Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 01 Read online

  Yu Renhao pressed on his sheath, and the sword jumped out of the sheath with a ring of steel. “Chief Master Lin, after you!”

  Lin Zhennan thought to himself, “I’ve long heard that the Pine-Wind Sword Art of the Qingcheng Sword School is both sturdy and light. They say that it is as sturdy as the pine and as light as the wind. I must try to control the initiative for a chance to win.” At that thought, he started his attack immediately. After thrusting the sword toward the enemy as a feint, he swiped his sword sideways. This was one move of the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art” called “Keep Away Evil.” Seeing the ferocity of the blow, Yu Renhao dodged out of the way. Lin Zhennan did not wait to complete the move; he immediately followed up with another move – “Eye-Picking Zhong Kui,”22 the point of his sword shot straight toward his opponent’s eyes, and as soon as Yu Renhao jumped back from the tip of the sword, his third attack immediately followed. Yu Renhao raised his sword and blocked the thrust with a clash of metal. Both felt the impact in their arms.

  “I thought the Kung Fu of the Qingcheng Sword School was really something,” Lin Zhennan thought, “but it seems to be only average. With this level of skill, how could he possibly perform the powerful ‘Heart Crushing Palm’? He must have another powerful helper around.” With this realization, his heart pumped even faster.

  Yu Renhao turned his sword around and stabbed at Lin Zhennan, directing his attack at seven different parts of Lin Zhennan’s body almost simultaneously. The thrusts were so fast that it seemed as though the air between them had suddenly been filled with the flickers of silver stars. Lin Zhennan’s counter attack was just as fast, working hard to control the initiative. The two fought back and forth, and after over twenty moves, they were still at a standstill.

  At the other end, the fight between Madam Wang and Fang Renzhi turned out to be a totally different story. Madam Wang’s golden saber was simply no match for the incredible speed of her opponent’s attacks; it was already a miracle how she managed several narrow escapes. Seeing his mother on the verge of losing, Lin Pingzhi hurriedly joined in. He swung his sword downward at Fang Renzhi’s head. Fang Renzhi moved aside and dodged the attack. Lin Pingzhi lunged forth again like a madman. Suddenly, he tripped on something. Losing his balance completely, he fell flat on his face. “Stay down!” he heard somebody yell, and then he felt a foot pressing down heavily on his back in addition to the sharp prick of a blade. All he could see was the dirt on the ground. He heard his mother screaming, “Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him!” Then he heard Fang Renzhi yelling, “You lie down, too.”

  What actually happened was that when Lin Pingzhi and his mother were fighting Fang Renzhi, a third man had sneaked in from behind and swept Lin Pingzhi with his leg, causing him to stumble. He then pulled out a dagger and placed it right at Lin Pingzhi’s heart. Madam Wang was already having a hard time defending herself. With this distraction, she started panicking, and her moves became careless. It became easy for Fang Renzhi to elbow her in the ribs and knock her off her feet.

  Fang Renzhi quickly sealed their acupoints.23 The man who tripped Lin Pingzhi was none other than Jia, who had fought against the two escorts in the small wine shop outside of Fuzhou.

  Seeing both his wife and son captured by the enemy, Lin Zhennan also panicked and attacked more desperately. Yu Renhao let out a long laugh and suddenly attacked with several moves that gained him every the initiative in the fight.

  “How did this man learn the moves of my ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’?” Lin Zhennan was astonished.

  “How’s my ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’?” Yu Renhao let out a broad grin.

  “How…how…did you learn the Evil-Resisting…?” Lin Zhennan could only stutter.

  “What’s so great about your ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’? I learned it too,” Fang Renzhi started laughing hard. He held his sword and started performing the stances – “Keep Away the Evils,” “Eye-Picking Zhong Kui,” and “Swallow Flying through the Willow Tree” – all were moves of “Evil-Resisting Sword Art.” In that instant, Lin Zhennan was utterly filled with horror. He could never have imagined that his family’s very own secret technique, the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art,” being performed by his enemies. He was so confused that he completely lost the will to fight.

  “Gotcha!” Yu Renhao blurted out as he hit Lin Zhennan’s knee. The knee went numb and gave out on Lin Zhennan, forcing him to kneel down. Though he jumped back up immediately, Yu Renhao had already pressed the tip of his sword at Lin’s chest.

