The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Yu Canghai turned around, his face an icy mask. "Sister, listen to the words of your respectful apprentice. What did she call this villain?"

"I have ears of my own and don"t need you to point things out to me!" Dingyi replied angrily.

She had heard Yilin referring to Linghu Chong as "big brother Linghu," and was already angry about it. If Yu Canghai had spoken one moment later, she would have delivered a stern rebuke to Yilin, but since Yu Canghai spoke first, especially in such an impolite manner, she instead defended her apprentice.

"The words just slipped out of her mouth. What"s the big deal? Our Five Mountains sword schools are joined into one alliance; apprentices from any sword school of the Five Mountains are naturally fellow apprentices. What"s so strange about that?"

"Well! Well!" Yu Canghai laughed mockingly, as he gathered his energy from his lower abdomen, and then projected the energy from his left palm to push Lao Denuo away. Lao Denuo flew back and struck his back against a wall. Dirt and debris dropped from the ceiling from the impact.

"You think you are so innocent? Why have you been tailing me all this way? What are you up to?" Yu Canghai snapped.

After the shove and the impact, Lao Denuo felt as if his organs were turned upside down. He leaned against the wall and tried his best to not collapse. His knees were so weak that the only thing he wanted to do was to sit down on the floor. After hearing Yu Canghai"s words, he groaned inwardly. "So when little apprentice sister and I were spying on them, this crafty little crook had already known."

"Yilin, come with me. Tell me exactly how they seized you," Dingyi said as she pulled Yilin by the hand and walked toward the door.

Everyone knew only too well if such a beautiful little nun fell into the hands of an evil rapist like Tian Boguang, it would be nearly impossible for her to maintain her virginity. The whole story, of course, would not be appropriate to be revealed in front of other people. Obviously Sister Dingyi was going to take her somewhere private and then ask about the details.

Swiftly, Yu Canghai rushed to the doorway and blocked their way. "This incident involves two lives. Little Sister Yilin, please stay right here to tell the story," he demanded. He paused a second and then continued, "Nephew apprentice Chi Baicheng was a member of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance. In your alliance, all are fellow apprentices; thus maybe the Taishan Sword School does not really mind that Linghu Chong killed Chi. But my apprentice Luo Renjie did not have the honor of calling Linghu Chong an apprentice brother."

Dingyi was a very forceful woman; normally even her big senior sister Dingjing or the Head Master of Heng-Shan Sword School, senior sister Dingxian, would give way to her. How could she let Yu Canghai block her way with such impunity? Upon hearing these words, she raised her eyebrows immediately.

Liu Zhengfeng had long known of Sister Dingyi"s hot-temper. When he saw Dingyi raise her eyebrows, he knew she was ready to strike. Yu Canghai and Dingyi were both first-cla.s.s masters in the Martial World. If they started a fight, things would really get out of hand. So he rushed forward and bowed deeply.

"Both of you have given me great honor by being my respectful guests here at my ceremony. For the sake of that, please do not damage the spirit of that goodwill. It is all my fault that I did not serve my guests well, I beg your pardon." He kept bowing to both Dingyi and Yu Canghai.

Sister Dingyi let out a dry smile. "Master Liu, you really have a good sense of humor. I am only angry at this bull-nose. [4] It has nothing to do with you. Because he doesn"t allow me to leave, I leave to spite him. If he doesn"t block my way, then it is possible for me to stay."

Yu Canghai had some degree of respect for Sister Dingyi"s fighting skills, and didn"t have total confidence in his ability to beat her in a fight. In addition, although her senior apprentice sister Dingxian had an amiable nature, it was well known that her Kung Fu skills were much greater. Even if he could win the fight today, her senior apprentice sister surely wouldn"t let it go that easily. And once he offended the Heng-Shan Sword School, there would be no end of trouble. So he also forced a dry smile.

"All I want is for Little Sister Yilin to tell us the truth about what happened. Yu Canghai dare not block the Heng-Shan White-Cloud Nunnery Master"s way." After these words, he moved back to his seat.

"It"s good you know that," Sister Dingyi said. She held Yilin"s hand and walked back to her seat as well.

"What on earth happened after the day we lost you?" she asked Yilin. Afraid that since Yilin was young and inexperienced, she might tell something that would disgrace both herself and the Heng-Shan Sword School, she hurriedly added, "Just tell the necessary parts. If it is irrelevant, we don"t need to know."

"Yes, Master!" Yilin answered. "I haven"t done anything against the instructions from the senior masters. But Tian Boguang, the villain, he…he…he…!"

"I got it!" Dingyi nodded. "You don"t have to say another word now. I know everything. I will definitely slay the two villains, Tian Boguang and Linghu Chong, to a.s.suage your anger…!"

Yilin looked at Dingyi in surprise with her crystal clear eyes. "Big brother Linghu?" she uttered. "He…he…." Tears began to fall from her beautiful eyes. In a choking voice, she said, "He…he is already dead!"

