Chapter - 21 In Jail (2/2)

Having decided, he started tracing the handwriting on the iron panel silently to memorize the instructions thinking, ”I must manage to understand this rotten skill, otherwise when I teach him, I might blurt out something he would disbelieve. Only my voice and Senior Ren's voice are too different that I have to really dampen my voice. I can shout one word and mute the other one, that way it becomes more ambiguous and not easy for him to find out.”

Using mnemonics, he started memorizing the text by shouting them out in a very loud voice knowing that the dark prison cell is deep down underneath the lake, separated from the nearest exit by a long tunnel and two gates in between. Even if numerous firecrackers were exploding in the prison cell, it is unlikely for the least bit of sound to go outside. Linghu Chong then switched to singing in an operatic style, making up lyrics using the mnemonics from the instructions on the iron panel. Afterwards, thinking rude thoughts about the the Four Skunks of Jiangnan, he was unable to restrain himself and laughed heartily.

Suddenly, Linghu Chong came to the sentence, ” When inner energy is stored in the dan tian (pubic region), it is like a reservior that can accommodate a large amount of water. Once things have come to a rest, the energy will be then be distributed to other parts of the body.”

Linghu Chong had read this sentence several times before but he did not think deeply about its meaning because he thoroughly disliked practicing breathing exercises. Just now, he grasped meaning of the sentence and found it very strange. ”When master teaches us the basics of inner strength cultivation, he teaches that the cultivated energy has to be stored in the lower abdomen (dan tian/pubic region) from where it acts as the source of power. Why did these instructions actually say energy cannot be saved in the dan tian. If inner strength cannot reside there, where should it go? The practice of this sentence is contrary to all of the martial arts methods of inner strength cultivation including that of Huashan's. This big technique must be a joke. Ha ha, Mr. Black-White is mean and shameless. Why don't I pass this method on to him, and let him work it out?”

Tracing the handwriting on the iron panel, Linghu Chong slowly ponders over the meaning. The first several hundred characters teaches techniques to disperse a person's own inner energy completely. Realizing this, he was startled into wondering, ”Who in the world is so < ?? stupid?> that he is willing to lose a life time of inner energy cultivation and practice the instructions here? Only a person who has made up his mind to commit suicide would be willing. On the other hand, if a person were to commit suicide, wouldn't a sword slash across the neck be quicker? Why waste so much time to kill oneself? of internal energy is certainly much more difficult than it. How is this method really useful?”

Thinking of the coming meeting with Mr. Black-White, Linghu Chong couldn't help but get depressed. ”It will not take Mr. Black-White long to find out that the worthlessness of this method and realized that he's been cheated. Teaching him this method may not work out well” Linghu Chong worried while continuing to recite more of the mnemonics, ”The energy enters the dan tian and then disperses into the body through the arteries…”

After reading for a while, he became angry and hits the iron bed saying ”Damn this person. Just because he was angry for being stuck in this dark prison cell, he arranged this clever trick to make fun of other people.” Linghu Chong scolded the previous occupant of his cell for a while and then fell asleep. In his sleep, his mind continued going over ”the energy enters the dan tian and then disperses into the body through the arteries….” part of the inner energy cultivation method on the iron panel and unconsciously his body followed the method's directions. Suddenly, he felt some of the inner energy in his body flowing out from the dan tian and dispersing through his arteries into all parts of his body. He was overcome with a strong urge to defecate and was quite uncomfortable.

After a good while, he became consciously aware of streams of inner energy moving throughout his body while his dan tian remains calm. ”Oh, this is not good! My inner energy is certainly not flowing out. How can it be that I have not turned into a disabled person instantly?

Startled, he immediately sat up and probed his inner energy. The streams of energy inside him seemed to be circulating throughout and energizing his body. He was quite dizzy at first but after some time felt all his conflicting inner energies settled down and was pleasantly surprised.

