Page 6 of 26 FirstFirst 12345678910111213141516 ... LastLast
Results 101 to 120 of 517

Thread: HSDS chapter 25...

  1. #101
    Senior Member Exodus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    1,288

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rati4u View Post
    in martial arts, using weapons mainly requires skill..not just strength..though one of xuan guys injured, his weapon is still lethal...and they are masters in using them..remember, their names came from their weapons! so ofcourse zwj was studying them when zhao min stopped the battle
    sure but the fact is that greats like YG, GJ and XF would beat them easily

  2. #102
    Senior Member rati4u's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    330

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Exodus View Post
    sure but the fact is that greats like YG, GJ and XF would beat them easily
    cant say that because YG and GJ never experienced cold palms..ofcourse they will beat them..but not that easily. Besides, ZWJ doesnt have any weapons with him. Bare hands, he already beaten them!

  3. #103
    Member morbiuz666's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    77

    Default

    Here's my 2 cents.

    I feel that WuJi is pretty much inexperienced when it comes to battling, i mean as a kid he had all this martial arts theory pounded into him by Golden Lion and his own dad but not much practical knowledge. then when he got back he was injured by the Xuan Ming elder and couldn't practice martial arts. next he learned heaps on medicine at the butterfly valley but still no martial arts. then when he was like what, 13, 14? when he laid hold of the 9Yang manual and trained up internal strength and healed himself? even at brightness peak, it seemed to me that he managed to scratch by on pure internal strength only. it's only when he met up with Zhang San Feng again that he got pointers on martial arts on a more thorough basis i'd say and that was like a few weeks back in the novel's timeline?

    now compare this to Guo Jing, Yang Guo or even Xie Feng at the same age; who've all had more time to train martial arts, obviously these 3 would be more versatile in a fight (even if they may not win! remember, i'm comparing based on age here). the closest parallel i can draw right now would be that WuJi is similar to the Big Dumpling from Xia Ke Xing or even Duan Yu (although Duan Yu may have weaker internal strength at this stage probably).

    He'd just spent the last 5 years of his life with a monkey for crying out loud How good a martial artist could he be without proper training?

    And at least he's not slow like Guo Jing was so picking up skills comes easier for him.

    come on guys, give the poor schmuck some credit...

    and for the record, i feel he's being a real pansy for all this pussyfooting around but hey look at it from his eyes,

    1)he's father and grandmaster is from an orthodox clan but his mum is not (read: dubious background)
    2)he's now the leader of the ultimate unorthodox clan/group in that period (he's the devil to most orthodox ppl now)
    3)he's clan is being blamed for some pretty big brown stuff that's bound to make a lotta ppl see red (naturally...)
    4)he's gotta solve the big mystery of why and save the world and doing all this without giving the orthodox clans a chance to pick a fight with him and his clan! bummer man....

  4. #104
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,333

    Default Chapter 26 – Part 6

    Zhang Wuji shook his head. “Until now I still do not know Miss’ origin,” he said, “Although our paths have crossed several times, every time it was Miss who seeks out Zhang Wuji; it wasn’t the Old Zhang who looks for trouble with Miss. I will be deeply grateful if Miss is willing to let my martial uncles and the Wulin warriors from various sects go; I wouldn’t dare to seek enmity with Miss. Moreover, Miss still has to tell me three matters, which I will strive to carry them out, in no way will I refuse your command.”

    Zhao Min could hear the sincerity in his voice, her face brightened like a fresh flower just blossomed. She smiled and said, “Hey, you haven’t forgotten that.” Turning her head toward Zhou Zhiruo she said to Zhang Wuji, “This Miss Zhou is not your beloved, she is neither your martial sister, nor your fiancé; so if I want to destroy her face, it has nothing to do with you …” She cast a sidelong glance; Lu Zhangke and He Biweng immediately raised their weapons in front of Zhou Zhiruo, while another man raised a sharp dagger toward her cheeks.

    If Zhang Wuji wanted to save her, he would have to break the Xuanming Elders’ defense line; which was not easy. Zhao Min coldly said, “Zhang Gongzi, you’d better tell me the truth.”

