The Deer and The Cauldron

[Drak17]

Foxs! I want to know what happen to the water! How did she get the waterrrr. Such cliff hanger T_T.

Thanks for the updates!

[ToastedRossi]

Toasted, I did not realize it before, but I guess you are right; Deer and Cauldron has a lot more colloquialism and classical allusion compared to the other books I translated (not too many, but at least I have seen the Trilogy and HSDS). Hence I feel that this book is a lot harder to translate.

There are more historical/literary references in the Deer and the Cauldron than any of Jin Yong's other novels by a vast margin (maybe double or more). Also, it has the most historical characters - maybe as much as a third of the total cast. Jin Yong is a huge history geek; he earned his Ph.D in it a couple of years ago.

By reading Chinese stories, we learn Chinese culture; this aspect, I feel, was lost in the official translation. Hoang, you are most welcome.

The goal of mainstream translations aren't entirely compatible with what wuxia fans look for. In the former, the goal is to make the translation flow as easily as possible. But with translated names like "Trinket" and "Doublet", a lot of the flavor of the original is sacrificed toward this goal.

Foxs.... you're not only superb at translating but you will also make a good serials director......a cliffhanger.

Thanks a lot.

I agree. This has been a great thread, and I'm reading along even though I've read the original.

The Gui guys are kinda weird! and Jiu nan and Zhuang Family has some relation right?

The Guis are familiar enough with Jiu Nan's Tie Jian Men that they know of semi-random members of the sect living in Tibet for a few years. And they're familiar enough with Shuang'er's martial arts to be certain that it's not the same as Tie Jian Men's.

Notably, the person who taught the Zhuang family hasn't been revealed yet.

I don't know if the Zhuang familly can overcome them with kungfu alone, the Gui guys sounds like they are at least Thin/Fat Tuotuo levels (which was higher than the individual Shaolin 18).

The Guis should be better. The Tuotuos wouldn't have been able to play with Xiaobao's subordinates so easily, and Shuang'er would have been able to put up more of a fight against them.

Foxs! I want to know what happen to the water! How did she get the waterrrr. Such cliff hanger T_T.

It's interesting that the following section has never made it into any TV adaptation of this novel (and probably not in Minford's version either). It's too bad, as I've always wanted to see it filmed.

[athlonkmf]

No, the next section is in the Milford version, quite detailed even.

I can understand why sablemagi thinks jiu nan has something to do with the zhang family. I believe one or two of the adaptions explained that it was jiu nan who taught them their martial arts.

[pannonian]

No, the next section is in the Milford version, quite detailed even.

I can understand why sablemagi thinks jiu nan has something to do with the zhang family. I believe one or two of the adaptions explained that it was jiu nan who taught them their martial arts.

When Wei Xiaobao was blabbing to Jiunan after being captured by her, she was surprised to hear him mention Shuang Er and asked him how he was connected to the Zhuang family.

[foxs]

Chowbeng, thanks. Smurf, I don't worry about the length, just do it leisurely, one update at a time; otherwise, you're right, I will depress myself over 'look how much more I have to translate'. Crazee, Drak, it was unintentional, honest ... Anh, you are welcome. Sablemagi, Athlon, Pannonian, speaking about 'paying attention to details', even as translator I sometimes do not remember as much as you guys go. Toasted, OK, just be honest with me: how much 'off' am I? But seriously all you guys, thank you for supporting me.

---

Wei Xiaobao was shocked; his heart was thumping madly. “Bad, bad!” he groaned inwardly, “This old die-hard man knew.”

Sun Ma replied, “Zhang Ma and I boiled it ourselves.”

The old man asked, “What kind of water did you use?”

Sun Ma replied, “We got it from the water jar in the kitchen.”

“We have inspected it carefully,” Zhang Ma added, “It was very clean …” Before she could finish, ‘bonk, bonk!’ the two menservants tumbled down to the floor and fainted.

The old woman sprang up, her body swayed; holding her head in her hand she called out, “There’s poison in the tea!”

Xu Tianchuan and the others had not drunk their tea, they signaled each other with their eyes and fell down together, pretending to pass out. ‘Bing, bing, bang, bang’ the teacups fell to the ground.

“Aiyo!” Wei Xiaobao cried out and fell to the ground with closed eyes.

He heard Zhang Ma and Sun Ma spoke together, “We cooked the water ourselves, there was no one else in the kitchen.”

The old woman said, “The water in the jar is drugged. Son, how do you feel?”

The sickly man replied, “Not bad, not …” His head slumped, he also passed out.

Sun Ma said, “We did not add any water to the ginseng soup, we boiled and brought the water in the ginseng soup ourselves.”

The old man said, “When you boiled the water and warmed the soup at the same time, the steam might enter into the soup.”

“Right!” the old woman said, “And our child’s body is weak; this … this …” Hastily she reached out to touch the sickly man’s forehead, her palm was trembling continuously.

The old man circulated his strong internal energy to suppress the poison inside his stomach so that it did not disperse to other organs. “Go get two pots of cold water,” he said.

