THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Vengeance Part 3

Yue Lingshan's martial art was never as good as Mu Gaofeng. Added to that, she was injured and because Mu Gaofeng ambushed her, he had the initiative. So at the end, she was captured by him. When Mu Gaofeng heard her making threats to him saying she was Yue Buqun's daughter, he was ecstatic and a plan was quickly hatched in his head. He was going to hide her in a secret place and then exchange her with the 'Evil Resisting Sword Art'. As he was hurrying along, he didn't expect they would meet with Qingcheng and Heng-Shan Schools.

Yue Lingshan thought, "If I let him take me away now, who will rescue me then?" Without giving a thought to her shoulder injury, she slanted her body and let herself fall down from the horse's back.

"What's the matter?" Mu Gaofeng shouted and leapt off the horse. He then stooped down to grab Yue Lingshan's body from the back. Linghu Chong thought Lin Pingzhi wouldn't just stand aside on seeing his wife being insulted but would definitely go out to help her. But who would have thought Lin Pingzhi didn't care at all? Lin Pingzhi took out a folding fan with a gold-painted handle from his left sleeve and lightly fanned himself. The jade-coloured fan continuously shook. It was currently the third month and the northern snow was just beginning to melt; who would use a fan at this time of year? But Lin Pingzhi was indeed using a fan and leisurely fanning himself.

Mu Gaofeng grabbed the back of Yue Lingshan's body and said, "Be careful falling down again." Then he lifted his hand and dropped her onto her horse's saddle. He then jumped on his horse wishing to go on their way.

"Person surnamed Mu, someone here said that your martial art is ordinary, what do you say to that?" Lin Pingzhi said.

Mu Gaofeng was startled and saw Lin Pingzhi was sitting alone at a table. He didn't seem to belong either to the Qingcheng School or the Heng-Shan School. He also couldn't tell where he came from, so he asked, "Who are you?"

"Why do you ask me? The one who said your martial art is ordinary wasn't me," Lin Pingzhi smiled.

"Who said it?"

Lin Pingzhi slammed his fan closed and pointed it at Yu Canghai. "That Priest Yu from Qingcheng School. He just saw a really wonderful swordplay, the world's number one sword art. I think it was called the Evil Resisting Sword Art."

When Mu Gaofeng heard the words 'Evil Resisting Sword Art', he was excited. He peered at Yu Canghai and saw him holding a tea cup looking absentminded as if he was hearing but wasn't listening to what Lin Pingzhi was saying. "Priest Yu, congratulations on seeing the Evil Resisting Sword Art. It's not fake?"

"Not fake!" Yu Canghai answered. "I saw it from head to tail, every move and every stance, I saw all of them already."

Mu Gaofeng was surprised and happy; he jumped down from his horse and sat at Yu Canghai's table. "I heard this sword manual was taken by Yue Buqun. How did you see it?"

"I didn't see the sword manual, I only saw a person using this sword art."

"Oh, is that so? There's real Evil Resisting Sword Art and there's fake Evil Resisting Sword Art. Fuzhou's Fortune Prestige Escort House's descendants learned the useless type of Evil Resisting Sword Art. When people see them use it, their teeth will fall off from laughing too much. Is the one you saw real?"

"I also don't know whether it's real or fake. But the person who used this set of sword art was a descendant of the Fortune Prestige Escort House."

Mu Gaofeng laughed loudly. "You're the leader of a school but you don't know whether the sword art is real or fake. Didn't Lin Zhennan from the Fortune Prestige Escort House die under your hand?"

"Whether the Evil Resisting Sword Art is real or fake, I can't tell. Hero Mu is brilliant and have a lot of experience, you'll definitely figure it out," Yu Canghai replied.

Mu Gaofeng knew this short priest was experienced in martial art, and that he was also a first class figure in Wulin. For him to suddenly say such a thing, there must definitely be a deeper meaning to it. Mu Gaofeng giggled and swept his eyes across. He saw everyone was looking at him strangely like he had said something really wrong. "If I have a look at it, I'll definitely be able to distinguish it."

