The Smiling Proud Wanderer - Chapter 66 Chapter Thirty-Seven

After Linghu Chong and Yingying came out from the valley, they walked for half a day and arrived at a small town. They went to a noodle shop to eat some noodle. Linghu Chong had picked up a few strings of noodles with his chopsticks when he chuckled and said, “We haven’t paid our respect to heaven and earth to get married…”

Yingying’s whole face immediately became bright red. “Who said I’m going to pay respect to heaven and earth to marry you?” she angrily replied.

“We’ll get married in the future,” said a smiling Linghu Chong. “If you’re not willing, then I’ll grab you and make you pay respect to heaven and earth.”

Yingying was looking like she was smiling but not smiling at the same time. “You were so well behaved when we were in the valley. Once we come out, you’re speaking such improper crazy talks again.”

Linghu Chong was still smiling as he replied, “We must definitely be most proper concerning this lifelong great matter. Yingying, that day in the valley, I suddenly thought of something. After we become husband and wife, I wonder how many kids we’ll have.”

Yingying stood up abruptly with a scowl on her face. “If you keep saying these things, I won’t go back with you to Heng-Shan.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop, I’ll stop,” Linghu Chong laughed. But he continued, “There are so many peach trees in that valley that it looks like a peach valley. If we have six ghosts, wouldn’t they become Little Peach Valley Six Fairies?”

“How can we have six ghosts?” Yingying muttered as she sat back down. At the same time she said this, she understood what he meant. This was more crazy talk from Linghu Chong. Her eyes widened showing the whites all around them; she looked at Linghu Chong and quickly lowered her head and stuffed noodles into her mouth. Her heart was filled with sweetness.

“When we go back to Heng-Shan together, there will be some dirty minded person and there’ll also be people who thought that we’ve gotten married. I’m afraid you won’t be happy hearing such vulgar nonsense,” Linghu Chong said.

This was exactly what Yingying was thinking of. She said, “That’s right. It’s best if we disguise ourselves as farmers; then no one would be able to recognise us.”

“You have such a beautiful and lovely face. No matter what we change into, it’ll always shock people. When other people see us, they’ll secretly praise: ‘Hey, such a beautiful girl. What is she doing with a silly little kid? How can such a rare and beautiful flower be inserted into a pile of dung?’ But when they look closer, they’ll definitely see this rare flower is actually the Divine Sun Moon Sect’s young lady Ren while this pile of manure is the person young lady Ren favoured, Linghu Chong.”

“You don’t need to be so modest,” Yingying smiled.

“I think, when we go back to Heng-Shan this time, I should become someone ordinary and secretly look around first. If everything’s quiet and safe, I’ll go there by myself and give up this headmaster position to someone. Then I’ll meet with you at some secret place and we’ll go down the mountain together. The gods wouldn’t know, the ghosts wouldn’t know, how can this be not good?”

Hearing him said this; she knew he was being considerate to her so she felt really happy. She laughingly said, “That’s very good. But when you go up Mount Heng-Shan, it’s best if you shave your own head and disguise yourself as a Shi Tai, especially when you are going to see those Shi Tai. No one would be suspicious of you. Brother Chong, come, I’ll help you change to become a little nun. I’m only afraid you might be too good looking.”

Linghu Chong waved his hand. “No, no. Once I see a nun, I’ll lose all my bet. If Linghu Chong pretends to be a nun then I might get bad luck later on. That won’t do at all.”

Yingying laughed. “A gentleman is flexible, why do you need so many taboos for? I have to shave you now.”

Linghu Chong also laughed. “There’s no need to dress as a nun. But to go up Xianxing Peak, I’ll need to dress as a woman. But once I speak, people will know I’m a man. I have an idea. Do you remember the person from the Hanging Temple on Mount Cui Ping beyond the Porcelain Oven Pass?”

Yingying hummed as she thought. Then she clapped her hands and said, “Wonderful, wonderful! There’s a mute and deaf servant at the Hanging Temple. Even when we turned that temple upside down, she didn’t hear a single thing. When you ask her anything, she just stupidly looks at you. You want to disguise as this person?”

“That’s right.”

“Alright, let’s go buy a gown for you to change into,” said Yingying laughing.

Yingying used two silver taels to buy a head of long hair from a country girl. She combed it well before putting it on Linghu Chong’s head. Then she let him change into a farmer woman’s gown and he now looked like a woman. She then daubed some yellow powder and drew seven to eight black moles on his face. And she also stuck a piece of medicinal wrap on his lower right cheek. Linghu Chong looked in the mirror and he couldn’t even recognise himself.

Yingying laughed and said, “Your figure is similar to hers, but your expression isn’t. You have to wear this stupid and foolish expression: slow-witted and clumsy like.”

Linghu Chong laughed. “Wearing a stupid and foolish expression is very easy, there’s nothing to change. Slow-witted and clumsy, that’s also Linghu Chong’s true colour.”

“The most important thing is when someone suddenly tries to scare you from behind, you mustn’t give yourself away,” Yingying cautioned.

Along the road, Linghu Chong practised to be this mute and deaf woman. The two of them didn’t spend the night in an inn but lodged in an abandoned temple. Yingying again and again suddenly shouted behind him and Linghu Chong was adequately deaf to it. Within a day, they arrived at the foot of Mount Heng-Shan. They made an appointment to meet each other in three days at the Hanging Temple’s field. Linghu Chong then went up the Xianxing Peak alone, leaving Yingying to spend her time nearby on the mountain.

When Linghu Chong arrived at Xianxing Peak, it was already evening. He pondered, “If I enter the convent and take a look around, martial sisters Yiqing, Zheng E, Yilin and the other martial sisters are all very observant, so they’ll definitely get suspicious. It’s still best if I secretly look around first.”

He quickly found a secluded mountain cave and slept there until the moon was in the middle of the sky. Then he went to the living quarters of Wuse Convent at Xianxing Peak. As he neared the living quarters, he heard the sound of long swords clashing continuously. Linghu Chong was startled as he thought, “Which enemy has come here?” He touched the short sword he was hiding inside his bosom and flew towards the sword clashing sound. The sound of fighting was coming from a house more than a hundred feet outside of Wuse Convent. There was light shining out from the house’s windows. Linghu Chong rushed besides the house and heard the sound of fighting become fiercer. However, when he put his eyes to the window, he immediately felt at ease. It was Yihe and Yilin practising sword while Yiqing and Zheng E were standing on the side watching. Yihe and Yilin were practising the sword art that Linghu Chong had taught them before, which was the sword art taken from the cave behind the Cliff of Contemplation on Mount Huashan. The two of them were already quite familiar with the sword art.

