Legend of the White Haired Maiden

[SkyWalker]

What an unexpected visit!!! I didn't expect to see MRC again but so glad he showed up and defended YLC's honor!!! Yeah!!!!

Thanks foxs.

[rati4u]

The sadest part.....will YLC meet TFL and KPT? she might go some where lonely into seclusion.....

Somehow, ZYH lacked the heroism...after this episode, every one is sad....

[foxs]

With a loud voice Murong Chong called out, "Zhuo Yihang, you are crying, have you no shame? Yu luocha dares to do what she dares to wish, don't tell me you are inferior to a woman!"

Zhuo Yihang had been depressed for several months, he was just like a volcano ready to erupt; as soon as Murong Chong spoke bluntly to him, he stopped crying and loudly said, "I am asking Shishu to excuse me and elect someone else as the Sect Leader, disciple is leaving!"

Yellow Leaf and Red Cloud shouted together, "You must not leave!" Yellow Leaf leaped up, Murong Chong punched upward, forcing Yellow Leaf to jump back down. Red Cloud reached out to grab Zhuo Yihang's shoulder, but he felt Zhuo Yihang's shoulder was so slippery that his claw slipped. Zhuo Yihang shook his shoulder, like a fish he slipped out of the room.

Turned out Zhuo Yihang's internal energy cultivation had enjoyed tremendous progress that he was now about equally matched with Red Cloud. Plus Red Cloud did not dare to use a killer move in trying to grab him.

Priest Red Cloud dashed out to run after him, but with a loud roar Murong Chong sent out his left arm toward Red Cloud's armpit, while with his right foot he kicked Red Cloud's shin. Priest Red Cloud quickly swayed his hip to evade.

Murong Chong laughed out loud and said, "Ox-nosed Old Taoists, you won't allow me to be the matchmaker, I won't comply to that!" Yellow Leaf pounced, Murong Chong stood on the door to block, slapping and kicking; the two of them were engaged in a fierce battle.

Yu Xincheng and Geng Shaonan were trying to stop Zhuo Yihang, but they were pushed back and were thrown to the floor. Yellow Leaf and Red Cloud were enraged and stormed on Murong Chong, but Murong Chong was known as the 'Peerless Divine Fist', his boxing skills were far superior to theirs. Standing at the door, he was just like a steel barrier, so that although the two of them attacked dozens of times, they were unable to break through.

Only after he was sure that Zhuo Yihang had escaped down the mountain did Murong Chong laugh aloud and said, "Ox-nosed Old Taoists, your Sect Leader is not a kid anymore, he wants to find a wife, why do you have to care? Ha, ha ... don't worry, I must go to catch up with him, I want to drink their celebratory wine. I’ll take my leave now, goodbye!"

Priest Yellow Leaf's elbow struck out, followed by his palm. At the same time, Priest Red Cloud sent out a kick and a palm strike. Murong Chong burst into loud laughter, with a Crouching Tiger Turns Its Head, his right fist ferociously went backward, forcing Yellow Leaf to step back, and then throwing himself backward, both of his feet launched several kicks successively with Separating Flower Brushing Willow move, kicking Red Cloud's legs.

Red Cloud's martial art skill was somewhat inferior. 'Bang! Bang!' he was kicked twice; like a rubber ball he was thrown more than a zhang away. 'Thud!' he fell under the sacrificial table, with a large lump on his forehead. Fortunately Murong Chong was being lenient and did not use all his strength in this kick, otherwise both of Red Cloud's legs would be swept broken.

Murong Chong cupped his fists across his chest and said, "Pardon my offense! Pardon my offense! Goodbye, goodbye!" And he dashed out the door.

Panting with rage, Red Cloud crawled up and said, "Shixiong, strike the warning bell, assemble the disciples to pursue the villain."

With a bitter laugh Priest Yellow Leaf said, "Don't bother. Don't you think tying one enmity is enough? Do not tie another one."

Actually, Red Cloud was just in a fit of anger, he blurted out without thinking. Now that he had given it another thought: White Stone and Green Palm had not recovered from their injuries, his Shixiong and himself were definitely not the enemy's match, let alone their disciples; what made him think that they would be able to stop Murong Chong?

Yellow Leaf said, "We don't have to worry about Murong Chong, but we want Zhuo Yihang back. Lately, the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. If Wudang Pai cannot find a talented individual as the Sect Leader to stimulate our progress, I am afraid within several years the name of Wudang Pai will not be resounding anymore." However, as soon as he left, Zhuo Yihang disappeared like a fish jumping into the abyss; other than a flying eagle, no one could find him.

Back to Tie Feilong and Ke Pingting who were returning to their hometown of Longmen[12], Shanxi. Day and night they were expecting Yu luocha to come home together with Zhuo Yihang. But several months had passed, early autumn turned into cold winter, they had not heard even the news of Yu luocha.

Ke Pingting was extremely anxious, "Could she be harmed by those Taoist priests on Mount Wudang?" she asked.

