THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Sword Training Part 5

Suddenly, great pain came from his cheeks. Someone had grabbed onto his jaw.

"This guy is really stubborn. If he bites off his tongue, he won't be able to talk. The little nun won't like that for sure," one voice said.

"If he bites off his tongue, he would be dead. Why would it matter if he can still talk or not?" another one argued.

"He might not die. If you don't believe me, you can bite your own to try it out," a third one suggested.

"I said he would die, so I won't bite off my own tongue. Why don't you try it out?" the previous one mocked.

"Why should I bite my own tongue off? I got it. Let him try it," the one spoke before him replied.

There came a loud cry from Lu Dayou. Apparently those freaks had captured him.

"You, bite off your own tongue and let's see if you will die or not? Hurry up! Bite!" one freak yelled.

"I won't! If I bite my tongue off, I'd be dead for sure," Lu Dayou shouted.

"That's right! If one bites his tongue off, he would be dead for sure! Even he said so too," one of the freaks said.

"He's not dead yet. His words are not dependable," another one argued.

"He didn't bite off his tongue, so of course he won't die. If he did, he would die!" a third one commented.

Linghu Chong gathered his strength and jerked his arms abruptly. Instantly the pain from his wrists went deep into his marrow, yet he was still not even able to move a single bit. In the instant, he suddenly hit upon a way out of the trouble. He let out a loud scream and then pretended to be out cold. The six freaks all cried out in surprise. The one who grabbed at Linghu Chong's cheeks immediately let go of them.

"He was scared to death!" a freak commented.

"He can't be scared to death. He's not that big of a loser," another one disagreed.

"Even if he's dead, he wasn't scared to death," a third one suggested.

"Then how did he die?" the previous one asked.

Lu Dayou actually believed that they had tortured big apprentice brother to death and burst into a loud cry.

"I think he was scared to death," a freak insisted.

"You grabbed him too hard. He was grabbed to death," another one suggested.

"How on earth did he die?" a third one questioned.

"I shut down my arteries and killed myself!" Linghu Chong shouted loudly.

The six freaks were shocked when they suddenly heard Linghu Chong talking, then they all broke into loud laughs and said, "Aha, he's not dead. He was pretending to be dead."

"I wasn't pretending. After I died I came back to life again," Linghu Chong claimed.

"Do you really know how to shut down your arteries? That must be a very difficult Kung Fu. Will you teach me?" a freak asked.

"The Shut Down Your Own Arteries Kung Fu is very advanced. This dude doesn't know it. He's lying to you," another freak said.

"Did you say I don't know it? If I don't know it, how could I have shut down my arteries and killed myself earlier?" Linghu Chong challenged.

"Well...well...that's really odd." The freak scratched his head and didn't know how to answer.

Linghu Chong now was sure that even though the six freaks had excellent Kung Fu skills, their brains were certainly dull-witted to the extreme. So he said, "If you don't let go of me, I am going to shut down my arteries again. After I die this time, I won't be able to come back to life any more."