h! Take a good long nap,” Yilin suggested.

“My Master is also in the town of Hengshan now! I wish I could get up right now and go to Uncle-Master Liu’s house to watch the fun,” Linghu Chong murmured.

Yilin noticed Linghu Chong’s lips were chapped and his eye sockets were also very dry. It must have been because he had lost so much blood. He was in terrible need to drink some water.

“Let me go find some water for you. You must be thirsty, right?” she asked.

“On our way here, I saw lots of watermelons in the field to the left. Why don’t you go get some?” Linghu Chong suggested.

“Alright.” Yilin stood up and checked her pockets, but could not find any money. “Big brother Linghu, do you have any money with you?” she asked.

“For what?”

“For the watermelons of course!”

“Did you actually want to pay for them?” Linghu Chong grinned. “You can just go pick some. There’s nobody living close by. The owner must live far away. Who are you going to buy from?”

“But to take without consent is…is stealing,” Yilin mumbled, “and that’s the second prohibition in the Five Prohibitions. We can’t do that. If we don’t have any money, we can beg alms from them. I am sure they will be kind enough to give us a watermelon.”

Linghu Chong became impatient. “You little….” He wanted to say “you little silly nun,” but because of her efforts on his behalf, he stopped at the word “little.”

Yilin could tell that he was disgruntled, so she dared not to say a word and simply walked toward the direction they had come from looking for the watermelon field. After about a mile’s walk, she did see several acres of field full of watermelons. Only chirping from cicadas filled the air. There was no one around at all.

“Big brother Linghu wanted to have some watermelon, but these watermelons all belong to someone, how can I steal from him?” she murmured to herself.

She strode another half a mile and walked on top of a small rise to look around, but still could find no one, not even a shed or a hut, so she had to walk back to the watermelon field. Standing in the middle of the field, she hesitated for a long time before finally sticking her hands out to pick a melon, but then she pulled her hands back when she remembered the prohibition told many times by her Master, that one should never steal from others. She wanted to walk away from the field, but then Linghu Chong’s thirsty face appeared in her mind. She clenched her teeth and put her palms together,[5] then prayed inwardly, “Dear Buddha, I really don’t want to steal. It’s all because big brother Linghu…big brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon.” But when she thought about it again, “big brother Linghu wants to eat some watermelon” really wasn’t a great reason. She was so worried that teardrops started emerging in her eyes. She held a watermelon with both hands and then lifted it up; the stem broke easily.

“He has saved my life,” she thought, “what’s the big deal if I have to fall down to hell and never be reborn again? The one who commits the crime will be the one responsible. It’s me, Yilin, who broke the prohibition. It has nothing to do with big brother Linghu.” She held the watermelon in her arms and then walked back.

Linghu Chong never really took common rules and prohibitions seriously. When he heard Yilin talking about begging alms for a watermelon, he simply assumed this nun was too young and inexperienced. He had never expected the matter of getting a watermelon to be such a great moral dilemma for her. When he saw Yilin back with the melon, he was very pleased.

“Good apprentice sister! What a well-behaved little girl!” he praised.

Yilin felt a shock in her heart when she heard how he had called her, and almost dropped the watermelon. She quickly wrapped it with the front of her robe. Linghu Chong laughed.

“Why are you so worried? Was someone after you because you stole his watermelons?”

“No, no one is after me.” Yilin blushed and then sat down slowly.

The sun had risen from the east; it was a sunny day. Linghu Chong and Yilin were sitting by the shady side of the mountain, and the sun had yet to reach their side. All the trees around them had been washed by the recent rain and looked greener than usual. Clear and fresh air filled the valley. Yilin collected herself, and then pulled out the broken sword by her waist. Seeing the broken tip of the sword, she thought, “That villain Tian Boguang really had high Kung Fu skills. If it weren’t for big brother Linghu risking his life to save me, I wouldn’t be sitting here in peace.” She glanced at Linghu Chong from the corner of her eyes and saw a bloodless face with sunken eye sockets. “For him,” she thought, “even if I have to violate more rules and break more prohibitions, I will have no regrets. To steal a watermelon is really nothing.” By then, she finally cleared all the guilt from her mind. She wiped the broken sword clean with a corner of her robe, and then sliced the watermelon open. A sweet smell quickly filled the air.