"That's unlikely," Tie Feilong said with a laugh, "What I am afraid is that Zhuo Yihang had a change of heart."

Ke Pingting said, "Come spring, let us go to Mount Wudang to inquire."

Tie Feilong said, "Yu luocha and I are like real father and daughter, with you she is like your real sister; based on her character, even if she is frustrated in the realm of love, she would definitely not commit suicide. I'll say sooner or later she will come back." However, day after day they waited, Yu luocha still had not come back.

Ke Pingting diligently studied the martial art manual left by Red Flower Demon Matriarch, and had enjoyed considerable progress. One night, past the third hour[13], Ke Pingting was in a deep slumber; half dreaming she suddenly saw a head on her window, looking in. The head had white hair draped over its shoulder and neck, its face was deathly pale, its eyes were flickering like fire. Ke Pingting was so terrified that she felt as if her soul had left her body. "A ghost!" she screamed. The head quickly pulled back.

Tie Feilong heard the startled cry and pushed the window to look; he was also startled, but Tie Feilong had roamed the Jianghu for a long time, plus he was brave. He looked again carefully, and saw the 'female ghost' with white hair draped over her shoulder kneel down and kowtow to him twice then she turned around and left.

Tie Feilong called out loudly, "Chang'er, come back! Pingting, get out quickly, meet your Jiejie!"

Ke Pingting hurriedly threw on her outer garment and ran out. The white-haired woman had already flown out the house. Tie Feilong and Ke Pingting hastily ran out to pursue. One called out, "Chang'er, come back!" The other called out, "Jiejie, come back!"

The white shadow suddenly turned around and said, "Ting Mei, I did not mean to scare you."

Ke Pingting said, "I am not scared, even if you really have turned into a ghost, I am not scared!"

The white shadow continued, "You must take a good care of Father; with you serving him, I have nothing to worry."

Tie Feilong said, "Please come back."

The white shadow turned toward him and kowtowed again twice, "Father," she said, "You must take care of yourself. I still haven't fulfilled my Shifu's wish, I have to keep my appointment with Yue Mingke!" Turning around, she swiftly walked away. At first they were still able to see a white shadow fleeting on the white snowy ground, but gradually the shadow blended with the snow, that in the end all they could see was a white vastness under the flickering stars above. Yu luocha had gone far!

Tie Feilong returned to the house in low spirits. With tears streaming down her face, Ke Pingting said, "How could Lian Jiejie turn to be like that? What a pity about her peerless appearance, not yet old but her hair has turned white. How could she have the heart of not willing to live with us anymore?"

Tie Feilong sighed. "Zhuo Yihang must've had a change of heart," he said, "Wu Zixu's hair also turned white in just one night, sorrow can harm people, it has happened. Your Jiejie usually cherished her looks, listening to the way she talked, she must be going to some wilderness and remote place to practice the sword with full concentration, she will no longer mind worldly matters." Father and daughter sighed repeatedly, and could not go back to sleep for a very long time.

By the next day, Ke Pingting was still depressed, she took a walk alone outside the village. Suddenly she heard the jingling of horse's bell from the distance. A moment later a horse galloped by. The rider had blood all over his face. Dashing toward Ke Pingting, suddenly the rider toppled down from the horseback. There were several arrows sticking on the horse's body. As the rider fell, the horse neighed and scampered away.

Ke Pingting helped the rider up. He was a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. The young man asked, "Is this Longmen, Tie Family Village?"

"It is," Ke Pingting replied, "Who are you?"

"Please help me quickly," the young man said.

Such is: a stranger came to the deserted village, mighty waves rose up from the plain.

----------------------------------------
[12] Lit. Dragon Gate.
[13] Between 11pm - 1 am.

[SkyWalker]

Who would've thought that the person who finally got through to ZYH would be MRC!!! Wow! I thought ZYH would wake up on his own and realized his faults but I gave him too much credit. MRC is indeed a great match maker!

Awww...the family reunion is short but sad. Hopefully TFL & KPT will be able to find YLC and make her happy again. Although, I'm looking forward to the battle btw YLC & YMK.

Thanks for the translation foxs.

[Fighting_Wind]

I felt almost tearful reading this. It was so sad how LNC had changed, not willing to live with TFL and KPT. It was touching but painful when KPT pleaded with her to come back and even if she really did turn to a ghost she wouldn't be scared. I hate how YLC qingqong (I think) is so superb, I knew while frantically reading it they wouldn't catch up.

I don't lie how they added that rider in after we were getting to the good part.

Friggin hell, ZYH does nothing on his own, EVER. Even metaphorically he's compared to a fish.

[rati4u]

ah....so bad....how sorrow and love can make one so pitiful....why cant YLC retreat to wilderness along with KPT and TFL???

LYS shud nt have left YLC like that..

[rati4u]

ah....so bad....how sorrow and love can make one so pitiful....why cant YLC retreat to wilderness along with KPT and TFL???

LYS shud nt have left YLC like that..

