by Jin Yong
Linghu Chong suddenly understood. "Yingying, both our lives were saved by this divine sect's senior."
"Divine sect's senior?" Yingying queried.
"Back then, ten elders from the divine sect attacked Huashan. They were all imprisoned in this cave without any way of escaping, and they all died with unsatisfied regret. All they left behind were ten sets of bones. This thigh bone, I don't know which elder it belonged to. I accidentally picked that one up and Zuo Lengchan luckily cut a section off it. This bone has this phosphorus light that the two of us can use to see," Linghu Chong explained.
Yingying let out a long sigh then bowed towards that bone and said, "So it's our sect's elder, sorry for the offence."
Linghu Chong took a few more paper and lighted them up. Then he found two torches and lighted them up also. "I wonder what happened to Martial Uncle Mo?" Then he shouted, "Martial Uncle Mo, Martial Uncle Mo!" But there was still no sound. Linghu Chong felt in his heart that Martial Uncle Mo cared for him. So he was feeling sad that he had died in this cave today. He glanced around the ground looking at the corpses, but it was very difficult to search for Mr. Mo Da's corpse. He thought, "We haven't escaped from danger yet, we can't linger around here. I'll come back later to look for Martial Uncle Mo's corpse then I'll bury him properly."
Linghu Chong turned around and pulled on Lin Pingzhi's chest as he went towards the tunnel. Yingying knew he had promised Yue Lingshan to tend to Lin Pingzhi. So without saying anything, she picked up that yaoqin which had holes in a few places and followed behind him. They used the narrow tunnel that had been dug by those elders to go out step by step.
Linghu Chong lifted his sword up to be prepared. He was thinking Zuo Lengchan was very calculating and since the cave's entrance had been sealed, then he surely would have dispatched people to guard the narrow tunnel. He had to be careful of the guard trying to stop him inside the cave. But after walking all the way through the tunnel, he still saw no one. Linghu Chong softly opened the stone covering up the entrance, and he felt the light dazzling his eyes. The ferocious fight inside the cave had gone on for so long that he didn't feel how much time had actually passed, and the sky had actually turned bright. He saw there was no one outside the cave and he immediately pulled Lin Pingzhi out, and Yingying followed him out. There was a sword in Linghu Chong's hand, enough light for him to see, he was at a spacious place, they had really gone out of danger. He sucked in a breath of fresh air and felt unspeakable comfort.
"When your master punished you before, was it at this cave?" Yingying asked.
"That's right. What do you think?" Linghu Chong laughingly replied.
Yingying smiled. "I think you weren't here meditating, but your..." She was thinking of saying 'your little martial sister', but why would she mention Yue Lingshan to make him sad? So she quickly stopped.
"Grand martial uncle Feng lives somewhere nearby. I wonder if he's doing fine. I've always thought of this. He first said, he doesn't want to meet anyone from Huashan School, but I'm no longer in Huashan School," Linghu Chong said.
"Yes. Let's go meet him," Yingying said.
Linghu Chong sheathed his sword and let go of Lin Pingzhi. He pulled on Yingying's hand and went out of the cave.
Chapter 39 No Treaty
The earthshaking chanting of "Thousands of years, rule the Martial World" went on and on by cult members kneeling down. Sunshine covered Ren Woxing's face and his entire body. The majestic looking Chief of the Sun-Moon Cult looked like a god.
They walked out of the cave and suddenly saw a black shape moving on top of their heads. It looked like something had fallen down on them. Linghu Chong and Yingying simultaneously dodged it, but who could've thought the object dropping was a large fish net and it trapped the two of them in there. Startled, they quickly drew their swords to cut the net, but after slashing for a few times, the net was unexpectedly untouched. At this time, another fish net was thrown from above covering both of them. The person above the cave leapt down with a rope in his hand tightening the net.
"Master!" the word escaped from Linghu Chong's mouth. That person really was Yue Buqun. The net got tighter and tighter as Yue Buqun pulled on the rope. Linghu Chong and Yingying were just like a couple of big fishes being entangled inside a net. They were able to struggle in the beginning, but at the end, they couldn't even move. Frightened, Yingying didn't know what to do. She took a glance and saw Linghu Chong was smiling, looking very relaxed. She thought, "Has he thought of a way to escape?"
