Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 01 Page 12

  “So that was what you were doing that day when you left in such a hurry. You were actually heading to Mount Qingcheng,” several apprentices cried out.

  “Yep,” the old man nodded, “at that time Master told me to not mention it to any fellow apprentices to avoid additional incidents.”

  “What additional incidents? Respectful Master was just being careful. Things the Master asks us to do of course are things with good reasoning behind them. Who would agree otherwise?” Lu Dayou stated.

  “What do you know?” The tall apprentice cut in. “If second apprentice brother had told you about it, you would surely have passed the message on to Big Apprentice Brother. Although Big Apprentice Brother wouldn’t disobey Master’s orders, it is very possible he would find some unusual ways to make trouble for the Qingcheng Sword School.”

  “Third apprentice brother is right,” the old man agreed. “Big Apprentice Brother has many friends in the Martial World. If he really wants something done, he doesn’t necessarily have to do it himself. Master told me that the letter contained all kinds of apologetic words to Master Yu, saying that his wayward apprentice was too ill-mannered; how he found the acts reprehensible; how he should have expelled the apprentice from the school, but if he did so, everyone in the Martial World would think that conflict existed between your respectful school and our school, which wouldn’t be a good thing; now he had those two wayward apprentices….” He gave Lu Dayou a glance at these words.

  “So I am a wayward apprentice as well!” Lu Dayou was displeased.

  “Is placing you at the same level as Big Apprentice Brother a disgrace for you?” the girl asked.

  Lu Dayou immediately became very happy. “You’re right! Get me some wine, get me some wine!” he yelled.

  The teashop only had tea for sale, not wine. The waiter rushed to the table and said, “Ha you all, our teashop only has Dragon-Well, Dongting-Spring, Puer, Iron-Buddha. Ha you all, we don’t sell wine, you all.” The people of the Hengyang and Hengshan region had their own special accent, and this waiter was no exception.

  “Ha you all! So ha your all’s shop doesn’t sell wine? Then I won’t drink ha your all’s wine. Ha you all!” Lu Dayou mimicked.

  “Sure, sure, ha you all!” the waiter answered. He then filled all the teapots with boiled water.

  The old man continued, “Master said in the letter that he had already had the two wayward apprentices harshly punished; he would have made the two go to Mount Qingcheng themselves to offer a humble apology, but the two wayward apprentices were hurt so badly from their punishment, they could not even walk; that’s why he sent his second apprentice Lao Denuo to take the rebuke in their stead; this incident was solely caused by the wayward apprentices, he hopes Master Yu does not take too much offense for the sake of the good relationship between the Qingcheng Sword School and the Huashan Sword School; when they meet in the future, he would apologize to Master Yu personally.”

  “So your name is Lao Denuo and you are from the Huashan Sword School, part of the Five Mountains Sword Alliance,” Lin Pingzhi thought. When he considered the words “for the sake of the good relationship between the two” in the letter, he could feel his heart beating faster. “This Lao Denuo and the ugly girl have seen me twice. I sure hope they don’t recognize me today.”

  Lao Denuo’s voice rose again, “After I arrived at Mount Qingcheng, Hou Renying did not seem to hold a grudge, but Hong Renxiong was still mad about it, and ridiculed me several times to try and pick a fight….”

  “Damn! Those Qingcheng fellows are aggressive! Second apprentice brother, if he wants a fight, give him a fight! What are we afraid of? I know that fellow Hong is no match for you,” Lu Dayou said.

  “Master sent me there to apologize, not to make trouble,” Lao Denuo exclaimed. “So I swallowed my pride and stayed on Mount Qingcheng for six days. I was not received by Master Yu until the seventh day.”

  “Humph! Harsh attitude, huh! Second apprentice brother, I bet those six days and nights on Mount Qingcheng probably weren’t too enjoyable!” Lu Dayou interrupted again.

