Create Your Own Wuxia Character! Game #3

[Liang kong]

Suddenly an astute scholarly looking man stood up and began speaking “Friends… orthodox pugilists of wulin; this man standing up at the front, how could the supposed righteous and brave leader of the Beggars Union suggest such cowardly foolish action? Meeting the demands of the perpetrators is as good as delivering our own heads on a gold platter fresh with soy sauce” The man was no other than Shanyuan Zhizong.

His subordinate Wu Yanji continued to build up the animosity “think about what this man Yang San Ge is saying seriously. By giving these famed wulin treasures to this unknown entity, the bastard could learn all of the arts and overthrow the righteous orthodox sects of wulin… of course that’s just one possibility, can we really afford to let this kind of destruction to eventuate? Who will guarantee that the bastard would stop killing after he receives the manuals? What’s to stop him from demanding even more ridiculous things in the future? Brother’s appeasement never works! We must not give in to such a shadowy coward!” Spoke Wu Yanji bustling with pride and enthusiasm

The people around him began to nod in agreement…

[lilchilipepper]

Suddenly an astute scholarly looking man stood up and began speaking “Friends… orthodox pugilists of wulin; this man standing up at the front, how could the supposed righteous and brave leader of the Beggars Union suggest such cowardly foolish action? Meeting the demands of the perpetrators is as good as delivering our own heads on a gold platter fresh with soy sauce” The man was no other than Shanyuan Zhizong.

His subordinate Wu Yanji continued to build up the animosity “think about what this man Yang San Ge is saying seriously. By giving these famed wulin treasures to this unknown entity, the bastard could learn all of the arts and overthrow the righteous orthodox sects of wulin… of course that’s just one possibility, can we really afford to let this kind of destruction to eventuate? Who will guarantee that the bastard would stop killing after he receives the manuals? What’s to stop him from demanding even more ridiculous things in the future? Brother’s appeasement never works! We must not give in to such a shadowy coward!” Spoke Wu Yanji bustling with pride and enthusiasm

The people around him began to nod in agreement…

Xu Ling hated to help her most despised enemy, but she could not afford to have Yang San Ge fail in his endeavor to garner the manuals. "What if we set up a trap then?" she called out, before immediately melting into the crowds to hide that she was the one who had spoken. She was, as came with her duty, a master of stealth and camouflage.

However, what she said sparked a flame of ideas within the wulin people. "Yes," people agreed. "We ought to set a trap."

"We should pretend to give in to their requests and give them fakes!"

"Then we stay hidden during the exchange to catch the perpetrator!"

Roars of agreement echoed through the city and rattled the stage. She smirked to herself. Ah...she loved crowds. Always so easy to manipulate.

[Liang kong]

“How can ever defeat this evil if we have a leader that’s shaken in his boots after a few deaths? Does that mean any pugilists that go around assassinating people can demand anything they want?! Added Zhu Zhiqiao his other subordinate.
“Yeah if we keep appeasing to this guy’s ridiculous demands, what would be the point of this meeting? Aren’t we supposed to come up with a bit more sophisticated plans than just to give in?” shouted some guy from the mass crowd.
“Errr….” Exasperated Yang San Ge with sweat now streaking slowly down his face
“I disagree with those comments! Do the countless deaths of innocent pugilists mean anything to you? They are not mere statistics, we must act on the present situation do devise a better solution for the future! We must support leader Yang San Ge for he has never let us down!” shouted a beggars clan member.

Amidst the commotion sat Li Shenyang quietly at the corner of the inn, surprisingly with no breathtaking beauty by his side.
He sat slowly sipping his rice wine, accompanying his blood red cherries. It is hard to imagine how an elegant young man like him would be one of the richest people in the central plains. It seemed as though he could buy anything he desired with his limitless amount of wealth. Many people knew of his wealth but no one knew where his riches originated from. People loved to help him because of the unbelievable payments they would receive afterwards.

Li Shenyang is an adventurous man, exploring and searching for something exciting and new. That’s precisely why he sat there comfortably watching intently as the carnage unfolded at the meeting.

