by Jin Yong
"Your injury is very heavy, I'm extremely sorry, but I hope you won't blame me," Yue Lingshan apologetically said.
'No, I won't, of course I won't blame you."
Yue Lingshan silently sighed and lowered her head. She quietly said, "I'm going!"
"You... you want to go?" Linghu Chong's disappointment was evident in his speech and expression.
Yue Lingshan slowly walked away with her head down. Just before she went down the mountaintop, she stopped and turned around. "Big martial brother, about the two martial sisters of Heng-Shan School who came to Huashan, father said we’re being impolite and we're very sorry. When we return to Huashan, we'll make up for our offence and accompany them down the mountain."
"Yes, very good, very... very good!" Linghu Chong watched her as she went down the mountaintop until she disappeared behind a pine tree. He suddenly thought of the time on the Cliff of Contemplation when she delivered wine and meals to him every day. But when she left, he had always been reluctant to part and only managed to utter a few words, until finally she shifted her feelings toward Lin Pingzhi and her feelings toward him changed. When he pondered of the things that happened in the past, he was only making things difficult for himself. Suddenly he heard Yihe coldly laughed and said, "What's so good about that girl? Her heart's undecided, and she doesn't treat people with the least bit of sincerity at all. Compared to our young lady Ren, she's not even fit to carry her shoes."
Linghu Chong was surprised and not until now did he think of Yingying who was besides him. He treated little martial sister in such an absentminded manner, of course Yingying had seen it all. His face couldn't help becoming hot. But he saw Yingying leaning on the corner of the place of worship looking like she had dozed off. He thought, "It's good that she's fallen asleep." But Yingying was so alert, how could she have fallen asleep at that time? Linghu Chong knew he was lying to himself. He tried to find a few words to say to her, but he didn't know what to say. But to repay Yingying, he immediately thought of something. At this time, there were no words that could be said, and the best thing to do was not to say anything. However, the best way would be to lead her thought away from what just happened. So he lied down slowly and suddenly groaned lightly like he had hit his wound and it was feeling painful. Of course Yingying would be worried so she came over and quietly asked, "Does it hurt?"
"It's alright," Linghu Chong answered and extended his hand to hold Yingying's hand. Yingying wanted to snatch her hand back but Linghu Chong was gripping it pretty tightly. She was afraid if she used too much force then it'll hurt his wound so she just let him hold her hand. Linghu Chong had lost a lot of blood and was feeling very sleepy, so he slept deeply not long after that.
When dawn broke, the whole mountain was basked in crimson sunlight. Everyone was afraid to startle him into wakefulness so no one dared to say anything. Linghu Chong felt his hand was empty. He didn't know how long it was before Yingying pulled her hand back. But both of her eyes were staring at his face looking very concerned. Linghu Chong smiled at her and sat up. "Let's go back to Heng-Shan!"
At this time, Tian Boguang had already chopped a tree down and made a stretcher out of it. So Monk No Commandment and he carried Linghu Chong to go down the mountain peak. When their party passed by the Songshan's courtyard, they saw Yue Buqun was waiting for them at the entrance with his face smiling, wanting to see them off. Madam Yue and Yue Lingshan weren't besides him.
"Master, disciple can't kowtow to bid you goodbye," Linghu Chong said.
"No need, no need,” Yue Buqun smiled. “We’ll talk when your injury is better. I have no one to help me in my position as the Five Mountains School's headmaster. Later on, I have to rely upon you in helping me with a lot of things." Linghu Chong forced out a smile.
Monk No Commandment and Tian Boguang carried him and walked quickly like they were flying, and they walked very far in just a short time. On the mountain road, they passed by the groups that had come to the meeting at Mount Songshan. When they reached the foot of the mountain, they hired mule-drawn carriages and let Linghu Chong and Yingying rode in them.
When night fell, they came upon a small town and saw a teahouse shed with lots of people sitting inside. They were all from Qingcheng School and Yu Canghai was also among them. When he saw the disciples of Heng-Shan arriving, his face changed colour and he turned his back towards them. The small town had no other teahouse so the Heng-Shan's people sat down on a rock step on the opposite eaves to rest. Zheng E and Qin Juan went inside the teahouse to get some hot tea for Linghu Chong to drink.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of galloping horses and two horses came over with dust flying behind them. When they arrived in front of the town, the two horses were reined in. There were one male and one female riding the horses; they were Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan.