Zhang Ma and Sun Ma did not drink the tea, seeing the strange and out-of-control turn of events, they panicked and ran toward the inside.

The old woman said, “There is something strange about this house.” Since she did not carry any weapon, she stooped down to get a saber from one of the menservants’ waist, but as soon as she lowered her head, she felt as if the sky spun, the earth went around; she was unable to stand and was forced to sit down. She managed to touch the hilt of the saber, but did not any strength to grip.

The old man propped himself against the back of a chair with his left hand. His eyes were tightly closed, his body slightly swayed. Wei Xiaobao was lying on the floor; he took a furtive glance, and saw Shuang’er came out, leading a group of women.

The old man suddenly leaped with outstretched palm to hack onto a woman in white clothes, sending her about a zhang backward until she crashed onto a chair. Xu Tianchuan and the others yelled and shouted while leaping up toward the old man, but they saw that the old man had already passed out. Feng Jizhong quickly sealed his acupoints; he also sealed the old woman and the sickly man’s acupoints.

Wei Xiaobao sprang up with loud laughter. “Zhuang San Shaonai [third young mistress], how are you?” he called out, while bowing in respect toward a woman in white.

That woman was indeed the Third Mistress of the Zhuang Family; she hastily returned the propriety and said, “Wei Shaoye, you have captured our archenemy and brought him here, I really don’t know how to repay. Laotianye [God/Heaven] has eyes, He lets us avenge our deep enmity. Wei Shaoye, please meet our Shifu.” And she took him to a woman wearing yellow garment.

The woman in yellow was massaging the back of the woman struck by the old man. ‘Wah!’ the woman vomited a mouthful of blood, and then a moment later she vomited another mouthful of blood. The woman in yellow smiled and said, “No more danger.” Her voice was soft and was very pleasant to hear.

Wei Xiaobao saw that this woman was already old, but her voice sounded like a young girl. On her head she wore a gold headband, her feet were bare, her waist was adorned with an embroidered belt; all in all, her attire was quite unusual. Although her hair was greyed, her face was fair and tender, it’s just that the corner of her eyes were full of wrinkles. How old she actually was, it was hard to say. Looking at her hair, she looked about sixty, looking at her face, she looked about thirty. He thought that since she was the Third Mistress’ Shifu, he immediately stepped forward and kowtowed to her, saying, “Popo Jiejie [granny older sister], Wei Xiaobao pays his respect.”

The woman laughed and asked, “Child, what did you call me?”

Wei Xiaobao stood up and said, “You are San Shaonai’s Shifu, I ought to call you Popo, but looking at your appearance, at most you are no more than my Jiejie; therefore, I call you Popo Jiejie.”

The woman giggled. “At most I am no more than your Jiejie?” she said, “I wonder if I can be your Meizi [younger sister]?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “If I were next door and I heard your voice, I would have called you Popo Meimei.”

The woman laughed so hard that her body was shaking. “This little ‘slippery head’ is so amusing,” she said, “His mouth is so full of guile and cunning, he really knows how to make others happy, no wonder even such a great hero like my Gui Shibo [older martial uncle] also fell under your ruse.”

As soon as she said those words, everybody was shocked. Wei Xiaobao pointed to the old man and said, “This … this Laogonggong is Popo Jiejie’s Shibo?”

“Why not?” the woman said with a laugh, “The Senior and I have not seen each other for about thirty years; at first I did not recognize him, it was not until the Senior made his move that I knew it was him. His palm strike, ‘Snow-covered Qinling [mountain range, Shaanxi]’ is so bold and powerful, in the Central Plains, there is no second person who can use it like that.”

Wei Xiaobao anxiously said, “Since he is on our side, what should we do?”

The woman shook her head and said with a laugh, “I don’t know what we should do either. If my Shifu found out, he would definitely scold me until I am stinking-dead.” Looking at several maidservants standing on the side with thick ropes in their hands, she laughed and said, “If you ordered them to bind these people, you must issue the order yourself, I don’t want to be involved. Shibo is not bound by me; but if he is not tied, when the Senior wakes up, I won’t be his match. Xiao Didi [little brother], do you think you can beat him?”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly amused; he laughed and said, “If you can’t beat him, I can’t beat him even more.” He knew she was simply trying to escape responsibility, yet without any meaning to protect her martial uncle; busily he addressed Xu Tianchuan and the others, “These few people are on Wu Sangui’s side, they are not good people. We, Tian Di Hui, tie them up; it has nothing to do with Popo Jiejie.”

Xu Tianchuan and the others were just subjected to the sickly man’s jesting, it was an extraordinary shame and humiliation that they had never experienced in all their lives; they had been hatefully gnashing their teeth and were itching for revenge. Immediately they took the ropes and bound the old man, the old woman, the sickly man and the two menservants tightly.

The woman in yellow asked, “How can my Gui Shibo be on the same side as Wu Sangui? How are you going to deal with this matter?”

Thereupon Wei Xiaobao explained how they encountered the old man at the restaurant earlier. Naturally he skipped the part where the sickly man used Xu Tianchuan and the others as his toy, he only said that this tuberculosis ghost’s martial art was very formidable, and that everybody was not his match.

