no specific order whatsoever and fight indiscreetly. Who knows? I might be able to make a surprise attack on him," Linghu Chong thought to himself.

Once decided, he immediately started reading and memorizing. Even though the other figure in the drawings had already defeated every move of the Hengshan sword art, thinking that Tian Boguang would have no chance of knowing any of those techniques, he wasn"t worried at all.

He worked on memorizing all the techniques while trying them out with his hands, and after he had learned about twenty or so moves, an hour had already pa.s.sed. Tian Boguang"s voice rose from outside the cave.

"Brother Linghu, if you don"t come out, I am going to charge in now."

Linghu Chong leapt out with his sword in his hand and shouted, "Fine! Let me take another thirty moves of yours!"

"So brother Linghu, what if you lose again this time?" Tian Boguang asked with a beam.

"At least it wouldn"t be the first loss for me. Just one more loss, no big deal!"

Before he even finished talking, he had already launched a storm of attacks with seven continuous moves. All those seven moves were ones he had newly learned from the rock wall in the back cave, and all of them were fluctuating and unpredictable to the extreme.

Tian Boguang had not expected such unpredictable variations from Huashan style sword art. Caught in a surprise, he had to take one step back after another. When it was the tenth move, still being greatly amazed, he roared loudly and waved his knife to start his counter attack. He had great strength with his knife chops, which prevented Linghu Chong from executing many of the variations in his sword moves. At the nineteenth move, the two weapons clashed, and Linghu Chong"s long sword was once again knocked out of his grip.

Linghu Chong leapt two steps to the side and shouted, "Brother Tian, you only have stronger arms than me. You didn"t win with your knife moves. I am still not convinced this time. Let me figure out another thirty sword moves and then I"ll fight you again."

"Your Master is still a hundred and fifty miles away at this very moment, searching for traces of me. He probably won"t make it back to Mount Huashan for another ten to fifteen days. This delaying strategy of yours is not gonna work," Tian Boguang said with a smirk.

"Who said that I have to rely on my Master to take care of you? I just recovered from my illness and am very weak in my strength, that"s how you got the advantage. If we are only comparing our moves, you think I can"t even block thirty moves of yours? I don"t think so!"

"I am not going to fall for you again. Either I win by knife moves or by arm strength, a win is a win and a loss is a loss. What good does it do to find all the excuses?" Tian Boguang disagreed.

"Fine! You wait for me here. Be a true man. Don"t you get scared and decide to run away. But if you do, I won"t be chasing after you!" Linghu Chong said.

Tian Boguang burst into loud laughter. He took two steps back and sat on a big rock.

Linghu Chong went back into the back cave. He figured, "Tian Boguang has fought Priest Tiansong of the Taishan Sword School before, and also wounded him quite good. He has also fought with apprentice sister Yilin of the Heng-Shan Sword School. And I just fought him using the Hengshan style sword art. He probably doesn"t know anything about the Songshan style sword art."

He found the drawings of the Songshan Sword School"s sword moves and learned about ten moves or so. "I still have over ten Hengshan style lethal moves that I didn"t have a chance to use earlier," he thought to himself. "If I mix them up in Songshan style sword art moves and then use several moves of my own sword school all of a sudden, I might be able to really confuse the h.e.l.l out of him."

He didn"t even wait for Tian Boguang to call for him, and rushed straight into the fight as soon as he went out of the cave. The sword moves he used would be a minute in Songshan style, the next minute in Hengshan style, with Huashan style deadly moves mixed up in between.

"Weird! This is so weird!" Tian Boguang kept yelling out loud. But on the twenty-second move, he was still able to place the blade of his knife right next to Linghu Chong"s neck and forced him to throw down his sword.
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"In the first time, I was only able to take on five moves of yours. But after I thought about it for a little while, I was able to take on eighteen moves of yours. After thinking for another while, I was already able to take on twenty-one moves of yours. Brother Tian, aren"t you a bit scared by now?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Why should I be scared?" Tian Boguang beamed.

