memorize it well. “Maintain positive energy by splitting it along Zhen channel and dissipate the negative energy through a strategic pass.”
Mr. Black-White said in alarm, “This… This… This sentence is very strange. How do a person achieve success by passing energy through eight channels? I, your junior, does not understand these… these mnemonics completely. ”
Linghu Chong said, “How can such a rare and wonderful inner energy cultivation method be easily understood by everyone? It’s simply not possible for an average man to understand the complex and subtle meanings of this method so easily.”
At this point, Mr. Black-White, who has been intently listening, became more and more aware of differences in the tone and manner of speaking between Linghu Chong and Senior Ren and cannot help but suspect that the speaker is not Senior Ren. Linghu Chong had spoken to him twice before but he had muffled his voice and said very little. This time, somewhat intoxicated with wine, Linghu Chong had spoken much. Mr. Black-White has been on high alert for any suspicious signs because he expected Linghu Chong will make up the mnemonics. So, to be sure that he was not being cheated, he asked, “Senior, did you say ‘ The energy is cultivated when the divided energy from eight channels are completely dispersed?'”
Linghu Chong answered, “Naturally.” Sensing that Mr. Black-White is getting suspicious, Linghu Chong dared not say more than “You would have to study what I have taught you comprehensively to completely understand it.” So saying, he put the wine pot on the wooden tray and pushed it through the square hole. Mr. Black-White held out his hand to receive the tray. Linghu Chong suddenly cried out “Oh!” and at the same time, leaned his body forward and hit the iron door with his forehead.
Startled, Mr. Black-White uttered, “How? This person possesses excellent wu gong skills with extremely fast response,” and put his hand through the square hole searchingly where he came into contact with the wooden tray. Nervously he grabbed the tray lest the wine pot fell to the ground and break. Just at that moment, as quick as lightening, Linghu Chong grabbed Mr. Black-White’s right hand with his left hand and said with a laugh, “Mr. Black-White, do you know who I am?”
Mr. Black-White was greatly surprised that he uttered in a trembling voice: “You… … You… … ”
When Linghu Chong handed the wooden tray out, he did not have the intention of grabbing Mr. Black-White’s hand. However, when he saw Mr. Black-White’s palm shaking under the faint light of the oil lamp while he was waiting for hand over the wooden tray, he felt a sudden impulse that he found impossible to supress. He had been imprisoned here for many days because of this person’s sly and calculated tricks; so if he were able to break Mr. Black-White’s wrist, he would be able to vent a little of his anger and hatred. Also, Mr. Black-White’s likely to be frightened stiff if his hand was suddenly seized. Since this person is so deceitful, what was wrong with scaring him? He was unsure if it was for revenge or due to his mischevious nature when he pretended to fall and led Mr. Black-White to stretch out his hand to be grabbed.
It goes without saying that Mr. Black-White had been extremely vigilant, but what happened to him occurred very suddenly and extremely fast. Even if he had foreknowledge, he would not have not been able to evade from getting his wrist captured. Mr. Black-White hurriedly twist his hand around to loosen his opponent’s vise-like grip on his wrist. As he twisted around, by chance, his “inside pass” and “outside pass” acupunture points fell directly under the fingers of his opponent. Unbelievably, he felt his inner energy coming out of the two points. Just at that time, with a loud sound, three of the toes of his foot broke, and in extreme pain, he shouted out.
How is it that Mr. Black-White strangely injured his left foot when it was his right hand that was being held? At first, Mr. Black-White had been showing respect towards his opponent out of fear. Now that he found himself captive, he became worried for his life, and in a hurry used the move called “Scaly dragon leaving the deep pool”. Used when an arm is seized, the move involves kicking out undetected with the left foot towards the enemy’s chest. The kick is extremely fierce and lethal; the enemy would usually die spitting blood if they did not succeed in avoiding it. It is impossible for someone to avoid the kick without releasing his opponent’s arm quickly.
