The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Linghu Chong looked around, and saw that he was inside a mountain cave. Outside the cave, there was a big bonfire. He then remembered that he was kicked by his master. "What happened to my Master and Master-Wife?"

Yingying flatly answered him, "You"re still calling him master? In this world, there"s no such shameless master. You"ve already given way, but he didn"t know what was good for him, and at the end, he was unable to get out of an awkward situation. He gave you a very fierce kick but broke his leg, serves him right!"

"My master broke his leg?" Linghu Chong asked, startled.

Yingying giggled. "Isn"t it good enough that he wasn"t shaken to death? Daddy said you still don"t know how to use the Art of Essence Absorbing yet, otherwise you wouldn"t have gotten injured."

Linghu Chong mumbled, "I stabbed master and also broke his leg. This is really… really…"

"You regret it?" Yingying asked.

Linghu Chong felt extremely ashamed. "I shouldn"t have done that. If it weren"t for Master and Master-Wife bringing me up, maybe I would"ve died a long time ago. How can there be a today? I repaid their kindness with enmity, I"m worse than an animal."

"He repeatedly wanted to kill you with his fierce moves but you just endured it and let him do it; that can be said that you"ve repaid your master"s kindness. Also, looking at the type of person you are, how could you have died? Even if the Yue couple didn"t bring you up, you"d be called the little beggar in Jianghu because I don"t think you would have died. Also, he already expelled you from Huashan, so the master disciple relation between you two was severed a long time ago. What is he to you now?" Yingying suddenly lowered her voice, "Brother Chong, you offended your master and master-wife because of me. My… my heart…" She lowered her head, and both of her cheeks were blushing.

Linghu Chong saw her revealing her little girl"s shyness, while her beauty was enhanced by the raging fire outside the cave shining on her face. His heart was moved. Extending his hand, he held her left hand, and sighed, not knowing what to say. Yingying softly murmured, "Why did you sigh? You regret knowing me?"

"No, no! How can I regret it? Because of me, you were willing to give up your life in Shaolin temple. Even if later on my body were grounded to dust and my bones broken to pieces, I still wouldn"t be able to repay for your kindness," Linghu Chong said.

Yingying stared into both of his eyes. "Why are you talking like that? Even until now, your heart is still regarding me as a stranger."

Linghu Chong felt ashamed. In his heart, there was always a feeling of estrangement towards her. "I said it wrong. From today onwards, I will wholeheartedly treat you well." As he said these words, he couldn"t refrain from thinking, "How about little martial sister? Little martial sister? Could it be that I"ll forget little martial sister?"

Yingying"s eyes flashed with happiness. "Brother Chong, are you speaking the truth, or are you deceiving me?"

Suddenly Linghu Chong was no longer thinking of himself or of his longing for Yue Lingshan. He sincerely answered, "If I"m deceiving you, then let me be split in two by thunder, and not die a good death."

Yingying"s left hand slowly turned over and gripped Linghu Chong"s hand, which was already holding her hand. She felt that this moment was the most precious moment in her whole life. She felt her whole body becoming hot, and her heart felt as if it were floating on clouds. She wished that this moment would last forever. After a long time, she slowly said, "We"re people who live in Wulin, I"m afraid we"re destined not to die a good death. If later on you become ungrateful towards me, I won"t hope that you"ll be split in two by thunder. I… I… I"d rather kill you nicely with a single stab of my sword."

Linghu Chong was startled. He never expected her to suddenly say such words. When he recovered from his shock, he laughed. "My life was saved by you, so it already belongs to you. If you want to take it back, then you can come and take it back anytime."

Yingying smiled and said, "Other people said that you"re a cunning and mannerless romantic. As expected, the words coming out of your mouth are suave and sly, and not decent and proper at all. I don"t know what kind of fate that made me… made me like a frivolous romantic like you."

Linghu Chong laughed. "When was I being frivolous towards you? You said that I did, so now I want to be frivolous towards you." As he said this, he sat up.

Both of Yingying"s feet twitched, and she shot out for a few feet. She lowered her head and said, "I regard you well and we"ve been adhering to customs and rules. If you think that I"m a lascivious girl, and that you can just take advantage of me as you please, then you"re mistaken about me."

Linghu Chong replied in a serious manner, "How can I dare to regard you as a lascivious girl? You"re an old granny of good moral standing and reputation, you didn"t even allow me to turn my head around to look at you."

Yingying laughed and remembered the first time she met Linghu Chong. At that time, he kept calling her "granny", and was being very respectful towards her. She couldn"t help smiling and her dimples showed. She then sat down around three to four feet away from Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong laughed and said, "You"re not allowing me to be frivolous. From now on, I"ll just keep calling you granny."

Yingying giggled. "Alright. Good grandson."

"Granny, my heart has…"

"You can"t call me granny! Wait for sixty years before calling me that."

"If I could start calling you "granny" from now till sixty years later, then my life wouldn"t have been in vain."

Yingying felt touched and thought, "If I could really accompany him for sixty years, that would be as good as having ascended to heaven and becoming an immortal."

Linghu Chong gazed at her profile. Her nose was slightly pointed, her long eyelashes were hanging down, her appearance was delicate and tender, and her complexion was warm and soft. He thought, "Such a beautiful lady, why do those thousands of cruel and wild heroes from Jianghu respect and fear her, and they"re also willing to go through fire and water for her?" He wanted to ask, but he felt that talking about this sort of things at this time would dampen their spirits, so he stopped himself from asking.

"Whatever you want to say, just say it," Yingying said.

"From the beginning, I felt there"s something odd. How come Old Man, Zu Qianqiu, and the rest of them fear you so much."

Yingying charmingly laughed. "I know that if you don"t understand this matter well, then you will always feel uneasy. I"m afraid in your heart, you"ve always regarded me as a monster."

"No, no, I regard you as a vastly knowledgeable Immortal."

Yingying smiled. "You can"t say three words without speaking nonsense. In fact your type of person, you might not necessarily be frivolous and mannerless, but you merely love to talk sweetly. That"s why other people said that you"re a dissolute person."

"When I call you granny, do you think I was just talking sweetly?"

"Call me granny for the rest of your life then."

"I want to call you for the rest of my life, but it"s not to call you granny."

Yingying"s face turned bright red, and she felt sweetness swelled in her heart. She whispered, "I hope these words you just said aren"t just sweet talk."

"You"re afraid that I was just talking sweetly. For the rest of my life, when you cook meals for me, you don"t have to put oil in them then."

(Translator"s note: A Chinese idiom which literally has the meaning "Oil Mouth Slippery Tongue" means "Sweet talk without being sincere". The joke on the oil is connected to this.)

Yingying smiled and said, "I can"t cook; I even burnt the frogs I was roasting."

Linghu Chong remembered those days when the two of them were roasting frogs in a wild field besides a creek. He felt at this very moment that the feeling of that time had returned. His heart was filled with tender affection.

Yingying said quietly, "If you"re not afraid of my burnt meals, then I"ll cook for you for the rest of your life."

"Why not? If you cook for me, then I"ll eat three big bowls of burnt meals everyday."

