The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

"Could this old man be the masked man in green robe I saw the other night? Where is he from? When did he come right behind my back? How come I didn"t feel a thing and had no idea about it?" He couldn"t help but feel bewildered.

"Are you…are you really Grandmaster Feng?" Tian Boguang asked in a trembling tone.

"It has gotten to be rare for people in this world to still remember my name." The old man heaved a sigh.

In the instant, many thoughts flashed through Linghu Chong"s mind. "There is still a senior grandmaster of our Huashan Sword School alive today? Why haven"t I ever heard Master or Master-Wife mentioning anything about it? What if he is just an imposter who took the opportunity from Tian Boguang"s words? Wouldn"t everyone in the Martial World laugh at our Huashan Sword School if I recklessly salute him as a junior? Besides, what a big coincidence is this? As soon as Tian Boguang mentioned the name "Feng Qingyang," a "Feng Qingyang" suddenly shows up right away?"

"Linghu Chong, what an useless lad you are!" The old man shook his head with another sigh. "Let me teach you. Use the move White Aurora Shooting the Sun first and follow up with Graceful Phoenix, then use Golden Geese Crossing Sky followed with Sword Interception Stance…." He talked on and on in a flow of eloquence and soon mentioned the names of thirty different moves.

Linghu Chong had learned all the thirty moves before, but the sword positions and the stances of those moves didn"t seem to connect at all.

"What are you waiting for? Oh, I see. With your current understanding of martial arts, it isn"t easy to just perform all thirty of them at once, indeed. Why don"t you try them out slowly, first?" The old man instructed.

His voice was low and deep, and his face looked desolate. It almost appeared as if he had infinite grievance, yet there was a certain majestic feel in his tone.

"Well, there"s nothing to lose if I give it a try," Linghu Chong thought to himself.

So he performed the White Aurora Shooting the Sun move and thrust his sword with the sword tip pointing up. Then he got stuck, having no clue how to connect the second move Graceful Phoenix to it.

"Alas! Idiot! Idiot! Only able to rigidly adhering to formalities with no adaptation, no wonder you are an apprentice of Yue Buqun. The art of swordplay calls for fluency like floating clouds and flowing water – natural and smooth, come and go freely. After you finished the move White Aurora Shooting the Sun and had your sword tip pointing up, couldn"t you just follow the flow and slash it downwards? Even though there"s no such posture in the move, why can"t you adapt to the flow and make it more convenient for yourself?"

The words struck Linghu Chong"s ears like bell rings and woke him. Slightly pulling the sword back with a slash, he naturally transformed it into the move Graceful Phoenix. Before it was entirely done, he had already changed it again and smoothly transformed it into the move Golden Geese Crossing the Sky. The long sword swished across above his head, and then with a hook and a jab, it easily turned into Sword Interception Stance – all the connections and transformations appeared to be smooth and flawless. With the ease of mind, he continued performing one move after another following the old man"s instruction. By the time he stopped at the move Ringing Bells and Drums, it was exactly a total of thirty moves. All of a sudden, Linghu Chong felt indescribable joy. On the old man"s face, however, there was no trace of approval whatsoever.

"You got them connected alright, but see how stiff and rigid they are, also very clumsy. Even though you are still far from capable of fighting a master hand, it would be enough to deal with that little chap over there. Go ahead and try them out on him!" he demanded.

Linghu Chong still didn"t quite believe that the old man was his Grand Uncle-Master, but he was quite convinced that the old man had to be an elite Kung Fu master. His sword pointing down at the ground, he bowed to salute to the old man, then turned to face Tian Boguang.

"Brother Tian, please go ahead!"

"I"ve seen you perform all thirty moves. What"s there to fight about?" Tian Boguang questioned.

"If brother Tian doesn"t want to fight, that"s totally alright. Will you please leave now? I"d like to ask for some more advice from this senior master here. Sorry, can"t be your company now," Linghu Chong said.

"What are you talking about? Do you expect me to just die for nothing only because you don"t want to go down Mount Huashan with me?" Tian Boguang objected loudly. He turned to the old man.

"Grandmaster Feng, Tian Boguang is only a junior here. I am not worthy to exchange moves with you, the respectful one. If you join in the fight, it would really be beneath your dignity."

The old man nodded his approval with another sigh. He slowly walked by a big rock and sat down.

Tian Boguang felt great relief. "Look out!" he yelled and brought his knife swishing down upon Linghu Chong"s head.

Linghu Chong dodged to the side and stabbed back with his long sword. The move was the fourth move Sword Interception Stance the old man had told him earlier. Once starting his attack, he poured out many continuous moves with ease. Some of the moves he used were among the ones named by the old man, and some were outside of those thirty moves the old man had told him. Since he had comprehended the essence of the phrase "floating clouds and flowing water – natural and smooth, come and go freely," his sword skills improved dramatically, and the fight went on well over a hundred moves.

All of a sudden, Tian Boguang roared loudly and chopped straight down. Knowing that it would be very difficult to dodge out of that one in time, Linghu Chong snapped his wrist and pointed his long sword toward Tian Boguang"s chest. Tian Boguang turned his knife around and smacked it at the sword. "Clank," the knife and the sword clashed. Tian Boguang didn"t wait for Linghu Chong to pull back his sword. He simply let go of his own knife and jumped forward. Reaching out with his two hands, he seized Linghu Chong"s throat in a strangle hold. Linghu Chong was almost suffocated. In the rush, he dropped his long sword as well.

"If you don"t come with me, your old man here will choke you to death." Tian Boguang yelled out.

He had been calling Linghu Chong a brother earlier with a very respectful tone. After the fierce fight of over a hundred moves, he really lost his temper and started calling himself Linghu Chong"s "old man" after he seized Linghu Chong"s throat.

Not able to breathe, Linghu Chong still shook his head as his face went purple from the choking.

"One hundred moves or two hundred moves, it doesn"t matter. As long as I am winning, you"ll have to go down Mount Huashan with me. The h.e.l.l with the bet on the thirty moves thing. Your old man I don"t care!" Tian Boguang cursed between his teeth.

