they have committed such a contemptible deed?” he pondered.

He followed Mr. Huang-Zhong and entered the stone gate. The tunnel began to descend as the passageway extended in front them. After several hundred feet, another gate appeared in front of them, this time, an iron-gate. Taking the string of keys out once again, Mr. Hung-Zhong opened the iron-gate.

The tunnel kept descending deeper and deeper under the ground. By then they were probably over one thousand feet below the surface. The tunnel made a few turns when another gate met Linghu Chong’s eyes.

“I had thought that since the four Manor Masters are adept at music, gamesmanship, calligraphy, and painting, the ‘Four Arts’, they must have been persons of lofty virtues and poetic temperament. Who would have thought that they would set up private prisons and imprison a woman in such a hellhole that’s completely void of daylight and sunshine?” Linghu Chong felt resentment brewing inside his chest.

When he first entered the tunnel, he had no intention to watch out for the four Manor Masters, but at the moment he simply couldn’t help feeling his vigilance growing considerably. “They couldn’t defeat me in sword tests. Could it be possible that they have lured me down here so they could imprison me here? There are gates after gates inside the tunnel, no one would be able to escape even if he was furnished with wings.” That thought almost made him shudder. But with Mr. Huang-Zhong in front of him, Mr. Black-White, Mr. Bald-Brush, and Mr. Paint behind, and not a single weapon in his hands, he found himself quite helpless.

The third gateway actually consisted of four separate doors. Behind the iron door was a wooden door covered with cotton wadding nailed onto the door plank. Behind the wooden door stood another iron door, behind which was another wooden door covered with cotton waddling.

“Why have they placed two wooden doors covered with cotton wadding in between the two iron doors?” Linghu Chong wondered. “I got it. I suppose the prisoner has very formidable inner strength. The cotton wadding was used to absorb the fierce power from her palm and prevent her from breaking down the iron doors.”

For the next one hundred feet or so, there were no more gates along the way. The oil lamps hung from the tunnel wall stood further and further from each other. In some sections of the tunnel, the oil lamps had long extinguished, leaving only complete darkness, and the pack had to feel their way forward for dozens of feet before seeing the next light.

The further they went, the harder it was to breathe, Linghu Chong found. Moreover, the tunnel wall and the tunnel floor had turned awfully damp. Suddenly, a thought came to his attention, “The Plum Manor sits on the bank of the West Lake. After walking for so long, we are probably deep underneath the West Lake by now. This person is locked up underneath the West Lake, not only is it impossible for her to escape by herself, it is also impossible for others to rescue her, because as soon as they dig open the tunnel wall, water from the lake would have poured in from above.”

After another thirty or forty feet forward, the tunnel suddenly turned very narrow, and they had to bend their backs to proceed forward. The further they went, the lower they had to bend their backs. Another twenty feet later, Mr. Huang-Zhong finally held his steps and took out his flint to light up the oil lamp on the tunnel wall. Before long another iron-door came into view under the dim light, an iron-door with a square-shaped opening one-foot wide.

“Mr. Ren, Huang-Zhong and his brothers have come to visit you!” Mr. Huang-Zhong spoke toward the square-shaped opening, loud and clear.

“What? How could it be Mr. Ren? Shouldn’t the person locked inside a female?” Linghu Chong was taken aback.

But no response came from the inside.

“Mr. Ren, we are very regretful for not having sent our respects to you often. We have come today to inform you of an important matter,” Mr. Huang-Zhong spoke again.

Suddenly a hoarse voice bellowed from inside the cell, “Important matter my ass! If you’ve got horseshit, unload it now! If not, get the hell out of here!”

Linghu Chong was dumbfounded. Instantly, all his previous fancy disappeared like mist and smoke. Not only did the voice belong to an old man, the words this man used were also so crude that they had to come from the mouth of a street vulgar.

“Before, we had always thought that when talking about exceptional sword masters of our time, Mr. Ren would undoubtedly be ranked as the number one on the chart. But how wrong we were! Today we had a visitor to the Plum Manor. The four brothers of us certainly were no match for him; even Mr. Ren’s sword art would pale into insignificance by comparison,” Mr. Huang-Zhong said.

“He is using mocking words to goad that man into entering a sword context with me,” Linghu Chong thought to himself.

