The Smiling, Proud Wanderer 61 Chapter Thirty-Five: Vengeance Part 1 Of 3

"We'll stay here for the night, is that alright?" Linghu Chong felt the further away he was from Yue Buqun, the better it was. Also, he did not wish to see Yue Buqun's face again at the Songshan's courtyard.

When he said this, the female disciples of the Heng-Shan School cheered happily. They all actually felt the same thing, and no one wished to go down. Back in Fuzhou, they had asked Huashan School to help their martial elders who were in trouble. But in spite of the motto 'Five mountains sword schools, same root different branches', Yue Buqun flatly refused to help them. Heng-Shan School's disciples had always kept this matter in their hearts. At the moment, everyone was still feeling angry that Linghu Chong had gotten injured by Yue Lingshan. So from the combination of all these together, they all refused to accept the fact that Yue Buqun had s.n.a.t.c.hed the leadership of the Five Mountains School. Thus, staying by the place of the worship for the night was agreeable to them.

"Martial Brother Headmaster can't move too much, so staying here is best," Yiqing said agreeing with Linghu Chong. "But, this big brother…" As she said this, she glanced toward Yingying.

"This isn't a big brother," Linghu Chong laughed. "She's young lady Ren."

Yingying had been supporting Linghu Chong all this time, but when she heard him divulging her ident.i.ty, she became bashful and quickly stood up to flee for a few steps. Linghu Chong wasn't guarding against this so his body tipped backwards. Yilin, who was standing besides him, quickly extended her hand to hold his left shoulder and called out, "Careful!"

Yihe, Yiqing, and the others all knew Yingying and Linghu Chong had a deep love for each other. One of them was willing to risk her life at Shaolin temple because of love, while the other led a group of Jianghu heroes to attack Shaolin temple because of her. When Linghu Chong became the headmaster of the Heng-Shan School, this young lady Ren came personally to congratulate him and she also defeated the scheming of the Devil Sect. It could be said she had done a big favour for Heng-Shan School. When they heard this big bearded man in front of them was young lady Ren, mixed feelings of happiness and surprise rose up. The disciples of Heng-Shan School had long regarded this young lady Ren to be their future Headmaster-Wife, so when they saw her, they felt very intimate towards her.

After Yihe and some of the other disciples took care of provisions such as clear water and meals, they lay down besides the place of worship. Because of his serious injury, Linghu Chong also felt sleepy and exhausted, so he fell into a deep sleep in a short time.

In the middle of the night, from somewhere far away, they suddenly heard a female voice shouting, "Who's there?"

Even though Linghu Chong was heavily injured, his internal energy was still abundant. When he heard this, he promptly woke up and knew it was a Heng-Shan School disciple guarding the perimeter asking someone who was coming up the peak. He heard someone answered, "I'm a disciple from the same Five Mountains School. I'm Headmaster Yue's disciple, Lin Pingzhi."

"Why did you come here in the middle of the night?" the Heng-Shan School disciple who was on night watch duty inquired.

"I have an appointment underneath the place of worship," Lin Pingzhi answered. "I didn't know martial sisters are resting here. Sorry for the offence." His speech was very polite.

"Little kid surnamed Lin, you're trying to win by number concealing your Five Mountains School's friends here," an elder's voice came from the west. "Are you trying to give me trouble?"

Linghu Chong recognised the voice to be Qingcheng School's headmaster, Yu Canghai. He was startled and thought, "Martial brother Lin has an enmity with Yu Canghai for killing his parents. This appointment must be for repaying his blood debt."

"I didn't know the martial sisters from Heng-Shan are resting here," Lin Pingzhi replied. "Let's find someplace else to settle our business so we don't bother their dreams."

"So we don't bother their dreams? Hey, hey, you've already disturbed them, but you're trying to be the nice guy now. Like father-in-law, like son-in-law. What do you have to say? Quickly say it now so we can all go back to sleep peacefully," Yu Canghai laughed loudly.

"I don't think that you'll be able to sleep peacefully ever again," Lin Pingzhi coldly said. "When your Qingcheng School came to Mount Songshan, you brought thirty four people with you. I made an appointment with you only, how come three came?"

Yu Canghai looked up and laughed loudly. "Who do you think you are? Do you think you're worthy to talk to me like that? Your father-in-law is the new headmaster of the Five Mountains School, so I came here to listen to what you have to say just to give him face. What do you want to fart about? Let's hear it. If you want to fight then draw your sword and let me see your Lin family's Evil Resisting Sword Art. Let's see how much you've improved."

Linghu Chong slowly sat up. Under the pale moonlight, he saw Lin Pingzhi and Yu Canghai facing each other at around thirty feet apart. Linghu Chong thought, "That day when I was injured in Hengshan, this shorty Yu wanted to kill me. Luckily Martial Brother Lin showed himself and interfered, and saved my life. If that shorty Yu had hit me on that day, how can Linghu Chong be alive today? Martial Brother Lin's martial art has advanced greatly since he joined the Huashan School but he still won't be at the level of this shorty Yu. He made the appointment here with shorty Yu; Master and Master-Wife must surely be behind him to help. But if Master and Master-Wife didn't come then I can't just stand by and do nothing."

Yu Canghai laughed derisively. "If you got guts then come by yourself to Mount Qingcheng to get your revenge, instead of making a surrept.i.tious appointment here with me while concealing a group of nuns here to ambush me. What a joke, what a joke!"

When Yihe heard this, she couldn't hold back her anger and shouted, "Whatever love or hatred this kid surnamed Lin has toward you, what's that got to do with our Heng-Shan School? You shorty priest, you talk nonsense! You can fight till you die, we're just here to watch. I know you're afraid, but don't drag Heng-Shan School into it." She was very resentful towards Yue Lingshan. When you like someone, you like everything a.s.sociated with that person. When you don't like someone, you don't like anything a.s.sociated with that person. So by this reasoning, Yihe also detested Yue Lingshan's husband.

Yu Canghai and Zuo Lengchan had always been friends. Zuo Lengchan had personally written two letters to invite him to the monastery to strengthen the situation today. So when Yu Canghai came to Mount Songshan at this time, he expected Zuo Lengchan to become the Five Mountains School's headmaster. That was why even though the Huashan School's people had an enmity with him, he didn't care about it in the least. But who could've thought this headmaster position of the Five Mountains School was unexpectedly s.n.a.t.c.hed by Yue Buqun? Because of this unexpected event, the Qingcheng School didn't feel like staying on Mount Songshan and was going to go down the mountain that very night. As the Qingcheng School's party was going down from the Songshan mountaintop, Lin Pingzhi walked up besides him and whispered about the appointment. He wanted Yu Canghai to meet him tonight beneath the place of worship. Even though Lin Pingzhi spoke quietly, he was very rude in his expression and in his choice of words which made it hard for Yu Canghai to decline. At that time, Yu Canghai pondered, "Your Huashan School has just come into power as head of the Five Mountains School and yet you've become arrogant already. But you're still green and the Five Mountains School might still split up, so I'm not afraid of you at all. But I must protect against your helpers attacking in numbers."

With that thought in his mind, Yu Canghai deliberately came to the meeting a bit late to see if Lin Pingzhi had brought a large number of helpers with him. When he saw Lin Pingzhi had turned up to the peak all by himself, he was delighted. He then brought two of the Qingcheng School's people to the peak with him, while the rest was dispersed around the waist of the mountain to alert him if anyone was coming up to the peak. But, when he reached the peak, he saw there were many people sleeping underneath the place of worship. Yu Canghai inwardly felt miserable and thought, "A thirty years old mother has been defeated by a little baby. I only checked if he brought helpers with him up to the peak. I never thought his helpers would already be waiting on top of the peak. I've walked into their ambush. Now I have to think of a way to get out of it."

