The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

Two girls sharply called out; one shouted, "General Wu!" while the other cried, "Big brother Linghu!" Zheng E was the one who called out "General Wu!" The way Linghu Chong made these three people retreat with his sword art was identical to the sword art used to defeat these three people in Nianbapu"s inn. Gao Kexin was at a loss, Deng Bagong was choking while Zhong Zhen was startled and angry at the same time. Zheng E had a sharp mind and she had previously seen Linghu Chong used this move. Although his appearance and clothes were now completely different, she still managed to recognise him immediately from his sword move.

The other person who called out, "Big brother Linghu!" was of course Yilin. She was in the group with Yizhen and Yizhi surrounding Deng Bagong. While they were in formation, everyone was concentrating completely and their eyes were observing the enemy closely. With their eyes so focused, they only saw the point that each was aiming at. The person aiming at the head was only looking at the head and the person aiming at the chest was only looking at the chest. They didn"t look at any other parts of the enemy"s body. So naturally, they didn"t even see the person next to them. Only when the formation was scattered, she was able to see Linghu Chong.

Yilin had not seen him for more than a year when he suddenly appeared in front of her. Yilin"s whole body shook and she was feeling giddy. Now that he had been recognized, Linghu Chong realized that he wouldn"t be able to conceal his ident.i.ty anymore. He laughed and chided, "Your granny, you three chaps don"t know about good and evil. Heng-Shan School"s Shi Tai already spared you a life but you unexpectedly return their kindness with enmity. General isn"t pleased in seeing this at all. I… I… " Suddenly, he felt dazed, his vision darkened and with his legs giving out, he fell down on the ground heavily.

Yilin rushed forward quickly to support him and worriedly called out, "Big brother Linghu, big brother Linghu!" She then saw his right shoulder and arm were bleeding profusely. She took out her school"s "White Cloud Bear Gallbladder" medicine pill from her sleeve and fed it to him. Zheng E and Yizhen also took out their school"s "Heavenly Connecting Glue" and applied it to his wounds. Each of the Heng-Shan School"s disciples was grateful to him for helping them. If he hadn"t helped them that day, each of them would have lost her life. Not only would they have died miserably, they might also have been insulted by those evildoers.

Heng-Shan disciples busied themselves applying medicines, wiping blood and wrapping the wounds up. They were doing all these tasks with all their hearts. When any female in the world has met with this kind of urgent situation, they would start talking incessantly. Even though Heng-Shan School disciples were warriors of Wulin, they weren"t exempt from this female trait. They were all talking at once as they surrounded Linghu Chong. Some were sighing, some were showing concern, some were asking who hurt my General, and some were saying that the attacker was vicious and heartless. They were all talking about different things while some were also reciting "Amituofu". Huashan School"s people were quite surprised when they saw this scene unfolding in front of them.

Yue Buqun thought to himself, "Heng-Shan School"s disciples are highly disciplined. Why are these female disciples acting in this way? They"re actually fussing over this loafer Linghu Chong and staring at him, not even observing the proper distance between man and woman. They"re also calling him big brother and general. When has this young thief become a general? They"re really ignorant and have become muddleheaded. How come there is no Heng-Shan School elder in charge of them?"

Zhong Zhen made a hand signal to his two martial brothers and they immediately pointed their weapons and rushed at Linghu Chong. They knew that if this person were not eliminated, they would have endless trouble in the future. Moreover, they had lost twice under his sword. This was a good opportunity to get rid of this person while he was still unconscious.

Yihe whistled and fourteen female disciples immediately formed a row dancing their swords about and blocked Zhong Zhen and his two brothers. Each of these female disciples" martial art wasn"t high but when they were fighting in formation, they were like four or five first cla.s.s masters. Originally, Yue Buqun wanted to mediate between these two sides, but he couldn"t antic.i.p.ate how all these incidents had unfolded. He also didn"t know how the two sides had developed this enmity. In addition, he disliked both the Songshan and Heng-Shan Schools. So he thought he should just watch for the moment and wait patiently for things to change. He saw the Heng-Shan School"s disciples were defending very tightly. Zhong Zhen was attacking continuously but he wasn"t able to get near at all. Kao Gexin came up with an idea. He feinted an attack towards the front person but instead slashed towards Yiqing"s thigh. Suddenly injured and seeping blood, Yiqing was distressed even though her injury wasn"t heavy.

From his dazed state, Linghu Chong heard the sounds of swords clashing continuously. He opened his eyes to have a look and saw Yilin"s anxious face. She was praying, "All living things are distressed. There is immeasurable bitterness all over the body. Guan Yin with her divine intelligence can offer salvation from this bitterness…" He felt very thankful for Yilin"s prayer. As he struggled to stand up, he whispered, "Thank you, little martial sister. Hand me a sword."

"You… you… don"t… don"t…" Yilin pleaded.

Linghu Chong returned a slight smile as she gave her sword to him. He held onto her shoulder with his left hand to stand up and then staggered and swayed as he walked forward. Yilin was still anxious about his injury but when she felt that she was supporting his weight on her shoulder, she felt more courageous. She then transferred her whole body"s energy to her right shoulder. Linghu Chong pa.s.sed by several female disciples to get in front. With the first strike of his sword, Gao Kexin dropped his sword. With the second strike, Deng Bagong"s soft whip wrapped around his neck. The third strike hit the top of Zhong Zhen"s sword. Zhong Zhen knew that Linghu Chong"s sword art was strangely magical and that he was definitely not his match. But he saw him standing unsteadily. So he relied on his internal energy to hit Linghu Chong"s sword out of his hand. As the two swords clashed, he immediately transferred his internal energy into his sword. Suddenly, he felt his internal energy started to flow out swiftly and unexpectedly he couldn"t stop it. It was because Linghu Chong"s Art of Essence Absorbing had become unwittingly deep. It didn"t need contact between skins anymore. As long as the opponent used his internal energy to attack then he would be able to absorb the internal energy through the sword.