Linghu Chong wanted to laugh, but with Tian Boguang"s hands choking onto his throat hard, he couldn"t make any sound.

"You idiot! Your finger can be used as a sword, too. Do you absolutely have to use a real sword for that Treasures All Over the Room move?" The old man reproved.

Those words worked the magic as a flash lighted in Linghu Chong"s mind. He thrust out with his right hand and used the move Treasures All Over the Room. His middle finger and index finger struck the Tan-Zhong Point on Tian Boguang"s chest in a jab; Tian Boguang uttered a m.u.f.fled groan and collapsed onto the ground, his hands letting go of Linghu Chong"s throat.

Linghu Chong had no idea that such a casual jab would actually subdue the "Ten Thousand Miles Loner" Tian Boguang, a man who enjoyed great fame for his Kung Fu skills in the martial world, in such an easy manner. He gently rubbed his own throat, which was still hurting uncomfortably from Tian Boguang"s choking, and then looked down at the evil rapist, who laid on the ground huddled up, twitching involuntarily. Seeing Tian Boguang showing the whites of his eyes and having lost his consciousness, Linghu Chong found himself deeply amazed and overjoyed. Instantly, he felt tremendous admiration toward the old man. Rushing by the old man"s side, he knelt down and kowtowed.

"Grand Uncle-Master! Will you please pardon me! I have treated you with such disrespect."

"You don"t think I am just swindling and bluffing now?" The old man let out a slight smile.

"I dare not! Grandmaster Feng, I am so fortunate to be able to meet a senior grandmaster of our school! This is so marvelous." He kowtowed more.

"You can get up now," the old man Feng Qingyang said.

Only after another three respectful kowtows, Linghu Chong stood up. Noticing that the old man had a very pale and pallid complexion, looking wan and sallow, he asked, "Grand Uncle-Master, are you hungry? I have some food in the cave. Let me go get them." He turned around and headed toward the cave.

"No need for that!" Feng Qingyang shook his head.

He squinted at the sun and then murmured, "The sunshine is so warm! It has been a long time since I last basked in the wonderful sunshine."

Linghu Chong was taken by surprise, but he dared not ask.

Feng Qingyang threw a glance at the huddled up Tian Boguang on the ground. "You have jabbed onto his Tan-Zhong Point," he said. "With his mastery of martial arts skills, he will probably regain his consciousness in two hours. By then, he"ll start another round of hara.s.sing. Once you beat him one more time, he would have no choice but to behave and leave. After you subdue him, you must force him to swear a deadly oath that he would never mention to anyone that he had seen me."

"When I won earlier, it was only because I got lucky and took him by surprise. I am still no match for him with my sword skills. To be able to subdue him…subdue him…," Linghu Chong murmured.

Feng Qingyang shook his head. "You are Yue Buqun"s apprentice. I really shouldn"t teach you any Kung Fu. That day…that day…I swore an oath that I would never fight anyone in the remaining of my life. When I demonstrated the sword moves to you the other night, I just wanted to let you know that if one executes the Huashan Sword School"s Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword the right way, how can anyone ever flick the sword out of your grip? I suppose if I don"t make you do the work, I won"t be able to force a deadly oath out of Tian Boguang, promising not to let out the secret. You, follow me."

Feng Qingyang walked in the cave and entered the back cave through the hole on the rock wall. Linghu Chong followed in behind him.

"You have studied and memorized all those drawings of Huashan style sword art on the rock wall. When you used them though, they were all totally off. Alas!" Feng Qingyang pointed at the rock wall and shook his head.

Linghu Chong thought to himself, "So when I was studying those drawings here during those many times, Grand Uncle-Master had been watching me. I guess every time I was simply too focused in studying and didn"t even notice that someone else was actually in the cave as well. If…if Grand Uncle-Master had been an enemy…hmm, if he were an enemy, even if I had found out about it, would I then have any chance of surviving?"

"The chap Yue Buqun is a total moron. You are very good apprentice material, but he turned you into a dumb fool with his teaching." Feng Qingyang continued.

Hearing Feng Qingyang"s humiliating words to his respectful Master, Linghu Chong was very displeased.

"Grand Uncle-Master, I don"t want you to teach me any more. I"ll just go outside and force Tian Boguang to swear the oath, promising that he will never let out Grand Uncle-Master"s secret," he said in a bold tone.
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Feng Qingyang was seized by surprise, but it only took him an instant to understand the reason behind. "What if he won"t agree? Are you going to kill him?" he asked dryly.

Linghu Chong hesitated and didn"t know how to answer. He thought that since Tian Boguang had never intended to kill him even when he won the many fights, how could he himself be so cruel to kill Tian Boguang immediately after he got the upper hand?

"You are blaming me for swearing at your Master, aren"t you? Fine. I won"t mention his name any more. He calls me Uncle-Master. It should be alright for me to call him a "chap," shouldn"t it?" Feng Qingyang asked.

"Grand Uncle-Master, if you stop scolding my respectful Master, of course I will listen to your advice cautiously," Linghu Chong replied.

"This is almost like I am begging you to learn from me." Feng Qingyang was amused.

"I dare not. Grand Uncle-Master, I beg for your pardon." Linghu Chong bowed.

Feng Qingyang pointed at the drawings of the Huashan style sword art on the rock wall and started explaining.

"These moves are indeed the unique moves among our school"s sword arts. Most of them have long been lost, and even Yue…Yue…hmm…even your Master doesn"t know them. Even though they are brilliant moves, when you use them one move at a time, others would still be able to overcome them…."

Hearing these words, Linghu Chong felt a sudden inspiration and vaguely understood an ultimate principle of sword art. He couldn"t help but show a wild, joyful face.

"What have you figured out? Tell me about it." Feng Qingyang requested.

"Grand Uncle-Master, are you saying that if all the moves become an integral whole, then the enemy would have no way of breaking them?" Linghu Chong stated.

"Didn"t I say that you are good material? You have very good comprehension." Feng Qingyang nodded happily. "Those Demon Cult Elders…." He pointed at the staff-wielding figure on the rock wall as he spoke.

"Is that an Elder of the Demon Cult?" Linghu Chong asked in bewilderment.