"Yu Canghai, you know I didn't give permission for you to rest, why don't you run away quickly? Are you waiting for death here?" Lin Pingzhi called out.
Linghu Chong was on the mule-drawn carriage when he heard Lin Pingzhi's voice. He asked, "Martial brother Lin has caught up?"
Qin Juan was sitting inside the carriage waiting for him to drink his tea, she immediately rolled open the curtain on the carriage to let him observe the happenings outside the carriage. Yu Canghai was sitting on a stool sipping a cup of tea in his hand and did not pay attention to Lin Pingzhi. After he had taken another sip, he said, "I'm waiting here to send you to your death."
"Good!" Lin Pingzhi responded. This word 'good' had just been spoken when he had already jumped down his horse, had his sword out, thrust it forward, leapt back on his horse and with a shout rode away with Yue Lingshan. A disciple of Qingcheng School who was standing on the side of the street had a gash on his chest sprouting blood, then he slowly fell over.
This attack done by Lin Pingzhi was strange and unpredictable. When he dismounted and had his sword out, it looked like he was going to attack Yu Canghai. When Yu Canghai saw him attacking, it was precisely what he wished for and he secretly felt happy. He expected that when they fight, he would be able to take Lin Pingzhi's life to avenge for last night's insult. If Yue Buqun later came for him, that was a matter for the future. But who could’ve thought the opponent's sword would be able to change direction in midair, and fast as lightning killed a Qingcheng disciple, then got on his horse to run away. Yu Canghai was alarmed and angry at the same time as he leapt to chase, but his two enemies had ridden their horses very fast and there was no way for him to chase them.
The attack by Lin Pingzhi just then was immeasurably weird and unbelievably quick. Linghu Chong's jaw dropped from seeing it and he thought, "If he used this attack on me, and I don't have a weapon with me, then I'd have no way of fighting back and I would've been killed by him." He pondered over the swordplay and knew Lin Pingzhi’s skill was far below him. But the move Lin Pingzhi used just then was so fast, even he wouldn't be able to break it.
Yu Canghai was stamping his feet and angrily pointing at the dust left behind by Lin Pingzhi's horse as he hurled abuses at them. But Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan had gone very far, how could they hear his abuses? His whole body was filled with anger and there was nowhere to vent it. He turned around and scolded, "You stinking nuns, you knew that Lin was coming so you came here first to help him. Alright, that animal Lin, has run away. Whoever got the nerves, come and fight to the death with me."
The number of Heng-Shan disciples was multiples that of Qingcheng School's people. Furthermore they also had some good fighters like Monk No Commandment, Yingying, Peach Valley Six Fairies, and Tian Boguang. If they were to actually fight, Qingcheng School had no hope of winning. Yu Canghai knew the strengths and weaknesses of both parties, but he was in a rage, so even though he was experienced and careful, he couldn't restrain himself. Yihe promptly pulled her long sword out and angrily replied, "If you want to fight, then come. Who's afraid of you?"
"Martial Sister Yihe, ignore him," Linghu Chong said.
Yingying w
hispered a few words to the Peach Valley Six Fairies. Peachtree Root Fairy, Peachtree Trunk Fairy, Peachtree Branch Fairy, and Peachtree Leaf Fairy suddenly flew towards a horse underneath the cool shed. That horse was Yu Canghai's ride. A neighing sound was heard as the Peach Valley Four Fairies separately grabbed each of the horse's legs and tugged hard at them. With a loud ripping sound, that horse was torn into four pieces and its internal organs and blood flew out everywhere. It was a big and strong horse, but with just their bare hands, the Peach Valley Four Fairies had unexpectedly ripped it apart. The four of them had such rarely seen powerful strength.
Qingcheng School's disciples were startled and all their faces changed colour. Even the people from Heng-Shan School were frightened till their hearts were thumping loudly.
"Old priest Yu, that Lin has an enmity towards you,” Yingying said. “We're not going to help any party and we're just going to be spectators on the side, so don't implicate us. If you really want to fight, you're not our match so why don't we all just save our strength?"
