THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

The Wager Part 2

"Brother Tong, I am very attracted to this word 'Fuddle' on the painting. It almost felt as though the painting and the writing contained some kind of very brilliant sword arts," after staring at the painting for some time, Linghu Chong commented. The brushstrokes in the writing and the gesture of the celestial man seemed to have reminded him of the sword arts carved on the rock wall in the back cave atop the Cliff of Contemplation.

Before Xiang Wentian had a chance to reply, Shi Lingwei had already spoken out, "Mr. Feng is truly an expert in sword arts. Our Fourth Master said: He painted this painting after he became completely inebriated one day and unconsciously included the spirit of sword arts in the artwork. This is the best artwork he had ever created. Once he became sober, he could never paint anything like this again. Mr. Feng can actually make out the spirit of sword arts in the painting. Fourth Master will definitely think of you as a bosom friend. Please allow me to excuse myself so I can report this to him." Beaming with joy, he went inside.

"Brother Feng, turned out you know the art of painting," Xiang Wentian cleared his throat and said.

"I don't know anything about painting. I was just making wild guesses, and happen to hit the target by accident. If this Mr. Paint wants to discuss the art of painting with me, I'll end up making a fool out of myself," Linghu Chong replied.

Suddenly a loud voice rose from outside the door, "Did he really, did he really recognize the spirit of sword arts in my painting? He must be a very insightful man. He must be!" Amid the clamor, a man entered the room, holding a wine cup in his left hand, his face tipsy and his long beard almost reaching all the way to his bosom.

Shi Lingwei followed right behind the man. In a hurry, he introduced, "These two guests are Mister Tong from the Songshan School and Mister Feng from the Huashan School. This is the Fourth Master of the Plum Manor, Mr. Paint. Fourth Master, as soon as this Mister Feng saw your Splash-Ink painting, he said that the painting contained brilliant sword arts."

The Fourth Master, Mr. Paint, glanced at Linghu Chong up and down from the corner of his tipsy eyes. "You know painting? You know sword arts?" he suddenly asked. The two questions sounded very insolent and impolite.

Linghu Chong noticed that the wine cup in his hand was a jade green Emerald Cup; he could also tell from the smell that the wine inside the cup was Pear-Blossom Wine. Suddenly, Zu Qianqiu's speech on the boat when they traveled in the Yellow River came to his mind.

"Bai Juyi wrote in his poem Spring View of Hangzhou, 'The red sleeves of the silk weaving girls reflected the persimmon leaves, and the emerald green flag of the wine shop sets off the Pear-Blossom Wine.' To drink the Pear-Blossom Wine, Emerald Cup would be the natural choice. Fourth Master is truly an expert in the art of wine-drinking."

Linghu Chong did not have much education and knew little about poetry and literature. But being a very intelligent man, he was gifted with an extraordinarily retentive memory and could recite other people's words after hearing them over once. So easily, he copied Zu Qianqiu's exact words over.

Mr. Paint's eyes became wide open at these words. Suddenly he held Linghu Chong into his arms.

"Good heavens!" he cried out loud, "A bosom friend has arrived. Come! Follow me! Let's go drink at least three hundred cups. Brother Feng, I am addicted to the art of wine, the art of painting, and the art of sword. People call me Lord of the Three Arts. But among the three arts, the art of wine is at the top of the list. Art of painting is the second and art of sword is the last."

These words sounded like music in Linghu Chong's ears. "I know nothing about the art of painting," he thought to himself, "I've come to seek help in healing my injuries. It's the last thing I want to do to get into a sword fight with them. But drinking, that's just down my alley. What more could I have asked for?"