The illness I suffered from was difficult to cure because there were 7-8 heterogeneous inner energies from the Peach Valley Six Immortals and Monk No Commandment running wild in my body. Dr. Ping was unable to treat me. Shaolin abbot Master Fang Zheng said that only the Tendon Altering Sutra will be able to tame the energy streams and cure me. The method engraved on the iron panel, however, does not teach me how to cultivate inner energy but how to disperse it. Ha ha, Linghu Chong, fate is certainly on your side, while others fear the loss of their inner strength, you actually benefit from it.

Thus, Linghu Chong unceasingly continues to read aloud the mnemonics the rest of the day. That night, in his dreams he was still going over the concepts unconsciously making sense of it and practicing it in his sleep. But he couldn't fully understand the method beyond the first line. By now, his spirit was inspired to fully comprehend the method and see the result for himself. Now, at last, he sat cross-legged and put into practice what he had learnt. After practicing for a while, he sensed the long pent-up heterogeneous energies getting wild in his dan tian and dispersing into his arteries. Although he still cannot get rid of the remaining energy streams, the tension in his body was greatly reduced.

He felt extremely happy and sang songs until his voice became hoarse. Originally he was singing and shouting loudly to find a way to disguise his voice. Now, unexpectedly, his voice has become hoarse and he thought, ”Ren Woxing, Ren Woxing, you leave these methods on the iron panel with the intention of injuring someone. How would you have known that your method would prove harmless to me and in fact benefits me a great deal? You must be turning over in the grave with anger. Ha ha, ha ha!”

During this brief practice, even though the energy streams were not completely dispersed, he felt somewhat comfortable. He thought ”After I got the energy streams from Peach Valley Six Immortals and Monk No-Commandment dispersed, I will have to regain my internal strength by practicing what my master taught me at Huashan. Since I will have to start over from the beginning, I fear I must spend a part of my life to recover what I have lost. If brother Xian Wentian finally came and rescue me from here …”

Suddenly Linghu Chong thought that, ”Both master and Master-Wife expelled me from the Huashan sect, why should I practice Huashan school's internal strength again? In the martial arts world, there are many ways of cultivating internal strength. Why couldn't I ask for Brother Xian Wentian or Ying-Ying's help in this and study from them? This made him less miserable and excited. After eating the day's meal, he practiced the technique again. He sensed his body became more and more comfortable and couldn't help but laugh heartily.

Suddenly he hears Mr. Black-White calling to him outside the prison door, ”Senior, I hope you are feeling well. Junior is here to serve you.” Linghu Chong has been concentrating only on learning and practicing the inner energy technique of Ren Woxing for the past three days that not only had he forgotten how much time has passed but also didn't notice Mr. Black-White's arrival. It was lucky that he hadn't spoken a word before and gave himself away. He let out several hollow laughs as answer to Mr. Black-White.

Mr. Black-White said, ”It seems today Senior is feeling very high spirited. How should I, your diciple, proceed?”

Linghu Chong deliberately considered, ”Should I consent and receive him as a disciple and pass on this method on the iron panel? As soon as he opens the door to come in, he would immediately see that I am not Senior Ren and naturally would get angry enough to kill me on the spot. On the other hand, if I were to pass on the whole method, even if he still believed me to be Senior Ren, once he finished practicing, most likely he would try to kill me rather than help me escape. All he has to do is put some poison in the meal and I am done for. No wonder Senior Ren was not willing to pass on the method to him for last 12 years.”

When Mr. Black-White did not hear an answer, he said, ”After Senior passes on the big method to me, the disciple will serve you with a fat chicken and good wine to show filial piety.”

Linghu Chong has been imprisoned for more than a month and a half. Everyday he has been only eating green vegetables and tofu. The sound of ”a fat chicken and good wine” was too tempting. With his mouth salivating greedily, he said, ”Good, you can first bring me a fat chicken and some good wine. After I have eaten them to my heart's content, I will then pass on the method to you.”

Mr. Black-White hurriedly replied, ”Well, I will certainly bring you good food and wine. However, I'm afraid it will not be possible to bring them today. Tomorrow, if I have a lucky chance, I will then bring my offerings.

Linghu Chong asked, ”Why is it not possible to bring the food today?”

