Vol 2 Chapter 13 (1/2)
Chapter Thirteen: Learning Music
The night was quiet now The only noise cas of the many Huashan apprentices
“Hero Linghu, aren’t you going to releaseyou?” Yue Buqun suddenly broke the silence in a chilling tone
Linghu Chong was stunned “Master, hy are you kidding ht away” His voice trembled
Getting back onto his feet after soered by Yue Buqun
“Ma…Master, which pressure points?” he asked
Yue Buqun was furious He re hi Then, of course, it was just the saht now This way, he could let the fifteenhis Master’s sealed pressure points for a delay, afraid that his Master would chase after those rily, “Save your breath!”
He continued working on gathering his inner energy using the Divine Art of the Violet Twilight in an effort to break open the sealed points Ever since the ene to break they But the one who had sealed his points did it with a tre the sealed points were Yu-Zhen, Tan-Zhong, Ju-Zhui, Jian-Zhen, and Zhi-Tang thosethrough his inner channels and passages, the floas soreatly reduced the power of the Divine Art of Violet Twilight and made it very hard to break them open
Linghu Chong wanted to help his Master in releasing the sealed pressure points, but he siain, he struggled to raise his arm, but every tiolden flickers circling in front of his eyes and hearing loud buzzing sound in his ear So all he could do was to lie next to Yue Buqun and wait for his Master to release his pressure points with his own efforts
Mada down Earlier in the state of fury, she had accidentally y As a result, not only couldn’t she gather her strength at all, she couldn’t even lift her hand up to cover the wounds on her legs
It was already daybreak by now, and the rain had finally stopped People’s faces becaht of dawn A white and thick mist appeared on Yue Buqun’s head as he worked hard on breaking his sealed pressure points open His face almost turned completely purple Suddenly, he uttered a loud roar as his inner energy finally broke through all his sealed pressure points and begun circulation around his body Leaping back onto his feet, he circled around all of the Huashan apprentices, patting and s some others Within moments, he had opened all the sealed pressure points for everyone Then sitting by Maday into Madah her pressure points to help her redirect her own energy flow Meanwhile, Yue Lingshan rushed forward hurriedly and started tending the wounds on her s
Thinking back about how narrowly everyone had escaped death the night before, all the apprentices shi+vered in their hearts, feeling as if they were given a new life And the heartbreaking scene of the beheaded Liang Fa’s corpse only brought down more tears from the many Huashan apprentices Several feht floated in everyone’sapprentice brother defeated the bunch of villains, or else it would be dreadful to even contemplate”
Seeing that Linghu Chong was still lying in a puddle ofstrode by him and prodded him up
“Chong, where are those fifteen masked men from?” Yue Buqun asked dryly
“I…I don’t know, Master,” Linghu Chong muttered
“You do know theain
“I’ve never asped in astonishment
“If so, when I told you to keep thenore my order?”
“I…I…was too exhausted and couldn’t gather any strength Even no…” His body wobbled It looked as if just to reh task for him
“What a fine act!” Yue Buqun snorted
Sweat strea’s forehead He bent his knees and knelt down on the ground
“I was an orphan when I was young, and thanks to the immense kindness of Master and Master-Wife, you took s and treated me like your own son I am indeed an unworthy apprentice, but I would never dare disobey my Master’s orders or deceive Master and Master-Wife intentionally”
“You dare not to deceive me and your Master-Wife? Humph, then where did you learn those sword arts of yours? Don’t tell ht you those in your dreams” Yue Buqun scoffed
“I beg for your forgiveness, Master The senior ht me the sword arts specifically asked me to promise that I would keep his nain of the sword arts, not evenexplained hurriedly, buain toward his Master
“That’s of course” Yue Buqun sneered “With such superb Kung Fu, it’s only natural that you think nothing of your Master and Master-Wife Hoould the little bit of Kung Fu froainst a blow from your super sword? Didn’t that old man in mask mention it? You should have been the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School all along”
Daring not to reply, Linghu Chong kept koing as hts flashed inside his head “If I don’t tell theht me the sword arts, Master and Master-Wife would certainly not forgive , an evil rapist, didn’t let out anything about Grand Uncle-Master Feng when the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies perfor and torratitude; I will not let him down My loyalty towards Master and Master-Wife is true, and Heaven can be ed like this te deal”
“Master, Master-Wife,” Linghu Chong said, “it’s not that I am so bold as to disobey Master’s orders There are really so that senior master and ask for his per in a later date By then, I would not dare to keep any detail to myself”
“Fine! You can get up now,” Yue Buqun replied
Linghu Chong koed to his Master again before standing up Suddenly, both of his knees gave out on hizhi happened to be standing next to Linghu Chong Reaching his ar up
“Your sword skills are excellent, and your acting skills are even better,” Yue Buqun said with a sneer
Afraid to say another word, Linghu Chong kept his silence “I can never say enough about h he wronged ht This whole thing is so very odd I really can’t blah he had been wronged, he really had no resentments
Mada’s ingenious sword arts, not only would the entire Huashan Sword School be wiped out, perhaps all the female apprentices would have suffered treardless of who that seniorthe sword arts, we have benefited froin of those fifteen villains, I am sure we’ll find that out one day How could they have been Chong’s friends? Weren’t they going to slice Chong into shreds? Didn’t Chong blind all of them with his stabs?”