Everyone in the room was stunned by the news.

Priest Tianmen"s anger immediately vanished. "How did he die? Who killed him?" he asked in a loud voice.

"It was this…this Qingcheng…Qingcheng villain." Yilin pointed at the body of Luo Renjie.

Yu Canghai could not help feeling proud. "So the scoundrel Linghu Chong was killed by Renjie and they ended in mutual annihilation!" he thought. "Good. Renjie the boy, I knew he had guts! He didn"t disgrace the fame of my Qingcheng Sword School."

"So all members of your Five Mountains Sword Alliance are the good guys, and all people of my Qingcheng Sword School are bad guys?" he glared at Yilin and sneered.

Tears kept falling from her eyes, Yilin said, "I…I don"t know about that. I am not talking about you, Uncle-Master Yu. I am only talking about him." She pointed at Luo Renjie"s body again.

"What are you scaring the child for?" Dingyi barked at Yu Canghai. "Yilin, don"t be afraid. Tell us why he was a bad guy? Your Master is here, n.o.body will dare give you any trouble." She gave a glare back at Yu Canghai.

"Buddhists do not lie. Little Sister, are you willing to give a vow in the name of Buddha?" Yu Canghai demanded. He was afraid that Yilin would speak at Dingyi"s instigation and would describe Luo Renjie"s behavior as something intolerable. Since this apprentice of his had already perished along with Linghu Chong, there would be no testimony from another quarter; everybody would have the statements from a single party.

"I dare not ever lie to my Master," Yilin said. She knelt down facing the outside, put her palms together, lowered her head and intoned, "Apprentice Yilin is reporting to her Master and the other Uncle-Masters. She dares not speak untruth. The Buddha has great powers and will verify her words."

Everyone could sense the sincerity in her words, so all became well disposed toward her. A scholarly, black-bearded, middle-aged man had been listening by the side quietly from the beginning. He interrupted Yilin and said, "The little Sister had already vowed. Of course we will believe her words."

"Did you hear that, bull-nose? Even Mr. Wen agrees. She will speak the truth," Dingyi said. She knew the man"s surname was Wen, and everybody called him Mr. Wen, but she had no idea what his first name was. She only knew that he was from southern Shanxi Province and was famous for his Kung Fu with a pair of Judge"s-Pens. He was a master at pressure points.

Everyone"s eyes turned to Yilin"s face. Her glorious face brightened the entire room like a brilliant pearl or a piece of beautiful jade, in its purity and flawlessness. Even Yu Canghai thought to himself, "This little nun probably won"t tell a lie." Silence befell the room while all waited for Yilin to start.

"Yesterday afternoon," Yilin started, "I was following Master and my apprentice sisters, heading to the town of Hengyang. In the middle of the trip, it started to rain. As we went down the valley, I slipped and caught my fall with my hand on the rocks, so they were covered with mud and moss. After we descended into the valley, I went to a stream to wash my hands. Suddenly, beside my shadow in the stream, appeared the shadow of a man. I was so startled that I stood up immediately. Then I felt a pain in my back – he had already sealed my pressure points. I was very scared and wanted to call my Master to come and help me, but it was already too late; because of the sealed pressure points, I could not let out a sound. The man picked me up and walked about ten or twenty yards, then put me inside a cave. I was scared to death, yet couldn"t move an inch or make a sound. After quite a while, I heard the three senior apprentice sisters calling me in three different places, "Yilin, Yilin, where are you?" That man just grinned and whispered to me, "If they come here, I"ll catch every one of them!" The three apprentice sisters looked for me everywhere and went in other directions.

"After quite a while, hearing that my three apprentice sisters had gone far away, he released my pressure points. I immediately ran toward the opening of the cave, but this man moved a lot faster than I could, and had already blocked the way. I ended up so I running into his chest. That man burst into laughter. "You think you can run away?" he said. I hurriedly jumped backwards, pulled out my long sword, and was ready to plunge it into him. But then I thought that since this man did not hurt me at all, and we Buddhists should always be merciful to others, there was no reason for me to hurt him. Killing is the first prohibition for Buddhists, so I didn"t thrust the sword.

""Why are you blocking my way?" I asked. "If you don"t move aside, I"ll have to thrust and…cut you."

"The man just grinned. He said, "Little Sister, you really have a kind heart. You just can"t bear to kill me, can you?"

""I don"t have any score to settle with you, why should I kill you?" I said.

""That"s great! Why don"t we sit down and have a chat," he suggested.

""My Master and my apprentice sisters are looking for me. And anyway, my Master does not allow me to just speak with any man," I exclaimed.

""But you already have," he said, "so what"s the difference between a couple times more or less?"

""Move aside, don"t you know that my Master is very tough? If she had seen you behaving like this, she probably would have broken both your legs," I said.

"The man replied, "If you want to break my legs, go ahead. But your Master…she"s too old, I couldn"t stomach it…. ""

"Nonsense! You even remembered all this rubbish?" Dingyi yelled.

