Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 01

by Jin Yong

  “Uncle-Master Yu, this move of Big Brother Linghu’s is not part of the Huashan Sword Art.”

  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 inner strength from his lower abdomen, and then projected the energy from his left palm to push Lao Denuo away. Lao Denuo flew backwards and his back struck a wall. Dirt and debris dropped from the ceiling on 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 this crafty little crook was already aware that Little Apprentice Sister and I were spying on them.”

  “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 complete 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 exit. “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; 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-class 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 my entire 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.33 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 saying 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 say 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 assuage 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 Tian-Men’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 my 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, nobody 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 describe Luo Renjie’s behavior as intolerable. Since this apprentice of his had already perished along with Linghu Chong, there could be no other testimony; everybody would only 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 of acupoints.

  Everyone’s eyes turned to Yilin. Her glorious face brightened the entire room like a brilliant pearl or a piece of beautiful jade, with its purity and flawlessness. Ev
en 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 began, “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. Although I managed to hang on to some rocks to break my fall, my hands were covered with mud and moss. So 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 acupoints. 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 acupoints, I could not utter a sound. The man picked me up and after walking about ten or twenty yards, put me inside a cave. I was scared to death, yet I 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 then went off in different directions.

  “After quite a while, hearing that my three apprentice sisters had gone far away, he released my acupoints. 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. So, I ended up 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 a couple of 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, nobody dared let out a smile. All tried their best to keep looking serious.

  “But he did say that,” Yilin insisted earnestly.

  “Okay, okay, these types of words are 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 before 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 more loudly.

  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 unique inner strength of the Heng-Shan Sword School when she flung the tea; it shot through the air quickly and accurately. 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 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 pass. Seeing the sky becoming 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 snatched 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 Tian-Men looked at each other, both thinking 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 Tian-Men drew a sword from 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 Tian-Men 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, “Alas, 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 Tian-Men 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 associating the word “villain” with Tian Boguang while also calling his apprentice a “villain”, which put the apprentice of Qingcheng on the same level as the notorious rapist, Yu Canghai could not help letting out another grunt.

  Seeing tears welling up in 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 Tian-Men, 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 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 on laughing outside.

  “Tian Boguang began to pour out streams of abuse. He sealed my acupoints 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 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 the man 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 to get 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 times 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.’”