by Jin Yong
When Yue Lingshan reached the town's wall, she stopped for a second before continuing on her way. Linghu Chong felt that this was very weird. He followed her at around forty to fifty feet and he kept his steps light to keep her from hearing them. On Fuzhou's road, Yue Lingshan turned east and then west, not hesitating at all when she arrived at an intersection. It seemed that she was familiar with the path she was taking. After going for more than two li, she took a turn into a small alley when she reached the side of a stone bridge.
Linghu Chong flew up to the top of a house and saw Yue Lingshan reaching the end of the alley. She then jumped over the wall of the big house to go inside. The house had a black door with white walls. The wall was lined with rattan trees on the top. Inside the house, there were a few windows bright with lights from the inside. Yue Lingshan walked to a side window in the east and peeped through the window. Suddenly, she made a few sharp sounds, "Zi, zi, zi". At first, Linghu Chong thought that this place was an enemy's house that she was peeping into. But when he suddenly heard her made those sharp sounds, he already guessed what she was doing. Even so, when he heard the voice of the person inside, he felt really disappointed.
The person inside said, "Martial sister, are you trying to scare me to death? If I die then I'll become a ghost and be just like you."
Yue Lingshan giggled, "Smelly Lin, dead Lin, are you saying I'm a ghost? Careful, I'll dig your heart out."
"You don't need to do it. I'll do it myself and give it to you," replied Lin Pingzhi.
Yue Lingshan laughed, "Ok. I'm going to tell mommy that you're talking to me in this kind of manner."
Lin Pingzhi also laughed, "If Master-Wife asked when and where did I say these words to you, then how are you gonna answer?"
"I'll say today at noon when we were practising sword moves. You didn't have the heart to practise anymore and just spent the time saying those words to me."
"If Master-Wife got angry then she'll lock me up and I won't be able to see you for three months."
Yue Lingshan replied, "Pei! Am I that desirable? If you don't see me then you don't see me! Hey, open the window already!"
Lin Pingzhi pushed the window open while laughing at the same time. Yue Lingshan stepped back and went to the side of the window. Lin Pingzhi said to himself, "I thought martial sister has come just then. But there's no one outside," and slowly closed the window. Yue Lingshan quickly jumped through the window. Linghu Chong was crouching at the corner of the house and was able to hear them joking around. They were talking like there was no one else in the world. Linghu Chong wished that he hadn’t heard those words. But unfortunately for him, he heard every word very clearly.
From the reflection on the window, it looked like that the two of them were now hugging each other as their laughter gradually quietened down. Linghu Chong lightly sighed as he dropped his head and walked away when he suddenly heard Yue Lingshan said, "It's so late, how come you still haven't slept yet? What were you doing?"
Lin Pingzhi answered, "I was waiting for you."
Yue Lingshan giggled, "Pei, you're not afraid losing your teeth for telling lies. How did you know I was gonna come back?"
Lin Pingzhi explained, "The Mountain God calculated from my fluttering heart that my good martial sister would come back."
Yue Lingshan said, "I understand from looking at this house in such a mess that you must be looking for that sword manual. Am I right?"
Linghu Chong stopped and turned back around when he heard the words "sword manual". Then he heard Lin Pingzhi said, "I've been searching this house for the last several months. I've even turned over the roof tiles one by one. The only thing I haven't done is tear down the wall and look at the bricks. Martial sister, there's really nothing in this old house. How about we really tear the walls down and take a look?"
Yue Lingshan answered, "This is your own Lin family's house. If you wanna tear it down or not, it's up to you. Why do you need to ask me for?"
"That's why I must ask you first."
"Why?"
Lin Pingzhi reasoned, "If I don't ask you then who do I ask? In the future, won't your.... your surname... surname become mine... hng.. hng... hehe."
Hearing this Yue Lingshan laughed and scolded him, "Smelly Lin, dead Lin, you think marrying me would be that easy, don't you?" Then "pa, pa" sounds were heard. It sounded like that she used her hand to hit him. As the two people were laughing inside the house, Linghu Chong was heartstricken outside. He really wanted to leave but that Evil Resisting Sword Manual was a matter of great importance to him.
