Chapter - 39 No Treaty (1/2)

They walked out of the cave and suddenly saw a black shape moving on top of their heads. It looked like something had fallen down on them. Linghu Chong and Yingying simultaneously dodged it, but who could've thought the object dropping was a large fish net and it trapped the two of them in there. Startled, they quickly drew their swords to cut the net, but after slashing for a few times, the net was unexpectedly untouched. At this time, another fish net was thrown from above covering both of them. The person above the cave leapt down with a rope in his hand tightening the net.

”Master!” the word escaped from Linghu Chong's mouth. That person really was Yue Buqun. The net got tighter and tighter as Yue Buqun pulled on the rope. Linghu Chong and Yingying were just like a couple of big fishes being entangled inside a net. They were able to struggle in the beginning, but at the end, they couldn't even move. Frightened, Yingying didn't know what to do. She took a glance and saw Linghu Chong was smiling, looking very relaxed. She thought, ”Has he thought of a way to escape?”

Yue Buqun had a fierce looking smile on his face. ”Little traitor, you were complacent coming out of the cave. Didn't expect trouble out here, did you?”

”It's not trouble. When someone's going to die, dying with his wife is the happiest thing,” Linghu Chong replied nonchalantly.

Yingying understood. His face was looking happy because he would be able to die together with her. Her fear dissappeared, replaced with a wave of happiness.

Linghu Chong continued, ”If you kill both of us like this, then you wouldn't be able to separate us.”

”Little traitor,” Yue Buqun indignantly said. ”Death is imminent and you're still boasting!”

He then wrapped the rope around them for a few times, bunching them up tightly.

”This fish net of yours, you got it from Old Man, didn't you?” Linghu Chong said. ”You treat me really well, you know that we don't want to be apart so you wrapped the two of us husband and wife very tightly just like this. You raised me since I was little and you know my heart really well. In this world, you're my only friend Mr. Yue.” He was saying all these smart-aleck comments hoping to drag the time out while looking for some way to get out of this situation. Another hope of his was that Feng Qingyang would suddenly appear to rescue them.

Yue Buqun sneered. ”Little traitor, you love to talk nonsense since you were little, and your temperament still haven't changed till now. I should cut off your tongue first to save you from losing your tongue in hell when you die.” His left leg flew up and kicked Linghu Chong on his waist, sealing his mute accupoint and shutting Linghu Chong up.

”Young lady Ren,” Yue Buqun continued. ”Who do you want me to kill first? Him or you?”

”What's the difference?” Yingying replied. ”I only have three medicines for the Divine Three Brain Corpse Pill on my body.”

Yue Buqun's face changed colour when he heard this. Ever since he was forced by Yingying to swallow the 'Divine Three Brain Corpse' pill, he had been thinking day and night on how to obtain the medicine. He had been waiting for a long time for this opportunity. The two of them had just escaped danger, happily going out of the cave, without taking care to protect themselves when suddenly this metal fish net trapped them. His original idea was to kill Linghu Chong and Yingying first before searching her body for the medicine. But when he heard her saying there was only three medicines on her body, he realised he would only be able to live for three more years after killing them. Moreover, after three years had passed, the insect would enter his brain and make him insane and die in unbearable pain. This matter was really difficult for him to settle. Even though his inner energy and martial art were marvelous, he couldn't stop both of his hands from trembling.

”Alright, let's make a deal,” Yue Buqun said. ”Tell me how to make the medicine, and I'll spare both your lives.”

Yingying laughed and indifferently said, ”Even though I'm still young, I know Gentleman Sword Mr. Yue's personality. If your words are to be believed, then your nickname wouldn't be Gentleman Sword.”

”You've learned nothing by being with Linghu Chong,” Yue Buqun said. ”All you've learned is how to talk a lot. You're not willing to say how to make the medicine?”

”Of course not,” Yingying answered. ”In three years time, Chong-lang and I will be waiting at death's door to welcome you. At that time, you won't have your five senses anymore and your whole face will be ruined, I wonder if we'll still be able to recognise you.”

Yue Buqun felt a wave of coldness at his back. He understood her meaning of 'won't have your five senses and your whole face will be ruined' was a reference to the time when the poison would come out. If his whole body weren't rotten by that time, then he would destroy his own face through madness. His whole body shivered thinking about it.

”Even if my whole face will be ruined, yours will be ruined three years earlier than mine,” Yue Buqun indignantly said. ”I won't kill you too, I'll only cut off your ears and nose. And on your lovely white snow face, I'm going to give you seventeen eighteen slashes. We'll see then how much love, how much affection, your Chong-lang has. Whether he'll still love a freak ugly weirdo.”