[Fighting_Wind]

This is so depressing. YLC freely travelled in JiangHu all but with a sword. After ZYH betrayed her she became a monster in her own eyes and lived an isolated existence, even leaving behind her adopted father and sister. I feel so sad for her.

@rati4u: Hope you don't feel that much sorrow ever. Yeah, at this point I don't particularly like LYS execution. TFL and KPT would have been more than happy to come with her. Man, if only we the readers sould rewrite this story.

[little Fish]

Hi guys! it is sad I agree. But I do think that YLC is smart about what she is doing. Leaving the others to train. Love as selfless as it is, if it is not returned to you then the betrayal will lead to selfishness depression.

YLC is not weak inside. She will overcome the hardship of this.

Thanks to fox and the editors for this great read. Looking forward to reading about the YMK and YLC battle, I think ZYH still has some parts to play... even might end up like southern emperor and lady Ying in ROCH.

[Fighting_Wind]

Heya little fish, haven't seen you before.

I don't think seh should have left them TFL could have shown her a thing or two about internal energy cultivation and KPT is making adavancements in martial arts sop I think they would help. Sorry I have no idea how"Love as selfless as it is, if it is not returned to you then the betrayal will lead to selfishness depression" correlates ^^;, too confused.

Man YMK and YLC are pretty unlucky. Both are disciples to a pair who were separated. One of them lost their love and became a monk while the other was betrayed and ended up with white hair. Actually their pupils in general kind of follow similar fates too...

[foxs]

Sorry for the delay folks, I am afraid y'all will have to get used to it ... as I mentioned before, I am out of material, so I will not post as regularly as before.
----------------------------------------------------

Chapter 27
Accidentally leaving his name,
A young man seeking protection.
Remorse begets eternal regret,
Young nobilities painstakingly seeking each other.
(Translated by Foxs, Edited by Eliza Bennet)

The young man was seriously injured and was extremely exhausted, as soon as he tumbled down from the horseback, he was unable to crawl back up. Ke Pingting helped him up and asked, "Who are you actually?"

"Little girl, you talk too much," the young man said, "If you are willing to save me, just call Tie Feilong to come out; if you are not willing to save me, just help me get the saber on my back!" Ke Pingting still did not know the young man's origins. She was thinking of asking him further, but seeing his heavy injury, all of a sudden she took a pity on him.

From outside the village came the faint jingle of several more horse's bells. The young man called out, "It's too late! Just help me get the saber on my back!"

"What do you want to do with it?" Ke Pingting asked.

The young man said, "I'd rather die than fall into the traitors' hands!"

Ke Pingting mused, "This young man is frank and bold, he prefers death to disgrace, looks like he is not a bad person." Thereupon without hesitation she said, "Alright, I'll save you!"

The hooves’ beats were getting closer. Ke Pingting carried the young man and put him inside the haystack on a wheat field by the road. In all her life Ke Pingting had never touched a man, plus that young man's body was heavy; the heavy load pressed the pit of her stomach that her chi could not flow. By the time she managed to hide him with great difficulty, the pursuing soldiers had reached the mouth of the village. Ke Pingting could be considered a meticulous person, hastily she took off her outer garment and stuffed it into the haystack, and then rub some dirt on her hands to conceal the bloodstains.

A moment later the pursuing soldiers arrived. There were five riders, bearing a lofty manner. The leader asked, "Hey, Little Miss, have you seen an injured young man riding a horse passing through here?"

"I did!" Ke Pingting said, "He is going that way!" while pointing to the direction of the Tie Family Village. The horse that the young man rode had also been wounded by several arrows, its blood dripped along the way.

The riders looked at the trail, and then suddenly asked, "Isn't it Tie Family Village ahead?"

"That's right," Ke Pingting replied, "That young man entered the Tie Family Village."

The five riders dismounted their horses, they huddled up together and whispered to each other. One of them said, "Tie Feilong's temperament is strange, we can't make a demand to him." Another one said, "Don't you think we, five brothers, will be able to deal with him? We'll use courtesy first then if courtesy fails, we'll use force. Let's knock on his door and search." Yet another one shook his head vigorously in strong disagreement.

While these five men were having a discussion, Ke Pingting was standing by the roadside, focusing her attention to eavesdrop; her eyes did not even blink. One of the riders was suddenly aware of her presence; he took two steps forward and with a nasty laugh asked, "Hey, who are you?"

"I am a peasant girl," Ke Pingting replied, "I've been up since dawn to gather straw."

"You are not from the Tie Family Village?" the man asked.

"I am from the neighboring village," Ke Pingting answered.

As soon as they arrived at the Tie Family Village, Ke Pingting washed her cosmetics clean, and wore peasant women's attire. Right now her beautiful face was smeared with mud; nobody could have guessed that not too long ago, she was a more luxurious woman than the Princess. However, these riders were Jianghu characters with vast experience; as soon as the man looked closer, he laughed aloud and said, "We have roamed the southern sky and the northern land, yet we are almost deceived by this little girl. Come, look ... " He pointed and said, "All of you, look, her face is smeared with mud, her body is wrapped in tight-fitting cotton clothes, but she is really attractive! Her speech is also very clear and coherent, she is not a peasant girl!"

