t caught Linghu Chong in a bit of surprise. He had seen the arrogant attitude the Elder Bamboo-Green put on display toward Wang Yuanba, and didn’t expect such courtesy toward him, a nobody, at all.

“You flatter me. Anything Elder wishes to ask about, I will answer to the best of my knowledge,” he answered, and then walked through the bush of bamboo.

What came to his eyes were five small cabins, two on the left, and three on the right, all made out of thick bamboo poles. An old man strolled out from a cabin on the left with a bright smile on his face.

“Little friend, please come in and join me for some tea.”

Linghu Chong took a good look at the Elder Bamboo-Green. The old man’s back was a little bit hunchbacked. His head was almost bald. All there left were patches of sparse hair. He had big hands and big feet, yet looking hale and hearty.

“Linghu Chong here pays his respect to an elder.” Linghu Chong bowed to salute.

“I’ve only wasted more years of my life. That’s all. Come in! Come in! Make yourself at home.” Elder Bamboo-Green smiled.

Linghu Chong followed him into the small cabin. The furniture inside was all made out of bamboos. A painting of a bamboo bush hung by the wall. The strokes in the painting flowed freely. Together with the many dripping ink spots in shape of bamboo leaves, the bamboo bush looked thick and dense. A zither and a flute lay on the table.

Elder Bamboo-Green poured out some dark green tea from a pottery teapot and filled a bowl. “Please have some tea,” he invited.

Linghu Chong took the tea bowl with both hands and bowed slightly.

“Little friend, would you be kind enough to tell me how you ended up with this music score booklet?” Elder Bamboo-Green asked.

At those words, Linghu Chong’s heart skipped a beat. The story of the music score contained many secrets. That was why he didn’t even tell his Master and Master-Wife. But that day when Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang gave him the music score, they had intended to leave this music piece behind so it would not perish with them. The Elder Bamboo-Green and his aunt both had excellent understanding of music, and furthermore, his aunt had shown superior skills and understanding in the music piece. The two of them were quite old, but other than these two, where in the world would he be able to find a third one who would be worthy of receiving this music score? Even though there might be someone else in the world that would be an expert in music, since Linghu Chong wouldn’t be living for long, the chances of find that person would be very slim. With these thoughts, Linghu Chong pondered over it for a short while and then answered,

“The two senior masters who composed this music piece, one had superior skills in playing the zither, and the other one had excellent skills in playing the flute. The two of them became bosom friends and wrote this music piece together. But it was so unfortunate that disaster came upon them and they left the world at the same time. Right before they passed away, the two senior masters gave the music score to me and asked me to find the right person to pass it onto, so the music piece would not perish together with them.” He paused for a second and then continued. “Earlier, when I heard Elder’s aunt demonstrating her superior skills in both zither and flute, I was so relieved that I’ve finally met the destined owner of this music score booklet. Elder, please take the music score booklet and give it to the granny, so I can fulfill my promise to the two composers and comfort their souls in the underworld.” At that word, he held the music score up with both of his hands respectfully.

But Elder Bamboo-Green didn’t take it. “Please allow me to ask my auntie first,” he said. “I don’t know if she is willing to accept it.”

The granny’s voice rose from the little cabin on the left, “Mister Linghu is too kind to have presented us with such a wonderful gift, showing his vast generosity. It would be disrespectful to decline yet embarrassing to accept. Would you be kind enough to enlighten us with the names of those two senior masters who composed this excellent piece?” Strangely, her voice didn’t sound old in any way.

“Certainly,” Linghu Chong answered. “The two senior masters who wrote this, one was Uncle-Master Liu Zhengfeng, and the other one was Elder Qu Yang.”

The granny uttered a cry of surprise. “So it was them,” she murmured.

“Do you know them?” Linghu Chong asked.

The granny didn’t answer his question and kept her silence instead. Only after a good while, she spoke again.

“Liu Zhengfeng was an elite master in the Hengshan Sword School, but Qu Yang was an Elder of the Demon Cult. The two sides have been bitter enemies for generations. What had made them compose this piece together? I am really lost now.”

