Chapter - 25 Information (1/2)

The group hurried along on their horses. Every day they only slept for around four hours and they didn't tarry along the road. In a few days, they finally arrived at Zhejiang's Dragon Spring. Although Linghu Chong lost a lot of blood after being injured by Bu Chen and Sha Tianjiang, his injuries were mostly flesh wounds. With his abundant internal energy and the Heng-Shan School's medicines that he had taken, he had mostly recovered by the time they arrived inside Zhejiang's border.

The disciples were so anxious that they started to inquire about the location of the Sword-forging Valley as soon as they entered Zhejiang's border. However, none of the villagers they asked knew the location of the valley. When they finally arrived in Dragon Spring, they saw numerous sabre and sword forges. But surprisingly, none of the blacksmiths knew the location of the Sword-forging Valley.

Everyone was now feeling very worried. They asked two old nuns they met on the road but they didn't hear about any fighting. All the blacksmiths they asked also didn't hear about any fighting. As for nuns, the blacksmiths said that they frequently saw nuns around and that there was a Water Moon Temple near the east wall of the city. The disciples asked for the location of the Water Moon Temple before rushing there on horseback.

But when they arrived there, they saw the temple's main door was tightly shut. Zheng E went up to knock on the door but no one answered even after a long time. Yihe saw Zheng E knocked on the door again but they still didn't hear any sounds coming from the inside. She couldn't bear to wait anymore so she pulled her sword out and jumped over the wall to go inside. Yiqing also followed her in jumping over the wall.

”Look at it. What's this?” Yihe said as she pointed to the ground. They saw on the courtyard around seven to eight bright pieces of sword points. It looked like that they had been cut off. ”Anyone inside the temple?” Yihe shouted while going inside the hall. At the same time, Yiqing opened the main door to let Linghu Chong and the other disciples come in. Yiqing then picked up a piece of broken sword point and gave it to Linghu Chong. ”Martial brother Linghu, there was some fighting here.”

Linghu Chong examined the broken piece and saw that the break was very smooth. He asked, ”Do Martial uncle Dingxian and Dingyi use some kind of treasured swords?”

”They don't use any treasured swords. My Master once said that we must practice our sword art till we're very good at it then we would be able to win even if we're using a wooden sword or a bamboo sword. She also said that treasured sabres and treasured swords are too overbearing. If our hands were to slip slightly then we might take someone's life or disable a person's limbs...” answered Yiqing.

Linghu Chong hummed and said, ”Then these swords were not broken by martial uncles?”

Yiqing nodded her head.

They then heard Yihe shouted from behind the main hall, ”There are also broken swords here.”

Everyone then went towards the back courtyard through the main hall. When they got inside the hall, they saw that the tables and everything in the hall were thick with dust. In all the temples in the world, there were always people to sweep the hall and keep it clean. So judging from the amount of dust collected in the hall, it seemed the temple had been uninhabited for several days already.

In the back courtyard, Linghu Chong and the rest of the disciples saw several trees hacked by weapons. They examined the places where the trees had been hacked and realised that they were at least a few days old. There was a hole where the back door was and the door planks were tens of feet away. It looked as if the door had been kicked open. Outside the door was a small path leading to the mountains. They followed the path and after more than a hundred feet, the road branched into two. Yiqing called out, ”Everyone, separate and look around. See if there's anything unusual.”

Not long after, Qin Juan shouted from the right branch, ”There's a projectile here.” And another one also called out, ”Iron awl! There's an iron awl here!”

They saw this branch of the road passed through a mountain range that went up and down. Everyone quickly rushed towards that small road. Along the road, they often saw projectiles and broken pieces of sabres and swords lying around. Suddenly, Yiqing uttered an ”ah” and picked up a long sword from the bushes. She said to Linghu Chong, ”It's our school's sword.” Linghu Chong reasoned out loud, ”Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai must have fought here. They must have come towards this direction.”

Everyone knew that the Abbess and Dingyi Shi Tai had fled towards this direction because they could not handle the enemies. What Linghu Chong said was only to make things sounded better. They saw a lot of weapons scattered about on the road and guessed that the fighting must have been fierce here. They had received the urgent call for help many days ago; they did not know whether there was still time to rescue them. Everyone was worried as they hurriedly went forward.

As they climbed further up, the road became more rugged as it circled around the mountain. Amongst the Heng-Shan School's disciples here, Yilin and Qin Juan had the lowest martial art and they fell behind as they kept going. After several li, the road became rocky and there was no more road to follow and also no more weapons to give them some direction. So they stopped paying attention to the road. Suddenly, they saw thick smoke rising from the back of the mountain on their left.

Linghu Chong said, ”Let's go there to have a look.” and they rushed towards the smoke. They saw the thick smoke getting higher and higher as they get nearer. Finally they rounded a hillside and saw a big valley. In the middle of the valley, there was a big fire roaring up into the sky. The burning woods and leaves crackled loudly. Linghu Chong hid himself behind a rock and then turned around and waved his hand telling the others not to make any sound. Just then, they heard an old person shouted, ”Dingxian, Dingyi. Today, I'll send you both into the Buddhist's paradise to confirm your spritual progress in Buddhism. You don't even need to thank us.”

