The Smiling, Proud Wanderer 23 Chapter Twelve: Assassins Part 2

"Sixth apprentice brother has it. Little apprentice sister only did it to save my life. Her intention was all good. Master, please don't blame her. Without Master's permission, I would never dare to even touch the ma.n.u.script, not mentioning reading about any formula or technique off the booklet," Linghu Chong swore.

Yue Buqun's face immediately turned into a smile, kind and pleasant. "You did it right. It's not that I don't want to pa.s.s it on to you, but since our school is facing some serious events at the time and I could not spare any moment to give you detailed instructions. If I just let you study by yourself, I am afraid that you might go the wrong way, and that would lead to unpredictable trouble." He paused for a while and then continued, "That Monk No Commandment acted like a lunatic, but he does have brilliant inner energy techniques. Did he dissolve those six unorthodox energy streams inside you? How do you feel right now?"

"I don't feel nauseated any more, and all the burning pain and freezing pain are gone too. But it feels like I've run all my strength out," Linghu Chong answered.

"You have just recovered from severe internal injuries. It's natural that you feel weak. We have to repay Great Master No Commandment for saving your life one day," Yue Buqun said.

"Yes, Master!"

Ever since Yue Buqun came back to Mount Huashan, he worried that they might meet the Peach Valley's Six Fairies again. But so far he had seen no trace of them, which relaxed him a bit. But he still didn't want to stay long.

"Let's meet with Dayou and then go to Mount Songshan together. Chong, do you think you are fit to make a long journey?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. Yes!" Linghu Chong replied with sheer joy.

Soon, the Master and the two apprentices arrived at the little hut next to the "House of Integrity." Yue Lingshan rushed forward with a trot and entered the hut after pushing the door open. Suddenly, she started screaming, her voice filled with terror. Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong both dashed forward to look inside, and they saw Lu Dayou lying on the floor, motionless.

"Little apprentice sister, don't be frightened, I sealed his pressure points earlier," Linghu Chong explained with a smile.

"You sure scared the wits out of me. Why did you seal his pressure points?" Yue Lingshan asked.

"Since I refused to read the ma.n.u.script, for my good, he decided to read the scripts in the ma.n.u.script for me to listen," Linghu Chong explained. "I couldn't convince him, so I had to seal his pressure points. How come…?"

Suddenly, Yue Buqun uttered a cry of surprise. He bent down to check on Lu Dayou's breathing and also checked his pulses before speaking in shock, "How come…how come he is dead? Chong, which pressure point did you seal?"

Hearing the sudden news that Lu Dayou was dead, Linghu Chong was scared out of his wits. His body started shaking and he almost fainted. "I…I…." he muttered in a trembling voice as he reached out to touch Lu Dayou's face. The face was chilling cold. Apparently Lu Dayou died a long while back. Tears burst out from his eyes. "Sixth…sixth apprentice brother, are you really gone?" he cried.

"Where's the booklet?" Yue Buqun asked.

Linghu Chong looked with his teary eyes, and in the blur, he didn't see the "Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script" either. "Where's the booklet?" he couldn't help but ask himself. He checked Lu Dayou's pockets in a hurry, but there's no trace of the ma.n.u.script. "When I sealed his pressure point, I remember seeing the ma.n.u.script turned open on the desk. How come it's not there anymore?"

Yue Lingshan looked all over the room, on the bed, next to the desk, behind the door, and under the chairs, but still, there was no trace of the "Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script" whatsoever.

This ma.n.u.script was the ultimate Kung Fu ma.n.u.script of the Huashan Sword School. Now when it suddenly disappeared, Yue Buqun was utterly apprehensive. He examined the corpse of Lu Dayou carefully but found no fatal wound. He examined around the little hut, including the top of the roof, but found no traces left by any outsiders.

"If no outsiders had come, then it couldn't have been the Peach Valley's Six Fairies or the Monk No Commandment who took it," Yue Buqun thought aloud. He asked Linghu Chong with a stern voice, "Chong, which pressure point did you seal?"

Linghu Chong knelt down in front of his Master. "I was afraid that I did not have much strength with my fingers, that's why I sealed the vital pressure point Tan-Zhong Point. I had no clue…no clue that it would have killed sixth apprentice brother accidentally." He extended his arm and drew the long sword by Lu Dayou's waist quickly, and without hesitation, slashed it toward his own neck.

Yue Buqun flicked his finger, which sent the long sword flying far. "Even if you want to die, you'll have to find the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script first. Where on earth did you hide the ma.n.u.script?"

Linghu Chong felt a chill in his heart. He thought to himself, "Master is actually suspecting that I hid the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script." He dazed for a moment and then spoke again, "Master, someone must have stolen the ma.n.u.script. I will chase it back at all cost and return it to you, Master, not even leaving one page behind."

"If someone makes a copy or memorizes the entire thing, then even if we get the ma.n.u.script back, intact, the high level Kung Fu of our Huashan School would no longer be the ultimately unique technique." Yue Buqun's mind was as confused as a tangled skein. After a short pause, he said to Linghu Chong with a gentle tone, "Chong, if you took the ma.n.u.script, as long as you give it back, I won't blame you."

Staring at the corpse of Lu Dayou blankly, Linghu Chong said loudly, "Master, I swear with all my heart. If there are people who peeped at the 'Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script,' then I will kill all of them. If there are ten of them, I will kill all ten, and if there are a hundred of them, I will kill all one hundred. If Master still thinks that it was I who stole it, please kill me now. I have no complaints."

"Get up. You said it wasn't you, then I believe you." Yue Buqun shook his head. "You are very good friends with Dayou, of course you would never kill him intentionally. Then who on earth stole the ma.n.u.script?" He stared outside of the window blankly, lost in thought.

"Father, it's all my fault. I…I thought I did a great thing by stealing Father's ma.n.u.script. Who would have thought that big apprentice brother would refuse to read it and sixth apprentice brother would lose his life because of it. I…I will find the ma.n.u.script back no matter what," Yue Lingshan exclaimed in a sobbing voice.

"Let's look around one more time," Yue Buqun said.

The three searched every bit of s.p.a.ce in the small hut this time, but not only didn't they find the ma.n.u.script, nor could they find any trace or clue.

"We should not spread the news. I will tell your mother about it, and other than that, don't mention this to anybody else. Let's bury Dayou and then head down the mountain," Yue Buqun said to his daughter.

Looking at the face of Lu Dayou's dead body, Linghu Chong couldn't help feeling sad. He thought to himself, "Among all the apprentice brothers, sixth apprentice brother was the best friend of all. But I was actually the one who killed him by accident. I had never seen that coming at all. Even if I weren't wounded, such a poke wouldn't have gotten him killed. Could it be that because I had the Peach Valley's Six Fairies' unorthodox energy inside me, therefore the strength of the poke was somehow different? Even if that were true, why did the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script disappear all of a sudden? Alas, I really can't figure this out. Master is suspecting me of stealing the ma.n.u.script. It's useless to plead my innocence. I must find out the truth about this no matter what I have to do. By then, I can cut my own throat to apologize to sixth apprentice brother."

Wiping off his tears with his sleeve, Linghu Chong found a hoe and worked on digging a grave to bury Lu Dayou's corpse. Sweat streamed down all over his body as he dug with all his strength while panting heavily. Only with the help of Yue Lingshan by the side, he was able to finish building the grave.

Some time later, the trio arrived at the White-Horse Temple. Seeing that Linghu Chong had escaped death and had come back together, Madam Yue felt unspeakable joy. After Yue Buqun told her on the quiet about Lu Dayou's death and the disappearance of the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script, Madam Yue shed more tears of grievance. Although it was an important matter that the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script got lost, in her mind, since her husband had mastered the Kung Fu, it didn't matter if he still had the ma.n.u.script or not. But Lu Dayou had been an apprentice in the Huashan Sword School for many years, and he was genuinely a friendly and good fellow, so of course it was very sad to learn about his tragic death. The many apprentices had no clue, so after seeing the gloomy look on Master, Master-Wife, big apprentice brother, and little apprentice sister's faces, none dared to make any loud noise.

Yue Buqun ordered Lau Denuo to hire two wagons, one for Madam Yue and Yue Lingshan, the other for Linghu Chong to rest in, and the group resumed the trip east toward Mount Songshan.

On no particulate day, they arrived at the town of Weilin. It was close to dust already. There was only one inn in the entire town, and it was already full. Since there were quite a few females in the Huashan group, it was too troublesome to stay overnight at any local residence.

"Let's keep going. We should be able to find lodging in the next town," Yue Buqun told everyone.

But only one mile into the trip, the wagon Madam Yue sat in broke down with a broken axle. Having no other choice, Madam Yue and Yue Lingshan had to travel on foot.

"Master, there's a monastery in the woods over there. Do you think it would be a good idea if we spend the night there?" Shi Daizi pointed at the northeast and suggested.

"But we have females and they might feel it's troublesome," Madam Yue said.

"Daizi, why don't you go make an inquiry. If the monks in the monastery decline, then we won't, no pressure for them," Yue Buqun instructed.

Shi Daizi nodded and then dashed away. Only moments later, he had run back while shouting in a distance, "Master, it's a discarded monastery. There's no monk there."

