by Jin Yong
"Junior discovered this stone cave accidentally, and no one else knows of its existence," Linghu Chong explained. He then immediately told them how he discovered this stone cave, and he also told them how someone with an axe had dug several hundred feet through the mountain, but this person had died from exhaustion inches away from breaking through.
Great Master Fangzheng asked, "Using an axe? Could it be that he was 'Divine Strength Demon' Fan Song?"
"He was! There was a sentence on the wall that says: 'Fan Song and Zhao He defeat Heng-Shan sword art here'."
"Zhao He? He's one of the ten elders called 'Divine Flying Demon'. Was he using a thunder mace?" Fangzheng asked.
"Junior doesn't know about this, but on the ground of the cave, there was a thunder mace there. Junior remembered the inscription on the stone wall, the ones who defeated the Huashan School's sword art were called Zhang Chengfeng and Zhang Chengyun."
"It's true then, they are the two brothers 'Divine Golden Monkey Demon' Zhang Chengfeng and 'Divine White Ape Demon' Zhang Chengyun. It was said that their weapons were copper cudgels," Fangzheng said.
"That's right. The pictures on the stone wall showed cudgels defeating my Huashan School's sword art. It was really wonderful and unthinkable."
"That place you saw is apparently the trap that the five mountains sword schools had prepared to capture those ten elders from the Devil Sect. Once they were trapped in that mountain cave, they were locked up and were unable to get out," Fangzheng deduced.
"Junior also has the same thought. That's why those people thought that they had been treated unfairly and wrote those swear words on the stone wall and touted that they had defeated all the sword arts of the five mountains sword schools. They wanted to let people know in the future that they hadn't been defeated in a fight but had been trapped instead. There were also some Huashan School's sword arts engraved on the stone wall, they were extremely wonderful and it seems that even my master and master-wife don't know about them. Junior doesn't know the reason for this but now that I've heard Great Master Abbot relating the past story, it's certain that these high sword arts were lost after most of Huashan School's seniors lost their lives there. Heng-Shan, Taishan, and the other schools seemed to have lost their
high sword arts as well since then."
"That's right," Chongxu affirmed.
"There were also some long swords that belonged to the five mountains sword schools besides the bones of the Devil Sect's ten elders," Linghu Chong added.
Fangzheng let out an unusual expression and said, "I don't know the reason. Maybe the ten elders snatched them from the hands of the five mountains sword schools people. Have you talked to anyone about what you saw in that cave?"
"After Junior discovered that cave, I've been going from one misfortune to the next and haven’t had any time to mention this to master and master-wife. But grand martial uncle Feng knows about it already," Linghu Chong said.
Fangzheng nodded his head. "My younger martial brother Fangsheng once had the opportunity to meet senior Feng and received his favour. Martial brother Fangsheng told me that your sword technique was taught by senior Feng. We know that during the time when Huashan split into two branches, senior Feng had already decided to leave Huashan to be on his own."
Chong Xu said, "It was said in Wulin that during the time when Huashan split into two and were fighting amongst themselves, senior Feng was away in Jiangnan getting married. When he heard news of the fighting, he quickly returned to Huashan but the Sword faction had already lost with numerous casualties on their side. Otherwise with his wonderful sword art in the fight, the Qi faction would never have gotten the upper hand. Senior Feng felt immediately that the Jiangnan's family that his wife was supposed to be from might be a hoax. Actually, that guy Yue Zhang had secretly received instruction from the Huashan's Qi faction to hire a prostitute and tell her to pretend to be a lady from an esteemed background looking to be married so that they can restrain Senior Feng in Jiangnan. Senior Feng then went back to Jiangnan to look for that Yue's family he was to marry, but everyone was missing. He realized then that he had been tricked. Rumor has it that Senior Feng was so extremely angry that he cut off his own head."
Fangzheng's expression changed as he looked at Chongxu wanting him to stop talking. But Chongxu pretended not to understand and the last thing he said was, "Headmaster Linghu, poor Taoist respects senior Feng completely and would never dare to talk about his private life. So I told you about this matter today so that you understand that heroes get into trouble because of women. When a gentleman makes a mistake, it's not such a big deal, but they can't keep falling deeper and deeper into that mistake."