Many people could not help laughing inwardly. But for the sake of Sister Dingyi, n.o.body dared let out a smile. All tried their best to keep looking serious.

"But he did say that," Yilin insisted earnestly.

"Ok, ok, these type of words do not really related to the story that you are telling, so don"t mention them anymore. Just talk about how you met Linghu Chong of the Huashan Sword School." Dingyi instructed.

"Yes, Master. The man kept talking, and just wouldn"t let me out, and said that I…I was very pretty, and wanted me to sleep…."

"Stop!" Dingyi yelled. "You kids don"t think when you speak. How can you talk about such things?"

"It was he who said that, I did not agree, and I did not sleep…," Yilin tried to explain.

"Shut up!" Dingyi yelled even louder.

The Qingcheng apprentice who had carried the body of Luo Renjie in could not control himself anymore and let out a laugh. Dingyi was infuriated. She picked up a teacup from the table with a flourish, and flung the contents of the cup at him. She used the inner energy of the Heng-Shan Sword School when she flung the tea; it shot through the air fast and accurate. The apprentice couldn"t move aside in time, and the hot liquid splashed squarely on his face. He cried out loud from the burning pain.

"Your apprentice can talk about it, but my apprentice can"t laugh at it? How unreasonable!" Yu Canghai complained angrily.

Sister Dingyi looked at Yu Canghai out from the corner of her eyes. "Heng-Shan Dingyi has been unreasonable for many decades. Haven"t you heard?" She held the empty teacup and was ready to throw it at Yu Canghai.

Yu Canghai didn"t look at her, and even turned his body away from her.

Seeing Yu Canghai show so much confidence in himself, and knowing the good Kung Fu skills of the Qingcheng Master, Dingyi did not want to start any trouble. So she put the teacup down slowly and said to Yilin, "Go on with the story! Don"t be so wordy with things that have nothing to do with the important facts."

"Yes, Master," said Yilin. "I tried to get out of the cave, but that man kept blocking my way and wouldn"t let me pa.s.s. Seeing the sky become darker and darker, I was very worried and finally thrust my sword toward him. Master, I dare not violate the killing prohibition; I did not really want to kill him. I just wanted to scare him away. I used the move called "Golden Pins Solve the Troubles," but he extended his left arm and grabbed at my…my body. I was astounded, so I dodged to the side, and he s.n.a.t.c.hed the sword right out of my hand. That man"s Kung Fu skills were remarkable. He held the hilt of the sword with his right hand, and the tip of the sword using his thumb and index finger of his left hand. Then he just gently bent it, and with a crisp crack, the tip of the sword broke off about an inch."

"He broke off about an inch of the sword tip?" Dingyi repeated.

"Yes!" Yilin affirmed.

Dingyi and Priest Tianmen looked at each other, both thinking of the same thing. If Tian Boguang had only broken off the sword from the middle, it would be nothing special, but he broke an inch off the tip of the steel sword with just two fingers; the strength in his fingers must have been tremendous."

Priest Tianmen drew a sword by an apprentice"s waist, and also held the tip of the sword with the thumb and index finger of his left hand. He bent it slightly, and with a cracking sound, he broke about an inch off the tip. "Like this?" he asked.

"Yes," Yilin answered. "So Uncle-Master knows how to do it too!"

Priest Tianmen gave a snort and shoved the broken sword back in the apprentice"s sheath. He struck the table with his left hand; the inch of broken sword tip sunk into the table like an inlay.

"Uncle-Master, you really have marvelous skills. I guess the villain Tian Boguang probably doesn"t know how to do that," Yilin said cheerfully. But then, her face turned pale and she lowered her head. With a gentle sigh, she said, "Ah, but Uncle-Master, you weren"t there at the time, otherwise, big brother Linghu wouldn"t have been wounded so badly."

"What do you mean wounded badly? Didn"t you say that he was already dead?" Priest Tianmen asked.

"That"s right, if big brother Linghu wasn"t wounded so badly, he wouldn"t have been murdered by the Qingcheng villain Luo Renjie," Yilin said remorsefully.

Hearing her mentioning of Tian Boguang as a "villain" and also calling his apprentice a "villain", putting the apprentice of Qingcheng in the same breath as the notorious rapist, Yu Canghai could not help letting out another grunt.

Seeing tears rolling from Yilin"s pretty eyes, and that she was on the verge of tears, no one wanted to ask her further regarding Linghu Chong"s fate. Priest Tianmen, Liu Zhengfeng, Mr. Wen, and He Sanqi all couldn"t help but feel sympathy for her, and would have patted her on her back or her head to comfort her if she weren"t a nun.

Yilin wiped her tears with her sleeves and continued with the story in a sobbing voice, "The villain Tian Boguang was pushing me around and began to tear at my clothes. I tried to hit him with my hands, but he caught both of them.

"Right at that moment, somebody suddenly began to laugh loudly. "Ha, ha, ha," he laughed three times, and then after a short pause, another three times.