The woman said, “The Gui Family’s Xiao Shidi’s [little younger martial art brother] life was saved by my Shifu. Since he was little he has been suffering a serious illness, until today he has not been well. He is Gui Shibo couple’s only child.” After casting a glance toward the old man, she continued, “Gui Shibo is an upright man, how can he become that big traitor Wu Sangui’s ally? If that’s the case, my Shifu can’t possibly scold me. Hee … hee …” From the tome of her voice, apparently she was extremely afraid of her Shifu.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Whoever helps Wu Sangui deserves to be killed. If your Shifu knew, he would greatly praise you.”

The woman laughed and said, “Is that right?” She looked at the old man and the old woman, and then felt the sickly man’s breathing. “San Shaonai,” she said, “When my Shibo awakes, he will be very angry; yet we cannot kill him. Let’s do it this way: leave them here, we all will go away quietly, so that they won’t know forever who tied them up. What do you think?”

The Third Mistress replied, “Shifu commanded, we will do as instructed.” But thinking that they had lived there for many years and now suddenly they had to leave, in her heart she was very reluctant, plus she felt that moving everything away was really not easy; hence she could not help showing signs of unwillingness.

An old maidservant wearing white clothes said, “The enemy has been obtained; let us offer sacrifice in front of all the masters, and then the memorial tablets can be cremated.”

The Third Mistress said, “Popo is right.”

Thereupon everybody thronged to the mourning hall, dragging Wu Zhirong along. They made him kneel on the floor. The Third Mistress took a book from the sacrificial table and held it with both hands in front of Wu Zhirong. “Wu Daren,” she said, “Do you know what book this is?”

Wu Zhirong was very familiar [orig. ripe as a melon that rolls from its vine] with the book since long time ago; as soon as he saw the thickness, the size, and the formatting of the book, he immediately knew it was the ‘History of the Ming Dynasty’, which he relied on to be promoted and gain wealth. When he looked at the cover, it was indeed the ‘Ming Shu Ji Lue’ [lit. book of compilation and summary of the Ming]; thereupon he nodded.

The Third Mistress continued, “Look carefully, the memorial tablets on this sacrificial table, you know them all.”

Wu Zhirong focused his attention to read the names on the memorial tablets, and he noticed that the memorial tablets bore these names: Zhuang Yuncheng, Zhuang Tinglong, Li Lingxi, Cheng Weifan, Li Huan, Wang Zhaozhen, Mao Yuanxi … more than a hundred names on the memorial tablets, each one was executed because of his report to the imperial court in the case of ‘History of the Ming Dynasty’. Wu Zhirong read eight or nine names, and his soul had already flown to the sky. His tongue was cut, it was still bleeding continuously; he was already two-third dead anyway. This moment his body went weak and he slumped down on the ground, while trembling non-stop.

The Third Mistress said, “Due to your lust for fame and fortune you have killed this many people, other masters and mistresses of their families suffered torture in the prison and perished, some suffered the death of a thousand cuts, their bodies were subjected to thousand blades ten thousand cuts. If we did not receive Heaven’s providence and were saved by Shifu, we would have been died because of you. Today if we killed you with one blade, it would be too easy for you. However, the way we handle matters is not as merciless as you did. If you want to die easy, you may make your own decision.” While saying that, she unsealed the acupoints on his body. ‘Dang!’ she also tossed a short blade to the ground.

Wu Zhirong was shaking all over; he picked up the blade, but how could he find the courage to kill himself? Suddenly he turned around and made a dash out of the mourning hall. But he only took one step, he saw his way was blocked by several dozen women in white. His throat made a repeated ‘he, he’ noise as he slipped and fell, twisted several times, and then stopped moving altogether.

The Third Mistress pulled his body over and found that his breathing had stopped, his face was full of blood, his eyes were open wide, his expression was full of terror. “Evil has its retribution,” she said, “At last this traitor is dead.” Kneeling in front of the memorial tablets she said, “All of you Xianggong, your big enmity has been avenged, may your spirits in Heaven rest in peace.” All the women prostrated themselves on the ground as they cried loudly.

Wei Xiaobao and the Tian Di Hui warriors also bowed in front of the spirit tablets. The woman in yellow garment stood still and silently on the side with knitted eyebrows.

After crying for a while, the women turned to kowtow to Wei Xiaobao, thanking him for capturing the enemy and bringing him over. Wei Xiaobao hastily kowtowed in return and said, “A piece of cake, why be polite? If you still have other enemies, please tell me, I will catch them for you.”

The Third Mistress said, “Wicked minister Oboi was killed personally by Wei Shaoye, Wu Zhirong was also caught and brought over by Wei Shaoye. Our great hatred has been avenged in full, there are no more enemies.” Immediately the women disassembled the sacrificial table and cremated the memorial tablets.

The woman in yellow watched as these women performed their convoluted and overelaborate ritual, while making endless noise. Finally she lost her patience and went out to take a look at the people they caught. Wei Xiaobao and Tian Di Hui warriors followed her out. They saw the old man, the old woman and the sickly man were not awake yet.