[Liang kong]

Though Xu Ling’s idea was quite marvelous on the outside but there was just so many holes that would make it so impractical. Shanyuang Zhizong raised his smooth voice again “The idea is indeed quite superb, but its not without its flaws. First of all how do we know that the perpetrator is not already amongst one of us? Would the great villain of this be prepared for such a meeting against him?”

The people quietened down again as he continued speaking “I would think a little child of about 12 would think of possible outcomes of ones deed or mischief before executing it, and I doubt the perpetrator is any dumber. What I firmly believe is that we need a strong leader that will take assertive action and not let this terrible cause to be prolonged any further!”

One of the beggar’s unions members hissed back at Shanyuang Zhizong “Are you saying that out great leader Yang San Ge is some useless pinecone?! Lest you not to forget that our great leader was hand chosen by Emperor Xu Zhu and has the support of all the orthodox sects in Wulin”

Shanyuang Zhizong merely laughed at the remark “Wise heads prevail because they are able to adapt as the cause sees fit. If we are all to be so static how can anything be achieved? It’s that act with intent of a victory that is able to attain it. A great leader does not tackle a obstacle with the mindset of a loser!”

“You idiot, who the hell do you think you are! You really do not understand the meaning of sky high earth thick (Tian Gao Di Hou)!” Shouted another bunch of Beggar’s Union members as they charged towards Shanyuang Zhizong before Yang San Ge could stop them.

As Wu Yanji was about to swiftly step in front of the raging group of beggars, Shanyuang Zhizong held him back he walked forward with a effortless swing of his fan exerting a immense amount of qi wind pushed them all aside with great force.

Many of the pugilists stood amazed witnessing the silky execution of such a richly refined nei li.

“Hahaha lets not get violent here. I hope that I have not offended Yang San Ge Daxia by stating my points and ideas, if I have in anyway or form I apologies with all my heart” bowed Shanyuang Zhizong as he proceeded to give Yang San Ge 3 seemingly kowtows.

“Not… at all…” replied Yang San Ge as he struggled to conjure up some ideas.

[dracnom]

The sun was setting towards the west, the heat still beating heavily upon the people at the meeting, many people could be seen sweating heavily from the intense heat, while some were still clean. However, everyone was staring at Yang San Ge, waiting for his next move next move.

Li Hao De could feel sweat staining his poor torned clothing, he however paid no attention to it, his eyes was fixed on a fair maiden shouting out ideas and disappearing here and there between the crowd at amazing speeds.

[lilchilipepper]

'Ugh,' Xu Ling grumbled mentally. 'Why did there have to be reasonable people in this crowd? Whatever happened to the bandwagon effect?'

Momentarily out of ideas, she glanced around in exasperation. She suddenly felt as if there were a pair of eyes drilled to her and she snapped her head in that direction. Her premonition was correct.

She found herself staring into the eyes of a tall young man--quite handsome, she noted subconciously as all females have a tendency to do--before wondering how long he'd been watching her...and whether he had noticed that she was popping up in different areas of the crowd to throw out wild suggestions.

Finding that he wasn't going to look away any time soon, she gave a slight nod in his direction as a polite mannerism before trying to lose his gaze in the masses.

[Liang kong]

Li Shenyang sat watching every move with utmost intent, on the resolution of this irreversible mess. Suddenly a young woman dressed in red sat down next to him.

“I see your enjoying the tension and the atmosphere” softly spoke the young lady

“Of course what better things are there to do on such a day like this? Miss Lin Daiyue” replied Li Shenyang.

“Emperor of Dali looks like nothing but dazed drug addict, forever he is focused on that Wang Yu Yan” smiled Lin Daiyue

“Indeed… have you not heard the poem?”

“What poem?”

“One cold spring day she was ordered
To bathe in the Huaqing Palace baths,
The warm water slipped down
Her glistening jade-like body.
When maids helped her rise
She looked so frail and lovely,
At once she won the emperor’s favour…
Behind the warm lotus-flower curtains,
They took their pleasure in the spring nights,
Regretting only that the nights were too short,
Rising only when the sun was high,
He stopped attending court sessions…
Constantly she amused and feasted with him,
Accompanying him on spring outings,
Spending every night with him.
Though many beauties were in the palace,
More than three thousand of them,
All his favours were centred on her.

