Chapter - 38 Annihilation

Linghu Chong and Yingying were looking at each other and in that moment, all sorts of feelings welled up in their hearts. The razor glinted under the sun shining through the window. Linghu Chong thought, "Never thought this problem could be solved like that."

Suddenly, there were some voices from below the Hanging Temple but they couldn't hear them clearly as the voices moved farther away. After some time, they again heard people coming closer to the temple. Linghu Chong called out, "People!" When he heard his own cry, he realised his mute acupoint was already unsealed. From the acupoints on the body, the mute acupoint was sealed the lightest. As his internal energy was more abundant than Yingying, his mute acupoint was unsealed first. Yingying nodded. Linghu Chong wanted to extend his arms and legs, but he found out he still could not. He heard seven to eight people talking as they came inside the Hanging Temple and came up the Spirit Turtle Pavilion.

Someone with a coarse voice said, "There's not even a ghost in this Hanging Temple, so what are we looking for? We have to be really careful." This person was the mendicant monk Qiu Songnian.

"We have order from the top so we must do this well," Monk Xibao said.

Linghu Chong hastily moved his internal energy to break through the sealed acupoints. However, his internal energies were mainly from other people so even though they were abundant, he couldn't use them like they were his own. The more he forced it, the more difficult it became to unseal his acupoints. He heard Yan Sanxing said, "Mr. Yue said that after we succeeded, he'll give us the Evil Resisting Sword Art. I don't think we can rely on his words. Right now at Mount Heng-Shan, we've done a great merit already but there are so many people working on this matter, and we have not done something big enough. So why would he give the sword art to us?" While he was talking, a few people came up the stairs. When the door to the chamber was pushed open, they suddenly saw Linghu Chong and Yingying hanging from the beam with their hands and legs tied up. They all gasped in surprise.

"How come young lady Ren is here?" 'Slippery and Hard to Grip' You Xun questioned. "Hey, there's also a monk."

"Who dares to be so rude to young lady Ren?" Madam Zhang asked as she walked next to Yingying and released the ropes Yingying had been tied up with.

"Madam Zhang, wait, wait!" You Xun hastily interrupted.

"Why wait?" Madam Zhang queried.

"There's something strange here," You Xun argued.

"Yi, he's not a monk," Priest Yuling suddenly exclaimed. "He's... he's Headmaster Linghu, Linghu Chong."

They all turned their heads around and looked at Linghu Chong. It took them a while but they finally recognised him. These eight people were usually in awe of Yingying, and they were also afraid of Linghu Chong. They immediately looked at each other in blank dismay, not knowing what to do. Yan Sanxing and Qiu Songnian suddenly exclaimed at the same time, "What a great accomplishment!"

"That's right!" Priest Yuling agreed. "What's so rare about capturing a few nuns? But capturing the headmaster of Heng-Shan -- now that's a big accomplishment. Mr. Yue will definitely give us the Evil Resisting Sword Art now."

"So what should we do?" Madam Zhang asked.

All eight of them thought of the same thing, "If we release young lady Ren, we won't be able to capture Linghu Chong. We'll even lose our lives here. So what should we do?" But regarding Yingying's authority and power, they did not dare to not release her.

You Xun giggled and said, "As the saying goes, if your heart is small you're not a nobleman, to be a gentleman you must be ruthless. It doesn't matter if we're not noblemen, but it's a pity if we're not gentlemen! Very pitiful!"

"You're saying we should take this opportunity to kill her and shut her mouth?" Priest Yuling asked.

"I didn't say it. You said it," You Xun replied.

"Sacred lady has treated us with kindness. Whoever dares to treat her with disrespect, I'll be the first one to go against it," Madam Zhang said severely.

"Even if you release her now, do you think she can understand our situation?" Qiu Songnian argued. "How can she agree to let us capture Linghu Chong?"

"No matter what, we're already in Heng-Shan School," Madam Zhang said. "Betraying our headmaster is also treachery." After she finished speaking, she extended her hand to release the ropes binding Yingying.

"Stop!" Qiu Songnian shouted fiercely.

"Speaking so loudly, are you trying to intimidate me?" Madam Zhang angrily replied.

With a hiss, Qiu Songnian drew his jiedao* out. Madam Zhang moved quickly and drew out a short sabre from her bosom cutting the ropes binding Yingying's hands and legs. She was thinking Yingying's martial art was very high so once the ropes binding her were cut, there was nothing to be worried of even with those seven people attacking. With a flash, Qiu Songnian slashed his jiedao down. Madam Zhang's short sabre made 'chi, chi' sounds as she thrust three times and forced Qiu Songnian back a couple of steps.

The rest of the people saw Yingying became unbound and they were afraid. They quickly retreated outside the door wanting to be the first to go down from the pavilion. But when Yingying fell to the ground and did not jump up, they knew her acupoints were sealed. One by one, they slowly came back inside. You Xun giggled and said, "You know, we're all good friends here. Why are we fighting with sabres? Isn't that too dangerous?"

"When young lady Ren's acupoints become unsealed, would we still be able to keep our lives?" Qiu Songnian called out. He gripped his jiedao tightly as he again rushed at Madam Zhang. Jiedao versus short sabre, the fighting was very intense. Qiu Songnian had a big stature and his sabre was big. Moreover, jiedao was very heavy. But against Madam Zhang's close combat style, this mendicant monk actually didn't find the fight easy at all.

You Xun laughingly said, "Stop fighting, stop fighting, let's talk slowly." His hand was holding a folded fan as he approached them to mediate.

"Scram! Don't be in the way!" Qiu Songnian shouted.

"Yes, yes!" You Xun laughingly replied. He turned his body around and his right hand suddenly shot out. Madam Zhang cried out wretchedly. The steel fan in You Xun's hand had already entered her throat. You Xun laughingly said, "We're all friends here. I advised you not to fight but you didn't want to hear me. Isn't that a bit too treacherous?" When he pulled the fan out, blood sprayed out of Madam Zhang's throat.

This was outside everyone's expectation. Startled, Qiu Songnian took a step back and then he scolded, "Damn it! You son of a turtle were actually helping me."

You Xun laughed and said, "If I don't help you, who do I help then?" He turned around and said to Yingying, "Young lady Ren, you're Chief Ren's daughter. All of us gives way to you because of your father. But everyone of us respects and fears you only because you have the antidote for the 'Three Corpse Brain Divine Pill'. But once this antidote is in our hands, Sacred Lady, you'll be useless."

"Right, right," The six people all agreed. "Once we have taken her antidote, we can kill her to shut her up."

"Let's take an oath first," Priest Yuling said. "Whoever leaks this matter out, the 'Three Corpse Brain Divine Pill' in him will come out instantly." These people were thinking they must kill Yingying, but thinking of Ren Woxing, they were terrified. If this matter were to leak out, even though Jianghu was large, they still might not be able to find a shelter to hide in. The seven of them immediately said this oath.

Linghu Chong knew that once these people had finished saying their oaths, they would use their sabres to kill Yingying. So he hurriedly moved his inner energy to those acupoints which were still sealed, but he was still unable to unseal any of them. His heart was worried and he looked at Yingying. He saw she was also looking at him and there was no fear in her eyes at all. He was immediately relieved and thought, "In the end, we all must die. It would be very good for us to die together."

Qiu Songnian said to You Xun, "Do it."

"Monk Qiu has always done things very quickly and you have the most heroic spirit. I'd like to ask Brother Qiu to do it," You Xun replied.

"If you don't do it, I'll butcher you first," Qiu Songnian scolded.

"Since Brother Qiu doesn't dare, then how about if Brother Yan do it?" You Xun laughingly said.

"Your granny, why don't I dare? I just don't feel like killing people today," Qiu Songnian angrily replied.

"It doesn't matter who does it. No one will ever reveal it," Priest Yuling interrupted.

"Since it doesn't matter, then Brother Priest, please do it," Monk Xibao said.

"Why is everyone refusing?" Yan Sanxing said. "Let's speak frankly here. No one here trusts anyone else. So let us all get our weapons out and kill young lady Ren at the same time." Even though these people were ferocious and evil, when the moment arrived to kill Yingying, they did not dare to insult her even slightly.

"Wait, let me get the medicine first before we do anything else," You Xun said.

"Why do you have to be the one to take it?" Qiu Songnian asked. "Once it's in your hands, you will coerce other people. Let me take it."

"If it's in your hands, who's to say that you won't coerce other people?" You Xun replied.

"Stop wasting time!" Priest Yuling bellowed. "If we waste time till her acupoints are unsealed then it'll be trouble. Let's kill her first, then we'll distribute the medicine!" With a hiss, he drew his long sword out. The others also took out their weapons and encircled Yingying. Yingying's eyes were wide open as she unwaveringly stared at Linghu Chong. She was thinking of the events in these last few days when they were sharing some sweet moments together. The corners of her mouth were tenderly smiling.

Yan Sanxing called out, "I'm going to call one, two, three. We'll move at the same time. One, two, three!" When the word 'three' came out of his mouth, seven weapons chopped down on Yingying's body.

Who would have thought all seven weapons would stop by half a foot before they reach her body, as if they had a prior agreement to do this.

"Cowards, why didn't you kill her?" Qiu Songnian scolded. "You were thinking the person beside you would do it so the blame wouldn't fall on you!"

"You're more of a coward," Monk Xibao retorted. "You didn't even chop down with your jiedao!"

Each of them, in their own mind, wanted the person beside them to kill Yingying first so that their own weapons wouldn't need to be stained with blood. To kill someone they had always respected was actually not easy.

"Let's do it again!" Qiu Songnian urged. "This time, whoever stops their weapons will be a bastard son of a turtle, birthed by a prostitute, worse than a dog! I'm going to call out one, two, three. One ------- Two --------" The word 'three' had not left his mouth yet when Linghu Chong called out, "Evil Resisting Sword Art!"

The seven of them heard him and they immediately turned their heads around. Around four of them asked at the same time, "What?"

Yue Buqun had used the Evil Resisting Sword Art to blind Zuo Lengchan on top of the place of worship and this had spread throughout Wulin. These seven people were very jealous. These last few days, they had been thinking of this Evil Resisting sword manual day and night.

Linghu Chong recited, "Evil Resisting Sword Art, supreme swordsmanship, attain sword qi first, then learn the divine sword. Divine qi is the foundation, the essence of the sword art. How to develop the sword qi, how to borne the divine sword? Both secrets are contained in this." When the first sentence was uttered, the seven people moved towards him for half a step. After the sixth or seventh sentence, all seven of them had left the side of Yingying and had gone beside Linghu Chong. When Linghu Chong stopped reciting, Qiu Songnian asked, "This... This is Evil Resisting sword manual?"

"If it's not Evil Resisting sword manual, then is it Resisting Evil sword manual?" Linghu Chong answered.

"Continue reciting it," Qiu Songnian persuaded.

Linghu Chong recited, "When practising the qi, mind must be sincere, clear your thoughts. Heart must be pure..." When he reached this point, he stopped reciting.

Monk Xibao urged, "Continue, continue." But Priest Yuling's mouth was muttering, trying to memorise those passages, "When practising the qi, mind must be sincere, clear your thoughts. Heart must be pure."

Actually, Linghu Chong had not seen the Evil Resisting sword manual yet. The lines he was reciting were actually Huashan sword art's formula, and he just changed the sentence 'Huashan's sword art, light and quick' to 'Evil Resisting Sword Art, supreme swordsmanship'. This was the root of Yue Buqun's 'Qi Branch' formula, where the sentence 'learn sword qi first, then learn the divine sword' existed. Linghu Chong didn't study much so his vocabulary was quite limited. In such a short time, how could he fluently invent those sentences just like a scholar?

But Qiu Songnian and the others had never heard Huashan sword art's formula before. Second, they had been thinking of the Evil Resisting Sword Art and they were very fascinated by it. So once they heard someone reciting the formula of the Evil Resisting Sword Art, each one of them became muddle headed. How could they still have time to think whether the sword manual was real or false?

Linghu Chong continued with his recitation "Flow smoothly, fill the sword qi, Evil Resisting Sword comes out, everything will be killed..." This sentence 'everything will be killed' was made up by him because Huashan sword formula definitely did not have this kind of formula. After reciting till here, he said, "The, the... next sentence is something like 'if unable to kill, sword art is ineffective', but maybe not, I don't remember it that clearly."

Monk Xibao and the others asked, "Where's the sword manual?"

Linghu Chong replied, "This sword manual... is certainly not on me." At the same time he was saying this, he was also looking at his stomach. This sentence was really along the lines of 'there's no 300 taels here'*. Right after he said this, two hands promptly reached inside his clothes. One hand belonged to Monk Xibao, and the other to Qiu Songnian. All of a sudden, the two of them cried out miserably. Monk Xibao's head had split open, while there was a sword piercing from the back of Qiu Songnian's body all the way through to his chest. They had fallen victim to Yan Sanxing and Priest Yuling.

(*Translator's note: This means clearly admitting that the sword manual is there.)