Ke Pingting's heart was shaken. The man harshly shouted, "Speak quickly, where did you hide that man? He is an extremely wicked, unpardonable criminal; you dare to hide him, you don’t want your lowly life anymore?”

“What criminal? I don’t know what you are talking about,” Ke Pingting said. The man bellowed and stepped forward to seize Ke Pingting.

"Don't be rash," another man shouted, "Ask her what's her relationship with Tie Feilong first?"

The man said, "Tie Feilong's daughter is dead long ago, and he does not have any female disciple, I guess she is in cahoots with the bandit!" Without pausing his steps, he reached out to grab!

Ke Pingting turned her body around to evade. The man called out, "Wow, you are quick, what a smart move! Obviously you belong to some martial art society!" Ke Pingting's move astonished the five riders, they knew she was not an ordinary peasant girl.

The martial art skill of the man fighting Ke Pingting was really not weak; he used the northern style skill of chopping with the side of his palms. The movement of his hands and feet brought up strong gusts of wind. However, Ke Pingting's martial art was an authentic skill taught by the Red Flower Demon Matriarch. In the past, Red Flower Demon Matriarch was able to move unhindered in the Jianghu with her staff and pair of palms, her martial art skill was by no means low or weak. Her palm technique combined hard and soft, with strong internal energy; she was extremely formidable.

Although Ke Pingting had not reached perfection, when she unleashed her palm technique by turning her body around and made a sweeping chop, the rider found it was difficult to deal with her. One of the riders watching from the side said, "No doubt this girl is an accomplice of that criminal, let's go together!"

These five riders were the warriors serving under the western governor-general Chen Qiyu, they were on a mission to pursue the young man. However, these five men came from different backgrounds; three of them were originally chiefs of bandits from the west, they received amnesty from Chen Qiyu by becoming enlisted men. The other two were captains of the East Faction Guards, who were transferred into the western governor-general's army to provide assistance in suppressing bandit activities.

The man fighting with Ke Pingting was one of the bandit chiefs. Seeing the disadvantageous situation, his other two bandit chiefs pulled out their weapons and attacked together. The two captains of the East Faction Guards watched from the side. After standing motionless with rapt attention, they looked at each other with astonishment. With one against three warriors, Ke Pingting did not show any sign of fear; her palms intertwined, she pointed to the east striking to the west, aimed to the south attacking to the north; there was detail within the swift and fierce movements, there was acupoint sealing technique within the chopping and hacking. The three warriors attacked her from all sides with all their might, but after fifty, seventy stances, victory and defeat had not been decided. Unfortunately, Ke Pingting had just made her debut, she did not have enough endurance in a prolonged battle, her palm movements became chaotic. The enemies tightened their siege; a saber, a whip and a pair of palms in tight coordination, they advanced bit by bit.

Ke Pingting's clothes were wet with perspiration, the dirt and mud on her face were washed out by her sweats. In the violent battle, Ke Pingting became negligent, caught off-guard, the enemy's whip lashed out on her shoulder. "Aiyo!" she cried out in pain. The man who hit her laughed aloud and said, "Female bandit, you are still not surrendering? Quickly confess!"

"Father! Come quick!" Ke Pingting called out, "There are people bullying your daughter!"

The three warriors were startled; they asked sternly, "What is your relation to Tie Feilong?"

"He is my father, so what?" Ke Pingting replied.

The three men burst out in laughter and said, "You still want to deceive us, you want to frighten us, it's really a joke!" They tightened their encirclement.

Suddenly there was a rustling noise from the haystack, as the injured young man crawled up and called out loudly, "Don't harass her, I am here. Take me away and let her go!"

This turn of events was beyond anybody's expectation. The three warriors let Ke Pingting go and charged forward to catch 'the criminal'. Ke Pingting was taken aback; suddenly she heard someone calling out, "Aren't you the Princess[1]? Hey, Long Lao'er[2], hold on, this Miss is Madame Feng Sheng's daughter[3]!"

Before their transfer, these two captains of the East Faction Guards had served in the palace. At that time Ke Pingting was highly revered and honored in the palace. These two men's positions were rather low, so that they did not have the qualifications to get close to her. Even so, they had seen her several times. When they met just now, they would never have guessed that this peasant girl was Ke Pingting, but after the dirt on her face was washed out by her sweats, they recognized her and hurriedly yelled, "Princess!"

----------------------------------------------------
[1] See Note 7 of Chapter 25 on this 'Princess' term.
[2] Lit. 'Ol' Second'.
[3] Orig. 'qian jin' - thousand gold.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks for posting foxs. I've missed the usual daily translation.

I hope YLC will turn around and assist KPT. But now that KPT's identity is revealed, I don't think these stupid guards will hurt her. TFL shouldn't be too far behind either. Wonder who the criminal is.

