The Deer and The Cauldron

[smurf120]

I guess it also reflects general Chinese attitude towards religion and faith. When I read Western novels that touch upon religion, usually there is a sense of higher power at work or deep belief in respective god(s) - enough to cause a war. In JY world, nearly all characters with speaking parts became monks, nuns, taoists due to sour relationships, death, or practicing higher level of MA or obtaining rare manuals; or eccentric people hiding from "real" world.

Even naive old monk Cheng seem to have fell into the Buddhism business because he was an orphan brought up by the monastery.

Just an observation. However, there seems to be heavy influence in the belief of karma and perhaps reincarnation in the undertones.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

The secret in the sutra is finally revealed!

[foxs]

Wandering, Smurf, Crazee, I think they take 'religion' as simply occupation. For instance, the Ming Cult in HSDS, literally, it was a 'religion', yet they had Buddhist monks and Taoist priests as members. Sky, you are welcome. I have bad news for you: someone is baaack .....

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The next day the nun in white took Wei Xiaobao leaving the Capital heading west. They arrived at the graveyard on Mount Jinping in Changping County. It was where the Emperor Chongzhen was buried. In front of the tomb, wild grass was growing very thick, making the grave looked very desolate. Along the way the nun in white did not utter a single word, but now she was unable to show restraint anymore; she threw herself in front of the grave and cried out loudly.

Wei Xiaobao also kneeled down and kowtowed. Suddenly he felt that the tall grass by side was moving. Turning his head around, he saw green skirt. It was the green skirt that Wei Xiaobao thought about millions of time during the day, the green skirt that he had dreamt about thousands of time during the night. As he suddenly saw the skirt this moment, his heart jumped. He was afraid it was just a dream, hence temporarily he did not dare to look.

He heard a tender and delicate voice calling out something, and then he heard, “Finally you are here; I … I have been waiting in here for three days.” And then she sighed and said, “But you must not grieve too much.”

It was precisely the girl in green’s voice. As soon as this gentle, tender voice entered his ears, Wei Xiaobao immediately felt as if the sky spins, the earth goes round, he felt his entire body was about to burst into pieces just like the pieces of leather inside the Forty-two-chapter sutra; some were big some were small, some were square some were round, some were triangular in shape, some were diamond-shaped.

“Yes, yes,” he said, “You have been waiting for me for three days, thank you very much, thank you very much. I … as soon as I heard your voice, I am not grieving anymore.” While saying that, he stood up, and in a glance saw that it was indeed the lovely countenance of that green-clothed girl, whose gracefulness was beyond compare; only her gentle and soft expression suddenly turned into astonishment, and then turned into anger.

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “I also miss you very much …” Before he could finish, there was a sharp pain on his lower abdomen, his body flew more than a zhang backward and he fell heavily on the ground; because he was kicked by the girl.

He saw the girl raised her willow-leaf saber and hacked it down on his head. Hastily Wei Xiaobao rolled away, ‘whack!’ the saber struck the ground. Before the girl could chop again, the nun in white shouted, “Stop!”

“Wah!” the girl broke in cry, she dropped her saber off and threw herself into the nun in white’s bosom, while crying, “This evil man, he … he always bullies me. Shifu, quickly kill him for me.”

Wei Xiaobao was startled, delighted, but also embarrassed; he mused, “Turns out she is Shitai’s disciple. Those two sentences she spoke a moment ago were not directed to me.” Sullenly he sat down slowly, thinking, “Things have come this far, I can only try my best to be a good person. It would be best if I could swindle Shitai, invoking her great mercy so that she would make the decision to join her with me as my wife.”

Thereupon he stepped forward, bowing deeply toward the girl with cupped fist and said, “Xiao Ren has unintentionally offended Miss. I am asking for Miss to show magnanimity by not hold it against me. If Miss wants to hit me, please go ahead and do it; I only hope Miss would spare Xiao Ren’s life.”

The girl was hugging the nun in white with both hands; without turning around, she kicked backward, her heel hit Wei Xiaobao’s lower jaw. “Ah!” Wei Xiaobao cried out and was thrown backward. Groaning and moaning, temporarily he was unable to get up.

The nun in white said, “Ah Ke, how can you disregarding propriety and kicking someone you just met two times?” The tone of her voice carried a reprimanding meaning.

As soon as Wei Xiaobao heard her, he was ecstatic. “Turns out your name is Ah Ke [jade-like stone]. Finally I know it,” he thought.

