HSDS 1st Edition (translated into English from the Indonesian translation by BBT/OKT)

The Heavenly Sword and The Dragon Sabre
(First Edition)

by Jin Yong

post #1

Only chapter 1 to 7 are posted here in this Forum.
You can read further at http://zhaomin.org

:typin: Chapter 1: Prologue

A spring full of joys and merriments,
On yearly Han-sit* celebration,
Peach blossoms are blooming.
The smooth white silk,
Sweet fragrance fills the air,
The trees are like jades,
They are covered by snow.
The deep night is quiet,
A light is floating in the sky,
A cold cold ray of moonlight.
Between heaven and earth,
A silver light brightens up the universe.
Ah, she is like a Goddess from Mount Kouw-sia,
She is bright and pure,
Her character is noble and natural.
There are millions of flowers' essence, big and small,
But who dares to say that she is less worthy than the most famous flowers?
Her soul is dignified,
Her ability is abundant,
But after petals fall to the ground, everything becomes the same,
So she returns to the Heaven's Palace,
To see a Beauty that will last forever.

The poem above, called "Free from Worldliness", is a poem written by a famous kung fu master living in the era of Southern Song dynasty. His surname is Qiu, and his first name is Chuji, also known as "The Everlasting One", one of the of the Seven Masters of QuanZhen (Seven Masters from QuanZhen Religious Sect).

In that poem, Qiu Chuji talked about peach blossoms. But actually, in describing the beauty and nobility of peach blossoms, he wanted to praise a very beautiful lady who was always wearing white. He compared her with an immortal, a "Goddess from Mount Kouw-sia, she is bright and pure, her character is noble and natural.". He praised her humanity further: "Her soul is dignified, her ability is abundant".

Who was this lady who received such a highest praise from such a religious kung fu master?
She is Xiao LongNu, a lady kung fu master from the Old Cemetery Clan. She loved to wear white, so she looked as if she were a jade tree covered by snow. With her character that was pure-cold, she was like a ray of moonlight which encovered heaven and earth with a cold but calm shining light.

When she was still living on Mount Ciong-lam, Xiao LongNu was neighbours with Qiu Chuji, and after he witnessed her outstanding beauty, Chuji composed that "Free from Worldliness" poem to praise her.

But now Qiu Chuji has passed away, and Xiao LongNu has married The Condor Hero Yang Guo.

One day, on a path in Mount Shaoshi in Hunan province, a young girl was seen reciting that poem "Free from Worldliness"with her head looking down.
That girl, about 18 years old or so, was wearing all yellow and she was riding on a skinny mule. The mule climbed up the narrow mountain path slowly. After pondering for some time, she thought: "Yes. Only someone like Big-sister Long suits to be his wife."
"His" here refers to The Condor Hero Yang Guo.

The mule continued to walk, slowly.
The girl took a deep sigh, and muttered softly "Being together brings happiness, being separate brings sorrow...."
She was wearing a simple robe, and there was a short sword hanging from her waist, her face looked calm, so people could easily guess that she must be used to travelling by herself in the martial art realm. She was a teenager, an age when young boys and young girls are usually happy and carefree, not knowing yet any sufferings nor sorrows. But this young girl was different from the others. On her face that was as as pretty as a rose, a gloomy shadow could be seen hanging. Her eyebrows were drawn together, as if she was burdened by something that was too heavy for her heart to bear.

The young girl's surname is Guo, and her name is Xiang, the second daughter of the Great Hero Guo Jing and the Heroine Huang rong. In the martial art realm, people named her "The Little Dissident from The East". With a mule and a sword, she wandered far and wide to erase her sorrow. But the farther and higher she went, climbing beautiful and peaceful mountains, the bigger her sorrow grew.

That narrow mountain road was built up by the order of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang dynasty, so as to make easy the people's pilgrimmage to Shaolin Temple.
After proceeding for some time, Guo Xiang saw five waterfalls on the mountain ahead of her, and from the other side of a turn of the mountain road, she could see dimly the walls and roofs af a vast monastery.

Observing the rows of walls and buildings, she thought to herself : "From a long time ago Shaolin is well known as the center of martial art. But why, twice at the kung fu Contest on Mount Hua, there was nobody from Shaolin among the Five Greatest? Did they deliberately not participate in the Contest because they knew they did not have any expert skillful enough to participate in it? Or were they already so unbeatable in martial art that they did not bother anymore to get involved with worldly matters?"

While thinking and pondering, she approached the temple.
Then she got off grom her mule and walked towards the temple's gate. Walking past some trees and bushes, she saw several stone tablets which were already so worn out and damaged that the character engravings on them could barely be read anymore.
She sighed. "Ahhh. The words on these stone tablets could fade away with the passage of time, but why the words in my heart become engaved deeper and deeper instead?", she asked herself.

After walking a bit further, she passed a very big stone tablet with characters that could still be read. That tablet was a gift from Emperor Taizong from the Tang Dynasty, he wrote praises which were engraved on the tablet as a reward for the Shaolin monks for their help to the Dynasty.
According to history, when the Emperor Taizong was still the Young King Chin-wang, he brought his soldiers to defeat and punish Wang Shichong. In that battle, there were a lot of Shaolin monks helping the Young King, but among them, there were 13 monks that were most famous. From the thirteen, only one monk was willing to accept the title of General, while the other 12 refused and went back to the monastery after the battle was over. Emperor Taizong could not stop them, so as a token of gratitude, he gave them each a very beautiful monk robe.

"During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the kung fu from Shaolin was already so famous, " Guo Xiang thought to herself. "after several hundred years have passed now, they must have improved a lot. I wonder how many martial art experts are secluding themselves now in this huge monastery."

While wondering and thinking, suddenly she heard the cling clang sound of an iron chain, followed by the voice of someone reciting Buddhist Scripture. From among the recital, she could vaguely caught these words: "Out of love arose the feeling of annoyance, out of love arose the feeling of fear. If one frees himself from love, he will be freed from the feelings of annoyance and fear...."

The girl's heart beat faster. She stood transfixed and repeated the words: "Out of love arose the feeling of annoyance, out of love arose the feeling of fear. If one frees himself from love, he will be freed from the feelings of annoyance and fear...."

In a moment, the sound of the iron chain grew fainter and the sound of the Scripture's recital grew farther and farther away.
"I must ask him," she thought. "I must ask, how can someone be free of love, how can someone be free from the feeling of annoyance and fear."
She hurriedly tied the mule's rein to a tree and ran towards the sound.

She found a steep small road behind the trees, and over there, a monk carrying two big pails was climbing up on it. Quickly Guo Xiang chased after him, and when she came nearer, she was shocked. She saw that the iron pails he was carrying were at least three times as big as the usual pails. But what shocked her was the fact that his neck, hands and feet were chained, so that each time he made a movement, the chain produced a cling clang sound. The weigh of the two big iron pails must be hundreds of kilos, and adding the weigh of the water inside them, they must be tremendously very heavy.

"Great Monk!", shouted the girl. "Please stop! I have something to ask you!"
The monk turned his head around and both looked at each other with surprise. This monk was no other than JueYuan, whom Guo Xiang ever met at the summit of Mount Hua. She knew that although the monk was rather dull and not bright, he owned a big internal power no less powerful than any martial art master.
"Ah! I was wondering who you are!", she said "So it's you, Great Monk JueYuan! What has happened to you?"

JueYuan nodded his head several times and bowed to her with both hands, but did not reply to her question. Then he turned round and started to walk away again.
"Great Monk JueYuan!" Guo Xiang exclaimed. "Don't you recognize me? I am Guo Xiang!"
JueYuan turned his head around again, he laughed and nodded his head again, but this time he did not stop.
"Who chained you? Who has humiliated you like this?"

Still walking on, JueYuan shook his left hand behind his head, as a signal for the girl to stop questioning him.
Guo Xiang became more puzzled. How could she let the matter rest just like that? She ran after him again, intending to pass him and halt his progress, but strangely although after chasing after him for quite some time, she still could not catch up with him, eventhough JueYuan was carrying two heavy pails and was in chain too. She became vexed. Like a bird, her slim figure flew forward and with one hand she tried to grab one of the pails.
From her calculation, it was impossible for her to miss. But unexpectedly, Guo Xiang's hand caught empty air, missing the pail by an inch.
"Big Monk!! You are very skillful!", she shouted. "But you see! I will catch up with you no matter what!"

