by Jin Yong
"When young lady Ren's acupoints become unsealed, would we still be able to keep our lives?" Qiu Songnian called out. He gripped his jiedao tightly as he again rushed at Madam Zhang. Jiedao versus short sabre, the fighting was very intense. Qiu Songnian had a big stature and his sabre was big. Moreover, jiedao was very heavy. But against Madam Zhang's close combat style, this mendicant monk actually didn't find the fight easy at all.
You Xun laughingly said, "Stop fighting, stop fighting, let's talk slowly." His hand was holding a folded fan as he approached them to mediate.
"Scram! Don't be in the way!" Qiu Songnian shouted.
"Yes, yes!" You Xun laughingly replied. He turned his body around and his right hand suddenly shot out. Madam Zhang cried out wretchedly. The steel fan in You Xun's hand had already entered her throat. You Xun laughingly said, "We're all friends here. I advised you not to fight but you didn't want to hear me. Isn't that a bit too treacherous?" When he pulled the fan out, blood sprayed out of Madam Zhang's throat.
This was outside everyone's expectation. Startled, Qiu Songnian took a step back and then he scolded, "Damn it! You son of a turtle were actually helping me."
You Xun laughed and said, "If I don't help you, who do I help then?" He turned around and said to Yingying, "Young lady Ren, you're Chief Ren's daughter. All of us gives way to you because of your father. But everyone of us respects and fears you only because you have the antidote for the 'Three Corpse Brain Divine Pill'. But once this antidote is in our hands, Sacred Lady, you'll be useless."
"Right, right," The six people all agreed. "Once we have taken her antidote, we can kill her to shut her up."
"Let's take an oath first," Priest Yuling said. "Whoever leaks this matter out, the 'Three Corpse Brain Divine Pill' in him will come out instantly." These people were thinking they must kill Yingying, but thinking of Ren Woxing, they were terrified. If this matter were to leak out, even though Jianghu was large, they still might not be able to find a shelter to hide in. The seven of them immediately said this oath.
Linghu Chong knew that once these people had finished saying their oaths, they would use their sabres to kill Yingying. So he hurriedly moved his inner energy to those acupoints which were still sealed, but he was still unable to unseal any of them. His heart was worried and he looked at Yingying. He saw she was also looking at him and there was no fear in her eyes at all. He was immediately relieved and thought, "In the end, we all must die. It would be very good for us to die together."
Qiu Songnian said to You Xun, "Do it."
"Monk Qiu has always done things very quickly and you have the most heroic spirit. I'd like to ask Brother Qiu to do it," You Xun replied.
"If you don't do it, I'll butcher you first," Qiu Songnian scolded.
"Since Brother Qiu doesn't dare, then how about if Brother Yan do it?" You Xun laughingly said.
"Your granny, why don't I dare? I just don't feel like killing people today," Qiu Songnian angrily replied.
"It doesn't matter who does it. No one will ever reveal it," Priest Yuling interrupted.
"Since it doesn't matter, then Brother Priest, please do it," Monk Xibao said.
"Why is everyone refusing?" Yan Sanxing said. "Let's speak frankly here. No one here trusts anyone else. So let us all get our weapons out and kill young lady Ren at the same time." Even though these people were ferocious and evil, when the moment arrived to kill Yingying, they did not dare to insult her even slightly.
"Wait, let me get the medicine first before we do anything else," You Xun said.
"Why do you have to be the one to take it?" Qiu Songnian asked. "Once it's in your hands, you will coerce other people. Let me take it."
"If it's in your hands, who's to say that you won't coerce other people?" You Xun replied.
"Stop wasting time!" Priest Yuling bellowed. "If we waste time till her acupoints are unsealed then it'll be trouble. Let's kill her first, then we'll distribute the medicine!" With a hiss, he drew his long sword out. The others also took out their weapons and encircled Yingying. Yingying's eyes were wide open as she unwaveringly stared at Linghu Chong. She was thinking of the events in these last few days when they were sharing some sweet moments together. The corners of her mouth were tenderly smiling.