Zhong Zhen was alarmed and quickly withdrew his sword. He then thrust his sword out again. Linghu Chong saw the lower part of the side of his body was wide open and wanted to take advantage of this and kill him. But his arm felt weak and he couldn"t do what he wanted to do. So he was only able to block the sword. When the swords clashed again, Zhong Zhen"s internal energy flowed out once more and his heart rate increased. He was frightened and angry at the same time but he withdrew his sword again. He then gathered his strength to thrust the long sword forward. Midway through the stroke, the sword changed direction sharply and was now aiming at Yilin"s chest. This move was both false and true at the same time. It had many variations and was extremely fierce. If Linghu Chong moved to save Yilin then Zhong Zhen would pierce Linghu Chong"s lower abdomen. If Linghu Chong didn"t move to save Yilin then this sword would really pierce Yilin. Also, he wanted to confuse Linghu Chong so that an opportunity to kill him would arise. Everyone was calling out in alarm when they saw the point of the sword had already reached Yilin"s gown. Linghu Chong"s long sword suddenly crossed over and hit the top of Zhong Zhen"s sword.

Zhong Zhen"s long sword instantly stopped in the middle of the air glued to Linghu Chong"s sword. Zhong Zhen used more strength to push his sword forward but unexpectedly it didn"t even move the slightest bit. His sword slowly bent upwards and at the same time, his internal energy started to flow out. Summing up the situation really quickly, he hastily withdrew his sword and jumped backwards. However, he had lost a lot of internal energy previously and had not time to gather more energy yet. As his body was in mid air, he suddenly felt paralysed and landed heavily. This landing looked very awkward and it was as if it was done by an ordinary person without any martial arts. Supported by his two hands on the ground, Zhong Zhen slowly struggled to get up but only managed to get up halfway before he tottered to one side and fell to the ground again.

Deng Bagong and Gao Kexin rushed over to help him stand up. They both asked, "Martial brother, what"s wrong?"

Zhong Zhen was staring at Linghu Chong"s face. His thought turned back to more than ten years ago when Devil Sect"s Chief Ren Woxing shook the entire Wulin world. But Ren Woxing couldn"t be this twenty something years old youth. He stammered, "You"re Ren Woxing"s disc… disciple. You know the Art… Art of Essence Absorbing!"

Gao Kexin was alarmed, "Martial brother, did he absorb your internal energy?"

"Yes," answered Zhong Zhen. But he was now standing steadily and he felt his internal energy gradually increasing. It was because Linghu Chong"s cultivation of the Art of Essence Absorbing was not that profound yet. Also, he didn"t intentionally absorb Zhong Zhen"s internal energy. It was just that Zhong Zhen fell awkwardly because he felt his internal energy flowing out and was scared to death.

Deng Bagong whispered, "Let"s get out of here. We"ll come back here later." Zhong Zhen waved his hands and said to Linghu Chong in a loud voice, "Devil Sect"s demon, you"re using such an evil method. From now on, you are the enemy of all of the heroes in this world. Today, I"m not your match, but our orthodox schools would never surrender to the disgusting power of your evil method."

He then turned around, gave Yue Buqun a bow and inquired, "Mr. Yue, you have no relationship with this Devil Sect"s demon, correct?"

Yue Buqun just uttered an "Hng" but did not answer.

Zhong Zhen didn"t dare to be unruly in front of him so he said, "The real situation would eventually be revealed. We"ll meet again." He then walked away with his two martial brothers.

Yue Buqun went down the entrance stairs and agitatedly said, "Linghu Chong, you"re good. So, you"ve learned Ren Woxing"s Art of Essence Absorbing."

Although Linghu Chong had learned Ren Woxing"s martial art accidentally, the fact was he had learned it. So he couldn"t dispute it at all. Yue Buqun fiercely asked, "I ask you, is this true?"

"Yes!" Linghu Chong answered.

Yue Buqun viciously declared, "You"ve practised this evil method. So you"re the enemy of all the orthodox schools. Today, you"re carrying an injury so I won"t take advantage of you. When we meet again, if I don"t kill you then it means that you"ve killed me." He turned sideways and addressed the Huashan School"s disciples, "This person is your mortal enemy. Whoever still has any feeling towards him like he was your martial brother, then remove yourself from this school. All of you understand this?"

All the disciples answered together, "Yes!"

Yue Buqun saw his daughter looking like she had something to say. He said, "Shan"er, even though you"re my daughter, I won"t make an exception. Do you understand?"

Yue Lingshan answered in a small voice, "I understand."

Linghu Chong was already weak from his injuries but when he heard these words, he suddenly felt both his knees powerless. He dropped his sword and slowly slumped down.

Yihe, who was standing on his right, extended her hand to support him. She ventured, "Martial uncle Yue, there must have been a misunderstanding. It"s just too crude to sever your relationship like this when you haven"t investigated this matter yet."

Yue Buqun demanded, "What misunderstanding?"

Yihe answered, "My Heng-Shan School"s disciples were recently accosted by the Devil Sect"s demons. At every battle, this Linghu General Wu helped us in fighting them. If he was a Devil Sect"s person, why would he help us in fighting them off and make himself an enemy of the Devil Sect?"

Yihe had heard Yilin called him "Big Brother Linghu" while Yue Buqun had called him "Linghu Chong"; but she knew him as "General Wu". So she decided to just call him with both names.

Yue Buqun said, "Devil Sect"s demons are very crafty. Don"t believe his act. Which Shi Tai is leading your school"s group in coming to the south?"

He believed that these young nuns and ladies had been affected by Linghu Chong"s fancy speech and only an experienced senior Shi Tai would be able to see through his ruse.

Yihe mournfully answered, "Martial uncle Dingjing Shi Tai was unfortunately killed by the Devil Sect"s demons en route."

