The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖) Chapter 23 – Ambush

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The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (笑傲江湖) Chapter 23

[Yilin turned around hurriedly and stuck out her hand. Linghu Chong reached over and held on to her hand. Yilin pulled hard upwards, and after several embarrassing stumbles, Linghu Chong finally regained his balance. Several female apprentices behind him simply could not help giggling.]

Chapter 23 – Ambush

Linghu Chong was alarmed to suddenly hear someone calling his own name on a desolated mountaintop in the middle of the night. His first thought was, “It’s master!” But it was the voice of a female and it wasn’t master-wife or Yue Lingshan. This outburst was followed by a softer and quieter female’s voice, which he could not hear clearly. Linghu Chong went towards the hillside and saw the shadows of thirty-four people standing up. His heart turned sour. “Who scolded me? Is it really HuaShan School’s party? If martial sister heard someone scolded me like that, I wonder how she would react?”

He lowered his body to hide beside a shrub on the side. He crouched and circled around the hillside to get closer to the group and hid himself behind a big tree. He heard a female’s voice said, “Martial uncle, Martial brother Linghu is an upright and heroic… ” Hearing this half sentence, the picture of a delicately pretty face came into his mind. His chest became slightly constricted as he realised that the person saying this was Yilin, the little nun from Heng-shan school. He was disappointed to learn that these people were not from Huashan School. As his mind was somewhere else, he missed the next two sentences said by Yilin. He only heard the sharp voice of the previous speaker saying angrily, “You still dare to argue with your elder? Then that letter from Mr. Yue of Huashan School is fake? Mr. Yue sent this letter to the entire realm, telling everyone that Linghu Chong had been expelled from HuaShan because he’s involved with Devil Sect’s people. What wrong can we do to him? When Linghu Chong saved you before, he probably wants to depend on this small favour to plot against us…”

“Martial uncle, it wasn’t a small favor, Martial brother Linghu disregarded his own life… ” answered Yilin.

“You’re still calling him martial brother? This person is most probably a shrewd and wicked scheming thief. Putting on airs and deceiving young children like you. In Jiang Hu, there are all sorts of sly and crafty people, swindling young people like you because you have never experienced meeting them,” the elder shouted in reply.

Yilin answered, “How can disciple not listen to martial uncle’s order? But.. but.. martial… Linghu … ” and the word “brother” wasn’t said. She stiffly stood there enduring the lecture.

That elder asked, “But what?” Yilin appeared to be frightened and didn’t dare to speak anymore.

“This is a message from SongShan’s Alliance Chief Zuo. Devil Sect is conducting a large-scale operation in Fujian to rob the Lin family of Fuzhou of their Evil Resisting sword art. Alliance Chief Zuo wants the Five Mountains Sword Alliance to help in preventing the demon people from having the sword art manual. When great masters from the Five Mountains Sword Alliance stepped in, it is unavoidable that people will die without being buried. That child from FuZhou’s Lin family has already entered Mr. Yue’s school so it seemed that HuaShan School has obtained the sword art manual but actually they have not. We fear that the Devil Sect will have many traps. Also, when you add that ex-disciple of Huashan School, Linghu Chong, into the equation, our plight becomes even more unfavourable because the Devil sect may have inside information. Alliance Chief has put the responsibility of handling this matter on my shoulder and ordered me to lead us into Fujian. This matter concerns the fortune of both the orthodox and Devil Sect. We can’t allow any careless or indiscreet acts. Thirty li from here is the border between Zhejiang and Fujian. Today, everyone has worked hard and had been hurrying along at night. We’ll rest when we get to Nianbapu town. We’ll then hurry along so we can be in front and wait for the Devil Sect people to launch their operation. By then, we would have waited at ease and have the advantage of waiting for an exhausted enemy. But you must still be on your guard,” that elder announced. All the female disciples (numbering in scores of ten) complied with one voice.

Linghu Chong thought, “This master is in charge of this Heng-Shan School group and Yilin also called her martial uncle. I’ve heard of “Three Ding of Heng-Shan”, she must be Dingjing Shi Tai. She received my master’s letter and thought that I’m a bad person. I can’t blame her for thinking this way. She wanted to get ahead but didn’t know that Devil Sect people are already setting up an ambush in front. Luckily, I already knew, but how do I tell them about this?”

(Translator’s note: Shi Tai means a nun who is already old but it can also be a title to a nun who holds a high position in the temple. For lack of a better word in English, I’m leaving it as Shi Tai.)

He then heard Dingjing Shi Tai said, “Once we enter Fujian’s boundary, you must be on your guard. Everyone around you will be your enemy. Even the servants from the restaurants or the teahouses might be spies from the Devil Sect. The walls have ears, just like the bushes might have enemy hiding within. From now on, do not mention anything about the Evil Resisting sword art manual, Mr. Yue, Linghu Chong, and DongFang BiBai.” (Translator’s note: DongFang BiBai means DongFang is defeated, whereas his original name DongFang BuBai means DongFang undefeated.)

The female disciples answered together, “Yes!”

Linghu Chong knew that Devil Sect’s Chief DongFang BuBai’s kungfu had no match in the world, which was why he was called undefeated. But when the orthodox schools talked about him, they frequently referred to him as “Bibai”. They did this to nullify the meaning behind the enemy’s name and to mock him. After hearing her mentioned his own name, his master’s name and DongFang BuBai’s on the same level, he couldn’t help but laughed bitterly. “I’m just a nameless person while you’re a senior from Heng-Shan School. You flatter me too much to mention my name in the same breath as my master’s and Dongfang Bubai’s.”

Dingjing Shi Tai continued, “Everyone, let’s go!” All the disciples answered in one voice and complied with the order. He then saw seven female disciples sped away from the hillside followed by another seven soon after. Heng-Shan School’s qinggong was famous in the wulin world; the seven people in front and the seven people at the back kept the distance between them constant as they run, resembling a troop formation The sleeves of the fourteen people were floating in the air and they were all synchronous in their running. It was extremely beautiful to look at. Not too long after that, another seven people started to go down the hill. In a short time, all of Heng-Shan School’s groups have moved out. Altogether, there were six groups. The last group consisted of eight people, with the extra person being Dingjing Shi Tai. Some of these females were not nuns, but secular disciples of Heng-Shan.

In the darkness of the night, Linghu Chong wasn’t able to recognise which group Yilin was in. He thought, “These disciples from Heng-Shan must each have their own unique skill. But when they’re climbing that steep slope between the two peaks, the Devil Sect people will ambush them. They will definitely suffer heavy injuries and deaths.”

He took a handful of green grass, squeezed them and smeared the juices on his face. Then he dug out some mud and smeared it on his face, hands and thick beard. Even if it were daytime, Yilin would not be able to recognise him under all the mud. Linghu Chong then circled the hillside to go back to the road and started chasing after them. Originally, his qinggong wasn’t that good. But whether your qinggong was high or low was dependent on the strength of your internal energy level. Right now, his internal energy was high, so he could take a step as he willed and each step was also very far away. At this speed, he caught up with Heng-Shan School’s people in no time at all. He was afraid that Dingjing Shi Tai might hear his footsteps as he came closer to them so he overtook them by running in a big circle. Once he was ahead of them and was back on the main road, he ran even faster. When he arrived at the bottom of the slope, the moon was already above his head. He stood there listening to his surrounding and did not hear a single sound. “If I didn’t see the Devil Sect people setting up an ambush here, then a disaster would have happened at this place. A great disaster.”

He slowly walked up the steep slope and arrived at the beginning of the road between the two peaks. He was around a li away from the ambush place; he sat down and started thinking, “The Devil Sect people have probably seen me here. But they’re afraid to alert the enemy so they are just letting me sit here.” After waiting for some time, he lied down on the ground. Finally, he heard faint steps coming up from the hillside. He thought, “It’s best if I lead the Devil Sect’s people to start fighting with me first. After fighting for a little bit, then Heng-Shan School will be aware.” He then said angrily at the people on the top of the slope, ” What old man hates the most is being stabbed in the back. Then I won’t know whether they are real swords or spears. Stabbing in the back is a very rotten method. You hiding there, get up! Evil ghosts, harming people by ambush! How contemptible and disgraceful.” Although his voice wasn’t loud, he had put an abundant of qi to deliver it, so it was able to travel far. He was guessing that the Devil Sect people had heard what he said. But who would have thought these people could really hold in their anger and unexpectedly did not pay attention to him at all. Not long after, Heng-Shan School’s first group of seven diciples arrived in front of him.

Under the moonlight, the seven diciples could see an officer sleeping on the ground with his four limbs extended out. Only one person at a time can go up the mountain pass as it was flanked by high cliffs on both sides. Therefore, if they wanted to go up the slope, they have to step across his body first. These disciples only had to lightly jump to go across his body, but between man and woman, there must be a separation. In order to jump across, they also have to go over his head. This was just too rude.

A middle-aged nun said with a clear voice, “Excuse me, officer. Please lend us a path.”

Linghu Chong made two “woo, woo” sounds snoring loudly. That nun’s buddhist name was Yihe but her temper was not peaceful at all (Translator’s note: play of words on her name). She saw that this officer was sleeping soundly in the middle of the road snoring so loudly that he must be deliberately pretending to be asleep. This made her all the more agitated. She held back her anger and said, “If you don’t make way, we will jump over you.” Linghu Chong kept up his loud snoring and muttered, ” Lots of demons and ghosts on this road. Mustn’t go through it. Woo… woo… the sea of bitterness is endless… turn… turn… turn around then you will see the beach.” Yihe was startled when she heard this as his words seemed to carry two meanings. Another nun pulled Yihe back by tugging her sleeve and the seven nuns retreated several steps.

One person whispered, “Martial sister, this person is weird.”

Another one said, “I’m afraid he might be Devil Sect’s spy challenging us.”

Another person said, “I don’t think Devil Sect’s people would go and get a government job as a military officer. I think he’s disguising himself. He didn’t dirty his attire when he was disguising himself.”

Yihe said, “Don’t worry about him! He’s not letting us get through so we’ll jump over him.”

Before she jumped, she asked again, “If you’re really not making way then we just have to offend you.”

Linghu Chong stretched out lazily and slowly got up. He was still afraid that Yilin might recognise him so he faced the hillside. The back of his body was facing the Heng-Shan School disciples. With his right hand leaning on the cliff face, his body swayed from side to side looking like a drunk. He said, “Good wine! good wine!” At this moment, the second group of Heng-Shan School disciples arrived.

“Martial sister Yihe, what’s this person doing here?” asked a secular disciple.

“Who knows what he’s doing here!” answered Yihe.

Linghu Chong said in a loud voice, “Just then I butchered a dog. My tummy’s so full after eating it. I’ve also drunk a lot of wine. I’m afraid I might vomit. Aiyo, not good, really gonna vomit!” A vomiting sound was heard briefly.

The female disciples scowled and one by one retreated back. Linghu Chong made the vomiting sound a few more times although nothing was coming out. The disciples were discussing among themselves when the third group also arrived.

He heard a soft voice said, “This person is drunk, he’s very pitiful. Let him rest, we can’t be delayed.”

When Linghu Chong heard this voice, his heart fluttered. He thought, “Martial sister Yilin has a very good heart.”

But Yihe said, “This person is deliberately making a fuss here, he must have some bad intention!” She then took a step forward and shouted, “Make way!” While she pushed Linghu Chong’s left shoulder. Linghu Chong swayed forward and shouted, “Aiyo, this is disastrous!” He took a few stumbling steps up the slope, staggering from side to side. After walking a few steps, the situation had become even more awkward. His body was now filling in the narrow pass completely. If it were not for the inappropriateness, the people behind him would have jumped over his head to get pass. Yihe went forward and shouted, “Make way already!”

“Yes, yes,” answered Linghu Chong. He took a few more steps up. He got even higher as he moved forward making the narrow pass even more difficult to pass. Suddenly he shouted very loudly, “Hello, friends above waiting to ambush, pay attention please! The people you’re waiting for have arrived. You guys should come out now, no one here would be able to escape.”

When Yihe and the other disciples heard of this, they immediately retreated back. One disciple said, “This place is really dangerous, if the enemy ambush us now, we’ll have great difficulty in fighting back.” Yihe said, “If there’s someone waiting to ambush us, why is he calling them out? It’s just empty threat, empty threat. There’s nobody up there. If we retreat in fear, the enemy will laugh at us.” Another two middle-aged nun said together, “Yeah! We three people will make way in front, martial sisters follow behind us.” The three nuns pulled their long swords out and went forward towards Linghu Chong’s back.

Linghu Chong continuously panted loudly and said, “This hillside road is very steep. Ai, old man is very old now. I can’t go further.”

One of the nuns said, “Hey, you go to one side and let us walk ahead first, is this ok?”

“Don’t get angry. Walking fast will get us there, walking slow will also get us there. Hai.. Hai.. Ai, when going towards the gates of Hell, it is better to go slowly.”

That nun said, “Why are you beating around the bush trying to scold people?”

With a shout, Yihe thrust her sword towards Linghu Chong’s heart from behind. This thrust was only meant to scare him into making way for them. So when the sword was about to pierce his body, it stopped short. At this exact moment, Linghu Chong also turned his body around. He saw that the tip of the sword was pointed at his chest and shouted, “Hey! You… you… what are you doing? I’m a government official. Didn’t expect that you dare to be this rude. Come people, seize these nuns!”

Some of the younger nuns couldn’t help to hold in their laughter anymore. This person was on a desolated mountainside but was still exhibiting a bureaucratic air. It was really comical.

A nun laughingly said, “Officer, we have an urgent matter and are hurrying along. Please move to a side and let us through.”

“What officer, I’m a general. You should call me general. Then I’ll let you through,” said Linghu Chong.

Seven to eight female disciples laughingly said, “General, please make way.”

Linghu Chong laughed and straightened up. He puffed up his chest and tucked in his stomach, looking arrogant. Suddenly, he slipped and fell on the ground. The female disciples squealed and called out in alarm, “Be careful.” And two of them quickly held onto his arms. Linghu Chong slipped one more time before he stood firm. He then scolded, “His granny…. this ground is so slippery. The local government is a bucket of rice, unlike those common people (Translator’s note: “a bucket of rice” means good for nothing). They should keep the mountain road in good condition.” He had already slipped twice and now he leaned his body against a small depression on the cliff wall. Heng-Shan School’s disciples quickly used their qinggong to go through. One by one, they went pass him swiftly.