"If I keep pondering over it and think a couple more times, I will then be able to take on thirty of your moves. And after thinking some more, I will be able to turn the tide and claim victory. Even if I decide to not kill you, wouldn"t it be terrible for you?" Linghu Chong deduced.

"I have been wandering around the Martial World for many years, and brother Linghu, you are certainly the smartest one out of all the adversaries I ever had. It"s a pity that your Kung Fu is still a good deal far too lower than mine. Say that you can progress really fast, but it would still be impossible for you to defeat me within hours." Tian Boguang claimed.

"Brother Tian, you are certainly the most reckless one out of all the adversaries I ever had. Seeing that Linghu Chong is getting stronger and stronger in the fights, yet you still decide not to run away. It"s so rare. Brother Tian, if you"ll excuse me, I am going to go inside to think a bit more."

"Help yourself!" Tian Boguang only grinned.

Linghu Chong walked in the cave slowly. Although he had been raving with Tian Boguang as if he had nothing to worry about, in his heart, he was actually getting more and more worried. "This villain must have come to Mount Huashan with evil plans. He knows very well that Master and Master-Wife went after him in the hope to get rid of him, why would he still have leisure time to have the contests with me? After he took me prisoner each time, even if he doesn"t want to kill me, he should at least have sealed my pressure points to restrict me from moving about. Why did he let me go free again and again? What does he want?"

He was determined that Tian Boguang must have come to Mount Huashan with a terrifying evil plot, but he had no clue what the plot might be. "Could it be that he wanted to keep me here so somebody else can take care of all my apprentice brothers and sisters? But why doesn"t he simply kill me right away? Wouldn"t that be a lot easier?" he couldn"t help but ask himself.

He thought for quite a while and finally jumped up onto his feet, thinking, "No matter what, it appears that our Huashan Sword School is in great danger today. Master and Master-Wife are not home, and I am the head of the sword school right now. I"ll have to carry the heavy burden all by myself. Despite whatever Tian Boguang"s purpose is, I must use all my brain to keep pestering him, and if there"s ever an opportunity that I can take advantage of him, I should kill him without hesitation."

After making up his mind, he went on studying the drawings on the rock wall, but this time he intentionally picked the fiercest and most vicious and fatal moves to memorize. By the time he walked out of the cave, it was daybreak the next day already. Although Linghu Chong had the intent to kill, his face looked very relaxed.

"Brother Tian, you have come to Mount Huashan as a guest, and I am so sorry that I haven"t really fulfilled my duty as a host. After this contest, regardless of who wins and who loses, I"ll invite you to try out some of our local products," Linghu Chong suggested.

"Thanks a lot!" Tian Boguang smiled.

"But when we meet again down Mount Huashan in the future, we would still be fighting for our lives. Nothing will be like today"s polite contest with counted moves ever again," Linghu Chong declared.

"It would be a real pity to kill the kind of friend like you, brother Linghu. But if I don"t kill you, your Kung Fu would progress too fast and one day when your skills are better than mine, you probably wouldn"t let me, the evil rapist, go easily," Tian Boguang said.

"Precisely. It is such a rare opportunity for us to swap pointers in Kung Fu like today. Brother Tian, I am going to attack now. Will you please give me some advice?"

"You flatter me! Brother Linghu, please!" Tian Boguang said courteously.

"The more I think about it, the more I feel that I am no match for you, brother Tian," Linghu Chong said with a big smile.

Before he even finished the sentence, he had already thrust his sword forward. By the time his sword tip was about three feet from Tian Boguang"s body, the sword went toward the left side and then turned into a sudden side stab. Tian Boguang raised his knife and blocked. Not waiting for the sword blade to clash with the knife blade, Linghu Chong suddenly slashed up from Tian"s crouch. This move was both sinister and fierce to the extreme. Tian Boguang was astounded and immediately jumped back. Linghu Chong followed the initiative and thrust out three attacks, each one heading toward Tian Boguang"s vital parts with all his might. Losing the initiative, Tian Boguang found himself in disadvantage and had to block left and right with his knife. A tearing sound rose as Linghu Chong"s long sword penetrated his pants right next to his right leg, leaving a hole in his pants. The fast sword thrust landed only a mere inch from his leg.

