by Jin Yong
After another twenty moves, Yue Lingshan's long sword slashed at his left leg and Linghu Chong lifted his left leg to kick at her sword. Yue Lingshan lowered her sword edge to chop at his leg. Linghu Chong's long sword hurriedly attacked her right waist and Yue Lingshan circled her sword. The two swords met with a resounding clang and the points of both swords vibrated. Both of them immediately thrust forward at the same time towards each other's throat. Their speed was unmatched. Looking at both swords thrusting forward at such speed, it seemed no one would be able to go up to save them and they would both meet common ruin. The crowd called out in surprise. But the crowd heard a sudden ringing sound and saw that the points of both swords pushed against each other in mid air, generating sparks and then bent together to make an arch. Both then sent their palms forwards, clashed palms, and floated down separating from each other.
No one could've guessed of this outcome; that the points of these swords could unexpectedly and opportunely meet in mid air like this. It was very hard for two sword points to come together like this just for once even after thousands of sword fights. But these two people had unexpectedly done this once in a lifetime deed. Nobody around there had ever seen such a unique incident of two sword points meeting in the middle of the air in the thousands of sword fights they had seen. But Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan had actually practiced thousands of time to do just this, and they had accomplished what they had set out to do quite some time ago. This move must be done by the two of them simultaneously. When they started their moves, the positioning and power must be completely right. When both sword points met with enough speed behind them, they would bend and make an arch. This sword art was not useful in actually winning a fight against an opponent. But to Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan, this was a very amusing and interesting thing to do though it was very difficult. After they had finished practising this sword move, they took it a step further and practised till the sword points would hit with sparks flying around. When they had finished practising this move on Huashan, Yue Lingshan asked what name they should call this move by. Linghu Chong answered, "What do you think we should call it?"
Yue Lingshan laughingly answered, "The two swords meeting together simply can't take anyone's life. How about we call it 'Common Ruins'?"
Linghu Chong said, "Common Ruins, it sounded like you and I have absolutely irreconcilable enmity between us. How about we call it 'You Die I Live'!"
Yue Lingshan pouted and said, "Why I die you live? You die I live is the correct one."
Linghu Chong said, "I did say 'You Die I Live'."
"This you and I, it's not clear. No one dies in this move so we should call it 'Live Together Die Together'."
Linghu Chong clapped and said it was a good name. Yue Lingshan thought this name of 'Live Together Die Together' was too intimate, so she dropped her sword and ran.
The crowd saw the two of them were on the verge of death before escaping from an extremely dangerous situation. Cold sweat was running down their hands, and they had even forgotten to cheer. That day in Shaolin temple, when Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong fought, even though Yue Buqun used the moves from Chong Ling sword art to urge him to return to Huashan School, he didn’t use this move. Though Yue Buqun secretly peeped into their practice and found out the moves from Chong Ling sword art, he didn’t devote his time into practising this nonsense and useless ‘Live Together Die Together’ move. That was why when Fangzheng, Chongxu, Zuo Lengchan and the other masters saw it, they were all greatly surprised.
Yingying was frightened and felt uneasy after seeing it. She saw they were both smiling as they separated and floated down. From their attitudes and postures, it seemed as if they were wrapped in a warm and gentle spring breeze. Both of them lifted their swords and fought again. When they created this sword art on Huashan, they were suited to each other and mutually loved each other. For this reason, the sword art they created contained a lot of playful elements and not much killing intention. Now as they fought, they unwittingly returned to their old scenery. Their swords were slow, their eyebrows were lifted, and gradually, the tender feelings from when they were childhood friends bursted forth. This ‘sword fight’, it would be better to call it ‘Dancing with Swords’, or better yet, a ‘Sword Dance’. This ‘Sword Dance’, however, was not for entertaining guests but rather for entertaining oneself. Suddenly, from among the crowd, she heard someone uttered a ‘Hey!” and sneered coldly. Yue Lingshan was startled when she realised it was her husband’s voice. She thought, “It’s not right for me to fight big martial brother like this.” She circled her sword, slashed upwards, and pierced it forward powerfully. This sword movement looked beautiful as it was a stance out of the Huashan School’s ‘Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword’. Linghu Chong had also heard Lin Pingzhi’s cold sneer and saw how Yue Lingshan promptly changed her move afterwards. The coming attack wasn’t soft anymore and didn’t look anything like the Chong Ling sword art which was full of tangled up meanings.