    All of a sudden Wei Yixiao held out his palms and spat some saliva on them. He rubbed his palms several times to the sole of his shoes, and laughed a big laugh. Nobody knew what kind of crafty trick he was about to perform; suddenly a green shadow flashed. Zhao Min felt her left and right cheeks were rubbed by a palm. She looked at Wei Yixiao and found him stood on his original position, but now in his hands were two daggers; it was not clear whom he snatched the daggers from. Zhao Min realized things were not good; she did not dare to rub her own cheeks, but took a handkerchief and wiped her face. She saw her handkerchief was black with some mud, and knew instantly that it was the dirt from Wei Yixiao’s shoes plus his saliva. This thought made her sick that she almost threw up.

    Wei Yixiao said, “Miss Zhao, whether you want to destroy Miss Zhou’s face or not, it is up to you. You are cruel and merciless; I, the one with surname Wei, cannot stop you. Just know this: today you cut Miss Zhou’s face once, the one surnamed Wei will double it; I will cut your face twice. You cut her face twice, I will cut yours four times. You break one finger of hers, I will break two of yours.” Speaking to this point he struck the daggers in his hands to each other and continued, “What the one surnamed Wei wants to do, he can do it. ‘Qing Yi Fu Wang’ [The Green Winged Bat King] will do what he says. All my life I have never said an empty talk. You can guard against me for a year or a year and a half, but not for eight years, ten years. You can send your people to kill me, but I doubt they will be able to pursue me. I take my leave now!” When the word ‘now’ came out of his mouth, he had already disappeared.

    ‘Slap! Slap!’ two daggers flew and struck a pillar; followed by “Aiyo! Ah!” screams, two foreign monks in the hall slowly sat down. Somehow the swords in their hands were snatched by Wei Yixiao; while their acupoints were also sealed by him.

    Wei Yixiao’s words were spoken lightly, but everybody knew it was not idle talk; they saw with their own eyes that Zhao Min white cheeks, which were red from rouge earlier, were smeared black by Wei Yixiao’s dirt. If he was holding knives in his hands, Zhao Min’s cheeks would have been destroyed. His movement to her and back was lightning fast; it was like a ghost or a demon’s movement; certainly no experts would be able to guard against him. Even Zhang Wuji felt ashamed of his own inferiority. In a long distance race Zhang Wuji would be able to win relying on his stronger internal energy, but moving in the courtyard or between the porch and the veranda nobody could match this person’s divine speed.

    Zhang Wuji bowed and saluted. “Miss Zhao,” he said, “We have offended you today; we’ll take our leave now.” Taking Yang Xiao’s hand he turned around and went out the hall. He knew with Wei Yixiao’s threat Zhao Min would not dare to harm Zhou Zhiruo. Zhao Min looked at his back with mixed feelings: ashamed and angry; but she did not command her people to block their way.

    Zhang Wuji and Yang Xiao returned to the inn; Wei Yixiao was already waiting for them there. Zhang Wuji laughed and said, “Wei Fuwang [Bat King Wei], today you have given them a demonstration of your prowess, letting them know not to easily provoke the Ming Cult.”

    “It wasn’t difficult to scare a little girl,” Wei Yixiao said, “She can pretend to be fierce and wicked, but as she heard me wanting to destroy her face, I guarantee you she won’t be able to sleep for three whole days and three whole nights.”

    Yang Xiao smiled and said, “She can’t sleep; that’s not good. It will make our effort to rescue people more difficult.”

    “Yang Zuoshi [Left Emissary Yang],” said Zhang Wuji, “Speaking of rescuing people, do you have any ingenious plan?”

    Yang Xiao hesitated. “We are only three people, plus our presence is already known; it is truly a thorny problem,” he said.

    Zhang Wuji apologetically said, “When I saw Miss Zhou’s dire situation I could not bear not to help. In the end I messed up an important matter.”

    “The way the turn of events went, nobody could bear not to help,” Yang Xiao said, “Single-handedly Jiaozhu [Cult Leader] defeated the Xuanming Elders and that can crush the enemy’s spirit big time; that was also very good. Moreover, now that they know we are here, they won’t dare to treat Song Daxia [great hero Song] and the others too rudely.”

    Zhang Wuji remembered that his Song Dabo [first (older) uncle], Yu Erbo [second (older) uncle] and the others were still in the enemy’s hand; and then seeing how Zhao Min has treated He Taichong, Tang Wenliang and the others with disgrace, his heart burned with anxiety.

    Three people discussed their course of action for half a day without reaching any conclusion; finally they went their separate rooms to rest.

