by Jin Yong
Elder Ge replied, "Madam Yue's swordplay is good. How did Brother Du manage to capture her? Ah, you must've used the confusion poison."
Elder Du laughed, "This lady arrived in a restaurant absent-mindedly and just drank her bowl of tea without thinking. Other people said Yue Buqun's wife, Ning Zhongze, is great, but actually she's nothing."
Linghu Chong got angry and secretly thought, "My Master-Wife heard her beloved daughter was injured and missing, but she couldn't find her after dozens of days of searching. Of course her mind would be in chaos. This is her cherished daughter we're talking about! How can you call her nothing? I'm going to kill each one of you with my sword for insulting my Master-Wife." He then thought, "How can I snatch a sword? If no sword, then a sabre will do." Then he heard Elder Ge said, "Since we have already captured Yue Buqun's wife, things are going well. Brother Du, the plan right now is how do we lead Yue Buqun here?"
"What do we do after we lead him here?" Elder Du questioned.
Elder Ge hesitated before saying, "We'll use this lady as hostage and force him to abandon his sword. I expect the Yue Buqun husband and wife would have deep feelings toward each other, so he wouldn't dare to defy us."
"What Brother Ge said was very reasonable. But I'm afraid if Yue Buqun's heart is very violent, and the feelings between him and his wife aren't deep, then things might get a little thorny for us," Elder Du reasoned.
"This... This... En, Brother Xue, what do you think?" Elder Ge said.
That person surnamed Xue said, "In front of two elders, it's not subordinate's place to speak out...."
He only said till here when there was another three clapping sound coming from the west. Elder Du said, "Elder Bao has arrived." In a short time, two people flew in from the west and their footsteps were really quick.
Elder Ge said, "Elder Mo has also arrived."
Linghu Chong quietly called out in misery, "Hearing their footsteps, it seems that these two people's martial arts are even higher than Du and Ge. How can I save Master-Wife with only my bare hand?" He then heard Elder Du and Ge called out together, "Brother Mo and Bao have arrived, this is really good."
Elder Ge also said, "Brother Du has done a great service by capturing Yue Buqun's wife."
An elder happily said, "Wonderful, wonderful! The two of you have worked hard."
Elder Ge said, "That's Elder Du's accomplishment."
That elder replied, "We all received Chief's order to handle this thing. No matter who did it, we'll all get a share of Chief's good fortune."
This elder's voice sounded quite familiar to Linghu Chong's ears. He thought, "Could it be that I've seen him on Dark Wood Cliff before?" He then exerted his qi to listen to their conversation, but he didn't dare stick his head out to have a look. All of the elders from the Devil Sect had high martial art, so if he moved even slightly, then he might immediately be discovered by them.
Elder Ge said, "Brother Bao and Mo, Brother Du and I were just discussing how we were going to entice Yue Buqun to come here, so that we can capture him and take him to Dark Wood Cliff."
The other elder said, "What plan did you come up with?"
Elder Ge answered, "We haven't thought of a good plan yet. Brother Bao and Mo must be able to come up with a good plan."
The first elder said, "When the five mountains sword schools were fighting at the place of worship place over the leadership, Yue Buqun blinded both of Zuo Lengchan's eyes and his power shook the entire Mount Songshan. After that, no one else from the five mountains sword schools dared to challenge him. I heard this person has obtained the real Evil Resisting Sword Art from the Lin family and he's now completely different from before. We must think of all possibilities and we mustn't look down on him."
Elder Du said, "That's right. Even if the four of us cooperate, it's still not certain if we'll be able to win against him."
Elder Mo said, "Brother Bao, you've already decided on a plan, please share it with us."
That Elder Bao said, "Even though I've thought of a plan, it's nothing wonderful. I'm afraid the three of you will laugh at it."
Elder Mo, Ge, and Du said together, "Brother Bao is our sect's brain trust. The plan you thought of must be really good."
Elder Bao said, "Actually, it's only a silly plan. We'll dig a deep pit, and cover it with grass and branches on top. Then we'll seal this lady's acupoints, put her at the edge of the pit and lead Yue Buqun to it. When he sees his wife on the ground, he'll definitely go over to help her. Then 'Boom'... he'll fall... Aiyo, not good..." He was hitting his hands together at the same time he was speaking. The other three elders and the remaining four people laughed out loud.