“Good melon!” Linghu Chong sniffed and then shouted. “Apprentice sister, I just remembered a joke. In the Lantern Festival earlier this year, when several fellow apprentices of our Huashan Sword School got together to drink wine, little apprentice sister Lingshan composed a riddle. It went, ‘A small dog on the left and a dumb melon on the right. What’s the character?’ At that time, sixth junior apprentice brother Lu Dayou – he’s the one who was looking for me last night – was sitting to her left. I was sitting to her right.”

“This riddle of hers was really joking about you and the apprentice brother Lu.” Yilin smiled.

“Right! This riddle is not hard at all. The answer is the character ‘hu’ in my name Linghu Chong.[6] It was an old joke that she read from a book. It just happened that sixth junior apprentice brother was sitting to her left and I was sitting to her right. And now, by coincidence, next to me, it’s a small dog on one side and a big melon on the other.” Linghu Chong pointed at the watermelon and then pointed at Yilin with a big smile on his face.

“Aha, you are really calling me a dog,” Yilin said.

She cut the melon into slices. After taking out the seeds, she handed him one. Linghu Chong took a bite. The melon was very sweet and soothing; he quickly finished it. Yilin was very delighted in seeing how he enjoyed it. Since Linghu Chong was eating while half lying down, the juices dripped all over his robe. Yilin cut the second slice into smaller pieces and handed them to him one piece at a time. Eating this way, juices stopped dripping all over him. Seeing that every time when he stuck his hand out to take the small pieces, his wound would hurt because of the arm movements, she started feeding the small pieces of melon directly into his mouth. It took Linghu Chong almost half a melon before he realized that Yilin had not had any of the melon herself.

“Have some yourself.”

“I’ll wait till you’ve had enough.”

“I’ve had enough. Go ahead and eat!”

Yilin felt thirsty, so after putting several more pieces into Linghu Chong’s mouth, she put a small one into her own mouth. Seeing that Linghu Chong stared at her without blinking, she felt shy and turned around with her back toward him.

“Wow, how pretty!” Linghu Chong suddenly exclaimed. His voice was filled with complement.

Yilin felt extremely embarrassed. “Why did he suddenly say I am pretty?” she thought. She felt like getting up and running away but couldn’t make up her mind. She felt her whole body burning; even her neck reddened because of shyness. Then she heard Linghu Chong saying, “Look, how pretty! Did you see that?”

Yilin turned slightly and saw him pointing at the west sky. She looked following his finger and saw a beautiful rainbow in the distant sky extending out from behind the trees. She then realized Linghu Chong’s comment “how pretty” was referring to the rainbow, and she had interpreted it in a totally different way. She felt quite embarrassed. But the embarrassment now was also combined with a slight disappointment, very different from the embarrassment earlier, which also had a bit of shyness and a bit of joy in it.

“Listen carefully! Did you hear that?” Linghu Chong asked.

Yilin leaned her body and listened carefully. She could vaguely hear the sound of flowing water coming from where the rainbow had started.

“Sounds like a waterfall,” she replied.

“Exactly! After so many days of rain, there must be waterfalls all over the valley! Let’s go take a look!”

“You…you’d better just quietly rest a few more moments,” Yilin suggested.

“There are only bare stone around here, so dull! I think it’s better to go watch the waterfalls,” Linghu Chong insisted.

Yilin did not want to oppose his will, so she propped him up. She blushed when she suddenly thought: “I’ve had him in my arms twice. The first time was when I thought he had died. The second time was when I was fleeing from danger. Although he is still wounded badly, he is completely conscious. How can I hold him in my arms again? He is insisting on going to the waterfall. Could it be that…that he wants me…?”

While she was still hesitating, Linghu Chong had picked up a broken tree branch as his crutch and started walking slowly. Seeing that, Yilin realized that she had gotten the wrong idea again.

Yilin quickly rushed over and held Linghu Chong’s arm. She criticized herself inwardly, “What’s wrong with me? Big brother Linghu is a true gentleman. Why am I so capricious and always am thinking weird thoughts? Maybe because I am alone with a man, and just want to protect myself? Although he and Tian Boguang are both men, one has high morals while the other has none. I really shouldn’t put them into the same category.”

Linghu Chong staggered along, yet was able to keep himself supported. After a few moments, they passed by a big rock. Yilin propped Linghu Chong by the rock to sit down and rest.

“Here’s a nice spot too. Do you absolutely have to go over there to watch the waterfall?” she asked.

“If you say this is a good spot, I’ll stay here for a while and be your company.” Linghu Chong smiled.