Yue Buqun had a fierce looking smile on his face. "Little traitor, you were complacent coming out of the cave. Didn't expect trouble out here, did you?"
"It's not trouble. When someone's going to die, dying with his wife is the happiest thing," Linghu Chong replied nonchalantly.
Yingying understood. His face was looking happy because he would be able to die together with her. Her fear dissappeared, replaced with a wave of happiness.
Linghu Chong continued, "If you kill both of us like this, then you wouldn't be able to separate us."
"Little traitor," Yue Buqun indignantly said. "Death is imminent and you're still boasting!"
He then wrapped the rope around them for a few times, bunching them up tightly.
"This fish net of yours, you got it from Old Man, didn't you?" Linghu Chong said. "You treat me really well, you know that we don't want to be apart so you wrapped the two of us husband and wife very tightly just like this. You raised me since I was little and you know my heart really well. In this world, you're my only friend Mr. Yue." He was saying all these smart-aleck comments hoping to drag the time out while looking for some way to get out of this situation. Another hope of his was that Feng Qingyang would suddenly appear to rescue them.
Yue Buqun sneered. "Little traitor, you love to talk nonsense since you were little, and your temperament still haven't changed till now. I should cut off your tongue first to save you from losing your tongue in hell when you die." His left leg flew up and kicked Linghu Chong on his waist, sealing his mute accupoint and shutting Linghu Chong up.
"Young lady Ren," Yue Buqun continued. "Who do you want me to kill first? Him or you?"
"What's the difference?" Yingying replied. "I only have three medicines for the Divine Three Brain Corpse Pill on my body."
Yue Buqun's face changed colour when he heard this. Ever since he was forced by Yingying to swallow the 'Divine Three Brain Corpse' pill, he had been thinking day and night on how to obtain the medicine. He had been waiting for a long time for this opportunity. The two of them had just escaped danger, happily going out of the cave, without taking care to protect themselves when suddenly this metal fish net trapped them. His original idea was to kill Linghu Chong and Yingying first before searching her body for the medicine. But when he heard her saying there was only three medicines on her body, he realised he would only be able to live for three more years after killing them. Moreover, after three years had passed, the insect would enter his brain and make him insane and die in unbearable pain. This matter was really difficult for him to settle. Even though his inner energy and martial art were marvelous, he couldn't stop both of his hands from trembling.
"Alright, let's make a deal," Yue Buqun said. "Tell me how to make the medicine, and I'll spare both your lives."
Yingying laughed and indifferently said, "Even though I'm still young, I know Gentleman Sword Mr. Yue's personality. If your words are to be believed, then your nickname wouldn't be Gentleman Sword."
"You've learned nothing by being with Linghu Chong," Yue Buqun said. "All you've learned is how to talk a lot. You're not willing to say how to make the medicine?"
"Of course not," Yingying answered. "In three years time, Chong-lang and I will be waiting at death's door to welcome you. At that time, you won't have your five senses anymore and your whole face will be ruined, I wonder if we'll still be able to recognise you."
Yue Buqun felt a wave of coldness at his back. He understood her meaning of 'won't have your five sen
ses and your whole face will be ruined' was a reference to the time when the poison would come out. If his whole body weren't rotten by that time, then he would destroy his own face through madness. His whole body shivered thinking about it.
"Even if my whole face will be ruined, yours will be ruined three years earlier than mine," Yue Buqun indignantly said. "I won't kill you too, I'll only cut off your ears and nose. And on your lovely white snow face, I'm going to give you seventeen eighteen slashes. We'll see then how much love, how much affection, your Chong-lang has. Whether he'll still love a freak ugly weirdo."
With a hiss, he drew his long sword out. Yingying gasped in surprise. She wasn't afraid of death, but if Yue Buqun were to ruin her face to make it look like a demon and let Linghu Chong look at her, it was even worse than death. Even though Linghu Chong's mute acupoint was sealed, he was still able to move his hands and feet. He knew what Yingying was thinking so he bumped her with his elbow, extended two fingers from his right hand and pierced them towards his eyes. Yingying again cried out and she hurriedly called out, "Brother Chong, don't!"