Elder Mo laughingly said, "Brother Bao's plan is wonderful. We'll all naturally hide ourselves on the side to wait for Yue Buqun to drop into the pit. Once he drops in, we'll cover the top of the pit with blades and don't let him leap out. Otherwise, with such strong martial art, I'm afraid he might not drop in but instead jump out of the hole."
Elder Bao hesitated and said, "But there's still some difficulty with this."
Elder Mo said, "What difficulty? Ah, that's right, Brother Bao is afraid of Yue Buqun's strange sword art. Once he fell into the hole, will we be able to stop him?"
Elder Bao said, "Brother Mo's guess is right. This time, Chief sent us to handle this thing and our enemy is the best master from the five mountains sword schools alliance. Even if we die for Chief, we'll still be highly honoured, and we wouldn't be harming the reputation of both the Divine sect and Chief's. As the saying goes: Those who thought of trivial things are not gentlemen, those who are not violent are not men. Since we're dealing with a gentleman, we must use treacherous method. I think we must add something inside the trap."
Elder Du said, "What Brother Bao said fits well with us. We're carrying a lot of 'Hundred Flowers Soul Consuming Powder'. We can spread them around the tree branches and grass covering the hole. When Yue Buqun falls into the hole, he'll suck in a breath of this powder..." He said till here, when they all burst into laughter.
Elder Bao said, "We can't be late, we must begin now. Where's the best place to lay this trap?"
Elder Ge replied, "Three li west from here, there's a towering cliff on one side with a deep abyss on the other side. There's only a small road you can walk through there. If Yue Buqun doesn't come then we'll just forget it, on the other hand, if he comes then he'll definitely have to go through this small road."
Elder Bao said, "Very good, let's go there and take a look." After he said this, he started walking while the rest followed behind him.
Linghu Chong thought, "They wouldn't be able to dig this trap in just an hour. I'll go quickly tell Yingying about this and get myself a long sword, then I'll go and rescue Master-Wife." He waited until all the Devil Sect's people had gone before quietly going back.
After walking for a few li, he suddenly heard the sound of people digging. He thought, "How come they're digging here?" Linghu Chong quickly hid himself behind a tree. When he poked his head out to take a look, he saw four Devil Sect's people digging with their bodies bent over while a few elders were standing by the side. He was quite near to them this time and was able to see the profile of one of the elders. He secretly shivered in fear. "This person is actually the one called Bao Dachu who I saw in Hangzhou's Mount Gu at the Plum Manor. So Elder Bao is actually Bao Dachu. Back then when Ren Woxing escaped from the West Lake, the first Devil Sect's elder he took back was this Bao Dachu."
Linghu Chong had seen him deal with Mr. Huang Zhong before so he knew Bao Dachu's martial art was high. In his heart, he was thinking that Master had just taken up the headmaster position of the Five Mountains School, so he must have made some trouble for the Devil Sect. The Devil Sect wouldn't just stay quietly and let this happen, so Ren Woxing sent some people out to retaliate. So Linghu Chong was thinking there would be more than just these four elders who had been sent. He saw that the four people were using a pair of halberds and hatchets to loosen the ground and di
g out the dirt. Linghu Chong thought, "They did say they wanted to dig the hole by that cliff, but how come they're digging here?" Then he realized, "It's rocky beside the cliff, so how can it be easy to dig a hole there? This Elder Ge is a stupid person, speaking blindly without thinking first." With the Devil Sect people digging a hole here, his way back was blocked and he was prevented from getting a sword. He thought it was very inappropriate to dig a hole with weapons and reasoned they were unlikely to finish digging the hole any time soon. But he didn't want to go around them to get a sword because he didn't dare to be too far away from his Master-Wife.
Suddenly, Elder Ge laughed and said, "Yue Buqun is already old, but his wife is still so young and pretty."
Elder Du laughingly said, "She looks good, but she's not that young. She looks to be in her early forties. If Brother Ge is interested, wait until we capture Yue Buqun and report back to Chief. Then you can ask for this lady, what do you think?"
