A step into the past - 寻秦记 - by Huang Yi

[CrazyT]

If this was written by Gu Long, 3 strokes would of been too much. 1 is good enough.

[tweety365]

the nails are for special occasions .
no need to reveal them just yet. this is getting exciting again. more please, jean!

[aliderhamy]

Thats not true crazy T.
if this were Gu Long and angry look would be enough...
No need for any sword strokes.

One angry Look and every one would realise his power and the fact that hes allready defeated the top swords man in the land .

lets see how this fight turns out. Thanks jean.

[Jean]

ok... here comes the big fight

************************************************** ********

He has seen Xiang Shaolong and Lian Jin’s duel in the palace and is aware of his swordplay. He thought to himself, did he think that he couldn’t even block 3 sword attacks? He made up his mind to be on the defensive and to move quickly and constantly so that there’s no way Xiang Shaolong can execute his skills.

Cheng Xu, Ding Shou, Lady Ya and the rest all thought that Xiang Shaolong is using this as a chance to back down. They secretly sighed, thinking that it’s the best choice out of the worst.

Xiang Shaolong took a deep breath, supported the Rainbow Sword on his shoulder and walked towards Xu Hai.

Xu Hai’s arm extended, his long sword held horizontally in front of his chest, pointing from afar at Xiang Shaolong’s throat, trying his best not to give Xiang Shaolong a chance to get close to him. His strategy is appropriate.

The audience on both sides all seems to foresee the outcome of the duel, where Xiang Shaolong will retreat empty-handed.

At this time Xiang Shaolong advanced to the area about 2 steps away from the tip of Xu Hai’s sword. However, he seemed to step on something and slipped a little. He lost his balance and leaned to the side.

Lady Ya and the other women were all concerned about Xiang Shaolong and they screamed in alarm.

Prince Shaoyuan and his men were ecstatic, and they all cheered for Xu Hai.

Xu Hai is an expert in swordplay, so how can he let go of this one in a million chance. He roared and rushed forward, his long sword aiming towards Xiang Shaolong fast as lightning.

Who would have expected that the swordplay Xiang Shaolong is using now was what they had discussed earlier, ‘a soldier will resort to all tricks’. Because under normal circumstances, he would not be able to kill a professional swordsman like Xu Hai even with 10 attacks, so the only way is to lure him to strike so that he’ll have an advantage.

Just as the sword was about to reach his chest, he quickly steadied himself and at the same time using his amazing waist strength to bend over backwards, his body almost bent at a 90-degree angle like a bow.

The long sword slid over above him.

Never in his dreams would Xu Hai imagine his opponent would execute such a weird move. His sword struck air and because he used too much strength in the attack, he was still moving forward with the force. Just as he was about to wave his sword and slash downwards, Xiang Shaolong has already given a kick to his nether region.

Xu Hai screamed from the pain, the long sword flying out of his hands while his body staggered back in a fall.

Xiang Shaolong’s waist straightened again, the Rainbow Sword which was perched on his shoulder morphed into a flash of light and sliced past Xu Hai’s throat.

“Peng!”

By the time Xu Hai collapsed onto the ground, he has already become a lifeless corpse.

Everyone was silent in that moment followed by thunderous cheers from Xiang Shaolong’s side.

The faces on the men on Prince Shaoyuan’s side all turned ashen, their bravado gone.

Xiang Shaolong looked at Prince Shaoyuan icily and said nonchalantly, “Prince Shaoyuan is of an esteemed status and we dare not offend you, but if your servants comment any wrongdoing, don’t blame me for being severe.”

Prince Shaolong stared at him with hatred, his lips trembling but no words came out. He stamped his feet furiously, turned around and left.

Xiang Shaolong called out, “Hold on! Is Master going to leave your servant’s body out in the wilderness?”

Prince Shaoyuan was embarrassed and furious and after ordering his men to carry Xu Hai up, left in a huff.

The imperial soldiers broke out in thunderous cheers, even Cheng Xu and the rest had an expression of awe and respect, thinking that Xiang Shaolong handled this matter beautifully and there’s no way Prince Shaoyuan can raise his head over this.

After Prince Shaoyuan left, Xiang Shaolong felt something was amiss and after giving some instructions, he returned to his commander’s tent. He ordered men to stand guard outside, to stop all visitors and laid out the metal instruments Guo Zhong made for him on the ground.

These instruments gleamed, the workmanship exquisite, which greatly impressed Xiang Shaolong. He did not expect that in this warring states period, the standard of metal works would be of such high quality.

The first thing he has to assemble is a metal hook that can be used to climb over walls. That is one of his must have treasures while he was in the special task force. They used a projectile to launch the long hook over the walls or any place that can support the weight, before attaching the rope to the hook around their waist. In that way they can climb up or slide down walls freely.

They used steel ropes in the special task force but now he can only use soft ropes as replacement.

Even though the contraption is simple and Xiang Shaolong has always been interested and familiar with such gadgets, he still had to work late into the night before he got most things done.

He was just looking at his handiwork with satisfaction when he could hear Lady Ya’s unhappy voice outside the tent, “Who has the audacity to stop me!”

Xiang Shaolong wanted to keep his things but there wasn’t enough time. Lady Ya has rushed in and on seeing the weird things on the floor, she asked in astonishment, “Shaolong! What are you doing?”

************************************************** ***

[wandering]

thanx Jean

[tweety365]

ah busted!

that was sure exciting. thanks for the quick update jean! you didn't leave us hanging for too long. can't wait to see what event unfolds next. that prince will surely not leave things like that. i feel an ambush coming...