The road became steeper, arriving at the other side of the mountain now. JueYuan calmly sped up his footsteps, and as a result the sound of cling clang clung from the chain became noisier. The girl chased with all her might, but she could never succeed to go nearer, and was constantly about 1-2 feet behind the monk. She got so impressed with the monk, and thought: "At the top of Mount Hua, father and mother said that this monk had a big power and skill. At that time, I did not believe it, but now it is proven that what father and mother said is not wrong."

Not long after, they arrived in front of a small house and JueYuan went to the back of the house and poured the water of the two pails into a well. Guo Xiang was perplexed. "Great Monk, are you out of your mind?", she asked. "Why did you pour the water into this well?"
But the monk's face remained calm. He just smiled.
Suddenly Guo Xiang loughed out loud. "Ah! I know now!", she said. "You are practising a martial art skill, right?"
JueYuan shook his head again.

The girl became annoyed now. "You are not mute, I heard you reciting Buddhist Scripture," she said. "Why won't you answer my questions?"
The monk brought his hands together, while from his face xpression, he seemed to ask for forgiveness. But he remained silent, and after lifting his two pails, he began to climb down the same steep road.

Guo Xiang looked down into the well. She could see clear water and could feel cold air coming out from it. But other than that, she could not find anything extraordinary. She stood there puzzled and with a big question mark in her heart, she stared at the shadow of JueYuan's back as he walked farther away.

After previously using all her power to chase, now she felt exhausted, so she sat down by the well and looked around her. She was in a place higher than the Shaolin temple. Viewed from afar, the temple looked more dignified and beautiful. She looked up and saw rows and rows of mountain peaks stretching high to the sky while below there were white clouds floating here and there. Faintly she could hear the sound of the bell from the temple, brought up by the wind to where she was. For a moment she felt she was in a holy place, far away from any worldliness.

This is my first attempt to translate a work by Jin Yong, please feel free to give suggestions, comments and corrections, thank you.

My problem is the naming of the characters and some other names. I decided to use the Chinese names as used in this Forum, and not the Indonesian version of naming though they sound similar and sometimes even the same.
But in the case I don't know the usual Chinese name for a certain character, I will be forced to use the Indonesian naming. Please inform me if you know the Chinese name, I will then edit/correct it. Thanks bunch in advance!

Good job translating the first part of chp 1 Kirara. I espcially like the poem. Keep on translating don't stop nooooo, keep on translating it!!! hehe:D :hooray:

my only suggestion is keep doing this and increase the speed :D.

Kirara,

Athena had translated the first two chapters of HSDS (2nd Edition) though, so you might want to skip those.

Good job. ;)

thanks for making the effort to make these translations :bow: :bow:

post #2
:read: "Where has the pupil of that monk gone?", she wondered. "Since he refused to talk, I might as well look for his pupil."
She began to climb down slowly in search of Zhang JunBoa, JueYuan's pupil.

After walking for some time, she heard the sound of the iron chain again, and could see JueYuan climbing up again with his two iron pails. Guo Xiang quickly jumped aside to hide behind a tree. "Let me spy on him", she thought. "What on earth is he up to?"
Soon afterwards, JueYuan arrived at where Guo Xian was hiding. She saw that he was reading a book attentively. All of a sudden she jumped out of her hiding and shouted loudly: "Great Monk, what book is that you are reading?"

"Aw!! You gave me a start!" the monk jumped and cried out before he realized it. "You are way too naughty!"
The girl giggled in glee. "Great Monk, why did you pretend to be mute earlier?" she said with a teasing tone.
The monk's face turned pale as if he was scared of something. He looked to his left and right while shaking his hand.
"What are you scared of?" Guo Xiang asked, feeling puzzled.

But before JueYuan could reply, suddenly two monks in yellow robes appeared from inside the wood.
"JueYuan!" thundered the monk walking in front of the other. "Hm! How dare you speak and broke our rule? Hm! You dared to speak to an outsider, and to a girl too! Now you must come with us to see the Head of Kay-Lut Hall" (Disciplinary Hall)
JueYuan looked sad, He hang down his head and nodded, and then walked away following the two monks.

Guo Xiang got upset to see this. "Hey! Is there such a rule in this world where one may not speak?" she yelled at them. "I spoke to this Great Monk because I knew him! What business is it of yours?"
One of the monks, who was tall, glared at her. "Since thousand of years ago no woman was ever allowed to enter Shaolin area.", he said. "You had better leave here as soon as possible, so as not to create troubles for yourself later."

The girl became more upset. "What if I, a woman, want to enter here anyway? Is a woman less than a man? Why did you torture Great Monk JueYuan? You chained him with iron chains, and still you made such a crazy rule as to forbid him to speak a single word!"
The tall monk grunted with his nose. "Even the Emperor himself never interferes with our rules in the monastery," he said in a flat tone. "You don't need to bother."

Guo Xiang got more furious she leapt forward. "I know that Great Monk JueYuan is a nice person, and because he is so nice, you dare to bully him," she said. "Huh! Huh! Where are Great Monks Tian Ming, Wuse and Wuxiang? Call them out! I want to ask them about this crazy matter!"

The two monks were shocked. Reverend Tian Ming is the Head of Shaolin Temple, whereas Reverend Wuse and Wuxiang are the Heads of Lo-Han Hall and Tat-mo Hall respectively. With those very high status, they were very highly respected by all the monks in Shaolin, so no one ever dares to call them by just their religious names. They usually called them "Old Abbot", "Elder of Lo-han Hall" and "Elder of Tat-mo Hall". So no wonder they became shocked and angry to hear this young girl mentioned their names so rudely.

The religious name of the tall monk was Xiang Ming, the chief pupil of the Head of Kay-Lut Hall. By the order of the Head of Kay-lut Hall, he was spying on JueYuan, with his younger brother Xiang Yan.
"Young Miss!" he yelled at her, while trying to control his anger. "If you keep on being so rude in our holy place, I am not going restraint myself anymore!"

"You think I will be scared?" Guo Xiang yelled back. "Hurry up, release JueYuan from his chains! Otherwise I will go and see Old Monk Tian Ming to complain!"

Actually, why did "The Little Dissident from The East" Guo Xiang come to Mount ShaoShi?
After parting with Yang Guo and Xiao Longnu at the top of Mount Hua, for three years she had never heard any more news about those two friends. Because she felt worried about them, she asked her parents' permission to travel around, with the hope of catching any bits of news about Yang Guo. She does not really wish to meet them in fact. She would feel satisfied enough if she could just hear any news about them. But since their separation, Yang Guo and Xiao LongNu disappeared from the martial art realm. She traveled all around China, from north to south, from east to west, but Guo Xiang never heard "The Condor Hero Yang Guo" mentioned anywhere.
When later she arrived at Hunan Province, she remembered that once Yang Guo said that he knew the Head of Shaolin Temple personally. Remembering that, she was hoping that Reverend Tian Ming knew many things about Yang Guo. Therefore she went up Mount ShaoShi, but beyond her expectation, now she met with this unusual situation.

Noticing a short sword hanging from her waist, Xiang Ming and Xiang Yan became more furious.
"Leave your sword here, ang get out of this mountain!", thundered Xiang Yan with glaring eyes.
This infuriated Guo Xiang more. She untied the strings that held her sword, took the sword and handed it to the monk with both hands. She laughed and said coldly: "Okay, I will follow your order."

Since he was very young, Xiang Ming was used to a secluded life in Shaolin monastery. For years, he always heard that Shaolin was the center of all martial art, and that no one, even the most skillful of martial art experts, would dare to enter the gate of Shaolin Temple carrying any sort of weapon. But now, although Guo Xiang has not yet entered the main gate of the monastery, but she was already in the Shaolin monastery's area. And because Guo Xiang was so young, and a girl too, it was understandable that Xiang Yan looked down upon her. So as soon as she handed her sword to him, Xiang Yan took it for granted that she was so scared that she complied easily. Therefore, with a swift movement of both his hands, he gladly reached out to receive the sword.