Yingying softly said, "You love to joke around to your heart"s content. Actually, you speak teasingly to make me happy, and I feel very happy hearing them." Their eyes met, and for a long time, they just looked at each other without speaking. After some time, Yingying slowly said, "You already know that my daddy was originally the chief of the Divine Sun Moon Sect. Later, uncle Dongfang… … no, Dongfang Bubai. I keep calling him uncle, I"m too used to it. He used deceit and imprisoned daddy, and fooled everyone else. He said that daddy had died somewhere and had a.s.signed him to be Chief when that happened. At that time, I was still small, while Dongfang Bubai was very cunning and his plan didn"t have any flaw, so I also didn"t have any suspicion. After Dongfang Bubai managed to deceive everyone, he treated me unusually and was being very polite and gave me a lot of favour. No matter what I said, he never rejected it. That"s why when I was in the sect, I was in a very honoured position."

"Those Jianghu"s heroes, they"re all subordinates of the Divine Sun Moon Sect?"

"They can"t be regarded as members of the sect, but they"ve always been under my sect"s subordination. Most of their leaders have taken my sect"s "Divine Three Corpse Brain Pill"."

Linghu Chong snorted. That day at Plum Manor on Mount Gu, when the elders of Devil Sect, such as Bao Dachu, Qin Weibang, and the others saw Ren Woxing"s red pills of "Divine Three Corpse Brain Pill", they were all frightened to death. When Linghu Chong remembered the event of that day, he couldn"t help scowling. Yingying continued, "Once you"ve taken this "Divine Three Corpse Brain Pill", every year after that, you have to take an antidote. Otherwise, the poison will come out and you"ll die a miserable death. Dongfang Bubai treated those heroic warriors severely. If there were a small matter that"s not up to his expectation, then he wouldn"t give them the medicine. Every time, I have to seek his compa.s.sion to give them the medicines."

"You"re their saviour then."

"I"m not a saviour. They came to me asking for help, and I didn"t have the heart to just ignore them. This was originally also Dongfang Bubai"s plan in deceiving the people in the sect. He wanted everyone to know that he"s taking care of me and really respects me. Then, naturally, no one suspects him of actually usurping the position of Chief."

Linghu Chong nodded his head and said, "This person is a shrewd schemer."

"But it"s bothersome for me to always ask for compa.s.sion from Dongfang Bubai. Furthermore, the situation inside the sect is very different from the past. Everyone also sees how Dongfang Bubai wants to be flattered, it"s very disgusting. The spring of the year before last, I asked martial nephew Elder Bamboo Green to accompany me roaming the hills and playing with the water, and also to get out from the sect"s matters and from saying those shameless words to Dongfang Bubai. Didn"t think that I would meet you then." She then looked at Linghu Chong, and the memory of the first time she met him at the bamboo alley rose up. She lightly sighed and her heart was filled with tender feelings. After a long time, she went on, "Those thousands of heroes who came to Shaolin temple, of course not all of them had taken the medicines that I asked for. But it only needs one person to receive my favour, then his family members, good friends, sect members, brothers, and many others, they naturally have also received my favour. Also, when they went to Mount Shaoshi, it"s not necessarily because of me. It"s more likely that they were answering big hero Linghu"s summon, and they didn"t dare not to come." When she said this, she pursed her lips smiling.

Linghu Chong sighed. "You won"t get any benefit from following me. But it"s very likely that you"ll advance a lot in the art of talking smoothly and sweetly." Yingying burst into laughter. In her whole life, everyone from the Divine Sun Moon Sect had always regarded her like a princess, and no one dared to disobey her. As she grew up, she became bossier, whatever she wanted was done, and no one dared to say any jokes to her. At this time, as she joked around with Linghu Chong, it was the happiest time in her life. After a time, Yingying turned her head around to face the wall. "I"m naturally happy that you led so many people to Shaolin temple to meet me. But those people are garrulous and crude, behind my back, they"re saying I… saying I treated you well, but you"re actually a romantic person, and leaves the seeds of love everywhere. And you don"t really care about me at all…" As she said this, her voice gradually quietened down. She then quietly continued, "You"re really giving me a lot of face by making such a big disturbance, even if I… even if I died, I won"t regret getting this good name."

"When you carried me on your back to Shaolin temple seeking for a cure, I was completely unaware. Later on, I was imprisoned under the West Lake, and when I got out, I encountered Heng-Shan School"s matter. Then I worked hard after getting the information before finally meeting you, but you"ve suffered immensely there," Linghu Chong explained.

"I didn"t suffer living at the mountain behind Shaolin temple. I lived alone in a stone house, and every ten days, an old monk came to give me firewood and rice. Apart from this, I didn"t see anyone else until Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai came to Shaolin. Then Abbot wanted to see me, and I found out that he didn"t pa.s.s on to you the Tendon Altering Sutra. When I found out that I was swindled, I was really angry and scolded that old monk. Dingxian Shi Tai told me not to worry, and she said that you are safe and well. She also said that you asked the two Shi Tai to go to the Shaolin Abbot to ask for his compa.s.sion," Yingying told him.

"When you heard her explanation, you stopped scolding Great Master Abbot?"

"When the Shaolin Temple"s Abbot heard me scolding him, he only smiled and didn"t get angry. He said: "Female shi zhu, old monk wanted young hero Linghu to join Shaolin on that day, and to take him as my disciple. After that, old monk would have taught him the internal art of Tendon Altering Sutra to repel the various internal energies in his body. But he resolutely refused, and old monk had no way to force him. Also, that day you carried him to come up… that day when he came up the mountain, he was on the verge of death. But when he went down the mountain, he was walking like a normal person. At the very least, Shaolin temple has given him some help." I thought what he said was reasonable so I said: "Then why do you detain me on the mountain? Buddhists don"t tell lies, isn"t what you"re doing, deceiving me?"" Yingying narrated.

"Yes, they shouldn"t have concealed that from you."

"That old monk gave me another reason. He said detaining me on Mount Shaoshi was because he hoped that the Buddhist way would change my violent nature. What nonsense!" Yingying complained.

"Yes, what kind of violent nature do you have?"

"You don"t need to say some nice words to make me happy. Of course, I have a violent nature. Not only have, but I have a considerable violence in me. But you don"t have to worry, I won"t use it on you," Yingying said.

"I hold you in a new light now, and thank you very much."

Yingying continued, "At that time, I said to the old monk: "You"re already old, but you"re still bullying the young. How shameless." That old monk replied: "That day you voluntarily came to Shaolin temple willing to give up your life in exchange for young hero Linghu"s life. Even though we didn"t cure young hero Linghu, we also didn"t take your life. Hearing from the two Shi Tai from Heng-Shan School, young hero Linghu had recently done many heroic deeds in Jianghu. Old monk is really happy for him. Taking into consideration the good reputation of the Heng-Shan School"s two Shi Tai, you can go down the mountain." He also promised to release hundreds of my Jianghu friends being detained there. I"ve received a lot of his kindness, so I paid my respect to him a few times. After that, I followed Heng-Shan School"s two Shi Tai to go down the mountain. Later at the bottom of the mountain, I met someone called "Ten Thousand Miles Loner" Tian Boguang. He said that you"re already leading a few thousand people to come to Shaolin temple to meet me. The two Shi Tai said Shaolin temple was facing a difficulty so they couldn"t just put their hands in their sleeves. So we parted ways then, and they wanted me to intercept you. Unexpectedly, the two kind and gentle seniors died in Shaolin temple." After she said this, she let out a really long sigh.