    Toward the dawn the following morning Zhang Wuji was still half dreaming when he heard a noise from the window; he woke up immediately and opened his eyes wide only to see the window slowly open. There was someone outside staring at him. He was startled. Lifting up the bed curtain he saw that person’s face was filled with scars, he looked fearsomely ugly; it was none other than Ku Toutuo. Zhang Wuji was even more shocked; he immediately jumped out of bed, but Ku Toutuo’s face was still at the window, staring blankly at him. It seemed like Ku Toutuo did not mean any harm to him. “Yang Zuoshi! Wei Fuwang!” Zhang Wuji called out.

    Yang and Wei two people responded from the neighboring rooms. Zhang Wuji was slightly relieved. In the meantime Ku Toutuo’s face disappeared from the window. Zhang Wuji hastily jumped out the window and saw Ku Toutuo go out the front gate in a hurry. By this time Yang and Wei two people had also caught up. Looking around to see there was no other enemy, three people moved their feet to pursue Ku Toutuo.

    Ku Toutuo was waiting on a street corner. As he saw the three people approach, he turned around and went to the north. His strides were big, but he was not running. Three people exchanged hand signals and followed behind. By that time it was daybreak, not too many people were outside; so in a short moment they had reached the northern gate. Ku Toutuo continued leading the way along a small pathway. About seven, eight ‘li’s [1 li is approximately 0.5km] later they arrived at a small mound with rocks scattered around it. At last Ku Toutuo stopped and turned around; he waved his hands toward Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao, asking them to step back, following which he cupped his fists in respect toward Zhang Wuji.

    Zhang Wuji returned the salute while thinking in his heart, “I wonder what is this Toutuo’s intention in leading us here? There is nobody else here, if we fight, with one against three, he would surely lost. Judging by this, he doesn’t seem to have an ill intention.”

    Before Zhang Wuji made his mind up, Ku Toutuo had already made a ‘heh, heh’ noise, then he attacked with his hands in the form of claws: tiger claw on his left hand, dragon claw on his right hand; all ten fingers in the shape of hooks, ferociously attacked Zhang Wuji.

    Zhang Wuji diverted the attack by a sweep of his left palm; he said, “Shangren [lit. upper/above person, a respectful term to address a Buddhist monk], what is your intention? Please make it clear; we can always fight later.”

    Ku Toutuo did not pay him any attention, as if he did not hear anything. His left hand tiger claw changed into an eagle claw, his right hand dragon claw changed into a tiger claw; one attacked the opponent’s left shoulder, the other attacked the right abdomen. The attacks were very vicious.

    “Do we really have to fight?” Zhang Wuji asked.

    Ku Toutuo’s eagle claw turned into a lion palm, his tiger claw turned into a crane beak; one struck the other pecked, in an ever-changing style. In a short three stances he had already used six different styles.

  5. #105
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,333

    Default Asking for help

    Folks, I have pdf files of LoCH and RoCH, complete with the pictures and captions, just like in the printed novel. I have spent considerable time and effort in creating those files, and I want to share them with anybody who care to download.

    I know that Wuxiapedia and SPCNET Reading Room both have those files, but their captions are incomplete, and in some chapters incorrect. I have contacted Huang Yushi and JamesG, but unfortunately they are busy.

    I want to upload the files into my free web-space from my ISP. It is only 10MB, which is not enough. But I can use some other people's space. The thing is: I am not a web-programmer; I am wondering if anybody is willing to help me writing a simple html which will enable me to link all those files into one page.

    Or, better yet, does anybody have extra space in their web-site we can use?

    Either way, your help will be greatly appreciated. Please pm me if you can help.

    BTW, to Jean, GREAT JOB! Legendary Siblings IS my favorite among Gu Long's work. And you are welcome anytime to dig in ...

  6. #106
    Junior Member arty8888's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    33

    Default

    Hi foxs , you can try uploading your files to http://www.4shared.com/ .
    You need to register first for your virtual storage space . After that you can create a link to your webpage or to SPCNET.TV .

    Btw , many thanks for your hardwork in this thread ; love reading the fighting scene and the discussions that follow.