As they fought, Yihe’s sword gradually got faster and Yilin was barely able to keep up. Yihe thrust her sword point straight out in front of her chest. Yilin tried to circle her sword to block it but she was too late. “Ah,” Yilin cried out softly. The point of Yihe’s long sword was already pointing at Yilin’s heart. Yihe smiled and said, “Martial sister, you lost again.”

Yilin was very ashamed as she lowered her head and replied, “I’ve been practising but I haven’t improved at all.”

“You’ve improved compared to last time. Let’s go again,” Yihe said as she hacked her sword down in the middle of the air.

“Little martial sister’s tired already,” Yiqing interrupted. “Go to sleep with martial sister Zheng. We’ll practise again tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Yilin replied. She put her sword back into the scabbard then took her leave from Yihe and Yiqing. Then she pulled on Zheng E’s hand and went out of the door.

When Yilin turned around, Linghu Chong saw that she looked sad. He thought, “This little martial sister is always unhappy.”

Yihe closed the door, then looked at Yiqing and they both shook their heads. They waited till the footsteps of Yilin and Zheng E were far away before Yihe said, “I always see little martial sister’s mind not being calm. Her heart is always in turmoil; this is a big taboo for people like us. I don’t know how to advise her.”

Yiqing replied, “It’s very hard to advise, she must understand it herself.”

“I know why her mind isn’t calm, her heart is always thinking of…”

Yiqing waved her hand and said, “This is the sacred ground of Buddha, don’t say such kind of talk. If we’re not in a hurry to avenge master then we could’ve let her understand it slowly and there would be no harm.”

Yihe said, “Master used to say: everything in this world is destined and there’s nothing we can do about it; especially when you have to concentrate your mind on something that must be done gradually. If it is forced then you can easily fall into the world of evil. I see little martial sister is emotional both inside and outside, and with her kind of personality, she’s actually unsuitable to be a person of Buddhism.”

Yiqing let out a sigh and said, “I’ve never tasted that kind of feeling before, but… but in the end, our school must have a Buddhist to be the headmaster. Martial Brother Linghu once said that he’s only going to be the headmaster of this school temporarily only. But first we have to deal with that traitor Yue Buqun, who killed our master and martial uncles…”

Linghu Chong was greatly startled when he heard this. “How can it be my master who killed their master and martial uncles?” Then he heard Yiqing went on, “If we don’t avenge this deep hatred, then we, as their disciples, won’t be able to eat and sleep peacefully.”

Yihe said, “I’m even more anxious compared to you. Alright, we’ll intensify her sword training tomorrow.”

“The common saying goes: you botch it by hurrying it, but not forcing it will let you advance greatly. However, in the past few days, I’ve seen little martial sister’s vigour becoming less and less,” Yiqing said.

“That’s right,” Yihe agreed. The two martial sisters picked up their weapons and extinguished the light. Then they went inside and lay down on their beds.

Linghu Chong quietly stood outside the window and his mind was in turmoil. “Why did they say my master killed their master and martial uncles? Also, why do they need to avenge their master before getting someone to receive the school’s leadership? And why must they supervise little martial sister Yilin’s sword training around the clock?”

He stood there thinking to himself for a long time, but he still didn’t understand the reason. He slowly walked away and thought, “I’ll ask martial sisters Yihe and Yiqing later.”

Suddenly, Linghu Chong saw his own shadow slowly swaying. He raised his head and looked at the moon. The moon looked as if it was hanging on the tip of a tree. He immediately thought of something and he nearly called out. He thought, “I should’ve realised this a long time ago. Why did they understand this matter, but I didn’t?” He quickly went besides the wall of a small house and leaned on it so that the guards around the Heng-Shan School wouldn’t be able to see his shadow.

When his mind became calm, he thought back to the Shaolin Temple where Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai were killed. At that time, Dingyi Shi Tai had already died, and Dingxian Shi Tai passed away straight after she had given him the leadership of the school. Dingxian Shi Tai didn’t reveal who the murderer was. When he checked their bodies, there were no sign of external or internal injuries nor was there any sign of poison on the two Shi Tai’s bodies. The way they died was really weird, but it was inappropriate for him to open their gowns to check more thoroughly. Later, after he had come out from Shaolin Temple, Yingying told him she opened their gowns and checked on their injuries. She saw two little holes on the skin above their hearts. It looked as if someone had used needles to pierce their hearts. At that time, he had jumped up and said: ‘Poison needle? Who uses poison needles in Wulin?’ and Yingying had replied: ‘Daddy and Uncle Xiang’s experiences are vast, but they also don’t know. Daddy said that it wasn’t a poisoned needle. It’s actually a sharp weapon aimed at a fatal point that killed them. But the needle piercing Dingxian Shi Tai was slightly slanted.’ He had said: ‘Yes. When I saw Dingxian Shi Tai, she was still alive. This needle had pierced into her chest, so it wasn’t done secretly, and they were actually fighting face to face. The person who killed the two Shi Tai must’ve been a master with high martial art.’ Yingying said: ‘That’s what my daddy also said. Since we have this clue, it won’t be hard to find out who the murderer is.’ At that time, he had slapped the wall of the cave and said loudly: ‘Yingying, while the two of us still have our lives, we must avenge the two Shi Tai,’ and Yingying replied: ‘Yes.’

Both of Linghu Chong’s hands were pressed on the wall and he couldn’t help shivering. He thought, “The master who is capable of killing the two Shi Tai by using a small piece of needle must either be using the Sunflower Manual or the Evil Resisting Sword Art. Dongfang Bubai had always been on top of the Dark Wood Cliff embroidering, so he couldn’t be the one killing people in Shaolin Temple. Also, looking at his martial art, his needle couldn’t have missed when he tried to kill Dingxian Shi Tai. Zuo Lengchan had learned the fake Evil Resisting Sword Art. At that time, martial brother Lin had only gotten the sword manual so he couldn’t have learned it completely; perhaps he might not even have gotten the manual at that time…” He thought back to the snow field when he met with Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan and he thought, “That’s right, at that time, Lin Pingzhi’s voice hasn’t changed yet. It doesn’t matter if he had gotten the manual or not because he couldn’t have completed his learning of the Evil Resisting Sword Art then” As he thought till here, sweat started to come out from his forehead.