Linghu Chong also sighed. "I don"t know who did it. There were no traces of injury on their bodies and I also don"t know how they lost their lives."

"What do you mean no traces of injury? Daddy, uncle Xiang and I went to have a look at the bodies of the two Shi Tai at the temple. I undid their gowns to have a look and saw on their chests two red holes the size of a needle. They were killed after being pierced by iron needles," Yingying told him.

Linghu Chong was startled and uttered an "ah". "Poison needle? Who uses poison needles in Wulin?"

Yingying shook her head. "Daddy and uncle Xiang"s experiences are vast, but they also don"t know. Daddy said that it wasn"t poison needle. It"s actually a pointed weapon aimed at a fatal point that killed them. But the needle piercing Dingxian Shi Tai was slightly slanted."

"Yes. When I saw Dingxian Shi Tai, she was still alive. This needle pierced into her chest, so it wasn"t done secretly, and they were actually fighting face to face. The person who killed the two Shi Tai must"ve been masters with high martial art," Linghu Chong concluded.

Yingying added, "That"s what my daddy also said. Since we have this clue, it won"t be hard to find who the murderer is."

Linghu Chong slapped his hand on the cave"s wall and said loudly, "Yingying, while the two of us still have our lives, we must avenge the two Shi Tai."

"Yes," Yingying replied.

Linghu Chong then put his hand on the wall to support himself in getting up. But he felt his four limbs feeling normal, and there was no soreness on his chest. It was as if he had not received any injury. "This is strange. My master gave me a kick, but it seems that I"m not injured."

"My daddy said that you"ve absorbed much inner energy from other people, and your internal energy is far above your master. But because you didn"t use your power to resist your master, you got injured. But your profound internal energy protected you, so your injury was light. Uncle Xiang gave you a few push to arouse your own internal energy to cure your injury, and you were alright in no time. But your master"s leg unexpectedly broke. That was really strange, daddy thought for a long time, and he couldn"t come up with an answer," Yingying explained.

"My internal energy is already powerful. So when master kicked me, the counter force from my internal energy broke his leg. Why"s that strange?"

"It"s not that. Daddy said that even though absorbing other people"s energies would protect your body, but you must use it to injure other people. Compared to the completed internal art, you"re still one level lower."

"So that"s how it is," Linghu Chong said. He didn"t really understand the reasons, so he didn"t think much about it. But when he thought of how he injured his master in front of all those masters, he felt really guilty.

After a moment, both of them became quiet. They heard the crackling sound of the bonfire outside the cave, but they saw large snowflakes floating down. Compared to when they were still in the Shaolin temple, the snow had gotten even larger. Suddenly, Linghu Chong heard sounds of heavy breathing from the east outside the cave, and he immediately strained to listen to it. Yingying"s internal energy wasn"t as good as his so she didn"t hear anything. She saw his expression and asked, "What did you hear?"

"I heard some sounds of panting just then; there"s someone coming. But he"s gasping heavily. That person"s martial art is low so there should be nothing to worry about." He then asked, "Where"s your dad?"

Yingying answered, "Daddy and uncle Xiang said they were going out for a stroll." As she said this, her face turned red. She knew that her father deliberately left to leave her alone with Linghu Chong so that when he woke up, they could talk about their time apart. Linghu Chong again heard the sound of gasping. "Let"s go out and take a look."

When the two of them went out of the cave, they saw the mark of Ren and Xiang"s footsteps mostly covered up by the new snow. Linghu Chong pointed in the direction of the footsteps. "The gasping sounds are coming from that direction." The two of them started following the trail of footsteps. After more than a hundred feet, they came to a level area of the mountain. They saw Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian standing still next to each other in the middle of the snowfield. The two of them were startled, and rushed forward at the same time.

Yingying called out, "Dad!" She extended her hand and pulled Ren Woxing"s left hand. Her whole body was shaken as she touched her father, and felt cold energy from her father"s hand entering the marrow of her bones. She was frightened and called out, "Dad, you… what"s…" She had not finished speaking when her body trembled and her teeth started chattering. But she immediately understood what was happening. After her father was. .h.i.t by Zuo Lengchan"s "Polar Ice Energy", he had been using his power to suppress it. But at this time, he finally couldn"t suppress it any longer and the cold energy had come out, and Xiang Wentian was exhausting his power in helping her father to resist it.

At Shaolin temple, Ren Woxing was deceived by Zuo Lengchan and had his acupoint sealed. After they had gone down the mountain, he briefly told her this. Linghu Chong had not yet understood what was going on, and from the light reflection on the snow, he saw the serious complexions of those two people, Ren and Xiang, and how Ren Woxing was gasping for air. He then realised that the gasping sound that he heard before was coming from Ren Woxing. When he saw Yingying"s body trembling, he quickly extended his hand to grasp her left hand, and felt a wave of cold air entering his body. He immediately understood. Ren Woxing was. .h.i.t by his enemy"s Polar Ice Energy, and was now in the process of distributing his internal energy according to the method written on the iron panel underneath the West Lake. He was slowly driving out the cold energy out of his body.

When Ren Woxing obtained Linghu Chong"s help, he felt relieved. Xiang Wentian and Yingying"s internal energies were different from his, and were only able to help him resist the cold energy and not to drive it out. He was already using all of his power just to stop his whole body from freezing, and had no more energy to drive the cold energy out. He had already resisted the cold energy for a long time and was feeling his power being drained as time went on. Linghu Chong"s method was his last line of defence, which was slowly drawing the "Polar Ice Energy" out of Ren Woxing"s body and scattering it out. The four of them were holding hands standing in the middle of the snowfield, looking like statues. Big snowflakes kept falling on the four people"s heads and faces, and gradually, their heads, eyes, noses, and gowns were being covered. Linghu Chong was using his energy and he inwardly thought there was something strange, "How come the snow"s not melting on my face?" He didn"t know that Zuo Lengchan had practised his "Polar Ice Energy" to an extremely high level, so much so that the cold air coming out was as cold as the snow.

At this moment, their internal organs still held their warmth, but their skins were already ice cold causing the snowflakes falling on their bodies not to melt at all. Compared to the snow falling on the ground, it was acc.u.mulating faster on their bodies. After a long time, the sky slowly got brighter but the snow kept on falling down. Linghu Chong was worried that Yingying was weak and that she wouldn"t be able to endure the invasion of the cold energy for long. But the poisonous cold air inside Ren Woxing"s body had not been emptied yet. Even though he wasn"t gasping anymore, he didn"t know whether they could part hands at this time, and whether his condition would change if they parted hands. Unable to settle on an idea, he continued helping him scatter the cold energy. He felt from holding Yingying"s palm that even though her skin was cold, she had stopped quivering. He was also able to feel the tiny pulse on her palm. At this time, a few inches of white snow had acc.u.mulated on top of his two eyes, so he could only feel without seeing how the sky had become brighter. He continually increased his effort hoping that the cold energy in Ren Woxing"s body would be completely driven out by morning.