"We've worked so hard to get our hands on this Evil Resisting Sword Manual," Yan Sanxing laughingly said. "Once this sword manual appeared, these two bastards wanted it for themselves. How can things be that easy in this world?" He then kicked away the two people's corpses.

In the beginning, Linghu Chong pretended to recite the Evil Resisting Sword Manual because he saw Yingying's life was in grave danger. So he thought up of an idea quickly wanting to lead these people away from her and delay them, thinking that Yingying's and his acupoints might get unsealed soon. He never thought things would come to this point. Not only had he led these people away from her, they had even killed each other. Now, there were only five of them from the previous seven. Secretly, he felt really happy.

"No one has seen whether this sword manual is really on Linghu Chong's body," You Xun said. "But we've already killed each other first, that's really impatient..." He had not finished speaking but Yan Sanxing was already rolling his eyes and staring at him hatefully.

"You're saying we're impatient. You don't accept this, do you?" Yan Sanxing said. "I'm afraid you want to get this sword manual for yourself."

"I don't dare to get it for myself and end up like that big monk with my head split open," You Xun replied. "Where's the fun in that? But this sword manual is very famous in the world. We all wanted to widen our scope and have always thought about it."

The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo said at the same time, "That's right. No one is allowed to get it for himself. If you want to look then look at it together."

Yan Sanxing said to You Xun, "Ok, then you get the sword manual out from this kid's chest."

You Xun shook his head and smiled. "I don't have this idea of taking it for myself. I also don't dare to see it first. Brother Yan, once you take it out, I'll be satisfied if you just give me a peep at it."

Yan Sanxing then said to Priest Yuling, "Then you go and take it out!"

"It's still best if Brother Yan takes it out," Priest Yuling replied.

Yan Sanxing looked at the Tung Cypress Whiz Duo, but the two of them were also shaking their heads. Yan Sanxing angrily said, "Do you think I don't understand what the four of you bastards are thinking? You want me to take that sword manual and then you're going to kill me. But this won't work on me." The five people were looking at each other. The situation was now deadlocked.

Linghu Chong was afraid they might again go and harm Yingying, so he said, "Don't get too worried, let me try to remember more. Hmmm, Evil Resisting Sword comes out, everything will be killed, if unable to kill, sword art is ineffective... Not right, not right, sword art is ineffective, how can that be? Terrible, terrible, this sword manual is too profound. I just can't remember it."

Those five people had been intently trying to get the sword manual. When they heard such vulgar and crude words from this sword manual, their heart itched even more to get it.

Yan Sanxing slashed his sabre and shouted, "It's not difficult if you want me to take the sword manual from this kid's chest. Four of you step back outside the door, so I don't have to worry about you sons of turtle attacking me from behind when I'm taking it."

The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo just backed out of the door without saying anything. You Xun giggled but he also retreated outside. Priest Yuling hesitated before stepping back for a few steps. Yan Sanxing shouted, "Step outside of the door with both your legs!"

"What are you shouting for?" Priest Yuling replied. "If I want to go out then I'll go out, if not, then what do you care?" Even though he said this, he still went outside the door at the end. The four people watched Yan Sanxing, and were thinking on his possible escape routes from this Spirit Turtle Pavilion. The stair was definitely the only escape route Yan Sanxing could take since it wouldn't be possible for him to fly out from there.

Yan Sanxing turned around and his back was now facing Linghu Chong. He was gazing at the four people outside the door, afraid that they might suddenly sneak an attack on him. He reached back with his left hand to grope inside Linghu Chong's bosom, but he could not feel any book in there. He held his sabre in his mouth by biting on it and he used his left hand to grab Linghu Chong's chest while his right hand reached back to grope around. As he used strength on his left hand, he promptly felt his inner energy leaking out. He was startled and hastily tried to pull his hand back. But how could he have known that his hand would be stuck like it was glued to Linghu Chong's skin and he couldn't pull it back. He was even more startled now and hastily moved his internal energy to snatch his hand back. However, the more internal energy he used, the faster it leaked out. He struggled mightily as his inner energy was rushing out like the river torrent rushing down a dike.

Linghu Chong was in a desperate situation and suddenly there was an enemy's internal energy being injected into him. He felt really happy and he said, "Why are you stopping my heart meridian? How about if you let me recite the sword formula for you to listen to?" He randomly moved his lips like he was saying something.

When Priest Yuling and the others saw it from outside the door, they really thought he was reciting the sword manual. They didn't want to be disadvantaged since they couldn't hear it so they immediately rushed inside to be in front of Linghu Chong.

"That's it. That's the sword manual," Linghu Chong exclaimed. "Why don't you take it out and give everyone a look!" But Yan Sanxing's left hand was still glued to Linghu Chong's body so how could he take it out?

Priest Yuling thought Yan Sanxing had grabbed the sword manual but because he wanted to keep it for himself, he didn't want to take it out. He immediately extended his hand to Linghu Chong's bosom to grab it too. When his hand bumped Linghu Chong's skin, his inner energy leaked out and his hand was also glued to him.

"Hey, hey, don't fight you two! You might tear the sword manual; then no one can see it!" Linghu Chong called out.

The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo exchanged a glance. With a flash, two gold staffs smashed down. Yan Sanxing's and Priest Yuling's heads burst open and they died instantly. As soon as they died, their inner energy disappeared causing both their hands to be released from Linghu Chong's body and their corpses fell down on the floor. Linghu Chong had suddenly received two people's inner energies. These inner energies had come from outside the sealed acupoints and not from inside the sealed acupoints. With these inner energies rushing in, the sealed acupoints were unsealed quickly. His original inner energy was already abundant, with a little bit of power, the ropes binding his hands were broken straight away. Extending his hand inside his bosom to grab the handle of his short sword, he said, "The sword manual is here. Who wants it?"

The Tung Cypress Whiz Duo were slow witted and they didn't think the ropes breaking apart was something unusual. When they heard him wanting to hand over the sword manual, they were exulted and together they extended their hands forward.

'Pai, pai'

Both their right wrists were cut and their hands fell on the floor. They cried out wretchedly while jumping back at the same time. Linghu Chong broke apart the ropes binding his legs and flew down to position himself in front of Yingying. He then said to You Xun, "Sword art comes out, everything will be killed! Brother You, do you want to look at the sword manual?"

The sly You Xun was the only one left unharmed. At this time, he was already very frightened that his face was ashen. He tremblingly said, "Thank you, I... I don't want to take a look."

"No need to be so polite. Have a look for a while, there's no harm to look at it," replied a smiling Linghu Chong. He extended his left hand to poke Yingying's back and waist to unseal her acupoints. You Xun's whole body was trembling incessantly as he said, "Master Linghu... Master... Linghu... Hero... Hero, you you... you..." Both his knees bent and he knelt on the ground. "Your lowly servant has offended you and deserves death. It's... it's useless to say anything more. Sacred Lady and Headmaster still have your lives, your lowly servant will go through fire, go through water..."

"To learn the Evil Resisting Sword Art, the first step is really fun. Why don't you do it!" Linghu Chong laughingly said.

You Xun kept on kowtowing, hitting his head on the floor as he said, "Sacred Lady and Headmaster are very broadminded. Everyone in Wulin knows this. Today, let your lowly servant atone for my sin. Your lowly servant will go to Jianghu and declare you two saints... no, no, no..." When he said 'saints', he remembered something and realised he had stumbled into another disaster in his fright. Yingying can get most angered when someone mentioned behind her back that Linghu Chong and she were related. So he wanted to hold back his tongue but it was too late.

Yingying saw the Tung Cypress Whiz Duo were standing side by side. Even though they had each lost a hand and blood was pouring out of their arms without pause, their faces still showed no fear. She asked, "Are you two husband and wife?" The man from Tung Cypress Whiz Duo was called Zhou Gutong, and the woman was called Wu Baiying.

"Today, we've fallen under your hands. Whether you want to kill or peel our flesh off, the two of us won't bat an eyelid. Why do you ask so much?" Zhou Gutong replied.

Yingying liked his haughtiness and coldly said, "I'm asking if the two of you are husband and wife."

"We're not husband and wife officially. But for the last twenty years, we're much better compared to other officially married husband and wife," Wu Baiying said.

"Between the two of you, only one is allowed to live. Both of you are lacking a hand, a leg, also lacking a ..." Yingying thought her own father was the same as these two people. They all lacked an eye, so she didn't say it out loud. After a pause, she continued, "Two of you can fight and kill each other. The one who survive can go!"

"Very good!" the Tung Cypress Whiz Duo replied at the same time. A gold flash was seen as the two of them wielded their gold staffs to hit their own foreheads.

"Wait!" Yingying shouted. With a long sword in her right hand and a short sword in her left hand, she rushed forward and deflected the two staffs upward. As she hit the two staffs, she felt her shoulders and arms went numb and both her swords were dangerously close to being disarmed. However, her left arm was weaker so Wu Baiying's staff still continued and hit her forehead. In an instant, blood was flowing down.

Zhou Gutong loudly shouted, "Once I kill myself, Sacred Lady's words are like the mountains, and she'll let you go. What's not good about that?"

"Of course I'll die and you'll live. What's there to fight about?" Wu Baiying replied.

Yingying nodded and said, "Very good, the two of you husband and wife are very loving. I really respect you for that. I won't kill either of you. Quickly wrap up your cut hand." The Cypress Whiz Duo were extremely happy. They tossed their staffs away, and rushed towards each other to wrap up their wounds.

"But there's one matter the two of you must do," Yingying said. Wu Baiying and Zhou Gutong acknowledged the order together. Yingying continued, "After you've gone down the mountain, you must pay respect to the heaven and get married. Two of you travelling together, not becoming husband and wife, how... how..." She originally wanted to say 'how can you do that', but she immediately remembered about Linghu Chong and her being together also without being husband and wife. She couldn't help her face blushing red.

Wu Baiying and Zhou Gutong gave a glance and kowtowed their thanks together. You Xun said, "Sacred Lady is very kind and forgiving, not only did she spare your life, she even look after your lifelong matter. The two of you are really lucky. I've known for a long time that Sacred Lady treats her subordinates really well."

"Under whose order did you come to Heng-Shan this time?" Yingying asked. "What are you scheming about?"

"Your lowly servant was deceived by that dog Yue Buqun. He said he received Chief Ren's Black Command Wood and he wanted the nuns of Heng-Shan captured and brought to the Dark Wood Cliff. He said the order comes from Chief Ren," You Xun answered.

"Yue Buqun has the Black Command Wood in his hand?" Yingying asked.

"Yes, yes! Subordinate carefully looked at it. He really has the Sun Moon Sect's Black Command Wood. If not, why would I listen to that dog Yue Buqun's order when Subordinate has always been loyal to Chief and Sacred Lady?"

Yingying pondered, "How did Yue Buqun get my sect's Black Command Wood? Ah, that's it, he took the Three Corpse Brain Pill, so he was listening to dad's order and dad gave him the command wood." She then asked, "Yue Buqun also said: once you finished with the order, he'll give you the Evil Resisting Sword Art, didn't he?"

You Xun kowtowed continuously as he said, "That dog Yue Buqun can really deceive people. Everyone believes him."

"You were saying you've done a great merit in Heng-Shan this time around, what's that all about?" Yingying queried.

"There are some people who had gone to the mountaintop and put the confusion poison into the water spring, so all Heng-Shan's disciples got knocked out. There are also some people who didn't know anything inside the Other Courtyard who got knocked out by the confusion poison. At this time, they're already being sent to the Dark Wood Cliff," You Xun related.

"Did you kill anyone?" Linghu Chong worriedly asked.

"Killed around eight to nine people, they're all from the Other Courtyard. They didn't get knocked out by the confusion poison and resisted, so they were killed," You Xun replied.

"Who are they?"

"Your lowly servant doesn't know their names. Hero Linghu... your friends aren't one of them."

Linghu Chong nodded his head feeling relieved. Yingying said, "Let's go down."

"Alright," Linghu Chong acknowledged. He took the long sword that Monk Xibao left behind and laughingly said, "If I see that evil granny, I'm going to dispute this well with her."

"Thank you Sacred Lady and Headmaster Linghu for not killing me," You Xun said.

"Why are you being so polite for?" Yingying replied. She waved her left hand and her short sword shot out. With a 'pu' sound, it was embedded in You Xun's chest. This sly traitor 'Slippery and Hard to Grip' You Xun died instantly.

They went down the pavilion together. The mountain was lonesome and only chirpings of birds were heard. Yingying looked at Linghu Chong and couldn't help bursting into laughter. Linghu Chong let out a drawn out sigh and said, "Linghu Chong shaved his head to be a monk, from this time on, my body has entered Buddhism. Shizu, let's part ways."

Yingying knew he was joking, but her heart was still worried and she involuntarily shuddered. She grabbed his arm and said, "Brother Chong, don't... don't say this kind of joke with me, I... I... " Just then when she threw her sword killing You Xun, she didn't even blink, but her voice sounded scared at this time. Linghu Chong's heart was moved, his left hand patted his bald head and he sighed, "But with such a pretty as a jade girl in this world, big monk here will just have to return to the secular world."

