by Jin Yong
“Why would my Master scold you?” Yilin said. “Big Brother Linghu, just rest quietly for twenty-four hours, and if your wounds don’t break open again, you should be alright.” She took out another three “White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills” and helped Linghu Chong take them.
“Sis,” Qu Feiyan said all of a sudden, “you stay here and keep him company. Watch out for bad guys who want to get him. My grandpa is still waiting for me. I’ve got to go.”
“No! No!” Yilin cried out worriedly. “You cannot go. How can I stay here by myself?”
“Isn’t Linghu Chong here too?” Qu Feiyan grinned. “You are not all by yourself?” She turned around and started heading out.
Yilin was greatly concerned. She jumped forth and gripped Qu’s left arm. In her rush, she had used the holding technique of the Heng-Shan Sword School and grabbed Qu’s arm tightly.
“Don’t go!” she cried.
“Ouch! Are you trying to fight me?” Qu Feiyan chuckled.
Yilin blushed and then let go of her arm. “My good girl, please stay and keep me company,” she pleaded.
“Okay, okay. Fine! I’ll stay and keep you company. Linghu Chong is not a bad guy, why are you so afraid of him?” Qu Feiyan said.
“Sorry, Qu, did I hurt you?” Yilin asked while feeling less awkward.
“Nah, it doesn’t hurt, but Linghu Chong seems to be hurting a lot,” Qu Feiyan said.
Yilin was shocked. She immediately lifted the curtains and checked on Linghu Chong, only to find him sleeping soundly with both of his eyes shut tight. She checked Linghu Chong’s breathing with her hand and could tell that its rhythm was strong and regular. Just when she was feeling a bit better, she heard Qu Feiyan’s giggles and the sound of the window opening. She turned around in a hurry and saw Qu Feiyan jumping out of the window.
Yilin was astounded and felt completely lost. She walked next to the bed and called, “Big Brother Linghu? Big Brother Linghu! She…she just left.” But the effect of the medicine had kicked in. Linghu Chong was completely out. He didn’t hear any of Yilin’s words. Yilin was very frightened and began trembling. It took her a long while before she mustered enough strength to shut the window.
“I’d better leave soon,” she thought. “What if Big Brother Linghu wakes up and then starts talking to me? What am I going to do then?” Then she thought, “He is so weak right now, even a child could kill him easily. How can I leave him and just flee the scene?”
In the dark night, the sound of dog barks occasionally echoed from the deep alleys far away. However, apart from those occasional noises, there was just dead silence. Other people from the brothel had fled a long time ago. It almost felt as if Linghu Chong, who was lying behind the bed curtain, was the only person left in the entire world beside her. Yilin sat stiffly on a chair, afraid to move. After what seemed an eternity, cock crows could be heard from all directions; it was almost dawn. Yilin began to worry again.
“It’s going to be daybreak soon, and then people would be arriving. What should I do?”
She had been a Buddhist ever since she was a small child, and had always been taken care of by Sister Dingyi, so she really lacked real life experience on how to handle difficult situations. She could only worry, and had no idea what to do.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from the alley outside. It seemed to be from a group of three or four people. The sound of their footsteps could be clearly heard in the stillness of dawn. They stopped in front of the Jade House’s gate.
“You two search the east side. The two of us will search the west side. If anyone spots Linghu Chong, make sure you capture him alive. He is very badly wounded and won’t be able to resist,” a voice said.
When Yilin first heard the sound of people coming, she was terrified. Then when she heard them talking about capturing Linghu Chong, her resolve strengthened, “No matter what happens, I will protect Big Brother Linghu and never let him fall into the bad guys’ hands.” As soon as she made up her mind, fear seemed to slip away and her brain started functioning again. She rushed over by the bed and pulled out the bed sheet. After quickly wrapping Linghu Chong in the sheet, she picked him up in her arms, blew out the candlelight, pushed open the door gently, and then sneaked out. She couldn’t tell which direction she was going, so she just made sure she was walking in the opposite direction from which the voices came. Soon, she passed a vegetable garden and arrived at the back door. The back door was already half open. When the occupants of the brothel fled, they probably just left it open in their haste. She carried Linghu Chong out the back door and dashed along the small alley. In no time, she had reached the town wall.