"If Hero Mu wants to have a look, there's someone here who can use that sword art," Yu Canghai replied.

Mu Gaofeng's heart shivered as if it was suddenly cold. He swept his eyes across again to look at each person. He saw Lin Pingzhi's expression was the most uncaring, so he asked, "Is this the youngster who can use it?"

"Admirable, admirable! Hero Mu really has good eyesight, just one look and you're able to figure it out," Yu Canghai said.

Mu Gaofeng observed Lin Pingzhi from head to toe, and saw his gown was gorgeous like he was a young master from a wealthy family. He thought, "The way Shorty Yu said that, there must be a plot against me. The enemy has a lot of people. A good man doesn't want to be disadvantaged so there's no need to bother with them. I'll just go with my plan. Since Yue Buqun's daughter is in my hand, I don't have to fear him not coming to exchange the sword manual for her." So he laughed loudly and said, "Shorty Yu, I haven't seen you for a long time but you still love to joke around. I have some matters to do today, so forgive me for not accompanying you. Evil Resisting Sword Art is good, Killing Demon Sword Art is also good but I don't care about it, so goodbye."

As soon as Mu Gaofeng finished saying these words, his body shot out and landed on his horse's back. His body was very nimble. At the same instance, people there felt there was a blur in front of their eyes looking like Lin Pingzhi had jumped out and hindered Mu Gaofeng's horse's path, but then they saw he was still lightly fanning himself, sitting at his table looking like he had never left it at all. Everyone was greatly astonished but Mu Gaofeng shouted and urged his horse to go. Masters like Linghu Chong, Yingying, and Yu Canghai saw clearly how Lin Pingzhi had extended his hand to stab twice and done something to the horse. Sure enough, after a few steps, Mu Gaofeng's horse suddenly ran into a pillar of the grass shed. The force with which the horse ran into the pillar was enormous and it brought half of the grass shed down. Yu Canghai leapt outside of the shed while the grass and hay fell on top of Linghu Chong, Lin Pingzhi, and other people's heads. Zheng E extended her hand to remove the grass on Linghu Chong's head. But Lin Pingzhi just kept on staring at Mu Gaofeng and was oblivious to anything else. Mu Gaofeng hesitated, dismounted the horse, and released the rein. That horse rushed forward a few steps and ran into a big tree. With a long neigh, it fell down on the ground with a bloody head. This horse's movement was really strange and it became obvious both of its eyes were blinded because Lin Pingzhi had stabbed them with his unbelievably quick hand technique.

Lin Pingzhi used his fan to slowly wipe away the grass on his left shoulder. "A blind person riding a blind horse; that's very dangerous you know!"

Mu Gaofeng laughed loudly. "You, little kid, really are arrogant. You must have real skill. Shorty Yu said you know how to use the Evil Resisting Sword Art. There's no harm in letting grandpa have a look."

"Alright, I'm going to give you a look. You killed both my parents and sinned deeply just because you wanted to have a look at my family's Evil Resisting Sword Art. You're just like Yu Canghai," Lin Pingzhi replied.

Mu Gaofeng was stunned. He never expected this little master was Lin Zhennan's son. He secretly thought, "You have the nerve to openly challenge me here, so you must be feeling secure. His five mountains sword schools have become one school. These Heng-Shan School's nuns must all be his helpers." At this thought, he turned his hand around to grab Yue Lingshan and thought, "The enemy is many and I'm alone. This little girl is his wife. Once I have her under my hand, what can this little kid do?"

Suddenly, he heard the sound of the wind whistling behind him as a sword was hacked down on him. Mu Gaofeng slanted his body to dodge it, and saw Yue Lingshan was the one wielding the sword. Yingying had actually cut off the ropes tying Yue Lingshan's hands, opened up her sealed acupoints, and had also placed a long sword in her hand. After her attack was evaded by Mu Gaofeng, Yue Lingshan felt her injury flaring up again. Also, her acupoints had been sealed for a long time already so her limbs were aching. So even though she felt really angry, she didn't chase after him.