He knew Heng-Shan School's martial art wasn't below Qingcheng School's. Even though three of their senior Shi Tai had pa.s.sed away and Linghu Chong had also been seriously injured and the current stature of Heng-Shan School was on the wane as they were left with no master-hands, there were still a lot of them. If the hundreds of nuns form their sword formations to attack, the situation would be extremely dangerous. When he heard what Yihe said, he felt relieved even though she was being very rude to him and insulted him by calling him 'shorty'. Her words made it clear that Heng-Shan School wouldn't help Lin Pingzhi.

"It's very good you are not helping each other," Yu Canghai said. "There's no harm for everyone to open your eyes widely and watch my Qingcheng School's swordplay, and see how it compares to Huashan School's swordplay." He paused for a tick before continuing, "Everyone, Yue Buqun was lucky to defeat Martial Brother Zuo because I don't think his swordplay is very good. Every family and every school in Wulin has its own unique skill. Huashan sword art isn't necessarily able enough to rule the world. From what I see, Heng-Shan sword art is much better compared to Huashan's." Heng-Shan School's disciples did not know whether his words had a double meaning or not. But Yihe didn't care about it as she said, "Hey, you two, if you want to fight then fight. Quit yapping your mouth here in the middle of the night disturbing people's sleep. How inconsiderate!"

Yu Canghai was fuming but he thought, "I have to deal with this kid Lin today, so I can't settle my debt with you stinking nuns right now. But from today onwards, whenever I cross paths with your Heng-Shan School, I'll make sure to give you a lot of trouble." He was a petty person and was used to being arrogant. If the people of the generation below him didn't show much respect and didn't speak flatteringly when meeting him, he would become unhappy. If Yihe had said those words at any other time, he would've blown his top.

Lin Pingzhi walked up a couple of steps. "Yu Canghai, you've long coveted my family's sword art and killed my parents for it. Even the dozens of people from my Fortune Prestige Escort agency were all killed by your Qingcheng School. Your blood with compensate this blood debt tonight."
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"My own son was killed by you, Pig!" Yu Canghai shouted in anger. "Even if you hadn't come looking for me, I would've cut you into thousands of pieces and peeled your flesh off, Dog! Were you trying to hide by becoming a disciple of Huashan and getting Yue Buqun as your backer?" With a ringing sound, he drew his long sword out of its scabbard. It was the fifteenth of the month that day so there was a bright moon in the sky. Even though his body was short, the sword was long. The moonlight reflected off the steel like rippling water. The sword in front of his body was trembling. The situation was far from ordinary.

Heng-Shan disciples all thought, "This shorty's reputation isn't a small matter." Lin Pingzhi still hadn't drawn his sword as he walked up another two steps. He was now only around ten feet apart from Yu Canghai. His head was slightly turned while his eyes were full of fire observing Yu Canghai.

When Ling Pingzhi did not draw his sword, Yu Canghai thought, "You, little kid, are very reckless. If I use the 'Flood Dragon Soaring from the Deep Blue Pool' now, you'd have a new mouth two and a half feet long from your lower abdomen to your throat. But you're a junior to me so I can't move first." Then he shouted, "Still not drawing your sword?" He was waiting for Lin Pingzhi to press his hand on his sword handle and start drawing his sword out. At the moment before Ling Pingzhi's sword was completely out of the scabbard, he would use the move 'Flood Dragon Soaring from the Deep Blue Pool' to cut his stomach. Heng-Shan disciples would then only be able to say his hand was fast but not that it was a sneak attack. Linghu Chong saw the long sword trembling in Yu Canghai's hand and he called out, "Martial brother Lin, be careful, he's going to stab at your stomach."

Lin Pingzhi laughed mockingly and suddenly rushed forward. His move was extremely fast, as in an instant, there was only a distance of less than one foot between him and Yu Canghai. Their noses were practically touching. This rushing move was so strange that no one could have imagined it, and it was so fast that it was very hard to describe. With this single rush, the long sword on Yu Canghai's right hand was now behind his opponent's body and there was no way for him to bend his long sword to stab the back of Lin Pingzhi's body. Lin Pingzhi's left hand was also holding Yu Canghai's right shoulder while his right hand was pressing against Yu Canghai's chest. Yu Canghai felt tingling pain on the 'Shoulder Well' acupoint on his shoulder and felt his right arm became weak and the long sword dropped from his hand. Everyone saw how Lin Pingzhi subdued his opponent in just one move and how his hand movements were strange. His movements looked exactly like the moves Yue Buqun used to defeat Zuo Lengchan, even the movement path he had taken was exactly the same. Linghu Chong turned his head around to look at Yingying. They stared at each other and cried out quietly at the same time, "Dongfang Bubai!"

Linghu Chong and Yingying were staring at each other and they both saw fear and dismay in each other's eyes. It was obvious Lin Pingzhi's move was the same as the martial art that Dongfang Bubai used on that day at Dark Wood Cliff. Lin Pingzhi didn't force out the gathered energy in his right hand as he saw the dread on Yu Canghai's face lighted under the moonlight. It couldn't be said that Lin Pingzhi was feeling happy as he felt that death would have come too easily for Yu Canghai if he was killed in just one move.

In that moment, from somewhere far, they heard Yue Lingshan shouting, "Brother Ping, Brother Ping! Father told you not to bother him for now." She was running up the peak as she shouted. When she saw Lin Pingzhi and Yu Canghai standing face to face, she was stupefied. She rushed forward a few steps and saw Lin Pingzhi was holding Yu Canghai's fatal acupoint on one hand while his other hand was on Yu Canghai's chest. She let out a sigh of relieve. "Father said Priest Yu is our guest today and we shouldn't make any trouble for him."

Lin Pingzhi snorted and added more internal energy into pressing Yu Canghai's 'Shoulder Well' acupoint. Yu Canghai's major acupoint became even more painful, but when he examined it closer, he found his opponent's internal energy was ordinary and there was nothing special about it. It was only painful because it was pressing on his major acupoint. Otherwise according to the theory of internal energy cultivation, Lin Pingzhi was still far below him. In that realisation, he felt sadness and anger mixed together in his heart. Clearly, his opponent's martial art was sloppy and ordinary. Even if Lin Pingzhi studied for ten more years, he still wouldn't be his match. But Lin Pingzhi had now taken advantage of his negligence and his reputation would now be gone forever. Furthermore, Lin Pingzhi wanted to avenge his parents so most likely he wouldn't listen to his master's order and thus take his life right now.

"Father told you to spare his life today," Yue Lingshan pleaded. "Are you afraid he's going to run off to the edge of the world?"

Lin Pingzhi lifted his left palm and slapped Yu Canghai twice. Yu Canghai was furious, but his enemy's right hand was still pressed against his chest. This youngster's internal energy was not good but when he exerted his energy, it still shook Yu Canghai's heart meridian. If this right palm were to kill him, it would have been the best thing for him. But the thing he feared most was Lin Pingzhi using a fourth or fifth cla.s.s internal energy which would make him dead but not dead, alive but not alive, and make him very miserable. He weighed the importance of the matter in a flash and didn't dare to move at all. After Lin Pingzhi had slapped him twice, he laughed long and hard before jumping back around thirty feet away. Lin Pingzhi turned his head slightly to regard Yu Canghai. Yu Canghai wanted to pick his sword up but he considered himself to be a senior and he was already subdued in just one move. If he foolhardily rushed forward to fight under the eyes of so many people, that could be said like a beggar fighting. Compared to losing the fight, he would be even more ashamed. So even if he took a step across to continue fighting, he wouldn't have taken the second step. Lin Pingzhi sneered and walked away. He unexpectedly didn't pay any attention even to his wife.