Linghu Chong felt happy hearing this, ”The two Shi Tai are still alive. Lucky we didn't arrive too late.”

Another male joined in, ”Chief Dongfang sincerely advised you to surrender but you persistently don't want to listen. From today, there wouldn't be a Heng-Shan School anymore.”

The previous person shouted, ”You mustn't blame our Divine Sun Moon Sect for being cruel and merciless. You should blame yourself for being obstinate and getting those young disciples killed in vain. What a pity. Haha, haha!”

They now saw the fire in the middle of the valley was getting larger as it burned. They knew that Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai were surrounded by the fire. Linghu Chong grasped his sword and drew a breath before shouting loudly, ”Fearless Devil Sect thief, you dare to give trouble to Heng-Shan School's Shi Tai. Five Mountains Sword Schools' masters have come from everywhere to help. Thieves, you're still not surrendering?” His shout was heard everywhere in the valley.

At the valley, the firewood, stacked twenty to thirty feet hight, was blocking the road. Linghu Chong didn't think deeply before he jumped inside the fire. Fortunately, the firewood in the middle wasn't burning that much. He went forward a few steps and saw two stone ovens but there was no one around. He shouted, ”Dingxian Shi Tai, Dingyi Shi Tai, Heng-Shan School's force has arrived to help!” At this time, Yihe, Yiqing, Yu Sao and the rest of the disciples were outside the fire shouting, ”Master, martial uncle, disciples have arrived!” This was followed by the enemies shouting, ”Kill them all!” ”They're Heng-Shan School's nuns!” ”They're bluffing, there's no Five Mountains Sword Schools' masters.” This was followed by the clashing of swords between the enemy and the Heng-Shan School's disciples.

Linghu Chong saw a tall shadow of a person coming out of the stone oven. Her whole body was covered with blood. It was Dingyi Shi Tai. Her hand was holding a sword and she stopped at the entrance of the stone oven. Even though her gown was ragged and her face was caked with dirt and blood, she still stood there looking proud and powerful. She had not lost the aura of a master at all. When she saw Linghu Chong, she was greatly startled. ”You... you are...”

Linghu Chong bowed, ”Disciple Linghu Chong.”

Dingyi Shi Tai said, ”I know you are Linghu Chong...” She had seen his face before through the window from the outside of the Jade House brothel.

”Disciple will open the way. We'll fight our way out,” said Linghu Chong as he stooped down to pick up a branch for swatting away the burning woods. Dingyi Shi Tai said, ”You already joined the Devil Sect...” She said till here when they heard someone shouted, ”Who has come here to disturb us?” The sabre was lightning fast as it chopped down.

Linghu Chong saw that the fire was getting more intense and the situation was desperate. But Dingyi Shi Tai was being suspicious towards him and unexpectedly didn't want to rush out with him. In this situation, he had to move fast and kill as many enemies as possible. Only then would he be able to save them out of danger.

He took a step back to avoid the sabre chopping down and that person followed his first move with a second slash. Linghu Chong countered this move by cutting off his arm holding the sabre. Then he heard a female disciple shouting sharply in misery from the outside. It was a Heng-Shan School's disciple who had met with a disaster. Linghu Chong was startled and hurriedly jumped out of the fire.

He saw a group of people on the east hillside and another group on the west hillside. The enemy had more than a hundred people with them. Some of the Heng-Shan School's disciples were already in groups of seven using the sword formation to fight the enemies. But there were still some disciples who were fighting alone as they didn't have time to form the formation. Even though those who were fighting in formation didn't have the upper hand, they were still able to hold their own. But the situation was extremely dangerous for those who were fighting alone. Two female disciples had already been killed.

Linghu Chong swept his eyes across the battlefield to assess the situation. He then saw Yilin and Qin Juan fighting back to back against three men. He gathered his qi and rushed towards them when he suddenly saw a bright light moving towards him. A long sword was being thrust towards him but Linghu Chong promptly killed him by piercing his throat.

He leaped a few times and arrived in front of Yilin. He pierced the back of one man killing him. He killed the second man by piercing the side of his body. The third person lifted his steel whip to smash it down towards Qin Juan's head but Linghu Chong reversed his sword and slashed upwards cutting off that person's arm at the shoulder. Yilin was looking pale but now there was a slight smile on her face, ”Amituofo, big brother Linghu.”

Linghu Chong now saw that Yu Sao was being attacked by two good fighters. He rushed towards her and slashed twice. The first slash hit the person on his lower abdomen killing him. The second slash cut off the second person's right wrist.

He turned around and rushed towards Yihe and Yiqing who were fighting against three men. Linghu Chong wielded his swords and the three men cried out miserably before they dropped dead to the ground.

