Vol 3 Chapter 21 (1/2)
Chapter Twenty-one: Life in Prison (draft)
When Linghu Chong finally came around, he found hi neither where he was nor how long he had been out cold The headache was so bad that he alh sos still ruet back onto his feet but found no strength left in him at all
“I rave,” he thought as the strong sense of grief and fuss quickly overwhelain
By the tiet any better, the ringing in his ears did lighten up a great deal He felt so upon so made of iron or steel A quick feel with his hand soon confirmed that it was indeed an iron plate underneath the straw ht clank broke out, and at the sa icy-cold tied around his wrist When he tried to feel it with his left hand, the clanking sound rose again Turned out that his left wrist also had so of shock, joy, and fear soared in his heart Noas sure that he had not died but had been shackled He felt it again with his left hand and then came to realization that it was a thin steel chain tied around his wrist A slight move of his two feet also revealed steel chains shackled around his ankles He opened his eyes as wide as he could and stared forward, but did not see even a gliht
“I was having a sword ht before I fainted How did I fall for the nan?” he asked hieon underneath the lake Have I been locked up in the saht, he called out immediately, “Revered Mr Ren? Revered Mr Ren?”
He called out twice, but did not hear anything in return Feeling of great shock grew stronger and stronger in his heart and he called out even louder, “Mr Ren! Mr Ren!” But once again, all he could hear in the pitch black were his own hoarse and vexed cries
As desperation began to sink in, he shouted out at the top of his lungs, “First Master! Fourth Master! Why have you locked me in here? Let , there was not another sound all the while
Soon panic turned into rage, and he began pouring our streams of abuses, “You despicable, brazen, evil scuured that you could lock ht that he would be locked up in the dark dungeon underneath the lake for the rest of his life just like the Revered Mr Ren instantly made his hair stand on end and his heart filled with despair The ht about it, the more afraid he becas, and before he knew it, the bawling had turned into loud wails, and tears had streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably
“You four…four despicable scoundrels…of the Plum Manor,” he cried in a hoarse voice, “If I can make it out of here one day, I’ll…I’ll blind…blind your eyes with s… Once I escape the dark dungeon…” But suddenly he fell silent when a loud voice echoed in his head, “Can I ever escape the dark dungeon? Can I ever escape the dark dungeon? Even Revered Mr Ren, such a capable et out?” Anxiety i really sick in his stoain
In the wooziness, he thought he heard a cracking sound, and i up abruptly, he leapt to his feet, but he forgot that both of his wrists and ankles were still shackled by steel chains Furtherth left in him, so only instants later, he fell back down heavily and all the bones in his body see been in co while, his eyes were not adept to sudden lights, but for fear that the gleaht just vanish as abruptly as it appeared, voiding him of any opportunity to escape, he kept his eyes wide open and stared hard toward the origin of the light despite the stinging pain
The gleaht had co And he reeon cell Revered Mr Ren lives in also had a squared-shaped opening on the iron door In fact, it had one exactly identical to this one He took a quick glance around and then confireon cell
“Let , Black-White, you despicable scoundrels, let uts!” he shouted out
A large wooden tray ca, on top of which was a large bowl of rice with some cooked food piled on top There was also an earthen jar, which apparently held some soup or water
This sightfood and water to me only means that you want to lock me in here for an extended period” So he cussed loudly, “You four dirty swine, listen up! If you want ive ames with your uncle here!”