Even though Linghu Chong hadn’t even met the granny face to face, from her performance of the zither and flute, he was already convinced that she was an old, kind, and wise lady aloof from any of the worldly affairs, someone who would never lie to him or sell him out. If she was able to tell who Liu and Qu were, then obviously she was a fellow martial arts master. So he told her everything from the beginning to the end truthfully: how Liu Zhengfeng planned to quit at the Gold Basin Hand Washing ceremony, how Chief Zuo of the Songshan Sword School sent his Command Flag to stop the event, how Liu and Qu were hit by Songshan School elite fighter’s palm strike, how they performed the music together in the remote valley, and how the two asked him to find the right person to pass on the music piece before they passed away. The only thing he omitted was the part when Great Mr. Mo slain Fei Bin.

The granny listened quietly. After Linghu Chong finished telling the story, she asked, “This is clearly a music score. Why did Golden Blade Wang Yuanba claim that it was a martial arts manuscript?”

Linghu Chong then told the part about how the Lin Zhennan couple was fatally wounded by the Qingcheng Sword School and Yu Canghai, how they had asked him to take their last words to Lin Pingzhi, and how the Wang brothers suspected him and etc.

“I see,” the granny responded. “You could have told your Master and Master-Wife everything, the reasons and causes. Wouldn’t that have saved you a lot of trouble and kept all these meaningless suspicions off your back? I am only a stranger. Why have you told me everything without reservation?” she inquired again after a short pause.

“I don’t quite understand it myself. I guess it’s because I was deeply moved by your high demeanor after listening to your graceful performance and didn’t feel suspicious about you,” Linghu Chong answered sincerely.

“Then are you saying that you actually felt suspicious about your Master and Master-Wife?” the granny asked.

Linghu Chong felt a shock in his heart. “I dare not. It’s only that…in my Master’s heart, he suspects me a great deal. Alas, I can’t really blame that on my respectful Master.”

“From the sound of your voice, I can tell that you lack a solid foundation of inner strength. That shouldn’t have happened to a young man in your age. Why’s that? Have you recently fallen seriously ill or gotten wounded badly?”

“I did get wounded badly.”

“Nephew Bamboo-Green, will you please bring this young man to my window so I can check his pulses?”

“Sure!” Elder Bamboo-Green answered. He led Linghu Chong to the window by the little cabin on the left side, and then asked him to put his left hand into the window through the window screen made out of thin bamboo sections. Inside the bamboo screen there was another layer of thin gauze. Linghu Chong could only vaguely see the shape of a person, but none of the face. Then he felt three ice-cold fingers touching his wrist. The granny started checking his pulse.[3]But only a short moment later, she cried out in surprise.

“This is very odd!” A few moments passed before she spoke again, “Your right hand please.”

After the checking was completed, she fell into dead silence.

“Senior master, there’s no need to worry about me. I know my life won’t last for too long. I really don’t give much thought about it,” Linghu Chong said with a slight smile.

“Why are you saying that your life won’t last long?” the granny asked.

“I accidentally killed my junior apprentice brother and also lost my Master’s ‘Divine Art of the Violet Twilight Manuscript.’ I only hope that I will be able to find the manuscript soon to return it to my Master. After that, I will commit suicide in exchange for my apprentice brother’s forgiveness.”

“Divine Art of the Violet Twilight Manuscript? That’s nothing extraordinary. How did you accidentally kill your apprentice brother?”

Linghu Chong then told the story about how the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies tried to heal his wounds, how the six energy streams clashed and smashed against each other inside him, how his little apprentice sister stole Master’s invaluable manuscript for him to heal himself, how he refused to read it and apprentice brother Lu Dayou decided to read for him against his will, how he sealed Lu Dayou’s pressure points, and how he must have used too much strength in sealing those points and got Lu Dayou killed.

“Your apprentice brother didn’t die off your hands,” the granny concluded after listening to the entire story.

“He didn’t die off my hands?” Linghu Chong was stunned.

“Your inner strength was not pure. Just by sealing those two points, you wouldn’t be able to kill him. Somebody else killed your apprentice brother,” the granny said firmly.

“Who killed apprentice brother Lu, then?” Linghu Chong murmured.

“It’s not necessary that the one who stole the manuscript is the murderer, himself, but at least the two must have some kind of connection,” the granny said.