Tian Boguang threw a punch with his right fist, which knocked Linghu Chong rolling on the ground. "Every move of yours is aimed at killing me. What kind of swapping pointers is that?" he yelled in rage.

"Well, no matter how hard I try, I still wouldn"t stand a chance even harming a hair of yours. You surely have a lot of strength with your left fist." Linghu Chong leapt back onto his feet.

"Sorry for that!" Tian Boguang said.

"I think you broke two of my ribs." Linghu Chong stepped forward with a big smile on his face.

As he got closer, all of a sudden, he pa.s.sed the sword to his left hand and thrust it out backward in a flash. This unimaginably queer move turned out to be a deadly move of the Heng-Shan Sword School. In immense astonishment, Tian Boguang found the sword tip only inches from his lower stomach. In a great hurry he rolled onto the ground and was able to barely dodge it. Occupying the commanding position, Linghu Chong continued with four more thrusts, which put Tian Boguang in an extremely awkward position. It almost looked as if within a couple more moves, Linghu Chong would succeed nailing Tian on the ground with his sword. But unexpectedly, Tian Boguang threw a kick with his left foot all of a sudden, which landed on Linghu Chong"s wrist. He then instantly followed with another kick, his right foot striking Linghu Chong"s stomach heavily. Linghu Chong could no longer hold on to his sword. The sword flew out of his grip as he fell down to the ground facing up. Tian Boguang leapt up and rushed forward, placing his blade right on Linghu Chong"s throat.

"Very sinister sword moves indeed! I almost got killed. Are you convinced yet?" Tian Boguang sneered.

"Of course not! We agreed to a contest between my sword moves and your knife chops. Didn"t you just use your fists and legs to throw punches and kicks at me? How should we count the moves now?"

"Even if we count the punches and kicks, it is still less than thirty moves." Tian Boguang moved his blade away and said with a sneer.

Linghu Chong stood up and said angrily, "You beat me within thirty moves. You have excellent Kung Fu. So what? If you want to kill me, then kill me, why are you laughing at me? If you want to laugh, then laugh. Why are you sneering?"

Tian Boguang took a step back. "Brother Linghu, you have a good accusation. Yes, I am wrong." He cupped his hands and said, "I apologize sincerely. Will you, brother Linghu, please forgive me?"

Linghu Chong was struck dumb. Tian Boguang just had a brilliant victory, yet he was willing to apologize. That"s far from what Linghu Chong had expected. So he too cupped his hands and saluted back.

"That"s quite alright!" he said as he pondered upon the question, "When someone shows great courtesy to his inferior, he must have his purpose. I wonder why he is treating me with such great respect."

He pondered over the question but still couldn"t figure it out, so he decided to simply ask about it straight forth.

"Brother Tian, I have a question in my mind. Will you give me a straight answer?" he asked.

"I have no problem telling anything to anyone. For things like raping and looting, murdering and arson, others might try to hide or deny them. When I, Tian Boguang, want to do something, I"ll do it and admit to it! Why bother denying it?" Tian Boguang declared.

"Then, brother Tian, you are really an open and aboveboard true man," Linghu Chong commented.

"A true man? You are really flattering me. But at least I am an honest villain whose deeds match his words." Tian Boguang said.

"Aha, brother Tian, people of your type are really rare in the Martial World. Will you please answer this question for me? You had planned carefully to lure my Master far away from Mount Huashan, and then you came to Mount Huashan and insisted on having me leave together with you. Where on earth do you want me to go and what"s your purpose?"

"I"ve told you right at the beginning that I am here to invite you to pay a visit to Little Sister Yilin so she won"t be hurting from lovesickness."

"That is just so too absurd and bizarre. I am not a three-year old kid. How can I believe you?" Linghu Chong shook his head.

Tian Boguang was enraged. "I consider you a true hero, but you are treating me like I am the shameless low life scoundrel. Why can"t you trust my words? Are you thinking that all the words that are coming out of my mouth are just c.r.a.p? If there were anything untrue in my words, I would be even lower than a filthy pig," he snapped.