“Fine, fine. The scenery is better over there. If you feel happier watching the waterfall maybe your wounds will heal faster.” Yilin gave in.

Linghu Chong smiled and slowly stood up. The two slowly turned around a small pass, and were suddenly embraced by the thunder-like sound of a waterfall. After another short distance, the sound became even louder. After walking through a small wood, a waterfall appeared in front of their eyes like a white stripe hanging from the cliff above.

“We have a waterfall by the side of the Jade Maiden Peak at Mount Huashan also,” Linghu Chong said cheerfully. “It’s even bigger than this one. It looks similar though. Little apprentice sister Lingshan and I always practice our sword art skills by the waterfall. Sometimes when she gets mischievous, she will even run through the waterfall.”

Yilin suddenly realized when she heard the name “little apprentice sister Lingshan” was mentioned the second time. “He insisted on coming to the waterfall despite of his wounds not to enjoy the scenery. He was thinking of his little apprentice sister Lingshan.” For some reason, she felt a great pain in her heart as if someone had just given it a hard punch.

Linghu Chong went on, “Once when we were practicing sword arts by the waterfall, she tripped and fell down, almost falling into the deep pool at the bottom. Luckily I grabbed hold of her quickly enough. That could have been one dangerous accident!”

“Do you have many apprentice sisters?” Yilin asked dryly.

“We have a total of seven female apprentices,” Linghu Chong replied, “and little apprentice sister Lingshan is the daughter of the Master. We all call her little apprentice sister. The other six are apprentices of Master’s wife.”

“Oh, so she’s Uncle-Master Yue’s daughter. Does she…she…she getting along well with you?”

Linghu Chong sat down slowly. “I am an orphan with no parents. Fifteen years ago when the respectful Master and Master-Wife took me as an apprentice out of mercy, little apprentice sister was only three. I was much older than she was, so I always carried her out to pick fruits and chase rabbits. We grew up together. Master and Master-Wife don’t have a son, so they treated me like their own son. Little apprentice sister is just like my own sister.”

“Oh,” Yilin answered. After a short while, she said, “I am also an orphan with no parents. I was taken in by my Master and had been a nun ever since I was a child.”

“What a pity!” Linghu Chong exclaimed. Yilin turned toward him and looked at him questioningly. “If you weren’t an apprentice of Uncle-Master Dingyi,” Linghu Chong said, “I could have begged Master-Wife to take you in as an apprentice. We have lots of apprentice brothers and sisters. With twenty some people, it’s really lively. After practices, we just play around in groups. Master and Master-Wife don’t really discipline us much. When you meet my little apprentice sister, you will surely like her and make good friends with her.”

“Too bad I don’t have such good luck!” Yilin said. “But in the White-Cloud Nunnery, Master and apprentice sisters are all very nice to me. I…I…am very happy too.”

“Yes, yes! I didn’t mean anything by my remarks! Uncle-Master Dingyi’s sword skills are almost godlike. When my Master and Master-Wife speak of sword arts from different schools and styles, they always mention your respectful Master. The Heng-Shan Sword School is no less than the Huashan Sword School in any way!”

“Big brother Linghu,” Yilin said, “the other day when you said to Tian Boguang that fighting while standing up, Tian Boguang was the fourteenth best in the Martial World; Uncle-Master Yue was eighth. Then how is my Master ranked?”

Linghu Chong began laughing. “I was just fooling Tian Boguang. There isn’t any ranking like that. Everyone’s Kung Fu skills change every single day. Some get better, and some get worse because of old age or the like. How could someone actually rank all of them? Tian Boguang does have high Kung Fu skills, but probably not good enough to be fourteenth in the entire Martial World. I intentionally ranked him high to make him happy.”

“Oh! So you were just fooling him.” Yilin sat there, staring at the waterfall blankly for a while, lost in thought. Then she asked, “Do you always like to fool people?”

Linghu Chong grinned. “That depends. I wouldn’t say ‘always.’ Some people you can fool, and some people you cannot. When my Master and Master-Wife ask me about things, of course I wouldn’t dare try to fool them.”

“Oh,” Yilin hummed. “Then how about your fellow apprentice brothers and sisters?” She originally wanted to ask, “Do you fool your little apprentice sister Lingshan?” but for some reason, she was afraid to put the question forth so boldly.

“Well, that depends on who it is, and what it’s about,” Linghu Chong said with a smile. “We apprentice brothers always play jokes on each other. If we don’t fool people, there would be no fun!”