At that time, the person who could use a needle to fight openly from the front and kill the two Shi Tai from Heng-Shan School must have had a martial art which was not that much higher compared to Dingxian Shi Tai because that one needle did not manage to kill her. There was only Yue Buqun who could’ve done it. He also thought of how Yue Buqun had deliberately planned to take the headmaster position of the Five Mountains School and had actually allowed Lao Denuo to stay inside the school for more than ten years without revealing his real identity. At the end, he allowed Lao Denuo to steal a fake sword manual and easily blinded both of Zuo Lengchan’s eyes. Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai were putting all their efforts in fighting against the merger of the five schools, so Yue Buqun took the opportunity to do away with them and removed a big obstacle to the merger of the schools. This must have been the reason. Why wasn’t Dingxian Shi Tai willing to reveal her murderer? It must be because Yue Buqun was his master. If the murderer were Zuo Lengchan or Dongfang Bubai, why wouldn’t Dingxian Shi Tai say it?

Linghu Chong again thought back to the day when he was inside that mountain cave having a conversation with Yingying. Yue Buqun had kicked him heavily in the Shaolin Temple, but he didn’t get injured and instead Yue Buqun’s leg was broken. Yingying felt this was really strange. She said her father had also thought for a long time and still could not come up with a reason. Linghu Chong had absorbed the internal energies of many people and it was true that these internal energies were enough to protect his body. But he must move these internal energies in order to harm others; unlike the completed internal energy art which was capable of countering the enemy’s attack without him having to move the internal energies. As he thought of this, he realised Yue Buqun must have deliberately put on such a show for Zuo Lengchan. To make sure the leg was really broken, Yue Buqun must have used his own internal energy to break it and let Zuo Lengchan see it to show that his martial art was just average and that there was nothing to worry about so that Zuo Lengchan could go forward with his plan of the merger. Zuo Lengchan had made painstaking effort to finally merge the five schools and when it had finally happened, Yue Buqun had taken everything from him. This reasoning was not hard to understand, but no matter what was said, Linghu Chong had never have any suspicion towards his master. Perhaps, this suspicion had always been buried deep in his heart and every time he arrived at this thought, his mind immediately fled from it because he was not willing and did not dare to think about it. Only at this time when he heard Yihe and Yiqing conversing with each other that he finally could not avoid it any longer.

For his whole life, he had loved and respected his master. Unexpectedly, his master was such a person. Now he felt his life was all meaningless. At that moment, he felt he couldn’t even gather enough strength to go to the Heng-Shan Other Courtyard to take a look, so he found a secluded and calm field on the mountain and slept.

In the morning of the next day, Linghu Chong arrived at the Tong Yuan Valley when the day was already bright. He walked besides a small creek and saw his disguised form in the water’s reflection. He checked his gown and shoes to see that nothing was out of place before he proceeded to the Other Courtyard. He went around the main entrance, wishing to enter from the side entrance. Just as he arrived besides the gate, he heard noises from the inside.

There were many people from inside the courtyard shouting loudly: “Really strange! Damn it, who did this?” “When did this happen? How come the gods didn’t know, the ghosts didn’t feel it; the hands and feet are really agile!” “These people’s martial art aren’t bad, how come they could be played by other people without uttering a word?”

Linghu Chong knew something strange had taken place. He stayed by the side entrance and looked inside. The courtyard and the walkways were full of people looking at the branches of a Gongsun tree. Linghu Chong lifted his head up to take a look and he also felt it very strange that his heart was also calling out like the other people in the courtyard. High on top of the tree were eight people hanging down. They were Qiu Songnian, Madam Zhang, Monk Xibao, Priest Yuling, and their other group members making seven of them, while the other person was ‘Slippery and Hard to Grip’ You Xun. The eight of them had apparently had their acupoints sealed and all of their limbs tied up, and they had been hung up there swinging to and fro. They were more than ten feet above the ground. Besides following the blowing of the wind, they could not move at all. All eight of them had embarrassed expressions, which were rarely seen. Two black snakes were seen slithering around their bodies, which were actually the ‘Double-Snake Ruthless Beggar’ Yan Sanxing’s precious weapons. It was ordinary for these two snakes to be slithering about Yan Sanxing’s body, but when they were slithering about the other seven people’s bodies, expressions of fear and loathing was added to the angry and ashamed appearances of these people.

Someone from the crowd leapt up. He was Night Cat ‘Nothing He Can’t Do’ Ji Wushi. His hand was holding a dagger, and he quickly cut the bindings of ‘Tung Cypress Whiz Duo’. These two people then fell from mid air and a short and stout Old Man extended his hand to stop them and put them on the ground. In just a brief moment, all eight of them had been helped down by Ji Wushi and each person had had their acupoints unsealed. Once Qiu Songnian was freed, he promptly hurled some abuses. He then saw the crowd of people were wide eyed looking at him; some were smiling, some were amazed, some were saying, “Has!”, some were saying, “Plot!”, some were saying, “Careful!”, and some were saying, “Life!”. Madam Zhang took a glance and saw there was one word written on each of Qiu Songnian’s and the other six people’s foreheads. The words said: ‘Plot Has Been Defeated, Be Careful Worthless Life!’

The other people were alarmed and one by one they repeated, “Plot Has Been Defeated, Be Careful Worthless Life!”

Monk Xibao angrily shouted, “What plot has been defeated, your granny! Which worthless life needs to be careful?” While Priest Yuling extended his hand, spat on it, and then rubbed his forehead trying to wipe away the word.

Zhu Qianqiu said, “Brother You, how did the eight of you get captured? Can you tell us?”

You Xun smiled slightly and said, “I’m ashamed to say it, but I was sleeping peacefully last night, and didn’t know how it happened. But someone sealed my acupoints and hung me from the top of the tree. That thief was most likely using the ‘Five Confusion Poison’ to knock us out. Otherwise, how can these brothers’ skills be of no use and fell into someone’s plot? How can someone so wise and brave like Priest Yuling and Madam Zhang fall into this?”