“Ah what a romantic… if only Liang… oh forget it, I wish more commotion takes place, for all this silly arguments are so boring” spoke Lin Daiyue

“Trust me this will not be resolved easily at all… so sit back relax and enjoy the show” grinned Li Shenyang cheekily as he offered her some wine.

[Shi Hei Long]

Yang Sange is looking exasperated. Deep inside, he knows his words do not carry enough weight to persuade the Wulin to pass their martial manuals to him. Yang Sange walks to Duan Yu and Xu Zhu. “Duan wang ye, Xu pang zu, I would like to suggest that we have ring fight, conduct by both of you, to pick up a few of the promising pugilist, entrust of the responsibility of investigating the man behind all these killings. Meanwhile all the manuals will be safeguarded by you both till the time is ripe for handing over. Since we still have 1 month before handing over the manuals, if we can find out who is the one behind this, we can gather forces of wulin and kill him”

Both Xu Zhu and Duan Yu looked at each other. Through their eyes it seems they have reached a mutual understanding and plan. Duan Yu said “Ok. This plan sounds great, both of us will back you.” As for the manuals, Duan Yu look around and saw the town’s entrance signboard, located just beside the inn. “We will hang the manuals up there and I will sent my Dali 4 bodyguards to guard those manuals.” Xu Zhu added “I will sent Lingsao Palace 4 da hu fa as well.”

Yang Sange nodded and walk back up the stage. “All wulin pugilist, we have decided to stage a wulin ring fight conducted by both master Xu Zhu and Duan Yu, to pick out a group of promising pugilist to investigate the case, while the manuals will be hang right at the entrance of the town till the time is ripe for handing over. The manuals will be guarded 24hrs by Dali and Ling sao palace 4 da hu fa. Anybody who attempt to steal those manuals will be dealt severly.”

“The wulin ring fight will be conducted in 2 days time. Both master Xu Zhu and Duan wang ye will decide the topics or manner of the fight to be conducted”

If nobody has any objections, I will declare the wulin meeting to be dismissed for today.

[dracnom]

Li Hao De saw the fair maiden glance at him, her eyes trying to penetrate his, yet as he looked into her eyes, they were of a lighter shade of colour. Seeing she couldn't break his gaze, she just nodded in polite.

He could sense that there was something sneaky about her so he kept a stinging stare at her even though she disappeared here and there trying to lose him, he could still spot her. "The manuals will be guarded 24hrs by Dali and Ling sao palace 4 da hu fa. Anybody who attempt to steal those manuals will be dealt severly.” As Li Hao De heard this, he knew some people will try to take their chances against the guards and try to steal them.

[lilchilipepper]

Xu Ling growled in frustration. There was no way that she--the master of all master thiefs...okay so that was exaggerating things, but still...a master--could not lose a person as young as that man looked. Never mind the fact that she was not exactly an elder herself, but that was not the point.

The point was that the manuals were going to be handed to two of the most powerful fighters in the world with two of the most strongly guarded fortresses in China who also had legions of men at their disposal. It just got better and better.

So what now? Should she attempt to win the ring? No, that would just blow her cover and make things more difficult for herself in the future. Maybe she should just head back to the inn for now. She had been out for a while.

With her mind made up, she turned back toward the inn before she realized that the man was still staring. Irritated, frustrated, and slightly angry, she made her way deliberately toward him. She smiled sweetly, but her voice was thick with exactly the opposite. "Excuse me, but I notice you've been staring at me for a while now. Do you have a problem?"

[druid]

Rui Wei could tell that he was getting a lot of stares from the various pugilists gathered in the area, but he was not at all worried. The white hair man or rather boy, and the man who has just shared his table both possessed high inner power, yet Rui Wei was not at all concerned. Even if one has high level of Qi, they can still be defeated by superior weapon techniques in which he was extremely proficient in and had won many a times.

As the announcement of the ring fight was proclaimed, Rui Wei felt a surge running through his body.

“ What a chance! Although the manuals must be a decoy and the thing a setup, to duel with other weapon wielders of this number…I cannot let it slip pass.” Thought Rui Wei as he signaled for the waiter to come.

And came he did, the waiter merely appeared within seconds…

“ Yes sir! Can I help u?”

Rui Wei finally lifted his head much to the surprise of the waiter.