In this moment of extreme distress, Mr. Black-White was so eager to escape that he forgot he was separated from his enemy by a thick iron door and used this “Scaly dragon leaving the deep pool” method. His kick was swift, fierce and right on target. Only, it’s a pity that his foot hit the center of the iron door with a loud “bang”. Hearing the loud noise coming from the iron door, Linghu Chong instantly realized how the iron door had protected him from Mr. Black-White’s extremely formidable kick. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud and said “Do kick again! If you kick as fiercely as the first time, then I might just let you go.”
During that time, Mr. Black-White became frighteningly aware that his inner energy had been flowing out in a steady stream from his right wrist’s “inner pass” and “outer pass” points. This was something he was most afraid of and he was scared out of his wits. He tried to control his panic so as to slow down the energy loss. At the same time, he couldn’t help but sorrowfully plead, “Old… old gentleman, I beg… you… you…”
As soon as he speaks, his inner energy gushes out of his body in a huge wave that he had to stop talking but his energy kept flowing out rapidly.
Linghu Chong had practiced the method on the steel panel for quite some time and at this moment, his dan-tian could be likened to an empty bamboo or a deep valley into which Mr. Black-White’s inner energy flowed in.
However, Linghu Chong was not aware of this. He only sensed that Mr. Black-White’s wrist was quivering as if in fear. His anger towards Mr. Black-White hasn’t abated yet and thinking to frighten Mr. Black-White further, he shouted out, “I taught you martial arts and therefore you are my disciple. Yet you took unfair advantage of your illustrious teacher. Shouldn’t I punish you for your crime?”
Mr. Black-White only sensed that his inner energy is rushing out of his body quickly. With much effort, he held his breath and was temporarily able to stop the energy from flowing out. However, eventually it was unavoidable that he had to take a breath, and in between exhaling and inhaling, great amount of his inner energy rushed out of his body. By now, he had forgotten the aches from his injured toes. He only wishes to free his right hand out of this square hole even if he were to lose an arm and a leg in the process. As soon as he thought of this, he drew his sword from his waist with his free hand. With the sudden body movement, the two acupuncture points “inner pass” and “outer pass” on his wrist opened up and from them the inner energy from his whole body rushed out as if it was river water bursting through the dikes. It was much more difficult to stop the flow again.
Mr. Black-White knew only that he couldn’t afford to suffer for long or all his internal energy will be absorbed. Gritting his teeth, he decided to chop off his own hand and promptly did his best to extract his long sword from his waist and lifted it up. However, as soon as he exerted his strength a little, his inner energy surged forward like a wave and flowed out of his body. His ears buzzed, his whole head swam and finally he lost consciousness.
Linghu Chong had seized Mr. Black-White’s hands only to frighten him. At most he was only going to twist and break Mr. Black-White’s wrist to vent his anger. He did not expect Mr. Black-White would get so scared out of his wits that he passed out of fright. Linghu Chong laughed out loud and released Mr. Black-White’s wrist. As soon as he let go, Mr. Black-White’s body collapsed to the floor and his right hand retracted from the square hole.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Linghu Chong’s mind and he hurriedly try to seize Mr. Black-White’s hand. Luckily, he was quick as lightning and managed to held on to the palm. He thought, “Why don’t I use the steel handcuffs to shackle him? That way, Mr. Huang Zhong will be forced to release me.” Immediately, he used his strength to pull Mr. Black-White’s hand closer. Unexpectedly Mr. Black-White’s head came in also through the square hole and Linghu Chong cried out in surprise as he managed to pull in the entire body into the prison cell.
This really was a big shock for Linghu Chong beyond all his expectations. He scolded himself severely for being so stupid. The square hole is 1/3 of a meter and wide enough to put a head through. As long as the head can go through, so can the body. If Mr. Black-White can be pulled in, how couldn’t he able to get out? It would have been impossible for him to escape from prison previously when his hands and legs were shackled in steel chains. However, some time ago, someone had secretly sawed through the steel chains which enabled him to free himself from them and now he would be able to escape. He ponders, “Mr. Paint must have secretly helped me by sawing the steel chains. He might have been hoping that I would make my escape by following the old man who delivered me food daily. He must have been extremely anxious waiting for my escape.
