c sounds made by their weapons hitting each other, big brother Linghu was wounded once more.

"He got mad and started yelling at me, 'If you don't leave right now, I am going to start cursing you!'

"By then I had already found the broken sword on the ground, so I shouted, 'Let's fight him two to one.'

"'Nothing could be better! Tian Boguang, one man and one knife, here to fight both the Huashan Sword School and the Heng-Shan Sword School,' Tian Boguang laughed loudly."

"Big brother Linghu started to scold me. He yelled, 'You foolish, little nun, you are an idiot. Go away! If you don't go away, next time I see you, I'll slap you!'

"Tian Boguang laughed. 'This little nun doesn't want to part with me. She won't go.'

"Big brother Linghu got really mad. He shouted, 'Are you leaving or not?'

"I said, 'No way!'

"Big brother Linghu then said, 'If you don't leave now, I am going to call your Master names! Dingxian you idiotic old nun, look how you've taught such an idiotic little nun!'

"'Uncle-Master Dingxian is not my Master,' I explained.

"'Fine, then I'll call Sister Dingjing names!' he said.

"'Uncle-Master Dingjing is not my Master, either,' I said.

"'Bah! You're still not leaving! I'll call Dingyi an old idiot..!'"

Dingyi made a sour face and looked very displeased.

"Master, please don't be angry," Yilin said hurriedly. "Big brother Linghu meant well for me. He didn't really want to call you anything.

"I said, 'I am foolish by myself. It wasn't taught by my Master!'

"Suddenly, Tian Boguang jumped forth at me and poked his finger at me. I waved my sword wildly in the darkness and forced him back.

"Big brother Linghu shouted, 'I have a whole bunch of dirty words that I am going to use on your Master now. Aren't you afraid?'

"'Don't call anyone any more names. Let's run away together!' I said.

"'Your standing besides me is already blocking my moves,' big brother Linghu shouted. 'I can't use my best Huashan sword moves. Once you get out, then I can kill this villain with ease.'

"Tian Boguang laughed hard and said, 'You've really got some affection for this little nun, too bad that she doesn't even know your name.'

"I thought these words from the villain were quite right, so I asked, 'Apprentice brother of the Huashan Sword School, what's your name? I will tell my Master when I go to Hengshan and tell her that you saved my life.'

"Big brother Linghu said, 'Go away! Hurry up! You are too wordy! My name is Lao, Lao Denuo!'"

Hearing his own name mentioned, Lao Denuo was stunned. "Why did big apprentice brother go under my name?" he thought aloud, feeling utterly confused.

"This Linghu Chong does kind things and walks away from the fame. That is the true characteristic of we chivalrous people," Mr. Wen nodded and murmured to himself.

Sister Dingyi glanced at Lao Denuo and murmured, "This Linghu Chong was so rude, and even dared call me names. He was probably afraid that I would go after him because of that, so he wanted to pin the blame on somebody else."

"Hey, so you're the one who called me an old idiot?" she glared at Lao Denuo.

Lao Denuo bowed hurriedly. "No, no! I dare not!"

"Sister Dingyi," Liu Zhengfeng cut in with a smile, "Linghu Chong had his reasons for using his apprentice brother Lao Denuo's name. This nephew apprentice Lao joined Huashan Sword School with his previously learned skills. Although his seniority is low, his age is not. With a great bush of beard, he could pass for Yilin's grandfather."

Dingyi immediately understood that Linghu Chong did so to protect Yilin's reputation. At that time, it was totally dark in the cave; no one could recognize anyone else, even when face- to-face. If Yilin got away and mentioned that it was Lao Denuo of Huashan Sword School who saved her, no one could think up snide comments to defame her with such an old man. This not only protected Yilin's reputation, but also protected the reputation of the Heng-Shan Sword School. When she thought of this, she could not help letting a little smile creep to her face.

"This lad really is thoughtful." She nodded. "Yilin, what happened after that?"

Yilin answered, "By then I still didn't want to leave. I said, 'Big brother Lao, you got yourself into danger all because of me, how can I leave you in danger? If my Master learned that I was such a coward and didn't care about fellow apprentices, she would kill me herself. Master always taught us that although we are all females in the Heng-Shan Sword School, with regard to chivalry, we are never bettered by any man!'"

"Excellent, excellent! You said it right!" Dingyi applauded and shouted out. "For we Kung Fu practitioners, whoever does not exercise chivalry is better dead than alive. No matter man or woman, it's all the same."

