Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 01

by Jin Yong

  His criticism naturally included Yue Buqun as one of the “idiots” he had mentioned, but since firstly, Linghu Chong felt the comments were quite convincing, and secondly, Feng Qingyang didn’t mention Yue Buqun’s name specifically, he didn’t argue.

  “Learn it lively and use it lively is only the first step. Only when you can fight with no moves, you will eventually reach the realm of a true elite fighter. When you said ‘all the moves become an integral whole, then the enemy would have no way of breaking them’ earlier, you’ve only gotten less than half right. It’s not ‘an integral whole’ but simply no moves. No matter how hard you work on making the moves an integral whole, as long as there’s a trace of the connection, your enemy would have a flaw to exploit. If you don’t have any moves at all, then how is your enemy going to break your move?”

  Linghu Chong’s heart thumped wildly and even his palms became burning hot as he mumbled, “No move at all, how do you break it? No move at all, how do you break it?” Suddenly, a whole new world he had never seen before or even dreamed about appeared in front of his eyes.

  Feng Qingyang continued. “If you want to slice a piece of meat, you need to have the piece of meat before you can slice it; if you want to cut some firewood, you need to have the firewood before you can cut it; if your enemy wants to break your sword move, he needs to have your sword move before he can break it. When an ordinary person who has never learned any Kung Fu waves a sword wildly, no matter how knowledgeable you are, you still wouldn’t be able to predict where his next thrust or chop will land. Even someone with the most advanced sword skills still wouldn’t be able to defeat his move. Because there is no move, it’s impossible to break the move. If this person has never learned any Kung Fu, then even though he doesn’t have a sword move, others can still knock him down easily. True first-class sword art, on the other hand, will enable you to control others, not controlled by others.”

  He picked up a shinbone from the ground and randomly pointed one end of it at Linghu Chong. “How are you going to break this move of mine?”

  Linghu Chong had no idea what move that was. After a pause, he said, “This is not a move, so there’s no way I can break it.”

  “That’s correct.” Feng Qingyang smiled. “When a Kung Fu practitioner uses a weapon or throw punches and kicks, he would always have moves. All you need to know is how to overcome it, and once you do know how, you can easily defeat his move and subdue him.”

  “But what if the enemy didn’t have any move either?” Linghu Chong asked.

  “Then he must be a first-class elite fighter also. The result of the fight could go either way. Maybe you are better, or maybe he’s better,” Feng Qingyang answered. He let out a sigh and said, “In today’s world, it’s very difficult to find such an elite fighter. If by chance you meet one or two, then you have really good fortune. During my entire life, I’ve only met three of them.”

  “Who are these three?” Linghu Chong couldn’t help but ask.

  Feng Qingyang stared at him for a short while and then split into a smile. “Among Yue Buqun’s apprentices, there’s actually one who likes to poke his nose everywhere and not willing to devote himself to sword training. Great! Wonderful!”

  “Sorry, I am wrong.” Linghu Chong blushed and quickly bowed for forgiveness.

  “No, you are not wrong.” Feng Qingyang smiled. “You are a lively lad, just the type to my liking. We don’t have much time left. You go ahead and work on merging all the thirty to forty Huashan style sword art moves together. Think how you can get them going smoothly with no interruption, and then try to forget all of them. You need to forget all of them completely without leaving a single one in your head. Then, a bit later, you can use the Huashan Style Sword Art With No Moves to fight Tian Boguang.”

  “Yes!” Linghu Chong answered, feeling half surprised and half pleased.

  Linghu Chong studied the drawings on the rock with rapt attention. During the past several months, he had memorized the Huashan style sword moves on the rock wall well, so he didn’t have to spend any time learning the moves. All he had to do was to try to connect all the distinct and separate sword moves together.

  “Everything must be following the natural rhythm. Act when you have to act and stop when you have to stop. If you simply can’t connect some of them, then don’t connect them. In short, don’t force anything,” Feng Qingyang pointed out.