After a long time, the sound of horse"s hoof beats coming closer was suddenly heard from the northeast. They heard one horse was being ridden in front of the other horse. Then they heard a person shouting, "Martial sister, martial sister, please hear me out."

Even though both of Linghu Chong"s ears were already covered by snow, he still heard him clearly. It was his master Yue Buqun"s voice. Both horses were still galloping as they came nearer, and they heard Yue Buqun calling out again, "You don"t understand the reason but you"re throwing a tantrum already. Please hear me out." This was followed by Madam Yue shouting, "I"m not in a cheerful mood. What"s that got to do with you? What"s there to say?" Hearing the two people calling out to each other, they deduced that Madam Yue"s horse was at the front, and Yue Buqun"s horse was at the back chasing her. Linghu Chong felt it very strange. "Master-Wife is so furious. How did master offend her?" But he heard the horse Madam Yue was riding kept on going. Suddenly, she uttered a "yi", and it was followed by the long neighing sound of the horse. It must be because she had suddenly reined in her horse to stop it, and both horses and person were now standing still.

A short time later, Yue Buqun caught up to her on his horse. "Martial sister, don"t you think these four piles of snow look like snowmen?" Madam Yue uttered an "hng", it seemed that her anger had not abated yet. She just said to herself, "We"re in the wilderness, how can there be people making these four snowmen?"

Linghu Chong thought, "How can there be snowmen in this wilderness?" He then realized, "The four of us are covered in white snow until we look swollen. That"s why Master and Master-Wife thought that we"re snowmen." Master and Master-Wife were right in front of him now, and the circ.u.mstance seemed awkward and yet actually very funny. He was afraid as he thought, "Once master found out that it"s us, he"s bound to give each of us a stab. If he wanted to kill us now, he wouldn"t need to spend too much energy."

Yue Buqun said, "There"s no foot marks on the snow. These four snowmen must"ve been made a few days ago. Martial sister, have a look, it seems like three of them are male and one is female."

"They all look similar, how can you tell they"re male or female?" Madam Yue replied, and with a shout, urged her horse to go again.

"Martial sister, you"re so quick-tempered! There"s no one around here, let"s talk about it. How can that be not good?" Yue Buqun urged.

"What quick-slow tempered? I"m going back to Huashan. You love to flatter Zuo Lengchan, you can go up Songshan by yourself."

"Who said I love to flatter Zuo Lengchan? I don"t even want this position of Huashan School"s leader, why do I want to be subservient to Songshan School?"

"That"s right! I don"t understand why you want to be subservient towards Zuo Lengchan and listen to all his instructions? Although he"s the chief of the Five Mountains Sword Schools, he shouldn"t be involved in the matters of our Huashan School. Once the five sword schools are joined into one, will there still be a Huashan School? When Master gave you the leadership of the Huashan School, what did he say?" Madam Yue retorted.

"The respected master wanted me to increase the reputation of Huashan School."

"That"s right. If you agreed to Zuo Lengchan and joined Huashan School with Songshan School, how do you repay the late respected master? As the saying goes: would rather have chicken"s beak, wouldn"t want cow"s b.u.t.tock*. Even though Huashan School is small, we can support ourselves, and we don"t need to depend on other people," Madam Yue said.

(*Translator"s note: This saying means "would rather have a low but independent position than hold a high position under the control of others".)

Yue Buqun let out a long sigh before saying, "Martial sister, Heng-Shan School"s Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai"s martial art, compared to the two of us, which one is higher and which one is lower?"

"We"ve never duelled before, I think we"re about similar. Why are you asking this?"

Yue Buqun answered, "I also think that we"re about similar. The two Shi Tai lost their lives in the Shaolin temple, it"s obvious that it was Zuo Lengchan"s doing."

Linghu Chong was surprised. He had also originally thought that it was Zuo Lengchan"s doing, otherwise there was no one else with such good martial art. Although the martial art of the Shaolin and Wudang Schools" leaders were high, they were both such gentlemen and would have never harmed the two Shi tai. Songshan School had besieged the three nuns of Heng-Shan School many times. It seemed now that Zuo Lengchan had personally taken care of it. Ren Woxing had such good martial art, but he still lost under Zuo Lengchan"s hand. So, Heng-Shan School"s two Shi Tai were naturally not his match.

Madam Yue said, "Killed by Zuo Lengchan? So what? If you have any evidence, then quickly invite all the heroes from the orthodox schools to confront Zuo Lengchan to avenge the two Shi Tai."

"One, I don"t have any evidence. Two, we"re weak that we can"t fight him."

"What do you mean "weak and can"t fight him"? We"ll ask Shaolin School"s Abbot Fangzheng and Wudang School"s Priest Chongxu to preside over this justice. How would Zuo Lengchan dare to fight us?"

"I"m afraid before we can invite Abbot Fangzheng and the others, we"ll both be like Heng-Shan School"s two Shi Tai," Yue Buqun reasoned.

"You"re saying Zuo Lengchan would kill the two of us? Hng, we"ve already striven for so long in Wulin, is it really necessary to think that much? If we"re afraid of the tiger in front and the wolf at the back, can we still be standing in Jianghu?"

Linghu Chong inwardly admired, "Even though Master-Wife is a woman, her heroic spirit is astounding."

Yue Buqun replied, "I won"t regret the two of us dying, but what"s the use of that? When Zuo Lengchan secretly moves against us, the two of us will die without knowing why or how. As a result, he would still be able to resume his plan and finish making the Five Mountains School. Maybe he would even fabricate some accusations to put on us." Madam Yue just hummed without answering him.

Yue Buqun continued, "Once we died, the disciples of the Huashan School would become easy pickings for Zuo Lengchan. How could they fight back? No matter what, we must always think of Shan"er."

Madam Yue held back her words. It seemed that her husband"s words had finally moved her. After some time, she said, "En, we"ll do what you say and won"t uncover Zuo Lengchan"s plot for now. We"ll play along and be polite in front of him, and wait for an opportunity to move."

"You"ve agreed to my words, then it"s very good. Pingzhi"s family"s "Evil Resisting Sword Manual" had already been stolen by that little thief Linghu Chong. If he agreed to give it back to Pingzhi, then my Huashan disciples could all learn from it. Then what else do we have to fear from Zuo Lengchan? My Huashan School is now in a precarious position, how can we survive?"

Madam Yue said, "Why are you still suspicious of Chong"er just because he had greatly advanced in his sword art? Are you still thinking that it"s because he embezzled Pingzhi"s family"s "Evil Resisting Sword Manual"? During the battle at Shaolin temple, Great Master Fangzheng and Priest Chongxu both said that his wonderful sword art was pa.s.sed down by martial uncle Feng. Even though martial uncle Feng is from the sword branch, he"s still from our Huashan School. Of course it"s wrong for Chong"er to join hands with the demons from the Devil Sect, but anyhow, we can"t wrongly accuse him of embezzling the "Evil Resisting Sword Manual". If you still don"t believe Great Master Fangzheng and Priest Chongxu, then who would you believe in this world?"

