Smiling Proud Wanderer Chapter 36-40

[CFT]

Congratulations HH. Keep up the good work. I like the idea of wuxia trickling down to your baby

[duguxiaojing]

GRATS HHUANG!!!! Take care of yourself,its far more important than translating/editing!! We can all wait if we have to.

[markost]

Congrats to our dear HHuang.
Wonder when we'll get to read the first translations from Huang Jr

[hhaung]

Thanks very much for all your well wishes!!! All your posts made me grin like a Cheshire cat today! Thanks a million!

To answer dewyloony123, we don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl. We will know in a few weeks at my 20th week ultrasound test! :-)

I hope our baby shares my love for Wuxia and literature too! I'd love for the baby to know at least three languages -- Burmese, English and Mandarin. It seems like a very tall order already!

[overjoy71]

Awesome news HH!! Congratulations! Do take care of your health. The Baby is more important than the translation... HuuH!! Who said that?????!!! Haha.. But wonderful news, I think we can live with re-reading the past chapters for us who are addicts..

[overjoy71]

Thanks very much for all your well wishes!!! All your posts made me grin like a Cheshire cat today! Thanks a million!

To answer dewyloony123, we don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl. We will know in a few weeks at my 20th week ultrasound test! :-)

I hope our baby shares my love for Wuxia and literature too! I'd love for the baby to know at least three languages -- Burmese, English and Mandarin. It seems like a very tall order already!

WOOW! You know Burmese as well!! I want to learn. Have been going there for 3 years in a row.. I don't think it is impossible for the child to learn HH, if the parent is willing to teach, I am sure the baby is willing to learn.. That goes for Wuxia as well!! :-)

I can just imagine HH tell a bedtime story now.. "And then LHC launched into the sword-breaking..." hahaa.. The child will never sleep..

[overjoy71]

Thanks very much for all your well wishes!!! All your posts made me grin like a Cheshire cat today! Thanks a million!

To answer dewyloony123, we don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl. We will know in a few weeks at my 20th week ultrasound test! :-)

I hope our baby shares my love for Wuxia and literature too! I'd love for the baby to know at least three languages -- Burmese, English and Mandarin. It seems like a very tall order already!

WOOW! You know Burmese as well!! I want to learn. Have been going there for 3 years in a row.. I don't think it is impossible for the child to learn HH, if the parent is willing to teach, I am sure the baby is willing to learn.. That goes for Wuxia as well!! :-)

I can just imagine HH tell a bedtime story now.. "And then LHC launched into the sword-breaking..." hahaa.. The child will never sleep..

[overjoy71]

Thanks very much for all your well wishes!!! All your posts made me grin like a Cheshire cat today! Thanks a million!

To answer dewyloony123, we don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl. We will know in a few weeks at my 20th week ultrasound test! :-)

I hope our baby shares my love for Wuxia and literature too! I'd love for the baby to know at least three languages -- Burmese, English and Mandarin. It seems like a very tall order already!

WOOW! You know Burmese as well!! I want to learn. Have been going there for 3 years in a row.. I don't think it is impossible for the child to learn HH, if the parent is willing to teach, I am sure the baby is willing to learn.. That goes for Wuxia as well!! :-)

I can just imagine HH tell a bedtime story now.. "And then LHC launched into the sword-breaking..." hahaa.. The child will never sleep..

[Felipe]

Congratulation hhuang!

Be healthy and safe!

[dgfds01]

Hhuang, how wonderful is that. Congrats!

[DoubleJ]

Well, I'll pile my congratulations on with everyone else. And I have an idea on how to impart your love of wuxia into the podling -- while you're pregnant with [him|her], expose mini-hha to the genre by editing the dang novel!

[dewyloony123]

Thanks very much for all your well wishes!!! All your posts made me grin like a Cheshire cat today! Thanks a million!

