by Jin Yong
Chongxu and Fangzheng walked back out shoulder to shoulder, and said, "Chief Ren, please come in for some tea!"
But the screen on that sedan chair remained motionless and there was no movement from inside the sedan chair as well. Chongxu was indignant as he thought, "This old demon head thinks himself so highly! Great Master Fangzheng, Headmaster Linghu, and I currently have the highest positions in Wulin. We're standing here waiting but you don't even pay attention to us!" If not for that nine dragon chair having a trap in it, he would have unsheathed his sword, opened up the sedan chair's curtain, and fought with Ren Woxing. He said it again one more time, but there was still no answer coming from inside the sedan chair.
Xiang Wentian bent his waist and put his ear beside the sedan chair. He nodded a few times listening to the directions from the person inside the sedan chair. Standing back up, he said, "My humble sect Chief Ren said, Shaolin Temple Great Master Fangzheng and Wudang Priest Chongxu are seniors in Wulin, and that he doesn't deserve for the two seniors to be waiting here for him. Later, he will personally go to Shaolin and Wudang to express his thanks and apology."
Xiang Wentian also said, "Chief Ren said he has come to Mount Heng-Shan today especially to meet Headmaster Linghu. He'd like to ask only Headmaster Linghu to be in the convent to meet him." When he finished speaking, he gestured with his hand and the sixteen porters carried the sedan chair into the convent and put it down inside the Guanyin Hall. Xiang Wentian and Elder Bamboo Green accompanied the sedan chair inside, but they came back out with the porters, leaving the sedan chair alone inside the convent.
Chongxu thought, "Something's up here, I wonder what kind of trap is inside that sedan chair." He looked at Fangzheng and Linghu Chong. Fangzheng wasn't sure what to do and his face was looking bewildered.
"Since Chief Ren only wants to meet Junior alone, then please wait here," Linghu Chong said.
Chongxu whispered, "Be careful."
Linghu Chong nodded and strode inside the convent. That Wuse Convent was just a little room and if someone spoke loudly in the Guanyin Hall then people outside would be able to hear them clearly.
"Junior Linghu Chong pays my respect to Chief Ren," Linghu Chong greeted, but he didn't hear Ren Woxing saying anything. Linghu Chong suddenly gasped in surprise.
Chongxu was startled as he was afraid Linghu Chong had fallen under Ren Woxing's violent hands. He took a step wanting to enter the convent and help, but he thought, "Brother Linghu's sword art is excellent and unmatched in this world. He entered the convent with a sword so that demon head Ren couldn't have possibly killed him with a stab. If he had really fallen under his violent hands, I would still be too late coming in to help. If that old demon head Ren hasn't killed Brother Linghu, that'll be best. But if Brother Linghu has fallen under his violent hands, then this demon head will be alone inside the Guanyin Hall and he'll definitely sit on that nine dragon chair, and if I go inside then I'd ruin everything." In that moment, he felt agitated and pondered, "That old demon head Ren might be sitting on that chair right now. In just a moment, the fuse will be triggered and this Xianxing Peak will be destroyed. If I quickly run away at this time like a coward, Xiang Wentian will see it and will immediately alert him, then we'll be defeated. But if it explodes now, no matter how fast I move, I still won't be able to escape. So what should I do?" He had originally calculated everything in detail. When the Sun Moon Sect came up the peak to attack, how they would fight, how to retreat, everything had been predicted that when Ren Woxing sit down on the nine dragons chair, everyone from Shaolin, Wudang, and Heng-Shan Schools would've retreated down to the valley. They never expected the Sun Moon Sect would come up without fighting and instead give their propriety first before fighting. Moreover, Ren Woxing wanted to meet Linghu Chong alone inside the convent. Everything that he had predicted had now changed. Even though he was very smart, he was at a lost for ideas at the moment.
Great Master Fangzheng also knew the situation was urgent, and he was also worried for Linghu Chong's safety. But his cultivation was already very deep and his mind was very clear. He felt life and death, glory and disgrace, bad and good luck, victory and defeat were not that big a thing. People strive to do things but whether it succeeds or not, it is all decided by heaven. Whatever the conclusion would be, it all depends on each person's fate and can't be forced.