[foxs]

On the other hand, the three men who fought Ke Pingting were greatly shocked; holding back their weapons, they stood there with blank expressions on their faces.

The injured young man was also extremely stunned; he froze absentmindedly and then suddenly called out, "What? Are you Madame Ke's daughter? Why, why did you save me? I don't need your pity, take me away!"

Ke Pingting felt as if her heart was being twisted, she thought, "Turns out the heroes of Jianghu hate my mother very much."

The two East Faction Guards captains bowed to show they respect, and reverently said, "Princess, this man is a rebel against the imperial court, he is a criminal whom Lord[4] Wei wants to capture, please hand him over to us so we can bring him back!”

“Get lost,” Ke Pingting scolded them, “This man stays with me. If you want him, tell Wei Zhongxian to personally come and get him!”

The fright of the three men, who fought Ke Pingting earlier, subsided somewhat, they all had the same thought, “This is really bad, she is Madame Ke’s treasured daughter, and we have injured her like this. If we return to the Palace and this matter is known, our capital offence will be difficult to forgive. Rather than facing death penalty, we’d better kill her to shut her mouth.”

The man wielding a whip who injured Ke Pingting earlier rolled his eyes and suddenly barked, “Nonsense! What kind of Princess is she? Most likely she is just a look-alike. If she was the Princess, how could she be far away from the Palace and lives alone in this remote village?”

As soon as they heard this, the two East Faction Guards captains understood his intention. They hesitated and could not decide whether they should help their companions killing her to shut her mouth, or to save her. In the meantime, the three men had already shouted and brandished their sabers and whip to attack again.

From the small pathway a shadow flashed, like flying Tie Feilong dashed by; with raised eyebrows he shouted angrily, “Who dares to bully my daughter?” He arrived as soon as his voice was heard. His voice sounded like thunder, his palms like sudden lightning. The three men were just about to block him, Tie Feilong shot first with one palm followed by the other; his palms shook, his right foot swiftly kicked, with two palms and one kick he overthrew the three enemies.

The two East Faction Guards captains hastily called out, “Old Hero Tie, please don’t get involved with our matter!”

“They have not fought you?” Tie Feilong asked.

“They haven’t,” Ke Pingting replied, “Please let them go!”

“She is my daughter,” Tie Feilong harshly said, “You want to find the Princess, go someplace else. If you come across me again later, I am going to break your dog-legs immediately!" Tie Feilong did not know that they were hunting for a wanted criminal, he thought they were coming for Ke Pingting. The two East Faction Guards captains hastily scurried away like scared rats.

Ke Pingting smiled and said, "Father, they were not here for me. They were here to capture this young gentleman."

Tie Feilong looked at the direction indicated by Ke Pingting's finger, he said, "I thought he was injured by you. Uh, who are you? Aren't you that dumb kid who used to be with Wang Zhaoxi?"

The injured young man had wanted to say something, but all along he was unable to interrupt the conversation. Now that he was asked, with a foolish looking smile he said, "That's right, you, Senior, have a very good memory. I am Bai Min. My Shimei has once lived in your precious village."

Tie Feilong did not remember his name, and thus blurted out the word 'dumb kid'. Seeing Bai Min's grin as he acknowledging his identity, Tie Feilong could not help but laughing while he said, "I am old, memory not good, please don't be offended. Hey, how did you get injured? Tell me."

"Zhaoxi Xiong told me to pay you, Senior, a visit," Bai Min said.

Tie Feilong was astonished, "He is assisting the Roaming King, and is very busy with military affairs; why would he remember an old man like me?"

"He does not particularly want me to visit you," Bai Min replied, "He wants me to come and inquire something from you. Ay, it's a long story ..."

Seeing him speak frankly, Tie Feilong was delighted. Ke Pingting said, "Father, he is injured like that, let us take him home and let him have some rest before we continue talking."

Tie Feilong laughed aloud and said, "I am such an old muddle head, you are much more understanding and considerate. However, although his injuries look serious, they are not fatal. He suffers arrows and blade wounds, no more than skin and flesh injuries. I'll wrap him up and within five days he will be recovered."

Bai Min's body was strong; after recuperating in Tie Family Village for three days he was already able to move around. Ke Pingting had always lived in the Palace, and the people she came in contact with were mostly hypocritical and lowly people. After meeting Bai Min, she was very fond of his sincere and honest character, so she was delighted to spend time chatting with him. Tie Feilong found this to be amusing, he thought, "Truly people bind their own relationship with other people. Pingting is such a pampered and spoiled girl, yet unexpectedly she likes a dumb kid."