Madam Zhang snorted and said, “That must be it.” She didn’t want to linger and talk too much so she hastily went in to wash her face. Priest Yuling and the others also followed her in.

The crowd discussed about this and many of them were clicking their tongues feeling the incident was really strange. They all said, “You Xun’s words aren’t true.”

Some people said, “There are dozens of people sleeping inside the hall. If they used confusion poison, then dozens of us would get it. How come only a few of them got it?”

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Many people thought of the word ‘Plot’ from the phrase ‘Plot Has Been Defeated’, they didn’t know what kind of plot it was pointing at so they came up with many guesses and couldn’t decide which one was right. Someone said, “Which master hung these eight people on that tall tree?”

Someone laughingly answered, “Luckily the Peach Valley Six Weirdos aren’t here today, otherwise it’ll be so noisy here.”

Another person replied, “How do you know it wasn’t the Peach Valley Six Fairies who did this? Those six brothers are very eccentric. Most likely it was them who did this.”

Zu Qianqiu shook his head. “No, no, it can’t be.”

One of the earlier person said, “Brother Zu, how do you know?”

Zu Qianqiu laughed. “Even though the Peach Valley Six Fairies’ martial arts are high, their knowledge is very limited. I can guarantee you that they wouldn’t even be able to write that word ‘Plot’.”

The crowd burst into laughter thinking what Zu Qianqiu said was right. Everyone was discussing this interesting matter and no one paid attention towards Linghu Chong who was disguised as a servant and was wearing a stupid expression. Linghu Chong thought in his heart, “What were these eight people trying to plot? It must be something harmful towards my Heng-Shan School.”

After noon, on the same day, some people outside the courtyard shouted, “Weird, weird! Everyone, come have a look!” The crowd rushed out, while Linghu Chong slowly followed behind them. On the right side of the Other Courtyard there were tens of people surrounding something. The crowd quickly sprinted to go there. Linghu Chong walked near and heard some people discussing about this. There were more than ten people who were sitting on the ground facing the cliff. It was apparent their acupoints had been sealed and they were unable to move. There were eight words written on the wall of the mountain and they were the same words as before, ‘Plot Has Been Defeated, Be Careful Worthless Life’.

Some people turned those people sitting on the ground around and they saw the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert were amongst them. Ji Wushi walked up to the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert and released their mute acupoints, but not the other sealed acupoints leaving them unable to move. Ji Wushi said, “There’s something I don’t understand here that I’d like to ask you about. I’d like to ask the two of you what kind of secret plan are you involved in? Everyone here would like to know.”

“Right, right! What plot? Tell us about it,” the crowd demanded.

Black Bear scolded, “Damn their eighteen ancestors. What plot? Plot their turtle sons.”

“Who sealed your acupoints? Can you tell us about it?” Zu Qianqiu queried.

White Bear said, “It’s good if I know. I was just walking peacefully around the mountain when my back suddenly felt numb, ambushed by that bastard. If it’s a hero then he would’ve fought me with real sabre, real spear. Sneaking an attack behind me, what kind of person is that?”

Zu Qianqiu said, “That’s fine if the two of you don’t want to say it. This matter is already known to the others but I see that there’s nothing we can do about it. But I think you need to be really careful.”

Someone said in a loud voice, “Brother Zu, they’re not willing to disclose it, then let them stay here for three days and three nights.”

Another person said, “Right, he who tied the bell on the tiger’s neck is the only one to untie it*. If you release them, that master will definitely put the blame on you, seal your acupoints, and hang you from a tree. It certainly won’t be fun.”

(*The meaning of this saying is: He who caused the dispute is the only one to resolve it.)

Ji Wushi said, “What you said isn’t wrong. Brothers, I’m not sitting here on the side being a spectator, I’m actually a little bit afraid.”

Black Bear and White Bear looked at each other, and they were both furious. But it was pointless to start scolding, and they also didn’t dare to publicly scold Ji Wushi’s ancestor. Otherwise, with them still being unable to move, they wouldn’t be able to fight back if the opponent wanted to be rude towards them.

Ji Wushi laughed while cupping his hands to the crowd continuously. “Everyone, please.” Then he turned his body around to walk away. The people crowding around them pointed and laughed, said a few words and they also slowly walked away. Linghu Chong turned around and walked slowly. When he reached the outside of the Other Courtyard, he heard people clamouring and giggling inside. He raised his head and saw two people had been hung on the Gongsun tree again. One of them was Monk Cannot Have No Commandment and the other one was Monk No Commandment.

Linghu Chong was greatly amazed as he thought, “Great Master No Commandment is little martial sister Yilin’s father, while Tian Boguang is little martial sister’s disciple. The two of them would never give Heng-Shan School any trouble. If Heng-Shan School has any problem, they would exert themselves to help. Why are they being hung on the tree?” He was really sure he knew what was going on before, but suddenly his whole idea had been turned upside down. He thought of one thing, “Great Master No Commandment is innocent like a child, he doesn’t have any enmity with anyone. Why would anyone hang him from the tree? Someone must be playing a joke with him. No one here is strong enough to capture Great Master No Commandment, this must be Peach Valley Six Fairies’ doing.” But what Zu Qianqiu said before was very reasonable, the Peach Valley Six Fairies couldn’t have written the word ‘Plot’. He entered the courtyard slowly as his mind was occupied with doubts. As he entered, he saw there was a piece of yellow paper stuck to each of Monk No Commandment’s and Tian Boguang’s bodies. There were words written on them.

The words written on Monk No Commandment’s paper were: ‘World’s number one heartless, perverted and lascivious man.’ While the words written on Tian Boguang’s paper were: ‘World’s number one in unseemly behaviour, a person who does everything half heartedly.’

When Linghu Chong read this for the first time, he immediately thought, “These two papers are placed on the wrong persons. How come Monk No Commandment is ‘a perverted and lascivious man’? This ‘perverted and lascivious’ words, they must surely belong to Tian Boguang. While the words ‘unseemly behaviour’, they must surely belong to Monk No Commandment. He’s not sworn off from killing, eating meat, and he even dared to take a nun as his wife when he’s a monk. These are unseemly behaviour. But this ‘half heartedly’ comment, where did it come from?”

But these two papers were stuck nicely to each of their necks, and it didn’t look like someone had hastily stuck them wrongly. The crowd was pointing, laughing, and discussing what was going on. Many people also said, “Tian Boguang is perverted, this is very well known in the world. How can this big monk be more perverted than he is?”

