by Jin Yong
“You claim that you have hard bones and can take tortures. The short bull-nose of the Qingcheng Sword School tortured you left and right, and you still didn’t let the words out. If your Lin family never had the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,’ then you would simply have no words to let out, and wouldn’t have to rely on your hard bones. I see. You do have the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript.’ You just won’t give it out no matter what.”
After a short while, he heaved a sigh. “You are really dumb, you know that?” he muttered. “Chief Master Lin, why won’t you give the sword art manuscript up? The sword art manuscript won’t do you any good. You know what I think? I think the sword arts recorded on that sword art manuscript must be really ordinary. Otherwise why you cannot even beat a couple of Qingcheng apprentices? This type of sword art skills is really not worth mentioning, you know what I am saying?”
“That’s right! Senior Master Mu, you said it right! Even if I really had this ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,’ such ordinary good-for-nothing sword art wouldn’t even enable one to protect his own life, why in the world would you, Senior Master Mu, be interested in it?” Lin Zhennan said.
“I am only curious,” Mu Gaofeng said. “Since that short bull-nose made such a fuss about it and dragged in so many people to pressure you, there’s got be something strange here. Maybe the sword art recorded in that sword manuscript is really high-level stuff; it’s just that you are too stupid to understand it, and had to bring disgrace to the ancestors of your Lin Family. Why don’t you take it out and let me, a senior master, have a look at it, and point out all the advantages and good tricks of your Lin family’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’, so everyone in the Martial World will know about them? Wouldn’t that be better for your Lin family’s reputation, too?”
“Thanks for your kind regard, Senior Master Mu,” Lin Zhennan answered. “Why don’t you search me and see if I really have the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’?”
“Nah, no need for that!” Mu Gaofeng declined. “You’ve been the Qingcheng Sword School’s prisoner for many days. They must have frisked you up and down dozens of times. Chief Master Lin, you are really dumb. Did you know that?”
“I am really dumb. I’ve got that part figured out a long time ago. I don’t need others to point that out for me,” Lin Zhennan responded.
“Well, you don’t understand, but maybe Mrs. Lin will. Who knows? Mothers tend to love their kids more than fathers,” Mu Gaofeng said.
“What are you talking about? What has it got anything to do with my Pingzhi? What happened to him? Where…where is he?” Mrs. Lin shrieked.
“The lad Lin Pingzhi is quite bright. I liked him the first moment when I laid my eyes on him. That kid surely knows how to behave himself. He knows that my Kung Fu skills are tough, so he had submitted himself to be my apprentice,” Mu Gaofeng said.
“So my son had asked you to be his Master, Senior Master Mu? That’s really his good fortune. Because of injuries from the cruel tortures, the two of us could die any moment now. Will you please call our son over to see us one last time?” Lin Zhennan asked.
“It is only natural that you want your son to attend upon dying parents. That’s easy.” Mu Gaofeng smirked.
“Where is Pingzhi? Senior Master Mu, I beg of you! Please ask our son to come. I’ll never forget your kindness,” Mrs. Lin pleaded.
“Very well! I’ll go get him right away. But Mu Gaofeng never likes to be ordered around by others. To get your son here is as easy as falling off a log, but you’ll have to first tell me the whereabouts of the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ truthfully.”
“If you don’t believe me, there’s really nothing I can do to convince you. The two of us are already on the verge of dying; all we want is to have one last look at our son. If there were really an ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript,’ I would have asked you to tell my son without your asking about it.” Lin Zhennan sighed.
“That’s exactly why I think you are dumb,” Mu Gaofeng explained. “Your heart arteries are already busted. I don’t even have to touch you with a little finger; you’d be dead, anyway. You simply won’t last another hour, why are you so stubborn and simply refuse to tell me where the sword art manuscript is? Obviously, it’s because you want to reserve the Lin family Kung Fu that was passed down from your ancestors. But after you are dead, Lin Pingzhi would be all there is left in the Lin family. If he’s dead too, then there’s this sword manuscript, but there won’t be any Lin family’s descendents left to practice it; what good would that do your Lin family to leave the sword manuscript in this world?”
“Is my son…my son alright?” Mrs. Lin asked in terror.
