THE SMILING PROUD WANDERER by Jin Yong

Sword Fight Part 4

The short sword was slowly pointed out. It suddenly trembled and emitted a humming sound. From the humming noise, two thrust suddenly shot out. Yue Lingshan lifted her sword to block, but Mr. Mo Da's short sword was like a ghost as it suddenly went around behind Yue Lingshan's body. Yue Lingshan hastily turned around. Then she heard two humming sound besides her ears and saw a clump of hair floating past her. It was her own hair which had been cut off by Mr. Mo Da. She was anxious and quickly thought, "He's showing mercy, otherwise his sword could've killed me just then. Since he's not going to harm me, I can just attack him."

She didn't care about her opponent's sword path anymore. With two thrust, she aimed at Mr. Mo Da's lower abdomen and forehead. Mr. Mo Da was slightly startled and thought, "These two moves are 'Quan Ming Furong' and 'Crane Soaring to Zige'. These are my Hengshan School's unique skills. How did she learn them?"

Mount Hengshan had seventy two peaks and the five highest peaks were Furong, Zige, Shilin, Tianzhu, and Zhurong. Among the Hengshan School's sword art, there were five groups of sword arts named after each of those highest peaks. Mr. Mo Da saw that the moves Yue Lingshan used just then was the 'one move containing one group' move which meant this one move contained the essences of dozens of sword arts from that one group.

'Furong Sword Art' contained thirty six moves and 'Zige Sword Art' contained forty four moves, and each of these two sword groups contained the essences of dozens of moves. When they were simplified and harmoniously combined into one move, that one move would be very powerful and would be offensive and defensive at the same time. 'Quan Ming Furong' and 'Crane Soaring to Zige' were two of these combined moves and they both made up part of the Hengshan School's top sword arts which were called 'Hengshan's Five Divine Swords'. The crowd just heard the continuous sound of swords clashing and they didn't know who was actually attacking or defending. They also didn't know how many moves these two people had executed in that short time.

Mr. Mo Da had planned everything before making his move on this mountaintop. He had also thought of a way to counter this 'leadership challenge sword fight'. He didn't have the slightest thought of actually becoming the headmaster of the Five Mountains School, and he knew even better that he was no match for Zuo Lengchan or Linghu Chong. But he was the headmaster of Hengshan School, so he couldn't just bow his head and stand idle by during the leadership challenge sword fight.

He was angry at Yuqingzi for helping an evil person do evil and causing the death of Priest Tianmen. So his original plan was to have it out with that priest, but who would've thought that all three Zi of Taishan was injured beforehand, and the only remaining opponent who was his match was Yue Buqun.

When he was at Shaolin temple, he had already seen Yue Buqun's martial art clearly and he was sure that he wouldn't lose to Yue Buqun. But the one who came up to fight was unexpectedly Yue Buqun's daughter. He was already startled that Yue Lingshan was able to use Hengshan School's sword art. But he was now confounded as well as afraid to see that Yue Lingshan was able to use one of Hengshan School's highest sword arts: 'one move containing one group'. The year Mr. Mo Da's martial ancestors and martial uncle ancestors went to Mount Huashan to fight the Devil Sect's ten elders, many of them were killed. At that time, Mr. Mo Da's master was still young and he had learnt all of these five groups of sword art such as the Furong and Zige. But he only knew the general idea of the 'one move containing one group' move such as the 'Quan Ming Furong' move and the 'Crane Soaring to the Zige' move, which were part of the Hengshan Five Divine Swords. Naturally, Mr. Mo Da didn't get detailed instructions of these moves from his master. But how could this young lady from another school suddenly use these precious sword moves?

Although Yue Lingshan used those two moves, the idea behind the moves eluded her understanding. Otherwise, Mr. Mo Da would've lost by the second move, excited as he was in seeing these moves. After he easily blocked the two moves, he saw Yue Lingshan's long sword dazzlingly executing the move 'Shilin Shu Sheng', followed by the move 'Tianzhu Cloud'. The principal of the 'Tianzhu Sword Art' was taken from the changes in the cloud, and it relied heavily on its strange variations. Its movements were very random and very hard to predict. When Mr. Mo Da saw Yue Lingshan used the move 'Tianzhu Cloud', he quickly made his decision. Instead of blocking the attack, he just walked past it. This so-called 'not blocking and walking past' was actually only good to hear. In reality, he was running away from the fight because he couldn't defeat the move. However, because the changes in his sword art were complicated, even at the moment he was running away, his short sword thrust to the east and slashed to the west and dazzled everyone there. Thus, no one knew he was actually just planning to run far away.