“ ah yes… could I have a bowl of your best noodles? A jar of wine and a room to stay for several days? And could you tell me if there is a good blacksmith in town?” spoke Rui Wei as he looked into the eyes of the startled waiter.

“ Er… your orders will take sometime sir… and er… I will arrange your room as soon as I can… there is a good blacksmith down the road, been here since I was young… friendly old man, everyone calls him old Zheng.” Replied the waiter as he recovered from his initial shock.

“ Ah… many thanks young lad. Here you go.” With that Rui Wei put some sliver ingots into the palm of Xiao Hu who was even more startled.

“ I can’t take this good sir…”

“ Nah… you can…”

“ What potential this young lad has! Such a high level of inner qi waiting to be unlocked…” thought Rui Wei as the waiter thank him and left in a flash.

The sight reminded Rui Wei of a scene long ago… he smiled yet the smiled soon disappeared and sadness of so evident in his face, his eyes the most prominent avatar of this sudden change of sadness….

[kwekmh]

Ye Xiaoyao heard of the ring fight that was going to take place. He knew that he was going to lose if he does not train quickly.

He quickly finished his food and went to a secluded corner to practise his skills. He swing his sword wildly around as he did not have any sword skills.

Suddenly, he saw the old man that was sitting beside him come into this corner.

Ye Xiaoyao was startled and he thought, "What is he doing here?"

[Liang kong]

As the mass of people continued their arguments and deliberations, Yang San Ge could not but think of his innocent daughter, a victim of that should never have been.
There had been no one in this world that cared about more ever since his lover died giving birth 16 years previously.

He flashed back to the time in the midsummer evening, in a dark shady courtyard he stood looking very tranquil and carefree; his hands are folded behind his back as he watches the young girl, who sits in front of him, writing.

The young girl is kneeling in front of a small table; in her hand she is holding a brush. It is as thick as the arm of a baby in diametre and it is about 7 metres long.
The young girl is writing the final characters on her essay like a true scholar.
It was a sight, a flashback that was of yesteryear… it seemed an eternity had passed since that day, the day that he still had peace.

His eyes began to water as tears were about to flow down his prematurely wrinkled face again. But he fought back the tears, the pain for he must not yet give in, for the sake of his beloved daughter, no matter how heavily guarded the manuals would be, hes going to get his hands on them...

[dracnom]

Li Hao De saw the maiden suddenly turn and in an instance flew in front of him. She smiled sweetly, but her voice was thick with exactly the opposite. "Excuse me, but I notice you've been staring at me for a while now. Do you have a problem?"

Li Hao De turned his head this way and that and was about to say she was looking suspicious but after examining her closely, she resembled someone he met ages ago and said "You look really familiar, have I met you before?"

[kwekmh]

Ye Xiaoyao heard of the ring fight that was going to take place. He knew that he was going to lose if he does not train quickly.

He quickly finished his food and went to a secluded corner to practise his skills. He swing his sword wildly around as he did not have any sword skills.

Suddenly, he saw the old man that was sitting beside him come into this corner.

Ye Xiaoyao was startled and he thought, "What is he doing here?"

The old man smiled and said, "You must be very puzzled to see me here, but do you remember who taught your an internal energy technique 10 years ago?"

Ye Xiaoyao was shocked and asked, "How... how did you know about this?"

The old man said gently, "I am the person who taught you the internal energy technique 10 years ago."

Ye Xiaoyao almost could not believe his ears, but he believe it was possible since he seem to remember seeing the old man long ago.

[Liang kong]

A gentle breeze was blowing, the leaves rustled, suddenly tall figure walked up to Yang San Ge having just come from a far. The man was no other than Feng Gezi a veteran messenger who delivers important messages for the rich to any location in the central plains.


He whispered into Yang San Ge’s ears “Huo Yun Xie Shen has an important letter for you”…


Huo Yun Xie Shen wasn’t just any normal person, in-fact few doubt that such a person exists at all, for his name has only risen in the past 5 years.


No one has actually seen this Huo Yun Xie Shen because supposedly anyone that has come into contact with him without the Muo Yu pendent has all been vanquished.


Yang San Ge gave out a little snickering laugh and spoke out loud “Hero Feng which old Jianghu friend has asked you to deliver me a letter?”