But as soon as his fingers touched the sword, suddenly his arm trembled strongly as if striked by a lightning. He felt a very strong power came out from the sword and pushed him so powerfully he couldn't maintain his balance and fell rolling down the steep slope. After rolling down a few meters, fortunately he managed to grab a small tree by the slope and so he could prevent himself from rolling further down.

Xiang Ming became so mad his face turned purple. "Devil woman!", he yelled. "You must have eaten a lion's heart or something, that you dare to run amock in Shaolin!" While cursing at her, he hit Guo Xiang using both of his hands.
Looking at his movement, Guo Xiang realized that his martial art skill was a lot better than the monk who fell rolling down. So with a fast movement she raised her sword, still in its case, and used it to poke at Xiang Ming's shoulder. But the monk could dodge very quickly, while trying to snatch the sword off.

"Please don't fight! Please don't fight!", JueYuan shouted in bewilderment.

Xiang Ming succeeded to grab the sword; but when he was going to snatch it away, all of a sudden his arm felt painful and he uttered a muffled sound "Oh no!". At the same time, Guo Xiang's foot swept at his legs and Xiang Ming's body soon rolled down the slope. He suffered more than Xiang Yan and he managed to stop himself only after rolling down more than 20 meters or so, and now his body and face were seen bleeding.

Looking at his poor state, Guo Xiang felt a bit remorse. "Ah! I came to Shaolin to learn some news about big-brother Yang," she thought. "But unexpectedly I had to fight with them."
Seeing JueYuan stood by the side of the slope looking sad, she quickly came up to him and used her sword to chop off the chain on his feet. Soon all three chains on his neck, hands and feet were broken because her sword was not an ordinary one.
"No, dont! Don't do it!" the monk tried to stop her.

"Why not?", asked the girl. She observed Xiang Ming and Xiang Yan running away towards the temple.
"Those two evil monks must be on their way to report this incident. Let's get away from here. Where is Zhang your pupil? We must ask him to run away too with us!"
JueYuan just shook his hand and stared at the girl with gratitude.

Suddenly Guo Xiang heard a voice behind her: "Thank you for your kindness. I am here."

Jeren: Thanks, I'm glad you like the poem. I spent some time on it.

ToOn: Speed! :D I will try updating every day.

ClayPot: My pleasure, ClayPot.

Han Solo: Actually, at first I just meant to continue where it left off at chapter 23. Now I am translating the first edition of HSDS from the beginning because I had better not mix the first and the second edition of HSDS.
Does the the first two chapters (the story of Guo Xiang) only appear in the First Edition but not in Second Edition? Was Athena's translation taken from the First Edition?
Thanks for enlightening me.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Kirara


Han Solo: Actually, at first I just meant to continue where it left off at chapter 23. Now I am translating the first edition of HSDS from the beginning because I had better not mix the first and the second edition of HSDS.

---

¶

On second thought probably it's better not to strain spcnet readers (and also you) and directly commence at the position of after chapter 10 (of the 2nd edition), it's around jilid 19/20 of the Indonesian translation (1st edition).

But if you decide that way, could you perhaps compare both editions and give the important differences of chapters 1-10 in the 2st edition as to its Indonesian counterpart (1st edition)? This is to prevent confusion among the readers.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Kirara


Does the the first two chapters (the story of Guo Xiang) only appear in the First Edition but not in Second Edition? Was Athena's translation taken from the First Edition?
Thanks for enlightening me.

---

¶

Both CHINESE editions (1st & 2nd edition) have the story of Guo Xiang.

As to the Indonesian translations (both from the 1st edition):

BBT/OKT translates completely (including the story of Guo Xiang), he titled the book: Kisah membunuh naga (Ie Thian To Liong)

Gan KL cut out the first two chapters (the story of Guo Xiang), he titled the book: To Liong To (Golok pembunuh naga)

I've mentioned that all English translations of JY's works here at spcnet (except your translation) is from the 2nd edition.

post #3
:read: Guo Xiang looked back behind her and saw a young man more or less 17 years old, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a tall strong body, but with a baby face. Immediately she recognized him as Zhang JunBao, whom she ever met on Mount Hua. His body was taller than when she last saw him, but his face had not changed much.

Guo Xiang was glad to see him. "Those two evil monks have bullied your teacher," she said. "Let's run away."
"Actually they weren't bullying my teacher," JunBao said.
"They weren't bullying him?", the girl repeated in puzzlement. "They chained his arms and legs and forbid him to speak. And you said they were not bullying him?"
JueYuan laughed bitterly, and shaking his head again, he pointed with his finger downhill, meaning he advised her to leave the mountain for her own good.

But Guo Xiang was a girl who owned heroic spirit. She was sure that inside Shaolin Temple, there were a lot of martial art experts much more skillful than herself. But even so, witnessing the strange situation, she could not leave the matter alone. Seeing GueYuan and JunBao not moving, she became worried that the Shaolin monks would be able to catch them.
"Hurry up! If we need to talk, we can talk after we reach the foot of the mountain," she said.
She had just finished her sentence when suddenly from the steep road below she saw 7 or 8 monks approaching them, each of them carrying a wooden staff.

"What female dares to wreak havoc in Shaolin Temple?" one of them shouted.
"Big brother, please don't be rude," said JunBao. "She is....."
Quickly Guo Xiang cut him short. "Don't tell them my name."
She understood that she had made a big trouble and that it would be impossible to settle this incident in peace. As a martial art expert, she wanted to be responsible for her own conduct, and did not wish to drag her parents in it.
She whispered softly "Let's escape uphill. But please don't mention my parents' name and other friends' name."

Suddenly she could hear more shouts, and soon she could see 7 or 8 more monks appearing from the top of the mountain.
Seeing that they had blocked her escape route from both ways, Guo Xiang got very annoyed.
"This is all your fault. you two, acting so slow like two grannies! No manly spirit at all! Say now! Do you want to leave or not?"
JunBao turned to his teacher and said: "Teacher, Miss Guo only means well...."
But at the same time, from below, appeared 4 more monks wearing yellow robes. They did not carry any weapons, but they climbed up the hill so quickly and lightly. Guo Xiand realized that they must be people with great kung fu skills.
Now she understood that it was practically impossible for her to escape. Quickly she stood up straight with a proud attitude, ready to face any kinds of possibilities.

As soon as they were near, the monk who was walking in front shouted with a loud voice. "By the order of the Head of Lo-han Hall, you must leave your sword. After that, you must go to YiWei Pavillion to explain and to receive our judgement."
Guo Xiang laughed coldly. "Ah! You Shaolin monks act and speak no different than those government officials," she jeered.
"May I know, are you officials of the Song Dynasty or officials of the Mongolian Emperor?"

At that time. the Northern part of Hwaysui River had fallen into the hands of the Mongolians, and Shaolin and Mount ShaoShi were located in the Mongolian territory and under Mongolian jurisdiction. But since the Mongolians were so busy trying to defeat the city of Xiangyang, they had no time to pay attention to other things. Therefore until now, they have not bothered with Shaolin Temple yet.

Hearing what Guo Xiang said, the monk's face flushed with embarassment. He realized that he had spoken inappropriately by one-sidedly giving judgments to an outsider. Therefore, he clasped both his hands and spoke nicely: "May I ask for what purpose Young Miss come to our temple? We hope you don't mind leaving your sword and go to the YiWei Pavillion to drink tea and to talk."

Guo Xiang scoffed mockingly. "Huh! You people forbid me to enter your Temple, is there anything so precious in your temple that it will be ruined just because I look at it?"
She glanced at Zhang JunBao and asked quietly: "Coming with me or not?"

The young man shook his head and signaled with his mouth towards JueYuan, meaning that he wanted to stay beside his teacher.
"Okay," the girl said in a loud voice, I am not going to interfere anymore.". She then began to walk down the slope downhill.

The first monk with the yellow robe stepped aside for her, but the second and third monk raised their hands to stop her. "Wait a minute", one of them said. "Please leave your sword behind first.".
The first monk added: "We won't be keeping your sword for a long time. As soon as you left the place we will return it to you. This rule has been enforced since thousands of years, therefore we hope Young Miss can comply."

