The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Jia Bu again called out, "Release the arrow!"

But those men he commanded had always revered Yingying as if she was a G.o.ddess, and also, she was holding the Dark Command Wood in her hand. How could they dare to be rude towards her?

Suddenly, in the middle of this deadlock, someone from below the Spirit Turtle Pavilion shouted, "Fire, fire!" A red flame was burning and black smoke rose above. It seemed that there really was a fire burning at the bottom floor of the pavilion. Yingying loudly called out, "Jia Bu, you"re very cruel! Why are you trying to burn your subordinates to death?"

Jia Bu angrily responded, "Nonsen…"

Yingying interrupted, "Long live the Chief, unify the Jianghu! People from the Divine Sun Moon Sect, Chief Dongfang has an order: Quickly put out the fire!" After she said this, she quickly charged forward.

Linghu Chong, Fangzheng, and Chongxu took advantage of the situation to charge forward. Between Yingying calling out the sect"s motto and the fire burning underneath the pavilion, chaos ensued amongst the sect"s people. Linghu Chong and his two companions flew halfway past the sky bridge and rushed into the building through the window which made the people inside unable to release their poison arrows. Linghu Chong quickly grabbed a long candlestick and wielded it in his right hand. He knew that the poison water was very severe and only a little bit of it had to be splashed on your body for you to suffer endlessly. Fangzheng and Chongxu were using their palms to chop and legs to kick without any mercy, and in no time at all, seven to eight people had been killed. He treated the candlestick in his hand like a long sword and stabbed it towards people"s throats, and in a short time had killed six people. When Jia Bu and Shangguan Yun came to Heng-Shan, they carried forty boxes with them which were carried by two people each (I guess Jin Yong miscounted…. In ch 29, he said four people carried each box.). So altogether they had eighty people. These eighty people were actually the most powerful people in the Divine Sun Moon Sect with good martial arts. Forty people were distributed to encircle the Hanging Temple, while the remaining forty people were hidden in the two pavilions. In a short time, Linghu Chong and the other two people had killed all twenty people in that one pavilion.

Jia Bu was using a pair of judge"s pens while Yingying was using a pair of long and short swords as they fought fiercely. When Linghu Chong first met Yingying, he only heard her voice but never saw her. Later on, he experienced how powerful she was and saw how she was feared by that crowd of heroes but he didn"t know the reason. He felt feelings of affection but didn"t know where his feelings came from. That day when Yingying killed some Shaolin disciples and fought against Great Master Fangsheng, Linghu Chong only saw her shadow and did not actually see her fight. So this was the first time that he had clearly seen her fighting with someone. Seeing her moving lightly and quickly, swiftly going here and there with her pair of long and

short swords fluttering all of a sudden, attacking strangely with intermingled feints and true thrusts, even though she was really in front of him, in Linghu Chong"s heart, he still felt as if he was floating, like the smoke, like the fog.

The two judge"s pens that Jia Bu was using were really heavy. When he slashed them out, it was as if he was using a steel whip and Yingying didn"t want her pair of swords to clash with his judge"s pens. Each of Jia Bu"s moves was aimed at a major acupoint on Yingying"s body but he was always a hairsbreadth short in striking her.

Great Master Fangzheng shouted, "Evil creature, you"re still not putting down your weapon and be captured?"

Jia Bu saw that there was only death waiting for him today, so he combined his pair of pens into one and stabbed them towards Yingying"s throat. Linghu Chong was startled and was really afraid that Yingying might not be able to avoid this attack, so he quickly stabbed out with the candlestick in his hand. He stabbed out twice hitting both of Jia Bu"s wrists. Jia Bu felt his fingers became powerless and dropped both of his judge"s pens. He quickly rushed at Linghu Chong with both of his palms together.

Great Master Fangzheng sent both of his palms up in a slant and captured both of Jia Bu"s hands. Jia Bu forcefully struggled but he was unable to get away. He immediately kicked out violently with his left leg towards Fangzheng"s lower body. Fangzheng let out a sigh and sent out both of his palms and sent Jia Bu flying out of the door. They heard him roaring out miserably, and his shout receded further and further away from them as he fell down towards the deep valley outside of Mount Cui Ping. Linghu Chong smiled towards Yingying and said, "Lucky you came to the rescue!"

Yingying smiled back at him. "Luckily I arrived in time!" She followed by shouting, "Put out the fire!"

Someone from below the pavilion responded, "Yes!"

Originally, the fire that was underneath the pavilion was burnt by using sulfur mixed with gra.s.s so that it would make Jia Bu uneasy. It wasn"t actually a real fire. Yingying walked to the window and called out towards the Divine Snake Pavilion, "Uncle Shangguan, Jia Bu defied orders and that"s why he met with this disaster. Why don"t you lead those people out of the pavilion now? I won"t give you any trouble."

Shangguan Yun replied, "Young lady, swear it for me to believe you."

"I"ll swear to the past dynasties of the sect. If Shangguan Yun listens to my orders, then from now on, I won"t harm him. If I violate this oath, then the three corpse bugs will eat my brain to death," Yingying swore.

This was Sun Moon Sect"s highest form of oath, so when Shangguan Yun heard it, he was immediately relieved and led the twenty people out of the pavilion. When Linghu Chong and others walked out of the Spirit Turtle Pavilion, they saw Old Man, Zu Qianqiu, and tens of other people waiting underneath the pavilion. Linghu Chong asked Yingying, "How did you know that Jia Bu and his men wanted to attack us?"

"Why would Dongfang Bubai be that nice to you and be sincere in giving you gifts? I already suspected from the beginning that those forty boxes contained some kind of deceit. Later, I saw Jia Bu acting suspiciously and leading his men here, so I was really suspicious and took Mr. Old and the others here to take a look. Those rice buckets guarding at the foot of Mount Cui Ping didn"t want to let us go up the

mountain, and in a short while revealed their true character," Yingying told him.

