by Jin Yong
At that time, Linghu Chong was unyielding in his thinking that had been ingrained in his mind since he was small. That the demonical and the orthodox couldn't co-exist and that he could never join the Devil Sect. Later on, he saw Zuo Lengchan who was a big master of the orthodox path being deceitful and violent, and his action not differing too much when compared to the Devil Sect. Thus, the line between the orthodox and demonical wasn't that clear anymore. Sometimes, he also thought that if Ren Woxing was determined to make him join the sect then only if he agreed to marry Yingying off to him would he just join the sect without care. His nature was easygoing and he didn't take anything seriously. It didn't worry him whether he joined the sect or not, it wasn't a big deal for him. But that day on the Dark Wood Cliff, when he saw the heroes being so humble towards Dongfang Bubai and Ren Woxing and with them speaking so flatteringly and insincerely, he couldn't help feeling a strong dislike against the sect instead. He was thinking that if he joined the sect, then he must also spend his days like a slave and he'd become a useless person. Every person has his own fate in living and dying, if he was required to beg to keep his life then Linghu Chong would never do it.
Now, he had further seen Ren Woxing abused his power and arranged everything like he was better than an emperor. He thought of the day when Ren Woxing was back in the dark prison underneath the West Lake, how there was no scenery in there at all. But today, he insulted the world's heroes like they were not people at all. At this time, he suddenly heard someone said in a clear voice, "Reporting to Sacred Chief, Heng-Shan School's disciples have arrived."
Linghu Chong was startled. He saw Yihe, Yiqing, Yilin, and the rest of the Heng-Shan disciples helping each other to go up the peak. Monk No Commandment, his wife, and Tian Boguang were walking behind them.
"Friends," Bao Dachu said in a loud voice. "Please go and see Sacred Chief."
Yiqing and the rest of the disciples saw Linghu Chong sitting on the side. They knew Ren Woxing was his father-in-law, so even though they felt the orthodox and demonical shouldn't be together, on account of their headmaster, they paid their respects as juniors. Walking to the front of the Deity's Palm, they bowed to pay their respect. "Heng-Shan School's junior disciples pay our respects to Chief Ren!"
"Kneel and kowtow!" Bao Dachu ordered.
"We're Buddhist," Yiqing replied in a loud voice. "We worship Buddha, worship Boddhisatva, worship master, we don't worship ordinary people!"
"Sacred Chief isn't an ordinary person," Bao Dachu shouted. "He's a divine deity just like Buddha and Boddhisatva!"
Yiqing turned her head to look at Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong shook his head.
"If you want to kill us then kill us!" Yiqing replied. "Disciples of Heng-Shan do not worship ordinary people!"
"Well said, well said!" Monk No Commandment said as he laughed aloud.
"Which school are you from?" Xiang Wentian indignantly questioned. "Where do you come from?"
He saw Heng-Shan School's disciples weren't willing to kowtow to Ren Woxing and the situation was now at a deadlock. If they troubled the female disciples then it wouldn't be good in front of Linghu Chong. So he immediately turned to Monk No Commandment to divide Ren Woxing's attention and make him forget of the kowtow incident.
"Big temples don't want to take me in, while little temples don't want such a wild monk, so I have no family or school," Monk No Commandment laughingly replied. "I heard there'll be lots of people gathering here so I came here to take a look and join in the revelry."
"Today, the Divine Sun Moon Sect is here to meet the five mountains sword schools," Xiang Wentian said. "Other people aren't allowed to be here. Go down the mountain!"
Xiang Wentian said this politely because he was taking into account Linghu Chong's face. He saw Monk No Commandment had come up together with the Heng-Shan School's female disciples so he expected him to be related to the Heng-Shan School. Thus, he didn't want to make things to difficult for him.
"This Mount Huashan doesn't belong to your Devil Sect," said a smiling No Commandment. "If I want to be here then I'll be here, if I want to go then I'll go. Besides the Huashan School's disciples, who dares to tell me what to do?"