Hearing the polite tone of the request, Guo Xiang became hesitant.
"If I refused to hand them my sword, I will have to fight them, and alone, how can I fight so many people?", she thought. "But if I agree and leave my sword, I will disgrace Father, Mother, Grandfather, Sister, Brother-in-law, Big brother Yang, and Big sister Long."

Before she could decide, suddenly a yellow figure flew to her front, followed by a fierce voice:
"Not only you carried a weapon here, but you've also wounded people! Since a long time ago, no one dares to be so ill-mannered here!" At the same time, his five fingers tried to snatch away her sword.
If the monk had not used force, Guo Xiang might leave her sword after considering everything. Her personality was different from that of her elder sister, Guo Fu. Although she was brave, she was not rash. If she saw she was at a disadvantage, she usually could restrain herself to return again later with more help.
But now that this monk had used force, it eliminated any possibility to settle this problem in peace.
How would she be willing to hand her sword over without any struggle?

The monk was using Kin Na Chiu Hoat, a martial art skill to catch and grab, and it was really powerful. With just one grab, he suceeded to get hold of the sword's case, gripping it firmly in his hand. Being forced to act, Guo Xiang quickly grabbed the handle of the sword and pulled it out.
"Swooshh!" the sword was drawn out and it emitted a blinding light.

Almost at the same time the monk shouted in pain, because the sword cut off 5 fingers of his left hand. Bearing with the pain, he then tried to poke the girl's face with the sword's scabbard in his right hand but Guo Xiang used her sword to parry it and "Clang!" the scabbard was chopped in two. The monk could not attack any further, and with his face turning pale, he jumped backward.
His friends became very angry, and soon they attacked her simultaneously with their wooden staffs.

"Ah today it would be difficult for me to escape without wounding people first," Guo Xiang thought. Gripping her sword tightly in her hand, she fought them using sword technique Lok Eng Kiam Hoat.
Lok Eng Kiam Hoat, deriving from Huang YaoShi's fistmanship Lok Eng Cianghoat, was one of the extraordinary martial art from Tho-Hua Island and was no less inferior than [u]Giok Siauw Kiam Hoat [ u]sword style. As soon as she used it, her sword flashed as fast as a ligtning and before long two monks were wounded.
But she could not keep herself in the upper hand for long, and after a while, she began to feel cornered, because more and more monks joined forces to face her.

After fighting for some time, Guo Xiang could only defend herself, without the ability to attack anymore. In fact. in this situation, it would be easy for the monks to wound and defeat her. But Shaolin Temple always put compassion first, so they did not want to wound her. Their intention was just to disarm her and then to drive her away from Mount ShaoShi. But it was not that easy to snatch her sword away, and after fighting some more, Guo Xiang still managed to keep her sword. Seeing this, the monks felt perplexed. They were certain now that this young girl must be either the daughter or the pupil of a famous martial art master, so all the more they did not want to wound her in case it would bring adverse consequence. That's why, one of them hurriedly returned to report about the situation to the Head of Lo-han Hall, Great Monk Wuse.

Soon after, an elderly monk with a tall and thin body appeared and observed the fight with a smile on his face. Two monks leapt out from the fight and whispered a few things to him.
Meanwhile, Guo Xiang's sword fight became more and more of a mess.
"Hey! You all are really shameless!" she yelled. "You people professed to be the center of martial art, but what are you doing now? Tens of Great Monks are taking advantage by mass-attacking one person!"

"Stop!", the previous elderly monk ordered loudly but smilingly. He was no other than Referend Wuse. Hearing the order. simultaneously every monk jumped out of the fight and stood at the side.
"Young Miss," Reverend Wuse addressed her patiently. "May I know your surname and first name? Who are your parents, and who is your teacher? For what business did you come to visit us at our monastery?"

Guo Xiang thought: "Today I have made a big mess here, if my parents and Big brother knew this, they would surely scold me.
Thinking that way, she then grunted: "I cannot tell you my name," she told them. "I climbed up your mountain because I was attracted by the beautiful sceneries and I have no other intention that that. Surprisingly, I learned that Shaolin Temple is even stricter the than the Emperor's Palace. Without any reason you want to confiscate my sword. Great Monk, let me ask you something: Did I ever enter through the gate of your monastery?"
She paused for a while, then while looking straight at Reverend Wuse, she continued.
"In the past, when Reverend DaMo taught martial arts, I think he just meant for the monks to train their bodies and strength so that they would be able to do their religious duties as well as possible. But now, it seems that Shaolin Temple has not only improved in fame and in martial art skills, but has also improved its skill in defeating people by mass-attack tactics. Alright, Great Monk. If you also wish to confiscate my sword, here it is, take it! But, unless you kill me, this incident will definitely be spread out among everybody in the realm of martial art."

Hearing the girl's sharp tongue, Reverend Wuse was astounded.. For a while he could only look at her with his mouth gaping open from astonishment, and for a moment he was unable to utter a word.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Du Gu seeking a win
¶

On second thought probably it's better not to strain spcnet readers (and also you) and directly commence at the position of after chapter 10 (of the 2nd edition), it's around jilid 19/20 of the Indonesian translation (1st edition).

But if you decide that way, could you perhaps compare both editions and give the important differences of chapters 1-10 in the 2st edition as to its Indonesian counterpart (1st edition)? This is to prevent confusion among the readers.

---

Hi Du Gu, I have given it a thought. It is really a difficult choice, because I have started with the Guo Xiang story and I really like this spunky girl.
If I am to compare the two versions from 1-10, I am afraid it will take me more or less the same time I will need to translate until chapter 11, because I will have to read both editions closely and carefully to be able to see where the differences are.
So for the time being. I will just continue doing the First edition chronologically.
I hope I am not boring everyone here :p
Please skip reading the parts you have read, I will try to speed up so we will reach chapter 11 before long!

Quote:

---

Both CHINESE editions (1st & 2nd edition) have the story of Guo Xiang.

As to the Indonesian translations (both from the 1st edition):

BBT/OKT translates completely (including the story of Guo Xiang), he titled the book: Kisah membunuh naga (Ie Thian To Liong)

Gan KL cut out the first two chapters (the story of Guo Xiang), he titled the book: To Liong To (Golok pembunuh naga)

I've mentioned that all English translations of JY's works here at spcnet (except your translation) is from the 2nd edition.

---

:D

Thanks, Du Gu, now it is clear to me. I am very new to this Forum (just found this Forum 5-6 days ago) so I have not read the thread on HSDS carefully so I know I missed many things.

To Noodles: Thank you for deleting the older thread.

Good job Kirara !!!!! :thumbsup:

The only thing that can cause a problem is the inconsistency of the names. The Indonesian translated version use the Hokkienese romanized names (for character names, places, schools, martial arts techniques) .. And I see you are trying to synchoronize the names for us here by using Mandarin Pin Yin, instead of the original translated names in Hokkienese. But you left out other Hokkienese terms (martial arts techniques etc) the way they were.

Well, I guess we just have to bear with it for now, otherwise it will be too difficult and time consuming to match up and synchronize the names, etc to Mandarin Pin Yin.

Someone (who knows Hokkienese and Mandarin) can help synchronize the names, etc along the way.

Well.... let me help out a little bit here.