Old Man, Zu Qianqiu, and the men laughed at this. Shangguan Yun hung his head down looking ashamed. Linghu Chong sighed, "This is only my first day as the Headmaster of the Heng-Shan School, and my true character as an incapable fool has already been revealed. I knew that those people sent by Dongfang Bubai were up to no good but I didn"t take any precautions. If Linghu Chong dies, then that"s deserved. But if Great Master Fangzheng and Priest Chongxu suffered under the hands of those traitors… Ai!" As he said this, he kept shaking his head.

Yingying said, "Uncle Shangguan, from today onwards, are you going to follow me or are you still going to follow Dongfang Bubai?"

Shangguan Yun"s face changed colour as it was a hard decision for him to make to betray Chief Dongfang. Yingying went on, "Amongst the ten elders in the divine sect, six have taken my father"s three corpse brain pills. Are you going to take this pill or not?" She extended her hand and in her open palm was a red pill. Shangguan Yun trembled, "Young lady, you"re saying from amongst the sect"s ten elders, six elders have… six elders…"

"That"s right. You"ve never worked for my father before. So you"re not considered to have betrayed my father when you worked for Dongfang Bubai in these last few years. If you could abandon that dark world, then I"d appreciate it, and my father would definitely appreciate it too," Yingying said.

Shangguan Yun looked around and he thought in his heart, "If I don"t surrender, it seems that I"ll lose my life right here. Since six out of the ten elders have returned to Chief Ren, things have moved really quickly. I couldn"t be the last one left still swearing loyalty to Chief Dongfang." Having decided thus, he immediately took the three-corpse brain pill from Yingying"s palm and swallowed it. He then said bowing to Yingying, "Shangguan Yun is thankful for young lady"s kindness for not killing me. From today, I will strive to complete your order and would never dare to disobey them."

"We"re on the same side, there"s no need for such a huge propriety. These brothers under you, they naturally follow you?" Yingying asked.

Shangguan Yun turned his head to look at the twenty men behind him. Those men saw that their leader had just surrendered and had also taken the three-corpse brain pill, so they immediately prostrated themselves on the ground and paid their respects to Yingying. They all said, "We"re willing to obey Sacred Lady"s order, ten thousand

deaths will not deter us." At this time, the crowd of heroes had extinguished the fire. When they saw that Yingying had subdued Shangguan Yun, they all congratulated her. Shangguan Yun"s martial art was already very high in the Sun Moon Sect, and his position was also very honourable, so with Yingying subduing him, this had helped Ren Woxing greatly in taking back the leadership of the sect.

Fangzheng and Chongxu saw that the situation had gone back to normal so they took their leaves and went down the mountain. Linghu Chong went with them for several li before parting ways. Yingying and Linghu Chong were walking shoulder to shoulder as they went back to Xianxing Peak. She said, "Dongfang Bubai is a very violent person, and you already saw this methods for yourself. My father and Uncle Xiang are in the process of getting more support from inside the sect to return the sect to its former leadership. The ones who happily submit to us are naturally the best, while the ones who don"t agree are settled one by one, so that Dongfang Bubai will be weakened. At this moment, Dongfang Bubai has started his counter attack. He sent Jia Bu and Shangguan Yun to take care of you. This was a really good move from him because my father and Uncle Xiang"s whereabouts are a secret so Dongfang Bubai couldn"t find them. But if they wanted to harm you, I…I…" As she said this, her face blushed furiously and she turned her head away.

As the evening set in, the night wind blew her soft hair around till they covered both of her cheeks. Seeing her snow white neck, his heart was moved. He thought, "She"s been pa.s.sionately devoted to me for a long time and everyone in the world knows about this. Even Dongfang Bubai wanted to capture me in order to threaten her and also to threaten her father. On top of the sky bridge at the Hanging Temple, she knew clearly that the ambush was unpa.s.sable so she jumped in front of me afraid that I might get injured. To have a wife like this, what more can Linghu Chong ask for?" With this thought, he extended his arms to hug her waist.

Yingying giggled and leaned her body to one side making Linghu Chong hug an empty s.p.a.ce. Even though his sword art was wonderful and his internal energy was abundant, his fist, kicking, hand-seizing, lightness, and other martial arts lacked by a lot. Yingying laughed, "As a Headmaster of a school, how can you act with no rules or customs?"

Laughing also, Linghu Chong replied, "Amongst all the headmasters in the world, Heng-Shan School"s headmaster is by far the most ordinary and is the one laughed at by everyone."

Yingying seriously said, "Why are you saying that? Even the Abbot of Shaolin and the headmaster of Wudang respect you. Who would dare to look down on you? Are you going to keep the matter of your expulsion from Huashan in your heart forever and always be ashamed in front of other people?" These few words that Yingying said really touched the matter that was in Linghu Chong"s heart. Even though he had a carefree nature, he was still heartbroken and still harboured a deep hurt for being expelled from the Huashan School. He couldn"t help sighing when he heard this and bowed his head. Yingying pulled his hand and said, "You"re now the Headmaster of Heng-Shan and you should be proud and elated in front of the realm"s heroes. The reputations of the two schools Heng-Shan and Huashan are equal. Could it be that the honourable position of Heng-Shan School"s Headmaster isn"t as good as being the disciple of Huashan School?"

"Thank you for your advice. But I"ve always felt being the headmaster of nuns is embarra.s.sing and laughable," Linghu Chong replied.

"Today, there"s close to a thousand heroes who have joined the Heng-Shan School. Amongst the five mountains sword schools, if we talk about the glory of the schools, only Songshan School could be compared to you. How could the other schools like Taishan, Hengshan and Huashan be compared to you?" Yingying said.

"I haven"t thanked you for this yet."

Yingying smiled. "Thank me for what?"

"You were afraid that it won"t be too reputable for me to become the leader of nuns so you sent your men to join Heng-Shan. If it weren"t for Sacred Lady"s order, how could those wild and unruly friends agree to become the martial brothers and sisters of these nuns – not to mention obediently receiving my restrictions?"