“Even with apprentice sister Lingshan? You fool her too?” Yilin finally asked.

Linghu Chong had never thought about this before. He frowned and thought for a while. Throughout his life, he had never fooled her on important issues. So he said, “For important things, I will never fool her. If we were just playing together, then of course there would be some fooling and joking.”

In the White-Cloud Nunnery, Yilin’s Master did not laugh much and enforced every strict nunnery rules. The apprentice sisters also maintained cold emotionless expressions most of the time. Although fellow apprentices cared for each other, very seldom would one tell a joke, much less play jokes on each other. There were quite a few young and vivacious secular girl apprentices under Uncle-Master Dingjing and Uncle-Master Dingxian, but they rarely joked with the nun apprentices. She spent her entire childhood in loneliness and lived a quiet life. Other than breathing exercises and martial arts training, all she did was to drum on the wooden fish and read Buddhist scriptures. When she heard Linghu Chong talking about the fun among Huashan apprentices, she longed for it.

“It would be really fun if I could go with him to play at Mount Huashan,” she thought. Then she figured, “After all the major disturbances I caused this time, Master surely wouldn’t let me out again once we get back to the nunnery. Playing at Mount Huashan would only be wishful thinking. Even if I did go to Mount Huashan, he would be accompanying his little apprentice sister all the time. I don’t know anyone else, who’s going to keep me company?” A sudden sadness came over her; tears almost rolled down her cheeks.

Linghu Chong did not notice. He stared at the waterfall and said, “Little apprentice sister and I are working on a set of sword arts that will have moves working along with the falling water. Apprentice sister, do you know what the purpose is?”

“I don’t know.” Yilin shook her head. Her voice choked, but Linghu Chong didn’t notice that either.

“When we fight somebody,” he went on, “if he has a good level of inner energy, then the fierce inner energy is released along with his punches or weapon slashes. The inner energy, although invisible, will knock our swords away. When little apprentice sister and I practiced our sword skills in the waterfall, we assumed the power from the falling water to be the inner energy from the enemy, so we not only had to block the enemy’s energy attack, but also tried to redirect his own inner energy back at him.”

“So were you able to get it done?” seeing that Linghu Chong was in high spirits, Yilin asked.

“Nope! Nope!” Linghu Chong shook his head. “It’s so hard to create a new set of sword arts! And we couldn’t really create any new moves, just modifying some of the Huashan Sword Art moves we had learned from the Master to thrust in the waterfall. Even if we did come up with some kind of new ideas, they were just for fun; it would be useless in a real fight. Otherwise, why was I beat up so badly by Tian Boguang?” He made a short pause while moving his hands about slowly. “I just thought of another move!” he said happily. “After I recover from my wounds, I can try it out with little apprentice sister.”

“What’s the name of this set of sword arts of yours?” Yilin asked gently.

“I really didn’t want to have a new name for it, but little apprentice sister insisted on giving it one. She called it ‘Chong-Ling Sword Art,’ because it was created by both her and me,” Linghu Chong said with a smile.

“Chong-Ling Sword Art. Chong-Ling Sword Art. Hmm, in the name of the sword art, there’s your name and there’s her name too. When you pass it on to later generations, everyone will know it was…was created by the two of you.”

Linghu Chong laughed. “My little apprentice sister said that because she’s like a little child. With our incomplete understanding of martial arts, we are not qualified to create any sword arts. Don’t tell this to anyone else. If others hear about this, they’d be laughing their asses off!”

“Of course, I won’t tell anyone,” Yilin said. She stopped for a moment and then smiled. “Actually, others have already heard about how you created your own sword art.”

Linghu Chong was astounded. “Really? Did apprentice sister Lingshan tell others?” he asked.

“It was you who said it to Tian Boguang.” Yilin grinned. “Didn’t you say that you created a set of sword art thrusting at flies while sitting down?”

Linghu Chong burst into loud laughter. “I was making things up with him. You still remember that, huh?” When he laughed loudly, the muscles around the wound moved and he grimaced with discomfort.

“Oh no! It’s my entire fault! Your wounds are hurting again! Please don’t speak anymore. You need to rest quietly,” Yilin said.

Linghu Chong closed his eyes. But after only a short while, he opened them again. “I just thought the scenery here was better, but now that we’re by the waterfall, we can’t see the rainbow any more.”

“The waterfall has the beauty of a waterfall; the rainbow has the beauty of a rainbow,” Yilin said.