Elder Ge laughed. "I wouldn't dare to ask for her. But there's no harm in playing with her."
Linghu Chong was furious. "Shameless bastard, you got some nerve to insult my Master-Wife. Wait until I give every single one of you a horrible death." Linghu Chong couldn't endure Elder Ge's licentious laughing so he stuck his head out to take a look. He saw Elder Ge was giving Madam Yue's cheek a pinch. Madam Yue's acupoint was sealed so she couldn't fight back nor even utter a sound. The Devil Sect people all laughed merrily over this.
Elder Du laughingly said, "Brother Ge is so wary, you don't dare to play with this lady here?"
Linghu Chong was livid. If this Elder Ge really became rude toward his Master-Wife, then he would come out and stake his life with these Devil Sect people despite having no sword in his hand. But he heard Elder Ge laughing lewdly and said, "It's not that I don't dare to play with her, but I'm afraid I might spoil Chief's mission, and then even if I have a hundred heads, they might not be enough to be beheaded."
"That's the best,” Elder Bao coldly said. “Brother Ge, Brother Du, both of you have good qinggong. Lead Yue Buqun to come here. I predict in two hours, everything will be in place here." Elder Ge and Du acknowledged together, "Yes!" Then they went toward the north.
After the two of them were gone, only the sound of digging was heard in that empty valley with the occasional instructions from Elder Mo. Linghu Chong hid in the underbrush and didn't even dare to take a deep breath. He thought, "I've been gone for so long, Yingying must surely be worried and she'll definitely come out to look for me. When she hears this digging sound, she'll come over to take a look and then she can help my Master-Wife. Once these Devil Sect's elders saw Young Lady Ren, how would they dare to disobey her? Considering Chief Ren, Brother Xiang and Yingying's face, I shouldn't fight with the people from the Devil Sect. That would be the best way." Thinking till here, he felt that the longer he waited the better it would be. That pervert Elder Ge had been gone for quite some time so Master-Wife didn't have to bear with his insult anymore.
At last, the Devil Sect people finished digging and put the branches on top of the trap. They then scattered the confusion poison on top and further added grass on top of it. Bao Dachu and the other five people separately hid themselves around the trap to patiently wait for Yue Buqun's arrival.
Linghu Chong quietly picked up a big rock with his hand and thought, "I'll wait till Master come. As soon as he comes near the trap, I'll throw this rock onto the trap. Once the rock falls into the trap, Master will see it and he'll be vigilant."
At this time, it was only the beginning of summer. The sound of cicadas sang throughout the dell, and occasionally cries of little birds were heard. Besides those sounds, nothing else was heard. Linghu Chong kept his breathing slow and light, while straining to listen to Yue Buqun and the two elders' footsteps.
After more than an hour, he suddenly heard a female voice crying out from a far away place. It was Yingying's voice. Linghu Chong thought, "Yingying has discovered there are outsiders here. I wonder who she saw, my master or those two elders?"
Then he heard the footsteps of two people coming; one was in front of the other as they rushed forward. He heard Yingying continuously calling out, "Brother Chong, Brother Chong, your master is here to kill you. You mustn't come out."
Linghu Chong was startled. "Master is here to kill me?"
Then he heard Yingying calling out again, "Brother Chong, quickly go. Your master wants to kill you." She was using all of her energy to shout, it was obvious she wanted Linghu Chong to hear her from far away.
Yingying was calling out, her hair loose, and running quickly with a sword in her hand while Yue Buqun was behind her with nothing in either of his hands. Yingying was now only around ten steps away from falling into the trap, while Linghu Chong and Bao Dachu were anxious, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, Yue Buqun shot out and grabbed Yingying's back with his left hand while his right hand quickly grabbed both of her wrists and twisted her arms behind her back. In just a short moment, Yingying was rendered motionless. Her hand loosened and the long sword dropped onto the ground. Linghu Chong and Bao Dachu were too late to save her because Yue Buqun moved incredibly fast. Yingying's martial art was also very high but she unexpectedly couldn't run away, and in just one move, she was captured by him. Linghu Chong was alarmed and he nearly called out. Throughout all this, Yingying was still calling out, "Brother Chong quickly go away. Your master wants to kill you!" Hot tears bubbled up in Linghu Chong's eyes as he thought, "She cares so much about me that she ignored her own safety."