Yingying, with pursed lips holding her laughter, said, "That might not be true. You have been their chief when you were attacking the Shaolin Temple, so everyone had already accepted you long before."

The two of them chatted easily as they went up the mountain. When they got closer to the convent, they faintly heard the clamours of those heroes. Yingying halted her step and said, "We"ll part here. Once my father"s matter is settled then I"ll come here to see you."

Linghu Chong"s chest suddenly felt heated and he replied, "You"re going to the Dark Wood Cliff?"

"Yes."

"I"ll go with you."

Yingying"s eyes flashed with happiness but she shook her head.

Linghu Chong asked, "You don"t want me to go with you?"

"You just became the headmaster of Heng-Shan School today and now you want to come with me to settle the Sun Moon Sect"s matter. Even though there"s no one higher than you in Heng-Shan School, don"t you think doing this is too much?"

Linghu Chong reasoned, "It"s very dangerous to go up against Dongfang Bubai. How could I just stay outside of the matter and let you go into danger by yourself?"

"Those Jianghu friends who are living in Heng-Shan"s Other Courtyard, I can"t say for certain that they won"t offend the ladies in Heng-Shan School."

"You only need to order them not to do it then they definitely won"t dare."

"Alright, since you"re willing to go with me, I thank you on behalf of Daddy."

Linghu Chong laughingly said, "You"re thanking me and I"m thanking you, why are we being so polite?"

Yingying smiled captivatingly and said, "Don"t blame me for being impolite to you in the future."

After walking for a while, Yingying said, "My daddy said that since you don"t want to join the sect, he doesn"t want your help in taking back the sect"s leadership, but… but…" She said till here when her face turned scarlet.

"Even though I"m not joining the Sun Moon Sect, I"m not an outsider to you. If your father asks me to leave, then I"ll just thicken my face and refuse to leave," Linghu Chong told her.

Yingying smiled, "My daddy would surely feel happy to get your help."

The two of them returned to the top of Xianxing Peak and separately went to their disciples to leave them with some orders. Linghu Chong ordered all his disciples to practise their martial arts diligently, and told them that he was escorting Yingying back and would be returning to the mountain after that. Yingying told the group of heroes that if any of them dared to set foot on Xianxing Peak from that day onwards, she would have their legs cut off. If their left foot stepped on the peak then their left leg would be chopped, if it were their right foot then their right leg would be chopped, and if both feet stepped on the Peak then both legs would be chopped off.

At dawn the next morning, Linghu Chong and Yingying said their many goodbyes, and went down the mountain with Shangguan Yun and his twenty men and commenced on their journey to Dark Wood Cliff.

Dark Wood Cliff lay east of Heng-Shan inside the prefecture of Hebei. Within a day, they had arrived at the boundary of that prefecture. During the journey, Linghu Chong and Yingying separately sat inside two sedan chairs and always kept the curtains down to avoid Dongfang Bubai from detecting them. That very evening, Yingying and Linghu Chong stayed at an inn very close to the gathering altar of the Sun Moon Sect, so the place around the inn was crawling with the sect"s people coming and going. Shangguan Yun ordered four of his men to guard the front and back of the inn and not let anyone into the inn. At supper time, Yingying accompanied Linghu Chong in drinking wine. The fireplace in the inn was blazing brightly and the light shone on Yingying"s face, revealing her tenderness.

After drinking a few cups of wine, Linghu Chong said, "That day inside the Shaolin Temple, your father said that amongst all the heroes in the realm, there are three and a half who he admires. Amongst them, Dongfang Bubai is number one. This person s.n.a.t.c.hed the chief position from your father"s hands, so naturally his ability and wisdom are high. It"s also said in Jianghu that Dongfang Bubai is number one in terms of martial art, is this saying true?"

"This Dongfang Bubai definitely works really hard and is also very scheming. But I"m not certain about the level of his martial art because in the last few years, I"ve actually not seen him."

Linghu Chong nodded. "These past few years you"ve been living at the Bamboo Alley at Luoyang city so of course you haven"t seen him."

"That"s not true. Even though I lived in that Bamboo Alley, I went back to Dark Wood Cliff once or twice every year and yet, I never got to see Dongfang Bubai. I heard from the elders in the sect that for the past few years, it was getting harder and harder to see Chief," Yingying told him.

Linghu Chong said, "A person of such high status often doesn"t want to see other people so no one can see how different they are."

Yingying replied, "This certainly is one of the reasons. But my guess is that he"s ardently practising the "Sunflower Manual" martial arts, and isn"t willing to be disturbed by sect"s matters."

"Your father once said that during the time he was studying "The Art of Essence Absorbing" to meld all the different types of internal energy in his body, he ignored all sect"s matters, and let Dongfang Bubai usurped his power. Could it be that Dongfang Bubai is repeating the same mistake that your father made?"

"Since Dongfang Bubai isn"t personally taking care of sect"s business, in these last few years, all of the sect"s affairs and power have been turned over to a little kid surnamed Yang. This little kid couldn"t possibly seize Dongfang Bubai"s power and thus repeat the same thing again," Yingying explained.

"A little kid named Yang? Who"s that? How come I"ve never heard of him before?"

Yingying"s face suddenly turned red, and she smiled, "There"s no dirtier thing to say except for his name. No one in the sect would even mention his name; so no one outside the sect would know of him. So, of course, you"ve never heard his name before."

Linghu Chong"s curiosity was peaked. "My dear, tell me about him."

"That Yang person is called Yang Lianting. He"s around twenty years old, his martial art is really low, and he has no ability at all. But recently Dongfang Bubai had pampered him so much; it really is remarkable." As she said this, her whole face turned dark and her mouth twisted; it seemed that she really despised this person.

Linghu Chong was disappointed. "Ah, this Yang person is Dongfang Bubai"s boyfriend. Originally, Dongfang Bubai was a great hero, but he likes… likes pretty boys."