Yue Lingshan stamped her feet, and took a glance toward Linghu Chong who was sitting underneath the place of worship. She immediately walked towards him and said, "Big martial brother, your… your wound is alright?"

As soon as Linghu Chong heard her voice in the beginning, his heart was already racing. At this time he got even more excited, he stammered out, "I… I… I…"

"Don't worry, he won't die!" Yihe coldly said to Yue Lingshan.

Yue Lingshan heard her but didn't listen to her. Her eyes gazed at Linghu Chong, and she quietly said, "When I lost my sword, I… I didn't mean to injure you."

"Yes," Linghu Chong replied. "Of course I know, of course I know… I… I… of course I know." He had always been open-minded and carefree, but in front of his little martial sister, he became very muddle headed. He said the word 'of course I know' for three times, not knowing what he was driving at.

"Your injury is very heavy, I'm extremely sorry, but I hope you won't blame me," Yue Lingshan apologetically said.

'No, I won't, of course I won't blame you."

Yue Lingshan silently sighed and lowered her head. She quietly said, "I'm going!"

"You… you want to go?" Linghu Chong's disappointment was evident in his speech and expression.

Yue Lingshan slowly walked away with her head down. Just before she went down the mountaintop, she stopped and turned around. "Big martial brother, about the two martial sisters of Heng-Shan School who came to Huashan, father said we're being impolite and we're very sorry. When we return to Huashan, we'll make up for our offence and accompany them down the mountain."

"Yes, very good, very… very good!" Linghu Chong watched her as she went down the mountaintop until she disappeared behind a pine tree. He suddenly thought of the time on the Cliff of Contemplation when she delivered wine and meals to him every day. But when she left, he had always been reluctant to part and only managed to utter a few words, until finally she shifted her feelings toward Lin Pingzhi and her feelings toward him changed. When he pondered of the things that happened in the past, he was only making things difficult for himself. Suddenly he heard Yihe coldly laughed and said, "What's so good about that girl? Her heart's undecided, and she doesn't treat people with the least bit of sincerity at all. Compared to our young lady Ren, she's not even fit to carry her shoes."

Linghu Chong was surprised and not until now did he think of Yingying who was besides him. He treated little martial sister in such an absentminded manner, of course Yingying had seen it all. His face couldn't help becoming hot. But he saw Yingying leaning on the corner of the place of worship looking like she had dozed off. He thought, "It's good that she's fallen asleep." But Yingying was so alert, how could she have fallen asleep at that time? Linghu Chong knew he was lying to himself. He tried to find a few words to say to her, but he didn't know what to say. But to repay Yingying, he immediately thought of something. At this time, there were no words that could be said, and the best thing to do was not to say anything. However, the best way would be to lead her thought away from what just happened. So he lied down slowly and suddenly groaned lightly like he had hit his wound and it was feeling painful. Of course Yingying would be worried so she came over and quietly asked, "Does it hurt?"

"It's alright," Linghu Chong answered and extended his hand to hold Yingying's hand. Yingying wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h her hand back but Linghu Chong was gripping it pretty tightly. She was afraid if she used too much force then it'll hurt his wound so she just let him hold her hand. Linghu Chong had lost a lot of blood and was feeling very sleepy, so he slept deeply not long after that.

When dawn broke, the whole mountain was basked in crimson sunlight. Everyone was afraid to startle him into wakefulness so no one dared to say anything. Linghu Chong felt his hand was empty. He didn't know how long it was before Yingying pulled her hand back. But both of her eyes were staring at his face looking very concerned. Linghu Chong smiled at her and sat up. "Let's go back to Heng-Shan!"

At this time, Tian Boguang had already chopped a tree down and made a stretcher out of it. So Monk No Commandment and he carried Linghu Chong to go down the mountain peak. When their party pa.s.sed by the Songshan's courtyard, they saw Yue Buqun was waiting for them at the entrance with his face smiling, wanting to see them off. Madam Yue and Yue Lingshan weren't besides him.

"Master, disciple can't kowtow to bid you goodbye," Linghu Chong said.

"No need, no need," Yue Buqun smiled. "We'll talk when your injury is better. I have no one to help me in my position as the Five Mountains School's headmaster. Later on, I have to rely upon you in helping me with a lot of things." Linghu Chong forced out a smile.

Monk No Commandment and Tian Boguang carried him and walked quickly like they were flying, and they walked very far in just a short time. On the mountain road, they pa.s.sed by the groups that had come to the meeting at Mount Songshan. When they reached the foot of the mountain, they hired mule-drawn carriages and let Linghu Chong and Yingying rode in them.

When night fell, they came upon a small town and saw a teahouse shed with lots of people sitting inside. They were all from Qingcheng School and Yu Canghai was also among them. When he saw the disciples of Heng-Shan arriving, his face changed colour and he turned his back towards them. The small town had no other teahouse so the Heng-Shan's people sat down on a rock step on the opposite eaves to rest. Zheng E and Qin Juan went inside the teahouse to get some hot tea for Linghu Chong to drink.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of galloping horses and two horses came over with dust flying behind them. When they arrived in front of the town, the two horses were reined in. There were one male and one female riding the horses; they were Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan.

"Yu Canghai, you know I didn't give permission for you to rest, why don't you run away quickly? Are you waiting for death here?" Lin Pingzhi called out.

Linghu Chong was on the mule-drawn carriage when he heard Lin Pingzhi's voice. He asked, "Martial brother Lin has caught up?"

Qin Juan was sitting inside the carriage waiting for him to drink his tea, she immediately rolled open the curtain on the carriage to let him observe the happenings outside the carriage. Yu Canghai was sitting on a stool sipping a cup of tea in his hand and did not pay attention to Lin Pingzhi. After he had taken another sip, he said, "I'm waiting here to send you to your death."

"Good!" Lin Pingzhi responded. This word 'good' had just been spoken when he had already jumped down his horse, had his sword out, thrust it forward, leapt back on his horse and with a shout rode away with Yue Lingshan. A disciple of Qingcheng School who was standing on the side of the street had a gash on his chest sprouting blood, then he slowly fell over.

This attack done by Lin Pingzhi was strange and unpredictable. When he dismounted and had his sword out, it looked like he was going to attack Yu Canghai. When Yu Canghai saw him attacking, it was precisely what he wished for and he secretly felt happy. He expected that when they fight, he would be able to take Lin Pingzhi's life to avenge for last night's insult. If Yue Buqun later came for him, that was a matter for the future. But who could've thought the opponent's sword would be able to change direction in midair, and fast as lightning killed a Qingcheng disciple, then got on his horse to run away. Yu Canghai was alarmed and angry at the same time as he leapt to chase, but his two enemies had ridden their horses very fast and there was no way for him to chase them.

The attack by Lin Pingzhi just then was immeasurably weird and unbelievably quick. Linghu Chong's jaw dropped from seeing it and he thought, "If he used this attack on me, and I don't have a weapon with me, then I'd have no way of fighting back and I would've been killed by him." He pondered over the swordplay and knew Lin Pingzhi's skill was far below him. But the move Lin Pingzhi used just then was so fast, even he wouldn't be able to break it.

Yu Canghai was stamping his feet and angrily pointing at the dust left behind by Lin Pingzhi's horse as he hurled abuses at them. But Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan had gone very far, how could they hear his abuses? His whole body was filled with anger and there was nowhere to vent it. He turned around and scolded, "You stinking nuns, you knew that Lin was coming so you came here first to help him. Alright, that animal Lin, has run away. Whoever got the nerves, come and fight to the death with me."