To answer dewyloony123, we don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl. We will know in a few weeks at my 20th week ultrasound test! :-)

I hope our baby shares my love for Wuxia and literature too! I'd love for the baby to know at least three languages -- Burmese, English and Mandarin. It seems like a very tall order already!

A for you! And keep us posted! You know, they say that whatever the mother thinks or feels will influence whatever the baby thinks or feels, so if you go out of your way to read a lot of wuxia or literature, and speak a lot of Burmese, English, and Mandarin, so will your child!

[KeongJai]

grats hhaung. what names were you thinking of for the baby? maybe you can list the names you like on spcnet and we can vote for them.

[rati4u]

hhunag, who is your favourite wuxia character?

[Bloodflowers]

grats hhaung. what names were you thinking of for the baby? maybe you can list the names you like on spcnet and we can vote for them.

Errr... vote for it? That's a pretty stupid idea. I mean, what right do we have to pick the name of her child?


@hhaung: Congratulations! I hope its a girl!

[MysteriouX]

so huang which city r u from, if u speak burmese. Lived in rangoon for 3 years as a kid when my parents were there as diplomats. I speak the language almost fluently.

hmm I kept thinking ur name was the chinese name huang, now I am thinking its actually H. H. Aung

[hhaung]

But wonderful news, I think we can live with re-reading the past chapters for us who are addicts..

I hope not! I hope to edit until the end of the novel...

what names were you thinking of for the baby? maybe you can list the names you like on spcnet and we can vote for them.

I'm afraid we have to come up with 7 names to cover for 7 days of the week (Burmese tradition) so I think voting is not necessarily going to be the way to go.

who is your favourite wuxia character?

I am not sure. I do like Yang Guo and Linghu Chong. I also like Wuji. Not quite a Guo Jing fan though.

I hope its a girl!

Either would be fine with us.

@mysteriousX: Born and lived in Yangon (Rangoon) till 18. You are right it's H. H. Aung. Cool that you speak Burmese.

I don't speak Mandarin yet...I just started learning it. It's something I like to learn...

[rati4u]

hehe..thats cool...i too like wuji..but out of all jinyong's novels..i like hunag yaoshi and zhang sanfeng.

hey i am from india..i am very much fascinated by zhang sanfeng abilities and wisdom..now you are in which city hhuang?

[MysteriouX]

yeah but I didnt study the language in burma, it was a requirement for all diplomats to study the language of the country they are posted, and an optional requirement for the children of those diplomats. The home office has experts on nearly every language in the world who give courses.

just because we're foreigners in your countries doesnt mean that we do not understand the language, we just play dumb and pretend not to know. hehe I am telling u a national secret.

[pokit]

Congratulations Hhaung!

Also, thanks for continuing with the editing.

Thank you for the readers also for being patient.

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"That song is difficult to play, I don't know when I'll be able to play it together with you."

Yingying smiled. "This music is very profound, I also still don't understand many parts of it. There's something different with this song, it's hard to explain, but it seems if two people were to play it together, they'd be able to enlighten each other. Compared to one person fumbling around, we'll definitely advance much faster."

Linghu Chong clapped and said, "You're right! On that day, when I heard Hengshan School's martial uncle Liu and Devil... and Sun Moon Sect's Elder Qu playing this song together, the zither and the bamboo flute were in harmony, and their sound was really moving. Martial uncle Liu said that this song was originally for a zither and a bamboo flute to play together."

"You play the zither, I play the flute. We'll slowly practise it part by part."

Linghu Chong smiled. "But it's a pity it's a flute and not a se. Zither and se are very harmonious together and it would've been wonderful."

(Translator's note: Se is similar to zither. Se has 25 strings while zither has 7 strings.)

Yingying's face turned red and she replied, "These last few days, I haven't heard you speaking any satirical remarks and I thought you've changed. But you're still the same."