Suddenly he heard an elder shouted, ”Join forces and kill this servant first!”

Three grey shadows responded to this call and three swords were thrust towards his throat, chest and lower abdomen. These three sword moves were really wonderful and their positioning was masterful. These were first-class sword art. Linghu Chong was startled, ”This is Songshan School's sword art! Could it be that they are from Songshan School?” As Linghu Chong thought of this, the three swords were closing in on his three fatal points. Linghu Chong used the sword-breaking stance from the Dugu Nine Swords as he circled his sword towards the three attacking swords to neutralise them. His sword intention had not finished yet as he forced the enemies to retreat a couple of steps. He saw that the enemy on his left was a fat looking Han Chinese around forty years old with a short beard on his face. The one in the middle was a thin old man with dark skin and bright-looking eyes. He didn't have the time to look at the third person clearly before he slanted his body and escaped.

With two thrusts, he killed the two people attacking Zheng E. The previous three people roared out and chased him. Linghu Chong had already made a decision, ”These three people's martial arts are high and I probably won't be able to finish the fight quickly. If I fight too long with them, a lot of disciples from Heng-Shan School would be injured.” He gathered his qi and started running non-stop to the east and west thrusting here and there. His sword was everywhere. With each thrust, an enemy either fell down to the ground or was killed.

Those three masters were still chasing him but the distance between them stayed around ten feet as they weren't able to close in on him. In the time to drink a pot of tea, thirty people had been injured by Linghu Chong's sword. They were being routed as not a single person was able to stop a single move from him. As thirty of the enemies were injured in such a short time, the situation was now reversed. For every enemy that Linghu Chong killed, he slowly managed to free some Heng-Shan School's disciples from the fighting, enabling them to go help the other disciples. In the beginning, the Heng-Shan School was outnumbered greatly by the enemy but now they were gradually turning the situation around and were getting the upper hand. Linghu Chong knew that this fighting today was very dangerous for everyone. He decided that he couldn't spare anyone. If he didn't manage to push the enemy back in a short time then the fire would get even bigger and Dingxian Shi Tai and everyone else inside the stone oven would be unable to escape.

It was as if he was flying, he was sometimes rushing forward and sometimes rushing at an angle. All the enemies within ten feet of him had no way of escaping. Not long after, another twenty enemies had dropped to the ground. Dingyi was surveying the battle scene standing on top of the stone oven. She saw Linghu Chong appearing and disappearing like a demon killing those enemies. His sword art was wonderfully skillful and she had never seen it before. She felt really happy and astonished at the same time. There were around forty to fifty enemies left and they had seen Linghu Chong rampaging like a demon with no one able to resist him. Suddenly, someone sent out a cry and around twenty people escaped into the surrounding grove. After Linghu Chong had killed several more people, the remaining enemies lost their will to fight. Before long, all the enemies who were able had escaped.

Only those three masters still remained as they chased after him but the distance between them was gradually getting farther. It seemed that they were also afraid of him. Linghu Chong stopped suddenly and turned around. He shouted, ”You're from Songshan School, aren't you?” Those three people quickly jumped back.

That tall Han Chinese shouted, ”Sir, who are you?”

Linghu Chong didn't answer him but called out to Yu Sao and the other disciples, ”Quickly open up a way to save your master, martial-uncle and the others.”

The female disciples cut some tree branches and started to beat on the burning firewood while Yihe and a few other disciples jumped inside the fire. The dry branches were already burnt through to the core that they weren't able to extinguish the fire. But everyone worked together to beat on the firewood and before long a gap had been opened up in the fire. Yihe and the others quickly helped the suffocated nuns get out from the inside of the stone oven.

”How's Dingxian Shi Tai?” Linghu Chong asked.

He heard an elderly female's voice answered, ”Thank you for your concern.” as a nun of medium stature slowly walked out of the ring of fire. Her white gown wasn't stained at all with blood or dirt. There was no weapon on her right hand. In her left hand, instead of a weapon, she held a strand of Buddhist prayer beads. Her appearance was kindly with her spirit calm and her aura leisurely. Linghu Chong was surprised, ”Dingxian Shi Tai is so serene. Even after all the difficulties she went through, she still managed to keep her calm countenance. She really lives up to her reputation.” He approached and bowed to her, ”Linghu Chong pays his respect to Shi Tai.” Dingxian Shi Tai returned his propriety but warned, ”Someone's attacking. Be careful.”

”Yes!” Linghu Chong calmly answered.

Without turning his body, he reversed his sword and slashed it backwards blocking that fat Han Chinese's sword and said, ”Disciples was late in coming to help. Shi Tai, please forgive this sin.” He blocked a few more thrust from that fat Han Chinese when two more swords were thrust at his back.

At this time, more than ten nuns came out of the fire ring carrying their martial sisters' corpses. Dingyi Shi Tai took large strides to emerge from the fire while saying fiercely, ”Shameless traitor, that wolf's wild schemes...” The bottom of her gown had caught on fire but she didn't care about it at all. Yu Sao went to her to beat on the gown and extinguished the fire.

