in white flower patterns. Linghu Chong bowed and then took the package.

“Many thanks to the senior master! I am truly grateful!” He bowed again.

The Wang Jiajun and Wang Jiaju brothers caught the entire scene in their eyes. Seeing how Linghu Chong didn’t even bother to cast a glimpse to the famous Unbeatable Golden Blade Grandmaster Wang, yet showed such deep respect to an old folk in shabby clothing, they couldn’t help but feel enraged. If it hadn’t for the sake of the Yue Buqun couple and the many apprentice brothers and sisters of the Huashan Sword School, they would have dragged Linghu Chong out and give him a good beating to vent their spleen. When they saw Elder Bamboo-Green step onto the gangboard from the bow to get back ashore after giving Linghu Chong the package, they gave each other a meaningful glance and then jostled toward the old man with their shoulders abruptly from both sides, thinking that just a slight bump would have sent the old folk falling down into the Luo River. Although the water was quite shallow near the shore and wouldn’t drown the old man, at least it would make Linghu Chong lose a great deal of face.

“Watch out!” seeing what was going on, Linghu Chong called out in a hurry.

He was just about to reach out and grab the two brothers when he suddenly remembered that he didn’t have any inner strength left in him to go with the grab. He wouldn’t be able to grab onto them anyway. Even if he did get his hands onto the Wang brothers, it would be useless just the same. Within seconds, the Wang brother had bumped into Elder Bamboo-Green.

“Don’t!” Wang Yuanba shouted out.

Wang Yuanba knew clearly that he was very different from ordinary martial people, for he had a big family and lots of properties in the city of Luoyang. His two grandsons were both young and vigorous. If this old and feeble folk had died because of the jostle, there would be endless trouble when the law enforcement began their investigation. But since he was sitting inside the cabin talking to Yue Buqun at the time, it was already too late for him to stop them.

A loud thud rose as the two shoulders from the two brothers bumped squarely onto Elder Bamboo-Green. All of a sudden, two figures flew in the air. Immediately followed were two loud splashes – the Wang brothers had fallen into the Luo River one from each side of the gangboard. It almost seemed as if the old man was a big leather bag filled with air, and when the two Wang brothers bumped into it, they simply bounced right back. The old man kept his slow pace and went tottering off the gangboard onto the bank as if nothing had happened.

As soon as the Wang brothers fell into the river, the crowd aboard the boat broke into chaos. Several sailors jumped into the river in a hurry and dragged the two out of the water. It was still early in the spring. Even though all the ice in the river had melted, the river was still icy cold. Neither of the Wang brothers knew how to swim, so they both drank a good mouthful of water. Their teeth shuddering non-stop, both of the brothers found themselves in a very embarrassing situation.

In shock, Wang Yuanba checked his two grandsons, but what he saw astounded him even more. The four arms of the two brothers were all dislocated at the shoulder joints and elbow joints, which looked exactly the same as how they had broke Linghu Chong’s arms the other day. Their arms hanging by their sides, the two brothers still spilled out streams of abuses wildly.

Seeing what had happened to his two sons, Wang Zhongqiang leapt off the boat onto the bank and blocked Elder Bamboo-Green’s way. But Elder Bamboo-Green still kept his slow pace, his back arched, his head bending low.

“Who are you? Are you here to make trouble for the Wang Family in Luoyang?” Wang Zhongqiang yelled.

Elder Bamboo-Green kept walking as if he had not heard anything. Slowly, he came closer and closer toward Wang Zhongqiang.

Everyone aboard the boat had their eyes fixed on the two as Elder Bamboo-Green stepped closer and closer to Wang Zhongqiang, who extended his arms slightly out and blocked in the middle of the road. Gradually, the distance between the two shortened, from ten feet to five feet, and then from five feet to three feet.

As Elder Bamboo-Green took another step forward, Wang Zhongqiang yelled, “Enough!” He reached out with his two hands and smacked them down at Elder Bamboo-Green’s back in claw hands. Just when his fingers were about to touch Elder Bamboo-Green’s back, all of a sudden, his giant body flew in the air for tens of feet. Amid the gasps and screams of the crowd, he did a back flip in the air and then landed on the ground steadily.