Linghu Chong made a face at her. He knew Yingying was very shy. Even though they were in a secluded valley and there were only the two of them there, she never allowed him to speak indecently. He was afraid if he jested a bit more, she would ignore him for the rest of the day so he quickly went near her to look at the music score. After listening to her explanations, he started to play his part. Playing the zither wasn't an easy matter; added to that, the song 'Smiling Proud Wanderer' was very profound with a lot of complicated changes, so this made the playing even more difficult. But Linghu Chong was bright, and he was also being directed by a master. Additionally, he had also improved a lot in his zither playing from the time he started studying it at Bamboo Lane in Luoyang since he had been practising it every chance he got. Even though it was hard for them to be harmonious in the beginning, slowly, they finally managed to play well together. Even though their playing couldn't be as wonderful as that of Liu and Qu, there was a hint of a rhythm in their playing. Within the next ten days, the two of them became very close to playing the zither and flute together harmoniously. This calm surrounding of this green valley separated them from the world, and gradually they came to forget everything about the fierce fighting in Jianghu. Both of them felt if they could spend the rest of their lives in that green valley, and not be drawn into the killings in Wulin, then they would be very happy.

One afternoon, after Linghu Chong and Yingying had been playing together for more than an hour, Linghu Chong's internal energy was suddenly disturbed and his mind not tranquil. He made a few mistakes and his heart became more worried which made his fingering method became even more chaotic. Yingying asked, "Are you tired? Rest for a while before continuing."

"I'm tired but not tired. I don't know what's wrong. I feel a bit agitated. I'm going to go pick some peaches. We'll practise again at night."

"Alright, don't go too far."

Linghu Chong knew there were a lot of wild peach trees southeast of the valley, which would have ripened by now. He passed through the bushes and went for around eight to nine li before arriving at the grove of wild peach trees. He leapt up and picked two peaches. The second time he leapt, he picked three peaches. He saw the peaches were quite ripe and there were already a lot of peaches on the ground which had fallen from the trees. In the next few days, all the peaches might have fallen down and become rotten on the ground. He quickly picked dozens more, and he thought, "After we eat these peaches, we'll spread the seeds all over the valley. Then in a few years time, there'll be peach trees everywhere. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Then he suddenly thought of the Peach Valley Six Fairies, "With peach trees growing everywhere in this valley, wouldn't this be called a Peach Valley? Then will Yingying and I become the Peach Valley Two Fairies? Later on, we'll have six children, wouldn't they become Little Peach Valley Six Fairies? If those Little Peach Valley Six Fairies talk like the old Peach Valley Six Fairies, wouldn't that be troublesome?"

He was just about to laugh thinking about this when he suddenly heard a sound from somewhere far amongst the trees. Linghu Chong immediately hid himself in the tall grass. He thought, "My mouth's getting tired of eating frogs and fruits. That sound must be some kind of a beast. Yingying will be very happy if I can catch an antelope or a deer." He had not finished thinking when he heard the sound of footsteps. It was the sound of two people walking. Linghu Chong started. "How can there be people in this valley? They must've come here because of Yingying and me."

Then he heard the voice of an elder saying, "You're not wrong? Yue Buqun will definitely come here?"

Linghu Chong was even more confounded. He thought, "They're chasing my master? Who are these people?"

Another person with a low and deep voice said, "Fragrant Master Shi has already asked around. Yue Buqun's daughter and son-in-law suddenly went missing, and we couldn't find a single trace of them in any market, town, pier, or river. They must've hidden themselves in a nearby valley to look after their injuries. Sooner or later, Yue Buqun will come here to look for them."

Linghu Chong's heart ached as he thought, "So they know little martial sister was injured, but they don't know she's already dead. A lot of people must be looking for her whereabouts, especially Master and Master-Wife. If not for this valley being completely secluded, they would've searched this place a long time ago."

That elder then said, "If you didn't guess wrong, then Yue Buqun would come here sooner or later. Let's setup an ambush at the entrance of this valley."

The person with the low and deep voice said, "If Yue Buqun doesn't come, then we can lead him here after we setup the ambush."

That elder clapped twice and said, "This plan is wonderful. Brother Xue, I never thought you have so many ideas."

