Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 03

by Jin Yong

  "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 assuredly 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”22. 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 anticipate 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.

  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 snatch 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 passed 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 sch
ool 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 passed 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 pawnshop and also a rice shop. With a nickname like White Peeling Leather23, I dont' think he's a good person."

  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 embarrass 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."