He had accompanied the nun in white for many days that he knew she like people being respectful, serious and modest. In her presence, the more he suffered some losses, the more beneficial it was for him. Hastily he said, “Shitai, Miss’ two kicks are well-deserved; it was I who was in the wrong, no wonder Miss is very angry. Even if she kicks me a thousand times, ten thousand times, it is really Xiao Ren that deserves to die.” He crawled up with both hands cradling his lower jaw, the pain made his tears flowed down. This time he was not pretending, the kick was really not light.

Sobbing and sniffling, Ah Ke said, “Shifu, this little monk really deserve to die, he … he bullied me.”

“How did he bully you?” the nun in white asked.

Ah Ke blushed. “He … he has bullied me many … many, many times,” she said.

“Shitai,” Wei Xiaobao said, “In short, it was I who was muddle-headed, plus my martial art is lacking. That day Miss went to play at the Shaolin Temple …”

“You went to Shaolin Temple?” the nun in white asked, “How can a girl go to Shaolin Temple?”

Wei Xiaobao was delighted in his heart, “Turns out she went to Shaolin Temple not instructed by Shitai, that’s even better.” He said, “It was not she who wanted to go, it was her Shijie who wanted to go. Miss could not disobey her, hence she had no choice but to come with her.”

“How do you know?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao replied, “At that time I was ordered by the Tatars’ Young Emperor to be his proxy to be a monk in Shaolin Temple. I saw another Miss came to Shaolin Temple, this Miss was following behind her, apparently she did not wish to come.”

The nun in white turned her head and asked, “Was it Ah Qi who take you there?”

“Yes,” Ah Ke replied.

“And then what happened?” the nun in white asked.

Ah Ke said, “Those Shaolin Temple monks were very vicious; they said that their Temple’s rule did not allow women to enter the Temple.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “That is an unacceptable rule; why can’t nu shizhu [female benefactor] enter the Temple? Bodhisattva Guanyin is a woman.”

“And then what happened?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Miss said, since they were not allowed to enter the Temple, they would better go back. But those four Shaolin Tempe monks in charge of receiving the guests did not have any manners; they babbled nonsense and thus offended the two ladies, while their martial art skill is very disappointing.”

The nun in white asked Ah Ke, “Did you fight with them?”

Wei Xiaobao barged in, “It was entirely the welcoming monks’ fault, I saw it with my own eyes. They stretched out their hands to push the two ladies. Shitai, just think, the two ladies have ‘thousand gold’ bodies, how could they let the four monks’ filthy hands touching them? Naturally the two ladies moved sideways to evade; the four monks were careless, they bumped their own limbs on the mountain pavilion’s pillars, inevitably they were slightly hurt.”

“Humph,” the nun in white snorted, “Shaolin Temple’s martial art is the leader in Wulin world, how could it be that bad? Ah Ke, when you made your move, which stances did you use?”

Ah Ke did not dare to conceal anything; she lowered her head and told her in a low voice. The nun in white asked, “You two knocked down four Shaolin Temple monks?”

Ah Ke cast a glance toward Wei Xiaobao, and hatefully said, “Five, including him.”

“You have quite a nerve, going to Shaolin Temple and beat five Shaolin Temple monks that their hands and feet were dislocated.” With eyes like lightning she looked at her up and down. Ah Ke was so frightened that her face turned even paler.

The nun in white saw the red scar across her neck. “That blade wound, was it the Temple’s martial art master who injured you?”

“No, it was not,” Ah Ke replied, “He … he …” She looked up and shot Wei Xiaobao a glowering look; suddenly her cheeks blushed, while tears streamed down on her face. “He … he humiliated me so much, disciple … disciple slashed my own saber across my neck, but … but I did not die.”

When she first heard about her two disciples went up Shaolin Temple to create trouble, the nun in white was furious, but seeing the scar on her neck was really long, she felt sorry for her; she asked, “How did he humiliate you?”

“Wah!” Ah Ke cried.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Indeed, it was me who was being greatly inappropriate, I spoke without manners, I did not act with propriety. Miss was only grabbing me, scaring me to death, telling me that she was going to dig my eyeballs, but she did not really mean it. Indeed it was me who was a coward and useless; I was scared out of my wits that with both hands I randomly hit and grab backward, and in my carelessness had touched Miss’ body. Although it was unintentional, I wouldn’t wonder that Miss was so angry.”