With a hiss, he drew his long sword out. Yingying gasped in surprise. She wasn't afraid of death, but if Yue Buqun were to ruin her face to make it look like a demon and let Linghu Chong look at her, it was even worse than death. Even though Linghu Chong's mute acupoint was sealed, he was still able to move his hands and feet. He knew what Yingying was thinking so he bumped her with his elbow, extended two fingers from his right hand and pierced them towards his eyes. Yingying again cried out and she hurriedly called out, ”Brother Chong, don't!”

Yue Buqun didn't really mean to ruin Yingying's face. He was only threatening her to make her tell him the prescription for the medicine. If Linghu Chong destroyed both his eyes, then his plan would be useless. His left hand shot out unbelievably quick and grabbed Linghu Chong's right wrist through the fist net.

”Stop!” Yue Buqun shouted.

As their skins connected, Yue Buqun immediately felt his internal energy flowing out.

”Aiyo!” Yue Buqun called out. In a hurry, he tried to get away but it was like his palm was glued to Linghu Chong's wrist. Linghu Chong turned his hand around grabbing Yue Buqun's palm. Yue Buqun now felt his inner energy rushing out even faster. He was greatly startled. With the long sword in his right hand, he quickly chopped it at Linghu Chong's body. Linghu Chong's hand shook and dragged his body back causing the sword to slash at the ground. Yue Buqun's inner energy was still flowing out. As he tried to slash his sword a second time, he felt weak and powerless that he practically couldn't even lift his own arm. Exhorting his energy, he tried to lift his sword. With the sword aiming at the point between Linghu Chong's eyes and his arm and the long sword unceasingly quivering, he slowly pierced it forward.

Yingying was alarmed and she wanted to use her finger to flick Yue Buqun's sword away. But both her arms were pressed under Linghu Chong's body and the fish net was tightly wrapped around her body. She exerted her strength to struggle, but she couldn't free her hands. Linghu Chong's left arm was also being trapped under Yingying's body so he also couldn't use it. He saw the sword point slowly stabbing forward. He thought, ”I killed Zuo Lengchan and injured Lin Pingzhi with this kind of slow sword. This time, master is also going to use this method to kill me. What a really quick retribution.”

Yue Buqun felt his inner energy was quickly running out, but the sword point was only a few inches away from Linghu Chong's eyebrow. He was both happy and anxious.

”You... What are you doing?” a sharp female voice cried out from behind. ”Take your sword away!”

Sound of footsteps was heard as someone drew near. Yue Buqun saw his sword only had to go a few more inches then he'd be able to kill Linghu Chong. At this time, his life was hanging by a thread so how could he agree to just give up? Staking all his remaining energy, his sword finally reached Linghu Chong's forehead.

It was at this time when he suddenly felt something cold at the back of his body. A long sword had been pierced from his back all the way through to the front of his chest.

”Big brother Linghu, are you alright?” a female voice cried out. She was Yilin.

The blood in Linghu Chong's chest was bubbling up and he couldn't reply her.

”Little martial sister, Big Brother Linghu is alright,” Yingying told her.

”That's very good!” Yilin happily said. She was suddenly startled and frightenedly cried, ”It's Mr. Yue! I... I killed him!”

”That's right,” Yingying said. ”Congratulations for taking revenge on your master's murderer. Can you untie the fish net please? Let me get out.”

”Yes, yes!” Yilin replied. She saw Yue Buqun was prostrated on the ground with blood spouting out from the sword wound. Her whole body turned to jelly and in a quivering voice, she asked, ”I... I killed him?” She wanted to grab the rope to release it but both her hands were trembling and she had no power in them. She was unable to release them.

”Little nun,” a voice suddenly called out from the left. ”You killed the honourable chief. I'll teach you today that you can't run away from justice!”

An old man wearing a yellow gown came forward carrying a naked sword. This person was Lao Denuo.

”Aiyo!” Linghu Chong cried out.

”Little martial sister, quickly use your sword to fight,” Yingying shouted.

Yilin was stupefied for a moment before she drew the sword out of Yue Buqun's body. Lao Denuo attacked with three quick strokes and Yilin blocked all three attacks. The third attack flitted near her left shoulder and drew blood. Lao Denuo's sword was getting faster and faster with some of the movements from the Evil Resisting Sword Art. But since he had not learned it too deeply, he only had the movement while his speed was way below that of Lin Pingzhi. Originally, Lao Denuo was already experienced and his sword art came from Songshan and Huashan Schools. It was only recently that he learned the Evil Resisting Sword Art. So Yilin was originally not his match.

However, as Yihe and Yiqing was hoping that Yilin would become Heng-Shan's headmaster in the future, they had been supervising her practising the Heng-Shan sword art that Linghu Chong gave them. So her martial art had improved. Also, because Lao Denuo's Evil Resisting Sword Art was not yet perfected and he wanted to try it out, their movements came out in between the Songshan and Huashan Schools' sword art that he was using. His sword movements became mixed and caused his original sword art to be weaker.