Feng Gezi replied “If that person does not want to reveal his identity I'm obliged to keep his/her identity a secret. That is my professional code; I also know that you wouldn't force me to reveal his/her identity. But I know this letter concerns an important secret of old master Yang." After saying this he takes out a letter and gives it to Yang.


Yang San Ge hesitated momentarily before smiling back at Feng Gezi and handing the letter back to him "Would you mind opening this letter and loudly read out the contents?"


Feng Gezi confusingly replied "But this letter concerns a secret of you....leader Yang"

Yang San Ge laughed “"Because of that, I would like you to read it because really I have no secrets. And everything in this letter I am not afraid to let anyone know." Though now his heart was beating faster than it ever has been.
Feng Gezi smiled back “I’m impressed a man bold enough to declare he has no disturbing secrets of any sort whatsoever”


He then carefully opened the letter. Inside the pages was stuck together, so he coated his fingers with some saliva and proceeded to separate the pages. He began to read “Leader Yang San Ge…” suddenly he fell straight to the floor flat on his back as he started to shiver uncontrollably. His mouth was leaking out white foam as the pupils in his eyes disappeared.


“Who gave this letter to you!?” shouted Yang San Ge knowing that Feng Gezi was inevitably about to die.


Feng Gezi let out a little hum of noise but that was all he could manage as the colour of his face began to shift from yellow, white to black until finally his face mysteriously dissolved away leaving behind a black skeleton.
The letter which he read also dissolved into ashes upon the direct contact with oxygen.


Some of the people in the crowd gasped in terror… “what unbelievably deadly poison” exclaimed some anonymous pugilist.


Yang San Ge took out a little napkin from his sleeve and wiped the sweat of his forehead as he began breathing normally again.

[lilchilipepper]

Li Hao De saw the maiden suddenly turn and in an instance flew in front of him. She smiled sweetly, but her voice was thick with exactly the opposite. "Excuse me, but I notice you've been staring at me for a while now. Do you have a problem?"

Li Hao De turned his head this way and that and was about to say she was looking suspicious but after examining her closely, she resembled someone he met ages ago and said "You look really familiar, have I met you before?"

Xu Ling snickered, "You know, that's a really old line to try to pick up a girl." But on second thought, as she studied his features more in depthly, there was indeed something familiar about him. Yet, she could not remember where she might have met him. Of course, working as a waitress in an inn, she sees hundreds, if not thousands of faces pass by every day. However, she boasted the talent of needing to only see a face once to remember it ( 过目不忘 ). Certainly, this only applied to faces she'd seen after that incident that caused her to lose her memory when she was a child. 'Could it be that I've him when before that happened?' she wondered.

Out loud, she questioned quizzically, "We...we wouldn't really have met before, have we? You do look really familiar."

Yet, before the man could respond, a loud thud emanated from the stage. A man had fallen over and Xu Ling grimaced with disgust as his flesh dissolved away into nothing but a black skeleton.

[MysteriouX]

After listening to the words of General Yang, I continued to observe the crowd carefully while he left and started mingling with the people. The first rule of battle was ‘know your enemy’ and my instincts told me that I would most likely be making a lot of enemies here. Knowing this fact kept me on the edge, using my instincts to keep aware of my surroundings. Earlier when General Yang and I had come, I felt as if we were being watched, but my instincts told me this person meant us no harm at the moment.

After a short while, I left the isolation of my spot and went downstairs and took a seat in a quiet corner nearest to the open door of the inn, from which I could act casual and still keep an eye out for anything. I saw many people come and go into the restaurant, I was especially aware of the arrival of a long figure who quickly entered the inn and took a seat and kept his head bowed. I also noticed that a particular girl kept moving around the crowd and acting very peculiar. Every single time she appeared out of the crowd at one spot or another and spoke the reaction of the crowd would change. All this while I tried my best to keep a part of my concentration focused upon what was being said on the stage. It wasn’t really difficult to hear what was being said as most of the people were talking in loud voices, possibly full of pride.

Later as the Sun waned General Yang returned and briefly told me the details of what had been going on. I was not so much surprised, it is human nature to act upon greed. However I did startle him with one of my observations.