  “Junior apprentice brother Yu, what an excellent display of ‘Shooting Star Chasing The Moon’!” Jia Renda cheered loudly. Like the others, “Shooting Star Chasing the Moon” turned out to be yet another move of the “Evil-Resisting Sword Art.”

  “You…you know the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’…okay, just make it quick!” Lin Zhennan heaved a long sigh and dropped his sword. Numbness spread from his back as Fang Renzhi sealed his acupoint with a blow from the pommel of his sword. Then, he heard Fang Renzhi speak again.

  “It’s not going to end that easy, you swine! You son of a turtle, wife of a turtle, and grandson of a turtle, the three of you are going to have the exquisite privilege of meeting my Master!”

  Jia Renda grabbed Lin Pingzhi, lifted him up by the collar, and slapped him hard on both cheeks.

  “You little rascal,” he snarled, “starting this day, I am going to slap you eighteen times a day, from here all the way to Mount Qingcheng. I am going to slap you till your puny little face is changed beyond recognition!”

  Filled with hatred, Lin Pingzhi spat at Jia Renda. Because the two were only a foot from each other, Jia Renda had no chance of dodging, and the wad of saliva hit him right on the nose with a wet smack. Jia Renda was furious. He hurled Lin Pingzhi to the ground and began to kick him on his back.

  “Enough, enough!” Fang Renzhi restrained Jia with a big grin. “If you kick him to death, how are we going to explain this to the Master? This scum is as fragile as a girl; he can’t handle your punches and kicks.”

  Jia Renda’s Kung Fu was just average, but his character was even worse. His Master was never fond of him, and even his fellow apprentices looked down on him. So, when he heard Fang Renzhi’s words, he didn’t dare kick Lin Pingzhi again. Instead, he spat at Lin Pingzhi to vent his anger.

  Fang and Yu carried the three members of the Lin family into the small restaurant and threw them onto the floor.

  “Let’s eat something first before we start our trip. Junior apprentice Jia, go cook us something, will you?” Fang Renzhi commanded.

  “Sure,” Jia Renda answered in compliance.

  “Senior apprentice brother Fang, we have to be careful not to let these three escape. The old one’s Kung Fu isn’t half bad; we’ll have to figure something out,” Yu Renhao mused.

  “That’s easy!” Fang Renzhi said with a nasty grin. “After we eat, we’ll just cut the nerves and tendons in their wrists and ankles. We can thread these three sons of turtles’ collarbones with a rope and tie them together, just like a string of crabs. I’ll bet you nobody can run away then!”

  Lin Pingzhi let loose a torrent of abuse. “If you’ve got guts, kill the three of us right now. Only dirty lowlife scum would do what you are going to do.”

  “One more word out of your little rascal’s mouth, and I’ll find some cow dung or dog crap to stuff your mouth with.” Fang Renzhi threatened him with a wolfish grin. These words silenced Lin Pingzhi, although it made him almost pass out with rage. He shut his mouth immediately and did not dare say another word.

  “Junior apprentice brother Yu,” Fang Renzhi said. “Our Master taught us the seventy-two moves of the ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art,’ and we actually did a good job performing them. As soon as the Chief Master Lin saw those moves, he was scared out of his wits, and his body just gave out on him. Chief Master Lin, I guess you must be wondering at this very moment: How the hell did the Qingcheng Sword School learn the Lin family’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art�
�? Am I right?”

  At the moment, that was exactly the question Lin Zhennan was pondering in his head: “How the hell did the Qingcheng Sword School learn the Lin family’s ‘Evil-Resisting Sword Art’?”

  Chapter 2: Eavesdropping

  The old huqin player walked slowly in front of the short fat man and looked him up and down. “What do you want, old man?” the short fat man demanded in annoyance. “You are talking nonsense!” The old man shook his head and then turned around and walked away. Infuriated, the short fat man stuck his hand out to grab the old man by his scruff.

  Lin Pingzhi wanted more than anything to get up and fight Fang Renzhi and Yu Renhao to the death, but with several of his acupoints sealed, he was unable to move any muscle from his lower body. He would become a complete invalid if they were to cut the nerves and tendons of his limbs and thread him through the collarbone, and he would rather die fighting than go through all that pain.

