THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Invitation Part 4

"After I took these two wine-jars, there were still about two hundred jars left in the cellar. I figured that if all those high officials and noble lords in the town of Chang-An, the ordinary and vulgar ones, could go to the Banished Fairy Wine House to enjoy such wonderful wine as long as they have money in their pockets, then how could the Big Hero Linghu of the Huashan Sword School stand out from all the ordinary? Therefore I banged and whammed, and soon the entire cellar was filled with the wonderful smell of wine as the flood of wine went up almost to my waist," Tian Boguang explained in amusement.

"Are you saying that you actually smashed two hundred or so jars of wine into pieces?" Linghu Chong was half stunned and half amused.

"Wouldn't it be more valuable if there were only two jars left in the entire world? Ha-ha! Ha-ha!" Tian Boguang burst into loud laughter.

"Thanks! Many thanks!" Linghu Chong drank another bowl. "It is so troublesome for you to carry these two jars of wine all the way from Chang-An to Mount Huashan, brother Tian. Even if they were filled with pure water, I'd owe you a debt of gratitude, anyhow, not mentioning that they were filled with famous wine."

"You are a good man! A real man!" Tian Boguang praised loudly with his thumbs up.

"Why are you praising me all of a sudden?" Linghu Chong asked.

"I am an infamous evil rapist who commits all kinds of crimes. I've severely wounded you before and have also committed several crimes right by the foot of Mount Huashan. Everyone in the Huashan Sword School wished to kill me. But when I carried the wine here today, brother Linghu drank it with complete ease, without ever worrying that I might plant poison in the wine. Only a true man with such breath of mind is worth enjoying such worldly famous wine."

"Brother Tian, you are making fun of me now. I have fought you twice and knew well that even though brother Tian has very bad conducts, you would disdain to stab anyone on the back. Besides, your Kung Fu skills are way higher than mine. If you want to kill me, all you have to do is to draw your knife and chop down. What's so difficult about that?" Linghu Chong said.

"Brother Linghu, you said it right!" Tian Boguang laughed some more. "But did you know that I didn't carry these two jars of wine directly from Chang-An to Mount Huashan? I carried these hundred-pound wine first to Northern Shanxi for two robberies, and then to Eastern Shanxi for another two robberies before I finally came up Mount Huashan."

Linghu Chong was stunned. He pondered over it and quickly understood. "So brother Tian continuously committed many crimes just to divert my Master and Master-Wife away, so you can come and see me. You've used the strategy of luring the enemy away from the base. Brother Tian, after going through all these trouble, what do you exactly want from me?" he said.

"Brother Linghu, why don't you give it a wild guess?" Tian Boguang suggested with a smile.

"No way!" Linghu Chong rejected. He poured a bowl full of wine and then said, "Brother Tian, you are a guest here at Mount Huashan. I don't have anything in exchange for your present here on the barren cliff. I am just going to borrow something to make a gift of it. Please enjoy a bowl of number one wine in the world."

"Thanks!" Tian Boguang answered and poured the bowl of wine down his throat.

Linghu Chong also drank a bowl of wine as accompany. After showing each other the empty bottom of the bowls, the two set the bowls down and broke into a laugh at the same time. All of a sudden, Linghu Chong kicked out with his right leg, and with two loud bangs, the two large wine-jars were kicked down the deep valley. Only after a long while, two muffled smashing sounds came back from the bottom.