One of them laughed, “The local government will send eight people with a sedan chair to carry general over this mountain range. That’s the way to do it.”

Another one said, “General rides a horse not a sedan chair.”

The next one said, “This general is different than the others. When riding a horse, he’s afraid that he might fall down on the ground.”

Linghu Chong indignantly said, “Nonsense! How many times have I fallen down from riding a horse? Last month, that horse was scared to death by a tiger. Only then did I slid from the horse’s back and injured my upper arm. So that one cannot be counted.” The disciples laughed aloud while climbing the slope like wind.

Linghu Chong saw a slender body shook. It was Yilin. He immediately followed behind her, again blocking the disciples behind her. His steps were heavy and he was also panting heavily. For every three steps, he slipped two steps. He was climbing and falling at the same time. Fortunately, he was actually walking quite quickly. The disciples behind were laughing and complaining at the same time. “You, general, is really… cough. Don’t know how many times must you fall down in a day!”

Yilin turned her head and said, “Martial sister Yiqing, don’t rush general. He’s already trying to hurry, don’t make him slip for real. This slope is really steep, falling down would be serious.”

Linghu Chong saw her two big eyes. They were clear and bright like two clear fountains. Her elegant face shone under the moonlight looking very beautiful. He remembered the day when they were evading the pursuit of Qingcheng School. She carried him out from inside the city of Hengshan and he was staring at her right now just like he did at that time. Suddenly, he felt a soft and gentle feeling rising up in his heart. He thought, “At the top of this slope, there are many concealed enemies wanting to harm her. I don’t care about my life but I must protect her and make sure she is safe.”

Yilin saw his two eyes looking dull and his appearance ugly. She nodded slightly at him, revealing a warm and smiling countenance. She said, “Martial sister Yiqing, if General slipped and fell, you must quickly give him a hand.”

Yiqing laughed, “He’s very heavy, how do I help him?”

Originally, Heng-Shan School’s rules were very strict. These female disciples did not easily chat and laugh with strangers. But Linghu Chong had been acting like a clown making them laugh repeatedly. Also, there were no elders around. As the dark night hurried along and after exchanging some harmless jokes, everyone was feeling livelier.

Linghu Chong indignantly said, “You girls are speaking without knowing what you’re talking about. I’m a great general. Back in those days, in the battlefield, I routed and killed numerous thieves. The type of killing that makes you shiver with fear that the air around it would even be filled with a shimmering murderous aura. If you girls saw it, hey hey, you will admire me completely. This trivial mountain slope is nothing to look at for me. How can I fall down? You’re talking rubbish… Aiyo, not good!”

His foot seemed to have step on a small stone and he fell down. He put both of his hands out waving them about trying to grab onto something. The disciples behind him yelped in surprise. Yilin quickly turned back and stuck her hand out to help him. Linghu Chong grabbed her hand and Yilin used all her strength to pull him upwards. Linghu Chong was now crouching down with his left hand on the ground supporting himself. He appeared to be very distressed. The disciples behind him were clutching their stomachs laughing loudly.

Linghu Chong said, “My leather boots are too heavy to use for climbing up mountain roads. If I were wearing your hemp shoes, then I guarantee I wouldn’t fall down at all. Also, I’m only slipping and falling, what’s so funny about that?”

Yilin slowly loosened her hand and said, “Yeah. General is wearing riding boots so it’s not comfortable to climb up the mountain.”

“Of course it’s not comfortable. But with my very high prestige, I have to wear these boots. If I were just an ordinary common person like you people then I can wear those hemp shoes without any shame,” said Linghu Chong. After hearing him trying to save face at all cost, the disciples all laughed again.

By now, a few more groups have arrived at the bottom of the slope while the first person who had gone up have reached the top of the slope

Linghu Chong shouted, “This region has the most thieves, stealing chicken and dogs. They don’t care at all if the weather is cold, they’ll still come out to steal our money. Although you buddhists don’t have too much wealth, be careful. Don’t let them steal your hard earned alms money.”

Yiqing giggled and said, “General is here, those thieves wouldn’t dare to show their faces here.”

Linghu Chong answered back, “Hey, hey, be careful. I see some people at the top lurking around.”

One of the female disciples said, “General, you are talking nonsense. With us around you’re still afraid of a few small time thieves?”

Just as she said this, two female disciple suddenly shouted, “Ai yo!” and rolled down the slope.

Two female disciples hastily went up and held them. From the front, a few of the female disciples shouted, “The thieves used some projectiles. Be careful!” As soon as they said this, another disciple rolled down the slope.

Yihe ordered in a loud voice, “Everyone get down! Be careful of projectiles!”

Everyone quickly crouched down while Linghu Chong scolded out loudly, “Bold thieves, you don’t know that General is here?” Yilin was pulling his arm and worriedly implored, “Quickly get down!”

The disciples in front were shooting their metal bead projectiles from inside their sleeves. But the enemies on the hilltop had concealed themselves behind the rocks again. Not one could be seen. So their projectiles did not find their targets. Dingjing Shi Tai rushed forward when she heard that there was enemy at the top. She was jumping over the disciples’ head to get ahead. When she arrived behind Linghu Chong, she also jumped over his head and kept going forward.

Linghu Chong called out, “This is bad luck! Bad luck!” and spat out some saliva (Translator’s note: It’s bad luck for someone to jump over your head). He saw Dingjing Shi Tai waving her big sleeve around as she charged towards the hilltop. She was met by a rain of the enemy’s projectiles. Some of the projectiles were trapped while some were knocked away flying by her sleeves.

Dingjing Shi Tai jumped a few more times and reached the top of the slope. Before she steadied herself, she felt a strong wind; a copper staff was coming towards her head. Hearing the sound of the staff cutting through the air, she knew that the strike was very heavy so she didn’t dare to parry it. She dodged to the side of the staff, but at the same time saw two spears coming forward. One was aiming high and the other one low making the situation very dangerous. The enemy was holding an advantageous position by blocking the mountain pass with three good fighters. Dingjing Shi Tai shouted, “Shameless!” while pulling out her long sword. Her sword slashed at the two spears and broke them, while the copper staff was swept at her waist. She countered by hitting the top of the staff with her sword to change its direction. Just then, another spear was thrust towards her right shoulder. The female disciples on the slope started to scream in surprise and large crashing sounds were heard. Apparently the enemies on the hilltop were pushing big rocks down the slope. Heng-Shan School’s disciples were crowded in the middle of the pass. They were jumping and crouching to avoid the rocks from hitting them, but soon after some of them was hit and got injured.

Dingjing Shi Tai retreated back two steps and ordered, “Everyone turn back! Go back down the hill and regroup!”

She wielded her sword to prevent the enemy from going down but the enemy still managed to continuously toss more rocks down the slope. Then she heard the sounds of fighting coming from below. Apparently, enemies were also waiting for them at the bottom of the slope to prevent them from retreating.

Someone shouted from below, “Martial uncle, the martial art of the enemies cutting off our escape are strong. We can’t go down.”

Another one shouted, “Two martial sisters are injured.”

Dingjing Shi Tai angrily flew down. She saw two men wielding sabres preventing two disciples at the back from retreating down the hill. Dingjing Shi Tai cried out and attacked using her sword. Suddenly she heard two “hu, hu” sounds; two small hammers connected by a long chain were flying down vertically attacking the front of her body. Dingjing Shi Tai lifted her sword to block one of the meteor hammers while the other one went through and almost hit her head. Dingjing Shi Tai was startled, “Great power.” If they were on flat ground, she wouldn’t have used her sword to block the hammer. She would have instead launched an attack from the side. But the mountain pass was too narrow and there was only two ways to go; which was either up or down. The enemy twirled his meteor hammers quickly and the hammers, looking like two black clouds, came hurtling towards Dingjing Shi Tai. Dingjing Shi Tai was unable to use her clever sword art against him so she retreated step-by-step back towards the hilltop.

From above, she heard the cries of the disciples and saw some of them falling down on the ground after being hit by projectiles. Dingjing Shi Tai calmed herself down and thought to herself that the enemies’ martial art were weaker at the hilltop and should be easier to deal with. So she quickly rushed back up and jumped over some of the disciples and also passed over Linghu Chong’s head.

Linghu Chong called out to her, “Aiyo, what are you doing? Do you think you’re jumping over a chicken here? You’re already so old but still joking around, jumping over my head to go here and there. Do you think I can still gamble after this?”

Dingjing Shi Tai was hurrying trying to break through the enemy’s trap so she didn’t hear those words. But Yilin apologised, “Sorry, my martial uncle didn’t do it on purpose.” Linghu Chong grumbled and complained, “I already said earlier that there were thieves here. But none of you believed me.” But in his heart, he was thinking, “I saw earlier that the Devil Sect people were setting up an ambush on the hilltop, but apparently they also have people at the bottom. Even though Heng-Shan School has many people here, they’re all crowded in the middle of this narrow pass. So they can’t display their skills. The situation is not encouraging at all.”

When Dingjing Shi Tai arrived at the hilltop, she suddenly saw the shadow of a stick moving. A Buddhist steel staff was coming towards her head. The enemies have adjusted so that their better skilled people were now fighting her. Dingjing Shi Tai thought, “Today, if I don’t manage to break through this pass, I’m afraid these disciples will be annihilated.” She leaned to one side and thrust her sword out in an angle. The Buddhist staff missed her body by only a few inches. She then shot forward and plunged her sword towards the monk. In making this move, she disregarded her own life, as it was potentially disastrous to both people. That monk tried hard to protect himself but it was too late. He scoffed lightly as the sword pierced the side of his body. But that monk was extremely brave. Uttering a cry, he broke the long sword in two with his fist. His fist was bloodied as it hit the sword.

Dingjing Shi Tai shouted, “Quickly get up here! Give me a sword!”

Yihe flew up and held her sword horizontally. She shouted, “Martial uncle, sword!” Dingjing Shi Tai turned her body around to take the sword. But a spear was thrust slantingly towards Yihe, while another spear was thrust towards Dingjing Shi Tai. Yihe had to use her sword to ward off the attack which allowed the spear wielding person to close in on her bit by bit. This also forced Yihe to retreat back down the slope. With this happening, Yihe wasn’t able to pass the sword to Dingjing Shi Tai. In the mean time, three people charged onto the hilltop, two with sabres and the other one with a judge’s pen, surrounding Dingjing Shi Tai. Dingjing Shi Tai’s two palms were flitting about using Heng-Shan School’s “Tian Zhang Zhang Fa” (Heaven’s Palm) to ward off the attack from the four people. She was already around sixty years old but her hands were still agile. Unexpectedly, she was holding her own using only her bare hands even though the four masters from the Devil Sect were fighting cooperatively against her.

Yilin was frightened and whispered, “Ai yo! What do I do? What do I do?”

Linghu Chong said with a loud voice, “These small time thieves are too unruly. Make way! Make way! General is going up there to capture these thieves!”

Yilin worriedly said, “You mustn’t go! They’re not small time thieves. All of them have good martial art. If you go up there then they’ll kill you.”

Linghu Chong puffed up his chest and shouted boldly, “Under a sunny day… ” He then raised his head up to the sky; it was almost daybreak, but it wasn’t a “sunny day”. But he didn’t care and continued, “These small time thieves are cutting off the road and plundering people. Bullying women. Hng, hng, aren’t they afraid of the law?”

“We’re not ordinary women. Enemies are also not small time thieves cutting off the road and plundering people,” said Yilin.

Linghu Chong took a big step going up the slope. He squeezed through the female disciples to go up. The female disciples were staying close to the side of the cliff face and allowed him to go up.

When Linghu Chong reached the hilltop, he extended his hand to pull out his Yaodao sabre. As a fraction of the sabre was pulled out, he suddenly stopped and pretended that he couldn’t pull the sabre out anymore. He scolded, “Your granny, this sabre is looking for trouble. When an important matter comes up, it suddenly becomes rusted. How can General capture thieves with a rusted sabre?”

Yihe was fighting for her life against one of the Devil Sect’s people on the hilltop when she heard Linghu Chong behind her talking nonsense about his sword rusting and why he couldn’t pull out his sword. She was angry but also found it funny. She shouted, “Quick! Go away! It’s dangerous up here.” As she called out, she lost her concentration slightly and her defense wasn’t as tight. With a fierce sound, a spear was thrust forward and nearly hit her shoulder. Yihe retreated half a step while that person thrust his spear again.

Linghu Chong shouted, “That’s wrong, that’s wrong! Bold thieves, don’t you see General standing right here?” In a flash, he slanted his body and was in front of Yihe. The spear wielding man was startled. As the sky was gradually becoming brighter, he was able to see his clothes were like those that government officials wear. Just at that moment, even though his spear was pointing at the officer’s chest, he didn’t thrust it forward. He shouted, “Who are you? Before this, someone was calling out from the bottom of the hill. Was it you, government dog?”

Linghu Chong rebuked, “Your granny, are you calling me a government dog? You’re a thief dog! You’re here cutting off the road and plundering. And even though General is here, you still haven’t run away. You’re the real outlaw! After General has captured you, I’m going to send you to the local authority. With fifty planks each, you all are going to be beaten until your bottom is swollen and you are calling out for your mommy!” The spear-wielding man didn’t want to kill a government official. But he was greatly annoyed and shouted, “Scram you rotten egg! If you talk nonsense again, I’ll poke three holes through your government dog’s body!”

Linghu Chong saw Dingjing Shi Tai had not been defeated yet and the Devil Sect people had stopped shooting projectiles and throwing rocks down the slope. He shouted, “Bold thieves, quickly kneel down and kowtow. If General sees your eighty years old mother in your home, then maybe I’ll go easy on you. If not, hng, hng, I’ll chop everyone’s head off… …”

When Heng-Shan School’s disciples heard this, they all scowled and shook their heads. They all had the same thought, “This person is crazy.” Yihe walked up a step with her sword up. If the enemy thrust his spear towards the General, then it’s going to be easier for her to block it. Linghu Chong used his strength to pull out his sabre again and then scolded, “Your granny, just before battle, my precious sabre from my ancestor has suddenly become rusted. Hng, if only my precious sabre were not rusted, all of your small time thieves’ heads would’ve been chopped off.”