Yue Buqun and Madam Yue were both alarmed. Right at that moment, a middle-aged nun came towards the Heng-Shan School"s disciples. She stopped in front of Yihe and said, "A letter has arrived from the White Cloud Temple"s pigeon", as she offered her a small bamboo tube with both hands. Yihe took the tube, opened its plug, took out the small rolled up cloth from inside the tube and rolled it open. After reading it, she exclaimed, "Ai yo, this is not good!" When Heng-Shan School"s disciples heard that a letter had arrived from the White Cloud Temple, they all crowded around Yihe. When they saw Yihe was frightened, they hastily asked, "What?" "What"s on Master"s letter?" "What"s not good?" Yihe gave the letter to Yiqing saying, "Martial sister, have a look." Yiqing took the letter and read it out aloud, "Dingyi Shi Tai and I are besieged by enemies in the Dragon Spring Sword-forging Valley." She then questioned, "This is Abbess"… blood letter. How come they are at Dragon Spring?"

(Translator"s note: Dragon Spring or Longquan in Chinese is the name of a city in the Zhejiang province. Near that city is a valley that has creeks running through it that were used by Ou Yezi to forge some legendary swords. That valley is called Dragon Spring Sword-forging Valley. If you"d like to find out more, look at the in "Legend of the White Hair Demoness" chapter 11 translation by Fairie Queene.)

(Translator"s note: Blood letter is a letter written in blood.)

"Let"s go!" Yizhen rallied.

"But we don"t know who the enemy is?" Yiqing reasoned.

Yihe said, "They"re already in an ominous situation, let"s hurry up and catch up to them. If we have to die, then we"ll die together with Master."

Yiqing thought, "Master and martial uncle"s martial arts are levels above us but the enemies still managed to besiege them. If we go there, it"s most likely that we won"t be able to offer them any aid." She took the blood letter, went in front of Yue Buqun, bowed to him and requested, "Martial uncle Yue, our Abbess sent us a letter, it said: "…besieged in Dragon Spring Sword-forging Valley." Martial uncle, considering the friendship among the Five Mountains Sword Schools, please think of a way to save them." Yue Buqun took the letter and read it. He questioned, "How come Abbess and Dingyi Shi Tai are in Zhejiang? The two of them have outstanding martial arts. How did the enemies manage to besiege them? This is really strange. Is this Abbess" writing on the letter?"

"It"s my Master"s writing. I"m afraid they must have been injured already that they hastily used their blood to write the letter," Yiqing a.s.suredly answered.

"You don"t know who the enemy is?" Yue Buqun asked.

"It"s probably the Devil Sect"s people. Other than them, our school has no other enemy," Yiqing said.

Yue Buqun looked at Linghu Chong from the corner of his eyes and slowly said, "Maybe it"s a false letter from a Devil Sect"s demon to entice you into a trap. We must be wary of their deceptions."

"This matter is most urgent as Abbess had surely met with a disaster. So the most important thing for us is to go and save them. Martial sister Yiqing, let"s go quickly and catch up to them. Martial uncle Yue has no time so it"s useless to ask for his help any further," Yihe shouted in a clear voice.

"Right. If we arrive too late, we will regret this for eternity," Yizhen said agreeing with Yihe.

When Heng-Shan School"s disciples saw that Yue Buqun had flatly refused their request regardless of its upright intentions, they were all angered.

"Big brother Linghu, you stay at Fuzhou to tend to your wounds. We"ll go and save Master and Martial uncle first. Then we"ll come back to look for you here," Yilin said.

"Fearless thieves are harming people again. How can this General just sit back and watch? Everybody, let"s go and save them," Linghu Chong responded in a loud voice.

"Your injuries are serious. How can you hurry along?" Yilin said.

"This General is ready to give his body to his country and die in the battlefield. I"m going to use my feet to get there. Go, go, hurry up and go!" Linghu Chong said.

Heng-Shan School"s disciples were doubtful that they would be able to save their Abbess from danger. But when Linghu Chong said he was going to come with them, their spirits lifted and all their faces were filled with joy. Yizhen said, "In that case, many thanks. We"ll look for a horse for you to ride."

"Everybody rides! How can you not get a horse if you want to fight later? Go, go," Linghu Chong said loudly. Seeing how his Master had harshly severed their relationship earlier, he was feeling bitter and a bit insane.

Yiqing bowed to Yue Buqun and Madam Yue, "We take our leave from seniors."

Yihe cried out in fury, "Why do you need to be polite to this sort of person? You"re wasting time. Hng, their reputations have no merit and they have no sense of righteousness."

"Martial sister, say no more!" Yiqing reproached in a loud voice.

Yue Buqun was laughing and didn"t pay attention to what was said.

But Lao Denuo rushed out and shouted, "Watch what your filthy mouth is saying! Our five mountains sword schools have the same root but different branches. When one school encounters a problem, the other four are ready to save them. But you are colluding together with this Devil Sect"s demon Linghu Chong and so your conduct must be crafty and evil. My master has to consider this extensively before giving his help. Why don"t you kill this demon Linghu Chong first to make everything clear. Otherwise, my Huashan School cannot collaborate with your Heng-Shan School and follow your bad example."

Yihe was indignant when she heard this. She took a big step forward and put her hand on her sword handle. She demanded, "What do you mean "follow our bad example"?"

"You are colluding with the Devil Sect. That"s what"s called to follow their bad example," Lao Denuo said.

Yihe was affronted and she declared, "Hero Linghu is brave and righteous. He helps people in trouble. That"s what you call a real hero, a gentleman. But your type of people, who call yourself a hero but run away from danger and when you see death, you still don"t help. That"s what you call a hypocrite!"

