by Jin Yong
Yingying thought, "This is true. If it were me, I wouldn't care how you treat me, I'll always wish you well with all my heart."
Linghu Chong stayed in the valley for more than ten days and his new injury became much better. He said that once they arrived back in Heng-Shan, he would give the headmaster position to Yiqing. Then there would be nothing worrying him, and he would be able to travel the world with Yingying and find a secluded and nice place to live in.
Yingying said, "This matter of Lin Pingzhi, what are you going to do about the responsibility given by your departed little martial sister?"
Linghu Chong scratched his head and said, "It's the thing giving me the most headache. It's best if you don't mention it anymore. I'll just deal with it when it comes to me."
Yingying smiled and didn't say anymore. The two of them gave their respects in front of the two tombs and took their leave.
Chapter 37 Forcing Marriage
The two figures in the reflection looked exactly the same, both had baggy lady's robes, even the hair bun were no different. It was an exact copy of him. Linghu Chong was so frightened that his heart almost stopped beating.
After Linghu Chong and Yingying came out from the valley, they walked for half a day and arrived at a small town. They went to a noodle shop to eat some noodle. Linghu Chong had picked up a few strings of noodles with his chopsticks when he chuckled and said, "We haven't paid our respect to heaven and earth to get married..."
Yingying's whole face immediately became bright red. "Who said I'm going to pay respect to heaven and earth to marry you?" she angrily replied.
"We'll get married in the future," said a smiling Linghu Chong. "If you're not willing, then I'll grab you and make you pay respect to heaven and earth."
Yingying was looking like she was smiling but not smiling at the same time. "You were so well behaved when we were in the valley. Once we come out, you're speaking such improper crazy talks again."
Linghu Chong was still smiling as he replied, "We must definitely be most proper concerning this lifelong great matter. Yingying, that day in the valley, I suddenly thought of something. After we become husband and wife, I wonder how many kids we'll have."
Yingying stood up abruptly with a scowl on her face. "If you keep saying these things, I won't go back with you to Heng-Shan."
"Alright, alright, I'll stop, I'll stop," Linghu Chong laughed. But he continued, "There are so many peach trees in that valley that it looks like a peach valley. If we have six ghosts, wouldn't they become Little Peach Valley Six Fairies?"
"How can we have six ghosts?" Yingying muttered as she sat back down. At the same time she said this, she understood what he meant. This was more crazy talk from Linghu Chong. Her eyes widened showing the whites all around them; she looked at Linghu Chong and quickly lowered her head and stuffed noodles into her mouth. Her heart was filled with sweetness.
"When we go back to Heng-Shan together, there will be some dirty minded person and there'll also be people who thought that we've gotten married. I'm afraid you won't be happy hearing such vulgar nonsense," Linghu Chong said.
This was exactly what Yingying was thinking of. She said, "That's right. It's best if we disguise ourselves as farmers; then no one would be able to recognise us."
"You have such a beautiful and lovely face. No matter what we change into, it'll always shock people. When other people see us, they'll secretly praise: 'Hey, such a beautiful girl. What is she doing with a silly little kid? How can such a rare and beautiful flower be inserted into a pile of dung?' But when they look closer, they'll definitely see this rare flower is actually the Divine Sun Moon Sect's young lady Ren while this pile of manure is the person young lady Ren favoured, Linghu Chong."
"You don't need to be so modest," Yingying smiled.
"I think, when we go back to Heng-Shan this time, I should become someone ordinary and secretly look around first. If everything's quiet and safe, I'll go there by myself and give up this headmaster position to someone. Then I'll meet with you at some secret place and we'll go down the mountain together. The gods wouldn't know, the ghosts wouldn't know, how can this be not good?"
Hearing him said this; she knew he was being considerate to her so she felt really happy. She laughingly said, "That's very good. But when you go up Mount Heng-Shan, it's best if you shave your own head and disguise yourself as a Shi Tai, especially when you are going to see those Shi Tai. No one would be suspicious of you. Brother Chong, come, I'll help you change to become a little nun. I'm only afraid you might be too good looking."