  “There certainly was a lot of baiting,” Lao Denuo said, “but I knew that Master sent me on this not because I was any better in Kung Fu skills or the like, but because I am older, so I’d do a better job staying calm. The longer I could hold my anger, the better I could accomplish the mission. Those Qingcheng people didn’t realize that keeping me waiting for six days in the Pine-Wind Temple of Mount Qingcheng wasn’t actually doing them any good.

  “During my stay in the Pine-Wind Temple, I got really bored, since they wouldn’t let me see Master Yu. On the third day, I got up early to take a walk and secretly worked on some breathing exercises to prevent my skills from getting rusty. I was wandering around when I happened to pass by the exercise field at the rear of the Pine-Wind Temple. With a glance, I saw dozens of Qingcheng apprentices, practicing their Kung Fu. Of course in the Martial World, it is considered a taboo to watch others practice their Kung Fu, so I turned around to go back to my room. But even with such a quick glance, I felt something suspicious was going on. Each of the apprentices was using a sword, and was obviously practicing the same set of sword moves. Each one seemed to have only just learned the set, because as they practiced, their moves looked quite stiff. But what sword technique was it? I couldn’t tell with my one glance very easily.

  “After I went back to my room, I mulled over what I saw, and the more I thought about it, the more suspicious I became. Qingcheng Sword School has been well known for ages. Many apprentices have been part of the school for ten or twenty years, and each apprentice would have joined at a different time, so why was everyone learning the same sword technique at the same time? Particularly since among the dozens of apprentices were the so-called ‘Four Aces of Qingcheng’: Hou Renying, Hong Renxiong, Yu Renhao, and Luo Renjie. Fellow apprentice brothers, if it were you that saw this scene, what would you think?”

  “Maybe the Qingcheng Sword School just acquired a secret sword art manual, or maybe Master Yu just invented a new set of sword techniques, and was teaching it to his apprentices,” the apprentice with the abacus suggested.

  “I was thinking the same thing in the beginning,” Lao Denuo replied, “but after I thought about it more carefully, I realized that something was not quite right. With Master Yu’s understanding of the sword arts, if these were newly created moves, then they must have been really outstanding moves. On the other hand, if they did acquire an ancient secret sword art manual, the moves it contained must have been excellent; otherwise he wouldn’t have even bothered looking at it or asked his apprentices to practice them. New sword techniques could undo the training they had already undergone. If the moves were excellent moves, then the average apprentice wouldn’t be able to understand them easily; he would have most likely chosen three or four of his top apprentices to try them out, not have over forty apprentices learn it at the same time. That’s more like having someone opening a Kung Fu school for mere profit, not something a Master of a noble Martial Arts School would do.

  “The next morning, I went to the rear of the temple again and strolled past the exercise field. Once again, they were practicing the same sword techniques. I did not dare to stop and watch. With a quick glance, I managed to memorize two of the moves. I figured I could ask the Master’s opinion regarding them later when I got back. By that time, Master Yu still hadn’t allowed me to see him, so naturally I suspected the Qingcheng Sword School was harboring a lot of hatred toward our Huashan Sword School. Perhaps they were practicing these new moves so they could use them against us. I kept telling myself I’d better be more careful.”

  “Second apprentice brother, could they have been practicing a new sword formation?” the tall apprentice asked.

  “That was possible,” Lao Denuo said, “but they were mostly practicing in pairs; and the attacking side was using all the same type of moves as the defending side. It didn’t look like a sword formation to me. The morning after that,
I walked by the exercise field again, but this time the whole field was completely empty. I knew that they were trying to hide something from me, so my suspicions were aroused even more. I was just wandering by and happened to glance in their direction from far away. What secret could I have seen? It seemed that they were really practicing a powerful set of sword techniques to counter us, otherwise why would they worry so much about what I had seen?

  “That night, I lay on my bed and couldn’t sleep, thinking over the whole matter. Then I heard the dim clash of weapons coming from a distance. I was startled. Did some powerful enemy just invade the Pine-Wind Temple? My first thought was that perhaps Big Apprentice Brother had gotten angry because of the punishment he received from our Master, and decided to attack the Pine-Wind Temple. He was just one person, and would not be able to fight the people of the entire temple; I had to go help him. I did not bring any weapon with me when I went to Mount Qingcheng, and in my hurry, I could not stop to find a sword either, so I had to rush out with just my bare hands….”

