Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 03

by Jin Yong

  Mr. Black-White knew if this continued for another while, all his internal energy would be eventually sucked dry. Gritting his teeth, he finally managed to draw his sword out of its sheath. Raising the sword high, he wanted to swing the sword down to chop off his own arm, but this movement only caused even larger streams of inner energy surging out of him. A loud ring resonated in his ears and he fainted.

  Linghu Chong had only planned to scare Mr. Black-White when he grabbed onto the man’s wrist. At most he was only going to twist and break Mr. Black-White’s wrist to vent his anger. He certainly did not expect Mr. Black-White to panic so much and faint as if having been scared out of his wits. Laughing out loud, Linghu Chong let go of the wrist, and as soon as he did that, Mr. Black-White’s torso collapsed and his right hand retracted backward from the square-shaped opening.

  Suddenly, an idea shot up Linghu Chong’s mind and he quickly reached for the sliding hand. Luckily he was quick with his move and caught the palm in time.

  “Why don’t I shackle him with the steel chains as a hostage, so I can coerce Mr. Huang-Zhong to let me go?” he thought.

  He pulled Mr. Black-White’s wrist hard to get it closer. Unexpectedly, as he gave the strong pull, Mr. Black-White’s head actually came in also through the square-shaped opening, and then his entire body followed.

  Linghu Chong did not see this coming. After a brief shock, he couldn’t help but scold himself for how stupid he was. The square opening was roughly a foot wide, big enough to a put a head though. And if one’s head can go through it, so can the body. If Mr. Black-White can be pulled in, why couldn’t he get out the same way? It would have been impossible for him to escape previously when his hands and feet were shackled in steel chains. But the shackle rings had been sawed through by someone secretly some time ago. Why didn’t he escape?

  “After Mr. Paint secretly sawed through the shackles around my hands and feet, day after day, he must have hoped that I’d escape the prison following that old man who delivered my food. He must have been extremely anxious by now!” he thought to himself.

  At the time when Linghu Chong had found out about the sawed-through shackle rings, he had been right in the middle of learning those inner energy cultivation techniques and had focused all his attention to the training. Also he had not memorized all the formulas on the steel plate, so subconsciously he didn’t really want to leave the prison cell. Therefore, the thought of running away by himself never even occurred to him.

  Linghu Chong pondered for a second and then came to a decision. He hurriedly removed Mr. Black-White’s robe and his own and then swapped them. He even put Mr. Black-White’s black cloth mask over his own head, thinking, “Even if I bump into someone on my way out, they’ll think I am Mr. Black-White.”

  Next, he hung Mr. Black-White’s sword by his own waist. With the sword right next to his hand, his spirit soured immensely. Then he cuffed Mr. Black-White’s hands and feet with the steel shackles and then pinched forcefully. The shackle rings were so tight that they even cut into flesh.

  The severe pain woke Mr. Black-White, and he groaned, “Revered…revered mister Ren…your…your Magical Art of Essence Absorbing….”

  Linghu Chong had heard of the term “Magical Art of Essence Absorbing” before when he fought alongside Xiang Wentian in the remote wilderness. Someone in the crowd had shouted out this term. Now hearing the term again from Mr. Black-White, he couldn’t resist but ask, “What Magical Art of Essence Absorbing?”

  “I…I…am…damn…damned…,” Mr. Black-White moaned.

  Linghu Chong was in a rush to finally get out of the dungeon. He didn’t pay any more attention to Mr. Black-White. Sticking his head out from the square-shaped opening and also extending his arms out, he pushed gently on the iron door. His body shot out swiftly and he landed on the ground without a stagger. He felt a great amount of inner energy depositing inside his Dan-Tian region once again, which made him quite uncomfortable. He had no idea that the inner energy streams were actually absorbed from Mr. Black-White, and only concluded that the energy streams from Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment had returned to Dan Tian because he hadn’t practiced his energy cultivation techniques for a while. He decided to not worry too much about that and focus on how to get out of the dark dungeon as soon as possible, so he picked up the oil lamp Mr. Black-White had left outside and began following the tunnel out.