Linghu Chong waved his hand. "No, no. Once I see a nun, I'll lose all my bet. If Linghu Chong pretends to be a nun then I might get bad luck later on. That won't do at all."
Yingying laughed. "A gentleman is flexible, why do you need so many taboos for? I have to shave you now."
Linghu Chong also laughed. "There's no need to dress as a nun. But to go up Xianxing Peak, I'll need to dress as a woman. But once I speak, people will know I'm a man. I have an idea. Do you remember the person from the Hanging Temple on Mount Cui Ping beyond the Porcelain Oven Pass?"
Yingying hummed as she thought. Then she clapped her hands and said, "Wonderful, wonderful! There's a mute and deaf servant at the Hanging Temple. Even when we turned that temple upside down, she didn't hear a single thing. When you ask her anything, she just stupidly looks at you. You want to disguise as this person?"
"That's right."
"Alright, let's go buy a gown for you to change into," said Yingying laughing.
Yingying used two silver taels to buy a head of long hair from a country girl. She combed it well before putting it on Linghu Chong's head. Then she let him change into a farmer woman's gown and he now looked like a woman. She then daubed some yellow powder and drew seven to eight black moles on his face. And she also stuck a piece of medicinal wrap on his lower right cheek. Linghu Chong looked in the mirror and he couldn't even recognise himself.
Yingying laughed and said, "Your figure is similar to hers, but your expression isn't. You have to wear this stupid and foolish expression: slow-witted and clumsy like."
Linghu Chong laughed. "Wearing a stupid and foolish expression is very easy, there's nothing to change. Slow-witted and clumsy, that's also Linghu Chong's true colour."
"The most important thing is when someone suddenly tries to scare you from behind, you mustn't give yourself away," Yingying cautioned.
Along the road, Linghu Chong practised to be this mute and deaf woman. The two of them didn't spend the night in an inn but lodged in an abandoned temple. Yingying again and again suddenly shouted behind him and Linghu Chong was adequately deaf to it. Within a day, they arrived at the foot of Mount Heng-Shan. They made an appointment to meet each other in three days at the Hanging Temple's field. Linghu Chong then went up the Xianxing Peak alone, leaving Yingying to spend her time nearby on the mountain.
When Linghu Chong arrived at Xianxing Peak, it was already evening. He pondered, "If I enter the convent and take a look around, martial sisters Yiqing, Zheng E, Yilin and the other martial sisters are all very observant, so they'll definitely get suspicious. It's still best if I secretly look around first."
He quickly found a secluded mountain cave and slept there until the moon was in the middle of the sky. Then he went to the living quarters of Wuse Convent at Xianxing Peak. As he neared the living quarters, he heard the sound of long swords clashing continuously. Linghu Chong was startled as he thought, "Which enemy has come here?" He touched the short sword he was hiding inside his bosom and flew towards the sword clashing sound. The sound of fighting was coming from a house more than a hundred feet outside of Wuse Convent. There was light shining out from the house's windows. Linghu Chong rushed besides the house and heard the sound of fighting become fiercer. However, when he put his eyes to the window, he immediately felt at ease. It was Yihe and Yilin practising sword while Yiqing and Zheng E were standing on the side watching. Yihe and Yilin were practising the sword art tha
t Linghu Chong had taught them before, which was the sword art taken from the cave behind the Cliff of Contemplation on Mount Huashan. The two of them were already quite familiar with the sword art.
As they fought, Yihe's sword gradually got faster and Yilin was barely able to keep up. Yihe thrust her sword point straight out in front of her chest. Yilin tried to circle her sword to block it but she was too late. "Ah," Yilin cried out softly. The point of Yihe's long sword was already pointing at Yilin's heart. Yihe smiled and said, "Martial sister, you lost again."
Yilin was very ashamed as she lowered her head and replied, "I've been practising but I haven't improved at all."
"You've improved compared to last time. Let's go again," Yihe said as she hacked her sword down in the middle of the air.
"Little martial sister's tired already," Yiqing interrupted. "Go to sleep with martial sister Zheng. We'll practise again tomorrow."
"Yes," Yilin replied. She put her sword back into the scabbard then took her leave from Yihe and Yiqing. Then she pulled on Zheng E's hand and went out of the door.