Feeling the sincerity in his words, Linghu Chong had to believe in him, and at the meantime, he was totally amazed. "Brother Tian, your submitting to become Little Sister Yilin"s apprentice was just a joke, not to be taken seriously. Why did you come such a long way to invite me for her sake?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course there are other reasons involved. Just with her little Kung Fu, how could she ever be worthy to be my Master?" Tian Boguang looked quite embarra.s.sed.

Linghu Chong suddenly got an idea. He thought to himself, "Could it be possible that Tian Boguang has fallen in love with apprentice sister Yilin, and all his previous ill intention has transformed into deep affection?"

"Have you fallen in love with Little Sister Yilin at first sight and are most willing to do what she tells you?" Linghu Chong asked.

"You can stop imagining things. There"s nothing even close to that!" Tian Boguang shook his head.

"Then what are the other reasons involved? Brother Tian, will you please share those with me?" Linghu Chong demanded.

"This is the worst luck for me. Why ask so much? In short, if I can"t invite you down Mount Huashan, I will die a dreadful death," Tian Boguang answered.

"How could that be possible?" Linghu Chong was shocked, yet he didn"t even bat an eyelid.

"Tian Boguang pushed up his clothes and exposed his chest. Pointing at two red spots as big as a coin right below his two nipples, he exclaimed, "Somebody has sealed my Death Points here and also planted strong poison in my body so he can force me to come and invite you to pay a visit to the Little Sister. If I fail to accomplish the mission, then the two red spots will start to deteriorate and fester. By then, there will be no cure whatsoever and they will gradually expand all over my body until my entire body starts to decompose. After three years and six months I will eventually die because of the rotting."

With a very serious look on his face, he spoke again, "Brother Linghu, I am telling you the truth not because I want to earn your pity or anything. I just want you to know that no matter how persistent you are, I am determined to have you comply. I am open at all options at all cost. On normal days, I already stop at no evil. At a life-threatening moment like this, I would have no scruples."

"It seems like he is telling the truth," Linghu Chong thought to himself. "Then all I need to do is to not go down Mount Huashan with him. A month later when the poison in his body activates, the world will be rid of a big villain. There is really no need to kill him myself." So he said to Tian Boguang with a smile, "Which elite master was so mischievous to have done such a practical joke and gave you such a puzzle to solve? I wonder what kind of poison was planted in your body. Even the most dangerous poison can be detoxified somehow."

"There"s no need to mention the one who sealed my Death Points and planted poison in me. Other than the one who did it, there"s only one other person in the entire world who might be able to detoxify the poison in my Death Points – "Killer Doctor" Ping One-Finger. But why would he want to work on me?" Tian Boguang said irritably.

"You can either beg him with polite words or threaten him with your knife on his neck. Maybe he might consider working on you," Linghu Chong said with a small grin.

"You can save all your sarcasm to yourself. In brief, if I can"t get you to go with me, then I will be dead for sure, but you won"t be able to stay safe either."

"Of course! Brother Tian, all you need is to beat me fair and square and make me feel sincerely convinced. Then in consideration of your great Kung Fu skills that took you quite some hard work to master, I might just agree to go down Mount Huashan with you. Will you please wait for me a bit more? I am going to enter the cave to think again.

He entered the cave, thinking to himself, "That day when I fought with him for several times, I was able to fight over thirty moves every time. How come I"ve actually slipped back now and simply can"t take thirty of his moves any more?" Soon, he figured it out. "That"s right! That day when I fought with him, ready to die any moment, I never cared if it was thirty moves or forty moves. Right now I keep counting the first move, the second move, the third move. All I care about is how to take on the full set of thirty moves. With such distraction, then inevitably my sword skill is only half good compared to the last time. Linghu Chong, Linghu Chong! How dumb you are!"