Linghu Chong exclaimed, ”Both Shi Tai are well! This is a joyous occasion.” Just then, the sounds of ”chi, chi” could be heard behind his body as three long swords were thrust simultaneously at him. At this time, Linghu Chong's sword art was not only one of the best but also not many in this world could match his internal energy strength. Not only did he hear the edge of the swords splitting the air, his internal energy also felt it and he automatically knew the enemies' sword paths. He wielded his long sword and countered the enemies' strikes. But those three people's martial arts were very high and their movements were lightning fast, which enabled them to escape from Linghu Chong's thrust. But the back of the tall Han Chinese's hand was still slashed and fresh blood started to flow. Linghu Chong questioned, ”Shi Tai, Songshan School is the leader of the Five Mountains Sword Schools. Also, they have brotherly ties with Heng-Shan School, why would they suddenly attack your school? I don't understand a single thing.”

”Where's martial sister? How come she didn't come?” Dingyi Shi Tai asked.

Qin Juan cried as she answered, ”Master... master was besieged by evildoers. She fought vigorously until... until she perished...”

Dingyi Shi Tai was grieved and indignant as she scolded, ”Good thieves!” and started to take large strides forward. But after only a few steps, she started to sway that she had to sit down on the ground heavily and threw up some blood from her mouth.

Even though the three Songshan School's masters were cooperating to fight Linghu Chong, they were still unable to endure his attack. Throughout the fight, they had only been looking at the back of his body while Linghu Chong was fighting with the long sword reversed in his hand. His sword art was marvellous and unpredictable. If he actually had turned around to fight them, they would not be his match at all. The three people were secretly feeling miserable and they were thinking of running away.

Suddenly, Linghu Chong turned around and started to attack them. He attacked the enemy on the left from the left and the enemy on the right from the right forcing them to crowd together. His one sword was able to encircle them and after eighteen moves they were unable to return another move. All three people were using Songshan School's wonderful sword art. But under the unceasing attack of Dugu Nine Swords, they were unable to return another move. Linghu Chong actually forced them to use their own school's sword art so they wouldn't be able to deny their association any further. He saw that even though sweat was flowing down on their faces, their expressions were still fearsome and their sword arts were still executed properly. It seemed that each of them had at least practised their sword art for at least ten years; it was really amazing.

”Amituofo. Martial brother Zhao, martial brother Zhang, martial brother Sima, my Heng-Shan School and your respectable school has no enmity with each other. Why did the three of you attack us and wanted to burn us to death? Poor nun doesn't understand and would like to consult with you,” Dingxian Shi Tai said.

Those three Songshan School's masters really did have the surnames of Zhao, Zhang, and Sima. The three of them rarely traveled in Jianghu and their positions in the school were a secret. Linghu Chong had already given them so much trouble and now suddenly Dingxian Shi Tai called their surnames out. They were startled.

”Qiang lang”, ”qiang lang”.

Two of them were hit on the wrists and dropped their swords. Linghu Chong pointed his sword at the short person's throat and commanded, ”Drop the sword!” That old short person sighed and exclaimed, ”The world unexpectedly has this kind of martial art, this kind of sword art! Zhao has been defeated by your sword and I wouldn't regard it as injustice.” After saying this, he gathered his qi, passed it into his hand and broke his sword into seven or eight pieces. Linghu Chong moved back a few steps and Yihe with six other disciples drew their long swords and surrounded these three people.

Dingxian Shi Tai slowly said, ”Your respectable school wishes to combine the five mountains sword schools into one and create the Five Mountains School. Heng-Shan School has been around for several hundred years. Poor nun doesn't dare to end the school at my hand so I refused your school's proposal. We've already exhausted the discussion on this matter already. But now you disguised yourself as the Devil Sect and tried to wipe out my Heng-Shan School. Isn't this method too high-handed?”

Dingyi Shi Tai indignantly butted in, ”Why is martial sister saying so much to them? Just kill them so they won't give us anymore trouble in the future... ” She then coughed a few times and vomited blood again at the same time.

That tall person surnamed Sima said, ”We were just following an order to dispatch a message. We didn't know any details at all...”

”Let them kill us or peel our skins off, why do you need to talk to them?” that old man Zhao indignantly chided.

Sima shut his mouth and stopped talking after being scolded. He looked ashamed.

Dingxian Shi Tai said, ”Thirty years ago, the three of you were running amuck in Hebei but suddenly you just disappeared without a trace. Poor nun thought that the three of you had turned away from your unruly ways. But I didn't expect that you would join and conspire with the Songshan School. Ai, Songshan School's leader Zuo is a respected person of our generation but he has accepted many unorthodox... Jianghu's unusual warriors, and together with them cause problems. This is really harboring evil... Ai, I don't understand this.” Although she had changed her mind at this time, she still didn't want to offend anyone with her speech. She felt that she might have spoken too much and immediately stopped talking. She sighed, ”My martial sister Dingjing Shi Tai, was she harmed by your respectable school as well?”