When Yilin turned around, Linghu Chong saw that she looked sad. He thought, "This little martial sister is always unhappy."
Yihe closed the door, then looked at Yiqing and they both shook their heads. They waited till the footsteps of Yilin and Zheng E were far away before Yihe said, "I always see little martial sister's mind not being calm. Her heart is always in turmoil; this is a big taboo for people like us. I don't know how to advise her."
Yiqing replied, "It's very hard to advise, she must understand it herself."
"I know why her mind isn't calm, her heart is always thinking of..."
Yiqing waved her hand and said, "This is the sacred ground of Buddha, don't say such kind of talk. If we're not in a hurry to avenge master then we could've let her understand it slowly and there would be no harm."
Yihe said, "Master used to say: everything in this world is destined and there's nothing we can do about it; especially when you have to concentrate your mind on something that must be done gradually. If it is forced then you can easily fall into the world of evil. I see little martial sister is emotional both inside and outside, and with her kind of personality, she's actually unsuitable to be a person of Buddhism."
Yiqing let out a sigh and said, "I've never tasted that kind of feeling before, but... but in the end, our school must have a Buddhist to be the headmaster. Martial Brother Linghu once said that he's only going to be the headmaster of this school temporarily only. But first we have to deal with that traitor Yue Buqun, who killed our master and martial uncles..."
Linghu Chong was greatly startled when he heard this. "How can it be my master who killed their master and martial uncles?" Then he heard Yiqing went on, "If we don't avenge this deep hatred, then we, as their disciples, won't be able to eat and sleep peacefully."
Yihe said, "I'm even more anxious compared to you. Alright, we'll intensify her sword training tomorrow."
"The common saying goes: you botch it by hurrying it, but not forcing it will let you advance greatly. However, in the past few days, I've seen little martial sister's vigour becoming less and less," Yiqing said.
"That's right," Yihe agreed. The two martial sisters picked up their weapons and extinguished the light. Then they went inside and lay down on their beds.
Linghu Chong quietly stood outside the window and his mind was in turmoil. "Why did they say my master killed their master and martial uncles? Also, why do they need to avenge their master before getting someone to receive the school's leadership? And why must they supervise little martial sister Yilin's sword training around the clock?"
He stood there thinking to himself for a long time, but he still didn't understand the reason. He slowly walked away and thought, "I'll ask martial sisters Yihe and Yiqing later."
Suddenly, Linghu Chong saw his own shadow slowly swaying. He raised his head and looked at the moon. The moon looked as if it was hanging on the tip of a tree. He immediately thought of something and he nearly called out. He thought, "I should've realised this a long time ago. Why did they understand this matter, but I didn't?" He quickly went besides the wall of a small house and leaned on it so that the guards around the Heng-Shan School wouldn't be able to see his shadow.
When his mind became calm, he thought back to the Shaolin Temple where Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai were killed. At that time, Dingyi Shi Tai had already died, and Dingxian Shi Tai passed away straight after she had given him the leadership of the school. Dingxian Shi Tai didn't reveal who the murderer was. When he checked their bodies, there were no sign of external or internal injuries nor was there any sign of poison on the two Shi Tai's bodies. The way they died was really weird, but it was inappropriate for him to open their gowns to check more thoroughly. Later, after he had come out from Shaolin Temple, Yingying told him she opened their gowns and checked on their injuries. She saw two little holes on the skin above their hearts. It looked as if someone had used needles to pierce their hearts. At that time, he had jumped up and said: 'Poison needle? Who uses poison needles in Wulin?' and Yingying had replied: 'Daddy and Uncle Xiang's experiences are vast, but they also don't know. Daddy said that it wasn't a poisoned needle. It's actually a sharp weapon aimed at a fatal point that killed them. But the needle piercing Dingxian Shi Tai was slightly slanted.' He had said: 'Yes. When I saw Dingxian Shi Tai, she was still alive. This needle had pierced into her chest, so it wasn't done secretly, and they were actually fighting face to face. The person who killed the two Shi Tai must've been a master with high martial art.' Yingying said: 'That's what my daddy also said. Since we have this clue, it won't be hard to find out who the murderer is.' At that time, he had slapped the wall of the cave and said loudly: 'Yingying, while the two of us still have our lives, we must avenge the two Shi Tai,' and Yingying replied: 'Yes.'