After figuring the problem out, he was greatly encouraged and went on to study the Kung Fu on the rock wall. This time he focused on Taishan style sword art. Taishan style sword art was distinctively strong in its stableness and steadiness. Within such a short time, it would be impossible to truly grasp the essence of it. Besides, Linghu Chong wasn"t too fond of the rigorous and well-behaved sword style either. He looked at the moves for a little while and was ready to leave when the nimble and agile moves of a short spear used to break Taishan style sword art caught his eyes. The more he studied them, the more fascinated he became, and soon he was so focused in it that he lost track of time, until Tian Boguang became impatient about the waiting and called him.

The two fought again. By then Linghu Chong became a little bit wiser and never bothered to count the moves again. As soon as the fight broke out, he waved his sword in different directions and launched a storm of attacks upon Tian Boguang. Seeing new sword moves emerging out of Linghu Chong in an endless stream and that every time after he thought about it in the cave, he would add many new meanings to the moves, Tian Boguang dared not to slack off. The two countered fast with faster, and exchanged many moves within a short moment. Suddenly Tian Boguang took a step forward, reaching out and grabbed onto Linghu Chong"s wrist in the speed of a flash. He twisted Linghu Chong"s arm back and pointed the sword tip right at Linghu Chong"s throat. If he had wanted to, he could have pushed the sword forward and the long sword would have penetrated Linghu Chong"s throat.

"You lost!" Tian Boguang yelled out.

"It was you. You lost!" Linghu Chong claimed as great pain came from his wrist.

"How did I lose?" Tian Boguang asked.

"This is the thirty-second move." Linghu Chong declared.

"Thirty-second move?" Tian Boguang asked in disbelief.

"Yep! Thirty-second move, precisely." Linghu Chong acknowledged.

"You weren"t counting." Tian Boguang didn"t buy it.

"Well, I wasn"t counting with my tongue, but I was counting in my heart. It was plain and clear. This is the thirty-second move." Linghu Chong affirmed.

Actually he never really counted in his heart. The thirty-second move thing was just something he made up on the spot.

"That can"t be true!" Tian Boguang let go of Linghu Chong"s wrist and argued. "You thrust like this with your first move and I counter-attacked like this. You then blocked it like this and I chopped like this. That was the second move." He went on and on and was actually able to demonstrate every single move used in the last fight from the very beginning to the very end. After he counted till the move when he grabbed onto Linghu Chong"s wrist, it was only the twenty-eighth move.

Linghu Chong was immensely amazed at Tian Boguang"s ability in memorizing. The two of them had both fought with tremendous speed, yet he was able to memorize every single move so clearly in the exact order. That"s some kind of talent one simply wouldn"t see very often in the Martial World. Linghu Chong couldn"t help but admire. He stuck his thumb out.

"Brother Tian, you have superb memory! I must have counted wrong. Let me go to think them over again."

"Wait!" Tian Boguang stopped him. "Something is really odd about this cave. I"d like to go in and take a look. Are there secret Kung Fu ma.n.u.scripts hidden in the cave? Why is it that every time after you come out of the cave, you add many strange moves to your collection?" He started walking toward the cave.

Linghu Chong was stunned. He thought quickly, "If he finds out about the drawings on the rock wall, it would be disastrous." He immediately showed a brief trace of happiness on his face and soon replaced it with a sad and worried look as he extended his arms out to block Tian Boguang"s way.

"We have our school"s secret Kung Fu ma.n.u.scripts in the cave. Brother Tian, you are not a member of our Huashan Sword School. You can"t go in there to tour around. Sorry!"

Noticing the very brief happy look on Linghu Chong"s face that was quickly replaced by some kind of very exaggerated worried look, probably something he put out as a show, Tian Boguang pondered, "Why was he so happy as soon as he heard that I wanted to go in the cave? He pretended to be worried immediately afterwards. Obviously he was trying the hide his true feelings and hoped that I would rush into the cave recklessly. There must be something in that cave that would be detrimental to me. Probably some kind of b.o.o.by-trap or ambush. Or maybe some kind of poisonous serpent or monster he has tamed. I am not going to fall for it!"

"I see. So there are secret Kung Fu ma.n.u.scripts of your respected school. Then it wouldn"t be appropriate for me to go tour around indeed," Tian Boguang pretended to agree.

