THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Sword Fight Part 5

Linghu Chong wielded his sword to block. He knew Heng-Shan School's sword art had movements which shifted unceasingly in many circles and were very tight. Each movement of the sword art looked soft but actually contained powerful strength. When fighting an opponent, nine out of ten moves were defending and only one move would take advantage of a flaw to make a surprise attack. He had been together with the Heng-Shan School's disciples for a long time, and he had also personally seen Dingjing Shi Tai fought a few times against the enemies. Now when he executed the sword moves, every move was circling with meticulous intention. It was obvious he had already grasped the essence of Heng-Shan School's sword art deeply. Great Master Fangzheng, Priest Chongxu, Beggar Clan's leader, Zuo Lengchan, and many other people who were familiar with Heng-Shan School's sword art knew that Linghu Chong was really not from Heng-Shan School, but the Heng-Shan sword art he used was proper and right. Even the most common style still contained a secret attack which thoroughly fit the Heng-Shan's martial art principle of 'Needle in a Cotton'. They all inwardly praised him.

They all knew Heng-Shan School had been led by nuns for the last hundreds of years. For people of Buddhist faith, mercy is the foundation of everything. In particular, it was not suitable for women to use reckless movements, as they studied martial art primarily to protect themselves. This principle of 'Needle in a Cotton' was like concealing a needle in a wad of cotton. Provided that other people didn't offend, then the cotton would be soft and wouldn't harm them. But if you use strength to crush it, then the needle inside the cotton would pierce your palm. Whether it would pierce shallowly or deeply doesn't depend on the strength of the steel needle, but depends on the power you apply to crush the cotton. If you crush it lightly then the injury would be light, if you use a lot of strength then the injury would be heavy. This kind of martial art principle is based on the retribution principle of Buddhism; you sow your own destiny and the good and bad come from your own heart.

After Linghu Chong had learned the 'Dugu Nine Swords', he came to understand the essence of set form martial arts well. He had learned to use sword arts with an emphasis on intention and not on set movements. So when he used the Heng-Shan sword art at this time, the changes at various places were quite different from the original form, but the sword intention of the Heng-Shan's sword art was still clearly maintained. Even though the masters from other schools knew of Heng-Shan's sword art, they only knew of the main points and didn't know the finer points and changes in the sword art. So when they saw the sword intention displayed by Linghu Chong, they all thought, "This youngster didn't get lucky in becoming Heng-Shan School's headmaster! He's actually the true heir appointed by Dingxian and Dingjing Shi Tai." Only Heng-Shan School's disciples like Yihe and Yiqing were able to see that the sword forms he used were different from the ones taught by their masters. Even though the forms were different, they realized that the meaning behind these sword moves were deeper than the original sword art. Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan were both using Heng-Shan School's sword arts engraved inside the cave at the Cliff of Contemplation. But Linghu Chong's sword art was originally much higher compared to Yue Lingshan. Added to that he had also been together with Heng-Shan School's disciples for many days, so he knew the scope of Heng-Shan School's sword arts better than Yue Lingshan. As the two of them fought, if it weren't for Linghu Chong deliberately giving way, he would've won in just a few moves. After fighting for more than thirty moves, Yue Lingshan had exhausted the moves she learned from the cave wall and was forced to repeat them. It was good that this set of sword art was very complicated and looked really pleasant with its circling movements. There was not much distinction evident between each move. From the first move to the thirty-sixth move, they looked just like one big move. Besides Linghu Chong who had also learned this sword art from the cave wall, no one else could tell that she was repeating the sword moves.

The sword moves Yue Lingshan used were very tight, and Linghu Chong followed the proper method to counter each one of them. The two of them had learned the same identical sword moves which contained the essence of the Heng-Shan School's sword art. Their swordplays were very impressive and the movements were extremely pleasing to the eye. The spectators were watching happily and continuously applauded.

Someone said, "Linghu Chong is the headmaster of Heng-Shan School, it's not unusual the sword art he's using is so brilliant. But this Miss Yue is clearly a disciple of Huashan School. How can she also use Heng-Shan sword art?"

Someone else said, "Linghu Chong is originally Mr. Yue's disciple too, and he was also the eldest disciple. Otherwise, how could he be this proficient in this sword art? If Mr. Yue didn't personally pass it down, how can the two of them fight so harmoniously?"

There was also another one who said, "Mr. Yue is proficient in Huashan, Taishan, Hengshan, and Heng-Shan Schools' sword arts. It seems he must also know the Songshan sword art well. There's no one who fits this position of Five Mountains School's headmaster better than him."

Another person said, "That's not necessarily true. Songshan's Headmaster Zuo's sword art is much higher than Mr. Yue. In the principle of martial art, it's quality over quantity. Even if you know how to use all the martial arts in this world, what's the use? You'll only be a three-legged cat*. Headmaster Zuo's single Songshan sword art can defeat Mr. Yue's sword arts from five schools."

(Translator's note: Three legged cat is phrase that means a person who can do many things but specializes in nothing.)