The man burst into loud laughter. “You four sons of bitches couldn’t beat him, so you goaded him into sparring with me and hoped that I would take care of this tough enemy for you, didn’t you, you scumbags? Ha-ha, what wishful thinking! Too bad that I haven’t touched a sword for over ten years and have completely forgotten all my sword skills. Why don’t you just put your tail between your legs and get the hell out of here, you bloody bastards!”

Linghu Chong gasped with astonishment. “This man is so incredibly sharp-witted and could predict with miraculous accuracy. Just from Mr. Huang-Zhong’s words he had figured everything out,” he thought to himself.

“Big Brother, in no way would Mr. Ren be this person’s rival. This person said that nobody in the Plum Manor could defeat him, and he wasn’t overstating the case. There’s no need to talk further with Mr. Ren,” Mr. Bald-Brush said.

“Give it up! Provoking me won’t cut it. Did you actually think I would do anything for you four bastards?” the man named Ren snarled.

“This person has truly mastered the sword skills taught by the venerable Grandmaster Feng Qingyang of the Huashan Sword School. Big Brother, I heard that years ago when Mr. Ren roamed the Martial World, he feared neither Heaven nor Earth, except one person – Grandmaster Feng. Mr. Ren’s nickname was something like ‘Flee at the Sight of the Wind’, and the word ‘wind’ here refers to the venerable Grandmaster Feng Qingyang.[3] Is that true?” Mr. Bald-Brush asked.

“What stinking fart! Rubbish!” the man named Ren roared at these words.

“Third Brother said it wrong,” Mr. Paint joined in.

“Why?” Mr. Bald-Brush asked.

“You got one word wrong,” Mr. Paint elaborated. “Mr. Ren’s nickname is not ‘Flee at the Sight of the Wind’. It is ‘Flee at the Sound of the Wind.’ Now think about it. If Mr. Ren had already had Grandmaster Feng in his sight, the two of them couldn’t have been very far from each other, and how could Grandmaster Feng have allowed him to get away? Only that as soon as he heard Grandmaster Feng’s name mentioned he starts running right away, restless like a cur stray from his pack….”

“…and hasten like a fish slipping out of the net…,” Mr. Bald-Brush added.

“…is he able to keep his head on his neck all the way till today!” Mr. Paint completed the sentence.

The man named Ren seemed to be quite amused by these words and laughed out loud. “You four stinking bastards found yourself driven from pillar to post by him, and then thought that you could beg me to take him on. Go jump in the lake. Did you think I am so stupid to fall for your tricks?”

Mr. Huang-Zhong heaved a sigh. “Brother Feng,” he said to Linghu Chong, “this Mr. Ren here is already frightened out of his wits simply at the mentioning of the ‘Feng’ in your name. There’s no need for another sword match. We’ll just admit that you are the number one sword master in the entire world.”

Although Linghu Chong knew that he had imagined everything wrong when he found out that the person was not a woman, seeing him stuck in the dungeon, and obviously for a very long time, the feeling of sympathy soared in his heart spontaneously. From the tone of everybody, he deduced that this person had to be a very senior master with extraordinary Kung Fu skills. So when he heard Mr. Huang-Zhong’s words, he objected.

“First Master, it is not true. When Grandmaster Feng discussed sword arts with me, he held this…this venerable Mr. Ren in very high esteem. He said that in regard to sword masters of our time, the revered Mr. Ren was the only person he had admiration for and that if I were lucky to meet this Mr. Ren someday, I must kowtow to him with utter respect and ask for his advice with sincere desire.”

These words sent Mr. Huang-Zhong and his sworn brothers in complete shock while that Mr. Ren found himself on the high ropes. Laughing loudly, he said, “Little friend, what you said is very correct. Feng Qingyang is no ordinary swordsman. He, and only he, is capable of recognizing the subtlety of my sword arts.”

“Grand…Grandmaster Feng knows that he…he is here?” Mr. Huang-Zhong uttered. His voice quivered and Linghu Chong almost felt he sensed dread in his voice.

“Grandmaster Feng thought that the revered Mr. Ren had retired to a scenery spot in a famous mountain,” Linghu Chong decided to run wild with his made-up story. “During the time when he trained me in the art of sword, he had frequently mentioned about the revered Mr. Ren. He said that the only purpose of training in these sword moves was to fight revered Mr. Ren’s students. If revered Mr. Ren never existed, then it would have become completely unnecessary to learn these very complicated sword moves.”