Both of Linghu Chong's hands were pressed on the wall and he couldn't help shivering. He thought, "The master who is capable of killing the two Shi Tai by using a small piece of needle must either be using the Sunflower Manual or the Evil Resisting Sword Art. Dongfang Bubai had always been on top of the Dark Wood Cliff embroidering, so he couldn't be the one killing people in Shaolin Temple. Also, looking at his martial art, his needle couldn't have missed when he tried to kill Dingxian Shi Tai. Zuo Lengchan had learned the fake Evil Resisting Sword Art. At that time, martial brother Lin had only gotten the sword manual so he couldn't have learned it completely; perhaps he might not even have gotten the manual at that time..." He thought back to the snow field when he met with Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan and he thought, "That's right, at that time, Lin Pingzhi's voice hasn't changed yet. It doesn't matter if he had gotten the manual or not because he couldn't have completed his learning of the Evil Resisting Sword Art then" As he thought till here, sweat started to come out from his forehead.
At that time, the person who could use a needle to fight openly from the front and kill the two Shi Tai from Heng-Shan School must have had a martial art which was not that much higher compared to Dingxian Shi Tai because that one needle did not manage to kill her. There was only Yue Buqun who could've done it. He also thought of how Yue Buqun had deliberately planned to take the headmaster position of the Five Mountains School and had actually allowed Lao Denuo to stay inside the school for more than ten years without revealing his real identity. At the end, he allowed Lao Denuo to steal a fake sword manual and easily blinded both of Zuo Lengchan's eyes. Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai were putting all their efforts in fighting against the merger of the five schools, so Yue Buqun took the opportunity to do away with them and removed a big obstacle to the merger of the schools. This must have been the reason. Why wasn't Dingxian Shi Tai willing to reveal her murderer? It must be because Yue Buqun was his master. If the murderer were Zuo Lengchan or Dongfang Bubai, why wouldn't Dingxian Shi Tai say it?
Linghu Chong again thought back to the day when he was inside that mountain cave having a conversation with Yingying. Yue Buqun had kicked him
heavily in the Shaolin Temple, but he didn't get injured and instead Yue Buqun's leg was broken. Yingying felt this was really strange. She said her father had also thought for a long time and still could not come up with a reason. Linghu Chong had absorbed the internal energies of many people and it was true that these internal energies were enough to protect his body. But he must move these internal energies in order to harm others; unlike the completed internal energy art which was capable of countering the enemy's attack without him having to move the internal energies. As he thought of this, he realised Yue Buqun must have deliberately put on such a show for Zuo Lengchan. To make sure the leg was really broken, Yue Buqun must have used his own internal energy to break it and let Zuo Lengchan see it to show that his martial art was just average and that there was nothing to worry about so that Zuo Lengchan could go forward with his plan of the merger. Zuo Lengchan had made painstaking effort to finally merge the five schools and when it had finally happened, Yue Buqun had taken everything from him. This reasoning was not hard to understand, but no matter what was said, Linghu Chong had never have any suspicion towards his master. Perhaps, this suspicion had always been buried deep in his heart and every time he arrived at this thought, his mind immediately fled from it because he was not willing and did not dare to think about it. Only at this time when he heard Yihe and Yiqing conversing with each other that he finally could not avoid it any longer.
For his whole life, he had loved and respected his master. Unexpectedly, his master was such a person. Now he felt his life was all meaningless. At that moment, he felt he couldn't even gather enough strength to go to the Heng-Shan Other Courtyard to take a look, so he found a secluded and calm field on the mountain and slept.
In the morning of the next day, Linghu Chong arrived at the Tong Yuan Valley when the day was already bright. He walked besides a small creek and saw his disguised form in the water's reflection. He checked his gown and shoes to see that nothing was out of place before he proceeded to the Other Courtyard. He went around the main entrance, wishing to enter from the side entrance. Just as he arrived besides the gate, he heard noises from the inside.