These words 'Devil Sect' were a very big taboo in the Sun Moon Sect. Even though the people in Wulin often used the word 'Devil Sect' behind their backs, they'd never blatantly speak these words to their faces. Monk No Commandment was a very frank person who spoke his mind and there was nothing he was afraid of saying. When he heard Xiang Wentian telling him to go down the mountain, he was displeased and didn't even care how many people the enemy had, and unexpectedly didn't show any fear.
Xiang Wentian turned to Linghu Chong and said, "Brother Linghu, what's the relationship between your honourable school and this crazy monk?"
Linghu Chong's chest and stomach were in great pain so he tremblingly replied, "This... this is Great Master No Commandment..."
Ren Woxing was extremely angry to have heard No Commandment addressed them as the 'Devil Sect'. He was afraid Linghu Chong might say that this monk was deeply connected to him and then they wouldn't be able to kill him. Without waiting for Linghu Chong to finish, he immediately shouted, "Kill this crazy monk!"
"As ordered!" eight elders in yellow gown acknowledged. They cupped their fists and attacked No Commandment immediately after.
"You're relying on many people?" No Commandment shouted. He only said a few words and the attacks from these eight elders had arrived.
"How shameless!" that granny scolded.
She leapt in the crowd, got behind Monk No Commandment's back, and used her palms to fight with the enemies. These eight elders were Sun Moon Sect's number one experts, and their martial arts were about similar to that of No Commandment and that granny. Moreover, with eight against two, they soon got the upper hand. Tian Boguang pulled out his knife and Yilin raised her long sword to enter the fight. Both of their martial arts were far below theirs, and two of the eight elders separated to fight them. Tian Boguang fought with his fast knife chops and he was able to hold up. But Yilin was already pressed by her enemy until she was gasping for air. If it wasn't for the fact that the elder saw her wearing Heng-Shan School's uniform, and that he was giving way to her on Linghu Chong's account, she would've been killed.
Linghu Chong stooped down and pressed his left hand to his stomach. His right hand pulled his long sword out and called out, "Stop... stop!" Rushing into the fight with his long sword trembling, he executed eight moves to force four elders to move back. He turned around and executed another eight moves. These sixteen moves were from the 'Dugu Nine Sword Art' and each move was aimed at an elder's fatal point. The eight elders were forced back and they didn't dare to fight with him for real so they all stepped back.
Linghu Chong crouched on the ground and said, "Chief... Chief Ren, on my account, please... please let them..." But he couldn't utter the last word 'go'.
Ren Woxing saw his situation and guessed that the different types of internal energy inside his body were coming out. He knew that his daughter wanted to marry him and he himself liked his personality. Also, as he never had a son, he was hoping that he would someday be the divine sect's chief. So he immediately nodded his head and said, "Since Headmaster Linghu requested this, I'll be lenient today."
Xiang Wentian moved in a flash with both his hands striking out to seal the acupoints on No Commandment and his wife, Tian Boguang and Yilin. He struck out really fast and mysteriously. Even though that granny had fast as lightning movement, she unexpectedly couldn't escape from his strike.
"Xiang... Xiang..." Linghu Chong was alarmed.
"Don't worry," Xiang Wentian laughed. "Sacred Chief already said he's going to be lenient." He turned his head and called out, "Eight guards, step out!"
Eight people wearing blue-green gowns came out and bowed. "We're ready to receive Left Protector Xiang's order!"
"Four males and four females," Xiang Wentian said.
Four males immediately stepped back a
nd replaced by four females.
"These four people spoke improperly and ought to have been killed," Xiang Wentian said. "But Sacred Chief is lenient and tolerant and on account of Headmaster Linghu, he granted them leniency. Take them down the mountain and unseal their acupoints."
The eight respectfully bowed and acknowledged the order.
Xiang Wentian lowered his voice and relayed more order, "They're Headmaster Linghu's friends. Don't be rude to them."
"Yes!" the eight people answered. Taking these four people behind their backs, they went down from the peak.
Linghu Chong and Yingying saw No Commandment and the other three people had escaped with their lives so they let out a long sigh of relief.
