Please forgive me.”

Those two “Yangtze River’s Pair of Flying Fish” were greatly surprised as they saw him turned respectful towards them so suddenly. They hastily returned his propriety and also cupped their fists. In their haste, the vegetable oil splashed everywhere and some was actually splashed on Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong smiled and nodded his head.

He turned towards Yilin and Zheng E saying, “Let’s go!” and returned to their boat. Heng-Shan School’s other disciples unexpectedly didn’t say anything when they got back. Even Yihe and Qin Juan, who were usually curious, didn’t ask him anything. It was because Dingxian Shi Tai had ordered them not to ask questions to save Linghu Chong from embarrassment. Linghu Chong appreciated this inwardly but he saw shadows of a smile on a few of the female disciples. Unavoidably, he now found himself in a difficult situation. He thought, “They must be thinking that Yingying is my sweetheart. Actually, there’s nothing between Yingying and me. But since they’re not asking me anything, how do I explain?” When he saw Qin Juan’s bright and cunning eyes smiling at him, he couldn’t endure it anymore and said, “It’s not like that at all. Don’t… don’t let your imagination run wild.”

Qin Juan giggled, “What am I imagining?”

Linghu Chong blushed, “I’ve already guessed it.”

Qin Juan teased him, “Guess what?”

But Linghu Chong didn’t answer her. Yihe reproached, “Martial sister Qin, don’t say it anymore. Have you forgotten Martial uncle Abbess’ order?”

Qin Juan pursed her lips holding back her laugh, “Yes, yes, I didn’t forget.”

Linghu Chong turned his head away to avoid her eyes only to see Yilin sitting alone in the boat’s cabin. She was looking pale and her expression was indifferent. He felt anxious, “What is she thinking? What did I say to upset her?”

He was startled when he suddenly remembered that day outside Hengshan. He recalled her expression while she was running and carrying him until they reached the wilderness. At that time, she was deeply troubled and excited, unlike her very indifferent expression right now. Why? Why?

Yihe suddenly said, “Martial brother Linghu!” But Linghu Chong didn’t hear her so he didn’t answer her. Yihe called out louder, “Martial brother Linghu!”

Linghu Chong was startled and turned his head around, “Hmm, what?”

Yihe said, “Martial uncle Abbess also said that we should listen to Martial brother Linghu’s plan whether we should go by road or boat tomorrow.”

Linghu Chong actually wanted to go by land to learn about Yingying. But looking from the corner of his eyes, he saw tears flowing down Yilin’s cheeks looking very pitiful. So he decided, “Martial uncle Abbess told us to just go slowly so we’ll just travel in this boat then. I don’t think those people from White Flood Dragon Clan would dare to bother us.”

Qin Juan giggled, “You’re not worried?” Linghu Chong blushed and didn’t answer her.

Yihe shouted, “Martial sister Qin, you’re just like a child, can you stop talking?”

Qin Juan giggled, “I can! Why can’t I? Amituofo, I feel worried.”

At dawnbreak, the boat sailed westward and Linghu Chong ordered it to stay close to the shore to protect against a potential White Flood Dragon Clan’s attack. But everything was quiet as they entered Hubei’s border. These last few days, Linghu Chong didn’t chit chat much with Heng-Shan School’s disciples. Every night when they dropped anchor, he went ashore by himself to drink wine until he got drunk.

That day, the boat went pass Xiakou and turned north going to the Hanshui River. At night, they stopped at the dock of a small town. He again went ashore and drank wine at a small store. After a few bowls of wine, he suddenly thought, “I wonder how little martial sister’s injuries are? Martial sisters Yizhen and Yiling delivered Heng-Shan School’s medicine to them. So her injuries should be healed by now. I wonder if martial brother Lin has recovered from his injuries? If martial brother Lin’s injuries didn’t get better, how would she react?” As he thought till here, he was startled, “Linghu Chong, Linghu Chong, you’re such a contemptible person! Even though you’re hoping that little martial sister would recover, but inside you’re also hoping that martial brother Lin would die. Even if martial brother Lin is dead, little martial sister still wouldn’t marry you.”

