by Jin Yong
In a moment, that Songshan mountaintop was all a clamour with shouts. Everyone was shouting; even the most experienced seniors were shouting. These people were invited by Zuo Lengchan, but this matter of who would become the Five Mountains School's headmaster had nothing to do with them. They originally didn't want to butt in, but a martial art competition to take the leadership would be very exciting to watch, so they were all hoping to watch a few good fights. With this added urgings from the guests, it became imperative that if they didn't have a competition then this headmaster position would not be decided.
Linghu Chong was very happy to see this and he called out, "Mr. Zuo, if you're not willing to cross swords with me, how can you be the Five Mountains School's headmaster in the presence of all these people?"
The crowd called out one by one, "Sword fight, sword fight! Not fighting isn't for a hero, but for a dog!"
Many people from the Songshan School knew Linghu Chong's sword art was wonderful, and Zuo Lengchan could not be guaranteed a win against him. But there was no good reason to say why Zuo Lengchan couldn't compete swords with him. So all they could do was scowl and stay silent. In all the clamour, a clear voice was heard, "All the heroes here want a sword fight to decide the Five Mountains School's headmaster. We can't just brush away their wonderful idea." The person who said this was Yue Buqun.
The crowd called out, "Mr. Yue is right, sword fight to take the leadership, sword fight to take the leadership!"
Yue Buqun said, "Sword fight to take the leadership is one thing. But the real intention of our five mountains sword schools merging into one is to lessen the fighting between schools. That's why in this martial art competition, once the result is decided you must stay your hand and not take your opponent's life. Otherwise, it would be a great violation against the real intention of our five mountains school's merger."
When the crowd heard him talking of leadership, they all quietened down. A big man said, "That's all good, but sabres and swords don't have eyes. So if you die, that's your own bad luck. Who can you blame?" Another person said, "If you're afraid of death or injury, go hide at home and hug your doll. Why would you be here to become the Five Mountains School's headmaster?" The crowd burst into laughter.
Yue Buqun said, "Even so, to be injury free is always wonderful. I only have a few shallow ideas, but please consider them."
Someone called out, "Quickly fight! What else is there to say?" Another person said, "Don't blindly disturb him. Hear what Mr. Yue has to say." The person before said, "Who's disturbing? Go home and ask your darling!" The other person hurled abuses back.
Yue Buqun said, "Anyone here is entitled to participate in the leadership sword fight, but there are some stipulations..." His internal energy was abundant. When he talked, he completely drowned the voices of those people hurling abuses at each other. They turned around to listen to him continue, "The leadership martial art competition is to contend for the leadership of the Five Mountains School. For that reason, if you're not a member of the Five Mountains School, you can't come and fight even if you have heavenly skills. Otherwise, this fight would be called 'World's Number One' fight, and not a way to decide the leadership of the Five Mountains School."
The crowd all answered, "Right! Non-members of the Five Mountains School can't come and compete." There was also a person who said, "Let's all fight to become the 'World's Number One'; that's also good!" This person was obviously talking nonsense, so no one replied to him.
Yue Buqun said, "Concerning this martial art competition, about not taking other's life and not injuring people from the same school, Mr. Zuo, please tell us what you think."
Zuo Lengchan coldly said, "Of course you cannot take another person's life in this fight. But not to injure other people would be very difficult. What's Mr. Yue's esteemed opinion in this?"
Yue Buqun said, "I believe the best way would be to ask Great Master Fangzheng, Priest Chongxu, Beggar Clan Leader Xie, Qingcheng School Priest Yu, and other virtuous senior masters in Wulin to be judges. Who wins and who loses will be decided by them to avoid people fighting endlessly. We're just deciding the leadership, not life and death."
Fangzheng said, "Good, good! 'Deciding the leadership and not life and death', these words will stop blood from being spilled. What does Mr. Zuo think?"
"Since it’s Great Master's concern for my humble sect, I'll definitely obey it. We were originally the five mountains sword schools, so each school should send out one person to compete in swords to take the leadership. Otherwise, each school will send out hundreds of people and the competition will drag on for years without any conclusion," Zuo Lengchan replied.