Linghu Chong shook his head and appeared to be very disappointed. Later, he went back in the cave several more times and learned many more strange and weird moves, not only unique moves of the Five Mountains sword schools, but also many of those odd moves that would break the sword arts of the Five Mountains sword schools. But in the rush, he couldn"t truly understand the essence of them, and because he had used them right after he picked them up minutes ago, their power was dramatically reduced and he still couldn"t take on thirty moves of Tian Boguang"s fast knife chops.

Tian Boguang couldn"t understand why every time after Linghu Chong entered the cave to think more, he would be able to perform many odd and strange moves. Those odd and strange moves weren"t really very useful in countering his own knife moves, but they were all so clever and brilliant that he had never seen anything like them in his entire life. It was almost like an amazing demonstration, and he secretly wished that the contest would go on so he would be able to observe more of the fantastic sword moves.

After Tian Boguang subdued Linghu Chong another time, noticing that it had already pa.s.sed noon, he suddenly thought of something. "Most of the moves he used this time seemed to have been moves of Songshan style sword art. Could it be possible that there are elite grandmasters of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance hiding in that cave? Every time when he goes into that cave, those elite grandmasters would then teach him some new moves and then send him out to fight me. Oops, luckily I didn"t rush in that cave recklessly. How can I stand a chance fighting the many elite grandmasters of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance?" At that thought, he blurted out.

"Why don"t they come out?"

"Who?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Those elite senior grandmasters in the cave who taught you all those sword moves," Tian Boguang answered.

Linghu Chong was taken by surprise, but then immediately understood what Tian Boguang meant. He let out a big smile.

"Those senior grandmasters, they don"t…don"t feel like fighting you, brother Tian."

Tian Boguang was outraged. He gave a very disgruntled snort and then yelled out loudly, "I know these kinds of people. They fish for fame and compliments and profess to be above politics and worldly considerations. They feel it"s beneath their dignity to fight me, the evil rapist Tian Boguang. You let them out. As long as we are fighting one on one, regardless of how big of a reputation he has, he might not be able to beat me!"

"Brother Tian, if you are interested, go ahead and enter the cave to consult those eleven senior grandmasters. They actually think your knife skills are quite excellent," Linghu Chong shook his head and said with a grin.

Linghu Chong knew that hence Tian Boguang had committed many crimes in the Martial World and had made many enemies, he had always been very careful in normal days. Now since he has a.s.sumed that there are elite masters from various schools in the cave, he would never risk going in the cave no matter how he was goaded. He intentionally used such an odd number eleven instead of ten to make it sound real.

Surely enough, Tian Boguang snorted and said, "What elite senior grandmasters? I am afraid they are all the ones with underserved reputation, otherwise, why after teaching you all kinds of moves again and again, you still can"t even take on thirty moves of mine?"

He was quite confident about his Qing-Gong skills and thought that even if those eleven elite masters all rushed out at the same time, although he wouldn"t stand a chance winning the fight, at least he would stand a very good chance of running away successfully. And besides, because all of them were elite senior grandmasters of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, they would value their own dignity dearly and never launch a joint attack at him.

Linghu Chong put on a serious face. "That"s only because I am dumb and clumsy with very limited inner energy and couldn"t grasp the essence of those senior grandmasters" Kung Fu. Brother Tian, you"d better watch your mouth and not upset them. If any one of them decided to fight you, you don"t even have to wait for your poison to activate a month from now; your head would be missing from your neck on top of the "Cliff of Contemplation" instantly."

"Why don"t you tell me who those senior grandmasters are in the cave?" Tian Boguang demanded.

"Those senior grandmasters have lived in seclusion and lived a hermit"s life for a long time already. They have withdrawn from society for many years. Their gathering here has nothing to do with you, brother Tian. Their names can"t be revealed. But even if I do tell you who they are, you wouldn"t have heard of their names anyways. There"s no need to tell! No need to tell!" Linghu Chong had a very secretive look on his face.

Seeing the odd expression on Linghu Chong"s face, Tian Boguang was almost sure that Linghu Chong was trying to hide the truth. So he said, "Within Songshan, Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan the four schools, there may be some exceptional senior grandmasters. But in your respectful school though, there isn"t any grandmasters left at all. Everybody knows about that in the Martial World. You must be talking irresponsibly and making things up. It"s hard for me to believe you."

