2. Yue Buqun
In general impressions, Yue Buqun has always been synonymous with conspirators compared to Zuo Lengchan. In fact, Yue Buqun is the most pitiable person in the whole book. His life can only be described as "miserable".
When Jin Yong wrote "The Swordsman", he made extensive use of the creative techniques of "Water Margin", writing the bad guys on the front and the good guys on the back. Yue Buqun may not be that good, but he's definitely not that bad either.
People have many misunderstandings about Yue Buqun. It seems that only if Yue Buqun is a conspirator can the story be interesting. But Yue Buqun is the most hacked person in the whole book, and the charges against him are mostly unfounded.
Yue Buqun appeared as the leader of the Huashan Sect, but he took over a Huashan Sect that had just fallen from the altar. Let’s briefly review the Huashan Sect in Jin Yong’s martial arts world. As early as the era of “Eternal Heaven and Dragon Sword”, the Huashan Sect was one of the six major sects, with a status much higher than that of the Beggar Clan, let alone the names of the other Four Mountain Sword Sects.
At that time, the Huashan Sect had a profound foundation and abundant talents. Although the leader Xian Yutong has a poor character, his seventy-two eagle and snake life-and-death boxing techniques are one of the most unique skills in the world. There are also two masters of the Huashan sect who can use the anti-Liangyi sword technique, which is quite powerful.
Back then, the Huashan Sect was an all-round gang with unique skills in internal and external skills, swordsmanship, and swordsmanship. Looking at the Huashan sect that Yue Buqun took over, he can only use swords. The only one who can be called a master is himself. Add Ning Zhongze at most, and there can be about 20 people including apprentices, security guards, gardeners, and cooks.
This kind of Huashan Sect, let alone one of the six major sects in Jianghu, is also the weakest among the Five Sacred Sword Sects. Needless to say about the Songshan Sect, in addition to Zuo Lengchan, the martial arts master, there are also thirteen Taibao to cover the scene, and there is also a group of people in the world who are attached to the Songshan Sect and are very powerful. Although the Taishan Sect does not have top players, Tianmen Taoist, Yujizi, Yuyinzi, Yuqingzi and others are close in strength, so they will not be finished if the leader is gone. The Hengshan sect has two first-rate masters, Mo Da and Liu Zhengfeng. The seemingly weaker Hengshan sect also has three masters, Dingyi, Dingxian, and Dingjing.
Yue Buqun was not as lucky as Zuo Lengchan. He could not become the second generation martial artist. He inherited a mess and even randomly assigned undercover Laudno. If Yue Buqun had knelt down to Zuo Lengchan like Yujizi did, he would have survived. But Yue Buqun has two major missions on his shoulders. The first is to maintain the Taoist tradition of Huashan, and the second is to restore the past glory of Huashan.
Rebuilding the glory of Huashan is actually the same thing as maintaining the Taoism of Huashan. Yue Buqun is looking for a long-lost secret book of the Huashan sect. This secret book is the Huashan sect's "Sunflower Book", also called "Evil Sword Manual".
Yes, this secret book belongs to the Huashan School in a sense. This secret book led to the decline of the Huashan Sect, and was also the hope for the Huashan Sect to return to its peak.
Speaking of the relationship between this secret book and the Huashan Sect, the story is long. The Huashan Sect in the Xianyu Tong era passed into the "Swordsman" era, and a big change occurred. How come it turned into a professional sword?
It turns out that two masters from Huashan, Cai Zifeng and Yue Su, accidentally discovered the martial arts secret book "Sunflower Collection" when they visited Southern Shaolin. The two martial arts masters relied on their memories to steal half of the "Sunflower Collection" and then returned to Huashan to study. These two are brothers. In order to prosper the Huashan Sect, the two of them studied the new technologies they introduced and decided to innovate the Huashan Sect's martial arts, abandoning the complexity and focusing on swordsmanship.
But because neither of them saw the whole story, and one only saw half of it, there were differences on the road to this innovation. Cai Zifeng believes that by practicing sword moves hard, you can overtake in corners and become a master instantly. Yue Su believed that internal strength was the foundation of martial arts. With great internal strength, any weapon could be used in style. The two could not argue, which led to the Huashan sect being divided into two sword sects and starting an internal fight.