“I must get out of the town. There are simply too many enemies for Big Brother Linghu here,” she thought. She walked along the town wall and as soon as she reached the town gate, she dashed out.
She ran nonstop for at least three or four miles, intentionally picking small roads that led into the mountains. When there were no more roads, she found herself in a small valley. Feeling a bit relieved, she looked down at Linghu Chong and found him staring right into her eyes, a smile on his face.
Yilin almost panicked. Her arms started quivering, and Linghu Chong’s body slipped out of her arms. “Oops!” she cried out and quickly bent down and extended her arms with a move called “Carry the Holy Scripture.” Luckily, her reactions were quick, and she caught him before he hit the ground. But as a result, she lost her balance, and staggered a few steps before she steadied herself.
“Sorry!” she said hurriedly. “Are your wounds still hurting?”
“I am fine. Why don’t you take a rest?” Linghu Chong smiled.
Yilin had completely forgotten about herself when she was running away from the Qingcheng apprentices. All she could think of was how to keep Linghu Chong out of danger. Now that they were finally safe, she felt like her body was going to fall apart. She used up her last bit of strength to put Linghu Chong down on the meadow gently, and then collapsed onto the ground panting heavily, trying to catch her breath.
“You forgot to control your breathing while you were running,” Linghu Chong said with a smile. “That is a big no-no for…for us martial arts students. It makes one more likely…more likely to get hurt.”
Yilin blushed slightly. “Thanks for the advice, Big Brother Linghu. My Master had taught me the same thing before, but I forgot in all the commotion.” She paused for a second and then asked, “How are your wounds?”
“They don’t hurt as much now, but they’re just a bit itchy and numb,” Linghu Chong said.
“Great! Great!” Yilin exclaimed. “When a wound gets itchy and numb, that means it’s healing. I didn’t expect it would start healing this fast.”
Linghu Chong was quite moved seeing Yilin’s joy. “It’s all due to the magical medicine of your respectful school.” He let out a sigh. “Too bad that we had to suffer humiliation from those low-life scoundrels because of my wounds. If we had fallen into Qingcheng’s hands just now, it would be no big deal if I got killed right away, but most likely they would have tried to humiliate us even more,” he said grouchily.
“So you heard everything?” Yilin asked. She felt completely embarrassed when she thought about how he could have been staring at her for the entire time she was carrying him while running away; her face reddened.
Linghu Chong didn’t realize that she was actually feeling embarrassed, and thought she was just exhausted from so much running.
“Apprentice sister, why don’t you do some of the breathing exercises of your school to help harmonize your inner strength, so you don’t suffer any internal injuries?”
“Alright,” Yilin agreed.
She sat down cross-legged and tried to work her inner strength with the breathing techniques taught by her Master. But she felt very uneasy and simply could not calm herself down to focus on the breathing exercises. Every other minute, she would glance at Linghu Chong to see if his wounds had gotten any better or worse, or if he was looking at
her. At the fourth glance, her eyes happened to meet Linghu Chong’s eyes. With a big shock, she immediately shut her eyes tightly. Linghu Chong, on the other hand, started laughing loudly. Yilin blushed even more and asked shyly, “Why…why are you laughing?”
“Nothing,” Linghu Chong said. “You are still young and probably don’t do well in the meditative exercises. If you can’t calm down and get focused, then don’t force yourself. Uncle-Master Dingyi must have taught you that if you work too hard on your exercises, it actually does more harm than good. This is especially true for breathing exercises; you really need to be in a calm state.” He paused a moment to catch his breath, and then continued, “Don’t worry! My base energy is refilling itself slowly. Even if those Qingcheng crooks come after us, there’s no need to be afraid. We’ll just let them demonstrate…demonstrate that ‘Bum Bum Back…Back….’”
“Demonstrate the Qingcheng Sword School’s ‘Geese Landing in Sand’ technique.” Yilin smiled.