Yan Sanxing called out, "I'm going to call one, two, three. We'll move at the same time. One, two, three!" When the word 'three' came out of his mouth, seven weapons chopped down on Yingying's body.
Who would have thought all seven weapons would stop by half a foot before they reach her body, as if they had a prior agreement to do this.
"Cowards, why didn't you kill her?" Qiu Songnian scolded. "You were thinking the person beside you would do it so the blame wouldn't fall on you!"
"You're more of a coward,” Monk Xibao retorted. “You didn't even chop down with your jiedao!"
Each of them, in their own mind, wanted the person beside them to kill Yingying first so that their own weapons wouldn't need to be stained with blood. To kill someone they had always respected was actually not easy.
"Let's do it again!" Qiu Songnian urged. "This time, whoever stops their weapons will be a bastard son of a turtle, birthed by a prostitute, worse than a dog! I'm going to call out one, two, three. One ------- Two --------" The word 'three' had not left his mouth yet when Linghu Chong called out, "Evil Resisting Sword Art!"
The seven of them heard him and they immediately turned their heads around. Around four of them asked at the same time, "What?"
Yue Buqun had used the Evil Resisting Sword Art to blind Zuo Lengchan on top of the place of worship and this had spread throughout Wulin. These seven people were very jealous. These last few days, they had been thinking of this Evil Resisting sword manual day and night.
Linghu Chong recited, "Evil Resisting Sword Art, supreme swordsmanship, attain sword qi first, then learn the divine sword. Divine qi is the foundation, the essence of the sword art. How to develop the sword qi, how to borne the divine sword? Both secrets are contained in this." When the first sentence was uttered, the seven people moved towards him for half a step. After the sixth or seventh sentence, all seven of them had left the side of Yingying and had gone beside Linghu Chong. When Linghu Chong stopped reciting, Qiu Songnian asked, "This... This is Evil Resisting sword manual?"
"If it's not Evil Resisting sword manual, then is it Resisting Evil sword manual?" Linghu Chong answered.
"Continue reciting it," Qiu Songnian persuaded.
Linghu Chong recited, "When practising the qi, mind must be sincere, clear your thoughts. Heart must be pure..." When he reached this point, he stopped reciting.
Monk Xibao urged, "Continue, continue." But Priest Yuling's mouth was muttering, trying to memorise those passages, "When practising the qi, mind must be sincere, clear your thoughts. Heart must be pure."
Actually, Linghu Chong had not seen the Evil Resisting sword manual yet. The lines he was reciting were actually Huashan sword art's formula, and he just changed the sentence 'Huashan's sword art, light and quick' to 'Evil Resisting Sword Art, supreme swordsmanship'. This was the root of Yue Buqun's 'Qi Branch' formula, where the sentence 'learn sword qi first, then learn the divine sword' existed. Linghu Chong didn't study much so his vocabulary was quite limited. In such a short time, how could he fluently invent those sentences just like a scholar?
But Qiu Songnian and the others had never heard Huashan sword art's formula before. Second, they had been thinking of the Evil Resisting Sword Art and they were very fascinated by it. So once they heard someone reciting the formula of the Evil Resisting Sword Art, each one of them became muddle headed. How could they still have time to think whether the sword manual was real or false?
Linghu Chong continued with his recitation "Flow smoothly, fill the sword qi, Evil Resisting Sword comes out, everything will be killed..." This sentence ‘everything will be killed’ was made up by him because Huashan sword formula definitely did not have this kind of formula. After reciting till here, he said, "The, th
e... next sentence is something like 'if unable to kill, sword art is ineffective', but maybe not, I don't remember it that clearly."
Monk Xibao and the others asked, "Where's the sword manual?"
Linghu Chong replied, "This sword manual... is certainly not on me." At the same time he was saying this, he was also looking at his stomach. This sentence was really along the lines of 'there's no 300 taels here'8. Right after he said this, two hands promptly reached inside his clothes. One hand belonged to Monk Xibao, and the other to Qiu Songnian. All of a sudden, the two of them cried out miserably. Monk Xibao's head had split open, while there was a sword piercing from the back of Qiu Songnian's body all the way through to his chest. They had fallen victim to Yan Sanxing and Priest Yuling.