He was feeling bored and after he finished three bowls of wine, he again thought, “I don’t know who killed Lao Denuo and eighth martial brother? Why did that person also want to harm martial brother Lin? I wonder how Master and Master-wife are doing recently?”

He picked up another bowl of wine and grabbed some salty peanuts to eat. He suddenly heard someone sighing behind him and said, “Ai! All the males in this world have no feeling at all.”

Linghu Chong turned his head around to see who spoke those words. Under the candlelight, beside himself in that small store, there was another person crouching beside a table in the corner. On top of the table were also a wine pot and a wine cup. That person’s gown was ragged and he looked shabby. He didn’t look like an educated or elegant person. So Linghu Chong ceased paying any attention to him and continued to drink another bowl of wine. He then heard that voice spoke behind him again, “A person has been confined in a sunless place because of you but you’re spending every single day together with those girls. Young ladies, bald nuns, old grandmas, they’re all together with you. Ai, what a shame, what a shame.” Linghu Chong knew that this ragged person was talking about him but he didn’t turn around. He thought, “Who’s this person? He said that a person has been confined in a sunless place because of me. Is he talking about Yingying? Why was she confined because of me?”

He again heard that person said, “Even people who have no connection to this thing are saying that they want to sacrifice themselves to help her. Everyone wants to be the alliance chief. The person hasn’t been rescued yet but there’s already fierce fighting inside the group. Ai, old person has never seen this kind of matter in Jianghu before.”

Linghu Chong picked his wine bowl up and went over to sit opposite that person, “There are a lot of matters that are not clear to me. Old chap please teach me what to do.”

That person still lay prostrated on the table. Without raising his head, he said, “Ai, how much is because of a weakness for women, how much is sin? Heng-Shan School’s ladies and nuns will be in real trouble because of this.”

Linghu Chong was even more startled that he quickly stood up and saluted earnestly. “Linghu Chong pays his respect to senior. Please bestow your guidance.”

Standing there, he suddenly saw a very old, deep yellow-coloured huqin on the chair. A thought flashed in his mind and he realized who this person was. He immediately paid respect to him, “Junior Linghu Chong is lucky to have met martial uncle Mo from Hengshan School. Sorry for my inappropriateness.”

That person lifted his head and his bright eyes swept across Linghu Chong’s face. It was really Hengshan School’s “Xiao Xiang Night Rain” Mo Da. He uttered an “hng” before saying, “You called me martial uncle. You flatter me. Hero Linghu, these last few days you’ve been really happy!”

Linghu Chong bowed, “Martial uncle Mo is wise. Disciple received martial uncle Dingxian’s order to accompany Heng-Shan School’s martial sisters to go to Shaolin. Although disciple is ignorant, I don’t dare to be inappropriate with martial sisters from Heng-Shan School.”

Mr. Mo Da sighed, “Please sit! Ai, how could you not know that the rumours being spoken by all these people in Jianghu can even melt metal?”

Linghu Chong smiled bitterly, “Junior’s behaviour was imprudent and I didn’t check myself. I can’t even show my face in front of my own school. But I don’t think we should care too much about these idle talks in Jianghu.”

Mr. Mo Da laughed coldly, “Your name is already dragged through the mud, who would pay any attention to you? But Heng-Shan School’s hundreds of years of reputation will be ruined by your conduct. This does not move you at all? There are many talks in Jianghu about how you’re an adult male mixing with all the ladies and nuns from Heng-Shan School. So many of their names are damaged by you, even… those two very disciplined old Shi Tai are being laughed at. This… this won’t do at all.”

Linghu Chong retreated two steps and grasped his sword handle, “I don’t know who dare to spread these rumours and say all these shameless words. Martial uncle Mo, please tell me.”

“You want to kill them? The number of people who says this in Jianghu is around eight thousands. You want to kill them all? Hng, everyone is envious of your luck in love, what’s not good about that?” Mr. Mo Da said.

Linghu Chong dejectedly sat down and thought, “Whenever I do things, I never thought about the past or the future but I only ask myself to have a clear conscience. But I never thought that I would implicate everyone from Heng-Shan School. How… how can this be good?”