"Didn"t you know? The ten skeletons are the remains of the Demon Cult Ten Elders," Feng Qingyang said while pointing at a skeleton on the ground.

"Why did all the Demon Cult Ten Elders fall dead here?" Linghu Chong became quite curious.

"Tian Boguang will wake up in two more hours. If you keep asking about these past events of many years ago, do you think you"ll still have time left to learn some Kung Fu?" Feng Qingyang reproved.

"Right! Right! Grand Uncle-Master, please go on." Linghu Chong replied.

"Those Demon Cult Elders had truly outstanding and brilliant minds. They were actually able to defeat the advanced moves of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance cleanly and completely." Feng Qingyang sighed. "They didn"t know, however, that the most devastating move in the world is not inside Kung Fu, but in setting up schemes, intrigues, and traps. If one falls into someone"s clever trap, regardless of how brilliant his Kung Fu moves are, it would still be completely useless…." At these words, he raised his head and fell into a daze. Apparently he had remembered many things from the past.

Hearing the bitterness in his tone and seeing the anguish look on his face, Linghu Chong dared not interrupt and only thought to himself, "Could it be true that the Five Mountains Sword Alliance really had "no way to win in a fair fight," so they tricked the enemy into a trap? Grand Uncle-Master Feng is a member of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, but he probably didn"t object to such contemptible means. I guess in order to counter the enemies from the Demon Cult, it is probably necessary to use some contemptible means."

Feng Qingyang went on talking. "If we judge them by their understanding of advanced Kung Fu theories, these Demon Cult Elders shouldn"t be counted as ones who have entered the realm of top level Kung Fu. They didn"t know that moves are static, but the one executing the moves is alive. No matter how clever the counter-move is for breaking static moves, as soon as they encounter moves performed in a lively way, they would feel like their arms and legs are all tied up and would have no other choice but to give themselves up to the opponent"s mercy. You must remember the keyword "lively" here. When you learn a move, you need to learn it in a lively way; when you execute a move, you also need to execute it lively. If you only rigidly adhere to formalities without adding your own lively elements, even if you have mastered thousands or tens of thousands unique moves, as soon as you encounter a true elite master hand, he would still be able to overcome every single one of them."

Linghu Chong felt tremendous joy in his heart. He was the unrestrained and unconventional type. Each of Feng Qingyang"s word struck a chord in his heart. He kept agreeing and agreeing, "Yes, yes! One must learn it lively and use it lively."

"Each of the Five Mountains sword schools have countless number of idiots who believed that as long as they become proficient with the sword moves taught by their masters then naturally they would become elite fighters." He paused the let out a disgruntled snort. "You must have heard of the saying, "Once memorizing three hundred poems well, one will be capable to write poems himself!" After memorizing others" poems well, one might be able to write a couple of ragged verses, but without being original in conception, can he ever become a real poet?" Feng Qingyang criticized.

His criticism naturally included Yue Buqun as one of the "idiots" he had mentioned, but since firstly, Linghu Chong felt the comments were quite convincing, and secondly, Feng Qingyang didn"t mention Yue Buqun"s name specifically, he didn"t argue.

"Learn it lively and use it lively is only the first step. Only when you can fight with no moves, you will eventually reach the realm of a true elite fighter. When you said "all the moves become an integral whole, then the enemy would have no way of breaking them" earlier, you"ve only gotten less than half right. It"s not "an integral whole" but simply no moves. No matter how hard you work on making the moves an integral whole, as long as there"s a trace of the connection, your enemy would have a flaw to exploit. If you don"t have any moves at all, then how is your enemy going to break your move?"

Linghu Chong"s heart thumped wildly and even his palms became burning hot as he mumbled, "No move at all, how do you break it? No move at all, how do you break it?" Suddenly, a whole new world he had never seen before or even dreamed about appeared in front of his eyes.

Feng Qingyang continued. "If you want to slice a piece of meat, you need to have the piece of meat before you can slice it; if you want to cut some firewood, you need to have the firewood before you can cut it; if your enemy wants to break your sword move, he needs to have your sword move before he can break it. When an ordinary person who has never learned any Kung Fu waves a sword wildly, no matter how knowledgeable you are, you still wouldn"t be able to predict where his next thrust or chop will land. Even someone with the most advanced sword skills still wouldn"t be able to defeat his move. Because there is no move, it"s impossible to break the move. If this person has never learned any Kung Fu, then even though he doesn"t have a sword move, others can still knock him down easily. True first-cla.s.s sword art, on the other hand, will enable you to control others, not controlled by others."

He picked up a shinbone from the ground and randomly pointed one end of it at Linghu Chong. "How are you going to break this move of mine?"

Linghu Chong had no idea what move that was. After a pause, he said, "This is not a move, so there"s no way I can break it."

"That"s correct." Feng Qingyang smiled. "When a Kung Fu pract.i.tioner uses a weapon or throw punches and kicks, he would always have moves. All you need to know is how to overcome it, and once you do know how, you can easily defeat his move and subdue him."

"But what if the enemy didn"t have any move either?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Then he must be a first-cla.s.s elite fighter also. The result of the fight could go either way. Maybe you are better, or maybe he"s better," Feng Qingyang answered. He let out a sigh and said, "In today"s world, it"s very difficult to find such an elite fighter. If by chance you meet one or two, then you have really good fortune. During my entire life, I"ve only met three of them."

"Who are these three?" Linghu Chong couldn"t help but ask.

Feng Qingyang stared at him for a short while and then split into a smile. "Among Yue Buqun"s apprentices, there"s actually one who likes to poke his nose everywhere and not willing to devote himself to sword training. Great! Wonderful!"

"Sorry, I am wrong." Linghu Chong blushed and quickly bowed for forgiveness.

"No, you are not wrong." Feng Qingyang smiled. "You are a lively lad, just the type to my liking. We don"t have much time left. You go ahead and work on merging all the thirty to forty Huashan style sword art moves together. Think how you can get them going smoothly with no interruption, and then try to forget all of them. You need to forget all of them completely without leaving a single one in your head. Then, a bit later, you can use the Huashan Style Sword Art With No Moves to fight Tian Boguang."

