by Jin Yong
Yue Lingshan slowly said, "Big martial brother, Brother Ping... Brother Ping, he didn't really want to kill me... he's afraid of my father... he wanted to gain Zuo Lengchan's trust, so... so he stabbed me first..."
Linghu Chong angrily said, "That selfish, ungrateful bastard. You... you still care for him?"
"He... he didn't deliberately try to kill me, it's just that.. it's just that his hand slipped. Big martial brother... I beg you, beg you to look after him..."
As the moonlight reflected off her face, Linghu Chong can see her eyes were unfocused and her pupils were dull, entirely unlike her normally clear bright eyes. A few drops of blood were splashed on her cheeks, and her earnest face was begging him. Linghu Chong thought of the past ten years he had together with his little martial sister while they were at Huashan, holding hands and traveling everywhere. Sometimes when she wanted him to do something, she would show this earnest looking expression to him. No matter how difficult that thing was, even if it violated what his heart wished for, he had never refused her even once. This time, her earnest request was full of grief. She knew clearly she only had a short time left and that she didn't have another opportunity to ask Linghu Chong for anything else. This was the last and most pressing earnest request from her. All of a sudden, Linghu Chong felt his chest feeling hot and he knew if he promised her this, then not only would there be endless trouble in the future, he would even be forced to do many things that he wouldn't be willing to do. But looking at Yue Lingshan's earnest and sorrowful look, he nodded his head. "Fine, I promise you, you can put your heart at ease."
Yingying heard him and couldn't help interrupt him. "You... how can you promise that?"
Yue Lingshan tightly gripped Linghu Chong's hand. "Big martial brother, many... many... thanks... I'm... I'm at ease... at ease." Her eyes suddenly shone and the edge of her mouth smiled, looking like she was very satisfied. Linghu Chong saw her expression and thought, "Just being able to see her happy, it doesn't matter how much trouble and pain I have to go through, it's all worth it."
All of a sudden, Yue Lingshan softly sang a song. Linghu Chong felt as if his chest had just received a thump as he heard her singing a Fujian folksong. She was singing the tune, "Sisters, going up the mountain to pluck tea." This was the Fujian folksong that Lin Pingzhi had taught her. That day on the Cliff of Contemplation, his heart hurt like it was twisted because he heard her singing this folksong. Now as she sang this song again, she was thinking of the sweet days Lin Pingzhi and she had shared while they were at Huashan. The sound of her song was becoming fainter and her grip on Linghu Chong's hand gradually loosened. She at last release her hold and slowly closed her eyes. She had stopped singing, and her breathing had also stopped. Linghu Chong's heart sank. It felt as if the whole world had also died. He wanted to cry but he couldn't. He extended both of his hands and carried Yue Lingshan's body. He softly said, "Little martial sister, little martial sister, don't be afraid! I'm going to carry you to your mom. No one will bully you anymore."
Yingying saw a red patch at the back of his body. His wound had burst open again and blood was oozing out of it. The patch of blood on his gown was getting larger and larger, but looking at the situation, she didn't know how to advise him. Linghu Chong absent-mindedly carried Yue Lingshan's body for more than ten steps while he kept on mumbling, "Little martial sister, don't be afraid, don't be afraid! I'll carry you to Master-Wife." Suddenly, both of his knees lost strength and he fell down onto the ground and lost consciousness.
When he became half aware, he heard a crisp and clear sound of a zither. The zither sound repeated itself playing a tune that sounded familiar to him and he was enjoying it immensely. His whole body felt weak and he didn't even feel like opening his eyelids. He only hoped that he could listen to the sound of the zither forever. The zither sound really didn't stop and continued playing. After listening to it for a while, Linghu Chong fell asleep again.