Yingying laughed captivatingly then said, "After I killed You Xun, I thought there wouldn't be anyone with an oily and slippery mouth in Wulin anymore, then we'll have some quiet and peace, didn't expect... hehe!"

"Try touching my shiny head, it's so slippery that your hand won't stay on it," Linghu Chong smilingly said.

Yingying blushed and spit. "We're talking about proper stuff here. Heng-Shan's disciples have been captured and taken to Dark Wood Cliff and we're going to save them. This is a big big problem. Moreover, it'll also harm our father and daughter relationship..."

"Also, it'll harm my father and son in law relationship," Linghu Chong added. Yingying glared at him, but she was enjoying the sweet feeling blooming in her heart. Linghu Chong continued, "We mustn't tarry, let's go catch up to them quickly. Cut them off and save them."

"When we catch up to them, kill them all and don't leave anyone alive. It's best if we don't let my dad know." She walked for a few steps before letting out a long sigh. Linghu Chong understood her heart. She wanted to conceal this big matter from Ren Woxing's ears and eyes, which was something easier said than done. But he himself was the headmaster of Heng-Shan School, so when Heng-Shan's people were taken prisoner, how could he not rescue them? She had decided to follow her own decision and she didn't care anymore even though it would violate her father's order. When he thought till here, he decided that it was time to make a decision. He extended his left hand to grab a hold of her right hand. Yingying struggled slightly, but seeing there was no one around, she let him held her hand.

"Yingying, I understand your heart. This matter implicates the harmony between your father and daughter. I'm really very sorry," Linghu Chong said.

Yingying shook her head slightly and replied, "If daddy took my feeling into consideration, he wouldn't have taken any action against Heng-Shan School. But, I'm guessing he doesn't have any malice towards you either."

Linghu Chong immediately comprehended the situation. "That's right. Your father must have captured the Heng-Shan's disciples to force me to swear an oath to the Sun Moon Divine Sect."

"That's right. Daddy actually likes you a lot. Moreover, you're the only person who has inherited his divine martial art."

"I'm not willing to swear an oath to join the Divine Sect. What 'Long live to chief, unify the Jianghu', what 'Refined scholar, kind-hearted warrior, to the benefit of common people'! I want to vomit just hearing those disgusting talks."

"I know. That's why I've never persuaded you. If you enter the Divine Sect, you'll become Chief in the future. From day till night hearing those disgusting talks, then... then we wouldn't be like we are now. Ai, daddy is again on top of the Dark Wood Cliff, his temper has also changed really quickly."

"But we mustn't offend your father." He extended his right hand to grip her left hand. "Yingying, after we save Heng-Shan's people, you and I should go pay respect to heaven and earth to get married, we shouldn't worry about orders from parents or some words from some matchmakers. You and I should retreat from Wulin, seal our swords and retreat into seclusion. Then we can ignore outside matters and borne some children."

When Yingying first heard of him talking properly, her face turned red and her heart liked it a lot. But hearing the last sentence, she was startled and used some power to pull her hands away from his. Linghu Chong laughingly said, "After we've become husband and wife, we don't want to get some children?"

"You're talking nonsense again!" Yingying angrily replied. "I won't talk to you for three days!"

Linghu Chong knew she would do what she said. He stuck his tongue out and said, "Ok, I'll say less jokes. Catching up is most important now. Let's go up Xianxing Peak to have a look."

The two of them used their qinggong to up the path towards Xianxing Peak. There wasn't a single soul in Wuse Convent or in the resident houses. Things and clothes were in disarray with sabres and swords scattered around the floor. Fortunately, there wasn't a trace of blood on the floor, seemed like no one was injured. They also went to the Other Courtyard to take a look, no one was there too. With the various wines and dishes displayed on the table, Linghu Chong's wine addiction was aroused. But how would he dare to drink these wines, he said, "I'm very hungry, let's go down the mountain quickly and grab something to eat and drink."

Yingying tore the outer garment of Linghu Chong's gown and wrapped it on his head. Linghu Chong laughed and said, "This is presentable. Else a big monk kidnapping a young girl from a respectable family, going places, it will be scandalous."

When they reached the foot of the mountain, it was already at the hour of Wei (1-3pm), so it was easy to find a little restaurant and they ate their fill. They recognised the road going to Dark Wood Cliff and took a deep breath before rushing to catch up. After rushing for a few hours, they suddenly heard a faint murmuring of shouting and curses coming from behind the mountain. They stopped and it seemed those voices belonged to the Peach Valley Six Fairies. They quickly rushed towards where the sound came from and they gradually could hear much clearer. Sure enough, they were the Peach Valley Six Fairies. Yingying quietly said, "I wonder who these six babies fighting with?"

The two of them went around the mountain and hid behind a tree. They saw the Peach Valley Six Fairies were shouting while they fought intensely and surrounded that person. That person hastily went here and there, the body moved extremely fast, and only a grey streak was seen going round in between those six brothers. That person was unexpectedly to be Yilin's mother, the one who was pretending to be the mute granny inside the Hanging Temple. Following a couple of slapping sound, Peachtree Root Fairy and Peachtree Fruit Fairy cried out as their cheeks were slap.

Linghu Chong was happy and quietly said, "Sixth month's debt returns quickly. I'm going to shave her head too." His hand pressed on the sword's handle, waiting for the Peach Valley Six Fairies to defeat her before jumping out and taking his revenge. But then he heard a continuous 'pai, pai' sound, the six brothers were slapped on the cheeks many times by her. Peach Valley Six Fairies were furious. They wanted to just grab her arms and legs and tear her into four pieces. But that granny moved really fast, like a ghost like a demon. A few times she looked certain to be captured but they were always short by a few inches and she managed to escape which was followed by a few whacks to their cheeks. But this granny also saw these six people were formidable so she was afraid her strength might get depleted and after defeating one or two of them, the remaining ones would capture her. After another series of fighting, that granny knew it was difficult to win. She launched both palms and struck four people four times. Suddenly, she leaped back and turned around to run quickly. She ran fast as lightning, in just a moment, she was already dozens of feet away. The Peach Valley Six Fairies shouted together and went to chase after her.

Linghu Chong took his sword out and shouted, "Where are you running to?" The sword flashed and it was pointed at her throat. This attack was attacking to kill. That granny was startled and hastily withdrew her head to get away. Linghu Chong slantingly pierced his sword towards her right shoulder. There was no way for that granny to dodge it so she was forced to retreat for a couple of steps. Linghu Chong forced her to step back for one more step. With his long sword in hand, how could that granny be his match? With three thrusts, she had been forced to step back for five steps. If he wanted to take her life, that granny would have died a long time ago.

The Peach Valley Six Fairies cheered loudly as the point of Linghu Chong's long sword reached her chest. Peachtree Root Fairy and three of his brothers rushed forward, grabbed her limbs, and lifted her up.

"Don't harm her!" Linghu Chong quickly shouted. Peachtree Flower Fairy lifted his hand and gave her a slap.

"Hang her up there first," Linghu Chong commanded.

"Yes, get the rope, get the rope," Peachtree Root Fairy said. But these six people didn't have any rope with them and there was no where to find ropes in this wilderness as well. Despite this, Peachtree Flower Fairy and Peachtree Trunk Fairy still searched for ropes. Suddenly, their hold loosened and that granny escaped from their clutches. She rolled on the ground and was just about to fly out of there when she felt some tingling on her back.

"Please stay!" said a smiling Linghu Chong with the point of his long sword poking her on the back.

That granny was surprised and her face changed colour, all she could do now was stand there unable to move. Peach Valley Six Fairies ran up to her and with six simultaneous pokes sealed that granny's arms and legs acupoints. Peachtree Trunk Fairy rubbed his swollen cheek then extended his hand wishing to slap her cheek. Linghu Chong regarded Yilin so he wasn't willing to let her be embarrassed. "Wait, let's hang her up first before we do anything," Linghu Chong told them.

When the Peach Valley Six Fairies heard him, they wanted to hang her high up there so they were jubilant. They quickly gathered up some tree barks and rolled them to make ropes. Linghu Chong asked the six of them why they were fighting with her.

Peachtree Branch Fairy answered, "Six of us brothers were just here taking a dump, minding our own business. When suddenly, this granny went crazy and she asked: 'Hey, did you see a small nun?' Her tone was very rude and she also interrupted us taking a dump..." Yingying heard him talking something dirty, so she scowled and walked away.

"That's right, this granny is the most unreasonable person in the whole world," Linghu Chong smilingly said.

"Of course we ignored her and told her to go away. That granny just started hitting people so we fought back. Originally, we were of course fighting to win, but since we haven't finished taking a dump yet so it wasn't comfortable fighting with her. Brother Linghu, if it weren't for your timely arrival, she would've escaped," Peachtree Leaf Fairy said.

"That's not necessarily true, we were letting her escape for a few steps first, then we'd have chased her down. To teach her what empty happiness is like," Peachtree Flower Fairy argued.

"Under the hands of the Peach Valley Six Fairies, we would definitely have recaptured a nobody who runs away from us," Peachtree Fruit Fairy said.

"This is the method cats use to catch mice. It will let them run for a few steps first then recapture them again," Peachtree Root Fairy added.

"Even one cat would be able to catch six mice, moreover six cats would definitely be able to catch one mouse. That's very easy," Linghu Chong laughingly said.

When Peach Valley Six Fairies heard Linghu Chong agreeing to what they were saying, they were all exulted. As they were talking, they finished rolling those tree barks into ropes. They tied that granny's hands and ankles behind her back and tied her high up on a tree.

Linghu Chong wielded his long sword to slash at the tree and cutting away pieces of barks from it. With the brushing of the sword, there were now five big letters on the tree trunk: 'World's Number One Vinegar Pot.'

"Brother Linghu, why is this granny the world's number one vinegar pot? Is she really that good in drinking vinegar?" Peachtree Root Fairy asked. "I don't believe it. Let's get her down and let me compete with her!"

"Vinegar pot is the word for cursing her," said a laughing Linghu Chong. "The Peach Valley Six Fairies are matchless heroes, your righteousness reaching the clouds in the sky, skilled in culture and martial art, favoured by the common people, so how can this evil granny be even close to you? So there's no need to compete."

The Peach Valley Six Fairies opened their mouths wide laughing, they all said, "Right, right, right!"

"So did you actually see little martial sister Yilin?" Linghu Chong asked.

"You're asking about that beautiful little nun from Heng-Shan School? We didn't see any little nun, but we saw two big monks," Peachtree Branch Fairy answered.

"One was the little nun's father, the other was the little nun's disciple," Peachtree Trunk Fairy added.

"Where?" Linghu Chong inquired.

"These people passed about two hours ago. We had an appointment to drink wine with them at the town just ahead. We said we'd catch up with them after taking a dump. But who could've guessed this evil granny would come and bother us?" Peachtree Leaf Fairy said.

Linghu Chong thought for a while before saying, "Ok, I'm going to the town first, you can follow when you're ready. The six of you are big heroes and would never hit someone being tied up. If you slap this evil granny's cheek, it would damage your heroes' reputation." The Peach Valley Six Fairies agreed to this. Linghu Chong immediately left quickly with Yingying. Yingying laughingly said, "You didn't shave her head, it must be because you're regarding little martial sister Yilin so you only took a little bit of revenge on her."

After going for more than ten li, they arrived at a big town. They searched till the second wine house before they saw Monk No Commandment and Tian Boguang sitting at a table. When they saw Linghu Chong and Yingying, they gasped in surprise and jumped up happily. No Commandment quickly ordered more wine and dishes. Linghu Chong asked whether there was something unusual happening. Tian Boguang answered, "I was made to look silly at Heng-Shan and I didn't have anymore face to stay there, so I asked grand martial master to quickly leave. We can't go back to that Tong Yuan Valley again."

Linghu Chong thought they still didn't know about the matter of the Heng-Shan School's disciples being taken captives, so he asked Monk No Commandment, "Great Master, can I ask you to do something for me?"

"You can, why not?" No Commandment replied.

"But this matter is a secret and your grand disciple can't get involved in this," Linghu Chong said.

"Isn't that easy? I'll just tell him to go far away and not hinder me in doing this matter," No Commandment said.

"Go towards the south east for about ten li. On top of a tall tree there, there's a person being tied high up there..." Linghu Chong described.

"Ah," No Commandment uttered with an odd expression on his face and his body slightly shuddered.

"That person is my friend. I'd like to ask you to help that person down," Linghu Chong explained.

"Isn't it easy to do? Why aren't you doing it yourself?" No Commandment asked.

"I'm not hiding anything, this person is a female," Linghu Chong said. He then gestured with his mouth towards Yingying and said, "Young lady Ren and I are together so it's not appropriate."