Linghu Chong nodded. “That’s absolutely right! There are no perfect things in the world. When one works so hard to go after something, once he gets it, it’s no big deal anymore, but the things he had in his hands would have been lost.”

“Big brother Linghu, what you just said has profound meaning behind them. It’s a pity that my understanding of Buddhism is too shallow, and could not understand the full extent of it. If my Master heard your words, she would be able to come up with a good explanation.”

“What profound meaning? What do I know? Hmm, I am tired!” Linghu Chong let out a sigh and then slowly closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed down and soon he fell asleep.

Yilin stayed by Linghu Chong’s side, and gently whisked a leafy branch to drive away mosquitoes and other bugs from him. After a couple of hours, she felt tired too, and almost fell asleep. But she suddenly thought, “When he wakes up later, he will definitely get hungry. There’s not much to eat around here. Why don’t I go get a couple more watermelons? They would help to rid our thirst and hunger.” So she strode back to the watermelon field and picked two more melons. Afraid that someone or wild animals might bother Linghu Chong while she was away, she rushed back. Only after she saw him sleeping soundly, did she relax and sat down quietly besides him.

Linghu Chong opened his eyes. “I thought you had gone back,” he said with a smile.

“Gone back?” Yilin was surprised.

“Aren’t your Master and apprentice sisters still looking for you? They must be worried,” Linghu Chong said.

Yilin hadn’t thought about that at all. Now hearing these words, she got worried. “When I see Master again later sometime, will she be angry at me?” she wondered.

“Apprentice sister, thank you for being my company for so long. You have already saved my life. You should really go back now,” Linghu Chong said.

“No!” Yilin shook her head. “How can I leave you out in the middle of nowhere by yourself, with no one to take care of you?”

“When you get back to Uncle-Master Liu’s house, you can tell my junior apprentice brothers in secret. Then they will come to take care of me.”

Yilin felt really sad. “So it’s really because he wants the company of his little apprentice sister, and the sooner I go get her the better,” She thought. Not able to suppress her sadness, she started weeping; teardrops started dripping down to the ground.

Seeing her cry, Linghu Chong was caught in surprise.

“Why…why are you crying? Are you afraid to get punished by your Master when you get back?” he asked.

Yilin shook her head.

“Oh, I see. You are afraid to bump into Tian Boguang again. Don’t be afraid, from now on, he will only run away from you as soon as you are in sight. He will never dare meet you again.” Linghu Chong said.

Yilin shook her head again and more teardrops fell down on the ground.

Linghu Chong was confused. “Well…err…my mistake. I apologize. Little apprentice sister, don’t get mad,” he pleaded.

Hearing his gentle words, Yilin felt better, but then she thought, “He said these words in such a soft-spoken and submissive way; obviously he was used to apologizing to his little apprentice sister, and now just blurted them out without thinking.” So she blubbered and stamped her feet on the ground.

“I am not your little apprentice sister. You…you…all you can remember is your little apprentice sister,” she complained.

After the words were blurted out, she immediately regretted it. “I am a nun, why am I saying things like this to him? That’s very inappropriate,” she thought. Her face flushed and she turned aside.

Linghu Chong looked at her. Her face was completely reddened while teardrops were still rolling down her cheeks. It was almost like a small red blossom by the waterfall, its petals sprinkled with drops of water, charming and delicate. “Wow, she is so pretty. Really no less than apprentice sister Lingshan,” he thought.

“You are much younger than I am. Our Five Mountains Sword Alliance is like same root different branches. We are all apprentice brothers and sisters. Of course you are my little apprentice sister, too. Tell me how I have offended you, will you?” he said softly.

“You did not offend me. I know you want me to leave so you don’t get mad at me and won’t have bad luck. You said it before: one sees a nun, one loses….” She didn’t even finish her sentence and just kept on sobbing.

Linghu Chong could not help but feel amused. “Aha, so she wants to get even with me for the Huiyan Wine House incident. Well, I admit I should apologize for that!” he thought.

“Linghu Chong was such a jerk and said so much nonsense. The other day in Huiyan Wine House, I said so many wrong things and offended your entire respectful school. I really should be punished!” He raised his hand and gave himself a couple of slaps in the face.

Yilin turned back in a hurry. “Don’t…don’t…I…don’t blame you. I…I just don’t want to bring you bad luck.”

“Very punishable!” Linghu Chong said, and slapped himself one more time.

“I am not angry now. Big brother Linghu, don’t…don’t beat yourself,” Yilin said in a hurry.