Linghu Chong knew that he was using the analogy to talk about Yingying. But knowing that Priest Chongxu had said this with good intentions, Linghu Chong just sighed and did not answer. He thought, "Grand martial uncle Feng has been living at the Cliff of Contemplation for all these years. So he really regrets about his past and he's too ashamed to see people of the orthodox path in Wulin. That's why he told me not to tell anyone of his whereabouts and he also said that from then on he doesn't want to see anyone from the Huashan School anymore. A grieve misfortune befell on him and for these past tens of years, he has been living by himself. After I've settled this big matter, I'll go up Cliff of Contemplation to talk to him for a while. Now that I'm no longer a member of the Huashan School, paying him a visit wouldn't be considered violating his order."
The three people talked for half a day until the sun was going down the mountain, painting a crimson colour across the horizon. Fangzheng said, "Not long after Huashan School's Yue Su and Cai Zifeng wrote down the ‘Sunflower Manual', they were killed by the Devil Sect's ten elders so they didn't have time to practise it yet and the Manual was taken by the Devil Sect. That's why no one in Huashan School had managed to learn any martial art from the Manual. But Yue and Cai had perceived the Manual differently; one said the study of qi was more important while the other gave more importance to the study of sword. They had separately convinced the school's disciples with their own viewpoints and this later resulted in the division of Huashan School into two branches - Qi and Sword. This division caused the disciples from the two branches to fight amongst themselves within the school. This Manual really is a very inauspicious item."
Chongxu nodded his head. "The five colours blind people, the five tones deafen people, that's the theory."
Fangzheng said, "Even though the Devil Sect managed to get the partially completed Manual written by these two brothers, perhaps it has no benefit at all. The ten elders perished on Huashan because of this. Headmaster Linghu said before that Chief Ren passed the Manual down to Dongfang Bubai. Perhaps the hatred between these two people was also caused by this Manual. In actuality, this incomplete manual is probably not even as good as the one memorised by Lin Yuantu."
Linghu Chong asked, "Who's Lin Yuantu?"
"En, Lin Yuantu was your martial brother Lin's great grandfather, the founder of the Fortune Prestige Escort House, the one who used the seventy-two stances of Evil Resisting Sword Art to shake the world; that was him," Fangzheng answered.
"This senior Lin, did he also see the 'Sunflower Manual' before?" Linghu Chong inquired.
"He was Reverend Duyuan, the disciple of Reverend Hongxie!" Fangzheng explained.
Linghu Chong was shaken when he heard this. "So that's what happened."
"Reverend Duyuan originally had the surname Lin, so when he went back to the secular world, he retook his original surname," Fangzheng said.
"So Senior Lin was Reverend Duyuan, and he was also the same person who shook Jianghu with the seventy-two stances of Evil Resisting Sword Art. This is really unexpected," Linghu Chong mumbled. Suddenly, sadness swelled over him as he remembered how Lin Zhennan died on that night in the worn-out temple outside Hengshan city.
"Duyuan is 'Tu Yuan'. After this Senior Reverend went back to the secular world, he reverted back to his original surname but he inver
ted his Buddhist name and took the name Yuantu. He got married, founded the escort house, and caused a big uproar in Jianghu. This Senior Lin was an upright person. Even though he was running an escort house, his conduct was still heroic and righteous, and he was still eager to help people in distress. He was no longer a Buddhist monk but he was still acting like a Buddhist. One only has to have a good heart to be a Buddhist; not much difference exists between such a person and a Buddhist. Of course, not long after that Reverend Hongxie heard about these events and realised that the head of the Lin escort house was his most loved disciple. But he never paid him a visit." Fangzheng told him.
"Where did this 'Evil Resisting Sword Art' come from after this Senior Lin obtain the essence of the 'Sunflower Manual' from the recitation of Huashan School's seniors Yue and Cai? How come this 'Evil Resisting Sword Art' that's been passed down in the Lin family is not very good?" Linghu Chong asked.