  Linghu Chong nodded. Since all he had to do was to follow the natural flow, it became an easy task for him regardless of connecting them cleverly or clumsily. Soon, he had connected all the thirty to forty moves of Huashan style sword art together. But to merge all of them into one with no traceable rigid gaps was not so easy. He waved his sword, sometimes slashing to the left, sometimes chopping to the right, without thinking about any moves drawn on the rock wall. He didn’t care if his posture or position was close to the drawing or not and simply followed his own will. Occasionally when he had a smooth one, he couldn’t help but feeling quite pleased with himself.

  He had been in sword training for over ten years. Every time when he practiced, he would always stay very focused with all his heart, not daring to slack in any way. Yue Buqun was a very strict teacher. When his apprentices practiced forms or sword arts, if anyone’s arm or leg were slightly off from the perfect position, he would immediately correct them. Everyone’s every move or posture had to be in the absolutely perfect position without a single error to get his approval. Linghu Chong was the first and most senior apprentice, besides, he was always eager to do well in everything and excel others. In order to gain praises from Master and Master-Wife, he always put in extra efforts to be strict with himself. Feng Qingyang, on the other hand, had taught in a totally opposite way – the more casual the better. That fitted in with his personality just perfectly. He felt the kind of carefree and joy beyond words, and it seemed as if the pleasure was even more enjoyable than drinking ages old good wine. While he was still intoxicated in practicing, Tian Boguang had shouted from outside.

  “Brother Linghu, will you please come out so we can have another contest.”

  That brought Linghu Chong back to reality. He stopped and stood still.

  “Grand Uncle-Master, do you think this random slashing and chopping style sword form of mine will enable me to block his fast knife chops?” Linghu Chong asked hopefully.

  “If you want to block, of course it won’t help you much. But why do you have to block?” Feng Qingyang said.

  Linghu Chong immediately got the idea and the feeling of joy washed over him.

  “That’s right. He is begging me to go down Mount Huashan with him, so of course he dared not to kill me. In that case, despite what knife moves he uses, I can simply ignore them and just focus on my own attacks.”

  Linghu Chong stepped out of the cave with his sword in his hand and saw Tian Boguang waiting with his knife drawn.

  “Brother Linghu, after Grandmaster Feng gave you some knacks and pointers, your sword skills surely improved a lot. However, when you sealed my point just now, it was only because of my oversight. I am not convinced yet. Let’s have another fight,” Tian Boguang suggested.

  “Fine!” Linghu Chong answered as he thrust his sword out in a crooked manner. The blade wobbled as it moved forward; there was no strength attached in the thrust at all.

  “What kind of move is that?” Tian Boguang was bewildered.

  Seeing Linghu Chong’s sword getting closer, Tian Boguang was just about to fend it off using his knife when Linghu Chong suddenly pulled his right hand back and jabbed the sword toward an empty space. Then following the jab, Linghu Chong retracted the sword quickly. The sword handle almost struck his own chest when he flicked his wrist, which sent the sword handle to another empty space to his right. Tian Boguang was even more bewildered. He threw a gentle probing chop cautiously. Linghu Chong didn’t even care to dodge and simply drove his sword tip toward his opponent’s lower stomach in an angle.

  “How weird!” Tian Bog
uang shouted as he turned his knife around to block it.

  After the two exchanged several moves, Linghu Chong started using the Huashan style sword moves on the rock wall, attacking without any defending, almost as if he was just practicing sword form all by himself. The continuous attacks sent Tian Boguang into a frantic rush.

  “If you decide to ignore this chop of mine again, don’t blame me when I chop your arm off!” Tian Boguang shouted.

  “It’s not going to be that easy!” Linghu Chong grinned as he initiated another three thrusts, all attacked from very odd and unusual positions. Relying on his fast eyes and quick hands, Tian Boguang successfully fended all of them off. Just when he was about to start his counter-attack, Linghu Chong suddenly threw his long sword straight up in the air. Tian Boguang looked up at the sword in the air when suddenly a heavy punch landed squarely on his nose. Blood immediately gushed out from his nose. While Tian Boguang was still in shock, Linghu Chong used his hand as a sword and stabbed it out, and it struck Tian Boguang on his Tan-Zhong Acupoint once again. Tian Boguang slowly collapsed down, his face covered with a mixture of confusion and anger.