His head held high, Yue Buqun seele word from Madam Yue
The many apprentices soon found thes So a grave and buried Liang Fa After breakfast, everyone changed into dry clothes from their packs All the apprentices stared at Yue Buqun and waited for his coshan to have it out with Chief Zuo?” they all thought “Since Feng Buping has lost to big apprentice brother in the sword contest, he would be too eht for the Huashan Sword School Head Master post again”
“Junior apprentice sister, where do you think we should go?” Yue Buqun asked Madam Yue
“There’s no need to go to Mount Songshan now But since we are already far froo back in any hurry, either,” Madam Yue remarked She was so afraid of the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and dared not to go right back so soon
“In any case, since we have soood idea to travel around a bit and see the world It would generate good experience for all the apprentices,” Yue Buqun replied
Yue Lingshan was overjoyed “Wonderful, Daddy…” She clapped her hands But she suddenly remembered that it would be very inappropriate to look so happy when her senior apprentice brother Liang Fa had just been killed She halted abruptly only after one clap
“Look how excited you get every tiht, we‘ll let you have the fun Lingshan, where would you like to go visit?” Yue Buqun asked with a szhi as he spoke
“Daddy, if we are going to have fun, we o the better It would be really disappointing if we head back after only a hundred o visit Little Lin’s hometown? Second apprentice brother and I have been to Fuzhou before, but too bad that I had to disguise et to walk around an fruits in Fujian are so big and yues, banyan trees, and narcissus flowers…”
Madam Yue shook her head “Fujian Province is thousands of miles away from here We don’t have that kind of ars Clan, and we just all beg our way through”
“Master, Master-Wife, we are only a couple of days trip away frozhi said
“Oh, that’s right Your grandfather wang Yuanba, the Unbeatable Golden Blade, lives in Luoyang,” Madam Yue responded
“Both of randpa and grandet the details on randma would be honored to have Master, Master-Wife, and apprentice brothers and sisters as their guests, and spend some time there Then after that, we can take our time on our tour and visit old and jewels back frosha branch of the Escort House, so please don’t worry…about the traveling expenses,” Lin Pingzhi replied
Ever since Madam Yue stabbed the Fruit Fairy, she had been in a constant state of worry It was all still so clear in her s and lifted her off ground Every tiht of it, she would freeze with terror And then the horrifying scene of Chen Buyou’s death, with blood and internal organs splashi+ng everywhere as he was tore into four pieces, would follow, driving her crazy with fear Horrifying nighthts She knew clearly that they were really fleeing froshan to reason with the Songshan Sword School Seeing that Lin Pingzhi had invited everyone to visit Fujian after her husband gave hiured that the further they could flee the better Besides, her husband and herself had never visited the south part of the country before, so it didn’t sound like a bad idea to check it out at all With these thoughts in her mind, she spoke with a smile
“Senior apprentice brother, Little Lin is offering free food and lodging Care to take advantage of him?”
