Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 03

by Jin Yong

  "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 passed 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. Gods 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 snatch 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!"

  "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!" S
o 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."