That man wielding the spear laughed loudly and shouted, “Go back to your mum!” He then swept his spear towards Linghu Chong’s waist. Linghu Chong was hit and pushed down but at the same time he pulled out his sheath. He shouted, “Ai yo!” and pushed his body forward. Yihe shouted, “Be careful!” As Linghu Chong was falling down, he held his sheathed sabre out and used the point of his sheath to hit the spear wielding man’s side of the small of the back.

That man dropped to the ground wordlessly. With a slapping sound, Linghu Chong also fell to the ground. Then as he struggled to get up, he shouted, “Ah ha! You also fell down. We’ve both fallen down. I’m not going to concede defeat. Come on, we fight again!” Yihe grabbed that man and threw him behind. She was thinking that now she had captured an enemy, things would become easier. Another three Devil Sect people came over to save that person. Linghu Chong called out, “Ah Ha, this is disastrous, these small time thieves are really going to refuse being captured.”

Linghu Chong raised his sheathed sabre to the west and his finger on the other hand was pointed to the east. It was completely unmethodical. Dugu Nine Swords didn’t have any set moves so when it was used, it can be either graceful or clumsy and awkward, but strangely still maintaining the same power. This was because Dugu Nine Swords concentrated on the sword intention not set moves.

He was now thrusting his sword towards an enemy’s various accupoints without any great force. During a fight, it would be difficult to accurately hit people’s accupoints. But a refined sword art with vigorous internal energy attached to the strike, even if it wasn’t that accurate, might still perhaps hit the side of the accupoints. So considering this, the enemy in front of him continuously protected himself following Linghu Chong’s sheathed sabre wherever it went.

At the same time, Linghu Chong was staggering, looking like he was about to fall down, and waving his sheathed sabre about. When suddenly, the point of the scabbard hit that enemy’s stomach. That person gasped and went limp. Linghu Chong yelled, “Ah Ha!” and jumped back a step. At the same time, his sword handle hit the back of another enemy’s shoulder. That person immediately fell down and swayed back and forth on the ground. Linghu Chong continued to step back and tripped on that person’s body. He scolded him, “Your granny!” and kicked his body away.

Then his sword handle inadvertently hit a Devil Sect person wielding a sabre. This person was one of the three masters besieging Dingjing Shi Tai. The back of his body was hit and he dropped his sword. Dingjing Shi Tai took this opportunity to hit his chest making that person sprout blood from his mouth and life fled from his body.

Linghu Chong called out, “Careful, careful!” While he retreated a few steps and was about to bump into the back of the person holding the judge’s pen. That person quickly sent his pen back to protect himself. Linghu Chong staggered and dashed forward while waving his scabbard around. Soon, more Devil Sect people were hit and fell down.

That person wielding the judge’s pen was greatly annoyed and rushed at Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong yelled, “Mommy!” as he pulled up and ran away with that person pursuing him. Linghu Chong suddenly stopped and bent his waist forward; while at the same time poked his sword handle through his armpit. That person never expected him to be able to run so fast and suddenly stopped motionless in an instant. Although his martial art was already high, he was still inferior. He quickly applied a downward force to stop, but his chest was still hit by Linghu Chong’s extended sword handle. That person’s face showed an extremely odd expression. He couldn’t believe what just happened. But his body had slowly started to fall down.

Linghu Chong turned around and saw the fighting on the hilltop had ceased. A few of the Heng-Shan School’s disciples had already gone up the slope. Both the orthodox and Devil Sect people were now facing each other while the remaining disciples were quickly rushing up the slope. He shouted, “Hey, small time thieves, you’ve seen General here. Quickly kneel down and surrender. Really strange!” He then started to dance his sheathed sabre around, cried out and charged towards the cluster of Devil Sect people. The Devil Sect people quickly sent out their swords and spears.

Heng-Shan School disciples were about to go forward and help when they heard Linghu Chong shouted, “Skillful! Skillful! Very fierce thieves!” and he came out from the cluster of Devil Sect people. His steps were heavy and he was dragging his feet through the mud as he ran. He missed a step and fell down. His scabbard shot up and hit his own forehead making him dizzy. But he had already managed to hit five people as he entered and exited the cluster of Devil Sect people. Both groups were dumbfounded looking at him.

Both Yihe and Yiqing rushed forward and asked, “General, are you alright?”

Both of Linghu Chong’s eyes were closed. He didn’t answer them pretending to have passed out. The leader of the Devil Sect group saw that one person had died and this lunatic general had hit eleven of his people. Just now, when the General charged at his party, he made his moves one after another to grab the General. But all of his moves ended up with him in danger of being hit by the scabbard. Although the scabbard was not attacking any accupoints, it was coming in swift and fierce with its weird positioning. He didn’t know this person’s background but sensed that his martial art was high and its true depth couldn’t be measured.

He then saw the people who had been hit; the Heng-Shan School had now captured five of them. Today, everything had gone pear-shaped. He shouted with a clear voice, “Dingjing Shi Tai, do you want the antidotes for your disciples who got hit by the projectiles?”

Dingjing Shi Tai already saw that those disciples who got hit by the projectiles fell into a coma and couldn’t be woken up. The injuries made by the projectiles were also leaking black blood. She knew that the projectiles were poisoned. When she heard his words, she already had a clear idea of what to do. She shouted, “Give us the antidotes in exchange for your people!” That person nodded his head and muttered something under his breath. One of the Devil Sect people took out a porcelain bottle and stood in front of Dingjing Shi Tai and bowed slightly. Dingjing Shi Tai took the bottle and fiercely said, “If the antidote is effective then I’ll release them myself.”

That old person said, “Alright. Heng-Shan’s DingJing Shi Tai, I’m not the kind of person who eats his own words.” He waved his hand and the Devil Sect people went down the west slope taking their injured and dead people with them. A short time later, all of them had left the hilltop leaving their five captured comrades.

After a long time, LingHu Chong woke up and called out, “Ouch, hurts so much!” as he rubbed his swollen forehead. Then with a surprised tone, he asked, “Where did all those thieves go?” YiHe giggled and said, “General, you’re really strange. Just then, it was lucky that you somehow hit a number of them when you charged at their group. The leader of those small-time thieves was truly frightened by you.”

LingHu Chong laughed loudly and said, “Wonderful, wonderful! Big general has such a big reputation. When I ride out to confront these small-time thieves of course it’s a different matter altogether. They would certainly run away with their tails between their legs. Ai yo…” Then he rubbed his swollen forehead again with his face showing a painful expression.

“General, have you been injured? We have some medicine,” said Yiqing.

LingHu Chong answered proudly, “No, no, I’m not injured! When a gentleman dies in the battlefield (“Ma Ge Li Shi”*), it’s a common thing…”

YiHe pursed her lips smiling and said, “I’m afraid it’s “Ma Ge Guo Shi”*, how can it be “Ma Ge Li Shi”*?”

YiQing gave her a stern look and said, “You always love to find other people’s fault, what’s the point of pointing out his fault?”

LingHu Chong said, “We people from the north learns “Ma Ge Li Shi”*, you southern people must have learnt it differently.”

YiHe turned her head and said, “But we’re also from the north.”

(*Translator’s note: “Ma Ge Guo Shi” is a phrase that means “to die in the battlefield”. When this is translated literally, it means “corpse wrapped in horse’s skin”. But what Linghu Chong said “Ma Ge Li Shi” has no meaning. He deliberately replaced the word “Guo” with “Li”.)

Master DingJing went to the injured disciples and gave them the antidote for the poison. When she reached LingHu Chong, she bowed to him and said, “I am Heng-Shan’s old nun DingJing. May I ask for young hero’s name?”

Linghu Chong’s heart shivered in fear, “This Heng-Shan School senior really has good eyesight. She knows that I’m still young and also that I’m actually a brave general.”

He immediately bowed and clasped his fist respectfully returning the bow. He said, “As Shi Tai requested, my surname is Wu. My name is Tiande. Tian from “Tian En Hao Dang” (enormous graciousness). De from “Dao De Wen Zhang” (Morality). I’m going to Quanzhou government office to take up office.”

(Translator’s note: He’s telling Dingjing Shi Tai which characters his name “Tiande” use.)

Dingjing Shi Tai already expected that he wouldn’t reveal his real identity and he might not necessarily be a real general. She said, “Today, my Heng-Shan School has met difficulty and General has helped us. I don’t know how to repay your virtue and kindness. General’s martial art is very deep. Although poor nun has taken a look at it, I still don’t know which school General comes from. Really admirable.”

Linghu Chong laughed loudly and said, “Old Shi Tai flatters me. But to be honest, my martial art has a few foundations. On the top “Snow falling from the sky”, at the bottom “Ancient tree root”, in the middle “Black tiger stealing heart”….. Ai yo, ai yo.” As he was talking, his hands and feet were moving about showing off the martial art moves. It looked like that he had used too much force in his demonstration and had strained himself. He rubbed his aching joints while his eyes stole a look towards Yilin.

She was startled and for a moment it looked as if she had something to say. He thought, “My martial sister has a really good conscience. I wonder how she will react if she knew I am the general.”

Naturally, Dingjing Shi Tai was aware that he was pretending. She smiled and said, “General doesn’t want to reveal himself since he’s an honorable man. Poor nun can only burn the incense stick from morning till dusk to pray for General’s good fortune and health. Best wishes to General.”

Linghu Chong said, “Thank you very much, thank you very much. Please pray to Buddha for my promotion and wealth. Little general will also pray for the safety of old Shi Tai and all the little Shi Tai on your journey, for bad luck to turn into good, and for all matters to go smoothly. HaHa! HaHa!” As he was laughing loudly, he bowed deeply to Dingjing Shi Tai and swaggered away.

He had been in the Five Mountains Sword Alliance for a long time, so even though he was pretending to be crazy, he still didn’t dare to be inappropriate towards this senior from Heng-Shan School. The school disciples were now looking at him stumbling towards the south slope. As he disappeared, they quickly surrounded Dingjing Shi Tai and started to barrage her with questions: “Martial uncle, what’s his background?” “Is he really insane or is he just pretending?” “Is his martial art very high, or was he merely lucky and mistakenly hit the enemies here and there?” “He doesn’t resemble a general. He still looks young, am I right?”

Dingjing Shi Tai sighed and turned her head to look at the disciples injured by the projectiles. After the medicine was applied to their wounds, the black blood had turned red and their pulses strengthened. They were no longer in danger. She then gave Heng-Shan School’s unique medicine to each of the disciples to administer it to their own injuries. After that she released the acupoints of the five captured Devil Sect people and told them to leave.

She then ordered the disciples, “Everyone go under that tree to rest”, while she went alone and sat on a big stone. She closed her eyes and pondered, “When this person charged at the Devil Sect group, the leader of the group fought with him. But he still managed to hit five of their people. He wasn’t using a martial art that aimed at the acupoints. He was using some martial art style but I didn’t expect that there was not even a slight demonstration of his school’s martial art. In Wulin, there must be such a young person who’s that skilful. But whose disciple is he? This person was a friend and not an enemy. This is really Heng-Shan School’s big fortune.”

At mid-morning, she ordered the disciples to fetch a brush, an ink stone, and a thin silk to write a letter. She ordered, “Yizhi, bring the pigeon here.” Yizhi answered and took a pigeon out of the bamboo cage she was carrying. In the mean time, Dingjing Shi Tai rolled up the thin silk letter into a thin strip and put it in a slender bamboo tube. She put the cover on and sealed it with melted wax. Then using an iron wire, she put the bamboo tube on the pigeon’s left feet. After a silent prayer, she released the pigeon. The pigeon flew north, gradually going higher and further. Not long after, it was only a black dot in the sky.

After Dingjing Shi Tai released the pigeon, everyone became quiet, completely different from before when they were vigorously fighting the enemies. Dingjing Shi Tai raised her head to look up. She saw the black dot entering a white cloud and disappeared, but she continued to look into the distance. All the disciples didn’t dare to make any sound. At the recent battle, although that clown general was jesting around and acting comical, the situation in actuality was really dangerous. It can be said that everyone had now escaped death. After standing there for a long time, Dingjing Shi Tai turned around and beckoned forward a fifteen or sixteen years old girl. The girl immediately went and stood in front of her.

She quietly called out, “Master!”

Dingjing Shi Tai lightly brushed the girl’s hair to comfort her and said, “Juan’er, were you scared before?”

The young girl nodded and said, “I was scared! Lucky that General was brave and fought those bad people off.”

Dingjing Shi Tai smiled and said, “This General wasn’t really brave but his martial was really good.”

“Master, is his martial art really that high? I saw his moves were erratic and he was really careless. He even hit his head with his own scabbard. Also he was saying something like his saber was rusting and couldn’t pull it out of the scabbard?” said that girl unbelieving.

This young lady Qin Juan was Dingjing Shi Tai’s disciple. She was clever and bright, and she was really loved by her master. Between the Heng-Shan School disciples, sixty percent of the disciples were nuns, while the rest were secular disciples. Some of these disciples were middle aged and there were also fifty to sixty year old grannies. Qin Juan was the youngest disciple in the Heng-Shan School.

The other disciples heard Dingjing Shi Tai conversing with martial sister Qin Juan so they slowly gathered around. Yihe interposed herself and said, “What do you mean that his moves were erratic? He was just pretending and was actually concealing his excellent martial art. That is called smart! Martial uncle, what do you think of this General’s background? Which house or school is he from?”

Dingjing Shi Tai slowly shook her head and said, “This person’s martial art might be “immeasurably deep”. I don’t know how else to describe him except with these two words.”

Qin Juan asked, “Master, was that letter for martial uncle? Do you think it will get there soon?”

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “When the pigeon gets to Suzhou’s Baiyi Temple, they will exchange it with another pigeon. At Ji’nan Miaoxiang Temple, they will change to another pigeon. Again at the mouth of the old river at Qingjing Temple, they will use another pigeon. The letter will arrive in Hengshan after the use of these four pigeons.”

Yihe said, “Fortunately we didn’t lose anyone. I believe those several martial sisters who got hit by the projectiles won’t be a big hindrance after two days. While those who got hit by the rocks, we also don’t have to worry about them losing their lives.”