As soon as Bai Min was feeling better, he told his story. Turned out when Li Zicheng was hiding in Qingling, he spent several years to rest and build up strength, his power increased greatly. Moreover, the militia he left behind in Shaanxi and Shanxi, two provinces, had enjoyed a considerable growth in the last several years. Li Zicheng planned on returning to the west, to move from the west via Tongguan to capture the entire country. Because Wang Zhaoxi was the son of Wang Jiayin, who was a major leader of the various groups of bandits around the northern Shaanxi province, Li Zicheng appointed him the important task of being the contact person with the militia in those two provinces, Shaanxi and Shanxi. Wang Zhaoxi sent Bai Min in advance to inform the leaders of the militia in these two provinces for an important meeting at a designated location. The Shaanxi leaders had already been contacted. The Shanxi meeting was decided to be held seven days later at Mount Zhongtiao, not more than three hundred li away from Longmen, Tie Feilong's residence. Therefore, Wang Zhaoxi told Bai Min that after he had accomplished his mission, he was to pay a visit to Tie Feilong. Unexpectedly, when Bai Min went all over the place to deliver the message, he was spotted by the undercover warriors working under Chen Qiyu, thereupon he was pursued and before reaching Longmen he was already injured.

Bai Min also said, "Zhaoxi Xiong is prepared to arrive two, three days before the meeting, he told me to wait for him here. He wants to personally ask you, Senior, to leave the mountain[5]."

Tie Feilong stroked his beard and said with a laugh, "I am old and unfit for anything. Perhaps in the future this daughter of mine will be able to lend you a hand."

"Isn't she Madame Ke's daughter?" Bai Min asked.

Instead of answering his question, Tie Feilong turned to Ke Pingting and asked, "They are opposing the Imperial Court, and refuse to co-exist with Wei Zhongxian. Do you wish to help them?"

Ke Pingting replied, "If father says I can help, when my training of martial art skill is completed, I will follow the militia to join hands with them."

Bai Min's eyes grew big, his impression of Ke Pingting was completely changed. Tie Feilong remembered that once he was thinking of betrothing his daughter to Wang Zhaoxi, his heart was not without a tinge of regret. He asked, "Has Zhaoxi married Miss Meng?"

"I already have a two year-old nephew," Bai Min replied, "Meng Shimei is petite, she is also a quiet girl, but she has given birth to a fair-skinned and plump baby, and very mischievous! Ha ... ha ...! Meng Shimei also misses you, Senior, very much."

Tie Feilong said, "I also want to see them."

However, it was two days before the meeting, and Wang Zhaoxi had not arrived yet. Bai Min was very anxious. Tie Feilong contemplated for a long time, finally he said, “Let us go to meet him, Bai Min, how’s your injury?”

“I am completely healed,” Bai Min replied. Thereupon the three of them left together for Mount Zhongtiao.

As Tie Feilong and his company hastened toward Mount Zhongtiao, a man was walking alone by the side of the mountain. This man was Zhuo Yihang who escaped from Mount Wudang.

------------------------------------
[4] Orig. ‘zong zhu’ – ancestor master.
[5] 'Leaving the mountain' means coming out of seclusion to become a government official or leaving a hermit life to take a leading position.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

I guess ZYH is on his way to look for YLC.

BTW, where is the baby? If TFL & KPT both left the village, who's taking care of the baby?

[Fighting_Wind]

Thank you foxs the the translation!!! It's not your fault the manuscript is delayed to you. (I still don't get how it works but oh well)

Man, if I were KPT I would have told the courts and get them killed. I find KPT status funny, she isn't described wearing anything remotely royal.

I guess a lil romance for KPT =3. I think YLS should be closing the story now instead of introducing more plot/ events.

[rati4u]

Ya I think YLS missed the baby part ...pretty common to forget....

the sight of ZYH makes me angry...

[Fighting_Wind]

I mean yeah, babies don't really do much. I'm kinda fearful about the baby though, it's father was Gongsun Le (all was it Lei) after all.

I didn't even see the ZYH part until I replied. Man, even if he was resolute and went with YLC that wouldn't be enough considering all YLC has done for him and how often he abandoned her. But no, he couldn;t even do that =.=

[foxs]

“Would she be willing to see me? Would she pay me any attention?” These questions had formed a big knot in his heart, a knot that could not be untied until he saw Yu Luocha. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if Yu Luocha would be willing to see him or not, it doesn’t matter if he had to go to the ends of the earth, crossing thousand hills and ten thousand rivers, he simply must find her.

“Where can I find her?” The first thing Zhuo Yihang remembered was Tie Feilong. He thought, “Yu Luocha is Tie Feilong’s foster daughter, Tie Feilong would certainly know her whereabouts. Perhaps Yu Luocha stays at his home.” Therefore, with only a sword on his body, he braved the morning breeze, treaded the waning moon, passing through the dangerous three gorges, from Hubei to Sichuan, from Sichuan entered Shaanxi, and from Shaanxi to Shanxi.

During the several months journey, from the shaken-leaves-dancing-in-the-air of autumn to snowflakes-fluttering-in-the-breeze of winter; this particular day he reached the side of Mount Zhongtiao, less than three hundred li away from Longmen, where Tie Feilong lived.