Mr. Black-White replied, ”To get here, I have to pass through my eldest brother's bedroom. Only when he's away, I can … can….” Linghu Chong snorted but did not say a word. Mr. Black-White was worried about Mr. Huang Zhong's return to the bedroom and not daring to delay, he said goodbye and went away.

Linghu Chong in his heart thought that, ”If I can tempt Mr. Black-White to come into the prison cell, would I be able to kill him? He is sly and it would be impossible to swindle him. Even if I was able to kill Mr. Black-White, I still won't be able to pull off these chains on my hand and foot to get out of here.” With this last thought, his right hand unconsciously went to the steel ring on his left wrist and made an effort to pull. As soon as he pulled the ring it unexpectedly yielded and widened. Excited, he pulled the circle wider and wider, until his left wrist was free from the shackle. Pleasantly surprised, he examined the steel ring only to find a fracture there. He would not have been able to pull apart even the fractured steel ring in his original state when he had no inner strength. However, within the the last two days, he had been able to disperse the combined inner strengths of the six Peach Valley Immortals and the Monk No-Commandment throughout his body and this had given birth to a strong inner force. He found an identical fracture on the steel ring on his right wrist. He had traced over these steel rings several times before but hadn't notice these fractures until now.

Using his left hand, he immediately freed his right hand, and then examined the shackles on his ankles and found fractures in both. After expanding much effort, he was able to free himself completely from all the shackles. By this time, his whole body was perspiring profusely and he felt quite breathless.

Puzzled he asked himself ”Why does each steel ring has a fracture? How could these shackles with fractures have fettered anyone?”

The next day, the deaf and mute old man delivers the daily meal. Using the light which came with the old man, Linghu Chong was able to see that in the place where the steel rings have fracture, they have been cut through with a very fine and extremely thin steel wire saw. There were no rust on the fractures indicating that the cuts were made recently. He asked himself ”How come these shackles have been cut? Is someone trying to rescue me in secret? This underground prison is so well hidden. It's unlikely that my rescuer is someone from the outside. This person must surely be from this Lone Manor. He must not have been willing to plot against me and imprison me here. While I was unconscious, he must have come here secretly and used the steel wire saw to cut the shackles. It follows that my rescuer cannot openly declare himself an enemy of this manor, so he can only act when he has an opportunity. He will surely help me escape when the next opportunity arises.” Thinking this, his spirit was greatly lifted.

That night, in his dream, Linghu Chong saw Mr Paint coming forward, opening the door of the prison cell and letting him out. Awaking with a start, Linghu Chong realised that it was only a Nanke dream [Nanke dream is a saying that comes from a well-known Tang (Dynasty) performance], an illusory joy that was not true. However, he did not become depressed. Instead, he thought: ”He has not come to rescue me today, only because he has not had the opportunity to do so. He will naturally come and rescue me soon.”

”The mnemonics and methods on the steel plate are extremely useful to me, but terribly dangerous to others. Anyone else who gets incarcerated in this dark prison in the future would naturally be a good man, so he cannot be allowed to fall into Ren Woxing's great trap.” Thinking this, Linghu Chong traced the words on the steel plate with his fingers and read the entire passage ten times from beginning to end. Then, he took the iron handcuff and scraped off more than ten words in the passage.

Mr Black-White did not come that day, but Linghu Chong did not care about it. Instead, he continued to cultivate his internal energy according to the methods stated by the mnemonics. Mr Black-White did not appear for many more days. Soon, Linghu Chong began to feel a significant improvement in his practice of the methods, for six- to seven-tenths of the diverging energy streams that the Six Fairies of the Peach Valley and the No-Commandment Monk left in his body had been expelled from the 'dan tian' and dispersed along the channels of 'Ren' and 'Du'. He thought: ”I only have to persevere, and all the diverging energy streams will be completely expelled.”