Ah Ke was so embarrassed that her beautiful face turned completely red, but her eyes was filled with resentment, anger and pain.

The nun in white asked further about the several stances Ah Ke was using when they fighting. After gaining a clear understanding, she said, “It was unintentional, you don’t need to take it seriously.” Gently patting Ah Ke’s shoulder, she said in a tender voice, “He is only a little child, and … and a eunuch too, it’s not a big deal. You have already used the ‘young swallow returning to the nest’ to break his arms; you have punished him enough.”

Ah Ke’s tears did not stop rolling down; in her heart she said, “He is not a little child at all, he went to the brothel to do bad things.” But she did not dare to say it out loud, for fear that Shifu would investigate, and then she would know that Ah Ke had followed her older martial sister to a brothel and beat people there. Her heart was dismayed, she cried even louder.

Wei Xiaobao kneeled down on the ground, kowtowed again and again, while saying, “Miss, you are upset, please kick me several more times to vent your anger.”

Ah Ke stomped her feet and cried, “I simply won’t!”

Wei Xiaobao raised his palm, ‘whack, whack, slap, slap!’ he slapped his own face several times. “I deserve to die, I deserve to die!” he said.

The nun in white knitted her eyebrows and said, “It can’t be considered your fault in this matter. Ah Ke, we can’t bully people too much.”

Sobbing and sniffling, Ah Ke said, “It was he who bullied me, he kidnapped me and locked me up in the Temple and did not let me go.”

The nun in white was startled. “Is that so?” she asked.

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I know I was wrong. Because I wanted to win Miss’ favor, I invited her to the Temple. I thought that since Miss has always wanted to tour the Shaolin Temple but the monks did not allow her to enter the Temple, no wonder Miss was angry. And thus … and thus gathering my courage, I invited Miss to go and play at the Bo’re Hall; I also asked an old monk to accompany Miss to chat and relieve her boredom.”

“Fooling around, fooling around,” the nun in white said, “Both children are fooling around. Which old monk?”

“It was the Head of Bo’re Hall, Cheng Guan Dashi,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “He was the one exchanging palm strikes with Shitai in Qingliang Temple.”

The nun in white nodded. “That Dashi’s martial art skill is superb,” she said. She patted Ah Ke’s shoulder again and said, “Alright, that’s enough. Not only this Dashi’s martial art skill is high, he is also an old man. Xiaobao asked him to accompany you, he cannot be considered ill-treating you. Let’s not talk about this matter further.”

Ah Ke said in her heart, “This little evildoer is really bad; only, there are many things that are not convenient to say, otherwise, if Shifu investigated, Shijie and I would ended up being blamed for many things.” She said, “Shifu, you don’t know, he … he …”

The nun in white no longer paid any attention to her; she was looking at Chongzhen’s grave as if she was entranced. Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue at Ah Ke and made a face. Ah Ke was furious, she shot him a vicious look. Wei Xiaobao felt that although she was extremely angry, she was still unspeakably beautiful; his heart was very happy. He sat on the side, unable to take his eyes off her, admiring her features. He saw that from her head to her toe, her hair, her eyebrows, even the tip of her little finger, everything on her was extremely beautiful.

Ah Ke cast him a sidelong glance, and saw that he was staring blankly at her, she blushed, pulled the nun in white’s sleeve and said, “Shifu, he … he is looking at me.”

“Mmm,” the nun in white simply grunted. She was recalling the scene from the past, when she was at the Palace. Ah Ke’s words did not enter her ears at all.

Sitting until the sun was leaning to the west, the nun in white was still unwilling to leave her father’s grave. Wei Xiaobao wished that she would sit like this for ten days or half a month, as long as he could look at Ah Ke, even if he did not eat, he would not mind. Ah Ke, on the other hand, was feeling quite uncomfortable being the object of his stare. Although she did not turn her head to look at him, she knew his eyes were fixed on her. She was feeling bashful, fretful, and also furious; she thought, “This little evil person is full of graceful words, flowery speech; I don’t know what lie he told Shifu so that she always protected him. As soon as Shifu is not around, I must kill him. Even if Shifu will punish me harshly for this, I simply can’t let him humiliate me like this.”

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I can hear her whining, "Mooommmmmm ... he touched me!"

[Gubrak]

Ah Ke ... Ah Ke ... how beautifull is she? comparable to four great china beautifull woman?
Why she always wear green dress, don't have any other?

Thanks Foxs, great translation !