The sky was hazy, twilight had fallen upon him, the snow was falling heavier and heavier. Zhuo Yihang was hoping that perhaps in a couple of days he would be able to see the love of his life again. Although the north wind chilled his bones, the cold cut his muscles, his heart was burning. In his eagerness, he missed finding a lodging place, and before he realized, the sky had turned completely dark.

The mountain path was difficult, the night was cold, the snow was slippery. Zhuo Yihang looked at the haziness all around him, braving the cold wind he muttered softly, "Snowflakes won't cold a dead man's heart, at the corner of the ocean or at the end of the world, the distance can only make the heart grows fonder!" He spoke those words, but because he had already been hurrying along for many days, in the end he could not bear the exhaustion plus the cold and the hunger.

There was a rustic temple by the mountain, a temple where the villagers offered sacrifice to the mountain deities; but presumably because it was a winter day of the twelfth month, nobody came to light up incense, hence the temple felt very desolate. Escaping the winter, wild birds and bats built their nests in the temple; hearing the noise of a human, they flapped their wings and flew out. Zhuo Yihang mused, "I am just like these flocks of birds and beasts, taking a nap in this place."

Zhuo Yihang entered the temple and drank cold water to wash down his dry rations. Opening the curtain of the temple idol, he found the place behind the idol to be quite clean, thereupon he lay down fully clothed on the floor. Originally he only wanted to take a short nap, but because he was extremely weary, he fell into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down.

After sleeping for nobody knows how long, he had a dream. In his dream he saw Yu Luocha came to him, letting out a long whistle. He woke up with a start, but the sound of whistle was still ringing in his ears. Suddenly the whistle changed, it sounded like the cry of an owl, it was extremely disturbing. "Could it be that I wasn't dreaming?" Zhuo Yihang wondered, "Lian Jiejie is really here. No, it isn't she! Her laughter does not sound like this; this is awful!"

He was thinking of crawling out, but suddenly heard footsteps, someone was walking into the temple. Zhuo Yihang pulled the corner of the idol curtain and opened his eyes wide to look outside; he was nearly screaming from fright. From the reflection of light on the snow accumulating in the temple courtyard, he could see two men with colorless faces; they resembled human for only 30%, the other 70% they looked like ghosts. Both men were laughing with grating noises. The hair on their heads was disheveled, both were tall and thin, and they looked exactly alike!

Calming himself down, Zhuo Yihang heard one of them say, "Lao'er[6], we scared him well and showed him who is in charge!" From a leather sack he took two round and fuzzy things; Zhuo Yihang focused his vision on those things and to his surprise, those two things were two severed heads!

The man who spoke earlier put the severed heads on the sacrificial table. Zhuo Yihang could not see, but he heard the noise of flint stone and soon he smelled incense burning while the sudden light dazzled his eyes. 'What kind of trick they were doing?' he wondered. A moment later, there was the sound of hoof beats coming toward the temple. Those two men stood up suddenly, with a strange voice they called out, “Wang Xiong is truly a man of his words, you really came! We have your good friends waiting for you here!”

The man outside answered, “Shen Laoda[7], Shen Lao’er, you two are early. Who else do you have in there? Aren’t you breaching our prior agreement?”

As Zhuo Yihang heard that, he thought the voice was familiar, turned out it was indeed Wang Zhaoxi. In all his life, Zhuo Yihang only had two best friends, one was Yue Mingke, the other was Wang Zhaoxi. Although Wang Zhaoxi and he took different paths, they had always treated one another with absolute sincerity. Hearing his voice, he could not help but be delighted; but as Wang Zhaoxi finished speaking, Zhuo Yihang was astonished. “Shen Laoda, Shen Lao’er?” he mused, “Aiyo, I wonder if they are the Two Shen Brothers of the Shaanbei[8], Shen Dayuan and Shen Yiyuan? I have long heard that these two men’s martial art is strange, their conduct is absurd; how did Wang Zhaoxi end up making appointment to meet them here?”

The temple gate opened, Wang Zhaoxi walked in slowly, suddenly he cried out in fear, “Aren’t they the Night Owl Du Wu and Eagle-shooting-to-the-sky Zhang Si[9]? You … why did you do such a cruel thing?”

With his grating voice Shen Dayuan laughed and said, “They did not obey Eight Great King’s order, we have no choice but to kill them as an example to others[10]!”

“This is definitely not Eight Great King’s idea,” Wang Zhaoxi said, “Eight Great King has sword brotherhood with our Young Roaming King, how can he kill our people?"

With a clear and loud voice Shen Yiyuan said, "Young Roaming King? Humph, what Young Roaming King? When we start roaming, he has not even broken through[11] his mother's belly yet, who does he think he is, to think of holding command over the heroes of the two provinces? Eight Great King may be willing to swear brotherhood with him, but we are not going to buy that idea."