In the beginning, when Yilin saw the fast sword art from his enemy, she panicked and the third attack injured her left shoulder. But she thought if she lost then Linghu Chong and Yingying would not escape from danger as well and they were bound to meet disaster as well. She was thinking that if he was going to kill Big brother Linghu, then it was better if she was killed first. Without any fear of dying, she didn't think of preserving herself and just kept on attacking with all her moves.

When Lao Denuo was confronted with her staking-life fighting method, he couldn't win against her for the moment. He swore, ”Little nun, you **** your mother real good!”

Yingying saw Yilin's spirit was raised and she was fighting with all her might. But after a long time, she was still bound to lose. She rolled on the ground freeing her left arm and unsealing Linghu Chong's acupoint. She put her hand inside her bosom and took out her short sword.

”Lao Denuo,” Linghu Chong cried out. ”What's that behind you?”

Lao Denuo was an experienced person and he wouldn't fall for Linghu Chong's trick by turning around to have a look and give his enemy an opportunity to attack him. He ignored Linghu Chong and increased the ferocity of his attack. Yingying held her short sword wanting to toss it out from the fish net, but Yilin was fighting very closely with Lao Denuo. If her toss was slightly off then it might hit her. She hesitated and didn't throw her sword out.

Suddenly, Yilin cried out. Her left shoulder had again been hit. The first time she got hit, the injury was very light, but this time the wound was a few inches deep. The grass around the area was splashed with her blood.

”Monkey, monkey, ah, this is sixth brother's monkey,” Linghu Chong called out. ”Good monkey, quickly bite him. This is the traitor who killed your master.”

In order to steal Yue Buqun's 'Violet Twilight Secret Manual', Lao Denuo killed Lu Dayou who was the sixth disciple of Huashan School. Lu Dayou had a small monkey which usually sits on his shoulder. After he died, this monkey had gone somewhere. At this time, he suddenly heard Linghu Chong's shout and couldn't help feeling scared. ”If this animal jump on me and bite me then my movements will be restricted.” So he leaned to one side and turned around to slash his sword. But how could there be a monkey behind his back? At this time, Yingying tossed her sword towards the back of his neck. Lao Denuo stooped down and the short sword flew above his neck. Suddenly, he felt a rope tightened around his left ankle. The rope was tugged backwards and he fell face forward.

When Linghu Chong saw Lao Denuo stooped down to avoid the sword, it presented a very good opportunity. He quickly undid the rope tying the fish net and sent the rope out coiling around his left ankle and pulled it.

”Kill him, kill him!” Linghu Chong and Yingying called out.

Yilin chopped her sword down on Lao Denuo's neck. But she was a compassionate person and she was also timid. When she first killed Yue Buqun, she did it to save Linghu Chong. With her being anxious, she quickly wielded her sword and didn't realise she was actually going to kill a person. When her sword was about to slash Lao Denuo's neck, her heart became soft. Her sword leaned to a side and slashed his right shoulder instead. Lao Denuo's collarbone was broken and his sword dropped from his hand. He was afraid Yilin's second sword would slash down again so he endured the pain to get up and struggled to be free of the rope. He then escaped down from the cliff.

Suddenly, two people came up from around the mountain. The female shouted, ”Hey, was it you who scolded my daughter just then?” She was Yilin's mother who was at the Hanging Temple pretending to be the mute granny. Lao Denuo did a flying kick to kick her away. That granny leaned to one side to avoid it and gave him a mighty slap on the cheek.

”You scolded her 'you **** your mother real good',” she shouted. ”I'm her mother! You dare to scold me?”

”Stop him, stop him!” Linghu Chong cried out. ”Don't let him get away!”

That granny originally wanted to hit down on Lao Denuo's head, but hearing Linghu Chong's shouting. She shouted, ”Little rascal, I'm going to let him go!” She leaned to one side and gave Lao Denuo a kick on his buttock. Lao Denuo felt like he had received a pardon from heaven as he sprinted down the cliff.

There was a person behind that granny, who was actually Monk No Commandment. He chuckled and said, ”What are you playing at? Why are you playing inside the net?”

”Dad,” Yilin said. ”Undo the fish net, let Big brother Linghu and Young lady Ren out.”

”I haven't settled my debt with this little bastard yet,” that granny said with a calm face. ”You can't let him go!”

Linghu Chong laughed loudly then shouted, ”Once the couple gets together, you throw the matchmaker out. You husband and wife already has a reunion now, why aren't you thanking the matchmaker?”

That granny gave him a kick and shouted, ”I thank you with a kick!”