"We've worked so hard to get our hands on this Evil Resisting Sword Manual,” Yan Sanxing laughingly said. “Once this sword manual appeared, these two bastards wanted it for themselves. How can things be that easy in this world?" He then kicked away the two people's corpses.
In the beginning, Linghu Chong pretended to recite the Evil Resisting Sword Manual because he saw Yingying's life was in grave danger. So he thought up of an idea quickly wanting to lead these people away from her and delay them, thinking that Yingying's and his acupoints might get unsealed soon. He never thought things would come to this point. Not only had he led these people away from her, they had even killed each other. Now, there were only five of them from the previous seven. Secretly, he felt really happy.
"No one has seen whether this sword manual is really on Linghu Chong's body,” You Xun said. “But we've already killed each other first, that's really impatient..." He had not finished speaking but Yan Sanxing was already rolling his eyes and staring at him hatefully.
"You're saying we're impatient. You don't accept this, do you?” Yan Sanxing said. “I'm afraid you want to get this sword manual for yourself."
"I don't dare to get it for myself and end up like that big monk with my head split open,” You Xun replied. “Where's the fun in that? But this sword manual is very famous in the world. We all wanted to widen our scope and have always thought about it."
The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo said at the same time, "That's right. No one is allowed to get it for himself. If you want to look then look at it together."
Yan Sanxing said to You Xun, "Ok, then you get the sword manual out from this kid's chest."
You Xun shook his head and smiled. "I don't have this idea of taking it for myself. I also don't dare to see it first. Brother Yan, once you take it out, I'll be satisfied if you just give me a peep at it."
Yan Sanxing then said to Priest Yuling, "Then you go and take it out!"
"It's still best if Brother Yan takes it out," Priest Yuling replied.
Yan Sanxing looked at the Tung Cypress Whiz Duo, but the two of them were also shaking their heads. Yan Sanxing angrily said, "Do you think I don't understand what the four of you bastards are thinking? You want me to take that sword manual and then you're going to kill me. But this won't work on me." The five people were looking at each other. The situation was now deadlocked.
Linghu Chong was afraid they might again go and harm Yingying, so he said, "Don't get too worried, let me try to remember more. Hmmm, Evil Resisting Sword comes out, everything will be killed, if unable to kill, sword art is ineffective... Not right, not right, sword art is ineffective, how can that be? Terrible, terrible, this sword manual is too profound. I just can't remember it."
Those five people had been intently trying to get the sword manual. When they heard such vulgar and crude words from this sword manual, their heart itched even more to get it.
Yan Sanxing slashed his sabre and shouted, "It's not difficult if you want me to take the sword manual from this kid's chest. Four of you step back outside the door, so I don't have to worry about you sons of turtle attacking me from behind when I'm taking it."
The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo just backed out of the door without saying anything. You Xun giggled but he also retreated outside. Priest Yuling hesitated before stepping back for a few steps. Yan Sanxing shouted, "Step outside of the door with both your legs!"
"What are you shouting for?” Priest Yuling replied. “If I want to go out then I'll go out, if not, then what do you care?" Even though he said this, he still went outside the door at the end. The four people watched Yan Sanxing, and were thinking on his possible escape routes from this Spirit Turtle Pavilion. The stair was definitely the only escape route Yan Sanxing could take since it wouldn't be possible for him to fly out from there.
Yan Sanxing turned around and his back was now facing Linghu Chong. He was gazing at the four people outside the door, afraid that they might suddenly sneak an attack on him. He reached back with his left hand to grope inside Linghu Chong's bosom, but he could not feel any book in there. He held his sabre in his mouth by biting on it and he used his left hand to grab Linghu Chong's chest while his right hand reached back to grope around. As he used strength on his left hand, he promptly felt his inner energy leaking out. He was startled and hastily tried to pull his hand back. But how could he have known that his hand would be stuck like it was glued to Linghu Chong's skin and he couldn't pull it back. He was even more startled now and hastily moved his internal energy to snatch his hand back. However, the more internal energy he used, the faster it leaked out. He struggled mightily as his inner energy was rushing out like the river torrent rushing down a dike.
