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Thread: Lu Xiaofeng Book 5: Mansion of Spirits

  1. #341
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    Thanks foxs for another update

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    Thanks foxs

  3. #343
    Senior Member LuDongBin's Avatar
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    A complicated plan ... open to flaws ...thks foxs.

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    I'd probably pick a gaggle of nieces to a wife and son as well.

    Xiexie, great translator Foxs.

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    Thanks, foxs.

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    Thanks foxs and Ren Wo Xing and whoever's been translating this! Sorry I wasn't able to continue (real life got in the way), but I'm glad that foxs and RWX took over, many thanks!
    玉木宏

    blog

  7. #347
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    Thanks foxs

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    Thanks to foxs and junny who took it this far!

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    Default Chapter 14 - Part 1

    ycb, Ysabel, HPC, DongBin, Drowsy, Jaya, Anh, you are welcome. Clown, I agree, thank you Junny for starting it. Life is just like that.


    Chapter 14 – Jolly Uncle
    (Translated by Foxs)


    The thirteenth of the fourth month, before dawn. The back of Mount Wudang was a complete darkness, above the midway up the mountain, there was a chill in the breeze.

    Quiet night on an empty mountain, streaks of white smoke rising from below his feet; perhaps it was the cloud? Or was it the fog?

    Looking to the distance, he could see the faint silhouette of the stately, majestic ancient Taoist monastery.

    Right about here, the man who took him left him, “You wait here, very soon someone will come to fetch you.”

    Lu Xiaofeng did not ask too much, he did not want to know who this man was either. Although today was a big day, his mood was not good at all.

    His nieces were indeed too many.

    Luckily he did not have to wait long at all, for in the dark, someone had already asked him in low voice, “What are you doing here?”

    It was their pre-arranged secret signal, the answer should be, “Looking for beans, thirteen beans.”

    Immediately a man appeared from the dark. Lu Xiaofeng then asked, “Who are you?”

    “Peng Changjing.”

    Peng Changjing really looked a bit like a bean; round, small, but his eyes were so bright, his movements were so agile. He quickly looked up and down twice, sizing Lu Xiaofeng up, and then with a straight face said, “You just drank wine!”

    Of course Lu Xiaofeng just drank wine, he drank quite a bit of wine.

    Peng Changjing said, “Here, you must not drink, you must not swear, you must not look at women. When walking, you must not walk too fast, when talking, you must not talk too loud.”

    Lu Xiaofeng laughed, “Here, can we fart?”

    Peng Changjing’s countenance sank, he said coldly, “I don’t know what you do, and I don’t want to know, but here, you must follow the rules.”

    Lu Xiaofeng stopped laughing, he could not laugh anymore.

    He knew he has met a man who was hard to deal with.

    Peng Changjing said, “There’s one more thing you’d best remember.”

    “What is it?” Lu Xiaofeng asked.

    Peng Changjing said, “Up the mountain, you must sleep with your head covered, you must never speak with anybody. In case anybody ask, just tell him I have you here to help.”

    He paused for a moment, and then added, “My Shidi [younger martial brother] Changqing is quite formidable, just in case you come across him, you must be even more careful.”

    “I will be very careful, I promise,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

    “Alright,” Peng Changjing said, “Come, follow me.”

    Not only his movements were very agile, his qinggong was quite good.

    Lu Xiaofeng had no idea that a Taoist priest, the manager of the kitchen helpers, could have such a good skill.

    Peng Changjing was even more surprised, because Lu Xiaofeng was able to keep up with him. No matter how fast he went, Lu Xiaofeng was able to maintain the same distance throughout the short trip.

    Obviously Old Sabre Honcho did not tell Peng Changjing about Lu Xiaofeng’s background. Other than Old Sabre Honcho himself, what everybody knew seemed to be not much. Therefore, even if there was one or two people failed, what they knew would not be enough to jeopardize their operation.

    The day has not yet brightened, the kitchen at the back of the mountain was already bustling with activities: people rinsing rice, making a fire, washing vegetables, cooking porridge, etc. Everybody was working quietly, minding their own business, very few people open their mouths to talk.