That cowardly person with the surname Sima wanted to make up for before so he said in a loud voice, ”Right, that's martial brother Zhong...”

”Hey!” rebuked that old person surnamed Zhao as he indignantly stared at him.

That person surnamed Sima realised that he had said the wrong thing, but he still continued, ”Now that it has come to this, what's there to hide anymore?

Leader Zuo divided our forces into two. Each force came to Zhejiang to handle the matter.”

”Amituofo, amituofo. Leader Zuo is already the head of the Five Mountains Sword Schools. What higher honour does he want by joining the five schools and becoming its leader? So he wages a war and destroys our alliance, wouldn't the Jianghu heroes laugh at this?” asked Dingxian Shi Tai.

Dingyi Shi Tai fiercely said, ”Martial sister, this thief's wild scheme is insatiably greedy... you...”

Dingxian Shi Tai waved her hand then said to those three people, ”The net of Heaven stretches everywhere, they might be loose but they never miss. You will suffer retribution for these unrighteous conducts. Get out of here! I'd bother the three of you to tell Leader Zuo that from now on, Heng-Shan School will no longer receive his order. Although my humble school only has weak females, we would not yield under his violence. We won't follow Leader Zuo's order to combine the schools.”

Yihe called out, ”Martial uncle, they're... they're very malicious... ”

”Withdraw the sword formation!” ordered Dingxian Shi Tai.

”Yes!” replied Yihe. Complying with the order, she lifted her sword which was followed by the other six disciples. They then retreated several steps.

Those three masters from Songshan School never expected that they would be released so easily. They couldn't help but feel appreciative as they bowed towards Dingxian Shi Tai. They then turned around and flew off. When they were tens of feet away, that old man Zhao stopped and turned around. He asked in a clear voice, ”May I ask the young hero with the godly sword art for your honourable surname and given name? I was defeated today though I don't dare hope to take revenge. But I would like to learn the name of the great hero who taught you and the name of this sword art.”

Linghu Chong laughed, ”This General is from Quanzhou prefecture. I'm called General Wu Tiande! Let's exchange names.” That old person knew that Linghu Chong's answer was fake so he sighed and turned around to go.

At this time, the fire had gotten larger. There were many dead people from the Songshan School lying on the ground. More than ten of the Songshan people who were lightly injured had slowly crawled out of the valley while those who were heavily injured were lying in pools of blood. They saw the fire was getting closer but they were too powerless to move away. Some of them shouted for help. Dingxian Shi Tai said, ”They didn't do this on their own accord. It was Leader Zuo who ordered them to come here because of an error in his thought. Yu Sao, Yiqing, help them.” They knew that their Abbess was a merciful person and they didn't dare to disobey her. They separately started to check on the injured Songshan School's people. Those who were still breathing were helped to the side and given some medicine.

Dingxian Shi Tai looked towards the south and there were teardrops falling down her cheeks. She cried out ”Martial sister!” She then swayed a few times and fell forward.

Everyone was startled and quickly rushed to her side to support her. They saw fresh blood flowing down from the side of her mouth. It seemed that her injuries were just as serious as Dingyi Shi Tai. The disciples were all frightened and didn't know what to do. They all turned around and looked at Linghu Chong wanting to hear his idea.

Linghu Chong instructed, ”Quickly give the two Shi Tai medicines for their wounds. For the injured, wrap their wounds first to stop the bleeding. The fire is still going strong in this place. Everybody, let's go there to rest. Can I ask a few martial sisters to go and look for some fruits to eat?”

The disciples responded to his order and separately did the tasks. Zheng E and Qin Juan attended to Dingxian Shi Tai, Dingyi Shi Tai, and the injured disciples. They got some water from the creek with a kettle for them to drink with the medicine. During the Dragon Spring fight, thirty-seven of the Heng-Shan School's disciples died. When the disciples thought of how Dingjing Shi Tai and the other disciples had died, their hearts were full of grief.

Suddenly, a few people started to cry and this affected the rest of the disciples. They all started to cry. All of a sudden, the valley was filled with cries of sorrow. Dingyi Shi Tai fiercely scolded, ”The dead are already dead, why do you take this so hard? You have all read the Buddhist's sutras and comprehend this matter of ”life and death”. What's so good about this smelly sack of leather?” The disciples knew that Dingyi Shi Tai's nature was like a raging fire. No one dared to go against her wish. In a short time, the weeping sounds ceased but many of them were still sobbing. Dingyi Shi Tai continued, ”How did martial sister finally meet her end? E'er, why don't you report to Abbess and tell us clearly what happened.”