However, the "Sunflower Collection" that these two men memorized and adapted separately has become a treasure of the Huashan Sect, at least that is what the Huashan Sect thinks. The reason why the "Sunflower Book" that Cai Zifeng and Yue Su memorized separately can make the two martial arts masters fight among themselves is because such a secret book does not conform to the logic of martial arts and cannot be practiced at all. If you practice hard, it will go wrong. Possessed. Therefore, the two insisted that what they remembered was correct, and what the other remembered must be wrong, so they each insisted on their own opinions and practiced their own skills.
The news soon leaked, and the Southern Shaolin monk Du Yuan went to the Huashan sect to accuse Cai Zifeng and Yue Su of stealing the "Sunflower Book" from memory. Cai and Yue took the opportunity to ask Du Yuan for help. Why can't they practice it successfully if they are combined into one?
With his amazing memory, Du Yuan memorized this secret book while having an academic exchange with Cai Zifeng and Yue Su on the "Sunflower Book". Although he did not point out the doubts of Cai and Yue, he understood the method of practicing Kung Fu in his heart. .
Cai Zifeng and Yue Su thought that "Sunflower Collection" was Shaolin martial arts, so they didn't understand the secrets. But Du Yuan knew that this secret manual was written by a former eunuch, so he suddenly understood why Zen Master Hongye, the abbot of Southern Shaolin, did not practice it himself or let others practice it. It turned out that the difficulty lay in this trick. The trick is to practice it after you have entered the palace, and take the elixir as a supplement, so that you will not have the phenomenon of going crazy.
After Du Yuan figured this out, he returned to secular life, changed his name to Lin Yuantu, and renamed the "Sunflower Book" in his memory to "Evil Sword Manual". From then on, he became famous in the world and founded the Fuwei Escort Bureau.
Later, the Sun Moon Sect attacked the Huashan Sect and took away the Huashan version of the "Sunflower Collection". The owner of the original "Sunflower Book" of Southern Shaolin, Zen Master Hongye, gave up the right to hold the secret book and destroyed the "Sunflower Book" in his hand. This led to the fact that the secret books of the Sun Moon Sect and the Fuwei Escort Agency all came from the Huashan version. The difference is that the extremely smart Lin Yuantu and Ren Woxing realized that the key point of the secret book is self-gong. The Huashan Sect continued to fight internally between the Sword and Qi sects, and the good players died or left. In the end, the Qi sect narrowly won, but the Huashan sect's talent withered from then on, and it declined in the world.
We intuitively believe that Yue Buqun is the descendant of Huashan Qi Zong, so he wants to defend Qi Zong and suppress Jian Zong indiscriminately. In fact, it was wrong. The information Yue Buqun received was different from others. People in the world generally only know that Lin Yuantu suddenly rose up and shocked the world with his seventy-two evil sword techniques, making him seem invincible.
But the information that Yue Buqun knew was that Lin Yuantu only had the evil-proof swordsmanship after stealing the secret books of Huashan Qi Sect and Sword Sect. In other words, in Yue Buqun's view, the "Evil Sword Manual" is actually a product of the Huashan Sect, a supreme swordsmanship that combines the sword sect and the air sect.
Therefore, Yue Buqun had far more legitimate reasons for retrieving the "Evil Sword Manual" than Yu Canghai, Zuo Lengchan and others.
Originally, the purpose of Qi Sect was to "control the sword with Qi", but we saw in the book that the plaque hung by Yue Buqun in the main hall of Huashan Sect read "Sword Qi rushes into the night". This is Yue Buqun's mission, to retrieve the unique skills of the Huashan Sect, combine the two sword sects, and revive the glory of the Huashan Sect.
What if I can't find it? Yue Buqun's original plan was to work hard to practice Qi Buddhism, make good friends in the world, and train his successors so that the Huashan Sect would not continue to sink. Yue Buqun has been in the world for many years, and his reputation is well-known in the world. He is also known as the Gentleman's Sword.