By then he had become very discontented with the four Masters of the Plum Manor, thinking that the man named Ren must have been a champion of the past, and his captivity in the dark and degrading prison must have resulted from some sort of a despicable plot in secret set up by the four Manor Masters, so even his words carried much ridicule and sarcasm.

“Um, that’s right, my little friend! Feng Qingyang really has some good insights. You got the better of these folks in the Plum Manor, didn’t you?” The man named Ren asked.

“Well, since my sword skills were taught my Grandmaster Feng, himself, then unless it was you, Mr. Ren, or unless it was a student of yours, ordinary people of course wouldn’t stand a chance,” Linghu Chong replied.

By saying these words, he had publicly denounced Mr. Huang-Zhong and the bunch. The more he felt how dark, damp, and gloomy the dungeon was, the angrier he was at the four Manor Masters. He had only stayed here for a very short while and was already feeling awfully uncomfortable, but they had locked this senior master in this appalling place, a place completely unsuitable for human inhabitation, for god knows how many years. That was just atrocious. As the moral indignation grew rapidly inside him, he had no more scruple with the choice of his words, thinking that even if worst came to worst and they killed him on the spot, he wouldn’t have cared any more.

When Mr. Huang-Zhong and the rest Manor Masters heard these words, they of course felt much snubbed. But they did lose their matches and had nothing to contradict.

“Brother Feng, what are you…?” Mr. Paint muttered, but after Mr. Black-White gave his sleeve a tug, he held his tongue.

“Very good! Very good! Little friend, you’ve really given me a vent to my anger. Now tell me, how did you beat them?” the man asked.

“The first person from the Plum Manor to have sword match with me was a friend named Ding Jian with a nickname called something like ‘Straight Line Lightning Sword’,” Linghu Chong said.

“His sword moves are flash and without substance. He doesn’t have any true skills, and all he does is to try to scare people with his sword flashes. You don’t have to use any move sparring him. Just place your blade there and he’ll send his fingers, wrists, or arms onto your blade and have them cut off, himself,” the man said.

Feeling utterly astounded, the five listeners cried out in unison.

“What? Was I not right?” the man asked.

“You are absolutely right. It’s almost like you have seen it with your own eyes,” Linghu Chong answered.

“Great! Then did he cut off his five fingers or a hand?”

“I turned my sword blade a little bit,” Linghu Chong said.

“Wrong! Wrong! Why be so nice to your enemy? You are too kindhearted and one day you’ll for sure get the worse of it. So who was your second opponent?”

“It was Fourth Master.”

“Um, Fourth’s sword skills of course are better than that ‘Straight Line Fart Sword’, but not by much. After he saw you defeat Ding Jian, I bet that he’d be using that unique stun of his, which he prided himself on. Ah, what was that sword art called? Oh, yeah. It’s called the ‘Splashing Ink Slicing Hemp Sword Art’, with something like ‘White Aurora Shooting the Sun,’ or ‘Mounting Flood-Dragon and the Soaring Phoenix’, or something like ‘Willow Wickers Fluttering in the Spring Breeze’.”

Hearing that the man was able to spell out his prided sword moves with such accuracy, Mr. Paint found himself in an even bigger shock.

“Fourth Master’s sword art was actually quite clever, except that it has too many flaws when he attacks,” Linghu Chong said.

“Ha-ha, Old Feng’s student certainly has a few tricks of the trade. You hit the mark with a single comment and have identified the deadly flaw in this ‘Splashing Ink Splitting Hemp Sword Art’ of his. Within this sword art of his, there’s one move, which he always thought to be the most formidable killer move in the entire sword art, called ‘Jade Dragon Hanging Upside Down’ where he would bring the sword swishing down from above with shear force. If he indeed launched this move against a student of Old Feng, then all the opponent had to do was to slice the long sword upward right next to his sword blade, and all his five fingers would have been sliced off, and the blood from his hand would splash everywhere like splashing ink. It’s called the ‘Splashing Blood Slicing Fingers Sword Art’! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!”

“Senior Master can predict with miraculous accuracy. I did defeat him on this move exactly as Senior Master has described. But I have no grudges against him; besides, Fourth Master had feasted me with great wines and treated me very kindly. So in regard to the five fingers, there’s no need to slice them off. Ha-ha! Ha-ha!” Linghu Chong said.

By then, Mr. Paint’s face looked as though someone had painted it scarlet and violet, and he was well worthy of the name “Mr. Paint”. Except that his head is covered by a pillowcase, so no one could actually see his face.