When Linghu Chong found the steel chains were sawed through, he had been practicing the skills on the iron panel but had not yet learned them by heart nor had achieved a measure of success. With both his mind and body focused on practising, he didn’t feel the need to escape and therefore did not think of running away. As he hesitated to make a decision, an idea came to him. He hurriedly removed Mr. Black-White’s clothes and changed into them. Then he put on Mr. Black-White’s cap and thought to himself, “When I get out of here, if other people see me, they will say I am Mr. Black-White”.
Afterwards, with Mr. Black-White’s long sword hanging by his waist, his sprit was greatly lifted. He shackled Mr. Black-White’s hand and foot with the steel handcuffs and used his strength to pinch the rings shut together so that the rings fit so tightly that they sink into the flesh. Mr. Black-White groaned as he was awakened by the pain. Linghu Chong smiled and said “We, brothers, are both cunningly pulled into this place! At least now, the accounts are settled and it is your turn, old man, to be delivered food and water.”
Mr. Black-White moaned “Ren…. Old Genetleman Ren…you…you used the Art of Essence Absorbing”. Linghu Chong remembered that when he was fighting along side Xian Wentian, some people from the group of opponents called out “Evil Art of Essence Absorbing”. Now, hearing the name again from Mr. Black-White, he couldn’t resist but ask “What is the Art of Essence Absorbing?” Mr. Black-White answered “I… I…deserve…deserve… to die”.
Linghu Chong withdrew from Mr. Black-White’s side deciding not to stay and listen to his reasons or explanations. First. he poked his head out through the square hole. Then, he extended both his arms out of the hole and putting his palms on the iron door, pushed his whole body out through the hole into the tunnel. When he stood up after steadying himself, he became aware that there was a great amount of stored inner energy in his dan tian and it was making him quite uncomfortable.
He did not realize that he had absorbed all of Mr. Black-White’s inner energy. He just thought because he hadn’t practice martial arts for some time, the Peach Valley Six Immortals and Monk No-Commandment’s inner energy streams have returned to his dan tian. At this time, he only wished to depart from this dark prison as soon as possible. So, he picked up the oil lamp that Mr. Black-White had carried earlier and went out from the tunnel.
He found the door at the end of the tunnel unlocked and guessed that Mr. Black-White might have left it open for himself to go out again. Thus, Linghu Chong was able to escape from the prison without much effort.
As he stepped over the stone gateway in the tunnel, he remembered the days he had spent in the dark prison and felt as if they had occurred in a different lifetime. Unexpectedly in between, his resentment towards Mr. Huang Zhong and others had also melted away. Now, at last he felt free and other things do not matter to him any more.
When he got to end of the tunnel, he climbed the last ten steps. Then he put his head against the iron door and with bated breath listened attentively to sounds above. Even though he had not encountered any trap, he was being very careful and cautious. Instead of rushing up the stairs and dashing through the door, he stopped and listened for a sound from the other side. Hearing nothing even after some time, he felt certain that Mr. Huang Zhong must not be in the bedroom. Thus, he gently lifted up the iron door and climbed up. After leaping out of the hole in the bed, he put the iron door shut, pulled the bedding in place, and treaded softly on tiptoe to get out of the room when suddenly from behind, he heard a person spoke with immense sorrow, “Second younger brother, what are you doing?” Startled, Linghu Chong turned around, only to see Mr. Huaung Zhong, Mr. Bald-Brush and Mr. Paint each pointing their weapons at him while completely surrounding him.
He didn’t know that on top of the secret door there’s a trap. When he rushed out, the trap rang a bell which informed Mr. Huang Zhong, Mr. Bald Brush and Mr. Paint that the door had been opened. He was now wearing Mr. Black-White’s mask and robe, so no one was able to recognise him. However, Linghu Chong was still frightened.
“I…. I….” he stuttered.
“I what? I had a feeling that you were up to something. You went in the prison and ask Ren Woxing to teach you Xixing Dafa, didn’t you? Humph…, did you remember what vow you pledged all those years ago?” Mr. Huang Zhong coldly said.
Linghu Chong was confused, he didn’t know whether to keep pretending as Mr. Black-White or to reveal himself. He was undecided for a while before he pulled out the long sword on his waist and thrust it towards Mr. Bald Brush.
“Good second brother, is it appropriate for you to thrust that sword at me?” Mr. Bald Brush sniggered and lifted his brush at the same time.