Yingying said, "Don"t say it! I don"t understand what Dongfang Bubai"s thoughts are. He always tells Yang Lianting to handle all of his business, and a lot of brothers in the sect have been harmed by this Yang kid. We must kill…"

Suddenly, someone from outside the window laughed. "You"re wrong. We should thank Yang Lianting."

Yingying happily called out, "Daddy!" And she quickly went to the door to open it.

Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian entered the room. The two of them were wearing farmers" garb and the big hats on their heads covered half of their faces. If they hadn"t heard Ren Woxing"s voice, they wouldn"t have been able to recognise them just by their faces. Linghu Chong stood up to pay his respects and told the servant to bring two more sets of chopsticks, more wine and dishes.

Ren Woxing was looking high-spirited as he said, "These last few days, Brother Xiang and I have been contacting our old comrades in the sect, and it was unexpectedly very easy to get them on our side. Eight out of ten people that we contacted were extremely happy. They all said that in the last few years, most of his friends and allies have already left him because Dongfang Bubai"s actions have been really perverse especially with regards to Yang Lianting. Yang Lianting was originally just a lowly soldier in the sect. But for whatever reason, he managed to curry favour from Dongfang Bubai and take over the sect"s power in his hand. Many of the people in the sect have either been removed or killed by him. If it weren"t for the strict rules of the sect, they would"ve rebelled a long time ago. That Yang Lianting has helped us greatly in this matter, how could we not thank him greatly for this?"

Yingying said, "That"s right." Then she asked, "Daddy, how did you know that we"ve arrived?"

Ren Woxing laughed. "Brother Xiang and Shangguan Yun fought for a while before he found out that Shangguan Yun had surrendered to you."

"Uncle Xiang, did you hurt him?"

Xiang Wentian laughed and replied, "Hurting the Eagle Hero Shangguan isn"t an easy thing to do."

Suddenly, they heard the sounds of whistling which made the hair at the back of their neck stood up.

Yingying said, "Could it be that Dongfang Bubai know that we"re here?" She then turned around to Linghu Chong to explain, "This whistling sound is our sect"s signal to notify that there are rebels and a.s.sa.s.sins in the area. Once the people in the sect hear this, they would be prepared to apprehend the rebels with all their might."

After some time, they heard four horses galloping quickly across the long street. The people on the horses were pa.s.sing on the order: "Chief"s order: Wind and Thunder Hall"s Elder Tong Baixiong is colluding with the enemy to rebel against the sect. Apprehend him immediately! If there is anyone who disobeys this order, kill them without question."

Yingying absentmindedly said, "Uncle Tong! How can that be?" They heard the sound of horses" hooves gradually getting farther away as the riders pa.s.sed the order down. Observing this situation, it seemed that Sun Moon Sect had control of the entire area and the local government had no power at all.

Ren Woxing said, "Dongfang Bubai is very well informed; we just met with old Tong yesterday."

Yingying imploringly asked, "Uncle Tong already promised to help us?"

Ren Woxing shook his head. "How could he agree to betray Dongfang Bubai? Brother Xiang and I talked with him for half a day, and at the end that Old Tong said: "Brother Dongfang and I are friends beyond death. The two of you don"t realise that by talking to me today, you"ve looked down on Tong Baixiong, thinking that I"m a friend who could be bought. Recently, Chief Dongfang had been confounded by a lot of small people and had made a lot of mistakes. But thinking that he"s bringing ruin and shame to himself, I can"t bring myself to blame him for this. I"m not your match so if you want to kill me or peel my flesh off - then go ahead." This Old Tong really is something, the older he gets the more vicious he gets."

Linghu Chong praised him, "Good man!"

Yingying said, "If he didn"t agree to help us, how come Dongfang Bubai wants to capture him?"

Xiang Wentian replied, "This is called taking unreasonable measures. Dongfang Bubai isn"t that old yet, but he"s very confused already. Old Tong is such a loyal friend to him; where else can you find such a man in this world?"

Ren Woxing clapped his hands and laughed. "If Dongfang Bubai can even get angry at the type of people like Old Tong, we"ll definitely complete our business! Come, bottoms up!" The four of them drank their cups. Yingying said to Linghu Chong, "Uncle Tong is our sect"s first elder and he has done a big service to the sect sometime in the past, and everyone in the sect respects him deeply. He never got on well with daddy but is very close with Dongfang Bubai. So according to reason, even if he did a big mistake, Dongfang Bubai wouldn"t trouble him."

Ren Woxing was jubilant as he said, "As Dongfang Bubai is focusing on capturing Tong Baixiong, the situation on top of Dark Wood Cliff is likely chaotic. We can take advantage of this time to go up the cliff. This is very good."

Xiang Wentian said, "We"ll ask Brother Shangguan to discuss this with us."

Ren Woxing nodded his head and said, "Very good."

Xiang Wentian went out and immediately came back into the room with Shangguan Yun. When Shangguan Yun saw Ren Woxing, he immediately bowed and said, "Subordinate Shangguan Yun pays his respect to Chief. Long live the Chief, unify the Jianghu."

Ren Woxing laughed. "Brother Shangguan, I heard that you"re a hard man who doesn"t like to speak much. How come you"re speaking like that now?"

Shangguan Yun looked blank as he said, "Subordinate doesn"t understand. Chief, please advise me."

"Daddy, you heard Uncle Shangguan said "Long live the Chief, unify the Jianghu", and you felt that these words were too lofty, didn"t you?" Yingying inquired.

"What long live, unify the Jianghu, am I an emperor?" Ren Woxing asked.

Yingying smilingly replied, "This was Dongfang Bubai"s idea. He wanted all the subordinates to say these words when they see him. He also wanted the brothers in the sect to also say this to each other when he"s not around. This phrase was made up not too long ago. Uncle Shangguan is too accustomed in saying this so he also said this to you."

Ren Woxing nodded his head and said, "I see. Long live the Chief, unify the Jianghu. What a beautiful idea! But I"m not an immortal, so how can I live for thousands of years? Brother Shangguan, I heard that Dongfang Bubai wants to capture old Tong, so I thought we should go up the cliff tonight as Dark Wood Cliff would be in confusion. What do you think of this?"