Here are some name conversion that can help our readers with the confusion with Hokkienese names, places, techniques, etc

Mandarin Pinyin ------------------ Romanized Hokkienese


Zhang Wu Ji - Thio Bu Ki
Zhao Ming - Tio Beng
Zhou Zhi Ruo - Ciu Ci Jiak
Yin Lee - In Li
Xiao Zhao - Siao Ciao
Zhang Cui San - Thio Cui San
Yin Su Su - In So So
Xie Xun - Cia Sun
Yang Xiao - Yo Siauw
Song Yuan Qiao - Song Wan Kiauw
Ying Li Ting - In Li Heng
Zhang San Feng - Thio Sam Hong
Yu Lian Dan - Ji Thay Giam
Song Qing Shu - Song Ceng Su
Yang Bu Hui - Yo Put Hui
Ji Xiao Fu - Ki Siao Hu
Fan Yiao - Hoan Yauw
Yin Ye Wong - In Thian Ong
Wong Bao Bao - Ong Po Po
Guo Xiang - Kwee Siang
Guo Jing - Kwee Ceng
Huang Rong - Oey Yong
Hong Qi Gong - Ang Cit Kong
Huang Yao Shi - Oey Yok Su
AuYang Feng - Auwyang Hong
Yi Deng Da Shi - Teng Taysu
Zhou Buo Tong - Ciu Pek Thong
Qiu Chu Ji - Khu Ci Kee
Qiu Qian Ren - Kiu Cian Jin
Ke Zheng E - Kwa Tin Ok
Yang Guo - Yo Ko
Xiao Long Nu - Siauw Liong Lie
Guo Fu - Kwee Hu

HuaShan - Hoa San
ShaoLin - Siauw Lim
WuDang - Bu Tong
E'Mei - Go Bie

Da Gou Bang Fa - Tah-kauw Pang-hoat
Jiu Yang Zhen Jing - Kiu Yang Cin Keng
Jiu Yin Zhen Jing - Kiu Im Cin Keng
Tan Zhi Shen Tong - Tan Ci Sin Thong
Xiang Long Shi Ba Zhang - Hang Liong Sip Pat Ciang
Yu Xiao Jian Fa - Giok Siauw Kiam-hoat

post #4
:read: "I am scared other people will know about this incident, but it seems he is more scared!" Guo Xiang thought. "That makes sense. Tens of monks mass-attacking a girl is not something to be proud of."
Then she threw away her sword to the ground, and began to walk downhill to leave the mountain.

Wuse took a step forward while sweeping his sleeves into the air, and within a second, the sword was lifted up from the ground and fell right into his hand. Holding the bloody sword in both hands, he said: "If Young Miss doesn't want to answer my questions, it is fine, but let me return this sword to you and I will accompany you downhill as a gesture of respect."

Guo Xiang laughed. "Great Monk, you are a sensible person and you should be the living example of the other monks here, " Guo Xiang praised him while reaching out her hands to receive the sword. But the second her fingers touched the sword's handle, she was shocked.
From Wuse's hands, came out such a strong sucking power that she was unable to lift the sword off his hands. Guo Xiang tried to use her own internal power 3 times, but the sword still did not budge from his hands,

"Eh, Great Monk, you are deliberately showing off your martial art, huh?" she asked with a vexed tone. Out of a sudden her hand shot forward aiming to paralyze Wuse's two YueDao points on his neck, namely his "TianDing" and his "JuGu". Wuse got startled and for a second his sucking power slackened. Guo Xiang used the exact moment to quickly pull the sword off his hand again and this time she succeeded.

"That YueDao Kung Fu Lan-hoa Hud-hiat-ciu (Orchid Flower Whisking Acupoints) is indeed very awesome!", Wuse praised her.
"Young Miss, what's your relationship with the Master of Tho-hua Island?"
"Master of Tho-hua Island?" Guo Xoang asked while giggling. "He is also known as Old Dissident from the East."

The Master of Tho-hua Island, Huang YaoShi, was Guo Xiang's maternal Grandfather. His character was a bit peculiar, and he loved to tease his granddaughter, calling her "Little Dissident from the East", so in response, she called him "Old Dissident from the East." Instead of feeling offended, her grandfather was amused, and accepted this new nickname given by his naughty granddaughter.

Listening to this, Wuse draw a conclusion that the girl must have no close relation with Huang YaoShi, because if she were closely related to him, she would not have called him so rudely. Assuming this, Wuse felt relieved.
When Wuse was younger, he had once become a notorious robber. That's why although he had long become a monk, he was still blunt and aggressive sometimes. The more Guo Xiang tried to hide her own origins, the more curious Wuse became.
So he laughed loudly and said: "Little Miss, let's try a few moves to give me old monk a few lessons? I want to try whether within 10 moves I will be able to guess your origins."

"What if you can't guess?" the girl asked.
Wuse laughed loudly again. "If within 10 moves I am still unable to guess your origins, I will do as you asked me to."
"I have ever met that Great Monk before and now I want to ask you a favor concerning him." Guo Xiang said while pointing at JueYuan. "If within 10 moves you cannot guess my origins, I would like you to grant my wish to never trouble him anymore."

Wuse felt puzzled. To his knowledge, for over 10 years JueYuan's duty was just to manage the books in the monastery's library and never related to any outsiders. So how could he have known the young girl?
Observing Guo Xiang with piercing eyes, he explained: " We have never deliberately troubled him. If any monk here breaks the law, whoever he is, it is our duty to punish him. Therefore, it is not correct when you said we were troubling him."
"Hm!" Guo Xiang scoffed. "Whatever you said, I know you are good at turning words inside out and upside down."

Wuse couldn't wait any longer and grew impatient. He raised his hands and said: "Alright, I will do as you said. If I lose this fight, let me take over Younger Brother GueYuan's job carrying 3180 pails of water. Young Miss, watch out, I will start."

Before starting, Guo Xiang already set up a strategy. "This monk must own a fantastic kug fu, and so if I let him attack first, I will be forced to use the kung fu taught by Father and Mother to defend myself," she thought. "It is better if I attack first, and use 10 unusual moves consecutively."
So the second Wuse finished what he said, she leapt forward and tried to stab him using Ban-cie-cian-hong (Thousands and Millions of Purple and Red) from Lok-eng Kiam-hoat (Falling Petals Swordmanship). With this sword style, her sword's tip shook continuously so it was hard for the opponent to guess what it was aiming at.
Wuse noticed this sword style was very powerful, so he did not dare to face it one on one, and prefered to jump aside to evade it.

"Watch out! The second move!" the girl shouted while whirling her sword and then sliced from the bottom to the top, using Thian-sin-to-hian (Heaven God Turned Upside Down) from QuanZhen sword technique.
"Good! That was QuanZhen sword style!" Wuse shouted.
"Not necessarily!" the girl grinned.
After evading it, Wuse turned his right hand around and with his five fingers spread wide open, he clawed Guo Xiang's wrist.
Guo Xiang was startled because she did not expect that the monk could counter-attack that fast. In her difficult position, she moved her sword several times and now she was using Ok-kian-lam-louw (Mean Dog Blocking the Road) from Da Gou Bang Fa (Dog Beating Stick).

When she was small, Guo Xiang was close friends with Lu YouJiao, the late leader of The Beggars' Association. They often had meals together, and talked about many things, and sometimes, because the girl insisted, they would practise martial arts as well. So although "Dog Beating Stick" was meant to be solely taught to the leaders of the Beggars' Association, Guo Xiang managed to steal a few moves from that powerful sword technique.
Moreover, because her own mother Huang Rong used the be the leader of the Association while her own Brother-In-Law Yeh Lu-Ci was the present leader of the Association, Guo Xiang had a big opportunity to steal a few more moves from this martial art. That's why though she did not really understand the basics of the kung fu, she could still use it when she needed to.

Wuse was shocked because when his fingers were about to claw her wrist, suddenly a bright light flashed and her sword stabbed from a direction he thought was impossible and he nearly got his fingers chopped off. Fortunately, in the last critical seconds, he managed to jump back. Even so, his sleeves could not avoid the sword so it was torn. Wuse's face turned pale and he was breaking cold sweat now.

Guo Xiang felt very happy and grinning, she asked Wuse: "Great Monk, do you know what sword style is this?"
In fact there was no such sword style. After stealing a few moves from Dog Beating Stick, with her high intelligence, Guo Xiang had created a sword move based on those stick's moves and therefore she had managed to make an eminent kung fu expert from Shaolin unable to answer her question.
"Ha! If I can attack again using some more moves from Dog Beating Stick, I am sure I can defeat this old Monk," she thought. "It's a pity that I only have this one sword move based on Dog Beating Stick."

Before her opponent could make any move, Guo Xiang started to attack again by poking his legs with her sword's handle. This time she used Ling Bo Wei Bu (Ling Bo Walks Beautifully), which was taken from Yu Nu Jian Fa (Jade Maiden Sword style) she learned from Xiao LongNu.

Jade Maiden Sword style was created by Lin ChaoYing, and each strike was very beautiful. And now, the beauty of Ling Bo Wei Bu was more enhanced because it was done by Guo Xiang who was pretty and beautiful. Filled up with admiration, all the monks watched the stroke while holding their breath.