"Yes!" Linghu Chong answered, feeling half surprised and half pleased.

Linghu Chong studied the drawings on the rock with rapt attention. During the past several months, he had memorized the Huashan style sword moves on the rock wall well, so he didn"t have to spend any time learning the moves. All he had to do was to try to connect all the distinct and separate sword moves together.

"Everything must be following the natural rhythm. Act when you have to act and stop when you have to stop. If you simply can"t connect some of them, then don"t connect them. In short, don"t force anything," Feng Qingyang pointed out.

Linghu Chong nodded. Since all he had to do was to follow the natural flow, it became an easy task for him regardless of connecting them cleverly or clumsily. Soon, he had connected all the thirty to forty moves of Huashan style sword art together. But to merge all of them into one with no traceable rigid gaps was not so easy. He waved his sword, sometimes slashing to the left, sometimes chopping to the right, without thinking about any moves drawn on the rock wall. He didn"t care if his posture or position was close to the drawing or not and simply followed his own will. Occasionally when he had a smooth one, he couldn"t help but feeling quite pleased with himself.

He had been in sword training for over ten years. Every time when he practiced, he would always stay very focused with all his heart, not daring to slack in any way. Yue Buqun was a very strict teacher. When his apprentices practiced forms or sword arts, if anyone"s arm or leg were slightly off from the perfect position, he would immediately correct them. Everyone"s every move or posture had to be in the absolutely perfect position without a single error to get his approval. Linghu Chong was the first and most senior apprentice, besides, he was always eager to do well in everything and excel others. In order to gain praises from Master and Master-Wife, he always put in extra efforts to be strict with himself. Feng Qingyang, on the other hand, had taught in a totally opposite way – the more casual the better. That fitted in with his personality just perfectly. He felt the kind of carefree and joy beyond words, and it seemed as if the pleasure was even more enjoyable than drinking ages old good wine. While he was still intoxicated in practicing, Tian Boguang had shouted from outside.

"Brother Linghu, will you please come out so we can have another contest."

That brought Linghu Chong back to reality. He stopped and stood still.

"Grand Uncle-Master, do you think this random slashing and chopping style sword form of mine will enable me to block his fast knife chops?" Linghu Chong asked hopefully.

"If you want to block, of course it won"t help you much. But why do you have to block?" Feng Qingyang said.

Linghu Chong immediately got the idea and the feeling of joy washed over him.

"That"s right. He is begging me to go down Mount Huashan with him, so of course he dared not to kill me. In that case, despite what knife moves he uses, I can simply ignore them and just focus on my own attacks."

Linghu Chong stepped out of the cave with his sword in his hand and saw Tian Boguang waiting with his knife drawn.

"Brother Linghu, after Grandmaster Feng gave you some knacks and pointers, your sword skills surely improved a lot. However, when you sealed my point just now, it was only because of my oversight. I am not convinced yet. Let"s have another fight," Tian Boguang suggested.

"Fine!" Linghu Chong answered as he thrust his sword out in a crooked manner. The blade wobbled as it moved forward; there was no strength attached in the thrust at all.

"What kind of move is that?" Tian Boguang was bewildered.

Seeing Linghu Chong"s sword getting closer, Tian Boguang was just about to fend it off using his knife when Linghu Chong suddenly pulled his right hand back and jabbed the sword toward an empty s.p.a.ce. Then following the jab, Linghu Chong retracted the sword quickly. The sword handle almost struck his own chest when he flicked his wrist, which sent the sword handle to another empty s.p.a.ce to his right. Tian Boguang was even more bewildered. He threw a gentle probing chop cautiously. Linghu Chong didn"t even care to dodge and simply drove his sword tip toward his opponent"s lower stomach in an angle.

"How weird!" Tian Boguang shouted as he turned his knife around to block it.

After the two exchanged several moves, Linghu Chong started using the Huashan style sword moves on the rock wall, attacking without any defending, almost as if he was just practicing sword form all by himself. The continuous attacks sent Tian Boguang into a frantic rush.

"If you decide to ignore this chop of mine again, don"t blame me when I chop your arm off!" Tian Boguang shouted.

"It"s not going to be that easy!" Linghu Chong grinned as he initiated another three thrusts, all attacked from very odd and unusual positions. Relying on his fast eyes and quick hands, Tian Boguang successfully fended all of them off. Just when he was about to start his counter-attack, Linghu Chong suddenly threw his long sword straight up in the air. Tian Boguang looked up at the sword in the air when suddenly a heavy punch landed squarely on his nose. Blood immediately gushed out from his nose. While Tian Boguang was still in shock, Linghu Chong used his hand as a sword and stabbed it out, and it struck Tian Boguang on his Tan-Zhong Point once again. Tian Boguang slowly collapsed down, his face covered with a mixture of confusion and anger.

Linghu Chong turned around and Feng Qingyang called him back into the cave.

"You just got yourself another three hours for sword training. He is hurt even worse this time. He won"t be able to wake up as easily as the last time. Only that when you fight him the next time, maybe he"ll go all out and might not yield to you any more. You must be very careful. Go ahead and try out those Hengshan style sword art moves." Feng Qingyang suggested.

After getting more pointers and advice from Feng Qingyang, Linghu Chong used each move as if there was no move – with the essence of the move but without the form of it. Those unique Hengshan style sword moves by themselves were already extremely unpredictable and volatile, now it was even more difficult to find any trace of gap among them.

After Tian Boguang woke up, the two of them fought another seventy to eighty moves before Tian Boguang got knocked down once again.

It was already quite late in the day. Linghu Chong placed Tian Boguang, who was unable to move at all because of the sealed pressure points, behind some big rocks when Lu Dayou brought food up the cliff, while Feng Qingyang stayed inside the back cave.

"Sixth apprentice brother, I am having some real good appet.i.tes these days. Will you please bring some extra food tomorrow?" Linghu Chong asked.

Lu Dayou could tell that his big apprentice brother"s face glowed with health and radiating vigor, quite different from the depressed and upset one in the last couple months. He couldn"t help with his joy. He also noticed that Linghu Chong"s robe was soaked with sweat and thought that Linghu Chong must have been practicing a.s.siduously with his sword techniques.