    Compared to his treatment to Lu Xiaofeng, this Manager Peng was actually more blunt toward other people.

    Behind the pantry and the kitchen, there were two rows of wooden huts, in the room at the end of the row, there were piles of baskets full of salted white radish, which have not completely been dried in the sun. And in the corner of this room, there was a row of shabby bamboo beds.

    “You may sleep here,” Peng Changjing said.

    Lu Xiaofeng could not resist asking, “Sleep until what time?”

    “Sleep until I come to get you,” Peng Changjing replied, “Anyway, there are plenty to eat in here.”

    Lu Xiaofeng was shocked, “Eat this salted white radish?” he asked.

    “Salted white radish is also fit for human consumption,” Peng Changjing coldly said.

    Lu Xiaofeng sighed. With a wry smile he muttered to himself, “I am afraid if I ate too much white radish I would fart a lot.”

    “You are free not to eat,” Peng Changjing said, “Even if you are fasting for a day, you won’t die of starvation.”

    He was ready to leave. “Is there anything else you are not clear about?” he asked.

    “Just one thing,” Lu Xiaofeng said.

    “Speak up,” Peng Changjing said.

    “I was just wondering,” Lu Xiaofeng said, “Why didn’t you change profession to be a prison warden?” As soon as he finished speaking, he lay down on the bamboo bed and covered his head with the thin, worn out blanket, no longer cared about anything, even a dead person.

    ‘Bang!’ he heard the loud noise as Peng Changjing could only vent his anger against the wooden plank door.

    Lu Xiaofeng laughed.

    Dealing with this kind of person, you can only think of a way to piss him off; as long as there is the slightest chance to make him angry, you must never pass it, it would be best if you could make him so angry that he is half-dead.

    But the quilt was so stinky that it made Lu Xiaofeng half-dead first. He uncovered his head, trying to catch his breath, but the stink from the white radish was not much better than the smell of the quilt. Perhaps only people with congested nose could sleep in here.

    The first light of dawn was starting to appear on the eastern horizon, painting the paper window covering white, and then the sunlight started to illuminate the window frame.

    Lu Xiaofeng stared blankly at the only window on that room. Telling him to just lie there, staring blankly at the window, waiting for the sun to go down, would be the same as asking for his life.

    What’s more, right now his tummy was hungry as hell. Telling him to eat salted white radish would also be the same as asking for his life.

    With that many things that were asking for his life, if he were able to stay still and do nothing, then he would not be Lu Xiaofeng.

    Even if what Peng Changjing told him was an imperial edict, Lu Xiaofeng did not care. Good or bad, he simply must go to the kitchen first to find something to eat.

    With so many distinguish guests coming to the Mountain, there must be some mushroom soup and other fine vegetarian dishes in the kitchen. Although he would rather eat dishes with generous amounts of meat and fish, he would, on occasions, have no objection over eating vegetarian dishes.

    The only objection he had was against going hungry.

    In fact, he believed that everyone ought to have freedom from hunger, freedom from want.

    The sun had risen very high, the people in the kitchen were ready to put porridge, vegetarian dishes and light refreshments into red-laquered food containers, to be delivered out of the kitchen.

    Although breakfast food are usually a bit simpler, the vegetarian dishes were exquisitely prepared. Evidently these containers were meant to be for the distinguished guests.

    Lu Xiaofeng was just thinking about how to have one food case delivered to his room so that he could enjoy it, when he suddenly heard a loud voice calling, “Hey you, come here!”

    The speaker was a middle-aged Taoist priest, with a sour-looking long face like that of a horse; it looked very unattractive.

    Lu Xiaofeng looked to the east, he looked to the west, he looked to the front, to the back, left and right, but he did not see anybody else. Evidently the horse-faced Taoist priest was calling him.

    He had no choice but to walk over to him.

    It appeared that he was not the only temporary help hired by the kitchen. The Taoist priest did not even question his background, he only wanted him to deliver the biggest food case to the Tingzhu [lit. listening to the bamboo] Courtyard, and told him to hurry up.