That was why even though his heart didn't feel right, he looked indifferent. If the explosives really exploded and his bone was to turn to dust, only this leather sack would be lost, so what was there to be afraid of? The explosives buried underneath the nine dragons chair was a secret. Besides Fangzheng, Chongxu, and Linghu Chong, the people who buried the explosives like Qingxu and Chenggao were all at the waist of the mountain waiting for the explosives at the peak to explode before they explode the landmines. No one else on the Xianxing Peak knew of the situation. Shaolin, Wudang, and Heng-Shan Schools were all waiting for Ren Woxing and Linghu Chong inside Wuse Convent to finish speaking before they would move and fight against the people from the Sun Moon Sect.
Chongxu abided his time. He saw no movement inside the convent, and there was no noise coming out from there as well. Moving his internal energy, he tried listening to any noise. Indistinctly, he heard like Linghu Chong was whispering something. He felt happy and thought, "So Brother Linghu is safe and sound." As his mind was divided, his internal energy wasn't as pure anymore and he couldn't hear anything temporarily. But he was worried what he heard was just his own wishful thinking and that his ears had heard what he wanted to hear, and that the voice wasn't necessarily Linghu Chong's. Otherwise, why couldn't he hear what Linghu Chong was saying?
After some more time had passed, he heard Linghu Chong calling out, "Brother Xiang, please come in and accompany Chief Ren to exit the convent."
"Yes!" Xiang Wentian answered. With Elder Bamboo Green, they led the sixteens porters going into Wuse Convent and carried that blue sedan chair out of there. The Sun Moon Sect people standing outside the convent bowed, and said, "Respectfully welcoming the honourable Sacred Chief." That sedan chair was brought to its previous stopping place and was put down.
"Presenting Sacred Chief's gift to Shaolin Temple's Abbott," Xiang Wentian said.
Two men carrying trays walked up to Fangzheng, and bowed to him presenting the trays. Fangzheng saw the first tray contained a very old and fragrant strand of prayer beads, while the other tray contained a handwritten ancient scripture which had sanskrit written on the cover. The sanskrit written was 'Jingang Scripture'. Fangzheng couldn't help feeling rapt. In his research on Buddhism, there was more knowledge to gain from the 'Jingang Scripture'. The 'Jingang Scripture' he had studied was from the Eastern Jin where a reverend monk translated it into chinese. But there were some places in the scripture where it was difficult to understand and he had always wanted to see the original sanskrit scripture to verify, but there was nowhere to find it. When he saw the scripture right now, he was enraptured. He joined his palms and said, "Amituofo, to receive this precious scripture, my appreciation is boundless!" He extended both of his hands respectfully and lifted that 'Jingang Scripture', then he lifted the prayer beads and said, "Thank you Chief Ren for your generous gift. I don't know how I can ever repay this."
"My humble sect's chief said that my humble sect has treated the world's heroes rudely," Xiang Wentian replied. "We are deeply ashamed of this. Great Master Fangzheng, don't add more blames on us and my humble sect will appreciate it very much." He leaned his head to a side and continued, "Presenting Chief Ren's gift to Wudang School's Headmaster Priest."
Two men from the sect acknowledged the order and walked up to Priest Chongxu. They bowed offering the trays. Those two people hadn't come close yet but Chongxu could already see one tray was holding a long sword. When those two people came near him, he saw the long sword's scabbard was multi-coloured greenish copper. On the copper was inlaid two characters: 'Zhen Wu'. Chongxu gasped in surprise. When Wudang School was first created by the Gran
dmaster Zhang Sanfeng, he was using a sword called 'Zhen Wu Sword' which had always been a treasure of the Wudang School. More than eighty years ago, a few elders from the Sun Moon Sect raided Mount Wudang at night and stole the precious sword along with Zhang Sanfeng's handwritten book of 'Taiji Manuscript'. Then a ferocious fight followed, in which three first class masters of Wudang died. Even though they also managed to kill four Sun Moon Sect elders, they couldn't snatch back the manuscript and sword. This was Wudang School's biggest shame, and over the last eighty years, before each headmaster passed away, their last instructions would be to snatch the sword and manuscript back. But Dark Wood Cliff was heavily fortified and Wudang School had tried a few times to snatch them back, but they had always failed and had instead lost a few lives on top of Dark Wood Cliff. Unexpectedly, this sword had appeared on Xianxing Peak. When he took a look at the other tray, it contained a handwritten book with its pages turned yellow a long time ago. On the cover was written 'Taiji Manuscript'. Priest Chongxu had seen plenty of Zhang Sanfeng's handwritten book on Mount Wudang, so once he saw this 'Taiji Manuscript', he knew it was genuine.