The number of Heng-Shan disciples was multiples that of Qingcheng School's people. Furthermore they also had some good fighters like Monk No Commandment, Yingying, Peach Valley Six Fairies, and Tian Boguang. If they were to actually fight, Qingcheng School had no hope of winning. Yu Canghai knew the strengths and weaknesses of both parties, but he was in a rage, so even though he was experienced and careful, he couldn't restrain himself. Yihe promptly pulled her long sword out and angrily replied, "If you want to fight, then come. Who's afraid of you?"

"Martial Sister Yihe, ignore him," Linghu Chong said.

Yingying whispered a few words to the Peach Valley Six Fairies. Peachtree Root Fairy, Peachtree Trunk Fairy, Peachtree Branch Fairy, and Peachtree Leaf Fairy suddenly flew towards a horse underneath the cool shed. That horse was Yu Canghai's ride. A neighing sound was heard as the Peach Valley Four Fairies separately grabbed each of the horse's legs and tugged hard at them. With a loud ripping sound, that horse was torn into four pieces and its internal organs and blood flew out everywhere. It was a big and strong horse, but with just their bare hands, the Peach Valley Four Fairies had unexpectedly ripped it apart. The four of them had such rarely seen powerful strength.

Qingcheng School's disciples were startled and all their faces changed colour. Even the people from Heng-Shan School were frightened till their hearts were thumping loudly.

"Old priest Yu, that Lin has an enmity towards you," Yingying said. "We're not going to help any party and we're just going to be spectators on the side, so don't implicate us. If you really want to fight, you're not our match so why don't we all just save our strength?"

Yu Canghai was frightened and became timid. So with a hissing sound, he put his long sword back into its sheath. "River water doesn't mix with well water. You go your own way and we'll go our own way. Please go first."

"That won't do, we're going with you," Yingying replied.

"Why?" Yu Canghai scowled.

"To be frank," Yingying explained, "that Lin's sword art is really weird, so we must see it."

Linghu Chong was surprised. What Yingying just said was exactly what he was thinking about. Lin Pingzhi's swordplay was really weird, and 'Dugu Nine Swords' seemed incapable of breaking it, so he wanted to have a clearer look at it.

"You want to see that little kid's sword art, what's that got to do with me?" When these words came out of Yu Canghai's mouth, he knew he had said the wrong thing. His enmity with Lin Pingzhi was as deep as the ocean, so Lin Pingzhi wouldn't just kill one Qingcheng disciple and give up. He would surely come back to seek his revenge, and Heng-Shan School's people wanted to see how Lin Pingzhi used his sword and how he would kill the people of Qingcheng School. Anyone who studied martial arts would wish to observe other peculiar martial arts out there, and everyone in the Heng-Shan School used sword so they weren't willing to just let this opportunity pa.s.sed them by. But they would be following the Qingcheng School who were like lambs going to the slaughter, and they would see how a butcher chopped them up. From among the people in the world who take advantage of other people, how could anything exceed this?

Yu Canghai was feeling angry and he wanted to say something sarcastic, but he held it in and only lightly snorted. He thought, "This little kid Lin is only using some weird moves and he despicably did sneak attacks on me, and on both attacks, my hand wasn't fast enough. Could it be that he has no real skills? Otherwise, why didn't he dare to fight me openly? Alright, you'll follow and I'll let you see clearly how I'm going to chop that little animal into little pieces." He turned around and returned to his seat under the shed. He picked up the teapot to pour himself a cup of tea but he heard a 'ta, ta, ta' sound as his right arm trembled, and the teapot's lid rattled. Just then when Lin Pingzhi was in front of him, he was calm and collected, slowly sipping his cup of tea, and wasn't muddled when facing a strong enemy. But now, his heart couldn't help thinking, "Why's my hand trembling? Why's my hand trembling?" He exhorted himself to be stronger and calm himself down, but the teapot lid kept on rattling. The disciples of Qingcheng School thought their master was being very angry. Actually, deep in Yu Canghai's heart, he knew he was terrified. If Lin Pingzhi's sword had been directed at him, he wouldn't have been able to block it.

Even after Yu Canghai had finished a cup of tea, his heart was still troubled and he ordered the disciples to bury the dead disciple in the wilderness outside the town, while the remaining people rested underneath the cool shed. The inhabitants of the town were already scared when they witnessed a person who had killed another person from far away, so they all closed their doors tightly. Who would dare to take a peek?

The Heng-Shan School party scattered into the shop and under the eaves of other people's houses to sleep. Yingying sat alone in her mule carriage, and was quite far away from the mule carriage that Linghu Chong was riding in. Even though the whole world already knew of the love between Linghu Chong and her, her bashfulness wasn't the slightest bit lessened. Even when Heng-Shan disciples reapplied the medicine on Linghu Chong's wound, she didn't go to have a look. Zheng E and Qin Juan knew her heart, so they continuously told her the condition of Linghu Chong's injury. Yingying only nodded her head and didn't say anything.

Linghu Chong pondered about the sword move Lin Pingzhi used. There was nothing special about the sword move in itself, but the move was done too suddenly and there was no indication that it was going to be executed at all. No matter who was attacked by this move, even if that person was a master, that person would find it hard to counter the move. That day on Dark Wood Cliff, they besieged Dongfang Bubai and he was just holding a piece of embroidering needle to fight them. But the four of them, who were masters, had no way to resist him. When he thought about it at this time, it wasn't because Dongfang Bubai had a high internal energy nor was it because his moves were extremely skilful, but it was because his movements were fast like lightning. His attack, defense, rush, and retreat were all completely beyond his opponents' expectations. When Lin Pingzhi stopped Yu Canghai underneath the place of worship and when he killed that Qingcheng School disciple with his sword, his martial art was exactly the same as Dongfang Bubai's and the thrust Yue Buqun had used to blind Zuo Lengchan's eyes. Evil Resisting Sword Art and Dongfang Bubai's 'Sunflower Manual' had the same source, so he guessed that the move that Yue Buqun and Lin Pingzhi used must be the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'.

When he thought till here, he couldn't help shaking his head and mumbled, "Evil resisting, evil resisting! Resist what evil? This martial art is evil itself." Then he thought, "At the present time, the only one who can go up against this sword art is probably only Grand Martial Uncle Feng. After my injury is healed, I must go back up to Huashan and ask for Grand Martial Uncle Feng's advice on how to break this sword art. Grand Martial Uncle Feng said he doesn't want to see people from the Huashan School, but I'm no longer from Huashan School at this time." His thought then continued, "Dongfang Bubai is already dead. Yue Buqun is my master, Lin Pingzhi is my martial brother. The two of them wouldn't use this sword art to go up against me, then why do I need to go research on how to break this sword art?" Suddenly he thought of something and sat up abruptly. As he moved, the mule carriage shook and his wound became really painful that he gasped.

Qin Juan was standing besides the cart and she quickly asked, "Do you want to drink tea?"

"No, little martial sister, please ask young lady Ren to come here." Qin Juan acknowledged his request and went to get Yingying. After a while, Yingying followed Qin Juan back. She asked lightly, "What's the matter?"

"I suddenly thought of something. Your father once said, your sect's 'Sunflower Manual' was given to Dongfang Bubai. So I thought the martial art in 'Sunflower Manual' isn't as good as the divine martial art your father is practising, but…"

"But my father's martial art was shown to be not as good as Dongfang Bubai's, is that right?"

"That's right. I don't understand why."

For people who studied martial art, when they saw a wonderful book of martial art, if they didn't learn it by themselves, they would give it to another person like their father, spouse, martial disciple, brothers, or their lovers, and they would probably study it together. To give up on it was really out of the ordinary.