Yue Buqun"s nickname was "Gentleman Sword" and what Huashan School"s people hate the most was being called a "hypocrite". When Lao Denuo heard her ridiculing his Master, he pulled his sword out and thrust it towards Yihe"s throat. He was using Huashan School"s clever move "Graceful Phoenix". Yihe didn"t antic.i.p.ate that he would suddenly pick a fight so she didn"t have time to block the move. She was startled as the sword reached her throat. But at the same time, flickering of swords was seen and seven swords were already piercing towards Lao Denuo. Lao Denuo hastily pulled his sword back but this enabled a sword to reach his chest. Sounds of "chi, chi" were heard as the other six swords also slashed his clothes, each making a rip of about a foot long. It was only because Heng-Shan School"s disciples didn"t want to take his life that they stopped as their swords reached his skin. But Zheng E"s martial art was still shallow so she didn"t manage to control the power of her sword properly. Once she had ripped his right sleeve, the point of her sword continued forward and slashed his skin. Lao Denuo frighteningly jumped backwards in a hurry. Just then, a book fell out of his bosom.

(Translator"s note: the word "gentleman" consists of two Chinese characters. By adding an extra character in front of it, it becomes the word "hypocrite". That"s the connection between these two words.)

The sun was shining brightly. Everyone saw clearly the words "Violet Twilight Secret Manual" written on the book. Lao Denuo"s expression changed greatly and he tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the book back. Linghu Chong shouted, "Stop him!"

Yihe already had a sword in her hand and she quickly made three slashes. Lao Denuo lifted his sword to trade moves but he couldn"t advance a single step.

"Dad, how come second martial brother has the secret manual?" Yue Lingshan cried.

"Lao Denuo, you killed sixth martial brother, didn"t you?" Linghu Chong asked in a loud voice.

That day when sixth martial brother was killed, the "Violet Twilight Secret Manual" also went missing. He had been blamed for both incidents since then on. But today, it was really unexpected that after Lao Denuo"s waist band was cut by Heng-Shan School"s disciples, Huashan School"s treasured scripture would fall out from his pocket.

"Nonsense!" Lao Denuo shouted.

As he said this, he lowered his body and charged towards a small alley. Linghu Chong was fuming as he gave chase. But he only managed to run a few steps before he swayed and fell down. Yilin and Zheng E quickly rushed to his side to support him while Yue Lingshan picked the book up and gave it to her father. "Dad, it was second martial brother who stole the book." Yue Buqun"s expression was pale as he looked at the book and ascertained that it was the internal energy secret manual that had been pa.s.sed down from the previous Huashan School"s leader. Luckily, the book was still intact and undamaged. He then bitterly said, "It was you who wasn"t good, taking the book because of your feelings."

Yihe didn"t want to let them off that easily so she said in a loud voice, "That"s what you called to follow your bad example."

Yu Sao walked in front of Linghu Chong and asked, "Hero Linghu, how do you feel?"

Linghu Chong gritted his teeth, "My martial brother was killed by that thief. It"s a pity I can"t chase him."

He saw Yue Buqun turned around and entered the escort house followed by his disciples. They then shut the escort house"s main door. He thought, "Master"s first disciple has learned the Devil Sect"s evil martial art. His second disciple killed a martial brother in the same school and stole the school"s secret manual. No wonder he"s outraged!" He then said, "Abbess is being besieged so we can"t delay any longer. Our most urgent matter is to quickly go and save them. Sooner or later, that thief Lao Denuo would fall under my hand."

Yu Sao said, "You"re currently injured, so… so… ai, I can"t say…"

She was previously a servant. But at this time, her position in Heng-Shan School wasn"t low and her martial art was not weak, but her knowledge was limited. So she didn"t know how to express her appreciation towards him. Linghu Chong said, "Let"s go quickly to the horse market and buy some horses."

He took out the gold and silver taels out of his bosom and gave them to Yu Sao. But there weren"t enough horses on the market, so the lighter female disciples had to ride double. They rode out quickly towards the north from Fuzhou. After going for more than ten li, they saw more than ten horses grazing on a field guarded by about six or seven soldiers. So these horses must belong to the military.

"Get those horses." Linghu Chong said.

"Those are military horses. I"m afraid it"s not appropriate," Yu Sao hastily replied.

"Saving people is most important. Even if it"s the emperor"s horse, we"ll still take it. What do we care about appropriate or not appropriate?" Linghu Chong argued.

"It"s a crime against the government authorities, I"m afraid…" Yiqing said.

"Is saving your Master more important or obeying the law more important? What his granny government authorities? General Wu is a government authority. If General wants horses, those little soldiers won"t dare to deny him!" Linghu Chong reasoned.

"Yes!" complied Yihe.

"Knock those soldiers down and get their horses," Linghu Chong cried out.

"Twelve horses are enough," Yiqing said.

But Linghu Chong roared, "Get them all."

He had an air of authority about him as he roared out his commands. Ever since Dingjing Shi Tai pa.s.sed away, the Heng-Shan School"s disciples had been mournful, frightened, and were at a loss about what to do. But when they heard Linghu Chong vigorously shouting his command, they urged their horses to charge forward, knocked down the soldiers guarding the horses, and seized all the horses. Those soldiers had never seen outlaw nuns before, so as they were knocked down to the ground and unable to move, they shouted, "What are you doing?" "What kind of joke is this?"

After they had taken the horses, all the disciples were excited. They were all giggling and talking non-stop. They all wanted to get on the fresh horses so they jumped onto the military horses. At noon, they arrived at Nianbapu town. When the townspeople saw a group of nuns leading an army of horses with a male in their group, they were greatly surprised.

When they finished eating their meals, Yiqing counted the money they had and whispered, "Brother Linghu, we don"t have enough money." At the horse market, because everyone was thinking about their Master, they weren"t in the mood to haggle. All their monies were used up to buy the horses and now they only had coppers left.

"Martial sister Zheng, take Yu Sao to the horse market and sell a horse. But don"t sell any of the military horses," Linghu Chong said.

Zheng E complied leading the horse and Yu Sao to the horse market. The other disciples covered their mouths and giggled as they were all thinking, "Yu Sao is finished and Zheng E is such a delicate little lady, it would be a rare sight at the horse market."

But Zheng E was intelligent, clever, and good in speaking. She had only been in Fujian for a few days and she already managed to speak a few hundreds words of the difficult Fujian"s dialect. Not long after, she had sold the horse and brought some money back to pay their bills.