”Yes,” answered Zheng E. She stood up and started to narrate how they were ambushed in the Xianxia mountain range, how Linghu Chong helped them, how they were captured in Nianbapu town with the use of confusion poison, how Dingjing Shi Tai was threatened by Songshan School's Zhong Zhen and then besieged by masked men, how Linghu Chong luckily caught up and drove them away, and how Dingjing Shi Tai finally succumbed to her heavy injuries. She narrated everything to them.

Dingyi Shi Tai uttered, ”That's how it is. Songshan School's thieves were pretending to be Devil Sect to compel martial sister to agree to the merger. Hng, how vicious. If you had all been captured by Songshan School and martial sister didn't agree, it could've been disastrous.” As she said this, she ran out of breath and her voice became weak. After taking a breather, she continued, ”When martial sister was besieged on the Xianxia mountain range, she knew that the enemies weren't easy to handle so she dispatched the pigeons asking for us to send help. Unexpectedly... unexpectedly... this matter, was already anticipated by the enemies.”

Dingxian Shi Tai's second disciple, Yiwen, said, ”Martial uncle, please rest, disciple will narrate how our group met with the enemies.”

Dingyi Shi Tai indignantly retorted, ”What's there to tell? Water Moon Temple was attacked by the enemy at night. And we've been fighting continuously till today.”

Yiwen said, ”Yes.”

It was just a simple narration of how they had been fighting with the enemies for many days. That night, Songshan School's people raided the temple wearing masks and pretending to be the Devil Sect. The attack on Heng-Shan School that time was so swift that the nuns were worried of being annihilated. Luckily, Water Moon Temple was an artery of Wulin and it stored five treasured swords from the Dragon Spring. In that critical situation, Abbess Qingxiao distributed the treasured swords to Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai to fight the enemies. Dragon Spring's treasured swords were able to cut through iron as if it were mud. They used the treasured swords to cut many weapons and injured many enemies. They retreated as they fought until they reached this valley. Qingxiao Shi Tai died in protecting them.

This valley used to produce fine iron and several hundred years ago metals were cast here. Later, the iron ran out and the sword forges were moved somewhere else. The only remaining things in this valley were a few stone ovens for smelting. It was lucky that those stone ovens were around as it enabled the Heng-Shan School to fight with the ovens at their back. By doing this, they were able to hold out for many days and averted a big disaster. When Songshan School was unable to break through with their attack, they collected firewood and tried to use fire to burn them. If Linghu Chong and the other disciples had arrived half a day late, it would have been very difficult to save them. Dingyi Shi Tai was impatient to get to the end of Yiwen's narration of the events of the past few days. She stared at Linghu Chong and suddenly said, ”You... you are good. Why did your Master expel you from his school? He said that you were colluding with the Devil Sect.”

Linghu Chong answered, ”Disciple wasn't careful while traveling and became acquainted with a few Devil Sect's people.”

Dingyi Shi Tai uttered an ”hng” before saying, ”Songshan School is even more ambitious and vicious compared to what Devil Sect is capable of. Hng! Are people from the orthodox schools better than those from the Devil Sect?”

Yihe said, ”Martial brother Linghu, I wouldn't dare to judge whether you master was right or wrong. But he... he knew clearly that my school was facing a difficulty but he just put his hand in his sleeve and would rather be a spectator. Given this... given this... maybe he already approved of Songshan School's plan of combining the schools together.”

Linghu Chong's heart was moved and he thought that what Yihe said was not unreasonable. But he had grown up under his respected master and had always looked up to him. So he didn't dare to have any disrespectful thought towards his master. He said, ”My respected master wasn't putting his hand in his sleeve and acting as a spectator. It's most likely that he has another matter... this...”

Up until now, Dingxian Shi Tai had her eyes closed to meditate. Now, she slowly opened her eyes and said, ”My humble school has met with a few big difficulties and young hero Linghu has helped us get through them. This virtue and kindness...”

Linghu Chong hastily said, ”I didn't do much. Martial uncle's words flatter me too much. I don't deserve it.”

Dingxian Shi Tai shook her head and said, ”Why must young hero be so modest? Martial brother Yue is unable to come himself so he sent his eldest disciple to represent him. That's just the same. Yihe, don't talk nonsense and be rude to your elders.”

Yihe bowed, ”Yes, disciple doesn't dare. But... but martial brother Linghu has already been expelled from Huashan School. Martial uncle Yue doesn't want him anymore. So he didn't really come here to represent martial uncle Yue's school.”

Dingxian Shi Tai smiled slightly, ”You still don't want to give in and want to keep debating it.”

Yihe sighed, ”It would be good if only martial brother Linghu were a female.”

”Why?” asked Dingxian Shi Tai.

”He's already been expelled from Huashan School and couldn't go back there again. If he were a girl then he could join our school. We've shared a lot of trials and tribulations together, he's already like our own people...” answered Yihe.

Dingyi Shi Tai shouted, ”Nonsense. You're grown up already, but you're still speaking like a child.”