Linghu Chong recited the full set of mnemonics more than ten times each day, before scraping off yet another ten words or so from the steel plate. As he did, he began to notice an increase in his strength. He no longer needed to exert himself much when he scraped the steel plate with the iron handcuff. More than a month passed in this manner. Although he was trapped in the ground, he could feel a gradual drop in the sweltering summer temperature. He thought: ”There is indeed divine intervention during the time of darkness. If I had been incarcerated during winter, I would not have found the words in the steel plate at all. Perhaps Mr Paint would have had me rescued before summer comes again.”

Suddenly, Linghu Chong heard the sound of footsteps outside and recognized them as Mr. Black-White's. He quickly turned his face towards the wall from his resting position on the bed. Mr. Black-White stopped outside the prison door and apologetically spoke, ”Senior Ren, I am truly very sorry… not to have come earlier. Daily… I was anxious to come and pay you my respect but did not get a chance because my eldest brother did not leave his room. I hope you are not offended… because of the long wait.” Saying this, Mr. Black-White opened square-shaped opening of the prison door and the fragrant smell of wine and roasted chicken wafted through into the cell. It had been many days since Linghu Chong had tasted a drop of wine. As soon as the smell of the wine hits his nose, he quickly turned around and said ”Quickly give me the food and wine.”

”Yes, yes. Has Senior decided to teach me your marvelous secret technique?” replied Mr. Black-White.

Linghu Chong answered, ”Each time you deliver three catties of liquor and a chicken, I will teach you four mnemonics. This way, you would have learned the entire method by the time you have delivered to me 1000 chickens with accompanying liquor.”

”Senior Master, I'm afraid too much time will be wasted with this arrangement. Can you not teach me eight mnemonics at a time in exchange for 2 chickens and 6 catties of liquor?” Mr. Black-White bargained.

Linghu Chong smiled at this and said ”You are certainly greedy but I won't disagree with your proposal. Come, come, give me the food.”

Through the square opening, Mr. Black-White handed over a wooden plate with a plate of fruit, a pot of wine and a fat chicken.

Linghu Chong thought ”Since I have not taught you the mnemonics, you wouldn't have put poison in the food to kill me right now.” Not able to resist any longer, he picked up the wine pot and took big gulps of it.

The wine was not really good but Linghu Chong savored the taste of it as if he were drinking Mr. Paint's beautifully mellow Turfan grape wine which has been distilled and fermented for four cycles. After drinking half the pot, he tore into a huge chunk of chicken leg, chewed it with relish. Taking turns eating and drinking, he emptied the wine pot and picked the chicken clean. He patted his belly and with great approval declared ”Good liquor, good liquor!”

Mr. Black-White says with a smile, ”Now that Senior has eaten the fat chicken and drank the good wine, will you please teach me the mnemonics.”

Linghu Chong noticed that Mr. Black-White did not acknowledge him as a teacher again but only talked about giving him the food and wine. Momentarily he was at a loss thinking of a suitable answer and did not reply immediately. Finally he said ”Good, remember these four mnemonics well. 'Gather the energy in your dan-tian and direct it towards Yu and Shanzhong points through the eight channels'. Do you understand?”

The original mnemonics written on the steel panel was ”Gather the energy in the dan-tian and then disperse it to the four limbs through the eight channels.” Linghu Chong had deliberately changed the meaning of the method.

In Mr. Black-White's mind, these four mnemonics does not seem wonderful or extraordinary. He felt the method is not different from an ordinary breathing exercise method. So, he asked ”Senior, could you tell me the four mnemonics again because I don't quite understand it yet.”

Linghu Chong thought to himself, ”When I changed these four mnemonics, they became quite ordinary. I do not have sufficient knowledge to fool him. I will read something extremely strange to frighten him,” so he said ”Today is the first day of the month, I will teach you four more mnemonics. You should try to memorize it well. ”Maintain positive energy by splitting it along Zhen channel and dissipate the negative energy through a strategic pass.”

Mr. Black-White said in alarm, ”This... This... This sentence is very strange. How do a person achieve success by passing energy through eight channels? I, your junior, does not understand these… these mnemonics completely. ”

Linghu Chong said, ”How can such a rare and wonderful inner energy cultivation method be easily understood by everyone? It's simply not possible for an average man to understand the complex and subtle meanings of this method so easily.”