“Right now, of course he is alright. Once you tell me where the sword art manuscript is, and after I get it, I promise I will give it to your son. And when he has questions when he studies it, I can also give him some good pointers, so he won’t be like his dad, Master Chief Lin, who studied the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’ for his entire life and still had no clue about how to use it whatsoever. Wouldn’t that be a better choice than smashing him dead with a knife hand chop?” Smashing sounds rose from inside the temple. Apparently he had just smashed some big object into pieces.
“Why…why do you want to smash him dead?” Mrs. Lin asked fearfully.
Mu Gaofeng burst into loud laughter. “Lin Pingzhi is my apprentice. If I want him alive, he will stay alive. If I want him dead, he will die. Anytime I feel like smashing him dead, all I need to do is to raise my hand.” Some more smashing sounds came. He had smashed some more things.
“Wife, enough talks. He doesn’t have our son, otherwise, why wouldn’t he bring him here and threaten to kill him right in front of our eyes?” Lin Zhennan said.
Mu Gaofeng laughed out loud. He said, “I said you were dumb, and you really, really are dumb. If the ‘Hunchback of the North’ wants to kill your son, is it that hard? Let’s assume that he is not in my hands right now, but if I am really determined to find him and whack him, you really think it’s going to be that difficult for me? I have friends and information sources all over the Martial World. To find your darling baby son is like a piece of cake.”
“Husband, if he really decides to give our son trouble….” Mrs. Lin said to Lin Zhennan in a low voice.
“Yeah! Once you tell me, even if the both of you cannot survive, you still have Lin Pingzhi to carry on with your name. Wouldn’t that be nice?” Mu Gaofeng encouraged.
Lin Zhennan laughed. “Wife, if we tell him where the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ is, the first thing he’ll do is get the sword art manuscript; the second thing on the list will be to kill our son. If we don’t tell him, in order to get the sword art manuscript, the hunchback would have no other choice but to protect Pingzhi’s life. As long as Pingzhi doesn’t tell him, the hunchback would never dare to harm him. You must understand the trick here.”
“You are right!” Mrs. Lin said in agreement. “Hunchback, go ahead and kill us,” she yelled at Mu Gaofeng.
By then, Linghu Chong knew that Mu Gaofeng must be infuriated. If he couldn’t figure out a way to draw Mu Gaofeng away, then the Lin couple would be dead in no time for sure. So he said loudly, “Senior Master Mu, following my Master’s order, Huashan Sword School apprentice Linghu Chong here invites Senior Master Mu to come out. We have something important to discuss with you.”
In great rage, Mu Gaofeng had raised his hand, ready to strike down on Lin Zhennan’s head, when he suddenly heard the words from Linghu Chong outside of the temple. He was dumfounded. It was rare for him to ever give ways to others, but the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School, Yue Buqun, surely made him think twice, especially after his dreadful encounter with the “Divine Art of Violet Twilight” of Yue Buqun outside of the “Jade House” the other day. Probably Yue Buqun and his apprentices had been eavesdropping outside the temple for quite a while when he threatened the Lin couple. That type of deeds was really looked down upon by all the chivalrous schoo
ls.
“Yue Buqun asked me out to discuss something? He will probably pretend to make peace between the Lin couple and I, while actually casting sarcastic remarks. A wise man will never put himself in a disadvantageous situation. I’d better take off now,” he told himself.
“Sorry,” he said after making up his mind, “I really don’t have any time. I already have previous arrangements. Please tell your Master that whenever he gets some free time, he is welcome to visit me near the northern border. I will be humbly awaiting for him!”
He jumped out of the hall into the courtyard. Pressing hard on the ground with his left foot, he had jumped up the roof and then down to the back of the temple. Afraid to be stopped and questioned by Yue Buqun, he disappeared in an instant.
Hearing that Mu Gaofeng had fled, Linghu Chong was so glad. “Wow, this hunchback is really scared of my Master. If he hadn’t run away and decided to fight me, I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
With the help of the branch, he slowly walked into the tiny temple housing the village god. The hall was enveloped in darkness. There was no lights or candles. He could only make out two shadows of a man and a woman sitting on the floor leaning against each other.