”Peach Valley Six Fairies,” Linghu Chong laughingly called out. ”Quickly help me!”

That granny was very afraid of the Peach Valley Six Fairies so she quickly turned her head around. Linghu Chong hastily extended his hand out of the fish net and undid the knot and let Yingying out. But he had not managed to go out yet when that granny shouted, ”You can't go out!”

”If I can't get out then I'll stay in here,” Linghu Chong laughingly replied. ”Inside this fish net, there's no difference between heaven and earth. A gentleman can bend and straighten. Bend to enter the net and straighten to get out of the net. What to do? I, Linghu Chong, ...” As he was spouting nonsense, his eyes caught sight of Yue Buqun's body prostrated on the ground. The smile on his face disappeared and it was suddenly replaced with tears in his eyes. His tears flowed down his cheeks.

That granny was still angry as she shouted, ”Little bastard! If I don't beat you up till you're black and blue then I won't be satisfied!” Her left palm shot out wanting to slap Linghu Chong's right cheek.

”Mom!” Yilin cried out. ”Don't... don't...”

Linghu Chong raised his right hand and he was already holding a long sword. Actually, when he was lost in thought looking at Yue Buqun's corpse, Yingying put the sword in his hand. He pointed his sword and stabbed it at that granny's right shoulder's acupoint forcing her to retreat a step. That granny got even angrier. Her body moved like the wind, her palm hacking, her elbow striking, her leg sweeping. In just a short time, she had attacked with seven to eight moves. Linghu Chong was still inside the fish net and he just pointed his sword as he wished. Each stab was aimed at that granny's fatal acupoint. But every time the sword point was about to reach her body, he immediately withdrew it. This 'Dugu Nine Sword' was unmatched in this world. If Linghu Chong wasn't giving way then that granny would've died seven to eight times already. After several more moves, that granny knew his martial art was much too high compared to hers. With a long sigh, she stopped attacking and she looked very upset.

”Dear,” Monk No Commandment pleaded. ”We're all good friends, why do you need to be angry for?”

”Who asked you to speak?” that granny angrily replied. There was no one to vent her anger to so she turned to him.

Linghu Chong put his sword down and came out of the fish net. ”You want to hit me to vent your anger, I'll let you do it!” Linghu Chong laughingly said.

That granny raised her palm and slapped him heavily. Linghu Chong cried out as he didn't dodge the hit.

”Why didn't you dodge?” that granny angrily asked.

”I can't dodge it,” Linghu Chong replied. ”How do I do that?”

That granny spat. She knew in her heart he was considering Yilin so he let her hit him. Her left palm was already raised but she didn't hit him.

Yingying pulled on Yilin's hand and said, ”Little martial sister, lucky you came here to rescue us. How did you come here?”

”I was with the other martial sister,” Yilin narrated. ”We were all (she pointed at Yue Buqun's corpse) .... captured by his people. Me and three other martial sisters were being locked up in a cave. Just then, dad and mom rescued me. Dad, mom and I, also Cannot Have No Commandment and three martial sisters, we all separately went around rescuing the other martial sisters. I was walking below the cliff when I heard people talking on top. The voice sounded like Big brother Linghu's so I quickly went up to have a look.”

”He and I went around everywhere but we didn't find anyone,” Yingying said. ”So you were actually being held inside a cave.”

”Just then that old bastard wearing the yellow gown is a bad person,” Linghu Chong said. ”You let him go but I can't accept that.” He picked up a long sword from the ground and said, ”Let's chase after him.”

The party of five went down the Cliff of Repentance. They had not walked for too long when they saw Tian Boguang with seven Heng-Shan disciples climbing out of a valley. Yiqing was one of them. They were really happy to meet each other.

Linghu Chong thought, ”There's no one in this world who knows the surroundings in Huashan better than me. I didn't know there was another cave below that valley, but Tian Boguang is an outsider and he knows of it. How strange?” He pulled on Tian Boguang's sleeve and the two of them walked behind the party.

”Brother Tian,” Linghu Chong said. ”There's another cave below that valley. I didn't know about it before but you knew about it. I really admire you.”

Tian Boguang smiled. ”There's nothing strange about it.”

”Ah, that's right,” Linghu Chong said. ”You must've captured a Huashan disciple and interrogated him.”

”I didn't,” Tian Boguang replied.

”Then how did you find out? Can you tell me?” Linghu Chong asked.

Tian Boguang blushed and smiled. ”This matter is not comfortable to talk about. It's better not to speak of it.”

Linghu Chong was even more curious and he just had to ask about it. ”You and I are loafers in Jianghu, what's there that's so uncomfortable to talk about?” Linghu Chong said. ”Quickly say it.”

”After I say it,” Tian Boguang pleaded. ”Headmaster Linghu, please don't blame me.”