Fangzheng replied, "Evil Resisting Sword Art comes from the incomplete book of 'Sunflower Manual'. Both items came from the same origin but both had only a small portion of the original Manual." Fangzheng turned his head around to Chongxu and said, "Brother Taoist, you have more understanding about the art of sword compared to me. Why don't you talk to young hero Linghu about this matter?"
Chongxu laughed. "If we hadn't been friends for many years, old Taoist would've thought that you were teasing me with that kind of talk. In the art of sword, besides Senior Feng's excellence at the current time, who else is above young hero Linghu?"
Fangzheng said, "Even though young hero Linghu's sword art is excellent, no one could even come close to you in comparing the study of sword arts. We're all friends here so we never have to say any meaningless words; there's no need to be polite."
Chongxu let out a sigh before saying, "Actually, Old Taoist knows that the knowledge of the study of sword arts is vast like the sea and that what I know is only like a grain in a big granary. In the future, I don't know whether I'll have the chance to meet Senior Feng to consult him about this." He then turned towards Linghu Chong and said, "Today, the Evil Resisting Sword Art of the Lin family is ordinary and nothing spectacular. But actually it is the same sword art as the one that senior Lin Yuantu used to shake Jianghu back then. In those days, the headmaster of Qingcheng School was Zhang Qingzi (Tranlator's note: Evergreen in Lanny's translation.) with the nickname 'Number One Sword in the West's Three Gorges' but he still lost to Senior Lin. Today, Qingcheng School's sword art is much better compared to the Fortune Prestige Escort House's Evil Resisting Sword Art; so there must be another reason behind this. What it is, I've been thinking about for a long time already. Actually, all the warriors who study the art of sword have all been thinking of the reason behind this."
Linghu Chong said, "The family of Martial Brother Lin has all perished; both his father and mother died miserably, that was all because of this doubt?"
"That's right. The reputation of the Evil Resisting Sword Art is very well known, but the martial art of Lin Zhennan was very low. This disparity involuntarily caused other people to think that Lin Zhennan was too dumb and couldn't learn his own family's martial art. They then thought a step further; if this sword manual were in my hand, of course I would be able to learn it until my sword art is as splendid as Lin Yuantu back then. Brother, for the last one hundred years, Lin Yuantu wasn't the only one with a reputable sword art. But Shaolin, Wudang, Emei, Kunlun, Diancang, Qingcheng, and also the five mountains sword schools, all have people to pass their sword arts down to, and other people never thought of actually taking these schools' sword arts. But Lin Zhennan's martial art was very poor like that of a three years old baby, and he also had a lot of gold in his hand, so everyone had the intention of robbing him," Chongxu explained.
Linghu Chong said, "This Senior Lin Yuantu was Reverend Hongxie's disciple and he had studied martial art in the Putian Shaolin Temple. He had most likely studied some astonishing martial art while he was there, so this Evil Resisting Sword Art might be a sword art from the Shaolin School with a few changes and addition of his own. It's not necessarily true that it's a completely different sword art."
Chongxu replied, "There were also many people who thought the same thing. But Evil Resisting Sword Art and Shaolin School's martial art were completely different and all the warriors studying the sword art knew it when they saw it. Hey, hey, even though there were many people with the intention of robbing this sword manual, it was finally that shorty from Qingcheng who moved first. Even though that shorty Yu has a really thick face, he's so stupid. How can he be compared to your master Mr. Yue who just bided his time and reaped the benefit?"
Linghu Chong's face changed colour as he stammered, "Priest, what... what are you saying?"
Chongxu smiled slightly and said, "That Lin Pingzhi was accepted into your Huashan School. Naturally, that 'Evil Resisting Sword Art' would also be carried into the school with him. I heard that Mr. Yue also has a lovely daughter who he wants to give away to your martial brother Lin, is this right? He really is farsighted."