Yue Buqun didn't really mean to ruin Yingying's face. He was only threatening her to make her tell him the prescription for the medicine. If Linghu Chong destroyed both his eyes, then his plan would be useless. His left hand shot out unbelievably quick and grabbed Linghu Chong's right wrist through the fist net.
"Stop!" Yue Buqun shouted.
As their skins connected, Yue Buqun immediately felt his internal energy flowing out.
"Aiyo!" Yue Buqun called out. In a hurry, he tried to get away but it was like his palm was glued to Linghu Chong's wrist. Linghu Chong turned his hand around grabbing Yue Buqun's palm. Yue Buqun now felt his inner energy rushing out even faster. He was greatly startled. With the long sword in his right hand, he quickly chopped it at Linghu Chong's body. Linghu Chong's hand shook and dragged his body back causing the sword to slash at the ground. Yue Buqun's inner energy was still flowing out. As he tried to slash his sword a second time, he felt weak and powerless that he practically couldn't even lift his own arm. Exhorting his energy, he tried to lift his sword. With the sword aiming at the point between Linghu Chong's eyes and his arm and the long sword unceasingly quivering, he slowly pierced it forward.
Yingying was alarmed and she wanted to use her finger to flick Yue Buqun's sword away. But both her arms were pressed under Linghu Chong's body and the fish net was tightly wrapped around her body. She exerted her strength to struggle, but she couldn't free her hands. Linghu Chong's left arm was also being trapped under Yingying's body so he also couldn't use it. He saw the sword point slowly stabbing forward. He thought, "I killed Zuo Lengchan and injured Lin Pingzhi with this kind of slow sword. This time, master is also going to use this method to kill me. What a really quick retribution."
Yue Buqun felt his inner energy was quickly running out, but the sword point was only a few inches away from Linghu Chong's eyebrow. He was both happy and anxious.
"You... What are you doing?" a sharp female voice cried out from behind. "Take your sword away!"
Sound of footsteps was heard as someone drew near. Yue Buqun saw his sword only had to go a few more inches then he'd be able to kill Linghu Chong. At this time, his life was hanging by a thread so how could he agree to just give up? Staking all his remaining energy, his sword finally reached Linghu Chong's forehead.
It was at this time when he suddenly felt something cold at the back of his body. A long sword had been pierced from his back all the way through to the front of his chest.
"Big brother Linghu, are you alright?" a female voice cried out. She was Yilin.
The blood in Linghu Chong's chest was bubbling up and he couldn't reply her.
"Little martial sister, Big Brother Linghu is alright," Yingying told her.
"That's very good!" Yilin happily said. She was suddenly startled and frightenedly cried, "It's Mr. Yue! I... I killed him!"
"That's right," Yingying said. "Congratulations for taking revenge on your master's murderer. Can you untie the fish net please? Let me get out."
"Yes, yes!" Yilin replied. She saw Yue Buqun was prostrated on the ground with blood spouting out from the sword wound. Her whole body turned to jelly and in a quivering voice, she asked, "I... I killed him?" She wanted to grab the rope to release it but both her hands were trembling and she had no power in them. She was unable to release them.
"Little nun," a voice suddenly called out from the left. "You killed the honourable chief. I'll teach you today that you can't run away from justice!"
An old man wearing a yellow gown came forward carrying a naked sword. This person was Lao Denuo.
"Aiyo!" Linghu Chong cried out.
"Little martial sister, quickly use your sword to fight," Yingying shouted.
Yilin was stupefied for a moment before she drew the sword out of Yue Buqun's body. Lao Denuo attacked with three quick strokes and Yilin blocked all three attacks. The third attack flitted near her left shoulder and drew blood. Lao Denuo's sword was getting faster and faster with some of the movements from the Evil Resisting Sword Art. But since he had not learned it too deeply, he only had the movement while his speed was way below that of Lin Pingzhi. Originally, Lao Denuo was already experienced and his sword art came from Songshan and Huashan Schools. It was only recently that he learned the Evil Resisting Sword Art. So Yilin was originally not his match.