"Great! I"ll bring up a large basket full of food tomorrow," he said.

After Lu Dayou left, Linghu Chong opened Tian Boguang"s sealed pressure points and invited him and Feng Qingyang to have dinner together. Feng Qingyang had enough after only a half bowl full of rice. Tian Boguang on the other hand, felt very aggrieved and had no appet.i.te at all, raking the food in his mouth and pouring out streams of abuses at the same time. Suddenly, with a loud crack, the china bowl in his hand smashed into pieces from the tremendous forces coming from his grip. Broken china pieces and rice fell all over his clothes and the floor.

"Brother Tian, why are you being so hard on a rice bowl?" Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter.

"d.a.m.n it, I am being hard on you," Tian Boguang yelled in rage. "When we fought, you took advantage of me and spared no effort in defending yourself whatsoever, only because I didn"t want to kill you. Tell me, you think this is fair? If I hadn"t given ground to you, I"d have chopped your head off within thirty moves. Humph! Humph! d.a.m.n the little…little…."

Obviously he had wanted to scold Yilin, the little nun, but for some reason he stopped short, instead, he stood up and drew his knife.

"Linghu Chong, come and fight me again if you"ve got guts," he yelled out.

"Fine!" Linghu Chong replied and stepped forth, sword in hand.

Using the same strategy again, Linghu Chong paid no attention to Tian Boguang"s fast knife chops and simply stabbed his sword at Tian Boguang with clever moves. But this time Tian Boguang was quite relentless. After they exchanged about twenty moves or so, he threw two chops – one landed on Linghu Chong"s thigh and the other one left a cut on Linghu Chong"s left arm. He had shown some mercy after all – neither of the two wounds was critical. In astonishment accompanied by great pain, Linghu Chong found himself in a very awkward situation. His sword techniques became very sluggish and only a few move later, Tian Boguang kicked him down to the ground.

"Do you want more fights?" Placing the sharp blade right next to Linghu Chong"s throat, Tian Boguang yelled. "Humph, I"ll make sure to leave a couple of cuts on you every time, so even though you won"t die, your blood will drain and your arms and legs will look really good."

"Of course I want more fights! Even if I can"t beat you, do you think my Grand Uncle-Master Feng would just look on with folded arms and let you ride roughshod?" Linghu Chong rebuffed with a smile.

"He is a senior grandmaster. He won"t pick a fight with me," Tian Boguang said as he moved his knife away.

Fearing that Feng Qingyang might start a fight out of anger because he had wounded Linghu Chong, Tian Boguang was actually quite apprehensive. Even though Feng Qingyang looked very old, he sure wasn"t rotten. From Feng"s piercing eyes, Tian Boguang could tell that Feng must have excellent inner energy, not mentioning his G.o.d-like sword skills. He figured that Feng didn"t even have to kill – all Feng needed to do was to drive him down Mount Huashan, and that would be just as bad.

Linghu Chong tore a piece of his robe off and used it to wrap up the two wounds before entering the cave.

"Grant Uncle-Master, that chap has changed his strategy and decided to cut me for real now! If my right arm gets wounded and can"t use a sword anymore, it would be impossible to beat him." Linghu Chong shook his head in a wry smile.

"Luckily it"s late already. You can tell him that you"ll fight him again tomorrow morning. Let"s not sleep tonight. I"ll use the entire night to teach you three sword moves," Feng Qingyang instructed.

"Three moves?" Linghu Chong repeated, not understanding why a mere three sword moves would take up an entire night to learn.

"You look like a smart one. I wonder if you are really that smart or only look like one. If you are truly smart, then you might be able to learn the three sword moves within the night. If you aren"t smart and only have ordinary comprehension, then…then…there would be no need to fight him again tomorrow morning, and you can simply admit your failure and follow him off Mount Huashan!" Feng Qingyang said.

Hearing those words from his Grand Uncle-Master, Linghu Chong knew that the three sword moves must be very extraordinary and sophisticated. That actually aroused his willingness to take on the challenge.

"Grand Uncle-Master," he said fearlessly, "if I can"t learn these three sword moves within one night, then I"d rather die from his blade than surrender and leave Mount Huashan with him."

"Good." Feng Qingyang smiled. He raised his head and thought for quite a while before finally saying, "To learn three moves within one night is really asking for the impossible. You won"t need the second move just yet. We can work on only the first one and the third one. But…but…many of the variations in the third move come from the second move. Very well! Let"s ignore all the related variations and see if it will work."

He was more like talking to himself. But after thinking about it for a moment, he shook his head.

Seeing the worried look on Feng Qingyang"s face, Linghu Chong became very anxious. The harder it is to learn a type of martial arts, of course, the more powerful it will be. Then he heard Feng Qingyang murmuring again.

"If he forgets one of the three hundred and sixty variations in the first move, then he would get the third move wrong. That"s not going to work."

Linghu Chong was astonished when he heard that only the first move already contained three hundred and sixty variations.

Feng Qingyang started counting with his fingers. "Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-w.a.n.g, Wu-w.a.n.g tends toward Tong-Ren, Tong-Ren tends toward DYou. Jia turns into Bing, Bing turns into Geng, Geng turns into Kui. Zi connects Chou, Chen connects Si, Wu connects Wei. Wind to thunder is one change, mountain to lake is one change, water to fire is one change. Qian and Kun activate each other, Zhen and Dui activate each other, Li and Si activate each other. Three increases to five, five increases to nine…."

The more he counted the more worried he looked. Finally he said with a heavy sigh, "Chong, when I learned this move, it took me three months. To expect you to learn two moves in one night is really like a joke. Think about it, "Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-w.a.n.g…. ""

At those words, he stopped talking and apparently was lost in deep thought. After a long while, he asked.

"Now, where was I?"

"Grand Uncle-Master, you said Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-w.a.n.g, Wu-w.a.n.g tends toward Tong-Ren, Tong-Ren tends toward DYou," Linghu Chong answered.

"Ha, you"ve got good memory. What"s next?" Feng Qingyang raised his eyebrows.