  Linghu Chong turned around and Feng Qingyang called him back into the cave.

  “You just got yourself another three hours for sword training. He is hurt even worse this time. He won’t be able to wake up as easily as the last time. Only that when you fight him the next time, maybe he’ll go all out and might not yield to you any more. You must be very careful. Go ahead and try out those Hengshan style sword art moves.” Feng Qingyang suggested.

  After getting more pointers and advice from Feng Qingyang, Linghu Chong used each move as if there was no move – with the essence of the move but without the form of it. Those unique Hengshan style sword moves by themselves were already extremely unpredictable and volatile, now it was even more difficult to find any trace of gap among them.

  After Tian Boguang woke up, the two of them fought another seventy to eighty moves before Tian Boguang got knocked down once again.

  It was already quite late in the day. Linghu Chong placed Tian Boguang, who was unable to move at all because of the sealed acupoints, behind some big rocks when Lu Dayou brought food up the cliff, while Feng Qingyang stayed inside the back cave.

  “Sixth apprentice brother, I am having some real good appetites these days. Will you please bring some extra food tomorrow?” Linghu Chong asked.

  Lu Dayou could tell that his big apprentice brother’s face glowed with health and radiating vigor, quite different from the depressed and upset one in the last couple months. He couldn’t help with his joy. He also noticed that Linghu Chong’s robe was soaked with sweat and thought that Linghu Chong must have been practicing assiduously with his sword techniques.

  “Great! I’ll bring up a large basket full of food tomorrow,” he said.

  After Lu Dayou left, Linghu Chong opened Tian Boguang’s sealed acupoints and invited him and Feng Qingyang to have dinner together. Feng Qingyang had enough after only a half bowl full of rice. Tian Boguang on the other hand, felt very aggrieved and had no appetite at all, raking the food in his mouth and pouring out streams of abuses at the same time. Suddenly, with a loud crack, the china bowl in his hand smashed into pieces from the tremendous forces coming from his grip. Broken china pieces and rice fell all over his clothes and the floor.

  “Brother Tian, why are you being so hard on a rice bowl?” Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter.

  “Damn it, I am being hard on you,” Tian Boguang yelled in rage. “When we fought, you took advantage of me and spared no effort in defending yourself whatsoever, only because I didn’t want to kill you. Tell me, you think this is fair? If I hadn’t given ground to you, I’d have chopped your head off within thirty moves. Humph! Humph! Damn the little…little….”

  Obviously he had wanted to scold Yilin, the little nun, but for some reason he stopped short, instead, he stood up and drew his knife.

  “Linghu Chong, come and fight me again if you’ve got guts,” he yelled out.

  “Fine!” Linghu Chong replied and stepped forth, sword in hand.

  Using the same strategy again, Linghu Chong paid no attention to Tian Boguang’s fast knife chops and simply stabbed his sword at Tian Boguang with clever moves. But this time Tian Boguang was quite relentless. After they exchanged about twenty moves or so, he threw two chops – one landed on Linghu Chong’s thigh and the other one left a cut on Linghu Chong’s left arm. He had shown some mercy after all – neither of the two wounds was critical. In astonishment accompanied by great pain, Linghu Chong found himself in a very awkward situation. His sword techniques became very sluggish and only a few move later, Tian Boguang kicked him down to the ground.

  “Do you want more fights?” Placing the sharp blade right next to Linghu Chong’s throat, Tian Boguang yelled. “Humph, I’ll make sure to leave a couple of cuts on you every time, so even though you won’t die, your blood will drain and your arms and legs will look really good.”

  “Of course I want more fights! Even if I can’t beat you, do you think my Grand Uncle-Master Feng would just look on with folded arms and let you ride roughshod?” Linghu Chong rebuffed with a smile.

  “He is a senior grandmaster. He won’t pick a fight with me,” Tian Boguang said as he moved his knife away.