”You've rescued many martial sisters from Heng-Shan School and I haven't thanked you for this yet,” Linghu Chong replied. ”So how can I blame you?”

Tian Boguang lowered his voice and said, ”I'll tell you. Before I had a really bad temperament and you already know about this. Ever since Grand martial master shaved my head and made me take the Buddhist name 'Cannot Have No Commandment', I cannot do that again...”

Linghu Chong thought the way Monk No Commandment reprimanded him was really weird and his mouth showed a slight smile. Tian Boguang knew what he was thinking of and his face turned red. He continued, ”But I've never forgotten the skills I've learned from earlier. No matter how far I'm separated by, as long as there are women there, I... I can feel them.”

Linghu Chong was perplexed, he asked, ”How do you do that?”

”I also don't know,” Tian Boguang replied. ”I think I can smell women, they're different than men's smell.”

Linghu Chong laughed aloud. ”It's said that some reverend monks can have divine eyes or divine ears. Brother Tian unexpectedly has this 'divine nose'.”

”I'm ashamed, ashamed!”

”Brother Tian's skill was originally used to do bad things,” Linghu Chong said. ”After undergoing some experience, I never thought that today you'd use this skill to save my Heng-Shan School's disciples.”

Yingying turned her head around to ask what was so funny. But looking at Tian Boguang's face, she guessed it was something inappropriate and she quickly shut her mouth.

Tian Boguang suddenly stopped. ”There seems to be some Heng-Shan School's disciples on the left.” He sniffed around a few times then went towards the underbrush below the hill. Lowering his head, he searched around for a while. He exclaimed happily and pointed to the ground. ”Here!” he cried out. There was a pile of more than ten big rocks on the place that he had pointed out. Each of these rocks were around two to three hundred catties. He immediately removed a rock away.

No Commandment and Linghu Chong went over to help. After a while they had removed more than ten big rocks, and there was a green slab underneath. The three of them worked together to lift the slab up. It revealed a cave underneath and there were a few nuns lying underneath. They were all disciples of Heng-Shan School. Yiqing and Yimin quickly jumped down the cave and helped their martial sisters to go up. After helping a few to go up, there were still more inside, each one was gasping for air. They quickly pulled the imprisoned Heng-Shan disciple up. Yihe, Zheng E, and Qin Juan were among them. There were more than thirty people inside this cave. If they weren't rescued in the next one or two days, they would have all died.

Linghu Chong thought how his master was so violent, he couldn't help being disappointed with him.

”Brother Tian, this skill of yours isn't a small thing,” Linghu Chong praised him. ”These martial sisters were deeply buried underneath but you can still smell them out. Really admirable.”

”There's nothing strange about it,” Tian Boguan replied. ”Luckily, there are many martial uncles from the secular world in there...”

”Martial uncles? Ah, that's right, you're Yilin's disciple.”

”If the ones imprisoned here were all Buddhist martial uncles, then I wouldn't have been able to find them,” Tian Boguang continued.

”There's a difference between secular and Buddhist people?”

”Of course. Secular female would have this powder fragrance on them,” Tian Boguang explained. Linghu Chong was enlightened.

They quickly tried to rescue them. Yiqing and Yilin were using their caps to scoop water in them to give them drink. Luckily, there was a crack in that cave that allowed air to go in and Heng-Shan School's disciples all had learned inner energy. Even though they were extremely distressed, they still had their lives. Yihe had the deepest inner energy so after drinking some water, she was the first one to recover.

”We've only rescued less than a third,” Linghu Chong said. ”Brother Tian, I have to ask you to use your divine power to help us search for them.”

That granny stared at Tian Boguang, her face looked really suspicious. ”How did you know they were imprisoned here?” she asked. ”You were probably here when they were being imprisoned, am I right?”

”No, no!” Tian Boguang quickly replied. ”I've been following grand martial master. I've never left his side.”

That granny's face sunk as she shouted, ”You've always been with him?”

Tian Boguang mumbled indistinctly. He knew they just had a reunion after a long break up. Along the way they had been crying, laughing, fighting, being romantic, and he had heard all of these. This grand master-wife of his could turn angry from shyness and if that happened, it would be very troublesome. He quickly said, ”For the last half a year, I've been following grand martial master. About ten days ago, we parted ways. We just met again today at Huashan.”

That granny was half believing and half doubting him. She asked, ”Then how did you know these nuns were being locked up inside this cave?”

”This... this...” Tian Boguang mumbled. He didn't know how to phrase it nicely and was feeling very embarrassed. After some time, they suddenly heard the sound of more than ten horns coming from the mountainside, followed by the sound of drums. It sounded like an army of ten thousand soldiers and a thousand horses had come.

