Chapter 2
The morning sun was shining brightly above Snake Mountain. Yet, it was very cold. The strong wind made matters worse. On the bottom of the mountain, the coldness was not so bad. But as someone traveled closer to the mountain's peak, the coldness would become harsher and harsher.
The scenery that one would meet also changed as someone traveled higher and higher. On the bottom of the mountain, one could see tall green trees and smell the fragrance of mountain flowers. But as someone neared the top of the mountain, he could see the green grass giving way to thick snow.
Linghu Ningjing was wearing a black cape, a bear fur coat and hat and a blue silk robe, and yet he still felt cold. His physical weakness did not help either. Although Linghu Ningjing was certainly not weak, compared to other martial artists he was certainly somewhat weak.
He studied hard martial arts for many years and his mother, Dongfang Bubai, taught him martial arts, but he just could not absorb the essence of all those skills. He was a slow learner, so it took a lot of time for him to learn a stance, let alone an entire Kung Fu style. It certainly did not help that Linghu Ningjing was peaceful and preferred to solve problems peacefully instead of using force. His brother, Linghu Yang, was a far better martial artist. Yet, Linghu Chong wanted Linghu Ningjing to succeed him. Although Linghu Ningjing did not want to become leader of the Sword Faction Huashan Sect, he could not let down his father and so he had to do his best to become a great martial artist.
His father had a friend called "Fast Snake Qiang Long" who was a great martial art master. He lived in seclusion on top of the Snake Mountain, in the "Fast Snake Manor". Linghu Chong, seeing that he could not teach effectively his son, decided to send him to learn Kung Fu on the Snake Manor. That's the reason why Linghu Ningjing was heading on top of the Snake Mountain. His father had written a letter which he was to deliver to Master Qiang Long. The letter contained a plea by Linghu Chong for Qiang Long to teach his son.
"It's cold!", Linghu Ningjing murmured. "But I cannot let my father down. Oh well, I have almost reached the peak, so I will be able to rest soon. I just hope that this Master Qiang Long is not too eccentric or strict and that the rumors I heard in the village are just that: rumors."
When Linghu Ningjing was heading to the Snake Mountain, he had heard some villagers of a nearby village saying that Master Qiang Long was very strict and that he had crippled many of his students due to his very harsh training methods. Although this scared somewhat Linghu Ningjing, he could not disobey his father's order.
Suddenly, Linghu Ningjing heard the sound of steps. He looked behind and saw something moving fast towards him. This "something" look like a bolt, but in reality it was a man. A man who had such great internal energy that his movements were so fast that he looked like a bolt. When that "bolt" came close enough to Linghu Ningjing, it stopped. This man was Jiang Ling!
"Hey, brother, have you seen anyone coming to this mountain?", Jiang Ling asked.
By anyone, Jiang Ling meant Linghu Ningjing. He had expected him, despite being young, to have a strong build and the looks of a gentleman. After all, he was the son of the great hero Linghu Chong. So, he would have never suspected that the young thin man before him was in fact Linghu Chong's younger son.
"No, sir.", Linghu Ningjing replied.
"Dammit! I must have traveled too fast and gone ahead of him."
"Who are you searching for, brother?"
Jiang Ling was ready to reply, when he remembered that revealing his plans to kill Linghu Ningjing would amount to suicide. So, instead of saying the truth, he replied: "A relative of mine."
"Weird", Linghu Ningjing thought. "Why would someone travel to the top of the Snake Mountain? Maybe his relative also wants to become a disciple of Master Qiang Long?"
Jiang Ling sighed and pulled out two jars of wine he had brought with him from Mao's Tavern.
"Do you want to drink", he asked.
Linghu Ningjing rarely drank wine and so he politely refused. But Jiang Ling insisted: "You are not a kid anymore! You are a man! You should be able to drink a jar of wine!"
"Alright......."
Upon hearing Linghu Ningjing's approval, Jiang Ling threw one of the jars at him. Although Linghu Ningjing grabbed it, Jiang Ling had put so much force into throwing it that it pushed Linghu Ningjing back and caused him to almost fall down.
"Cheers!", Jiang Ling shouted and the Mountain was shaken by his roar. His internal energy was certainly that of a skilled master. Linghu Ningjing could not help but admire this great hero.
"Brother!", he said. "You internal energy is really something out of this world!".
Jiang Ling just laughed and drank a large gulp of wine. "Excellent wine!". Linghu Ningjing also drank a large gulp of wine and, after coughing a bit, he exclaimed: "Indeed! It is a great wine!"
Jiang Ling laughed once again. "Good! You know to appreciate good wine! Let us drink to our heart's content."
Although Linghu Ningjing rarely drank wine, he could still tell that the quality of this wine was really excellent. Such good wine Jiang Ling had brought with him! Wine also helps to warm up people. That's why those who live in cold places drink a lot of wine. So, Linghu Ningjing was able to forget the mountain's coldness. And, as he was not used to drinking wine, he got easily drank and started singing several songs. Jiang Ling could not stop laughing and also started singing.
"Brother!", Linghu Ningjing shouted. "My father likes to sing a song!"
"Hahahaha! Which song?"
"One composed by Yue Fei. It goes like this:
怒髮衝冠,憑欄處,瀟瀟雨歇。
抬望眼,仰天長嘯,壯懷激烈。
三十功名塵與土,八千里路雲和月。
莫等閒白了少年頭,空悲切。
靖康恥,猶未雪;
臣子恨,何時滅?
駕長車踏破賀蘭山缺!
壯志飢餐胡虜肉,笑談渴飲匈奴血。
待從頭收拾舊山河,朝天闕。
My wrath bristles through my helmet, the rain stops as I stand by the rail;
I look up towards the sky and let loose a passionate roar.