  7. #107
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,333

    Default Chapter 26 – Part 7

    Thanks. I'll check it out.
    -----------------------------------------------

    Zhang Wuji did not dare to slack off; he immediately launched the ‘Taiji Chuan’ [taiji fist]. His body moved like the passing clouds or flowing water, fighting his opponent on that stone mound. He felt this Ku Toutuo’s movements were very complicated; sometimes they were wide open and easily predicted, but just they turn surreptitiously strange as swift, like the martial art from a demonical unorthodox sect, casting a profound heretical, almost evil, air around him, but all along Zhang Wuji only used Taiji Chuan to fight him.

    After about seventy, eighty stances later Ku Toutuo suddenly grunted and shot his fist straight forward. Zhang Wuji used the ‘ru feng si bi’ [Apparent Closure] to seal his fist power, followed by the move ‘dan bian’ [Single Whip] his left palm slapped Ku Toutuo’s back; only he did not exert any internal energy, as soon as he touched his back, Zhang Wuji withdrew his palm.

    Ku Toutuo knew Zhang Wuji was showing him mercy; he leaped backward and stared at Zhang Wuji for half a day. Suddenly he made a hand signal to Yang Xiao, indicating he wanted to borrow the long sword on Yang Xiao’s waist. Yang Xiao loosened up the sword belt and presented the sword, complete with the sheath, with both hands to Ku Toutuo.

    Zhang Wuji felt strange, “How can Yang Zuoshi lend a weapon to the enemy?” he thought.

    Ku Toutuo drew the sword and made a hand signal, telling Zhang Wuji to borrow Wei Yixiao’s sword. Zhang Wuji shook his head; he took the sword sheath from Ku Toutuo’s left hand, and with a ‘qing shou’ [invitation] stance he used the sheath as a sword. With his left hand he pinched the tip of the sheath and positioned the sheath horizontally in front of his chest.

    Ku Toutuo swept the sword and stabbed diagonally down. Zhang Wuji had seen him teaching sword technique to Zhao Min, so he knew this man had a superb swordsmanship. At once he focused his attention to use the Taiji Sword he had learned for the past several months on Mount Wudang. He saw that the opponent’s sword moved sometimes fast sometimes slow, with the blade seemingly everywhere; but Zhang Wuji was always able to block or divert the attack. Ku Toutuo withdrew immediately and re-attacked with new stances; yet not a single one of them was able to penetrate Zhang Wuji’s defense.

    Zhang Wuji silently praised him, “If I fought this man half a year ago, I certainly would not be his match in swordsmanship. Compared to that ‘ba bi shen jian’ [Eight-armed Divine Sword] Fang Dongbai this Ku Toutuo is a notch better.” He started to feel fondness toward him and decided not to score victory too conspicuously.

    Ku Toutuo brandished his sword like a ‘luan pi feng’ [tornado]; the blade of his sword glistened under the sun as if ten thousands metal snakes scurried around the opponent. Zhang Wuji looked clearly and then abruptly turned the sword sheath around. ‘Shua!’ the sword entered its sheath perfectly while both of his hands shot out and lightly touched Ku Toutuo’s wrists. Smiling slightly Zhang Wuji leaped back. If he made any effort ever so slightly, he would have been able to seize the sword. This move to seize the sword was really dangerous; but it also demonstrated his excellent skill.

    Before Zhang Wuji’s feet landed on the ground Ku Toutuo dropped the sword and with a grunt sent out his palm forward. Zhang Wuji heard the gust of wind and knew that this palm carried a lot of strength. It was truly not a small matter; obviously the opponent was testing his internal strength. He turned his right palm around and met the incoming palm head-on, while his left foot finally touched the ground.

    In an instant Ku Toutuo’s force flowed out like a stream. Zhang Wuji used the power of the seventh level of ‘qian kun da nuo yi’ to gradually dissipate the incoming force. Suddenly he shouted loudly and pushed back; it was like the dam on a mountain lake suddenly burst and the water flooded out with an earth shattering force. Zhang Wuji was actually returning Ku Toutuo’s palm strength to its owner. It was the combination of ten opponent’s palm strength into one; the world had never seen such force. If Ku Toutuo was hit, his wrist bone, arm bone, shoulder bone, and his ribs would be broken; blood would spurt out and he would have turned into a heap of shapeless pulp as he died a miserable death.

    At this moment a pair of palms stuck to each other. It was impossible for Ku Toutuo to escape. Suddenly Zhang Wuji’s left hand grabbed his chest and flung him up; Ku Toutuo’s big body flew up. With a loud ‘Bang!’ the rocks behind him flew all over the place. Zhang Wuji’s matchless palm strength had hit the rocks on that mound.

    Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao, who were watching from the side, both cried out in alarm. They knew Ku Toutuo and their cult leader were staking it all in that internal energy competition. They thought it would take at least the time needed to drink tea for the match to reach its conclusion; who would have thought that the moment of life and death had arrived in just a short time. These two had a lot in their mind to say, but it was too late for them to open their mouths. Now that Ku Toutuo had landed on the ground, safe and sound, their palms were wet with cold sweats.

    As his feet touched the ground Ku Toutuo’s hands made a sign like a blazing flame in front of his chest; he bowed to pay his respect to Zhang Wuji and said, “Xiao Ren [lit. little/lowly person] is ‘guang ming you zhi’ [Right Emissary of the Brightness] Fan Yao; I pay my respect to Jiaozhu [Cult Leader]. I thank Jiaozhu for sparing my life. Xiao Ren also asks forgiveness for my offensive behavior.” He had never talked for more than ten years, so his intonation was rather unnatural.

    Zhang Wuji was pleasantly surprised; not only this mute Ku Toutuo could talk, but he was also his own Cult’s Right Emissary of the Brightness. It was truly beyond what he expected. He Busily held out his hands to raise him up and said, “It turns out that you are our Cult’s Fan Youshi [Right Emissary Fan]. I am extremely happy. We are family, so you don’t have to be overly courteous.”

    Actually when they arrived at the rock mound, Yang Xiao and Wei Yixiao had already guessed with 30% certainty; only Fan Yao’s appearance was greatly changed that they did not dare to say anything. When he displayed his martial art, they were 70, 80% sure; now that he mentioned his own name, they rushed forward held his hands tightly. Yang Xiao stared at his face for half a day with tears streaming down his face. “Fan Xiongdi [Brother Fan],” he said, “Gege [big brother] missed you very much.”

    Fan Yao hugged Yang Xiao and said, “Da Ge [big brother], we should be thankful for ‘Ming Zun’s [Translator’s note: I don’t know how to translate this properly. I am guessing that Fan Yao was referring to the Ming Cult founder (or prophet).] blessing and protection, that we have such a highly capable Jiaozhu, and that we brothers can see each other again.”

    “Xiongdi,” Yang Xiao said, “How did your appearance change like this?”

    “If I didn’t deform my own face, how can I deceive that traitor, the ‘hun yuan pi li shou’ [Lightning Hands of the Originating Formation] Cheng Kun?” Fan Yao said.

    As soon as they heard him, they realized that he intentionally destroyed his own face to get close to the enemy. Yang Xiao’s heart was moved. “Xiongdi,” he said, “You have suffered greatly.” In the past Yang Xiao and Fan Yao were known in Jianghu as the ‘Xiao Yao Er Xian’ [Xiao and Yao, two immortals]; because they both were outstandingly handsome men. Fan Yao had deliberately made his own face unbearably ugly; truly not many people could match his pain and suffering.

    Wei Yixiao had never been close to Fan Yao; but this time he could not help but be deeply moved. He knelt down and saluted, “Fan Youshi,” he said, “Today Wei Yixiao truly submits to you.”

    Fan Yao also knelt down to return his salute. Smiling he said, “Wei Fuwang’s ‘qing gong’ [lightness kungfu] is matchless in this world. Your divine skill is even better than in the past. Last night Ku Toutuo broadened his outlook.”

    Yang Xiao looked around and said, “This place is not too far from the city; the enemy has ears and eyes everywhere. We’d better go farther up and talk on the mountain ahead.”

  8. #108
    Senior Member Demonic Swordsman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Jiang Hu
    Posts
    762

    Default

    great update. Interesting how this person belonged to the Ming Cult as well
    "The most happy marriage I can picture or imagine would be union of a deaf man to a blind woman."

  9. #109
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    712

    Default

    Have people's skills and imagination in the pre-Ming period really fallen this far? Case in point, Fan Yao disfiguring his face to appear ugly. Why not use a skin mask like YG or even the flour and honey method used by Houdou?

  10. #110
    atlantean0208
    Unregistered

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KChill View Post
    Have people's skills and imagination in the pre-Ming period really fallen this far? Case in point, Fan Yao disfiguring his face to appear ugly. Why not use a skin mask like YG or even the flour and honey method used by Houdou?
    Jin Yong doesn't want to plagiarize himself, he already plagiarize himself for "falling over the cliff and found kung fu manual" in HSDS and BXJ . Just accept lots of facts and figure in JY novel as a mere face value / fiction creation and don't over analyzing things.