Seeing the solemn expression on her face when she said these words, everyone could see that the spirit of the old nun was really no less than that of any man.

Yilin continued, "But then big brother Linghu began to scold me profusely. 'You darn idiotic little nun,' he said, 'all you do is talk and talk and talk, and stop me from being able to use my unbeatable Huashan Sword Art. My old life is destined to be lost in Tian Boguang's hands. So you're in league with Tian Boguang and purposely set me up. I, Lao Denuo, am so unlucky today, seeing a nun right after I start on my trip. And it is a rotten little nun that will have no son, no grandson, no nothing. Even with the super strong and super powerful magical sword arts I know, I am unable to use them, because I fear that the energy of my sword strikes would hurt the little nun's life. Alright! Very well! Tian Boguang, just give me a good chop and let's finish it off. This old man will just have to go to his fate today!'"

All Linghu Chong's dirty words told in Yilin's sweet and gentle voice brought inadvertent smiles of amusement to the lips of the listeners.

Then Yilin said, "After hearing these words, I realized I couldn't do him any good because my Kung Fu skills were so poor, and my staying in the cave would block his way and prevent him from using his magical Huashan Sword Art..."

"He was just bragging! His Huashan Sword Art is just average. What makes it so invincible in the Martial World?" Dingyi snorted.

"Master, he was just trying to scare off Tian Boguang," Yilin said. "Hearing more and more abuses coming out of his mouth, I said unwillingly, 'Big brother Lao, I am leaving! Hope to see you later!'

"'Get lost you smelly rotten duck egg,' he scolded. 'The further you get lost the better! 'Once a man sees a nun, he loses all his bets!' I didn't see you before, and I will never see you again. Gambling is my favorite hobby; why would I ever want to see you again?'"

Hearing this, Dingyi could not contain her anger. She stood up and yelled in a stern voice, "That scum! Did you leave?"

"I was afraid to make him even angrier, so I left," Yilin said. "Once I stepped out of the cave, I heard the clash of weapons getting more and more intense. I figured that if the villain Tian Boguang won, he would be after me again. If the 'big brother Lao' won, after he came out and saw me outside of the cave, he would 'lose all his bets' because of me, so I clenched my teeth and ran as fast as I could to catch up with you, respectful Master. Then I could ask you to help fight the villain Tian Boguang."

Dingyi hummed and nodded.

"Master, big brother Linghu later lost his life; was that because of..of seeing me, and getting bad luck?" Yilin asked out of the blue.

"Drop that 'once a man sees a nun, he loses all his bets' nonsense!" Dingyi said angrily. "How could you have believed that? There are so many people here that have seen us, do all of them have bad luck now?"

People in the hall bit their lips to keep from commenting on her question.

"Yes, Master," Yilin answered. "I ran till dawn and saw the town gate of Hengyang in the horizon. I calmed down a little and thought that I could probably find my Master in Hengyang. But who'd expected that right at that moment, Tian Boguang caught up with me. As soon as I saw him my legs went weak, and just after several steps, he caught me again. I thought that since he had chased me here, big brother Lao must have been murdered in the cave. I felt indescribable sadness.

"With so many people on the streets, Tian Boguang didn't dare to be rude to me. He just said, 'If you follow me without making any trouble, I won't do anything bad to you. If you don't listen to me, then I will tear off your clothes right away and let all these people on the streets laugh at you.'

"I was very scared and dared not fight back, just followed him into the town. When we arrived at the Huiyan Wine House, he said, 'Little Sister, you have the type of natural beauty that will attract..attract even the wild geese to land. This Huiyan Wine House must have been opened just for you. [5] Let's go in and have a drink and some fun.'

"I said, 'We Buddhists don't eat flesh or drink alcohol. This is the rule of our White-Cloud Nunnery.'

"He said, 'I am sure you have lots of rules in your White-Cloud Nunnery. Are you really going to follow all of them? Later I will teach you how to break some more rules. Rules and regulations are all bogus. Your Master..your Master... '" At these words, she gave Dingyi a sneaky glance and dared not to continue.

"You don't need to mention the nonsense this villain spouted. Just say what happened next." Dingyi instructed.

Yilin answered, "Yes, Master. Then I said, 'You are talking nonsense, my Master would never hide in secret places to drink wine and eat dog meat. '"

The people in the hall simply could not help but laugh. Yilin did not repeat the words of Tian Boguang, yet from her own words, everyone knew what Tian Boguang must have said about Dingyi.