The crowd felt that it wouldn't be very lively if there were only five people fighting. But if each school were to send out its headmaster, then no one else from any of the schools would be able to put up a challenge anyway. They then heard the people from Songshan School cheering, so no one else objected to this.
Peachtree Branch Fairy suddenly said, "Taishan School's headmaster is Yujizi. Will this ox-nosed priest with no arms and no leg also come forth and compete?"
Peachtree Leaf Fairy replied, "He's only missing both arms and a leg, why can't he go forth and compete? He still has one remaining leg. He can take off and kick people."
When the crowd heard this, they couldn't help laughing.
Yuyinzi from Taishan School indignantly said, "These six weirdos harmed my martial brother Yujizi and made him a cripple. Yet, they're still here ridiculing him. I want each of their arms and legs cut off. Come, let's fight one on one!" After he said this, he immediately drew his sword out and stood there. This Yuyinzi was tall and thin, and had an imposing appearance. As he stood there with a solemn demeanour and with his priest robe floating in the wind, he looked really grand. The crowd cheered for him.
Peachtree Root Fairy said, "From the Taishan School, you're the one who's going to compete for the leadership?"
Peachtree Leaf Fairy said, "Were you selected by your school or did you volunteer yourself?"
Yuyinzi replied, "How does that concern you?"
Peachtree Leaf Fairy said, "Of course it concerns us. Not only it concerns us, it greatly concerns us, it extremely concerns us. If you were selected by the Taishan School to compete for the leadership, then once you lose, Taishan School's second person cannot compete again."
Yuyinzi said, "The second person cannot come out to compete, so what?"
Suddenly someone from the Taishan School said, "Martial Brother Yuyinzi isn't my choice. If he lose, of course, another master from Taishan School can go out." The person who said this was Yuqingzi.
Peachtree Flower Fairy said, "Haha, another master; is that you?"
"Good, maybe it's me," Yuqingzi answered.
Peachtree Fruit Fairy called out, "Everyone look. Taishan School again has an internal strife. Priest Tianmen has already died and Priest Yuji is injured. These two people are again fighting to become Taishan School's headmaster."
"Nonsense!" Yuyinzi retorted.
But Yuqingzi was smiling coldly and didn't say anything.
Peachtree Flower Fairy said, "So who's going to compete for the Taishan School?"
Yuqingzi and Yuyinzi answered at the same time, "Me!"
Peachtree Root Fairy said, "Alright, the two of you fight first and see who's stronger. Talking won't clear it up but there will definitely be a winner and a loser after you fight."
Yuqingzi came out and waved his hand. "Martial brother, step back! Don't get ridiculed by other people."
"Why would other people ridicule me? Martial Brother Yuji was heavily injured, I just want to take revenge for him," Yuyinzi interjected.
"Are you taking revenge or competing for the leadership?"
"Do you think we can be the Five Mountains School's headmaster based on our measly skills? Isn't that absurd? Everyone from Taishan School has unanimously supported Chief Zuo to be our Five Mountains School's headmaster a long time ago. Why would we two brothers go out and b
e shamed?" Yuyinzi reasoned.
"In that case, step back. I'm the eldest in Taishan School right now."
Yuyinzi coldly laughed and said, "Hmmph, you might be the oldest, but looking at what you do every day, do you think anyone in the school still respects you?"
Yuqingzi became angry and said fiercely, "What's your meaning? You refuse to acknowledge the order of seniority? What's our school's number one rule?"
"Haha, don't forget, we're now members of the Five Mountains School. We entered the Five Mountains School at the same year, same month, same time. What order of seniority? The rules of the Five Mountains School haven't been drawn up yet, so what number one, number two? You mentioned the Taishan School's rule to keep me under control. It's a pity there's only Five Mountains School now," Yuyinzi said.
Yuqingzi didn't know what to say. His left hand pointed at Yuyinzi's nose and he angrily said, "You... you... you..."
The thousands of men called out, "Fight! See who's got higher skills!"