""Who is that?" Tian Boguang asked in a stern voice.

"The man outside just kept laughing.

""You"d better get lost fast," Tian Boguang warned him. "Making Mister Tian angry might cost you your life!"

"The man answered with another three laughs. Tian Boguang tried to ignore him and continued to tear off my clothes, while the man outside just laughed again and again. Every time the man laughed, Tian Boguang got a bit angrier. I really hoped that the man would come to rescue me, but he knew how tough Tian Boguang was and dared not come into the cave, and just kept laughing outside.

"Tian Boguang began to pour out streams of abuse. He sealed my pressure points again and rushed out of the cave, but the man had already hidden himself. After a while, Tian Boguang still could not find him, so he came back into the cave again. As soon as he was about to reach me, the man outside of the cave began laughing again. I thought it was quite interesting and could not help laughing myself."

Sister Dingyi gave her a hard stare and remonstrated, "You were at the moment between life and death, and you still found the time to laugh?"

Yilin"s face turned a little bit red. "True. I knew I shouldn"t have laughed, but at that moment, I don"t know why, I just did. Tian Boguang lowered his body and crept back to the opening of the cave, ready to rush out if the man outside gave out another laugh. But he was quite alert, and didn"t make a sound. Tian Boguang walked slowly toward the opening step by step. I figured it would be really bad if the man were caught, so when I saw that Tian Boguang was about to rush out, I shouted, "Look out, he is coming out!"

"The man laughed three laughs from a distance and said, "Thanks a lot, but he won"t be able to keep up with me. His Qing-Gong skills are not too good. ""

Everyone couldn"t help thinking, "Tian Boguang"s nickname is "Ten Thousand Miles Loner." He enjoys great fame in the Martial World with his outstanding Qing-Gong skills. Now someone comes along and says "his Qing-Gong skills are not too good," he must have intentionally said it so to irritate Tian Boguang."

Yilin continued, "The villain Tian Boguang suddenly turned around and gave my face a hard pinch. I screamed in pain. Then he ran out of the cave and shouted, "d.a.m.n punk, let"s see whose Qing-Gong is better." But he was tricked. The man had been hiding by the opening of the cave, and as soon as Tian Boguang rushed out, he sneaked in.

""Don"t worry. I am here to save you. Which of your pressure points were sealed?" he whispered to me.

""My right shoulder and my back," I said. "It seemed to be the Jian-Zhen point and DZhui point! Who are you?"

""Let me open up your sealed points first," he said, then started ma.s.saging at my Jian-Zhen and DZhui points.

"Perhaps I didn"t tell him the right points; although he tried very hard, he still couldn"t release my points. We heard Tian Boguang"s shouting coming back toward us, so I said, "You"d better run away quickly. If he sees you when he comes back, he will kill you."

"He replied, "Five Mountains Sword Alliance; the same root different branches. When an apprentice sister is in trouble, how can I not try to help?""

"Does he belong to the Five Mountains Sword Alliance?" Dingyi asked.

"Master, he is Linghu Chong, big brother Linghu."
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Dingyi, Priest Tianmen, Yu Canghai, He Sanqi, Mr. Wen, and Liu Zhengfeng all said "oh" and nodded. Lao Denuo let out a long breath. Some people had already figured out that this man might be Linghu Chong, but no one was very sure until Yilin confirmed it.

Yilin went on with the story, "Hearing Tian Boguang"s shouting getting closer and closer, big brother Linghu said, "Pardon me!" Then he carried me out of the cave and hid inside the high gra.s.s. Right after we hid ourselves, Tian Boguang ran into the cave. He could not find me and became real angry, so he began swearing and saying lots of bad words. I didn"t quite understand what he was saying. He picked up my broken sword and started slashing wildly at the high gra.s.s. Luckily it was raining that night, and there was no light from either the moon or the stars, so he could not see us. But he figured that we could not have gone far, and must have been somewhere nearby, so he kept chopping and slashing. Once the sword was so close to me that it went only a few inches above my head.

"He chopped and swore, and walked around randomly. I suddenly felt some warm drops of liquid fall on my face, and at the same time, I smelled blood. I was quite startled and asked in whisper, "Are you wounded?" Big brother Linghu covered my mouth with his hand. After a long while, when we heard the sound of chopping gra.s.s going further and further away, he whispered back, "No problem," and then took his hand away from my mouth. But the warm blood just kept dripping onto my face.

""You are badly wounded; we"ve got to stop the bleeding," I said. "I have Heavenly Connecting Glue."

""Don"t speak," he ordered. "He"ll find where we are if we move!" and then he covered his wound with his hand.

"After a while, Tian Boguang ran back. "Hha, so here you are. I can see you. Stand up!" he shouted.

"Hearing his words, I could only groan inwardly. I was ready to stand up, but I simply could not move my legs…."

"You were tricked. Tian Boguang was trying to fool you. He didn"t see you at all," Sister Dingyi cried.