    Lu Xiaofeng took the food container and left. He looked at the contents of the case and saw a dish of well-cooked and tender bamboo shoot in mushroom oil, a dish of flat, pointy green soy bean, a dish of marinated Shiitake mushroom, a dish of Luohan plate, plus a big bowl of savory round-grained rice congee.

    These food were prepared to his taste, he really would like to eat it first and talk about it later.

    But if he really did that, he would not be Lu Xiaofeng either.

    The way Lu Xiaofeng worked was not totally without any sense of propriety, he really did not want to spoil the big plan.

    Since the food case contained such a fine food, the guest staying at the Tingzhu Courtyard must be a particularly distinguished guest.

    Right now his only problem was: he had no idea where in the world was this Tingzhu Courtyard?

    He was just thinking of looking for a bit more pleasant looking person to ask for direction, but the one he saw was the most unpleasant one.

    Peng Changjing was staring at him with cold eyes. Suddenly he asked in low voice, “Do you know who is staying at the Tingzhu Courtyard?”

    Lu Xiaofeng shook his head.

    Peng Changjing said, “It’s Tie Jian of Shaolin.”

    Lu Xiaofeng’s palms seemed to start sweating.

    He knew Tie Jian; not only this old monk had a pair of keen eyes, but before leaving home [to become a monk], he was a famous detective. Not a single one of the ways of the criminal world he was not familiar with. It was said that the one he was most familiar with was precisely disguising skill. Even the most famous ‘flying burglar’ [i.e. burglar who gains entrance by scaling walls] in Jianghu of the olden days, the ‘Man with Thousand Faces’, had fallen under his hands.

  10. #350
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    Thanks - looking forward to this as we near the end.

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    Thanks Foxs!

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    But I am not looking forward to the end... As we won't have anymore LXF..... Sigh....

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    Thanks foxs

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    Thanks foxs

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    Senior Member LuDongBin's Avatar
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    Never mind Clown Prince. After LXF, we may have, say, Chu Liu Xiang? There are many others to entice foxs.

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    If I am not mistaken, I read somewhere that Gu Long was really drunk as he came to the end of the novel...

  17. #357
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    Thanks foxs for another update.

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    Thanks, foxs.

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    Quote Originally Posted by LuDongBin View Post
    Never mind Clown Prince. After LXF, we may have, say, Chu Liu Xiang? There are many others to entice foxs.
    Hahaha... well put!
    we are following foxs for sure!

  20. #360
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    Default Chapter 14 - Part 2

    ycb, Anh, HPC, Ysabel, Jaya, you are welcome. I hear Gu Long was always drunk. Clown, DongBin, aren't you guys tired of me? There are many new stories with new translators out there.


    Peng Changjing coldly said, “If he sees your disguise, you are done.”

    “Can I not go?” Lu Xiaofeng asked with a wry smile.

    “Cannot,” Peng Changjing replied.

    “Why?” Lu Xiaofeng asked.

    “Because,” Peng Changjing explained, “The one who sent you on this errand is precisely Song Changqing, and he already has his eyes on you.”

    Fortunately the Tingzhu Courtyard was really not difficult to find. According to Peng Changjing’s direction, he just had to follow the gravel path, and soon he would see a verdant bamboo forest.

    When he reached the path, there was someone walking ahead of him. The blue clothes he was wearing had been washed out that it turned white, plus there were seventeen, eighteen patches sewn onto it.

    He knew this man, he did not need to look at his face to recognize him.

    According to the Beggar Clan’s most important bylaws, the hemp cloth sack that the Beggar Clan disciples wore on their back was called the rank pouch. If you have the rank as a seven-pouch disciple, then you would carry seven pouches on your back; no more, no less. Practically this rule was more strict than the imperial court regulation concerning the distinction in ranks among the government officials.

    Seven-pouch disciples were elders with specific duties, only the Bangzhu [Clan Leader] was entitled to wear nine pouches on his back.