However, Mr. Jianyue, the gentleman, soon encountered a test. First of all, there was pressure from Zuo Lengchan, the brainless leader of the Songshan sect, who sent people to kill Liu Zhengfeng's family. Yue Buqun did not express opposition like Dingyi of the Hengshan sect, nor did he pretend to stay out of it like Mo Da of the Hengshan sect did. Yue Buqun expressed his support for the left leader and even threatened to kill Qu Yang.
However, Yue Buqun did not expect that after Zuo Lengchan wiped out Liu Zhengfeng's family, his next target would be him. Under the eyes of undercover agent Lao Denuo, Yue Buqun tried his best to express his independence from the world and elaborated on his support for the leader of the Left Alliance. However, the Songshan faction, together with the descendant of Jianzong, Feng Buqun, approached Yue Buqun and demanded Yue Buqun abdicated.
What should Yue Buqun do? Even if he abdicates, can Feng Buping tolerate him? Definitely not. Can Feng Buping take over Huashan? Absolutely not. Even if the Huashan Sect cannot find the "Evil Sword Manual", then taking the path of Qi Sect is definitely more correct than following the path of Sword Sect. This actually doesn’t require much argument. In Jin Yong’s martial arts world, internal strength is always the most important. For example, Master Jue Yuan in "The Legend of Heaven and Dragon Slayer" doesn't know any moves, but he can defeat Shaolin simply by relying on his deep inner strength. In "The Deer and the Cauldron", when Cheng Guan was explaining the essence of martial arts to Wei Xiaobao, he also said that a single move can be quickly mastered, but when encountering a master with profound internal skills, the move can be shaken away in one fell swoop, making the move useless.
The path of the Huashan Sword Sect is equivalent to martial arts fast food. It is easy to get started, but it cannot reach a very high level. For example, Feng Buping's hard-practiced Wild Wind Sword is not a very powerful swordsmanship, and can only fool a layman. Including the so-called Dugu Nine Swordsmanship, it is not a particularly superior swordsmanship. I will elaborate on this later when I talk about Feng Qingyang.
In short, Yue Buqun finally faced off against Zuo Lengchan's threat. Thinking again about Liu Zhengfeng's tragic death, how could Yue Buqun remain indifferent? Loyalty in the world is only for children. Jun Zijian and Liu Zhengfeng are both well-known good people in the world, but in the face of Zuo Lengchan's threat, no one will speak out and help them.
Yue Buqun had long known that Zuo Lengchan was not a good person, and also knew that his second disciple Lao Denuo was an undercover agent. He is mentally prepared and this is something he can handle. What made him sad and scared was that Xiao Qiang, the adopted son he had raised by his own hands and the successor he had carefully cultivated, Linghu Chong, was not of the same mind as him.
Putting aside the halo of the protagonist, we see that Linghu Chong has problems. The master is a gentleman's sword, and Linghu Chong is causing trouble for the master as soon as he appears.
This is not scary. What is scary is that Linghu Chong actually did not hesitate to play tricks in front of his master for the sake of Tian Boguang, a lewd demon who had been punished by everyone. He stabbed himself with a sword and pretended to be injured, and let go of this lewd thief who had harmed countless women from good families.
In Yue Buqun's view, Linghu Chong not only had problems with his values, but also had friends with evil heretics. And the most terrible thing is that he colludes with outsiders and dares to act in front of himself, which already creates a gap between him and himself.
Many people thought that Yue Buqun was sorry for Linghu Chong, but in fact it was Linghu Chong who was sorry for Yue Buqun first. Linghu Chong knew clearly that there were martial arts secrets in Siguoya Mountain Cave, but he didn't mention it to Yue Buqun. He kept saying that he had feelings for his master, but he really didn't see it.
Then, the Six Immortals of Peach Valley made a big fuss in Huashan. Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze joined forces, but they couldn't defeat the six weirdos. The leader of the faction was forced to stay away from Huashan, and like a bereaved dog, he began his escape career.