On the opposite, Shaolin Clan's martial art, like DaMo Sword style and LuoHan Sword style, were usually aggressive and forceful, very different from Jade Maiden Sword style which was seldom seen in the realm of martial art. As soon as Guo Xiang used Ling Bo Walks Beautifully, Wuse too, like the other monks, watched it with admiration. As long as he lived, he had never seen such an elegant sword style, so he hurriedly jumped aside, hoping the girl would repeat the same beautiful stroke again.

Guo Xiang changed her sword style again. Now she ran back and forth to the East and to the West a few times while swinging her sword and thrusting many times. Zhang JunBao, who was watching the duel from the side, opened his eyes wider with surprise and suddenly he exclaimed: "Eh!". It turned out that the sword technique Guo Xiang was using now was no other than Su-Thong Pat-Ta (Four Penetrate Eight Deliver), a sword style that was taught by Yang Guo to Zhang JunBao. At that time, Guo Xiang was also there and saw it, so now she used it to fight Wuse.

Su-Thong Pat-Ta which Yang Guo taught was in fact a martial art that did not use any weapon (bare-handed). Changing this bare-handed martial art into a swordmanship had decreased much of its original power, so that when Zhang JunBao succeeded in defeating Yin KeXing using it, Guo Xiang could not do much against Wuse.

By now, Guo Xiang had used 5 moves consecutively, but Wuse still could not find out her origins. When he was young, in fact Wuse had traveled far and wide in the world of martial art and had a lot of experience. Since he became the Head of Luo-Han Hall, he had spent more than ten years investigating all kinds of martial arts and compared them with Shaolin's.
He used all his knowledge and experience to perfect the martial arts of Shaolin. That's why he always felt confident, that he would know the origins of any masters by just looking at their kung fu.
But now, beyond his expectation, he met his real opponent.
Guo Xiang's Grandfather, Father, Mother, uncles and big brothers were very outstanding martial arts experts of the era. To defend himself against those various strokes, Wuse still could manage well. But to know who her teacher was, it was still too difficult for him to guess.

"If I let her attack first, not only in 10, but even in 100 moves I would still be unable to guess the origins of her swordmanship." Wuse thought. "The only way is to attack her forcefully, so that she would be forced to use her own original sword style to defend herself.
After deciding this, like a flash he evaded her sword by going to the left, and then he hit her using Song-koan-kun (Double Piercing Hands) by putting both his hands together and curling his fingers like claws.
Seeing how powerful the attack was, Guo Xiang did not dare to use force to meet force. By ducking her body a bit and then with an agile but beautiful movement, she managed to avoid his two powerdul hands. This trick was a trick ever used by Ying Gu to fight Yang Guo in Ban Hoa Tong (Hall of Thousand Flowers).

"Good! Very good movement!" Wuse praised her. "Now try another one!". He made a circle with his left hand, while his right elbow was bent on his chest with the palm facing outward. This was Oei-eng-loh-kee (Yellow Bird Preched on a Pier) from Shaolin fist fight kung fu. As an elder from Shaolin, although he understood various martial arts from other schools, he was obliged to use Shaolin's original skills in every fight.

Guo Xiang became startled because as soon as Wuse made that circle in the air, she felt a very heavy pressure pressing her. Quickly she turned her sword over and with the handle she hit his YueDao points at Wan-kun, Yang-kok, and Yong-lo on his wrist. This was It-yang-cie (One Yang Finger) YueDao Kung Fu which she learned from Wu XiuWen.
In fact her skill in it was still very low and could not be used to hurt the opponent. But the movement to paralyze the 3 acupoints was one of the powerful style from It-yang-cie, so when Wuse saw her attacking him using this skill, Wuse was very startled and hurriedly he withdrew his hands back. In fact, suppose he continued with his attack, he wouldn't be hurt because the skill she was using was not accompanied by the much-feared internal strength of It-yang-cie. But as an experienced master, Wuse did not want to risk his name for that skill.

Guo Xiang laughed loudly. "Great monk, you seem to recognize my powerful move just now?" She asked while grinning.
Wuse did not reply. He just muttered "Hm" and then attacked her again using Tan-hong-tiauw-yang (Phoenix Glaring at the Sun). With this skill, he spread aside both his arms wide and high, so the girl could not use It-yang-cie anymore.

But Guo Xiang did not run out of other kung fu skills. Quickly she crossed her palms and counter-attacked using Biauw-ciu-kong-kong (The Smart Hand Seems Empty), which was the 72th move from Kong Ming Fist, and was created by Zhou BoTong. Kong Ming Fist was not much known in the martial art world, so again Wuse felt very puzzled. He quickly evade to the side and countered the strike by hitting using Pian-hua-cit-seng (Seven Stars Flower). Like a lightning, all of a sudden his hands clapped her palm, so if she did not use her internal strength to withstand the pressure, the bones of her hand would break.

Guo Xiang realized, that her hand was under his power now, but her mind could not accept the fact. She thought: "Don't rejoice yet! It's not certain yet that you can break my hand!" She quickly accumulated her internal strength and used Tiat-po-san-ciu (Iron Fan) to counter the force. This skill was created by the famous Tiat-ciang Sui-siang-piauw Qiu QianRen, and she learned this skill from WanYan Ping, Wu XiuWen's wife. Tiat-ciang-kang (Iron Palm Skill) was one of the very fierce martial art skills and was very feared by many masters in the martial art world. Being an expert, of course Wuse recognize the skill and his heart skipped a beat. He felt conflicted now. If he used force, the girl would be seriously wounded and he had no intention of hurting her. Besides, he also felt a bit fearful of Tiat-ciang-kang. After hesitating for a second, he withdrew his hands.

The naughty girl laughed out loud. "Watch out! This is the 10th move! Can't you guess my origins still?" she shouted. At the same time, she waved upward with her left hand, while her right hand lunged at Wuse's chin. All the monks exclaimed in puzzlement, because that move, called Kouw-hay-hui-tau (Turn Head in Sea of Sorrow) was taken from Kin-na-ciu-hoat (Catch and Claw Fist), Shaolin's own martail arts skill.
But Kouw-hay-hui-tauw was a bit different from Kin-na-ciu-hoat from different branches of Shaolin, because usually it was used only to help one's own life at critical moment. With that move, the left hand pushed the opponent's head, whereas right hand attacked the neck, therefore if successful, the opponent's neck might break, or at least he would be severely hurt.

Seeing that the naughty girl dared to apply that move on him, as if a literary student daring to show off in front of Confucius, Wuse felt amused. For more than ten years he had practised that skill, so he could do each movement very naturally. As fast as a lightning, he leaned his body sideways while put one of his leg a step forward, his left hand reached out to her armpit and his right hand aimed at Guo Xiang's inner knee. This move was called Sin-san-tiauw-hay (Carry the Mountain and Leap over the Ocean), a strike that was created to especially counter Kou-hay-hui-tiauw.

The girl was so startled because suddenly both her legs were raised off the ground. Actually she could have elbowed him, but Wuse's movement was so fast that she did not have the time to elbow him.
This way, Guo Jing's daughter was defeated.

But while he was carrying her, suddenly he realized something and his heart sank. "Oh My! I can defeat her alright but I still cannot guess who her teacher is and from what school she is!"
Guo Xiang tried to wriggle loose with all her power. "Let me go!" she yelled. "Clang!" something dropped down from her pocket.
"Great Monk, you really won't let me go?" she asked in apprehension.

Wuse was a religious man who had high spiritual enlightenment, he loved all creatures on earth. Therefore, hearing the young girl's plea, he laughed out loud.
"Little Miss, old monk is already very old and fit to be your grandfather," he said with a smile on his face. "Why are you scared of me?"
After saying so, with careful calculation, he threw the girl about 3 meters away and Guo Xiang's feet could land on the ground safely.

As a true martial arts master, Wuse did not want to break his promise. He nodded his head to admit defeat. When he nodded his head, suddenly his eyes caught two black things on the ground, and they were a pair of Lo-han (high priests) figurines which were made of iron.

"Great Monk, so you admit defeat?", asked Guo Xiang.