  11. #111
    Moderator Ren Wo Xing's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Currently DC
    Posts
    6,660

    Default

    Rocks explode! So that's not just crappy TVB, that's JY as well! O.O
    Read the latest chapters of Coiling Dragon at Wuxia World!

  12. #112
    Senior Member CC's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Posts
    5,497

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ren Wo Xing View Post
    Rocks explode! So that's not just crappy TVB, that's JY as well! O.O
    The rocks flew, it wasn't like they exploded into bits.
    Its BIxie Jianfa Gawdammit you guys!!!!

  13. #113
    Senior Member rati4u's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    330

    Default

    i guessed he is from ming cult! because yang xiao was respectful towards him.

  14. #114
    Senior Member kyss of the sword's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    currently in malaysia
    Posts
    1,772

    Default

    ZWJ was a brillient student of martial arts but lacked the aggressive nature to defeat his opponents quickly. his nature is similar to yideng and WCY. unlike yang guo and guo jing who had the desire to win. but ZWJ did spend six months on mt wudang getting pointers from ZSF, so his martial arts has improved greatly. when he learned QKDNY, he was able to understand all the martial arts theories he learnt but did not understand before.
    THE KYSS OF THE SWORD IS DEADLY BUT EXQUSITE
    he's the strongest in history but he's the disciple.
    http://www.mangafox.com/manga/histor...ciple_kenichi/

  15. #115
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,333

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KChill View Post
    Have people's skills and imagination in the pre-Ming period really fallen this far? Case in point, Fan Yao disfiguring his face to appear ugly. Why not use a skin mask like YG or even the flour and honey method used by Houdou?
    IMHO, the skin mask used by Huang Yaoshi and Yang Guo to conceal their faces was a momentary fix; i.e. an expert would have found out that they were wearing mask. Houdou was hiding among the beggars; nobody paid him close attention. In other words, these techniques (skin mask and flour and honey) will not work for a prolonged period in close proximity to experts. Remember that Fan Yao had to face Zhao Min and the Xuanming Elders in daily basis. Plus, his original intention was to spy on Cheng Kun. All were not your 'average joe's, so to speak. Therefore, it was necessary for Fan Yao to take that drastic action.

    On the 'rocks', CC was right, it did not say 'explode', just flew off from the strike.

  16. #116
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    3,333

    Default Chapter 26 – Part 8

    Four people ran for about ten ‘li’s and stop on the back of a small hill, where they were able to see for several ‘li’s around and thus did not have to worry anybody would hide and listen secretly, yet from a distant nobody would be able to see them. They sat down and told each other what happened after they were separated.

    That year Yang Dingtian suddenly disappeared without any trace; the Ming Cult’s leaders fought with each other over the Cult Leader position. Nobody was willing to submit, so the Cult split up. Fan Yao still believed their Cult Leader had not passed away, so he wandered the Jianghu alone to look for his whereabouts. Several years passed and he had not found the slightest trail. Afterwards he thought that perhaps their Cult Leader was harmed by the Beggar Clan, so he secretly captured many Beggar Clan’s important people and tortured them to force a confession; still he did not find any clue, while in the process he had killed many innocent Beggar Clan members.

    Later on he heard the escalating sharp dispute among the Ming Cult leaders; some people even went everywhere looking for him, they wanted to appeal to him. Fan Yao had never wanted to be the Cult Leader; he was also not willing to be involved in this power struggle. Hence he went as far as possible for fear that his brethren would find him. Thereupon he grew a long beard and disguised himself as an elderly scholar; wandering everywhere, free and unrestrained.

    One particular day he saw someone at a bustling street in Dadou; he recognized that person as Madame Cult Leader’s martial brother Cheng Kun. He could not help to be secretly shocked. By that time there was a rumor in the Wulin world that many skilled pugilists were murdered, and there was always this message written on the adjacent wall: ‘The killer is Lightning Hands of the Originating Formation Cheng Kun’. He wanted to investigate this case, but also wanted to inquire the Yang Jiaozhu’s whereabouts to Cheng Kun; thereupon he followed Cheng Kun from a safe distance.