When night fell, they were able to see a big town far away with houses scattered like the stars. There were at least around seven to eight hundred houses in the town. When they reached there, they ate their dinner and used the money from selling the horse to pay for the bill. Not much of the money was left afterwards. Zheng E was excited and laughed, "Tomorrow, we have to sell another horse." Linghu Chong whispered, "Go to the street and ask around who the richest person in this town is and also who among the richest is also the meanest or worst."

Zheng E nodded and pulled Qin Juan to come with her. Not long after, they came back, "This town has one very rich person. His surname is White. His nickname is White Peeling Leather. He has a p.a.w.nshop and also a rice shop. With a nickname like White Peeling Leather, I dont" think he"s a good person." (Translator"s note: Peeling Leather means to kill people.)

Linghu Chong laughed, "Tonight, we"ll go and ask him for alms."

Zheng E said, "These type of people are very stingy; I"m afraid we won"t get any alms from him."

Linghu Chong smiled slightly but didn"t say a word. After a while, he said, "Everybody, let"s go."

Everyone saw that the sky was dark already. But Master was in trouble so they were resigned to continue traveling during the night to save them. They went north from the city, but after a few li, Linghu Chong called out, "Ok, we"ll stay here to rest for the night." Everyone stayed besides a creek to have a rest. Linghu Chong also closed his eyes to have a rest. After about an hour, Linghu Chong opened his eyes and said to Yu Sao and Yihe, "Each of you bring six martial sisters and go to White Peeling Leather"s house to ask for alms. Martial sister Zheng, you lead the way." Yu Sao and Yihe both thought that it was strange but they still complied with his order.

Linghu Chong went on, "Get at least five hundred silver taels, but it"d be best to get two thousand silver taels." Yihe was surprised, "A yo, how can we ask for that much?" Linghu Chong said, "Two thousand silver taels is so small, this General wouldn"t even take a look at it. If we get two thousand taels, we keep one thousand taels to use ourselves and give the other thousand to the poor townspeople." They suddenly understood what he meant and they looked at each other.

"You… you want us to plunder the rich and then give it to the poor?" Yihe said.

"It"s not plundering. We"re getting alms from the rich to aid the poor. We only have a few people here, even if we gather all of our money, we"d probably only get around two silvers. If we don"t ask the rich to give us poor common people some money then how do we get to Dragon Spring Sword-forging Valley?" Linghu Chong said.

When everyone heard the word "Dragon Spring Sword-forging Valley", they all changed their minds and said, "Let"s get alms!"

"You"re inexperienced at getting this kind of alms, so I"m afraid you won"t be getting any money. The method is slightly different. Cover all your faces with handkerchiefs. And when you ask for alms from White Peeling Leather, you don"t need to say anything. When you see the gold and silver, just take them," Linghu Chong said.

Zheng E giggled, "And if he"s not giving them?"

"Then that"s unappreciative of him. Heng-Shan School"s heroes are different from Wulin"s other small warriors. Even if other people would send sedan chairs to ask you to visit, you still wouldn"t pay them a visit. How can they ask you to come that easily? White Peeling Leather is just a small town boss. What kind of position does he have in Wulin? If he unexpectedly gets a visit from fifteen honourable masters from Heng-Shan School, isn"t this giving him a lot of face already? If after seeing you, he still doesn"t want to give you alms, then you might as well trade some moves with him. See if White Peeling Leather"s martial art is better or martial sister Zheng"s fists and kicks are better?" Linghu Chong answered. Some of the disciples laughed as they heard him talking like this.

There were a few people who were more experienced like Yiqing and they secretly thought that this was inappropriate. Heng-Shan School"s rules were very strict. They warn against stealing and plundering. This kind of getting alms definitely violated those rules. But Yihe and Zheng E were already hastily walking away so those people who disagreed with this idea didn"t manage to say anything more.

When Linghu Chong turned his head around, he saw Yilin"s beautiful eyes were watching him attentively. He smiled, "Little martial sister, you think it"s not right?"

Yilin avoided his eyes as she replied softly, "I don"t know. Whatever you said we should do, I… I think they"re always not wrong."

"That day when I wanted to eat a watermelon, didn"t you go to the field and take a watermelon for me?"

Yilin"s face turned red as she thought of the time she spent together with him in that wild plain. Right at that moment, they suddenly saw shooting stars falling across the night sky leaving long beautiful trails. Linghu Chong queried, "Do you remember what you wished for?"

Yilin replied softly, "I remember", as she turned her head around. She then continued, "Big brother Linghu, this kind of wish is very effective."

"Really? What did you wish for?"

But Yilin just lowered her head and did not reply. In her heart, she was thinking, "I"ve wished for several hundreds several thousands times to be able to see you again. Finally, my wish came true and I was able to see you again."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a horse"s gallop from far away. A person on horseback was coming from the south towards them from the same road that Yu Sao, Yihe and the other disciples used to go away just then. But Yu Sao"s group went without their horses. Who could it be? Everyone stood up and was looking towards the sound of the horse"s gallop. Then they heard a female calling out, "Linghu Chong, Linghu Chong!"

Linghu Chong"s heart trembled as he recognized Yue Lingshan"s voice. He called out, "Little martial sister, I"m here!" Yilin"s body shook and her face turned pale. She then retreated a step.

In the dark, a white horse came towards them. When it was still tens of feet away from them, Yue Lingshan stood up and suddenly pulled back on the rein stopping the horse and making it neigh. When Linghu Chong saw her riding hastily, he felt that something wasn"t right. He called out, "Martial sister, are Master and Master-Wife alright?"

Yue Lingshan was still on the horse, her face illuminated by the moonlight. He saw her looking pale as he heard her saying, "Who"s your Master, Master-Wife? Why do you have to concern about my dad and mum?"