Everyone was quite glad to hear that. Tao Jun, Ying Luobai, and Shu Qi the bunch of younger apprentices ran over ahead of the rest of the people.

By the time Yue Buqun, Madam Yue, and the rest of the group arrived outside of the monastery, dark clouds had piled up the eastern side of the sky, and only moments later, the entire sky had turned dark.

"It's very fortunate that there's a discarded monastery here, or we would have found ourselves in the middle of a storm half way," Madam Yue said.

They entered the big hall and found a statue of a blue-faced Buddha. The statue depicted a man holding herb gra.s.s with a cape made of leaves on his shoulders. It was the Buddha of the Herb, Shen-Nong, who, as legend said, tasted hundreds of herbs, himself, to test their medical effects. All the apprentices, led by Yue Buqun, saluted the Buddha to show their respect. Afterwards, they began to settle down, but before they even opened their bedding rolls, several lightning bolts flashed, and thunder exploded. Before long, pea sized raindrops started pouring down, splashing on the tiles on the roof.

The small monastery had leaks everywhere. Everyone decided to not even open his or her bedding rolls and simply found a dry spot to sit down. Gao Gengming, Liang Fa, and three other female apprentices went to prepare dinner.

"This year's spring season thunders are too early. It's probably going to be a year with poor harvest," Madam Yue said.

Linghu Chong sat in a corner of the hall leaning on the rack of the big bell. Rain streamed down the eave's gutter like a curtain made of water. He stared at it as he thought to himself, "It would be a lot more enjoyable if sixth apprentice brother were still alive and could chat and joke with us." During the journey, he rarely spoke to Yue Lingshan. Especially when he saw her and Lin Pingzhi were together sometimes, he would intentionally avoid them and walk far away. He kept telling himself, "Little apprentice sister stole Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script for me to heal my wounds, fully knowing that Master would reproach her severely. It is obvious that she cared for me very much. I only wish that she would always be happy throughout her life. Since I am determined to commit suicide to apologize to sixth apprentice brother after I find the ma.n.u.script, why would I ever provoke her again? Little apprentice sister and apprentice brother Lin are a perfect pair of lovers. I hope she will forget all about me, so after I die, she won't have to shed any tears." Even though he thought so in his head, every time he saw her and Lin Pingzhi walking abreast chatting joyously, he simply couldn't help feeling sorrow and pain in his heart. At the moment, it was raining cats and dogs outside the monastery; he watched Yue Lingshan walking about the hall, helping with preparing the meal. Each time when her eyes met Lin Pingzhi's, both would let a slight smile flash across their faces. The two of them probably thought that n.o.body would notice it, but not even one of the smiles escaped Linghu Chong's eyes. Each smile would depress Linghu Chong some more. He wanted to turn his head away, but each time when Yue Lingshan walked by, he simply couldn't resist the desire to cast a glance toward her.

After dinner, everyone went to sleep. The rain kept coming down, heavy for a while, then light for another, but never ended. Linghu Chong had many things on his mind and they kept him from falling asleep. Sounds of breathing and snorting rose one after another. Everyone else had fallen asleep.

Sounds of hoof beats suddenly rose from the southeast. There were over ten of them and they came closer and closer along the main road.

"Why are they traveling in such a hurry in the middle of the rainy night? Could it possibly be that they are after us?" Linghu Chong's heart skipped a beat. He sat up and then heard Yue Buqun speak to everyone in a loud voice.

"Everyone stay quiet."

Moments later, the pack of hors.e.m.e.n cruised by the monastery. By then everyone of Huashan Sword School were awake and each had his hand next to his sword handle. Hearing that the sound of hoof beats pa.s.sed by the monastery and went further and further, all let out a breath of relief and were just about ready to go back to sleep, when the sound of the hoof beats rose again. Apparently these riders had turned around and came back. All the horses stopped right outside of the monastery.

"Is Mr. Yue from the Huashan Sword School inside the monastery? We have a question to ask him," a voice shouted, loud and clear.

Linghu Chong was the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, and it had always been him who stepped forward to handle things. So he walked to the entrance of the monastery, took off the door bolt, and then opened the gate.

"Friends, who are you? Why have you come late at night?" he asked as he looked outside.

There were a total of fifteen riders. They formed an arch and surrounded the gate. About six or seven of them had waterproof lanterns in their hands, and they all pointed their lanterns at Linghu Chong's face.

In the dark night, when six or seven lanterns all pointed at one's face, then inevitably, one would end up with blurry eyes. Just this one action had shown that the uninvited visitors were full of hostility. Linghu Chong opened his eyes as wide as he could but only found out that each of the fifteen riders had a black hood over his head, leaving only two holes showing his eyes. Linghu Chong suddenly realized, "Either we know these people, or they are afraid that we would remember their faces."

"Please have Yue Buqun, Mr. Yue, come out to see us," a rider on the left said.

"Who are you? May I have the honor to learn your name please, so I can pa.s.s it on to my Master?" Linghu Chong inquired.

"You can save yourself some trouble by stop asking for our names. You can go tell your Master this: We heard that the Huashan Sword School got hold of the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script of the Fortune Prestige Escort House, so we just wanted to borrow it to take a look," the man responded.

Linghu Chong felt his anger starting to grow. "The Huashan Sword School has its own set of Kung Fu techniques. Why would we want other's Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script? We don't have it. Even if we did have it, are you just going to take it with force? How dare you belittle the Huashan Sword School?"

The man burst into loud laughter. The rest of the fourteen riders also began to laugh out loud. The sound of their deafening laughter swept across the deserted plain like a storm. Obviously each and every one of them had first-cla.s.s inner strength.

"We've encountered tough enemy again," shocked inwardly, Linghu Chong thought aloud. "It seemed that all fifteen of them are elite fighters. I wonder who they really are."

Amid the loud laughter, a man spoke, "We heard that the chap Lin from the Fortune Prestige Escort House has joined the Huashan Sword School. We've always heard that Gentleman Sword Mr. Yue of the Huashan Sword School had superb mastery of sword arts. Then of course he would feel beneath his dignity to pay any attention to it. We are just a bunch of n.o.bodies in the Martial World. Today we make bold to ask Mr. Yue to grant his permission and loan the book so we can have a look."

The fourteen others' laughter kept going like tides after tides, but this speaker's voice still sounded loud and clear, standing out clearly from all the other noises. Apparently, this one's inner strength was even stronger compared to the others.

"Who are you, really? You…." Linghu Chong said. But he couldn't even hear his own words. Astounded, he stopped talking and thought to himself, "Could I have lost all my inner energy built up during the past over a dozen years? Can there have not a single bit of it left?"

After Linghu Chong left Mount Huashan, he had tried several times to work on his Qi-Gong exercises using the formula and techniques from his own school, but as soon as he started to gather his inner strength, his breathing would lose its rhythm and various uncontrollable energy would start flowing randomly through his body. And as soon as he tried to direct the flow, nausea and dizziness would follow. It would turn so bad that if he didn't stop the breathing exercise, he would have simply pa.s.sed out. He tried several times more and always ended up with the same result. When he asked for advice from his Master about it, Yue Buqun only cast a cold glance at him and didn't answer. At the time Linghu Chong thought to himself, "Master must have suspected that I embezzled the Violet Twilight Ma.n.u.script and was practicing the techniques behind his back. There really is no need to plead innocence. After all, I won't be alive for long; why should I trouble myself with these inner strength problems?" After that incident, he stopped exercising completely. Who would have thought that when he tried to gather his strength and speak loudly, his voice would be completely buried by the enemy's laughter?

Yue Buqun's voice rose from inside the monastery, loud and clear, "All of you are renowned masters in the Marital World. Why have you been so modest and called yourself a bunch of n.o.bodies? Yue Buqun never tells a lie. We really don't have the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script of the Lin Family."

He used the Divine Art of the Violet Twilight when he spoke. Although his voice was mixed with the loud laughter from all the people outside of the monastery, everyone, both inside the monastery and outside of the monastery, could hear every word loud and clear. He had spoken in a very relaxed manner, no different from any ordinary conversation. It sounded a lot more natural than the way the previous man had spoke – yelling with immense strength.

"You say you don't have it. Then where the h.e.l.l is it?" Another man retorted in a croaky voice.

"What makes you think that you are worthy of the answer?" Yue Buqun mocked.

"Anyone in this world is worthy of an answer for things happening in this world," the man replied.

Yue Buqun sneered, but did not respond.

"Hey, Yue Buqun, are you going to give it up or not? Don't you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! If you don't give it up yourself, we'll have no choice but to resort to force and go in to search ourselves," that man yelled out loud.

"All female apprentices stay together, back to back, and all male apprentices, unsheathe your swords!" Madam Yue told everyone in a whisper.

Rustling sounds echoed as everyone inside the monastery drew their long swords. Linghu Chong stood by the gate and reached for his long sword, but before he had enough time to draw his sword, two men had leapt off their horses and sprang at him. Linghu Chong dodged to the side and was just about to draw his sword when he heard someone yell, "Get lost!" Then the man raised his leg and kicked Linghu Chong hard, sending him flying in the air. Linghu Chong flew tens of feet before landing hard in a bush. He found himself in a state of complete confusion.

"His kick wasn't all that powerful, how come I don't have any strength with my lower body and my legs feel so light?" he thought aloud.