Ji Wushi and Zu Qianqiu consulted each other quietly, and both of them sensed something was fishy. They knew Monk No Commandment and Linghu Chong were very good towards each other and they must help these two people down first before discussing it further. Ji Wushi quickly leapt up the tree and cut of the ropes binding their hands and feet and released their sealed acupoints. No Commandment and Tian Boguang were both looking very dejected, unlike Qiu Songnian and Bear Duo of the Northern Desert who started hurling abuses as soon as they were released.

Ji Wushi quietly asked, “Great Master, how did you also end up like that?” But Monk No Commandment just shook his head and slowly took off the piece of paper stuck to him. He stared at the words written on it for a long time and all of a sudden, he cried.

This change was totally out of everyone’s expectation. The crowd abruptly turned deathly quiet and all of them were stupefied as they gaped at him. Both of his fists were clenched as they kept on hammering his own chest; he was becoming even sadder as he cried. Tian Boguang tried to comfort him, “Grand martial master, you don’t need to be sad. We lost to someone’s plot, but when we find this person, we’ll break his corpse into thousands of pieces…” He had not finished yet when Monk No Commandment turned around and gave him a hard slap. The palm hit Tian Boguang, forcing him to back away for more than ten feet. He staggered and had nearly fallen down. Half of his cheek had now started to become swollen.

Monk No Commandment scolded, “Smelly bastard! We were hung up here because we deserved it. You… You… You’re very daring. Wanting to kill other people!”

Tian Boguang was confused when he heard Grand Martial Master said this. The person who had captured them must be someone with an impressive background that even Grand Martial Master did not dare to offend him. So all Tian Boguang could do was agree to his Grand Martial Master. Monk No Commandment stared dumbly, and started to cry and beat on his chest again. Suddenly, he struck out again with his palm towards Tian Boguang. Tian Boguang was really fast so he quickly evaded the strike as he called out, “Grand Martial Master!”

Monk No Commandment did not chase after him even though his hit had missed. He took his hand back and with a slap, he hit a stone bench inside the courtyard, causing the crumbling stones to fly out everywhere. His left palm and his right palm struck out continuously as he started to cry again. More and more force was used with each strike. After more than ten strikes, both of his palms were covered with blood and the top of the stone bench had also crumbled to gravel. Then with a thunderous crack, the stone bench was split asunder into four pieces. The crowd was amazed and none of them dared to utter a single word. Every one of them was afraid to draw his anger onto them. Besides, whose head was stronger than that of the stone bench if Monk No Commandment were to turn to them?

Zu Qianqiu, Old Man, and Ji Wushi looked at each other and none of them knew what was happening. Tian Boguang saw something was amiss so he said, “Everyone, please look after Grand Martial Master. I’ll go look for Master.”

Linghu Chong pondered, “Even though I’m already disguised, little martial sister Yilin is very careful, I should be careful not to let her discover my disguise.”

He had disguised himself before as a general and a farmer, but both had been male. This time around, he had disguised himself as a woman and it was actually very uncomfortable. He was not feeling very confident in the disguise and he was afraid his disguise would be revealed. So he quickly took himself inside the firewood house at the back garden, and thought, “The acupoints of the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert and the others are still being sealed. Ji Wushi and Zu Qianqiu must be wanting to eavesdrop on what they’ll be talking about at night. I should go to sleep now and wake up sometime at night to listen to what they’re talking about.” Linghu Chong drifted into sleep hearing Monk No Commandment’s wailing. He was amazed at this but also found it funny.

When he woke up, the sky was already dark, and he went to the kitchen to look for some cold rice and tea to eat. After a long time, he heard no sound of anyone around. Thereupon, he slowly strolled around to the back of the mountain where the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert and the other people were. Linghu Chong crouched inside the underbrush far away and strained his ears to listen. Soon, he heard the breathing of people hiding in the underbrush all around him. There were at least around twenty people concealed in the underbrush. Linghu Chong found this hilarious. “Ji Wushi and the others must be wanting to eavesdrop as well. They’ve thought of the same thing. I guess there are many smart people here.” He also thought, “Ji Wushi is good. He unsealed the mute acupoints of those two cannibals of the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert, but he didn’t unseal the other people’s mute acupoints. Otherwise, once the Bear Duo of the Northern Desert open their mouths, they’ll be told to shut up by their more competent comrades.”

Linghu Chong then heard White Bear swearing continuously, “Your granny, so many mosquitoes on this mountain side. They want to suck my blood dry before they’re happy. I curse the eighteen generations of your mosquitoes’ ancestors.”

Black Bear laughed. “The mosquitoes are stinging you only, but not me. I wonder what the reason is.”

White Bear cussed, “Your blood is smelly so the mosquitoes don’t want to eat it.”

Black Bear laughingly replied, “I’d rather have smelly blood instead of hundreds of mosquitoes stinging me.”

White Bear replied with curses. After hurling abuses for a while, White Bear said, “After my acupoints are released, the first thing I’ll do is to look for Night Cat and settle our business. I’ll seal that bastard’s acupoints and eat the flesh from his thigh bite by bite.”

Black Bear laughingly replied, “But I’d rather eat those nuns. Their skins are so white and their meat would be more tender.”

White Bear said, “Mr. Yue ordered us to take those nuns to Mount Huashan, not to eat them.”

Black Bear laughingly said, “There are hundreds of nuns here, Mr. Yue wouldn’t know if we eat three or four of them.”

Linghu Chong was greatly startled. “Master ordered them? Why did he ask them to take the Heng-Shan School’s disciples to Mount Huashan? This ‘Plot’ must’ve have been this thing. But how did they get my master’s order?”

Suddenly, White Bear loudly shouted, “Bastards!”

Black Bear indignantly said, “If you don’t want to eat nuns then don’t eat. Why do you have to scold me for?”

“I’m scolding these mosquitoes, not you,” White Bear said.

Linghu Chong’s mind was full of thoughts when he suddenly heard footsteps from the underbrush behind him. The footsteps slowly came near him. Linghu Chong thought, “This person had better not step on me.” That person was walking straight at him and stopped right behind him before crouching down and lightly pulling on his sleeve. Linghu Chong was started and thought, “Who’s this? Did he recognise me?” Then he turned his head around. Under the blurry moonlight, he saw a beautiful round face. It was Yilin. He was startled and happy at the same time, he thought, “So my disguise has been discovered by her. Of course I wouldn’t look like a woman even if I’m disguised in one.”