That person surnamed Xue replied, "Elder Ge said it well. Subordinate hopes that you'll be able to promote me. If Elder has anything for me to do, I'll do it with all my heart and power to repay Elder's kindness."

Linghu Chong felt disappointed as he thought, "So they're Yingying's subordinates from the Sun Moon Sect. It's best if they go far away from here and don't disturb Yingying and me." He also thought, "At this time, Master's martial art has advanced greatly. Even though there are many of them, they're still not Master's match. No one in Wulin is capable of matching Master's skill and intelligence. With only their intelligence, how can they even hope to ambush Master? This is called 'playing with axe in front of Lu Ban'."

Suddenly, three clapping sound was heard from somewhere far. That person surnamed Xue said, "Elder Du has also arrived."

Elder Ge also clapped for three times. The sound of footsteps was heard as four people hurried to come to them. Two of these people had very heavy footsteps and as they got nearer, Linghu Chong thought they were carrying something.

Elder Ge happily said, "Elder Du, did you capture the Yue family's little girl? You've done a great achievement."

A person laughed loudly and said, "It's from the Yue family, but it's the big girl, not the little one."

Elder Ge gasped in surprise, sounding like he was surprised and happy at the same time. "How... How... You captured Yue Buqun's wife?"

Linghu Chong was greatly surprised and he immediately wished to go out to help, but he recalled that he wasn't carrying a sword with him. With no sword in his hand, his martial art was just ordinary. This made him really worried. He then heard Elder Du said, "You're not convinced?"

Elder Ge replied, "Madam Yue's swordplay is good. How did Brother Du manage to capture her? Ah, you must've used the confusion poison."

Elder Du laughed, "This lady arrived in a restaurant absent-mindedly and just drank her bowl of tea without thinking. Other people said Yue Buqun's wife, Ning Zhongze, is great, but actually she's nothing."

Linghu Chong got angry and secretly thought, "My Master-Wife heard her beloved daughter was injured and missing, but she couldn't find her after dozens of days of searching. Of course her mind would be in chaos. This is her cherished daughter we're talking about! How can you call her nothing? I'm going to kill each one of you with my sword for insulting my Master-Wife." He then thought, "How can I snatch a sword? If no sword, then a sabre will do." Then he heard Elder Ge said, "Since we have already captured Yue Buqun's wife, things are going well. Brother Du, the plan right now is how do we lead Yue Buqun here?"

"What do we do after we lead him here?" Elder Du questioned.

Elder Ge hesitated before saying, "We'll use this lady as hostage and force him to abandon his sword. I expect the Yue Buqun husband and wife would have deep feelings toward each other, so he wouldn't dare to defy us."

"What Brother Ge said was very reasonable. But I'm afraid if Yue Buqun's heart is very violent, and the feelings between him and his wife aren't deep, then things might get a little thorny for us," Elder Du reasoned.

"This... This... En, Brother Xue, what do you think?" Elder Ge said.

That person surnamed Xue said, "In front of two elders, it's not subordinate's place to speak out...."

He only said till here when there was another three clapping sound coming from the west. Elder Du said, "Elder Bao has arrived." In a short time, two people flew in from the west and their footsteps were really quick.

Elder Ge said, "Elder Mo has also arrived."

Linghu Chong quietly called out in misery, "Hearing their footsteps, it seems that these two people's martial arts are even higher than Du and Ge. How can I save Master-Wife with only my bare hand?" He then heard Elder Du and Ge called out together, "Brother Mo and Bao have arrived, this is really good."

Elder Ge also said, "Brother Du has done a great service by capturing Yue Buqun's wife."

An elder happily said, "Wonderful, wonderful! The two of you have worked hard."

Elder Ge said, "That's Elder Du's accomplishment."

That elder replied, "We all received Chief's order to handle this thing. No matter who did it, we'll all get a share of Chief's good fortune."