He struggled to sit up, but all of a sudden, he felt as if the blood between his stomach and his chest were boiling hot while seven or eight streams of energy circled and twisted inside him, clashing and smashing against each other. He couldn't even move a little finger of his. Linghu Chong was dumbfounded. He opened his mouth wide to scream, but nothing came out of it. It was almost as if he was under some kind of evil spell. His brain still worked perfectly, but he had become completely frozen, not able to move a single muscle. Sound of weapons clashing into each other echoed in his ears nonstop. Master, Master-Wife, and second apprentice brother dashed out of the monastery and engaged in fights with seven or eight masked enemies. Several other masked men charged into the monastery. Shouts and yells came out through the gate mixed with girls' rebukes. The rain started to get heavier. Several waterproof lanterns were scattered around on the ground. The dim yellowish light flickered as reflections from blades flashed and shadows in all shapes swayed back and forth.

A short while pa.s.sed when suddenly, a shriek from a female echoed inside the monastery. Linghu Chong became more worried. The enemy consisted of all men. Then of course the shriek must have been coming from an injured apprentice sister. He watched the fights outside of the monastery. Master was busy waving his sword fighting against four enemies. Master-Wife was also engaged in a fight with two enemies. He knew that both his Master and Master-Wife had brilliant sword skills. Even though they were both fighting against more than one opponent, chances were that they would still be able to hold them off. Yelling at the top of his tongue, second apprentice brother Lao Denuo was also fighting against two opponents. Both opponents used long knives. From the weapon colliding sounds Linghu Chong could tell that both of them had very strong arms. He knew that if the fight lasted longer, Lao Denuo would eventually have no chance of withstanding their powerful attacks. Seeing how fierce the fights outside of the monastery were with three on his side against eight enemies, he could easily imagine how vicious the fights would be inside. There were a good number of apprentice brothers and sisters inside the monastery, but none of them were elite fighters. Screams and cries rose one after another. Perhaps several people had been slain. The more worried he became, the harder it was to gather any strength. He could only pray inwardly.

"Dear Heaven! Please let me gain my strength back for just one hour. If I can get back in the monastery, I will be able to protect the little apprentice sister. Even if the enemy slice me into ten thousand pieces or bestow upon me every kind of torturing, I would be most willing to."

He struggled some more and tried to work up his inner energy, but suddenly six streams of energy flow lashed at his chest all together, and then two streams of energy flow smashed down from above and pushed the six streams of energy back down. Linghu Chong felt ultimate emptiness as if all of his organs had disappeared and all his blood and skin were also completely gone. A shiver ran through his heart as he cried inwardly, "Good Heavens! So that's how it is!"

By then he finally understood. When the Peach Valley's Six Fairies tried to heal his wounds using their inner energy, they forced six streams of inner energy into his body through different channels and pa.s.sages. That didn't do his internal wounds any good, and in addition, the six energy streams stayed inside him and caused even more problems. Then it just happened that he met Monk No Commandment with excellent inner strength, but also an utterly impetuous temper, that forced another two streams of energy flow inside of him and overwhelmed the six streams of energy from the Peach Valley's Six Fairies. For a short while, it looked as if his internal wounds were all healed, but the truth was that he had two more energy streams in his body, which created a resistance against the existing energy streams inside of him, and his own inner energy from years of Qi-Gong exercises had all perished as an end result. He had been rendered into an ordinary person who had never been trained with any martial arts.

A pain came from his heart as he thought to himself, "What a misfortune! This is as if all my martial art skills were taken away from me. At the moment when my school is in trouble, I couldn't even help it in anyway. I am the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, yet all I can do is to lie here on the ground and watch my Master and Master-Wife getting hara.s.sed and my apprentice brothers and sisters getting slaughtered. What a big loser am I! Fine, I'll just go die by little apprentice sister's side."

He knew that if he even attempted to gather some inner energy, which would trigger the eight streams of energy inside him, he would end up frozen like a dead meat, so he let all inner strength flow back into his central stomach naturally and didn't try to gather any inner strength, and sure enough, he gained control of his four limbs. He stood up slowly, drew his sword in slow motion, and then moved toward the monastery in small steps.

As soon as he entered the gate, a smell of blood immediately a.s.sailed him. Two lanterns sat on the altar and lit the hall. Liang Fa, Shi Daizi, Gao Gengming, and a bunch of other apprentice brothers were still fighting a b.l.o.o.d.y battle. Several apprentice brothers and sister lay on the ground. It was hard to tell if they were still breathing. Yue Lingshan and Lin Pingzhi were in the middle of a battle abreast against a masked enemy.

Yue Lingshan's long hair scattered about, and Lin Pingzhi was holding his sword in his left hand; obviously his right hand got injured in the battle. The masked man had a short spear in his hand and demonstrated excellent skills with his spear techniques. Lin Pingzhi had to use the move called Green Pines Welcoming Guests three times in a roll to parry off his fierce attacks. But the sword moves he had learned were too limited. The masked man gave his short spear a sudden shake. The red ta.s.sels on the spear spread open and blinded Lin Pingzhi's view. With a thump, the spear stabbed into Lin Pingzhi's right shoulder. Yue Lingshan launched two thrusts frantically and forced the enemy to take a step back.

"Little Lin, go wrap up your wound. Hurry!" she shouted.

"It's no problem!" Lin Pingzhi responded as he lunged with a thrust, but his feet were already tumbling underneath him.

The masked man let out a long laugh when he swung the spear and struck Yue Lingshan in the waist with the spear handle. Yue Lingshan dropped the sword in her right hand and squatted down in pain.

Linghu Chong was shocked. He dashed forward and thrust his sword forward. But the sword only went forward for about one foot before all the energy streams inside him clashed again. Instantly, his right arm gave out and dropped down. The masked man saw the sword coming toward him and had planned to dodge to the side and then return the attack with his spear, but after only one foot into the thrust, the attacker's arm had dropped down. He was a bit confused. Without thinking much, he swept his left leg and kicked Linghu Chong all the way out of the gate. "Splash!" Linghu Chong fell into a puddle of water outside of the monastery. The rain was still pouring down nonstop. Linghu Chong found himself unable to move with mud inside his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears.

Lao Denuo was just taken down, with his pressure points sealed by the enemy. His two opponents now joined the other six to attack the Yue couple. Moments later, another two enemies ran out of the monastery and joined the group. Yue Buqun was now against seven and Madam Yue against three.

Suddenly, both Madam Yue and one of her opponents cried out. Both had inflicted wounds on their legs. The injured man retreated back. Madam Yue had one less opponent now. But since she had just taken a heavy chop on the leg, with such a severe wound, her strength began to fade away. After exchanging some more blows, she took a hit on the shoulder from the back of the enemy's knife. That was it. She collapsed to the ground. The two masked men burst into loud laughter as they sealed several pressure points on Madam Yue's back.

By then, the apprentices inside the monastery had all been wounded and taken down one after another. The enemies obviously had a plot. They only knocked the Huashan apprentices down or sealed their pressure points but didn't kill any one of them. The fifteen masked men surrounded Yue Buqun in a circle. Eight of them took on eight different directions to attack Yue Buqun simultaneously, and the remaining seven each held a waterproof lantern and aimed the light directly at Yue Buqun's eyes.

The Head Master of the Huashan Sword School had superb inner strength and brilliant sword skills, but the eight attackers were all elite fighters as well. In addition, the seven lanterns pointing directly at him made it very hard for him to look straight ahead. Yue Buqun knew too well that the Huashan Sword School had suffered a crushing defeat, and the entire body of the school would inevitably perish in the monastery, but he still put on a good defense by blocking all his vital parts with a shield of blade. He had resourceful inner energy and effective sword art techniques. When the lanterns were directed at him, he simply looked down. For a good while, the eight attackers made no progress whatsoever.

"Yue Buqun, are you going to surrender or not?" one of the masked men yelled at him.

"I would rather die than submit. Kill me if you want," Yue Buqun replied.

"If you don't surrender, I'll cut off your wife's right arm to start with!" the man threatened. He raised his large saber high and aimed it at Madam Yue's shoulder. The saber had a very thick back and a razor sharp blade. Reflecting the light from the lanterns, the blade shined with dark bluish flare.

"How can I just let him cut off junior apprentice sister's arm?" Yue Buqun hesitated. But then he thought, "If I threw down my sword and surrender, undoubtedly I would suffer humiliation all the same. How can I let the hundreds of years of eminence of the Huashan Sword School get ruined in my hands?"

He took a deep breath, and suddenly his face shined in violet color as he swung his sword at the man on his left. The man raised his knife to parry it, but Yue Buqun had attached his Divine Art of the Violet Twilight with the chop; the sword carried a tremendous amount of power. The knife was knocked back. Both the sword and the knife cut into the man's right arm simultaneously and chopped two sections off his right arm. Blood splashed everywhere. The man uttered a loud cry and fell to the ground.

Succeeding with the first move Yue Buqun thrust his sword down swiftly. This time the sword penetrated another enemy's left leg. That man poured out a stream of curses and retreated.

Now there were two less opponents in the battle, but the situation wasn't any better. A heavy thump broke out as a meteor hammer smashed into Yue Buqun's back. He had to lunge three quick thrusts to drive the enemies back. Barely catching his breath, he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. All the enemies cheered.