“Pingzhi’s grandfather, Unbeatable Golden Blade, enjoys great fa him someday, but unfortunately never had the chance Putian in Fujian Province is where the Southern Shaolin Temple resides It couldn’t have lacked reputableand Fujian Province It would certainly be a hile trip if we are lucky tothe trip” Yue Buqun smiled
Hearing that the Master had agreed to go on a trip to Fujian for fun, theat each other, Lin Pingzhi and Yue Lingshan found themselves ith joy
Linghu Chong was the only one in low spirit
“Of all the places, why did Master and Master-Wife pick Luoyang to visit apprentice brother Lin’s grandpa and Fujian, which is thousands ofcouldn’t help but think “It is self-evident that they have decided to betroth little apprentice sister to apprentice brother Lin They are going to Luoyang to visit the seniors of his faet to Fujian, they’d probably hold the wedding cereht at Lin Family’s house I am only an orphan who has no parents, nor relatives, while his fae Escort House, which has so many branches in so many cities How can I be anyto visit his grandpa and grandma When I follow him there, ould I have become?”
He felt evenhow the apprentice brothers and sisters all bursting with joy with no regard to the tragic death of Liang Fa
“Maybe I should just leave quietly in the dark tonight after we settle in an inn,” he thought aloud “How can I just follow everyone else to enjoy apprentice brother Lin’s free meals and spend his ratulate little apprentice sister and hi them to live happily ever after?”
The group of Huashan School hit the road again as Linghu Chong followed behind Weak and exhausted, he walked slower and slower, and soon, he fell far behind everyone else By noon, he decided to sit down on a big rock alongside the road to catch his breath, when he saw Lao Denuo stride back in big steps
“Big apprentice brother! How do you feel? You must be tired I’ll wait for you,” Lao Denuo said
“Oh, thanks!” Linghu Chong replied
“Master-Wife has hired a wagon for you in the town ahead It should be co anytime now,” Lao Denuo mentioned
Warh Master is suspicious of ht to himself
Not long after, a on and Lao Denuo accoht, when they settled in an inn, Lao Denuo shared the sa two days, Lao Denuo never even went out of his sight Linghu Chong was quite grateful that a fellow apprentice brother was so kind to care for a wounded patient
“When junior apprentice brother Lao joined our Huashan School, he had already received priorHe is much older than I a norht that he would treatafter what happened to me All the other apprentice brothers don’t even dare to talk withthe stern face Master has shownis so true: As distance will test a horse’s endurance, so will time reveal a person’s heart”
At the third night, as Linghu Chong was resting in bed with his eyes shut, soht his attention It was little apprentice brother Shu Qi whispering at the door
“Second apprentice brother, Master sentapprentice brother has done anything unusual today”
“Hush!+ Outside!” Lao Denuo hushed hurriedly and whispered back
A cold shi+ver ran through Linghu Chong’s heart Just from these feords he had realized what a tremendous suspicion Master actually had toward him Master only sent Lao Denuo to secretly keep a watch on his every move
Shu Qi walked away on tiptoes, and Lao Denuo walked by the bed slowly to check if Linghu Chong had really fallen asleep
Infuriated, Linghu Chong alht away and yell at hiht
“Why should I bla to do with this He is only following Master’s order Would he have dared to defy the Master?” So he forced back his anger and pretended to have fallen asleep
Lao Denuo walked out of the rooone to the Master for a report He couldn’t help but sneer inwardly, “Huuilty Even if you have ten or one hundred people watching every step of hts, I am open and aboveboard What’s there for me to be afraid of?”