Linghu Chong heaved out a deep breath, feeling so relieved as if a huge rock had just been removed from his chest. He had asked himself the same question before. How could he have killed Lu Dayou by jabbing his two pressure points so lightly? But deep in his heart he had always thought that even if Lu Dayou wasn’t killed from his jabs, Lu still died for his sake. How can a true man shirk responsibility, shift the blame onto others, and find excuses for himself? During the past many days, he had seen again and again the intimate relationship between Yue Lingshan and Lin Pingzhi. Out of disappointment and despair, he had really lost his will to live. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was to die and leave this world once and for all. But now when the granny reminded him, anger swelled in his heart.

“Revenge! Revenge! I must seek revenge for apprentice brother Lu!” he thought aloud.

“You said that there were six energy streams clashing inside you, but based on what I read from your pulse, there seemed to have eight energy streams. May I ask why?” the granny asked.

In loud laughter, Linghu Chong told her how Monk No Commandment had worked on mending his wounds as well.

“You have a sanguine disposition. Even though your pulses are in disorder, they showed no sign of prostration. Would you care to listen to another zither music?” the granny suggested.

“You are too kind. I truly appreciate it,” Linghu Chong replied.

Soon, music rose again, but this time the melody was ultimately mild and tender, like the sound of a slight sigh, the tender petals of blossoms moistened by the silent morning dews, or the morning breeze, stroking the many hanging twigs of the willow tree. Not long into it, Linghu Chong felt as if his eyelids had grown heavier and heavier. He kept reminding himself, “I can’t doze off. I am listening to a senior master playing the zither. If I doze off, that would be so disrespectful.” But as hard as he tried to stay focused, the drowsiness simply was irresistible. Before long, his eyes were closed. He lay on the ground and fell asleep. Even in his sleep, the soft and gentle music echoed vaguely in his dreams. It almost felt as if a gentle hand was caressing his hair with love and caring, and he had gone back to his childhood, resting in Master-Wife’s arms, and enjoying her tender affection. A good while passed before the sound of the zither finally quieted down. Waking up abruptly, Linghu Chong stood up hurriedly, looking very embarrassed.

“Oh, no! I am so sorry that I was so impolite to have fallen asleep while listening to your wonderful play! This is so embarrassing,” he muttered.

“Don’t blame yourself. I intentionally played that music to lull you into sleep, hoping the music would be able to put the energy streams inside you in order. Why don’t you try to channel your inner strength and see if the feeling of nausea has lessened?” the granny suggested.

“Many thanks!” Linghu Chong replied.

Feeling very delighted, he sat down on the ground with his legs crossed and started to channel his inner energy. He could feel that those eight energy streams still charged about inside him, clashing against each other, but that strong feeling of nausea at his chest did lessen quite a bit. He worked some more, trying to gather some inner strength, but only felt dizzier and dizzier. Suddenly, his body collapsed to the side. Elder Bamboo-Green hurried forth to prop him up and then walked him back inside the cabin.

“The Peach Valley’s Six Fairies and Great Master No Commandment all had resourceful inner energy. The energy streams they planted are too strong to be messed with from my shallow music play. I am very sorry to have put you through more pain and suffering,” the granny apologized.

“You are being too modest. I have already benefited tremendously from listening to this song,” Linghu Chong replied in a hurry.

Elder Bamboo-Green picked up a writing brush. Dipping it in the black ink, he wrote on a piece of paper, “Ask about learning this song and benefit all your life.”

Linghu Chong immediately came to realization. “May I be bold enough to ask the senior master to teach me this song, so I can slowly improve my injury by myself?” he asked.

Elder Bamboo-Green nodded, looking very pleased.

The granny did not answer right away. After a moment of pause, she finally asked, “How are your zither skills? Will you please play a song?”

Linghu Chong blushed. “I have never learned how to play the zither before. I really know nothing about it. It was such a bold request for me to have even thought about learning the superior skills from you, senior master! Please excuse my presumptuous head.”

“I’d better get going now,” he bowed deeply toward Elder Bamboo-Green.

“Please wait. It is embarrassing that we couldn’t repay the great generosity you have shown by giving us the wonderful music. It also troubles me deeply that your wounds are too severe to be cured. Nephew Bamboo-Green, you can start teaching Mister Linghu how to play the zither tomorrow. If he has enough patience and can stay in Luoyang for a period of time, then…then I might as well teach him this ‘Song of Peace and Serenity’.” In the last several words, her voice almost turned into a whisper, hard to pick up.