"Old folk Yue is wounded. Wear him out!"

The six attackers could almost smell their victory, so they all took a step back and made the circle a bit bigger. Now Yue Buqun didn't have any chance of a surprise attack.

There are a total of fifteen masked enemies, three of which had been wounded by the Yue couple. Among the three wounded, one had a serious injury – his arm was cut off. The other two only had injuries on their legs, nothing too serious, and each held a waterproof lantern and kept swearing at Yue Buqun wildly.

From their accents, Yue Buqun could tell that they came from different regions. The Kung Fu skills they demonstrated also consisted of many different styles. Obviously they weren't apprentices from the same school. But during the fight, they had good understanding of each other and attacked with precision and synchronization. It didn't seem that they had just ganged up together recently. Where on earth were they from? He pondered but couldn't find an answer. And the most unusual part of this whole thing was that since all fifteen of them had elite fighting skills, as one with a good deal of knowledge of the Martial World, he shouldn't have failed to recognize at least some of them, yet he had no clue whatsoever. He was sure that none of these enemies had ever engaged in a fight with him before or had grudges against him. Could it be true that they came to give trouble to the Huashan Sword School because they were really after the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script?

He pondered and pondered, yet never slowing down with his hands. He used the Divine Art of the Violet Twilight to its extreme, and the tip of his sword shined dimly. After exchanging over another dozen moves, another enemy got stabbed in the shoulder and had to drop his iron staff. One of the enemies standing outside of the attacking circle sprang forward and took over the attacking position. This man held a knife with a saw shaped blade. The knife looked very heavy, and close to the tip of the knife, the blade curved into the shape of a hook. The man tried again and again to lock Yue's sword with the hook. But Yue Buqun had plenty of inner strength. It seemed as if the longer the fight lasted, the more energetic he appeared to be. Suddenly he struck a back palm, which landed squarely on one enemy's chest and broke the man's two ribs. The steel cane in the man's hands was also knocked down by the shock. But the man turned out to be extremely ferocious. The great pain from his broken ribs provoked his fury. He dived down and had Yue Buqun's left leg in his arms. Astounded, Yue Buqun swung his sword and chopped down at the man's back, but two knifes reached forward simultaneously and blocked the chop. Not able to chop down using his long sword, Yue Buqun kicked toward the enemy's head with his right foot. That man was an expert in grappling. Reaching out with his right arm, he hooked Yue Buqun's right leg as well. Then he rolled forward. Although Yue Buqun had excellent Kung Fu skills, he could no longer keep his balance and fell down on the ground. Instantly, knife, short spear, meteor hammer, long sword, and other various weapons all aimed right at his vital parts such as head, face, throat, and chest. Yue Buqun heaved a deep sigh and let go of his sword. Closing his eyes in despair, he waited for the deathblow. Then he felt some heavy blows to his waist, rib cage, throat, and chest. The enemy had sealed several of his pressure points with heavy jabs.

Two masked men propped him up as an old voice spoke out, "Gentleman Sword Mr. Yue certainly has brilliant Kung Fu skills. You have a well-deserved reputation. We ganged up on you, fifteen against one, yet were only able to subdue you after getting four or five of us wounded. Hmm, that is very admirable! If I had to fight you one on one, I am sure I would lose to you. But when you look at it a different way, we have fifteen, but you have over twenty people. Your Huashan Sword School still has more bodies and better odds here. Tonight we won the battle with few against many and completely defeated the Huashan Sword School. I have to say that the victory didn't come easy. What do you guys think?"

"Most definitely! It wasn't an easy victory for sure!" The rest of the masked men agreed in unison.

"Mr. Yue," the old man continued, "we really have no grudge against you. We made bold and offended you only because we want to borrow the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script and check it out. This ma.n.u.script didn't belong to your Huashan Sword School before. When you used all your ingenuity and managed to take in Lin Family's young boy from the Fortune Prestige Escort House as your apprentice, it was obvious that you were really after that sword ma.n.u.script. What you did is truly sneaky. When fellow martial friends heard about this, all were quite mad at you. I am giving you a valuable advice here. Why don't you give it up?"

Yue Buqun was infuriated. "Humph, I am already in your hands. Go ahead and give me a quick end. Why waste your time with rubbish? Everyone in the Martial World knows my reputation. You can easily kill me, but if you want to ruin my reputation, humph! Dream on!"

"What's so difficult about ruining your reputation?" a man in a mask said with loud laughter. "Your wife, daughter, and those female apprentices do not look bad at all. Why don't we divide them up and make them our b.i.t.c.hes? Hha, Mr. Yue, you are going to be very famous in the Martial World indeed!"

The rest of the masked men all laughed out loud. The laughter was filled with evil. Yue Buqun trembled with rage.

Several men in mask pushed the bunch of male and female apprentices out of the monastery. All of them had their pressure points sealed. Some had blood all over their faces and some fell down immediately after they came out – obviously they had wounds on their legs or feet.

"Mr. Yue," the old man with a mask spoke again, "you probably have somewhat figured out where we are from. We are no heroes from the righteous schools. There is really no restriction limiting what we can do or cannot do. Some of my buddies here are really fond of women. I am sure it wouldn't look too good for you if some of them offended your respectful wife and daughter."

"Fine! Fine! If you don't believe me, go ahead and search us. See for yourself whether we have the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script or not," Yue Buqun croaked.

"I'd suggest you give it out yourself. Once we start searching one by one and get to your woman and your daughter, it's not going to be a pleasant scene," a man behind a mask said with an evil grin.

"All the trouble started because of me, Lin Pingzhi," Lin Pingzhi barked. "Listen up! Our Lin Family in Fujian didn't have any Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script at all! It's up to you to believe it or not." He picked up a steel cane from the ground and smacked it toward his own forehead. But since his pressure points on his arms were sealed, the smack was so weak that even though the cane hit his head, it only left a scratch on his skin with no blood coming out of it. But everyone understood his intention. He had intended to sacrifice his own life to prove that there wasn't any sword ma.n.u.script that the Huashan Sword School ever got hold of.

"Young Master Lin, you are quite heroic." The old man with a mask grinned. "We are friends of your deceased father. Yue Buqun murdered your father and took possession of your family's Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script, that's why we are here to defend the victim against injustice. Your Master has a mere name of a gentleman, but not the reality of a gentleman. I think it would be better if you submit to me as your Master. I guarantee you that you will learn first-cla.s.s Kung Fu that will enable you to sweep about in the Martial World at will."

"My parents were murdered by Yu Canghai from the Qingcheng Sword School and Mu Gaofeng. What does it have anything to do with my Master? I am a proud apprentice of the Huashan Sword School. Did you expect me to incline to life instead of braving death in dangers like this?" Lin Pingzhi snarled.

"That's right! Our Huashan Sword School…." Liang Fa also snarled.

"What about your Huashan Sword School?" a masked man yelled as he swung his knife forward and chopped Liang Fa's head off. Blood gushed out like a fountain. Several Huashan apprentices screamed in terror.

Many thoughts tangled in Yue Buqun's mind, but he still couldn't figure out where these men had come from. According to what the old man had just said, perhaps they were bandits from the unorthodox side. Or maybe they were key figures of an evil clan. However, even if he didn't know some of the renowned masters in the region, either on the orthodox side or the unorthodox side, he would have at least heard about them. There was no clan or gang that had so many elite fighters. That man chopped off Liang Fa's head with no hesitation. The cruelty he put on display was exceptionally rare. When people engage in fights in the Martial World, it was usual that people got hurt or killed. But once one side took the other side prisoner, it was very seldom that one would cut someone's head off so carelessly.

After killing Liang Fa with a casual chop, the man laughed wildly and walked next to Madam Yue. He chopped the bloodstained knife a couple of times in the air. The blade swished by Madam Yue's head with a mere half foot.

"Don't…don't hurt my mother!" Yue Lingshan screamed before losing her consciousness.

Madam Yue was a brave woman and showed no fear. She actually wished that the man would kill her with a chop, thus avoiding any possible humiliation from them. So she snarled at him, "You d.a.m.n coward. Go ahead and kill me if you've got any guts."

Sound of hoof beats suddenly rose from the northeast corner. Dozens of horses galloped in their direction.

"Who are they? Go check them out?" the old man in the mask yelled.

"Got it!" two men in masks responded as they jumped on their horsebacks and dashed out

The sound of hoof beats came closer and closer, and then came the sounds of weapons clashing into each other. "Ouch!" someone cried out. Apparently the two masked men had gotten into a battle with the people coming and someone just got wounded.

The Yue Buqun couple and all the Huashan apprentices were overwhelmed in joy, knowing that the cavalry had arrived. In the dim light from the lanterns, they watched the forty or so riders gallop along the main road. Mud splashed high as the group approached them. Moments later, the riders arrived and reined in their horses outside the monastery. A man on horseback shouted.

"Oh, these are friends from the Huashan Sword School. Hey, isn't that brother Yue?"