Linghu Chong felt a swell of grat.i.tude as he heard Master-Wife explaining things on his behalf. He really wanted to go out there to give her a hug. Suddenly, the top of his head was shaken a few times as someone patted him. He thought, "This isn"t good, we"ve been discovered. Chief Ren"s poisonous cold energy hasn"t been completely driven out yet. If Master and Master-Wife were to duel with me again, how can that be good?" He felt the internal energy coming from Yingying"s hand became more severe. He guessed that Ren Woxing was also feeling uneasy. Again, someone lightly tapped his head a few more times, but then there was no more movement. Then he heard Madam Yue saying, "Yesterday when you were fighting Chong"er, you used "Return of the Prodigal Son", "Green Pines Welcoming Guests", "Nong Yu Playing the Flute", and "Xiao Shi Riding the Dragon" successively. What"s the meaning behind this?"

"Hey, hey, even though this little thief"s conduct is improper, he was still brought up by the two of us. It"s very pitiful to see him mistakenly going down the wrong path. I only wanted him, the prodigal son, to return and to let him know that I"ll allow him to return to the Huashan family," Yue Buqun told her.

"I got the meaning of that, but how about the other two moves?"

"You already know about it, why do you still ask?"

"If Chong"er agreed to return to the right path, then you promised Shan"er to be his wife, didn"t you?"

"Right."

"This hint of yours, was it just a momentary measure, or was it for real?" Madam Yue asked, but Yue Buqun didn"t answer. Linghu Chong again felt someone lightly tapping the top of his head. He immediately realized that Yue Buqun was pondering and lightly tapping the snowman at the same time. It wasn"t because the four of them had been discovered. He then heard Yue Buqun answering, "A gentleman"s word is like a mountain. I would not renege on a promise I"ve already made to him."

"He"s completely infatuated by that Devil Sect"s witch, how could you not know that?" Madam Yue queried.

"No, he felt appreciative towards that witch, but he"s not infatuated with her. He treats that witch very differently compared to the loving manner that he treats Shan"er. You didn"t see that?"

"I naturally see it too. You"re saying he still has feelings for Shan"er?"

"Not only still has feelings, he simply… simply still loves her deeply. Once he understood the meaning behind the sword moves that I used, didn"t you see how he became deliriously happy and ecstatic?"

Madam Yue coldly said, "So, for this reason you used Shan"er as a bait to hook him? You were going to use Shan"er to make him lose to you?"

Even though Linghu Chong"s ears were full of snow, he still heard the anger and ridicule in the words that his Master-Wife said. He had never heard his Master-Wife used this kind of tone before. The Yue Buqun couple had always regarded him as their son, and they had always spoken to him about everything without keeping any secret. Madam Yue was quick tempered, and she occasionally argued with her husband when they were at home. But in front of the school"s disciples, she always respected her husband"s position as leader of the school and did not defy his orders. The way she spoke just then showed her heart"s discontent.

Yue Buqun let out a long sigh. "So even you can"t understand my intention. My own success and failure is a small matter, while the prosperity and decline of the Huashan School is a big matter. If I could persuade Linghu Chong to return to Huashan, then I would"ve solved four matters in one fell swoop. This would"ve been a fine deed."

"What four matters in one fell swoop?" Madam Yue asked.
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"Linghu Chong"s sword art is extremely high, and is far above me. It"s alright if he got his sword art from the Evil Resisting Sword manual. It"s also alright if he got it from martial uncle Feng. If he returned to Huashan, the prestige of my Huashan School would greatly rise and its reputation would spread throughout the realm. This is the first big matter. Zuo Lengchan"s plot of annexing Huashan School would no doubt become hard to accomplish, and the three schools of Taishan, Heng-Shan, and Hengshan would also be safe. This is the second big matter. When he returns to the orthodox school, it will not only make the Devil Sect lose a powerful ally, they will instead have gained a big enemy. The orthodox would flourish while the demonical would become weak. This is the third big matter. Martial sister, don"t you think this is right?" Yue Buqun spoke.

"En, what"s the fourth matter?"

"The fourth matter, we don"t have any son so we"ve always regarded Chong"er as our own. Seeing him mistakenly gone down the wrong path is actually very painful for me. I"m not young anymore, this reputation that I have in the world, why do I need to be concerned about it? I only want him to change his way and return to the orthodox path so as to allow our family to have a harmonious reunion. How can this be not a happy matter?" Yue Buqun answered. When Linghu Chong heard this, he couldn"t help his heart feeling excited, and he nearly called out, "Master! Master-Wife!"

"Shan"er and Pingzhi are perfectly suited to each other. Are you really willing to tear apart the two of them and make Shan"er begrudge you for the rest your life?"

"I"m doing this for Shan"er"s own good."

"For Shan"er"s own good? Pingzhi is diligent, earnest, and well-behaved, what"s not good about that?"

"Even though Pingzhi is diligent, but compared to Linghu chong, he still lacks by a sky deep. Even if he gallops on a horse for his whole lifetime, he wouldn"t be able to catch up to Linghu Chong."

"Strong martial art makes good husband? I"m really hoping that Chong"er would return to the orthodox path and return to our school. But he creates trouble as he pleases, is frivolous and is too fond of good wine. If Shan"er marries him, she is bound to get neglected for the rest of her life."

Linghu Chong felt ashamed in his heart. "Martial mother judges me to be "creating trouble as I please, frivolous and fond of good wine". But if little martial sister really become my wife, would I disappoint her? No, never!"

Yue Buqun let out a long sigh and then said, "In any case, I threw caution to the wind, but this little traitor has fallen very deeply. These words that we"re talking about are all in vain. Martial sister, are you still angry at me?"

Madam Yue didn"t answer him. But after a while, she asked, "Does your leg still hurt a lot?"

"It"s only an external injury, it"s not that serious. Let"s go back to Huashan," Yue Buqun answered, and Madam Yue acknowledged him. They then heard the sound of two horses galloping farther and farther away from them.

Linghu Chong was utterly confused, and he repeatedly went over the conversation between his Master and Master-Wife in his head. So much so that he forgot to move his internal energy. Suddenly, a portion of the cold energy rushed up his arm and he was unable to restrain it. He felt the cold strangely entering the bones in his whole body, and he hastily regulated his internal energy to resist it. At the moment he regulated his energy, he suddenly felt that it was blocked at his left shoulder, so he hastily increased his energy. But the "Art of Essence Absorbing" that he had practised was only according to the secrets engraved on the iron panel, which he had learned by himself without any teacher. So there were still many kinds of refined and obscure techniques that he had not learned yet. By forcefully rushing his energy, his energy was dissipated even more. So what started as a gradual stiffness in his left arm was followed by the numbness on the left side of his body, left waist, and all the way down to his leg which was now feeling numb. Linghu Chong felt frightened, and opened his mouth to shout, but he found that even his lips couldn"t move.

Right then, they heard the sounds of hoof beats from two horses coming closer. A person exclaimed, "There"s a mess of hoof prints here. Dad and mum must"ve stopped here for a moment." It was really Yue Lingshan"s voice. Linghu Chong was surprised and happy at the same time. He thought, "How come little martial sister is also here?" Then he heard another voice saying, "Master"s leg was injured, let"s not go astray and quickly catch up to them." It was Lin Pingzhi"s voice.

Linghu Chong thought, "Yes, the snow on the ground shows the hoof prints clearly. Little martial sister and martial brother Lin must"ve been chasing Master and Master-Wife, so they"re on the same road and had finally come here."