  “Amazing!” Lu Dayou praised. “Second apprentice brother, you have great courage! I would never dare to go fight Master Yu, the Head Master of the Qingcheng Sword School, with only my bare hands.”

  “Monkey-Six, what are you babbling about?” Lao Denuo yelled angrily. “I didn’t say that I went to fight Master Yu with bare hands. I was just worried about Big Apprentice Brother’s safety, so although I knew it was dangerous, I just had to go. Would you have me hide under my covers like a coward?” All the apprentices laughed when they heard this.

  “Here I am showering you with praise and admiration, and you get angry at me?” Lu Dayou made a face.

  “Thanks, but your kind of compliments don’t sit well with me,” Lao Denuo replied.

  “Second apprentice brother, go on with the story. Don’t pay any attention to Monkey-Six,” several other apprentices urged.

  Lao Denuo continued, “So I got up quietly and went in the direction of the sounds. Hearing the clash of weapons getting louder and louder, my heart beat faster and faster. I thought, ‘The two of us are deep in the enemy’s lair now. Big Apprentice Brother has excellent Kung Fu skills. He might be able to escape without injury. But for me, it’s a different story. I am in big trouble now.’ I heard the sound of weapons float out from the Back Hall. All kinds of lights and candles were lit there making it seem like broad daylight. I crouched down to sneak in closer, and looked inside through the cracks of the window. Then I gasped and almost burst into laughter. It turned out I was just imagining things. Because Master Yu hadn’t met with me for so many days, my imagination got carried away, and I imagined the worst thing that could happen. It wasn’t Big Apprentice Brother coming to make trouble after all! There were two pairs inside practicing their sword moves. One pair was of Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong, the other pair was of Fang Renzhi and Yu Renhao.”

  “Ha, the apprentices of the Qingcheng Sword School really work hard, not even rest at night,” Lu Dayou mocked. “I guess this is what they call ‘sharpening one’s spear only before going into a battle,’ or ‘no joss sticks in fair weather, but clutching the feet of Buddha in crisis.’”

  Lao Denuo gave Lu Dayou a glare and continued, “In the middle of the Back Hall sat a short Taoist priest in a blue Taoist robe. He was about fifty years old and had a thin face. By the look of him, one could tell that he weighed no more than eighty pounds. It was said in the Martial World that the Head Master of the Qingcheng Sword School was a short Taoist priest, but if I had not seen him with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have expected him to be so short, and wouldn’t have believed that he was the famous Master Yu. There were many apprentices standing around him, attentively watching the four practicing. After watching a couple of moves, I knew instantly that they were using the new moves they had been practicing over the last couple of days.

  “I knew it was very dangerous for me to be there at that time. If the people from Qingcheng Sword School had found me, not only would I be harshly punished, but the reputation of Huashan Sword School would also have been hurt badly if the news got out. Although Master punished Big Apprentice Brother harshly for kicking the top two of ‘The Four Aces of Qingcheng’ down the stairs, saying that he had violated the school rules and caused all kinds of trouble, and offended friends, in Master’s heart, I believe he was actually glad. At least Big Apprentice Brother had gained good publicity for our school. ‘How can they be the Four Aces of Qingcheng? They couldn’t even fend off a single kick from the senior apprentice of the Huashan Sword School.’ But if I got caught sneaking around, digging up other people’s secrets, it would look worse than stealing money. And when I got back to Huashan, Master would most likely have me expelled from the Huashan Sword School.

  “But seeing those people practicing so hard, I really thought it might have had something to do with our school. How could I just turn around and leave? I just kept telling myself, ‘I’ll just watch a couple of more moves before leaving.’ But after watching a couple, I watched another couple, and so it went on and on. The sword moves they used were so unusual. I had never seen anything like them before in my life. But if someone claimed that these moves had some kind of great power, I couldn’t agree. I wondered, ‘This set of sword techniques is nothing special, why would the Qingcheng Sword School want to practice it so diligently, day and night? Could this set of sword techniques be to counter our Huashan sword arts?’ It didn’t look like it!