Yue Buqun looked following the origin of the voice. When his eyes stopped at the man's face, he felt greatly embarra.s.sed. The man was none other than the one who took the Five Mountains Command Flag up to Mount Huashan only several days ago, the Third Guardian of Songshan – Crane Hands Lu Bai. The man on his right was tall and chubby. Yue Buqun recognized him: he was the Second Guardian of Songshan – Tower Holding Palm Ding Mian. And the one on his left turned out to be the expelled Sword-Branch apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, Feng Buping. Many of the Taishan and Hengshan masters who had visited Mount Huashan several days ago were also among them only that this time there were even more people than the last time. Under the faint light from the waterproof lanterns, shadows loomed, and in the short time, Yue Buqun had a hard time making out the rest of the people.

"Brother Yue," Lu Bai said, "you didn't accept the Command Flag from Chief Zuo the other day, and Chief Zuo was a bit upset. That's why he sent apprentice brother Ding and Tang together with me to visit Mount Huashan again with the Command Flag. We had no idea that we would meet you here late at night? What a surprise!"

Yue Buqun kept his silence and did not reply.

"So it is Hero Ding, Hero Lu, and Hero Tang from the Songshan Sword School. What an honor to meet you!" the old man in the mask said, cupping his hands.

"You flatter me. May I have the honor to hear your name? Why don't you want to reveal your true ident.i.ty?" The Seventh Guardian of Songshan, Tang Ying-E, asked.

"We are just a bunch of n.o.bodies in the heterodox side," the old man in the mask replied. "If we speak out our ugly bandit nicknames, it would only be an insult to all you great masters' ears. Well, for the sake of you guys, we dare not show disrespect to Madam Yue and Miss Yue any more. But there is this one thing we'd like you to help uphold justice."

"What is the matter? Why don't you tell us about it?" Tang Ying-E suggested.

"Well, this Mister Yue Buqun here has a nickname called Gentleman Sword. We heard that he always talks about humanity, justice and virtues, and always abide by the rules of the Martial World. But what he has done recently seemed way off track. You must have heard that the Fortune Prestige Escort House in Fuzhou was wiped out and the Chief Master Lin Zhennan couple was murdered."

"Yes. I heard that the Qingcheng Sword School in Szechwan did that," Tang Ying-E responded.

The old man shook his head again and again. "That sure was the story floating around in the Martial World, but it wasn't the truth. Let's get to the bottom of this. Everyone knows that the Lin Family of the Fortune Prestige Escort House has the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script pa.s.sed down from their ancestors, in which brilliant and profound sword art techniques were recorded. Once one masters the sword art, he would have no match in the entire world. The reason that the Lin Zhennan couple got murdered was because someone coveted the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script."

"What about that?" Tang Ying-E asked.

"How exactly were the Lin Zhennan couple murdered and who did it? Outsiders wouldn't have a clue on that. We heard that this Gentleman Sword secretly plotted some cunning schemes and fooled Lin Zhennan's son into becoming a dead set apprentice of the Huashan Sword School. You see what I am saying? The sword ma.n.u.script of course was brought into the Huashan Sword School naturally. We thought about it and came to the conclusion that Yue Buqun was adept at scheming. He couldn't get it by force, so he tried to get it by trickery. Think about it. How much experience can a young chap Lin have? After he joined the Huashan Sword School, for sure the old fox would play him like a dummy and have him present the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script to his Master of his own will."

"But I am afraid that this is unlikely. The Huashan Sword School has brilliant sword art techniques of its own, and Mr. Yue's Divine Art of the Violet Twilight is also a powerful and unique Kung Fu in the Martial World – one of the best Qi-Gong techniques as a matter of fact. Why would he l.u.s.t for sword art techniques in other style?" Tang Ying-E commented.

The old man smirked. "Hero Tang, you really are gauging the heart of a rascal with your own decent measures. What kind of brilliant sword art does Yue Buqun have? After the Sword-Branch and the Qi-Branch of the Huashan Sword School broke up, the Qi-Branch seized control of Mount Huashan. They only emphasized on working with their inner energy. Their sword skills are so ordinary and naïve. People in the Martial World respected the reputation of the Huashan Sword School and mistakenly thought that they actually have some true skills. But the truth is…ha, hha…."

He paused for a second with a sneer, and then continued. "Logically speaking, since Yue Buqun is the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School, his mastery of sword skills shouldn't have been ordinary. But you have all seen with your own eyes that he was taken prisoner by us, a bunch of no names. We used neither poison, nor projectiles, and we didn't have overwhelming numbers. We relied on our true skills to take care of the Huashan Sword School masters and apprentices. We won the battle the hard way fair and square. From that you probably can figure out yourself how good their Kung Fu skills are. But of course Yue Buqun knew his own limitation. That's why he wants to get hold of the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script quickly so he could study the great sword arts and not make a fool out of himself in critical moments, so he wouldn't be carrying a fame that's untrue."

"Your words are certainly convincing." Tang Ying-E nodded.

"We are just a group of n.o.bodies. In the eyes of great masters like you, our level of Kung Fu skills isn't even worth a laugh. We dare not hanker after for the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script. However, for the last ten years or so, thanks to Chief Master Lin of the Fortune Prestige Escort House who actually thought we were worth of something and kept sending us precious gifts. So when his escort wagons pa.s.sed by our territory, none of us would touch it for the sake of good relationship. Recently, when we heard that Chief Master Lin ended up dead and his family ruined all because of that sword art ma.n.u.script, we couldn't help but feel very irritated. It has really aroused public indignation. That's why've decided to make Yue Buqun pay for this."

He paused for a moment and cast a glance at the group still on horsebacks before continuing, "All of you here, who have just arrived, are renowned heroes and masters in the Marital World. And among you, there are also reputable senior masters from the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, to which the Huashan Sword School belongs as a member school. We here resort to your judgment on this matter, and whatever you decide, we will comply."

"Brother, that's very kind of you. We really appreciate it. Apprentice brother Ding and Lu, what do you think we should do?" Tang Ying-E asked.

"Chief Zuo has said before, that the Head Master post of the Huashan Sword School should have belonged to Master Feng. Since Yue Buqun committed such despicable and brazen act today, we should just let Master Feng purify the Huashan Sword School, himself!" Ding Mian replied.

Everyone on horsebacks agreed in unison, "Hero Ding has judged it so fair and clear. This is the internal affair of the Huashan Sword School, so naturally the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School himself should handle it. It would also save us from being accused of poking our noses into other people's business by fellow martial friends."

Feng Buping dismounted from his horse and bowed to everyone.

"I am very grateful for the due respect you have shown here. Ever since Yue Buqun usurped the Head Master post of our school, cries of discontent rise all the way up to heaven, and the reputation of our school had reached its ultimate low. And now he has sunk so low to commit the many wild things: killing one's father, seizing his sword art ma.n.u.script, and coercing him into becoming an apprentice. I am a man with no great virtue or abilities, and would have never been worth of the Huashan Sword School Head Master post, but I value the hardship the many past masters of the Huashan Sword School had to go through in order to uphold the reputation of our school, and I simply can not bear to watch our Huashan Sword School reduced to rubble in the hands of Yue Buqun, the unworthy apprentice. That's why I will have to undertake to do the difficult job as best as I can. Friends, will you please keep offering me advice and supervision as time goes on?" He bowed again.

The rain had not fully stopped and had turned into a light shower by then. Seven or eight of the riders had lit their torches. The fire from the torches shined upon Feng Buping's face, which looked immensely contented.

"Yue Buqun is guilty of the most heinous crimes, which are too severe for any clemency," Feng Buping went on. "We must follow the school rules and execute him on sight! Apprentice brother Cong, go ahead and execute the traitors, the Yue Buqun couple, to purify our Huashan Sword School."

"Got it!" a man in his fifties responded as he drew his blade and walked by Yue Buqun. "Yue Buqun, you corrupted our school; today is your judgment day!" He grinned hideously.

Yue Buqun heaved a deep sigh. "I see! Your Sword-Branch plotted this entire deadly trap so you can take over the Head Master post. Cong Buqi, if you kill me today, when your time comes, how are you going to face the many past masters of our Huashan Sword School in the underworld?"

"He who commits much wickedness brings death upon himself. You have committed so many crimes. Even if I don't kill you, someone else will. But that wouldn't be satisfactory at all, would it?" Cong Buqi smirked.

"Save your breath, apprentice brother Cong. Start the execution." Feng Buping yelled.

"Yes," Cong Buqi replied. He raised his long sword high and then retracted his elbow, getting ready for the deathblow. The blazing fire from the torches illuminated onto the naked blade of the sword and painted it red and green.

"Hold it!" Madam Yue suddenly shouted out. "Where is the Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script then? To accuse one of stealing, at least you have to show the stolen goods as evidence. Do you think you can just convince everyone by making slanderous accusations?"

"That's right!" Cong Buqi replied. He took several steps toward Madam Yue with a wicked grin. "That Evil-Resisting Sword Ma.n.u.script is most likely hidden on you. I'd better do a body search so you won't accuse us of making slanderous accusations." He reached his left hand out toward Madam Yue's bosom.

Madam Yue had been wounded in the legs and two of her pressure points were also sealed. She watched Cong Buqi's big ugly hand reaching toward her, yet couldn't move an inch. It would be a horrendous disgrace for her if his finger touched her skin. In tremendous despair, she shouted out loud, "Apprentice brother Ding from Songshan Sword School!"

"What?" Ding Mian asked, not expecting a call from Madam Yue at all.