In the early morning the next day Linghu Chong came to the small cabin in the small alley for his first zither lesson. Elder Bamboo-Green took out a brown-ended zither made from the trunk of a phoenix tree and started to teach Linghu Chong basic music theories.

“There are a total of twelve majors. They are Huang-Zhong, Da-Lv, Tai-Cu, Jia-Zhong, Gu-Xi, Zhong-Lv, Rui-Bin, Lin-Zhong, Yi-Ze, Nan-Lv, Wu-Yi, and Ying-Zhong. These all came from the ancient times. Legend has it that many years ago, Huang Di[4] commanded Lin Lun to create scales, and Lin Lun was inspired by phoenix’s singing, thus creating the twelve majors. A zither has seven strings and can play Gong, Shang, Jia, Wei, and Yu the five scales. The first string plays the Huang-Zhong major, and the third string plays the Gong scale. The five tones are Man-Jiao, Qing-Shang, Gong-Diao, Man-Gong, and Rui-Bin.” He went ahead and started explaining every single one of them in details.

Although Linghu Chong had no prior knowledge of any kind about music theories, because of his natural gift, he picked everything up in a very fast pace. Very satisfied with his progress, Elder Bamboo-Green started to teach him the fingering techniques, and also taught him a short song named “Vivid Sky Melody.” Linghu Chong followed the song several times and then played it on his own. Even though he missed several notes and his fingering looked jerky, the music depicted a good picture of the vast blue sky, cloudless and spacious. The granny listened in the cabin next to it. When he had finished playing, she let out a gentle sigh.

“Young Mister Linghu, you have shown great talent in learning the zither. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before you can start learning the ‘Song of Peace and Serenity’.”

“Auntie,” Elder Bamboo-Green said, “today is only little brother Linghu’s first lesson in music, yet when he played the ‘Vivid Sky Melody,’ he was already able to portray a much better imagery than I could. Sound of the zither came directly from one’s heart. I guess the reason is because he is very broad-minded indeed.”

“Granny, you really flatter me,” Linghu Chong replied. “I wonder when the day will come when I will be able to play the ‘Smiling Proud Wanderer’ song the way you did.”

“You…you want to play the ‘Smiling Proud Wanderer’ song?” the granny uttered.

“After hearing senior master’s graceful performance yesterday, I felt great admiration. But of course it’s just my wishful thinking. Even master Bamboo-Green couldn’t play it, and I am far from that.” Linghu Chong blushed in embarrassment.

The granny fell quiet. After a long while, she finally murmured in a very low voice, “If you can play the zither part, of course that would be great….” Her voice fell lower and lower, and then a tender sigh followed.

For the following twenty some days, Linghu Chong would always come to the bamboo cabin in the small alley to take his zither lessons and stay till dusk before leaving. He ate all his lunches at Elder Bamboo-Green’s place. Though it consisted only simple vegetables and tofu, he enjoyed it a lot more than the expensive dishes that were served in the Wang Family, especially when there were also great wines to go with the lunches everyday. Elder Bamboo-Green didn’t have a great wine tolerance, but all the wine he stored were cream of the crop. He had a great knowledge about wines. Not only did he know the origins of every kind of wines, he was also able to tell the place the wine was made and the year it was made with a single sip. Linghu Chong had never heard of the many things about wine before. So he not only learned how to play the zither, but also a great deal about wines from Elder Bamboo-Green. He sometimes even felt that the theories related to wines were as deep as theories of sword arts or zither play.

Several times when Elder Bamboo-Green went out to sell handicraft arts made out of bamboos, the granny would then give him lessons behind the bamboo made screen. As days went by, many of Linghu Chong’s questions regarding the zither play were so advanced that even Elder Bamboo-Green didn’t know the answer and the granny had to answer them, herself.

But Linghu Chong never had a chance to see the granny’s face. Her voice sounded gentle and tender, as if it was the voice of a young girl from a rich family, nothing like the voice of an elderly granny living a poor life in a shabby alley. He figured that it was probably because she had been continuously nurtured by classical music since her young age, and that was why her voice remained pleasant, just like the pleasing music she played, even in her old age.