  Suddenly, screams sounded from the back kitchen. “Ah…Ah…!” It was a long cry filled with pain, and it was the voice of Jia Renda. Fang Renzhi and Yu Renhao both jumped up with their swords drawn and dashed into the kitchen immediately. A shadow flashed by the door, and a person glided in silently, then grabbed Lin Pingzhi by the collar and picked him up. Lin Pingzhi cried out in surprise when he caught a glimpse of the pox-covered face of his rescuer: it belonged to the ugly wine-selling girl, who had caused all this trouble to begin with.

  The ugly girl dragged him all the way out the front door. When they reached the big tree where their horses were reined, she grabbed him by the back with her left hand and lifted him up onto the back of the horse. With Lin Pingzhi still in a state of shock, the girl pulled out a sword and swung it swiftly. The blade flashed and the rein was cut free. She prodded the thigh of the horse with her sword; feeling pain, the horse let out an angry neigh, and then pounded madly into the woods.

  “Mom! Dad!” Lin Pingzhi shouted. Worrying about his parents and not wanting to run away by himself, he pushed hard against the back of the horse and fell off. After tumbling some distance on the ground, he found himself deep within some tall bushes. Meanwhile, the horse did not stop running and soon disappeared into the woods.

  Holding onto a branch, Lin Pingzhi tried to stand up, only to find that his legs had no strength left in them. After raising himself up about a foot, he fell back into the bushes. His waist and backside were tremendously sore. The soreness must have come from bumping into rocks and tree roots after he fell off the horse.

  Then he heard the sound of shouting followed by pounding footsteps – someone must have come after him. In a hurry, Lin Pingzhi lay motionless in the bushes. He could hear the loud clashes of weapons nearby. Several people had started a fierce fight. Quietly, he stuck his head out and watched from the bushes. One group of fighters consisted of Fang Renzhi and Yu Renhao of the Qingcheng Sword School. Opposing them were the ugly girl and a man with his face concealed behind a black cloth. Most of his hair was gray, so it was obvious that he was an old man. It didn’t take Lin Pingzhi long to conclude that he was the ugly girl’s grandfather, old man Sa.

  “I thought those two were also from the Qingcheng Sword School,” Lin Pingzhi pondered, “but it was actually the girl who rescued me…. Oh! If I had only known that they were both masters of Kung Fu, I wouldn’t have risked playing the hero and causing all this trouble for no reason.” Then he thought, “Since they are all so busy fighting right this moment, this is the perfect opportunity for me to rescue my father and mother.” But the acupoint on his back was still sealed, and his body just wouldn’t cooperate.

  “Who…who are you? How did you learn the sword skills of the Qingcheng Sword School?” Fang Renzhi cried out in disbelief.

  The old man didn’t answer. Suddenly, with several blazing flashes, Fang Renzhi’s sword flew into the air. Fang Renzhi immediately jumped backward and Yu Renhao rushed forward to block the attacks. The old man kept pressing on with lightning fast moves.

  “You…You…!” Yu Renhao shouted, his voice betraying surprise and fear. With a loud ring, his sword also flew into the air.

  The ugly girl jumped forth and lunged, but the old man parried her thrust. “Don’t kill him!” he commanded.

  “But they’re so cruel and killed so many people,” the ugly girl argued.

  “Let’s go!” the old man said. Seeing the hesitation on the ugly girl’s face, the old man reminded her, “Don’t forget our Master’s orders.”

  “Guess I’ll let them off this time,” the ugly girl nodded reluctantly, and then left through the small grove of trees. The old man followed her, and before long, both of them disappeared into the woods.

  It took Fang and Yu a good while to calm down. They both picked up their own swords.

  “Unbelievable! How did he know our Qingcheng sword techniques?” Yu Renhao still could not believe it.

  “He only knew a few, but…but when he used the move ‘Goose in the Sky,’ he did really…really…Ah!” Fang Renzhi had to agree.

  “They rescued the Lin boy,” Yu Renhao said.

  “Let’s just hope this isn’t a trick to lure us away from the Lin Couple!” Fang Renzhi yelled suddenly.