Yue Buqun's escape career was desperate. His martial arts was not high enough and he was forced to leave his territory by six weirdos. If you calculate that the front foot has just left, the Six Immortals of Peach Valley will arrive. Linghu Chong used strange and powerful sword techniques, and he seemed to be familiar with the Six Immortals of Peach Valley. All of this, even Zuo Lengchan, who has a low IQ, must suspect that there is something wrong with Linghu Chong.
After all, Linghu Chong was the only person Lin Zhennan and his wife met before they died. After all, Linghu Chong once acted in front of Yue Buqun and let the traitor go. After all, Linghu Chong's sword skills flew in but he would rather die than tell him the origin of the sword skills. This Can people not doubt it?
Not long after, Yue Buqun and the Huashan Sect were on the verge of annihilation. The men in black who were hiding under the Songshan faction destroyed the Huashan faction. At the moment of life and death, Linghu Chong stabbed the eyes of fifteen men in black with a sword, but did not capture or kill any of them alive. He also refused to relieve Yue Buqun's acupuncture points, so that Yue Buqun could not pursue them.
Yue Buqun naturally thought that Linghu Chong was acting again, and the gap between him and Linghu Chong became deeper and deeper. This crisis made Yue Buqun know that if he was not good at martial arts, he would not be able to survive in the world. It was already very difficult to deal with Zuo Lengchan's coercion, Lao Denuo's undercover, and the assassination of the sword sect's successor. If Linghu Chong was added to the mix, Yue Buqun would really not be able to cope.
At Wuba Post, Linghu Chong threatened to share the same difficulties with a group of gangsters in front of Yue Buqun. Perhaps influenced by the TV series, we may think that the people in the Five Overlords are all heroes. But the book clearly states that this group of people not only kills without blinking an eye, but also has many man-eating demons. From an identity perspective, these people all belong to the Sun Moon Sect, the sworn enemy of the Huashan Sect.
Linghu Chong was secretive in front of his master and confided in the people of the Sun and Moon Sect. Yue Buqun saw all this, and Linghu Chong indeed violated the first rule of the Huashan sect, not to associate with traitors. Linghu Chong's expulsion was reasonable and legal, and not unjust at all.
Linghu Chong, whose intelligence is on par with Zuo Lengchan, has become the best target for the Demon Sect to win over in order to destroy the Five Mountains Sword Sect. Corrupting someone like Linghu Chong is much easier than corrupting Liu Zhengfeng.
It is precisely because of this that Yue Buqun's next stop is Fuzhou. He must obtain the "Evil Sword Manual". In addition to Yue Buqun, the Songshan Sect also sent people to Fuzhou secretly, and Lin Pingzhi was naturally determined to win.
By chance, Lin Pingzhi found the sword manual, but it was snatched away by the Songshan Sect before it was warmed up. Before the people of Songshan Sect could get far, the sword manual was taken back by Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong collapsed in front of Yue Buqun, and the sword manual naturally fell into Yue Buqun's hands.
The process by which Yue Buqun obtained the sword manual was a matter of luck.
Later, the situation became complicated. Laudno's undercover identity was exposed. In order to survive, Laudno left two and a half corpses on the way to escape. One was the fake Laudno body carefully made by Laudno, and the other was that of Yue Buqun. The other half of the eight disciples was Lin Pingzhi, who was seriously injured.
It was obvious that this was done by Lauderno in order to cover up Li Daitao's plan of faking his own death and make others think that Lauderno was really dead. As a result, later on, in order to win over Lin Pingzhi to join the Songshan Sect, Leng said that Lin Pingzhi was chopped down by Yue Buqun and that his eighth junior brother was also killed by Yue Buqun. In fact, Lin Pingzhi also knew who the murderer was. But in order to win Zuo Lengchan's trust, Lin Pingzhi also said that the murderer was Yue Buqun. Therefore, the blind Lin Pingzhi was protected by the blind Zuo Lengchan. And Yue Buqun inexplicably became the murderer of his apprentice.
But in this matter, no one said anything for Yue Buqun. Laudno killed someone and disguised himself as his own dead body. Laudno himself could not deny this. In a flash of lightning, Laudno managed it all and escaped. So how did Yue Buqun arrive at the crime scene in Laudno, kill his eighth disciple, and then chop up Lin Pingzhi? With Yue Buqun's cultivation level, one move would be enough to kill Lin Ping.
