Legend has it that there is a martial arts manuscript Bixie Sword Manual in the house of Lin family, which when learned will give the person god-like speed and power. Thus, whoever manages to master it, will become the conqueror of the martial world...
[Before Black-White Piece could figure out his mistake, his wrist wasalready seized. In a hurry, he rotated his wrist to grab back while pulling hisarm back, and then swiftly kicked out with his left foot.]
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Before Black-White Piece could figure out his mistake, his wrist was already seized. In a hurry, he rotated his wrist to grab back while pulling his arm back, and then swiftly kicked out with his left foot.
When Linghu Chong finally came around, he found himself surrounded by complete darkness, knowing neither where he was nor how long he had been out cold. The headache was so bad that he almost felt as though somebody had cracked his head open and loud thunder-like rings still rumbled continuously in his ears. He tried in vain to get back onto his feet but found no strength left in him at all.
"I must be dead already and have been buried into a grave," he thought as the strong sense of grief and fuss quickly overwhelmed him and he fainted once again. By the time he woke up the second time, although his headache didn't get any better, the ringing in his ears did lighten up a great deal. He felt something cold and hard underneath him as though he was lying upon something made of iron or steel. A quick feel with his hand soon confirmed that it was indeed an iron plate underneath the straw mat. As soon as he moved his right hand, a light clank broke out, and at the same time he felt something icy-cold tied around his wrist. When he tried to feel it with his left hand, the clanking sound rose again. Turned out that his left wrist also had something tied around it. A mixed feeling of shock, joy, and fear soared in his heart. Now he was sure that he had not died but had been shackled. He felt it again with his left hand and then came to realization that it was a thin steel chain tied around his wrist. A slight move of his two feet also revealed steel chains shackled around his ankles. He opened his eyes as wide as he could and stared forward, but did not see even a glimmer of light.
"I was having a sword match with the Revered Mr. Ren right before I fainted. How did I fall for the machination of the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan?" he asked himself. "It looks as though I am also locked up in the dungeon underneath the lake. Have I been locked up in the same cell together with the Revered Mr. Ren?" At that thought, he called out immediately, "Revered Mr. Ren? Revered Mr. Ren?" He called out twice, but did not hear anything in return. Feeling of great shock grew stronger and stronger in his heart and he called out even louder, "Mr. Ren! Mr. Ren!" But once again, all he could hear in the pitch black were his own hoarse and vexed cries.
As desperation began to sink in, he shouted out at the top of his lungs, "First Master! Fourth Master! Why have you locked me in here? Let me out! Let me out!" But other than his own shouting, there was not another sound all the while.
Soon panic turned into rage, and he began pouring our streams of abuses, "You despicable, brazen, evil scum! You couldn't beat me in the sword matches, so you figured that you could lock me up here to get even? How shameless you are!" But the thought that he would be locked up in the dark dungeon underneath the lake for the rest of his life just like the Revered Mr. Ren instantly made his hair stand on end and his heart filled with despair. The more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, he couldn't help but bawl on top of his lungs, and before he knew it, the bawling had turned into loud wails, and tears had streamed down his cheeks uncontrollably.
"You four...four despicable scoundrels...of the Plum Manor," he cried in a hoarse voice, "If I can make it out of here one day, I'll...I'll blind...blind your eyes with my sword, and cut...cut off both your arms and legs.... Once I escape the dark dungeon...." But suddenly he fell silent when a loud voice echoed in his head, "Can I ever escape the dark dungeon? Can I ever escape the dark dungeon? Even Revered Mr. Ren, such a capable man, couldn't get out. How...how can I ever get out?" Anxiety immediately surged in his heart. Feeling really sick in his stomach, he vomited, and after a few gags of blood, he fainted again.
In the wooziness, he thought he heard a cracking sound, and immediately after, bright light dazzled his eyes. Waking up abruptly, he leapt to his feet, but he forgot that both of his wrists and ankles were still shackled by steel chains. Furthermore, he did not have much strength left in him, so only instants later, he fell back down heavily and all the bones in his body seemed to have been falling apart. Having been in complete darkness for a long while, his eyes were not adept to sudden lights, but for fear that the gleam of light might just vanish as abruptly as it appeared, voiding him of any opportunity to escape, he kept his eyes wide open and stared hard toward the origin of the light despite the stinging pain.
The gleam of light had come from a one-foot wide, square-shaped opening. And he remembered at once: the dungeon cell Revered Mr. Ren lives in also had a squared-shaped opening on the iron door. In fact, it had one exactly identical to this one. He took a quick glance around and then confirmed that he was, indeed, also locked in the same kind of dungeon cell.
"Let me out of here! Huang-Zhong, Black-White, you despicable scoundrels, let me out if you've got any guts!" he shouted out.
A large wooden tray came forth slowly through the square-shaped opening, on top of which was a large bowl of rice with some cooked food piled on top. There was also an earthen jar, which apparently held some soup or water.
This sight made Linghu Chong even angrier, thinking, "Bringing food and water to me only means that you want to lock me in here for an extended period." So he cussed loudly, "You four dirty swine, listen up! If you want me dead, just come forward and give me your best shot. Stop playing games with your uncle here!"
But the wooden tray remained still. The person outside the door obviously wanted him to take the tray in. Infuriated, Linghu Chong reached out and struck it hard. Loud clangs echoed as the rice bowl and the earthen jar fell to the ground and smashed into pieces. Food and soup splashed everywhere. Slowly, the wooden tray retracted out of the opening.
In a storm of rage, Linghu Chong threw himself at the squared-shaped opening, and then he saw a completely gray-headed old man, a light in his left hand and the wooden tray in his right hand, turning away unhurriedly. Deep wrinkles covered the man's entire face, a face Linghu Chong had never seen before.
"Go get Huangzhong or Black-White here! Tell those four shameless scoundrels to come here and fight me like a man if they've gotten any guts!" Linghu Chong shouted out.