When Lin Pingzhi's parents died, he was the only one there and they left him a message to give to their son. It was because of this that he had now suffered a lot of blame. He had learnt Dugu Nine Swords from grand martial uncle Feng but everyone from Huashan School believed that he had deceived them and took that Evil Resisting Sword Manual for himself. Even martial sister suspected him of deceiving them. To be fair, the cause of this matter couldn't be blamed on other people. That day when he practiced sword with Master-Wife, he easily stopped her ‘Unrivaled and Unmatched, The Thrust of Ning’. At that time, he had spent several months by himself on that cliff. Suddenly, his sword art had advanced by a lot and it wasn't the same as their school's sword art. If he didn't learn another school's sword art then how would he have improved so much? And if this sword art wasn't the Lin family's Evil Resisting sword art then what else could it be?
He had earlier promised grand martial uncle Feng not to reveal anything about him. Thus, he couldn't say anything to argue against other people when they accused him of theft and worse. As he thought tonight, Master must have expelled him because of this although publicly it was said that he was expelled because he was colluding with people from the Devil Sect. But the other major reason must be because they believed that he had embezzled them of the Evil Resisting Sword Manual. Thinking that he had done this despicable conduct, Master wouldn't have tolerated him belonging to the Huashan School anymore. Right now he had to endure the sour taste in his heart as he heard these two people, Yue and Lin, joking around as they also talked about the sword manual. He had to endure it to wait for the truth to be revealed.
He then heard Yue Lingshan said, "You've already been looking for several months now but still haven't found it. Of course, that sword manual isn't here. Why do you still need to tear the wall down? Big brother.... Big brother said those words to you, do you think they're real?"
Linghu Chong ached in his heart, "She still calls me "Big brother"."
Lin Pingzhi said, "Big brother did pass on dad's final words. He said there's an object left by my ancestor in the old house at Xiang Yang Lane and I wasn't allowed to read it. I think Big brother must have borrowed the sword manual and hasn't returned it yet..." Linghu Chong coldly smiled and thought, "You're saying this so politely and didn't say that I’ve embezzled you. You only said that I borrowed it and hasn't returned it yet. Hng, hng, you don't have to be that restrained in scolding me."
He then heard Lin Pingzhi continued, "But the words "old house at Xiang Yang Lane" can't be made up by big brother. My dad and mum must've told him these words. Big brother and my family weren't acquainted. Also he had never been to Fuzhou so he wouldn't know that Fuzhou has several Xiang Yang Lanes. Furthermore, he wouldn't know that my ancestors' old house is at Xiang Yang Lane. Even people from Fuzhou might not know much about it."
Yue Lingshan said, "If we consider that what your dad and mum said was true then what do we do?"
"When big brother told me my dad's last word, he also mentioned: "don't read". That thing that I'm not allowed to read, is it a classic scripture or some accounting book? I've been thinking about it over and over, and I'm sure it has something to do with the sword manual. Martial sister, since dad's last word mentioned the old house in Xiang Yang Lane, even though the sword manual isn't here, we might still discover some kind of clue here," said Lin Pingzhi.
"That might be a possibility. These last few days, I saw that you
've been feeling pretty down. At night, you came to this place instead of staying at the escort house and sleeping. I was worried for you and that's why I came here to take a look. So during the day, you're practising sword and accompanying me while at night you're here digging a nest," said Yue Lingshan jestingly.
Lin Pingzhi weakly smiled and sighed, "My dad and mum died miserably. When I find the sword manual, I'll be able to use it to deal with my enemies and console my dad and mum in heaven."
Yue Lingshan said, "I don't know where big brother is right now. If only I can meet him then it'll be good because I can ask him to return the sword manual to you. He has been practising for a long time already so his sword art must be extremely high now. He should return the sword manual back to its owner. I'd say, little Lin, why don't you give up this idea and stop searching inside this old house. If you don't have this sword manual, then finish learning my dad's Divine Art of Violet Twilight then you'll get your revenge."