The woman in yellow smiled and said, “Little baby, if you want to poison these people, you should really learn how to do it well.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Junior put knock-out drug because I really did not know what else to do, their martial art skill is too strong; if I did not use any trick, my neck would have been wrung by them. By using this trick, the heroes and warriors of Jianghu will look down on me. I know I was wrong, next time I will not dare anymore.”

The woman in yellow smiled. “What look down or look up?” she said, “Killing people is killing people; using blade to kill people, using fist to kill people, using poison or drug, won’t it all comes down to one thing: killing people? The heroes and warriors of Jianghu will look down on you? Humph, who needs their opinion anyway? Take that Wu Zhirong for example; he went to report to the imperial court and killed several thousand, several hundred people. He did not use poison, are you saying that we ought to have a high regard for him?”

Every single word had caused happiness and delight to rise from the bottom of Wei Xiaobao’s heart; he could not help but beaming with joy as he said, “Popo Jiejie, what you said is very true. When I was a kid, I helped people fighting by scattering lime on the enemy’s eyes; I helped him win the fight and saved his life, but instead of thanking me, he scolded me of using third-class method and he slapped me heavily on the face. Too bad at that time Popo Jiejie was not around, otherwise you would have taught him a lesson.”

[ToastedRossi]

Toasted, OK, just be honest with me: how much 'off' am I? But seriously all you guys, thank you for supporting me.

You've done a great job so far. As for being "off", it's less a matter of that than it is a matter of approaching things differently. For example, they would probably replace the phrase "Wei Xiaoye" with "Young Master Wei" or "Mister Wei" to make the prose flow better. Other than that, it's just a matter of writing better sentences. But that last part is more writing than translating.

Wei Xiaobao was shocked; his heart was thumping madly. “Bad, bad!” he groaned inwardly, “This old die-hard man knew.”

Sun Ma replied, “Zhang Ma and I boiled it ourselves.”

The old man asked, “What kind of water did you use?”

Sun Ma replied, “We got it from the water jar in the kitchen.”

The 2008 TV version just had the Guis be careless so that Shuang'er suceeds, and skipped most of this section and the next one.

That woman was indeed the Third Mistress of the Zhuang Family; she hastily returned the propriety and said, “Wei Shaoye, you have captured our archenemy and brought him here, I really don’t know how to repay. Laotianye [God/Heaven] has eyes, He lets us avenge our deep enmity. Wei Shaoye, please meet our Shifu.” And she took him to a woman wearing yellow garment.

Yay!

Wei Xiaobao saw that this woman was already old, but her voice sounded like a young girl. On her head she wore a gold headband, her feet were bare, her waist was adorned with an embroidered belt; all in all, her attire was quite unusual.

There are only two characters in Jin Yong's novels who dress like this, and the other one is in XAJH.

The woman laughed and asked, “Child, what did you call me?”

Wei Xiaobao stood up and said, “You are San Shaonai’s Shifu, I ought to call you Popo, but looking at your appearance, at most you are no more than my Jiejie; therefore, I call you Popo Jiejie.”

The woman giggled. “At most I am no more than your Jiejie?” she said, “I wonder if I can be your Meizi [younger sister]?”

And she giggles! I wish that she showed up earlier, but then the book would have been more "Wei Xiaobao and Popo Jiejie" instead of the Deer and the Cauldron.

“Why not?” the woman said with a laugh, “The Senior and I have not seen each other for about forty years; at first I did not recognize him, it was not until the Senior made his move that I knew it was him. His palm strike, ‘Snow-covered Qinling [mountain range, Shaanxi]’ is so bold and powerful, in the Central Plains, there is no second person who can use it like that.”

This scene should take place in 1673, so it should only have been 29 years. I think that Jin Yong corrected this in the third edition of the book.

The woman in yellow smiled and said, “Little baby, if you want to poison these people, you should really learn how to do it well.”

Just how much trouble would these two have gotten themselves into if they hung out more?

No, the next section is in the Milford version, quite detailed even.

Really? Not even leaving out Popo Jiejie? I'd have thought that she'd be the first character to get the cut. Then again, a book doesn't have to worry about things like costumes and actresses and screen time.

I can understand why sablemagi thinks jiu nan has something to do with the zhang family. I believe one or two of the adaptions explained that it was jiu nan who taught them their martial arts.

When Wei Xiaobao was blabbing to Jiunan after being captured by her, she was surprised to hear him mention Shuang Er and asked him how he was connected to the Zhuang family.

It makes sense since Popo Jiejie and Jiu Nan are friends, of which neither have very many (at least not in China).

[crazee]

Crazee, Drak, it was unintentional, honest ...
But seriously all you guys, thank you for supporting me.

---

When I was a kid, I helped people fighting by scattering lime on the enemy’s eyes; I helped him win the fight and saved his life, but instead of thanking me, he scolded me of using third-class method and he slapped me heavily on the face. Too bad at that time Popo Jiejie was not around, otherwise you would have taught him a lesson.”