But the wooden tray remained still The person outside the door obviously wanted hi reached out and struck it hard Loud clangs echoed as the rice bowl and the earthen jar fell to the ground and smashed into pieces Food and soup splashed everywhere Slowly, the wooden tray retracted out of the opening
In a stor threw hi, and then he saw a coht in his left hand and the wooden tray in his right hand, turning away unhurriedly Deep wrinkles covered thehad never seen before
“Go get Huangzhong or Black-White here! Tell those four shahtshouted out
But the oldfurther and further away unhurriedly, stooping loith his back
Linghu Chong watched on as the man slowly disappeared around the corner of the tunnel The light also gradually dilooates opening followed by sounds of the wooden gate and the iron gate closing down one after another And then once again, the tunnel was enveloped by cohtest of sound
Linghu Chong felt another strong dizziness in his head After staring blankly into the blackness for a moment, he decided to lie down on the bed for better concentration with his thoughts
“The oldfood to e any ith ht to hieon cell looked identical to the one Revered Mr Ren lives in I guess there are quite a few prison cells built under the Plum Manor I wonder how many people they have locked up down here If somehow I can connect with the Revered Mr Ren, or with any other fellow prisoners here, by working together and uniting our efforts, who knoe ht be able to find a way out of here”
At that thought, he extended his ar sounds clearly indicated that it was made of sheer steel The sounds were both heavy and dull Obviously there was no space on the other side of the wall except solid ground
He walked to another wall and also knocked on it, but again, the responding sounds were both heavy and dull Not willing to give up, Linghu Chong sat back on the bed and knocked on the wall behind hiain, the sounds were still the same
Feeling his way along the walls, he carefully knocked on every inch of all the three walls, but other than the side of the ith the iron door, this dungeon cell seeround all alone There, of course, had to be other dungeon cells underground, at lease one another, which had the Ren naeon cell ht be or even how far it was from his own cell
Leaning against the wall, he very carefully reviewed, in his head, the series of events that had happened before he fainted He could remember how the oldalso became louder and louder Then, all of a sudden, there was that earthshaking roar, right after which he lost his consciousness But how on earth was he captured by the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan, and then sent to this prison cell, he couldn’t re about it
“The four Manor Masters all appeared to be talented persons of poetic temperament on the surface, even their day-to-day araphy, and Painting these Four Arts Who would have i skin, they were all filthy, conteht to himself “There were many vile characters like these in the Martial World and it shouldn’t have co was that these four Manor Masters did hold genuine interests in the art of , which would have been impossible for them to pretend When Mr Bald-Brush wrote the “General Pei Poe was co not a normal martial arts master could have accomplished”
Then he thought, “Master once said, ‘Only people with extreme aptitude are capable of extreme evil’ That is so true The scauard against”
Suddenly a thought struck him He cried out and ju ? Has he fallen for theirBrother Xiang is a man of shrewdness and improvisation He seenan’s conducts beforehand As the Right Advisor of the Demon’s Cult, he has roamed the Martial World foras he is not stranded by the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan, he will try to rescue me for sure Even if I were to be locked up one thousand feet below ground, Big Brother Xiang would still be able to get ht, he found hirin on his face, he ! Did you know that you are a real coward? Scared into crying like a baby, where are you going to put your face if people find out about it?”
Feeling relieved, he stood up slowly, then iry he had been “Too bad I threw a fit and knocked over the perfectly fine riceBrother Xiang rescue th to battle the Four Skunks of Jiangnan? Ha-ha, that’s right, the Four Skunks of Jiangnan! How can such vile skunks be worthy of the title the ‘Four Playfellows of Jiangnan?’ Out of the four skunks, Mr Black-White had to be thethat blank, collected countenance on his face He is probably the one who came up with the entire sche hi on my list Mr Paint, on the other hand, seeht as well spare his despicable life But in regard to his collection of great wines, ha-ha, I’ll drink theht of Mr Paint’s great wines collection, he found hiswith thirst
“How long have I been unconscious? Why hasn’t Big Brother Xiang coht popped out, “Oh, no! If it were a fight one-on-one, Big Brother Xiang’s Kung Fu skills are more than sufficient to defeat any one of the Four Skunks of Jiangnan But if those four skunks attack Big Brother Xiang all at once, then Big Brother Xiang would have a hard tiave full play to his ability and kill all four of them, it would be iround dungeon Who would have expected to find the dungeon entrance hidden underneath Mr Huang-Zhong’s bed?”
Feeling coht suddenly ca Fu skills are undoubtedly greater than those of Big Brother Xiang’s, and his wit, experience and foresight also outclass that of Big Brother Xiang Even he beca so special that he could ensure victory? Straightforward gentlemen often fall prey of machination from the vile It is well said that covert attack is farBrother Xiang hasn’t co while, could he have fallen for their trap?” He instantly forgot all about his own trouble, but began worrying about Xiang Wentian’s safety, instead
He let his thoughts went off into wild flights of fancy, and before long, he fell asleep When he woke up again, he had no idea what time it was, and all he could see was still complete darkness
“It is siht to hi also falls for their scheht come to free me? Master has announced to the entire world that I am expelled from the Huashan Sword School; of course people fro, Ying-Ying…”