This elder's voice sounded quite familiar to Linghu Chong's ears. He thought, "Could it be that I've seen him on Dark Wood Cliff before?" He then exerted his qi to listen to their conversation, but he didn't dare stick his head out to have a look. All of the elders from the Devil Sect had high martial art, so if he moved even slightly, then he might immediately be discovered by them.

Elder Ge said, "Brother Bao and Mo, Brother Du and I were just discussing how we were going to entice Yue Buqun to come here, so that we can capture him and take him to Dark Wood Cliff."

The other elder said, "What plan did you come up with?"

Elder Ge answered, "We haven't thought of a good plan yet. Brother Bao and Mo must be able to come up with a good plan."

The first elder said, "When the five mountains sword schools were fighting at the place of worship place over the leadership, Yue Buqun blinded both of Zuo Lengchan's eyes and his power shook the entire Mount Songshan. After that, no one else from the five mountains sword schools dared to challenge him. I heard this person has obtained the real Evil Resisting Sword Art from the Lin family and he's now completely different from before. We must think of all possibilities and we mustn't look down on him."

Elder Du said, "That's right. Even if the four of us cooperate, it's still not certain if we'll be able to win against him."

Elder Mo said, "Brother Bao, you've already decided on a plan, please share it with us."

That Elder Bao said, "Even though I've thought of a plan, it's nothing wonderful. I'm afraid the three of you will laugh at it."

Elder Mo, Ge, and Du said together, "Brother Bao is our sect's brain trust. The plan you thought of must be really good."

Elder Bao said, "Actually, it's only a silly plan. We'll dig a deep pit, and cover it with grass and branches on top. Then we'll seal this lady's acupoints, put her at the edge of the pit and lead Yue Buqun to it. When he sees his wife on the ground, he'll definitely go over to help her. Then 'Boom'... he'll fall... Aiyo, not good..." He was hitting his hands together at the same time he was speaking. The other three elders and the remaining four people laughed out loud.

Elder Mo laughingly said, "Brother Bao's plan is wonderful. We'll all naturally hide ourselves on the side to wait for Yue Buqun to drop into the pit. Once he drops in, we'll cover the top of the pit with blades and don't let him leap out. Otherwise, with such strong martial art, I'm afraid he might not drop in but instead jump out of the hole."

Elder Bao hesitated and said, "But there's still some difficulty with this."

Elder Mo said, "What difficulty? Ah, that's right, Brother Bao is afraid of Yue Buqun's strange sword art. Once he fell into the hole, will we be able to stop him?"

Elder Bao said, "Brother Mo's guess is right. This time, Chief sent us to handle this thing and our enemy is the best master from the five mountains sword schools alliance. Even if we die for Chief, we'll still be highly honoured, and we wouldn't be harming the reputation of both the Divine sect and Chief's. As the saying goes: Those who thought of trivial things are not gentlemen, those who are not violent are not men. Since we're dealing with a gentleman, we must use treacherous method. I think we must add something inside the trap."

Elder Du said, "What Brother Bao said fits well with us. We're carrying a lot of 'Hundred Flowers Soul Consuming Powder'. We can spread them around the tree branches and grass covering the hole. When Yue Buqun falls into the hole, he'll suck in a breath of this powder..." He said till here, when they all burst into laughter.

Elder Bao said, "We can't be late, we must begin now. Where's the best place to lay this trap?"

Elder Ge replied, "Three li west from here, there's a towering cliff on one side with a deep abyss on the other side. There's only a small road you can walk through there. If Yue Buqun doesn't come then we'll just forget it, on the other hand, if he comes then he'll definitely have to go through this small road."

Elder Bao said, "Very good, let's go there and take a look." After he said this, he started walking while the rest followed behind him.

Linghu Chong thought, "They wouldn't be able to dig this trap in just an hour. I'll go quickly tell Yingying about this and get myself a long sword, then I'll go and rescue Master-Wife." He waited until all the Devil Sect's people had gone before quietly going back.