The Eight Great King was Zhang Xianzhong, the Young Roaming King was Li Zicheng. A few years back, Zhang Xianzhong led thirty six camps of outlaws, he attacked Shanxi with more than twenty thousand men but was defeated by the Ming Dynasty's governor-general Hong Chengchou. Their group fled into Henan and Hebei, two provinces, but again they were impeded by Ming's imperial army. From Henan they flee to Hubei's border, from Hubei they once again were forced to flee to Sichuan. In the meantime Li Zicheng also entered Sichuan from the west, to train his troops at Qinling; and thus the two men bound themselves in brotherhood.

Zhang Xianzhong's power in Sichuan was rather significant, thereupon Li Zicheng struck an agreement with him, giving Sichuan to him as the base of his military activities, while Li Zicheng would return to the west. As for Shanxi, if one goes back in history, it was originally Zhang Xianzhong's domain; but he was perfectly satisfied to acquire Sichuan. He thought, 'It was beyond my control[12] anyway; after acquiring the 'heavenly province'[13], why would I want the impoverished Shanxi?' Consequently, by verbal agreement he gave Shanxi to Li Zicheng, so that Li Zicheng could expand his power in Shanxi. This was precisely the reason Li Zicheng dispatched Wang Zhaoxi to contact the militia in Shaanxi and Shanxi, two provinces.

Unexpectedly, the Shen Brothers refused to accept; when they found out about Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng's agreement, they went to see Zhang Xianzhong and with strong words persuaded him not to give up his control over Shanxi. Zhang Xianzhong was swayed, but he thought it would be embarrassing to breach the agreement, thereupon he washed his hands and let them deal with this situation. The Shen Brothers knew that Wang Zhaoxi had made contact with all militia leaders and was about to have an assembly on Mount Zhongtiao. Thereupon two days before the assembly, they wanted to negotiate with Wang Zhaoxi first. On the other hand, Wang Zhaoxi also heard the rumor about their activity in Shanxi, so he also wanted to approach them and discuss it clearly with them, and thus he agreed to meet with them. Who would have thought that the Shen Brothers were vicious and merciless; not only they killed Du Wu and Zhang Si, two militia leaders who were strong advocates to the acceptance of Roaming King's leadership, but also brought their severed heads to frighten Wang Zhaoxi.

--------------------------------------
[6] Second child, second in rank.
[7] First child, highest in rank.
[8] Northern Shaanxi province.
[9] Du Wu and Zhang Si are ‘Du the Fifth’ and ‘Zhang the Fourth’, respectively.
[10] Orig. ‘killing the chicken to warn the monkey’.
[11] The character 'chuang' from the Young Roaming King can also be translated as 'break through'. See also Note 7 of Chapter 18.
[12] Orig. 'the whip cannot reach'.
[13] It was an epithet of Sichuan, especially the area around Chengdu.

[foxs]

About the baby ... I feel it interesting that you guys remember him. Oh, I know how it is, since I also have a three-month old baby; but I think you guys don't have to worry over him so much, since I am sure Tie Feilong had many servants working for him. His residence was called a 'village' (zhuang, sometimes it is also translated as 'manor', or 'villa'). My understanding is that a 'zhuang' is not just a simple house, usually it consists of a cluster of houses. I don't believe TFL and KPT were the only residents of this village. Plus, from the earlier chapter, TFL was a rather influential man, I am sure he was not poor.

Thank you foxs the the translation!!! It's not your fault the manuscript is delayed to you. (I still don't get how it works but oh well)

OK, here is the 'behind-the-scene' as part of your 'bonus material': I did not mean the manuscript was delayed to me. I simply felt sorry that you guys had to wait longer.

Back when Han Solo was helping me, he asked that I finish one chapter before sending it to him. Still, I opted to post the chapter in parts, rather than in one lump sum. My reason?

1. Technical. Normally, I would take two, three days to finish one part (about 1500 - 1600 words). So in the end, you, the readers, will have to wait for approximately the same period of time before a chapter is done.
2. Personal. I prefer to have shorter, but more consistent updates than a long one over an indefinite period of time. Back in the days of LOCH, I asked the readers and seems to me that those who responded agree with me.
3. Regular updates also give me the opportunity to login into the forum, check for any PM; otherwise, although sometimes I visit the forum, I never login.

Fast forward to today: Since my translating speed is slower than my posting speed, I am out of material already. Usually I only have about a week worth of material and send it over to Eliza for proofreading/editing. These two weeks, Eliza is very busy. Not her fault, either, since I am busy too, i.e. I do not send enough material for her. Today's post is the last one I have. I sent a few more to her a couple of days ago, but she is away for a week, so please be patient, I think I can post the next part next weekend.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks for all your hard work foxs & Eliza! Truly appreciate all your efforts. Looking forward to the next installment.

Is your baby a boy or a girl foxs? Even with a baby, you're still able to do the translations for us. You're amazing!!!

Back to the novel, I'm so excited to see Wang Zhaoxi! He hasn't noticed ZYH yet. Wonder what his reaction will be once he sees him. I have a feeling that ZYH won't be able to defeat these evil Shen brothers. Even TFL had problems with them in the past so I don't see how ZYH could beat them. Hopefully nothing bad will happen to WZX.