Lin Pingzhi laughed derisively. "Your reputation in Wulin is already well known for many years already, but you're actually so shameless. If you still want your life, crawl on the ground and give grandpa three kowtows while calling me 'grandpa' three times. Then I'll let you live for one year. After one year, I'll come and look for you again."

Mu Gaofeng threw his head back and laughed out loud. "Little kid, that day in Hengshan at Liu Zhengfeng's house, you disguised yourself as a little hunchback and kowtowed to me and called me 'grandpa'. You even staked your life to become my disciple. Grandpa wasn't willing, so you joined Old Yue's school and swindled yourself a wife, isn't this right?"

Lin Pingzhi didn't answer. His eyes were filled with fires of anger, but his face was filled with excitement. He snapped his fan closed and put it on his left hand, while his right hand lifted up his gown as he stepped out of the grass shed to walk towards Mu Gaofeng. The breeze blew past and carried a sweet fragrance to everyone's nose.

Suddenly, two cries were heard. The faces of Qingcheng School's Yu Renhao and Ji Rentong changed colour, and blood was gushing out of their chests as they fell down. The people besides them couldn't help calling out in fright. They saw clearly Lin Pingzhi was going forward to deal with Mu Gaofeng, but without knowing how, he unexpectedly drew his sword and killed those two people. After he killed them, he had promptly put his sword back into its sheath. Besides Linghu Chong and a few other masters there, the other people there only felt a flicker of cold light. They didn't see clearly how he drew his sword out let alone how he used his sword to kill those two people. A thought flashed in Linghu Chong's mind, "When I first met with Tian Boguang, it was also hard for me to fight against him. But after I've learned the Dugu Nine Swords, his fast knife was no longer fast enough in my eyes. But I'm afraid Tian Boguang wouldn't even be able to take three moves from Lin Pingzhi's fast sword. And me? How many moves would I be able to take?" All of a sudden, his palms were all sweaty.

Mu Gaofeng pulled out a sword from his waist. This sword of his was really strange as it was shaped in an arch. A hunchback using a sword which also had a hunchback; so the sword was called a hunchback sword. Lin Pingzhi sneered, and walked up to him step by step. Mu Gaofeng suddenly howled like a wolf and his body rushed forward with his hunchback sword slashing an arc at Lin Pingzhi's lower body. Lin Pingzhi's long sword left its scabbard and was thrust towards Mu Gaofeng's chest. This sword move was executed later but it arrived first and was also very fierce and accurate. Mu Gaofeng let out a roar and his body shot back out. But there was already a big rip on the chest of his cotton-padded jacket exposing his hairy black chest. Lin Pingzhi's sword only had to go two inches further forward to have cut Mu Gaofeng's chest open. The crowd cried out in astonishment.

Even though Mu Gaofeng had just escaped from his death, he was very fierce and unexpectedly didn't show any fear at all as he roared and charged towards Lin Pingzhi again. Lin Pingzhi stabbed out twice with his sword. With two 'tang, tang' sounds, he had blocked the hunchback sword twice. Lin Pingzhi laughed mockingly as his sword was getting faster and faster. Mu Gaofeng slashed high and low. The light from his hunchback sword was making up a wall of steel around his body. When Lin Pingzhi thrust out his long sword and clashed against the hunchback sword, his arm felt a burst of numbing pain. It was obvious Mu Gaofeng's internal energy was much stronger compared to his, and if he weren't careful, his long sword would be shaken out of his hand. After this, he didn't dare to attack head on anymore and he observed for a crack in Mu Gaofeng's defence before he would quickly attack that point with his sword. Mu Gaofeng didn't care what his enemy was doing and was concentrating fully on revolving his hunchback sword around his body so that not even wind nor rain could penetrate, and it unexpectedly didn't show any crack at all.