No Commandment laughed aloud and said, "I understand. You're afraid young lady Ren will get jealous." Yingying glared at the two of them.

Linghu Chong chuckled and said, "That lady's jealousy is even bigger. Back then, her husband saw a madam and praised her to be beautiful, so this lady just left without saying a word. This caused her husband to look for her till the end of the world for more than ten years."

As No Commandment heard him, his eyes were getting bigger and bigger. He said, "This... this... this..." His gasping was also getting noisier.

"I heard her husband didn't manage to find her when he was searching for her," Linghu Chong added. When he said till here, the Peach Valley Six Fairies walked up the stairs giggling. No Commandment looked like he didn't see them, both of his hands grabbed Linghu Chong's arms and stammered, "Re... really?"

"She told me, if her husband find her and kneel in front of her, she wouldn't change her mind at all. That's why once you release her, she will run straight away. This lady's movement is really fast, you just have to blink and she'll be gone," Linghu Chong said.

"I won't blink at all, I won't blink at all," No Commandment said.

"I also asked her, why is it that she doesn't want to meet with her husband," Linghu Chong said. "She said her husband is the world's number one heartless, perverted and lascivious man, so she didn't want to meet him and that he's also in the wrong."

No Commandment cried out and turned around wishing to go. Linghu Chong grabbed a hold of his arm and whispered in his ear, "I'll teach you a secret, she won't run away again." No Commandment was startled but he was also happy. After being dumbfound for a little while, he suddenly kneeled down and, 'boom, boom, boom' he kowtowed three times. With a loud voice, he said, "Brother Linghu, no, Headmaster Linghu, ancestor Linghu, Master Linghu, quickly tell me the secret, I'll take you as my teacher."

Linghu Chong couldn't help laughing as he said, "I don't dare, I don't dare, please get up." Pulling him to get up and then whispered in his ear, "Help her down from the tree but don't release the ropes or unseal her acupoints, then carry her to an inn and get a room. Think about it, she's a woman and a Buddhist, how do you prevent her from running away from the inn?"

No Commandment scratched his head then he hesitated and answered, "I... I don't really get it."

"You take off her clothes first then unseal her acupoint. Since she's now naked, would she dare to run away from the inn?" Linghu Chong whispered.

No Commandment was very happy and he called out, "Good plan, good plan! Master Linghu, your benevolence..." He didn't finish his sentence before he shouted happily and went out through the window. Once he hit the ground, he immediately flew out.

"Yi, this monk is really weird, why did he go?" Peachtree Root Fairy was perplexed.

"He must've wanted to pee and can't wait anymore," Peachtree Branch Fairy answered.

"Then why did he kowtow to brother Linghu and started calling him Master? Could it be that he wants someone to teach him how to pee even though he's so old already?" Peachtree Leaf Fairy asked.

Yingying knew these six people most likely would speak some vulgar words as they went on, so she cast a glance at Linghu Chong and went down the stairs.

"Brothers, I've long heard the six of you have wine capacities like the ocean and you're matchless in this world, so drink slowly. My capacity is shallow so I'm going to take my leave first," Linghu Chong said.

When the Peach Valley Six Fairies heard him praising their wine capacities, they were all happy and all thought that if they didn't drink a few jars they might lose a bit of reputation, so they called out, "Bring out six jars of wine!" "Your wine capacity is of course much lower than ours." "You go first, if you wait for us to drink our fill, I'm afraid you'll have to wait till tomorrow."

Linghu Chong only had to say one sentence and he had managed to get away from these six people and went down the stairs. Yingying pursed her lips smiling and she said, "You reconciled a husband and wife, what a boundless benevolence. But this method you taught him, it's rather... rather..." When she said till here, her face became red and she turned away her head. Looking at her, Linghu Chong giggled but didn't say a word.

The two of them walked outside of the town. After walking for a stretch of the road, Linghu Chong was still smiling and was continuously looking at her. Yingying got angry and shouted, "What are you looking at? Never seen me before?"

"I was just thinking, this evil granny hanged both of us on the ceiling's beam, so we repaid her back by hanging her on a tree. She shaved my head, so I taught her husband how to take off her gown, this is also repaying her back," said a smiling Linghu Chong.

Yingying smiled and said, "This is also called repaying back?"

Linghu Chong laughed before replying, "I'm only hoping Great Master No Commandment isn't rash and that this husband and wife get together again."

Yingying giggled and said, "You should be careful, you're going to be in trouble when that evil granny see you next time."

"I helped her to reunite with her husband, so it won't be too late for her to thank me then," Linghu Chong smiled. After he said this, he again took glances at Yingying and laughed to himself with his expression looking odd.

"What are you laughing at now?" Yingying asked.

"I was just thinking Great Master No Commandment being reunited with his wife, I wonder what they'll be saying to each other," Linghu Chong replied.

"Then why do you keep looking at me for?" Yingying queried. Suddenly, she understood what Linghu Chong meant. This loafer was thinking of Great Master No Commandment in the inn taking off his wife's gown. His mind was thinking of this but his eyes kept looking at her, it could be imagined how hard he was holding himself in. All of a sudden, her cheeks were bright red and she wielded her hand to hit him.

Linghu Chong dodged it and laughed. "A woman hitting her husband is an evil wife!"

At this time, they suddenly heard light hissing sound from somewhere far. Yingying recognised this was her sect's whistling to summon people. She raised her left hand and put her fingers to her lip, her right hand made a movement and she whistled towards that direction.

They then went forward for dozens of feet before seeing a woman running from the west towards the east. The ground was spacious and vast and there was no where for them to hide. That person saw Yingying and was startled, then she quickly went up to them to pay her respect. "Divine Sect's Heaven Wind Hall's Fragrant Master Sang San Niang, paying my respect to Sacred Lady. Long live to Chief, unify the Jianghu."

Yingying nodded her head a few times. After that an old man came out from the east and walked quickly towards Yingying. He bowed before Yingying to pay his respect. "Qin Weibang also pays my respect to Sacred Lady. Chief revives the sacred sect and benefits the common people."

"Elder Qin, you're also here," Yingying said.

"Yes!" Qin Weibang acknowledged. "Your lowly servant received Chief's order to find information in this area. Fragrant Master Sang, what news have you found out?"

"Reporting to Sacred Lady and Elder Qin, early morning today, subordinate was at Linfengyi and I saw sixty to seventy people from Songshan School on their way to Huashan," Sang San Niang reported.

(Translator's note: Linfengyi is some kind of transit depot for exchanging horses)

"Of course they're going to Huashan!" Qin Weibang said.

"Why are Songshan School's people going to Huashan for?" Yingying asked.

"Chief obtained the news that after Huashan School's Yue Buqun became the Five Mountains School's Headmaster, he didn't want to be in a disadvantageous position compared to our sacred sect. So later on he gathered all the disciples of the Five Mountains School to Huashan. It seems like he's going to attack the Dark Wood Cliff," Qin Weibang answered.

"Is this true?" Yingying inquired while she was thinking, "This old traitor Qin Weibang is really sly. The capture of the Heng-Shan School's people is most likely the order he received from dad. He's probably the one in charge but he's distancing himself from this matter. But the words of that Sang San Niang didn't seem to be made up. It seems there's something else going on here." She continued, "Master Linghu is the headmaster of Heng-Shan School. Why didn't he know of this matter? That's really strange."

"Subordinate already checked Taishan and Hengshan School, and they're already moving towards Huashan. Heng-Shan School is the only one which hasn't moved yet. Left Protector Xiang sent us an order. He said Elder Bao Dachu is leading some underlings to go to Heng-Shan's Other Courtyard to investigate their movements. He also ordered me to stay close to liaise with him. Subordinate is still waiting for the message from Elder Bao," Qin Weibang said.

Yingying and Linghu Chong looked at each other and they were both thinking, "Bao Dachu going to Heng-Shan's Other Courtyard is most likely true. This Qin Weibang isn't concealing anything, could it be he's telling the truth?"

Qin Weibang bowed towards Linghu Chong and said, "Your lowly servant is just following orders. I'm asking for Headmaster Linghu's forgiveness."

Linghu Chong cupped his fist returning the propriety. "Young lady Ren and I are going to get married within the next few days..." Yingying gasped in surprise and her whole face turned red, but she didn't deny it. Linghu Chong continued, "Elder Qin received the order from my wife's father, so we as juniors should carry the burden."

Qin Weibang and Sang San Niang turned happy and they happily said, "Congratulations!"

Yingying turned around and walked away.

"Left Protector Xiang urged Elder Bao and I repeatedly not to be rude towards the Heng-Shan School's people. We only have to find the information and we don't have to play rough. Subordinate has followed this order," Qin Weibang said.

Suddenly, there was a girl's voice behind him laughing and saying, "Master Linghu's sword art is matchless in this world. Left Protector Xiang told you not to resort to violence for your own good."

Linghu Chong lifted his head and saw a lady came out from among the trees. She was the Five Poison Sect Chief Blue Phoenix. He laughed and said, "Big sister, you're well."

"Big Brother, you're also well," Blue Phoenix said to Linghu Chong. She then turned her head towards Qin Weibang and said, "If you're saluting me then salute me, why do you need to wrinkle your eyebrows for?"

"I don't dare," Qin Weibang replied. He knew there were poisonous things all over her body and she was not to be trifled with. He rushed forward for a few steps and said to Yingying, "I'd like to ask Sacred Lady for what we should do next."

"Carry on according to Chief's order," Yingying ordered.

Qin Weibang bowed and replied, "Yes." Then Sang San Niang and he gave their proprieties to the three people and left.

Blue Phoenix waited for those two people to walk far before saying, "The nuns from Heng-Shan School have all been captured, you're still not going to rescue them?"

"We just came from Heng-Shan trying to catch up to them, but we haven't seen any sign of them along the way," Linghu Chong replied.

"You're not going towards Huashan, so you're going the wrong way," Blue Phoenix told them.

"Going to Huashan? They've been captured and sent to Huashan? You saw them?" Linghu Chong questioned.

"Early yesterday morning at the Heng-Shan's Other Courtyard, I drank some tea when I tasted something strange but I didn't say anything. Next thing, I saw people falling down one by one so I pretended to be knocked out too," Blue Phoenix said.

"Using drugs against the Five-Sylph Sect's Chief Blue, isn't that just asking for trouble?" said a smiling Linghu Chong.

Blue Phoenix smiled captivatingly. "These bastards really don't know what's good or bad."

"You didn't offer them their poison back?" Linghu Chong asked.

"Why be so polite? There were two bastards who thought I've really been knocked out, so they came over to me and they died on the spot from my poison. The other people were frightened so they didn't dare to come over. They just said that I'm dead and my whole body is very poisonous," After she said this, she giggled and laughed.

"What happened after that?" Linghu Chong queried.

"I wanted to look what they were doing and have been pretending to be unconscious from the beginning. Later on, these bastards took many little nuns down from the Xianxing Peak. The one leading these people was none other than your master, Mr. Yue. Big brother, I see your master is very awful. You're the headmaster of Heng-Shan School, but he actually led people to capture your disciples, grand disciples, old nuns, and little nuns. Isn't this deliberately trying to shame you?" Linghu Chong was quiet. Blue Phoenix continued, "I could only look on in anger and was thinking of killing him with poison right there. But I kept thinking and wasn't sure what you would think. If I really wanted to poison and kill him, it would after all only take a moment."

"You took into consideration my feelings, thank you very much," Linghu Chong said.

"That's nothing. I heard them said that they were taking advantage of you not being at Heng-Shan so they quickly moved to avoid giving you time to return there. There were also people who said you were really lucky that you weren't at the mountain, or else they'd have captured you too and wouldn't they have less problems in the future? Hng, hng!" Blue Phoenix narrated.

"With big sister there, if they wanted to capture me, it won't be that easy," Linghu Chong said.

Blue Phoenix looked pleased and she laughingly said, "That's their good luck. If they dared to harm a single hair on your body, I can say my poison would've killed a hundred of them." She turned her head around towards Yingying and said, "Young lady Ren, don't be jealous. I'm just like his family."

Yingying's face turned red and smiled. "Master Linghu has also mentioned you often. He said you treat him well."

Blue Phoenix was happy. "That's excellent! I was afraid he didn't dare to mention my name in front of you."

"You pretended to be unconscious, so how did you get out?" Yingying asked.

"They were afraid there was poison on my body so none of them dared to touch me. Someone said it would be better to chop me to make sure I'm dead. Some said to shoot projectiles at me. But even though they talked big, none dared to make a move. Then they just walked away. I followed them and saw them really going to Huashan. So once I got out, I went to look for big brother to tell you about this news," Blue Phoenix answered.

"We should really thank you for this or else we would've been chasing them to Dark Wood Cliff and found out there's nothing there. Then we would have to turn around and search for them again. Those old nuns, little nuns, not old not small middle aged nuns, all would've suffered a lot. It's not good to delay this matter, let's go to Huashan now," Linghu Chong said.