One day, the granny taught Linghu Chong a new song named “Affectionate Thoughts.” This was an ancient song from the Han Dynasty with a very sweet and melodious tone. Linghu Chong first listened to the granny playing it several times, and then tried it himself. As the music went on, unconsciously, many memories flashed by his mind. He remembered when Yue Lingshan was still a child many years ago, how the two of them, as a pair of innocent playmates, shared so much joy and fun together. He also remembered the warm affection little apprentice sister had shown when she practiced sword arts in the waterfall with him and when she brought dinners up the “Cliff of Contemplation” for him. Then, out of nowhere, Lin Pingzhi came, and how the little apprentice sister became colder and colder toward him. Grief swelled in his heart as he played on. Suddenly, the tone changed into something else, and out came the melody of a Fujian folk song – it was none other than the folk song Yue Lingshan had sung that day when she walked down the cliff. In shock, he immediately stopped playing.

“You were doing a good job playing this ‘Affectionate Thoughts’ with much affection and good understanding of the meaning behind it. I guess you must have remembered some past events while you played. But may I ask why the tone suddenly turned into the kind of melody from the Fujian region and sounded almost like a folk song?” the granny asked in a mild tone.

Linghu Chong had always been a man of a sanguine disposition, and this was something that had smoldered in his heart for months. Feeling very grateful about how the granny had treated him so warmly and kindly for the last twenty some days, he simply couldn’t hide it to himself any longer and spilled out all about his bitter love toward Yue Lingshan. Once he started telling the story, he could no longer restrain himself, and ended up telling everything from the beginning to the end without any reservation, as if the granny had become his grandmother, or mother, or a sister. By the time he finally finished telling his story, he felt greatly embarrassed.

“Granny,” he apologized, “sorry that I just babbled on and on with these meaningless things. That is so…so….”

“Fate cannot be imposed upon. Like the old saying says, ‘Everyone has his own fate, so don’t envy others.’ Young mister Linghu, although you’ve lost your present love, it is not to say that you won’t find your soul mate another day,” the granny replied in a gentle voice.

“I don’t even know how many days I still have left in this world. I guess having a family of my own will never be my concern,” Linghu Chong said loudly.

The granny did not speak another word. Sounds of zither rose again; she started playing the “Song of Peace and Serenity.” Only minutes into it, Linghu Chong almost fell asleep again.

The granny stopped playing. “From now on, I will start teaching you this song. It probably will take ten days to learn the entire song. Then you can play the song every day. Even though your inner strength won’t be fully recovered, more or less, it will be somewhat beneficial for you.”

“Yes,” Linghu Chong answered.

From that day, the granny began teaching Linghu Chong the music score and the fingering techniques. Linghu Chong put in good efforts in memorizing everything, and four days soon went by.

By the morning of the fifth day, when Linghu Chong was just about to head out to take zither lessons in the small alley, Lao Denuo walked to him in a hurry.

“Big apprentice brother, Master has given his order. We will be leaving here tomorrow.”

“We are leaving tomorrow? I…I….” Linghu Chong was taken by surprise. He had wanted to say that he hadn’t finished learning the zither song, but he swallowed the words back.

“Master-Wife asked you to start packing. We will be setting out in the early morning,” Lao Denuo added.

Nodding his acknowledgement, Linghu Chong came to the bamboo cabin in a trot.

“I will be leaving Luoyang tomorrow,” he said to the granny.

The granny was taken by surprise. After a good while of silence, she finally said gently, “Why are you in such a hurry? You…you haven’t finished learning the song yet.”

“I was thinking about the same thing. But this is the Master’s order. Besides, we are only guests in a foreign town. We can’t really live long in someone else’s house,” Linghu Chong answered.

“That’s true,” the granny answered.

That day, the granny taught Linghu Chong some more music score and fingering techniques no different from any other day.

In the many days spent together with the granny, even though Linghu Chong never saw her face, from the sound of her zither play and the dialogues between the two, he could tell that she had great care for him as if he was a member of her family. Only that she was not the kind who liked to show her enthusiasm, so occasionally when her words showed some affection, she would immediately mix it up with other things, apparently not wanting him to catch it. In this world, it used to be the Yue Buqun couple, Yue Lingshan, and Lu Dayou those four who cared the most for him, but by now Lu Dayou had passed away, Yue Lingshan cared for Lin Pingzhi whole-heartedly, instead, and Master and Master-Wife both were suspicious of him, so he naturally felt that the Elder Bamboo-Green and the granny were the closest to him. During the day, for several times he had wanted to tell Elder Bamboo-Green that he would like to stay in the small alley, studying zither and flute and also the craftsmanship instead of going back to the Huashan Sword School. But as soon as he remembered the lovely face of Yue Lingshan, he would drop the thought, not able to bare the idea of parting with his dear little apprentice sister.