Wow.... Thanks Foxs....looks like your're able to do well even sub consciously, that's what our hero would have called mighty kung fu.....

Looks like the lime incident is heavy on XB's mind. Well I suppose if you cannot fight, it's no hero to let people hack you to death then in cantonese, we say "pak pak sei", or "white white die".....errr die without a purpose.

err....support you, sure or you'll withdraw the doses from us and......

[pannonian]

I suppose the big mystery is, who is the yellow dressed lady? And are these flutes and zithers that I hear in the background?

[athlonkmf]

I suppose the big mystery is, who is the yellow dressed lady? And are these flutes and zithers that I hear in the background?

Unfortunately, no. It's not the one you hope she is. Far from...
Besides, if she's the one you hope she is, Shuang Er would be the best fighter in DODM. No need for WXB to worry about anything then.

[ToastedRossi]

I suppose the big mystery is, who is the yellow dressed lady? And are these flutes and zithers that I hear in the background?

It's not meant to be a mystery. Anyone familiar with the Sword Stained with Royal Blood should already know who she is.

her feet were bare

doesn't describe a whole lot of other characters. We're just waiting for her to introduce herself.

Unfortunately, no. It's not the one you hope she is. Far from...
Besides, if she's the one you hope she is, Shuang Er would be the best fighter in DODM. No need for WXB to worry about anything then.

The idea of the Yellow Lady in HSDS giggling like a little girl is very amusing though.

[pannonian]

Unfortunately, no. It's not the one you hope she is. Far from...
Besides, if she's the one you hope she is, Shuang Er would be the best fighter in DODM. No need for WXB to worry about anything then.

This yellow dressed lady did arrive too late to do anything useful, so maybe she's a descendant carrying on the family tradition.

Xu Tianchuan turned toward that beautiful lady in yellow; he cupped his
fists and said, "Your presence has honored our gathering. I wonder what
instructions do you have for us? May we have the honor of learning your
precious surname and your great given name?"

In a cold voice the beautiful lady in yellow said, "Where is the Sword Without Blood Feng Xifan?
Tell him to come out and see me."

Wei Xiaobao felt strange as he heard the three words "Sword Without Blood";
he saw Xu Tianchuan's expression suddenly changed, but
he recovered quickly, and then with an indifferent voice he said,
""Sword Without Blood" Feng Xifan?
Isn?t that Zheng Xiaoye Zheng Keshuang's shifu?
You?d better ask Wei Xiangzhu of Tian Di Hui."

[Anh Nam]

Thanks foxs We are getting worse weather today than we were during the actual tropical storm.

[smurf120]

So it is a running gag (theme) that mysterious people who pop up in JY universe always wear yellow? I am unfamiliar with with Royal Blood except the side story with Golden Snake Gentleman. All adaptations as soon as the story switches to Yuen Tsing Tse and Ah 9 I fall asleep.

[Ace High]

So it is a running gag (theme) that mysterious people who pop up in JY universe always wear yellow? I am unfamiliar with with Royal Blood except the side story with Golden Snake Gentleman. All adaptations as soon as the story switches to Yuen Tsing Tse and Ah 9 I fall asleep.

Actually, I'm more curious about where they get yellow clothes at during times, since yellow was the forbidden colour. Only members of the imperial family and those who were granted special privilege (such as WXB) may wear yellow. As such, textile shops certainly would not dare to sell yellow clothes, or even have ready stocks.

[ToastedRossi]

So it is a running gag (theme) that mysterious people who pop up in JY universe always wear yellow? I am unfamiliar with with Royal Blood except the side story with Golden Snake Gentleman. All adaptations as soon as the story switches to Yuen Tsing Tse and Ah 9 I fall asleep.

That's not too surprising as Sword Stained with Royal Blood is widely thought of as Jin Yong's weakest novel. And that Yuen Chengzhi isn't a very good character. There are some decent bits in the beginning and middle, but they don't link to the main story all that well. The parts in Beijing are good, but much of that is due to Popo Jiejie's presence. Of course, she usually wears red rather than yellow.

Actually, I'm more curious about where they get yellow clothes at during times, since yellow was the forbidden colour. Only members of the imperial family and those who were granted special privilege (such as WXB) may wear yellow. As such, textile shops certainly would not dare to sell yellow clothes, or even have ready stocks.

The answer is

click to show/hide spoilers

she didn't get her clothes in China.

[owlHoot]

Hee thks Foxs! always enjoyed reading your translations

I can't helped but laugh aloud at this sentence "..said that this tuberculosis ghost’s martial art.."

Oh dear, I read the Sword stain with Royal Blood Series too but can't seem to remember

[SkyWalker]

Hey foxs, it's been so long since I last posted here, but as usual, you're still doing a great job and many many many thanks for all your hard work. I didn't get a chance to catch up to your latest post yet, but I plan to read everything this week. So, here's to many more posts to come.