The three of them turned towards the west and travelled at double speed to catch up, but they unexpectedly didn't see a single clue on their way. Linghu Chong and Yingying were both very worried and they both thought, "With several hundred of people in their party, surely, there must be people who have seen them. There must also be traces of them in the restaurants and inns along the way. Could it be this isn't the road they took?"

On the third day at a small restaurant, they saw four people from the Hengshan School. At this time, Linghu Chong had changed his appearance and those people had not recognised him yet. Linghu Chong waited to eavesdrop on them and found out they really were going to Huashan. They were looking jubilant, looking like there were gold and treasure on top of the mountain waiting for them. One of them said, "Luckily Martial Brother Huang was friendly enough to tell us the news, and we were also lucky to be in Shanxi so we could come here quickly. I hope we arrive in time. Our martial brothers in Hengshan have really missed a good opportunity."

Another person said, "It's best if we arrive as early as possible. This kind of matter changes with time."

Linghu Chong wanted to know why they were hurrying to go to Mount Huashan, what kind of scheme was afoot, but these four people did not mention anything along the way at all.

"Do you want to poison then interrogate them?" Blue Phoenix asked.

Linghu Chong remembered how Mr. Mo Da treated him so generously so he didn't want to bully these people. "We'll arrive at Huashan soon enough. We'll know when we get there so we mustn't disturb the grass and startle the snake."

A few days later, at dusk, the three of them arrived at the foot of Mount Huashan. Linghu Chong had grown up at Huashan so he was very familiar with the area. He said, "We'll go up from a small path behind the mountain, we won't meet anyone there."

Between the five mountains, Mount Huashan was the most rugged. The small path behind the mountain was actually a steep cliff and there was no passable path. It was good that the three people's martial arts were very high and they were able to go up the rugged cliff. With this method, they arrived at Mount Huashan's mountaintop at around two in the morning. Linghu Chong led the other two towards the Hall of Qi Principle. They saw the place was dark with not a single candle to be seen. They hid underneath a window to listen but there was also no sound to be heard. Then they went to the disciples' residence but there wasn't a single soul to be found there as well. Linghu Chong pushed open a window, went in, and lit a candle to have a look. Inside the house was empty, the top of the table and the floor was all covered with dust. After going to a few other houses, they found all the houses were in the same condition. It was obvious the disciples of Huashan had not returned to the mountain yet.

Blue Phoenix felt something was amiss. "Where are those bastards who went up the mountain? They said they were coming to Mount Huashan, did they go somewhere else?"

Linghu Chong was surprised and hesitant as he remembered the day when he attacked Shaolin Temple. The temple was also empty and they repeatedly met with dangers afterwards. Could Yue Buqun be using the same tactic again? But at this time, there were only three of them. Even if they were surrounded, it would be easy to get away. He was just afraid that the Heng-Shan's disciples were being imprisoned in a very secretive place and they had been tarrying for the last few days, so they might not be able to find them anymore. The three of them strained their ears to listen but all they heard was the rustling of the pines and the whole mountain was strangely calm.

"Let's split up to look for them. After two hours, we'll meet here again," Blue Phoenix suggested.

"Ok!" Linghu Chong replied. He believed that Blue Phoenix's skill in using poison was very high and there would be no one who would dare to harm her. But he still advised, "You don't need to fear other people. But if you come across my master, his sword is really fast, you must be really careful!"

Blue Phoenix saw him speaking earnestly. Under the yellow flame, his concern was seen on his face. Her heart was moved on seeing this. "Big brother, I'll definitely pay attention to your advice." She then pushed the door to go out.

Linghu Chong took Yingying to investigate everywhere around there. They had even gone to Tianqin Gorge where the Yue Buqun's husband and wife resided in, but they still had not seen anyone yet.

"This is really fishy. During the past, our Huashan School's disciples were all over the mountain, there are always people left behind here to sweep the ground. But why isn't there anyone here right now?" Linghu Chong said.

At the end, they had finally arrived at Yue Lingshan's room. That room was on the side of Tianqin Gorge, and it was situated very close to the Yue Buqun couple's room. As Linghu Chong got to the front of the room, he remembered of the past days when he frequently came here to take his little martial sister to go out and play or to practice sword. But today, there was nothing to see and he couldn't refrain from shedding his tears. He extended his hand to push the door open but the planks were latched, in that moment he hesitated not knowing what to do. Yingying leapt over the wall, unlatched the planks and open the door. They went inside and lit the candle. The bed and table inside were covered by a layer of dust, and there was nothing on the wall. Even the common objects for girls like comb and dresses were not there.

Linghu Chong thought, "After Little martial sister and Martial Brother Lin got married, they must've moved to another new house and don't live here anymore. All her everyday items have all been taken with her." He then opened up the drawers and saw some small bamboo baskets, stone marbles, cloth dolls, little wooden horse and many other toys. Each of these things was not made by Linghu Chong, but they were the items the two of them had played with in the old days. She had neatly kept everything here. Linghu Chong felt sad and he couldn't bear it anymore, tears flowed and dripped down from his cheeks. Yingying quietly went out and slowly closed the door. Linghu Chong was reluctant to leave Yue Lingshan's room for a long time. Finally, he suppressed his feelings and blew the candle off and walked out of the room.

"Brother Chong, there's one place in Mount Huashan which has a great connection to you. Take me there," Yingying said.

"Ah, you're talking about the Cliff of Repentance. Alright, let's go have a look." He was slightly lost in thought, then he said, "But I'm not sure whether grand martial uncle Feng is there or not?"

He then led the way towards the Cliff of Repentance. Linghu Chong was very familiar with the path. Even though the place wasn't close, they got there very quick. On top of the cliff, Linghu Chong said, "I was inside the cave..." Suddenly they heard two noise of weapons clashing from inside the cave. Both of them were startled and they quickly walked nearer. Someone suddenly cried out, seemingly having been injured. Linghu Chong took out his long sword and rushed forward first. He saw the sealed front entrance to the cave with sword moves engraving had been opened up and there was flickering of flame coming from the inside. Linghu Chong and Yingying entered the cave and their hearts skipped a beat.

There were dozens of torches inside the cave and there were at least two hundred people in there. They were all concentrating on looking at the sword moves engraving on the cave wall. Every single one of them was so absorbed that there wasn't a sound heard. When Linghu Chong and Yingying heard that miserable cry, they were expecting that inside the cave would either be pitch black or there would be fierce fighting with blood spraying all over the place. But how could they have known that the back of the cave would be bright as day and it would also be filled with people. The back of the cave was quite spacious, so even though there were two hundred people there, they weren't too crowded. But with so many people being noiseless, just like corpses, they were really surprised to suddenly see this strange scene.

Yingying slightly leaned on Linghu Chong's left shoulder. Linghu Chong turned around and saw her face was snow white and there was fear in her eyes. So he extended his hand to softly embrace her waist. Then he saw each of these people had different clothes. After looking for a while, he realised they were the disciples from Songshan, Taishan, and Hengshan Schools. Among them, there were some middle aged people with grey hair, there were also some old people with long white beards. It was clear that many seniors from those three schools were also here. However, the people from Huashan and Heng-Shan Schools were not seen among them. The people from these three schools gathered in their own groups and did not mix with each other. The Songshan School's people were observing the wall where the Songshan School's sword moves were, while the Taishan and Hengshan Schools' people were also absorbing the part of the walls where their own sword moves were. Linghu Chong remembered that they had met with four Hengshan's disciples along the way. They mentioned they had gotten news and they were hurrying towards Huashan. That it was of the greatest luck. So it was all because they would have the opportunity to see the wonderful sword moves engraved on the wall at this cave. After some time, he saw among the Hengshan School's people was a lonesome person with white hair looking at the stone wall with no expression on his face. This person was Mr. Mo Da. Linghu Chong didn't know what to, whether he should go up to pay his respect to him or not.

Suddenly, a person from the Songshan School group angrily shouted, "You're not Songshan's disciple, why are you looking at the drawings?" The one who said this was an old person wearing a dust-yellow gown. He angrily glared at a middle aged person with a tall and strong stature, while the long sword in his hand was pointed at his chest.

That middle aged person snorted and said, "When did I look at the drawings?"

The old person from Songshan School angrily shouted, "You're still thinking of denying it? Which school are you from? If you want to steal Songshan's sword art then I don't care, but what are you doing looking at those moves to break the Songshan's sword art for?" At the same time that he shouted, four to five Songshan's people immediately surrounded that middle aged person and pulled their weapons out.

"I know nothing of your honourable school's sword art, so what's the use of looking at those breaking moves for?" the middle aged person argued.

"You must be harbouring some malicious intentions to be peering at Songshan School's sword moves," the old person from Songshan School replied.

That middle aged person put his hand on his sword handle. He said, "Five Mountains School's headmaster, Mr. Yue, is very kind and he's allowed us to come and have a look at the sword moves on the wall. But he didn't limit us to which moves we can look and which ones we can't."

That old person from Songshan School said, "You're thinking of harming my Songshan School, we won't allow you to."

"Five schools have become one. At this time, there's only Five Mountains School. How can there be Songshan School? If not for five schools becoming one, Mr. Yue would never have permitted you to look at the sword moves in this cave at Huashan," that middle aged person said and that old man was unable to reply back. A disciple of Songshan pushed the back of that middle aged person's shoulder and shouted, "You're very good in turning things over." That middle aged person reached back with his hand and flinged that person's hand away. That Songshan's disciple staggered and fell on the ground.

At this time, a person from the Taishan School suddenly shouted, "Who are you? Wearing our Taishan School's uniform and mixing with us trying to steal the Taishan School's sword art." A youngster wearing the Taishan School's uniform hurriedly rushed out. A person nearest to the exit immediately moved and shouted, "Stop, who are you making trouble here?"

That youngster stabbed out with his sword as he rushed forward. The person blocking the exit sent his left palm out towards his eye. That youngster quickly retreated a step. The person blocking the exit shot his right hand out like the wind, again stabbing at his eye. The youngster's long sword was on the outside so it was difficult for him to block and he was forced to step back again. The person blocking the exit swept his leg, the youngster leapt up to avoid it. Then with a 'peng' sound, his chest had been hit by a palm and he had fallen down on the ground. From behind, two Taishan School's disciples went up to detain him.

At this time, the four Songshan School's people surrounding that middle aged person had attacked with their long swords. That middle aged person swiftly and fiercely fought back, but his sword art didn't belong to the five mountains sword schools. A few Songshan's disciples watching on the side cried out, "This chap isn't from the five mountains sword schools. He's a traitor mixing in with us."

With two fights going on, the quiet mountain cave had turned chaotic. Linghu Chong thought, "My master told these people to come here, it's not because he has a good intention. I'm going to tell Martial uncle Mo and ask him to lead his people out of here. I'll tell him about the Hengshan School's sword art once we got out of the cave." He immediately leaned on the wall to stay in the shadow as he walked near to Mr. Mo Da. He had only gone for a few dozens feet when suddenly a big rumbling sound was heard. It was as if the mountain had cracked.

People were crying out in alarm. Linghu Chong quickly turned around and saw dirt and dust falling around the cave's entrance. He didn't care about finding Mr. Mo Da anymore and was just wishing to go to Yingying, but with lots of people chaotically running away, swords brandished everywhere, dirt falling down around the cave, he couldn't see where Yingying was. He flew out from the cluster of people towards the cave's entrance while dodging swords slashed at him. He shouted desperately but he saw a massive rock which was around tens of thousands of catty heavy dropping on the cave's entrance, firmly shutting the cave in. In panic, he took a glance and it seemed there was no crack to get out.

"Yingying, Yingying!" Linghu Chong shouted. Yingying answered but it sounded like she was somewhere deep inside the cave. But with two hundred people shouting in confusion, he couldn't hear her clearly. He thought, "How come Yingying is inside?" He thought for a while and he understood, "Oh, yes. When that big rock fell down, Yingying was standing on the cave's entrance and she wasn't willing to run by herself, but she was thinking of me. I rushed back to the entrance to look for her, but she was rushing inside to find me." He immediately turned around to rush inside.

Originally, there were dozens of torches inside the cave. But when the big rock fell down and with the confusion going on, there were some who threw their torches away. Thus, most of the torches had been extinguished. The whole cave was filled with dust and all he could see was fuzzy yellow. He heard people shouting in alarm, "The cave's entrance has been sealed up! The cave's entrance has been sealed up!" There were also people who angrily shouted, "It's that traitor Yue Buqun's plot!" Another person shouted, "That's right. That traitor deceived us to see his ***** sword art..."

Dozens of people tried to push the big rock. But this big rock was just like a small mountain, even though dozens of people were forcefully pushing it, how could they even move it for an inch? There was also someone who shouted, "Quick, quickly leave from the tunnel." A few people had thought of this earlier. Around twenty of them were pushing each other crowding the entrance to that tunnel. That tunnel was the one dug by the Devil Sect's elders years ago with hatchets and only one person could go through it at a time. So with twenty people crowding together, how could they manage to go in? With this confusion, ten more torches were extinguished.