They were all startled. Yingying whispered on Linghu Chong's ear, ”It's my dad!”

”Oh!” Linghu Chong realised and he wanted to say, ”So it's my father-in-law.” But he felt it was inappropriate so he didn't say it out loud. The drums thundered for a while, then the horns rang again.

”Has an army come?” that granny asked.

Suddenly, both the drums and horns stopped. Seven to eight people shouted, ”Sun Moon Divine Sect's cultured and esteemed martial artist, benefactors of the common people, Chief Ren has arrived!” These seven to eight people had very deep internal energies so their shout reverberated throughout the mountain and echoes could be heard, ”Chief Ren has arrived! Chief Ren has arrived!”

The power of these cries intimidated them and the colour on Monk No Comandment's face and the others changed. The echoes had not finished yet when they heard countless number of voices crying out, ”Long live to Chief, unify the Jianghu! Chief Ren flourishes the Divine Sect, long live to Chief!”

Hearing their voices, there were at least two to three thousands of them. The echo was again heard from everywhere, ”Chief Ren flourishes the Divine Sect, long live to Chief! Chief Ren flourishes the Divine Sect, long live to Chief!” After some time, the whole place became quiet. Then someone with a clear voice said, ”Sun Moon Divine Sect's cultured and esteemed martial artist, benefactors of the common people, Chief Ren has an order: Five mountains sword schools' headmasters and all the disciples in the schools hear this: Everyone will meet at the steps of the Peak of Morning Sun.”

He spoke three times in his clear voice. After stopping for a while, he continued, ”Fragrant masters and their deputies of the twelve halls, lead the sect's disciples to check all the hills and guard the important paths! Don't let people walk around! Anyone who doesn't obey this order will be killed!” Around twenty to thirty people immediately acknowledged this order.

Linghu Chong and Yingying shared a look and they understood what was going on. That person said to check all the hills and to guard the important paths to force the disciples of the five mountains sword schools to go towards the Peak of Morning Sun to meet with Chief Ren. Linghu Chong thought, ”He's Yingying's father. I'm going to marry Yingying soon so I should go see Chief Ren.”

He told Yihe and the rest of the people, ”We still have a lot of martial sisters who are still imprisoned. Brother Tian, please lead the way to save them as soon as possible. Chief Ren is young lady Ren's father so he wouldn't give us any trouble. Young lady Ren and I are going to the east peak first. Martial sisters, you can follow later and we'll meet up there on the east peak.” Yihe, Yiqing, Yilin and the others acknowledged the order and followed Tian Boguang to save their martial sisters.

”What is he relying on barking orders here?” that granny angrily said. ”I'm not going to see him. I want to see how this Ren is going to kill me.”

Linghu Chong knew she was very stubborn and was hard to persuade. If she were to meet Ren Woxing, her speech would most likely offend him and things would turn out really bad. He immediately took his leave from Monk No Commandment and his wife, then went to the east peak with Yingying.

”The three highest peaks in Huashan are the east peak, south peak, and west peak. The east and west peaks are particularly tall,” Linghu Chong said. ”The real name of the east peak is the Peak of Morning Sun. Your father chose this peak to meet with the disciples of the Five Mountains Sword School to make it look like that we are coming to pay respect to an imperial court. Your father said all the people of the Five Mountains Sword School to go to the Peak of Morning Sun. Could it be that all the people from all the schools are at Huashan?”

”In the five mountains sword schools, Mr. Yue, Zuo Lengchan, and Mr. Mo Da have all passed away today. I don't know who Taishan School has appointed as their headmaster. In this alliance of five big sword schools, you're the only headmaster left,” Yingying said.

”Besides Heng-Shan School, most of the heroes from the five schools have all died inside the cave on that Cliff of Contemplation. Besides, the disciples of Heng-Shan Schools have all been captured and are in distress, I'm afraid...”

”You're afraid my father will take advantage of this to eliminate the five mountains sword schools?”

Linghu Chong nodded his head and let out a sigh. ”Actually, he doesn't need to do anything. There's not many people left in the five mountains sword schools.”

Yingying also let out a sigh. ”Mr. Yue deceived the masters from the five mountains sword schools. He enticed them to look at the sword moves engraved at Huashan with the intention of wiping out all the warriors with good martial art. That way his position as the headmaster of the Five Mountains School would be safe and no one from each of the schools would be able to go against him. This move was originally very clever, but Zuo Lengchan unexpectedly got a whiff of this and took those blind men to kill him inside that dark cave.”

”You're saying Zuo Lengchan wanted to kill my master?” Linghu Chong queried. ”He wasn't trying to kill me?”

”He didn't know you were going to come,” Yingying answered. ”Your swordplay is brilliant and you already knew of the moves engraved on the cave wall a long time ago, so you wouldn't have gone inside to take a look at those sword moves. When we went in there, it was just a coincidence.”

