Which is Jin Yong's pinnacle work? If you look at length, it is undoubtedly "Dragon Babu", but when it comes to which one is the "most martial arts flavor", the answer in most people's hearts is undoubtedly "Smiling Proud Jianghu", it can be said that this work is the most vivid embodiment of the deception in the rivers and lakes, and the sentence "Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes" has also been the most perfect interpretation in this work.
However, it is a pity that after the end of this work, Jin Yong did not launch a new series of works like the "Condor Trilogy" or "Flying Fox Series", in fact, strictly speaking, there are still many stories to be tapped in the character of Ling Hu Chong.
So why didn't Jin Yong create a "Legend of Smiling Pride" back then?
First, a slightly hasty ending
Like the end of most martial arts stories, it is indispensable to have a lover eventually become a family, and Ling Hu Chong and Ren Yingying tied the knot in the song "Smiling Proud Jianghu", which is even more topical.
(Ling Hu Chong, Ren Yingying stills)
The book only said: "Linghu Chong has been at ease all his life, smiling proudly, and marrying Yingying, although he has fulfilled his life's wishes, he is full of joy, but he is not immune to the gentle control of his wife, and he really wants to be free and unrestrained, but he can't do it." Suddenly, the tune of "The Song of Smiling Proud Rivers and Lakes" sounded in my heart, and I suddenly thought: "I play this song, if I want to be high, if I want to be low, I can only be free if I play the piano alone, but if I play with Yingying ensemble, I must play according to the score, I can't indulge arbitrarily, she is high and I am high, she is low and I am low, this is said to be harmonious." ”
Jin Yong's arrangement is really wonderful.
However, can the combination of the decent head and the demon witch really be recognized by the world? Even if they can get the blessing of some people at this time, they will inevitably encounter verbal criticism in the future.
Just like in "Heaven and Dragon Slayer", the combination of Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu is quite controversial, even if Zhang Zhenren mentioned: "Don't be too narrow-minded as the first, don't pretend to be a decent family and look down on others." Originally, it was difficult to distinguish between good and evil, and if a righteous disciple was not right, he would be an evil person, and as long as a person in an evil sect was bent on goodness, he would be a righteous man and a gentleman. ”
But how many people in the world have a real person-like pattern? Later, Ling Hu Chong and Ren Yingying will definitely be involved in various martial arts disputes because of their respective identities, so their stories are indeed worth writing.
2. The legend left by later generations
In fact, the reason why the author is sure that Ling Hu Chong will have a more wonderful experience in the future is also because Jin Yong's "Flying Snow Shoots White Deer in the Sky, Laughing Book Hero Leans on Bi Yuan" and even "Yue Nu Sword" are not independent works, they are actually related to each other.
(Yingying, let me go stills)
Taking "Smiling Proud Jianghu" as an example, in the twenty-second chapter of the original work, when Ren Wuxing introduced the star-absorbing Dafa to Ling Huchong, he mentioned this sentence: "My divine skill, the founder was the 'Xiaoyao School' in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it was later divided into two categories: 'Northern Shengong' and 'Huagong Dafa' (author's note: see "Tianlong Babu"). It was the Dali Duan clan who practiced the Northern Spiritual Skill. That Emperor Duan first felt that he had absorbed the skills that others had practiced all his life for his own use, and it seemed that it was not in line with the right path and he refused to practice. ”
Obviously, "Emperor Duan" here refers to Duan Yu.
In "The Legend of Deer and Ding", which is later in the background of the times, the plot related to "Smiling Proud Jianghu" is also mentioned.
For example, Wei Xiaobao's nephew Chengguan mentioned such a sentence: "(Chengguan) thought: 'The ancients said that when martial arts reach the top, it will be like an antelope hanging its horns, and there is no trace to be found. I heard that there was a Dugu hero in the previous dynasty, and there was a hero who made Fox Chong, who won with no tricks and was invincible in the world. ’”
You see, there is also a direct mention of Ling Hu Chong's later deeds.
(Linghu Chong, let me do stills)
In fact, judging from Ling Hu Chong's performance in the main story of "Smiling Proud Jianghu", where did he reach the so-called realm of "no tricks to win, there are moves"? On the contrary, even with the blessings of Dugu Nine Swords, Yi Jin Jing and Star Absorbing Dafa, he is still a half-hung martial artist, he is either injured, or on the way to injury, he is still far from the realm of "Sword Demon" Dugu seeking defeat.
It is not difficult to see from here that the later Ling Hu Chong must have experienced some major event, and his martial arts were able to undergo qualitative changes.
And Jin Yong has already laid the foreshadowing in the serial version.
3. Linghu Chong, who has fallen into a demon
What kind of woman is Ren Yingying? Resourceful? Extraordinary in martial arts? No, no matter how powerful she is, she is a woman after all, and she is a beauty, so in this bloody rivers and lakes, her situation is inevitably very dangerous.
Ling Hu Chong once sighed: "When she said this, she turned her face sideways. Under the faint light of the stars and moon, her snow-white face seemed to emit a soft light, which made Hu Chong's heart move: "This girl is actually much more beautiful than the little junior sister, and she treats me so well." ”
(Stills of Ling Hu Chong crying)
Ying Ying is indeed as beautiful as a fairy, such a strange woman, it is inevitable that she will be targeted by others, and Jin Yong laid the foreshadowing in the serial version of the story, that is, Qianqiu Palace.
In the book, the place mentioned by Ren Wujiang's mouth, the original book is written like this: "I only heard the white-haired old man ask, 'Who are you going to ask the six monsters of Peach Valley to kill?' Ping Yi pointed and said: 'I haven't figured it out yet, senior brother, who do you say it is good to tell them to kill?' The white-haired old man said: 'How do I know the ghost idea in your chest?' He paused and said, 'I guess you want to use the six of them to help you go to Qianqiu Palace to get treasure, aren't you?' Ping snorted and said, "Qianqiu Palace to get treasure?" You white-haired boy is going to Qianqiu Palace, who else in the world dares to fight with you?'"
Obviously, there is some kind of secret treasure hidden in the Qianqiu Palace, maybe Jin Yong's purpose at the beginning was to let Ling Hu Chong have a place to improve his martial arts.
Of course, if Ren Wujiang was a third-rate person, Qianqiu Palace would naturally not be worth mentioning, but Ren Wujiang in Yue Buqun's eyes was a top master: "When Yue Buqun heard this, he nodded to his wife. The heart said: "It turns out that this person is the white-haired boy Ren Wujiang. I heard that this person kills people without blinking, and he is known for his ruthlessness, but I haven't heard his name for a long time in the past 20 years, but I don't know that he is the senior brother of the famous murderer Ping Yizhi. ’”
(Dugu seeking defeat stills)
From this point of view, most of the stories in the post-Xiaoao era will be related to Qianqiu Palace, and most of the plot is that the Qianqiu Palace Lord took away Ren Yingying, and Ling Hu Chong went to challenge Qianqiu Palace alone, and finally failed to save Yingying, and his temperament changed greatly, and the dragon-slaying boy eventually became an evil dragon and became a new generation of Qianqiu Palace Lord.
This is also the reason why the Linghu Chong in the mouth of the martial arts master Chengguan in later generations can reach the point of being comparable to the sword demon, if it is not for some changes, how can the chic Linghu Chong reach such a state? And this plot is a little gray, Jin Yong did not write him, it is reasonable.