  All the gates in the tunnel were left unlocked. He figured that Mr. Black-White must have decided to lock them on his way out. This made his escape so much easier. As he stepped through the many solid gates one after another, the many days of life in the dark underground prison suddenly felt as though they had occurred in a different lifetime. Strangely, his resentment toward Mr. Huang-Zhong and the bunch also seemed to have significantly lessened. All he could think of was the sweet smell of freedom, and everything else in the world no longer mattered to him.

  At the end of the tunnel, he followed the steps upward until he was directly under an iron plate. He listened carefully but didn’t hear anything from the outside. This underground imprisonment experience had taught him to be more careful and cautious, so he didn’t rush out immediately, and instead, waited a good while underneath the iron plate and made sure there was no sound from the outside. By then he felt certain that Mr. Hung-Zhong was indeed not in his bedroom. Lifting up the iron plate gently, he climbed up and then leapt out from the hole in the bed. After carefully returning the iron plate to its original position and pulling the bamboo bedding sheet to cover it up, he treaded softly on tiptoe toward the door way. Then all of a sudden, someone spoke behind him in a gloomy voice.

  “Second brother, what are you doing?”

  Startled, Linghu Chong turned around and then saw Mr. Huang-Zhong, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint completely surrounding him, each wielding his weapon in hand. He didn’t know that the entrance was equipped with secret trapping devices, and his breaking out had triggered the alarm and attracted Mr. Huang-Zhong and the others. Because he had a black mask on and was also wearing Mr. Black-White’s robe, no one had recognized his true identity.

  Greatly frightened, Linghu Chong could only stutter, “I…I….”

  “I what?” Mr. Huang-Zhong demanded in an icy-cold voice. “I had a feeling that you were up to something. You went down the dungeon and asked Ren Woxing to teach you the Evil Art of Essence Absorbing, didn’t you? Humph! Do you still remember what vow you pledged all those years ago?”

  Linghu Chong found himself quite muddle-headed, not able to decide on whether to reveal his true identity or to keep pretending as Mr. Black-White. After a short hesitation, he drew the long sword by his waist and thrust it toward Mr. Bald-Brush.

  “Good second brother! You really want to fight us?” Mr. Bald-Brush bellowed as he raised his brush to ward off the sword.

  Linghu Chong’s sword thrust was only a fake. Seeing Mr. Bald-Brush’s attempt to block his attack, he quickly turned around and dashed out of the room. Mr. Huang-Zhong and the rest immediately chased after him. Running with all his might, Linghu Chong reached the front hall in no time.

  “Second brother! Second brother! Where are you going?” Mr. Huang-Zhong shouted from behind.

  Linghu Chong didn’t answer and kept on running full speed. He suddenly spotted a man standing in the middle of the front gate right in his path.

  “Second Master, please stop!” the man uttered.

  Since Linghu Chong was in such a hurry, he failed to slow down and ran right into the man. The collision sent the man flying in the air and landed almost thirty feet outside of the gate.

  Linghu Chong threw a quick side glance and then recognized the man. It was “Straight Line Lightning Sword” Ding Jian, who, at this very moment, lay straight and stiff on the ground. His body position indeed resembled part of his nickname “Straight Line;” however, it had no relation whatsoever with the other part “Lightning Sword.”

  Linghu Chong dashed along a small road nonst
op. Mr. Huang-Zhong and the others stopped at the gate of the manor and gave up the chase. Only Mr. Paint continued shouting out loud.

  “Second brother! Second brother! Come back! We brothers can always talk things through….”

  Linghu Chong intentionally picked desolated small roads to follow and eventually arrived at an uninhabited wilderness, a place obviously quite a distance away from the city of Hangzhou. Although he had been running continuously at his top speed, when he stopped, he wasn’t tired at all and wasn’t even out of breath. It seemed as though his stamina was even better than the time before he got injured.