Yu Canghai was frightened and became timid. So with a hissing sound, he put his long sword back into its sheath. "River water doesn't mix with well water. You go your own way and we'll go our own way. Please go first."
"That won't do, we're going with you," Yingying replied.
"Why?" Yu Canghai scowled.
"To be frank,” Yingying explained, “that Lin's sword art is really weird, so we must see it.”
Linghu Chong was surprised. What Yingying just said was exactly what he was thinking about. Lin Pingzhi's swordplay was really weird, and 'Dugu Nine Swords' seemed incapable of breaking it, so he wanted to have a clearer look at it.
"You want to see that little kid's sword art, what's that got to do with me?" When these words came out of Yu Canghai's mouth, he knew he had said the wrong thing. His enmity with Lin Pingzhi was as deep as the ocean, so Lin Pingzhi wouldn't just kill one Qingcheng disciple and give up. He would surely come back to seek his revenge, and Heng-Shan School's people wanted to see how Lin Pingzhi used his sword and how he would kill the people of Qingcheng School. Anyone who studied martial arts would wish to observe other peculiar martial arts out there, and everyone in the Heng-Shan School used sword so they weren't willing to just let this opportunity passed them by. But they would be following the Qingcheng School who were like lambs going to the slaughter, and they would see how a butcher chopped them up. From among the people in the world who take advantage of other people, how could anything exceed this?
Yu Canghai was feeling angry and he wanted to say something sarcastic, but he held it in and only lightly snorted. He thought, "This little kid Lin is only using some weird moves and he despicably did sneak attacks on me, and on both attacks, my hand wasn't fast enough. Could it be that he has no real skills? Otherwise, why didn't he dare to fight me openly? Alright, you'll follow and I'll let you see clearly how I'm going to chop that little animal into little pieces." He turned around and returned to his seat under the shed. He picked up the teapot to pour himself a cup of tea but he heard a 'ta, ta, ta' sound as his right arm trembled, and the teapot's lid rattled. Just then when Lin Pingzhi was in front of him, he was calm and collected, slowly sipping his cup of tea, and wasn't muddled when facing a strong enemy. But now, his heart couldn't help thinking, "Why's my hand trembling? Why's my hand trembling?" He exhorted himself to be stronger and calm himself down, but the teapot lid kept on rattling. The disciples of Qingcheng School thought their master was being very angry. Actually, deep in Yu Canghai's heart, he knew he was terrified. If Lin Pingzhi's sword had been directed at him, he wouldn't have been able to block it.
Even after Yu Canghai had finished a cup of tea, his heart was still troubled and he ordered the disciples to bury the dead disciple in the wilderness outside the town, while the remaining people rested underneath the cool shed. The inhabitants of the town were already scared when they witnessed a person who had killed another person from far away, so they all closed their doors tightly. Who would dare to take a peek?
The Heng-Shan School party scattered into the shop and under the eaves of other people's houses to sleep. Yingying sat alone in her mule carriage, and was quite far away from the mule carriage that Linghu Chong was riding in. Even though the whole world already knew of the love between Linghu Chong and her, her bashfulness wasn't the slightest bit lessened. Even when Heng-Shan disciples reapplied the medicine on Linghu Chong's wound, she didn't go to have a look. Zheng E and Qin Juan knew her heart, so they continuously told her the condition of Linghu Chong's injury. Yingying only nodded her head and didn't say anything.
Linghu Chong pondered about the sword move Lin Pingzhi used. There was nothing special about the sword move in itself, but the move was done too suddenly and there was no indication that it was going to be executed at all. No matter who was attacked by this move, even if that person was a master, that person would find it hard to counter the move. That day on Dark Wood Cliff, they besieged Dongfang Bubai and he was just holding a piece of embroidering needle to fight them. But the four of them, who were masters, had no way to resist him. When he thought about it at this time, it wasn't because Dongfang Bubai had a high internal energy nor was it because his moves were extremely skilful, but it was because his movements were fast like lightning. His attack, defense, rush, and retreat were all completely beyond his opponents' expectations. When Lin Pingzhi stopped Yu Canghai underneath the place of worship and when he killed that Qingcheng School disciple with his sword, his martial art was exactly the same as Dongfang Bubai's and the thrust Yue Buqun had used to blind Zuo Lengchan's eyes. Evil Resisting Sword Art and Dongfang Bubai's 'Sunflower Manual' had the same source, so he guessed that the move that Yue Buqun and Lin Pingzhi used must be the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'.
