THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Three Fights Part 2

"How would I dare to do that? It's just that Mr. Ren has come out again and this will make Jianghu very eventful. I'm afraid countless number of people will lose their lives under Mr. Ren's hands. Old monk has this thought to keep the three of you in my humble temple to read Buddhist scriptures so there would be peace in Jianghu. What do the three of you think of this?"

Ren Woxing looked up towards the sky and laughed loudly. "Wonderful, wonderful, this idea is brilliant."

"When your daughter resided at the back of my humble temple, everyone in this temple treated her with respect and she didn't lack for anything. Old monk kept your daughter here but not because I wanted to avenge the disciples of my school who were killed. Ai, revenge breeds revenge, you'll get entangled endlessly. How can a Buddhist disciple act like that? The few disciples of Shaolin School who were killed by your daughter's hands; maybe this was revenge from the previous life. But... but she's very vicious and kills people easily. If she can stay in my humble temple to cultivate her mind and grow her soul, then that would be to the benefit of everyone."

Ren Woxing laughed and said, "In that case, Great Master Abbot's intention was good then."

"That is so. But old monk didn't anticipate that this matter would unexpectedly lead to a great disturbance in Jianghu. Also, that day your daughter carried young hero Linghu on her back to the temple to seek help. She said that if old monk agrees to save young hero Linghu's life then she would be willing to repay the killing of the temple disciples with her own life. Old monk told her that there was no need for her to repay with her life, but she must stay in seclusion on top of Mount Shaoshi, and she can't leave the mountain without old monk's permission. She immediately agreed to this. Miss Ren, is what I said true?" Fangzheng said.

Yingying answered quietly, "It's true."

Linghu Chong's heart swelled with gratitude when he heard the story of that day told from the Great Master Abbot's own mouth. Even though he had heard this story from other people before, it was very different hearing it directly from Great Master Fangzheng's own mouth. Also, hearing how Yingying undertook this matter by herself, he couldn't help his eyes becoming moist from tears.

Yu Canghai laughed coldly. "So it was all because of love. But it's a pity this Linghu Chong's conduct is very lacking. During that time in Hengshan, I saw it with my own eyes how he went to the brothel to sleep with prostitutes. Ai, he has really let down young lady Ren's affection."

Xiang Wentian laughingly asked, "So Priest Yu was inside the brothel observing all this and can't possibly be wrong?"

"Of course, how can I be wrong?"

Xiang Wentian lowered his voice and said, "Priest Yu, so you often visit brothels just like I do. Who's your favourite in that brothel? Is she pretty?"

Yu Canghai was furious. "Bullshit, bullshit!"

"It stinks, it stinks!" Xiang Wentian smiled.

"Mr. Ren, if the three of you agree to stay secluded on Mount Shaoshi then everyone here will turn from enemies into friends. So long as the three of you do not go down the mountain, old monk will guarantee that no one will bother the three of you. From this time onwards, you will enjoy complete happiness. Wouldn't this be a great happiness for everyone?" Fangzheng said.

Linghu Chong heard utmost sincerity in Great Master Fangzheng's speech. He thought, "This eminent monk doesn't understand worldly matters at all and he's also being very unrealistic. These three people kill people without even blinking and you want them to voluntarily be restrained on Mount Shaoshi? You must be dreaming."

Ren Woxing smiled slightly and said, "Abbot's idea is very good and you have also thought of this from all aspects. The right way is for me to follow this idea."

Fangzheng was happy to hear this. "Then 'shi zhu' is willing to stay on Mount Shaoshi?"

(Translator's note: shi zhu is a term of address used by monks or nuns referring to a believer in Buddhism.)

"Right," Ren Woxing answered.

"Then old monk will prepare the rooms. From now on, the three of you are Shaolin Temple's honoured guests," Fangzheng said happily.

"But we can only stay here for six hours and no longer than that," Ren Woxing added.

Fangzheng was greatly disappointed to hear this. "Six hours? What's the use then?"

Ren Woxing laughed. "Originally, I wanted to stay here for many days and linger with all the friends here. But my name's not good and there's nothing I can do about that."

Fangzheng was stupefied as he asked, "Old monk doesn't understand. What's shi zhu's name got to do with it?"

Ren Woxing explained, "My surname isn't good. My given name is also not good. My surname is Ren and I'm called Woxing. If I've known about this earlier, then I would've been called Nixing and it would've been more convenient. But I'm already called Woxing, so I'm forced to do as I please. Wherever I want to go then that's where I'll be going to."

(Translator's note: Ren Woxing's name means "To do what I please". He's saying Nixing which means "To do what you want me to do")

Fangzheng angrily said, "So Mr. Ren was making fun of old monk."

"I don't dare, I don't dare. Within the world's highly skilled martial artists, there are only a few people that I admire. Counting the numbers, there are only three and a half. Great monk is one of them. Also there are three and a half people that old man doesn't admire," Ren Woxing said. He said all this heartily without a hint of ridicule in his voice.