  “After watching several more moves, I dared not continue watching anymore, so I sneaked away and went back to my room while the four were still fighting intensely. If I had waited till the four stopped fighting and the noises ended, there would have been no way for me to get away. With his superior skills, Master Yu would have found me out after my first step outside the hall.

  “In the following two nights, the sound of swords ringing against each other kept coming from the distance, but I dared not go and watch any more. To be honest, if I had known that they were practicing sword fighting in front of Master Yu, I would never have dared to go there at all. The first time was just an accident. Just now sixth apprentice brother praised my courage; I did not deserve such praise. If you had seen my face that night, you would have known how terrified I was, and you’d have called me the number one coward.”

  “No way! No way!” Lu Dayou objected. “Second apprentice brother, you’d be at most number two. If it were I, I wouldn’t have to worry about being found out by Master Yu. I would have been so scared that my entire body would have become stiff; I would stop breathing and not be able to move an inch; pretty much no different from a zombie. No matter how outstanding Master Yu’s Kung Fu skills are, he would have never known that there was a hero named Lu Dayou hiding outside his window.” The apprentices broke into uproarious laughter.

  “Later Master Yu finally granted me an audience,” Lao Denuo continued. “He spoke in a very polite manner, saying that Master really didn’t have to punish Big Apprentice Brother so harshly. The Qingcheng Sword School and the Huashan Sword School have always maintained a good relationship. The apprentices were only roughhousing with each other, just like children playing practical jokes with each other. The parents should never take such matters too seriously. That night he invited me to dinner. The following morning when I was leaving, Master Yu saw me off all the way to the gate of the Pine-Wind Temple. Since I was the apprentice, I of course, knelt down and kowtowed. Right after I knelt down on my left knee, Master Yu lifted his right hand slightly and lifted me right up. His power was amazing! It felt as if I had suddenly lost all of my strength and my body was floating in the air. If he had wanted to toss me thirty feet or simply flip me over seven or eight times, I would not have had any strength to defend myself.

  “Master Yu smiled slightly and asked, ‘How many more years than you has your senior apprentice brother been an apprentice of your Master? You had some prior martial arts skills before you became an apprentice to your Master, hadn’t you?’

 
“I was still trying to catch my breath after experiencing his grip, so I had to wait a while before answering, ‘Yes, I learned some martial arts skills before joining the Huashan Sword School. At the time I became an apprentice of the Huashan Sword School, Big Apprentice Brother had been an apprentice for three years.’

  “Master Yu smiled again and said, ‘Three years more, hmm, three years more.’”

  “What did he mean by ‘three years more’?” the girl asked.

  “He wore an odd expression. I guess he must have been thinking that my Kung Fu skills were mediocre, so that even if Big Apprentice Brother had studied three more years than I did, he couldn’t have been too much better,” Lao Denuo shrugged.

  The girl hummed and then fell silent.

  “After I went back to Mount Huashan, I gave Master the reply letter from Master Yu,” Lao Denuo went on. “The letter was written in a very polite and modest manner, so Master was very pleased after reading it. Then, he asked about different things happening in the Pine-Wind Temple, so I told him about that night the Qingcheng apprentices practiced. Master asked me to show him a couple of the moves. I only remembered seven or eight of them, so I imitated the moves. Master said immediately when he saw them, ‘Those are moves of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art of the Fortune Prestige Escort House Lin family!’”

  When Lin Pingzhi heard this, his body trembled!

  Chapter 3: Rescue

  The door curtain was lifted, and then a little nun walked quietly into the hall. She was possessed of grace and beauty. No one would have argued that she was a perfect creation of Heaven. Although wrapped in a big and loose nun’s robe, the curves of her body were apparent from her graceful movements. She walked till she stood in front of Dingyi then knelt down gracefully.