"I've already asked my dad about this before," Yingying said. "He said: One, the martial art in the Manual can't be learnt; it'll be harmful to learn it. Two, he also didn't know that after learning the martial art written on the Manual, the result would be so powerful."

"Can't be learnt? Why?"

Yingying's face turned red. "Why can't it be learnt? How would I know?" After a pause, she went on, "What's so good about Dongfang Bubai's fate?"

Linghu Chong groaned and inwardly felt that his master was on the way in following Dongfang Bubai's path. He had now defeated Zuo Lengchan and s.n.a.t.c.hed the leadership of the Five Mountains School. Linghu Chong didn't like this situation at all. 'Long Live the Chief, unify the Jianghu', those were the flattering words which were often said on the Dark Wood Cliff. In Linghu Chong's heart, it seemed it would also gradually become Yue Buqun's motto.

"Take care of your injury, don't think too much," Yingying quietly said. "I'm going to sleep."

"Yes." He lifted the curtain on the carriage and saw the moonlight shining down on Yingying's face. Suddenly, he felt apologetic toward her. Yingying slowly turned around to go but suddenly she said, "Your martial brother Lin wears a flowery gown." After she said this, she went toward her own carriage.

Linghu Chong thought it was strange. "She said Martial Brother Lin is wearing a flowery gown. What does she mean? Martial Brother Lin has just become a groom so he's wearing the gown a newly-married groom wears. There's nothing strange about that. This little girl, not paying attention to someone's sword art, but instead paying attention to what someone else is wearing. How interesting."

When he closed his eyes, he could see Lin Pingzhi's sword moves in his mind, but he couldn't remember what kind of flowery gown Lin Pingzhi was wearing. He slept till the middle of the night when he heard horses galloping towards them from somewhere far. Two horses were coming from the west. Linghu Chong sat up and lifted the screen. Out on the street, he saw Heng-Shan disciples and Qingcheng School's people all awake. Heng-Shan disciples had formed groups of seven to form the sword formation and they were standing still by their position. Some Qingcheng people were rushing towards the end of the street while some were leaning their backs to the wall. They were far different from the calm and collected Heng-Shan disciples.

The two horses galloped through the big street. With the moonlight shining brightly, it was easy to see that it was the Lin Pingzhi husband and wife couple coming.

"Yu Canghai!" Lin Pingzhi called out. "In order to steal my Lin family's Evil Resisting Sword Art, you killed my parents. Now, I'm going to execute the moves one by one to give you a look. Pay close attention!"

He reined in his horse and flew down from his horse. His long sword was still strapped on his back as he rushed towards the Qingcheng School's people. Linghu Chong paid attention to what he was wearing and saw that he was wearing a green jade gown with seams threaded with gold, sleeves embroidered with deep yellow flowers, and a gold belt tied around his waist. With Lin Pingzhi's lightning fast movement, the gown gorgeously glittered under the moonlight. Linghu Chong thought, "Martial Brother Lin was originally very plain. Once he became a groom, he has become very different. It's no wonder youngsters are usually proud of themselves. He's taken such a wife, of course he's very happy and wanted to dress up a bit."

Last night besides the place of worship, Lin Pingzhi made a surprise attack on Yu Canghai with his bare hand. Now, he was doing exactly the same thing. How could Qingcheng School let him do it again? Yu Canghai shouted and four disciples immediately went up to meet him with their swords up. Two swords were aimed at his left and right chest, and the other two swords swept at his left and right legs. Peach Valley Six Fairies were startled and they couldn't help shouting. The three of them shouted, "Little kid, careful!" The other three shouted, "Careful, little kid!"

Lin Pingzhi extended his right hand and with a matchless speed, pressed on the wrists of the two Qingcheng disciples who were attacking his chest to turn their hands around and pushed on the elbows of the two Qingcheng disciples who were chopping at his lower body. Four miserable cries were heard as two of them fell over. These two people were originally attacking Lin Pingzhi's chest, but when their wrists were pressed, their long swords turned around and pierced their own stomachs.

"Evil Resisting Sword Art, stance number two and stance number three! Did you see it clearly?" Lin Pingzhi called out. He then turned around and galloped off on his horse. The Qingcheng people were stunned and none of them gave chase. When they saw the other two disciples, they saw one of them had his long sword slantingly piercing the other's chest from below, and the other person had done the same. These two people had stopped breathing but their right hands were still clutching on their sword handles making their bodies support each other and preventing them from falling down. Linghu Chong saw clearly the way Lin Pingzhi executed his press and push. He was astonished but felt admiration in his heart. He thought, "Brilliant, that's really a sword art and not a hand seizing technique. It's just that there was no sword in his hand."

The moonlight illuminated the ground and showed Yu Canghai's short body standing besides the four corpses lost in his thought. Qingcheng School's people encircled him but gave him a wide berth. No one dared to say anything. After a long time had pa.s.sed, Linghu Chong gazed outside of his carriage again and saw Yu Canghai was still standing there unmoving as his shadow gradually lengthened. This scene was extremely eerie.

Some of the Qingcheng disciples had walked away, and some had sat down on the ground, while Yu Canghai was still standing stiffly like a corpse. Linghu Chong felt pity for him. This master of Qingcheng School didn't know what to do and was just waiting for death and that made Linghu Chong feel very sorry for him. He gradually became sleepy and finally went to sleep. While dreaming, he suddenly felt his mule carriage moving followed by some shouts. The sky had actually brightened and the people had started on their journey. He took a peek from the side of the carriage and saw they were on a very straight road. Some disciples of the Qingcheng School were riding on horseback and some were walking. Seeing their dejected and withered bodies from the back, Linghu Chong felt an unspeakable misery surrounding them. They looked like a group of cow and sheep walking to the slaughter house. He thought, "All these people know Lin Pingzhi will come again, and they also know they have no way of fighting back. If they scattered to run away, then Qingcheng School will be destroyed. Could it be, when Lin Pingzhi go up Mount Qingcheng, there will be no one to answer him at the Pine Wind Monastery?"

At noon, they arrived at a big town. The people of Qingcheng ate their meals in a wine shop, while the disciples of Heng-Shan School went to the opposite restaurant to eat. The Qingcheng people were eating quickly with big bowls and big cups, while the nuns all ate quietly. Everyone knew these people were only living from dawn to dusk and surviving from meal to meal.

At the hour of Wei (1-3pm), they were going along the bank of a river when they heard sound of galloping horses. It was the Lin Pingzhi husband and wife couple riding towards them. Yihe whistled and the disciples of Heng-Shan School stopped immediately. With the orange sun beating down on them, the two horses galloped alongside the river. When they got near, Yue Lingshan reined her horse in first, while Lin Pingzhi continued to come forward. Yu Canghai swept his hand across and his people turned around to rush south along the river.

"Shorty Yu, where are you running off to?" Lin Pingzhi laughed loudly as he rushed forward on his horse. Yu Canghai suddenly turned around with the sword in his hand. The reflection from the sword was like a rainbow as it thrust towards Lin Pingzhi's face. This attack was unexpectedly very fierce and Lin Pingzhi was surprised as he hastily pulled his sword out to block. The disciples of Qingcheng started to encircle him. Yu Canghai attacked faster and faster, slashing high and low. This sixty years old man attacked with youthful agility and all of his stances were offensive. Eight Qingcheng disciples brandished their long swords and surrounded Lin Pingzhi on his horse, but they didn't go forward to slash at the horse.