    The man walking in front of Lu Xiaofeng unexpectedly had ten pouches on his back.

    Over the last several hundred years of the Beggar Clan’s establishment, this was the only exception. Because this man’s meritorious deed to the Beggar Clan was indeed too big, yet he flatly refused to flaunt his achievement; he even refused to be made the Clan Leader.

    In order to show him respect and gratitude, every single one of the several thousands Beggar Clan disciples, from top to bottom, cut off a piece of his own pouch and sewed the pieces together to make a pouch for him, to be a symbol of his privilege and special rank.

    This man was indeed Wang Shidai [lit. Wang (surname) the ten-pouch].

    Lu Xiaofeng lowered his head and deliberately slowed down his pace.

    This year Wang Shidai was approaching eighty, he had reached the age in Jianghu where he could not get even older; not many matters in Jianghu would be able to fool him anymore.

    Lu Xiaofeng really did not wish to be seen by him, yet obviously he could not hide anymore. He seemed to also be going to the Tingzhu Courtyard; perhaps there were many of his friends already waiting for him over there, and his friends were obviously extremely important characters of the Wulin world.

    Wooden Taoist, Gao Xingkong and Yingyan Laoqi were present, and then there was that big and tall, majestic looking old man – who was this man, actually? What was his rank?

    There was also a middle-aged Taoist priest who dressed neatly, whose face was full of beard; it was Xiao Gu of Mount Ba.

    The last person wore a plain and simple clothes, a quiet young man whose life has always been full of confidence and love for life, the friend whom Lu Xiaofeng has not seen for a long time, Hua Manlou.

    Although he could not use his eyes to see, but he could use his heart to see clearly, to understand, to emphatise, to care for others.

    That was the reason he was always full of life.

    Every time Lu Xiaofeng saw him, there was always a burst of inexplicable warmth bubbling up in his heart.

    It was not just because of their friendship, but it grew from the genuine respect from the bottom of his heart.

    The Cloud Room looked refined, elegant and serene. When Lu Xiaofeng entered, they were talking about Wooden Taoist’s experience at the restaurant that day.

    Undoubtedly Lu Xiaofeng was very interested on this subject, hence he intentionally did everything very slowly, while trying not to show his face to these people. But they were ignoring him completely, the conversation did not pause at all.

    “Ximen Chuixue was speaking the truth,” Wooden Taoist’s judgement has always been valued by everybody else, “The number of people who can take a round of his rapid attacks definitely can’t be more than five people.”

    “You can’t tell the background of that masked swordsman in black either?” This question was asked by Xiao Gu of Mount Ba.

    Himself was a renowned expert in swordsmanship, his ‘seven by seven, forty-nine hands turning-the-wind, dancing-the-willow sword’ that was handed down from generation to generation, along with Wudang’s ‘heaven and earth [or ‘yin and yang’] divine sword’, and Kunlun’s ‘flying dragon’s great nine-style’, were known as The Three Great Sword Techniques of the Mysterious School.

    “That man’s movements were quick and skillful, a sign that he is a seasoned swordsman, his power was so deep that he did not seem to be inferior to Lao Gu in the past.” [Translator’s note: same character ‘Gu’ from Xiao Gu of Bashan; in fact, in Chinese, ‘lao’ and ‘xiao’ (old and young) are often used to denote relation, i.e. perhaps it was ‘Old Gu’ and ‘Young Gu’ of Mount Ba.]

    Wooden Taoist’s eyes showed that he was deep in thought, “The strangest thing was, he seemed to be using Wudang sword technique, but compared to Wudang sword technique, it was sharper and more sinister.”

    “What would you say his skill compared to yours?” This question was asked by Wang Shidai; only he could ask that kind of question.

    Wooden Taoist chuckled and said, “My pair of hands has not held a sword for at least ten years.”

    “Aren’t your hands itching?”

    “When my hands itch I simply pick up chess pieces and wine cup.” Wooden Taoist laughed and said, “Not only it is more relaxing and fun than holding a sword, it is also a lot safer.”