Dingjing Shi Tai was lost in her own thoughts so she didn’t hear what Yihe just said. She was thinking, “Currently, Heng-Shan School’s position and movement in the south is a secret. We’ve been sleeping during the day and travelling at night. How did the Devil Sect people find out and managed to setup an ambush here?” She then turned her head towards the disciples and said, “The enemies have disappeared and wouldn’t dare to come back right now. Everyone is now very tired so we’ll eat some provisions here and then sleep for a while under that tree’s shade.” Everyone complied with her order. Some people erected an iron trivet to boil some water for brewing tea. After eating their meal, they slept for a few hours till around noon.

Dingjing Shi Tai looked at the weary expressions of the injured disciples. She said, “The enemies have discovered our movements so there’s no need for us to travel at night anymore. Those injured must also recuperate. Tonight, we’ll rest at an Inn in Nianbapu.”

They went down the hill and, after several hours, reached Nianbapu. It was an important location for transportation between Zhejiang and Fujian province for people travelling through the Xianxia mountain range. As they neared the small town, the sky had not darkened yet. Unexpectedly, there was not a single person inside the small town.

Yihe said, “Fujian’s custom is really weird. It’s still so early but everyone went to sleep already.”

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “Let’s go further to get lodgings for the night.”

Even though Heng-Shan School has contact with every temple in Wulin, there was no temple to stay in at Nianbapu so they had to find an inn to spend the night. It was inconvenient that normal people had a taboo against nuns and frequently caused trouble because they believe that seeing nuns brought them bad luck. It was good that the nuns were accustomed to receiving this kind of treatment and never held a grudge. But now they saw all the stores on the street were closed and boarded up. Nianbapu was neither big nor small, but it had around two hundred stores and inns. But as they looked around, the town resembled a ghost town. The setting sun was still providing some light but Nianbapu’s streets were deserted as if it were in the middle of the night.

The disciples were on the street looking around when they noticed a white cloth hanging on a pole in front of an inn. The words “Xian An Inn” were written in big letters on the cloth. The inn’s big door was shut and there was no sound at all on the street. One of the disciples named Zheng E knocked on the door. Zheng E was a secular disciple. She had a round face and was always carrying a smile. She was good at talking and very likeable. Whenever the nuns had to deal with people on the road, Zheng E was always the one to do it. This was to prevent other people from seeing nuns and becoming agitated. Zheng E knocked on the door a few times, stopped a while and then knocked a few more times. After waiting for a long time, no one answered the door. Zheng E called out, “Uncle, please open the door.” Her voice was clear and carried far, just like people who have practised martial art. Even people several courtyards away would be able to hear it. But there was no answer from inside the inn. The situation was clearly very strange. Yihe went forward and put her ear on the door. No sound could be heard from the inside. She turned her head and said, “Martial uncle, there’s no one inside.”

Dingjing Shi Tai secretly felt something wasn’t right. She saw the sign for the inn was still new. The door’s board had also been washed clean recently. It didn’t look like a place that had gone out of business at all. She said, “We’ll keep going and take a look around. This town must have more than one inn.”

They kept walking forward and passed several more shops before they saw another inn named “Nan An Inn”. Zheng E went to knock on the door again but the result was still the same. No one answered.

Zheng E said, “Sister Yihe, let’s go in and take a look.”

“Ok,” answered Yihe and they both jumped the wall to go in.

“Anyone here?” asked Zheng E.

When no one answered, they pulled their swords out and walked into the main hall of the inn. They took a look around the kitchen, the barn and every room in the inn. But they still didn’t see anyone. But they observed that there was no dust on the table or the chairs. Also, the teapot on top of a table was still warm. Zheng E opened the main door to let Dingjing Shi Tai enter and to report the situation. Everyone thought that the situation was really strange.

Dingjing Shi Tai commanded, “Get seven people into a group. Go around the town and ask what’s going on. Don’t go too far, if you see signs of enemies then whistle out.”

They acknowledged her order and quickly went out the door. Only Dingjing Shi Tai remained inside the main hall. Before long, the sounds of the disciples’ footsteps have disappeared and no more sound was heard. The stillness of this Nianbapu town made the hair at the back of Dingjing Shi Tai’s neck to stand up. The town was so big but not a sound was heard. There was not even a small sound of birds chirping or dogs barking. This was really strange.

Dingjing Shi Tai suddenly felt uneasy. “Could it be that this is the Devil Sect’s trap? The female disciples don’t have much experience travelling the Jianghu. They might be deceived and can easily fall into a trap.” She walked to the door and saw shadows moving in the northeast. From the west, she also saw some people moving into other people’s houses. They were all Heng-Shan School’s disciples. She felt slightly relieved after seeing them. After some time, the disciples started to return. They all reported the same thing: there was no one in the town.

“Not just people, we also couldn’t see any animals around,” added Yihe.

Yiqing said, “I think they haven’t been gone for too long. There were opened chests and baskets inside the houses. They seemed to have taken all the money.”

Dingjing Shi Tai nodded and asked, “What do you think is going on?”

Yihe answered, “I’m guessing that the Devil Sect people have chased out all the townspeople just recently to launch an attack.”

“Correct! This time the Devil Sect wants to fight us again. That’s very good, are you all scared?” said Dingjing Shi Tai.

“Eradicating evil is our inherent responsibilities as Buddhists,” the disciples answered together.

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “We’ll rest at this inn. We’ll take our meals first. Be careful and see if the water, rice, or vegetables have been poisoned.”

Heng-Shan School people did not speak while taking their meals. They were on alert and tried to listen for any sound from the outside. The first disciple to finish eating went out to relieve the disciple guarding outside. Yiqing suddenly thought of something and said, “Martial uncle, why don’t we go out to some of the houses and light up the lamps in there. The Devil Sect people won’t know our whereabouts.”

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “This idea is very good. You seven people go and light up the lamps.”

Not long after, Dingjing Shi Tai also went out the main door. She looked towards the west and lights were showing through the windows of many houses. After some time, lights came on from the houses in the east. The street lit up with lights from the windows. But there was still no sound to be heard. Dingjing Shi Tai raised her head and looked at the moon. She prayed, “Buddha, bless and protect us. Let my Heng-Shan School disciples escape from harm this time. If disciple Dingjing can go back to Heng-Shan, then I will light up an incense and won’t use my sword ever again.”

In her former years, she had roamed Jianghu and had many imposing achievements under her belt. But after last night’s battle on Xianxia mountain range, she had lingering fear on her mind for the disciples under her command. If she were by herself, even if the situation had been ten times more dangerous, she would not even worry about it. She prayed again, “Goddess of Mercy, Guan Yin, if Heng-Shan School people must receive injuries, let disciple Dingjing alone received that disaster for retribution for killing people. Let disciple alone bear this.”

Suddenly, she heard a female’s voice shouting from the northeast. “Help, help!” The shrill voice sounded sorrowful. Dingjing Shi Tai was alarmed. The voice did not sound like any of her school’s disciples. She squinted her eyes looking towards the northeast and did not see any movement. She then saw Yiqing and six disciples went towards the northeast. She waited where she was watching what was going on. After a long time, Yiqing and her group still had not came back.

Yihe said, “Martial uncle, disciple and six disciple sisters will go to take a look.”

Dingjing Shi Tai nodded her head. Yihe quickly led six disciples and went away to investigate. Suddenly, the flashing of a sword appeared briefly and the same female’s voice was heard shrieking. “Someone’s murdered! Help, help!” Heng-Shan School disciples crowded together to have a look. They did not know what was going on there. The voice originated from where Yiqing and Yihe’s two groups had gone before. Seemed like they had met the enemies but there was no sound of fighting. They then heard that female’s voice shrilly shouting again, “Help!” Everyone looked at Dingjing Shi Tai waiting for her to command them to go and help.

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “Yu Sao, take six disciple sisters to check that area. No matter what you see, you must immediately come back.”

Yu Sao was a forty years old middle-aged woman. She was originally Dingxian Shi Tai’s servant from Hengshan’s Baiyun Temple. Later, Dingxian Shi Tai saw that she was capable and accepted her as a disciple. This trip with Dingjing Shi Tai was her first experience in Jianghu. Yu Sao bowed to comply with Dingjing Shi Tai’s order. Then she took six disciple sisters to go towards the northeast.

But none of these seven people came back either. Dingjing Shi Tai became more frightened suspecting that the disciples had fallen into the enemy’s trap; enticed by the enemy and captured one by one. They waited for a while longer but there was not the slightest bit of movement and there were no more calls for help either.

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “Yizhi, Yizhen, wait here and tend to the injured sisters. No matter what happens, you mustn’t leave the inn so as to prevent the enemy from luring you out.”

Yizhi and Yizhen bowed acknowledging the order. Dingjing Shi Tai said to the three young disciples Zheng E, Yilin and Qin Juan, “You three come with me,” while pulling out her long sword and starting out to the northeast. When they got nearer, they saw a big house where the lamps have been extinguished. The area was dark and no sound was heard.

Dingjing Shi Tai fiercely shouted, “Devil Sect witch, come out and fight. What kind of heroic deeds is it ambushing people like this?”

After waiting for a while, they still did not hear anyone answering from inside the house. So Dingjing Shi Tai flew and kicked the main door of the big house. The door latch broke and the door banged opened. It was dark inside the house and Dingjing Shi Tai could not tell if there was anyone in there so she didn’t dare to rashly charge in.

She inquired, “Yihe, Yiqing, Yu Sao, do you hear my voice?” Her voice was loud and it travelled far. She then heard her echo from somewhere far. Once the echo died out, the place was completely quiet again. Dingjing Shi Tai turned her head around and said, “The three of you follow behind me closely.” She brandished her sword as she went around the outside of the house but didn’t find anything unusual. So she jumped on top of the house and squinted her eyes to look around the four directions.

There was no wind at all and the tree branches were still. The cold moon’s light shone on the tiles. The scenery was just like that in Hengshan when she was strolling beneath the moon. But in Hengshan, there was a feeling of tranquillity while in this place, there was a feeling of surreptitiousness and murderous air. Dingjing Shi Tai was using her whole body to sense her surrounding but she hadn’t been able to sense the enemy so far. She was really at a loss. She was feeling anxious and regretted, “I already knew that the Devil Sect demons would have many deceptions. I shouldn’t have sent them in turns…” Suddenly, she shivered in fear and clapped her hands while going down the house. She quickly used her qinggong to run back towards the Nan An Inn. She called out, “Yizhi, Yizhen, have you seen anything?” No one answered from inside the inn.

She rushed in with cold sweat drenching her body but there was no one inside the inn. The couch that the injured disciples were sleeping on had also disappeared. At this point, Dingjing Shi Tai thought carefully but she had run out of idea. The shadow casted by her sword point was quivering as reflected lights from her sword flickered around the room. Her hand holding the sword was shaking. Her female disciples had suddenly disappeared without making any noise. How did this all happen? What’s there to do? After a moment, she felt her lips dried, her tongue parched, and her whole body drained of energy. She felt paralyzed.

But this weakness was only momentary, as she took a deep breath and gathered her qi in the Dantian region. With her vigor immediately restored, she quickly went from room to room. She found nothing unusual in those rooms. She called out, “E’er, Juan’er, come in here.” But in the midst of the night, she could only hear her own voice. There was no sound from Zheng E, Qin Juan and Yilin. Dingjing Shi Tai muttered, “Not good!” and quickly rushed out. Once she was outside, she shouted, “Zheng E, Qin Juan, Yilin, where are you?”

Outside, the pale moon was shining down and there was no trace of the three disciples. Dingjing Shi Tai wasn’t frightened by this turn of event but turned angry instead. She jumped up the roof and shouted, “Devil Sect demons, what type of cheap tactic is this? What kind of win is this, ambushing people?” She cried out repeatedly. But all the area around her was very quiet and not a single sound was heard. As she was continuously calling out, it seemed that she was the only remaining person inside the Nianbapu town. There was nothing she could do. Suddenly, she shouted with a clear voice, “Devil Sect demons, listen to me. You still don’t want to appear? So, Dongfang Bubai’s disciples are shameless and gutless. You don’t dare to face me and my school’s people. What Dongfang Bubai? It’s merely Dongfang Bibai. Dongfang Bibai, do you dare to come out and meet this old nun? Dongfang Bibai, Dongfang Bibai, I think you’re afraid!”

She knew that when any Devil Sect people heard someone insulting their Chief’s reputation then they would have to come out and risk their lives in defending it. This was a big matter for them. Sure enough, after she called out a few “Dongfang Bibai”, seven people rushed out from inside a house. They quietly jumped on the roof and surrounded her. Dingjing Shi Tai felt happy now that the enemies had appeared. She thought, “Finally, you demons have come out after being scolded by me. Wanting to cut me up and cut my corpse in two. This is better than not seeing their shadows at all.” But these seven people just stood there without saying anything.

Dingjing Shi Tai angrily asked, “Where’s my disciples? Where have you taken them?” Her enemies stayed quiet and didn’t answer her. Dingjing Shi Tai saw the two people guarding at the west were around fifty years old. Their faces were stiff like that of corpses and there was no sign of anger on their faces.

She sighed heavily and shouted, “Ok, watch out for my sword!”

She thrust her sword towards a person standing at the northwest. She knew that she was surrounded and that this thrust may not find its mark so she used this thrust as a false move. That person just stood still waiting for the sword as he knew it was only a false move. Dingjing Shi Tai was planning to take her sword back but when she saw him not paying attention to her, instead of taking her sword back in mid stroke, she put power into her right hand and pushed the sword forward. But the two people besides her target moved quickly and separately aimed their palms towards her left and right shoulders. Dingjing Shi Tai leaned to one side, jumped into the air, turned around and thrust her sword towards the tall person at the east side. The tall man slid back half a step and with a ringing sound, the sword hit a heavy iron tablet. He then lifted the iron tablet and struck at the top of her sword. Dingjing Shi Tai sneered, circled her sword and thrust it towards an old man on the left. The old man extended his left hand along the sword’s path to try and grab it. In the moonlight, it looked like that he was wearing a black glove. Dingjing Shi Tai guessed that the glove’s material might be impervious to the sword thrust. That seemed like the only reason why he was brave enough to use just his hands to grab a long sword.