[smurf120]

Green girl Ah Ke.....

[Anh Nam]

Thanks Foxs

[crazee]

Oh...oh...she's back.

Thanks Foxs,

Funny, I thought girls like guys to look at them ?
Looks like I'm wrong. Anyway XB is going to be in trouble again with a tigress...

[tweety365]

Gosh, when WXB and Ah Ke are in the same scene, they are both equally annoying.
Thank you, foxs!

Funny, I thought girls like guys to look at them ?

It totally depends on who the guys are and in this case, a pervert like WXB is definitely .

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

Oh noooooooooo, she's back!!!! Looks like WXB & Ah Ke both bring out the worst in each other.

[foxs]

Gubrak, Smurf, that's right, how beautiful can she be? Plus, didn't Xiaobao have any pride at all? If any of you are being treated like that, even if the girl is stunningly beautiful, will you still want to 'approach' her? Perhaps someone would think that it's a 'challenge' ... but I think it went too far. Anh, you are welcome. Crazee, Tweety, Sky, I chuckled when reading your comments. So true.

Anyway, very short update today, the end of Chapter 25. Technically, we are at 50% mark of the entire story (not including the first Chapter that I intend to translate after we are done).

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More than two hours later, the sky was gradually turning dark. The nun in white heaved a long sigh, stood up, and said, “Let’s go.”

That night the three of them lodged in a peasant family home. Wei Xiaobao knew that the nun in white love cleanliness, so before dinner he rubbed and washed the two women’s bowls and chopsticks in hot water, he also wiped the stools, the dinner table where those two women would be sitting, until there was not a speck of dust on it. He also wiped the bed and swept the floor, making sure that wherever the two women sit or sleep on would be immaculate. He had always been lazy; hence in all his life he had never strained himself working as hard as that.

The nun in white nodded in secret; she thought, “This child is hardworking. Having him during our travel will be much more convenient.” Before she turned fifteen, she had always lived deep in the Palace; since childhood she was accustomed to have palace maids and court eunuchs taking care of her. After having the misfortune of her country changed its master, she wandered destitute in Jianghu; the daily food and drink was completely different.

Wei Xiaobao was accustomed to be a eunuch, plus he did not spare any effort to get what his heart desired, he went as far as making her enjoying the happiness of the former days when she was still a princess in the Palace. The nun in white had left home and devoted herself to religious practice, she did not care about the luxury of the past, yet how one spends one’s childhood will be imprinted in one’s heart and mind, and will forever stay and can never be erased. She was not looking to be a princess, but Wei Xiaobao was treating her like a princess; she was touched and was delighted.

After dinner, the nun in white asked Ah Qi’s whereabouts. Ah Ke said, “I have not seen Shijie since that day when we were separated outside the Shaolin Temple; perhaps … perhaps she was killed by him.” While saying that she cast a sidelong glance toward Wei Xiaobao.

“How can there be such thing?” Wei Xiaobao busily replied, “I saw Miss Ah Qi was with Mongolian Prince Galdan, and several lamas, and an army commander under Wu Sangui’s command.”

As soon as the nun in white heard Wu Sangui’s name, her expression looked very angry. “Why did Ah Qi hang around with people we have no relation with?” she angrily asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “When those people arrived at the Shaolin Temple, probably they came across Miss Ah Qi by accident. Shitai, if you want to find her, let me come with you, I am sure she will be very easy to find.”

“Why is that?” the nun in white asked.

Wei Xiaobao replied, “I still remember the appearance of those Mongolians, Lamas, and military officers from Yunnan. We only need to find one, the rest will be easy to deal with.”

“Very well,” the nun in white said, “In that case you’ll come with me, we’ll look for her together.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted. “Thank you very much Shitai,” he said.

The nun in white was puzzled, “You are helping me to do this matter, I should be thanking you, why did you thank me instead?” she asked.

Wei Xiaobao said, “Nothing delights me more than to be with Shitai every day; it would be best if I could be by Shitai’s side forever. If I cannot, then being with Shitai one more day means happiness for one more day.”

“Is that right?” the nun in white asked. Although she had received Ah Qi and Ah Ke, two girls to be her disciples, usually she treated her disciples coldly. The two girls revered her very much, they had never dared to tell her what’s in their hearts; how could they act like Wei Xiaobao with his graceful words and flowery speech, sweet mouth and honeyed tongue? Although her personality was strict and cold, those words were really pleasing to her ears; she could not stop a smile from appearing on the corners of her mouth.