    “So that day you’ve been watching with folded arms all along.”

    “I could only watch with folded arms, because not only I had wine cup in my hand, I also had a wine pot in my other hand.”

    “Who was the friend who was fated to be with wine you mentioned earlier?”

    “That man said he was a government official from the Capital who was ‘announcing old age and returning home’; I say he was a bit suspicious.” Yingyan Laoqi opened his mouth to join the discussion.

    “Suspicious?”

    “Although he was trying hard to act senile to divert other people’s attention, his foot skill was by no means weak; falling down from the upstairs, unexpectedly he did not show the slightest bit of problem. Looking at his appearance, he reminded me of an old acquaintance.”

    On hearing this, Lu Xiaofeng’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat; he immediately thought about slipping away as soon as he can.

    “Who did he look like?”

    “Sikong Zhaixing.”

    Lu Xiaofeng was relieved instantly; now he did not want to leave.

    They were starting to talk about those four old men whose actions were shrouded in mystery.

    “Those four men, not only their power was extremely deep, their style looked very close to each other.” Wooden Taoist said with a wry smile, “That kind of people, even one is very hard to find, but that day four of them suddenly appeared together; it’s like all of a sudden they fell out of the sky.”

    Gao Xingkong was deep in thought for a moment, and then he slowly said, “Stranger still, their expressions and movements looked more or less the same, even their faces seemed a bit similar to each other, as if they were brothers.”

    “Brothers?” Tie Jian knitted his brows, “Brothers like that, I only know …”

    He did not continue; he has never been a man who pass judgement easily, based on his status and capacity, he would never pass judgement easily.

    But the other men present were all seasoned Jianghu veterans, they understood clearly whom he was referring to. “Are you talking about Tiger and Panther brothers?”

    Tie Jian neither confirmed nor denied.

    Wooden Taoist laughed again and said, “Even if they were still alive, they would never take the House of Blues’ girls out to drink.” [OK, OK, I admit, it’s a stretch … the original was Man Cui Lou, man – full, as in Hua Manlou’s name, cui – bluish-green, as in Xiao Cui earlier, lou is also in Hua Manlou’s name, lit. multi-storied building.]

    “House of Blues’ girls?” Wang Shidai interrupted, “You seem to be knowledgeable about these things; I take it that you have been to the House of Blues?”

    “Of course I have,” Wooden Taoist laughed without any care, “As long as there are wine, I’ll go anywhere.”

    Wang Shidai also roared in laughter, “This old Taoist’s manner of speaking is almost exactly like Lu Xiaofeng.”

    The topic seemed to be back to Lu Xiaofeng.

    Lu Xiaofeng was ready to leave again.

    Yingyan Laoqi suddenly said, “There is one thing I can’t quite figure out.”

    “What is it?” Wooden Taoist asked.

    Yingyan Laoqi said, “How can a government official from the Capital who was ‘announcing old age and returning home’ suddenly turn into a Taoist kitchen helper?”

    Lu Xiaofeng’s hands and feet turned icy-cold; even if he wanted to leave, now it was already too late.

    Yingyan Laoqi flew up and was already blocking his exit. “You can’t leave,” he coldly said.

    Lu Xiaofeng acted surprised, “Why can’t I leave?”

    Yingyan Laoqi replied, “Because that thing that I can’t quite figure out, only you can explain to me.”

    Gao Xingkong also sprang up. “That’s right, he is that friend who is fated to be with wine,” he said, “How can he be here?”

    The refined, elegant and serene Cloud Room was suddenly filled with murderous aura.

    No matter who, anybody who became the Big Boss of the Twelve-dock Alliance would be hard to avoid killing three, five people in a month.

    Gao Xingkong, the ‘callous and grim bird of prey’, was also a renowned formidable character in Jianghu.

    As soon as these two started to move, it could only mean one thing: death.

    One in front, the other behind, Lu Xiaofeng’s escape route has been completely sealed. Even if he could grow ten pair of wings, it would be very difficult for Lu Xiaofeng to fly out of this room.

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