Linghu Chong was in a desperate situation and suddenly there was an enemy's internal energy being injected into him. He felt really happy and he said, "Why are you stopping my heart meridian? How about if you let me recite the sword formula for you to listen to?" He randomly moved his lips like he was saying something.
When Priest Yuling and the others saw it from outside the door, they really thought he was reciting the sword manual. They didn't want to be disadvantaged since they couldn't hear it so they immediately rushed inside to be in front of Linghu Chong.
"That's it. That's the sword manual,” Linghu Chong exclaimed. “Why don't you take it out and give everyone a look!" But Yan Sanxing's left hand was still glued to Linghu Chong's body so how could he take it out?
Priest Yuling thought Yan Sanxing had grabbed the sword manual but because he wanted to keep it for himself, he didn't want to take it out. He immediately extended his hand to Linghu Chong's bosom to grab it too. When his hand bumped Linghu Chong's skin, his inner energy leaked out and his hand was also glued to him.
"Hey, hey, don't fight you two! You might tear the sword manual; then no one can see it!" Linghu Chong called out.
The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo exchanged a glance. With a flash, two gold staffs smashed down. Yan Sanxing's and Priest Yuling's heads burst open and they died instantly. As soon as they died, their inner energy disappeared causing both their hands to be released from Linghu Chong's body and their corpses fell down on the floor. Linghu Chong had suddenly received two people's inner energies. These inner energies had come from outside the sealed acupoints and not from inside the sealed acupoints. With these inner energies rushing in, the sealed acupoints were unsealed quickly. His original inner energy was already abundant, with a little bit of power, the ropes binding his hands were broken straight away. Extending his hand inside his bosom to grab the handle of his short sword, he said, "The sword manual is here. Who wants it?"
The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo were slow witted and they didn't think the ropes breaking apart was something unusual. When they heard him wanting to hand over the sword manual, they were exulted and together they extended their hands forward.
'Pai, pai'
Both their right wrists were cut and their hands fell on the floor. They cried out wretchedly while jumping back at the same time. Linghu Chong broke apart the ropes binding his legs and flew down to position himself in front of Yingying. He then said to You Xun, "Sword art comes out, everything will be killed! Brother You, do you want to look at the sword manual?"
The sly You Xun was the only
one left unharmed. At this time, he was already very frightened that his face was ashen. He tremblingly said, "Thank you, I... I don't want to take a look."
"No need to be so polite. Have a look for a while, there's no harm to look at it," replied a smiling Linghu Chong. He extended his left hand to poke Yingying's back and waist to unseal her acupoints. You Xun's whole body was trembling incessantly as he said, "Master Linghu... Master... Linghu... Hero... Hero, you you... you..." Both his knees bent and he knelt on the ground. "Your lowly servant has offended you and deserves death. It's... it's useless to say anything more. Sacred Lady and Headmaster still have your lives, your lowly servant will go through fire, go through water..."
"To learn the Evil Resisting Sword Art, the first step is really fun. Why don't you do it!" Linghu Chong laughingly said.
You Xun kept on kowtowing, hitting his head on the floor as he said, "Sacred Lady and Headmaster are very broadminded. Everyone in Wulin knows this. Today, let your lowly servant atone for my sin. Your lowly servant will go to Jianghu and declare you two saints... no, no, no..." When he said 'saints', he remembered something and realised he had stumbled into another disaster in his fright. Yingying can get most angered when someone mentioned behind her back that Linghu Chong and she were related. So he wanted to hold back his tongue but it was too late.
Yingying saw the Tung Cypress Whiz Duo were standing side by side. Even though they had each lost a hand and blood was pouring out of their arms without pause, their faces still showed no fear. She asked, "Are you two husband and wife?" The man from Tung Cypress Whiz Duo was called Zhou Gutong, and the woman was called Wu Baiying.
"Today, we've fallen under your hands. Whether you want to kill or peel our flesh off, the two of us won't bat an eyelid. Why do you ask so much?" Zhou Gutong replied.