The second time he became conscious, the quiet and beautiful zither sound was still playing and he could also smell a fragrant scent. He slowly opened his eyes and saw all sorts of flowers in front of his eyes. Red flowers, white flowers, yellow flowers, purple flowers; they were all piled in front of him. He wondered, "What's this place?" Hearing the zither sound repeating, he realised it was the tune Yingying often played called the 'Song of Peace and Serenity'. He turned his head around and saw the back of Yingying's body. She was sitting on the ground gently playing the zither. Gradually, he realised they were inside a cave. The sunshine entered from the mouth of the cave as he lay on a bed of soft grass. Linghu Chong wanted to sit up and as he tried, the grass underneath him made a rustling sound. The zither sound stopped abruptly and Yingying turned her head around looking very happy. She slowly walked up to Linghu Chong and sat beside him. Her eyes stayed on him for the whole time, and her face was overflowing with tender affection.
In a brief moment, Linghu Chong's heart swelled with happiness. He knew he had lost consciousness after he had seen Yue Lingshan die miserably, and Yingying had helped him into this cave. He suddenly felt a wave of sadness in his heart, but gradually, he felt unbounded warmth and tenderness coming from Yingying's eyes. The two of them affectionately sat opposite each other for a long time without saying anything.
Linghu Chong extended his left hand and lightly caressed the back of Yingying's hand. Suddenly, in the midst of the fragrance from the flowers, he smelled roasted meat in the air. Yingying took a branch full of stringed up frogs and laughingly said, "They're burnt again!"
Linghu Chong burst into laughter. The two of them were brought back to the day besides the creek when they caught some frogs and burnt them. From the first time they had eaten frogs together to this second frog feast, many things had happened in between; but the two of them were still together at the end. After having a few laughs, Linghu Chong's heartache returned and he started shedding some tears again. Yingying helped him to sit up; pointing to the mountain outside, she softly said, "Miss Yue is buried there."
Holding back his tears, Linghu Chong said, "Many... many thanks."
Yingying slowly shook her head. "There's no need to thank me. Every person has his own fate, and every person also has his own action and reward."
Linghu Chong felt apologetic. "Yingying, I can never forget the feelings I have for my little martial sister, please don't blame me."
"Of course I don't blame you. If you were just a man who likes to play around and look for girls all the time, then I wouldn't have cared about you." She then whispered, "The reason I started... I started adoring you is because you told me how much you love your little martial sister at the Bamboo Lane in Luoyang. Miss Yue was a good lady, but she wasn't... she wasn't destined to be with you. If you didn't grow up with her, and she had seen you later, she would most probably have liked you."
Linghu Chong pondered for a long time, then he shook his head. "She wouldn't. Little martial sister looked up to my master, so the man she liked must be similar to her father, a man of few words who carry himself in a stately manner. I'm only her playmate; she had never... never respected me."
Yingying said, "Maybe what you said is right. It just happened that Lin Pingzhi is similar to your master, very proper but with a belly full of secret plots."
Linghu Chong sighed. "Just before little martial sister died, she still didn't believe Lin Pingzhi truly meant to kill her and she still loved him completely. That's... that's also very good. She wasn't grieved at all before she died. I want to see her grave."
Yingying held his arm as they walked out of the cave. Linghu Chong saw the grave was made up of a pile of rocks. Even though the rocks were of uneven size, they were organised neatly. In front and at the back of the grave were fresh flowers. Seeing they were done by Yingying, he felt appreciative towards her. A cut tree trunk was erected in front of the grave, and words were written on it with a sword-point: "Tomb of Heroine Yue Lingshan from Huashan". Linghu Chong was startled and shed more tears. He said, "Perhaps little
martial sister would've liked to be called Madam Lin."
"Lin Pingzhi is such a ruthless and unrighteous person. In the netherworld, Miss Yue would have understood his wicked heart, and she wouldn't want to be called Madam Lin." While she thought in her heart, "You don't know Lin Pingzhi and she were husband and wife in name only; they're not real husband and wife."
"You're probably right," Linghu Chong agreeing with her. He then saw mountain peaks surrounding them on every side, and realized that they were inside a valley. The forests were the colour of deep green and mountain flowers grew everywhere. Birds were calling out continuously from the top of the trees. It was a very secluded and quiet place they were in.
"We'll stay here for some time to look after your injury and the grave," Yingying suggested.