“So you believe that Yang San Ge is hiding something?”
“What he is hiding I cannot say, but I do know that he is hiding something very important, which he is not telling the crowd.”
“Akira, are you absolutely sure, it would not be wise to be mistaken about such things. This is no joking matter, he is the current leader of the Beggar’s Clan, and they are very much powerful. If the government could recruit them, we would have so many resources available. They have members everywhere, many in useful places to act as spies.”
“General Yang, how my observation relates to the current matter I cannot be certain, but I am sure about one thing. Yang San Ge is hiding something.”
“How can you tell?”
“His eyes, though he may be able to wear his face as a mask, he cannot hide his eyes, the emotions displayed tell a different story than what his face is telling. And also his behavior, there have been times when he has let his guard down for a very brief moment.”
“I do not understand…”
“I would like you to trust me Sir, that I would like.”
“Akira I trust you. I just want to be careful here.” As I said that I felt something was wrong. Something kept bothering my instincts. Something I sensed I should be very cautious about. So I slumped down in my seat, lowered my head and closed my eyes reaching out everywhere with my instincts. Something was very wrong.

[dracnom]

A loud thud emanated from the stage, Li Hao De gazed onto the stage and shivered, his spine began tingling and was becoming nauseous, he looked unto a black skeleton lying upon a stage, he knew that person was dead, beyond any help.

Li Hao De quickly ran up towards the stage and looked at the black skeleton, the poison was so powerful it left an after smell, and as he got closer, he could feel his head getting dizzy.

Yang San Ge just finished dabbing at his forehead with a clothe and was about to pick up the letter. Li Hao De saw what Yang San Ge was about to pick up the letter, so he ran up and bumped him over.

Even though Yang San Ge has really high internal energy, yet being bumped a small child he couldn't stand and fell over, this was due to the initial shock of the man dying still lingering in his head.

Li Hao De ripped a piece of clothe from his pants and licked it, placed it on the letter and the clothe started dissolving straight away. The crowd stood mouth agap at how deadly the poison was, rendering the whole stadium to be in deadly silence. Li Hao De knew the poison was the "soul dissolving flowers of the immortal soul", however the antidote to cure it is very rare to find, and even if one finds it, it is very hard to save your life, it was too stong and quick. He shouted "no one touch the letter,' and as he said that he found a stick, and took the letters to a torch where the flames enveloped the letter. It glowed brightly red then turned dark, then white and was burnt to pieces, everyone was still gaping at it.

Xu Zhu shouted and breaking the deafening silence, "Please be careful, it seems that the criminal knew about this wulin meeting, we must be on guard."

Li Hao De sensed the danger that everyone was going to face and quickly jumped off the stage towards the maiden, clasped his hands together and said "We'll meet next time" and with that he took off from the stadium.

[kwekmh]

The old man smiled and said, "You must be very puzzled to see me here, but do you remember who taught your an internal energy technique 10 years ago?"

Ye Xiaoyao was shocked and asked, "How... how did you know about this?"

The old man said gently, "I am the person who taught you the internal energy technique 10 years ago."

Ye Xiaoyao almost could not believe his ears, but he believe it was possible since he seem to remember seeing the old man long ago.

The old man smiled and said, "The internal energy technique I taught you is very advanced, however to fully utilize it, you will need vigorous training." He said again, "Today, I will teach you a swordplay which I have spent 50 years of my life perfecting it."

He suddenly snatched the sword from Ye Xiaoyao's hand and started demonstrating the swordplay.

After finishing demonstrating the swordplay, he said, "This swordplay is called the 'Shadowless Swordplay', it focuses on speed and power. The internal energy technique I taught you is the 'Shadowless Divine Skill', however I have one part of the 'Shadowless Divine Skill' I have not taught you yet, which is a set of palm techniques known as the 'Shadowless Divine Palm'."

He suddenly threw the sword back at Xiaoyao and started demonstrating a set of palm techniques.

After the demonstration, he said once again, "The swordplay and palm techniques basically share the same concept, both of them mainly focuses on speed and power. Most importantly, your strokes must be fast enough to utilize the full power of the techniques. I will also now teach you how to practise your internal energy technique and utilize it."

He started explaining the moves and Ye Xiaoyao listened carefully.