Mr. Mo Da sighed and warmly said, “For the last five days, I’ve been prying into your boats every night…” Linghu Chong let out an “ah” and thought, “Martial uncle Mo has been prying into our boats for five nights already but I didn’t even notice him. I’m really incompetent.”

Mr. Mo Da went on, “I saw you slept on the stern of the boat every night, you don’t even chat with any of them. Your conduct is irreproachable with these Heng-Shan School’s female disciples. Brother Linghu, you’re not only not a loafer, but you’re actually a real gentleman. Even though the boat is full of young nuns and pretty maidens, you never showed any interest in them. Not even one night, but for tens of nights you didn’t show any interest. Your type of person, a gentleman, is really rare nowadays. I, Mo Da, really admire you.” He raised his right thumbs up praising him. He then slammed his fist down, “Come, come, come! I, Mo Da, am saluting you.” He picked up the wine pot and poured wine for them.

Linghu Chong said, “Martial uncle Mo’s words scares nephew here. Little nephew’s conduct is mostly improper; that’s why I wasn’t tolerated in my own school. But these Heng-Shan School’s martial sisters who I’m traveling with, why would I dare to offend them?”

Mr. Mo Da laughed a few times before answering, “To be frank, this is actually the true colours of males. If I, Mo Da, were still in my twenties and had to accompany all these ladies every night, I wouldn’t be able to follow your example in maintaining my moral integrity. This is rare, very rare! Come, bottoms up!” The two of them lifted their wine bowls and gulped them down. Then they laughed together.

Linghu Chong saw that Mr. Mo Da’s appearance was unrestrained and his clothing and personal adornments were poor. He didn’t look like an earth-shattering figure of a school leader in Jianghu. But as his eyes swept across, it was sharp as a knife-edge. But this fierce look disappeared immediately and he again became a sleepy old man. Linghu Chong thought, “Heng-Shan’s leader Dingxian Shi Tai is kind and gentle. Taishan’s leader Priest Tianmen is dignified and sincere. Songshan’s leader Zuo Lengchan is like a dangerous bird of prey. My respected master is a refined gentleman. Martial uncle Mo’s appearance, on the other hand, is common and humble, just like any other ordinary person. However, within the five mountains sword schools’ five leaders, he’s actually the wisest one. I, Linghu Chong, am only a crude-fellow; compared to them I still lack by a long distance.”

Mr. Mo Da said, “When I was in Hunan, I heard about you mixing together with the nuns and ladies from the Heng-Shan School. I was really surprised. I wondered how Dingxian Shi Tai could allow this matter to arise from her school? Later, I found out your whereabouts from the White Flood Dragon Clan and caught up with you. Brother Linghu, when you made that disturbance in Hengshan’s Jade House, at that time I, Mo Da, firmly believed that you were a frivolous young man. Later, after you helped my martial brother Liu Zhengfeng, I held a good opinion of you. I wanted to catch up to give you some advice. Who would’ve thought that I would meet a hero of this generation. Unexpectedly, brother, you’re such a great young hero. Very good, very good! Come, come, come! We’ll drink three cups!”

He then called out to the shop servant to add more wine to drink with Linghu Chong. After a few bowls of wine, a sad and poor looking Mr. Mo Da suddenly became cheerful and energetic as he continuously called for more wine. But his tolerance for wine was far less than Linghu Chong. After a few more bowls, his face had become bright scarlet.

“Brother Linghu, I know that you really like to drink wine. Mo Da didn’t consider my own position and accompanied you to drink many bowls of wine already. Hey, hey, in Wulin, Mo Da hasn’t accompanied many people to drink wine. That day at a meeting in Songshan, there was this Songyang Palm Fei Bin. This person was really bossy and arrogant, the more Mo Da looked at him, the more I didn’t like him. So I didn’t even drink a drop of wine. The words coming out of his mouth were also rude. Damn it, don’t you think he’s annoying?”

Linghu Chong laughed, “Yes, this kind of person overrates his own ability and his conduct’s really overbearing. At the end, he didn’t have a good fate.”

“Later, this person just suddenly disappeared. His whereabouts is also unclear and no one knows where he’s gone. This is really strange,” Mr. Mo Da said.

