While writing a diary at Zongwu, Wang Yuyan falls in love with someone else.

[They didn't even consider whether Xiang Wentian had committed murder and arson, or whether he had been raping and plundering everywhere, incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, which was why so many people were besieging him.]

His reason for intervening was also ridiculous; he was simply impressed by Wentian's composure and nonchalance despite being the target of everyone's criticism, and felt a sense of sympathy and mutual understanding in him.

[He acts selfishly, willfully, and without any sense of right or wrong]

If at this point one could still say that Linghu Chong was merely impulsive, then it would be truly unreasonable for him to still stand up for Xiang Wentian after learning his true identity.

[Was it simply because he saw Wentian wearing chains and looking pitiful that he felt sympathy and thus took action?]

This is absolutely ridiculous!

[Following Linghu Chong's logic, if he were to take a stroll through the imperial prison, wouldn't everyone be accused of being wronged?]

Seeing this, many people secretly shook their heads.

Linghu Chong has a good heart, but he acts without considering the consequences, relying entirely on his impulses.

This kind of person is absolutely not suited to be in power, but rather to be a wandering knight-errant.

Moreover, although he is inclined towards justice, he is actually caught between good and evil, and is easily tempted and manipulated by others, thus making some wrongdoings.

In short, he's not up to any great task!

Afterwards, the two were outmatched and retreated while fighting.

During his escape, Xiang Wentian encountered three ordinary people riding by on horseback. He immediately killed them and stole their horses, displaying extreme ruthlessness.

[When Linghu Chong saw him indiscriminately killing innocent people, he could only sigh inwardly.]

[They didn't utter a single question, nor did they fall out with Xiang Wentian; they acted as if nothing had happened.]

All of this was simply because he and Xiang Wentian were kindred spirits!

[Afterwards, in order to replenish food supplies, Xiang Wentian resorted to extremely brutal and bloody methods of killing horses.]

He scratched the horse's neck with his fingers, drank from its neck, and then kicked the horse off the mountain stream.

Then, for no apparent reason, they kicked the second, perfectly intact horse off the field as well.

When he got to the third horse, Xiang Wentian first cut off its two hind legs and then kicked it into the ravine.

Linghu Chong's assessment of Xiang Wentian's actions was as follows:

["So it turns out he cut off the horse's legs to use as food; it wasn't just out of sheer cruelty and a bloodthirsty nature."]

Listen to this! Listen to this!

If the three horses have spirits in heaven, they will surely send their regards to Linghu Chong's ancestors for eighteen generations.

[If you need to kill horses to supplement your food supply, one horse would be more than enough, but you insist on killing all three.]

You call this "not just indiscriminate cruelty and bloodthirst"?

After all, the three horses gave the two a ride, allowing them to escape their pursuers temporarily, so they could be considered somewhat kind to them.

[Yet Xiang Wentian is so cruel and violent, he's utterly inhuman!]

[Two people and three horses, none of them are human.]

As Yue Lingshan wrote this part of her diary, she clearly felt the air pressure around her dropping.

It felt as if dark clouds were rolling over the place, making people feel depressed.

Yue Lingshan looked over cautiously and saw that Ning Zhongze, though silent, had a face ashen.

Yue Lingshan swallowed hard, thinking to herself, "Senior Brother Linghu, good luck to you. I can't help you."

She knew what her mother was angry about.

Ning Zhongze was a chivalrous woman who always upheld the principles of chivalry. Indiscriminate killing of innocent people was what she hated most, and it could be said that it crossed her bottom line.

Although Linghu Chong did not do this, he allowed the other party to do evil, even associating with such a person and helping them...

This caused the veins in Ning Zhongze's temples to throb.

[By comparing the incidents involving Yilin and Xiang Wentian, it can be seen that although Linghu Chong has a chivalrous heart, his chivalry is ultimately subservient to his own preferences.]

Even his sense of right and wrong, good and evil, is vague and unclear.

"The concept of right and wrong, good and evil..."

Ning Zhongze chewed on it for a moment and thought it made a lot of sense.

He made up his mind that he would call Linghu Chong over tomorrow and give him a good talking-to.

We must not let him become like the character in the story.

As for being deeply affectionate and devoted, this should be Linghu Chong's only undisputed virtue.