"Your apprentice brother Chief Zuo is the chief of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, and sets a good example for everyone in the Martial World. Our Huashan Sword School also relies upon his leadership. How would you explain to him if you let this blatant scoundrel disgrace a woman?" Madam Yue challenged.

"Well…." Ding Mian pondered and did not answer.

"That crook was telling a bold lie when he said that they didn't win with overwhelming numbers," Madam Yue said. "And as regards to these two traitors of the Huashan Sword School, if any one of them can defeat my husband on his own in a fair fight, we will give up the post of Head Master with all respects and no complaints. Otherwise, you will never get the recognition from the thousands of fellow martial people."

At the last word, she spat at Cong Buqi's face, all of a sudden. Since Cong Buqi was right next to her, and Madam Yue's action took him by a complete surprise, he couldn't move out of the way in time. The spit hit him right between his eyes.

"d.a.m.n you!" Cong Buqi cursed angrily.

"Listen up, you traitors! Your Sword-Branch only has low-grade Kung Fu. It doesn't require my husband. Even I, a woman, can kill you as easy as flipping my hand if I hadn't fallen a prey of a plot and had my pressure points sealed!" Madam Yue mocked furiously.

"Fine!" Ding Mian made his decision. He gave his black horse a light spur. The horse walked forward and circled behind Madam Yue. Turning his horsewhip around, he bent down slightly and poked it out. The shaft of the whip jabbed at three different pressure points on Madam Yue's back. A shock ran through Madam Yue's body as the two sealed pressure points were released.

As soon as Madam Yue gained control of her limbs again, she knew that Dian Mian intended to let her have a duel with Cong Buqi. The result of the duel would not only make a difference between life and death for the Yue family of three, it would also decide the ultimate fate of the entire Huashan School. If she could defeat Cong Buqi, it probably wouldn't turn danger into safety, but at least it would be a turn for the better. If she lost the duel, then there would be no hope. She grabbed her long sword, which was knocked down earlier, off the ground, and held it across her chest in a stance. But her left leg suddenly gave out on her. She almost had to kneel down on her knees. The wounds on her legs were too severe, and as soon as she tried to use her legs, she found that they lacked enough strength to support her.

"You said you are only a woman. And now you are pretending to have injuries with your legs. Why are we having this sword contest at all? There's no glory in beating you!" Cong Buqi burst into loud laughter.

Madam Yue wanted no more words from him. "Here it comes!" she yelled and shot out three thrusts in tremendous speed. She had attached her inner strength to the blade. The sword whistled as it stabbed forward. Out of the three thrusts, each thrust went faster than the previous one and all were aimed at her opponent's vital parts.

"Nice!" Cong Buqi yelled as he took two steps back.

Normally, Madam Yue would have charged forward immediately following the attack, but she was afraid to take any risks with her weak legs and stood still instead.

Cong Buqi stepped forward again and started his own attack. Three loud rings echoed as flickers scattered in all directions. Those were three vicious thrusts, indeed. Madam Yue parried them one by one and immediately turned the third block into an attacking stance and stabbed at the enemy's lower abdomen.

Yue Buqun stood by the side and watched his wife fighting the tough opponent with wounded legs. Cong Buqi's sword techniques appeared to be delicate and exquisite. Compared to Madam Yue's techniques, they had way more clever variations. After exchanging ten moves or so, Madam Yue started to lose the agility and speed with her sword moves in her lower body. The Qi-Branch of the Huashan Sword School was good at overcoming the enemy with resourceful inner energy, but since Madam Yue had a hard time controlling her breathing after the injuries, her sword moves gradually lost the initiatives and became restricted by Cong Buqi's moves. Yue Buqun was greatly worried, and he became even more concerned when he saw his wife accelerate her techniques.

"The Sword-Branch is better with their sword techniques, yet you are countering his sword techniques with your own. Countering the enemy's strong points with one's shortcomings would only lead to a defeat," he thought aloud.

Madam Yue also knew the fundamental ideas here within, but because the wounds on her legs were too severe, and in addition, her pressure points were sealed right after she inflicted the wounds, she was never able to tend the wounds; even now the wounds were still bleeding, how could she have gathered her inner energy to counter the attacks? At the moment, it was only her determination that had kept her going, and although her sword moves never slowed down, the strength in each move had started to decrease quickly. After another ten moves or so, Cong Buqi had detected Madam Yue's weak point. While feeling much delighted, he was in no rush for a quick win, and made sure he was putting up a good defense.

Linghu Chong was also watching the fight. Seeing that Cong Buqi's moves all focused on techniques, not strengths, completely different from what his Master had taught him, he thought to himself, "No wonder our school was divided into the Qi-Branch and the Sword-Branch. The two branches' Kung Fu styles are indeed opposite of each other."

He slowly struggled to get back on his feet. Reaching out around him, he found a long sword on the ground. "Our school has really suffered a crushing defeat today!" he thought. "But I will not allow the stainless reputation of Master-Wife and apprentice sister get ruined by those scoundrels. It seems that Master-Wife is no match for that man. Later I will have to kill Master-Wife and apprentice sister and then cut my own throat to preserve the reputation of our Huashan Sword School."

Madam Yue's sword moves became more and more disorganized. Suddenly, she turned her sword in blazing speed and thrust it out with a loud whoosh. This was none other than that proud move of hers – "Unrivaled and Unmatched, The Thrust of Ning." The thrust carried great momentum. Regardless of Madam Yue's severe injures, it still looked utterly majestic.

Cong Buqi was astounded. He leapt back in a great hurry and luckily was able to dodge away from it. If Madam Yue's legs had been fine and that she followed the momentum with another attack, the enemy would have no chance of surviving, but all she could do was to hold her sword like a cane to keep her balance and wheezing like mad, her face completely pale.

"What's the matter, Madam Yue? Have you finally used up all your strength? Can I search you now?" Cong Buqi grinned evilly as he stepped closer and closer toward Madam Yue, his left hand opening wide, high in the air.

Madam Yue wanted to raise her sword and thrust forward, but it seemed as if her arm had weighed ten thousand pounds by then; she could no longer move her arm.

"Hold it!" Linghu Chong yelled as he walked by Madam Yue's side. "Master-Wife!" he called out and was ready to thrust his sword out to take away her life, thus saving her from any disgraceful humiliation.

"Good child!" Madam Yue nodded, her eyes filled with satisfaction. With all her strength exhausted, she could no longer keep herself in a standing position, and collapsed down onto the muddy ground.

"Get lost!" Cong Buqi yelled out while p.r.i.c.king his sword tip toward Linghu Chong's throat.

Linghu Chong knew too well that he had no strength left with his arms. If he reached his sword out to block, his sword would be instantly knocked out of his grip. So seeing that the sword tip came toward his throat, without much thinking, he also thrust his sword toward Cong Buqi's throat – a move that would end in a common ruin for both of them. His thrust was not specifically quick, but the positioning was simply dazzling – it was none other than the "Sword-breaking Stance" out of the Dugu Nine Swords.

Cong Buqi was stunned. He had never antic.i.p.ated such a sudden counter attack from the young man covered in mud. Out of desperation, he dived down the ground and rolled till he was over ten feet away, and finally was able to dodge the thrust. If he had come up with his solution only one second slower, he would not have survived it.

The entire audience watched Cong Buqi in such a sorry plight. By the time he leapt back onto his feet, his head, face, hands, and robe were completely covered with mud. Some couldn't help but burst into laughter. But after thinking about it some more, all had to agree that other than the rolling they had just seen, there was really no other way to dodge that move.

Hearing the laughter, Cong Buqi found himself consumed by embarra.s.sment and fury. Holding his sword tight, he charged toward Linghu Chong in a leap.

Linghu Chong had made up his mind already. "I must not use any of my inner strength, and only counter him using sword stances taught by Grand Uncle-Master."

He was quite familiar with the Dugu Nine Swords already. He wouldn't have used it so boldly against such a tough enemy if it weren't a life-threatening situation for him. Right on the edge between life and death, he surprisingly found his head clear of all other thoughts. Instantly, all the complicated and magical techniques in the "Sword-breaking Stance" came clearly before his mind's eye. Seeing that Cong Buqi charged at him like a mad tiger, he spotted the flaw in Cong's move instantaneously. Holding his sword in a slight angle, he aimed the tip toward Cong's lower stomach.

When Cong Buqi charged forward, he figured that if his opponent didn't dodge, then the opponent would have to block with his weapon, therefore, even though his lower stomach was open to attacks, he really had no need to defend that part. But to his surprise, Linghu Chong didn't dodge and didn't block either, only pointing his sword tip in an angle and waited for him to put his own stomach onto the sword tip. Before his feet landed back onto the ground, while his entire body was still in mid-air, Cong Buqi had realized the danger ahead. In a frantic rush, he swung his sword toward Linghu Chong's sword. But Linghu Chong had antic.i.p.ated that. He raised his right arm slightly. The sword went up two feet and now the sword tip pointed toward Cong Buqi's chest.

Cong Buqi had hoped that when he swung his sword, it would smack against Linghu Chong's long sword, and then he would be able to leap aside using that force. But he had never expected his opponent to turn his sword and point it upward all of a sudden. His swing was only met by thin air. And without any other forces, he could not change the direction his body was moving toward. He screamed in terror as his body flew right at Linghu Chong's sword.