  He took off the cloth mask and then heard the sound of gurgling water. Feeling very thirsty, he traced the sound and soon found a small creek. He squatted down and then leaned forward so he could scoop some water to his mouth when he suddenly saw a man’s face in the reflection of the creek water. The face was covered in filth, and with the disheveled hair it looked very odd and ugly. Linghu Chong was briefly startled, and then he couldn’t help but grin. Anyone who got locked up for several months and never bathed would look this filthy. He all of a sudden felt his body itching all over. He quickly removed his robe and jumped into the creek for a good deep cleansing, thinking, “the filth on my body must have weighed more than thirty catties.”

  After he had thoroughly cleaned himself and also had a stomach full of clear water, he tied his long hair on top of his head. Checking in the water reflection, he found the familiar face again, a face that had no resemblance to that swollen face of the Feng Er-Zhong. As he was putting the robe back on, he felt some discomfort and blockage between his chest and stomach, so he sat down and meditated for a while using the newly learned inner energy cultivation techniques. Soon he could feel that the inner energy streams inside his Dan-Tian had been successfully dispersed into his unique channel and eight passages. The Dan-Tian region was once again like a bamboo that was empty inside or a valley that was always void. His entire body seemed to be vigorous and he also felt a soothing feeling of carefree beyond words. He didn’t realize that he had mastered one of the best martial arts in the entire world. The seven streams of inner energy from the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and Monk No-Commandment, together with the inner energy streams infused into him by Great Master Fang-Sheng when he was treated at the Shaolin Temple, had all been transformed into his own. And when he gripped onto Mr. Black-White’s wrist, he had also absorbed into his Dan-Tian the entire load of inner energy Mr. Black-White had cultivated for his entire life. Once he dispersed those into his unique channel and eight passages, he had gained the inner strength of another superior master. Naturally he would feel utterly vigorous.

  He leapt up, drew the long sword by his waist, and leisurely thrust it toward the hanging branch of a green willow by the side of the creek, whisking his wrist gently as he thrust out. The blade whistled as it cut through the thin air and then swiftly returned to the sheath before he landed smoothly on his left foot. Lifting his head, he watched as five leaves slowly drifted down in the air. The long sword cleared its sheath for a second time and made an arcing slash, catching all five leaves on the side of the blade. He picked up one of the willow leaves from the side of the blade with his left hand as a mixed feeling quickly submerged his heart. It was a mixture of joy and disbelief. He stood silently by the creek, and all of a sudden, found deep grieve in his heart.

  “The superior Kung Fu I have right now would not have been possible from Master and Master-Wife’s teaching. But I would rather everything was the way it was as before, when my inner strength and my sword art were equally futile, when I could live a carefree life inside the Huashan School, spending time with little apprentice sister from morning till dusk, instead of wandering the martial world alone like a loitering ghost.”

  His martial arts skills had reached the most superior level, but at the mean time, he had never felt so lonely and desolate in his entire life. All his life he’d enjoyed lively crowds, bosom friends, and tasty wines. In the past several months since he was locked away in the underground dungeon, he had no choice but to be alone. Now that his body had finally break free, but his mind was just as lonely. Standing next to the gurgling creek all by himself, the feeling of joy gradually waned away. The cold moon casted his lonely shadow on the ground as the gentle breeze brushed his body, filling his heart with boundless despair.

  Chapter 22 Out of Trouble

  Ren Woxing picked up the wine kettle and filled a cup with wine. "It's fate that have brought us here together." Said he, "If you agree with my suggestion, then please drink up this cup of wine.

  Linghu Chong sadly stood still for a long time until the moon was directly above his head. The night was still and he pondered over the events that occurred at the Plum Manor. He decided to go back to the manor to understand what had happened and also to rescue senior Ren if he was not a bad person.

  Having finally decided on this course of action, he started his journey back to the Plum Manor. He went up Mount Gu and approached the Plum Manor through the forest surrounding it. He listened for sounds inside the manor and after awhile, having heard no sound, he lightly jumped over the fence onto the manor's ground. All the ten or more rooms inside the manor were shrouded in darkness. However, there was one window on his right with lights from inside the room. He silently walked across the ground and crouched underneath that window. From inside the room, he heard the voice of a person.