Two big men from the crowd used their strength to push the people away as they rushed towards the tunnel's entrance. The tunnel's entrance was very narrow and they hit each other, preventing each other from going in. The person on the right hand side swiped his left hand and the big man on the left cried out, a dagger was sticking out of his chest. The big man on the right hand side pushed him away and entered the tunnel. The rest of the crowd pushed and shoved, all of them wanting to enter. Linghu Chong had not seen Yingying yet and he was feeling very worried. He also thought, "The Devil Sect's ten elders had very high martial arts. But because of this plot, they were all buried in here. Today, I'm not sure if Yingying and I can get out of this difficulty. This would be very dangerous if my master is the one who arranged all this."

He saw the crowd was at the tunnel's entrance pushing and shoving. They were all anxious and frightened. Suddenly, a murderous intention popped into his head, "These chaps are blocking me, I must kill them all then Yingying and I can escape from here." He lifted his long sword wanting to start killing people. But he saw a youngster crouching on the ground with both his hand clutching his hair and his whole body shuddering. His face was ashen. It was obvious he was scared to death. Linghu Chong took pity on him and he pondered, "He and I are friends in difficulty and we've both fallen in this trap. We should cross the river in a boat together, why should I kill him in anger for?" He pulled back his long sword and put it across in front of his chest.

Then he heard the twenty odd people at the tunnel's entrance shouted, "Quickly go in!" "Why aren't you moving?" "Not crawling in?" "Drag him out!" That big man's two feet were still outside and it seemed the tunnel was blocked, but he wasn't willing to crawl back out. Two people stooped down to grab that big man's feet and pulled him out. Suddenly, dozens of people called out in alarm because they had pulled out a headless corpse. The neck was covered with blood. This big man's head had unexpectedly been cut off by someone in the tunnel.

At this time, Linghu Chong saw a person sitting in the corner of the cave, and under the dusky flame, he recognised that person to be Yingying. He was jubilant and quickly rushed there. But after only taking two steps, seven to eight people blocked his way. Currently, the cave was in chaos and everyone looked like they had lost their reasoning just like headless flies flying all over the place. There were some who crazily slashed their swords at random, some were beating their chests crying, some were wrestling each other, and there were some who were crawling on the ground going here and there.

Linghu Chong had squeezed out a few steps when he suddenly felt both of his legs being firmly embraced. He powerfully hit the top of that person's head causing that person to cry out but he still didn't let go. Linghu Chong shouted, "If you don't let go, I'll kill you." Suddenly, the top of his calf hurt as he had unexpectedly been bitten. Linghu Chong was angry and surprised. He saw everyone was acting like they were crazy, and the torches inside the cave were getting less and less. Now, only two torches were still burning but they were already fallen on the ground. Linghu Chong called out, "Pick up the torches, pick up the torches."

A fat Taoist laughed and stepped on a torch extinguishing it. Linghu Chong lifted his long sword and beheaded that person biting on his calf. Suddenly, everything was dark and nothing could be seen. The last torch had been extinguished.

With the torches extinguished, everyone in the cave suddenly became quiet as they were stunned by this change in situation. But after a short moment had passed, the mad shouting began again. Linghu Chong thought, "We have no chance of getting out of here alive today. It's lucky that I can die here together with Yingying." Thinking up to this point, he felt happy instead of afraid and started going towards where Yingying was. After walking for a few steps, someone suddenly came towards him and powerfully hit him. This person had high inner energy and the hit was swift and fierce. Linghu Chong staggered back for a couple of steps after being hit and turned around for half a circle. He quickly turned back and slowly continued on his way to where Yingying was sitting at. With his ears straining to listen, he heard crying and shouting and dozens of weapons colliding. In the dark, with so many people frightened, most of them were like half crazy and everyone was afraid so they were slashing their weapons about to protect themselves. Some of them had a lot of experience or high internal energy, and they originally remained calm, but with the people besides them randomly swiping their weapons and the mountain cave so crowded, also with no place to dodge in the darkness, besides wielding their own weapons, there was no other way. He heard weapons clashing, people crying out in pain around them, also injured people moaning and cursing.

Linghu Chong could only hear the weapons splitting the wind all around him. Even though his sword art was high, there was no way for him to use it properly as he could be hit from any direction at any moment. He was feeling really worried so he immediately swiped his long sword to protect his upper body. Step by step, he moved towards the cave wall. Once he reached the wall, he could lean on it while walking and avoid a lot of dangers, just like that person resembling Yingying leaning on the wall while sitting down. With that method of walking, he would be able to meet her soon. From where he was standing, he was still dozens of feet away from the cave wall. But the blades were like the forest and the swords were like the rain, every inch was fraud by danger and every step was fraud with death.

Linghu Chong thought, "If I die under the hand of a master then it would be sweet. But in this situation, I can just get killed anytime by something mysterious. And the one who killed me is probably some idiot who knows a bit of martial art only. Even if Hero Dugu lived again and met with this kind of situation, I'm afraid he probably also can't find a way out." As he thought of Dugu Qiubai, he was enlightened, "That's right, in today's situation, if I don't kill someone mysteriously then I'll be the one killed mysteriously. When I kill one, that'll be one less person to kill me." His long sword trembled out using the 'Arrow Breaking Stance' of the 'Dugu Nine Sword', his sword stabbed out to the front, back, left, and right. Once he used the sword stance, a few people around him cried out miserably and dropped to the ground. He felt his sword entered the flesh of someone and he heard that person cried out lightly. It was the voice of a girl. Linghu Chong was greatly startled and his hand became weak and he nearly dropped his long sword. His heart was thumping, "Was that Yingying? Did I just kill Yingying!" He shouted desperately, "Yingying, Yingying, is that you?"

But there was no sound coming from that girl. He was very familiar with Yingying's voice and that light cry was not actually from her and very easily distinguishable. But with many voices mixed inside the cave, the lightness of this girl's cry, his worried heart, and his chaotic mind, he felt that it was Yingying but at the same time also felt that it wasn't her. He called out again for a few times but there was still no answer so he stooped down to feel around the ground. Suddenly, a kick came flying in and kicked him squarely on his butt. Linghu Chong flew up and while his body was in mid air, his left leg hurt as someone gave it a whip. He quickly used his left hand to cover his head, and with a 'bang', his arm along with his head had hit the top of the cave. As he was dropping back down, he felt his head, his arm, legs, and butt were all covered in pain, like his whole body was about to be shattered into pieces. He calmed himself down and called out "Yingying" again for a couple more times. Hearing his own voice, he sounded hoarse like he was crying. His heart was feeling miserable and desperate as he shouted, "I've killed Yingying, I've killed Yingying!" With his long sword slashing left and right, he rushed forward and killed a few people.

In this clamour, he suddenly heard two 'zheng, zheng' sound. This was the sound of a yaoqin. Even though the sound of this qin was light, in Linghu Chong's ears they were just like thunder startling him. He was rapt and quickly called out, "Yingying, Yingying!"

Right at this time, he wanted to go to where the sound of that qin was coming from. But as he thought about it, the sound of that qin came from some distance away. This one hundred feet distance was a hundred times more dangerous when compared to walking in Jianghu for a hundred thousand li. To be able to walk this one hundred feet distance without dying was actually very difficult. This sound of qin was of course from Yingying and since she's alright, then he mustn't just throw his life away. If the two of them couldn't die together hand in hand then they would suffer endless regret in the nine fountain. He retreated back for a couple of steps and leaned his back on the cave wall. He thought, "This is much safer." Suddenly he felt a strong wind of someone slashing his weapon rushing at him. Linghu Chong thrust his sword out, but just as he moved his long sword, he immediately knew things were far from good.

The essence of 'Dugu Nine Sword' was at looking at the flaw of the opponent's movements and attacking that point. Thrust later but arriving first, one move to take victory. But in this dark cave, he couldn't even see his enemy or his enemy's movement, so how could he see the flaw in the movement? At this situation, 'Dugu Nine Sword' was completely useless. The long sword in Linghu Chong's hand had only thrust out for a foot when he hastily dodged to the left. Then he heard a breaking sound followed by a crashing sound and lastly a miserable cry. He guessed that person's weapon must have first struck against the wall and broke, and the broken weapon then had stabbed his own body.

Linghu Chong heard that person had gone quiet and guessed he must have died. He pondered, "Although my sword art is high, it is just like any other ordinary person in this dark cave. I just have to bear with it patiently and wait for a chance to meet up with Yingying." But he heard the sound of fighting and the shouting had lessened because at this time many people had been injured or killed. He quickly brandished his long sword in front of his body to form a sword net in case someone suddenly attacked him. The sound of the yaoqin was intermittent like the string was plucked one by one, and it was not making up any tune. Linghu Chong was again worried, "Is Yingying injured? Or maybe she's not the one playing the qin? But if it's not her, how can there be another person who also has a qin?" After a long time, the shouting finally stopped. There were many people moaning and groaning on the ground. Occasionally, there was a sound of weapon clashing coming from around the wall. Linghu Chong thought, "The people who aren't dead are around the wall. These people must be masters in Wulin and their thoughts are sharp." He shouted repeatedly, "Yingying, where are you?" The qin sounded a few times as if answering him.

Linghu Chong flew forward. When his left foot landed, he felt something soft. He had landed on someone's body and at the same time he felt the wind whistling as a weapon was slashing upwards. Because his internal energy was abundant, even though he couldn't see the enemy's weapon coming, he was still aware of it. He quickly used strength on his left foot and leapt back to the cave wall. He pondered, "The ground is full of people lying down and some are injured. I can't go across." Then he heard the wind whistling caused by the people leaning their backs on the cave wall slashing their weapons about to protect themselves; in this moment of time, a few more people were either injured or killed.

Suddenly, an elder spoke, "Friends, we've fallen into Yue Buqun's trap. We must work together to get out of here. We can't just swing our weapons around and kill one another."

"That's right, that's right!" many people replied together.

When Linghu Chong heard their voices, he gathered there were around sixty to seventy of them. All these people had their backs to the wall and they were standing motionless. One was because they had calmed down. Secondly, because temporarily they weren't worried about their lives so they were able to calmly think things through.

That elder said, "I'm Taishan School's Yuzhongzi. Everyone, please sheathe your weapon. Everyone is in the dark, so when you bump into someone, you mustn't hurt anyone. Friends, do you agree?"

"That should be the way," those people boomed their replies and the sound of weapons slashing lessened. Some people who were still brandishing their weapons also stopped after a while.

"I'd also like everyone to swear an oath. If anyone here hurt anyone else, then he'll be buried here and won't get to see the sky again. I, Taishan's Yuzhongzi, swear to this oath first," Yuzhongzi said.

The rest of the people swore this oath while thinking in their hearts, "This Priest Yuzhongzi is very experienced. If we all work together, there's still a chance that we'd get out of here. Otherwise, we'll be randomly chopping each other just like before."

"Very good! Please say your name," Yuzhongzi requested.

At that time, people started saying, "I'm Hengshan's so and so." "I'm Taishan's so and so." I'm Songshan's so and so." But Mr. Mo Da's name was never heard.

After these people had finished speaking, Linghu Chong announced himself, "I'm Heng-Shan School's Linghu Chong." The crowd gasped in surprised and they said, "Heng-Shan's Headmaster, Hero Linghu, is here. That's very good." Their tone of voice was happy.

Linghu Chong thought, "I'm just a waste, what's so good about me?" He of course understood. These people knew his martial art was very high. So with him around, their hope of escaping had gone up by many notches.

"I'd like to ask Headmaster Linghu something. Why did your honourable school only send headmaster here all by yourself?" Yuzhongzi queried. This person was experienced and very careful so he was suspicious that Linghu Chong was hiding something that might be harmful towards them. When Linghu Chong came out of Huashan, he did so as Yue Buqun's disciple. Everyone knew about this. But as they were trapped inside this mountain cave, from amongst the hundreds of disciples from Huashan and Heng-Shan, he was the only person there who belonged to either. It was unavoidable that people would suspect him.

"I have another companion..." Linghu Chong replied and he couldn't help calling out again, "Ying..." But he had only managed to call out 'Ying' before a thought flashed in his mind, "Yingying is the Sun Moon Sect's Chief's only daughter and both the righteous and demonical are like fire and water. I mustn't put this thing on top of what's happening already." So he immediately shut his mouth.

"Who has a torch beside him? Please light it up first," Yuzhongzi requested.

The crowd cheered loudly, "Very good, very good!" "We're all so muddle headed, why didn't we think of that?" "Quickly light up the torches!" Actually, in the middle of the chaos before, everyone was only thinking of protecting himself so how could they think of lighting up a torch? Besides, as soon as a torch was lighted, that person would be killed instantly by the person next to him. But now he heard many rattling sound as some people took out their flint and steel to make fire. Soon after, many dots of flames were seen and it felt very bright in the darkness. The people inside the mountain cave started cheering.

