I've posted the beginning of Chu LiuXiang's Legend of the Bat(蝙蝠传奇) at this website:
http://haddjo.freehostia.com
Legend of the Bat is the 5th book of Chu LiuXiang's series, after "Fragrance in the Sea of Blood", "The Great Desert", "The Thrush", and "Legend of the Ghostly Romance".
The first three books have been summarized very well by Athena, and they can be found here:
http://wuxiapedia.com/novels/gu_long...u_xiang/book_1
The fourth book's beginning was translated to a certain point, I think it was on the "sadly no longer exists" wuxiaworld.org, and reposted at wuxiasociety.org. I have the half-baked version if anyone is interested.
So, this is the fifth book. I'm trying to read this one along while translating, hopefully keeping up my own interest in the story.
Here are some blurbs from Athena about the main characters:
Chu LiuXiang: the hero of the story, he's handsome, witty, charming and charismatic. Almost every women in the story will find him attractive.
Hu TieHua: one of Chu's best friends, he loves wine and women. He is rather grand and heroic and has good martial arts. He is willing to sacrifice his life for his closest friends.
and the previous enemies:
WuHua: aka the exquisite monk. He's a disciple of the Southern ShaoLin Monastery's abbot reverend TianFeng. Not only does he have superb martial arts and profound Buddhist insight, he is also a master in poetry, music, chess, art, and he plays the zither. He too is a close friend of Chu LiuXiang.
The Stone Avalokitesvara: a mysterious martial arts expert. She supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world and dwells in these parts. Some people say she IS THE BEST martial arts expert of her time.
Yin Ji: aka the Matriarch of Water. She is the keeper/guardian of the Divine Water Palace. She has excellent martial arts but no one really knows how powerful she is. It is said that she detests all men in the world.
New characters (so far):
Zhang San: a fish and pearl lovers, another loyal friend of CLX and HTH
Gao YaNan: ex-girl friend of HTH, main disciple of Master Ku Mei
Master Ku Mei: the current extraordinary leader of Huashan sect.
Jin LingZhi: a treasured granddaughter of Lady Jin from "Countless blessings, eternal gardens"
Ding Feng: a suspicious handsome youth
Gou ZiChang: an unknown newcomer to Jianghu, who seems to worship CLX
Wu WeiYang: leader of Phoenix tail clan, famous for his shooting arrow prowess
Hai KuoTian: leader of the rich Purple whale clan
Xiang TianFei: a solitary robber, who befriends Hai KuoTian
Gongsun JieYu: a disfigured rich man with an unknown origin, seems to have mediocre wuxia skill
Bai LaZhu (the white candle): an apprentice of Gongsun JieYu, but seems to have unmeasureable deep
wuxia skill
I may add to this list
Enjoy the story...