Linghu Chong replied, "That's very good. Little martial sister is alone in this wilderness, even if she had become a ghost, she'll still be timid." When Yingying heard him said such a sentimental word, she couldn't help sighing.
The two of them lived in the valley comfortably, eating frogs and picking fruits. Linghu Chong only had an external injury so with Heng-Shan School's medicine applied externally and taken orally, along with his abundant internal energy, he was mostly recovered from his injury after staying there for more than twenty days. While he was recuperating, Yingying taught him how to play the zither every day. Linghu Chong was very intelligent and he concentrated fully on his practise, so he advanced very quickly. One day, he woke up early in the morning and saw several small shoots had already grown out from Yue Lingshan's grave. Linghu Chong thought, "There are shoots already at little martial sister's grave now. How is she inside the grave?"
Suddenly, the sound of a bamboo flute came from behind his back. He turned his head around and saw Yingying was sitting on a piece of rock playing the 'Song of Peace and Serenity' with a bamboo flute. He walked over to her and saw it was a new flute Yingying had made from a bamboo branch by using her sword and perforating holes through it. He took the zither, put it across his knee, and started playing, following the tune she was playing. As he gradually put his mind into playing the tune, there was no other thought in his mind. When the song was completed, he felt his vigour greatly roused. They smiled at each other.
Yingying said, "You're already familiar with this 'Song of Peace and Serenity'. Today, let's practise the 'Smiling Proud Wanderer'. What do you think?"
"That song is difficult to play, I don't know when I'll be able to play it together with you."
Yingying smiled. "This music is very profound, I also still don't understand many parts of it. There's something different with this song, it's hard to explain, but it seems if two people were to play it together, they'd be able to enlighten each other. Compared to one person fumbling around, we'll definitely advance much faster."
Linghu Chong clapped and said, "You're right! On that day, when I heard Hengshan School's martial uncle Liu and Devil... and Sun Moon Sect's Elder Qu playing this song together, the zither and the bamboo flute were in harmony, and their sound was really moving. Martial uncle Liu said that this song was originally for a zither and a bamboo flute to play together."
"You play the zither, I play the flute. We'll slowly practise it part by part."
Linghu Chong smiled. "But it's a pity it's a flute and not a se. Zither and se are very harmonious together and it would've been wonderful."7
Yingying's face turned red and she replied, "These last few days, I haven't heard you speaking any satirical remarks and I thought you've changed. But you're still the same."
Linghu Chong made a face at her. He knew Yingying was very shy. Even though they were in a secluded valley and there were only the two of them there, she never allowed him to speak indecently. He was afraid if he jested a bit more, she would ignore him for the rest of the day so he quickly went near her to look at the music score. After listening to her explanations, he started to play his part. Playing the zither wasn't an easy matter; added to that, the song 'Smiling Proud Wanderer' was very profound with a lot of complicated changes, so this made the playing even more difficult. But Linghu Chong was bright, and he was also being directed by a master. Additionally, he had also improved a lot in his zither playing from the time he started studying it at Bamboo Lane in Luoyang since he had been practising it every chance he got. Even though it was hard for them to be harmonious in the beginning, slowly, they finally managed to play well together. Even though their playing couldn't be as wonderful as that of Liu and Qu, there was a hint of a rhythm in their playing. Within the next ten days, the two of them became very close to playing the zither and flute together harmoniously. This calm surrounding of this green valley separated them from the world, and gradually they came to forget everything about the fierce fighting in Jianghu. Both of them felt if they could spend the rest of their lives in that green valley, and not be drawn into the killings in Wulin, then they would be very happy.
One afternoon, after Linghu Chong and Yingying had been playing together for more than an hour, Linghu Chong's internal energy was suddenly disturbed and his mind not tranquil. He made a few mistakes and his heart became more worried which made his fingering method became even more chaotic. Yingying asked, "Are you tired? Rest for a while before continuing."
"I'm tired but not tired. I don't know what's wrong. I feel a bit agitated. I'm going to go pick some peaches. We'll practise again at night."
"Alright, don't go too far."