Dingxian Shi Tai smiled slightly, ”Martial brother Yue must have misunderstood something. Later in the future, he will see clearly and would accept young hero Linghu back into his school. When the news of Songshan School's plot spread, he would not be able to just sit back any longer given the situation. Then Huashan School would need young hero Linghu to rely on. Also, if he couldn't go back to Huashan, with his martial art, he could just establish his own school and no one would blame him.”

Zheng E said, ”What martial uncle said is true. Martial brother Linghu, Huashan School's people treated you so badly. Why don't you just establish a... a ”Linghu School” and show it to them. Hng, then why do you still have to return to Huashan School?”

Linghu Chong smiled bitterly and said, ”Martial uncle speaks so highly of me. Disciple is not worthy of your praise. If only my respected master would forgive my faults in the future and permit me to reenter the school, then I won't have anything more to ask from him.”

”Nothing more to ask from him? How about your little martial sister?” Zheng E asked.

Linghu Chong shook his head and changed the topic, ”Shall we bury the remains of martial sisters or cremate them and take the ashes back to Hengshan?”

Dingxian Shi Tai answered, ”Cremate them!” and her voice started to choke as she saw the dead bodies of her disciples lying on the ground. Even though she completely understood the human affairs, they had been her disciples for many years and she couldn't help but feel sad. A few of the disciples started crying again on hearing this.

Some of the disciples had been dead for several days already and some were hundreds of feet away. While the disciples were moving the bodies, they all kept scolding Songshan School's leader Zuo Lengchan for having sinister intentions and methods. After they had finished cremating their martial sisters' bodies, the sky had turned dark, so they stayed the night in the wild mountain under the stars.

At dawn, the disciples carried Dingxian Shi Tai, Dingyi Shi Tai, and their injured martial sisters on their backs. When they arrived at the Dragon Spring town, they went to the harbor and hired seven black boats to travel to the north. Linghu Chong was still afraid that Songshan School might attack them while traveling on water so he followed them north. Now that there were two elders traveling with the Heng-Shan School's party, Linghu Chong controlled himself and didn't dare to talk nonsense to the female disciples anymore.

Dingxian Shi Tai, Dingyi Shi Tai, and the injured disciples' injuries were not light but luckily Heng-Shan School's medicines were very effective. By the time they had passed Qian Tang River, their injuries were not life threatening anymore. As many of the Heng-Shan School's disciples were injured, they didn't want to encounter any incidents on the road and also wanted to avoid meeting anyone from Jianghu. When they reached the Yangtze River, they hired different boats to go upstream towards the Jiangxi Province. They traveled slowly in this manner. When they arrived in Hankou, about six or seven out of ten of the injured had already recovered. So they went back on the road and continued going north towards Hengshan.

On the day they arrived at the bank of Poyang Lake, there were several boats anchored at the mouth of the Nine River. These riverboats were really big and all of them were able to fit into two boats. At midnight, Linghu Chong was sleeping at the stern of the boat with the sailors when he suddenly heard light clapping from the bank of the river. They clapped three times, stopped for a moment, then clapped for another three times. This was followed by clapping from a boat west of them. A person on that boat clapped three times, stopped for a moment, then clapped for another three times. The sound of the clapping was very light but Linghu Chong still managed to hear it, as his abundant internal energy made his hearing superb.

He immediately woke up upon hearing these unusual sounds as he knew that these were the signals of Jianghu's people greeting each other. For the last few days, he had been watching attentively for unusual signs to protect against any surprise attack. He thought, ”No harm in having a look. If it's unrelated to Heng-Shan School then it's good. Otherwise, I'll just take care of it in secret. There's no need to bother Dingxian Shi Tai and the rest of them.” He squinted his eyes to look at the boat at the west and saw a black shadow with average qinggong jumping for around ten feet repeatedly till he reached the shore. Linghu Chong lightly flew off and landed on the shore noiselessly. He then went around the back of a row of big baskets filled with oil on the east side. As he hid himself behind the baskets, he heard a person said, ”Those nuns on the boat must be from Heng-Shan School.”

The other person asked, ”What should we do?”

Linghu Chong slowly got nearer and the glimmering light from the stars and moon allowed him to see the faces of the two people. One of them had a face full of beard while the other one had a long and pointed face which was not only oval but was also like an open sunflower seed face. He then heard that Han Chinese with the pointed face said, ”White Flood Dragon Clan is the only one doing this. Although we have a lot of people, our martial art isn't higher than other people so we shouldn't trade blows with them.”

”Who said we're going to trade blows? These nuns' martial art might be good but on water, their water skill might not be that good. Tomorrow, we'll get a boat to go over to their boat. Then we'll go under water to bore some holes in their boats. Then we'll just capture them one by one,” That bearded person said.

That pointed-faced Han Chinese happily said, ”This plan is very clever. We two brothers would've done a great service for the Nine River's White Flood Dragon Clan. From now on, our names would be heard throughout Jianghu. But I'm still worried about one thing.”

”What are you worried about?” asked the bearded person.