Linghu Chong experienced two relationships.

[First, there's Yue Lingshan, his childhood sweetheart and junior sister; second, there's Ren Yingying, the Holy Maiden who stayed by his side during his most down-and-out and dejected times.]

[From the very beginning of the story, he was deeply in love with Yue Lingshan. Even when faced with the beautiful Yilin, Linghu Chong only acknowledged in his heart that she was prettier than his junior sister, but never harbored any improper thoughts.]

[Afterwards, Yue Lingshan fell in love with someone else, causing Linghu Chong unbearable pain.]

But he still couldn't forget Yue Lingshan.

Whether facing hardship or surrounded by beauty, their devotion remains constant.

Even after Yue Lingshan married someone else, his devotion remained unchanged.

During this time, he remained unmoved by the silent advances of Ren Yingying, the most beautiful woman in the world.

[Whenever he acted intimately or overstepped the bounds of propriety, it was only out of consideration for Ren Yingying's kindness to him, or perhaps because Ren Yingying was simply too beautiful, so beautiful that he could hardly control himself.]

It's often said that a woman pursuing a man is easy, but Ren Yingying, the female protagonist, pursued him for half the book before finally winning Linghu Chong's heart.

318 Yue Buqun castrates himself to practice swordsmanship? One of the unlucky characters in Jin Yong's novels.

"Huh? Senior Brother Linghu likes me that much...that much? How come I didn't know?"

Yue Lingshan was both bewildered and embarrassed.

Memories of the past flooded her mind, and Yue Lingshan became even more confused.

In her mind, Linghu Chong was a free-spirited and unrestrained person, and probably no one in the entire Huashan Mountain was more unrestrained than him.

That's why he was chosen by Feng Qingyang to teach him the "Nine Swords of Dugu".

From beginning to end, Yue Lingshan never heard any rumors about who Linghu Chong liked.

Yue Lingshan, Hua Zhenzhen, Gao Yanan... none of these beautiful female disciples of Mount Hua had any romantic feelings for him that went beyond friendship.

"Could it be another plot twist?"

This was the only explanation Yue Lingshan could think of.

In reality, she and Linghu Chong were not childhood sweethearts, but merely fellow disciples.

……

Mantuo Villa.

Ren Yingying was speechless for a moment.

Unexpectedly, in "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," the female lead is the one who pursues the male lead, and she does so for a full half of the book.

That's so pathetic!

Does she even care about the dignity of the Holy Maiden?!

Ren Yingying was already thin-skinned, and the thought that the other women might be laughing at her made her feel annoyed.

"Knock knock—"

A knock sounded on the door, followed by Lan Fenghuang's sweet, soft voice: "Holy Maiden, it's me."

Ren Yingying rolled her eyes and said irritably, "I'm going to sleep! I'm not seeing you!"

……

Based on the above examples, I would say that Linghu Chong is a chivalrous but incapable man of sound judgment, who acts solely on his whims.

In addition, there are many controversial aspects to Linghu Chong, such as—

[The Five Sacred Mountains Sword Technique was discovered at the Cliff of Contemplation in the back mountains, but this was concealed and not reported.]

Otherwise, Yue Buqun might not have castrated himself to practice the "Evil-Repelling Sword Technique."

Another point is that he became sworn brothers with the lecherous Tian Boguang.

Although Linghu Chong initially did not acknowledge this friend, he was moved when Tian Boguang continued to call him brother even after he thought they were both going to die, and only then did he accept him as a friend.

But a womanizer is still a womanizer, a wicked man who has ruined the chastity of countless women, and is unforgivable!

Then he started hanging out with all sorts of people again.

The so-called "Gathering of Heroes at Five Hegemons Hill" was ostensibly a gathering of heroes, but in reality, it was a motley crew of all sorts, with far more bandits than good people, and even including scum like the "Two Heroes of the Northern Desert" who could eat human flesh and gnaw on human bones.

[But Linghu Chong was able to sit at the same table and drink with them, and even enjoyed it.]

【…】

[And many, many more like this]

Therefore, in summary, Linghu Chong, as Jin Yong himself commented, is not a great hero, but a hermit like Tao Qian who pursues freedom and individual liberation.