When Linghu Chong saw the situation, he understood Yu Canghai's intention. The strong point of Lin Pingzhi's sword art was in its immeasurable variations and lightning fast speed. As he was on top of a horse, this strong point was greatly reduced. If he wanted to attack, he would only be able to attack the person in front of him and the horse he was riding wouldn't be able to retreat like a ghost to make people unable to grab him. The eight disciples of Qingcheng formed a sword net as they surrounded his horse to prevent Lin Pingzhi from dismounting.

Linghu Chong thought, "Qingcheng's headmaster is really not someone ordinary. This method is very formidable." Lin Pingzhi's sword art changed irregularly, and it was fantastic. But because he was on his horse, Yu Canghai was able to match him. After looking at a few more moves, Linghu Chong's eyes shot toward Yue Lingshan. Suddenly, greatly surprised, his whole body shook.

Six Qingcheng disciples had already surrounded her and were slowly crowding her towards the edge of the river. They had split open the stomach of her horse and as the horse fell down to the ground with a long neigh, she jumped up from her horse's back. Yue Lingshan leaned to one side to dodge the incoming two attacks and stood firm. The six Qingcheng disciples exerted themselves in attacking as if their lives were at stake. Linghu Chong recognised Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong among these six people. Brandishing a sword in his left hand, Hou Renying's movements were very fierce.

Even though Yue Lingshan had learnt the five schools' sword arts engraved on the cave wall on the Cliff of Contemplation, she had not learnt the sword art of the Qingcheng School. The sword moves engraved on the cave were actually too brilliant, so she actually had not truly comprehended them. It was only her father who had taught her, and she knew the moves only. At the place of worship, she had used Taishan sword art to defeat the masters from the Taishan School, and Hengshan sword art to defeat the headmaster of the Hengshan School. This caused her opponents to be startled and she took advantage when they were intimidated. But she had no way of imitating that method to deal with these Qingcheng disciples. Linghu Chong had seen a few moves exchanged and he knew Yue Lingshan was unable to resist for long and was feeling anxious. Suddenly, he heard a long cry and saw a Qingcheng disciple had his left arm cut off by Yue Lingshan using a Hengshan sword art. Linghu Chong felt happy hoping that these six disciples would retreat in fear. But how could he have known that five of them didn't even retreat half a step, while the one with his left arm cut off crazily charged forward instead. When Yue Lingshan saw his body was soaked in blood and his expression was terrifying, she retreated a few steps in fear. While retreating, her foot stepped on nothing and she fell down on the gravel at the edge of the river.

"Shameless, shameless!" Linghu Chong snorted.

Suddenly he heard Yingying said, "We also used this method to fight Dongfang Bubai."

He didn't know when she had arrived besides him. Linghu Chong thought what she said wasn't wrong. That day on Dark Wood Cliff, their defeat was guaranteed already, but luckily Yingying attacked Yang Lianting and disturbed Dongfang Bubai's concentration and this had enabled them to kill him. At this time, Yu Canghai was actually also using the same strategy. Of course Yu Canghai didn't know how they defeated Dongfang Bubai, but through his wisdom, he had also come to the same idea. Linghu Chong expected Lin Pingzhi to have his concentration divided when he saw his wife in danger and to turn around to save her. But he never expected Lin Pingzhi to keep fighting Yu Canghai with all his strength and unexpectedly didn't pay any attention to his wife being in danger.

After she fell down, Yue Lingshan quickly jumped up with her long sword dancing around. The six Qingcheng disciples knew Qingcheng School's survival and their own lives depended on whether they were able to kill their enemies, so they all disregarded their lives and rushed forward. The one with his arm cut off had already abandoned his long sword, and he was now rolling around on the ground trying to seize Yue Lingshan legs with his right hand. Yue Lingshan was frightened and she called out, "Brother Ping, Brother Ping, come help me!"

"Shorty Yu wants to have a look at the Evil Resisting Sword Art, so I'm letting him have a good look. Let him have a good death!" Lin Pingzhi shouted loudly as he used his wonderful moves to suppress Yu Canghai from taking a breather. Yu Canghai had already researched the stances of Evil Resisting Sword Art and he knew all the moves by heart and decided that there was nothing special about those stances. Suddenly, at this moment, there were so many wonderful variations in the sword art and it was also done as fast as lightning making Yu Canghai roar again and again as he got more and more desperate. Yu Canghai knew his enemy's internal energy was far below his so he kept on aiming his sword towards Lin Pingzhi's long sword, hoping that Lin Pingzhi's sword would be shaken off his hand when both swords clash. But from the beginning of the fight, he had not managed to get the swords to clash yet.

Linghu Chong was angered and shouted, "You… You… You…" In the beginning, he was thinking Lin Pingzhi was being stopped by Yu Canghai from going over to help his wife. But when he heard what Lin Pingzhi said, he realised Lin Pingzhi didn't actually care about the safety of Yue Lingshan and he actually attached more importance to jesting with Yu Canghai.

At this time, the sun was fiercely shining down and Linghu Chong saw Lin Pingzhi sneering, showing his excitement and hatred. It seemed his heart was full of happiness in seeking this revenge. He was like a cat who had captured a mouse and was cruelly playing with it first before biting it to death. But when a cat plays with a mouse, it doesn't have this kind of hatred and malice.

"Brother Ping, Brother Ping, quickly come!" Yue Lingshan called out repeatedly. She shouted till her voice was hoa.r.s.e as the situation became gravely desperate.

"I'm coming. Hold on for a while. I'm showing the entire set of Evil Resisting Sword Art for him to see. Originally, Shorty Yu didn't have any enmity with us, but he did all the things he did because of the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'. So I'm going to show him the entire set of sword art and let him see it clearly, don't you think so?" Lin Pingzhi replied leisurely. It was apparent he wasn't actually directing these words to his wife, but was directing them more towards Yu Canghai. He was afraid his enemy wouldn't understand his meaning, so he added, "Shorty Yu, don't you think so?" His body was elegant and he moved his sword gracefully. His movements were like the moves from 'The Nineteen Stances of the Jade Maiden Sword' that the female disciples of Huashan School learned. But this move Lin Pingzhi was using had a demonical aura around it.

Linghu Chong originally wanted to watch the stances of his Evil Resisting Sword Art. This was a really good opportunity to do just that as Lin Pingzhi was now revealing everything in front of Yu Canghai. But he was concerned about Yue Lingshan's safety. Even if he was certain that in the future Lin Pingzhi would use this sword art to kill him, he still couldn't look further as he heard Yue Lingshan continuously calling out for help. He couldn't take it anymore and called out, "Martial Sister Yihe, Martial Sister Yiqing, quickly go and save Miss Yue. She… she can't hold on any longer."

"We already said we won't help any party, I'm afraid it's inappropriate for us to get involved," Yihe replied.

The people of Wulin were especially fastidious about the word 'Trust'. Some characters from the unorthodox path, despite their 'no evil they won't do' att.i.tude, once they gave their words, they wouldn't go back on it. If anyone ate his own words, then people in Wulin would despise him. Even Tian Boguang who was such a notorious rapist would abide by his words. When Linghu Chong heard what Yihe said, he knew it was the truth. Last night, besides the worship place, she already said clearly to Yu Canghai that they wouldn't be involved. If at this time they helped Yue Lingshan then it would damage the reputation of Heng-Shan School. He was still worried and quickly said, "This… This…" then he called out, "Monk No Commandment? Tian Boguang?"

"The two of them went together with Peach Valley Six Fairies last night," Qin Juan answered. "They said looking at Shorty Yu is too gloomy, so they went to drink wine. Also, the eight of them are also Heng-Shan School…"

Yingying suddenly flew out towards the edge of the river and pulled out two short swords from her waist. She loudly shouted, "Look clearly, I'm Divine Sun Moon Sect's Chief Ren's daughter, Ren Yingying. I'm not from Heng-Shan School. Six men ganging up on a girl, this really makes people uncomfortable to see. Miss Ren thinks this is unfair so I'm going to interfere."