Lin Pingzhi said, "Of course. But my dad and mum were tormented and died miserably. If I can use the Lin family's sword art to take revenge then it would be a real revenge which would get rid of the insult done to my dad and mum. Also, our school's Divine Art of Violet Twilight isn't easily passed down to the disciples. I was the last one to enter the school so even if Master and Master-Wife want to give me a look, martial brothers and martial sisters would refuse to accept this. They would say... would say... "
"What would they say?" Yue Lingshan demanded.
"They would say that you and I are not a real couple. That it's merely for me to have a look at the Divine Art of Violet Twilight and to get Master and Master-Wife's favor," explained Lin Pingzhi.
Yue Lingshan said, "Pei! I don't care what they say, let them say whatever they want. I only need to know that your heart is real then everything's ok."
Lin Pingzhi laughed, "How do you know that I'm real?"
A "pai" sound was heard. But Linghu Chong didn't know whether she hit his shoulder or his back. She then spat out, "I know that your heart is false and insincere, you're heartless and cruel!"
Lin Pingzhi laughed, "Ok, ok.... you've been here for a long time already, you should go back. I'll take you back to the escort house. If Master or Master-Wife find out then I'll be in big trouble."
"You're getting rid of me, aren't you? I can go back by myself. I don't need you to take me back." She didn't sound pleased at all. Linghu Chong knew that she must be pouting her small mouth at this moment and looking angry. Her expression must be attractive right now.
Lin Pingzhi said, "Master said that Devil Sect's former Chief, Ren Woxing, has reappeared in Jianghu. I also heard that he had arrived in Fujian and that this person's martial art is immeasurably deep. He's also heartless and ruthless. If when you're walking alone late at night and unfortunately meet him, then... then what would you do?"
Linghu Chong thought, "So Master knew about this matter already. Must be because I've made such a big disturbance in Xianxia mountain range. Everyone must be saying that Ren Woxing has reappeared. How can master not heard about this news? I don't need to write that note anymore."
Yue Lingshan said, "Hng, so if you take me back and we unfortunately meet him then you'll be able to kill or capture him?"
Lin Pingzhi answered, "You're teasing me again. You already knew that my martial art isn't that high. Of course, I'm no match for him but I only wanna be together with you. If we were to die, then we should die together."
Yue Lingshan softly said, "Little Lin, I didn't mean that your martial art isn't high enough. You're practising so hard that in the future, you'll surely be stronger than me. In fact if you're more familiar with the sword art right now and we fight in a real battle, I probably won’t be your match."
Lin Pingzhi laughed lightly and said, "Only if you use your left hand then maybe we can have a competition."
"I'll help you look around. You're already too familiar with this house so you won't notice anything strange. But maybe I'll be able to recognise something," said Yue Lingshan.
Lin Pingzhi said, "Alright. Go have a look and see if there's something strange here."
After that Linghu Chong heard the sound of drawers and tables being pulled. After some time, Yue Lingshan said, "Everything is so ordinary here. Is there any unusual place in this house?"
Lin Pingzhi thought for a while and said, "Unusual place? No."
Yue Lingshan asked, "Where's the courtyard to practise martial art?"
Lin Pingzhi said, "We don't have a courtyard to practise martial art here. When my great grandfather opened the escort house, he moved everything and lived there. Both my grandfather and father also lived and practised their martial art in the escort house. Also, dad said the word "read", what's there to read in the courtyard?"
Yue Lingshan said, "That's true. Let's go to your family's study room and have a look."
Lin Pingzhi said, "We're an escort house. We have an accounting room but no study room. The accounting room is also in the escort house."
Yue Lingshan said, "That thing is really hard to find. What's there to read in this house?"
Lin Pingzhi said, "I've been pondering over what big brother told me. He said dad told me not to read what great grandad left me. But I think that this sentence might be the other way around, it might be that my dad was telling me to look for this thing left by my great grandad in this old house17. But what's there to read in this house? I've been searching all over this place but I've only found my great granddad's Buddhist scriptures."
Yue Lingshan jumped up and clapped her hands. She said, "Buddhist scriptures! That's very good. Ancestor Da Mo left sword manuals inside Buddhist scriptures. So it's not uncommon for this."