Linghu Chong knew there were a lot of wild peach trees southeast of the valley, which would have ripened by now. He passed through the bushes and went for around eight to nine li before arriving at the grove of wild peach trees. He leapt up and picked two peaches. The second time he leapt, he picked three peaches. He saw the peaches were quite ripe and there were already a lot of peaches on the ground which had fallen from the trees. In the next few days, all the peaches might have fallen down and become rotten on the ground. He quickly picked dozens more, and he thought, "After we eat these peaches, we'll spread the seeds all over the valley. Then in a few years time, there'll be peach trees everywhere. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
Then he suddenly thought of the Peach Valley Six Fairies, "With peach trees growing everywhere in this valley, wouldn't this be called a Peach Valley? Then will Yingying and I become the Peach Valley Two Fairies? Later on, we'll have six children, wouldn't they become Little Peach Valley Six Fairies? If those Little Peach Valley Six Fairies talk like the old Peach Valley Six Fairies, wouldn't that be troublesome?"
He was just about to laugh thinking about this when he suddenly heard a sound from somewhere far amongst the trees. Linghu Chong immediately hid himself in the tall grass. He thought, "My mouth's getting tired of eating frogs and fruits. That sound must be some kind of a beast. Yingying will be very happy if I can catch an antelope or a deer." He had not finished thinking when he heard the sound of footsteps. It was the sound of two people walking. Linghu Chong started. "How can there be people in this valley? They must've come here because of Yingying and me."
Then he heard the voice of an elder saying, "You're not wrong? Yue Buqun will definitely come here?"
Linghu Chong was even more confounded. He thought, "They're chasing my master? Who are these people?"
Another person with a low and deep voice said, "Fragrant Master Shi has already asked around. Yue Buqun's daughter and son-in-law suddenly went missing, and we couldn't find a single trace of them in any market, town, pier, or river. They must've hidden themselves in a nearby valley to look after their injuries. Sooner or later, Yue Buqun will come here to look for them."
Linghu Chong's heart ached as he thought, "So they know little martial sister was injured, but they don't know she's already dead. A lot of people must be looking for her whereabouts, especially Master and Master-Wife. If not for this valley being completely secluded, they would've searched this place a long time ago."
That elder then said, "If you didn't guess wrong, then Yue Buqun would come here sooner
or later. Let's setup an ambush at the entrance of this valley."
The person with the low and deep voice said, "If Yue Buqun doesn't come, then we can lead him here after we setup the ambush."
That elder clapped twice and said, "This plan is wonderful. Brother Xue, I never thought you have so many ideas."
That person surnamed Xue replied, "Elder Ge said it well. Subordinate hopes that you'll be able to promote me. If Elder has anything for me to do, I'll do it with all my heart and power to repay Elder's kindness."
Linghu Chong felt disappointed as he thought, "So they're Yingying's subordinates from the Sun Moon Sect. It's best if they go far away from here and don't disturb Yingying and me." He also thought, "At this time, Master's martial art has advanced greatly. Even though there are many of them, they're still not Master's match. No one in Wulin is capable of matching Master's skill and intelligence. With only their intelligence, how can they even hope to ambush Master? This is called 'playing with axe in front of Lu Ban'."
Suddenly, three clapping sound was heard from somewhere far. That person surnamed Xue said, "Elder Du has also arrived."
Elder Ge also clapped for three times. The sound of footsteps was heard as four people hurried to come to them. Two of these people had very heavy footsteps and as they got nearer, Linghu Chong thought they were carrying something.
Elder Ge happily said, "Elder Du, did you capture the Yue family's little girl? You've done a great achievement."
A person laughed loudly and said, "It's from the Yue family, but it's the big girl, not the little one."
Elder Ge gasped in surprise, sounding like he was surprised and happy at the same time. "How... How... You captured Yue Buqun's wife?"
Linghu Chong was greatly surprised and he immediately wished to go out to help, but he recalled that he wasn't carrying a sword with him. With no sword in his hand, his martial art was just ordinary. This made him really worried. He then heard Elder Du said, "You're not convinced?"