Ah Ke said, “Shifu, he … he does not …” She was fully aware that Wei Xiaobao’s enthusiasm to help them find her Shijie was just a ruse to be with her. Those ‘Nothing delights me more than to be with Shitai every day; it would be best if I could be by Shitai’s side forever’ and so on was actually the real desire of his innermost being, only the word ‘Shitai’ should be changed to ‘Ah Ke’.

The nun in white stared at her, “Why not?” she asked, “How do you know the content of other people’s heart? I have often told you before, in Jianghu, the people’s hearts are sinister and deceitful, their words cannot be trusted. But this child has followed me for many days, there was no pretense in him, I know he can be trusted. He is only a little child, how can you lump him together with those Jianghu men?”

Ah Ke did not dare to say anything anymore, she bowed her head and mumbled, “Yes.”

Wei Xiaobao was greatly delighted; he said in his heart, “Ah Ke, my good wife, naturally your husband stands out from the masses, how can you lump him together with those Jianghu men? Just listen to your Shifu, I guarantee you won’t suffer any losses. The worst that can happen to you is that you will be given in marriage to me. Do you think I will be willing to part with you and don’t want you anymore? Just set your hundred and twenty heart at ease.”

Book note: the Emperor’s child is a reference to the Emperor’s daughter, it usually refers to the Princess. In the ‘Nine Songs, Madame Xiang’ of the Songs of Chu [ancient book of poems, c. 500 BC]: ‘The Emperor’s child fell north of the islet’. The Emperor’s child here was the Emperor Yao’s daughter. In the poem ‘Escorting the Golden City Princess to the Western Foreign Land’, Ma Huaisu wrote: ‘Where is the Emperor’s child now? She is engaged to be married in a strange land.’

[aliderhamy]

I know in the end it will all work out well for WXB but still man

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs.

[KChill]

I know in the end it will all work out well for WXB but still man

Green Girl must be like Michelle Yeoh, Halle Berry, Rihanna, and Eva Mendes rolled into one. Times 50. Otherwise, I just dont see why he loses his manhood around this girl every time they run into each other.

[crazee]

Thanks again for the update. This seems to be the best news..... all else I read are depressing...sigh ( incl co mails )

I suppose XB is hit by the italian thunderbolt.... "Godfather - Mario Puzo"
He's so smitened that he's willing to practically do anything just to be in her company.
To a certain extend it's pitiful for him to be really so infatuated by her. Imagine with his "skill" and money....he could have practically everything....

[smurf120]

I still stick to the combo that 1) WXB had not seen a single female for months before laying eyes on Ah Ke 2) raging teenage hormones 3) she rejected him. Even a woman more beautiful will not have the same effect.

[Anh Nam]

Thanks Foxs

[snowflakesdance]

thanks foxs

[foxs]

Ali, KChill, Crazee, I know ... I think he went too far. Smurf, what about Fang Yi? He was not 'that' smitten with her, although according to Jin Yong earlier, Fang Yi was very beautiful. Sky, Anh, Snowflake, you are most welcome. Here is the start of a new chapter.

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Chapter 26 – Grass and trees join Man and Heaven’s white bones, fortresses and mountains along the Pass fill the eyes with the red of the setting sun.
(Translated by Foxs)

The next day the three of them continued their journey southwards, while asking people along the way of Ah Qi’s whereabouts. During the trip Wei Xiaobao was very attentive in attending the two women’s needs. Although in his heart he was dying to seduce Ah Ke, yet he did not dare to show the least bit of frivolity. He thought that if the nun in white found out about his real intention, he would be in a really deep trouble. Ah Ke had never had a single nice word to say to him, often times she took advantage of when the nun in white was not looking to punch or kick him to vent her anger. To Wei Xiaobao, as long he could be with her, the joy in his heart would be unspeakable, occasionally he simply endured everything; when the punch came, he received it with his body, when the kick arrived, he received it with his buttocks. When he lay down in his bed at night, he would quietly reflect on her kick and her punch, and the delight in his heart was inexhaustible.