Linghu Chong wondered about that day outside the walls of Hengshan city. He clearly saw Mr. Mo Da used his wonderfully divine sword art to kill Fei Bin then and he was also sure that Mr. Mo Da saw him there witnessing the whole event. But how come Mr. Mo was saying he didn’t know what happened to Fei Bin? Linghu Chong didn’t want to appear as if he knew something about it so he said, “Songshan School has no other people who they can rely on. So probably this Fei Bin is holed up somewhere in a cave on Songshan mountain diligently practising his sword art.”

Mr. Mo Da’s eyes suddenly flashed with a cunning look. He laughed lightly and slapped the table, “That must be it! If brother didn’t mention this, I would’ve racked my brain trying to figure out where he’s gone to and still wouldn’t have figured out the reason.” He drank a mouthful of wine before asking, “Brother Linghu, why are you really mixing with Heng-Shan School’s disciples? Devil Sect’s young lady Ren has deep feelings towards you. So you should never disappoint her.”

Linghu Chong’s face turned red when he heard this. “Martial uncle Mo is wise. Little nephew is already frustrated in love. This matter of male and female, I’ve long been indifferent to this already.” As he thought of his little martial sister, Yue Lingshan, his heart turned sour and his eyes couldn’t help but turn red. Suddenly, he laughed loudly and in a clear voice said, “Little nephew is already disillusioned with this mortal world and wanted to become a monk. But I’m afraid that the regulations for the monks are too strict. Like can’t drink wine. So I didn’t go and become a monk. Haha, haha!” Even though he was laughing loudly, it sounded mournful.

After a while, he related the story of how he met Dingjing, Dingxian, and Dingyi Shi Tai and how he helped them. He just thoughtlessly described every event while playing down his role in it.

Mr. Mo Da calmly listened to his story till the end. He then just dumbly stared at the wine pot for a long time before saying, “Zuo Lengchan’s desire is to annex the other four schools into his own to make one big school. This one big school would then be able to match the two big schools of Shaolin and Wudang and stand as their equal. He hatched this secret plot a long time ago. Although he’s concealed it deeply, I’ve seen clues of it for a long time now. His granny, he didn’t allow my martial brother Liu to wash his hand and also helped the sword branch of Huashan School to challenge and usurp Mr. Yue’s leadership. All these things happened because of this reason. But I never thought that he would be so rash as to brazenly attack Heng-Shan School.”

Linghu Chong said, “He didn’t attack openly with boldness. Originally, he pretended to be from the Devil Sect to force Heng-Shan School to have no other alternative but to agree to combine their schools.”

Mr. Mo Da nodded his head agreeing with him, “Correct. The next step he’ll be taking must be to deal with Taishan School’s Priest Tianmen. Hng, even though Devil Sect is vicious, they’re not necessarily more vicious than Zuo Lengchan. Brother Linghu, you’re no longer in Huashan School, you’re free like the cloud and cranes in the field. You’re unrestrained. So you don’t need to care about this orthodox school and Devil Sect matters anymore. I advise you, don’t become a monk and also don’t grieve because of this. Go and rescue that young lady Ren out of Shaolin and marry her. Even if other people don’t want to come and drink your celebration wine, I, Mo Da, will come and drink three cups. Damn Zho Lengchan! Does he think we’re afraid of him?”

Mr. Mo sometimes talked in a refined manner but sometimes he talked really vulgarly. He didn’t look like a leader of a school at all.

Linghu Chong thought, “He thinks that I’m discouraged about love because of Yingying. But it’s not good talking to him about the matter of little martial sister.” He then asked, “Martial uncle Mo, why did the Shaolin School imprison young lady Ren?”

Mr. Mo Da’s mouth dropped open. He eyed Linghu Chong intensely with his expression full of amazement, “Why did the Shaolin School imprison young lady Ren? You really don’t know, or you already know but you are still asking? Everyone in Jianghu already knows why, you… you… what are you asking for?”

“For the past several months, little nephew was imprisoned by some people and didn’t hear of any news from Jianghu. After that young lady Ren killed four disciples of Shaolin School, little nephew was together with her for some time. But I didn’t know how we got separated later and how she ended up being captured by Shaolin School?” Linghu Chong explained.