Linghu Chong was happy to see Yingying going out to help. He let out a sigh of relief but his wound felt painful, so he sat down inside the carriage. When the six Qingcheng disciples saw Yingying coming, they unexpectedly didn't pay any attention to her but continued attacking Yue Lingshan with total disregard for their lives. Yue Lingshan retreated a few steps, and with a 'pu' sound, her left leg treaded on the river water. She wasn't accustomed to being around water, so as her foot entered the water, she became nervous and her swordplay became disorderly. Suddenly, she felt pain on her left shoulder as it was pierced by one of her enemies. That enemy with no arm took advantage of the situation and rushed forward and seized her right leg. Yue Lingshan chopped down with her long sword and struck him at his back as that armless person opened his mouth wide and bit her leg viciously. Yue Lingshan's vision darkened and she thought, "I'm going to die like this?" She then gazed at Lin Pingzhi thrusting his sword out while his left hand made a sword form sweeping across the air to make an arch. The stance he was using was really elegant, it was a sword art which really looked leisurely. She felt a wave of bitterness in her heart and felt really dizzy. Suddenly, she saw a pair of short swords in front of her and she heard two splashing sounds as two Qingcheng disciples fell into the river. Yue Lingshan fell down feeling confused and lost. Yingying waved her short swords around, and after more than ten moves, the remaining three Qingcheng disciples had all retreated after being injured and disarmed. Yingying kicked away the dying one-armed Qingcheng disciple and pulled Yue Lingshan up. She saw Yue Lingshan's lower half of the body was soaked in the river so her skirt was all wet while her gown on top was splashed with blood all over. She immediately supported her to go up the river bank.

Lin Pingzhi called out, "Have you had a good look at my Lin family's Evil Resisting Sword Art?" The sword reflection flashed everywhere and surrounded a Qingcheng disciple standing besides his horse when the sword suddenly pierced that disciple between his eyes. Lin Pingzhi laughed out loud and cried out, "Fang Renzhi, you wicked thief, that death was too easy for you!" He lifted his rein and jumped over Fang Renzhi's falling body and then galloped off. Yu Canghai was already exhausted, so how could he dare to give chase?

Lin Pingzhi reined in his horse and suddenly shouted, "You're Jia Renda!" then galloped his horse over. Jia Renda had already stepped back far away some time ago, and when he saw Lin Pingzhi coming after him, he shouted and in a mad rush, turned around to run away. But Lin Pingzhi just patiently chased him, and when he caught up, he slashed his long sword and hamstrung Jia Renda's right leg. Jia Renda fell down hard on the ground. Lin Pingzhi lifted his rein and his horse stepped on Jia Renda's body. Jia Renda cried out miserably but he didn't die. Lin Pingzhi laughed maniacally and turned his horse around to trample Jia Renda's body again. After a few more pa.s.ses, Jia Renda was finally quiet. Lin Pingzhi didn't give the people of Qingcheng School another glance before going besides Yue Lingshan and Yingying. He said to his wife, "Get on the horse!"

Yue Lingshan looked at him angrily. After a while, she gritted her teeth and said, "You go by yourself."

"You?"

"Why do you care?"

Lin Pingzhi took a glance at the Heng-Shan School's disciples and laughed coldly. Then he put his heels on his horse and gave its head. Yingying couldn't figure out why Lin Pingzhi was treating his newly-wedded wife so indifferently and she couldn't help feeling surprised. Yingying said, "Madam Lin, come to my carriage to rest."

Both of Yue Lingshan's eyes were full of tears and she tried her hardest not to let her tears flow down. She chokingly said, "I'm… I'm not going. Why… Why did you save me?"

"I didn't, it was your big martial brother Linghu Chong who saved you."

Yue Lingshan felt sour in her heart and couldn't hold back her tears anymore as it flowed down her cheeks. "You… Can I please ask you for a horse?"

"Alright." Yingying turned around to lead a horse over.

Yue Lingshan stammered, "Thank you, you… you…" She jumped on the horse's back and went towards the east, opposite of where Lin Pingzhi had gone before. It seemed that she was going back to Songshan. Yu Canghai was surprised to see her galloping past, but he didn't pay her any attention. He thought, "After another night, that animal Lin will come and will kill a few of my men again. He wants to kill my disciples one by one till I'm left all by myself before he comes for me."

Linghu Chong couldn't bear seeing Yu Canghai looking like he had lost his mind, so he ordered, "Let's go!"

"Yes!" the person at the driver seat answered. With a shout, the whip was cracked and the mule started to pull the carriage forward. Linghu Chong gasped in surprise. He saw Yue Lingshan was going to the east, so his heart automatically also wanted to go with her, but he didn't expect the mule carriage would be going towards the west. His heart sank, but he didn't order the mule carriage to turn around to go to the east. He opened the screen in the carriage and couldn't see Yue Lingshan anymore. His heart was heavy as he thought, "She's been injured and she's going all by herself with no one to tend to her injuries, how's she going to fare?" Suddenly, he heard Qin Juan said, "She's going back to Songshan to her parents. She's going to be safe there, you don't need to worry."

Linghu Chong felt relieved and replied, "Yes." While he thought, "Martial Sister Qin is very observant, she even knew what I was thinking."

At noon the next day, their party arrived at a small restaurant to eat their meals. This restaurant couldn't actually be regarded as a shop. It only consisted of a gra.s.s shed besides the main road with many long tables placed underneath, and they offered tea and meals to the pa.s.ser by. When Heng-Shan School people arrived, the shop didn't have too much rice left. Luckily many people in the party were bringing rice with them as well as tools like bowl, chopsticks, and et cetera. So they immediately cooked the rice besides the gra.s.s sheds.

Linghu Chong had stayed in the carriage for a long time and it was getting stuffy in there. With the Heng-Shan School's medicine taken internally and applied externally, Linghu Chong's injury had improved by a lot. Zheng E and Qin Juan supported him to get down from the carriage and sit under the shed. He gazed towards the east and thought, "Will little martial sister come?" He then saw a cloud of dust as a group of people came from the east. They were Yu Canghai and his Qingcheng School who had come to the shed, and they also dismounted from their horses to take their meals there. Yu Canghai sat alone at a table unspeaking and with no expression on his face. He knew his life was doomed already and he didn't even bother to avoid the people of Heng-Shan School. There really is no bigger matter than death. Regardless of how the Heng-Shan School people were going to see how he would die, he didn't care about it.

Not long after, the sound of a galloping horse was heard coming from the west. The horse came slowly towards them and on top of the horse was a person wearing a flowery gown who really was Lin Pingzhi. He reined in his horse outside the shed and saw that the Qingcheng School people only gave him a look then ignored him. Every person who was cooking was cooking his meal, while the ones drinking tea were drinking their teas. This situation was really beyond Lin Pingzhi's expectation. He laughed aloud and said, "Even if you're not going to fight, I'm still going to kill you." He jumped down from his horse and slapped the horse's b.u.t.tock to let it go eat some gra.s.s. He saw there were still two empty tables underneath the shed so he went to one of them to sit.