“I am Linghu Chong of the Huashan Sword School. Apprentice brother Pingzhi has also joined our sword school just recently. I am here to pay my respect to Uncle Lin and Auntie Lin,” he said with a bow.
Lin Zhennan burst with joy. “Young sir, you are really flattering us. We are both injured severely, so please pardon us for greeting back. Is our son really an apprentice of the Huashan Sword School’s Hero Yue now?” His voice trembled in the last couple of words.
Yue Buqun had a much bigger fame in the Martial World than Yu Canghai. Every year, Lin Zhennan had been sending presents to the Qingcheng Sword School to fawn on Yu Canghai, but he dared not to send any present to the Huashan Sword School, knowing that he would be in no position to make friends with one of the Head Masters of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance. Now seeing that even such a ferocious Mu Gaofeng fled as soon as he heard the name of the Huashan Sword School mentioned, and his son so fortunate to have become an apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, he found himself in high spirits and his heart filled with joy.
“Yes,” Linghu Chong answered. “The hunchback Mu Gaofeng was forcing your son to become his apprentice, but your son simply wouldn’t agree. The hunchback got mad and was about to harm your son when my Master happened to be passing by. So Master was able to save him. Your son begged Master sincerely to take him in as an apprentice. Seeing his sincerity and that he would make a good apprentice, Master did not object. Earlier Master just had a sword fight with Yu Canghai and defeated him in the fight. Yu Canghai ran away, and Master chased after him in order to get the whereabouts of you two, Uncle and Auntie. But he didn’t know that you two are actually right here.”
“I wish…wish Pingzhi could get here soon. We don’t have much time left.” Lin Zhennan murmured. He breathed hard, but it still seemed that more air was breathed out than in; he was really on the threshold of meeting death.
“Uncle Lin, don’t talk. After my Master takes care of the business with Yu Canghai, he’ll come back looking for you. The respectful Master must have a way to heal you,” Linghu Chong comforted him.
Lin Zhennan let out a wry smile and then closed his eyes. After a few moments, he spoke again in a low voice, “Little brother Linghu, I…I…I am not going to make it. I am overjoyed to know that Pingzhi was taken into the Huashan Sword School. Will you…you please help take care…care of him?”
“Uncle, please don’t worry. Apprentice brother Lin will be studying together with us, and we will be like brothers in a family. I will put in extra effort to take good care of him,” Linghu Chong assured him.
“Thanks to your great kindness, we will be remembering it even after we head to the underworld,” Mrs. Lin cut in.
“Please, don’t talk much. Concentrate on your breathing and you will feel better,” Linghu Chong suggested.
Lin Zhennan appeared to be short of breath. Disjointedly, he said, “Will you…will you please tell my son? The thing in the basement of the old Lin House in the Xiang-Yang Alley of Fuzhou has…has been handed down in the family from generation to generation. He must…he must take good care of it. But…but his great grandfather Sir Yuantu had said in his last words: ‘for all my descendents, you shall never read it, or great misfortune will fall upon you.’ Please tell…tell him to remember that well.”
Linghu Chong nodded. “All right! I will take the message to him,” he promised.
Lin Zhennan murmured, “Many…many…many….” The word “thanks” never made it out of his mouth before he fell dead.
Wishing to see his son one last time and tell him these important words himself, Lin Zhennan had been struggling to hold out. Now after Linghu Chong gave his word that he would take the message, and knowing his son had found such a good home, in great joy, he had no regrets left. As soon as he gave up on the struggle, he departed with the living world.
“Young hero Linghu,” Mrs. Lin said, “I hope you will tell my son never to forget seeking revenge for his parents.” She threw herself toward the stone steps under the columns of the temple and bumped her head hard onto one of the steps. With her previous fatal injuries, the bump killed her instantly.
Linghu Chong heaved a deep sigh, and couldn’t help thinking to himself, “Yu Canghai and Mu Gaofeng both tried to force the whereabouts of the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Manuscript’ out from Lin Zhennan, but he would rather die than speak out the secret. Only when he knew he was going to die right away, he had no choice but to ask me to take a message. But he still feared that I would go take out the sword art manuscript of his Lin family, so he said something like ‘you shall never read it, or great misfortune will fall upon you.’ Humph, what kind of person did you think Linghu Chong was? Did you actually think I would covet the sword art manuscript of your Lin family? You were really worrying yourself for nothing…?”