Wuse raised his head cheerfully and laughing happily, he replied: "How can I lose to a small kid? I know, your father is Master Guo Jing, your mother is Mrs Huang Rong and the Master of Tho-hua Island is your Grandfather. Your father has various martial arts skill because he had ever learned from the Seven Eccentrics of Jiang Nan, from Tho-hua Island, from the Beggar from the North, and from the QuanZhen School. Miss Guo, you are the daughter of the number one hero in this era, thus no wonder that you possess such amazing martial art skills."

Guo Xiang's body trembled, she never imagine that she would receive such a reply.

Seeing the naughty girl's face looked stunned, the old Monk laughed in amusement and bending down, he picked up the two figurines from the ground.
"Miss Guo, I the old monk must not trick a little kid like you," he confessed. "I can guess your origins after I saw this pair of iron Lo-han. How is Master Yang? Have you ever seen him?"

The girl was surprised. "You have not seen Big Brother and Big Sister Long?", she asked back. "I came here exactly because I want to know their news. You might not know, that my Big Brother and Big Sister Long are married now."
Wuse nodded his head a few times. "A few years ago, Master Yang visited our monastery and stayed here for a few days, and I felt that we had the same spirit.", he explained. "After that, I heard that he had suceeded in killing the Mongolian Emperor outside the city of Xiangyang, so that his name shook the world. When we heard that news, we felt jubilant. But now we don't know where he is. Aha! So he is married now! I bet his wife must be a lady who's eloquent at both the martial arts and the literary arts."

Guo Xiang stood unmoving as if feeling numb, her eyes gazed far away. She took a deep sigh and said softly: "So you also don't know where they are. Who can tell me, I wonder." She paused for a while, then she went on: "So you are Great Monk Wuse, I know now. No wonder you have such a high martial arts skill. Hm! I have not thanked you yet for your present on my birthday. Now is not too late. Let me express my gratitude for you today."

The Monk laughed. "They said that without fighting first, people cannot be good friends," he said. "For us both, this saying is so appropriate. eh, if you meet Master Yang, please don't tell him that I this old monk has humiliated a small girl like you."

Both Guo Xiang's eyes swept over the rows of mountain peaks beyond. "When...when....can I meet him again?", she muttered.

When Guo Xiang celebrated her 16th birthday, Yang Guo had invited a lot of martial arts experts to meet and gather at the city of Xiangyang to wish her happy birthday. On that day, to respect Yang Guo's wish, experts from both the white path (good path) and the black path (evil path) gathered at Xiangyang. But at that time, Wuse was very busy so he just sent his own representative to wish her happy birthday and to deliver his birthday present for her. And that birthday present was no other than that pair of iron Lo-han. Inside the stomach of the iron Lo-han, there were some mechanism that if someone winds it, the Lo-han will pose a Lo-han strike. The person who created them was an eccentric monk who lived in Shaolin temple a hundred years ago. Because Guo Xiang still carried her childlike character, she loved to carry them around in her pocket. Actually, she even got her Kouw-hay-hui-tauw strike from the two iron Lo-han.But unwittingly, it was the same strike that had caused her to lose her bet because Wuse could guess her origins correctly.

"Because it is a rule that has been handed down to us from a long time ago, we regret that we cannot invite you to our monastery," Wuse explained. "I believe that you won't be disheartened."
"It doesn't matter," Guo Xiang replied rather sadly. "What I need to ask, I have asked."

Pointing at JueYuan, the old monk explained further: "As for my Younger Brother, I will explain to you bit by bit later. Let's do it this way: I the old monk will accompany you downhill, and we can look for an eating place below, so that I can fulfil my duty as a host and treat you a few cups of wine. What do you think?"
Listening to this, all the monks present became so astonished. Wuse carried a high position in Shaolin Temple. That he was so respectful to a young girl was something very unusual.

"Great Monk, please don't be too formal," Guo Xiang replied looking embarrassed.
"I regret that I had been so rash and wounded a few Big Brothers here. Please tell them that I asked for their forgiveness. Let us part here, and I am sure in the future we would meet again."
After saying that, she paid her respect, turned round and began to walk down the path.

"Little Miss, why did you refuse my sincere invitation?" asked Wuse with a laugh. "Several years ago, because I was too busy, I could not attend your birthday party, and until now, I still feel uneasy about it. If I don't see you off for at least 30 miles, I'm afraid I would look as if I did not know how to treat a respected guest."

Catching the sincerity and honesty of the words, and also liking the old monk's honest and straightforward ways, Guo Xiang turned her head and smiled: "Let's go!" she said.

Side by side they walked downhill and before long they arrived at the YiWei Pavillion. Suddenly they heard some footsteps and when they looked back, they saw that the person who had been following them was Zhang JunBao.
"Brother Zhang," Guo Xiang said. "So you also want to see the guest off?"
The young man blushed and replied "Yes!"
At the moment, suddenly they saw a monk rushing out of the temple towards them while using Lightness Kung Fu.
Wuse frowned. "What's the hurry?", he asked.

After arriving in front of Wuse, the monk paid his respect then whispered a few things. The old monk's face quickly changed. He yelled: "Is that true?"
"The Great Abbot asked you to return to discuss that matter." he replied.

From Wuse's expression, Guo Xiang knew that Shaolin must be facing a difficult and important situation. Therefore she hurriedly said: "Old Monk, in friendship, what's important is the affection felt toward each other. No formal protocols or traditions matter in friendship. If you have an important matter you need to attend, please feel free to do it. In the future, we still have a lot of chance to eat and drink to our satisfaction."

"No wonder that Master Yang respected you very much." Wuse praised her. "You are really a martial arts heroine. I am glad to be able to have you as a friend."
Guo Xiang blushed and smiled, and after they paid respect to each other, they parted.

The girl continued walking down the mountain, with Zhang JunBao following her from behind. The young man did not dare to walk by her side, and he just followed her from 5-6 steps behind.

"Brother Zhang, why did they torture your teacher?" the girl asked while turning her head to look back at him. "Your teacher has a wonderful martial art skill, he does not need to be scared of them."
JunBao sped up his steps. "They are not deliberately torturing my teacher," he replied. "The rules in the monastery is very strict, so whoever breaks any rule will receive punishment."
Guo Xiang felt puzzled and asked: "Your teacher is a noble hero and it is difficult to find another person as noble as him," she said. "What wrongs had he committed?"

The young man took a long sigh. "I am sure you already know the background of this matter." he replied. "It was all because of the lost of Leng Qie Jing (Leng Ga Sutra)."
"Ah! The Scripture which was stolen by Xiao XanZi and YinKeXi?" she confirmed.

"Yes, true," he answered. "That day at mount Hua, with Master Yang's help, I searched their bodies but couldn't find the lost Scripture. The two then left the mountain and we never saw them anymore. So I returned with empty hands and reported it to the Head of Kay-lut Hall. Leng Qie Jing is a book written by Reverend DaMo himself, and it was a very precious treasure of Shaolin Temple. That's why my Teacher could not avoid punishment for his negligence."

"So they punished him by forbidding him to speak?" the girl asked again.
"Yes. According to the ancient rules of Shaolin, a punished person must be chained on both hands and feet and may not speak at all. Our elders said that punishment to carry water and may not speak is good for the punished person. By not speaking, he will improve his spiritual strength, and by carrying heavy pails of water, he will improve his physical strength."

The girl giggled. "If that's so, your Teacher is not being punished, but being trained," she said. "Ah! It was my fault, I am too much of a busybody."
"No, no, it's not true," Zhang quickly said. "My Teacher feels very grateful to you for your kindness, and he won't forget you."
Guo Xiang sighed. "But someone else seems to have forgotten all about me, " she thought.

At that moment, they could here the sound of a mule which was eating grass in the woods.
"Brother Zhang, there's no need to see me off any further," she said and whistled to call her mule.

JunBao stared at the girl with eyes that showed sadness. He looked unwilling to part, but he did not say a word.
Guo Xiang could read his thoughts, so she took out the pair or iron Lo-han from her pocket.
"Please take them," she said while giving them out.