"Thank... Thank you!" Linghu Chong said in trembling voice from his crouching position on the ground as he couldn't stand back up. Just then when he executed the sixteen moves, he forced the eight elders to retreat. However, each of these elders had excellent martial arts and his sword moves wouldn't have been able to injure them. Although he used these sixteen moves in the blink of an eye, he had consumed a large amount of energy to do so. Now, his chest and stomach felt even more painful.
Xiang Wentian was secretly worried but his face wasn't showing it. He laughingly said, "Brother Linghu, are you unwell?"
Back then, Linghu Chong and he combined together to fight against numerous heroes and became sword brothers. Even though they had rarely met, their friendship would never change through life and death. He took Linghu Chong's hand and supported him to sit back on his chair while secretly giving Linghu Chong his inner energy to help him fight against the turmoil in his internal energy. Linghu Chong thought that since he had the 'Art of Essence Absorbing' so with Xiang Wentian doing this, he might inadvertently absorb Xiang Wentian's martial art. Thus, he quickly struggled to break free from Xiang Wentian's grip. "Big Brother Xiang, don't! I'm... I'm ok now."
"From among the five mountains sword schools, only Heng-Shan School came to this meeting," Ren Woxing said. "The disciples from the remaining four schools are unexpectedly afraid to come up to this peak. We won't be polite anymore then."
At this time, Shangguan Yun quickly walked up to the peak and arrived at the front of the Deity's Palm. He bowed and said, "Reporting to Sacred Chief: Inside the cave on the Cliff of Contemplation, I found hundreds of corpses. Songshan School's Headmaster Zuo Lengchan is amongst the dead. There are also countless Songshan's, Hengshan's, and Taishan's master-hands. It seems they had killed each other."
"Ah!" Ren Woxing gasped. "Hengshan's Headmaster Mo Da is among them?"
"Subordinate carefully examined the corpses," Shangguan Yun reported. "I didn't find Mo Da among them. I also didn't find his traces anywhere in Huashan."
Linghu Chong and Yingying felt happy and surprised at the same time. They looked at each other and both thought, "Mr. Mo Da can mysteriously appear and disappear, and he actually managed to escape from danger. I'm guessing he might have pretended to be dead amongst the corpses until everything was safe before coming out."
Then they heard Shangguan Yun continuing, "Taishan School's Yuqingzi and Yuyinzi are both dead."
Ren Woxing was very displeased to hear this. "What... What else?"
"Outside that cave," Shangguan Yun continued. "There's another corpse."
"Who is it?" Ren Woxing asked hastily.
"Subordinate checked and he was Huashan School's Headmaster," Shangguan Yun reported. "He's the newly appointed headmaster of the Five Mountains School, the Gentleman Sword Yue Buqun."
He knew Linghu Chong would inevitably be the sect's chief in the future, and that Yue Buqun was his master, so that was why he spoke so respectfully about him.
When Ren Woxing heard Yue Buqun had also died, he couldn't help feeling disappointed. He asked, "Who... Who else has died?"
"When subordinate was inside the cave on the Cliff of Contemplation checking things out, I heard there was sound of fighting behind the cave," Shangguan Yun said. "I came out to take a look and saw a group of Huashan School's people and Taishan School's priests fighting each other. They were saying that the other group had killed their master. Both parties fought violently and many died. I've brought them here to receive Sacred Chief's punishment."
Ren Woxing hummed and said, "Yue Buqun was killed by Taishan School? Who in Taishan School has the ability to do that?"
From the Heng-Shan School, Yiqing said in a clear voice, "No! Yue Buqun was killed by a sister from the Heng-Shan School."
"Who?" Ren Woxing demanded.
"The one who just went down the peak, little martial sister Yilin," Yiqing answered. "Yue Buqun killed our Abbess Master and Martial Uncle Dingyi. Everyone in our school hates him to the bone. Today, with the blessing of Buddha, Abbess Master and Martial Uncle Dingyi borrowed little martial sister's hand to punish this evildoer."
"Hmm," Ren Woxing hummed. "That's how it is! That can be said the heaven's net is great and no one can escape." His disappointment was evident in his speech.