This sword thrust by Linghu Chong put everyone on their guard. However, it was just a fake as he quickly turned around and dashed out of the room. Mr. Huang Zhong and the rest promptly chased after him.
After running for a while, he reached the front hall of the Plum Manor.
“Second brother, second brother, where are you going?” Mr. Huang Zhong shouted.
Linghu Chong didn’t answer him but kept on running. He arrived at the front courtyard where a person stands guard in the middle of the gate.
“Second master, please halt!” the guard shouted.
Linghu Chong kept running towards the guard and hit him head on. The guard flew outside and landed a few feet outside the gate. He took a look and recognised the guard as “straight line lightning sword” Ding Jian. He was lying down straight and stiff, his body resembling part of his nickname “straight line”. He could now be called “double straight line lightning sword”.
He never stopped moving his feet and ran towards a small lane while Mr. Huang Zhong reached the gate and stopped chasing.
“Second brother, second brother, come back. We brothers can always talk things through,” Mr. Huang Zhong pleaded.
Linghu Chong had picked a secluded little road and later arrived at an uninhabited valley, which is quite a few li away from the HangZhou city’s wall. He has been running flat-out since escaping from the Plum Manor. However, when he stopped, he didn’t feel tired and was not even short of breath. On the other hand, his stamina seemed to have been even better than before he got injured.
He then took off Mr. Black-White’s mask and started walking towards the sound of running water, which turned out to be a creek. Using both hands to scoop some water to his mouth, he suddenly saw a person’s reflection on the water. That person on the water has his hair loose, his face filthy, and had a very ugly expression. Linghu Chong was startled then laugh dumbly as he realised it was his own reflection on the water. He’d been a prisoner for several months and had not bathed during all that time, naturally he would turn dirty. Suddenly, he felt his body itching all over. He quickly removed his robe, jumped into the creek and washed every nook and cranny on his body.
“The dirt on my body has been building up for these last few months, there must be at least 30 jin worth of dirt on me,” he thought.
After he’s done washing his body and drunk to his heart’s content, he pulled his hair and tied it at the back of his head. Checking how he looked on the water reflection, he found he had recovered his natural look. As he was wearing his robe, he felt that the qi between his chest and stomach didn’t feel smooth, so he sat down and meditated. After a while, he felt that the qi in his “dan tian” had scattered through the 8 arteries. Once again, the qi in his dan tian felt empty like the hollow of a bamboo while his body felt refreshed and his qi smooth.
He didn’t realise that he had finished learning the entire generation’s number one ranked kungfu. Taking into consideration that the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies, Monk No Commandment and Fang-Sheng’s eight types of internal energies have merged in his body along with Mr. Black-White’s energy; and added to that his whole life worth of internal energy repaired, all of these combined into a very high internal energy.
Suddenly, he jumped up, pulled out the long sword on his waist and thrusted it at a green willow at the side of the creek. His wrist trembled and a soft sound can be heard. The long sword was returned to its sheath. He then landed back down on his left foot. Lifting his head, he was able to see 5 leaves from the green willow slowly floating down.
The long sword cleared its sheath for the second time and made an arcing slash, all 5 leaves ended up on the sword’s edge. Using his left hand, he picked up one of the green willow leaf from the sword’s edge. A feeling of happiness rose in his heart, but he also felt strange.
“Master and Master-Wife can’t teach me kungfu anymore. But, I prefer everything going back to the way it was. Although the qi-branch sword technique is useless, I was happy at HuaShan Mountain, spending time with apprentice sister from morning till dusk. Now I’m wandering the Jiang Hu world alone like a ghost,” he sourly thought to himself.
He felt that his kungfu had never been as high as at this moment, but he also felt that he had never felt as lonely as he was right now. All his life he’d always been lively and been fond of wine, but in the past few months, he’d been all alone locked away in an underground prison. However, even though his body was free at the moment, he still felt lonely. Standing by himself besides the creek, the feeling of happiness gradually disappeared. The gentle wind brushed his body and the cold moon cast his shadow on the ground while in his heart, he felt boundless despair.
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[1] Ren Woxing means “go anywhere I wish” in Chinese.