Yue Lingshan suddenly called out, "Little Lin, look at those four snowmen, they look like fun. They"re standing in a row and holding hands."

"There"s no houses nearby, how come there"s people here making snowmen?"

Yue Lingshan laughed. "Let"s make two snowmen for ourselves, alright?"

"Alright, we"ll make one man and one girl, and they"ll be holding hands too," Lin Pingzhi acknowledged.

Yue Lingshan turned her body over and dismounted her horse. She cupped the snow on her hand and started to make her snowman.

"Let"s find Master and Master-Wife first; it"s more important. After we"ve found them, then we"ll make our two snowmen," Lin Pingzhi told her.

"You always know how to make people lose interest. Even though daddy"s leg is injured, he can still ride a horse just fine. Also mommy is besides him, what"s there to be afraid of? When the two of them started to use their swords in Jianghu, you weren"t even born yet."

"What you said isn"t wrong. But because we haven"t found Master and Master-Wife, we"ll feel uneasy while playing here."

"Alright, I"ll listen to you then. But after we"ve found dad and mom, you have to accompany me in making two very good looking snowmen."

"Of course," Lin Pingzhi answered.

Linghu Chong thought, "I thought for sure that he would"ve said: "We"ll make it as good looking as you." or maybe: "It"ll be very hard to make it as good looking as you." I never expected him to just say "Of course" in finishing up the matter." He then thought more, "Martial brother Lin is honest and settled, how can he be frivolous like me? If little martial sister wanted me to make snowmen with her, even if there were a big matter, I would put it to the back of my mind. Little martial sister is very submissive towards him, even though she"s not willing, she doesn"t fight back or argue at all. How can she be like that when she"s talking to me? En, martial brother Lin has recovered, but I don"t know whose sword chopped him, and little martial sister has put the blame on my head." He was striving to listen to the conversation between Yue Lingshan and Lin Pingzhi, and had again forgotten about the stiffness in his own body. But this actually fitted in with the secret of the "Art of Essence Absorbing" which was: "Don"t concentrate, don"t feel anything". The numbness in his left leg and left waist gradually lightened.

Then he heard Yue Lingshan saying, "Alright, since we can"t make snowmen, I want to write some words on these four snowmen." With a "shua" sound, she drew her long sword out.

Linghu Chong was again startled. "She wants to use her sword to slash and stab words on our bodies? This is going to be disastrous."

He wanted to call out or use his hand to stop her, but he was unable to say anything and he couldn"t move his arms. But he heard a few light sounds of "chi, chi" as she used the point of her sword to write a few words on the snow on Xiang Wentian"s body. She wrote more words and finally reached Linghu Chong"s body. Fortunately, she only drew her words shallowly and didn"t go deep enough to see the clothes or to harm Linghu Chong"s skin. Linghu Chong was thinking, "What is she writing on our bodies?"

He then heard Yue Lingshan softly saying, "Come and write a few words."

"Alright!" Lin Pingzhi answered. He took her sword and also wrote on their bodies from right to left. He stopped when he reached Linghu Chong"s body. Linghu Chong thought, "And what did he write?"

He only heard Yue Lingshan said, "That"s right, the two of us are going to be like that."

The two of them were quiet for a long time. Linghu Chong felt it even more strange, he thought, "What must they be like? After the two of them are gone and Chief Ren"s poisonous cold energy is driven out, then I"ll get out and take a look. Aiyo, that"s not good. Once I move, then the snow on my body will fall and the words on my body will be gone. If the four of us move at the same time, then all the words will be gone."

After some time, he heard a group of horses galloping from somewhere far coming towards them. Linghu Chong deduced from the horses" hoof beats that there were more than ten horses coming. He thought, "It"s most likely they"re the rest of the Huashan School"s martial brothers and sisters."

The hoof beats were gradually getting nearer, but the two people, Lin and Yue, seemed to not care about it. He heard those people were coming from the northeast as they came nearer. When they were still a few li away, seven to eight people broke off and galloped to the west, while the rest of the people continued to come nearer. It was obvious that they were trying to outflank the two wings. Linghu Chong was worried. "The incoming people are harbouring evil intentions!"

Suddenly, Yue Lingshan called out, "Aiyo, there are people coming!" The sound of the horses galloping became faster as those people urged their horses. Two "sou, sou" sounds were heard as they shot two long arrows. This was followed by the sound of two horses neighing sorrowfully and dropping heavily on the ground. Linghu Chong thought, "The martial arts of these people are not weak, and their intentions are evil and cruel. They shot little martial sister and martial brother Lin"s horses first to prevent them from escaping."

He then heard the laughter and shouting from these people as they approached on their horses. Yue Lingshan was frightened and stepped back a few steps. Linghu Chong again heard a person laughed and said, "One little brother, one little sister, which family or school are you from?"

Lin Pingzhi answered in a clear voice, "I"m Lin Pingzhi from the Huashan School, this is my martial sister with the surname Yue. We"re not acquainted with you, why did you kill our horses?"

That person laughed. "Huashan School? En, your master, was he the one defeated by his own disciple, and called Gentleman Sword Mr. Yue?"

Linghu Chong"s heart was pained to hear this. "These groups of heroes were gathering at Shaolin, and I offended Master. It only happened yesterday, but in a short time, everyone around the world has already known about it. I troubled Master and made other people ridicule him. This is a very grave sin."

"Linghu Chong"s conduct is improper, and time and again, he violated the rules and customs. The year before, he was expelled from the family of Huashan School," Lin Pingzhi said. The meaning behind his words was that even though Master had lost to Linghu Chong, he had lost to an outsider and not to a disciple of his own school.

That person laughed. "This lady"s surname is Yue, what is she to Yue Buqun?"

Yue Lingshan indignantly said, "What"s that got to do with you? You killed my horse, pay back for my horse!"

That person laughed again. "She looks unrestrained and vigorous, it"s most likely that she"s Yue Buqun"s little mistress."

The remaining ten more people burst into laughter. Linghu Chong was inwardly startled, "These people are vulgar and coa.r.s.e, seems that they"re not people from the orthodox schools. I"m afraid that they"ll harm little martial sister."

Lin Pingzhi said, "Sir, you"re a senior in Jianghu. How can you speak such filth? My martial sister is my master"s daughter."

That person laughed. "So it"s Yue Buqun"s young lady. Only your reputation sounds good."

Another person on the side asked, "Brother Lu, why does only her reputation sound good?"

That person answered, "I once heard people said that Yue Buqun"s daughter is the most beautiful girl in the whole world. But that"s not the case when I look at her now."

Another person laughed and said, "This little girl"s appearance looks ordinary but she has a fair white skin. If we stripped her, she might look alright. Haha, haha!"

Those people all laughed loudly hearing this. Their laughter was full of lewd meaning. When Yue Lingshan, Lin Pingzhi, and Linghu Chong heard such rude talk, they were all furious. Lin Pingzhi pulled his long sword out and shouted, "You"re spouting such shameless words, I pledge my life to deal with you."

That person laughed. "Have a look, what did these two lewd people write on the snowmen?"