Mr. Mo Da answered, “If that’s the case, you really don’t know the whole story then. Your body’s internal injury was incurable by any medicine. I heard that the unorthodox sects assembled thousands of people on top of the Five-Tyrant Ridge to flatter this young lady Ren and to heal your injury. The result is that no one was able to do anything for you, is this right?”

“Right,” replied Linghu Chong.

“This whole event shook Jianghu. Everyone was wondering how this kid Linghu Chong got so much good fortune. Unexpectedly, it was because the Dark Wood Cliff’s Sacred Lady Miss Ren favours you. So even though your illness couldn’t be cured, it wasn’t all in vain,” Mr. Mo Da said.

“Martial uncle Mo is teasing me,” said Linghu Chong while he thought, “Although Old Man and Zhu Qianqiu had good intentions, their method was really crude and they announced this matter to everyone. No wonder Yingying was angry.”

“So how did you finally get better? It’s Shaolin School’s “Tendon Altering Sutra” divine art, wasn’t it?” Mr. Mo Da asked.

“It’s not. Shaolin School’s Abbot Fangzheng was merciful and forgave old animosities. He agreed to impart Shaolin School’s unsurpassed internal energy cultivation method to me. It was little nephew who didn’t want to join the Shaolin School. This Shaolin’s divine martial art wasn’t allowed to be imparted to outsiders so I had to disappoint Abbott Fangzheng’s kindness,” Linghu Chong answered.

“Shaolin School is Wulin’s most respected school. At that time, you have already been expelled from the Huashan School, so it was by chance that you were able to join Shaolin. This is once in a lifetime opportunity. Why didn’t you take into consideration about that and about your own life too?” Mr. Mo Da said.

“Little nephew has been with my respected Master and Master-Wife since I was young. Even if my body is grounded till dust, I still hope that someday my respected Master would allow little nephew to correct myself and join the Huashan School again. I didn’t want to be greedy to preserve my life and be afraid of death and join another school,” Linghu Chong said.

Mr. Mo Da nodded his head, “So that’s the reason. In that case, your internal injury was healed by another method.”

“Yes! Actually little nephew’s internal injury isn’t completely healed yet,” Linghu Chong answered.

Mr. Mo Da stared at him and said, “Shaolin School never had any relationship with you. Although Buddhist people are merciful, they wouldn’t just casually pass on their divine martial art to anyone. When Great Master Fangzheng promised to teach you “Tendon Altering Sutra”, you didn’t know the reason behind this?”

“Little nephew really don’t know. I hope that martial uncle Mo can tell me,” Linghu Chong said.

“Alright! Everyone in Jianghu says, that day, Dark Wood Cliff’s young lady Ren carried you on her back and went to Shaolin Temple. Once there, she begged to see the Abbott and told him that he must save your life and she would leave herself to the mercy of the Shaolin temple. If they wanted to kill or peel her flesh, she wouldn’t object,” Mr. Mo Da said.

“Ah!” uttered Linghu Chong as he jumped up and turned over the wine bowls on the table. His whole body was suddenly covered in cold sweat and his limbs were trembling. His voice trembled, “This… this… this…” His mind was confused. He thought back to those days when his body was getting weaker as days passed by. One night, when he was sleeping, he heard Yingying wept sorrowfully. She said, “You’re getting thinner every day. I… I…” She was saying this very sincerely and he appreciated her concern. Then he vomited some blood and lost consciousness. When he became clear-headed, he was already inside the Shaolin temple and Great Master Fangsheng had already passed him countless amount of inner energy to save him. But he didn’t know how he ended up in Shaolin or where Yingying had gone. She had actually risked her own life to save his own. He couldn’t help as tears filled his eyes and finally flowed down his cheeks.