"That"s right. Master, how did you know? You weren"t there at that time!" Yilin asked in surprise.

"Was that so hard to guess?" Dingyi explained. "If he had really seen you, he would have come over and killed Linghu Chong with a single chop. Why bother shouting out loud? So the lad Linghu Chong was naive, too."

Yilin shook her head. "No, big brother Linghu thought of that as well. He immediately covered my mouth with his hand, afraid that I would scream. Tian Boguang shouted for a while and did not hear any response, so he went slashing some more gra.s.s. Big brother Linghu waited until Tian Boguang went far away, then he whispered to me, "Apprentice sister, if we can last another half an hour, when the blood and energy flows better around your sealed pressure points, I will be able to open them up. But since Tian Boguang will definitely turn back, we might not be so lucky again. I"d say let"s just take our chances and hide inside the cave. ""

At these words, Mr. Wen, He Sanqi, and Liu Zhengfeng all clapped their hands. "Excellent! Brave yet smart!" Mr. Wen praised.

Yilin went on, "I was scared to go back to the cave, but I already had great confidence in and admiration for big brother Linghu. If he said so, then it must be a good idea. So I said, "Ok." He picked me up again and rushed into the cave.

"After he put me down on the ground, I said, "I have Heavenly Connecting Glue in my pocket. It is a miraculous medicine for sealing wounds. Please…please take it out and use it on your wounds."

""It"s not a good time to take it out," he objected. "I"ll wait till you can move your hands and legs again, then you can give it to me." He drew his sword and cut off a section of his sleeve to wrap the wound on his left shoulder.

"I finally understood that when we were hiding in the gra.s.ses, in order to protect me, when Tian Boguang cut his shoulder, he didn"t move at all and didn"t let out any sound, and in the darkness, Tian Boguang didn"t notice it. I felt so sorry for him and didn"t know why it was not a good time to take the medicine out…."

"So as you have said, Linghu Chong is actually a gentleman?" Dingyi let out a snort.

Yilin looked at her Master, her bright eyes filled with surprise. "Of course big brother Linghu is a first-cla.s.s gentleman. I didn"t even know him, and he stood up and rescued me, risking his own life," she said.

Yu Canghai said coldly, "You did not know him, but he probably had seen you before. Otherwise, how could he have such a "kind" heart?" He was implying that Linghu Chong acted bravely because of her extreme beauty.

"No! He said he had never met me before. Big brother Linghu never lies to me, he never does!" Yilin reb.u.t.ted. These words were spoken with such a.s.surance, that although her voice was still gentle, the meaning was very resolute and decisive. All the people in the hall were moved by her pure confidence and all truly believed her.

Yu Canghai thought, "That rascal Linghu Chong was always reckless in a crazy way; if he didn"t act so fearlessly for beauty, then it must have been for fame. He wanted to gain fame by fighting Tian Boguang."

Yilin continued, "After wrapping his wound, big brother Linghu continued ma.s.saging the pressure points on my shoulder and back. Soon we heard the chopping and slashing noises coming closer and closer. Tian Boguang had slashed his way to the opening of the cave. My heart thumped so hard.

"Tian Boguang came into the cave and sat down on the ground silently. I held my breath and didn"t even dare to breath. Suddenly, a great pain came from my shoulder. It came so unexpected that I couldn"t help groaning. That spoiled the whole thing. Tian Boguang laughed loudly and walked toward me with big steps. Big brother Linghu just squatted by the side and did not move.

""Little lamb, so you are still hiding in the cave, huh!" Tian Boguang said with a smile. He stuck his hand out to grab me.

"I heard the sound of a sword thrust, and then I found that big brother Linghu had stabbed at Tian Boguang. Tian Boguang was startled and dropped the broken sword. But the thrust didn"t hit his vital parts. What a pity! Tian Boguang jumped back in a hurry, pulled out the knife by his waist, and began to swing it at big brother Linghu. The knife and the sword hit each other with a clang; the two started fighting. In the dark, neither of them could see. After a couple of clangs, both of them jumped backward. All I could hear was the sound of their breathing. I was scared to death."

"How many rounds did Linghu Chong fight him?" Priest Tianmen interrupted.

"I was scared senseless at the time, and didn"t notice how long they had fought," Yilin answered. "I heard Tian Boguang laughing and saying, "Ha, you are from the Huashan Sword School! The Huashan Sword Art is no match for my skills. What"s your name?"

"Big brother Linghu said, "Five Mountains Sword Alliance; same root different branches. Either Huashan Sword School or Heng-Shan Sword School, we are all after you, evil rapist…." Before he could finish his words, Tian Boguang had already started his attack. It turned out that he tricked big brother Linghu into talking in order to find out where he was. After several more rounds, big brother Linghu let out a cry of pain. He was wounded again.

"Tian Boguang laughed. "I told you. Huashan Sword Art is no match for my skills. Even if your old Master Yue had come, himself, he"d lose, too." But big brother Linghu did not answer him again.