(Translator"s note: Long live literal translation from Chinese is "Thousand Year Ten Thousand Years".)

Shangguan Yun answered, "Chief"s order is wise. This is a foolproof plan that really opens everyone"s eyes. This plan is for the benefit of every common people in this world. This plan cannot be defeated and thus, victory is a.s.sured. Subordinate will carry out this order. I will always be loyal to Chief and would never balk at a thousand deaths."

Ren Woxing muttered to himself, "People in Jianghu says that "Eagle Hero" Shangguan Yun"s martial art is high and he"s a frank person. How come he talks so flatteringly and says so many clichés just like a shameless small person? Could it be that those rumours in Jianghu are false, and his reputation is false?" He scowled at this thought.

Yingying smilingly said, "Daddy, we must disguise ourselves before going up the Dark Wood Cliff so we don"t get recognised. But the most important thing is for us to learn the jargons of Dark Wood Cliff, or else you"ll say everything wrongly."

"What Dark Wood Cliff"s jargons?"

"Uncle Shangguan said something like "Chief"s order is wise. This is a foolproof plan that really opens everyone"s eyes"; also "Subordinate will carry out this order. I will always be loyal to Chief and would never balk at a thousand deaths". These kinds of talks are the jargons of the upper cla.s.s people in Dark Wood Cliff for the last few years now. All these jargons were thought of by that Yang Lianting to flatter Dongfang Bubai. The more he heard it, the more he liked it, so later, when someone doesn"t speak like this, it"s a really big offence to him. Also, if there were a slight disrespect in the way you say it, you"ll immediately be killed," Yingying explained.

"Do you also say all these bulls.h.i.ts when you see Dongfang Bubai?" Ren Woxing asked.

"If I"m at Dark Wood Cliff, what can I do but to say these words? That"s why I live at Luoyang city to avoid all these crazy talks."

"Brother Shangguan, you don"t need to say these words between us," Ren Woxing told him.

"Yes. Chief"s sacred order only comes around every one hundred years and it cannot be replaced by ten thousand lives. The sacred order is like the brilliance of the sun and the moon illuminating the world, subordinate will obey the order," Shangguan Yun replied. Yingying pursed her lips, not daring to laugh.

Ren Woxing asked, "What do you think is the best way for us to go up Dark Wood Cliff?"

Shangguan Yun replied, "Chief is confident and is a divine strategist; in the present age n.o.body can come close to your brilliance. In the presence of Chief, how can subordinate dare to offer my trivial idea?"

Ren Woxing scowled and said, "When Dongfang Bubai discusses a matter with the sect, no one dares to say anything?"

"Dongfang Bubai"s ability and wisdom is above everyone, and no one has as much experience as he is. Even if someone has a thought about it, they wouldn"t dare to speak to avoid a sudden misfortune befalling them," Yingying said.

Ren Woxing said, "That"s how it is. That"s very good, extremely good! Brother Shangguan, what order did Dongfang Bubai give you to capture Linghu Chong?"

"He said whoever captures Hero Linghu would be heaped with gifts. If we couldn"t capture him, then we should bring our own heads to him," Shangguan Yun said.

Ren Woxing laughed. "Very good, tie Linghu Chong up and claim your gifts."

Shangguan Yun retreated a step, and fear was etched on his face. "Hero Linghu is Chief"s beloved general, and he has done a big service to our sect. How could Subordinate dare to commit this sin?"

Ren Woxing laughed and said, "It"s very hard to go up to Dongfang Bubai"s place, but if you"re taking the bound up Linghu Chong up, he would definitely let us see him."

Yingying smiled, "Wonderful plan! We"ll go up and see Dongfang Bubai pretending to be Uncle Shangguan"s subordinates. Once we see him, we"ll get our weapons out and attack him. Even though his martial art is high, he"ll still find it difficult to fight four pair of hands with his one pair."

Xiang Wentian added, "It"ll be best if Brother Linghu pretends to be heavily injured and has his feet and hands bound. We"ll splash some blood on him to make it real and then we"ll carry him up using a stretcher. Dongfang Bubai wouldn"t have any protections against this plan, and we can also store weapons in the stretcher."

"Very good, very good," Ren Woxing agreed with this plan.

They then heard the sound of horses" hooves galloping on the long street, with someone shouting, "We"ve captured the Master of Wind and Thunder Hall. We"ve captured the Master of Wind and Thunder Hall!"

Yingying beckoned Linghu Chong to go with her. The two of them went to the entrance of the inn and saw tens of men on horses carrying torches. They were crowding around a tall and strong old man as they went past the street. That old man had a white beard and his face was full of blood. His two hands were bound behind his back and his eyes were staring ahead brightly as if they were spouting fire. It was apparent that he was furious.

Yingying whispered, "Five to six years ago, when Dongfang Bubai met uncle Tong, they were even more close to each other than the two bear brothers. Who could"ve thought that he would turn ruthless against him today?"

Not long after that, Shangguan Yun came carrying a stretcher with him. Yingying bound Linghu Chong"s arms using a white cloth and hung the cloth on his neck. They then slaughtered a sheep and smeared the sheep"s blood all over his body. Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian both changed into the uniform of the sect, and Yingying also changed into a man"s clothes. They all smeared their faces black. After all of them had eaten and worn the uniforms of Shangguan Yun"s subordinates, they went on their way to Dark Wood Cliff.
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Forty li northwest of the Dingzhou prefecture, the mountain rock was dark red like blood, and there was a creek called Ape Creek with water rushing by. As they went further north, the cliffs on their sides rose up like walls, and the mountain road spanned only five feet wide in between the two cliffs. The road to the gathering altar of the Sun Moon Sect was heavily guarded by members of the sect, who were very respectful toward them because of Shangguan Yun. After pa.s.sing three checkpoints, they arrived to another creek. Shangguan Yun released a signal arrow and three boats from the other side came over to them. Linghu Chong secretly thought, "Sun Moon Sect"s hundreds years of existence really isn"t a small matter. If it weren"t for Shangguan Yun leading the way, we would"ve had to attack from the outside. That wouldn"t be very easy at all."