At the age of thirty, my deeds are nothing but dust, my journey has taken me over eight thousand li.
So do not sit by idly, for young men will grow old in regret.
The Humiliation of Jingkang still lingers,
When will the pain of the Emperor's subjects ever end?
Let us ride our chariots through the Helan Pass,
There we shall feast on barbarian flesh and drink the blood of the Xiongnu.
Let us begin anew to recover our old empire, before paying tribute to the Emperor."
"Nice song!"
And so the two of them started singing "Man Jiang Hong", this patriotic song that has been attributed to the great Song Dynasty General Yue Fei. After a few hours of singing and drinking wine, Jiang Ling had a fine idea: to become sworn brother with the young man he had just met. Linghu Ningjing agreed. He had taken a great liking at this great hero.
"I, Jiang Ling, swear that I will become sworn brother with...... what is your name?"
"Linghu Ningjing!"
This answer hit Jiang Ling like a thunderbolt. What should he do? He had agreed to help brother Yang kill Linghu Ningjing, but he had taken a liking at this young man and he was ready to become his sworn brother. How could he kill him? So, he decided to become sworn of Linghu Ningjing and then to try to mediate whatever argument his two brothers, Yang and Ningjing, had.
"I, Jiang Ling, swear that I will become sworn brother with Linghu Ningjing."
"I, Linghu Ningjing, swear that I will become sworn brother with Jiang Ling."
Then, the two of the them said with one voice: "Although we were not born on the same day, we hope to die on the same day. May the Gods of Heaven and Earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may heaven and the people of the earth both strike us dead."
And so, Jiang Ling and Linghu Ningjing became sworn brothers. As the two brothers were chatting and joking, a Taoist nun was coming towards them. The nun seemed to be in her late fifties and her face was wrinkled. She was holding a sword on her hands. As the nun was coming towards them, she saw a huge rock, weighing at least two tons and covered in snow. She gathered her internal energy, let out a roar and threw out her palms at the rock. A gust of wind was created and the rock flew in the sky. The nun quickly jumped high in the sky and, using her sword, she carved some words on the rock. When the rock fell back down on earth, it caused a huge earthquake that shook the Mountain and caused an avalanche. The avalanche threatened to crush the nun, but she threw out her palms once again, this time against the avalanche, and the gust of wind they created pushed the avalanche back.
Linghu Ningjing could not hide his amazement at the nun's skills. Jiang Ling was also amazed, despite having much more experience in the martial arts world than Linghu Ningjing. But their amazement turned into surprise and anger when they read what was carved on the rock: "Jiang Ling, you damn coward, come and face me."
"Jiang Ling, will you come and face me?", the nun said. Her voice was arrogant and full of contempt.
"I will!", Jiang Ling shouted and approached her. Linghu Ningjing was about to come to his brother's aid, when he said: "Brother Ningjing, I will take care of this myself."
The nun examined Jiang Ling carefully and humphed. "Do you deny having fought before Taoist Master Zuanshi Mushi?"
"No."
"Do you deny being to Zu City two days ago?"
"No."
"Do you deny killing Taoist Master Zuanshi Mushi?"
"Yes!"
"You lie! I found his corpse on the forest outside of the city."
Linghu Yang had expected that the wolves would devour the Taoist's body. But, as the wolves were ready to eat the Taoist, his martial sister, Zhang Er, appeared and saved his corpse from being devoured. She was passing through the town and her saving of her martial brother's body was completely accidental. Linghu Yang was very lucky, as Zhang Er did not see him. But she saw that Jiang Ling was in Zu City. Jiang Ling had previously fought with Taoist Zuanshi Mushi over a a martial arts manual. So Zhang Er immediately suspected Jiang Ling of being the murderer, despite having no proof about it. Her anger for the death of her martial brother did not allow her to think logically. So, she followed him closely. Now, she was ready to have her revenge.
"And what has this to do with me?"
"When you were fighting over the "18 Fists Manual", you lost to him. So, you wanted revenge and that's why you killed him, right!?"
Her anger had overtaken her and this could be seen on her face which was redder than a beetroot. Linghu Ningjing intervened: "Elder, forgive me for my ignorance, but since my brother had already lost to the Taoist Priest, how could he have managed to kill him?"
"Shut up!", she said. "He must have used underhanded methods."
"My brother would never do this! Also-"
Before Linghu Ningjing could continue, Jiang Ling interrupted him. "There is no use talking to her. She will not hear anything."
Indeed, Zhang Er did not wait for Linghu Ningjing to finish and threw out her palms against Jiang Ling, creating a gust of wind. Yet, while previously a two tons rock had flew in the air, Jiang Ling remained unmoved. Such was his prowess! Jiang Ling let out a roar, which caused an avalanche. As Zhang Er threw out her palms against the avalanche, Jiang Ling found the chance to move fast like a bolt, using his internal energy, and to kick the nun's back. The nun dodged by half an inch Jiang Ling's kick and, as the avalanche had stopped, she could now give her full attention at Jiang Ling. She unleashed twelve fists, which came one after the other. They moved so fast, that they looked like a chain. Yet, Jiang Ling was able to block all of them and then used the "Proud Dragon Shakes Earth and Heaven" technique. Jiang Ling jump high in the sky and fell down with immense strength. The impact of the landing caused a rift on the ground and shook the nun. She lost her balance and Jiang Lin found the chance to send out a powerful back kick which kicked her chest. She vomited a mouthful of blood and was pushed back.
"I will return!", she threatened and run away as fast as she could.
Jiang Ling then turned at his brother: "Brother, I will have to leave so I can learn more about those accusations against me."
"I wish you good luck, brother."
Thank you. Once I have cleared my name, I will find you so we can feast together."
Jiang Ling left as fast as he had come and Linghu Ningjing was once again alone.