“Right!” Linghu Chong grinned. “That’s good. The ‘Bum Bum Back’ part does not sound very graceful. Let’s just call it the ‘Qingcheng Sword School’s Geese…Landing in Sand’ technique!” After saying the last word, he had to catch his breath again.
“Don’t talk too much! Take a good long nap,” Yilin suggested.
“My Master is also in the town of Hengshan now! I wish I could get up right now and go to Uncle-Master Liu’s house to watch the fun,” Linghu Chong murmured.
Yilin noticed Linghu Chong’s lips were chapped and his eye sockets were also very dry. It must have been because he had lost so much blood. He badly needed to drink some water.
“Let me go find some water for you. You must be thirsty, right?” she asked.
“On our way here, I saw lots of watermelons in the field to the left. Why don’t you go get some?” Linghu Chong suggested.
“Alright.” Yilin stood up and checked her pockets, but could not find any money. “Big Brother Linghu, do you have any money with you?” she asked.
“For what?”
“For the watermelons of course!”
“Did you actually intend to pay for them?” Linghu Chong grinned. “You can just go pick some. There’s nobody living close by. The owner must be far away. Who are you going to buy from?”
“But to take without consent is…is stealing,” Yilin mumbled, “and that’s the second prohibition in the Five Prohibitions. We can’t do that. If we don’t have any money, we can beg alms from them. I am sure they will be kind enough to give us a watermelon.”
Linghu Chong became impatient. “You little….” He wanted to say “you little silly nun,” but because of her efforts on his behalf, he stopped at the word “little.”
Yilin could tell that he was disgruntled, so she dared not to say a word and simply walked in the direction they had come from looking for the watermelon field. After walking for about a mile, she did see a field several acres large and full of watermelons. Only the chirping of cicadas filled the air. There was no one around at all.
“Big Brother Linghu wanted to have some watermelon, but these watermelons all belong to someone, how can I steal from him?” she murmured to herself.
She strode down another half a mile and walked to the top of a small rise to look around, but she still could find no one, not even a shed or a hut, so she walked back to the watermelon field. Standing in the middle of the field, she hesitated for a long time before finally sticking her hands out to pick a melon, but then she pulled her hands back when she remembered the prohibition told many times by her Master, that one should never steal from others. She wanted to walk away from the field, but then Linghu Chong’s thirsty face appeared in her mind. She clenched her teeth, put her palms together,41 and then prayed inwardly, “Dear Buddha, I really don’t want to steal. It’s all because of Big Brother Linghu…Big Brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon.” But when she thought about it again, “Big Brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon” really wasn’t a great reason. She was so worried that teardrops started welling up in her eyes. She held a watermelon with both hands and then lifted it up; the stem broke easily.
“He has saved my life,” she thought, “what’s the big deal if I have to fall down to hell and never be reborn again? The one who commits the crime will be the one responsible. It’s me, Yilin, who broke the prohibition. It has nothing to do with Big Brother Linghu.” She held the watermelon in her arms and then walked back.
Linghu Chong never really took common rules and prohibitions seriously. When he heard Yilin talking about begging alms for a watermelon, he simply assumed this nun was too young and inexperienced. He had never expected the matter of getting a watermelon to be such a great moral dilemma for her. When he saw Yilin come back with the melon, he was very pleased.
“Good apprentice sister! What a well-behaved little girl!” he praised.
Yilin felt a shock in her heart when she heard how he called her, and almost dropped the watermelon. She quickly wrapped it with the front of her robe. Linghu Chong laughed.
“Why are you so worried? Was someone after you because you stole his watermelon?”
“No, no one is after me.” Yilin blushed and then sat down slowly.