"Grand Uncle-Master said, "Jia turns into Bing, Bing turns into Geng, Geng turns into Kui…. "" Linghu Chong recited along and was actually able to repeat almost half of what Feng Qingyang said, but he could no longer remember the rest of it.

"Have you learned the General Index of the Dugu Nine Swords before?" Feng Qingyang was astonished.

"No. I have never learned anything like that before. I had no idea that this is called the Dugu Nine Swords." Linghu Chong replied.

"If you haven"t learned it before, how come you are able to recite it?" Feng Qingyang asked.

"I just memorized it when you read it just now," Linghu Chong answered.

"Hey, this might work!" Feng Qingyang slapped his thigh in excitement. "Although you won"t be able to learn the whole thing, you can simply memorize it. It would be alright if we only learn half of the third move. Now remember these: Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-w.a.n.g, Wu-w.a.n.g tends toward Tong-Ren, Tong-Ren tends toward DYou…."

He went on and on and recited over three hundred words before finally saying, "Give it a try. Recite it."

Linghu Chong had been staying very focused trying to memorize the script. After getting the go, he started reciting and only missed ten words or so. Feng Qingyang corrected them. The second time when Linghu Chong recited them, he only missed seven words. By the time he finished reciting the script a third time, he didn"t miss any word at all.

"Excellent! Excellent!" Feng Qingyang was very pleased. He then taught Linghu Chong another section of the script about three hundred words long. After Linghu Chong memorized those well, he taught the next section of about three hundred words to Linghu Chong.

The General Index of the Dugu Nine Swords had a total of over three thousand words, besides, the contents of the script weren"t really connected to each other logically, so even though Linghu Chong had extraordinary memorizing abilities, he still couldn"t help but remember parts of it while forgetting other parts of it. It took him over two hours and many reminders from Feng Qingyang to finally memorize the entire script with no errors. Feng Qingyang made him recite the script from the very beginning to the very end another three times and was finally convinced that he had memorized all of them.

"The General Index is the key and foundation of the Dugu Nine Swords. Even though you have memorized it at the moment, you only did it by ear for the sake of saving time while having no idea about the theories behind. You can forget about it as easily. From now on, you must recite it days and nights."

"Yes!" Linghu Chong answered.

"The first move of the Dugu Nine Swords, General Index Stance, has many variations to implement the General Index Script. Let"s not rush into that one yet. The second move, Sword-breaking Stance, can be used to overcome sword arts from every single school or cult in the world. No need to rush into that one either. The third move, Knife-breaking Stance, can be used to overcome knife moves of Single Knife, Double Knives, Willow-Leaf Cutla.s.s, Ghost-Beheaded Saber, Large Cleaver, Horse-Cutting Blade, and so on. Tian Boguang is using the Fast Knife Chops technique out of the Single Knife moves. Let"s focus on learning the part about how to overcome his knife techniques specifically tonight."

Realizing that the second move of the Dugu Nine Swords could overcome all the sword arts from all the schools and clans out there, and the third move of the Dugu Nine Swords could overcome all the knife moves, while feeling stunned, Linghu Chong couldn"t help but show his joy.

"The nine stances must be very brilliant. I have never heard of it before." Because of the great excitement, his voice trembled.

"Your Master probably has never seen the moves of the Dugu Nine Swords, but he sure has heard about the name Dugu Nine Swords before. He just doesn"t want to mention it to you, that"s all," Feng Qingyang said.

"Why"s that?" Linghu Chong asked with surprise.

Feng Qingyang didn"t answer the question and went on explaining the moves. "The third move, Knife-breaking Stance, stresses on using light to resist heavy and using fast to overcome slow. The chap Tian Boguang"s fast knife chops are surely very fast, so you will have to be even faster than him. For a young lad like you, it"s probably ok to try to be faster than him; you might win or you might lose. There"s no guaranteed success. For an old rotten folk like me, if I still wanted to be faster than him, then the only solution would be launching my attack before he even starts his. If you can foresee what kind of a move he will be using and then scramble before him, before the enemy even raised his hand, your sword is already pointing at his vital parts. That way no matter how fast your enemy is, you will still be faster."

"Yes, yes! So it teaches about how to antic.i.p.ate the enemy beforehand." Linghu Chong nodded again and again.

"Good, good! You got it!" Feng Qingyang praised as he applauded. ""Antic.i.p.ating the enemy beforehand" is precisely the key to this set of sword techniques. Before anyone executes a move, there will always be many signs that you can catch. If he plans to slash toward your left arm with his next chop, he will certainly cast a glance at your left arm, and if his knife is in the lower right part at the time, then of course he will raise his knife in an arc before swishing his blade down in an angle."

Feng Qingyang went on and explained all the variations in the third sword stance that would overcome fast knife chops, one by one in great details. Linghu Chong felt so relaxed and happy as he listened in. He almost felt like that he was a country boy who had just entered the inner circle of the royal palace, and every single thing he saw or heard was new and interesting. The third sword stance had very complicated variations, and within the limited time, Linghu Chong was only able to comprehend about twenty percent of it. He simply worked hard on memorizing the rest.

The teacher taught enthusiastically and the student studied energetically; both of them lost track of time completely. Suddenly, Tian Boguang shouted outside of the cave.

"Brother Linghu, it"s daybreak now! Are you awake yet?"

"Wow, it"s daybreak already," Linghu Chong uttered.

"It"s a pity that we had so little time." Feng Qingyang sighed. "You"ve learned very quickly, way beyond my expectation already. Go ahead and fight him," he said.

"Yes." Linghu Chong answered. He closed his eyes and went through the gist of all the things he had learned during the night in his head. Suddenly he opened his eyes and asked.

"Grand Uncle-Master, I still have one more question. Why are all the variations attacking techniques with no defending ones at all?"

"Dugu Nine Swords, once stepping in, never steps back! Every technique is an attacking technique. When you force your enemy to have no other choice but to defend himself, of course there"s no need to defend yourself. Senior master Dugu Seeking-Loss, who created this set of sword techniques, had a name "Seeking-Loss." He had been seeking a loss all his life and still couldn"t get one. Once the sword techniques were executed, he would become unmatched anywhere in the world. Why would he have to defend? If anyone could have forced him to draw his sword back and defend himself, the respectful master would have burst with joy and be delighted beyond measure." Feng Qingyang said.