  Fearing that Feng Qingyang might start a fight out of anger because he had wounded Linghu Chong, Tian Boguang was actually quite apprehensive. Even though Feng Qingyang looked very old, he sure wasn’t rotten. From Feng’s piercing eyes, Tian Boguang could tell that Feng must have excellent inner energy, not mentioning his god-like sword skills. He figured that Feng didn’t even have to kill – all Feng needed to do was to drive him down Mount Huashan, and that would be just as bad.

  Linghu Chong tore a piece of his robe off and used it to wrap up the two wounds before entering the cave.

  “Grant Uncle-Master, that chap has changed his strategy and decided to cut me for real now! If my right arm gets wounded and can’t use a sword anymore, it would be impossible to beat him.” Linghu Chong shook his head in a wry smile.

  “Luckily it’s late already. You can tell him that you’ll fight him again tomorrow morning. Let’s not sleep tonight. I’ll use the entire night to teach you three sword moves,” Feng Qingyang instructed.

  “Three moves?” Linghu Chong repeated, not understanding why a mere three sword moves would take up an entire night to learn.

  “You look like a smart one. I wonder if you are really that smart or only look like one. If you are truly smart, then you might be able to learn the three sword moves within the night. If you aren’t smart and only have ordinary comprehension, then…then…there would be no need to fight him again tomorrow morning, and you can simply admit your failure and follow him off Mount Huashan!” Feng Qingyang said.

  Hearing those words from his Grand Uncle-Master, Linghu Chong knew that the three sword moves must be very extraordinary and sophisticated. That actually aroused his willingness to take on the challenge.

  “Grand Uncle-Master,” he said fearlessly, “if I can’t learn these three sword moves within one night, then I’d rather die from his blade than surrender and leave Mount Huashan with him.”

  “Good.” Feng Qingyang smiled. He raised his head and thought for quite a while before finally saying, “To learn three moves within one night is really asking for the impossible. You won’t need the second move just yet. We can work on only the first one and the third one. But…but…many of the variations in the third move come from the second move. Very well! Let’s ignore all the related variations and see if it will work.”

  He was more like talking to himself. But after thinking about it for a moment, he shook his head.

  Seeing the worried look on Feng Qingyang’s face, Linghu Chong became very anxious. The harder it is to learn a type of martial arts, of course, the more powerful it will be. Then he heard Feng Qingyang murmuring again.

  “If he forgets one of the three hundred and
sixty variations in the first move, then he would get the third move wrong. That’s not going to work.”

  Linghu Chong was astonished when he heard that only the first move already contained three hundred and sixty variations.

  Feng Qingyang started counting with his fingers. “Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-Wang, Wu-Wang tends toward Tong-Ren, Tong-Ren tends toward Da-You. Jia turns into Bing, Bing turns into Geng, Geng turns into Kui. Zi connects Chou, Chen connects Si, Wu connects Wei. Wind to thunder is one change, mountain to lake is one change, water to fire is one change. Qian and Kun activate each other, Zhen and Dui activate each other, Li and Si activate each other. Three increases to five, five increases to nine….”

  The more he counted the more worried he looked. Finally he said with a heavy sigh, “Chong, when I learned this move, it took me three months. To expect you to learn two moves in one night is really like a joke. Think about it, ‘Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-Wang….’”

  At those words, he stopped talking and apparently was lost in deep thought. After a long while, he asked.

  “Now, where was I?”

  “Grand Uncle-Master, you said Gui-Mei tends toward Wu-Wang, Wu-Wang tends toward Tong-Ren, Tong-Ren tends toward Da-You,” Linghu Chong answered.

  “Ha, you’ve got good memory. What’s next?” Feng Qingyang raised his eyebrows.

  “Grand Uncle-Master said, ‘Jia turns into Bing, Bing turns into Geng, Geng turns into Kui….’” Linghu Chong recited along and was actually able to repeat almost half of what Feng Qingyang said, but he could no longer remember the rest of it.

  “Have you learned the General Index of the Dugu Nine Swords before?” Feng Qingyang was astonished.

  “No. I have never learned anything like that before. I had no idea that this is called the Dugu Nine Swords.” Linghu Chong replied.

  “If you haven’t learned it before, how come you are able to recite it?” Feng Qingyang asked.