”What you said is right,” Linghu Chong agreed. ”Actually, Zuo Lengchan and I had no enmity. Both of his eyes were blinded by my master, and the headmaster position of the Five Mountains School was also snatched by him. Those things would be really cutting to him.”

”Zuo Lengchan probably had a strategy prepared,” Yingying said. ”He'd tempt Mr. Yue to go inside the cave and then take advantage of the darkness to kill him. I don't know how, but this plan was discovered by Mr. Yue and instead of going in, he guarded the cave's entrance and captured people using the fish net. This is really the mantis seizing the cicada not knowing the oriole was just behind. Now, Zuo Lengchan and your master have both died while the reason for all these would never be known.”

(Translator's note: 'the mantis seizing the cicada not knowing the oriole was just behind' means 'to covet gains ahead without knowing the danger behind'.)

Linghu Chong mournfully nodded his head.

”Mr. Yue deceived the masters of the five mountains sword schools to come here,” Yingying continued. ”There must've been a foreshadowing of this matter a long time ago. That day at Songshan during the fight for the leadership, your little martial sister used Taishan, Hengshan, Songshan, and Heng-Shan brilliant sword moves. The masters from all four schools witnessed all these and their hearts would itch in getting to know them. Only the disciples from Heng-Shan School had been taught the sword moves from the cave wall by you, so they wouldn't find them extraordinary. While the disciples from Taishan, Hengshan, and Songshan Schools would of course be asking where Miss Yue got these sword moves from. Mr. Yue secretly spread the rumour and decided on a date that the cave would be open to them. The masters from these three schools, wouldn't they rush to be here?”

”For people who study martial art like us,” Linghu Chong said. ”Once we hear of a place to learn some brilliant martial art, then we'd definitely brave danger and death to go there. Especially when those martial arts are from our own school, we wouldn't rest until we've seen them. That's why people like martial uncle Mo Da and other master-hands all died inside that cave.”

”Mr. Yue anticipated that your Heng-Shan School wouldn't come, so he prepared another plan,” Yingying said. ”He used the confusion poison to knock everyone out and took them up to Huashan.”

”I don't understand why master would spend such a big effort to bring my disciples up to Huashan?” Linghu Chong questioned. ”This matter would be easily discovered since they have to go through such a long journey. Why didn't he just kill all of them at Heng-Shan? Wouldn't this be easier?” He stopped for a tick then continued, ”Ah, I understand. If he killed all the Heng-Shan disciples then there'll be one less mountain from the Five Mountains School. Master wants to be the headmaster of the Five Mountains School, but without Heng-Shan School, he couldn't be the headmaster of the Five Mountains School. The name simply wouldn't be right.”

”That's one reason,” Yingying said. ”But I think, there's still one more reason.”

”What's that?”

”The best thing would of course be to capture you,” Yingying explained. ”Then he'd trade with something of mine.”

Linghu Chong was enlightened and he excitedly hit his thigh. ”That's right. My master wanted the medicine for the Three Corpse Brain Pill.”

”After Mr. Yue was forced to take this pill, he would've been restless day and night wanting to get a medicine for it,” Yingying said. ”One day he wouldn't accept it and the next he'd be worried to death. He knew that he could only get the medicine by getting you.”

”Of course, I'm your darling,” Linghu Chong agreed. ”Only by using me that he can exchange the medicine from you.”

Yingying pursed her lip. ”If he was going to use you to trade for the medicine then I wouldn't trade. The materials for the medicine are so hard to get and making them isn't easy either. So they're priceless treasure. How could I trade them so easily?”

”The common saying goes: It's easy to find priceless treasure, hard to find a lover.”

Yingying's whole cheeks turned bright red immediately. In a whisper, she said, ”Like a mouse getting on a scale, scaling and praising himself. Know no shame.”

As they talked, they arrived at a narrow path. This mountain path was perfectly straight as it went up and it was also very steep. They couldn't walk side by side through this path.

”You go first,” Yingying said.

”You go first,” Linghu Chong said. ”If you fall down then I'll grab you.”

”No, you go first, but you're not allowed to turn your head back to look at me. You must listen to what granny tells you to do.” She laughed when she finished talking.

”Fine, I go first,” Linghu Chong relented. ”If I fall down, you can grab me.”

”That won't do, that won't do!” Yingying hastily replied. She was afraid he would pretend to misstep to play around with her. So she quickly went up the mountain path first.