One day they arrived in Cangzhou[1]. The three of them lodged in a small family inn. Early in the morning the next day, Wei Xiaobao went out to the street to buy fresh vegetables, which he wanted to give to the innkeeper to be cooked for the nun in white’s breakfast. Excitedly he hurried back from the street carrying two catties of Chinese cabbage [bok choi], half a catty of 'rotten skin' [tofu skin, courtesy of CFT], two catties of kuomo [Saint George’s mushroom/Tricholoma mongplicum], and saw Ah Ke was standing at the inn’s door gazing idly outside. Immediately he came over to her with a smile, he took out a package of rose pine-nut candy from his pocket and said, “I bought a package of candy for you at the street. I did not expect a small town like this would have such a good candy.”

Ah Ke did not accept it, she shot him a malicious look and said, “The candy you buy is stinky, I don’t want to eat.”

“Just take one and try it,” Wei Xiaobao said, “The taste is really not bad.” He had noticed early on that Ah Ke loved to nibble snacks, it’s just that the nun in white did not have extra money to give to her as incidental expenses; occasionally she purchased a small packet of sugared beans, which she ate with delight; therefore, he bought a packet of candy to make her happy.

Ah Ke received it and said, “Shifu is meditating in her room, I feel so stifled. I wonder if there is any good scenery around here, a secluded place where no one is around. I want you to come with me.”

Wei Xiaobao could not believe his own ears; immediately the blood in his entire body was boiling, his face was flushed, “You … you are not wronging me?” he asked.

“What do I wrong you for?” Ah Ke replied, “If you don’t want to come with me, I’ll just go alone.” Finished speaking, she walked toward a small lane to the east.

“I am coming, I am coming,” Wei Xiaobao said, “Why would I not willing to come? Even if Miss wants me to go through water and tread on fire, I won’t knit my eyebrows.” And hastily he ran after her.

The two of them went out of the small town, Ah Ke pointed to a small hill several li to the east and said, “Playing over yonder won’t be too bad.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said. The two of them followed the mountain path to go to the top of the hill. The hill was densely packed with pine trees, indeed it was secluded and no one else was to be seen, but the scenery was nothing to look at. Yet at this moment, in Wei Xiaobao’s eyes even the ugliest scenery between the heaven and the earth would be extraordinarily amazing; much less that he did not have any taste in differentiating any good or bad scenery anyway. Immediately he raved, “The scenery is incomparably beautiful.”

Ah Ke said, “What’s so good about it? There are only rocks and trees crowded together. It’s so ugly.”

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “The scenery is not so good.”

“Why did you say that scenery here is incomparably beautiful?” Ah Ke asked.

Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “The scenery is originally not so good, but your beauty shines on it, it becomes incomparably beautiful. This hill does not have any flower, but your appearance in more beautiful than ten thousand fresh flowers. This hill does not have any bird singing, but your voice is a lot more pleasant to the ears than a thousand black-nape orioles singing together.”

“Humph,” Ah Ke snorted, “I want you to come here not to listen to you babbling nonsense, but to tell you to get away from me immediately, the farther the better. From now on, I don’t want you to see my face ever again. If you do, I will definitely dig your eyeballs out.”

Wei Xiaobao’s heart immediately sank, with a dejected expression he said, “Miss, I will never dare to offend you anymore, please forgive me.”

“I have already forgiven you,” Ah Ke said, “By not taking your life today, I am forgiving you.” While saying that, ‘shua!’ she pulled the willow-leaf saber from her waist, and continued, “When you are with me, your heart always harbor bad thoughts toward me, do you think I did not know it? You humiliate me like this, I … I’d rather have Shifu punish me by flogging me a thousand times, ten thousand times, but I simply must kill you.”

Seeing the flickering saber and her staunch personality, Wei Xiaobao knew she was not uttering empty words. “Shitai asked me to help her find Miss Ah Qi,” he said, “After she is found, I will not follow you anymore.”

Ah Ke shook her head and said, “No you won’t! We’ll find her without your help. Even if we can’t find her, my Shijie is not a three-year-old girl, do you think she cannot go home by herself?” Raising her saber high, she brandished it in the air, creating ‘whoosh, whoosh’ sound, and sternly said, “If you don’t leave, don’t blame me for being heartless!”

Wei Xiaobao said with a laugh, “You have always treated me heartlessly anyway, it’s not a big deal.”

Ah Ke was furious; she shouted, “Up to this moment you still dare to speak nonsense to me?” Jumping forward, she raised the saber to chop on the top of Wei Xiaobao’s head.

Wei Xiaobao was greatly shocked; hastily he leaped to evade. Ah Ke shouted, “Are you leaving or not?”

Wei Xiaobao said, “Even if you cut me into ten thousand pieces, and turn me into a ghost, I will still follow you.”