Yilin inclined her head to a side with her little mouth pouting, and she slowly stood up. She was still pulling on his sleeve showing that she wanted to talk to him someplace away from there. Linghu Chong followed behind her as she went towards the west. The two of them didn’t say a single word as they walked. Yilin led them along a narrow strip of mountain road away from the Tong Yuan Valley. She suddenly said, “You don’t listen to what other people said and come up to this troubling place again. That’s very dangerous.” These few words she said didn’t seem to be directed to him, but it seemed like she was talking to herself.

Linghu Chong was startled and thought, “She said I don’t listen to what other people said. What did she mean by that? Is she pretending, or she really doesn’t recognise me?” He also thought that because Yilin had never jested with him, it was more likely that she didn’t recognise him. Then he saw her turning north and gradually going towards the Porcelain Oven Pass. After going around a level area in the mountain, they arrived besides a small creek.

Yilin said, softly, “We always talk here. Are you sick of my voice?” She giggled gently and went on, “You never listen to what I say. Mute Granny, if you can really listen to what I say, I wouldn’t talk to you anymore.”

Yilin said this so sincerely that Linghu Chong knew she only recognised him as the Mute Granny living on the Hanging Temple. His childlike heart was roused as he thought, “I’ll just play along and see what she has to say.”

Yilin led him by his sleeve towards a big rock underneath a big willow tree, and sat down. Linghu Chong also sat down with his body leaning to the side and the moon behind him so Yilin couldn’t take a look at his face. He thought, “Is my disguise really that good that even Yilin is fooled? It must be because it’s night so it’s not easy for her to recognise me. Yingying’s appearance changing technique is pretty good.”

Yilin gazed up at the moon and sighed. Linghu Chong desperately wanted to ask, “You’re still so young, why do you have so much to worry about?” But at the end, he didn’t say it out loud.

Yilin said gently, “Mute Granny, you’re really good. I often pull you aside to tell you what I’m thinking, but you’re never annoyed. You always listen patiently to what I have to say. I shouldn’t have bothered you in the first place, but you treat me so nicely just like my own mother. I don’t have a mother; if I do have a mother, would I dare to talk like this with her?”

Linghu Chong realized she was going to pour her heart out and thought it was inappropriate for him to hear it. He thought, “What kind of matter is she going to talk about? I’m deceiving her to reveal her innermost secret. I feel really apologetic to her. I should just quickly go.” He immediately stood up.

Yilin pulled on his sleeve. “Mute Granny, you… you want to go?” Her voice sounded really disappointed. Linghu Chong took a glance at her and saw her face looking sad and her eyes looking like she was begging him to stay. His heart turned soft and he thought, “Little martial sister looks melancholy and she has a lot of things on her mind. If she had nowhere to vent them then they’ll always be in her heart and she might become sick. I just need to listen to what she has to say and don’t let her know that it’s me; then she wouldn’t be bashful.” He slowly sat back down.

Yilin hugged his neck. “Mute Granny, how good of you to accompany me for a while. You don’t know I have a lot of things in my mind.”

Linghu Chong thought, “In my whole life, Linghu Chong is fated to cross paths with grannies. Earlier with Yingying, I mistakenly took her for a granny. Now, Yilin mistakenly take me for a granny. I called someone else a granny for a few hundred times, now she’s calling me granny. It can be said that a good person also gets a good repayment.”

Yilin said, “Today, my father nearly hanged himself to death. Do you know that? He was hung on a tree and a paper was put up on him, saying that he’s ‘World’s number one heartless, perverted and lascivious man’. In his whole life, my father only has my mother in his heart. So how can they say he’s a pervert? That person must’ve been confused. He must’ve wanted to hang that paper on Tian Boguang’s body but he wrongly hung it on my father. Actually, it’s not a big deal that it’s mistakenly hung; just swap them. There’s no need to hang himself for that.”

Linghu Chong was startled but he also found this funny. “How can she say Great Master No Commandment wanted to commit suicide? She said he was nearly hanged to death, so he obviously didn’t die. The words written on those two papers aren’t good words, so once they’re taken down, why would you put them up on themselves again? This little martial sister is really naive, she really doesn’t understand how things work in the real world.”

Yilin continued, “Tian Boguang hurried up to Xianxing Peak wanting to speak to me, but he met martial sister Yihe instead. She said he came up Xianxing Peak without permission, so without asking, she attacked with her sword and he almost lost his life. That was really dangerous.”

Linghu Chong thought, “I once said that the men from the Other Courtyard must not go up Xianxing Peak without my permission. Brother Tian’s reputation isn’t good and martial sister Yihe is quick to anger, so once she saw him there, of course she’ll use her sword to attack. But, Brother Tian’s martial art is much higher than her so Yihe was unable to kill him.” He was just about to nod his head agreeing to her when he quickly thought, “No matter what she said, whether I agree or not, I mustn’t nod or shake my head. That Mute Granny wouldn’t have been able to hear to what she has to say.”

Yilin went on, “When Tian Boguang finally told her everything, martial sister Yihe had slashed about seventeen to eighteen moves. Luckily she held back and didn’t really kill him. Once I received the news, I quickly went to Tong Yuan Valley. But I didn’t see my father. I asked some people, but they all said he was inside the courtyard crying and making a lot of noise before. He was really in a fit of anger and no one dared to talk to him. They didn’t see him after that. I went around the Tong Yuan Valley trying to look for him, and finally I found him at the back of the mountain hanging high from a tree. I was really worried and quickly took him down from the tree. I saw there was a rope around his neck and it was cutting off his airway. It was really a blessing from Buddha that I arrived there in time. I helped and roused him up, then he cried hugging me. I saw there was a paper hanging on his neck, there were words written on it saying something like ‘World’s number one heartless man’. I said to him: ‘Dad, this person is really terrible. He hung you up before, and now he hanged you. He also put up the wrong paper and didn’t swap it.’ My father was half crying and half saying to me: ‘No one hanged me, I hanged myself. I… I don’t want to live anymore.’ I told him: ‘Dad, that person must’ve suddenly sneaked an attack on you so you fell into his trap; so there’s no need to be sad. Let’s find and talk to him. If what he said isn’t right, then we’ll hang him up on a tree and put this paper around his neck.’ Dad said: ‘This paper is mine. How can you hang it on other people? World’s number one heartless, perverted and lascivious man, this is Monk No Commandment. How can other people exceed me in this? Child, you’re speaking blindly.’ Mute Granny, when I heard him said this, I found it really strange so I asked him: ‘Dad, this paper wasn’t wrongly hung?’ Dad replied: ‘Of course not. I… I wronged your mother, that’s why I wanted to hang myself. You don’t need to worry about me, I really don’t want to live anymore.’”