Linghu Chong took a glance and saw the surrounding cave wall was full of people. Their bodies and faces were splashed with blood. There were also some who still slowly swiping their swords and sabres in front of their bodies. These people were extremely careful, even though they had heard everyone swearing an oath, they still didn't believe the person next to them. Linghu Chong took a step to go to the opposite wall wanting to find Yingying. Suddenly, from among the cluster of people, someone shouted, "Move!" Seven to eight people came out of the tunnel brandishing their long swords and started killing people.

"Who are you?" the crowd shouted and one by one they drew their own weapons to defend. After some time, the torches had again been extinguished. Linghu Chong shot forward and leapt towards the opposite wall. He felt a weapon hacking from his right hand side and in the darkness he didn't know how to block it. He rushed at the ground and heard a 'dang' sound. A sabre had clashed with the wall. He thought, "This person doesn't necessarily want to kill me. He might just be wanting to defend himself in the darkness." He stayed down on the ground quietly. After that person hacked at empty space for a few more times, he stopped.

Someone shouted, "Kill all these dogs, don't leave any behind!" More than ten people acknowledged this order. This was followed by six to seven people shouting, "It's Zuo Lengchan! Zuo Lengchan!" Then some people shouted, "Master, disciple's here!"

Linghu Chong heard the person barking the order was really Zuo Lengchan, he pondered, "Why is he here? This trap was set up by this bastard, it wasn't my Master after all." Even though Yue Buqun had tried to kill him several times already, the master-disciple and father-son relationship between them had stretched for more than twenty years and they were deep-rooted in his heart. He simply couldn't forget them. Once he thought that the traitor setting this up wasn't Yue Buqun, he couldn't help feeling happy. He was a hundred times happier to die under Zuo Lengchan's hand than to die under his Master's hand.

He only heard Zuo Lengchan gloomily said, "You still have the face to call me master? You didn't report to me before you went to Huashan. This is deceiving your master and betraying your school. How can our school have such despicable disciples like you?"

"Master," A booming voice replied. "Disciple got the message that a cave in the Cliff of Contemplation at Huashan has our own school's wonderful sword art. I was afraid I'd be wasting time going back and forth and telling master about this first, and the sword moves on the wall would be destroyed by someone. So I quickly came here. After I look at the sword art, I'd of course go back to the mountain immediately and tell master all these sword arts."

"You're taking advantage of my blindness," Zuo Lengchan said. "I know you all considered me useless since long ago. Once you learned these wonderful sword art, would you still recognise me as your master? Yue Buqun wanted all of you to pledge your loyalties to him before he'd let you come into this cave to look at the sword moves. Didn't this happen?"

"Yes, dis... disciple should die," that Songshan disciple answered. "But this is just a temporary measure. Our five mountain sword schools have merged into one and he's the headmaster. So we should... should also listen to his order. But I never thought this traitor would behave so violently and trapped all of us down here."

Another person said, "Master, please lead us to escape from here. We'll then go find that traitor Yue Buqun to settle our debt."

Zuo Lengchan snorted. "What a wishful thinking you have there." He paused for a while then continued, "Linghu Chong, you're also here, what are you doing here?"

"This is my old place, if I want to come then I just come!" Linghu Chong replied. "What are you doing here?"

Zuo Lengchan laughed coldly and replied, "Death is imminent and you're still so rude towards your senior."

"You plotted secretly and caused the harm of the world's heroes," Linghu Chong said. "Everyone wants to punish you for this, and you still consider yourself to be a senior?"

"Pingzhi," Zuo Lengchan said. "Kill him!"

"Yes!" someone answered in the dark. It was Lin Pingzhi's voice.

Linghu Chong was startled and he thought, "So Lin Pingzhi is also here. Both Zuo Lengchan and him are blind, so these days they must be familiar on how to use the sword blind. Using their ears to replace their eyes, their technique on listening to the wind to distinguish attacks must be good now. In this darkness, the situation is turned, it is me who is blind while they're the ones who aren't blind. But why are they the enemy?" But his back was covered in cold sweat.

Then he heard Lin Pingzhi said, "Linghu Chong, you're very glorious and your name is very famous in Jianghu. But today you're going to die under my hands, haha, haha!" His laughter was full of gloom. Step by step he came over.

Just then when Linghu Chong and Zuo Lengchan were talking, Lin Pingzhi had heard him clearly and his position had been given away. The whole cave was quiet and only Lin Pingzhi's footsteps were heard. With each step of his, Linghu Chong knew he was one step closer to the death's door. Suddenly, someone shouted, "Wait! This Linghu Chong blinded my eyes and caused me to be unable to see the daylight from then on. Let me kill this bastard." More than ten people echoed what he said and they quickly walked over. Linghu Chong was startled. He knew they were the fifteen people who he had blinded on that night outside the abandoned temple. That day on his way towards Songshan for the merger of the five schools, he met these people on the way. These people had been blinded for a long time, and their abilities to use their ears to replace their eyes must be high. He already couldn't defend against one Lin Pingzhi, now with the addition of these fifteen people, he was totally outclassed.

He heard their footsteps while he quietly slid for a few steps towards the left. Then he heard a few 'ta, ta, ta' noise as a few longs sword were stabbed at the wall where he was standing at previously. Luckily, these ten or so people attacked at the same time causing the noise to blend with the footsteps sound concealing his footsteps. No one knew where he had gone to. Linghu Chong stooped down and felt a sword on the ground. He tossed it, and with a clanking sound, it hit the wall. Those ten or so blind men rushed over with their weapons raised, and they started fighting with some people. Shouting erupted and in a few moment six to seven people were killed. These people didn't have weak martial arts, but they couldn't see a thing in this darkness, so they weren't the match of these blind men.

Linghu Chong took advantage of this shouting to slide a few more steps to the left. He groped around to feel there was no one around the wall before he quietly crouched down and pondered, "Zuo Lengchan brought Lin Pingzhi and those blind men here to do battle in the dark. They're going to annihilate all of us here. But how does he know there's this kind of cave here?" As soon as he thought about it, he was enlightened, "Yes! That day little martial sister was on top of the place of worship, she fought using the moves engraved on the wall here. She defeated the masters from Taishan and Hengshan. She also used Songshan sword art in front of Zuo Lengchan and used the Heng-Shan sword art to fight against me. Since she came here before, Lin Pingzhi of course knows about it too." As he thought of little martial sister, his heart ached.

He heard Lin Pingzhi shouted, "Linghu Chong, you don't dare to reveal yourself, pulling in your head and tail. What kind of hero is that?"

Linghu Chong was angered and he wanted to get out to fight to the death with him, but he restrained himself. He thought, "A gentleman can bend and straighten. How can I get so irritated over him? I haven't found Yingying yet, I can't die so easily just like that." He also thought, "I once promised little martial sister to tend to Lin Pingzhi. If I come out and fight with him then got killed by him, that would be unworthy. But it's also not right if I kill him."

"There are turncoats in this cave, traitors who need to be killed," Zuo Lengchan shouted. "Even if you forgive Linghu Chong, there's nowhere he can go to!"

A short time later, clashing of weapons and shouting erupted. Linghu Chong squatted on the ground. After a short while, still no one attacked him. He strained to listen to Yingying's voice while pondering, "Yingying is far more careful and cleverer than me. In the middle of this ambush, she'd definitely not play her qin. I only hope no sword is being thrust at her." He heard the fighting between the crowd and those blind men was really fierce, they were fighting fiercely while also hurling curses. The curse 'scram your granny' was even heard. This 'scram your granny' was really grating to the ears. When common people uses this swear words, they always say 'go to your mum', or 'hold your granny', sometimes people also use 'scram your mother bastard', but it was rare to hear someone uses 'scram your granny'. Linghu Chong pondered, "Is this a swear word special to their provinces?" After listening for a while, he found that this swear word 'scram your granny' was used quite often by a few people. Once this swear word was uttered by both people fighting, the fighting would stop immediately. But if only one person uttered this swear word, then the fighting between them would continue. He immediately understood, "So this is the code for those blind men to distinguish each other." In that darkness, randomly slashing and killing, it was hard to determine friends or foes. Those blind men had determined a code beforehand and when they started fighting they would first called out this swear word 'scram your granny'. When two people cursed the same swear word, they were friends. Otherwise, they would kill their opponents. No one uses this swear word, so this code word was something that the enemy wouldn't use to curse someone with.

Once he understood this, he immediately stood up and put his sword in front of his chest. The swearing of 'scram your granny' was getting more frequent, while the clashing of weapons and the shouting were gradually dying. It seemed the people from Taishan, Hengshan, and Songshan Schools had been massacred. Linghu Chong had not heard of Yingying's voice. He was worried that Yingying had been killed earlier, but he was also happy that she didn't suffer under the hands of these blind men. He also thought, "The disciples of Songshan must've found out the cave in Huashan contained their own school's wonderful sword art so they quickly came here to take a look. This behaviour is quite common in people. But they didn't have time to report, so Zuo Lengchan just decided to kill them all and doesn't hold back at all. He must be thinking of killing me, but since he can't distinguish anyone, he even killed all his disciples who had only done a little bit of wrong." After some time, the sound of fighting ceased.

"Everyone," Zuo Lengchan shouted. "Go around the cave and give them another chop."

The blind men acknowledged his order, then the sound of sword slashing was heard going here and there. Two swords were chopping down in front of Linghu Chong, and he lifted his sword to block. Two hoarse voices shouting 'scram your granny' were heard and unexpectedly nobody realised what had happened. After some time, besides those blind men cursing and the clashing of weapons, there was no other noise. But Linghu Chong was still worried and he nearly cried, wanting to cry out, "Yingying, Yingying, where are you?"

"Stop!" Zuo Lengchan commanded.

Those blind men sheathed their swords and stood still. Zuo Lengchan laughed happily and said, "Those traitors have all been eliminated. These shameless people, just because they wanted to learn some sword moves, they actually swore loyalty to that bastard Yue Buqun. That little bastard Linghu Chong must've died under your swords! Haha! Haha! Linghu Chong, Linghu Chong, are you dead yet?" Linghu Chong held his breath and didn't reply.

"Pingzhi," Zuo Lengchan said. "Today, you've killed the person you hate the most. You must be satisfied."

"The whole battle was thought of by Brother Zuo," Lin Pingzhi replied. "It was wonderfully set up."

Linghu Chong thought, "Zuo Lengchan and him are praising each other. In order to get his Evil Resisting Sword Art, Zuo Lengchan is being very polite to him."

"If you didn't know of another secret path into this tunnel," Zuo Lengchan said. "It would've been hard for us to get our revenge."

"But it's a pity," Lin Pingzhi. "In all that confusion I didn't get the chance to kill that little bastard Linghu Chong myself."

Linghu Chong thought, "I've never offended him before. Why does he detest me so much?"

"It doesn't matter who killed him, it's all the same," Zuo Lengchan replied in whisper. "Let's go out quickly. I think Yue Buqun should be guarding outside of the cave now. We should take advantage of the darkness to rush out."

"Yes!" Lin Pingzhi acknowledged. The sound of footsteps was heard as their party entered the tunnel. Sound of footsteps gradually got farther away, and after a while, it was all quiet.

"Yingying," Linghu Chong whispered. "Where are you?" His voice sounded like he was weeping.

Suddenly, someone from above his head whispered, "I'm here. Don't make any noise!"

Linghu Chong was happy and both his knees became soft as he sat down on the ground. When those blind men randomly slashed their swords around, the safest place to be was up there. A place where no weapon can reach. This was a very obvious and simple point, but when faced with death, everyone's mind was in chaos and didn't think of this.

Yingying leapt down. Linghu Chong jumped up and tossed his sword away before embracing her tightly. They were both sobbing happily. Linghu Chong lightly kissed her forehead and whispered, "You really frightened me to death just before."

In the darkness, Yingying didn't avoid it and she lightly replied, "You were cursing people 'scram your granny'. Nevertheless, I heard it was your voice."

Linghu Chong couldn't help smiling as he asked, "You're not injured at all?"

"No."

"I heard the qin's sound before and wasn't worried anymore. But then I felt that I've stabbed a girl and the qin's sound became broken, not making up a tune, so I thought I've wounded you. Later on, there was no sound at all and I didn't know what had happened."

Yingying smiled. "I've jumped up there early on. I was afraid someone might find out so I couldn't call out to you. So I had to toss coins down to strike that yaoqin to let you know."

Linghu Chong sighed and said, "That's how it is. I never knew. I deserve to be hit, deserve to be hit!" He took her hand and lightly hit his own cheeks. "You're marrying such a stupid man," Linghu Chong chuckled. "This can be considered to be Young Lady Ren's bad luck. I felt it was really odd. If you were the one playing the yaoqin, why weren't you playing the 'Song of Peace and Serenity' or maybe the 'Smiling Proud Wanderer'?"

Yingying let him hugged her. "If I could toss coins in the darkness to make the yaoqin play out a tune, then I'll be a deity."

Linghu Chong laughingly said, "You are a deity."