The sun had risen from the east; it was a sunny day. Linghu Chong and Yilin were sitting by the shady side of the mountain, and the sun had yet to reach them. All the trees around them had been washed by the recent rain and looked greener than usual. Clear and fresh air filled the valley. Yilin collected herself, and then pulled out the broken sword by her waist. Seeing the broken tip of the sword, she thought, “That villain Tian Boguang really had high Kung Fu skills. If it weren’t for Big Brother Linghu risking his life to save mine, I wouldn’t be sitting here in peace.” She glanced at Linghu Chong from the corner of her eyes and saw a bloodless face with sunken eye sockets. “For him,” she thought, “even if I have to violate more rules and break more prohibitions, I will have no regrets. To steal a watermelon is really nothing.” By then, she had finally cleared all the guilt from her mind. She wiped the broken sword clean with a corner of her robe, and then sliced the watermelon open. A sweet smell quickly filled the air.
“Good melon!” Linghu Chong sniffed and then shouted. “Apprentice sister, I just remembered a joke. In the Lantern Festival earlier this year, when several fellow apprentices of our Huashan Sword School got together to drink wine, Little Apprentice Sister Lingshan composed a riddle. It went, ‘A small dog on the left and a dumb melon on the right. What’s the character?’ At that time, sixth junior apprentice brother Lu Dayou – he’s the one who was looking for me last night – was sitting to her left. I was sitting to her right.”
“This riddle of hers was really making fun of you and the apprentice brother Lu.” Yilin smiled.
“Right! This riddle is not hard at all. The answer is the character ‘hu’ in my name Linghu Chong.42 It was an old joke that she read from a book. It just happened that sixth junior apprentice brother was sitting to her left and I was sitting to her right. And now, by coincidence, next to me, it’s a small dog on one side and a big melon on the other.” Linghu Chong pointed at the watermelon and then pointed at Yilin with a big smile on his face.
“Aha, you are really calling me a dog,” Yilin said.
She cut the melon into slices. After taking out the seeds, she handed him one. Linghu Chong took a bite. The melon was very sweet and soothing; he quickly finished it. Yilin was very delighted when she saw how he enjoyed it. Since Linghu Chong was eating while half lying down, the juice dripped all over his robe. Yilin cut the second slice into smaller pieces and handed them to him one piece at a time. Eating this way, Linghu Chong managed not to drip any more juice over himself. Seeing how his wound hurt because of the arm movements required every time he stuck his hand out to take the small pieces, she started feeding the small pieces of melon directly into his mouth. Linghu Chong consumed almost half a melon before he realized that Yilin had not had any of the melon herself.
“I’ll wait till you’ve had enough.”
“I’ve had enough. Go ahead and eat!”
Yilin felt thirsty, so after putting several more pieces into Linghu Chong’s mouth, she put a small one into her own mouth. Seeing that Linghu Chong stared at her without blinking, she felt shy and turned her back towards him.
“Wow, how pretty!” Linghu Chong suddenly exclaimed. His voice was filled with praise.
Yilin felt extremely embarrassed. “Why did he suddenly say I am pretty?” she thought. She felt like getting up and running away but being in two minds, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. She felt her whole body burning; even her neck reddened because of shyness. Then she heard Linghu Chong saying, “Look, how pretty! Do you see that?”
Yilin turned slightly and saw him pointing at the west sky. She followed his finger and saw a beautiful rainbow in the distant sky extending out from behind the trees. She then realized Linghu Chong’s comment “how pretty” was referring to the rainbow, and she had interpreted it in a totally different way. She felt very embarrassed, but the embarrassment now was also mixed with a little disappointment, very different from the embarrassment she felt earlier, which also had a bit of shyness and a bit of joy in it.
“Listen carefully! Do you hear that?” Linghu Chong asked.
Yilin cocked her head and listened carefully. She could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water coming from where the rainbow began.
“Sounds like a waterfall,” she replied.
“Exactly! After so many days of rain, there must be waterfalls all over the valley! Let’s go take a look!”
“You…you’d better just quietly rest a few more moments,” Yilin suggested.
“There is only bare stone around here; so dull! I think it’s better to go watch the waterfalls,” Linghu Chong insisted.
Yilin did not want to go against his will, so she propped him up. She blushed when she suddenly thought: “I’ve had him in my arms twice. The first time was when I thought he had died. The second time was when I was fleeing from danger. Although he is still wounded badly, he is completely conscious. How can I hold him in my arms again? He is insisting on going to the waterfall. Could it be that…that he wants me…?”