She fought one enemy after another. Dingjing Shi Tai had now fought with five of the seven enemies. She felt that these five enemies were not that good. If she were only fighting with one or even two of them, she would not be afraid at all and would most probably win. But against these seven people, when she attacked any little crack in one person’s defense, it was immediately covered by the next person. Then they would immediately counter-attack and turned the situation dangerously against her. After some more fighting, she thought in alarm, “Who are these capable people from the Devil Sect? I know most of their well-known people. Their martial arts and the weapons they used are also known by the Five Mountains Sword Alliance. So what’s the background of these seven people, I really can’t tell where they come from. I didn’t anticipate that Devil Sect’s power would grow so large in these past few years. They unexpectedly have many masters working for them.”

She had fought around sixty to seventy moves but she was unable to keep up any further. She was now breathing heavily when from the corner of her eyes she saw more than ten shadows on the roof. Clearly, these people had been hiding there for a long time and only now appeared suddenly. She gloomily muttered, “It’s finished, it’s finished! I can’t even handle these seven people. Now there are more enemies watching from the sides. Dingjing, it would be hard to escape from your death today. You would suffer a big insult if you fall into the enemies’ hand. It would be better if you had killed yourself earlier. This stinky sack of leather is only my temporary residence. But when it’s destroyed, I would still have some regrets. This time I had taken along many disciples and delivered them to their deaths. Old nun Dingjing is ashamed to face Heng-Shan School’s ancestors.”

She thrust three times “Shua, shua, shua” forcing the enemies to take two steps back. She suddenly reversed the long sword and pierced it towards her own heart.

As her sword was about to reach her chest, a “dang” sound was heard, her hand shook and the tip of her long sword was knocked away from her chest. A man was besides her with a sword in his hand. He exclaimed, “Dingjing Shi Tai, don’t be short-sighted. Friends from Songshan School are here!” He was the one who knocked her long sword away. She then heard the sounds of swords clashing. More than ten men had one by one jumped out from their hiding spots to fight with those seven Devil Sect people.

Having escaped from death, Dingjing Shi Tai felt revitalised. She immediately went to join the battle again. But she saw that the Songshan School people were now fighting two against one and the seven Devil Sect people were at a disadvantage. Those seven people saw that sheer number was overwhelming them. They whistled and started to retreat towards the south. Dingjing Shi Tai chased them holding her sword. She suddenly heard the sound of wind coming towards her and recognized that many small projectiles had been released. Dingjing Shi Tai lifted her sword and concentrated on deflecting each of the projectiles aimed at her. In the middle of the night, there was only a glimmer of light from the moon and stars. Her long sword danced around and a “ding, ding” sound was heard continuously as her sword deflected all the projectiles. As she was hindered by the projectiles, those seven Devil Sect people had managed to escape far. She heard the person behind her said, “Heng-Shan School’s “Ten-thousand Blossoms Sword Art” is exquisite and peerless. Today our eyes have been widened.”

Dingjing Shi Tai sheathed her long sword and slowly turned around. In a short moment, everything had become still and quiet. When she was fighting just then, she was a vigorous wulin martial artist. But now that the fight is over, she had turned into an amiable and benevolent old nun. She joined her two hands greeting the Songshan School people and said, “Older martial brother Zhong, thank you very much for breaking the encirclement.”

She now recognised the middle-aged man as Songshan School leader Zuo’s younger martial brother. His name was Zhong Zhen and his nickname was “Nine Bent Sword”. This nickname was not because he really used a bent sword but it was because his sword art fluctuates irregularly and was unpredictable. Dingjing Shi Tai had met him before at a meeting of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance at Taishan Mountain monastery. From the remaining Songshan School people, she knew three or four of them.

Zhong Zhen cupped his hand returning the courtesy. He smiled and said, “Dingjing Shi Tai, you fought with seven people by yourself. These seven people are Devil Sect’s “Seven Star Emissaries”. Your sword art is really high. I admire you.” Dingjing Shi Tai pondered, “So, these seven chaps are called ‘Seven Star Emissaries’.” She didn’t want to appear unknowledgeable so she didn’t ask anymore. She thought she could inquire about those people some other day. It was already good enough now for her to know their names.

One by one, the rest of the Songshan School people went up to greet her. Two of them were Zhong Zhen’s younger martial brothers, while the rest were disciples a generation lower than them. Dingjing Shi Tai was still returning the greetings when she said, “I’m really ashamed. My Heng-Shan School has arrived in Fujian with several tens of disciples. But they’ve suddenly gone missing in this town. Martial brother Zhong, how long have you arrived at Nianbapu town? Do you have any clues for old nun to investigate?”

She believed that Songshan School people had been hiding here for a long time but they wanted to wait for her to get exhausted first before they come out and help. It was obvious that they wanted to shame her and at the same time show their power. She wasn’t pleased at all. But many of her disciples had gone missing and it was a matter of grave importance. So she had no choice but to ask them about it. She felt this was her own problem to handle so she didn’t want to ask these people for help. She already felt it was wrong to ask Zhong Zhen for information.

Zhong Zhen said, “Devil Sect witches are very crafty. They knew that Shi Tai’s martial art is very outstanding and that it would be very hard for them to win. So they secretly captured all the disciples first. Shi Tai doesn’t have to worry. Although Devil Sect is daring, they wouldn’t harm martial sisters. Let’s go down and discuss carefully on how we’re going to save them.”

After he finished saying this, he extended his left hand inviting her to go down. She nodded her head and jumped down. Zhong Zhen followed her and also jumped down. He then went to the west while saying, “I’ll lead the way.” After walking for a hundred feet, he turned north. They arrived in front of Xian An Inn and he pushed the main door open.

“Shi Tai, we’ll discuss the matter in here,” said Zhong Zhen.

The other two martial brothers were “Divine Whip” Deng Bagong and “Bright Hair Lion” Gao Kexin. The three of them led Dingjing Shi Tai to a big room upstairs. After the lamps were lighted, they took their seats while the other disciples offered them tea and then retreated out of the room. Gao Kexin went to the door and closed it.

Zhong Zhen said, “We’ve long admired Shi Tai’s sword art, Heng-Shan School’s number one…. ”

Dingjing Shi Tai shook her head and said, “Wrong, my sword art isn’t as good as my martial sister. It’s also inferior to martial sister Dingyi.”

Zhong Zhen smiled and said, “Shi Tai, don’t be too modest. We martial brothers have long admired heroine and been wanting to see Shi Tai’s clever sword art. That’s why we were late in helping. We don’t have any bad intention. I sincerely apologise. Shi Tai please don’t blame us.”

Dingjing Shi Tai felt a bit calmer and saw the three of them stood up and cupped their fists. She also stood up to return the gesture and said, “Well said.”

Zhong Zhen waited for her to sit down before saying, “When our schools formed the Five Mountain Sword alliance, we considered ourselves to be of the same branch and share all weal and woes together. It’s just that in the last few years, we’ve had little time to meet together and we also haven’t collaborated on any matters. This has caused the Devil Sect to grow stronger and become more arrogant.”

Dingjing Shi Tai uttered a “Hmph” thinking, “What is he doing saying all these idle talk?”

Zhong Zhen said again, “Everyday, older brother Zuo says: Together, we are strong. Divided, we are weak. If the Five Mountain Sword Alliance can join together and become one, then the Devil Sect wouldn’t antagonise us. Even the big school of Shaolin and Wudang who have been enjoying their big reputation for a long time wouldn’t be able to compare to us. Brother Zuo wishes that we no longer had this disunity of the five mountain sword schools. He wants us to combine together and become the “Five Mountain School”. That way, we would have many people cooperating together and we would really become the leader of Wulin. What does Shi Tai think of this?”

Dingjing Shi Tai scowled and said, “Poor nun at Heng-Shan School is only an idle person and don’t pay much attention to matters. However, Martial brother Zhong has raised an important matter. You should come with me to meet my martial sisters to speak about this. Right now, the most important thing is to rescue my school’s female disciples who have fallen into the Devil Sect’s trap. We can discuss other matters in details after this.”

Zhong Zhen smiled and said, “Shi Tai, don’t worry. I’ve already asked Songshan School people to handle this. Heng-Shan School’s problem is also Songshan School’s. We wouldn’t let your school’s disciples to suffer.”

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “In that case, many thanks. But I don’t know how brother Zhong came to have this optimistic outlook about my problem? What assurances do you have to say these words?”

Zhong Zhen smilingly said, “Shi Tai yourself is here. You’re Heng-Shan School’s well-known master. How could we still be afraid of a few demons from the Devil Sect? Also, there are still we martial brothers and several other martial nephews. We’ll definitely use all our power to fight them. If we still can’t handle these second rate fighters from Devil Sect then, hey hey, that’s too ridiculous for us to say.”

Dingjing Shi Tai heard him talking about irrelevant things that she became anxious and angry. She stood up and said, “Brother Zhong is talking as if the situation looks good. Let’s go now!”

“Where are you going Shi Tai?” asked Zhong Zhen.

“Going to save people,” answered Dingjing Shi Tai.

“Where are you going to save people?” asked Zhong Zhen again.

Dingjing Shi Tai was dumbfounded and unable to answer the question. After a moment, she said, “My disciples haven’t gone missing for a long time. So of course they’re still somewhere nearby. We’ve procrastinated for a long time now, so it’s going to be more difficult to find them.”

Zhong Zhen said, “According to our intelligence, the Devil Sect people have a lair not far from Nianbapu town. It’s very likely that your school’s martial sisters are being held captive there. According to…”

Dingjing Shi Tai interrupted, “Where’s this lair? We’ll go save them.”

Zhong Zhen slowly said, “Devil Sect would be well prepared to receive us. If we rashly go and make a mistake, then I can’t say for sure that we’ll be able to save them. We already know where they are. In my opinion, we should discuss this first before going to save them. This is a comparatively better plan.”

Dingjing Shi Tai couldn’t stand it anymore but she still sat back down.

She said, “I’ll listen to martial brother Zhong’s high opinion.”

“I’ve come to Fujian under martial brother’s order to discuss an important matter with Shi Tai. This matter concerns the destiny of the Wulin world. It also implicates the rise and fall of our Five Mountains Sword Alliance. So this is not a small matter at all. We need to discuss this big matter first and the remaining matters like saving people will have to wait. This is how we should go about it,” said Zhong Zhen.

“But I don’t know what big matter brother Zhong is talking about?” asked Dingjing Shi Tai.

Zhong Zhen said, “The big matter is the one that I’ve just raised before. The matter of combining the Five Mountains Sword Alliance into one.”

Dingjing Shi Tai suddenly stood up and her complexion turned green. She stuttered, “You…. you…. you….”

Zhong Zhen just smiled slightly and said, “Shi Tai, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not taking advantage of someone in a precarious position. I’m just compelling Shi Tai to agree to this matter.”

Dingjing Shi Tai indignantly said, “You said it yourself. If this is not taking advantage of someone in a precarious position, then what is this?”

Zhong Zhen answered, “You’re from Heng-Shan School. I’m from Songshan School. When your school is facing a problem, of course my school is also concerned. After all, this is a matter of life and death. Of course, I’m willing to help Shi Tai with all my power. But I don’t know if my martial brothers and martial nephews would be willing to do so. But if the two schools have merged into one, then this problem would become our school’s problem. Then they would have no more excuses.”

Dingjing Shi Tai said, “According to what you said, if my Heng-Shan School doesn’t merge with your school, then you would just sit on your hand and be a spectator regarding the matter of Heng-Shan School’s missing disciples?”

Zhong Zhen said, “It can’t be said like that. I’ve been ordered by martial brother to catch up with Shi Tai to discuss this matter. So other matters must wait before martial brother’s order is completed. That’s why I don’t dare to handle this matter carelessly. Shi Tai, please don’t blame us.”

Dingjing Shi Tai’s face had gone completely pale. She coldly said, “Poor nun can’t take the responsibility for making the decision regarding the merging of our two schools. Even if I agree to this but my school’s martial sisters don’t agree, then everything would’ve been in vain.”

Zhong Zhen leaned forward and whispered, “If Shi Tai agree then Dingxian Shi Tai can’t disagree. Originally, the leader of each school and each faction has always been held by the first disciple. Looking at Shi Tai’s attitude, martial art, and also your position in the school, Shi Tai deserves to be the leader of Heng-Shan School….”

Suddenly, Dingjing Shi Tai slapped the table and broke it. She fiercely retorted, “You want to sow dissension? I was the one who requested my deceased master that martial sister be the leader of our school. It was also me who persuaded martial sister Dingxian to take up the position. If Dingjing wanted to be the leader of the school then I would’ve done it during that time instead of using other people to incite it now.”

Zhong Zhen sighed and said, “What brother Zuo said wasn’t wrong.”

“What did he say?” said Dingjing Shi Tai.

Zhong Zhen said, “Before we went south, brother Zuo said: ‘The conduct of Heng-Shan School’s Dingjing Shi Tai’s is too good. Her martial art is also extremely high and she’s admired by everyone. But it’s a pity that she always fails to see the larger issue.’ I asked him why he said these words and he answered: ‘I have known Dingjing Shi Tai’s manner for some time; she’s naturally aloof from worldly affairs and doesn’t cherish unwarranted reputation. On common matters, she’s happy not to pay attention to them. If you ask her about this matter of combining the five schools, then you’ll certainly meet with this problem.’ This matter actually concerns a lot of things. We know that we wouldn’t be able to handle it by ourselves but we’re still going to try. If Dingjing Shi Tai is only concerned about yourself and ignores the thousands of lives from the orthodox schools who are in danger, then the Wulin realm will fall under a disaster and there’s nothing we can do.”

Dingjing Shi Tai stood up and coldly said, “You cleverly took this opportunity to say many honeyed words. But they’re all completely useless to me. Songshan School has taken this path. You’re not only taking advantage of someone in a precarious situation but also hitting a person when he is down.”

Zhong Zhen said, “Shi Tai, you’re wrong. If Shi Tai agrees to this matter and let the people in Wulin to know about this, it will facilitate our Songshan, Heng-Shan, Taishan, Huashan, and Hengshan five mountains to merge together. Then Songshan School will definitely support Shi Tai to become our “Five Mountains School” leader. So you can see clearly that our brother Zuo is sincere and doesn’t have any personal ambition…”

Dingjing Shi Tai shook her hand continuously and shouted, “Say no more! My ear is already drowning in filth.”

She put her hand together and pushed them out. A noisy “peng” sound was heard as two boards were blown away by her qi. She moved quickly and in no time was already outside Xian An Inn.