When he thought till here, he couldn't help shaking his head and mumbled, "Evil resisting, evil resisting! Resist what evil? This martial art is evil itself." Then he thought, "At the present time, the only one who can go up against this sword art is probably only Grand Martial Uncle Feng. After my injury is healed, I must go back up to Huashan and ask for Grand Martial Uncle Feng's advice on how to break this sword art. Grand Martial Uncle Feng said he doesn't want to see people from the Huashan School, but I'm no longer from Huashan School at this time." His thought then continued, "Dongfang Bubai is already dead. Yue Buqun is my master, Lin Pingzhi is my martial brother. The two of them wouldn't use this sword art to go up against me, then why do I need to go research on how to break this sword art?" Suddenly he thought of something and sat up abruptly. As he moved, the mule carriage shook and his wound became really painful that he gasped.
Qin Juan was standing besides the cart and she quickly asked, "Do you want to drink tea?"
"No, little martial sister, please ask young lady Ren to come here." Qin Juan acknowledged his request and went to get Yingying. After a while, Yingying followed Qin Juan back. She asked lightly, "What's the matter?"
"I suddenly thought of something. Your father once said, your sect's 'Sunflower Manual' was given to Dongfang Bubai. So I thought the martial art in 'Sunflower Manual' isn't as good as the divine martial art your father is practising, but..."
“But my father's martial art was shown to be not as good as Dongfang Bubai's, is that right?"
"That's right. I don't understand why."
For people who studied martial art, when they saw a wonderful book of martial art, if they didn't learn it by themselves, they would give it to another person like their father, spouse, martial disciple, brothers, or their lovers, and they would probably study it together. To give up on it was really out of the ordinary.
"I've already asked my dad about this before,” Yingying said. “He said: One, the martial art in the Manual can't be learnt; it'll be harmful to learn it. Two, he also didn't know that after learning the martial art written on the Manual, the result would be so powerful."
"Can't be learnt? Why?"
Yingying's face turned red. "Why can't it b
e learnt? How would I know?" After a pause, she went on, "What's so good about Dongfang Bubai's fate?"
Linghu Chong groaned and inwardly felt that his master was on the way in following Dongfang Bubai's path. He had now defeated Zuo Lengchan and snatched the leadership of the Five Mountains School. Linghu Chong didn't like this situation at all. 'Long Live the Chief, unify the Jianghu', those were the flattering words which were often said on the Dark Wood Cliff. In Linghu Chong's heart, it seemed it would also gradually become Yue Buqun's motto.
"Take care of your injury, don't think too much,” Yingying quietly said. “I'm going to sleep."
"Yes." He lifted the curtain on the carriage and saw the moonlight shining down on Yingying's face. Suddenly, he felt apologetic toward her. Yingying slowly turned around to go but suddenly she said, "Your martial brother Lin wears a flowery gown." After she said this, she went toward her own carriage.
Linghu Chong thought it was strange. "She said Martial Brother Lin is wearing a flowery gown. What does she mean? Martial Brother Lin has just become a groom so he's wearing the gown a newly-married groom wears. There's nothing strange about that. This little girl, not paying attention to someone's sword art, but instead paying attention to what someone else is wearing. How interesting."
When he closed his eyes, he could see Lin Pingzhi's sword moves in his mind, but he couldn't remember what kind of flowery gown Lin Pingzhi was wearing. He slept till the middle of the night when he heard horses galloping towards them from somewhere far. Two horses were coming from the west. Linghu Chong sat up and lifted the screen. Out on the street, he saw Heng-Shan disciples and Qingcheng School's people all awake. Heng-Shan disciples had formed groups of seven to form the sword formation and they were standing still by their position. Some Qingcheng people were rushing towards the end of the street while some were leaning their backs to the wall. They were far different from the calm and collected Heng-Shan disciples.