[sablemagi]

Thank you Foxs, its so great reading this as always. The old man seems to be pretty powerful. i take back what I said about the tuotuos. Interested to hear more about this school branch, and who would be the shifu of the Guis and yellow popo jie jie. a peer of Jiu Nan's own teacher? May be that's how they recognised Shuan'er's skill too, since it could be from their same branch? (learnt from the zhuang family that learnt from popo jiejie?

side note: i wonder how old leader hong of the shen long jiao ranks among these people.

It makes sense since Popo Jiejie and Jiu Nan are friends, of which neither have very many (at least not in China).

Yes its like athlon said, I remember that Jiu Nan said something to that effect when WXB shared that he helped out the zhuang family.

[CFT]

The old man seems to be pretty powerful. i take back what I said about the tuotuos. Interested to hear more about this school branch, and who would be the shifu of the Guis and yellow popo jie jie. a peer of Jiu Nan's own teacher? May be that's how they recognised Shuan'er's skill too, since it could be from their same branch? (learnt from the zhuang family that learnt from popo jiejie?

Just to clarify, the old man Gui is the martial uncle of Popo Jiejie. Her shifu is in the same generation as old man Gui. Their school has close ties to Tie Jian Men [Iron Sword school].

[foxs]

Toasted, thanks. The book did say 30 years. Usually I checked the book, but it has been so long without any glitch, I became complacent. Crazee, I knew you have ulterior motive. Pannonian, OK, you get me, where did that passage come from? (I have a feeling it might be your own invention ... like Gulongization and that llama story) Athlon, Sablemagi, CFT, I have never thought those Guis would garner so much speculations. Here's some more info about the woman in yellow. Anh, yes, I read the news. Hopefully it won't get worse. You are OK, right? Do you have to evacuate your home? Hope not. Smurf, Ace, I think the yellow might be soft yellow, not the satin bright yellow. Owl, that was literal translation. Sky, welcome back! It's been a while. Were just back from China? Or you have been home for a while, just too busy catching up after vacation?

---

The woman in yellow said, “But you poisoned my Gui Shibo, I should have slapped you heavily on the face several times.”

“At that time I did not know he was your Shibo,” Wei Xiaobao hastily said.

The woman said, “If you knew that he was my Shibo, and that he was going to wring your neck, while you have the poison in your hand, would you or would you not poison him?”

Wei Xiaobao giggled and said, “My life was threatened, I would have no choice but to offend him.”

“You are telling the truth,” the woman said, “Others want to take your life, how could you not want to take their lives first? I said I wanted to slap you, only because you really did not know what’s good for you. Others are people with grand reputation, ‘Divine Fist Without Equal’ Gui Xinshu, Gui Erye [second master], how deep of a power does he have? You just used the dog-fart knock-out drug to make his head dizzy and make his eyes not able to see, the Senior would just regard it as ground pepper.”

“But he … he …” Wei Xiaobao stammered.

The woman said, “You mixed your not-up-to-the-task knock-out drug in the tea, others are eighty-year old Jianghu veteran, would he simply being a muddle head and drink it? That is the cheap trick used by black inn criminals. If you want to use poison, you must use first-class one.”

Wei Xiaobao was surprised and delighted at the same time. “Turns out … turns out Popo Jiejie replaced it with first-class poison,” he said.

“Rubbish!” the woman said, “I did not replace it. Gui Shibo and the others were tired, they had headache and passed out; what do I have to do with it? One is a tuberculosis ghost, the others are eighty years old Lao Gonggong and Lao Popo, they suddenly fainted; what’s so strange about it?” Her mouth was speaking in deadly earnest, but her eyes were gleaming with mischievous looks.

Wei Xiaobao knew that she was afraid her Shifu might find out later and scold her, and thus she did not want to admit it; in his heart he had an unspeakable admiration toward this kindred spirit. Suddenly he dropped to his knees and said, “Popo Jiejie, I bow to you as my master, please take me as your disciple, I will call you Shifu Jiejie.”

The woman giggled; she reached out with her right arm and placed her palm under his chin. Wei Xiaobao felt a hard object on his chin; definitely it was not a human hand. When he looked down, he was utterly shocked; what he saw was bluish-black iron hook, the tip of the hook was very sharp, gleaming under the light.

The woman laughed and said, “Look carefully.” With her left hand she pulled her right sleeve to expose a snow white upper arm, but it was cut at the wrist, there was no hand at all, the iron hook was fastened onto her wrist. “If you want to be my disciple,” the woman said, “I have no reason not to accept you, you simply need to cut your hand, then I’ll give you an iron hook.”

The woman in yellow was none other than the Cult Leader or Five-Poison Cult He Tishou [lit. iron hand], whose fame shook the world in the past. Afterwards she bowed to Yuan Chengzhi to be his disciple, and changed her name to He Tishou [lit. guarding respectfully]. After the Ming Dynasty fell, she accompanied Yuan Chengzhi traveling overseas. That year she was sent on a mission by her master to the Central Plains, by chance she saved the Zhuang Family’s Third Mistress and the other widows, and taught them martial arts.

This time she came again, by chance she saw Shuang’er took out the knock-out drug and told her the situation. Although she did not know who the enemy was, she knew that since their martial art skill was high, ordinary knock-out drug would be quite useless; thereupon she put another drug into the water jar.

