Legend has it that there is a martial arts manuscript Bixie Sword Manual in the house of Lin family, which when learned will give the person god-like speed and power. Thus, whoever manages to master it, will become the conqueror of the martial world...
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[Three shadows walked out from behind the big rock. Under the dim starlight, it appeared to be two tall ones and a short one. The tall ones were two guys and the short one was a girl.]
Although Linghu Chong's injuries were very severe, with the help of the Heng-Shan Sword School's great medicines, "Heavenly Connecting Glue" applied outside and "White Cloud Bear Gallbladder Pills" taken orally, after just a day and two nights' sleep by the waterfall, his wounds had started to heal. The fact that Linghu Chong was a strong man still in his youth, and the good amount of inner energy developed from his martial arts training both contributed greatly to his fast recovery.
During the day and two nights, all they had were watermelons. Linghu Chong had begged Yilin to catch some fish or wild rabbits for a change, but she would not give any ground, saying that only because of the blessing from the Buddha, had Linghu Chong been able to narrowly escape from death, and it would be the best if he would become a vegetarian for a few years to show his grace to the Buddha. There was absolutely no way that she would violate the prohibition of killing. Linghu Chong laughed at her pedantry, yet could not force her, so he had no choice but to give it up.
It was already dark. The two of them rested with their back against a big rock and looked at the many fireflies flying in and out of the bushes. The flickering of the many fireflies painted a beautiful picture of the midsummer night.
"In the summer before the last one, I once caught thousands of fireflies and placed them in dozens of gauze bags to hang in the room. That was a lot of fun!" Linghu Chong said.
Figuring with his kind of temper, he would never have made dozens of gauze bags out of his own will, Yilin asked, "It was your little apprentice sister, who had asked you to catch those fireflies, wasn't it?"
"You are smart!" Linghu Chong smiled. "You got it right! How did you know my little apprentice sister asked me to do it?"
"You have such a hot-temper; besides, you are no longer a kid. How could you have such patience to catch thousands of fireflies just for fun?" Yilin answered with a smile. "So what happened afterwards?" she asked.
"Little apprentice sister hung all these gauze bags inside her bed curtains. She said that with so many twinkling around her bed, she would feel like sleeping above clouds. Every time when she opened her eyes, she would be seeing stars all around her."
"Your little apprentice sister certainly knows how to have fun. And she also got you, the apprentice brother, to join in with her. If she had wanted you to catch the stars in the sky, you probably would have agreed just the same," Yilin commented.
"Talk about catching the stars in the sky, that was actually the reason why we caught so many fireflies," Linghu Chong explained. "That night, she and I went out to enjoy the cool breezes of the night. When she saw the twinkling stars in the sky, little apprentice sister took a deep breath. 'It's too bad that a bit later I'll have to go to bed," she said. 'I'd rather sleep outside under the night sky, so when I wake up in the middle of the night, I'll see all the stars blinking at me. That'll be so much fun! But Mother definitely won't allow that to happen.' So I suggested, 'Why don't I go catch some fireflies, and then put them in your bed curtain. They would look just like stars.'"