His heart felt sour, and all of a sudden, all kinds of past events bubbled up in his minds. He remembered the days when he was being punished by Master on the Cliff of Contemplation to meditate. At that time, little martial sister came every day to deliver him his meals. One day, it snowed heavily and the two of them actually spent a night together inside the cave.
He also thought of the time when little martial sister got sick and the two of them did not met for many days. The pain of lovesickness blossomed in him then. But at that time, without knowing how, Lin Pingzhi unexpectedly gained her favour. From then on, the two of them started to misunderstand each other as days go by.
He also thought of the day after little martial sister had learned the ‘Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword’ from Master-Wife. She came to the cliff to test the moves against him but he was feeling bitter at that time, and he unexpectedly didn’t let…. He thought of these things in just a blink of an eye. At this moment, Yue Lingshan’s long sword had almost arrived at his chest. As Linghu Chong’s mind was in confusion, he flicked out with a finger in his left hand. ‘Ring’, he flicked at her long sword resulting in Yue Lingshan being unable to hold on to her sword. It flew out of her hand and shot up into the sky.
After Linghu Chong had flicked out the sword, he gloomily called out, "Oops!" He saw Yue Lingshan's expression had turned bitter looking like she wanted to smile, yet unable to smile. That day on the Cliff of Contemplation, Linghu Chong had also used a similar move to flick her treasured sword, the 'Sword of the Green Pool', down the bottomless abyss of a valley. From this incident, a wall had grown between the two of them. He never expected that today he would actually repeat what he did before. For these last few days, on calm nights, he had sometimes pondered on why he flicked away Yue Lingshan's long sword and realised it was because he was jealous of Lin Pingzhi. When his feelings were bubbling forth inside him, it was hard for him to control himself, so he himself was to be blamed. How could he have known that his old jealousy would come out again when he saw how Yue Lingshan's attitude changed on hearing Lin Pingzhi's voice. That day on the Cliff of Contemplation, with a flick, he was already able to shake the long sword off Yue Lingshan's hand. This time, with his current internal energy, he cannot say how far the sword would actually go as it soared high into the sky and actually didn't come down for a little while.
His thought turned quickly, "I actually wanted to lose to little martial sister and make her happy. But I flicked her long sword away now and that's really going to make her lose some face in front of all these heroes. How could I use such a despicable method to repay for little martial sister's friendship?" He took a glance and saw that the long sword was now in mid air and coming down. He immediately shifted his body and called out, "Good Heng-Shan sword art!" He looked as if he had exhausted his energy. In fact he was positioning his body on the point where the sword was coming to. With a 'pu' sound, the long sword entered the back of his left shoulder. Linghu Chong threw himself forward and nailed his long sword o
n the ground.
This accident happened so fast that the crowd called out and was then stunned into silence. Yue Lingshan was alarmed as she said, "You... Big martial brother..." She saw a bearded man rushed up with his long sword up. The injury on the back of Linghu Chong's shoulder was spouting blood, and more than ten disciples from Heng-Shan School encircled him. Some of them struggled to take their medicines out to apply it on him. Yue Lingshan didn't know whether he would live or die, so she went up to see. With a flash, two swords barred her path. A female nun shouted, "Cruel woman!" Yue Lingshan was startled and retreated a few steps. She didn't know what to do.
Yue Buqun laughed long and hard, then in a clear voice said, "Shan'er, you used the sword arts from Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools to defeat the three headmasters from each respective schools. That's very hard to do!"