On the other side of the creek, the way up the mountain was very steep. Everyone had to abandon their horses. Some people in the party carried torches to light up their way. Yingying walked besides the stretcher with her hand on her pair of swords guarding Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong felt the constant danger he was in as they went up the mountain. If the people carrying the stretcher decided that they didn"t want to carry him anymore, they could just dump him into the deep valley besides the road and he would certainly die by their hands. When they reached the gathering altar, the sky was still dark. Shangguan Yun quickly ordered someone to report to Dongfang Bubai that he had successfully completed Chief"s order. After some time, the sound of tinkling bells was heard and Shangguan Yun immediately stood up and respectfully waited.

Yingying pulled Ren Woxing up and whispered, "Chief"s order has arrived. Quickly get up." Ren Woxing immediately stood up and saw that all the sect members inside the altar were suddenly standing still and motionless, as if they had come under a demonic spell. The tinkling bells rang really fast before stopping. Not long after it stopped, a person wearing the yellow gown of a sect"s disciple appeared holding a yellow scroll with both hands. He read the scroll out loud, "Divine Sun Moon Sect"s refined scholar, kind-hearted warrior, just and wise Chief Dongfang commands: Jia Bu and Shangguan Yun have successfully carried out the order and have returned. This is an excellent achievement. Bring the captive along with you up the cliff."

Shangguan Yun bowed. "Long live the Chief, unify the Jianghu."

Linghu Chong found this hilarious. He thought to himself, "Isn"t this what the court eunuchs usually read out?"

He then heard Shangguan Yun"s loud reply, "Chief has granted subordinate to ascend the cliff. I will never forget this supreme virtue and benevolence." Shangguan Yun"s subordinates also replied together, "Chief has granted subordinates to ascend the cliff. We will never forget this supreme virtue and benevolence." Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian followed along but secretly cursed.

Their party went up the stone steps ascending toward the cliff and pa.s.sed three iron doors along the way. At each iron door, a person asked them for that night"s pa.s.sword and also inspected what they were carrying on their bodies. At last, they reached a stone gate with inscriptions on each side of it. The sentence on the right side read "Refined Scholar, Kind-hearted Warrior", while the sentence on the left side said "Just and Wise". There was a board hung horizontally above the gate with the red letterings saying "Brilliance of Sun and Moon".

After they pa.s.sed the stone gate, they saw a big bamboo basket on the ground which could probably hold more than ten catties worth of rice. Shangguan Yun shouted, "Take the captive in." Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian, and Yingying stooped down to pick up the stretcher and entered into the bamboo basket.

A copper gong was sounded three times and the bamboo basket was slowly pulled up. There was a pulley system on the top which allowed the bamboo basket to be pulled up. As the bamboo basket slowly ascended, Linghu Chong raised his head to take a look and saw only many dots of stars around him which made him realize how high the Dark Wood Cliff really was. Yingying extended her right arm and held his left hand. In the middle of the night, they were still able to see white clouds floating just above their heads. After some time, they entered a white fog, and when they looked down, they were not able to see anything except darkness around them.

After a long time, the bamboo basket finally stopped. Shangguan Yun and his men helped lift Linghu Chong out of the basket. Then they proceeded to the left for tens of feet before encountering another bamboo basket. Actually the peak of the cliff was too high so it required four pulley systems to reach the top. Linghu Chong pondered in his heart, "It"d be very difficult for Dongfang Bubai"s subordinates to see him since he lives in such a high place."

When they reached the cliff"s peak, the sun had already risen and it was shining brightly from the east. The sun"s rays shone on an enormous decorated archway made from white jade, on which written in gold letters were the words "For the Benefit of Common People". The gold coating of the letters reflected the sunlight and bursts of gold glittered everywhere. When people saw this, a feeling of profound respect would blossom in their hearts.

Linghu Chong thought, "There"s no one in Wulin who could setup this kind of fanfare like Dongfang Bubai. Even Shaolin and Songshan wouldn"t be able to follow this. As for Huashan and Hengshan, they lack even further. He"s really a learned man, unlike other crude and ordinary heroes in the realm."

Ren Woxing softly muttered, "For the benefit of common people, hng!"

Shangguan Yun called out in a clear voice, "Subordinate from White Tiger Hall, Elder Shangguan Yun, has received Chief"s order and has come to pay a visit to Chief."

Four people came out of a stone house from their right and walked toward them. They were all wearing purple gowns. One of them said, "Congratulations Elder Shangguan for completing a great service. How come Elder Jia didn"t come?"

"Elder Jia died for the cause and has repaid Chief"s kindness," Shangguan Yun replied.

"That"s how it is. Then Elder Shangguan will surely be promoted," that person replied.

"If Chief promotes me, then I wouldn"t dare forget Brother"s help," Shangguan Yun said.

When that person heard this promise of a bribe, a smile crept into his eyes. "We should thank you first!" He gave Linghu Chong a glance and laughingly said, "Is this the little kid that Young Lady Ren admires? I thought he would have a face like Pan An or Song Yu, but I guess I was wrong. Green Dragon Hall"s Elder Shangguan, please come through here."

"Chief hasn"t promoted me yet so don"t say this too early. If Chief or General Yang heard this, then we"d be in big trouble."

That person stuck his tongue out and then led the way for them. They pa.s.sed underneath the decorated archway and walked through a perfectly straight slab of road leading to a big door. After they went through the big door, another two people in purple gowns welcomed the five of them into the reception hall. One of them said, "General Yang wants to see you so just wait here."