“Bald-headed Third uses a Judge’s Pen. His handwriting is no better than a three-year-old kid, yet he loves posing as a lover of culture and even claims that his Kung Fu contains conception from famous calligraphers. Little friend, I am sure you understand that combat with your enemy is an important matter that distinguishes between life and death. Even if one wrestles with all his strength, he is not guaranteed a triumph, where would he find such leisurely and carefree mood to be particular about the style of the inscription or script? Only when your opponent’s Kung Fu is far inferior to that or yours, you might be able to tease him or play him, but if the two sides’ Kung Fu skills are comparable and you still try to write words with your Judge’s Pen, you are only offering your own life with both hands to the mercy of your enemy.”

“Senior Masters’ words are very precise. The Third Master is a bit too casual when he fights others,” Linghu Chong agreed.

When Mr. Bald-Brush first heard the man’s comments, he was furious. But the more he thought about these words, the more he found them to be in the right. It was a lot of fun when he permeated calligraphy in his Judge Pen moves, but the power from his weapon did decrease dramatically after all. If it weren’t because Linghu Chong held back, even ten Mr. Bald-Brush would have been slain easily. At that thought, he broke into cold sweat.

“To beat Bald-headed Third is as easy as a walkover,” the man said with a laugh. “His Judge Pen Kung Fu used to be quite worthy, but he is too bigheaded and would rather add some kind of calligraphy in his Kung Fu. Humph, when elite fighters exchange moves, the outcome is determined from very minor aspects. Treating his own life as a joking matter, it is really a miracle in the Martial World that he was able to stay alive till today. Bald-headed Third, for the last ten years you just holed up and didn’t go around the Martial world, didn’t you?”

Mr. Bald-Brush let out a snort but didn’t answer, when, in fact, a chill just shot down his spine. “He is absolutely right. If I had been wandering in the Martial World in the last ten years, there’s no way I’d still be alive today,” he thought inwardly.

“Second’s Kung Fu with his Magnetic Iron Game Board is genuine talent, though,” the man continued. “Once he starts his attack, each move becomes faster than the previous one, and the attack would swamp his opponent like a gust of blizzard or a sudden downpour. It is indeed not easy to withstand for ordinary martial artists. Little friend, tell me how you broke his attack?”

“Well, I certainly dare not to use the word ‘break’ here. Only that as soon as the fight broke out, I initiated my attack as well as the Second Master and was able to force him into defense,” Linghu Chong replied.

“Excellent! How about the second move?” the man asked.

“With the second move, I used a forestall attack again, and Second Master took a defending stance again.”

“Excellent! Then how about the third move?”

“With the third move I was still attacking and he was still defending.”

“Incredible! In the old times, Black-White was indeed awe-inspiring in the Martial World. By then he used a regular Iron Board, and if anyone could withstand his three consecutive strikes, Black-White would spare his life. Later he changed his weapon to the Magnetic Iron Game Board and gained great advantage in his weapon, consequently, became even more capable. Little friend, you were actually able to force him into three consecutive defending moves, that’s excellent! So on the fourth move, how did he counterattack?”

On the fourth move, again, I attacked and Second Master defended.”

“Is Old Feng’s sword art really this brilliant? Even though to defeat Black-White is not difficult, you were actually able to force him into a defending stance again on the fourth move? Hmm, excellent! Excellent! On the fifth move, it must have been him who attacked?”

“On the fifth move, the situation remained the same.”

“Oh!” the man named Ren fell silent. Only after a long pause did he speak again. “After how many of your attacking moves Black-White was able to counterattack?”

“Um…well…I don’t remember how many,” Linghu Chong answered.

Mr. Black-White picked it up and said, “Senior Master, Young Hero Feng’s sword skills are so brilliant that from the beginning all the way to the end, I was not able to attack even once. After over forty moves, I knew I was no match for him so I stopped the match and admitted my defeat.” Only by then did he speak to the man named Ren and the tone of his words was unexpectedly respectful.

“Ah!” the man cried out loudly. “This is ridiculous! Although Feng Qingyang is an exceptional talent in the Sword Branch of the Huashan Sword School, Huashan Sword Branch’s sword art still has its limit. I’d never believe that someone from the Huashan School can attack Black-White with over forty moves and not let him return even a single blow!”