Yue Lingshan dropped her long sword. The crowd saw that Linghu Chong had flicked her long sword away, but it was Linghu Chong who was then injured by her long sword. Those were the facts. But whether that move was Heng-Shan's sword art or not, no one could say. When they were fighting using the Chong Ling sword art, the spectators couldn't understand what they were seeing but they knew the moves were simple and artless, and completely useless. Only the dancing looked good. At the end, it turned into a mishap and everyone was surprised that it would end up like this. Now, when they heard Yue Buqun praising his daughter that she had used the each school's sword art to defeat the three headmasters, they thought this move Yue Lingshan used of sword dropping down from the air was indeed Heng-Shan School's sword art. Although some people had doubts because they felt this sword art was very different from Heng-Shan's sword art and yet they couldn't tell the origin of that sword art. So it was inconvenient to publicly debate this with Yue Buqun.
Yue Lingshan picked up her long sword and saw her sword was covered in blood. Her heart was drumming fiercely and she thought, "How is he? As long as he doesn't die, I'll... I'll..."
Chapter 34 Snatching the Leadership
Zuo Lengchan slowly raised his sword and pointed the sword at Yue Buqun's chest. Yu Buqun crossed his arms in sleeves behind his back and gazed at the sword tip without a blink. Zuo Lengchan's right sleeve started filling up just like a sail starting to gain wind.
The crowd was commenting on what they had seen when a loud and clear voice said, "Huashan School, under the careful study of Mr. Yue has thoroughly understood the sword arts from Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools. Not only has he understood them, he has actually perfected them and this really makes other people admire him. If Mr. Yue doesn't take up this headmaster position of the Five Mountains School, then there's no one else we can choose." The person who spoke was wearing a ragged and soiled gown. He was the leader of Beggar Clan, Xie Feng. Fangzheng, Chongxu, and he had the same thought that harm would come upon Wulin once Zuo Lengchan merged the five mountains sword schools, and that sooner or later, trouble would come upon the Beggar Clan. He also thought that it was better for the refined gentleman Yue Buqun to be the Five Mountains School's headmaster than the wildly ambitious Zuo Lengchan.
Ever since Beggar Clan existed in Jianghu, they had always been very powerful. Hearing what the Beggar Clan's leader said, the common people didn't dare to rashly object to his words. Suddenly, a deep and cold voice said, "Miss Yue is proficient in Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools' sword arts. This is really commendable. If you can use Songshan sword art to win against my sword, then the whole Songshan School will accept Mr. Yue as the headmaster." The one who said this was of course Zuo Lengchan. As he talked, he had walked up to the middle of the courtyard with his left hand gripping his sword's scabbard. With a ringing sound, his long sword jumped out of the scabbard, and with a flicker of light, the long sword hovered in mid air. He extended his right hand and grabbed the sword's handle. This move was extremely pleasing to the eye. With a grip of his left hand, he used his internal energy to force the long sword out. This kind of deep internal energy was rarely seen or heard of. Of course the disciples of Songshan School cheered loudly, and the heroes from the other schools also applauded thunderously.
"I... I'll only use thirteen moves. If within these thirteen moves I can’t win against martial uncle Zuo..." Yue Lingshan replied.
Zuo Lengchan angrily thought, "You little girl dare to openly receive my swordplay? How daring! You even put a limit of thirteen moves. So you regard me as if I'm nothing." He then coldly said, "If you can't best me within thirteen moves, then what?"
"How... How can I be martial uncle Zuo's match? I've only learned thirteen moves of Songshan School's sword art from my father. Martial uncle Zuo can verify this with your own hand."
Zuo Lengchan snorted.
Yue Lingshan continued, "My father said that even though these thirteen moves are Songshan School's brilliant sword art, when I use them, he's afraid that in just one move my sword would be shaken out of my hands by martial uncle Zuo, and it'll be impossible for me to even get to the second move."
Zuo Lengchan again snorted and didn't express his opinion. When Yue Lingshan first started talking, her voice was trembling. Whether it was because her strength was depleted or because she was facing such a big hero in Wulin and became afraid, no one knew. But as she continued talking, her voice gradually calmed. She went on, "I said to Dad: 'Martial uncle Zuo is without question Songshan School's number one master, but he's not necessarily the number one master in our five mountains sword schools. His martial art is high, but he may not necessarily be proficient in all the five mountains sword schools sword arts like you, Dad.' My dad then said: 'This word proficient, it's easier said than done. All I know is some basic skills only. If you don't believe me, you can fight against martial uncle Zuo once you've learned this kind of three-legged cat skills of Songshan School sword art. If you can fight against martial uncle Zuo's earth-shattering Songshan sword art for more than three moves, then I'll praise you as my good daughter.'"
Zuo Lengchan laughed coldly and said, "If you defeat me within three moves, then you'll become an even better daughter for Mr. Yue."
"Martial uncle Zuo's sword art is godly, and talent such as yours has rarely been seen in hundreds of years at the Songshan School. I had only learned a few moves of the Songshan sword art from my father and I just did that recently. How can I dare to think such wild thoughts? Father told me to receive three moves from martial uncle Zuo; but I am foolishly deluded to hope I can receive thirteen moves of martial uncle Zuo's Songshan sword art. However I don't know whether I can fulfil my wish or not."
Zuo Lengchan thought, "Don't say thirteen moves, if I let you go beyond three moves, then I already have no face to show anymore." He lifted his left hand and extended his thumb, forefinger, and middle finger to grab the point of his sword. Holding the sword point, he then suddenly let go of the long sword from his right hand and like a string plucked, the sword handle shot forward and swayed. "Make your move!"
With this stunt, Zuo Lengchan created a sensation throughout the crowd. Not only was he using his unfavoured left hand to use the sword, but he was also holding the sword by gripping the sword point with three fingers while the sword handle faced the opponent. Compared to fighting a naked blade with bare hands, fighting with a sword gripped at sword point by three fingers was ten times more difficult. Receiving a slight shake to the sword might slash his fingers, and if this happened, how would he still be able to hold onto the sword and use it?
It was obvious that Zuo Lengchan was greatly indignant and was showing complete disdain towards Yue Lingshan by using such method. In addition, he deliberately shocked everyone with this marvellous skill. Seeing him holding his sword this way, Yue Lingshan trembled. She thought, "What kind of martial art is he using? Daddy didn't teach me anything like this." And fear started to grow in her heart. She also thought, "Since it has come to this, what's the use of being afraid?" With this last thought, she quickly glanced towards the crowd of Heng-Shan School's disciples. She saw they were still in a
circle but she didn't hear any crying. She guessed that although Linghu Chong's injury was serious, his life wasn't threatened.
She raised her long sword above her head and bowed. This was the move called 'The Whole School Facing the Ancestors', which was an original sword art from Songshan. The meaning of this sword move was to show respect. Songshan's disciples burst into cheers feeling quite pleased. Whenever Songshan's disciples were about to trade moves with the school's seniors, they must use this move first. The meaning was they wouldn't dare to fight with the senior but were instead asking for some pointers from the senior. Zuo Lengchan nodded slightly and thought, "How unexpected that you can use this move! Finally you're being clever in showing me this move. I won't let you be too shamed then."
After Yue Lingshan had finished using the move 'The Whole School Facing the Ancestors', with a flash, her long sword changed into a white rainbow as it thrust towards Zuo Lengchan. This move looked really grand, and it was precisely the essence of Songshan School's sword art. Even though Zuo Lengchan was well educated in the Songshan School's sword art of 'Inside Eight Groups, Outside Nine Groups', and in these seventeen groups, he knew very well the length and speed of each sword art group, he had never seen this move before. He was greatly startled and thought, "What move is this? From my Songshan School's seventeen sword art groups, it seemed none of them is higher in level than this move. This is strange." Not only was he a great master in Songshan, he was also a great scholar of martial study of this generation. So once he saw his own school's grand and mysterious sword move, he wanted to see it clearly. He saw Yue Lingshan's attack was coming, but her internal energy wasn't powerful, so once her sword came to a few inches from his body, he could just shook it out of her hand. But if he did that, he wouldn't be able to see whether there were more strange changes in the moves after this one.