Even though Yingying saw him making a joke, his expression was still melancholic. After he laughed, he turned mournful again. She knew it was difficult for him to forget about Yue Buqun's death. Along the way she'd tried to make him say some jokes to make him forget about his worries. After a few turns, they arrived at the top of the Jade Maiden Peak. Linghu Chong pointed out to her which one was the Jade Maiden's face washing basin and which one was the Jade Maiden's dressing table. Yingying knew this Jade Maiden Peak was the place he used to play around with Yue Lingshan back then, and she was afraid that he might get even more upset, so she just took a quick glance without asking anything.

After going down a slope, they went up a little path towards the Peak of Morning Sun. They saw guards everywhere around the mountain. The Sun Moon Sect's men were dressed in seven different gown colour and they were very discipline in following the flag going back and forth. Compared to the last time he visited the Dark Wood Cliff, there was a different feeling of dread.

Linghu Chong secretly praised, ”Chief Ren is a very learned man. That day when I led thousands of men to attack Shaolin Temple, it was a mess, everything was chaotic. How can it be compared to the Sun Moon Sect's army which resembles a body using its arms, like when an arm wants to point at something, with thousands of people resembling one person? Dongfang Bubai is also one great person. It was only later that he made a mistake and gave the handling of sect's matter to Yang Lianting. That's when the Dark Wood Cliff withered and its power diminished.”

The people of Sun Moon Sect respectfully bowed their bodies when they saw Yingying. They were also very respectful towards Linghu Chong. The bannermen roared one by one from the bottom of the peak all the way to the peak, announcing to Ren Woxing their arrivals. Linghu Chong saw all the important places between the bottom of the peak to the peak were all packed with people from the sect. There were at least two thousands guards around those places. It seemed that this time the Sun Moon Sect had gathered many warriors from the unorthodox path to help them in carrying out this massive operation. If all the headmasters from the five mountains sword schools were still alive, and all the master-hands from the five schools were at Huashan, and they had also been deployed before hand to meet this attack, it was still likely that they would lose. At this time with the number of talented fighter close to zero, it was impossible for them to fight back.

Looking at the situation now, it was certain that Ren Woxing had a harmful idea towards the five mountains sword schools. Since things had come to this, there was nothing he could've done and now everything was up to the Heaven's will. He could only take things step by step. If Ren Woxing wanted to annihilate the five mountains sword schools, then he couldn't just stay on the side preserving his own life. He would have to fight to the death and Heng-Shan School's disciples would all be killed on top of this Peak of Morning Sun.

Although he was clever, he wasn't that experienced and didn't have a plan in mind to face this calamity. When he saw all the disciples of Heng-Shan School fell into the trap, he also didn't know how to free them and everything was just left to fate and circumstances. He was also thinking that Yingying and Chief Ren were related by flesh and blood so the most she would do would be not to help both sides. So there was no chance she would help him by thinking of a plan to go against her own father. At this time, facing the sect's disciples at the Peak of Morning Sun with bows drawn and sabres unsheathed, he didn't even look at them and he instead told Yingying some jokes.

But Yingying was already tied in knots in worry, so she couldn't be like Linghu Chong who was unworried. Along the way, she'd been churning her brain thinking on what to do. She pondered, ”Chong-lang is a fearless person. Even if the sky collapsed, he'd only notice it when it's right on top of him. I've always thought of a way for him to do.” Thinking that her father had led such a big operation here, it couldn't be anything good. When the situation turned dangerous, then all she could do would be to adapt since there was no other good option.

The two of them slowly went up to the peak. When they reached the summit, they were suddenly assaulted with horns blaring followed by sound of music from drums and pipes. This was unexpectedly the welcoming of honoured guests.

Linghu Chong whispered, ”Father-in-law is welcoming the son-in-law back home!”

Yingying blankly stared at him and she felt really anxious. She thought, ”This person really doesn't worry about anything. At this time, he can still joke around.”

Then she heard a person laughed loudly and in a clear voice said, ”Young lady, Brother Linghu, Chief's been waiting for you for a long time.”

A slim elder wearing a purple gown took a step forward and gripped both of Linghu Chong's hands. His face was full of happiness. He was Xiang Wentian. When Linghu Chong saw him, he was also very happy. ”Brother Xiang,” Linghu Chong called out. ”You're well, I've thought of you often.”

”At Dark Wood Cliff, I keep hearing news of your prestige soaring in Wulin,” Xiang Wentian laughingly replied. ”I drank to you from far away, I've at least drunk more than ten big pots of wine. Quickly go see Chief.” Taking his hand, he went towards a stone structure several stories high.

That stone structure was on top of the east peak. It was extremely big and tall, just like it had been naturally formed. To the east of that structure was Peak of the Morning Sun's highest place which was called Deity's Palm. That Deity's Palm had five big pillars rising to the sky with the central pillar being the highest. They saw a big chair placed underneath the central pillar, and a person sat in it. This person was Ren Woxing.