The second thing that was put on Yue Buqun's head was the killing of Dingyi and Dingxian. However, in the original text, we can't find any evidence that Yue Buqun killed Hengshan Erding. The person who said Yue Buqun killed someone was just one-sided words from Ren Yingying. Does what Ren Yingying said about the flourishing white lotus have to be true? of course not.
Let's restore the scene. When Linghu Chong discovered Hengshan Erding, Dingyi was already dead, but Dingxian was still breathing. After Dingxian passed the throne to Linghu Chong, he died immediately. After Linghu Chong checked, the two masters were not injured by sharp objects, and there were no broken bones. This shows that the two masters were definitely not injured by weapons or palm force.
The one who wanted to kill the two masters the most was undoubtedly Zuo Lengchan. Because the two masters firmly opposed Zuo Lengchan's plan to merge factions, and Zuo Lengchan's murderous intention was not concealed. But Zuo Lengchan would not be the murderer, because before the death of the two masters, Zuo Lengchan left the Shaolin Temple with Fang Zheng, Chongxu, Jiefeng and others, so Zuo Lengchan had no time to commit the crime.
In the same way, Yue Buqun was always with them and had no time to commit crimes. Moreover, Yue Buqun knew that Zuo Lengchan would definitely kill the two masters, and would never act as a killer for Zuo Lengchan.
So who killed the two masters? Ren Yingying said that the two masters were shot through the heart with an embroidery needle and died. Anyone who knew how to use an embroidery needle at the time had alibi. After Fang Zheng led everyone to leave the Shaolin Temple, and before Linghu Chong led them to the Shaolin Temple, Ren Woxing, Ren Yingying, and Xiang Wentian were lurking in the Shaolin Temple. What allowed the two masters to die seemingly without any scars was Ren Woxing's star-absorbing technique.
As soon as Ren Yingying appeared on the scene, she was trying to drive a wedge between Linghu Chong and Yue Buqun. It was the Ren family who said that Yue Buqun was a hypocrite without any evidence. The people who were most motivated to kill the two masters, apart from Zuo Lengchan who wanted to merge the sect first, were Ren Woxing who wanted to destroy the Wuyue Sword Sect. Zuo Lengchan has alibi, but Ren Woxing does not.
In the Shaolin Temple martial arts competition, Yue Buqun challenged Linghu Chong, firstly to win over Linghu Chong against Zuo Lengchan, and secondly to show weakness to Zuo Lengchan. Yue Buqun succeeded. He practiced the evil-fighting swordsmanship of combining the two sword sects into one, although he paid a high price. But we cannot say that those who practice this martial arts must be bad people.
Yue Buqun, the head of the Five Mountains Sect, did not go on a killing spree, but shared the martial arts of each sect on Siguo Cliff with the disciples of each sect. However, under the manipulation of Ren Yingying, the disciples of the Hengshan Sect identified Yue Buqun as the murderer of Er Ding. Still under Ren Yingying's manipulation, Yue Buqun identified Linghu Chong as the murderer of Yue Lingshan. Finally, Yue Buqun and Linghu Chong, who were originally harmonious on the surface, turned against each other. Ren Yingying gave Yue Buqun the Three Corpse Brain Pills behind Linghu Chong's back, and became Ren Woxing's vassal.
However, Yue Buqun, who shoulders the heavy responsibility, does not want to surrender to Ren Woxing like the so-called heroes Zu Qianqiu, Old Man, and Ji Wushi. Instead, after ostensibly agreeing to help Ren Woxing send the Hengshan nun to Heimu Cliff, he secretly The Hengshan nuns captured Huashan and tried to threaten Linghu Chong to ask Ren Yingying for the antidote. Then poor Yue Buqun died at the hands of Yilin, ending his painful life.
Yue Buqun is pitiful, and he is also the first scapegoat in "The Swordsman". After reading the entire book, we can’t see what evil Yue Buqun did? For most of Yue Buqun's life, he was a hero with a clear distinction between good and evil. He was nicknamed "The Gentleman's Sword" because of his heroic deeds.