At this point, Mr. Black-White, who has been intently listening, became more and more aware of differences in the tone and manner of speaking between Linghu Chong and Senior Ren and cannot help but suspect that the speaker is not Senior Ren. Linghu Chong had spoken to him twice before but he had muffled his voice and said very little. This time, somewhat intoxicated with wine, Linghu Chong had spoken much. Mr. Black-White has been on high alert for any suspicious signs because he expected Linghu Chong will make up the mnemonics. So, to be sure that he was not being cheated, he asked, ”Senior, did you say ' The energy is cultivated when the divided energy from eight channels are completely dispersed?'”

Linghu Chong answered, ”Naturally.” Sensing that Mr. Black-White is getting suspicious, Linghu Chong dared not say more than ”You would have to study what I have taught you comprehensively to completely understand it.” So saying, he put the wine pot on the wooden tray and pushed it through the square hole. Mr. Black-White held out his hand to receive the tray. Linghu Chong suddenly cried out ”Oh!” and at the same time, leaned his body forward and hit the iron door with his forehead.

Startled, Mr. Black-White uttered, ”How? This person possesses excellent wu gong skills with extremely fast response,” and put his hand through the square hole searchingly where he came into contact with the wooden tray. Nervously he grabbed the tray lest the wine pot fell to the ground and break. Just at that moment, as quick as lightening, Linghu Chong grabbed Mr. Black-White's right hand with his left hand and said with a laugh, ”Mr. Black-White, do you know who I am?”

Mr. Black-White was greatly surprised that he uttered in a trembling voice: ”You... ... You... ... ”

When Linghu Chong handed the wooden tray out, he did not have the intention of grabbing Mr. Black-White's hand. However, when he saw Mr. Black-White's palm shaking under the faint light of the oil lamp while he was waiting for hand over the wooden tray, he felt a sudden impulse that he found impossible to supress. He had been imprisoned here for many days because of this person's sly and calculated tricks; so if he were able to break Mr. Black-White's wrist, he would be able to vent a little of his anger and hatred. Also, Mr. Black-White's likely to be frightened stiff if his hand was suddenly seized. Since this person is so deceitful, what was wrong with scaring him? He was unsure if it was for revenge or due to his mischevious nature when he pretended to fall and led Mr. Black-White to stretch out his hand to be grabbed.

It goes without saying that Mr. Black-White had been extremely vigilant, but what happened to him occurred very suddenly and extremely fast. Even if he had foreknowledge, he would not have not been able to evade from getting his wrist captured. Mr. Black-White hurriedly twist his hand around to loosen his opponent's vise-like grip on his wrist. As he twisted around, by chance, his ”inside pass” and ”outside pass” acupunture points fell directly under the fingers of his opponent. Unbelievably, he felt his inner energy coming out of the two points. Just at that time, with a loud sound, three of the toes of his foot broke, and in extreme pain, he shouted out.

How is it that Mr. Black-White strangely injured his left foot when it was his right hand that was being held? At first, Mr. Black-White had been showing respect towards his opponent out of fear. Now that he found himself captive, he became worried for his life, and in a hurry used the move called ”Scaly dragon leaving the deep pool”. Used when an arm is seized, the move involves kicking out undetected with the left foot towards the enemy's chest. The kick is extremely fierce and lethal; the enemy would usually die spitting blood if they did not succeed in avoiding it. It is impossible for someone to avoid the kick without releasing his opponent's arm quickly.

In this moment of extreme distress, Mr. Black-White was so eager to escape that he forgot he was separated from his enemy by a thick iron door and used this ”Scaly dragon leaving the deep pool” method. His kick was swift, fierce and right on target. Only, it's a pity that his foot hit the center of the iron door with a loud ”bang”. Hearing the loud noise coming from the iron door, Linghu Chong instantly realized how the iron door had protected him from Mr. Black-White's extremely formidable kick. He couldn't help but laugh out loud and said ”Do kick again! If you kick as fiercely as the first time, then I might just let you go.”