Linghu Chong remembered Monk No Commandment had mentioned to him before that he loved Yilin’s mother because she was a nun. So he became a monk because of her. Monk marrying a nun, it was really a rare and strange thing. He said that he had wronged Yilin’s mother; it must be because he loved another woman later on and that was why he had admitted to being a ‘heartless, perverted and depraved man’. As he thought till here, he slowly came to understand some of these things.

Yilin said, “When I saw dad cried miserably, I also cried. Dad then advised me: ‘Good child, don’t cry, don’t cry. If dad dies, you’ll be all alone in this world. Who would take care of you?’ When he said that, I cried even harder.” She said until here when beads of tears dropped from her eyes. She looked really sad as she went on, “Dad said: ‘Alright, alright! I won’t die, but I’m really sorry about your mother.’ I asked: ‘How did you wrong Mother?’ Dad sighed and said: ‘Your mother was originally a nun, you already know about this. When I first saw your mother, I immediately fell in love with her and wanted to take her to be my wife, no matter what. Your mother said: ‘Amituofo, thinking of this kind of thing, you’re also not afraid of Buddha.’ I said: ‘If Buddha wants to blame someone, then he can blame me.’ Your mother said: ‘You’re a lay person, it’s natural for you to take a wife. My body has already been pledged to Buddhism, and I’m free from wordly desires. If I’m to be moved by worldly desires, Buddha will of course blame me. How can Buddha blame you?’ I thought what she said wasn’t wrong. It was me who has made up my mind to marry your mother, not your mother who wanted to marry me. How can I let Buddha blame her and put her in hell when she dies? How can I let that happen to her? That’s why I went on to become a monk. Of course Buddha will blame me. If we’re sent to hell then we’ll go together as husband and wife.’”

Linghu Chong thought, “Great Master No Commandment is really the passionate type. He became a monk just to bear the Buddha’s blame. Since he’s so committed, I wonder how his heart could have changed?”

Yilin continued, “Then I asked dad: ‘Did you marry mother afterwards?’ Dad answered: ‘Of course I did. If not, how did we get you? I shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have. That day you were just three months old, and I was just carrying you outside the door for some sun.’ I said: ‘What’s wrong with getting some sun?’ Dad said: ‘As luck would have it, at that time, there was a good looking madam riding past the door. She saw a big monk carrying a little baby and felt it was weird. After a few glances, she praised: ‘What a beautiful baby!’ I felt really happy and said: ‘You’re also very beautiful.’ That madam stared at me and asked: ‘Where did you steal this baby girl from?’ I said: ‘What do you mean steal? She’s my own baby.’ That madam suddenly threw a tantrum and scolded: ‘I’m asking you nicely, but you keep on teasing me. Are you tired of living?’ I said: ‘How did I tease you? Aren’t monks people? Can’t we have child? If you don’t believe me, then let me give you a look.’ Who could’ve thought that lady was so fierce, she took out the long sword slung at her back and stabbed it at me. Isn’t that very unreasonable?’”

Linghu Chong thought, “Great Master No Commandment speaks frankly and everything he says are always the truth. But when other people hear it, his words become nonsense teasing. Since he’s already taken a wife and gotten a baby, why didn’t he turn back to be a secular man? It’s neither fish nor fowl for a big monk to be carrying a little baby girl.”

Yilin went on, “I said: ‘This madam was too fierce. I was clearly yours, and you didn’t deceive her. What was she doing stabbing a sword at you?’ Dad said: ‘Yes, at that time, I quickly dodged and said: ‘What are you doing indiscriminately chopping your sword for? If this baby girl isn’t mine, then is she yours?’ That madam got even angrier and stabbed three times. She didn’t manage to hit me with her sword so she thrust out even faster. Of course I wasn’t afraid of her, but I was afraid she might hurt you. When she stabbed out for the eighth time, I kicked out at her and sent her somersaulting. She stopped and scolded me: ‘What a shameless monk, disgraceful and nasty person, sexually harassing a lady.’ It was at this time when your mother returned from the river bank after washing the clothes and she stood on the side to listen. That madam scolded me a few more times before she angrily got on her horse and rode away. She didn’t even pick up the sword she dropped on the ground. I turned my head around to talk to your mother. She didn’t even reply a single word I said, but she just stood there weeping. I asked her what’s the matter but she just ignored me. The morning of the next day, your mother was gone. There was a paper on the table and there were five words written on it. Can you guess what they were? They were ‘Heartless man, perverted and lascivious’. I carried you everywhere to look for her, but I didn’t find her.’

I said: ‘Mother heard what that madam said and she believed that you really sexually harassed her.’ Dad said: ‘You’re right, wasn’t that an injustice? But later on, I thought about it and believed not all of it was injustice. Because when I saw that madam, my heart was thinking: ‘This lady is good looking.’ Think about it. I was already married to your mother, but my heart was still praising another woman to be pretty. Not only praising in my heart, my mouth was praising her too. Isn’t that a heartless, perverted and lascivious man?’”

Linghu Chong thought, “So martial sister Yilin’s mother was very jealous. Of course, this was a big misunderstanding, but wouldn’t everything be alright after talking about it?”