Tian Boguang had no enmity with him, but Yue Buqun thought that Tian Boguang had committed crimes repeatedly and went down the mountain to kill Tian Boguang himself. Zuo Lengchan died and persecuted Yue Buqun, but after Yue Buqun took over the head of May, he did not kill Zuo Lengchan and continued to let Zuo Lengchan take charge of Songshan anyway.
Lin Yuantu practiced the "Evil Sword Technique" for the sake of money and reputation. Dongfang Bubai practices "Sunflower Collection" in order to compete for power and gain. Lin Pingzhi practiced the "Evil Sword Technique" in order to avenge himself. Yue Buqun practiced the "Evil Sword Technique" in order to protect the Huashan Sect. Then why do you say Yue Buqun is a bad person?
In the original work, Fang Zheng, Ren's father and daughter, and Lin Pingzhi risked their lives to say that Yue Buqun was a hypocrite. Did they come up with a reason? No, and there is no need to. Fang is a senior in the martial arts world and has the right to speak. Whoever he says is a hypocrite is a hypocrite. The Ren family and his daughter were ambitious, but they pretended to be their true temperament. They purposefully scolded Yue Buqun and succeeded. Lin Pingzhi had a disagreement with Yue Buqun over the ownership of the "Evil Sword Manual". He said that Yue Buqun was a hypocrite, which was the most excusable.
There is a conflict between Yue Buqun and Lin Pingzhi, and it is difficult to say who is taking advantage of whom. First of all, when Lin Pingzhi joined the Huashan Sect, it was because Lin Pingzhi wanted Yue Buqun, not because Yue Buqun wanted Lin Pingzhi. Furthermore, in order to take revenge, Lin Pingzhi at that time even recognized Mu Gaofeng as his grandfather and worshiped Yue Buqun, which was actually to seek asylum.
Yue Buqun did this. Mu Gaofeng couldn't protect Lin Pingzhi, but Yue Buqun could. Yue Buqun saved Lin Pingzhi's life, taught him martial arts, and was kind to Lin Pingzhi. Yue Buqun betrothed Yue Lingshan to Lin Pingzhi, with the intention of passing the throne to Lin Pingzhi in the future. After all, among Yue Buqun's disciples, Linghu Chong was kicked out of the door, Laudeno was an undercover, and the only other disciple who had some aura was Lin Pingzhi.
It's just that Lin Pingzhi, who has a blood feud, has reached the point of madness. He accidentally obtained the "Evil Sword Manual", secretly practiced swordplay in the palace, and finally stood on the opposite side of Yue Buqun.
Yue Buqun's marriage to Yue Lingshan to Lin Pingzhi was not false, but Lin Pingzhi's marriage to Yue Lingshan was false. The conflict between Weng and his son-in-law cannot be entirely blamed on Yue Buqun. In fact, in Lin Pingzhi's eyes, everyone can be a tool for his revenge, and Yue Buqun and Yue Lingshan are no exception.
Yue Buqun, like Zuo Lengchan, is not an excellent politician. Compared with Zuo Lengchan who was messing around, Yue Buqun's problem was that he set a goal that was beyond his ability.
However, Zuo Lengchan took the initiative on his own, while Yue Buqun was forcibly given an excessively heavy burden by his master. Yue Buqun, who doesn't even have a 2, must be called a landlord.
What's even more tragic is that Yue Buqun has Linghu Chong, a pig teammate, and the Ren family and his daughter are rivals in the world. So Yue Buqun made too many mistakes and became a hypocrite in the way of three people becoming tigers.
In fact, Yue Buqun is not that bad. Everything he did was for Huashan. It's just that Yue Buqun, who has mediocre abilities, shoulders a mission that is far beyond his ability. If Yue Buqun had not been lucky enough to obtain the "Evil Sword Manual", he would not have become a hypocrite among the people.
Yue Buqun is tragic, and the important factor causing his tragedy is the male protagonist Linghu Chong. So is Linghu Chong really a hero? What is his role in the book? I’ll fill this hole next time.
Tomorrow at 8:00pm on Weibo, we will send out the first lesson of "New Deal in the Late Qing Dynasty"