  “Damn!” Yu Renhao cried. The two turned around and rushed back to the restaurant.

  A short while later, the sounds of horses moving at a slow trot broke the silence as two horses walked into the woods. Fang Renzhi and Yu Renhao each led one of them, and Lin Zhennan and Madam Wang were each tied to a horse. Lin Pingzhi almost shouted out, “Mom! Dad!” Fortunately, he was able to swallow down the words. He knew that if he made any kind of noise, not only would he get himself killed, he would also ruin any opportunity he had to rescue his parents. Trailing about twenty feet behind the two horses, a man limped along. It turned out to be Jia Renda. The white cloth wrapped around his head was soaked with blood and he was cursing loudly.

  “Hell! You sons of turtles took the rabbit boy, but I’ve still got these two old rabbits. I’ll give each of these two old rabbits a good lashing every day. When we arrive at Mount Qingcheng, we’ll see how many lives they have left!”

  “Junior apprentice brother Jia!” Fang Renzhi yelled in admonishment. “Master has reminded us over and over to make sure that we capture the Lin couple alive. If any accidents were to befall them, I’d pay to see how many layers of skin Master would peel off you.”

  Jia Renda snorted, but shut up instantly.

  Lin Pingzhi listened as the Qingcheng disciples walked away, escorting his parents. He was actually slightly relieved after hearing those words.

  “They are going to send my parents all the way to Mount Qingcheng, and they won’t give them too hard a time on the way. Fujian is far away from Szechwan. I’ll have to find a way to rescue Father and Mother.”

  Then he thought, “When I get to an Escort House branch, I’ll send a message to Grandpa in Luoyang right away.” He lay silently in the bushes, oblivious to the bites from mosquitoes and other bugs.

  Several hours passed. When the sealed acupoints on his back finally opened up, it was already dark. He managed to stand up and slowly walk back to the small restaurant.

  “I’d better disguise myself so those two villains won’t recognize me, even if they see me face to face. How am I going to rescue my parents if I get myself killed?” he said to himself.

  After entering the restaurant owner’s room and lighting the oil-lamp, he searched for clothing, but the mountain people were so poor that they did not even own a spare set of clothes in which to change. Feeling very disappointed, he walked out of the restaurant when he spotted the bodies of the owner and his wife lying on the ground. “Well, I guess I’ll have to use the clothes of the deceased,” he thought. He took the clothes off of the dead body and held them in his hands. They looked filthy and stank badly.

  He considered washing the clothing before putting it on, but then decided against it. If he should miss an opportunity to save his parents simply because of his concern over the
cleanliness of clothes, he would surely regret it for the rest of his life. He clenched his teeth, undressed himself, then changed into the dead person’s clothes.

  Lighting a torch, he looked around, and soon discovered his father’s sword and his mother’s golden saber lying in a corner. He picked up his father’s sword and wrapped it in a rag, tied it to his back, and then walked outside. The croaking of the frogs in the canyon sounded in the distance through the otherwise silent night. Lin Pingzhi suddenly felt overwhelmed with desolation and almost cried out. He threw the torch as hard as he could; the flame formed a beautiful red arc in the night sky before being extinguished in the pond. Instantly, darkness engulfed him once again.

  “Lin Pingzhi, Lin Pingzhi! If you can’t be cautious and alert, and let yourself fall back into the hands of those Qingcheng villains, then you will be snuffed out, just like that torch falling into that filthy pond,” Lin Pingzhi admonished himself.

  Raising his arm, he wiped the corners of his eyes with a sleeve. When the sleeve neared his face, the odor reeked so badly that he almost vomited. But he firmly said aloud to himself, “If you can’t even withstand this foul odor, you are not a true man!”

  He started walking, but before long, his hips began hurting again. He clenched his teeth and increased his pace. However, not knowing which way his parents had been taken, he wandered randomly through different paths in the mountains. He walked till dawn, when rays of sunshine bathed his face, making it difficult to see things clearly.

  Suddenly, a thought struck him, “Those two villains are going to Mount Qingcheng. Szechwan Province is to the west of Fujian. Why am I going east?” He hurriedly turned around and began to walk with his back to the sun.