"Yes!" Shangguan Yun acknowledged and put both of his arms besides his body. Even after a long time, that "General Yang" still hadn"t come out yet, but Shangguan Yun just stood there respectfully waiting. Linghu Chong thought, "Elder Shangguan"s position in the sect isn"t low, but once he comes up the cliff, everyone looks down on him and treats him just like a servant. Even the servants here seem to have more power than him. What kind of person is that General Yang? Most likely, he"s that Yang Lianting person. Before he came to be a general, he was just some ordinary servant doing some trifle things. But now the White Tiger Hall"s elder actually has to wait respectfully for his arrival. Dongfang Bubai has really gone too far!"

After another long wait, footsteps were heard coming towards them. From the sound of the steps, it seemed that the person had no internal energy at all. With a cough, a person emerged from behind the screen. Linghu Chong took a peek and saw that this person was around thirty years old and was wearing a red jujube satin gown. He appeared tall and strong, and his face was full of beard. In appearance, he really looked like a healthy and powerful martial artist.

Linghu Chong thought, "Yingying said that Dongfang Bubai is very pampering towards this guy, and she also said that the relationship between these two is shady. I always thought that he would look like a girly and pretty man, who would"ve thought he"d be this big and burly fellow. This is really outside my imagination. Could it be that he"s not Yang Lianting?" He then heard that person said, "Elder Shangguan, you successfully accomplished your goal of capturing Linghu Chong. Chief will definitely be happy with this." His voice was really deep and was pleasant to hear.

Shangguan Yun bowed to him and said, "That"s all because of Chief"s good fortune and General Yang"s thorough advice. Subordinate is merely carrying out Chief"s order."

Linghu Chong inwardly felt strange. "This person must surely be Yang Lianting!"

Yang Lianting walked to the side of the stretcher and took a look at Linghu Chong"s face. Linghu Chong"s eyes were unfocused, his mouth hung slightly open, and he was wearing a stupefied expression while his whole body was bloodied as though he had received some heavy injuries. Yang Lianting asked, "Is this almost dead person Linghu Chong? Are you sure you got the right person?"

"Subordinate saw with my own eyes when he took the leadership of Heng-Shan School, so it couldn"t be wrong. In addition, he gave Elder Jia three stabs in his major acupoints and also injured Subordinate"s two palms. My injuries are serious, it"s likely that it won"t be healed in one and a half year," Shangguan Yun reported.

Yang Lianting laughed, "You beat up Young Lady Ren"s beloved until he"s like this. Be careful, she"ll come and kill you."

"Subordinate is loyal to Chief. I don"t care about other people"s hatred towards me. It"s Subordinate"s wish to be loyal to Chief till death; then my whole family would"ve been honoured," Shangguan Yun replied.

"Very good, very good. I must tell Chief about your loyalty, Chief will definitely heap you with gifts. The Wind and Thunder Hall"s elder has betrayed Chief and sowed confusion. Have you known about this?"

"Subordinate doesn"t know the details, but would like to consult General about this. If Chief or General has an order, subordinate will put my life on the line to do it. I will go through fire and water and I wouldn"t balk at a thousand deaths," Shangguan Yun said.

Yang Lianting sat on a chair and let out a long sigh. "This old guy Tong Baixiong, he"s always relied on Chief"s kindheartedness. He regards himself highly and has always looked down on other people. In the last few years, he"s been secretly plotting to rebel with some of his friends. I"ve seen clues of this for a long time already. Who would"ve thought that he becomes even more and more of an outlaw as days go by. He even went to collude with that sect rebel Ren Woxing; how absurd!"

"He actually went to… went to collude with that Ren?" Shangguan Yun"s voice was trembling, it was obvious that he was greatly shocked.

"Elder Shangguan, why are you so afraid? That Ren Woxing doesn"t have three heads and six arms. In the days gone by, Chief played him till he was doing everything that Chief asked him to. It was only because of Chief"s kindness that he"s still alive today. If he doesn"t come to Dark Wood Cliff then it doesn"t matter, but if he dares to come here, wouldn"t it be just like slaughtering a chicken?"

"Yes, yes," Shangguan Yun agreeing with him. "But how did Tong Baixiong collude with him?"

Yang Lianting explained, "Tong Baixiong secretly met with Ren Woxing, and the two of them had a long chat for many hours. Another traitor of the sect was also there, Xiang Wentian. Someone saw them having the meeting. What could he be talking about with these two traitors for so long? It must"ve been a secret meeting to rebel against Chief. When Tong Baixiong returned to Dark Wood Cliff, I asked him whether this meeting happened. He actually admitted it!"

Shangguan Yun said, "He already admitted it then naturally he didn"t do anything wrong."

Yang Lianting said, "I asked him why didn"t he go and report to Chief after meeting Ren Woxing. He said: "Brother Ren came to me to have a chat. He regards me as a friend, I also regard him as a friend, why can"t friends have a chat with each other?" I asked him: "Ren Woxing has returned to Jianghu and he"s intending to attack Chief. You already know about this point. Since he"s not going to be polite to Chief, how can you still regard him as a friend?" His reply was even more ridiculous, d.a.m.n him, this old chap actually said: "I"m afraid it"s Chief who"s being impolite to other people, it"s not necessarily other people who"s being impolite to Chief!""

"This old chap is talking nonsense! Chief"s righteousness is as high as the sky and he treats his friends very generously, how can he be impolite to people? That naturally is being ungrateful to Chief." When Yang Lianting heard these words, of course he believed that the word "Chief" was referring to Dongfang Bubai. But Shangguan Yun was actually praising Ren Woxing. Linghu Chong and party then heard him continue, "Since Subordinate has already vowed my loyalty and devotion to Chief, if I heard any daring rats to speak rudely about Chief, I would never let them go." These words were actually aimed to scold Yang Lianting, but how would he know? Yang Lianting laughed and said, "Very good, if all the brothers in the sect can be like Elder Shangguan and be very loyal to Chief, what else do we need to worry about? You"ve worked hard already, go down and take a rest."

Shangguan Yun was startled. "Subordinate would really like to meet Chief. Every time Subordinate sees Chief, I would feel greatly vigorous and would be able to do my duty with enthusiasm. It"d be as if I had cultivated my internal energy for ten years."