Mr. Mo Da sighed. “Although this young lady Ren’s family background is from the Devil Sect, she treated you with sincerity and passion. From Shaolin School, Xin Guoliang, Yi Guozi, Huang Guobo, and Jueyue had all fallen under her hand. So when she went to Shaolin, she didn’t expect to return alive, but in order to save you, she… she disregarded her own life. Seeing this, Great Master Fangzheng didn’t want to kill her but he also couldn’t just let her go. That’s why she was imprisoned inside a cave at the back of the Shaolin temple. This Young lady Ren has many generations of subordinates from various clans. Of course they all wanted to save her. I heard these last few months, Shaolin School hasn’t had one day of peace. From the day they captured her till now, some people said more than a hundred people had gone there to rescue her.”

Linghu Chong’s mood surged when he heard this and he couldn’t control it for a long time. As his feelings subsided, he asked, “Martial uncle Mo, you said before everyone was vying for the Chief position and there’s already fierce fighting inside the rescue group. How is this matter?”

Mr. Mo Da sighed. “I heard that these people from the unorthodox sects usually just follow young lady Ren’s order. Without someone with authority to order them around, they’re just madly running and fighting with each other. None of them would submit to anyone. Now they’re going to Shaolin temple on a rescue mission. They all know that Shaolin temple is the realm’s oldest martial art school and matters would be difficult to handle there. Moreover, if they go there one by one then they know they would never be able to go back out alive. That’s why they gathered so many people to form an alliance before going. After this alliance was formed, then there must be a leader. I heard in these last few days, they’ve been fighting over this leadership position. Several people have died and been injured and they’ve lost many people because of this. Brother Linghu, I think you should rush over there and control them. Whatever you say, who would dare to disobey you, haha, haha!”

Mr. Mo Da was laughing happily while Linghu Chong’s face turned scarlet red. He knew that what he said was correct, but the alliance would only submit to him because of their respect towards Yingying. Later, when she found out about this, she would surely throw a big tantrum. Suddenly, he thought, “Yingying has very deep feelings towards me but she’s very thin-skinned. What I’m afraid most is if people joke at her saying that her love towards me is unrequited and I can’t repay her kindness. I must repay her kindness but when news of this spread throughout Jianghu, people will say that Linghu Chong is passionately devoted to her, then she probably don’t want to live anymore because of embarrassment. It’s best if I just rushed into Shaolin by myself and rescues her. If I couldn’t rescue her, then they can just say that I made a disturbance there to beg for alms.” At this thought, he said, “Heng-Shan School’s Dingxian and Dingyi Shi Tai already went to Shaolin temple to seek for Abbott Fangzheng’s compassion to release Young lady Ren. They’re doing this in order to avoid a bloodbath in the Shaolin temple.”

Mr. Mo Da nodded his head. “No wonder, no wonder! I found it really strange that Dingxian Shi Tai wasn’t worried that you were left alone with her school’s young ladies and nuns. So it was because of you that she’s going to Shaolin.”

Linghu Chong said, “Martial uncle Mo, little nephew now knows about this matter and feels really worried. I wish I could fly to Shaolin temple to see how the two Shi Tai are doing with their request. It’s just that Heng-Shan School’s martial sisters are all women and I’m worried that they might meet some difficulties en route to Shaolin.”

Mr. Mo Da answered, “You can go!”

Linghu Chong happily said, “There’s no harm if I go first?”

Mr. Mo Da didn’t answer but picked up his huqin instead, and started playing it. Linghu Chong knew the meaning behind his word was that he was going to tend to Heng-Shan School’s disciples. Martial uncle Mo’s martial art and experience was not ordinary. No matter whether he was protecting them in secret or not, Heng-Shan School would be safe. He immediately bowed and said, “Thank you for your kindness.”

Mr. Mo Da replied, “Five Mountains Sword Schools, same root different branches. Why do you need to thank me for protecting them? If that Young lady Ren found out, I’m afraid she’ll drink vinegar because of this.”

Linghu Chong said, “Goodbye. Little nephew will bother martial uncle Mo to look after Heng-Shan School’s martial sisters then.” As he finished saying this, he rushed out of the shop.

He halted a step and looked towards the middle of the river. He saw lights from the windows on the boat spilled over and reflected on the Hanshui River. In the shop behind him, the sound of Mr. Mo Da’s huqin rapidly disappeared. He could only hear the calm of the night. It was really peaceful.