Linghu Chong felt as if someone had punched his chest and his body swayed. Before, it was only Yue Buqun who was acting severely towards him but Madam Yue and Yue Lingshan were still treating him like in the old times and didn"t embarra.s.s him. But now hearing Yue Lingshan talking to him in this manner, he couldn"t help but feel sad. "Yes, I"ve already been expelled from Huashan School and don"t have the good fortune of calling them Master and Master-Wife anymore."

"You already know you can"t call them that anymore, why did you still call them that just now?" Yue Lingshan scolded. Linghu Chong could only hang his head down and felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a knife.

Yue Lingshan uttered an "Hng" as she rode the horse forward a few steps. She demanded, "Give it to me!" as she extended her right hand forward.

Linghu Chong answered despondently, "What?"

"Even now, you"re still pretending. Do you think you can conceal it from me?" She suddenly shouted louder, "Give it to me!"

Linghu Chong shook his head, "I don"t understand. What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want the Lin family"s Evil Resisting Sword Manual!"

"Evil Resisting Sword Manual? Why are you asking me?" Linghu Chong was baffled.

Yue Lingshan laughed coldly, "If I don"t ask you, then who do I ask? Who took that Buddhist robe from Lin family"s old house?"

"Those two chaps from Songshan School, "White Hair Immortal" Bu Chen and "Bald Eagle" Sha Tianjiang."

"Who killed these two chaps, Bu and Sha?"

"I did," Linghu Chong answered.

"And that Buddhist robe, who took it?"

"I did."

"Then give it to me!" Yue Lingshan demanded.

"I was injured at the time and pa.s.sed out after getting to the old house. Then… then your mother saved me. When I came to, the Buddhist robe wasn"t with me anymore," Linghu Chong said.

Yue Lingshan looked up and laughed, but there wasn"t a hint of real laughter in her voice. She said, "So according to you, my mum embezzled the manual? What contemptible and shameless words that are coming out of your mouth!"

"I didn"t mean that your mother embezzled it. G.o.ds above and inside my heart, I didn"t mean to disrespect your mother in the slightest bit. I only said… only said…" Linghu Chong stammered.

"What?" Yue Lingshan shouted.

"Your mother must have seen this Buddhist robe and realised that it belonged to the Lin family so she must have given it to martial brother Lin," Linghu Chong reasoned.

Yue Lingshan coldly said, "Why would my mum search you? You disregarded your own life to s.n.a.t.c.h that thing back to supposedly return to martial brother Lin. Hng, hng, couldn"t you have returned it when you woke up? Why wouldn"t she have given you face over this matter?"

Linghu Chong thought, "What she said is true. Then someone had stolen that Buddhist robe?"

As he pondered about this, cold sweat started to pour out from his back. "If it"s like that then there must be some other reason."

He then shook his clothes all over. "I don"t have the Buddhist robe on me. If you don"t believe me, you can search me."

Yue Lingshan replied in a coldly, "You"re a very clever person. Why would you keep it on yourself after taking other people"s stuff? Also, you have so many shady nuns and monks with you here. One of them could"ve kept it for you."

Yue Lingshan was treating Linghu Chong like she was examining a prisoner; all the Heng-Shan School"s disciples already thought that this was unfair. When they heard her insulting them, a few of them cried out at the same time, "Nonsense!" "What shady nuns!" "There are no monks here!" "Aren"t you shady yourself?"

Yue Lingshan grabbed her sword handle and shouted, "You"re all Buddhist disciples but you"re entangled with this man and followed him day and night. Can"t this be called shady? Pei! Shameless!"

Heng-Shan School"s disciples were outraged. Seven or eight of them immediately pulled their swords out. Yue Lingshan also drew her sword out and shouted, "You want to rely on numbers to win and shut me up? Come on! If Lady Yue is afraid of you people then I wouldn"t be a Huashan School"s disciple!"

Linghu Chong waved his left hand stopping the Heng-Shan School"s disciples from attacking. He sighed, "You"ve already suspected me from the beginning so I don"t have anything to say to that. How about Lao Denuo? How come you didn"t go and ask him? He already stole the "Violet Twilight Secret Manual". Maybe he also stole this Buddhist robe?"

"You want me to ask Lao Denuo, don"t you?" Yue Lingshan replied loudly.

Linghu Chong thought that her question was strange but he still answered, "Yes!"
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"Ok. Then come here and take my life! You"re already proficient in Lin family"s Evil Resisting Sword Art, so I"m not your match at all!" Yue Lingshan shouted.

"Why would I… I want to injure you?" Linghu Chong confusedly said.

"You wanted me to ask Lao Denuo. If you don"t kill me then how do I meet him in this world?" Yue Lingshan said.

Linghu Chong felt happy and surprised when he heard this. He asked, "Lao Denuo, Mast… your father killed him?" He knew that after he was expelled from Huashan School, Lao Denuo"s martial art would be the highest among the disciples. If Yue Buqun didn"t kill Lao Denuo himself then other people might not be able to do away with him. Linghu Chong hated Lao Denuo to the bone as he had killed Lu Dayou. So when he heard that Lao Denuo had died already, it was a joyful occasion.

Yue Lingshan laughed coldly, "When a gentleman does something, he takes responsibility for it. You"ve killed Lao Denuo, why do you still not admit to it?"

Linghu Chong was totally puzzled, "You said I killed him? If I had really killed him, why wouldn"t I admit to it? This person had killed sixth martial brother and deserved to be killed. My only regret is that I couldn"t do it with my own hands."

"Then why did you also kill eighth martial brother? He didn"t offend you at all, you… you"re so cruel," Yue Lingshan said in a loud voice.

Linghu Chong was even more startled. His voice was trembling, "Eighth martial brother and I are good to each other. Why… why would I want to kill him?"

"Ever since you colluded with the Devil Sect, your behaviour has been really strange. Who knows why… why you want to kill eighth martial brother? You… you…" Her tears started to flow as she said this.

Linghu Chong took a step forward and said, "Little martial sister, don"t guess wildly. Eighth martial brother was still very young and didn"t have any enmity with anyone or did anyone wrong. Not just me, even other people wouldn"t have the heart to harm him."

