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 having over forty apprentices learn at the same time. That’s more like having someone open 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 technique. 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 might harbor 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 whole temple; I had to go help him. I did not bring any weapons 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 complements 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 followed 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 lit the Back Hall, making it seem like broad daylight. I crouched down to sneak in closer and looked inside through the cracks of the window, and 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 had carried me 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 resting at night,” Lu Dayou mocked. “I guess this is what they called ‘sharpening one’s spear only before going into a battle,’ or ‘no joss sticks in fair weather, but clutching the feet of the Buddha in crisis.’”

Lao Denuo gave Lu Dayou a glare and continued, “In the middle of the Back Hall, a short Taoist priest in a blue Taoist robe sat there. 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 the 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 expelled me 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 on and so 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 have agreed. I wondered, ‘This set of sword techniques is nothing special, why would the Qingcheng Sword School want to practice it so hard, day and night? Could this set of sword techniques be the counter to our Huashan sword arts?’ It didn’t look like it!

“After watching several more moves, I dared not continue watching, 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 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 whole body would have become stiff; I would stop breathing and not 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 met with me,” 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 for 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 like 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 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 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 saying ‘three years more’?” the girl asked.

“He had 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 be too much better,” Lao Denuo shrugged.

The girl gave a hum and fell silent.

“After I went back to Mount Huashan, I gave the Master the reply letter from Master Yu,” Lao Denuo went on. “The letter was written in a very polite and modest manner, so the 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!

__________

[1] In ancient China, polygamy was legal and common among rich people.

[2] A general term for certain two-stringed bowed instruments, popular in ancient China.

[3] An ancient breathing exercise that helps improve health and acquire extra power and strength (sometimes an almost magical power that cannot be explained by science).

[4] Beggars Clan was a group made up by beggars. Members of the Beggars Clan used the number of bags to identify his status in the clan. When a new member joined the clan, he would be carrying only one bag. The higher his status was, the more bags he would be carrying.

[5] Like it was mentioned in chapter one, Ying Xiong Hao Jie stand for “hero” in Chinese.

[6] In Chinese, “Lu” has the same pronunciation as number six.