Once Lin Pingzhi had entered the shed, Linghu Chong sniffed a strong fragrance. Linghu Chong then observed the clothes Lin Pingzhi was wearing and realised that the fragrant scent was coming from it. On Lin Pingzhi's hat was a piece of green jade, on his finger was a ruby ring, and on the tips of both of his shoes were two pearls. He was dressed just like a young master from a rich family and didn't look anything like a warrior from Wulin. Linghu Chong thought, "His family opened up the Fortune Prestige Escort House, so he was originally a young master from a rich family. He has suffered a few years of hardships in Jianghu, so after he's gotten some skills, he's enjoying all those wealth now." He then saw Lin Pingzhi taking a piece of snow white handkerchief out of his bosom and lightly dabbing his face with it. Lin Pingzhi's appearance was delicate and pretty. The way he took out his handkerchief, dabbed his face, and shook his clothes; it was just like an actor on stage playing the role of a pretty young woman.

After Lin Pingzhi had sat down, he lightly said, "Brother Linghu, you're well!"

"You're well!" Linghu Chong nodded his head.

Lin Pingzhi turned his head slightly and saw a Qingcheng disciple holding a pot of hot tea to give to Yu Canghai. "You're called Yu Renhao, aren't you? Years ago when my whole family was killed, you were there too. Even when your face is ashen, I still recognise you." Yu Renhao dropped the teapot on the table, turned around suddenly with his hand already on his sword handle, and then retreated for two steps.

"I'm Yu Renhao, what do you want?" His voice was rough, but it was trembling as he spoke and his face had turned ghostly pale.

"Ying Xiong Hao Jie, The Four Aces of Qingcheng!" Lin Pingzhi smiled. "You're number three, but there's no aura of a hero at all. This is funny, really funny."

'Ying Xiong Hao Jie, The Four Aces of Qingcheng' was Qingcheng School's four disciples with the strongest martial arts. They were Hou Renying, Hong Renxiong, Yu Renhao, and Luo Renjie. Among these people, one of them had been killed by Linghu Chong in the Huiyan Wine House, while the remaining three were present at that moment. Lin Pingzhi laughed mockingly and said, "That Brother Linghu once said: 'Dumb Bear Wild Pig, the Four a.s.ses of Qingcheng'. That's too good for you to be compared to animals. In my opinion, hng, hng, you're even worse than animals."

Yu Renhao was afraid and angry, and his face had turned even paler, but he didn't draw his sword out in spite of this.

At this moment, the sound of galloping horses from the east was heard. Two horses seemed to be galloping quickly coming over here. When they arrived in front of the shed, the person in front reined in his horse. Everyone turned around to have a look, and some people gasped in surprise at seeing that person. The person riding in front had a short and fat stature with a humpback whose nickname was called 'Hunchback of the North' -- Mu Gaofeng. The person riding the horse at the back was unexpectedly Yue Lingshan. When Linghu Chong saw Yue Lingshan, his chest felt hot and his heart was happy. But Yue Lingshan's hands were tied behind her back, and the rein to her horse was being led along by Mu Gaofeng. It was obvious she had been captured by him.

Linghu Chong couldn't bear not doing anything and he was itching to do something. Then his mind thought, "Her husband is here, why do they need an outsider to get involved? If her husband doesn't care, then I'll think of a way to save her."

When Lin Pingzhi saw Mu Gaofeng was here, it was just like he had seen treasures falling down from the sky. He was deliriously happy. Lin Pingzhi pondered, "The people who killed my father and mother also included this humpback. I never expected such a chance circ.u.mstance to happen today and he has unexpectedly delivered himself here. The heavenly G.o.ds really have eyes." But Mu Gaofeng didn't recognise Lin Pingzhi.

That day in Hengshan at Liu Zhengfeng's house, even though the two of them had met, Lin Pingzhi was disguised as a humpback and his face was full of ointment. So compared to the beautiful and adorned youngster who was sitting there, the two characters were completely different. Later on, Mu Gaofeng found out Lin Pingzhi's humpback was fake, but he never saw his real face at all.

Mu Gaofeng turned his head around to say to Yue Lingshan, "It's very rare to have so many friends here. Let's go." When he saw the people of Heng-Shan School and Qingcheng School there, he felt quite afraid and expected there would be people who would come out to help Yue Lingshan so it would be better to remove himself from there as fast as possible. He shouted and led the horses to get out of there.

The day before, Yue Lingshan was injured and was on her way back to Mount Songshan alone to be by her father and mother. But not long into her journey, she met Mu Gaofeng. Mu Gaofeng was a narrow-minded person. He had lost to Yue Buqun when competing internal energy in the past, then the Lin Zhennan husband and wife were also rescued by Yue Buqun, so he felt disgraced and really insulted. Later on, he heard Lin Zhennan's son, Lin Pingzhi, had joined the Huashan School and took Yue Buqun's daughter as his wife, so he naturally thought the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art' was also taken into the Huashan School and he got really furious because of this. When the Five Mountains School was established, he of course heard of the news. But the people of the five mountains sword schools didn't like him and Zuo Lengchan didn't give him any invitation. So he got angry and hid nearby Mount Songshan to wait for the people of Five Mountains School as they came down the mountain. If they were in a large group, or if there was a senior, he wouldn't show himself. But if someone was alone, he was planning to vent his anger on that person. But as he observed the groups of people coming down the mountain, all of them were in groups of tens or hundreds so he couldn't do anything. So it was very convenient for him to suddenly see Yue Lingshan riding all by herself, and he immediately intercepted her.

Yue Lingshan's martial art was never as good as Mu Gaofeng. Added to that, she was injured and because Mu Gaofeng ambushed her, he had the initiative. So at the end, she was captured by him. When Mu Gaofeng heard her making threats to him saying she was Yue Buqun's daughter, he was ecstatic and a plan was quickly hatched in his head. He was going to hide her in a secret place and then exchange her with the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'. As he was hurrying along, he didn't expect they would meet with Qingcheng and Heng-Shan Schools.

Yue Lingshan thought, "If I let him take me away now, who will rescue me then?" Without giving a thought to her shoulder injury, she slanted her body and let herself fall down from the horse's back.

"What's the matter?" Mu Gaofeng shouted and leapt off the horse. He then stooped down to grab Yue Lingshan's body from the back. Linghu Chong thought Lin Pingzhi wouldn't just stand aside on seeing his wife being insulted but would definitely go out to help her. But who would have thought Lin Pingzhi didn't care at all? Lin Pingzhi took out a folding fan with a gold-painted handle from his left sleeve and lightly fanned himself. The jade-coloured fan continuously shook. It was currently the third month and the northern snow was just beginning to melt; who would use a fan at this time of year? But Lin Pingzhi was indeed using a fan and leisurely fanning himself.

Mu Gaofeng grabbed the back of Yue Lingshan's body and said, "Be careful falling down again." Then he lifted his hand and dropped her onto her horse's saddle. He then jumped on his horse wishing to go on their way.

"Person surnamed Mu, someone here said that your martial art is ordinary, what do you say to that?" Lin Pingzhi said.

Mu Gaofeng was startled and saw Lin Pingzhi was sitting alone at a table. He didn't seem to belong either to the Qingcheng School or the Heng-Shan School. He also couldn't tell where he came from, so he asked, "Who are you?"

"Why do you ask me? The one who said your martial art is ordinary wasn't me," Lin Pingzhi smiled.

"Who said it?"

Lin Pingzhi slammed his fan closed and pointed it at Yu Canghai. "That Priest Yu from Qingcheng School. He just saw a really wonderful swordplay, the world's number one sword art. I think it was called the Evil Resisting Sword Art."

When Mu Gaofeng heard the words 'Evil Resisting Sword Art', he was excited. He peered at Yu Canghai and saw him holding a tea cup looking absentminded as if he was hearing but wasn't listening to what Lin Pingzhi was saying. "Priest Yu, congratulations on seeing the Evil Resisting Sword Art. It's not fake?"