By then he was totally exhausted, so he sat down leaning against a column and rested with his eyes shut.
A good while passed when Yue Buqun’s voice finally rose outside the temple, “Let’s check out this temple.”
“Master, Master!” Linghu Chong shouted out loud.
“Is that Chong?” Yue Buqun asked in delight.
“Yes, it’s me!” Linghu Chong answered. He propped himself up slowly against the column.
It was already near dawn, so when Yue Buqun entered the temple, he easily spotted the bodies of the Lin Couple. “Are they Chief Master Lin and his wife?” he asked with a frown.
“Yes.” Linghu Chong answered and then went ahead and told everything: how Mu Gaofeng had compelled the Lin couple, and how he scared Mu Gaofeng off but the Lin couple still died because of the injuries. He also told his Master the last words of Lin Zhennan.
“Ah, Yu Canghai had really committed some terrible sins this time, yet he got nothing,” Yue Buqun muttered to himself.
“Master, did that dwarf Yu asked you for mercy?” Linghu Chong asked in an excited tone.
“Master Yu has very fast legs. I chased him for quite some time, yet was only getting further and further behind him. The Qing-Gong of the Qingcheng Sword School is, I guess, somewhat better than ours of the Huashan Sword School,” Yue Buqun replied.
“The Qingcheng Sword School’s ‘bum bum back fleeing’ Kung Fu is definitely better than other schools.” Linghu Chong burst into laughter.
Yue Buqun pulled a long face and reproached, “Chong, you’ve really gotten a glib tongue with no decency. How would you be a role model for all your apprentice brothers and sisters if you keep acting like this?”
Linghu Chong turned his head aside, stuck his tongue out and made a face. “Yes, Master!” he answered
“If you agree, then agree. Why did you stick your tongue out when you answered? You are not being honest,” Yue Buqun criticized.
“Yes, Master!” Linghu Chong repl
ied.
Yue Buqun had brought him up since he was little. To him, Yue Buqun was almost like a father figure. Although he revered the Master, he never reserved himself much in front of the Master.
“Master, how did you know that I stuck my tongue out?” he asked with a grin.
Yu Buqun snorted. “The muscles under your ear were retracting, so of course you were sticking your tongue out. You always like to run wild. See, you’ve come to a good grief this time! Are your wounds better now?”
“Yes, they are much better now,” Linghu Chong answered. He then added, “Well, the more grief this time, the smarter next time!”
Yue Buqun scolded, “Don’t you think you are too smart already?”
He took a signal flare out from his pocket and walked into the courtyard. Lighting the fuse with a match, he threw the flare up into the air. The flare rocketed high into the sky, and with a loud “Bang,” it exploded in the air, leaving a trail of silver light in the shape of a long sword, hanging in the sky for a long while. Then the sword shaped light trail descended slowly for a couple hundred feet before finally bursting into hundreds of glitters. That was the type of signal flare used by the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School to call on all school members.
Soon footsteps from a distance rose as someone ran toward the tiny temple.
“Master, are you here?” Gao Gengming’s voice shouted from outside.
“Yes, I am in the temple,” Yue Buqun answered.
Gao Gengming came into the temple and bowed to Yue Buqun. “Master!” Seeing that Linghu Chong was standing next to the Master, he said cheerfully, “Big apprentice brother! Are you alright? We became really worried when we heard that you were severely wounded.”
“I guess I am plain lucky this time. I am still alive,” Linghu Chong said with a smile.
More sounds of footsteps came from the distance. It was Lao Denuo and Lu Dayou this time. As soon as Lu Dayou saw Linghu Chong, spending no time greeting the Master, he rushed straight forth toward Linghu Chong and gave a big hug to him while shouting happy words wildly. Then third apprentice Liang Fa and fourth apprentice Shi Daizi came into the temple one after another. After a few moments, seventh apprentice Tao Jun, eighth apprentice Ying Luobai, Yue Buqun’s daughter Yue Lingshan, and the new apprentice Lin Pingzhi came all at once.