Lin Pingzhi loudly called out, "I"ll fight with you." Linghu Chong heard a "chi" sound, and he knew that it was Lin Pingzhi stabbing with his sword. This was followed by the continuous clashing sound of weapons, as some people jumped down from their horses to fight him. Yue Lingshan immediately pulled her sword out. Seven to eight people called out at the same time, "I"ll fight this little girl." One man laughed and said, "Everyone don"t fight, everybody will get their turn." Weapons clashed and Yue Lingshan started to fight with the enemies. A person bellowed painfully as he was stabbed. A man said, "This little girl is very fierce. Old Three Shi, I"ll avenge you."

As the sound of battle rumbled on, Yue Lingshan called out, "Be careful!" A loud "tang" sound was heard and Lin Pingzhi uttered an "hng". Yue Lingshan was startled and called out, "Little Lin!" It seemed that Lin Pingzhi had been injured.

A person called out, "Let"s butcher this little kid!"

The leader of that group answered, "Don"t kill him, capture him alive. Once we"ve captured Yue Buqun"s daughter and son-in-law, we don"t have to be afraid that hypocrite not listening to us."

Linghu Chong was striving to listen but all he could hear was the sound of weapons splitting the air. Suddenly, a loud "tang" sound was heard followed by a slapping sound. A man scolded, "d.a.m.n it, stinky lady." Linghu Chong suddenly felt someone leaning against his body, and he heard Yue Lingshan gasping for air. It was really her leaning on his "snowman" body. After numerous "ting tang" sound, a man happily shouted, "This still can"t capture you?"

"Ah!" Yue Lingshan was startled and the sound of battle stopped, while those people started laughing loudly.

Linghu Chong felt that Yue Lingshan was being dragged away by someone, and he heard her screaming, "Release me! Release me!"

A person laughed. "Old Two Min, you said that her whole body is white. I don"t believe it, let"s open up her gown and have a look." This was accompanied by the sounds of people clapping and cheering.

Lin Pingzhi scolded, "Dog…" A slapping sound was heard as someone kicked him. This was followed by the sound of clothes being ripped. When Linghu Chong heard little martial sister being insulted by those thieves, why would he care whether Ren Woxing"s poisonous cold energy had been completely driven out or not? He used his power to jump out of the snow. His right hand pulled the long sword out of his waist, and his left hand moved to wipe the snow on his face. But who would"ve thought that his left hand didn"t respond to his thought and didn"t move at all.

Those people cried out in surprise. He extended his right hand to wipe the snow on his face, then as his vision cleared, he sent his long sword out and three men were pierced through their throats. He turned around and slashed twice killing two more people. He saw in front of him one man holding both of Yue Lingshan"s arms behind her back, while one man was standing in front of her waiting for him. Linghu Chong stabbed his long sword at the lower left side of that person. Then he lifted his right leg kicking that person"s corpse away to clear his long sword. He heard people attacking from behind him, and without turning his head, he reversed his sword and stabbed two people"s hearts. He held his sword normally again and stabbed the throat of that person holding Yue Lingshan"s arms. That person lost his hold and dropped forward onto Yue Lingshan"s shoulder with blood gushing out from his throat.

The situation had completely changed all of a sudden. Linghu Chong had killed nine people successively in just the blink of an eye. The leader of those people shouted and smashed down two iron plates on Linghu Chong"s head. Linghu Chong"s long sword trembled, went through the gap between the two iron plates and stabbed the leader"s left eye. That person screamed in pain until he finally dropped down on the ground. Linghu Chong turned his head around and slashed his sword out killing three more people. The remaining four people cried out as they were frightened to death and quickly ran for their lives. Linghu Chong shouted, "You"ve insulted my little martial sister, none of you will get out of here alive!" He chased two people and stabbed both of them from their backs. Each stab penetrated through their chests. The two people had been running very quickly. Even though the sword had cut their breaths, their legs were still running forward. They still ran for more than ten steps before dropping on the ground.

Linghu Chong saw the remaining two people were also running away. One was running towards the east and one was running towards the west. He turned to the east and tossed his sword. The long sword flew like a silver of light and struck the back of that person"s waist. Linghu Chong turned westward and gave chase to the last remaining person. After running for more than a hundred feet, he caught up to that person. He extended his hand and only then did he realize that there was no weapon in his hand. So he moved his power into his finger and poked the back of that person. That person felt pain at his back and turned around hacking his sabre down. Linghu Chong"s bare hand martial art was just ordinary. Even though his poke managed to hit the enemy, he didn"t know the method of moving his energy so he didn"t injure his enemy. When he saw his opponent chopping his sabre down, he couldn"t help feeling nervous and hastily avoided it. At the same time, he saw a big weakness on the right side of that person, so he formed a fist with his left hand and punched out. But unexpectedly, his left arm only moved a little and he was unable to lift it further when his enemy"s sabre was already chopping down. Astonished, Linghu Chong hastily jumped back. That person lifted his sabre and ferociously charged at Linghu Chong. Since Linghu Chong didn"t have any weapon in his hand, he didn"t dare to fight with the enemy, so he quickly turned around to escape.

Yue Lingshan picked up a long sword from the ground and called out, "Big martial brother, sword!" She then tossed the long sword towards him. Linghu Chong grabbed the sword with his right hand and turned around laughing loudly. That person still had his sabre lifted above his head waiting to chop it down when he suddenly saw Linghu Chong"s sword flickered. In that moment, he was stupefied and unexpectedly didn"t chop his sabre down.

Linghu Chong slowly walked toward him. That person"s whole body was trembling with both his knees bent as he sat heavily on the snow. Linghu Chong indignantly said, "You insulted my martial sister so I can"t spare you." He lifted his long sword onto his opponent"s throat. But something flashed in his mind, so he walked a step closer, then in a whisper asked, "What was written on the snowmen?"

That person tremblingly answered, "It"s… it"s… "Till the sea is dried… sea is dried… and the rocks are dust, our… love… love will never… will never change.""

From the moment this phrase "Till the sea is dried and the rocks are dust, our love will never change" existed in this world, this was probably the first time ever that it was being said in such a frightened and sad manner.

Linghu Chong was expressionless and said, "En, it"s "Till the sea is dried and the rocks are dust, our love will never change.""

He felt sour in his heart, and sent his long sword out and pierced that person"s throat. He turned around and saw Yue Lingshan was supporting Lin Pingzhi to get up. Both of their faces and bodies were full of blood. Lin Pingzhi stood up and cupped his hands towards Linghu Chong. "Many thanks to brother Linghu for your kindness in helping us."

"What"s that for? Your injuries aren"t serious?" Linghu Chong asked.

"It"s alright," Lin Pingzhi answered.

Linghu Chong returned the long sword to Yue Lingshan, then he pointed towards the hoof prints on the snow. "Master and Master-Wife went that way."

"Alright," Lin Pingzhi said.

Yue Lingshan led two of the enemy"s horses and mounted one of them. She said, "We"ll go find dad and mom." As Lin Pingzhi struggled to mount his horse, Yue Lingshan rode her horse to go besides Linghu Chong. She reined her horse in and looked at his face. Linghu Chong also looked back directly into her eyes.

"Many… many thanks to you…" Yue Lingshan stammered. Then she turned around, lifted her rein, and the two horses started to go towards the northwest following the hoof prints left by the Yue Buqun couple.