"Dugu Seeking-Loss, Dugu Seeking-Loss," Linghu Chong muttered as he imagined how the senior master had wandered about the Martial World, unmatched anywhere, with only his sword, and couldn"t even find a single one who was capable of forcing him into a defending stance. That was truly admirable.

"Hurry up! Come out! Let me give you two more cuts!" Tian Boguang"s voice rose again.

"I am coming!" Linghu Chong replied.

"I am very concerned about one thing right now." Feng Qingyang knitted his eyebrows together. "When you go out to fight him, if he injures your right arm or right wrist as soon as the fight breaks out, then you would be incapable to fight and leave yourself at his mercy. I am quite worried about that."

"I"ll do my best, Grand Uncle-Master! You didn"t waste all that time teaching me with all your heart. I won"t let you down no matter what," Linghu Chong said fearlessly, in high spirits.

As soon as he stepped out of the cave, he immediately put on a dejected and apathetic face. After a yawn, a stretch, and then some rubbing into his eyes, he finally said to Tian Boguang.

"Hey, brother Tian, you got up too early. Didn"t you have a good rest last night?"

In the mean time, he was actually thinking to himself, "All I need is to hold out through this current one. If I get to study several more hours, I would never be afraid of him again."

"Brother Linghu," Tian Boguang said as he raised his knife, "I really don"t intend to hurt you, but you are simply too stubborn and won"t go down Mount Huashan with me. If we continue fighting like this, I"ll be forced to add ten or twenty more cuts on you and have you beaten black and blue. Wouldn"t that be too bad for you?"

Linghu Chong suddenly got an idea. "You don"t even need to add ten or twenty more cuts on me. All you need to do is to cut my right arm off or injure my right hand, so I can"t use a sword. Then wouldn"t I be at your disposal as you wish? Either to kill me or take me prisoner?"

"I only want you to admit your loss. Why do I want to injure your right arm or right hand?" Tian Boguang shook his head.

Linghu Chong was overjoyed, yet he put on a very depressed face. "I am afraid that you are just saying it right now. Once you get mad because of your losses, you would spare no effort in using all kinds of cruel and vicious tactics," he complained.

"You don"t have to goad me. First, I have no grudges against you; secondly, I respect you as a true man with integrity; thirdly, if I injure you too badly, I am afraid someone might come and give me trouble. Go ahead!" Tian Boguang said.

"Alright! Brother Tian, please go ahead." Linghu Chong replied.

Tian Boguang gave a fake slash and immediately followed it with a tilted chop. His blade flashed in the sunshine with blinding reflections and the chop looked very vicious. Linghu Chong was about to overcome it with one of the variations in the third sword stance out of the Dugu Nine Swords, but Tian Boguang"s knife moves came too fast, by the time he was going to attack, the knife move had already changed. He was just one step too slow.

"How terrible! How terrible! I can"t even be fast enough to use the newly learned sword techniques. Grand Uncle-Master must be calling me an idiot right now," Linghu Chong groaned inwardly in great worries.

After a few more moves, cold sweats started rolling down Linghu Chong"s forehead. But in Tian Boguang"s eyes, his sword techniques looked extremely fierce, and every move seemed as if it was the exact restraint to Tian"s knife moves. Tian Boguang couldn"t help but feel worried.

"He could have killed me with the last several sword techniques. Why did he slow it down just a little bit intentionally?" he thought aloud. "Oh, I got it. He is being lenient and wants to beat me into a retreat in the face of difficulties. But even though I see the difficulties, I can"t simply retreat. I have to hold out with all my might."

Because of these thoughts, with every chop, he dared not to use all his strength and made sure he would always have extra energy left in case of an emergency. The two dreaded each other and both fought in a very cautious manner.

After a while, Tian Boguang gradually increased his knife chopping speed, and Linghu Chong also became more familiar with the variations of the Dugu Nine Swords third sword stance. While lights of the knife and the sword flashed, the two fought faster and faster.

Suddenly Tian Boguang let out a loud roar as he threw a kick with his right foot, which struck Linghu Chong in the stomach. Linghu Chong fell down facing up.

In the split of a second, Linghu Chong thought, "All I need is another day and night. This time tomorrow I am sure I can beat him." He let go of his sword, shut his eyes tight, held his breath, and pretended to be knocked out cold.

Seeing that Linghu Chong laid on the ground unconscious, Tian Boguang was stunned. But knowing that Linghu Chong was cunning and crafty, he dared not to bend over to check, afraid that Linghu Chong might jump up and attack all of a sudden to seek a victory from a defeat. So he crossed his blade in front of him and then took a couple of steps closer.

"Brother Linghu? Are you alright?" he called out.

He called a few more times and found Linghu Chong finally regaining himself slowly with little breathing.

"Let"s…let"s fight again." Linghu Chong said in a trembling voice.

He struggled to stand up, but half way up, his left leg gave out and he fell on the ground again.

"You are not going to make it. Why don"t you have a good rest for a day and then follow me down Mount Huashan tomorrow?" Tian Boguang suggested.

Linghu Chong didn"t express any opinion of his and pushed the ground with one hand, trying to stand up while panting hard.

With no more doubts, Tian Boguang took a step forward and grabbed onto Linghu Chong"s right arm to prop him up, but when he took the step forward, his foot "happened" to step on top of Linghu Chong"s long sword on the ground, and while guarding himself with the knife in his right hand, his grip also happened to grab onto a pressure point on Linghu Chong"s right arm to make sure Linghu Chong couldn"t play any tricks. Linghu Chong"s entire body weight hung onto Tian Boguang"s left arm and he appeared to be completely weak and frail.

"Who asked for your help? d.a.m.n it!" Linghu Chong swore and then limped back into the cave.

"Hey, you just gained an entire day and night without any extra effort. Don"t you think it was a bit despicable and shameless?" Feng Qingyang said with a smile.

"Well, when you are dealing with despicable and shameless people, I suppose a small despicable and shameless trick would be acceptable." Linghu Chong laughed.