Indignation filled his heart as he breathed wildly, and suddenly, it triggered a slight inner energy flow inside hiy streams swirled inside hihtly and gasped loudly Only after a long while, the nausea finally went away He sat up, threw on so, “Since Master is no longer treating ainst me as if I am a thief, why should I even bother to stay in the Huashan Sword School? Maybe it would be better if I simply leave and not worry about whether Master would ever understand me one day”
Right at that moment, he heard more whispers from under theon the outside
“Stay down and don’t move,” a voice said
“Sounds like big apprentice brother is getting off his bed,” another voice replied
The two said those words in whisper, but because it was a silent night, besides that Linghu Chong had excellent hearing abilities, he was actually able to hear every single word clearly and also recognize that the voices belonged to two young apprentice brothers of his Apparently they were hiding in the courtyard to guard the roo would flee
Linghu Chong clenched his fists hard Cracks froht “If I leave now, they would think thataway Fine! Fine! I’d rather stay! You can do whatever you want to ht aloud
“Waiter, waiter! Bring me some wine!” he suddenly broke into a loud yell
After quite soht hi slammed the wine down his throat Soon he beca when Lao Denuo prodded hion, half drunk and half awake, he just kept yelling, “Bring me more wine, I want more wine!”
Several days later, the Huashan group arrived at the city of Luoyang and settled in a big inn Lin Pingzhi went to his grandfather’s house by hied into clean clothing Linghu Chong never took off the ht outside of the monastery, so he was still covered with filth and looked very drunk Yue Lingshan ca robe in her hands
“Big apprentice brother, will you change into this robe please?”
“This is Master’s robe Why do you wantasked
“Little Lin is inviting us to his fashan answered
“Who said we have to put on nice clothing before visiting his fashan up and down
Yue Lingshan wore a thin cotton-padded jacket with green silk tops paired with a light green satin skirt She had put on a thin layer of makeup on her face Her dark hair was neatly combed and shi+ned beautifully with a flower shaped pearl hairpin by the side Linghu Chong re the Chinese New Year Feeling bitter in his heart, he wanted to spill out soht that a true ue
Yue Lingshan felt so’s sharp stare “If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to change,” she said
“I ae then,” Linghu Chong replied
Not wanting to argue with hishan left with the robe still in her hands
A resonant voice rose fro way here, and I didn’t greet promptly What a lack of manners!”
Yue Buqun knew that itYuanba – who had co a pleased smile toward his wife, he felt quite contented After the couple greeted out, what they saas an old man in his seventies His face shi+ned in a healthy redness while the bush of grey beard drifted in the breeze He looked certainly hale and hearty In his left palainst each other and echoed as he rolled them in his hand It was common for martial people to play with iron balls in their hands, but they would have beenYuanba had in his hands were two balls ht of regular iron balls, but also looked much more luxurious As soon as he spotted Yue Buqun, he burst into joy
“What an honor this is! Head Master Yue has such a great reputation in the Martial World I have been longing to meet you for the last twenty years Now that you have co, what a wonderful event it is for the ion”
He shook Yue Buqun’s right hand again and again happily The joy on his face was truly sincere
“My wife and I have decided to bring our apprentices to travel around so they could gain some experience in the world,” Yue Buqun said with a smile “And you, the Unbeatable Golden Blade Grandion, is the first on our list to visit, but the dozens of us are really being crude to just show up so abruptly uninvited”
“Alright now, nobody is allowed to ain in front of Head Master Yue Anyonerandson is a favor tanta from now on, the House of Golden Blade and the Sword School of Huashan are both parts of one big family Come, come! All of you will move to my house No one will be allowed to leave until you have lived in my house for at least half a year Head Master Yue, I’ll even help you carry your luggage”
“That’s very kind of you! I certainly don’t deserve that!” Yue Buqun replied in a hurry
“Bofen, Zhongqiang, ko to Uncle-Master Yue and Uncle-Master-Wife Yue,” wang Yuanba turned his head and called to his two sons standing behind him
wang Bofen and wang Zhongqiang both acknowledged and knelt down to salute In a hurry, the Yue Buqun couple also knelt down to salute back
“Please just call us by our names ‘Uncle-Master’ would be so inappropriate Even just for Pingzhi’s sake, we are of the saeneration,” Yue Buqun remarked
wang Bofen and wang Zhongqiang are both famous h they had always admired Yue Buqun, neither of them really wanted to ko to him They had knelt down reluctantly only because their father had told them to do so, so both were very pleased to see that the Yue Buqun couple also koed back to the each other
Yue Buqun took a good look at the two: both brothers were tall, only that wang Zhongqiang was a lot chubbier in co veins and bones that could be clearly seen on their hands Evidently, the two brothers had great strength both internally and externally
“All of you co and the two Uncle-Masters,” Yue Buqun called out to the Huashan apprentices “The House of Golden Blade’s reat reputation in the central region of the eneration also respected the House of Golden Blade veryand the two Uncle-Masters give you soreat deal from this”
“Yes, Master!” the many apprentices replied in unison, and seconds later, the lobby of the inn was filled with apprentices kneeling down on the floor, showing their respects
“You really flatterBofen and wang Zhongqiang both cupped their hands and greeted back with a half salute
Lin Pingzhi stood by the side and introduced each of the Huashan apprentices to his grandpa The wang Fa Yuanba had prepared presents for each of the guests ahead of tiift consisted of forty taels of silver The two brothers in the wang Fa the presents By the ti Yuanba said to Yue Buqun with a big grin
“Little brother Yue, your daughter is such a beautiful girl; is she engaged to anyone yet?”