"Earlier, when I had a great pain on my shoulder, it turned out it was because the pressure points on my shoulder opened up by themselves. I felt some more pain on my back; those points were opening up too. I slowly struggled up while moving my hands around looking for the broken sword. Big brother Linghu heard the sound and said happily, "Your pressure points are open now! Run away! Hurry up!"

""Apprentice brother of the Huashan Sword School, let"s fight the villain together!" I declared.

""You run away! Hurry up! We will still be no match for him even if we fight together," he demanded.

"Tian Boguang laughed. "Glad you know that! Why waste your life over something for no reason? Hey, I really like your courage. What"s your name?"

""If you had asked for my respectful name nicely, I would tell you, but since you asked your old man so rudely, he won"t pay any heed to you," big brother Linghu answered.

"Master, don"t you think that was funny? Big brother Linghu wasn"t his father, but called himself his "old man"."

"That was just a rude word, it doesn"t really mean "his old man"!" Dingyi let out a disgruntled snort as she explained.

"Ah, I see. Big brother Linghu then said, "Apprentice sister, you can run to the town of Hengshan. We have lots of friends there; I am sure this villain wouldn"t dare to go there looking for you."

""What if he kills you?" I asked.

""He is not good enough to kill me!" big brother Linghu yelled. "I will tie him up here. Why are you still here? Run! Ouch!" With two metallic sounds made by their weapons. .h.i.tting each other, big brother Linghu was wounded once more.

"He got mad and started yelling at me, "If you don"t leave right now, I am going to start cursing you!"

"By then I had already found the broken sword on the ground, so I shouted, "Let"s fight him two to one."

""Nothing could be better! Tian Boguang, one man and one knife, here to fight both the Huashan Sword School and the Heng-Shan Sword School," Tian Boguang laughed loudly."

"Big brother Linghu started to scold me. He yelled, "You foolish, little nun, you are an idiot. Go away! If you don"t go away, next time I see you, I"ll slap you!"

"Tian Boguang laughed. "This little nun doesn"t want to part with me. She won"t go."

"Big brother Linghu got really mad. He shouted, "Are you leaving or not?"

"I said, "No way!"

"Big brother Linghu then said, "If you don"t leave now, I am going to call your Master names! Dingxian you idiotic old nun, look how you"ve taught such an idiotic little nun!"

""Uncle-Master Dingxian is not my Master," I explained.

""Fine, then I"ll call Sister Dingjing names!" he said.

""Uncle-Master Dingjing is not my Master, either," I said.

""Bah! You"re still not leaving! I"ll call Dingyi an old idiot…!""

Dingyi made a sour face and looked very displeased.

"Master, please don"t be angry," Yilin said hurriedly. "Big brother Linghu meant well for me. He didn"t really want to call you anything.

"I said, "I am foolish by myself. It wasn"t taught by my Master!"

"Suddenly, Tian Boguang jumped forth at me and poked his finger at me. I waved my sword wildly in the darkness and forced him back.

"Big brother Linghu shouted, "I have a whole bunch of dirty words that I am going to use on your Master now. Aren"t you afraid?"

""Don"t call anyone any more names. Let"s run away together!" I said.

""Your standing besides me is already blocking my moves," big brother Linghu shouted. "I can"t use my best Huashan sword moves. Once you get out, then I can kill this villain with ease."

"Tian Boguang laughed hard and said, "You"ve really got some affection for this little nun, too bad that she doesn"t even know your name."

"I thought these words from the villain were quite right, so I asked, "Apprentice brother of the Huashan Sword School, what"s your name? I will tell my Master when I go to Hengshan and tell her that you saved my life."

"Big brother Linghu said, "Go away! Hurry up! You are too wordy! My name is Lao, Lao Denuo!""

Hearing his own name mentioned, Lao Denuo was stunned. "Why did big apprentice brother go under my name?" he thought aloud, feeling utterly confused.

"This Linghu Chong does kind things and walks away from the fame. That is the true characteristic of we chivalrous people," Mr. Wen nodded and murmured to himself.

Sister Dingyi glanced at Lao Denuo and murmured, "This Linghu Chong was so rude, and even dared call me names. He was probably afraid that I would go after him because of that, so he wanted to pin the blame on somebody else."

"Hey, so you"re the one who called me an old idiot?" she glared at Lao Denuo.

Lao Denuo bowed hurriedly. "No, no! I dare not!"

"Sister Dingyi," Liu Zhengfeng cut in with a smile, "Linghu Chong had his reasons for using his apprentice brother Lao Denuo"s name. This nephew apprentice Lao joined Huashan Sword School with his previously learned skills. Although his seniority is low, his age is not. With a great bush of beard, he could pa.s.s for Yilin"s grandfather."