Even though Lin Pingzhi's sword art was high, he didn't know what to do. But with this kind of fighting, Lin Pingzhi was in an invincible position. Even if he couldn't harm his opponent, there was no leeway at all for Mu Gaofeng to make a mistake. Every master there saw that if Mu Gaofeng wanted to attack then his sword net would reveal a weakness, and Lin Pingzhi's quick sword would attack immediately and Mu Gaofeng would find it impossible to block. This kind of defending oneself with a flying sword was really taxing on the user's internal energy. Each move had to be done with all your power, and only then would the movements be like unceasing flowing water covering your front and back continuously. But no matter how deep your internal energy was, you still couldn't use it forever.

Within the sword net weaved by that hunchback sword, Mu Gaofeng kept on roaring. He slashed high and low with his earth-shattering roars accompanying each sword move. Lin Pingzhi had attacked a few times thinking he was going to get through the sword net, but every time it was blocked by the hunchback sword.

Yu Canghai observed this for a long time when he suddenly saw the circle of the sword net had decreased by around half a foot. It was apparent Mu Gaofeng was gradually exhausting his internal energy. With a howl, Yu Canghai lifted his sword forward and slashed out three times at Lin Pingzhi's back. Lin Pingzhi turned his sword around to block. Mu Gaofeng's hunchback sword sliced out at Lin Pingzhi's lower body. Normally, Yu Canghai and Mu Gaofeng would've lost a lot of face in joining forces to attack a youth as they were both reputable seniors. But Heng-Shan School's people had all seen how violent and cruel Lin Pingzhi was in killing the Qingcheng disciples, and they had also seen how Yu Canghai wasn't his match. So at this time, when they saw the two masters joining forces, they all felt there was nothing strange about that but instead thought it was a natural thing to do. If the two of them didn't join hands, how could they fight back against Lin Pingzhi's lightning fast swordplay?

With Yu Canghai's help, Mu Gaofeng's swordplay had changed and he was now attacking as well as defending. The three of them had fought for more than twenty moves when Lin Pingzhi's left hand circled around and turned his fan's handle around to point it towards the ground. A half inch needle shot out from his fan's handle and pierced Mu Gaofeng's right leg's 'Huantiao' acupoint. Alarmed, Mu Gaofeng quickly brandished his hunchback sword, but he suddenly felt the acupoint on his left leg was also numb. He didn't dare to move anymore and wildly brandished his hunchback sword to protect his body. Both of his legs were gradually losing strength and finally he couldn't help but to fall on his knees.

Lin Pingzhi laughed. "It's too late for you to kowtow now!" Saying this, he attacked Yu Canghai with three moves.

Even though Mu Gaofeng was kneeling on the ground, the hunchback sword in his hand didn't slow down at all as it quickly slashed and thrust. He knew he had lost so there was a sense of desperation in his fighting as he was trying to bring common ruin to his enemy. In the beginning, all his movements were defensive and there wasn't a single attacking move at all. But at this time, he was sacrificing his life and he had changed his swordplay into full attack mode without any defence at all. Yu Canghai knew he didn't have much time. If he couldn't win within a few moves and Mu Gaofeng fell down, then he would be all by himself, so his sword was now moving like a violent storm. He suddenly heard Lin Pingzhi laughing long and loud, and his vision darkened making him unable to see anything any longer. Both sides of his shoulders then felt cool as both of his arms flew off from his body.

Lin Pingzhi was laughing madly and calling out, "I'm not going to kill you! I'm going to let you run around Jianghu with no arms and no eyes. Your disciples, families, I'll kill them all and spare no one. You're only going to have enemies in this world and no family."

Yu Canghai only felt unbearable pain near where his arms were, but he understood in his heart, "What he has done to me is ten thousand times more merciless than killing me with his sword. Even though I still live, I don't have any martial art at all, and he can just humiliate me as he wants." Using Lin Pingzhi's voice to locate him, he lifted his head to rush at Lin Pingzhi's chest.