Smiling Proud Wanderer Vol 02, page 20
“I got it!” Linghu Chong replied.
After the group left, the small alley was quiet, once again. The only occasional sound breaking the silence were the rustling of the bamboo leaves in the gentle breeze. Staring at the music score in his hands, Linghu Chong remembered how Liu Zhengfeng and Qu Yang had performed the music together in that late night.
“The two of them were so lucky to have found their intimate friendship in each other and composed such a wonderful piece together,” he thought to himself. “Even though the granny behind the bamboo bush has incredible skills in playing both the zither and the flute, she could only play the two parts separately. The Elder Bamboo-Green couldn’t play the music together with her. Maybe this “Smiling Proud Wanderer” song written for a zither and a flute to play together would perish forever and I would never have the opportunity to hear it ever again.”
His mind fell blank for a little while before he thought again, “Uncle-Master Liu and Elder Qu, one was a senior master of the Chivalrous Side while the other was an Elder of the Demon Cult. One represented righteousness while the other one represented evil. They should have been completely irreconcilable. But when they talked music to each other, they could feel each other’s heart and ended up becoming bosom friends. They were also able to compose such a magnificent and spectacular piece of ‘Smiling Proud Wanderer’ song together. When the two of them left this world together, hand in hand, there were really no regrets in their hearts. That was so much better than what I have to endure right now, living a lonely life in this world, suspected by my Master, forsaken by my little apprentice sister, while the only apprentice brother who respected me and loved me died in my own hands.” His heart was swelled by grief and sorrow. Tears ran across his cheeks and dripped onto the music score booklet. Linghu Chong couldn’t help but choke with sobs.
Elder Bamboo-Green’s voice came from behind the bamboo bush again, “Friend, may I ask why you are crying?”
“Oh, I just grieved about my own life experiences besides remembering how the two senior masters, who composed this music piece, passed away. I must have forgotten myself. I am so sorry. It’s my fault that I have disturbed your peace,” Linghu Chong answered. After these words, he turned around to leave.
“Little friend, would you please step in here and have a word with an old man? I’d like to consult you on a few questions,” Elder Bamboo-Green invited.
That 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.16 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 acupoints, and how he must have used too much strength in sealing those acupoints 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 acupoints, 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 acupoints 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 to himself
“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 Di17 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.