During that time, Mr. Black-White became frighteningly aware that his inner energy had been flowing out in a steady stream from his right wrist's ”inner pass” and ”outer pass” points. This was something he was most afraid of and he was scared out of his wits. He tried to control his panic so as to slow down the energy loss. At the same time, he couldn't help but sorrowfully plead, ”Old… old gentleman, I beg… you… you…”

As soon as he speaks, his inner energy gushes out of his body in a huge wave that he had to stop talking but his energy kept flowing out rapidly.

Linghu Chong had practiced the method on the steel panel for quite some time and at this moment, his dan-tian could be likened to an empty bamboo or a deep valley into which Mr. Black-White's inner energy flowed in.

However, Linghu Chong was not aware of this. He only sensed that Mr. Black-White's wrist was quivering as if in fear. His anger towards Mr. Black-White hasn't abated yet and thinking to frighten Mr. Black-White further, he shouted out, ”I taught you martial arts and therefore you are my disciple. Yet you took unfair advantage of your illustrious teacher. Shouldn't I punish you for your crime?”

Mr. Black-White only sensed that his inner energy is rushing out of his body quickly. With much effort, he held his breath and was temporarily able to stop the energy from flowing out. However, eventually it was unavoidable that he had to take a breath, and in between exhaling and inhaling, great amount of his inner energy rushed out of his body. By now, he had forgotten the aches from his injured toes. He only wishes to free his right hand out of this square hole even if he were to lose an arm and a leg in the process. As soon as he thought of this, he drew his sword from his waist with his free hand. With the sudden body movement, the two acupuncture points ”inner pass” and ”outer pass” on his wrist opened up and from them the inner energy from his whole body rushed out as if it was river water bursting through the dikes. It was much more difficult to stop the flow again.

Mr. Black-White knew only that he couldn't afford to suffer for long or all his internal energy will be absorbed. Gritting his teeth, he decided to chop off his own hand and promptly did his best to extract his long sword from his waist and lifted it up. However, as soon as he exerted his strength a little, his inner energy surged forward like a wave and flowed out of his body. His ears buzzed, his whole head swam and finally he lost consciousness.

Linghu Chong had seized Mr. Black-White's hands only to frighten him. At most he was only going to twist and break Mr. Black-White's wrist to vent his anger. He did not expect Mr. Black-White would get so scared out of his wits that he passed out of fright. Linghu Chong laughed out loud and released Mr. Black-White's wrist. As soon as he let go, Mr. Black-White's body collapsed to the floor and his right hand retracted from the square hole.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Linghu Chong's mind and he hurriedly try to seize Mr. Black-White's hand. Luckily, he was quick as lightning and managed to held on to the palm. He thought, ”Why don't I use the steel handcuffs to shackle him? That way, Mr. Huang Zhong will be forced to release me.” Immediately, he used his strength to pull Mr. Black-White's hand closer. Unexpectedly Mr. Black-White's head came in also through the square hole and Linghu Chong cried out in surprise as he managed to pull in the entire body into the prison cell.

This really was a big shock for Linghu Chong beyond all his expectations. He scolded himself severely for being so stupid. The square hole is 1/3 of a meter and wide enough to put a head through. As long as the head can go through, so can the body. If Mr. Black-White can be pulled in, how couldn't he able to get out? It would have been impossible for him to escape from prison previously when his hands and legs were shackled in steel chains. However, some time ago, someone had secretly sawed through the steel chains which enabled him to free himself from them and now he would be able to escape. He ponders, ”Mr. Paint must have secretly helped me by sawing the steel chains. He might have been hoping that I would make my escape by following the old man who delivered me food daily. He must have been extremely anxious waiting for my escape.

When Linghu Chong found the steel chains were sawed through, he had been practicing the skills on the iron panel but had not yet learned them by heart nor had achieved a measure of success. With both his mind and body focused on practising, he didn't feel the need to escape and therefore did not think of running away. As he hesitated to make a decision, an idea came to him. He hurriedly removed Mr. Black-White's clothes and changed into them. Then he put on Mr. Black-White's cap and thought to himself, ”When I get out of here, if other people see me, they will say I am Mr. Black-White”.