Yue Lingshan looked outraged as she fiercely shouted, "Then why did you have the heart to kill Lin Pingzhi?"

Linghu Chong was apprehensive as he asked, "Martial brother Lin… he… he also died?"

Yue Lingshan whimpered, "He hasn"t died yet, your sword didn"t manage to kill him. But… but who knows whether he"ll… he"ll be alright."

Linghu Chong calmly asked, "He"s heavily injured, is he? He would naturally know who attacked him. What did he say?"

"Who else in this world is as crafty as you? You attacked him from behind, he… he has no eyes in the back of his head," Yue Lingshan answered.

Linghu Chong felt heartbroken and bitter. He couldn"t check his anger as he pulled his long sword out, gathered his qi, pulled his arm back, drew a breath and threw the sword out. The sword flew out towards a tall tallow tree with a trunk of a few feet diameter wide. It went through the middle of the tree and severed it. Half of the tree started to shake before it crashed thunderously, throwing up stones and dust off the ground. When Yue Lingshan saw the extent of the power displayed, she pulled her horse"s rein back to retreat a couple of steps. "What? So you"ve already learned the Devil Sect"s evil method and your martial art is very good now. You want to show off in front of me?"

Linghu Chong shook his head, "If I wanted to kill martial brother Lin, I didn"t have to do it from his back. My strike would not have failed to kill him either."

"Who knows what kind of crafty scheme you"re planning? Hng, eighth martial brother must"ve seen you sneaking around so you killed him to shut him up. Then you chopped his face up imagining that it was second… Lao Denuo."

Linghu Chong took a deep breath knowing that there must be some kind of secret plot going on here. He asked, "Lao Denuo"s face was also chopped up?"

"Why do you ask me? How could you not know when you did it with your own hands?"

"Who else from Huashan School was injured?"

"You killed two people and injured one. That"s not enough?" Yue Lingshan answered.

When Linghu Chong heard what she said, he knew that no one else had been injured and he felt relief. He thought, "Who did all these?" Suddenly, his heart felt cold as he remembered what Ren Woxing said that day at the Plum Manor. He said that if Linghu Chong didn"t join the Devil Sect then he would destroy Huashan School and slaughter everyone in it. Could it be that he had arrived in Fuzhou and already started to destroy Huashan School?

He hurriedly said, "You… you quickly go back and report to your father and mother, I"m afraid… I"m afraid it was the Devil Sect"s big leader who has come to harm Huashan School."

She pursed her lips before laughing coldly, "Right, it is a big leader of the Devil Sect who has come to harm my Huashan School. Now he"s a big leader of Devil Sect, but in the past, he belonged to the Huashan School. This is called to raise a tiger to sow seeds of disaster and repaying kindness with animosity."

Linghu Chong laughed bitterly and thought, "I promised to go to Dragon Spring to save Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai. But my Master and Master-Wife are confronted with a big disaster. What should I do? If it was really Ren Woxing then I"m naturally not his rival. But my respected Master and Master-Wife are now facing a disaster, even if I go there to sacrifice myself, it would still be of no use. But I should be there to die together with them. In all matters, there are important ones and not important ones. And in all relationships, there are those that are close to you and those far from you. Regarding Heng-Shan School"s matter, I"m forced to let them manage it by themselves first. If I"m able to stop Ren Woxing, then I"ll go catch up to them at Dragon Spring to help." After he decided what to do in his heart, he said, "Ever since I left Fuzhou earlier today, I"ve been together with martial sisters from Heng-Shan School. How could I have divided my body to go kill eighth martial brother and Lao Denuo? You might as well ask them."

"Hng, ask them? They"re already following you and have also followed your bad example. Couldn"t they lie for you?"

When Heng-Shan School"s disciples heard this, a few them started shouting again. A few of the Buddhist nuns were retorting politely, while the secular disciples were scolding really sharply. Yue Lingshan pulled the horse"s rein to retreat a few steps. "Linghu Chong, little Lin has been injured heavily but even when he"s in a coma, he"s still concerned about the sword manual. If you still have the slightest feeling then you should return that sword manual to him. Otherwise… otherwise…"

"You really think that I"m such a contemptible and shameless person?" Linghu Chong asked.

Yue Lingshan indignantly said, "If you"re not contemptible and shameless, then there"s no one else in this world who is contemptible and shameless!"

Yilin heard everything that was said between them. She felt excited as she couldn"t bear this anymore. "Lady Yue, Big brother Linghu treats you very well. His heart is actually very sincere towards you. Why are you scolding him so fiercely?"

Yue Lingshan laughed coldly, "Whether he treats me well or not, you"re only a nun, what do you know?"

Yilin suddenly felt disdainful as she felt that Linghu Chong had been accused falsely. Even if she had to die a hundred times, she had to plead innocence for him. As for Buddhism"s rules and regulations or how Master would blame her in the future, she put all that at the back of her mind. She immediately said clearly, "Big brother Linghu told me himself."

Yue Lingshan said, "Hng, he also talks to you about this sort of things. He… he believed that he treats me well by harming martial brother Lin?"

Linghu Chong sighed, "Martial sister Yilin, say no more. Your respectable school"s "Heavely Connecting Glue" and "White-Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pill", could you please give a bit to martial… give a bit to Lady Yue for her to take back to treat the injured?"

Yue Lingshan shook the horse"s head to turn her body around. "You didn"t manage to kill him, so you want to poison him now? I"m not gonna fall for your trap. Linghu Chong, if little Lin doesn"t get better, I… I… " and she started weeping. She then stroke her horsewhip urging her horse to gallop towards the south. As Linghu Chong heard the galloping of the horse gradually getting further, he felt a slight bitterness in his heart.

Qin Juan said, "This girl is so rude. It"s best if her little Lin dies."

"Martial sister Qin, we are Buddhists and our hearts should be filled with mercy. Even though that lady isn"t, we mustn"t wish for other people"s death," Yizhen said.