He Tishou’s skill in using poison was unparalleled in her time, only after entering Hua Shan Pai she did not use this skill for a long time. Suddenly seeing someone putting drug into the water jar, she could not stop her hand from itching to try her skill again; as soon as she made her move, who in the world would be able to resist it? Were it not for her, Gui Xinshu’s internal energy was very deep, it was even superior to her own Shifu Yuan Chengzhi’s internal strength, how could the ordinary package of knock-out drug Wei Xiaobao obtained from the Imperial Bodyguards drug him that he fainted?

The sickly man, Gui Zhong, had been ill since he was still in his mother’s womb, he was actually not expected to live, later on he took a precious miracle drug that his life was spared, but his body and brain had been damaged, he would never be strong and healthy like ordinary people. Gui Xinshu, husband and wife, only had this child, they loved him more than life. Due to his lingering illness since childhood, inevitably the couple spoiled him rotten and failed to discipline him. Although Gui Zhong had mastered superior martial art skill, even though he was middle-age by now, his character and mental development was no different than an eight or nine years old child.

When He Tishou put poison, she did not know who the opponent was; after she found out that it was her own Gui Shibo and his family, she could not help feeling anxious. But things had come to this, she knew it was too late to worry. Listening to Wei Xiaobao’s amusing words, her fondness toward him grew. She thought how could there be such a witty and naughty boy outside the island?

When he heard that he had to cut his hand before he could take her as his master, Wei Xiaobao brought his hand in front of his eyes. He was afraid of pain, plus he really did not want to part with his hand; his face carried an awkward expression. He Tishou laughed and said, “You don’t need to bow to me as your Shifu, I don’t have time to impart you any martial art skill either. But I do have a very amusing secret projectile that I’d like to give to you, so that you won’t grieve in your heart that you have kowtowed to me and called me Shifu Jiejie in vain.”

“Shifu Jiejie,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That was not an empty call; even if you did not teach me any martial art skill, you did not give me anything, you are such a pretty young lady, I would be very happy to call you Shifu Jiejie several more times.”

He Tishou giggled and said, “Oily-mouthed and smooth talking little monkey, you talked drivel to your Popo with no respect to your seniors.” She was a Miao [ethnic group of southwest China] woman, and had never cared about Han people’s etiquette and compass and set-square. Wei Xiaobao praised her as pretty; she did not feel it was inappropriate, on the contrary, she was delighted. She laughed and said, “Little monkey, call me again.”

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Jiejie, good Jiejie!”

He Tishou laughed and said, “Aiyo, it’s getting more and more indecent.” Suddenly her left hand grabbed the back of his neck, lifted him up to the left, and then ‘zip, zip, zip!’, three candles on the table were extinguished immediately, followed by a series of dull thuds on the wooden partition on the opposite site, like the resounding patter of rain on wooden board.

Wei Xiaobao was startled and delighted at the same time, “What secret weapons are those?” he asked.

He Tishou laughed and said, “Go look yourself.” And then she released her grip to let him fall to the floor.

Wei Xiaobao picked up a candlestick from the side table and went over to the wooden partition to take a closer look. He saw dozens of flickering steel needles nailed deeply into the wooden wall. He was very impressed. “Jiejie,” he said, “You did not even move, how did you shoot these many steel needles? This kind of secret projectiles, who in this world would be able to dodge?”

He Tishou laughed and said, “In the past I used these ‘Han Sha She Ying’[3] secret projectiles against my Shifu, but he was able to dodge; not a single needle was able to hit him. Other than my Shifu, I am afraid not too many people would be able to do it.”

“Your Shifu must have told you to try to shoot him,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That’s why he was prepared. But if you shoot him suddenly, even if the Senior’s martial art skill was higher, how could he evade this kind of shadow-less, trace-less secret projectiles?”

“At that time Shifu and I were opponents,” He Tishou said, “We were in a hard fighting. He did not ask me to try to shoot him, he was completely without advance knowledge.”

“That is so,” Wei Xiaobao said, “But your Shifu was concentrating his attention completely on you, hence he was able to dodge. Supposing that time you pointed to the east and turned your head that way and called out, ‘Eh, who’s coming?’ Your Shifu would definitely turn to look to the east as well; if at that time you suddenly shot him with the secret projectiles, very likely he would be hit.”

He Tishou sighed and said, “Perhaps you are right. These steel needles have acute poison on them, if at that time my Shifu failed to evade, he would be killed immediately. At that time I did not wish to kill him at all.”

Wei Xiaobao said, “In your heart you were in love with your Shifu, weren’t you?”

He Tishou’s face blushed slightly. “Pei!” she spat, “There’s no such thing. Don’t talk rubbish. If my Shiniang [Shifu’s wife] heard it, she would definitely cut half of your tongue.”

The past events when she was young suddenly appeared in her heart;although it was a matter of several decades ago, He Tishou still could not stopher face from blushing.

