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...
[The two figures in the reflection looked exactly the same, both hadbaggy lady's robes, even the hair bun were no different. It was an exact copyof him. Linghu Chong was so frightened that his heart almost stopped beating.]
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After Linghu Chong and Yingying came out from the valley, they walked for half a day and arrived at a small town. They went to a noodle shop to eat some noodle. Linghu Chong had picked up a few strings of noodles with his chopsticks when he chuckled and said, "We haven't paid our respect to heaven and earth to get married..."
Yingying's whole face immediately became bright red. "Who said I'm going to pay respect to heaven and earth to marry you?" she angrily replied.
"We'll get married in the future," said a smiling Linghu Chong. "If you're not willing, then I'll grab you and make you pay respect to heaven and earth."
Yingying was looking like she was smiling but not smiling at the same time. "You were so well behaved when we were in the valley. Once we come out, you're speaking such improper crazy talks again."
Linghu Chong was still smiling as he replied, "We must definitely be most proper concerning this lifelong great matter. Yingying, that day in the valley, I suddenly thought of something. After we become husband and wife, I wonder how many kids we'll have."
Yingying stood up abruptly with a scowl on her face. "If you keep saying these things, I won't go back with you to Heng-Shan."
"Alright, alright, I'll stop, I'll stop," Linghu Chong laughed. But he continued, "There are so many peach trees in that valley that it looks like a peach valley. If we have six ghosts, wouldn't they become Little Peach Valley Six Fairies?"
"How can we have six ghosts?" Yingying muttered as she sat back down. At the same time she said this, she understood what he meant. This was more crazy talk from Linghu Chong. Her eyes widened showing the whites all around them; she looked at Linghu Chong and quickly lowered her head and stuffed noodles into her mouth. Her heart was filled with sweetness.
"When we go back to Heng-Shan together, there will be some dirty minded person and there'll also be people who thought that we've gotten married. I'm afraid you won't be happy hearing such vulgar nonsense," Linghu Chong said.
This was exactly what Yingying was thinking of. She said, "That's right. It's best if we disguise ourselves as farmers; then no one would be able to recognise us."
"You have such a beautiful and lovely face. No matter what we change into, it'll always shock people. When other people see us, they'll secretly praise: 'Hey, such a beautiful girl. What is she doing with a silly little kid? How can such a rare and beautiful flower be inserted into a pile of dung?' But when they look closer, they'll definitely see this rare flower is actually the Divine Sun Moon Sect's young lady Ren while this pile of manure is the person young lady Ren favoured, Linghu Chong."
"You don't need to be so modest," Yingying smiled.
"I think, when we go back to Heng-Shan this time, I should become someone ordinary and secretly look around first. If everything's quiet and safe, I'll go there by myself and give up this headmaster position to someone. Then I'll meet with you at some secret place and we'll go down the mountain together. The gods wouldn't know, the ghosts wouldn't know, how can this be not good?"
Hearing him said this; she knew he was being considerate to her so she felt really happy. She laughingly said, "That's very good. But when you go up Mount Heng-Shan, it's best if you shave your own head and disguise yourself as a Shi Tai, especially when you are going to see those Shi Tai. No one would be suspicious of you. Brother Chong, come, I'll help you change to become a little nun. I'm only afraid you might be too good looking."
Linghu Chong waved his hand. "No, no. Once I see a nun, I'll lose all my bet. If Linghu Chong pretends to be a nun then I might get bad luck later on. That won't do at all."
Yingying laughed. "A gentleman is flexible, why do you need so many taboos for? I have to shave you now."
Linghu Chong also laughed. "There's no need to dress as a nun. But to go up Xianxing Peak, I'll need to dress as a woman. But once I speak, people will know I'm a man. I have an idea. Do you remember the person from the Hanging Temple on Mount Cui Ping beyond the Porcelain Oven Pass?"
Yingying hummed as she thought. Then she clapped her hands and said, "Wonderful, wonderful! There's a mute and deaf servant at the Hanging Temple. Even when we turned that temple upside down, she didn't hear a single thing. When you ask her anything, she just stupidly looks at you. You want to disguise as this person?"
"That's right."
"Alright, let's go buy a gown for you to change into," said Yingying laughing.
Yingying used two silver taels to buy a head of long hair from a country girl. She combed it well before putting it on Linghu Chong's head. Then she let him change into a farmer woman's gown and he now looked like a woman. She then daubed some yellow powder and drew seven to eight black moles on his face. And she also stuck a piece of medicinal wrap on his lower right cheek. Linghu Chong looked in the mirror and he couldn't even recognise himself.
Yingying laughed and said, "Your figure is similar to hers, but your expression isn't. You have to wear this stupid and foolish expression: slow-witted and clumsy like."
Linghu Chong laughed. "Wearing a stupid and foolish expression is very easy, there's nothing to change. Slow-witted and clumsy, that's also Linghu Chong's true colour."
"The most important thing is when someone suddenly tries to scare you from behind, you mustn't give yourself away," Yingying cautioned.
Along the road, Linghu Chong practised to be this mute and deaf woman. The two of them didn't spend the night in an inn but lodged in an abandoned temple. Yingying again and again suddenly shouted behind him and Linghu Chong was adequately deaf to it. Within a day, they arrived at the foot of Mount Heng-Shan. They made an appointment to meet each other in three days at the Hanging Temple's field. Linghu Chong then went up the Xianxing Peak alone, leaving Yingying to spend her time nearby on the mountain.
When Linghu Chong arrived at Xianxing Peak, it was already evening. He pondered, "If I enter the convent and take a look around, martial sisters Yiqing, Zheng E, Yilin and the other martial sisters are all very observant, so they'll definitely get suspicious. It's still best if I secretly look around first."
He quickly found a secluded mountain cave and slept there until the moon was in the middle of the sky. Then he went to the living quarters of Wuse Convent at Xianxing Peak. As he neared the living quarters, he heard the sound of long swords clashing continuously. Linghu Chong was startled as he thought, "Which enemy has come here?" He touched the short sword he was hiding inside his bosom and flew towards the sword clashing sound. The sound of fighting was coming from a house more than a hundred feet outside of Wuse Convent. There was light shining out from the house's windows. Linghu Chong rushed besides the house and heard the sound of fighting become fiercer. However, when he put his eyes to the window, he immediately felt at ease. It was Yihe and Yilin practising sword while Yiqing and Zheng E were standing on the side watching. Yihe and Yilin were practising the sword art that Linghu Chong had taught them before, which was the sword art taken from the cave behind the Cliff of Contemplation on Mount Huashan. The two of them were already quite familiar with the sword art.
As they fought, Yihe's sword gradually got faster and Yilin was barely able to keep up. Yihe thrust her sword point straight out in front of her chest. Yilin tried to circle her sword to block it but she was too late. "Ah," Yilin cried out softly. The point of Yihe's long sword was already pointing at Yilin's heart. Yihe smiled and said, "Martial sister, you lost again."
Yilin was very ashamed as she lowered her head and replied, "I've been practising but I haven't improved at all."
"You've improved compared to last time. Let's go again," Yihe said as she hacked her sword down in the middle of the air.
"Little martial sister's tired already," Yiqing interrupted. "Go to sleep with martial sister Zheng. We'll practise again tomorrow."
"Yes," Yilin replied. She put her sword back into the scabbard then took her leave from Yihe and Yiqing. Then she pulled on Zheng E's hand and went out of the door.
When Yilin turned around, Linghu Chong saw that she looked sad. He thought, "This little martial sister is always unhappy."