"That"s right. There really isn"t any elite senior grandmaster left in the Huashan Sword School. Many years ago, our sword school was so unfortunately hit by plagues, and all the elite fighters in the last generation withered and pa.s.sed away. Brother Tian, you have said it correctly. There is really no grandmaster of our Huashan Sword School in the cave." Linghu Chong affirmed.

Tian Boguang was convinced that Linghu Chong must have been lying to him. When he said something is false, then it should be true. If he had said that there weren"t any senior grandmasters left in Huashan Sword School, then there must be someone. He pondered over it for a long time and suddenly remembered something. He slapped his thigh with his palm and shouted out loud.

"Aha! I remember now! So it is senior grandmaster Feng Qingyang!"

Linghu Chong instantly remembered the characters "Feng Qingyang" carved on the rock wall in the cave and couldn"t help but utter a cry of surprise. He wasn"t pretending this time and was stunned when he thought that the senior grandmaster Feng might still be alive. Regardless of what the truth was, he waved his hand in denial hurriedly.

"Brother Tian, please don"t talk irresponsibly. Feng…Feng…."

He figured that since the name "Feng Qingyang" has a "Qing" character in it, then he must be from a more senior generation than Master"s "Bu" generation. So he continued with his sentence.

"Grand Uncle-Master Feng has quit the Martial World to live in seclusion many, many years ago. n.o.body knows where he is, and no one is even sure that the respectful Grand Uncle-Master is still alive or not. How can he be on Mount Huashan right now? If you don"t believe me, then you"d better go in the cave and take a look yourself, then you will know the truth."

The more Linghu Chong wanted Tian Boguang to go in the cave, the more Tian Boguang believed that it was a trap. He thought to himself, "He looks so panic-stricken. I must have figured it out right. I heard that many of the senior Huashan Sword School grandmasters all died unusual deaths in a single night except Feng Qingyang who happened to be away from Mount Huashan at the time and escaped that doom. So it turned out he is still alive. But he would be at least somewhere between seventy and eighty years old. No matter how high his Kung Fu level is at, he would have exhausted his strengths after all. The h.e.l.l with him. Why would I be afraid of such an rotten old man?"

At that thought, he said to Linghu Chong, "Brother Linghu, we have already fought an entire day and an entire night. Even if we keep fighting, you wouldn"t stand a chance beating me. Although you have your Grand Uncle-Master Feng to give you pointers continuously, it"s useless after all. Why don"t you just behave yourself and follow me down Mount Huashan?"

Before Linghu Chong had a chance to answer, a cold voice suddenly rose from behind his back.

"If I had really given him some pointers, you don"t think he can even take care of a chap like you? I doubt that!"

.......

[1] Reminder: Qing-Gong is a form of Chinese Martial Arts that will allow the pract.i.tioner to jump higher and further or run faster than an average person. The technique is a combination of muscle exercises and breathing exercises.

[2] Reminder: Qi-Gong is an ancient breathing exercise that helps improve health and acquire extra power and strength (sometimes an almost magical power that can not be explained by science).

[3] Chang-An is today"s Xi"an city in Shanxi Province (Provincial capital). It was the capital for many dynasties including Tang Dynasty. It was considered one of the most populous cities in ancient China.

[4] This might be confusing. Shanxi (third intonation) province and Shan-Xi (first intonation) province are actually two neighboring provinces. Shan-Xi province is famous for it"s coalmines, wine, and vinegar. But Mount Huashan and Chang-An are in Shanxi province.

[5] Li Taiba, also called Li Bai, was a famous poet during Tang Dynasty. He was nicknamed the Fairy of Poem because of his exceptional talent in poems and Fairy of Wine because he loved drinking wine. The "Banished Fairy Wine House" was named after him hence he was banished by the Royal Court because of his drinking problem.

[6] In Chinese language, character "Hu" means fox. Tian Boguang is implying that Linghu Chong is as cunning as a fox.