“Even if the little apprentice sister stopped talking to me, all I want is to see her once everyday. I would be happy even with just a view from her back or the sound of her few words, let alone the fact that she never stopped talking to me.”

Dusk came, and it was time for farewell. Reluctant to leave Elder Bamboo-Green and the granny, Linghu Chong walked next to the window of the granny’s cabin and knelt down to salute. Vaguely he could see that behind the bamboo screen, the granny also knelt down to salute back.

“I have taught you zither skills to repay the great favor you have granted us by giving us the music score. Young Mister Linghu, why are you saluting me in such a serious manner?” the granny’s voice rose from inside the cabin.

“After our parting today, who knows when I would have the pleasure to listen to senior master’s elegant and magnificent performance? As long as I am still alive, I promise that I would come back to Luoyang once again and pay a visit to Elder and Granny,” Linghu Chong replied.

Suddenly a thought came to his mind, “The two of them are already in their final days. Who knows how many years more would they be able to last? By the time I come back to Luoyang again, they’d probably be gone from this world. Alas, life is almost like a dream, hard to tell what’s real and what’s illusory. It is also like a morning dewdrop, so insignificant, so pretty, yet so brief.” At those thoughts, he choked with sobs.

“Young Mister Linghu, at the moment of parting, I have an advice for you,” the granny said.

“Yes, please bestow your wisdom upon me. I will keep it to my heart,” Linghu Chong answered.

But for a long while, the granny kept her silence. After another long while, she finally spoke again in her gentle voice, “Ominous, the martial world is. Do take good care!”

“I got it!” Linghu Chong replied as a feeling of sadness swelled in his heart.

He bowed his farewell to Elder Bamboo-Green as sound of zither rose again from the small cabin on the left, and the music played was none other than that ancient tone – “Affectionate Thoughts.”

The next day, Yue Buqun and the rest of the group bid their farewell to Wang Yuanba and his two sons. The plan was to go north by boat following the Luo River. Wang Yuanba, his two sons, and his two grandsons came all the way to the wharf to see their guest off. Servants brought onto the boat trays of silver ingots piled high – presents from the Wang Family as travel expenses. A sumptuous feast was also catered along the pier for the farewell party.

Ever since that day when the Wang Jiajun and Wang Jiaju brothers broke Linghu Chong’s arms, Linghu Chong never spoke to any one in the Wang Family ever again. At the moment of parting, he simply turned the whites of his eyes up and stared blankly toward the five members of the Wang Family as if the “Wang Family” didn’t even exist.

Yue Buqun almost got a headache because of this Head Apprentice of his. He knew that Linghu Chong was a stubborn young man. If he had forced Linghu Chong to salute Wang Yuanba for the farewell, at the current moment, he probably would bend to Master’s order and give in, but afterwards, he would most probably cause a great deal of trouble for the Wang Family and create many disturbances. That was why he thanked Wang Yuanba again and again, himself, and pretended that he didn’t see the rude expression on Linghu Chong’s face.

Linghu Chong glanced over the crowd by the side with cold shoulder. Boxes and packages of presents were brought onboard, and a good number of them were specifically for Yue Lingshan. One after another maids walked aboard the boat and presented the presents to Yue Lingshan.

“Here are some cookies and candies for Miss Yue from Granny Wang. These are some dresses for Miss Yue to wear on the road from Madam Wang and some jewelry for Miss Yue to wear from the other Madam Wang….” It almost seemed as if Yue Lingshan was a family member of the Wang Family.

Yue Lingshan thanked again and again happily with a big smile across her face. “Wow! I don’t think I can eat that much. That’s too many dresses for me!”

An old man in shabby clothing suddenly walked aboard amid the exciting crowd. “Young Mister Linghu,” he called out.

Seeing that the old man was none other than the Elder Bamboo-Green, Linghu Chong was taken by surprise. He immediately stepped forth to greet him.

“My auntie asked me to give this small present to young Mister Linghu.” Elder Bamboo-Green raised his arms and presented a long package wrapped in a piece of blue coarse cloth