"What if you are dealing with a gentleman?" Feng Qingyang asked with a serious face.

"A gentleman?" Linghu Chong was taken by surprise and became speechless.

"What are you going to do if you are dealing with a gentleman?" Feng Qingyang fixed his piercing eyes on Linghu Chong"s face and asked coldly.

"Well, even though he is a gentleman, if he wants to kill me, I can"t just let him. When I have to, I guess I will have to use a little bit of the despicable and shameless tricks," Linghu Chong answered.

Feng Qingyang was delighted beyond measurement. "Great! Great! If you can say that, then you are not a hypocrite who only pretends to do good," he said loudly. "A true man does things to his own like, just like floating clouds and flowing water – natural and smooth, come and go freely. Rules of the Martial World or regulations of schools and clans are all complete bull!"

Linghu Chong let out a slight smile. Every word of Feng Qingyang had struck a chord in his heart and made him feel indescribable joy. But since Master had been repeatedly admonishing him that even if one had to give up his own life, he should never defame the great reputation of the Huashan Sword School by breaking school rules or violating regulations of the Martial World, he really couldn"t echo Grand Uncle-Master"s point publicly; besides, the words "hypocrite who only pretends to do good" seemed to be satirizing his Master"s nickname of "Gentleman Sword," so he only let out a slight smile and didn"t chime in.

Feng Qingyang reached out with his wizened fingers and stroked Linghu Chong"s hair gently, a bright smile blossoming on his face.

"Among Yue Buqun"s apprentices, there are actually good talents like you. That chap does have some taste. He wasn"t a complete loser." The "chap" he had mentioned of course meant Yue Buqun.

"Kid, you really suit my taste. Come on, let"s practice some more of Great Hero Dugu"s first sword stance and the third sword stance." Feng Qingyang patted on Linghu Chong"s shoulder.

Feng Qingyang went ahead and picked some key issues in the first sword stance of the Dugu Nine Swords to explain to Linghu Chong. After Linghu Chong comprehended them, he then explained in detail the related variations in the third sword stance with both words and gestures. There were some long swords in the back cave, so both of them used Huashan style long swords to demonstrate and perform. Linghu Chong memorized everything with all his heart, and every time when he had a question, he would ask it right away. Because they had plenty of time during the day, the learning process wasn"t as intense as the night before, and each stance and variation could be explained and demonstrated in great details.

After dinner, Linghu Chong slept for four hours and then continued with the learning. The next morning, Tian Boguang was convinced that Linghu Chong had been injured pretty badly the previous day, so he didn"t even press with his shouts outside this time. Linghu Chong was just happy that he could continue learning sword techniques at the back cave. By the time of about two o"clock in the afternoon, Linghu Chong had learned all the variations in the third sword stance of the Dugu Nine Swords completely.

"It"s no big deal if you still can"t beat him today. If you get to study for another day and night, I am sure you will win tomorrow no matter what," Feng Qingyang declared.

Linghu Chong nodded and then walked out of the cave slowly with the long sword left by a senior grandmaster of the Huashan Sword School in hand. When he saw Tian Boguang looking into the distance from the edge of the cliff, he put on a pretended surprised face.

"Why, brother Tian? How come you are still here?"

"I am waiting for you. Sorry about the offense yesterday. Are you feeling better today?"

"I didn"t see anything getting better. The wound on my leg from your knife chop is still hurting really badly."

"Hha, that day when we fought in Hengyang Town, your wounds were a lot more severe than today, yet you never said anything to give the impression of weakness. I know you have a whole bag of tricks. When you strike a pose to show your weakness, you probably are thinking about a surprise attack. I am not going to fall for it," Tian Boguang said with a smile.

"You have already fallen for it. Even if you can figure it out right now, it would still be too late!" Linghu Chong"s face split into a big smile. "Brother Tian, look out!"

At the exact moment of his last word, Linghu Chong thrust his sword at Tian Boguang"s chest. Tian Boguang raised his knife hurriedly to parry it, but his knife hit nothing. Meanwhile, Linghu Chong"s second thrust had arrived.

"Excellent speed!" Tian Boguang praised as he crossed his knife to block the attack, but Linghu Chong had already launched his third and forth thrusts.

"I"ve got some even faster ones," Linghu Chong declared.

He immediately thrust out the fifth and the sixth attacks. Once he started his attacks, each thrust was followed by another continuous thrust, and each thrust was faster than the previous one. He had really grasped the essence of the Dugu Nine Swords – once stepping in, never step back, and every thrust is an attack.

After ten moves or so, Tian Boguang became terror-stricken. He had no clue how to fend off the endless of attacks. Every time when Linghu Chong lunge a thrust, he would take a step back. After another ten thrusts, he had retreated to the very brink of the cliff. Linghu Chong didn"t slow down his attack one bit and with four whistling sounds, he lunged another four thrusts, all of which pointing at Tian Boguang"s vital parts. Tian Boguang worked his best and parried two of the thrusts away, but could not fend off the third thrust in any way. He stepped back with his left foot but his foot only landed on emptiness. He knew clearly that it was a bottomless abyss behind him and anyone falling down it would be smashed into pieces. At the critical moment, he chopped down at the ground with all his strength and was able to stable himself right on the edge. By then, the fourth thrust from Linghu Chong had arrived and the tip of the sword stopped inches short from his throat.

Tian Boguang"s face was as white as a sheet of paper. Linghu Chong didn"t let out a sound either and simply remained still with the sword tip right next to Tian"s throat.

"Go ahead and kill me. What are you waiting for?" Tian Boguang yelled angrily after a long silence.

Linghu Chong pulled his right hand back and leapt several big steps backward.

"Brother Tian, you just had an oversight and permitted me to take the initiative. This one doesn"t count. Let"s fight again," he said.

Tian Boguang let out a loud snort and then waved his knife madly in a thunderstorm-like attack toward Linghu Chong.

"I"ll attack first this time. I am not going to let you take advantage again," he shouted.

Seeing the fierce chop of the steel blade coming toward him, Linghu Chong jabbed his sword in an angle toward Tian Boguang"s lower stomach while turning his upper body to dodge away from the sharp knife blade.