    He saw Cheng Kun enter a restaurant, where two older men were waiting; they were the Xuanming Elders. Fan Yao knew Cheng Kun’s martial art level was high, so he sat on a rather far away table, drinking wine. He could only hear those three people talking indistinctly, but the words ‘must destroy the Brightness Peak’ were heard clearly. Hearing his cult was in danger Fan Yao could not ignore it; he followed those three secretly and saw them entering the Ruyang [a place in Henan] ‘wang fu’ [lit. king mansion – governmental palace]. Later he found out that those two Xuanming Elders were martial art experts under the employment of the Prince of Ruyang.

    The Prince of Ruyang, Khakan Timur, was a very high ranking officer in charge of the military forces. He was brave and resourceful; in fact, he was the most capable person of the imperial household. He was the one who dispatched troops to suppress the rebellion of Jiang Huai [Jiangsu and Anhui]. It can be said that the victory and defeat of the imperial army was the sole responsibility of this prince Khakan Timur.

    Zhang Wuji and the others had heard his name for quite some time, by now hearing that Lu Zhangke and the others were his subordinates, they more or less could guess, but in the end they were still surprised.

    “Who, then, is this Miss Zhao?” Yang Xiao asked.

    “Da Ge, there is no harm for you to take a guess,” Fan Yao answered.

    “Is it possible that she is Khakan Timur’s daughter?” Yang Xiao said.

    “Pretty good!” Fan Yao clapped his hands, “One guess and right on target. This Ruyang Wangye [Prince, lit. king master] has one son and one daughter. His son is Kuku Timur; his daughter is this girl. Her Mongolian name is Minmin Timur something. Kuku Timur is Ruyang Wangye’s crown prince; he will succeed his father as the future Prince Ruyang. The daughter’s title is Shao Min Jun Zhu [‘jun zhu’ means a ruler of some region, or a princess. Translator’s note: I don’t know how to translate this ‘Shao Min’ name; I guess we’ll leave it as is: a name.]. These two children are good in martial arts and they both have good level of skill. They love to dress as Han people and they speak Han language. They even adopted Han names; the boy chose Wang Baobao, while the girl chose Zhao Min. These two characters ‘Zhao Min’ came from her title, Shao Min Jun Zhu.”

    Wei Yixiao smiled and said, “These brother and sister are very strange; one uses Wang as his surname, the other Zhao. From our Han people’s perspective, it is very funny.”

    Fan Yao said, “Actually, their surname is Timur. Their given names are in the front; this is the custom of the barbarians. Ruyang Wangye Khakan Timur also has a Han’s surname; which is Li.” Speaking to this point the four of them burst out in laughter.

    [Author’s note: In the New Yuan History, 220th chapter, on the biography of Khakan Timur: ‘Khakan Timur was the ancestor of Kuokuotai, Zunaimantai, Fualuwen. He made Henan his home and thus was known as Shenqiu people. Later he changed his surname to Li.’ Although officially Kuku Timur was his crown prince, in reality he was Khakan Timur’s sister’s son. This little detail is not distinguished clearly in the novel.]

    [Translator’s note: I apologize for not able to find any reference on the above note; hence my translation might be inaccurate.]

    Yang Xiao said, “This Miss Zhao’s appearance and lifestyle is just like Han people, but the way she handles affairs was so fierce and ruthless, revealing her true barbarian origin.”

    Until that moment Zhang Wuji did not know Zhao Min’s origin. Although he guessed she must be from the royal household, he had never expected that she was actually the daughter of Prince Ruyang who was the commander of the Yuan Dynasty’s military forces. He had fought with her several times and each time he was somewhat overpowered. Although her martial art skill was not as good as his, when it comes to quick-thinking and resourcefulness, he was not her match.

    Fan Yao continued, “Subordinate continued listening secretly and found out that Prince Ruyang had made up his mind to exterminate Jianghu’s martial art exponents [‘men, pai, bang, hui’ – gate, sect, clan and society]. He had accepted Cheng Kun’s scheme, in which the first step was to eliminate our Cult. I considered it carefully; our Cult was involved in endless internal strife, while the enemy was so strong, our destruction was imminent. The only way to prevent this is by entering the palace, learning Prince Ruyang’s plot, and act accordingly. Other than that I could not think of anything else. What I found to be strange was that Cheng Kun is not only Madame Yang Jiaozhu’s martial brother, but he is also Xie Shi Wang’s [Lion King Xie] master; why did he hate our Cult so much? I thought about it but could not come up with a good answer. I thought he must be seeking riches and honor so that by exterminating our Cult he would render a meritorious service to the kingdom. There are not too many Cult brethrens who know Cheng Kun, but I have met him once, so he knew me. To prevent my plan from leaking out, I have to kill this man.”