Feng Buping dived forward with a jump and reached out to grab at Cong Buqi's back, but it was already too late. With a thump, Linghu Chong's sword tip had penetrated Cong Buqi's shoulder.

Missing out on the grab, Feng Buping immediately drew his sword and slashed it at Linghu Chong's back neck. Following normal sword art principles, Linghu Chong should have jumped back quickly before returning the attack, but with all his internal energy in a state of complete chaos, which prevented him from using any bit of inner strength, he simply couldn't jump back to dodge. Having no alternative, he retrieved his sword out from Cong Buqi's shoulder and used another technique out of the Dugu Nine Swords. Stabbing his sword out with a backhand, he pointed the sword tip at Feng Buping's belly b.u.t.ton. It looked almost as if it was another death-defying move of Linghu Chong that would end up in common ruin, but the stab had a surprising position that his sword would have pierced the enemy's belly before the enemy's weapon would ever reach him. It would only be a split of a second difference in speed, but the end result would be dramatically different.

Feng Buping could tell that the opponent had no chance of fending off his slash, but to his great surprise, the young man conveniently launched a backhand stab toward his lower abdomen. What a vicious attack that was! He quickly took several steps back. After taking in a deep breath, he charged forward again with seven consecutive hits, each thrust or slash swifter than the previous one. The attacks swept toward Linghu Chong like a storm.

Linghu Chong gave no thought of life or death. All he had in his mind were the various sword art techniques Feng Qingyang had taught him. Occasionally, when a snapshot of the sword moves on the rock wall in the back cave flashed by in his head, he would simply use them at will following the essence flow of his swordplay. Within moments, the two had exchanged over seventy moves, yet their swords never even collided once. Regardless of attacking or defending, all the sword art techniques shown were clever and profound.

Watching the dazzling sword fight by the side, the entire audience couldn't help but cheer inwardly. Everyone could hear the heavy panting from Linghu Chong. Clearly he didn't have much strength in him. However, brilliant sword moves and techniques emerged one after another from his sword with endless variations and changes. Every time when Feng Buping had difficulty countering Linghu Chong's moves, he would simply chop and slash with sheer force, knowing that the opponent would never try to block it and end up in a compet.i.tion of strength, thus getting himself out of trouble.

Seeing the display of the undignified fighting style, some bystanders couldn't help but feel discontented. A Taoist priest from the Taishan Sword School spoke out.

"The apprentice from Qi-Branch has better sword skills and the Uncle-Master from Sword-Branch has better inner strength. What the h.e.l.l is going on? Has the Qi-Branch and the Sword-Branch switched place for some fun?"

Feng Buping blushed at the remark as he waved his sword even faster, showering Linghu Chong in attacks like gusty wind and heavy rain. He was the best swordsman in the Sword-Branch of the Huashan Sword School, and his sword skills were indeed excellent.

Linghu Chong had no extra strength to move around. It already took all his strength to simply manage to stay standing. And because of that, he missed many good opportunities to secure a win. Besides, he was not yet proficient with all the sword techniques, and fighting such a top-notch fighter with his newly learned Dugu Nine Swords certainly aroused fear in his heart. As a result, the fight lasted for a long while and produced no winner.

Another thirty or so moves pa.s.sed. Linghu Chong noticed that if he had simply thrust out at will, his opponent would be in a frantic rush and have a hard time dealing with it, but if he had used any of the Huashan Sword School moves or moves of the Songshan, Hengshan, or Taishan sword schools drawn on the rock wall in the back cave, Feng Buping would be able to counter well and launch his counterattack immediately after. Once when Feng Buping drew three arcs at him with his long sword, his entire right arm was almost chopped off. Awfully dangerous indeed! Amid the frenzies, Feng Qingyang's words suddenly came to his mind, "When you don't have a sword stance, your enemy would have no way of countering it. Overcoming stances without a stance achieves the ultimate acme of sword art."

Actually through the over two hundred moves he exchanged with Feng Buping, he had comprehended the superb techniques of the Dugu Nine Swords better and better. Regardless of how vicious or fierce Feng Buping's sword moves were, he would always be able to spot the weaknesses and flaws within Feng's sword moves, and a simple thrust or slash from him, at will, would always force Feng Buping to retract his sword to defend. After some more moves exchanged, he slowly gained his confidence. By the time he remembered the key of "Overcoming stances without a stance" told by Feng Qingyang, he took a long breath and thrust his sword out with an odd angle. This thrust wasn't part of any sword move, not even part of the sword moves from the "Sword-breaking Stance" of the Dugu Nine Swords. It was weak, and tilted. Even he himself didn't know where he was pointing the sword.

"What kind of move is that?" Feng Buping thought to himself, confused. Not knowing how to counter that, he waved his own sword to protect his upper body.

Since Linghu Chong didn't have any limit or restriction with that thrust to start with, seeing that his opponent had guarded his upper body well, he gave a gentle shake to the sword tip and stabbed it at Feng Buping's waist. Feng Buping didn't antic.i.p.ate such an odd change at all. Astounded, he leapt back three steps, while Linghu Chong remained still, not having any strength to lunge after him.

The fight had lasted for quite a while now. Even though Linghu Chong didn't use a bit of his inner energy, waving the sword about did require quite some strength. Feeling exhausted, he breathed heavily while pressing his hand on his chest.

Realizing that Linghu Chong didn't follow up with the attack, Feng Buping didn't want the fight to just end like that. He sprang back and shot out four thrusts in a row toward Linghu Chong's chest, stomach, waist, and shoulder. Linghu Chong flicked his wrist and stabbed the sword toward Feng's left eye. Uttering a cry of shock, Feng Buping leapt back three steps again.

"Strange! Strange! That man's sword art is very admirable," The Taoist Priest from Taishan Sword School spoke again. The entire audience felt the same way, knowing that "that man's sword art" he admired had to be Linghu Chong's sword art, not Feng Buping's.

Feng Buping also heard the remark. He thought to himself, "I am able to take over the Huashan Sword School because I am the Head Master of the Sword-Branch. If I can't even defeat an apprentice of the Qi-Branch, not only would my grandiose plan to be the Head Master of Huashan Sword School burst in bubbles, I would certainly end up living a hermit's life again in some remote valley, too ashamed to face anyone in the Marital World." At that thought, he cried inwardly, "At this point, there's no need to hide it any more!"

With a loud roar, he charged forward in an angle, slashing his long sword horizontally and then bringing it swishing down through the air in an unprecedented speed. Within only five moves, whistles from wind gusts had rose dimly. He waved his sword faster and faster and the sound of the wind gusts also became louder and louder.

This set of sword art was called the "Quick Blizzard Sword Stance," and was created by Feng Buping while he lived in seclusion in Mount Zhongtiao for fifteen years. Each move would be even faster than the previous one, and the sound of wind gust would be louder and louder as well. It was the most valued sword art of his. Having some lofty aspirations, he not only wanted to head the entire Huashan Sword School, but also wished to become the chief of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance after getting the Head Master post. And this "Quick Blizzard Sword Stance" with one hundred and eight moves would have been the tool to help him achieve his goals. He really didn't want to recklessly show this special skill of his, because once it was shown, it would no longer be a secret weapon of his, and if he got into fights with elite fighters, the enemy would have had precautions, and the effect of the set of sword arts would no longer be so dramatic. But there was no way to back down from the fight right now. If he couldn't defeat Linghu Chong, he would lose all face right at this moment. He was pretty much forced into using it as the last resort.

This set of "Quick Blizzard Sword Stance" was incredibly powerful without a doubt. The force created by the blade extended slowly. The audience could feel the cold front moving toward them while the wind gusts blew onto their faces and hands harshly, making them very uncomfortable, so everyone stepped back more and more. The circle around the two fighters gradually grew bigger and bigger, and soon reached the size of fifty feet in diameter.
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By now, even the many masters from the Songshan, Taishan, Hengshan sword schools, and the Yue Buqun couple dared not underestimate Feng Buping. They all felt that not only his sword moves were brilliant, but also the swift and fierce force created by his blade. He apparently didn't only rely on his sword moves to win his battles. Feng Buping wasn't a renowned master in the Martial World; who would have thought that his sword skill was so incredible.

Flames from torches held by the many riders were all blown toward the outside by the forces from the blade, and the sound of wind gusts still seemed to be getting louder and louder.

In the eyes of the many witnesses, Linghu Chong was almost like a small boat traveling in a huge storm with crashing waves hundreds of feet high. In the roaring wind, terrifying waves smashed toward the small boat like landslides. But the small boat rode the wave high and low, never being swallowed by the mountain-sized waves.

The faster Feng Buping attacked, the more principles and essence of the sword art Linghu Chong comprehended based on the teaching of Feng Qingyang. The more they fought, the better Linghu Chong understood. And the better he was able to understand the many techniques of the sword stances, the more confident he became. He found himself in no rush to end the fight; instead, he watched the various variations in the opponent's sword moves with rapt attention.

The "Quick Blizzard Sword Stance" was indeed very quick. Within moments, Feng Buping had used up the entire one hundred and eight moves. Seeing that it still failed to bring Linghu Chong down, he became restless with anxiety. Roaring in fury, he slashed and chopped with his long sword like a mad man, intending to force the opponent to block his attacks.