When she was out of the door, the calm wind caressed and cooled her red-hot face. She considered, “That surname Zhong said that Devil Sect has a lair near Nianbapu town. The missing school disciples must be there. I don’t know how much of what he said is true and how much is false.” Then she walked away undecidedly without a plan. Walking alone, she looked at her own long shadow reflected on the slab stone as the moon lowered in the sky.

After walking for some distance, she stopped and thought, “I only have my own power to rely on. Just by myself, I won’t be able to save my disciples. The old grand heroes had always been able to adjust themselves to any situation. Why didn’t I just temporarily agree to that guy Zhong? After we’ve saved my disciples, I could immediately cut my own throat to thank them and teach him that with my death he will have no proof of the agreement. He would only be able to announce that I’ve eaten my own words and dirty my name. This I’m willing to bear by myself.”

She sighed thinking about this. Then she turned around and slowly walked back to Xian Xia Inn. Suddenly she heard someone shouting from the end of the long street. “Your granny, General wants to drink wine and get some sleep. Your granny, shop servants, why don’t you quickly open the door?” It was just yesterday at Xianxia mountain range that she met with General Wu Tiande. When Dingjing Shi Tai heard his voice, it was like a drowning person catching a big lumber.

Yesterday, Linghu Chong had helped Heng-Shan School escaped from danger at the top of Xianxia mountain range. Feeling proud of himself, he hurried along the road and arrived at Nianbapu town. He then quickly found a restaurant and went in. He shouted, “Bring out the wine!” When the servants saw that it was a General who had entered the shop, they didn’t dare to be slow and lazy. They quickly poured the wine, cooked the rice, killed the chicken and sliced the beef. They were being very respectful towards him and were standing at attention and serving him attentively. Linghu Chong became slightly drunk after many bowls of wine. In his heart, he was thinking, “Devil Sect has suffered a great setback this time. But they probably wouldn’t be resigned to it. Nineteen people are still enough to cause trouble for Heng-Shan School. Dingjing Shi Tai is foolhardy and isn’t Devil Sect’s match. So I must look after them in secret.”

After he had paid for his meal and wine, he went to Xian An Inn to sleep. He woke up at noon to wash his face when he suddenly heard people shouting on the street. “Huang Fengzai’s people from Chaos Stone Mound are coming to Nianbapu to plunder the town. They will kill every person they meet. They will take all the money they see. Everyone quickly run away to save your life!” The shouting could be heard from everywhere.

The servant at the inn screamed, “General, General, there’s a bad thing coming!”

Linghu Chong inquired, “Your granny, what bad thing is coming?”

“General, Huang Fengzai’s men from Chaos Stone Mound are coming. They’re coming to plunder the town tonight. Everyone is escaping already,” replied the servant.

Linghu Chong opened his room’s door and scolded, “Your granny, today is a sunny day. The sky is clear. How can there be robbers? General is right here. Do they still dare to plunder?”

That servant had a bitter expression on his face. But he still answered, “Those robbers, they’re fierce… they’re very fierce… they… they also don’t know General that you…. you are here.”

Linghu Chong said, “You go tell them then.”

The servant answered, “I… I’m only a nobody, I don’t dare to go and tell them. They’ll chop my head off.”

Linghu Chong said, “What kind of place is Huang Fengzai’s Chaos Stone Mound?”

The servant answered, “I don’t know what kind of place Chaos Stone Mound is. I’ve never heard of it before. I only know Huang Fengzai’s people are very fierce. Two days ago, they plundered a town 30 li north of Nianbapu called Rongshutou. They killed sixty to seventy people and burned more than one hundred houses there. General, you… although your martial art is high, your two hands would find it difficult to fight four hands. Not counting their big leader, I heard that they have more than three hundred people.”

Linghu Chong scolded, “Your granny, so what if they have three hundred people? When General fights a battle with a thousand people and ten thousand horses, then when seven people entered the battle seven people will come out alive, eight people enter then eight people come out alive.”

The servant said, “Yes, yes” and turned around to quickly go out.

The situation outside was already in chaos. People were calling out to each other in Zhejiang’s speech but in Fujian’s dialect. Linghu Chong couldn’t understand completely what was being said. He could only guess they were saying something like: “A Mao’s mom, have you taken the quilt yet?” or “Da Bao, Xiao Bao, hurry up. The robbers are coming!” When he walked outside, he saw tens of people carrying bundles behind their backs and basket on their hands. They were going south to escape.

Linghu Chong thought, “This is Zhejiang’s boundary. Hangzhou and Fuzhou’s Generals aren’t taking care of this area causing the robbers to create chaos here and hurt the common people. My Quanzhou’s big General Wu Tiande is here already so I can’t just sit back and do nothing. Killing those robbers’ leader would be an accomplishment. This is called feeding him good fortune and being loyal. Your granny, why not? Haha!” After his train of thoughts arrived at this conclusion, he couldn’t help but laughed continuously. He called out, “Servants, bring out the wine! General wants to drink wine before killing some thieves.”

But at that moment, everyone inside from the guests to shop owner, shop owner’s wife, second aunt, third aunt, as well as the shop servants, and the cooks were all going out of the inn one by one. They only slowed down a step when they heard his voice but then continued their escape, afraid of the coming robbers. Linghu Chong kept calling them but no one paid any attention to him. Linghu Chong couldn’t stand it anymore so he went to the kitchen himself to fetch the wine. He then sat in the main hall and poured himself some wine. Next, he heard the sounds of chickens, dogs, horses and pigs. He guessed that the townspeople were taking these animals to escape with them. After a moment, it gradually became quieter. He drank three more bowls of wine and by then all the frightened and anxious sounds were gone. The town had become completely quiet. He thought, “Bad luck for Huang Fengzai’s people. I don’t know where the townspeople got the news from but when the robbers got here, they wouldn’t have anything to plunder.”

He was the only remaining person now in this big town. He found the silence really strange and was feeling quite lonely. Suddenly, he heard the sound of horses galloping in the distance. There were four horses coming from the south in a rush. Linghu Chong thought, “The robbers have arrived. But how come there’s only a few people?” The four horses galloped down the street making a “zheng, zheng” sound when the horseshoes hit the stone slabs on the road.

A person shouted, “Nianbapu people, listen to Chaos Stone Mound Huang Fengzai’s order. All males, females, old and young, get out of town! We won’t kill you if you’re outside. Everyone who stays inside will be chopped to death.” They were shouting continuously while their horses galloped down the street. Linghu Chong went to the main door and opened it a crack to have a look. But the horses had gone past and he was only able to see the back of the people riding the horses. He thought, “This is not right! Looking at those people riding, it’s clear they know some martial art. How can the bandits have this kind of people?” He pushed the door open and walked out. After walking for more than one hundred feet, he still couldn’t see anyone around. Then he saw a scholar tree on the side of the road, its branches and leaves luxuriant. He quickly went up the tree and sat on the highest branch. There was no sound at all around him. He waited up there for a long time knowing that something was not right. Huang Fengzai’s people had come a long time ago but his big group still had not come yet. Could it be that some of the robbers came here to notify the townspeople to escape?

After he had been waiting for an hour, he faintly heard some voices. It was the chirping of females’ voices. With rapt attention he heard a few sentences. From the sentences he heard, he knew that it was the Heng-Shan School’s disciples. He thought, “How come they arrived here at this time? Oh, they must’ve spent the day resting on the mountain.” He heard them knocking on the Xian An Inn’s door and then went to another inn to knock on that inn’s door. There was quite a bit of distance between Nan An Inn and the scholar tree, so when Heng-Shan School people entered the inn, he couldn’t hear or see what they were doing in there.

He secretly felt, “In all likelihood, this is the Devil Sect’s trap to ambush Heng-Shan School people.” At the moment, he was still concealed on top of the tree calmly waiting for something to happen. After waiting for a long time, he saw Yiqing and six disciples went out of the inn to light up the lamps. The whole street was now lit up by the lights from the houses’ windows. After another moment, he suddenly heard the voice of a female shouting, “Help!” Linghu Chong was startled: “Aiyo, this is not good. Heng-Shan School disciples have met the Devil Sect’s treachery.” He immediately jumped down from the tree and went to the house where the scream came from. He looked inside the house from a crack in the window. But there was no light in there and only the pale light from the moon was coming in through the window. He saw seven or eight men standing against the wall and one female standing in the middle of the room. She shouted, “Help, help, someone’s murdered!” Linghu Chong looked at the side of her face and noticed that her expression was fierce. It was obvious that they were waiting to ambush people.

As expected, as she just finished calling out, a female disciple outside the house shouted, “Who has committed murder here?” The house’s door was pushed open and seven females jumped inside; one of them was Yiqing. These seven disciples were each holding a long sword in hand thinking they were going to save someone. Suddenly that female, who shouted for help before, threw out her right hand and hurled open a roughly four square feet of green cloth. Yiqing and the other six disciples started to tremble. It looks like they were dizzy when they started to turn around in circles and dropped down.

Linghu Chong was alarmed and he felt shocked through his heart, “That woman’s green cloth must have some kind of confusion poison in it. If I go in to save them then I’ll also fall in their trap. I can only wait and watch what happens for now.” Those men on the wall quickly crowded around, took out some rope, and started binding Yiqing’s and the other disciples’ hands and feet. Not long after, another female shouted sharply from outside, “What kind of person is here?” When Linghu Chong passed through the Xianxia mountain range, he had met with this bad tempered nun and had also chatted with her. He knew that Yihe was the one out there. He thought, “You are really hot-tempered. This time, you’ll become rice dumpling again (Translator’s note: this means that she’ll be easy picking.).” He heard Yihe shouted again, “Sister Yiqing, are you here?” and a “peng” sound was heard as she kicked the door open.

Yihe and another disciple went forward shoulder to shoulder. As they stepped inside the house, they waved their swords around separately on their left and right sides, protecting themselves from an enemy’s attack. At the same time, the other five disciples were walking backwards into the house and were also waving their swords around. When the two of the disciples got inside the house, the woman and her cohorts held their breath and stopped moving completely. Once all seven of the disciples were in the house, that woman hurled open her green cloth again and the disciples were again confused before collapsing to the ground. They were followed by Yu Sao’s group which also fell into the same trap. There were now twenty-one of Heng-Shan School disciples that have lost consciousness and tied up at the corner of the house. After a while, an old man in their group made some hand signals and they quietly retreated from the house’s back door.

Linghu Chong jumped to the roof and crouched down. He was following them for a short distance when he suddenly heard sounds of flapping clothes from the house in front. The sound was coming from the roof ridge of the house. He saw ten men hand signaling to each other. They were all concealed from the street while seated on the side of the roof ridge. His current hiding place was only tens of feet away from them. Linghu Chong slid down the wall quietly when he saw Dingjing Shi Tai coming to this area leading three disciples.

Linghu Chong thought, “This isn’t good. This is using “luring the tiger leaving the mountain” tactic. Those nuns left at the Nan An Inn will be in trouble.” In the distance, he saw shadows moving hurriedly towards the Nan An Inn. What he thought before had become a reality. Suddenly he heard someone whispering, “Delay that old nun from coming over, the seven of you entertain her here.” This voice came from above his head so Linghu Chong couldn’t move at all or he would be discovered. So he flattened his back on the wall and didn’t move at all. He heard Dingjing Shi Tai kicked the door open and called out, “Yihe, Yiqing, Yu Sao, do you hear me?” Her voice travelled far and then he saw her going around the house and jumping onto the roof. But she didn’t look carefully inside the house. Linghu Chong thought, “What is she doing? Why isn’t she going inside the house to have a look? Once she goes in then she’ll see the twenty one female disciples tied up on the ground.” He realised immediately, “It’s actually good that she’s not going in. Those Devil Sect people are on the roof waiting for her to enter the house. Then they’ll immediately surround her from four directions. That’s like capturing a turtle in an urn.”

He saw Dingjing Shi Tai going here and there realising that she didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, she went quickly towards Nan An Inn and those three disciples couldn’t keep up with her. As that happened, a lot of people turned up from the side of the street and hurled that green cloth open. Those three disciples immediately collapsed and they were dragged inside a house. With the pale light from the moon, he could blurrily see that Yilin was among those three people. Linghu Chong quickly thought, “Should I quickly go and save little martial sister Yilin?” And another thought quickly followed, “I”m only by myself and the fight will be big. The Devil Sect has captured so many of Heng-Shan School’s people. I must be careful not to harm them while I’m taking care of the Devil Sect people. I can’t fight in front of them so I must still do this in secret.”

He saw Dingjing Shi Tai came out of Nan An Inn and started to scold the Devil Sect in the middle of the street. Then she went up to the roof and started scolding Dongfang Bubai. As expected, Devil Sect people couldn’t bear this anymore and seven people went up to fight her. When Linghu Chong saw this, he pondered, “Dingjing Shi Tai’s sword art is refined and deep. Even one against seven, she would be able to hold them out for some time. I’ll go save martial sister Yilin first.”

His body moved like lightning entering the house. He saw a person in the main hall holding a sabre and the three disciples tied up on the ground beside him. Linghu Chong jumped forward and took out his Yaodao saber. Then using his sheathed sabre, he stabbed it towards that person’s throat. That person didn’t even react before he died. Linghu Chong was dumbfounded, “How come my sword is so fast? I just extended my hand and it already reached his throat?” He himself didn’t know that ever since he practised the Art of Essence Absorbing, the internal energies of the Peach Valley six fairies, Monk No-Commandment, and Mr. Black-White had become his own internal energy to use. His initial idea was that once he stabbed with his sabre then the enemy would raise his own sabre to block and he would then use his sheathed sabre to hit his enemy’s legs to drop him on the ground. Then he would be able to save the three martial sisters. Unexpectedly, his enemy didn’t even have time to raise his sabre before he got hit and killed.

Linghu Chong felt apologetic as he dragged the dead man away. Then he looked down, he saw that Yilin was among the three female disciples lying on the ground. He extended his hand to check her breathing and found her breathing evenly. Except for being unconscious, she was otherwise unharmed. He quickly went to the kitchen to fetch a ladle of cold water and splashed it on her face. In a little while, Yilin woke up and groaned slightly. At the beginning, she didn’t know that she was on the ground. She opened her eyes and suddenly realised what had happened. She quickly jumped up and wanted to draw her sword. But both of her hands and feet were tied up, and she fell back down.