When two persons ran toward each other in high speed, it would not be surprising if one of them flew in the air like this from the colliding force. But what seemed very strange was the fact that Wang Zhongqiang stood still while Elder Bamboo-Green closed in on him very slowly yet was still able to send him flying in the air from the colliding force. Even elite fighters like Yue Buqun or Wang Yuanba had no clue as what techniques the old man used to bump people into flying in the air like that.

Since Wang Zhongqiang landed so steadily without any sign of sore straits, people in the crowd who didn’t know any martial arts skills actually thought that he had leapt up all by himself to show off his Qing-Gong. The many servants and chairmen put their hands together and cheered happily. Many couldn’t wait to start praising the superb martial arts skills Master Wang had just put on display.

Wang Yuanba had been greatly surprised when he had found out that the Elder Bamboo-Green dislocated his two grandsons’ arms so easily in a bump without even batting an eyelid. He figured that he could achieve the same effect himself, but it would have been very forceful and overwhelming, never as subtle as the way the old man did it, and never as swift either. By the time he saw his son sent into the air from the bump, it was no longer surprise in his heart but rather terror. He knew very well that this second son of his had mastered all of his skills and techniques. Not only could he wield a saber in an unruffled yet fierce manner, his skills in fighting barehanded and his accomplishment in inner energy were also very adequate, no less than what he himself had achieved in his prime of life. But before the two even exchanged one move, his son had already been knocked flying in the air. That was something he had never seen in his life. Noticing that his son wanted to run back for a fight after the setback, he called out immediately.

“Zhongqiang, come here!”

Wang Zhongqiang turned around and leapt back onboard. Spitting on the floor angrily, he cussed resentfully, “What a stinking, old rascal! He probably knows some kind of witchcraft!”

“How do you feel? Any injuries?” Wang Yuanba asked in a whisper.

Wang Zhongqiang shook his head.

Wang Yuanba pondered upon the situation, but only concluded that it was likely that he still lacked enough skills to take on this old man. And if he asked Yue Buqun to fight the old man together with him, it would be no glory winning the fight. So the best way out probably would be pretending that nothing had happened and just get on with it. The old man did show some mercy by not wounding his son or throwing his son off balance. That had already saved him from losing face. He watched the Elder Bamboo-Green slowly walking away, his heart filled with some kind of indescribable discomfort.

“This old man, of course, is a friend of Linghu Chong,” he thought to himself, “and because my grandsons broke Linghu Chong’s two arms, he came to get even by breaking their arms. I have ruled the martial arts society in the Luoyang region for all my life. Could it be possible that I am destined to fall hard in my old age?”

By then Wang Bofen had put his two nephews’ dislocated parts back in place. Two sedan chairs carried the two dripping wet young men back to their home.

“Mr. Yue, do you know who he is? I am so dim-sighted from my old age. I couldn’t tell who that elite was at all,” Wang Yuanba glanced at Yue Buqun and asked.

“Chong, who is he?” Yue Buqun asked.

“He is Elder Bamboo-Green,” Linghu Chong answered.

Wang Yuanba and Yue Buqun both uttered a cry of surprise. Even though they both went to that small alley the other day, neither of them had a chance to meet Elder Bamboo-Green face to face. And it just happened that the only one who would be able to recognize Elder Bamboo-Green, Mr. Yi, decided to see the guests off at the gate of the Wang house instead of coming to the wharf. That was why no one had a clue as who this old man was.

“What did he give you?” Pointing at the package wrapped in blue cloth, Yue Buqun asked.

“I haven’t opened it yet,” Linghu Chong answered.

He opened the package and found a short zither inside. The zither’s body looked ancient and obsolete. Obviously, the zither was an invaluable antique. Two characters “Yan Yu” in ancient script were calved on the tail of the zither. Inside the package was also a booklet with the words “Song of Peace and Serenity” written on the cover. Feelings of gratitude swelled Linghu Chong’s heart. He couldn’t help but let out a cry of joy.

“What?” Yue Buqun stared at him and asked.

“This senior master not only gave me a zither, but also copied down the entire music score for me,” Linghu Chong explained.

He turned the booklet open and flipped through it. Every page was filled with beautiful calligraphy in small fonts. Not only were there words and symbols recording the music tone, there were also a great deal of notes and comments explaining in detail about the fingering techniques and various keynotes about zither play in general. The papers and the ink prints all looked new, apparently, the granny had just hand printed the entire booklet. Deeply moved by the granny’s affectionate love and care, Linghu Chong found tears rolling in his eyes.