“The girl is still too young Besides, in a irl plays with swords and knives all day long just like any boy would She doesn’t know anything about eirl to be their daughter-in-law?” Yue Buqun also grinned
“You are really beingYuanba replied with a beam “An extraordinary fahter It is only natural that lads from ordinary families would not have dared to claiht, it would be better if the girl learned sos” At that word, he lowered his voice and sees
Yue Buqun knew that he hter who had passed away in Hunan Province not long ago, so he put on a solemn face and responded, “Yes”
wang Yuanba was a ether froht smile
“Your daughter is talented and beautiful It would certainly be a difficult task to find a young hero good enough to pair up with her”
By then, Lao Denuo had gone back in the inn roo koed to neither wang Yuanba nor the wang brothers, and only bowed down deeply
“Linghu Chong here shows his respect to Grand and the two Uncle-Masters,” he said
“Aren’t you going to ko?” Yue Buqun frowned
wang Yuanba had heard fro had severe internal wounds, so he said with a s well There’s no need for excessive y skill is said to be the best in the Five Mountains Sword Alliance, then I am sure your wine tolerance o drink ten bowls of wine each”
Holding Yue Buqun’s hand in his own, he led Yue Buqun out of the inn Mada, and the rest of the Huashan apprentices all followed behind theons and horses had been lined up outside of the inn with fine-looking saddles and bridle; wagons for all the feuests It was a zhi headed out to infor Yuanba cauests Only froons and horses had been ready in such a short tireat power the Golden Blade wang Fa
The group soon arrived at thelooked tall and e copper rings attached to the gate must have been cleaned frequently as they dazzled brilliantly in the sunlight Eight brawny guards stood by the gate silently, their arms behind their back, all ready to take coe black board hung froirder with the words “Help for a Just Cause” painted in gold The words at the lower portion of the board showed that a governor of Henan Province had inscribed the calligraphy
That night, wang Yuanba put out a large banquet to welcome Yue Buqun and the rest of the Huashan apprentices Not only did he invite many famous masters in the localthe guests were also nuhu Chong was the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, so other than his Master Yue Buqun, he had thethe filthy and tattered clothing he earing and the listless face of his, all the guests found thee that the Martial World did not lack people of strange and unique behaviors Didn’t elite ? Since he was the Head Apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, he couldn’t have been ordinary; therefore no one had any belittling thought about Linghu Chong
Linghu Chong was seated at the second table, acco Bofen Soon, the wine had gone around three ti had hout the time, and would only reply once a while to his atte didn’t really think much of hihu Chong didn’t even ko to the the present of forty taels of silver Feeling very displeased, he decided to change the topic to soards to ’s opinion on several martial arts related questions that were in the advanced level, but Linghu Chong only nodded and agreed, never really answering any of them
Actually, Linghu Chong didn’t have any ill feeling against wang Bofen at all It was just that after seeing the luxurious life of the wang Faence and the wealth of the wang Family was so dramatic It was alzhi had changed into a long robe randfather’s house He had a handso up, he looked extre simply couldn’t help but feel a sense of inferiority and inadequacy
“Even if little apprentice sister didn’t become a couple with him and stayed the sa with a pauper like ht
All his ardless of ang Bofen said to hi really went into his ears