The long sword in Yuqingzi's hand kept trembling but he didn't put it up. Even though he was older, he was always drowning himself in wine, and his sword art wasn't as good as Yuyinzi. Even after the five mountains sword schools merged, it would be inevitable that each of the five schools would still be separated physically on five mountains. Thus, each mountain would have a leader. Yuqingzi and Yuyinzi knew their skills were far below Zuo Lengchan, so they had no plan to become the Five Mountains School's headmaster. But they were thinking of who would become the leader once they got back to their mountain. At this time, the crowd was very excited waiting for the brothers to clash weapons. Yuqingzi did not dare to fight rashly but he really resented Yuyinzi for shaming him in front of the realm's heroes. Moreover, Zuo Lengchan was likely to install Yuyinzi as the leader on Taishan, so he would be bound to follow Yuyinzi's order from now on and he would never be able to hold his head high again. For the moment, the two brothers were staring angrily at each other. Neither of them wanted to back down.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd with a sharp voice said, "I see the two of you haven't even grasped the slightest bit of Taishan School's martial art essence. You really have thick faces to be quarrelling right here and wasting everyone's time."
Everyone turned to have a look at the person who said this. They saw a tall handsome youth with a beautiful appearance whose face was pale and whose mouth turned up at the corner carrying a cold mocking smile. He was Lin Pingzhi of the Huashan School.
Someone recognised him and called out, "He’s Huashan School's Mr. Yue's new son-in-law."
Linghu Chong thought, "Martial Brother Lin has always been very cautious and doesn't speak very much. After not seeing him for just a while, I'm surprised he now actually dared to ridicule these two traitors in front of everyone here."
Yuqingzi, Yuyinzi, and Yujizi were in cahoots in harming Priest Tianmen to get on Zuo Lengchan's good side, so Linghu Chong already felt resentful towards these two priests. When Lin Pingzhi insulted them, he felt quite happy.
Yuyinzi said, "If you say I haven't grasped the slightest bit of Taishan School's martial art, does that mean you've grasped it all? Then please use Taishan School's martial art and let our eyes be opened." He said the words 'Taishan School' especially loudly. His meaning was, "You're a Huashan School's disciple, but even if you have strong martial art, it would still be Huashan School's and you couldn't possibly use my Taishan School's martial art".
Lin Pingzhi gave a cold sneer and said, "Taishan School's martial art is deep and profound. How can traitors like you who harmed your own school member be able to understand..."
“Ping’er,” Yue Buqun shouted. "Priest Yuyinzi is still your elder, don't be rude!"
"Yes!" Lin Pingzhi responded.
Yuyinzi indignantly said, "Mr. Yue, what a good disciple and son-in-law you have! He can even speak nonsense about Taishan School's martial art."
Suddenly, a female voice said, "How do you know for sure he was speaking nonsense?"
A good looking young woman stepped out. Her skirt was brushing the ground, her belts were floating in the wind, and a red flower was inserted into her hair. It was Yue Lingshan. She was carrying a long sword on her back and her raised right hand held the sword handle. She said, "I'll use Taishan School's sword art and ask for your advice."
Yuyinzi knew she was Yue Buqun's daughter. He was thinking that since Yue Buqun had approved the merger of the five schools earlier, at the moment Zuo Lengchan would be on friendly terms with him, so he didn't dare to offend her. He smiled slightly and said, "Congratulations Miss Yue. Are you angry because I didn't come to your wedding and drank your celebratory wine? I admired your noble school's wonderful sword art. But this is the first time I've heard of Huashan School's disciples being able to use Taishan School's sword art."
Yue Lingshan raised her eyebrows and said, "My father wants to be the headmaster of the Five Mountains School. So, naturally, he has researched the sword arts of each of the five schools. Otherwise, even if my father wins against the other four schools' headmasters, if he used only Huashan School's swordsmanship, he can't become the Five Mountains School's headmaster."