Wang Yuanba and Yue Buqun saw with their own eyes that the booklet only contained techniques relating to zither play, and some of the strange characters and symbols were indeed similar to the ones inside the “Smiling Proud Wanderer” music score booklet. Although there were still many suspicions in their hearts, they had nothing else to add.

“A true master never reveals his abilities unless necessary. Who would have thought that this Elder Bamboo-Green is actually an elite in the marital world? Chong, do you know which school or clan he is from?” Yue Buqun asked. He had figured that even if Linghu Chong did know the answer, he would still not tell the truth, but he asked anyway, for it disturbed him very much to not know any details about such an elite fighter with such superb Kung Fu skills.

Not to his surprise, Linghu Chong answered, “I only studied zither from this senior master. I didn’t even know he had martial arts skills.”

After Yue Buqun and Madam Yue bid their farewell to Wang Yuanba and the Wang Bofen, Wang Zhongqiang brothers, the boat set sail toward the north, and soon were hundreds of feet away from ashore. The many apprentices soon engaged each other into a hearted discussion. Some were convinced that Elder Bamboo-Green had unusually superb Kung Fu skills while some others believed that nothing could prove that the old man had great skills, the young Wang brothers only fell into the river because of their recklessness, and Wang Zhongqiang only leapt away because he didn’t want to take the old man up on it.

Linghu Chong sat at the back of the boat to read the music score by himself, having no interest listening to the discussion among his junior apprentice brothers and sisters. Following the directions from the booklet, he lay his finger on the strings and felt the keys. Afraid to disturb his Master and Master-Wife, he only practiced the positioning and didn’t really make any sound.

The boat was heading in the same direction as the wind and the wave, thus gained some good speed. Madam Yue walked to the bow and tried to enjoy the scenery, but that didn’t help her get rid of the image of the odd looking Elder Bamboo-Green in her head at all. Many disquieting thoughts surged in her mind when suddenly, her husband’s voice rose next to her ear.

“What do you think of that Elder Bamboo-Green?”

This question was the exact same one she had wanted to ask her husband, so even though he had asked it first, she still asked, “What do you think of him?”

“That old man’s technique was so unusual and strange. Without even moving his arms or legs, he was still able to knock the three members of the Wang Family flying far in the air. I’d have to say that his techniques aren’t from any orthodox school,” Yue Buqun answered.

“But he seems to be very nice to Chong, and it didn’t look like he was intentionally making trouble for the Golden Blade Wang Family,” Madam Yue remarked.

“I hope this is the end of it. Or else, the great reputation Grandmaster Wang had built up throughout his life might be at the very brink of ruin.” Yue Buqun heaved a sigh. He paused for a good while before speaking again, “Even though we are continuing our journey by water now, it is still wise to be cautious.”

“Are you saying that someone might come aboard to make trouble?” Madam Yue inquired.

Yue Buqun shook his head. “We are still kept in the dark. We still have no idea who those fifteen masked assassins are and where they came from. We are in the light while our enemy is still in the dark. Our journey might not be as peaceful as we’d like it to be.”

Ever since Yue Buqun became the Head Master of the Huashan Sword School, he had never experienced any serious setbacks until recently. But in the last couple of months, he had realized there was a good chance that many difficulties were awaiting them in the road ahead. But who was the enemy, and what did the enemy want? He couldn’t find an answer. Just because of this clueless feeling he was laden with more and more anxiety.

That day, the Yue couple urged their apprentices again and again to be on good guard days and nights, but as time went by, their boat entered the main river from near the Zigong County and then headed east following the flow of the river; not even one accident happened. The further away they were from Luoyang, the more relaxed each one became. And before long, their vigilance gradually slacked away.

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[1] A style of Chinese calligraphy, often used on seals.

[2] These names of majors and minors are used in ancient Chinese musical theories.

[3] Pulse checking was a standard procedure performed by doctors in ancient China. By checking the patient’s pulse, the doctor would be able to find out what might have gone wrong with the patient.

[4] Huang Di was a legendary character in the very ancient times (before any of the dynasties). He was considered the very ancestor of all Chinese people.