Freeing his left hand, Yue Buqun sealed the acupoints on Yingying's back. Then his right hand released her and she dropped to the ground. Just then, he saw Madam Yue was lying still on the ground. Yue Buqun was surprised, but he was immediately on alert that there must be danger nearby. He didn't approach his wife but calmly looked around. He saw nothing strange and so lightly said, "Young Lady Ren, that thief Linghu Chong killed my beloved daughter. Were you a part of this too?"
Linghu Chong was again surprised. He thought, "Master said that I killed little martial sister. Where did he hear this from?"
"Your daughter was killed by Lin Pingzhi," Yingying answered. "What's that has to do with Linghu Chong? You kept on saying Linghu Chong killed your daughter, that's wrongly blaming the wrong person."
Yue Buqun laughed aloud. "Lin Pingzhi is my son-in-law. Don't you know this? They're newly wed, and so loving toward each other. Why would he kill his own wife for?"
"Lin Pingzhi wanted to rely on Songshan School, so to make Zuo Lengchan believe that he has nothing to do with you, he killed his own wife," Yingying explained.
Yue Buqun again laughed loudly. "Nonsense, Songshan School? Is there still a Songshan School in this world? Songshan School has merged into the Five Mountains School. Within Wulin, Songshan School's name is no more. Why would Lin Pingzhi go to rely on Songshan School? Also, Lin Pingzhi knows Zuo Lengchan is my subordinate. Instead of coming to his father-in-law who is the headmaster of the Five Mountains School, he went to rely on a blind person who can even barely protect himself. Even among the dumbest person in this world, this kind of stupidity simply couldn't exist."
"It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not. You can ask Lin Pingzhi yourself when you find him."
Yue Buqun's voice turned grim as he said, "The person I'm looking for right now isn't Lin Pingzhi. It's Linghu Chong. Everyone in Jianghu is saying that Linghu Chong was rude to my daughter and that she fought back against that traitor with all of her power until she was finally killed. You've weaved this lie to hide Linghu Chong, so it's obvious you're working together with him."
Yingying snorted and laughed derisively.
"Young lady Ren, your father is the Chief of the Sun Moon Sect. I originally wouldn't have given you any trouble, but to force Linghu Chong to come out, there's no other way, I'm forced to punish you a little bit. First, I'm going to chop off your left hand. Then, I'll chop off your right hand. Next would be your left foot, followed by your right foo
t. If that bastard Linghu Chong still has the slightest bit of conscience, then he will show up."
"I don't think you dare," Yingying shouted. "If you harm one hair on my head, my father will kill everyone in your Five Mountains School and not leave a single one alive."
Yue Buqun smiled and said, "I don't dare?" After he said this, he slowly pulled out the long sword hanging on his waist out of its scabbard.
Linghu Chong couldn't take it anymore so he rushed out of the underbrush and shouted, "Master, Linghu Chong's here!"
Yingying gasped in surprised and hastily said, "Go away, go away! He doesn't dare to harm me."
Linghu Chong shook his head as he walked a few steps closer. "Master..."
"Little thief, you still have some face to call me: 'Master?'" Yue Buqun said severely.
Linghu Chong's eyes were brimming with tears as he knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "Emperor of Heaven, Linghu Chong has always treated Miss Yue with respect. I would never dare to be rude to her. Linghu Chong has received your kindness and was brought up by you. If you want to kill me then kill me."
Yingying was worried; she called out, "Brother Chong, this person is half-male, half-female, he's lost his humanity long ago, quickly go away!"
Yue Buqun's face suddenly turned murderous as he turned toward Yingying and grimly said, "What do you mean by that?"
"You practised the Evil Resisting Sword Art, cas... cas... carelessly disturbed yourself and made yourself half-dead half-alive just like a ghost. Brother Chong, do you remember Dongfang Bubai? All of them are crazy, don't treat them like ordinary people." Yingying was hoping Linghu Chong would flee at once. She knew that after what she just said, Yue Buqun would never let her go but she didn't care about that.
Yue Buqun coldly said, "Where did you hear those cynical remarks you just made?"