When these words were said, it created a sensation through the crowd. A person queried, "Mr. Yue wants to become the Five Mountains School's headmaster?" Another person shouted, "Mr. Yue also knows how to use Taishan, Hengshan, Songshan, and Heng-Shan Schools' martial arts?"
Yue Buqun said in a clear voice, "My daughter talks irresponsibly. Don't worry about what my little kid said."
But Yue Lingshan continued, "Martial Uncle Zuo, if you can use Taishan, Hengshan, Huashan, and Heng-Shan Schools' sword arts to defeat the masters of each school, then we'll naturally submit and accept you as the Five Mountains School's headmaster. Otherwise, although your Songshan School's sword art is very formidable in the world, it's still only the Songshan School's sword art which is good, and has nothing to do with the other four schools at all."
The crowd all thought these words were right. If someone was proficient with the sword arts of each school, then he should become the Five Mountains School's headmaster and this would be very fitting. But each school's sword arts had undergone countless of refinements for hundreds of years by many masters. Even if someone was taught by a master of each school, and had undergone dozens of years of practice, he might not necessarily be able to fully learn all of the sword arts from the five schools let alone the secret skills of each school that wasn't usually passed down to ordinary disciples. The possibility of someone actually grasping the essence of all the sword arts from all five schools at the same time was quite remote.
But Zuo Lengchan thought, "Why did Yue Buqun's daughter say this? She must have an intention for saying this. Has Yue Buqun become muddled? Does he really want to fight me for the Five Mountains School's leadership?"
Yuyinzi said, "So Mr. Yue is already proficient in the five schools' sword arts. This has never happened in the history of the five mountains sword schools before. I'd like to ask for Miss Yue's advice on Taishan School's swordsmanship."
"Very well!" Yue Lingshan shouted.
With a 'shua' sound, she drew the long sword she was carrying at her back. Yuyinzi was livid. "I'll compete with your father! A little girl like you dare to draw your sword against me!" He reasoned Yue Buqun would surely stop this. In his heart, he believed that the Yue couple was the only two people in Huashan School who would be able to fight him. How would he know Yue Buqun would only shake his head, sigh, and say, "My little kid doesn't know how high the heaven is. Senior Yuyin and Yuqing are Taishan School's number one masters, and you actually want to use Taishan School's sword art to fight against them. Isn't that asking for trouble?"
Yuyinzi was startled. He thought, "Yue Buqun told his daughter to use Taishan School's sword art to fight against me." He took a glance and saw that Yue Lingshan's long sword was in her right hand and it was pointing down at an angle. Her left palm was wide open and she started counting with her fingers. A
t the count of five, her left hand made a fist. Then she again extended her thumb out, her forefinger, and counted to five. Her five fingers were now spread open. She followed this by counting again starting from her thumb. This time, as her middle finger folded, Yuyinzi was greatly alarmed: "How could this baby know the move 'Daizong Way'?"4
More than thirty years ago, Yuyinzi had heard from his master the essence of the move 'Daizong Way'. This sword art move was regarded as Taishan School's highest and most profound skill. Its essence wasn't at the sword moves on the right hand, but was at the counting with the left hand. The left hand would be continuously counting. It would be counting the enemy's position, the enemy's martial art, his height, dimensions of his weapon, as well as the height of the sun and many other things. The calculations were very complicated, and once the calculations were finished, the sword would immediately attack and it would hit its target. In the past, Yuyinzi had thought of this sword move and felt he didn't have the ability to memorise and count all sorts of numbers in such a short time during a fight. So he didn't learn this skill deeply and only heard of its existence and put it at the back of his mind. His master was also actually not proficient at this technique. He only said, "This 'Daizong Way' technique is very difficult to learn and doesn't seem practical at all; but its power is unmatched. Since you don't have the desire to learn it, you won’t be able to learn this sword move, but it doesn’t matter. All of your martial brothers aren't as attentive as you, so they also wouldn't be able to learn this move. It's a pity this profound sword art, with no match in this world, will be lost to us from now on.” When his master didn't force him to learn this sword move, Yuyinzi felt relieved. Later on, he had never seen anyone in Taishan School practiced this move ever again.