THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Imprisonment Part 2

Suddenly, Mr. Huang-Zhong played several consecutive notes with the zither and the sound of the music turned pressing and the complexion on Mr. Black-White's face changed slightly. Slowly, Mr. Black-White backed out of the Zither Hall, shutting the door on his way out. knowing that Mr. Huang-Zhong was, by no means, showing his leisure when he made the musical notes with the zither. He had actually infused superior inner strength into the zither sounds in order to disrupt his opponent's concentration. Once the opponent's internal strength resonated with the zither sounds, then he would be controlled by the zither sounds involuntarily. When the zither music slowed down, the opponent's movement would also slow down; when the zither music hurried, the opponent's movement would also hurry. But the tempo of Mr. Huang-Zhong's zither moves would be just the opposite to the tempo of the zither music. His strikes would become faster and faster while the zither music turned more soothing and relaxing, as a result, the opponent would stand no chance of withstanding his attacks. Mr. Black-White knew very well that this Kung Fu of Mr. Huang-Zhong was no trivia matter. Afraid that his own internal strength would be worn off, he receded out of the Zither Hall.

Although the door plank separated him from the Zither Hall, he could still vaguely hear the zither music slowing down and going faster from time to time. Sometimes, the zither sound would suddenly silence, while some other times, the zither sound would all of a sudden clang very loudly. After a while, the tempo of the zither music became faster and faster. Mr. Black-White only felt his heart fluttering with uneasiness and even his breathing became somewhat uncomfortable. Backed out of the front door, he, once again, shut the front door tight. Now with two doors in between, the sound of the zither was almost inaudible. But occasionally when the sound of the zither turned sonorous and passed through all the barriers, it always made his heart thump faster.

He stood there for a good while but the zither sounds kept going and going. He was astounded. "This young man named Feng, no doubt, has excellent sword skills. But it turned out that his cultivation in inner strength is also so capable. How is he able to hold out for so long under the attack of my Big Brother's 'Seven-String Invisible Sword'?" he thought. As he pondered upon the question, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint arrived side by side.

"How did it go?" Mr. Paint asked in a low voice.

"The fight has lasted a long time. That young man is still struggling to keep up. I am afraid Big Brother will end up injuring him," Mr. Black-White said.

"I'll go ask Big Brother to show leniency. We can't hurt this good friend," Mr. Paint suggested.

"We can't go in there," Mr. Black-White shook his head.

Just at that moment, loud clanking sounds from the zither suddenly exploded in the air. At the first sound, the three of them each took one step back. So after five consecutive zither sounds, the three of them took a total of five steps back involuntarily.

Mr. Bald-Brush's face turned as white as a sheet. After taking a few seconds to collect himself, he said, "This 'Six-Ding-God Quarry a Mountain' move of Big Brother's Invisible Sword Art is too powerful. The six consecutive notes continue to wallop and strike one after another. How can that young man Feng withstand it?"

Before he even finished his sentence, another loud clank exploded, and immediately after that, several cracking sounds followed, as though several zither strings had suddenly snapped. Astounded, Mr. Black-White and the other two pushed the front door wide open and dashed in. As soon as they opened the door of the Zither Hall, they saw a dispirited Mr. Huang-Zhong standing still in silence. All seven strings of the zither in his grip had snapped and drooped by the side of the zither. Standing by his side was Linghu Chong, holding the jade flute in his hand.