The first person from before said, "How do you know? Shamefully blowing your own trumpet."

The second person angrily said, "Blowing my own trumpet? Let's bet fifty taels if you got guts."

The first person replied, "What guts no guts? Let's bet a hundred taels. Trade the silvers first, the loser will be under Heng-Shan School."

The second person answered, "Alright, one hundred taels! What's under Heng-Shan School?"

The first person said, "The loser becomes a nun!" And the second person spat.

At this time, Yue Lingshan's moves became even faster. Linghu Chong saw her looking elegant and graceful. Remembering the old days when they practiced sword together at Mount Huashan, he gradually became absent-minded. When he saw her thrusting with her sword, he just followed it with a move of his own, not realising that this move wasn't actually Heng-Shan School's sword art.

Yue Lingshan was startled and whispered, "Plum Flower like a Bean!" She followed it with a slash at Linghu Chong's forehead.

Linghu Chong was also stupefied and whispered, "Willow Leaf like an Eyebrow!"

Even though the two of them were using Heng-Shan School's sword art, they didn't know the names for them. But these two moves they just exchanged weren't Heng-Shan School's sword arts. These were actually from the sword art they created when they were practising together at Huashan: the 'Chong Ling Sword Art'. The 'Chong' was from Linghu Chong's name, and the 'Ling' was from Yue Lingshan's name. This was the sword art they had playfully created together.

Linghu Chong was far more intelligent than his martial sister. In whatever he did, regardless of what it was, he would do it happily without a care for any rules and come up with new and creative ideas. Even though this group of sword art was created by the two of them, almost all of them were Linghu Chong's ideas. At that time, their martial arts were still shallow that there was nothing formidable about these sword moves. But the two of them had often practised these set of sword arts at a secluded place and were very familiar with this sword art. When Linghu Chong accidentally used the move 'Plum Flower like a Bean', Yue Lingshan followed with the move 'Willow Leaf like an Eyebrow'. The two of them had used these moves without any deep meaning originally, but now, all of a sudden, both of their faces turned red. Linghu Chong didn't slow down as he followed with the move 'See First in the Fog'. Yue Lingshan followed with the move 'First Time after the Rain'. The two of them had practised this set of sword art for so many times during their time at Huashan, but they were afraid that Master and Master-Wife would scold them if they found out, so they didn't tell anyone about it. But at this time, they couldn't control themselves as they used these moves in front of all the realm's heroes. In a short moment, they had traded about ten moves. Not only Linghu Chong felt he had returned to the former scenery at Huashan when they were practising sword together, even Yue Lingshan gradually forgot that she was already married and that she was in front of thousands of Jianghu's people to fight for her father's fame. In her eyes, only her carefree big martial brother was there practising the sword art they had created.

Linghu Chong saw the expression on her face becoming gentler and gentler, and there was a glint of happiness in her eyes. It was obvious she had forgotten the incident of her father slapping her before. He thought, "When I saw her earlier today, she looked melancholy and unhappy. But she's finally feeling happy now. Ai, if only this Chong Ling sword art has thousands of moves and would never finish in a lifetime!" Ever since the time he heard Yue Lingshan humming a Fujian folk song at the Cliff of Contemplation, this was the first time his little martial sister treated him like in the past. His happiness was unbounded.

After another twenty moves, Yue Lingshan's long sword slashed at his left leg and Linghu Chong lifted his left leg to kick at her sword. Yue Lingshan lowered her sword edge to chop at his leg. Linghu Chong's long sword hurriedly attacked her right waist and Yue Lingshan circled her sword. The two swords met with a resounding clang and the points of both swords vibrated. Both of them immediately thrust forward at the same time towards each other's throat. Their speed was unmatched. Looking at both swords thrusting forward at such speed, it seemed no one would be able to go up to save them and they would both meet common ruin. The crowd called out in surprise. But the crowd heard a sudden ringing sound and saw that the points of both swords pushed against each other in mid air, generating sparks and then bent together to make an arch. Both then sent their palms forwards, clashed palms, and floated down separating from each other.

No one could've guessed of this outcome; that the points of these swords could unexpectedly and opportunely meet in mid air like this. It was very hard for two sword points to come together like this just for once even after thousands of sword fights. But these two people had unexpectedly done this once in a lifetime deed. Nobody around there had ever seen such a unique incident of two sword points meeting in the middle of the air in the thousands of sword fights they had seen. But Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan had actually practiced thousands of time to do just this, and they had accomplished what they had set out to do quite some time ago. This move must be done by the two of them simultaneously. When they started their moves, the positioning and power must be completely right. When both sword points met with enough speed behind them, they would bend and make an arch. This sword art was not useful in actually winning a fight against an opponent. But to Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan, this was a very amusing and interesting thing to do though it was very difficult. After they had finished practising this sword move, they took it a step further and practised till the sword points would hit with sparks flying around. When they had finished practising this move on Huashan, Yue Lingshan asked what name they should call this move by. Linghu Chong answered, "What do you think we should call it?"