Xiang Wentian and the elders were looking at each other, and were all feeling dejected. This time, the Sun Moon Sect had come to Huashan and had planned everything meticulously. Not only had all the master-hands from the sect came out, they had also gathered all the subordinates from each clan, each stronghold, each cave, and each island to force the five mountains sword schools to submit to them. If the five schools didn't want to submit, then they would immediately be annihilated. Then Ren Woxing and Sun Moon Sect would control the world. They would continue with Shaolin and Wudang Schools, and none from among the orthodox path would be able to resist. The business of long live the chief and unifying the Jianghu was to be settled today on the Peak of Morning Sun at Mount Huashan. Unexpectedly, Zuo Lengchan, Yue Buqun, and the masters from Taishan School had killed each other, and the whereabouts of Mr. Mo Da was unknown. There also weren't many left of the juniors from the four schools. The meticulous planning and preparation that had been done by Ren Woxing had all been useless.
Ren Woxing got angrier as he thought more. He shouted, "Bring those dogs from the five sword schools up here!"
"Yes!" Shangguan Yun replied. He turned around to go down the peak to get them.
The different types of internal energies that were disturbed in Linghu Chong's body gradually calmed down. When he heard Ren Woxing said 'Bring those dogs from the five sword schools up here', he still felt unhappy because even though Ren Woxing wasn't scolding himself, Heng-Shan School was still part of the five mountains sword schools.
After some time, shouting were heard as two elders from the Sun Moon Sect led a group of sect's people herding thirty three disciples from the Songshan, Taishan, Hengshan, and Huashan School up to the peak. Originally, Huashan School didn't have that many disciples, but most of the master-hands from Songshan, Taishan, and Hengshan Schools who came to Mount Huashan had died. These thirty three disciples were not only nameless, each one of them were also injured. If not for the Sun Moon Sect's people helping them to walk, they wouldn't have been able to get up the peak. Ren Woxing was furious when he saw them. Without waiting for them to come closer, he shouted, "Why do I want these dogs to come up here for? Take them down, take them all down!"
"As ordered by Sacred Chief," those two elders replied and brought those thirty disciples down from the peak.
Ren Woxing swore a few times before he suddenly laughed aloud. "The actions of the five mountains sword schools can be said to be unforgivable by heaven. We don't have to do anything and they're already killing each other. From now on, they no longer exist in Jianghu."
Xiang Wentian along with ten elders bowed and said, "This is Sacred Chief's great fortune. All those little bandits died by themselves."
Xiang Wentian also said, "Within the five mountains sword schools, Heng-Shan School is the only one left. This is all because of Headmaster Linghu's leadership. From now on, Heng-Shan School and our divine sect will have the same root different branches. We're going to be prosperous and glorious. Con
gratulations Sacred Chief to obtain a young hero with no equal in this world to be your vice."
"That's right!" Ren Woxing said. "Left Protector Xiang said it well. Little brother Linghu, from today onwards, you can disband your Heng-Shan School. All the Shi Tai and the female disciples in your school are all welcome to come to our Dark Wood Cliff. Otherwise, it won't be appropriate to stay at Mount Heng-Shan. Then you can take this Heng-Shan's remnants as your Vice-Chief's personal army, haha, haha!" He looked up at the sky and let out a loud laugh that shook the valley.
When they heard the words 'Vice-Chief', all of them were stupefied. A moment later, they all cheered and cries from all directions were heard, "Hero Linghu be our sect's Vice-Chief! It's very good!" "Congratulations Sacred Chief getting an excellent deputy!" "Congratulations Sacred Chief, congratulations Vice-Chief!" "Long live to Sacred Chief, Long live to Vice-Chief!" All the people from the sect had long regarded Linghu Chong as their Chief's son-in-law, and as he was also appointed as Vice-Chief, it was natural that he would inherit the chief position in the future. They knew he was an easy-going person and when he ascends into power, they most likely wouldn't have to be so anxious like the current time, when they were forever in fear. The rest of the Jianghu heroes here had most likely followed Linghu Chong in attacking the Shaolin Temple and had gone through trials and tribulations with him. Or perhaps, they had received Yingying's kindness in getting the medicine. They all supported him from the bottom of their hearts.