”They're in the Five Mountains Sword Schools alliance. They have a saying, same root different branches. If Mr. Mo Da found out about this, he wouldn't let the White Flood Dragon Clan get away with it,” replied the pointed face.

”Hng, for the past several years, we've always endured with Hengshan School's influence. Enough already! This time if we don't do this thing for our friend and with all our hearts then if we met with a problem in the future, they won't help us. When we're done with this, maybe Hengshan School would be annihilated, why are you still afraid of Mr. Mo Da for?” said the bearded face.

”Alright, that's the plan then. Let's look for some help who can swim well,” said the pointed face agreeing to the plan.

Linghu Chong leapt out and used his sword handle to hit the pointed face at the back of his head knocking him out. That bearded face person threw a punch but Linghu Chong extended his sword handle and hit his left Taiyang acupoint, which made him spin around a few times like a screw before plunking down heavily on the ground. Linghu Chong extended his long sword across to open the lids of the two oil baskets. He picked those two people up and separately squeezed them into the baskets. The baskets were filled with vegetable oil and each weighed around three hundred catties. They were actually for that day's shipments. As the two people were dunked into the basket, their whole bodies were immersed in oil and oil entered their nose and mouth. The cold oil woke them up immediately and made them gasp for air but they only managed to swallow some oil instead. Suddenly, someone at Linghu Chong's back said, ”Young hero Linghu, don't kill them.”

It was Dingxian Shi Tai's voice. Linghu Chong was slightly alarmed, ”When did Dingxian Shi Tai get behind me? I wasn't aware of it.” He quickly took both of his hands off their heads and replied, ”Yes!” As soon as their heads were released, they wanted to jump out of the basket but Linghu Chong hit the top of their heads forcing them back in and laughingly commanded, ”Don't move!”

Those two people had their knees bent to crouch inside while the oil reached up to their necks and they were having trouble opening their eyes. They were entirely confused about how they had gotten into such difficult circumstances. They then saw another grey shadow leapt from the boat towards the bank. It was Dingyi Shi Tai and she asked, ”Martial sister, did you catch some thieves?”

”They're the hall leaders of the Nine River's White Flood Dragon Clan. Young hero Linghu is playing a joke with them.” replied Dingxian Shi Tai. She then turned her head towards the bearded face person and asked, ”Sir, is your surname Yi or Qi? Is clan leader well?”

That bearded person's surname really was Yi and he asked, ”My... my surname is Yi, how did you know? Our clan leader is well.”

Dingxian smiled, ”White Flood Dragon Clan's hall leader Yi and hall leader Qi are famously known in Jianghu as ”Yangtze River's Pair of Flying Fish”. Old nun has heard of your names, they're like thunder entering the ears.”

Dingxian Shi Tai was very meticulous; although she rarely went out of the temple, she kept detailed knowledge of all the personalities from every school and every sect. Otherwise, how could she have recognised those three masters from Songshan School previously? The bearded person surnamed Yi and the pointed-faced person surnamed Qi were third or fourth class personalities in Wulin. But as soon as she saw their countenances, she was able to guess their backgrounds correctly.

That pointed-faced Han Chinese felt proud of himself that Dingxian Shi Tai had recognised him and said, ”Like thunder entering the ears? I wouldn't dare.” Linghu Chong used his sword to press the top of the pointed face's head, forcing him to submerge in the oil and then released his hold. He then laughed, ”I've long admired your name, like oil entering the ears.” That Han Chinese indignantly said, ”You... you... ” He wanted to scold Linghu Chong but he didn't dare.

Linghu Chong said, ”I have one thing to ask, why don't you answer truthfully. If you lie in the slightest bit, then your nickname ”Yangtze River's Pair of Flying Fish” will change into ”Mud Loaches Dead in Oil”.” He then also pressed that bearded fellow into the oil. But that bearded fellow was already prepared for this so he didn't swallow any oil but the vegetable oil still entered his nose. So he was still feeling distressed over this. Dingxian Shi Tai and Dingyi Shi Tai couldn't hold back their smiles and both thought, ”This youth is really naughty. But this can be regarded as a good method to get information.”

Linghu Chong asked, ”When did your White Flood Dragon Clan start colluding with Songshan School? Why did you want to trouble Heng-Shan School?”

That bearded person was confused, ”Collude with Songshan School? That's weird. We don't even know any hero from Songshan School.”

Linghu Chong said, ”Aha! The first word that came out of your mouth is false. I'll give you a mouthful of oil to drink!” He used his sword to press down on the bearded person forcing him to enter the oil. Although this bearded person was not a first class master, his martial art wasn't that weak. But Linghu Chong transferred his abundant internal energy into his sword. It was as if a thousand catties stone was being pressed onto his head making him unable to move up. The vegetable oil covered both his nose and mouth and exposed both of his eyes. He was feeling very miserable.

Linghu Chong said towards the pointed face man, ”Quickly tell me! You want to remain 'Yangtze River's Flying Fish' or become 'Mud Loach Immersed in Oil'?”