Linghu Chong suddenly remembered, "Martial sister Yizhen, can I ask you for a favor to go for a trip?"

"Martial brother Linghu only has to say what it is. I"ll do it immediately," Yizhen said.

"I don"t dare. That person surnamed Lin is a martial brother from the same school. According to Lady Yue, he was heavily injured. I believe your respectable school"s matchless and divine medicine…" Linghu Chong said.

"You want me to deliver the medicine to him, don"t you? Alright, I"ll go back to Fuzhou straight away. Martial sister Yiling, accompany me to go back there," Yizhen said.

Linghu Chong clasped his hand thanking her, "Thank you two honourable martial sisters for delivering the medicine."

"Martial brother Linghu was always together with us. How could you have killed those people? I"ll speak to martial uncle Yue about this injustice," Yizhen said.

Linghu Chong shook his head laughing bitterly as he thought how Master had already believed that he had joined the Devil Sect. That he would stop at nothing and stop at no evil. Do they really think that Master would believe them? He thought of this as he looked at Yizhen and Yiling galloping away from them.

He considered, "They"re so concerned about me. If I abandoned them and go back to Fuzhou, how can I feel comfortable? Moreover, Dingxian Shi Tai and her people are being besieged by the enemy. And I don"t know whether Ren Woxing really came to Fuzhou or not…" Then he saw Qin Juan retrieving his sword and giving it back to him. He suddenly thought, "If I wanted to kill martial brother Lin, why would I attack at his back? Also how can my sword not manage to kill him? If the person who attacked him was Ren Woxing, how could he fail to kill him with a sword? Then it must be someone else. If it"s not Ren Woxing, then Master has nothing to worry about." When he thought about this, he felt slightly relieved.

He then heard the faint sound of horses galloping from somewhere far. From the sound, he gathered that there were several horses coming and thought that it must be Yu Sao and the other disciples coming back from getting alms. Sure enough, not long after, fifteen people on horseback were seen coming towards them. When they arrived in front of him, Yu Sao said, "Young hero Linghu, we… managed to get a lot of gold and silver from begging alms, but I don"t know… don"t know how much we got. It"s in the middle of the night so we can"t go and give some of these to the poor."

"Let"s go to Dragon Spring now. We can delay helping the poor till later." Yihe then turned her head towards Yiqing and said, "Just then we met a young girl on the road, did you meet her? I don"t know who she is, but we traded some moves."

Linghu Chong was frightened, "She fought with you?"

"Yes. This girl was rushing on a horseback. When she met us, she scolded us for being shady nuns. How shameful!"

Linghu Chong secretly felt miserable and hastily asked, "Was she heavily injured?"

Yihe was surprised, "Hey, how did you know that she was injured?"

Linghu Chong thought, "Your temperament is like a firecracker going off. If she scolded you then you"d definitely fight her. And if she had to fight fifteen of you, then how could she not get injured?" But he asked, "Where did she get injured?"

"I asked her first. Why did she scold us when we didn"t even know each other? She said: "Hng, I know who you are. You"re Heng-Shan School"s nuns who are not following rules and customs." I said: "What not following rules and customs? Nonsense, you should clean your mouth." Then she lashed her horsewhip and didn"t pay attention to me anymore. She shouted: "Make way!" So I grabbed her horsewhip and shouted, "Make way!" Then we started to fight," Yihe narrated the incident.

Yu Sao explained, "She pulled her sword out. We saw that she was from Huashan School, but it was too dark for us to look at her appearance clearly. Then I thought that she looked like Mr. Yue"s daughter. I quickly told them to stop but her arm was already injured in two places. However, the injuries weren"t that serious."

Yihe laughed, "I already knew who she is from the beginning. Those Huashan School"s people at Fuzhou treated martial brother Linghu rudely. Also, when Heng-Shan School has a problem, they just put their hands in their sleeves and didn"t care at all. So I wanted her to feel a bit of hardship."

"Martial sister Yihe showed mercy when fighting this Miss Yue. She used the move "Thread of the Golden Needle" to slash Miss Yue"s left arm but she only did it lightly and only scratched her arm before she withdrew her sword. If she had used her full power, Miss Yue would have lost her arm," Zheng E added.

Linghu Chong had not calmed down yet when he felt worried again. Little martial sister was very arrogant and she wouldn"t admit defeat that easily. She would have considered that tonight"s fight was a big insult to her. In all likelihood, she would also blame this on him. All these things happening were fate and he couldn"t do anything else. Luckily, her injuries were not serious and it shouldn"t be a problem for her.

Zheng E had observed that Linghu Chong"s concern towards this girl Yue was unique. She said, "If we knew earlier that she was martial brother Linghu"s martial sister, then we would just let her scold us and it would be no problem. But it was so dark so we couldn"t see anything clearly. When we meet her the next time, we"ll apologise to her."

Yihe angrily said, "Apologise for what? We didn"t wrong her at all. It was her who scolded us as soon as she spoke to us. There"s no reason to do this anywhere in the world."

Linghu Chong said, "We"ve already got some alms, let"s go now. How did that White Peeling Leather react?"

He was feeling awful and didn"t want to hear about Yue Lingshan anymore so he changed the topic. Yihe and the disciples she had taken with her started to talk about how they got the alms. They were all excited and were talking over each other. Yihe said, "Usually when we go to a rich man"s place for alms, even begging for one or two taels is already difficult. But tonight, we actually wanted several thousand taels."

Zheng E laughed, "That White Peeling Leather was on the ground crying and shouting. He was saying that several decades of hard work was gone in one night."

Qin Juan laughed, "Who told him to have the surname White? He"s been peeling other people"s skin and plundering the things they owned. Now all he can see is a white courtyard."

Everyone was laughing when they heard this. But not long after, they remembered about their Martial uncle and Master still being besieged by the enemies. Their moods became heavy. Linghu Chong said, "We have some funds for our journey now. Let"s go catch up to them!"