Linghu Chong was disquieted as he watched the back of those two people entering the distant forest. He then slowly turned around and saw Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian, and Yingying had already shaken out the snow on them and were now looking at him. Linghu Chong happily inquired, "Chief Ren, I didn"t trouble you?"

Ren Woxing laughed bitterly. "I wasn"t troubled, but you may be in trouble. How"s your left arm?"

"Something"s not right with the meridian on my arm, my qi can"t go through it and I actually can"t move it."

Ren Woxing scowled. "This is a little bit troublesome, we have to think of something to do about it. You rescued Yue family"s young lady, that can be counted as repaying the kindness of your master. From now on, n.o.body owes anyone anything. Brother Xiang, how come that old Lu didn"t progress? Why is he doing this kind of despicable thing?"

Xiang Wentian answered, "Hearing from his tone, it seemed that he wanted to capture these two young people and take them to the Dark Wood Cliff."

"Could it be that this is Dongfang Bubai"s idea? What connection does he have with this hypocrite?" Ren Woxing pondered.

Linghu Chong pointed at the corpses on the snow and asked, "These people are Dongfang Bubai"s subordinates?"

"They"re my subordinates," Ren Woxing answered and Linghu Chong nodded his head.

"Daddy, how about his arm?" Yingying worriedly said.

Ren Woxing laughed and said, "Don"t worry! My good son-in-law helped daddy repel that cold energy, so father-in-law will think of a way to cure his arm." After he said this, he laughed loudly and stared at Linghu Chong studying him. He saw Linghu Chong standing there looking very embarra.s.sed. Yingying said quietly, "Daddy, take a rest on speaking these kinds of words. Brother Chong has been friends with Huashan"s Miss Yue since childhood and they"ve grown up together. The look that Brother Chong was giving young lady Yue, how could it be that you still don"t understand?"

Ren Woxing laughed. "What kind of person is that hypocrite Yue Buqun? How can his daughter be compared to my daughter? Also, this girl Yue already has someone else in her heart. From now on, Chong"er will never think of this fickle girl anymore. The matter that happened when you"re kids, how can that be allowed?"

"Brother Chong made such a big disturbance at the Shaolin temple because of me and the whole world heard about this. Also, because of me, he wasn"t willing to go back to Huashan. My heart"s already very satisfied over these two matters. There"s no need to raise any other talk," Yingying said.

Ren Woxing was well aware that his daughter liked to win. Since Linghu Chong had not proposed the issue of marriage yet, it was inappropriate to talk about it too much. However, sooner or later, they had to talk about this matter. He again laughed loudly. "Very good, very good, we must talk slowly about important lifelong matters. Chong"er, let me tell you the trick to make your arm"s meridian pa.s.sable." He then stood besides Linghu Chong and told him how to move his qi and how to make his meridian pa.s.sable. He then waited for Linghu Chong to repeat back to him the method to make sure that he remembered. He then said, "You helped me repelled that poisonous cold energy and I taught you how to make your meridian smooth, so we don"t owe each other anything. You must wait for seven days before the meridian on your left arm is recovered, you mustn"t be impatient."

"Yes," Linghu Chong answered.

Ren Woxing waved his hand calling for Xiang Wentian and Yingying to come over. "Chong"er, that day in Plum Manor on Mount Gu, I invited you to join my Divine Sun Moon Sect. At that time, you refused. Today, the situation is very different and I"m bringing up that old matter again. This time, you couldn"t possibly refuse with your excuses again?" Linghu Chong hesitated and didn"t answer.

Ren Woxing said again, "You already studied my Art of Essence Absorbing, later on, you"ll suffer endlessly. Once your various internal energies came out, then you won"t be able to save your life anymore, and you won"t be able to die either. What I said before, I definitely cannot renege on it. If you don"t join my sect, even if Yingying married you, I still wouldn"t be able to impart to you this melding method. Even if my daughter blamed me for this for the rest of my life, I will still say the same thing. We have an important matter right now. We"re going to Dongfang Bubai to settle some debt. Will you follow us?"

"Chief, please don"t blame me. Junior has decided not to enter the Divine Sun Moon Sect." These two sentences were said clearly and very firmly. There was no compromise in his voice.

When Ren Woxing and the other two heard this, their faces changed colour. Xiang Wentian said, "Why is that? You don"t have any regards for the Divine Sun Moon Sect?"

Linghu Chong pointed to the corpses on the snow and said, "There are these kinds of people in the Divine Sun Moon Sect. Even though junior isn"t worthy, I"ll be ashamed to be a.s.sociated with them. Also, junior promised Dingxian Shi Tai to be Heng-Shan School"s headmaster."

Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian, and Yingying all showed a weird expression on their faces when they heard this. Linghu Chong not wanting to enter the sect was not strange at all. But his last sentence was extremely strange. The three people simply couldn"t believe what they heard.

Ren Woxing pointed his finger at Linghu Chong"s face. Suddenly, he burst out in laughter which shook the snow on the trees and made them fall down. He was again caught up in a wave of laughter before saying, "You… you… you want to become a nun? Go and become the leader of nuns?"

Linghu Chong answered unequivocally, "No, not to become a nun, but I"m going to become Heng-Shan School"s headmaster. Just before Dingxian Shi Tai died, she requested this of me. If junior didn"t agree, then she would"ve died with an unfulfilled wish. Dingxian Shi Tai died because of me. Junior knows that this matter is bound to astonish people when they hear this, but I had no way to refuse it." Ren Woxing was still laughing non-stop.

Yingying said, "Dingxian Shi Tai died because of me." Linghu Chong looked at her and felt appreciative towards her.

Ren Woxing slowly managed to stop his laughter. "If other people requested something of you, you"ll always abide by them?"

Linghu Chong answered, "Correct. Dingxian Shi Tai died because she was carrying out my request."

Ren Woxing nodded. "That"s also good! I"m an old freak and you"re a little freak. If we don"t do something unusual, how can we be great men? You go and become those nuns" headmaster. So you"re going to Heng-Shan now?"

Linghu Chong shook his head. "No! Junior is going to Shaolin Temple."

Ren Woxing felt that was a bit strange but he immediately understood. "You"re going to take the two Shi Tai"s corpses back to Heng-Shan." He then turned his head towards Yingying and asked, "Are you going to follow Chong"er and go back to the Shaolin Temple?"

"No! I"m going to follow daddy," Yingying answered.

"That"s right, it won"t do for you to follow him up Heng-Shan to become a nun." After he said this, he again laughed loudly. This laughter sounded bitter.

Linghu Chong folded his hand in salute and bowed deeply. "Chief Ren, Brother Xiang, Yingying, we"ll part ways here." He turned around and strode purposefully away. After he had walked more than ten steps away, he turned his head around and asked, "Chief Ren, when are you going to go up Dark Wood Cliff!"

Ren Woxing answered, "This is the sect"s internal matter; outsiders don"t need to worry about it." He knew that Linghu Chong asked because he wanted to be there to help him fight Dongfang Bubai together so he immediately rejected this help. Linghu Chong nodded his head and stooped down to pick up a long sword. He hanged the sword on his waist before turning around and then walked away.