Yang Lianting tastelessly laughed and said, "Chief is very busy, I"m afraid he doesn"t have time to see you."

Shangguan Yun put his hand into his bosom and when he took it out, there were more than ten pearls on his palm. He walked forward a few steps and whispered, "General Yang, when subordinate went on the mission this time, I managed to get these eighteen pearls. I"d like to give these as a present. I hope that General would let me see Chief. If Chief likes them, maybe he would promote me and then heap me with gifts."

Yang Lianting smiled falsely. "We"re brothers, why do we need to be so polite? Thank you very much." Then he lowered his voice and said, "When I see Chief, I"ll put in a good word for you and advise him to promote you to be the elder of the Green Dragon Hall."

Shangguan Yun bowed again and again. Then he said, "If I get promoted, Shangguan Yun would never forget Chief"s and General"s kindness."

Yang Lianting said, "Wait here till Chief is free, then he"ll ask you to come in."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Shangguan Yun excitedly replied. He then closed his hand around the pearls and retreated a few steps. Yang Lianting stood up and in a grand manner went inside. After another long time, a purple-gowned servant came out. He stood erect and in a clear voice announced, "Refined scholar, kind-hearted warrior, the just and wise Chief commands: Elder Shangguan Yun of White Tiger Hall, take the prisoner and enter."

Shangguan Yun said, "Thank you for Chief"s grace. I wish Chief a long life and to unify the Jianghu." He then swung his left hand across asking the purple gown servant to lead the way. Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian, and Yingying carried Linghu Chong behind them. As they walked in, the veranda above them was full of warriors armed with spears. They entered three iron gates and arrived at a long corridor whose sides were lined up by hundreds of warriors. Each of the warriors carried a long sabre in his hand and had crossed the sabres above their heads. Shangguan Yun and his party bent their waists and lowered their heads as they walked along the corridor. If any of these hundreds of sabres suddenly chopped down then they would surely lose their heads. Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian had gone through more than a hundred battles and they wouldn"t have even given these warriors a thought, but to be able to see Dongfang Bubai, they had to endure these insults first. They felt vehemence in their hearts. Linghu Chong thought, "Dongfang Bubai treats his subordinates so rudely. How can they remain loyal to him? His subordinates haven"t rebelled yet only because they"re afraid of him. But if Dongfang Bubai looks down on this people, how can he not be defeated?"

After they went through the sabre path, they arrived at a doorway covered by a curtain. Shangguan Yun parted the curtain and went inside. Suddenly, flickering of lights was seen as eight spears were thrust at him from everywhere. Four spears were aimed at the front of his chest while the other four spears were aimed at the back of his body, the spears stopped inches from touching him. Linghu Chong immediately surmised the situation and thus extended his hand to grab the long sword stored underneath the bandage on his thigh. But he saw Shangguan Yun just standing there motionless while calling out clearly, "Elder Shangguan Yun from the White Tiger Hall is here to pay his respect to the refined scholar, kind-hearted warrior, the just and wise Chief!"

Someone from inside the hall shouted, "Enter!"

The eight spearmen immediately retreated to form two lines on either side. Linghu Chong only then understood. Originally, when these eight spearmen stabbed out with their spears, they were just trying to frighten them. If the people coming into the hall had bad intentions, when they saw the eight spears being thrust towards them, they would immediately draw their weapons to fight back. Then the betrayal would"ve been exposed.

They entered a big hall and Linghu Chong thought, "What a long hall!" The width of the hall was only around thirty feet, but the depth of the hall was around three hundred feet. At the end of the hall, an old man with a long beard was seated. That person was Dongfang Bubai.

There was no window inside the hall, and only candles illuminated the inside of the hall. On both sides of Dongfang Bubai"s seat were two flickering oil lamps. At the distance they were at, they couldn"t see Dongfang Bubai"s appearance clearly. Shangguan Yun knelt at the bottom of the stairs and said clearly, "Chief is a refined scholar and kind-hearted warrior; just and wise, flourishes the Divine Sect, and benefits the common people. Subordinate Elder Shangguan Yun of White Tiger Hall pays his respect to Chief."

The purple-gowned servant standing besides Dongfang Bubai shouted, "How come your subordinates aren"t kneeling when paying their respects to Chief?"

Ren Woxing thought, "The moment hasn"t arrived yet. What"s the harm in kneeling to you? Wait until I pull your muscle out and skin you alive." At this thought, he immediately lowered his head and kneeled down. When Xiang Wentian and Yingying saw him kneeling down, they also knelt down. Shangguan Yun said, "Subordinate"s men have always longed to see Chief. Today, Chief has finally bestowed us with this kindness. This is really a kindness that has favoured eighteen generations of their ancestors. Once they saw Chief, they were so pleased that they forgot to kneel down. Please forgive them."

Yang Lianting was standing besides Dongfang Bubai. He said, "Report to Chief how Elder Jia died for the sect."

Shangguan Yun replied, "Elder Jia and Subordinate were carrying out Chief"s order. In the last few years, we both have been promoted by Chief. This is a big kindness that"s hard to repay. So this time when Chief put this heavy responsibility on both of us, we both were feeling very vigorous. We felt that since Chief instructed us to do this, and also because of Chief"s foolproof plan, no matter who"s been a.s.signed to capture Linghu Chong, they would never fail. Since Chief sent the two of us, we had no concern whatsoever…" Linghu Chong was lying on the stretcher and his mind was secretly scolding, "Disgusting, disgusting! Shangguan Yun"s nickname has the word "hero" in it. But he can say this without his face turning red or his ears turning red, I didn"t know there"s such a shameless person in this world."

At this moment, he heard someone shouting from behind them, "Brother Dongfang, was it really you who sent people to capture me?" This person"s voice sounded old but his inner energy was abundant. After he had spoken these words, the echo from his voice reverberated throughout the hall showing just how powerful he was. He guessed that this person was the Wind and Thunder Hall"s elder, Tong Baixiong.