Linghu Chong said, “Little Shi Tai, don’t be afraid. That bad person has been killed by General.” He then used his sabre to cut away the ropes binding her hands and feet. In the darkness, Yilin heard his voice and it was that person “Big brother Linghu” that she had been thinking of day and night. She was alarmed and happy at the same time. She called out, “You… you are Linghu Big… ” This word “brother” wasn’t said when she thought that it wasn’t right. Her whole face turned red and she quietly whispered, “Who… who are you?”

Linghu Chong heard her recognizing him and then correcting herself. He whispered, “General is here. Those small-time thieves wouldn’t dare to bully you anymore.”

“Ah, so it’s General Wu. How about my… my martial uncle?” asked Yilin.

“She’s outside fighting with the enemies. Let’s go out and take a look,” said Linghu Chong.

“Sister Zheng, Sister Qin…” said Yilin.

She took out from her bosom a fire stick and lighted it up. She saw her two disciple sisters lying on the ground.

She said, “En, they’re all here.” She wanted to cut the ropes on their hands and feet.

But Linghu Chong said, “Don’t bother. Helping your martial uncle is more important at the moment.”

Yilin said, “That’s true.”

Linghu Chong turned around and went outside with Yilin following behind. They had just walked several steps when they saw those seven enemies fleeing. Then they heard the projectiles being deflected and someone praising how high Dingjing Shi Tai’s sword art is. Dingjing Shi Tai recognised that the person is from the Songshan School. Not long after that, he saw Dingjing Shi Tai following those men to go into Xian An Inn. Linghu Chong signaled to Yilin to follow him to the inn and hid outside the window to eavesdrop. They heard Dingjing Shi Tai chatting with Zhong Zhen inside the room. That person surnamed Zhong wanted Dingjing Shi Tai to agree to the merging of the Heng-Shan School first before they would help save her disciples. Linghu Chong heard him harbouring evil intentions and taking advantage of someone who was already down. He secretly felt angry. He also heard Dingjing Shi Tai getting more and more angry as Zhong Zhen said more words until she finally jumped out of the inn.

Linghu Chong waited for Dingjing Shi Tai to go a bit further before he went down and knocked on Xian An Inn’s door. He shouted, “Your granny, General wants to drink wine and sleep. Your granny shop servants, why don’t you quickly open the door?” It was just at that time that Dingjing Shi Tai had run out of ideas when she heard this general’s shout. She felt really happy and quickly went over. Yilin went up to welcome her and called out, “Martial uncle!” Dingjing Shi Tai felt even happier. She hastily asked, “Where did you go before?”

Yilin answered, “I was captured by Devil Sect demons. General rescued me…”

At this time, Linghu Chong had pushed the door open and walked in. Inside the main hall was two candles lighted up and Zhong Zhen was sitting in the middle of the hall. Zhong Zhen gloomily said, “Who’s making all those noises? Come out quickly!”

Linghu Chong scolded him, “Your granny! This is general working for the government court; you still have the guts to speak out? Shopkeeper, Boss’ wife, servants, quickly come out.”

Songshan School people heard him scolding and then asking for the shopkeeper and the boss’ wife. It was obvious to them that he looked fierce on the outside but soft on the inside and that he was feeling afraid in his heart. They all found it funny. Zhong Zhen was still thinking about the big matter in his heart when this government dog came in the middle of the night. He quietly said, “Get rid of this chap but don’t kill him.” Bright Hair Lion Gao Kexin nodded his head. He then laughed aloud and went towards Linghu Chong. He said, “So it’s granddad from the government. Pardon me for not paying respect.”

“It’s already good that you know. You people are only ordinary folks so you don’t know any rules…” said Linghu Chong.

Gao Kexin laughed, “Haha! Yes! Yes!” and in a flash, his body was in front of Linghu Chong. He extended his forefinger and stabbed it towards Linghu Chong’s waist. Linghu Chong saw where he was aiming at and he quickly concentrated his internal energy at his waist. Gao Kexin stab found Linghu Chong’s laughing acupoint. When an opponent was hit at this point, he would laugh loudly once and would immediately lose consciousness. To his surprise, Linghu Chong just giggled once and said, “You’re not following any rules. What kind of joke are you playing with General moving your hands and feet about?” Gao Kexin was greatly surprised. But he already executed his second stab. This time he was using all of his power in his stab. Linghu Chong laughed loudly and jumped up. He laughingly scolded him, “Your granny, what are you doing rubbing general’s waist? You want to steal some silvers? Hmm, you look solemn, handsome and intelligent. But actually you’re an unlearned man.”

Gao Kexin’s left hand shot out to grab Linghu Chong’s right wrist and he was going to use his right hand to fling him down to the ground. Unexpectedly, as his hand touched Linghu Chong’s wrist, his internal energy started to rush out of his body and he couldn’t stop it. He couldn’t help but be completely frightened. He wanted to shout but even when his mouth was opened wide, no sound was coming out.

Linghu Chong was aware that his opponent’s internal energy was being absorbed into his body. It was just like that day when he grabbed Mr. Black-White’s wrist. He was alarmed, “I can’t use this demonical method.” He quickly flinged Gao Kexin away, breaking the contact.

Gao Kexin felt as if he had received a King’s pardon as he was stupidly thrown down. He quickly stood up but felt weak all over as if he had just recovered from a big illness. He shouted, “Art of Essence Absorbing. Art… Art of Essence Absorbing!” His shout came out as more of a hiss but it was full of fear. Zhong Zhen, Deng Bagong and the rest of the Songshan School disciples jumped up at the same time and asked, “What?” Gao Kexin stammered, “This.. this person is using art… art of Essence Absorbing.”

All of a sudden the room was filled with lights flickering off swords as everyone drew their long swords out from their scabbards while Divine Whip Deng Bagong held a whip in his hand. Zhong Zhen’s sword art was the fastest. Under the trembling cold light of the room, the reflective light of his sword had already pierced Linghu Chong’s throat. When that Gao Kexin shouted, Linghu Chong already anticipated that Songshan School people would immediately gang up on him and they were now thrusting their swords towards him. But as they were pulling their swords out, Linghu Chong also pulled his Yaodao sabre along with its sheath out from his waist and used it like a long sword. His hand shook lightly and the back of everyone’s hand was hit and “qiang lang” sounds were heard. The “qiang lang” noise had not stopped yet when all the swords were dropped on the ground. Zhong Zhen’s martial art was the highest, even though the back of his hand had been hit by Linghu Chong’s scabbard, he still managed to hold on to it. He was frightened and jumped back. Deng Bagong was distressed and let go of the whip’s handle, which made the whip lashed up and wrapped around his neck restricting him from drawing any breath.

Zhong Zhen was leaning his back against the wall and his face had lost all colour. “A well known in Jiang Hu. Devil Sect’s Chief Ren resurfaces. You… you… you are Chief Ren… are you Ren Woxing?”

Linghu Chong laughed, “Your granny, what Ren Woxing, Ren Nixing, General won’t change his surname and won’t change his name either. My surname is Wu, my name is Tiande. From which mound did you come from? Are you that whatever Zai’s small time thieves?”

(Translator’s note: Ren Woxing: the Wo in his name mean I, Ren Nixing: the Ni in this name means You.)

Zhong Zhen clasped both his hands, “Sir, you have re-entered Jiang Hu. Zhong knows that I’m not your match so I’m going.” He jumped through the window to get out. Gao Kexin followed him and jumped out the window too. Then one by one, they all jumped out through the window. Although the floor was full of long swords, none of them dared to take any of them. Linghu Chong’s left hand was now holding the scabbard while his right hand was holding the sabre’s handle. He then used his strength to pull on the handle a few times but that sabre never came out from its sheath. He said, “The rust on this treasured sabre is really bad. I should look for a grindstone and sharpen it.”

Dingjing Shi Tai clasped her hands and asked, “General Wu, how do we save my disciples?” Linghu Chong expected that as soon as Zhong Zhen and his people went away, no one would be able to match Dingjing Shi Tai’s divine sword. He replied, “General wants to drink a few bowls of wine here. Old Shi Tai, do you want to drink wine too?” When Yilin heard him talking about drinking wine again, she thought, “If this general meets with big brother Linghu, they would certainly become drinking buddies.” As she took a peep at him, she saw that the general was staring at her. Her face turned slightly red and she lowered her head. Dingjing Shi Tai said, “Forgive me. Poor nun doesn’t drink wine. General, I won’t accompany you!” She clasped her hands again and then turned around to leave. Yilin followed her out but when she reached the door, she couldn’t help but to take another look at him. She saw him looking for wine and calling out in a loud voice, “Your granny, all the people in the inn have all disappeared. How come those servants are still not coming out.” She thought, “His voice sounds similar to big brother Linghu’s but whenever this general speaks, he’s very vulgar. Every sentence he has to mention his whatever. Big brother Linghu isn’t like that at all. His martial art is also much higher compared to big brother Linghu. I… I must be imagining things… Ai, must be… ”

Linghu Chong had finally found some wine and he immediately gulped it down. He thought, “When these nuns, grannies and ladies come back, they’ll talk non-stop and I’ll have to endure it for sure. It’s better if I just run away before then. Saving these people would take around an hour and my tummy would be very hungry by that time. It’s better if I find something to eat first.”

After he finished a pot of wine, he went to the kitchen looking for something to eat. Suddenly, he heard from somewhere far away, Yilin sharply shouting, “Martial uncle, martial uncle, where are you?” She sounded frightened.

Linghu Chong hurriedly rushed out of the inn and followed the voice. When he got there, he saw Yilin and two young ladies standing on the street. They were calling out, “Martial uncle, master!”

Linghu Chong asked, “What happened?”

Yilin answered, “I went to wake martial sister Zheng and martial sister Qin. Martial uncle was concerned about the other martial sisters so she went ahead to rescue them. But when we got out, maybe… we don’t know where she has gone to.” Linghu Chong saw that Zheng E was around twenty one two years old while Qin Juan was even younger, looking like fifteen sixteen years old. He thought, “I haven’t seen these young ladies before. What’s Heng-Shan School doing sending them out to come here?”

He smiled, “I know where they are. Come with me!”

He walked quickly to the northeast towards the house where the disciples were captured earlier. When he arrived at the house with the broken door, he was afraid that the woman with the confusing drugs was still inside ready to ambush them. He said, “Use your handkerchiefs to cover your mouth and nose. There’s a smelly granny inside who releases poison.” He pinched his nose using his left hand and shut his lips tightly. Then he rushed into the house. When he reached the main hall, he was dumbfounded.

Previously, the main hall was full of Heng-Shan School female disciples. But now, there wasn’t a single trace of them. He was surprised. There was a candle lighting up the hall but the hall was totally empty. Where did they go? He searched every room in the house but found nothing unusual. He called out, “There’s something strange here!”

Yilin, Zheng E, and Qin Juan eyes were wide open looking at him, their faces full of doubt. Linghu Chong said, “Your granny, your martial sisters were right here. An old granny had poisoned them all. Then they were tied up right here. How come they’re all gone now?”

Zheng E asked, “General Wu, when you saw our martial sisters being poisoned, was it really here?”

Linghu Chong answered, “Last night, when I was sleeping, I had a dream. I saw with my eyes many old nuns, about seven or eight of them lying right here. How can it be wrong?”

Zheng E said, “You… you…”

She wanted to say that it was his dream so how can it be accurate? But she knew that he liked to speak nonsense. He said that it was a dream but he probably saw it with his own eyes so she quickly corrected herself, “Where do you think they’ve all gone to?”

Linghu Chong hummed deeply, “I’m not sure where we can find big fishes and big meat. I think they’ve all gone to have a feast. Or maybe the place where there’s opera; they’re watching opera.”

He moved his hands around and continued, “You three are small girls. So it’s better if you stay close behind me. If you want to eat meat or watch opera, we’ll do it later.”

Although Qin Juan was still young, she knew the situation was really dangerous. Her other martial sisters had all fallen into enemy’s hands. While this general blindly said some nice words, she knew they were all not true. Tens of Heng-Shan School disciples had gone out but now only the three of them remained. Except for listening to this general’s order, she had no other option. She followed the general outside along with Yilin and Zheng E. Linghu Chong was talking to himself, “Could it be that I saw the wrong people in my dream last night? Tonight, I won’t be able to have such a good dream again.” But in his heart, he was thinking, “The other female disciples must’ve been moved away. But how come Dingjing Shi Tai had also disappeared? I’m afraid she might have met the enemy by herself and chased them. Hmm… It wouldn’t be appropriate to leave Yilin and these two in Nianbapu town, I’d better take them along.” He said, “We don’t have anything to do right now. Why don’t we go and look for your martial uncle and see where she’s playing? What do you think?”

Zheng E answered, “That’s extremely good! General’s martial art is high and your experience is vast. If General doesn’t lead the three of us in looking for martial uncle then I’m afraid it would be very difficult for us to find them.”

Linghu Chong laughed, “‘Martial art is high and experience is vast’, you’re not wrong in saying these eight words. In the future, when General hangs up his command and got a promotion and got rich, then I’ll send the three of you one hundred, two hundred shining silver taels to buy clothes to wear.”

As he was talking non-stop, they’ve reached the edge of Nianbapu town. He then jumped onto a roof and looked at the four directions. At this time, the morning sun was already above the horizon, the white fog filled the air, and above the treetops the sky was cloudy. He gazed far but there was no one on the two main roads. Suddenly, he saw an object on the main road to the south. He couldn’t see clearly what it was because of the distance. But when the whole road was empty and an item was in the middle of the street like this, then it would definitely catch the attention of your eyes. He jumped down from the roof and quickly went to where that object was. Once he got there, he picked it up. It was a female shoe. Apparently it was identical to the one Yilin was wearing. He waited for Yilin and the other two girls to arrive. He gave the shoe to Yilin and asked, “Is this your shoe? How come it’s here?” Yilin received the shoe and realised it was the same type of shoe that she was wearing. She couldn’t help but check her feet and saw that she was still wearing her shoes.

Zheng E said, “This… this is the shoe that our martial sisters wear. How did it end up here?”

Qin Juan said, “It must be one of the martial sisters who were captured by the enemy. She must’ve struggled here and dropped her shoe.”

Zheng E replied, “Or she deliberately left the shoe behind to let us know.”

