THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Rescue Part 2

"Think about it, fourth apprentice brother," Lao Denuo explained. "Years ago, Lin Yuantu could defeat Evergreen; the sword art must have been truly outstanding. But not only was the Evil-Resisting Sword Art that Evergreen remembered nothing out of the ordinary, Master Yu also saw by his own eyes that the Kung Fu skills of the Lin family were not even worth mentioning. Something was just not making sense."

"What do you mean?" Shi Daizi asked.

"There must be some secrets to the Evil-Resisting Sword Art of the Lin Family," Lao Denuo exclaimed. "Although the moves appear average, the power of the sword art could be very strong. And Lin Zhennan did not get to learn these secrets."

Shi Daizi thought for a while and nodded, "That's right. But secret methods for sword arts are normally only passed down by one's master orally. Lin Yuantu has been dead for decades, and even if they could find his coffin and dig out his body, it wouldn't help them at all."

"The secret code for our own sword art is taught orally by Master in spoken words, with no written parts. But not every school or clan necessarily has to be like that," Lao Denuo said.

"Second apprentice brother, I still don't understand," Shi Daizi said. "It was logical that before their attack they would want the manuscript for the Evil-Resisting Sword Art. Know the enemy and know yourself, in this way you can win every battle. They wanted to defeat the Evil-Resisting Sword Art, so it was better if they knew the secret within the sword art. But the Qingcheng Sword School has already captured the Lin couple, and the Headquarters and Escort House branches have all been wiped out. What score is there left to settle? Even if there really was a powerful secret in the sword art, why should they bother looking for it?"

"Fourth brother, what is your evaluation of Qingcheng's Kung Fu compared to the Kung Fu of our Five Mountains Sword Alliance?" Lao Denuo asked.

"I don't know," Shi Daizi answered. After a short while he said, "Perhaps not as good."

"That's right, probably not as good as ours," Lao Denuo said. "Think about it. Master Yu is a conceited, arrogant man. Doesn't he want his fame to be greater than everyone else in the Martial World? If the Lin Family really had some kind of secret technique, something which could change the average sword moves of the Evil-Resisting Sword Art into something very powerful, then if they used this secret technique with their Qingcheng sword art, what would happen?"

Shi Daizi thought for a long while and suddenly struck the table heavily as he stood up and shouted, "I see! Yu Canghai wants his Qingcheng sword art to be number one in the Martial World!"

Right at that moment, sounds of footsteps floated in from the street outside. People in the teashop turned and saw a group of people rush toward the teashop in quick steps. From the way they ran, one could tell these were all Martial people. They were all dressed in oilcloth raincoats, and as they got closer, everyone saw that it was a group of Buddhist nuns.

The leading old nun was a tall one, and stopping right in front of the teashop, she shouted, "Linghu Chong, come out!"

Lao Denuo and the other apprentices recognized the old nun. She was Sister Dingyi, the Master of the White-Cloud Nunnery atop Mount Heng-Shan. She was also the junior apprentice sister of Sister Dingxian, the Head Master of the Heng-Shan Sword School. Not only was her a famous Master within the Heng-Shan Sword School, she was also a renowned master of great fame in the Martial World, and all Martial people considered her a tough fighter. All the Huashan apprentices stood up and saluted her respectfully.

"We here pay our respect to Uncle-Master!"[1] Lao Denuo said loudly.

Sister Dingyi glanced over everyone and yelled with a husky voice, "Where is Linghu Chong hiding? Get his ass out here!" Her voice was even huskier than that of a man.