[ChronoReverse]

Lol, the moves XSL pulled made me think of QKDNY and the Persian Fire Tablet martial arts from HSDS.

As for the equipment, I hope Lady Ya doesn't get the wrong idea...

[Jean]

Lol, the moves XSL pulled made me think of QKDNY and the Persian Fire Tablet martial arts from HSDS.

As for the equipment, I hope Lady Ya doesn't get the wrong idea...

I was thinking more of matrix... dodging the bullets....

[TrinketWei]

Having been away from the forums for awhile, I was pleasantly surprised that somebody decided to translate one of my all time favorite novels. Thank you so much Jean for bringing an excellent novel to the Chinese illiterate. I am just curious, have you read the novel before, or translating on the fly?

To those who comment that HXL has too many women, he is actually quite tame compare to the some of the protagonists in HY's other novels. I personally think that HY is more realistic in depicting relationships than some other authors given the polygamist eras in which these stories are set. HXL actually matures quite a bit later on. The novel also contains some very strong female characters who exhibit some very modern feminist views, specifically Ji YanRan and Shan Rou.
The novel will get better as it goes a long.

Keep up the good work Jean.

[tweety365]

Jean, I thought you posted another update

I was just thinking that this novel could have been adapted into a much better series than what TVB gave us. They could have toned down the sex to make it family friendly, but still follow the novel. It would have been an awesome series. Of course, Louis can't play the typical heroic lead, but it would be a unique change. Oh well....

[TrinketWei]

I was just thinking that this novel could have been adapted into a much better series than what TVB gave us. They could have toned down the sex to make it family friendly, but still follow the novel. It would have been an awesome series. Of course, Louis can't play the typical heroic lead, but it would be a unique change. Oh well....

Many HY fans share your sentiment. A Step Into The Past was actually the most reasonable of 3 HY novels TVB adapted. Twin of Brothers and Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion were total debaucheries. In all sincerity, it would be very difficult to follow the plot and maintain a PG audience even after toning down the sex. A lot of the elements integral to the novel are just not suitable for family audience. Given the novel's scale and scope, a mainland adaptation VCD/DVD exclusive on the other hand, would have been perfect

[tweety365]

Didn't watch TOB and LWOLP due to the fact that the main leads turned me off. Plus, I heard TOB had a horrible ending that wasn't even faithful to the novel.

[Enishi]

[SIZE=2]I read the A Step to The Past in Vietnamese and compared to what Jean translated, it's like reading chidren books. All the sex are totally gone, even the all the parts where people just looking at each other and having a slight naughty thought are cut. Some times I read to the parts where they mention XSL have slept with that woman and I asked to myself where did that happened before or I missed that part. Now I find out they cut a lot of stuffs from the orignal version.
As for any HY's novel to be converted into a drama, it would be impossible to make any novel justice. Most of his novels contain so many characters and scales of the events. I am currently half way into TOB, I find the story is a bit better than ASTTP. So much actions and stuffs happening in the story. To adapt that story into a drama they probably need a Hollywood budget and a good director include most of the characters and don't ruin the story.
[/SIZE]

[TrinketWei]

If you think the censorship is bad with this A Step into the Past, try reading The Great Swordsman and see what happens. To date, TGS is the most explicit novel I have ever read in any language.

Actually if the production was in the hands of a mainland director who had the resources like ZZJ(guy who has produced the last couple of Jing Yong Adaptations), I believe it is possible to do HY's novels justice.

Twin of Brothers, awesome, but has got to be the longest wuxia novel ever written.

[tweety365]

Btw, how many novels have Huang Yi actually written? I've heard that most of them are really long. Is he even still alive?

[TrinketWei]

Btw, how many novels have Huang Yi actually written? I've heard that most of them are really long. Is he even still alive?

HY has written numerous novels and short stories, somewhere in between 25-30. His most famous novels are:

XunQunJi - A Step into the Past
DaJianShi - The Great Swordsman
DaTangShuangLongZhuan - Twin of Brothers(horrible translation on TVB's part)
FuYuFanYun - Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion (even worse translation)
BianHuangChuanShuo - Wasteland Legend
XingJiLangZi - Wanderer of the Cosmos

Amongst those, the ones that can be truly classified as wuxia are DTSLZ, FYFY, and BHCS.

HY is alive and still actively writing(considerably younger than JY) His most recent work was a short novel about 6 books(yeah it's short for his standards), YunMengChengZhiMi (Mystery of the Dream Cloud City) in 2006.

[tweety365]

Thanks for the info, TrinketWei!

[TrinketWei]

Thanks for the info, TrinketWei!

You're very welcome.

I hope you're enjoying this novel as much as I have in the past. Trust me, it only gets better.

BTW I have a special fondness for Lady Ya who despite her promiscuity, is actually one of the most memorable and admirable female characters in the novel.

[dustbiter]

This novel has its amazing and moving moments.

I'm sorry to say this, there are characters I found memorable and got caught up with, but I think many haven't read the story yet, and revealing names who will play major parts may not be good.

[TrinketWei]

I'm sorry to say this, there are characters I found memorable and got caught up with, but I think many haven't read the story yet, and revealing names who will play major parts may not be good.

Uh...I thought I was pretty careful not to put any plot spoilers in my posts. I mentioned the name of two female characters who I thought exhibited some very modern feminist traits so that people would not think this was a purely male chauvinistic novel. I don't believe I stated what roles they play or any plot related details. I also mentioned that Lady Ya was promiscuous, which at this point of the translation is not exactly a startling revelation.

For those who feel that knowing a name of a character in the book is too much of a spoiler, well....I like to say I am sorry, but that would be insincere.