JunBao was surprised, he did not dare to accept them. "This...this....", he stuttered.
"I give them to you, please accept them." the girl insisted.
The young man stuttered again : "I.....I....."
The girl quickly put the two iron Lo-han figurines into JunBao's pocket and then jumped on her mule.

But before she went away, suddenly a loud voice was heard calling her.
"Miss Guo! Wait a minute!"
Guo Xiang turned around and saw Wuse was running approaching them.
"This old monk is really persistent, " she thought. "What does he see me off for?"
As soon as he arrived in front of the girl, Wuse said to JunBao: "Hurry back to the monastery, don't wander around the mountain anymore."
Zhang JunBao nodded and after looking at Guo Xiang from the corner of his eyes, he quickly climbed up the mountain to return to the monastery.

After JunBao disappeared, Wuse took out a piece of paper from his inside sleeves and asked: "Miss Guo, do you know whose handwirting is this?"
The girl took the paper and read the two rows of handswritings on it:
"Ten days from now, KunLun Sam Seng (The Three Saints from KunLun) will visit Shaolin to ask for lessons."
"Who are KunLun Sam Seng? They sound so smug!"
"So you don't know them." Wuse confirmed.
Guo Xiang shook her head. "No, I don't know them."
The old man stood looking puzzled. "This matter is really strange."
"Why is it strange?" Guo Xiang asked.
"Although we have just met, I feel we have been friends for a long time, so I will explain to you clearly," Wuse said. "Do you know where did this paper come from?"
She replied: "It must be delivered by a messenger of KunLun Sam Seng."

To Temujin:
Thanks a bunch, Temujin!

Yes, my problem is with the naming. If I have no idea what the mandarin is, I am forced to use the Hokkienese just as in the book.

I will really appreciate if anyone can help providing the hanyu pinyin of the mandarin, especially names of martial art.
Even if just 1 or 2, will be very much appreciated.

Not to confuse people with this mixture of naming, I will underline the ones still in Hokkienese.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Temujin
Well.... let me help out a little bit here.

Here are some name conversion that can help our readers with the confusion with Hokkienese names, places, techniques, etc

Mandarin Pinyin ------------------ Romanized Hokkienese

delete

Da Gou Bang Fa - Tah-kauw Pang-hoat
Jiu Yang Zhen Jing - Kiu Yang Cin Keng
Jiu Yin Zhen Jing - Kiu Im Cin Keng
Tan Zhi Shen Tong - Tan Ci Sin Thong
Xiang Long Shi Ba Zhang - Hang Liong Sip Pat Ciang
Yu Xiao Jian Fa - Giok Siauw Kiam-hoat

---

The last should be:

Giok-li-Kiam-hoat (Jade Maiden Swordmanship) - Yu Nu Jian Fa, if it's the skill from Ancient Tomb Sect what is meant.


The stance:

Leng-po-wie-po (Leng Po Walks Beautifully), is Ling Bo Wei Bu in PinYin.

Keep on translating. Hope to read more of your work.:D

post #5
:read: "If it were delivered by a messsenger, we would not be so surprised," the old monk said. "They say that tall trees attract strong wind. For several hundred years, Shaolin has been the center of martial arts, and because of that, a lot of martial arts experts came to Shaolin to challenge our skills. This is understandable. From our part, each time an expert came to challenge us, we always do our best to persuade him to give up his intention. As much as we could, we always try to avoid any fight or contest. We do not wish to win. If we still enjoy fighting just for the sake of winning, are we fit to be the servants of the Buddha?"

"Right, what you said is very right, Great Monk," the girl said, nodding her head.
"However, usually if an expert visited us and we refused to show our skills, he wouldn't be satisfied," Wuse went on. "Therefore, we set up Lo-han Hall just to deal with such visitors."

The girl giggled. "Aha! So your duty is just to fight," she said.
The old monk laughed bitterly. "Usually it is enough to just send my subordinates and pupils to deal with such visitors, I don't have to deal with them unless necessary," he said. "But today because I saw that you have amazing skills, I had to deal with you by myself."
"Thank you for your praise," the girl bowed and smiled sweetly.

"Ah, I am digressing, " Wuse said. "Now let's return to the subject of that letter of challenge. To be honest, that paper was found in the hand of the Hang-long Lo-han Statue inside the Lo-han Hall..
"E-eh! Who put it in there?" the girls asked.
The monk scratched his head. "We don't know, that's why it is very puzzling. Inside the Shaolin monastery, there are hundreds of monks, so it is impossible for an outsider to sneak in without anybody noticing it. Moreover, Lo-han Hall is always guarded night and day by 8 monks who take turns to guard it. But just a moment ago, suddenly a pupil saw this paper in the hand of the Han-Long Lo-han statue, and he immediately reported this to the Great Abbot. Everyone was shocked, and that's why I was summoned by the Great Abbot urgently to discuss about this."

Listening to the story until this point, Guo Xiang could guess the monk's thought.
"So you are suspicious of me, aren't you?" she asked. "You all think I have a relation with those people who call themselves The Three Saints of Kun Lun. You think I made a big havoc as a diversion outside the monastery while they sneaked into Lo-han Hall to put that paper there. This is what you suspect, right?"

"Not me, I don't suspect you at all," he replied. "But I hope you understand if the Great Abbot and Big Brother WuXiang feel a bit suspicious of you. Coincidentally, that paper appeared just as you were going to leave."

"Let me repeat once again: I really don't know those people," Guo Xiang said. "Big Monk, what are you scared of? If they really dare to come in order to fight, just fight them."
"Scared? Of course we are not scared. If you have no relation with them, I have nothing to worry anymore."

Guo Xiang understood that the old monk meant well. Wuse was worried that The Three Saints of Kun Lun had any relationship with her, so in case he was forced to fight them and maybe injured them, he would feel bad towards her.
She said: "Great Monk, if they come and speak politely, you can welcome them politely too. But if they are disrespectful and are looking for trouble, you can give them a lesson so that they will respect Shaolin's skills. However, judged from the letter, they sound so arrogant."
Speaking until here, suddenly something striked her mind and she continued:
Great Monk, isn't it also possible that they have some accomplice within the monastery who secretly put the paper in the statue's hand?"

"We have considered this possibility too," Wuse replied. "But it is impossible. The height of the Hang-Long Lo-han's hand is over 9 meters that we always need a ladder to clean it. Even if one has a great skill in Lightness Kung Fu so that he can jump very high, still I don't think he can reach it. So if it is true that there were a traitor inside the monastery, he couldn't have such a high skill."

This interesting incident had made Guo Xiang felt very intrigued and curious. She wanted to know what kind of people The Three Saints of Kun Lun were, and she also wanted to know the outcome of all this. But she realized with dismay, that it was impossible for her to see the fight, because Shaolin Temple would not receive any female guest.

Seeing how the girl was lost in thought, Wuse guessed that the girl was thinking of ways to help Shaolin avoid danger. He smiled and said : "Miss Guo, for thousands of years Shaolin Temple has met with big waves and strong storms, but so far it had never been destroyed. If The Three Saints of Kun Lun insisted to look for trouble, we won't be willing to sacrifice Shaolin's reputation just like that and will do our best to fight them. Miss Guo, half a month later, you will hear by yourself whether The Three Saints of Kun Lun have destroyed our temple or not."
When he said this, Wuse's rash and courageous bearing when he was young showed up again, with his voice loud and full of spirit, and his eyes shone up and glittered like lightnings.

"Great Monk, please don't lose your temper so easily," she giggled. "Your short temper does not suit your status as a servant of the Buddha. Allright, I will wait for the good news half-a-month later."
After saying this, she jerked her mule's leather rein and started to go down the mountain. Secretly she decided that 10 days later she would return here again to watch the fight.

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Riding on her mule slowly, various thoughts crossed her mind.
"Maybe The Three Saints of Kun Lun don't have any powerful martial arts skills, so I won't see any interesting fight," she thought. "Ah, if only any of them has a skill comparable to Grandfather, Father, Mother, or Big Brother Yang, then the incident The Three Saints of Kun Lun challenging Shaolin will be really worth watching."

To Du Gu: thank you for your help.
Is it "stance" and not "strike"?
Or can I say "strike"? or "round"?
I'm completely new to the English jargons of wuxia.

To Skyline: Keeping on, keeping on :D