Yilin continued, “I said: ‘Did you find mother afterwards?’ Dad said: ‘I looked for her everywhere, but where can I find her? Your mother was a nun, so I thought she would go to a convent, so I looked in every convent. One day, I found the White Cloud Convent of Heng-Shan School. Your master Dingyi Shi Tai saw you to be very cute and she really liked you. You were also sick at that time so she told me to foster you to the Convent, so I didn’t have to bring you running around and endanger your little life.’” At the mention of Dingyi Shi Tai, Yilin couldn’t help crying and she said, “Since I was small, I’ve had no mother and Master raised me up, but Master was killed by someone, and the person who killed Master was Big Brother Linghu’s Master. You see how difficult this is. Big Brother Linghu is just like me, he’s had no mother since he was small and his Master raised him. But his life is even more bitter than me, not only mother, he doesn’t have a father as well. So of course he respects and loves his Master. If I kill his Master then I’ll get my revenge, but Big Brother Linghu will be very sad. My dad also said: after he fostered me at the White Cloud Convent, he looked in every convent in the world. Later on, he went to Mongolia, Tibet, the frontiers, the western region, he even looked around in the poorest area. But in all that time, he didn’t hear a single word of my mother. Thinking about it, my mother must’ve blamed my mother for sexually harassing that lady, so she committed suicide the next day. Mute Granny, when my mother became a Buddhist, she swore an oath in front of Buddha that after she entered Buddhism, she would no longer be involved in worldly desires. But in the end, she relented to father and married him. She hadn’t given birth to me for long when she saw him sexually harassing a woman and got himself scolded as a ‘disgraceful and nasty person’, so of course she got angry. Her personality was very strong so what she believed was wrong, was wrong. So she was forced to commit suicide.”

Yilin let out a long sigh and continued, “When my father explained these things, I then understood why when he saw those words ‘World’s number one heartless, perverted and lascivious man’, he became really sad. I said: ‘When mother wrote those words to scold you, did you give other people a look?’ Dad said: ‘Of course not! I didn’t even tell anyone about it. Is it honourable to tell of these kinds of things? There’s something fishy here, I think it must be your mother’s ghost who has found me. She seeks revenge on me for blemishing her clean reputation and sexually harassing another woman. Otherwise, how come only these eight words were written on the paper and there was nothing else on it? I know she wants my life, very good, I’m going to go with her.’

“Dad also said: ‘When I couldn’t find your mother, I really wished to join her in the afterworld. It’s a pity I was too heavy. The rope broke after I was hanging up there for some time. I tried a second time but the rope broke again. Then I thought of getting my sabre to cut my neck. I knew for certain that sabre was on my waist, but suddenly it wasn’t there. It’s really not easy to die.’ I said: ‘Dad, you’re wrong. Buddha told us not to take our own lives, that’s why the rope broke and you couldn’t find your sabre. Otherwise, you would’ve been dead when I got here.’ Dad said: ‘That’s also good, it’s most likely that Buddha is punishing me to stay in this world to receive more bitterness and not letting me to go to the afterworld so quick to see your mother.’ I said: ‘I thought at first that the papers on Tian Boguang and you were wrongly hanged on each other, and that was the reason why you threw a tantrum.’ Dad said: ‘How can they be wrongly hanged? Cannot Have No Commandment was rude to you in the beginning, isn’t that called ‘unseemly behaviour’? I told him to be a matchmaker to make that Linghu Chong marry you, but he always failed, isn’t that called ‘doing things half heartedly’? Those eight words really suit him.’ I said: ‘Dad, if you tell Tian Boguang to do that nonsense again, I’m going to get angry. Big brother Linghu liked his little martial sister before, now he likes the young lady Ren from the Devil Sect. Even though he treats me well, he’s never put me in his heart.’”

When Linghu Chong heard Yilin said this, he felt quite apologetic toward her. She treated him in such a sentimental manner, but he had never felt it in the beginning, and it was only recently that he gradually understood her feeling. But his real feeling was said clearly by her, he first loved little martial sister and now he loved Yingying with all his heart. During the time he travelled around Jianghu, he also rarely thought of Yilin.

Yilin said, “When dad heard me said this, he got angry and scolded big brother Linghu, he said: ‘That Linghu Chong, he has eyes but he can’t see, he’s even worse than Cannot Have No Commandment. Cannot Have No Commandment can still see my daughter is beautiful, but Linghu Chong is the world’s number one idiot.’ He scolded him with so many vulgar words, they’re really terrible to hear, and I also can’t repeat them. He said: ‘Who’s the world’s number one blind man? It’s not Zuo Lengchan, it’s Linghu Chong. Even when Zuo Lengchan’s eyes are blinded, Linghu Chong is still blinder than he is.’ Mute Granny, dad is very wrong to say these things, how can he scold big brother Linghu like that? I said: ‘Dad, Miss Yue and young lady Ren are a hundred times more beautiful than me, how can I be better than them? Also, I’ve already entered Buddhism, but I still appreciate big brother Linghu risking his life to save me and helping my master. I still think about him sometimes. My mother was right, after you enter Buddhism, you should be free of wordly desires. If we’re not free of those things then Buddha will punish us.’

“Dad said: ‘Once you enter Buddhism, why aren’t you allowed to marry? If all the women in the world entered Buddhism and they didn’t marry, then there’ll be no one in this world. Your mother is a nun, didn’t she marry me, and didn’t she give birth to you?’ I said: ‘Dad, let’s not talk about this. I… I’d rather that mother didn’t give birth to me.’” She said till here when her voice became choking. After some time, she again said, “Dad said, he’s definitely going to find big brother Linghu and tell him to marry me. I was really worried, I said to him if he mentioned this to big brother Linghu, then I’ll never talk to him ever again, and when he comes to Xianxing Peak, I won’t see him. If Tian Boguang says this kind of nonsense thing to big brother Linghu, then I’ll talk to martial sisters Yiqing and Yihe and not allow him to step foot on Mount Heng-Shan ever again. Dad knows I can get what I said so he was dumbfounded for a time. Then he just sighed and walked away. Mute Granny, dad went just like that, I wonder when I can see him again? I also don’t know whether he’s going to commit suicide again? He’s really making me worried. I found Tian Boguang after that and told him to go with dad and take care of him. After I finished speaking to him, I saw so many people sneaking around going outside of Tong Yuan Valley then hiding inside the underbrush. I don’t know what they were doing. So I quietly followed them to have a look, but I saw you instead. Mute Granny, you don’t know martial art and you also can’t hear anything. It was very dangerous for you to hide in the underbrush, especially if someone sees you there. You should never go with other people to hide in the underbrush anymore. Did you think they were playing hide-and-seek?”

Linghu Chong was dangerously close to laughing, he thought, “This little martial sister is very childish, she even thinks other people are childish too.”