Both his hands trembled as he took the long sword. His right hand gripped the handle of the sword and lightly drew it out halfway. He felt a rush of cold air coming from the sword. He knew Grandmaster Sanfeng had a godly sword art in his late years and he could easily not use a sword to fight, but if he was forced to fight with someone then he usually used an iron sword or a wooden sword. This 'Zhen Wu Sword' was the sword he used during his middle age to annihilate the demonical and shake the Jianghu. It was a very sharp instrument. Chongxu was afraid he might be fooled by Ren Woxing so he flipped open the 'Taiji Manuscript' to take a look. It really was Grandmaster Sanfeng's book. He returned the manuscript onto the tray and kneeled on the ground, then he kowtowed eight times towards the manuscript and the sword.
Standing back up, he said, "Chief Ren has a very broad mind for returning the remnants of Wudang Grandmaster back to Zhen Wu Monastery. Even if my body is reduced to dust, it will be hard to repay your benevolence." Once he had taken the manuscript and sword, his heart was so excited that both his hands couldn't stop shaking.
"My humble sect's Chief said my humble sect had offended Wudang School in the past and we're very ashamed," Xiang Wentian said. "Today, everything is settled, and we hope that Wudang School will forgive us."
"Chief Ren is being too polite," Chongxu replied.
Xiang Wentian then said, "Prensenting Sacred Chief's gift to Heng-Shan School's Headmaster Linghu."
Fangzheng and Chongxu both thought, "I wonder what he's going to give Headmaster Linghu. What kind of precious gifts are they going to be?" They now saw twenty men coming up, and each of them was carrying a tray as they walked up to Linghu Chong. On the trays were only gown, hat, shoes, wine pot, wine cup, tea cup, and many other everyday items. Even though each of them was fine, they were clearly not some magnificent items. Only one tray held a jade flute and another tray held an ancient qin, which were clearly treasures. But compared to the presents given to Fangzheng and Chongxu, they were not even close in value.
Linghu Chong folded his hands in salute and said, "Many thanks." He then ordered Yu Sao and the others to receive the gifts.
"My humble sect's Chief said that we've been inappropriate to come to Mount Heng-Shan this time and cause a big disturbance," Xiang Wentian said. "For all the Shi Tai from the Heng-Shan School, we're giving them each a set of gowns and a long sword. For all the secular martial sisters, we're giving them each a set of jewelries and a long sword. Please kindly accept them. My humble sect has also purchased five hundred acres of farm at the foot of Mount Heng-Shan to give to Wuse Convent. We'll take our leave now."
After he said this, he folded his hands in salute to Fangzheng, Chongxu, and Linghu Chong, then turned around to walk away.
"Mr. Xiang!" Chongxu called out.
Xiang Wentian turned around and said, smiling, "What's Priest's order?"
"We're indebted to your noble sect Chief's generosity and have received rewards without doing anything. So we don't feel comfortable," Chongxu said. "I don't know... don't know..." He just said these words when he couldn't say anymore. He wanted to ask 'I don't know what's the idea behind this?', but at the end, he couldn't say it out loud.
Xiang Wentian laughed and folded his hands. "The items have returned to their original owners, this is naturally right. Why's Priest feeling uncomfortable about it?" He turned around and shouted, "Chief is going!"
The sound of music rose up and ten elders opened up the way, while the sixteen porters lifted the big blue sedan chair and started going down the peak. They were followed by the group of horn players and drum players. At the end of the line was the sect people from the different halls. They went down the peak in a line.
Chongxu and Fangzheng looked at Linghu Chong and both thought, "Why did Chief Ren change his mind? Only you know his reasons." They couldn't gather anything from looking at Linghu Chong, but he seemed to be happy and also a little sad. After they heard the Sun Moon Sect walking down for a while and the music sound had ceased, the cries of 'Long Live the Chief, Unify the Jianghu' had also stopped. With bluffs and bluster they came, and now everything was quiet.