Dingyi immediately understood that Linghu Chong did so to protect Yilin"s reputation. At that time, it was totally dark in the cave; no one could recognize anyone else, even when face- to-face. If Yilin got away and mentioned that it was Lao Denuo of Huashan Sword School who saved her, no one could think up snide comments to defame her with such an old man. This not only protected Yilin"s reputation, but also protected the reputation of the Heng-Shan Sword School. When she thought of this, she could not help letting a little smile creep to her face.

"This lad really is thoughtful." She nodded. "Yilin, what happened after that?"

Yilin answered, "By then I still didn"t want to leave. I said, "Big brother Lao, you got yourself into danger all because of me, how can I leave you in danger? If my Master learned that I was such a coward and didn"t care about fellow apprentices, she would kill me herself. Master always taught us that although we are all females in the Heng-Shan Sword School, with regard to chivalry, we are never bettered by any man!""

"Excellent, excellent! You said it right!" Dingyi applauded and shouted out. "For we Kung Fu pract.i.tioners, whoever does not exercise chivalry is better dead than alive. No matter man or woman, it"s all the same."

Seeing the solemn expression on her face when she said these words, everyone could see that the spirit of the old nun was really no less than that of any man.

Yilin continued, "But then big brother Linghu began to scold me profusely. "You darn idiotic little nun," he said, "all you do is talk and talk and talk, and stop me from being able to use my unbeatable Huashan Sword Art. My old life is destined to be lost in Tian Boguang"s hands. So you"re in league with Tian Boguang and purposely set me up. I, Lao Denuo, am so unlucky today, seeing a nun right after I start on my trip. And it is a rotten little nun that will have no son, no grandson, no nothing. Even with the super strong and super powerful magical sword arts I know, I am unable to use them, because I fear that the energy of my sword strikes would hurt the little nun"s life. Alright! Very well! Tian Boguang, just give me a good chop and let"s finish it off. This old man will just have to go to his fate today!""

All Linghu Chong"s dirty words told in Yilin"s sweet and gentle voice brought inadvertent smiles of amus.e.m.e.nt to the lips of the listeners.

Then Yilin said, "After hearing these words, I realized I couldn"t do him any good because my Kung Fu skills were so poor, and my staying in the cave would block his way and prevent him from using his magical Huashan Sword Art…."

"He was just bragging! His Huashan Sword Art is just average. What makes it so invincible in the Martial World?" Dingyi snorted.

"Master, he was just trying to scare off Tian Boguang," Yilin said. "Hearing more and more abuses coming out of his mouth, I said unwillingly, "Big brother Lao, I am leaving! Hope to see you later!"

""Get lost you smelly rotten duck egg," he scolded. "The further you get lost the better! "Once a man sees a nun, he loses all his bets!" I didn"t see you before, and I will never see you again. Gambling is my favorite hobby; why would I ever want to see you again?""

Hearing this, Dingyi could not contain her anger. She stood up and yelled in a stern voice, "That sc.u.m! Did you leave?"

"I was afraid to make him even angrier, so I left," Yilin said. "Once I stepped out of the cave, I heard the clash of weapons getting more and more intense. I figured that if the villain Tian Boguang won, he would be after me again. If the "big brother Lao" won, after he came out and saw me outside of the cave, he would "lose all his bets" because of me, so I clenched my teeth and ran as fast as I could to catch up with you, respectful Master. Then I could ask you to help fight the villain Tian Boguang."

Dingyi hummed and nodded.

"Master, big brother Linghu later lost his life; was that because of…of seeing me, and getting bad luck?" Yilin asked out of the blue.

"Drop that "once a man sees a nun, he loses all his bets" nonsense!" Dingyi said angrily. "How could you have believed that? There are so many people here that have seen us, do all of them have bad luck now?"

People in the hall bit their lips to keep from commenting on her question.

"Yes, Master," Yilin answered. "I ran till dawn and saw the town gate of Hengyang in the horizon. I calmed down a little and thought that I could probably find my Master in Hengyang. But who"d expected that right at that moment, Tian Boguang caught up with me. As soon as I saw him my legs went weak, and just after several steps, he caught me again. I thought that since he had chased me here, big brother Lao must have been murdered in the cave. I felt indescribable sadness.

"With so many people on the streets, Tian Boguang didn"t dare to be rude to me. He just said, "If you follow me without making any trouble, I won"t do anything bad to you. If you don"t listen to me, then I will tear off your clothes right away and let all these people on the streets laugh at you."

"I was very scared and dared not fight back, just followed him into the town. When we arrived at the Huiyan Wine House, he said, "Little Sister, you have the type of natural beauty that will attract…attract even the wild geese to land. This Huiyan Wine House must have been opened just for you. [5] Let"s go in and have a drink and some fun."

"I said, "We Buddhists don"t eat flesh or drink alcohol. This is the rule of our White-Cloud Nunnery."

"He said, "I am sure you have lots of rules in your White-Cloud Nunnery. Are you really going to follow all of them? Later I will teach you how to break some more rules. Rules and regulations are all bogus. Your Master…your Master…. "" At these words, she gave Dingyi a sneaky glance and dared not to continue.

