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Chapter 46 The Unlucky Guy? The Ungrateful Wolf? Analyzing Linghu Chong!

First, Offending Fellow Heroes.

In the original work, the enmity between Linghu Chong and the Qingcheng Sect started when he took action against Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong, two of the Qingcheng Four Talents.

He kicked them away and mockingly referred to their technique as the “Qingcheng Sect’s butt-backward flat-sand falling goose move.”

Some say that Linghu Chong, being the chief disciple of Mount Hua, shouldn’t have done this, leading to the two sects’ conflict.

Is this argument reasonable?

First, why did Linghu Chong take action against Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong? This isn’t explicitly mentioned in the original work.

But Linghu Chong is not the kind of person to bully the weak, and the moral character of the Qingcheng Sect is made abundantly clear in the book.

So, Linghu Chong’s actions against Hou Renying and Hong Renxiong were likely because they had committed some evil deeds. Taking action here offended fellow heroes. Not taking action would have violated the code of chivalry.

When the Fuwei Escort was wiped out by the Qingcheng Sect, no one from the righteous factions stood up for the Lin family. Many criticized “The Smiling, Proud Wanderer” for lacking true heroes. So, did Linghu Chong make a mistake by stepping in?

If viewed from the perspective of sect interests, Linghu Chong was wrong. But from the standpoint of personal conduct and character, Linghu Chong was in the right. Second, Concealing the Wuyue Sword Technique and its Countermeasures. This was clearly explained in the original text.

Linghu Chong didn’t refuse to speak, but he was interrupted twice and eventually became afraid to speak, or felt it unnecessary. When Linghu Chong used a technique from the stone wall, Yue Buqun slapped him twice.

The slaps were so hard that Linghu Chong saw stars, and his face swelled to the point of looking like a bruised pig. Yue Buqun, calling him a “little beast” and accusing him of “straying from the righteous path,” then started lecturing him on the “correct thought” of the “Qi Sect.”

Who would dare speak further after that? The techniques carved on the stone wall were all martial arts moves!

Even if there were lost sword techniques from Mount Hua, they might belong to the Sword Sect. Could Linghu Chong have been bold enough to reveal that?

Moreover, after being brainwashed by Yue Buqun, Linghu Chong started to think that his master was the greatest martial artist in the world.

As long as one’s internal energy was profound, techniques were mere tricks. After Yue Buqun left, Linghu Chong didn’t even return to examine the stone wall.

He avoided thinking about it, always telling himself.

“Fortunately, Master stopped me in time; otherwise, I would have gone astray and become a sinner of the sect. It was truly a dangerous situation.”

Only when he was forced by Tian Boguang on the cliff did he finally go back to look at the stone wall. So, from Ye Luo Chuan’s point of view, Linghu Chong’s concealment of the stone cave’s secrets may have been a mistake, but more so it was Yue Buqun’s own fault.

If Yue Buqun hadn’t insisted on maintaining the Qi Sect’s facade, things wouldn’t have escalated that way. Third, the Dugu Nine Swords.

Some say that Yue Buqun raised Linghu Chong, but Linghu Chong hid the “Dugu Nine Swords,” making him an ungrateful wolf. First, the “Dugu Nine Swords” was passed to Linghu Chong by Feng Qingyang.

Before passing on the sword techniques, Feng Qingyang had specifically asked Linghu Chong not to reveal the origins of the technique to anyone.

Linghu Chong, being a man of honor, would naturally not break his promise to Feng Qingyang, who was his grandmaster and had taught him.

Some might argue that Feng Qingyang only forbade Linghu Chong from revealing the origin of the “Dugu Nine Swords,” not from teaching it to Yue Buqun. But could Linghu Chong actually do that?

When Feng Qingyang taught him, he frequently criticized Yue Buqun as a narrow-minded fool and expressed his disdain for him. Linghu Chong even quarreled with Feng Qingyang because of this.

So imagine if you were Feng Qingyang. After passing on your ultimate martial arts to your disciple, your disciple then turns around and teaches it to someone you despise.

How would you feel?

Additionally, when the Sword Sect attacked Mount Hua in a bid for the sect leader position, Feng Bu Ping and Yue Buqun had a “sword energy debate.”

Linghu Chong overheard, and in the book, there’s a passage where Linghu Chong suddenly thought:

“Master Feng only taught me swordsmanship, he… he must be from the Sword Sect. If I learned swordsmanship from him, could that be wrong?”

At that moment, Linghu Chong realized that Feng Qingyang was from the Sword Sect. And the “Dugu Nine Swords” was Feng Qingyang’s—so in Linghu Chong’s mind, it must be Sword Sect technique.

But Yue Buqun, who regarded the Sword Sect’s methods as “evil” and “demonic,” would never accept that. Linghu Chong was so shocked that he broke into a cold sweat. How could he dare to teach it to Yue Buqun?

The issue with the stone wall techniques and the “Dugu Nine Swords” stemmed from the ongoing “sword energy” conflict. Fourth, Befriending Tian Boguang.

Tian Boguang was notorious for his crimes, and he truly deserved to be punished. So, why didn’t Linghu Chong kill him and why did they become friends? This was explained earlier.

At the core, it comes down to ‘loyalty’. Even Yue Buqun, despite not agreeing with Linghu Chong’s decision, tacitly accepted it. Otherwise, with Yue Buqun’s temperament, he would never have let it go so easily.

In fact, Linghu Chong was caught in a no-win situation. If he didn’t kill Tian Boguang, he would be criticized for ‘befriending a villain’. If he did kill him, some would say he was ungrateful.

No matter what Linghu Chong did, people would think he was wrong. In The Crimson Sabre, the evil monk, Blood Sabre Laozu, was much worse than Tian Boguang!

He killed more people and was more despicable, yet the protagonist, Di Yun, never wanted to kill him.

Why? Because Blood Sabre Laozu had saved his life. Similarly, Tian Boguang had saved Linghu Chong multiple times.

When it comes to the “loyalty” in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, only Linghu Chong had the right not to kill Tian Boguang. But this “loyalty” was a small kind of loyalty, not the greater righteousness.

Had Linghu Chong’s “loyalty” been based on a greater sense of justice, killing Tian Boguang would have been the right thing to do. Fifth, Associating with Villains.

It was undeniable that the “Five Bosses’ Gathering” was filled with all kinds of people, with far more villains than righteous people. Linghu Chong drank with them, called them brothers, and lived carelessly.

Yue Buqun, accusing him of associating with demons and villains, had a point. After all, Mount Hua was a prestigious sect, and Linghu Chong, its top disciple, was publicly associating with those from all walks of life.

If this news got out, Mount Hua could have been cut off from the righteous world of martial arts. Linghu Chong’s behavior was more extreme than Liu Zhengfeng’s, who was destroyed by the Songshan Sect for associating with others secretly. But was Linghu Chong to blame? This was a matter of perspective.

Imagine if you were severely wounded, believed you had accidentally killed your best friend, and saw the woman you loved now in love with your rival.

Your family, who had raised you, suspected you of theft, and your friends distanced themselves.

Would you stick to your righteousness in this situation?

If you would, you can criticize Linghu Chong.

If you wouldn’t, then you have no right to criticize him.

In conclusion, Ye Luo Chuan believed that in the first three points, Linghu Chong’s actions were not problematic. In the fourth, whether to prioritize small or big loyalty is subjective.

In the fifth, it depended on whether  would have made the same choice as Linghu Chong in his circumstances.

What truly disgusted Ye Luo Chuan about Linghu Chong was his behavior after meeting Xiang Wentian!