However, as Yihe and Yiqing was hoping that Yilin would become Heng-Shan's headmaster in the future, they had been supervising her practising the Heng-Shan sword art that Linghu Chong gave them. So her martial art had improved. Also, because Lao Denuo's Evil Resisting Sword Art was not yet perfected and he wanted to try it out, their movements came out in between the Songshan and Huashan Schools' sword art that he was using. His sword movements became mixed and caused his original sword art to be weaker.
In the beginning, when Yilin saw the fast sword art from his enemy, she panicked and the third attack injured her left shoulder. But she thought if she lost then Linghu Chong and Yingying would not escape from danger as well and they were bound to meet disaster as well. She was thinking that if he was going to kill Big brother Linghu, then it was better if she was killed first. Without any fear of dying, she didn't think of preserving herself and just kept on attacking with all her moves.
When Lao Denuo was confronted with her staking-life fighting method, he couldn't win against her for the moment. He swore, "Little nun, you **** your mother real good!"
Yingying saw Yilin's spirit was raised and she was fighting with all her might. But after a long time, she was still bound to lose. She rolled on the ground freeing her left arm and unsealing Linghu Chong's acupoint. She put her hand inside her bosom and took out her short sword.
"Lao Denuo," Linghu Chong cried out. "What's that behind you?"
Lao Denuo was an experienced person and he wouldn't fall for Linghu Chong's trick by turning around to have a look and give his enemy an opportunity to attack him. He ignored Linghu Chong and increased the ferocity of his attack. Yingying held her short sword wanting to toss it out from the fish net, but Yilin was fighting very closely with Lao Denuo. If her toss was slightly off then it might hit her. She hesitated and didn't throw her sword out.
Suddenly, Yilin cried out. Her left shoulder had again been hit. The first time she got hit, the injury was very light, but this time the wound was a few inches deep. The grass around the area was splashed with her blood.
"Monkey, monkey, ah, this is sixth brother's monkey," Linghu Chong called out. "Good monkey, quickly bite him. This is the traitor who killed your master."
In order to steal Yue Buqun's 'Violet Twilight Secret Manual', Lao Denuo killed Lu Dayou who was the sixth disciple of Huashan School. Lu Dayou had a small monkey which usually sits on his shoulder. After he died, this monkey had gone somewhere. At this time, he suddenly heard Linghu Chong's shout and couldn't help feeling scared. "If this animal jump on me and bite me then my movements will be restricted.
" So he leaned to one side and turned around to slash his sword. But how could there be a monkey behind his back? At this time, Yingying tossed her sword towards the back of his neck. Lao Denuo stooped down and the short sword flew above his neck. Suddenly, he felt a rope tightened around his left ankle. The rope was tugged backwards and he fell face forward.
When Linghu Chong saw Lao Denuo stooped down to avoid the sword, it presented a very good opportunity. He quickly undid the rope tying the fish net and sent the rope out coiling around his left ankle and pulled it.
"Kill him, kill him!" Linghu Chong and Yingying called out.
Yilin chopped her sword down on Lao Denuo's neck. But she was a compassionate person and she was also timid. When she first killed Yue Buqun, she did it to save Linghu Chong. With her being anxious, she quickly wielded her sword and didn't realise she was actually going to kill a person. When her sword was about to slash Lao Denuo's neck, her heart became soft. Her sword leaned to a side and slashed his right shoulder instead. Lao Denuo's collarbone was broken and his sword dropped from his hand. He was afraid Yilin's second sword would slash down again so he endured the pain to get up and struggled to be free of the rope. He then escaped down from the cliff.
Suddenly, two people came up from around the mountain. The female shouted, "Hey, was it you who scolded my daughter just then?" She was Yilin's mother who was at the Hanging Temple pretending to be the mute granny. Lao Denuo did a flying kick to kick her away. That granny leaned to one side to avoid it and gave him a mighty slap on the cheek.
"You scolded her 'you **** your mother real good'," she shouted. "I'm her mother! You dare to scold me?"
"Stop him, stop him!" Linghu Chong cried out. "Don't let him get away!"
That granny originally wanted to hit down on Lao Denuo's head, but hearing Linghu Chong's shouting. She shouted, "Little rascal, I'm going to let him go!" She leaned to one side and gave Lao Denuo a kick on his buttock. Lao Denuo felt like he had received a pardon from heaven as he sprinted down the cliff.