Afterwards, with Mr. Black-White's long sword hanging by his waist, his sprit was greatly lifted. He shackled Mr. Black-White's hand and foot with the steel handcuffs and used his strength to pinch the rings shut together so that the rings fit so tightly that they sink into the flesh. Mr. Black-White groaned as he was awakened by the pain. Linghu Chong smiled and said ”We, brothers, are both cunningly pulled into this place! At least now, the accounts are settled and it is your turn, old man, to be delivered food and water.”

Mr. Black-White moaned ”Ren…. Old Genetleman Ren…you…you used the Art of Essence Absorbing”. Linghu Chong remembered that when he was fighting along side Xian Wentian, some people from the group of opponents called out ”Evil Art of Essence Absorbing”. Now, hearing the name again from Mr. Black-White, he couldn't resist but ask ”What is the Art of Essence Absorbing?” Mr. Black-White answered ”I… I…deserve…deserve… to die”.

Linghu Chong withdrew from Mr. Black-White's side deciding not to stay and listen to his reasons or explanations. First. he poked his head out through the square hole. Then, he extended both his arms out of the hole and putting his palms on the iron door, pushed his whole body out through the hole into the tunnel. When he stood up after steadying himself, he became aware that there was a great amount of stored inner energy in his dan tian and it was making him quite uncomfortable.

He did not realize that he had absorbed all of Mr. Black-White's inner energy. He just thought because he hadn't practice martial arts for some time, the Peach Valley Six Immortals and Monk No-Commandment's inner energy streams have returned to his dan tian. At this time, he only wished to depart from this dark prison as soon as possible. So, he picked up the oil lamp that Mr. Black-White had carried earlier and went out from the tunnel.

He found the door at the end of the tunnel unlocked and guessed that Mr. Black-White might have left it open for himself to go out again. Thus, Linghu Chong was able to escape from the prison without much effort.

As he stepped over the stone gateway in the tunnel, he remembered the days he had spent in the dark prison and felt as if they had occurred in a different lifetime. Unexpectedly in between, his resentment towards Mr. Huang Zhong and others had also melted away. Now, at last he felt free and other things do not matter to him any more.

When he got to end of the tunnel, he climbed the last ten steps. Then he put his head against the iron door and with bated breath listened attentively to sounds above. Even though he had not encountered any trap, he was being very careful and cautious. Instead of rushing up the stairs and dashing through the door, he stopped and listened for a sound from the other side. Hearing nothing even after some time, he felt certain that Mr. Huang Zhong must not be in the bedroom. Thus, he gently lifted up the iron door and climbed up. After leaping out of the hole in the bed, he put the iron door shut, pulled the bedding in place, and treaded softly on tiptoe to get out of the room when suddenly from behind, he heard a person spoke with immense sorrow, ”Second younger brother, what are you doing?” Startled, Linghu Chong turned around, only to see Mr. Huaung Zhong, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint each pointing their weapons at him while completely surrounding him.

He didn't know that on top of the secret door there's a trap. When he rushed out, the trap rang a bell which informed Mr. Huang Zhong, Mr. Bald Brush and Mr. Paint that the door had been opened. He was now wearing Mr. Black-White's mask and robe, so no one was able to recognise him. However, Linghu Chong was still frightened.

”I.... I....” he stuttered.

”I what? I had a feeling that you were up to something. You went in the prison and ask Ren Woxing to teach you Xixing Dafa, didn't you? Humph..., did you remember what vow you pledged all those years ago?” Mr. Huang Zhong coldly said.

Linghu Chong was confused, he didn't know whether to keep pretending as Mr. Black-White or to reveal himself. He was undecided for a while before he pulled out the long sword on his waist and thrust it towards Mr. Bald Brush.

”Good second brother, is it appropriate for you to thrust that sword at me?” Mr. Bald Brush sniggered and lifted his brush at the same time.