“Revered Mr. Ren is really flattering me, a junior! This Brother Feng here has well surpassed his teacher. The level of his sword skills has far exceeded the extent of Huashan Sword Branch. When we look around the entire Martial World, only someone like the Revered Mr. Ren, someone to be considered the mightiest fighter of our time, is capable of giving him some pointers,” Mr. Black-White said.

“Mr. Huang-Zhong, Mr. Bald-Brush, and Mr. Paint all sounded very rude while Mr. Black-White spoke with the utmost esteem. But whether they were provoking words or flattering words, their intention remained the same, that is to let this Mr. Ren have a sword contest with me,” Linghu Chong thought to himself.

“Humph! Your fawning stinks just the same!” the man reprimanded. “Huang-Zhong’s moves and techniques are only on par with that of Black-White’s, but his cultivation in inner strength is not bad at all. Little friend, is your inner strength stronger than him, too?”

“I had incurred prior injuries and had lost all my inner strength, that was why First Master’s ‘Seven-String Invisible Sword’ had no effect on me at al,” Linghu Chong replied.

The man burst into loud laughter. “That is very interesting. Little friend, I think I’d like to check out your sword art,” he said.

“Senior Master, please don’t fall for their scheme. The Four Playfellows of Jiangnan want to goad you into having the sword match. But they actually have ulterior motives,” Linghu Chong urged.

“What ulterior motives?” the man asked.

“They made a wager with a friend of mine that if any one in the Plum Manor can defeat my sword art, then that friend of mine would have to lose a few things to them,” Linghu Chong explained.

“Lose a few things? Um, I suppose they must be rare music scores, game manuals, or probably authentic calligraphy books or paintings from ancient times,” the man said.

“Senior Master can foresee with divine accuracy!” Linghu Chong said.

“I only want to see your sword art; we are not having a real fight. Besides, who said I’d be able to beat you for sure?”

“It’s practically certain that Senior Master would prevail over me. But we must ask the four Manor Masters to give their words on one condition,” Linghu Chong said.

“What condition?” the man asked.

“If Senior Masters defeats the long sword in my hand and win those several treasures for them, the four Manor Masters must open the cell door and let Senior Master leave this place,” Linghu Chong explained.

“Little friend has a very fantastic idea. Did Feng Qingyang teach you that?” the man grinned.

“Venerable Grandmaster Feng has no idea that Senior Master is imprisoned here. And I had absolutely no clue about it as well,” Linghu Chong said.

“Young Hero Feng,” Mr. Black-White suddenly called out. “What is the name of this Revered Mr. Ren? What nickname has he gained from fellow martial masters in the Martial World? Which school was he the Head Master of? Why is he locked up here? Did the Venerable Grandmaster Feng tell you anything about it?”

Facing these four sudden questions from Mr. Black-White, Linghu Chong found himself tongue-tied. Before when Linghu Chong had attacked forty or so moves in quick successions, Mr. Black-White had been able to ward them of with forty or so defending moves. But now when Mr. Black-White suddenly asked him four questions in quick successions as though he was attacking with four moves, Linghu Chong couldn’t even fend off any one of them. After some indistinct falters, he said, “Well, I haven’t heard any of those from Grandmaster Feng. I…I really don’t know the answers to those.”

“Right! I bet you don’t have a clue,” Mr. Paint joined in. “If you had known the cause here, you wouldn’t have wanted us to release him. If this man gets to leave this place, then the entire Martial World would have been turned upside down. Countless of people would die under his hands and there will never be another peaceful day in the entire Martial World.”

“That’s correct!” the man guffawed. “No matter how daring the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan are, they’d never have the guts to let me out of the prison cell. Besides, they are only following orders to watch over this place, nothing more than four puny prison guards. How could they have the authority to release me? Little friend, this request of yours has really elevated their status too much!”

Linghu Chong kept his silence, thinking, “I had the least bit of idea about any of these implications. No wonder only a few sentence into it, I’ve already given myself away.”

“Brother Feng,” Mr. Huang-Zhong said, “when you saw how gloomy and damp the dungeon is, naturally you sympathized with this Mr. Ren, therefore, felt resentment toward us four brothers. That only shows the errantry in your heart, and I don’t blame you. But did you know that if this Mr. Ren returned to the Martial World, just in your Huashan School, at least half of your people would have been wiped out. Mr. Ren, am I correct on that?”

“You are correct! Is Huashan School’s Head Master still Yue Buqun? He is a complete hypocrite. Too bad at first I was too busy, and then fell for a secret plot afterwards, otherwise, I would have tore his hypocritical mask off a long time again,” the man scoffed.