Linghu Chong said, “Correct. Your martial art is high and your experience is vast. Should we go chase to the south or to the north?”

Zheng E answered, “Of course to the south.”

Linghu Chong quickly started running to the south. At the beginning, the distance between him and the three girls wasn’t that far. But as he went on, the distance became really far. Linghu Chong looked carefully along the road and he frequently looked back to watch the three ladies. He was afraid that he might get too far and wouldn’t be able to help them if needed. So he waited for them to catch up to him before he ran again. They had gone for more than ten li in this manner when he saw that the road in front was rugged. There were a lot of trees on both sides providing a lot of places for enemies to hide in. If Yilin was captured while they were on these parts of the road, he wouldn’t be able to save her. After a long time, he saw Qin Juan running towards him. Both of her cheeks were really red. He knew that she was still young and couldn’t run for long distances. He decided to let them walk slowly for the moment. He said loudly, “Your granny, if we keep running that fast then General’s leather boots will be worn through to the bottom. Can’t let this happen. Why don’t we just go slowly?” After walking for around seven to eight li, Qin Juan suddenly shouted, “Yi!” She crouched besides a shrub on the side and picked up a cap. It was the cap that Heng-Shan School’s people wear.

Zheng E said, “General, it’s one of our martial sisters’ cap. They must’ve gone through this road.”

The three girls quickly continued walking. They were going faster as they went. Linghu Chong was now behind them.

At noon, the four of them found a restaurant on the road. The shop owner saw a general with a nun and two young girls with him. He was really surprised and repeatedly hit the sides of his head. Linghu Chong slapped the table and scolded, “Your granny, what are you looking at? You’ve never seen monks and nuns before?”

That man said, “Yes, yes. I don’t dare.”

Zheng E asked, “Uncle, have you seen a few nuns passing by here?”

The man said, “I haven’t seen a few nuns but I’ve seen one. One old Shi Tai passed by here. She was much older compared to this young Shi Tai here…”

Linghu Chong shouted, “You talk too much! One old Shi Tai, then how could her age be younger than this little Shi Tai?”

That man said, “Yes, yes.”

Zheng E impatiently asked, “What happened to that old Shi Tai?”

The man answered, “That old Shi Tai hastily asked me whether I’ve seen a few nuns passing by this road. I said no and she just went. Ai, she’s already old but she was still running really fast. She was also holding a sword in her hand. She looked like she was going to play a part in an opera.”

Qin Juan clapped her hands and said, “That must be Master. Let’s go quickly and chase her.”

Linghu Chong said, “Don’t rush. We’ll eat first.”

The four people hastily eat their meals. Just before they left, Qin Juan bought four steamed rolls. She said she was giving it to Master to eat. Linghu Chong’s heart turned sour, “She’s very filial towards her master. But for me, I can’t even be filial to my master.”

They chased until the sky became dark. But they had not seen a trace of either Dingjing Shi Tai or the Heng-Shan School’s disciples. They kept an eye on the field with thick long grass while the street was getting narrower as they went. As they went further, the long grass was up to their waist and they weren’t able to see the road anymore.

Suddenly, they heard some sounds of fighting coming from the northwest. Linghu Chong called out, “There’s some fighting going on there. Let’s take a look.”

Qin Juan said, “Ai yo, maybe it’s my Master?”

Linghu Chong went to the direction of the noise. After going for several hundred feet, the surrounding area was suddenly bright. They saw tens of tall fire sticks around the area and the sounds of fighting got noisier.

He quickened his steps as he got near to the area. Then he saw tens of people holding the fire sticks in a circle. Inside that circle was a person with her big sleeve flitting about and her long sword slashing around. It was Dingjing Shi Tai. Outside the circle were tens of people lying down on ground. With one look at their clothes, he knew that it was Heng-Shan School’s female disciples. Linghu Chong saw that those people holding the fire sticks were wearing masks on their faces. He walked nearer to the circle step by step. At the moment, every person there had his attention on the fight and no one saw him coming nearer. Linghu Chong laughed loudly and shouted, “Seven against one, that’s shameful.”

All those people with their faces covered were surprised to suddenly see him appear out of nowhere. They all turned their heads around to look at him. Only the seven people surrounding Dingjing Shi Tai didn’t hear him and they kept on fighting. All of them were attacking her upper body. Linghu Chong saw on Dingjing Shi Tai’s gown some splotches of fresh blood. He also saw blood splashed on her face. She was using her left hand to hold her sword. Obviously, her right hand had been injured.

At this time, someone shouted, “Who are you?” As a man jumped in front of Linghu Chong with both of his hands shaped in a knife form.

Linghu Chong shouted, “General has been going everywhere non stop but everyday I have to meet you small time thieves. Let’s exchange names, General’s sabre here doesn’t chop nameless people.”

A man laughed, “So it’s this muddled person.” as he slashed his sword to chop Linghu Chong’s leg off.

Linghu Chong shouted, “Ai yo, you’re really using your sabre?” His body swayed as he charged into their group with his sheathed sabre up. Seven continuous “Pa, pa, pa” was heard as seven people wrists were hit. Seven weapons fell on the ground one after another. A “ci” sound was heard as Dingjing Shi Tai’s sword pierced into an enemy’s chest. That person was startled as he couldn’t avoid Dingjing Shi Tai’s lightning fast sword. Dingjing Shi Tai swayed a few times and as her legs couldn’t support her anymore, she sat on the ground.

Qin Juan screamed, “Master, master.” as she went towards her master to support her.

One of the masked men lifted his sabre and put it on a Heng-Shan School’s disciple’s neck. He shouted, “Retreat three steps, if you don’t do as I say, I’ll kill this woman first.”

Linghu Chong laughed, “Very good, very good. If you want us to retreat, then we’ll retreat. What’s so strange about that? Don’t say three steps, even thirty steps is ok.”

Suddenly he thrust his Yaodao sabre towards him and the point of the scabbard hit his chest. That person cried out “Ai yo” as his body flew away. Linghu Chong was dumbfounded as he didn’t expect that his internal energy would be so strong. He again wielded his sheathed sabre as he hit three more masked men and shouted, “You’re still not retreating? I’m going to capture you one by one and have you sent to the government here. Everyone will get thirty planks.”

The leader of those masked men saw that his martial art was high and was really amazing. He clasped his hand and said, “We respect Chief Ren’s good name. We’ll back down.” He waved his left hand and shouted again, “Devil Sect’s Chief Ren is here. Everyone be tactful, let’s go.” They lifted the corpse and the four people who were hit before. They also threw the fire sticks down and retreated towards the northwest. In a short while, they were all gone from the field. Qin Juan took out Heng-Shan School’s medicine to apply to her master’s wounds. While Yilin and Zheng E untied their martial sisters’ hands and feet. Four disciples then took up the fire sticks and gathered around Dingjing Shi Tai. Everyone saw that her injuries were serious and all their faces had a worried expression. They all kept silent. Dingjing Shi Tai’s chest was continuously going up and down. She slowly opened her eyes and asked Linghu Chong, “You… you… are really the past… Devil Sect’s…. Chief Ren…. Woxing?”

Linghu Chong shook his head, “No.”

Dingjing Shi Tai’s eyes were losing its liveliness. She was expelling a lot of air but inhaling very little air. It was obvious that she was having great difficulty breathing. She gasped a few times and suddenly in a fierce voice said, “If you’re Ren Woxing, even if my Heng-Shan School is defeated to the ground and be… be destroyed. Please don’t… don’t..” As she said till here, she couldn’t draw her breath. Linghu Chong saw that her life was in danger and didn’t dare to talk nonsense anymore. He said, “I’m still young, how can I be Ren Woxing?”

Dingjing Shi Tai asked, “Then how come you know…. know that art of Essence Absorbing? You’re Ren Woxing’s disciple…” Linghu Chong remembered the day he was still at Huashan when Master and Master-wife mentioned Devil Sect many evils. These past two days, he had seen with his own eyes the methods that Devil Sect employed to attack Heng-Shan School. He said, “The Devil Sect has committed many evil acts. How can we still make friends with them? That Ren Woxing isn’t my master. Shi Tai, don’t worry. My master is a benevolent and kind man. He’s heroic and upright. In Wulin, he’s looked up by everyone and considered to be a senior hero. Shi Tai has many relations with him.”

Dingjing Shi Tai’s face revealed a smiling expression. She said, “Then… then I won’t worry anymore. I… I won’t make it. I want to bother General to bring Heng-Shan School’s…. disciples…. to… to… ” Her breathing hurried while she talked. After a moment, she said, “Bring them to Fuzhou’s Wuxiang Temple … help them settle down, my school’s martial sisters… in a few days… they would arrive.”

Linghu Chong said, “Shi Tai, don’t worry. Just rest for a few days and you’ll recover.”

Dingjing Shi Tai asked, “Do you agree?”

Linghu Chong saw her two eyes looking at him full of hope and her face was hoping for him to agree. She was afraid that he might not agree to her request. He said, “I will definitely do Shi Tai’s request.”

Dingjing Shi Tai smiled, “Amituofo, I’ve been relieved of this burden. I’m not to be admired. Young hero… who are you really?”

Linghu Chong saw her eyes were unfocused and her breath was very shallow. Her life wasn’t long anymore. He couldn’t conceal it anymore from her so he put his mouth to her ear and said, “Shi Tai martial uncle, I am Huashan School’s ex-disciple Linghu Chong.”

Dingjing Shi Tai let out an “ah” and said, “You…. you… Thank you, young hero,” and held his hand, her eyes filled with gratitude. She couldn’t draw a breath anymore and her breathing stopped. (Translator’s note: this is a 3rd edition addition. I added this from Athena’s post.)

Linghu Chong called out, “Shi Tai, Shi Tai,” as he checked her breath. But she had stopped breathing. He couldn’t help but feel mournful. Heng-Shan School’s disciples started weeping wildly. The fire sticks were dropped onto the ground and one by one, they were extinguished. All around them became really dark. Linghu Chong thought, “Dingjing Shi Tai was considered to be her generation’s expert in martial art. But by accident, she had lost her life tonight in this wilderness. She was only an old nun without anyone else to help her here. Can’t the Devil Sect just let her go?”

Suddenly, he thought aloud, “When that masked men’s leader went, he said: ‘Devil Sect’s Chief Ren is here. Everyone be tactful, let’s go.’ Devil Sect’s real name is “Sun Moon Sect” and when they hear these two words “Devil Sect”, they would feel really insulted. They often kill people who call their sect “Devil Sect”. So why did this person call his own sect “Devil Sect”? Since he used the term “Devil Sect”, he must not be from the Devil Sect. So, what’s the real origin of this person?” He heard the disciples sorrowfully crying so he didn’t disturb them. He leaned on a tree and slept.

When he woke up in the morning, he saw a few senior disciples standing guard besides Dingjing Shi Tai’s corpse while the young ladies and nuns slept beside him. Linghu Chong thought, “This General has to take these women to Fuzhou. It’ll look really odd and strange, neither fish nor fowl. I also need to go to Fuzhou to look for Master and Master-wife. I don’t need to lead them, just protecting them will do.”

He coughed and was just about to go when Yihe, Yiqing, Yizhi, and Yizhen quickly went and clasped their hands to him and said, “Poor nuns were rescued by Hero, thanks to Hero’s virtue and kindness. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do to repay Hero’s kindness. Martial uncle had met great misfortune and in her last breath entrusted us to Hero. We’re waiting for Hero to give orders for us to follow.”

They no longer called him General as they believed that this General was a brave person. Linghu Chong said, “What hero? This is not good to hear. When you look at me, just call me General.”

Yihe looked at the other disciples and then they all nodded their heads. Linghu Chong said, “Last night I had a dream. In that dream, I saw an old granny poisoned all of you and that you were all lying down inside a big house. How did you all get here?”

Yihe answered, “We didn’t know what happened after we were poisoned and fell unconscious. They splashed cold water to wake us all up later. They released the binds on our feet and led us out from the city through a small road. We didn’t stop on the road as they kept pulling us trying to hurry. When we walked a bit slow, those thieves whipped us. Even when night fell, we still didn’t stop. Then martial uncle caught up with us. They surrounded her telling her to surrender…” When her narrative arrived at this point, she choked and tears started to drop again.

Linghu Chong said, “So there’s another small road besides the main one. No wonder we couldn’t find any trace of you at all.”

Yiqing said, “General, our most important matter right now is to cremate martial uncle’s remains. Could you please show us how to do it?”

Linghu Chong shook his head, “General doesn’t know anything about the matters of monks or nuns. It’d be like a blind person leading if you want me to guide you. The most important matter is for General to get his promotion. I’d better go!” He quickly took large strides and headed towards the north.

The female disciples shouted, “General, General!”

How could Linghu Chong pay attention to them? When he went around a hillside, he went up a tree. He waited up there for around four hours before he saw the Heng-Shan School disciples walked past in sorrow. He followed behind them from far away, secretly protecting them.

When Linghu Chong arrived at an inn in a small town, he thought, “I’ve already clashed with the Devil Sect and Songshan School groups. This Quanzhou’s General Wu Tiande must have a bit of reputation by now. Your granny, this disguise as a general isn’t that good anymore.” He called the inn’s servant and gave him two silver taels to buy him clothes, shoes and cap to remodel his disguise. He told him that he was handling a case to catch thieves so the servant wouldn’t tell anyone about what’s he’s doing and that if the thieves escaped to the ocean then he would come back and arrest the servant instead.

Later, he arrived at a calm and secluded place. He pulled his fine thick beard off and took off his general’s clothes, leather boots, Yaodao sabre, and the government documents. He then changed into the set the inn’s servant brought him. He buried the all of the previous disguise in a big hole. From now on, he couldn’t be called “General” anymore. As he finished changing into his new disguise, he felt a slight melancholy missing the General character already.

Two days later, he bought a long sword from a weapon shop in Jianning prefecture and put it in his bundle. He again felt happy that he had no other matters. Linghu Chong then observed the Heng-Shan School’s nuns entered Fuzhou’s wall to enter a monastery. The board in front of the monastery said, “Wuxiang Temple”. He sighed and thought, “This burden has been released from my shoulder. Although I promised Dingjing Shi Tai to bring them here, I didn’t really bring them here. But they already arrived here safely so I’ve already fulfilled my promise.”

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