This sword thrust by Linghu Chong put everyone on their guard. However, it was just a fake as he quickly turned around and dashed out of the room. Mr. Huang Zhong and the rest promptly chased after him.

After running for a while, he reached the front hall of the Plum Manor.

”Second brother, second brother, where are you going?” Mr. Huang Zhong shouted.

Linghu Chong didn't answer him but kept on running. He arrived at the front courtyard where a person stands guard in the middle of the gate.

”Second master, please halt!” the guard shouted.

Linghu Chong kept running towards the guard and hit him head on. The guard flew outside and landed a few feet outside the gate. He took a look and recognised the guard as ”straight line lightning sword” Ding Jian. He was lying down straight and stiff, his body resembling part of his nickname ”straight line”. He could now be called ”double straight line lightning sword”.

He never stopped moving his feet and ran towards a small lane while Mr. Huang Zhong reached the gate and stopped chasing.

”Second brother, second brother, come back. We brothers can always talk things through,” Mr. Huang Zhong pleaded.

Linghu Chong had picked a secluded little road and later arrived at an uninhabited valley, which is quite a few li away from the HangZhou city's wall. He has been running flat-out since escaping from the Plum Manor. However, when he stopped, he didn't feel tired and was not even short of breath. On the other hand, his stamina seemed to have been even better than before he got injured.

He then took off Mr. Black-White's mask and started walking towards the sound of running water, which turned out to be a creek. Using both hands to scoop some water to his mouth, he suddenly saw a person's reflection on the water. That person on the water has his hair loose, his face filthy, and had a very ugly expression. Linghu Chong was startled then laugh dumbly as he realised it was his own reflection on the water. He'd been a prisoner for several months and had not bathed during all that time, naturally he would turn dirty. Suddenly, he felt his body itching all over. He quickly removed his robe, jumped into the creek and washed every nook and cranny on his body.

”The dirt on my body has been building up for these last few months, there must be at least 30 jin worth of dirt on me,” he thought.

After he's done washing his body and drunk to his heart's content, he pulled his hair and tied it at the back of his head. Checking how he looked on the water reflection, he found he had recovered his natural look. As he was wearing his robe, he felt that the qi between his chest and stomach didn't feel smooth, so he sat down and meditated. After a while, he felt that the qi in his ”dan tian” had scattered through the 8 arteries. Once again, the qi in his dan tian felt empty like the hollow of a bamboo while his body felt refreshed and his qi smooth.

He didn't realise that he had finished learning the entire generation's number one ranked kungfu. Taking into consideration that the Peach Valley's Six Fairies, Monk No Commandment and Fang-Sheng's eight types of internal energies have merged in his body along with Mr. Black-White's energy; and added to that his whole life worth of internal energy repaired, all of these combined into a very high internal energy.

Suddenly, he jumped up, pulled out the long sword on his waist and thrusted it at a green willow at the side of the creek. His wrist trembled and a soft sound can be heard. The long sword was returned to its sheath. He then landed back down on his left foot. Lifting his head, he was able to see 5 leaves from the green willow slowly floating down.

The long sword cleared its sheath for the second time and made an arcing slash, all 5 leaves ended up on the sword's edge. Using his left hand, he picked up one of the green willow leaf from the sword's edge. A feeling of happiness rose in his heart, but he also felt strange.

”Master and Master-Wife can't teach me kungfu anymore. But, I prefer everything going back to the way it was. Although the qi-branch sword technique is useless, I was happy at HuaShan Mountain, spending time with apprentice sister from morning till dusk. Now I'm wandering the Jiang Hu world alone like a ghost,” he sourly thought to himself.

He felt that his kungfu had never been as high as at this moment, but he also felt that he had never felt as lonely as he was right now. All his life he'd always been lively and been fond of wine, but in the past few months, he'd been all alone locked away in an underground prison. However, even though his body was free at the moment, he still felt lonely. Standing by himself besides the creek, the feeling of happiness gradually disappeared. The gentle wind brushed his body and the cold moon cast his shadow on the ground while in his heart, he felt boundless despair.