When Yingying heard his words were teasing her, she struggled wanting to get away from his embrace. Linghu Chong tightly held on to her and asked, "Later on, why did you stop throwing the coins to strike the qin?"

"I'm poor," Yingying laughingly replied. "I don't have that much money on me. After throwing a few of them, I ran out."

Linghu Chong sighed. "It's a pity there's no money farm in this cave, there's also no store here. Young lady Ren has no money to use and there's no place to borrow money."

Yingying also laughed and said, "After that, I even used my hairpin and earrings. But when those blind men started killing, I didn't dare to throw things anymore because their hearings are very acute."

Suddenly, there was a gloomy cold laugh coming from the tunnel's entrance. Linghu Chong and Yingying gasped in surprise. Linghu Chong's left arm embraced Yingying while his right hand grabbed the long sword on the ground. He shouted, "Who's there?"

That person coldly replied, "Hero Linghu, it's me!" The voice was Lin Pingzhi's. Then they heard footsteps coming from the tunnel, the blind men had returned.

Linghu Chong scolded himself for being so careless. Zuo Lengchan was an old bastard and he was also very cunning, so how could he just go like that? They must've stayed in the tunnel listening to the noises inside the cave. If he was by himself, he would've wasted some time before trying to escape. But with Yingying and him worrying over each other and delighted over their reunion, he didn't think the enemy could've stayed not far from there and was watching them from the outside. Yingying put her hand underneath Linghu Chong's armpit and whispered, "Go up!" The two of them jumped up.

Yingying had earlier rested on the rock jutting out of the wall so she knew where it was. In the darkness, she applied the right amount of force to go up and steadily landed on it. But Linghu Chong missed and he instead landed back down. Yingying grabbed his arm and pulled him back up. This rock only jutted out for around three to four feet. Both of them were crowded and it wasn't easy for them to steadily stand there. Linghu Chong thought, "Yingying thinks very fast. Both of us are on top looking down, so it won't be easy for those blind men to attack us."

"Those two little ghosts jumped up," Zuo Lengchan said.

"Yes!" Lin Pingzhi acknowledged.

"Linghu Chong," Zuo Lengchan said. "Are you going to hide up there for the rest of your life?"

Linghu Chong didn't reply. He was thinking if he uttered a single noise then his hiding place would be discovered. His right hand held his sword while his left hand was wrapped around Yingying's waist. Yingying's left hand was holding a short sword and her right hand was also wrapped around his waist. They felt comforted to be able to be together, they had no regret even if they had to die right now.

"Who blinded your eyes?" Zuo Lengchan shouted. "Have you forgotten it?"

More than ten blind men roared and jumped up while randomly thrusting. Linghu Chong and Yingying still didn't make any sound, and those blind men stabbed at empty spaces. The second time they leapt up, one of the blind men was only around a foot beyond the jutting rock. Linghu Chong heard the wind around him as he jumped up, he thrust his sword forward and pierced the blind man's chest. That blind man cried out and fell on the ground. With that happened, the others discovered their hiding place. Six to seven people leapt up at the same time slashing and thrusting their swords. Even though Linghu Chong and Yingying couldn't see those blind men, the distance between the jutting rock and the ground was around twenty feet. The people jumping up produced a lot of wind noise so they were easy to distinguish. They thrust their swords out and killed two people. The rest of the blind men looked up and hurled abuses at them. For a while, they didn't dare to leap up and attack.

A short time later, the sound of wind was heard and two people had jumped up from the left and right. Linghu Chong and Yingying lifted their swords to block.

'Zheng, zheng'. Four swords collided.

Linghu Chong's right hand ached and his long sword was nearly knocked out of his hand. He knew the person who had attacked was Zuo Lengchan himself. Yingying cried out in pain as her shoulder was hit by a sword and she swayed. Linghu Chong quickly pulled her in with his left hand. Those two people jumped up again to attack. Linghu Chong thrust his long sword towards the person attacking Yingying. Both swords collided, and that person's long sword changed quickly into a slash. Linghu Chong knew this enemy was Lin Pingzhi. There was no time to block the incoming sword so he quickly lowered his head and stooped his body. He felt the cold wind as Lin Pingzhi slashed at Yingying. His body was in mid air but he unexpectedly was able to do three moves. This Evil Resisting Sword Art was truly formidable.

Linghu Chong was afraid he might injure Yingying so he hugged her and leapt down with her. With his back leaning on the cave wall, he started to slash his sword around. Suddenly he heard Zuo Lengchan's long laugh. A sword attacked and with a clashing sound, both swords had again collided. Linghu Chong was shaken and he felt a little internal energy coming from the sword. His whole body involuntarily shook. Suddenly he remembered of the day when Ren Woxing was at Shaolin Temple using his 'Art of Essence Absorbing' to suck Zuo Lengchan's internal energy. Who could've known that Zuo Lengchan's internal energy would be so formidable that in just a short time, Ren Woxing was frozen. This time he was doing the same strategy again and to avoid falling into his trap, Linghu Chong quickly pushed the internal energy out but suddenly he felt a tremendous energy coming back, and his fingers involuntarily loosened and his sword flew out of his hand. Linghu Chong's whole skill depended on a long sword, so he quickly stooped down and felt around the ground for another sword. More than two hundred people had died inside that cave and the ground was filled with weapons so he could just pick a sabre up and hold up momentarily. Yingying and he had turned blind in this cave while being attacked by these ten or so blind men who had turned not blind. It was no luck that they had survived so far, but no matter what, they were unwilling to just give up their lives so easily. After feeling around for a while, he touched the face of a dead person. It was cold and sticky, he hastily hugged Yingying and retreated for a couple of steps.

'Zheng, zheng!' Yingying brandished her short sword to block the incoming thrust from the two swords. This was followed by a cry as the short sword in Yingying's hand was knocked flying off. Linghu Chong was worried, he stooped down again and found something that felt like a short stick. In this critical situation, he didn't have time to think when he felt a strong wind rushing from his front. Another sword had slashed at him. He immediately put the stick up to block. With a cracking sound, that short stick was cut off by the sword.

Linghu Chong lowered his head to let the long sword go pass. Suddenly, he saw some light dots in front of him. These light dots were very weak, but inside this dark cave, they were just like a star coming out of the horizon. The enemies' bodies and their swords could be distinguished faintly. Linghu Chong and Yingying gasped at the same time as they saw Zuo Lengchan thrust his sword again. Linghu Chong lifted his short stick to stab it at Zuo Lengchan's throat, which was exactly the flaw in his sword move. Unexpectedly, even though Zuo Lengchan was blind, his response was still very fast as he used the move 'Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate' to leap back while his mouth was cursing loudly. Yingying stooped down, picked up a long sword, took the short stick from Linghu Chong's hand, and at the same time gave the long sword to him. She brandished the short stick causing glimmering around the cave.

Linghu Chong's spirit was greatly roused. As this was a matter of life and death, he didn't hold back. With a curse 'scram your granny', he killed a blind man. The sword coming out of his hand was much faster than the cursing coming out of his mouth. After swearing six of these 'scram your granny', the twelve blind men in the cave had all been killed. Moreover, some of these blind men were slow witted, so hearing him screaming 'scram your granny', they thought he was one of their own, so why would they need to fight? They had not realised anything when the sword had already pierced their throats and they were on their way to death's door to see their grannies.

Zuo Lengchan and Lin Pingzhi didn't understand what was going on, they both asked, "Is there a torch?" Their voices were frightened.

"That's right!" Linghu Chong shouted as he attacked Zuo Lengchan three times. Zuo Lengchan distinguished the incoming attack from the wind and managed to block the three attacks, but Linghu Chong felt his arm was aching. It was the cold energy coming from the sword again. After a tick, everything was still as he held his sword motionless. Zuo Lengchan couldn't hear the wind from his sword and he was getting anxious. He vigorously slashed his sword to protect the fatal points around his body.

Linghu Chong relied on the faint light coming out of the short stick in Yingying's hand as he slowly sent his sword forward, and slowly aimed it at Lin Pingzhi's right arm. Inch by inch, it crept forward. Lin Pingzhi was straining his ear trying to listen to his sword path, but Linghu Chong's sword was slowly going inch by inch, so how could he hear anything? The point of the sword was now only half a foot away from his right arm. With a jerk, it shot forward and hit Lin Pingzhi's right arm's bone and flesh. Lin Pingzhi cried out and dropped his long sword, while his body flew upwards. Linghu Chong stabbed twice and got both of his legs. Lin Pingzhi fell down on the ground cursing and swearing loudly. Linghu Chong turned around and saw Zuo Lengchan. Under the faint light, he saw him gritting his teeth and his expression terrifying while he was slashing his long sword around. Even though the sword moves he was using were very wonderful, but under 'Dugu Nine Sword', there was no place that was flawless.

Linghu Chong thought, "This person is the one who incited the disturbance in Wulin. I can't go easy on him!"

With a roar, he brandished his long sword. Zuo Lengchan was stabbed between the eyes, throat, and chest. Linghu Chong leapt back for two steps and pulled Yingying's hand. He saw Zuo Lengchan standing there for a long time before falling on the ground. His long sword turned over and stabbed his own stomach until it penetrated all the way through. Both of them calmed themselves down. They looked at the short stick in Yingying's hand but the light was too dim so they couldn't see it clearly. They had no torch on their bodies and Linghu Chong was afraid Lin Pingzhi might attack them again so he cut off the tendons in his left arm. Then he went to the dead people's body to fish out some flint and steel, after feeling out the second person, that person's bosom was also empty. He thought for a while then shouted, "Scram your granny, of course these blind men aren't bringing any flint and steel." When he felt the fifth person, he finally found flint and steel and light up a paper.

The two of them shouted in surprise.

The stick in Yingying's hand was unexpectedly a bone with one of its ends cut off to a sharp point! Yingying was stupified and she threw that bone on the ground. She then laughingly cursed, "Scram your..." She only uttered these two words when she felt they were not elegant so she immediately pursed her lips up.

Linghu Chong suddenly understood. "Yingying, both our lives were saved by this divine sect's senior."

"Divine sect's senior?" Yingying queried.

"Back then, ten elders from the divine sect attacked Huashan. They were all imprisoned in this cave without any way of escaping, and they all died with unsatisfied regret. All they left behind were ten sets of bones. This thigh bone, I don't know which elder it belonged to. I accidentally picked that one up and Zuo Lengchan luckily cut a section off it. This bone has this phosphorus light that the two of us can use to see," Linghu Chong explained.

Yingying let out a long sigh then bowed towards that bone and said, "So it's our sect's elder, sorry for the offence."

Linghu Chong took a few more paper and lighted them up. Then he found two torches and lighted them up also. "I wonder what happened to Martial Uncle Mo?" Then he shouted, "Martial Uncle Mo, Martial Uncle Mo!" But there was still no sound. Linghu Chong felt in his heart that Martial Uncle Mo cared for him. So he was feeling sad that he had died in this cave today. He glanced around the ground looking at the corpses, but it was very difficult to search for Mr. Mo Da's corpse. He thought, "We haven't escaped from danger yet, we can't linger around here. I'll come back later to look for Martial Uncle Mo's corpse then I'll bury him properly."

Linghu Chong turned around and pulled on Lin Pingzhi's chest as he went towards the tunnel. Yingying knew he had promised Yue Lingshan to tend to Lin Pingzhi. So without saying anything, she picked up that yaoqin which had holes in a few places and followed behind him. They used the narrow tunnel that had been dug by those elders to go out step by step.

Linghu Chong lifted his sword up to be prepared. He was thinking Zuo Lengchan was very calculating and since the cave's entrance had been sealed, then he surely would have dispatched people to guard the narrow tunnel. He had to be careful of the guard trying to stop him inside the cave. But after walking all the way through the tunnel, he still saw no one. Linghu Chong softly opened the stone covering up the entrance, and he felt the light dazzling his eyes. The ferocious fight inside the cave had gone on for so long that he didn't feel how much time had actually passed, and the sky had actually turned bright. He saw there was no one outside the cave and he immediately pulled Lin Pingzhi out, and Yingying followed him out. There was a sword in Linghu Chong's hand, enough light for him to see, he was at a spacious place, they had really gone out of danger. He sucked in a breath of fresh air and felt unspeakable comfort.

"When your master punished you before, was it at this cave?" Yingying asked.

"That's right. What do you think?" Linghu Chong laughingly replied.

Yingying smiled. "I think you weren't here meditating, but your..." She was thinking of saying 'your little martial sister', but why would she mention Yue Lingshan to make him sad? So she quickly stopped.

"Grand martial uncle Feng lives somewhere nearby. I wonder if he's doing fine. I've always thought of this. He first said, he doesn't want to meet anyone from Huashan School, but I'm no longer in Huashan School," Linghu Chong said.

"Yes. Let's go meet him," Yingying said.

Linghu Chong sheathed his sword and let go of Lin Pingzhi. He pulled on Yingying's hand and went out of the cave.