Dingyi made a sour face and thought, "This child is too honest. She doesn't know what to say and what not to."

Yilin continued, "The villain grabbed my collar and threatened, 'If you don't go up to the wine house and drink with me, I'll tear your clothes off.'

"I had no choice but to go up to the wine house with him. The villain ordered some wine and dishes. He was really mean. I told him that I couldn't eat flesh, yet he intentionally ordered dishes of beef, pork, poultry, and fish. He threatened that if I didn't eat, he would tear off my clothes. Master, I simply refused to eat those dishes. Buddhists are restricted from eating flesh. I couldn't violate the prohibition. If the villain wanted to tear off my clothes because of that, then fine, but it wouldn't be my fault.

"Right at that moment, a man walked up to the wine house. He had a sword hanging by his waist; his face was pale and his clothes were bloodstained. He sat by our table in silence, picked up the bowl of wine in front of me and poured all of it down his throat in a single gulp. He poured himself another bowl of wine and raised the bowl toward Tian Boguang. 'Please!' he said. He turned to me and said, 'Please!' Then he drank that bowl as well.

"As soon as I heard his voice, I felt very surprised and very happy. It turned out he was 'big brother Lao' who had saved me in the cave. Thank the Buddha! He escaped from Tian Boguang's murdering hands. But he had bloodstains all over him. In order to rescue me, he had been really badly wounded!

"Tian Boguang looked at him from head to toe and back again. 'It's you!'

"'It's me!' he replied.

"Tian Boguang raised his thumb to him and praised him, 'Good man!'

"He raised his thumb and replied, 'Good knife skills!'

"The two both began to laugh loudly and drank bowls of wine at the same time. I was quite surprised: They had fought so fiercely last night, why have they suddenly become friends now? I was very pleased to know that this man did not die; but since he was a friend of Tian Boguang, the villain, I became worried again.

"'You are not Lao Denuo!' Tian Boguang protested. 'Lao Denuo is a dried up old geezer. He can't be as young and carefree as you.'

"I sneaked a glance at him. He was only in his twenties, so last night when he said 'This old man has lived such a long life,' he was really fooling Tian Boguang.

"'I am not Lao Denuo,' the man admitted with a smile.

"Tian Boguang struck the table with his palm. 'Yeah, you are Huashan Linghu Chong. You're a somebody in the Martial World.'

"Big brother Linghu admitted again. 'You really flatter me! Linghu Chong is only your defeated opponent. This is very embarrassing!' he said.

"'No fight, no acquaintance!' Tian Boguang grinned. 'Why don't we be friends? If brother Linghu likes this pretty little nun, I'll just let you have her. I am not the kind who values chicks above friendship. '"

Dingyi's face turned dark, but she only murmured, "That evil rapist, that evil rapist..!"

Yilin almost began to cry again. "Master, big brother Linghu suddenly started scolding me again. 'This little nun has no color in her face,' he said. 'All she eats everyday are vegetables and bean curds; her face can't look that good. Brother Tian, I get real riled when I see nuns. I really wish I could exterminate all the nuns in the world!'

"'Why?' Tian Boguang asked while laughing.

"'To tell you the truth, I have a small hobby – gambling,' big brother Linghu said. 'Gambling is my life. Every time I see some dice, I'd forget my own name. But as soon as I see a nun, I can just forget about gambling for the rest of the day. No matter what I bet or gamble on, I will assuredly lose. This happens every single time. And it happens not only to me, but also to all my fellow apprentices of the Huashan Sword School. So every time when we, apprentices of the Huashan Sword School, see Uncle-Masters and apprentice sisters from the Heng-Shan Sword School, although everyone looks very respectful on the outside, we all curse the bad luck inside!'"

Dingyi simply could not stand this anymore; she turned her hand and gave Lao Denuo a resounding slap to the face. The move was fast and accurate. Lao Denuo had no chance of dodging. He just felt great dizziness, and almost fell to the ground.

.......

[1] Uncle-Master is the title used when a junior calls a senior master who is the apprentice brother/sister of the junior's Master. It is used regardless of the gender of the senior master.

[2] Pronounced as "hur", not "he."

[3] A form of Chinese Martial Arts that will allow the practitioner to jump higher and further, or run faster than an average person. The technique is a combination of physical exercises and breathing exercises.

[4] "Bull-nose" is a mean name for Taoist Priests.

[5] In Chinese, Huiyan means attracting the wild geese back.