Linghu Chong was a bit frightened when he saw Feng Buping going all out in such a death-defying manner. Afraid to keep the fight any longer, he shook the blade of the long sword. "Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, and swoosh!" The blade had left one cut each on Feng Buping's left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. "Clank," Feng Buping's sword fell down to the ground.

Because Linghu Chong didn't have much strength with his hand, the four thrusts were all done quite lightly, but that was enough to turn Feng Buping's face completely pale.

"Fine! Fine!" Feng Buping murmured. He turned around and cupped his hands toward Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and Tang Ying-E the trio. "Three apprentice brothers of the Songshan Sword School, will you please tell Chief Zuo that I am truly grateful for his great kindness. But…but my skills aren't good enough, and I am too ashamed…ashamed…" He cupped his hands again and then walked away quickly. After ten steps or so, he suddenly stopped and called out.

"Young man, your sword skills are truly incredible. I bow before you. But with such outstanding sword skills, I am sure even Yue Buqun is no match for you. May I have the honor to hear your respectful name, and the name of the great master who taught you the sword art, so I know who and what sword art I had lost to?"

"My name is Linghu Chong," Linghu Chong replied. "I am the Head Apprentice of my respectful Master – Yue Buqun. It was only because of your mercy, senior master, that I was able to win a move by sheer luck. There's nothing to be proud of."

Feng Buping heaved a long sigh, his voice dreary and gloomy. Slowly, he walked away, and soon, faded into the darkness.

Ding Mian, Lu Bai, and Tang Ying-E looked at each other, all thinking, "My sword skills perhaps aren't even as good as Feng Buping's. Then of course I would be no match for Linghu Chong, either. If we swarm forward to attack Linghu Chong all together, it wouldn't be a difficult task to slice him into bits and pieces on the spot. But when so many masters from different schools are here as well, something like that would be completely out of the question." With the same thought in mind, the three nodded at each other.

"Nephew Linghu," Ding Mian said in a loud voice, "your sword art is brilliant and broadened everyone's horizons. Farewell for now. I am sure we'll meet again someday!"

"Let's go!" Tang Ying-E waved his left hand and then turned his horse around. Giving the horse a good spur, he rode away like a wind. The rest of the group followed behind him, and within moments, all vanished into the darkness. The sounds of hoof beats became lighter and lighter, and soon, the night was, once again, swept with silence. By now, other than the bunch from the Huashan Sword School, there were only those masked men left outside of the monastery.

The old man in the mask let out a few wry laughs and broke the silence. "Young hero Linghu, you have outstanding sword skills and we all admire you truly. Yue Buqun's Kung Fu skills are far from yours. You should have been the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School." He paused for a second and then continued, "After seeing the brilliant sword art you have displayed, we really should have beaten a retreat in the face of difficulties. But since we have greatly offended your respectful school, it's going to be endless trouble for us. Well, we must destroy both the root and the branches. I guess we'd better take advantage of you while you are injured and take you on with overwhelming numbers then."

He signaled with a whistle, and the rest of the fourteen masked men pushed their position forward and surrounded Linghu Chong. When Ding Mian and the bunch left, they threw their torches on the ground randomly. The flames had not been extinguished yet, so only the lower portion of everyone's body was lit, and their body portion above their waists remained vague in the dark. Their weapons shined from reflections of the flames as the fifteen masked men closed in on Linghu Chong.

When Linghu Chong fought Feng Buping earlier, even though it didn't consume any of his inner energy, it did exhaust him and covered him with sweat. The reason he was able to defeat the first-cla.s.s master of the Huashan Sword School Sword-Branch was because he had learned the Dugu Nine Swords and was able to take the initiative of the different moves. But these fifteen men in mask had many different types of weapons and used many different styles of moves. When they all attacked at once, there would be no way for him to counter each one of them. Without the ability to use his inner energy, he couldn't even jump forward three feet or leap five feet sideways, how would he manage to break out from the combined attack of the fifteen elite fighters? He let out a deep sigh and turned his eyes toward Yue Lingshan, knowing that this would probably be the last glance before his end, and hoping that he would get some relief from the expression on Yue Lingshan's face. Sure enough, he found Yue Lingshan's pretty eyes fixed on him filled with worry and care. Linghu Chong felt a surge of joy. Then, he saw her hand hang by her side, and it was holding a hand of a man. A quick glance told Linghu Chong that the man was none other than Lin Pingzhi. Welled with depression, Linghu Chong lost his will to fight completely and almost wanted to throw down his long sword and simply let the enemy have him.

Afraid of the brilliant performance he had shown during the fierce fight with Feng Buping, the fifteen masked men approached forward half a step at a time, on one dared to launch the first attack.

Linghu Chong turned around slowly and stared at the fifteen masked men. Their thirty eyes shined through the holes on their masks like the eyes of fierce wild animals, filled with cruelty and hostility. Suddenly, a thought sparked in his head.

"The eighth stance of the Dugu Nine Sword, 'Missile-breaking Stance,' can counter all types of projectiles and darts. Even if the enemy has shot thousands of arrows at me, or dozens of people shooting many kinds of projectiles and darts at me, I would be able to knock all of them down using this one stance."

"Let's attack all at once and cut him into shreds!" the old man in the mask shouted.

Having no time for any further thoughts, Linghu Chong sent his sword out and used the "Missile-breaking Stance" of the Dugu Nine Swords. The tip of the sword vibrated as it thrust at the eyes of the fifteen men. Cries in terror rose one after another, and then bangs echoed as the many kinds of weapons fell to the ground. Within a split of a second, Linghu Chong had blinded the thirty eyes of the fifteen masked men with extraordinarily swift thrusts.

The "Missile-breaking Stance" of the Dugu Nine Swords was capable of hitting thousands of projectiles and darts. To be able to hit the thousands of targets, of course some would be hit before some others. But because the thrusts were so fast that it seemed as if all the thrusts were shot out at the exact same time. This stance must be able to hit every target with every thrust. If one thrust had missed the target, the enemy's dart would have hit the pract.i.tioner. Linghu Chong was not proficient with this stance, yet, but it was obviously much easier to try to hit human eyes that were slowly approaching compared to hitting projectiles and darts approaching in high speed. He thrust out thirty times and hit all thirty eyes on target.

As soon as he completed the thrusts, Linghu Chong dashed out from the crowd. Holding on to the doorframe, he trembled hard, his face completely pale. Then a loud bang echoed as his sword fell out of his hand and hit the ground. He watched as the fifteen masked men each having their hands covering their eyes, blood dripping out from between their fingers. Some squatted down to the ground; some cried out loudly; some rolled back and forth in mud.

When the fifteen masked men, all of a sudden, saw only complete darkness accompanied by excruciating pain, in astonishment and terror, all they could think of was to cover their eyes and cry in pain. If they had been able to calm down and continue with their group attack, Linghu Chong for sure would have been chopped into shreds. But regardless of how high one's Kung Fu skills are, who would be able to stay calm when someone had blinded his eyes, all of a sudden? Who would be able to continue his attacks toward the enemy? The fifteen men stumbled about in every direction like a bunch of headless flies, not able to decide what to do next.

In the critical moment, Linghu Chong actually managed to succeed with his strike. He was overjoyed. But seeing the pitiful sight, he couldn't help but feel a mixed feeling of fear and pity.

Half shocked and half joyful, Yue Buqun yelled loudly, "Chong, cut their tendons in their legs so we can interrogate them slowly."

"Yes…yes…." Linghu Chong answered and bent down to retrieve his sword. But when he used that move a moment ago, it had actually triggered the energy flow inside him. Trembling nonstop, he simply could not grab onto his long sword. Then his knee gave out completely and he collapsed.

"Everyone, use your right hand to pick up your weapon and use your left hand to grab onto the waistband from the one next to you. Then follow me!" the old man in the mask shouted.

The other fourteen masked men had been at a loss on what to do. Getting the command from the old man, all bent down to fumble on the ground. And regardless of what kind of weapon they were able to grab onto, they would pick it up. Some were able to pick up two and some weren't even able to find one. Each one grabbed onto a fellow masked man's waistband and stringed himself together with the group. Following the old man, all of them staggered their way through the puddles of mud and disappeared in the pouring rain.

Except for Madam Yue and Linghu Chong, all members of the Huashan Sword School had their pressure points sealed and couldn't move an inch. Madam Yue had severe wounds on both of her legs and couldn't walk. Linghu Chong, on the other hand, had lost all his strength and could only lie on the ground still. Everyone could clearly see that the fifteen masked men had become completely defenseless, yet none could keep them from getting away.

.......

[1] Bluffing the enemy by opening the gates of a weakly defended city. Presenting a bold front to conceal a weak defense. Zhu Geliang and Sima Yi were both real historical figures in ancient China. See their story in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

[2] Di Xiu's Master is an apprentice brother of Zuo Lengchan, the Head Master of Songshan Sword School, that's why Di referred to Zuo as Head Uncle-Master.

[3] Once a person's Mute Point is sealed, he will temporarily lose the ability to speak.

[4] An intimate way of calling Yilin.

[5] When one becomes a Buddhist monk, he will no longer be referred to using his real name. He will get a name in the Buddhist 's order and he is supposed to forget his real name as part of the Four Emptiness Doctrine.

[6] The t.i.tle "Great Master" is a respectful way of calling a member of the Buddhist order.