He knew that among the Hengshan's Five Divine Swords, besides the 'Quan Ming Furong', 'Crane Soaring to Zige', 'Shilin Shu Sheng', and 'Tianzhu Cloud', the most formidable move was called the 'Wild Goose Returning to Zhurong'. Among Hengshan's five highest peaks, Zhurong was the highest one. This 'Wild Goose Returning to Zhurong' move was also the most profound among the Hengshan's Five Divine Swords. When Mr. Mo Da's master talked about this move, his descriptions were quite vague because he didn't understand the move clearly himself. If Yue Lingshan were to use this move, even if he didn't lose his life, it still would shame him. His heart was worried and he anxiously dodged and slashed out his short sword. "Even though she's learned these wonderful moves, it seems she can only use them stupidly and doesn't seem to be able to respond to an attack automatically using these moves. Unavoidable but I have to flirt with danger and fight her with all my strength. Otherwise, Mo Da won't have a face to show myself in Jianghu anymore."

He saw Yue Lingshan moving hesitantly and knew that she was undecided about what to do, whether to give chase or not. Mr. Mo Da gloomily called out, "What a shame! Youngsters have no experience at all."

Using the move 'Tianzhu Cloud', Yue Lingshan forced Mr. Mo Da to turn around and run. Although he covered this up cleverly and it didn't seem like he had lost, the masters around there had already seen his embarrassment in running away. If Yue Lingshan had stood still, taken her sword back, and cupped her fist saying, "Martial Uncle Mo, thanks for giving way! I offended you," then the winner and loser would've been decided.

With the position Mr. Mo Da had, how could he, after losing, still turn around and fight again with someone a generation lower than him? But Yue Lingshan unexpectedly hesitated, and actually gave Mr. Mo Da such a good opportunity. As Yue Lingshan started to smile showing her dimples and as her cherry-lipped mouth opened slightly like she was about to say something, Mr. Mo Da's short sword hummed and rushed towards her. This fast attack was the culmination of Mr. Mo Da's lifetime of practice. The sword was emitting the sound of a huqin, its light flickered everywhere, and in a flash the sword and its lights encircled Yue Lingshan. Yue Lingshan called out in alarm and retreated a few steps. How could Mr. Mo Da give her time to use that move 'Wild Goose Returning to Zhurong'? The short sword in his hand was getting faster and faster executing the set 'Magical Thirteen Phantom Stances of Hengshan Mist' which was ever changing like the clouds and mist. The spectators couldn't help feeling dizzy from looking at it. If it weren't for the fact that the crowd felt that Mr. Mo Da was bullying the young, a man bullying a woman, they would've applauded a long time ago.

After Yue Lingshan used such moves like 'Quan Ming Furong', Linghu Chong had no more doubt she had used the sword arts from the engravings on the cave wall at the back of the Cliff of Contemplation. He pondered, "Why did little martial sister go up to the Cliff of Contemplation? Master and Master-Wife love her dearly; they would never have punished her to stay on that wild and dangerous cliff to meditate. No matter what kind of mistake she may have made, Master and Master-Wife would only reprimand her. The Cliff of Contemplation and the living quarters on Huashan peak aren't close to each other; the road between them is also very dangerous. Even if it were not my little martial sister but one of the female disciples, they wouldn't send her to live alone up there. Could it be that it was martial brother Lin who was punished to meditate on that cliff and little martial sister went up there every day to deliver him his meals, just like she did when she was attending to me back then?" As he thought of this, he couldn't help his chest feeling heated. He again thought, "Martial brother Lin is a quiet person and he also follows rules and customs strictly, as close as one could get to be a 'Little Gentleman Sword'. That was the reason why Master, Master-Wife, and little martial sister like him. How could he have erred to deserve punishment on that cliff top? He can't, he couldn't have, definitely not." He then thought, "Could it be little martial sister... little martial sister..." Suddenly, he remembered something buried deep in his heart. But this memory was buried too deep. As soon as he recalled it, he immediately forgot about it again. He was stupefied for a moment. What did he remember? He couldn't recall it clearly. Just at that moment, he heard Yue Lingshan cried out in alarm. Her long sword flew out from her hand, her left foot slipped and she was now looking up from the ground. Mr. Mo Da extended his short sword and pointed it at ther left shoulder. He smilingly said, "Please rise, there's no need to panic!"