Was it (barring extraordinarily good luck) impossible to get in/out of...

[Ken Cheng]

...the mountain cave in HSDS where Cheung Mo Gei lived for five years and trained in the 9 Yeung Jen Ging?

Cheung Mo Gei and Chu Chang Ling only ended up down on that ledge because they had plunged down there. By all rights, both of them should have *died* in the fall except for plot shields. Though they managed to survive the fall, leaving the mountain and returning to civilization was out of the question even though Chu Chang Ling was a decent martial artist who had hing gung skills. Chu's confederate Mo Lit also was unable to scale down the mountain to reach Chu and Cheung. When even wulin people with good hing gung skills can't get up/down a mountain cliff, then no human beings are going to be deliberately able to get up and down it unscathed.

Five years later, Cheung Mo Gei was also unable to leave the mountain without again nearly falling to his death; even with his 9 Yeung Jen Ging inner power and hing gung, he still broke both legs in the fall.

Was that mountain really so inaccessible to human beings?

[pannonian]

There was probably a convoluted route into the valley, for the ape managed to get there. The most direct route was probably the one Zhang Wuji found. If he'd decided to explore a bit more, he might have found other, more practical exits. But he was otherwise occupied during that time, and even when he slipped out of the valley again, it was only to visit Zhu Changling. IIRC he might even have been content to live out the rest of his life in the valley, even after his Xuanming poison was cured.

[Ken Cheng]

There was probably a convoluted route into the valley, for the ape managed to get there. The most direct route was probably the one Zhang Wuji found. If he'd decided to explore a bit more, he might have found other, more practical exits. But he was otherwise occupied during that time, and even when he slipped out of the valley again, it was only to visit Zhu Changling. IIRC he might even have been content to live out the rest of his life in the valley, even after his Xuanming poison was cured.

Getting into and out of the cave itself didn't seem to be a big issue provided one was slim like Cheung Mo Gei and not chunky like Chu Chang Ling. Getting on and off the mountain itself, however, seemed extraordinarily difficult. Cheung Mo Gei's arrival at and departure from the mountain were both nearly fatal accidents that he survived only by virtue of protagonist's luck.

I'm not sure Cheung Mo Gei was ready to stay in his cave refuge forever. He did have that option, but he chose to leave the cave because he missed his grandteacher and his martial uncles and wanted to reunite with them...if only to tell them that he was all right and that they didn't need to worry about him.

[pannonian]

Getting into and out of the cave itself didn't seem to be a big issue provided one was slim like Cheung Mo Gei and not chunky like Chu Chang Ling. Getting on and off the mountain itself, however, seemed extraordinarily difficult. Cheung Mo Gei's arrival at and departure from the mountain were both nearly fatal accidents that he survived only by virtue of protagonist's luck.

I'm not sure Cheung Mo Gei was ready to stay in his cave refuge forever. He did have that option, but he chose to leave the cave because he missed his grandteacher and his martial uncles and wanted to reunite with them...if only to tell them that he was all right and that they didn't need to worry about him.

Chapter 16: If All Failed, Consult the Nine Yang

For the last year or two, whenever he felt like it, he would
occasionally play with the apes and the monkeys by climbing up the rock
wall and looking out into the distance. Based on his current skill, it
would not be too difficult for him to climb over the peak and get out of
the valley. However, each time he remembered that the world was full
with treacherous and deceitful people, he could not help but shudder. He
thought: why should he go outside to bring trouble to himself, just like
a fish throwing itself into the net? Wouldn?t it be better to live in
this beautiful valley until he grew old and die?

One afternoon he browsed the four-volume book from head to tail all the
way through. When he flipped the very last page, his heart was joyful
but he felt a slight emptiness at the same time. He dug a hole, about
three feet deep, on the mountain wall to the left of the cave. He
wrapped the four-volume Nine Yang Manual, as well as Hu Qingniu?s
Medical Manual and Wang Nan?gu?s Poison Manual, inside the oil cloth he
took out from the white ape?s belly, and buried the bundle in the hole.
He then filled the hole with dirt, thinking, ?I got the Manual from the
white ape?s belly; that was truly destiny, an enormous opportunity. I
wonder if in a hundred or a thousand years it would be somebody else?s
destiny to come hither and find these three Manuals?? Picking up a sharp
stone, he carved six large characters on the mountain wall, ?Zhang
Wuji?s Manuals Burial Place?.

When he was in training, he had something occupying his mind every day,
so that he did not feel the slightest degree of loneliness. That day,
after successfully completing his training, he felt hollowness in his
heart. Moreover, with the newly acquired ?shen gong? [divine strength],
his courage soared high. He mused, ?If this time Zhu Bobo came to harass
me again, I would not be afraid of him. There is no harm in going out
and talk to him.? Thereupon he bent down to crawl into the cave again.

[endo]

nice work pannonian to dig that part of the book out.

seriously ken...read the novel and stop relying on tvb adaptations to formulate your discussion questions.

All 3 novels have been translated...what are you waiting for?

[Aventinus]

Access would just required some decent climbing gear.

[Ken Cheng]

nice work pannonian to dig that part of the book out.

seriously ken...read the novel and stop relying on tvb adaptations to formulate your discussion questions.

All 3 novels have been translated...what are you waiting for?

For people to stop pressuring me into doing it. You have to know by this point that I don't respond well to people twisting my arm into doing something.

Anyone want to try some reverse psychology instead?

[tape]

Have people been pressuring you? I don't think much has been said about this subject even though all three novels have been done for at least a year.

[shadow8899]

Ken,

I am a die-hard fan of the 80s versions of the trilogy from TVB. I have watched the 90s versions from TVB, but none of the others, no matter how good people claim they are. I read all 3 translations of the novels. In my humble opinion, Jin Yong is as famous as he is for a reason, read the translations and you will see why. If you read the first couple of chapters and don't like it, then you can tell us to shut up.

[SkyWalker]

Ken doesn't want to read the novels because he's afraid he might discover that YG & XLN are not as hateful as he thought his whole life. He might even fall in love with them!

[shadow8899]

Reading the novels do not make YG and XLN any less annoying. Gugu, I'm dying. Gor Yee I am dying. Then go die already!