“You’re not angry anymore?” Linghu Chong asked. Yilin shook her head. “But you are not smiling at all. Isn’t that still being angry?” Linghu Chong said.

Yilin squeezed out a smile, but out of the blue, for no reasons, she felt greater sadness and could not help weeping again, so she turned away at once.

Linghu Chong suddenly let out a long sigh. Yilin slowly stopped weeping and asked quietly, “Why…why did you sigh?”

Linghu Chong laughed hard inwardly. “After all, she’s just a little girl, and is falling for this trick of mine too!” he thought. He had been Yue Lingshan’s companion ever since he was a child. Yue Lingshan would lose her temper now and then and stop talking to him no matter how he coaxed her. Regardless of what he said, she would not pay any attention. Then Linghu Chong would put on an act to arouse her curiosity, and then get her to come ask him. Yilin had never been at odds with anyone before, so of course it worked like a charm. In no time, she fell for his trick. Linghu Chong let out another long sigh and turned away silently.

“Big brother Linghu, did I get you upset? It was my fault, please don’t pay…pay any attention to it,” Yilin said.

“No, you didn’t get me upset,” Linghu Chong said.

Yilin could see his worried face, but had no idea that he was actually laughing loudly inwardly and had pretended the whole thing, so she got worried.

“I got you to hit yourself. Let me…let me hit myself to make it even.”

She raised her hand and slapped herself in the right cheek. Before she could slap herself again, Linghu Chong had sat up and gripped her wrist. But because of the body movement, his wound gave him a great pain, and he could not help it but groan.

“Ah, lie…lie down quickly. Don’t hurt your wounds,” Yilin said hurriedly. She helped him to lie down slowly while blaming herself, “Ah, I am so stupid. I cannot do anything right. Big brother Linghu, is it…hurting badly?”

Linghu Chong’s wound does hurt pretty badly. If it were in some other time, he would never admit it. But now he had an idea. “I’ll have to do such and such to get her smiling again.” He scowled and let out several snorts.

Yilin was very concerned. “Hopefully it won’t…won’t start bleeding again,” she murmured.

She felt his forehead with her hand and was pleased to find that he didn’t have a fever. After a few moments, she asked gently, “Are you feeling a bit better?”

“Still hurts badly,” Linghu Chong said.

Yilin pulled a long face and had no idea what to do.

“Wow, it hurts! I wish sixth…sixth apprentice brother were here,” Linghu Chong muttered.

“Why, he has special painkillers?” Yilin asked.

“Yeah! His mouth is the painkiller. I’ve been wounded pretty badly before, and was in terrible pain. Sixth apprentice brother is really good in telling jokes. When I listen to his jokes and laugh at them, I forget about the pain from my wounds completely. I really wish he were here. Ouch…woo…it really hurts…au…ouch!”

Yilin felt that she was in an awkward position. People under Master Dingyi wore a dry face everyday while reading Buddhist scriptures, praying to Buddha, and practicing martial arts. It was very rare in the White-Cloud Nunnery to actually hear any laughter. For her to tell a joke was almost against her nature. She thought, “Apprentice brother Lu Dayou is not here, and big brother Linghu wants to hear some jokes, I guess I’ll have to tell the jokes, but…but…I don’t know any joke.” A sudden idea popped into her head and she remembered something.

“Big brother Linghu, I don’t know how to tell jokes, but I’ve read a book of scripture in our Scripture Room that seemed to be interesting. It’s called the ‘Scripture of Hundred Parables.’ Have you read it before?”

Linghu Chong shook his head. “Nope. I never read any books, especially Buddhist scriptures.”

Yilin blushed slightly. “I am so stupid to ask such a foolish question. You are not a Buddhist; of course you don’t read Buddhist Scriptures.” She paused and then went on, “The book ‘Scripture of Hundred Parables’ was written by a great Indian monk named Gazena. There are many interesting stories in the book.”

“Great! I love interesting stories. Tell me some!” Linghu Chong encouraged her.

Yilin smiled as countless of stories flashed through her memory. “Ok, let me tell you the parable of the ‘Plough Breaking Head.’ A long time ago, there was this bald headed man. He was naturally bald, and didn’t have a single hair on his head. For some reason, he got into an argument with a farmer. The farmer had a plough in his hands, so he took the plough and struck at the bald man’s head. That blow broke the skin of the man’s head and it started bleeding, but the bald man only laughed and t