"You don"t need to mention the nonsense this villain spouted. Just say what happened next." Dingyi instructed.

Yilin answered, "Yes, Master. Then I said, "You are talking nonsense, my Master would never hide in secret places to drink wine and eat dog meat. ""

The people in the hall simply could not help but laugh. Yilin did not repeat the words of Tian Boguang, yet from her own words, everyone knew what Tian Boguang must have said about Dingyi.

Dingyi made a sour face and thought, "This child is too honest. She doesn"t know what to say and what not to."

Yilin continued, "The villain grabbed my collar and threatened, "If you don"t go up to the wine house and drink with me, I"ll tear your clothes off."

"I had no choice but to go up to the wine house with him. The villain ordered some wine and dishes. He was really mean. I told him that I couldn"t eat flesh, yet he intentionally ordered dishes of beef, pork, poultry, and fish. He threatened that if I didn"t eat, he would tear off my clothes. Master, I simply refused to eat those dishes. Buddhists are restricted from eating flesh. I couldn"t violate the prohibition. If the villain wanted to tear off my clothes because of that, then fine, but it wouldn"t be my fault.

"Right at that moment, a man walked up to the wine house. He had a sword hanging by his waist; his face was pale and his clothes were bloodstained. He sat by our table in silence, picked up the bowl of wine in front of me and poured all of it down his throat in a single gulp. He poured himself another bowl of wine and raised the bowl toward Tian Boguang. "Please!" he said. He turned to me and said, "Please!" Then he drank that bowl as well.

"As soon as I heard his voice, I felt very surprised and very happy. It turned out he was "big brother Lao" who had saved me in the cave. Thank the Buddha! He escaped from Tian Boguang"s murdering hands. But he had bloodstains all over him. In order to rescue me, he had been really badly wounded!

"Tian Boguang looked at him from head to toe and back again. "It"s you!"

""It"s me!" he replied.

"Tian Boguang raised his thumb to him and praised him, "Good man!"

"He raised his thumb and replied, "Good knife skills!"

"The two both began to laugh loudly and drank bowls of wine at the same time. I was quite surprised: They had fought so fiercely last night, why have they suddenly become friends now? I was very pleased to know that this man did not die; but since he was a friend of Tian Boguang, the villain, I became worried again.

""You are not Lao Denuo!" Tian Boguang protested. "Lao Denuo is a dried up old geezer. He can"t be as young and carefree as you."

"I sneaked a glance at him. He was only in his twenties, so last night when he said "This old man has lived such a long life," he was really fooling Tian Boguang.

""I am not Lao Denuo," the man admitted with a smile.

"Tian Boguang struck the table with his palm. "Yeah, you are Huashan Linghu Chong. You"re a somebody in the Martial World."

"Big brother Linghu admitted again. "You really flatter me! Linghu Chong is only your defeated opponent. This is very embarra.s.sing!" he said.

""No fight, no acquaintance!" Tian Boguang grinned. "Why don"t we be friends? If brother Linghu likes this pretty little nun, I"ll just let you have her. I am not the kind who values chicks above friendship. ""

Dingyi"s face turned dark, but she only murmured, "That evil rapist, that evil rapist…!"

Yilin almost began to cry again. "Master, big brother Linghu suddenly started scolding me again. "This little nun has no color in her face," he said. "All she eats everyday are vegetables and bean curds; her face can"t look that good. Brother Tian, I get real riled when I see nuns. I really wish I could exterminate all the nuns in the world!"

""Why?" Tian Boguang asked while laughing.

""To tell you the truth, I have a small hobby – gambling," big brother Linghu said. "Gambling is my life. Every time I see some dice, I"d forget my own name. But as soon as I see a nun, I can just forget about gambling for the rest of the day. No matter what I bet or gamble on, I will a.s.suredly lose. This happens every single time. And it happens not only to me, but also to all my fellow apprentices of the Huashan Sword School. So every time when we, apprentices of the Huashan Sword School, see Uncle-Masters and apprentice sisters from the Heng-Shan Sword School, although everyone looks very respectful on the outside, we all curse the bad luck inside!""

Dingyi simply could not stand this anymore; she turned her hand and gave Lao Denuo a resounding slap to the face. The move was fast and accurate. Lao Denuo had no chance of dodging. He just felt great dizziness, and almost fell to the ground.

.......

[1] Uncle-Master is the t.i.tle used when a junior calls a senior master who is the apprentice brother/sister of the junior"s Master. It is used regardless of the gender of the senior master.

[2] p.r.o.nounced as "hur", not "he."

[3] A form of Chinese Martial Arts that will allow the pract.i.tioner to jump higher and further, or run faster than an average person. The technique is a combination of physical exercises and breathing exercises.

[4] "Bull-nose" is a mean name for Taoist Priests.

[5] In Chinese, Huiyan means attracting the wild geese back.