Chongxu couldn't hold back any longer and he asked, "Brother Linghu, Chief Ren suddenly became generous, this must be because of your enormous reputation. I'm not sure... not sure..." He wanted to ask 'I'm not sure what you said', but he thought that if Linghu Chong was willing to say it then he'd of course tell them. But if he didn't want to say it, then asking too much would be inappropriate. That's why after saying 'not sure', he stopped himself.
"Please forgive me seniors," Linghu Chong replied. "Junior has promised Chief Ren. The reason for this is unsuitable to be let out for the moment, but there's no big secrets among the reasons. Seniors will know of the reasons yourself in days gone by."
Fangzheng laughed aloud and replied, "A big disaster has disappeared, this is really the good fortune of Wulin. Looking at Chief Ren today, he doesn't have any enmity towards our orhodox sects and schools and has changed his murderous way. This is very encouraging and a happy moment."
Not knowing the reason made Chongxu's heart itched. Hearing what Fangzheng said, he also felt that it was reasonable. "I'm not being overly anxious, but Sun Moon Sect is very sly and crafty. We should still be very careful. Maybe Chief Ren found out that we're prepared and he's afraid of being blown up, so he pretended to be nice today. Then when we're not on our guard, he'd do a sneak attack. According to the two of you, can this happen?"
"This... person is hard to predict," Fangzheng hesitated. "We must be on our guard."
Linghu Chong shook his head. "No, it won't happen."
"Headmaster Linghu firmly believes this won't happen, that's very good then," Chongxu said, but he was actually thinking otherwise in his heart.
After some time, reports from below the mountain came. The Sun Moon Sect party had gone past the waist of the mountain, and the people guarding the road didn't receive the signal so they didn't fight or explode the landmines. Chongxu ordered someone to inform Qingxu, Chenggao, and the people responsible for the nine dragons chair and the landmines to cut the fuses.
Linghu Chong asked Fangzheng and Chongxu to enter Wuse Convent and rest inside Guanyin Hall. Fangzheng perused the sanskrit 'Jingang Manuscript'. Chongxu touched the 'Zhen Wu Sword' and studied the 'Taiji Manuscript', his joy was undescribably and gradually all his doubts and worries were forgotten.
All of a sudden, someone from underneath the offering table said, "Ah, Yingying, it's you!"
Another person said, "Brother Chong, You... you... you..." They were the voices of the Peach Valley Six Fairies.
Linghu Chong gasped in surprise and jumped up from his chair.
But then he heard voices kept coming from underneath the offering table, "Brother Chong, my dad, he's... he's passed away."
"What happened?"
"That day on Mount Huashan's P
eak of the Morning Sun, not long after you went down the mountain, my dad suddenly fell down from the Deity's Palm. Brother Xiang and I caught him, not long after, he stopped breathing."
"Then... then... someone plotted against him!"
"No. Brother Xiang said, he's already old and had been suffering for many years under the West Lake. For the past few years, he had been completely engrossed in suppressing the various internal energies in his body, and it has actually taken a lot of energies out of him. This time, in order to destroy the five mountains sword schools, his mind has been occupied by this. His time is up."
"I never thought this would happen."
"That day on the Peak of the Morning Sun, Brother Xiang and ten elders discussed this and they unanimously elected me to be the Sun Moon Sect's Chief."
"So Chief Ren is actually Young lady Ren, not Mr. Ren."
Just then when the Peach Valley Six Fairies were fighting to sit on the nine dragons chair, Fangzheng used the 'Lion Roar' backed by unsurpassed internal energy to shake them up. Chongxu was afraid they might let out the secret so he sealed their acupoints and put them under the offering altar. Unexpectedly, these six people's inner energies were quite deep that they woke up not long after and heard the dialogue between Linghu Chong and 'Chief Ren'. Now, they had revealed the words that were supposed to be kept secret.
When Fangzheng and Chongxu heard Ren Woxing had died and Yingying had taken up the Chief position, they were startled but happy at the same time. Yingying had given both of them precious gifts but she had given Linghu Chong some gown and shoes to wear, which were actually the wedding presents for their marriage. They still heard the Peach Valley Six Fairies talking one after another: "Brother Chong, I've come to Mount Heng-Shan today to see you. If the people from the orthodox path find out, they'll jest about it."