She took out two deerskin finger sheaths, which she put on her left thumb and index finger, and then she pulled the steel needles from the wooden partition one by one. She also reached into her pocket and took out an iron band, with a steel case mounted on the band, the lid of the steel case had a lot of small holes. Wei Xiaobao suddenly realized; he clapped his hands and called out, “Jiejie, this secret projectile is really ingenious. Turns out you wore it inside your clothes, and then you only need to activate the mechanism on the iron band, and the steel needles inside the iron case will shoot out.” He assumed that most likely the secret projectile she promised to give to him was this object; he could not help but was bursting with joy.

He Tishou smiled and said, “Even a secret projectile that is a lot more formidable than this will have to rely on the power and accuracy of the hand to shoot it. But your martial art skill is too lacking, other than this ‘Han Sha She Ying’, you can’t use anything else.”

Immediately she inserted the steel needles one by one into the case and told him to lift up his robe, and fastened it on his body; the steel case was positioned right on the pit of his stomach. She taught him how to activate the mechanism, she also taught him the ingredients and how to make the poison on the steel needle, as well as the antidote. She said, “The steel needles inside the case can be used for a total of five times. After that you will have to replenish the needles. My Shifu repeatedly warned me never to injure the innocent. These steel needles were originally dipped into lethal poison, but now the poison is not to take anybody’s life. When someone is hit, his body will be unbearably itchy and he will lose all his strength. But you still must not use it indiscriminately.”

Wei Xiaobao did not open his mouth to respond, he dropped on his knees again to express his gratitude. He Tishou said, “Go and help those three sit up properly.”

Wei Xiaobao complied. He helped Gui Xinshu into a chair first, but when he was helping Gui Zhong, he bumped onto a round and bulging object hanging on his waist, something like a wine gourd. When he lifted up his robe to look, turned out it was a leather sack. Wei Xiaobao’s curiosity was piqued; he untied the leather string of the sack and looked inside. Suddenly he cried out, “Aiyo, it’s a human head; he … he … he is staring at me.”

He Tishou also felt strange; she said, “I wonder what kind of important character he killed, why would he carry the severed head on his waist? Take it out and look.”

“Dead man, oh dead man!” Wei Xiaobao said, “I am going to take you out, you must not bite me.” Slowly he put his hand into the sack, grabbed the severed head by its braid, and took it out and placed it on the table. Under the candlelight he could see clearly, this severed head had its big and round eyes opened wide, its dragon-like beard was long and pointy. Wei Xiaobao screamed and withdrew three steps. “It’s … it’s Wu Dage,” he cried out in fear.

He Tishou was slightly startled. “You know him?” she asked.

“He … he is our Society brother,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “Wu Liuqi, Wu Dage!” His heart was grieving, he sobbed loudly.

The Tian Di Hui warriors heard Wei Xiaobao was screaming and crying loudly, they rushed into the hall, and saw Wu Liuqi’s severed head. They were all shocked with grief and indignation. Everybody pressed their hands on the hilt of their weapons while keeping their gaze fixed on He Tishou, thinking that Wu Liuqi was killed by her.

Soon Shuang’er also rushed inside. Wei Xiaobao pulled her hand and pointed to the severed head, shouting, “Shuang … Shuang’er, this is your sworn brother Wu Dage, he … he was murdered by this evil thief!” While saying that, he scrambled toward Gui Zhong and kicked him several times. He then turned to Xu Tianchuan and the others and said, “I found Wu Dage’s severed head hanging on this evil thief’s body.”

When everybody examined the severed head carefully, they saw that the blood was already dry, the neck was covered in lime; obviously they used some medicaments and lime to preserve the head so it would not rot.

Shuang’er stroked the severed head while sobbing loudly. Li Lishi said, “Let’s use cold water to wake this evil thief up, we must him the full details, and then we’ll kill him to pay for Wu Dage’s life.” All the warriors voiced their agreements.

He Tishou said, “This man is my Shidi, you must not touch a single strand of his hair!” While saying that, she stretched out her right hand iron hook and swept it across a candle on the table several times, before flying into the inner hall.

Priest Xuanzhen angrily shouted, “Even if he was your Shifu, I still want to chop him into mincemeat …”

“Uh!” suddenly Feng Jizhong exclaimed. With two fingers of his left hand he held a piece of candle, about seven or eight fen long [1 fen is approximately 1/3 of a centimeter or 1/8 of an inch], and picked it up. The candle on the candlestick was originally still seven or eight cun long [1 cun approx. 2.5cm or 1 inch], but now it was cut into six or seven pieces, each piece was less than a cun long, still neatly stacked together; the candle did not collapse at all. This kind of martial art skill was truly shocking. None of the Tian Di Hui warriors’ countenance did not change.

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[3] I don’t know how to translate this without sounding strange: Han Sha She Ying, ‘han’ – to suck, to keep in the mouth, ‘sha’ – sand/grain, ‘she’ – shoot, ‘ying’ – shadow; ‘shooting at shadow with the sand kept inside the mouth’? Interestingly, the dictionary has special definition for ‘han sha she ying’: to attack someone by innuendo/to insinuate.