"Amituofo, old monk doesn't deserve it."

Linghu Chong became really curious when he heard him say that within the world's highly skilled martial artists, there were three and a half that he admired and there were three and a half that he didn't admire. He wanted to know who Ren Woxing would point out. Besides Fangzheng, who are the rest of the people?

He heard a person with a loud booming voice asked, "Mr. Ren, who else do you admire?"

After Fangzheng introduced the Yue Buqun couple to Ren Woxing, both parties started to argue non-stop so there was no opportunity to introduce the rest of the people. Counting the breathings of the people underneath, Linghu Chong guessed that there were ten people altogether in Fangzheng's group. Besides Great Master Fangzheng, Master, Master-Wife, Priest Chongxu, Zuo Lengchan, Priest Tianmen, and Yu Canghai, there were still three other people. He didn't know whom this booming voice belonged to.

Ren Woxing laughed. "I'm really sorry but you're not in it Sir."

That person replied, "How would I dare to stand shoulder to shoulder with Great Master Fangzheng? Naturally, I'll be one of the people Mr. Ren doesn't admire."

"You're also not one of the three and a half people I don't admire. If you practise your martial art for thirty more years, then maybe you'll become one of the people I don't admire."

That person uttered a "hey" and stopped talking. Linghu Chong thought, "You want to be one of the people not admired, but it's not that easy."

"Mr. Ren's opinion is very novel," Fangzheng said.

"Great monk, do you want to know who I admire and who I don't admire?" Ren Woxing asked.

"I will listen to shi zhu's enlightening words."

"Great monk, your study in Tendon Altering Sutra is profound and your internal energy has also reached the top. But your heart is still kind and modest, unlike old man here clamouring around Jianghu. That's why I admire you," Ren Woxing explained.

"I don't deserve it," Fangzheng said.

"But among the people that I admire, great monk isn't number one. The number one person that I admire in Wulin is the person who usurped the chief position of my Divine Sun Moon Sect. This person is Dongfang Bubai."

Everyone uttered an "ah". Obviously this was beyond their expectation. Luckily, Linghu Chong managed to stop himself from uttering his "ah". But he was thinking in his heart why Ren Woxing would regard Dongfang Bubai as the top person he admired. Dongfang Bubai imprisoned him for many years so of course he must hate Dongfang Bubai to the bone. But who would have thought that he admired Dongfang Bubai?

"Old man's martial art is already very high, I also have a very keen mind, and it's known in the realm that I have no match in this world. But I was unexpectedly fooled by Dongfang Bubai's sweet talk and as a result was buried underneath a lake. Dongfang Bubai is such a fierce person, how could old man dare not to admire him?"

"So that's how it is," Fangzheng remarked.

"The third person that I admire is the top master of Huashan School at the moment," Ren Woxing said.

This was really beyond Linghu Chong's expectation. When Ren Woxing was talking to Yue Buqun before, he didn't even give him any face. Who would've thought that inside his heart, Ren Woxing would actually admire Yue Buqun?

Madam Yue said, "You don't need to say these false talks and ridicule people."

Ren Woxing laughed. "Haha, Madam Yue, you thought that the person I was referring to was your husband? He... he lacks by a lot. The person I admire has a godly sword art. He's Feng Qingyang. Mr. Feng's sword art is much higher compared to me and I wouldn't be able to reach that stage at all. I sincerely admire him."

"Mr. Yue, is Mr. Feng still alive?" Fangzheng asked.

"Martial uncle Feng went into... into seclusion for tens of years already and we've never heard news of him ever since. If he's still alive then that would be a big fortune for our school," Yue Buqun said.

Ren Woxing laughed coldly. "Mr. Feng is from the sword branch and you're from the qi branch. These two branches of sword and qi can't co-exist together in the Huashan School. If Mr. Feng is still alive, why would it be so fortunate for you?"

Yue Buqun just stayed silent after he was reprimanded by Ren Woxing.

Linghu Chong had guessed before that Feng Qingyang was from the sword branch. When he heard what Ren Woxing said and how his master didn't dispute it, he no longer doubted it. Ren Woxing laughed. "Don't worry. Mr. Feng is a highly skilled person outside of Wulin. Do you think he still needs your Huashan School's leadership and would take over your throne?"

"I'm just a dumb person. If martial uncle Feng can give me some guidance then it would make me very happy. Mr. Ren, if you can point me to the direction where I can pay a visit to martial uncle Feng, then the Huashan School will appreciate your kindness," Yue Buqun said with apparent sincerity.

"One, I don't know where Mr. Feng is. Two, even if I know, I wouldn't tell you. A frontal attack is easily avoided but a stab in the back is hard to protect against. A real villain is easy to cope with but a hypocrite will give a lot of headache," Ren Woxing said.

Yue Buqun did not speak anymore.

Linghu Chong thought, "My master is a refined gentleman and doesn't want to speak vulgarly towards Mr. Ren."