When Linghu Chong heard what Yue Lingshan said, he got excited. He thought, "If martial brother Lin can find that sword manual inside a Buddhist scripture then it'll be good. He won't suspect me of embezzling him anymore."
But he heard Lin Pingzhi said, "I've already thought of this. I've read not only one or two scriptures, or even eight or ten scriptures. I'm afraid I've even read more than one hundred scriptures. I've gone and bought Jingang scripture, Fahua scripture, Xin scripture, Lengqie scripture and compared them all with my great granddad's Buddhist scriptures. But not one word is different. They're all normal scriptures."
Yue Lingshan said, "Then there's no point reading them."
She thought deeply and suddenly said, "Have you looked in between the scriptures binding?"
Lin Pingzhi pondered, "The binding? I haven't thought of that. Let's go take a look."
They each took a candle and walked out of the room hand in hand going towards the back courtyard. While Linghu Chong followed them from the top of the house by looking at lights coming out of the windows. They finally arrived at a room facing the northwest. Linghu Chong followed them and went down to the courtyard. He then peeped through a crack in the window.
Inside the room was a Buddhist hall. A water painting of Da Mo’s back was hung in the middle of the room. It was portraying the period of nine years when Da Mo meditated facing a wall. At the east side of the hall were a very old kneeling mat and a meditation table. On the table were a wooden fish, a small wooden hammer and a closed Buddhist scripture. Linghu Chong thought, "This was the place where Senior Lin established the Fortune Prestige Escort House. During those days, his name shook the world and he must have killed quite a few people. In his later years, he must have come here to confess for his killings." He then imagined a grand hero of the Jianghu, with his long white hair flying around, sitting alone in this hall, immersed in reading Buddhist scriptures while striking the wooden fish.
Yue Lingshan picked a scripture up and said, "Let's take apart the scriptures and see if we can find this thing in the binding. If we can't find anything then we'll just patch the scriptures again. What do you think?"
"Alright," answered Lin Pingzhi.
He picked a scripture up and started to pull apart the book-bindings. He then spread the scri
pture pages around the floor to see if there's any writing on the part of the pages that were bound. While Yue Lingshan took apart another scripture and put up each page in front of the candle to see if there's anything. Linghu Chong was looking at her back but he was able to see her jade white wrist. She was still wearing that silver bracelet on her left hand. Sometimes, he was able to see the side of her face as she gave a look to Lin Pingzhi and smiled at him before going back to take the scriptures apart. He didn't know whether it was because of the candle or because her cheeks had turned red, but the side of her face looked like a ripe peach.
Linghu Chong was standing quietly outside the window feeling sentimental while the two of them tore apart scripture after scripture. Before long, twelve scriptures were torn apart and were now on the table. Suddenly, Linghu Chong heard a sound behind his back. He quickly pulled back from the window and turned his head around. He saw the shadows of two people coming from the south side of the house. They made a hand signal before jumping down to the courtyard and noiselessly landing on the ground. The two of them then went to the window to look inside the Buddhist hall.
After some time, he heard Yue Lingshan disappointingly said, "We've already taken apart all the scriptures. There's nothing there." She was suddenly excited and continued, "Little Lin, I think we should bring over a basin of water."
Lin Pingzhi asked, "For what?"
Yue Lingshan answered, "When I was small, I heard daddy told me a story about manuscripts immersed in acid. Then they would write on it and when it's dried, the letters would disappear. But when the pages were wetted, the letters would appear."
Linghu Chong's heart turned sour as he remembered the time his Master told this story. Yue Lingshan was only eight or nine years old and he was only around seventeen or eighteen years old. Remembering those past days, the memories bubbled over in his heart. He remembered that day when he went with her to catch crickets. He took the biggest and strongest cricket and gave it to her. But her cricket still lost to his in a fight, so she wept incessantly while he tried to comfort her for a long time. Finally, he was able to comfort her before the two of them went to Master to ask him for a story. Remembering these events, tears started to bubble up in his eyes.
