THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Imprisonment Part 5

"If Senior Masters defeats the long sword in my hand and win those several treasures for them, the four Manor Masters must open the cell door and let Senior Master leave this place," Linghu Chong explained.

"Little friend has a very fantastic idea. Did Feng Qingyang teach you that?" the man grinned.

"Venerable Grandmaster Feng has no idea that Senior Master is imprisoned here. And I had absolutely no clue about it as well," Linghu Chong said.

"Young Hero Feng," Mr. Black-White suddenly called out. "What is the name of this Revered Mr. Ren? What nickname has he gained from fellow martial masters in the Martial World? Which school was he the Head Master of? Why is he locked up here? Did the Venerable Grandmaster Feng tell you anything about it?"

Facing these four sudden questions from Mr. Black-White, Linghu Chong found himself tongue-tied. Before when Linghu Chong had attacked forty or so moves in quick successions, Mr. Black-White had been able to ward them of with forty or so defending moves. But now when Mr. Black-White suddenly asked him four questions in quick successions as though he was attacking with four moves, Linghu Chong couldn't even fend off any one of them. After some indistinct falters, he said, "Well, I haven't heard any of those from Grandmaster Feng. I...I really don't know the answers to those."

"Right! I bet you don't have a clue," Mr. Paint joined in. "If you had known the cause here, you wouldn't have wanted us to release him. If this man gets to leave this place, then the entire Martial World would have been turned upside down. Countless of people would die under his hands and there will never be another peaceful day in the entire Martial World."

"That's correct!" the man guffawed. "No matter how daring the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan are, they'd never have the guts to let me out of the prison cell. Besides, they are only following orders to watch over this place, nothing more than four puny prison guards. How could they have the authority to release me? Little friend, this request of yours has really elevated their status too much!"

Linghu Chong kept his silence, thinking, "I had the least bit of idea about any of these implications. No wonder only a few sentence into it, I've already given myself away."

"Brother Feng," Mr. Huang-Zhong said, "when you saw how gloomy and damp the dungeon is, naturally you sympathized with this Mr. Ren, therefore, felt resentment toward us four brothers. That only shows the errantry in your heart, and I don't blame you. But did you know that if this Mr. Ren returned to the Martial World, just in your Huashan School, at least half of your people would have been wiped out. Mr. Ren, am I correct on that?"

"You are correct! Is Huashan School's Head Master still Yue Buqun? He is a complete hypocrite. Too bad at first I was too busy, and then fell for a secret plot afterwards, otherwise, I would have tore his hypocritical mask off a long time again," the man scoffed.

Linghu Chong felt big shock in his heart. Though his Master expelled him from the Huashan School and also proclaimed to the entire world, making him the public enemy of all orthodox schools in the Martial World, he always recalled with emotion the kindness his Master and Master-Wife had shown him bringing him up and treating him like their own son. When he heard the man named Ren fouled and insulted his Master, he couldn't help but roar, "Shut up! My Mas...." But he immediately swallowed the rest of the word down, remembering that when Xiang Wentian brought him to the Plum Manor, he had been introduced as the Uncle-Master of his Master. Before knowing whether these people were good or evil, it would have been unwise to reveal the truth.

The man named Ren, of course, did not know the true meaning behind Linghu Chong's roar. While laughing loudly, he continued, "Within the Huashan School, there are of course people I think much of. Reverend Feng is one; you, little friend, is another. And there is another junior of yours called something like 'Jade Maiden of Huashan' Ning...Ning something. Oh, I got it. Her name is Ning Zhongze. That little girl is actually straightforward and heroic. She is a talent. What a pity it is that she had to marry that Yue Buqun like a beautiful flower stuck on a pile of cow dung."