    “You should,” Wei Yixiao commented.

    “But this man is so sly, also his martial art is strong,” Fan Yao continued, “I have tried to kill him secretly three times but to no avail. The third time I managed to stab him with a sword, but I was hacked by his palm. It was really not easy for me to escape. I did not reveal my identity, but I suffered a severe injury, which took me more than a year to recover. By this time the Ruyang Palace conspiracy has ripened. I thought if I disguise myself I might be able to conceal my identity for a while. In the past the number of Jianghu people who knew me and Yang Xiong [brother Yang] as the ‘Xiao Yao Two Immortals’ were truly not a few. Over longer period of time I will surely give myself away. Thereupon clenching my teeth I destroyed my own face and disguised myself as a Toutuo. I used some medicine to dye my hair, and went to the Watzu kingdom of the Western Region.”

    “Watzu kingdom?” Wei Yixiao wondered, “It is tens of thousands ‘li’s away; why did you go there?”

  17. #117
    Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Posts
    145

    Default

    I admire ZWJ's coolness and compassion here. If KTT turned to mush, it use would that be? Now he has another faithful and loyal member to further the cause.

  18. #118
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Posts
    712

    Default

    With the exception of ZWJ, it's hard to really classify the top leaders of the Ming Cult as good or evil. Case in point, Bat King's blood sucking of innocents, YX's rape at the beginning, and now FY's torture of the Beggar's Clan members. It makes it kind of hard to cheer for them, their only redeemable qualites at this point are their martial skills and their loyalty to ZWJ.

  19. #119
    Senior Member Exodus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    1,288

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kyss of the sword View Post
    ZWJ was a brillient student of martial arts but lacked the aggressive nature to defeat his opponents quickly. his nature is similar to yideng and WCY. unlike yang guo and guo jing who had the desire to win. but ZWJ did spend six months on mt wudang getting pointers from ZSF, so his martial arts has improved greatly. when he learned QKDNY, he was able to understand all the martial arts theories he learnt but did not understand before.
    theories are just theories not more than that it doesn't mean that you are going to do well because of that. like someone who knows alot about financial theories but it doesn't mean that he is going to do well in business or the stock market for that matter.

  20. #120
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    36

    Default

    Hey fox_ great point about the skin mask used by Huang Yaoshi and Yang Guo compared to Fan Yao's face-distorying method. THANKS for the updates. Reading an update in English only takes me less than five minutes. In contrast it takes me about five minutes to read a short paragraph in Vietnamese from the same update. Haha, terrible.

    KCHill: I kind of disagree with your comment about Wei Yixiao and Fan Yao. However, I do agree with you about Yang Xiao raping that one chick.

    If Wei Yixiao didn't drink human blood than obviously he would die. Wei Yixiao situation is understandable. In Fan Yao case, I think he only captured and killed those beggar was to find the whereabouts of his leader. It wasn't like he want on a killing spree and killed for FUN. Who hasn't killed in "Giang Ho"? Yeah, but ah, what Yang Xiao did seem to be for SELF enjoyment thru the suffering of another. Not too good in my book.

    I think these guys are probably have better qualities (loyalty, merciful, faithful, ect.) than some orthodox leaders. (current Emi leader)
    Last edited by spacerfiller; 09-25-07 at 01:36 PM.

Similar Threads

  1. HSDS Chapter 14 onwards
    By efflix in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 328
    Last Post: 05-22-09, 09:41 AM
  2. HSDS Translation(From Chapter 5 on...)
    By Meh in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 198
    Last Post: 05-23-08, 08:09 PM
  3. HSDS Chapter 13 Part 2
    By SmokeyTheBear in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 03-16-08, 06:11 AM
  4. HSDS Chapter 24
    By dgfds01 in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 81
    Last Post: 03-14-07, 01:03 PM
  5. DGSD (first edition) - 'The Last Chapter (Chapter 50)
    By Temujin in forum Wuxia Translations
    Replies: 102
    Last Post: 04-01-05, 03:26 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •