by Jin Yong
“He is in great pain right now, I shouldn’t bother him,” she thought, so she just stood there quietly. The man’s breathing gradually fell into a slow rhythm. Apparently the medicine was doing its job, and he had fallen asleep again.
“Sis,” Qu Feiyan whispered, “why would you die for Linghu Chong? Do you really like him that much?”
“No, no! Miss Qu, I am a Buddhist nun. Please don’t say such disrespectful words to Buddha! Big Brother Linghu and I had never met each other before, but he gave his life to save mine. I…I just feel I owe him so much!” Yilin said breathlessly.
“What if he was alive again? Would you be willing to do anything for him?”
“Yes, even if I had to die a thousand times for him, I would have no complaints.”
Qu Feiyan suddenly raised her voice and said, “Big Brother Linghu, listen up, sis Yilin said it herself….”
“Don’t joke about it!” Yilin cut her off angrily.
Qu Feiyan simply ignored her and continued in a loud voice. “She said: if you are not dead, she would do anything for you.”
From Qu’s tone, Yilin could feel that she really wasn’t joking. Her heart started pounding faster and faster, and she also began to get dizzy. She could only murmur, “You…you…” Within seconds, Qu Feiyan lit a candle. She opened the curtain and beckoned Yilin over with a big smile on her face. Yilin slowly walked to the bed full of dread. Suddenly, it seemed as if the entire world started swirling around her; she found herself falling down to the ground.
Qu Feiyan quickly caught her by the shoulder before she actually hit the floor.
“I know this is going to be a big surprise! Go ahead and see who he is!” she exclaimed.
“He…he….” Yilin’s voice was so weak, and she could hardly breathe. Although the man on the bed had his eyes shut tightly, with his thick eyebrows and thin lips on a long rectangular face, Yilin immediately recognized him. It was none other than the one who had fought at the Huiyan Wine House, Linghu Chong.
Yilin grabbed Qu Feiyan’s arm tightly. “He…he is not dead?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“He is not dead yet, but if your medicine doesn’t work, he’ll die soon.” Qu Feiyan smiled gently.
“He won’t die, he definitely won’t die! He…he is alive!” Filled with surprise and happiness, the emotions overwhelmed Yilin, and she started crying.
“Hey, he’s not dead, what are you crying for?” Qu Feiyan asked curiously.
Yilin felt her legs giving out on her, so she had to lean on the bed as she continued to shed more tears.
“I am so happy!” she said. “Qu, I don’t know how to thank you enough! You saved…saved Big Brother Linghu.”
“Hey, you saved him. I don’t have the skills to save him, and I don’t have ‘Heavenly Connecting Glue’ either!” Qu Feiyan said.
Suddenly, Yilin understood. She stood up slowly and held Qu Feiyan’s hand. “Your grandpa did it. It was your grandpa!”
Someone shouted outside, “Yilin, Yilin!” That was the voice of Sister Dingyi. Yilin was astounded, and was just about to answer when Qu Feiyan blew out the candle in her hands and then covered Yilin’s mouth.
“Don’t you remember what kind of a place this is? Don’t answer!” she hissed at Yilin.
Yilin found herself bewildered. It was quite embarrassing being in a brothel, but refusing to answer her Master’s call, that was something she had never done before in her life.
Dingyi’s voice rang out, “Tian Boguang, get your ass out here! Let Yilin go!”
Tian Boguang’s laughter came from the westside room. “Well! If it isn’t the White-Cloud Nunnery Senior Sister Dingyi of the Heng-Shan Sword School!” he continued cackling for a few moments, and then finally spoke. “I really should go out to pay my respects, but to leave all these cute ladies here on my bed alone wouldn’t be good manners either. I guess I’ll just stay here then. Ha-ha, ha-ha!” The coquettish laughter of several girls joined in. Obviously the women were prostitutes. “Sweetheart, don’t pay any attention to her. Give me another kiss…,” one of them said huskily. The lascivious voices of the women grew louder and louder. Tian Boguang must have egged them on to keep Sister Dingyi away.
Dingyi was outraged. “Tian Boguang, if you don’t get your ass out here, I will cut you into ten thousand pieces!” she shouted.
Tian Boguang laughed. “If I don’t get my ass out, you’ll cut me into pieces. If I do haul my ass out, you’ll cut me into pieces just as well. I guess I’d better keep my ass put. Sister Dingyi, you nuns really shouldn’t be in places like this. Why don’t you go back to your nice convent? Your apprentice is not here. She is a model nun who always follows all the convent rules. Why would she come here? Don’t you think it’s rather bizarre for your holiness to come here to look for your apprentice?”
Dingyi exploded. “Blazes! I’m going to set this damn place on fire! We’ll see how long he can stay in there!” she retorted.
Tian Boguang laughed again. “Sister Dingyi, this spot is named the ‘Jade House,’ and it is one of the most famous sites in the town of Hengshan. I suppose it would be no big deal if you set it on fire, but when the story gets out, everybody’ll know that it was Sister Dingyi from the White-Cloud Nunnery of the Heng-Shan Sword School who burnt down the ‘Jade House’ brothel in Hengshan. People who hear this would ask themselves, ‘Sister Dingyi is a respectful senior Sister, why would she go to such a filthy place?’ The answer would be that, ‘She went there to look for her apprentice!’ People who hear this would have to ask, ‘Why did the apprentice of the Heng-Shan Sword School go to the Jade House?’…I’m guessing that all these questions wouldn’t do the reputation of your school any good. Let me tell you something, Tian Boguang fears nothing and nobody in this entire world except that apprentice of yours. I’d be busy running away at the sight of her. How would I be able to bother her?”
Dingyi reluctantly saw his point, but an apprentice had reported that she saw Yilin walking into this house with her own eyes, and Tian Boguang had also attacked her. There could have been no mistake. Her anger kept growing, but the only thing she could do was to stamp the flagstones beneath her feet.
“Tian Boguang, did you murder my apprentice Peng Renqi?” demanded a voice from the roof across the way. The Head Master of the Qingcheng Sword School had arrived.
“Aha! Even the respectful Head Master of Qingcheng Sword School has come to visit,” Tian Boguang crowed. “Hengshan Jade House is going to be so appallingly famous from now on. They’ll never need to worry about getting business again! I did kill a fellow. His sword skills were ordinary, but seemed to be the moves of the Qingcheng Sword School. But as to whether his name was Peng Renqi or not, sorry, I really didn’t have the time to ask.”
Within the space of a blink, Yu Canghai leapt into Tian Boguang’s room, and a shower of ringing steel followed; Yu Canghai had started fighting with Tian Boguang. Sister Dingyi stood on the roof and listened to the sound of clashing weapons.
“That rascal Tian Boguang really has some skills,” she thought to herself. “His quick knife strokes seem to be evenly matched with the sword thrusts from the Head Master of the Qingcheng Sword School.”
Suddenly there was a loud “bang” followed by absolute silence. Yilin held onto Qu Feiyan’s hand tightly; cold sweat soaked her palms. She had no idea who had won the fight, Tian or Yu? Tian Boguang had bullied her several times, and she should have wished for Yu Canghai to win, but deep in her heart, she was really hoping the opposite. It would be better if Yu Canghai and her Master were to just leave, so that Linghu Chong could rest and heal peacefully and quietly. He was already on the brink of death, and if Yu Canghai were to rush into the room, the stress itself would surely cause his wounds to break open and kill him.
Tian Boguang’s voice rose from afar, “Master Yu, don’t you think it’s a little crowded in this room? Let’s go to the clearing in the field and fight a couple hundred rounds and see who the better man is! If you win, I�
��ll relinquish this cute hottie ‘Little Jade’ to you! But if you lose, this chick will have to be mine!”
Yu Canghai almost exploded in anger. The scoundrel’s words had implied that they were fighting to gain the favor of a whore named “Little Jade” in the “Jade House.” He considered his situation. When they were fighting inside the room, over fifty bouts passed in no time. Tian Boguang’s knife moves were well organized and balanced in both attack and defense. His skills were really no less than that of his own. Even if they were to fight another couple of hundred rounds, he still couldn’t ensure victory would be his.
Everything quieted down. Yilin could even hear her own heartbeat. She leaned closer to Qu’s ear and asked in a whisper, “Do you think…they will come in here?”
Qu was actually much younger than her, yet Yilin was completely helpless in such an embarrassing situation. Qu did not answer, and just covered Yilin’s mouth with her hand.
Liu Zhengfeng’s voice suddenly rose. “Master Yu, the villain Tian Boguang has committed so many crimes; he definitely won’t come to a good end. We’ll get him eventually. There’s no rush right now. This brothel has been the source of much immoral behavior; I have always wanted to trash it. Please let me handle this. Danian, Weiyi, Let’s search inside. Don’t let anybody leave!”
Xiang Danian and Mi Weiyi, the two apprentices of Liu House, acknowledged the command in unison. Dingyi also sent out orders and had her apprentices surround the brothel.
Yilin became increasingly worried. She could hear the voices of the apprentices from the Liu House coming closer and closer, searching room after room. Liu Zhengfeng and Yu Canghai stood by the side and directed the apprentices. Loud cries from the proprietors could be clearly heard while they were thrashed by Xiang Danian, Mi Weiyi, and the rest of the apprentices. Apprentices of the Qingcheng Sword School began smashing furniture, teacups and wine kettles, leaving a trail of destruction behind them. Knowing that all those people would soon arrive, Yilin became so worried that she almost passed out.
“My Master came to rescue me,” she thought, “and I did not answer her call. I am in a brothel and in the same room with Big Brother Linghu late at night. Even though he is badly wounded, when all those guys from the Hengshan Sword School and the Qingcheng Sword School come in all at once, I wouldn’t be able to explain the situation even if I had a hundred tongues. The reputation of the Heng-Shan Sword School would undoubtedly be damaged and how…how can I face my Master and all the apprentice sisters again?” She drew her sword and brought the blade toward her own throat.
Qu Feiyan heard the sound of a sword unsheathing and instantly realized what Yilin was doing. She grasped Yilin’s wrist quickly.
“Stop! Let’s dash out together,” she whispered.
Sounds of movement came from the bed. Linghu Chong had sat up.
“Light the candle!” he whispered.
“Why?” Qu Feiyan asked.
“I am telling you to light the candle!” Linghu Chong said. His voice had a tone of authority in it. Qu Feiyan did not say another word and lit the candle.
With the light of the candle, Yilin could see Linghu Chong’s white and bloodless face, a face that looked almost like that of a corpse. She uttered a cry.
Linghu Chong pointed at his overcoat at the end of the bed.
“Put that over…over my shoulders,” he said.
While trembling like a falling leaf in a storm, Yilin picked up the overcoat and draped it over Linghu Chong’s shoulders. Linghu Chong pulled the front of the overcoat so that it covered all the bloodstains and the wound on his chest.
“You two, lie on the bed,” he said.
“This is fun!” Qu Feiyan giggled. She dragged Yilin and they slipped under the quilt.
By then, the people outside had noticed the candlelight in the room. “Let’s check that room out!” someone shouted. They all started to head toward the small room.
Linghu Chong took a deep breath, rushed to close the door, and locked it with a wooden bar. He walked back to the bed and lifted the curtain.
“Hide under the quilt!” he ordered.
“Don’t…don’t move too much. Watch out for your wounds,” Yilin begged.
Linghu Chong stuck his left hand out and pushed her head under the quilt while pulling Qu’s long hair out from under the quilt and spreading it all over the pillow. Just that simple movement caused his wound to break open, and blood gushed out again. He lost the strength in his legs and had to sit on the bed.
Someone had already started knocking on the door heavily and it sounded like he was beating a drum. “You son of a turtle, open the door!” one of them shouted. Then with a loud cracking sound, the door was kicked open and four people rushed in.
The leading person was none other than the Qingcheng apprentice Hong Renxiong. Astonished to see Linghu Chong, he immediately jumped back several paces.
“Linghu…It’s Linghu Chong….” he muttered.
Xiang Danian and Mi Weiyi had never met Linghu Chong before, but had both heard that Luo Renjie had killed him. So when they heard Hong Renxiong shouting out Linghu Chong’s name both were shocked and also stepped back. Everyone had his eyes wide open and just gazed at Linghu Chong.
Linghu Chong stood up slowly. “You…this many people….” he muttered.
“Linghu…Linghu Chong, you’re…you’re not dead?” Hong Renxiong murmured.
“How can I die so easily?” Linghu Chong answered coldly.
Yu Canghai stepped forward. “You are Linghu Chong? Excellent, excellent!” he said. Linghu Chong glanced at him but did not answer.
“What are you doing in this brothel?” Yu Canghai demanded.
Linghu Chong began laughing loudly. “Are you kidding me? What do you think people do in brothels?”
“I’ve heard that the Huashan Sword School has very strict school rules,” Yu Canghai said coldly. “You are the senior apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, the best student of ‘Gentleman Sword’ Mr. Yue, yet you sneak up here to sleep with prostitutes. Very funny! How very ironic!”
“Whatever rules the Huashan Sword School has,” Linghu Chong said, “that’s our own business. No need for you or anybody else to worry about it.”
Yu Canghai was an experienced person. Seeing Linghu Chong’s extremely white face because of blood loss, and his trembling legs, he could tell that Linghu Chong had been wounded badly. Could it be a trap? Then he thought, “The little nun of the Heng-Shan Sword School said this guy was killed by Renjie, but he is actually still alive. Obviously the little nun was lying to cover things up. During her tale, she called him Big Brother Linghu this and Big Brother Linghu that, so full of tenderness; maybe they have already become a couple. Someone saw the little nun coming to this brothel, but now no one can find her; most likely this guy has hidden her somewhere. Hmm! The Five Mountains Sword Alliance always considered themselves the true Martial Arts academies, and looked down upon my Qingcheng Sword School. If I can sort that little nun out, then not only would the reputation of the Huashan Sword School and the Heng-Shan Sword School be trashed, the entire Five Mountains Sword Alliance would also be humiliated, and they would never be able to flaunt themselves in the Martial World again!” He looked around quickly but did not see anyone else besides Linghu Chong. “Looks like that little nun is hiding in the bed,” he concluded.
“Renxiong! Lift open the bed curtain. Let’s find out what kind of show we have in the bed,” he said to Hong Renxiong.
“Yes, Master!” Hong Renxiong answered and then stepped forward. With his previous unpleasant encounter with Linghu Chong still fresh in his mind, he couldn’t help glancing at Linghu Chong and hesitating.
“Do you want to die?” Linghu Chong threatened.
Hong Renxiong choked, but reassured by the presence of his master, he felt better and drew his sword.
“What do you want?” Linghu Chong asked Yu Canghai.
“The Heng-Shan Sword School lost a female apprentice; someone saw her in th
is brothel, so we need to search here,” Yu Canghai demanded.
“This is the Five Mountains Sword Alliance’s own matter. Why doesn’t the Qingcheng Sword School mind its own business?” Linghu Chong mocked.
“We will find an answer today, whether you like it or not! Renxiong, go for it!” Yu Canghai ordered.
“Yes sir!” Hong Renxiong held his sword out and used the blade to lift the bed curtain.
Yilin and Qu Feiyan held on to each other as they hid under the quilt; they heard every word between Linghu Chong and Yu Canghai loudly and clearly. Greatly worried, they could not help trembling. Then when they heard the sound of Hong Renxiong lifting the bed curtain, both were frightened to death.
After Hong Renxiong had lifted up the bed curtain, everyone stared at the bed. There was a large red silk quilt with two love birds embroidered on it. Obviously there was someone under the quilt. Long black hair was spread all over the pillow. The quilt was trembling. The person under the quilt must have been terrified.
Yu Canghai was very disappointed when he saw the long hair on the pillow. It was quite obvious that the one under the quilt was not a bald little nun. Linghu Chong was really sleeping with a prostitute.
“Master Yu,” Linghu Chong said coldly, “although you are a Taoist Priest, I heard that Qingcheng priests don’t have rules against marriage and you’ve already got yourself many wives. If you are so fond of naked woman, and want to see the girl naked, why don’t you go ahead and lift up the quilt to have a good look? Why pretend to look for a female apprentice of the Heng-Shan Sword School?”
“Damn you!” Yu Canghai yelled while throwing a knife hand chop at Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong turned his body aside to dodge the blow coming toward him, but he was quite weak because of his wounds and wasn’t able to dodge fast enough; the edge of Yu Canghai’s chopping blow glanced his body. He could not hold himself steady and collapsed onto the bed. Gathering all his strength, Linghu Chong stood up again, but blood began dripping out from the corner of his mouth. His body shook a couple of times as he spat out some more blood. Yu Canghai wanted to hit him again, but out of the blue, a voice came from outside the window.