When Linghu Chong heard Chongxu saying 'Your master Mr. Yue who just bided his time and reaped the benefit', he felt angry that Chongxu was insulting his honoured master. But hearing him say that his master was 'farsighted', he suddenly thought of the days when Master sent second martial brother Lao Denuo in disguise along with little martial sister to Fuzhou to open up a wine shop. He didn't understand Master's intention at that time, but as he thought of it now, it must've been in connection with the Fortune Prestige Escort House. Lin Zhennan's martial art was ordinary and Master had actually planned that move so deliberately, if it weren't for the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art', what else could it be for? But Master's plan was done skilfully, unlike that of Yu Canghai and Mu Gaofeng. Another thought immediately followed, "Little martial sister is an unmarried young girl, but why would Master told her to go out and open up a wine
shop?" At this thought, a cold shiver ran up his spine and he suddenly understood, "Master wanted little martial sister to accompany martial brother Lin; actually this has been arranged a long time ago."
From the look of his face, Fangzheng and Chongxu noted that he looked uncertain and distressed. They knew that he respected his master and that this kind of talk hurt him deeply. Fangzheng said, "These were only idle talks between old monk and Priest Chongxu, we were just wildly speculating. Your respected master is very upright and known in Wulin as a gentleman. I'm afraid we're just thinking like a small person and absurdly blaming the gentleman." Chongxu smiled slightly on hearing this.
Linghu Chong's heart was in confusion. He was hoping that what Chongxu said was not true, but deep down he knew that every word said was right. Suddenly he thought, "Originally, Senior Lin Yuantu was a monk; that's why there was a Buddhist hall in Xiangyang Lane, and that sword manual was also written on a Buddhist robe. My guess would be that he remembered every word and sentence by heart after being consulted about the Manual by seniors Yue Su and Cai Zifeng on Huashan. As he was still a monk then, that same night he immediately wrote everything down on his robe so that he wouldn't forget anything."
Chongxu said, "Even now, this 'Sunflower Manual' still carries a profound martial art study. Devil Sect has a part of it and your master Mr. Yue has a part of it also. Your martial brother Lin has already joined the Huashan School, so Zuo Lengchan will definitely give Mr. Yue some trouble. He'll have two intentions: one is to kill Mr. Yue in order to merge the five mountains sword schools, and the second one is to snatch this 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'."
Linghu Chong continuously nodded his head and said, "Priest thought correctly. The complete Manual is in Putian Shaolin Temple, does Zuo Lengchan know this? If he does then I'm afraid he'd go and attack the Putian Shaolin Temple."
Fangzheng smiled. "The 'Sunflower Manual' in Putian Shaolin Temple was destroyed a long time ago. So there's no need to worry about it."
Linghu Chong was surprised, "Destroyed?"
Fangzheng answered, "Just before Reve
rend Hongxie passed away, he gathered all the disciples and told them the result of studying the Manual. Then he immediately put it into the fire saying, "The martial art study in this manual is profoundly deep and wonderful, but there are many crucial points in its study. The person who had created it
didn't necessarily manage to study it completely as there are still many difficulties left in the Manual especially the first step in its study. This first step isn't only difficult, it simply couldn't be done. So if it were to be passed on to later generation, it would really be the bad luck of Wulin." He then left behind a letter for the abbot in Songshan's temple saying the same thing."
Linghu Chong sighed. "Reverend Hongxie was really wise. If there were no 'Sunflower Manual' in this world, then all these changes in Wulin wouldn't happen." His thought immediately followed, "No 'Sunflower Manual' means that there's no 'Evil Resisting Sword Art', then master wouldn't have arranged little martial sister to accompany martial brother Lin, and martial brother Lin wouldn't have joined the Huashan School, and he wouldn't have met little martial sister." But he turned around and thought, "But I'm just a wanderer who makes friends with people from the unorthodox path, so what's that has to do with 'Sunflower Manual'? A gentleman follows his own instincts and reaps what he sows; there's no need to blame anyone else."
Chongxu said, "On the fifteenth of next month, Zuo Lengchan will be gathering the five mountains sword schools on Songshan to elect a head master. What's Young Hero Linghu's esteemed opinion on this?"
Linghu Chong laughed. "Is there even a need for an election? This headmaster position naturally belongs to Zuo Lengchan."
"Young Hero Linghu doesn't want to oppose it?" Chongxu asked.
"Songshan, Taishan, Hengshan, and Huashan Schools are already secured by him, while my Heng-Shan School is the only one left. Even if we oppose the merger, it'll still be in vain," Linghu Chong answered.