  The voice sounded very strict. "Mr. Huang Zhong, do you know your crime?"

  Linghu Chong was surprised. He wondered what Mr. Huang Zhong's position was in this manor when there was someone who could actually use this kind of tone when speaking to him. He peered inside the room from a crack in the window and was able to see four people sitting in a row. Three of these are men around fifty to sixty years old while the other one is a middle aged woman. They were all wearing black robes with a yellow belt tied around their waists. Mr. Huang Zhong, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint were standing in front of them with their backs to the window. From this, Linghu Chong could tell that those people sitting have higher rank than them.

  "Yes, your subordinate knows his crime. On the elders' arrival, we didn't go far to welcome you. Very guilty, very guilty," Linghu Chong heard Mr. Huang Zhong's reply.

  "Hmm, not going far to welcome us, is this a crime? Where's Black-White? Why doesn't he come out to see me?" the gentleman sitting in the middle coldly asked.

  Linghu Chong laughed inside, "Mr. Black-White has been imprisoned by me inside the underground prison, but Mr. Huang Zhong and the rest of them thought that he has run away from the manor." He also thought, "What elder? What subordinate? They all must be people from the devil cult."

  "Four elders, your subordinate has not been strict enough. Mr. Black-White's temperament is strange and recently he has been acting like his former self. In the last few days, he has unexpectedly disappeared from the manor," Mr. Huang Zhong replied.

  This elder's eye flashed and stared at Mr. Huang Zhong.

  "Mr. Huang Zhong, Chief ordered you four to guard the Plum Manor. However, from what we heard, you've been playing zither, drinking wine, drawing and playing go. Is this true?" the elder coldly asked.

  "We four subordinates have accepted Chief's order to stay here and guard the traitor," Mr. Huang Zhong replied while bowing.

  "That is correct. How's that traitor doing?" the elder asked.

  "We can report to the elder that the traitor is still being held inside the underground prison. Over the last twelve years, subordinate has never stepped foot outside the Plum Manor. We do not dare to relax our guard," Mr. Huang Zhong reported.

  "Very good, very good. You never stepped foot outside the Plum Manor and do not dare to relax your guard. So for sure that traitor is still being held inside the underground prison?" the elder questioned.

  "That's true,” Mr. Huang Zhong replied.

  Suddenly, that elder lifted his head and laughed loudly facing the roof. The dust from the ceiling was seen falli
ng around the room.

  "Very good! Bring that traitor here for us to look at," shouted the elder.

  "Four elders, please forgive us. Chief's strict order was not to let anyone visit the traitor except for Chief himself. We don't dare," replied Mr. Huang Zhong.

  The elder took out something from inside his robe and lifted the object he took out high above his head. The other three elders stood up immediately as well, looking at the object reverently. Linghu Chong squinted his eye trying to look at the object. It was a half-foot high dried up black wood. On top of the object was some kind of flowery patterns carved on it which looked completely strange to Linghu Chong.

  Seeing this object, Mr. Huang Zhong and the rest of the people in the room bowed towards the object.

  "Chief's Black Command Wood is here, it's as if Chief himself is here, subordinate is ready to receive order," Mr. Huang Zhong said.

  "Good, bring that traitor here!" commanded the elder.

  "That traitor's hands and feet are bound in metal chains. We can't.... we can't bring him up here," said Mr. Huang Zhong hesitantly.

  "Even until this moment, you still refuse to bring him here. I ask you, has that traitor escaped?" the elder asked coldly.

  "That traitor... that traitor has escaped? Im.. impossible. That person is still locked away in the underground prison. I have just seen him recently with my own eyes. How... how can he have escaped?" Mr. Huang Zhong answered in fright.

  "Oh, so he's still in the underground prison. I've wronged you. Please forgive me," the elder spoke warmly with a softened expression.