Linghu Chong felt big shock in his heart. Though his Master expelled him from the Huashan School and also proclaimed to the entire world, making him the public enemy of all orthodox schools in the Martial World, he always recalled with emotion the kindness his Master and Master-Wife had shown him bringing him up and treating him like their own son. When he heard the man named Ren fouled and insulted his Master, he couldn’t help but roar, “Shut up! My Mas….” But he immediately swallowed the rest of the word down, remembering that when Xiang Wentian brought him to the Plum Manor, he had been introduced as the Uncle-Master of his Master. Before knowing whether these people were good or evil, it would have been unwise to reveal the truth.

The man named Ren, of course, did not know the true meaning behind Linghu Chong’s roar. While laughing loudly, he continued, “Within the Huashan School, there are of course people I think much of. Reverend Feng is one; you, little friend, is another. And there is another junior of yours called something like ‘Jade Maiden of Huashan’ Ning…Ning something. Oh, I got it. Her name is Ning Zhongze. That little girl is actually straightforward and heroic. She is a talent. What a pity it is that she had to marry that Yue Buqun like a beautiful flower stuck on a pile of cow dung.”

Linghu Chong didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry when he heard the man referring to his Master-Wife as a “little girl,” so he didn’t respond. At least he had favorable comment for Master-Wife and called her a talent.

“Little friend, what’s your name?” the man asked.

“My surname is Feng, and my first name is Er-Zhong,” Linghu Chong replied.

“Anyone with the surname Feng in the Huashan School can’t be bad. Come in here. Let me check out Reverent Feng’s sword art,” the man said. He had been referring to Feng Qingyang as “Old Feng” at first, but then changed it to “Reverent Feng” later. He must have been quite pleased with the way Linghu Chong talked and turned courteous toward Feng Qingyang in his words.

Linghu Chong’s curiosity had been growing constantly for a good while and was very eager to meet this man, to take a look at how he looked and to find out how great his Kung Fu was.

“My shallow sword art is only good for bluffing some people on the outside. But in front of Senior Master, it is nothing more than a laughing matter. But the Revered Mr. Ren is a man with exceptional abilities. Since I am already here, how can I not pay a visit?” he said respectfully.

Mr. Paint moved closer and then whispered to his ears, “Brother Feng, this man’s Kung Fu is very bizarre, and the methods he employs are also very sinister. Be very careful. If anything doesn’t feel right for you, come back out immediately.” His voice was very low, but the caring and concern obviously came from complete sincerity.

“Fourth Master is treating me like a true friend!” Linghu Chong thought inwardly. “I ridiculed him with my words just a moment ago. Not only didn’t he bear grudges at all, on the contrary, he sincerely cared for my safety.” At that thought, secretly, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed.

“Come in! Come in! What are they talking about on the outside, talking so furtively? Little friend, the Four Clowns of the Jiangnan are no good apples. All they want is to have you fall for their trick. Nothing good will come out of their mouths. Don’t trust a word from them,” the man said loudly.

Linghu Chong found himself wavering, not sure which side he should trust and which side he should help. Mr. Huang-Zhong took out another key from his chest pocket and then turned it several times after inserting it into the keyhole on the iron-door. Linghu Chong had thought that after he unlocked the door, he would go ahead and push the iron-door open, but quite to his surprise, Mr. Huang-Zhong stepped back and Mr. Black-White stepped forward, who also took out a key from his own chest pocket, inserted the key into the keyhole, and then turned a few times. After him, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint each took out his key and turned the key in the keyhole respectively.

Linghu Chong suddenly realized, “This Senior Master’s status must have been very prestigious. The four Manor Masters each is holding a separate key and it takes all four keys combined to be able to open the iron-door. The Four Playfellows of Jiangnan are as intimate as real brothers, and the four of them are almost like one unity. How come they don’t even trust each other?” Then he thought, “A moment ago, that Senior Master said that the Four Playfellows of Jiangnan are only acting under orders like prison guards. They have no authority to release him at all. Maybe it was the same person who appointed them the guard duty who ordered them to each holds a separate key. The turning sounds of the keys were strident and unsmooth, obviously the lock was covered with rust and it has been a long time since the iron-door was last opened.”

After Mr. Paint turned his key in the keyhole, he grasped onto the door handle, shook it a few times, and then pushed hard. Amid the loud scrunching sounds, the iron-door opened for a few inches inwa