Ah Ke was raging mad; she raised her saber and attacked ‘Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!’ three times. Luckily she had already used these moves at the Bo’re Hall of Shaolin Temple, Monk Cheng Guan had figured out the technique to neutralize them. Wei Xiaobao had received the instruction, and therefore, he was able to evade one by one.

Failing to chop Wei Xiaobao, Ah Ke was growing angrier and angrier, she brandished her willow-leaf saber more and more viciously. Several moves later, Wei Xiaobao found it to be more and more difficult to evade; he had no choice but to draw his dagger. ‘Dang!’ her willow-leaf saber was cut into two pieces. Ah Ke was angry and shocked at the same time; she brandished the lower half of her saber furiously, trying to hack down his head.

Seeing her saber suddenly turned short, Wei Xiaobao did not dare to use his dagger to defend himself; his martial art skill was mediocre, if he did not restrain himself and carelessly waving his dagger around, the sharp blade only had to scrape her body a little bit, her life would be gone just like that. Consequently, after evading several times, he did not have any choice but to run away down the hill.

Ah Ke chased him off, brandishing her broken saber and calling out, “Just go away as far as possible from me, I won’t kill you.” However, seeing that he was running toward the small town, she was greatly anxious, “If this little evil-doer is complaining to Shifu, I will be in trouble,” she thought. Therefore, hastily she urged herself to run after him, trying to intercept him. But the nun in white only taught her some martial art stances and styles; she had never passed on the internal energy cultivation technique. Therefore, her internal energy was not too different [orig. ‘half a catty eight taels’ or ‘half a pound eight ounces’] from Wei Xiaobao’s; from beginning to the end she was unable to catch up with him, and saw that he was rushing into the inn. She was so anxious that she almost broke into crying; thinking, “If Shifu blames me, I will tell her everything he said to me, how he harassed me and took liberties with me.” With a raised broken saber, she slowly entered the inn.

As soon as she set foot into the inn, she felt a burst of amazingly strong force like a gust of gale coming out from the door against her, instantly pulling her off her feet and throwing her three steps back, and she fell sitting down on the ground.

Ah Ke felt that she was landing on a soft object, actually she sat on someone’s body. Hurriedly she wanted to stand up, but when she reached back to prop herself, her right hand landed on the person’s face. In that difficult situation she did not have time to consider her option; she continued pressing down to push herself up. Only after standing up did she turn around to look, and realized that the person was none other than Wei Xiaobao.

She was shocked, and harshly shouted, “What are you d …” Before she could finish, however, her knees went weak, she was unable to stand and fell down toward Wei Xiaobao. This time, however, she fell face down. “No, No …” she cried out in fear, but it was too late; she landed on Wei Xiaobao’s bosom. Her eyes met with his, the distance between them was no more than a few cun.

Ah Ke panicked; she was afraid this little vile creature would take the opportunity to kiss her; she struggled as hard as she could to stand up quickly, but somehow her entire body was devoid of any strength. She had no choice but look away from him and anxiously said, “Quickly help me up.”

“I don’t have any strength either,” Wei Xiaobao replied, “What shall we do?” With this ‘thousand-time cute a hundred-time charming’ beautiful woman leaning against him, his heart was so delighted that he felt he was going to go crazy. He said in his heart, “Not to mention that I do not have any strength, if right now I have ten-thousand-catty strength within me, I won’t help you up for sure. You were the one who throw yourself on me, how can you blame me?”

Ah Ke anxiously said, “Shifu is being besieged by the enemy, quickly think of something to help her.” Turns out when she entered the door just now, she saw the nun in white was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her right hand was sending out palm strikes, her left sleeve was flicking away in her effort to resist the enemy. As for who the enemy was, she did not see it clearly; she only knew that the enemy was more than one person. She was about to look when the strong gust of wind from the internal energy battle inside the room threw her out.

Wei Xiaobao actually arrived several steps before she did, but he was met with the same fate as she did; he was just about to step across the threshold when the strong wind threw him backward and he fell to the ground. Ah Ke was also rushing in and happened to fall onto his body. Although Wei Xiaobao fell down quite hard that his buttocks were very painful, plus when Ah Ke fell from the air, she was crushing his chest and abdomen and hurt him very much, but in his heart he was exceedingly happy, he was wishing that this beautiful woman would lie down on his bosom forever, and would not stand up again. As for the nun in white was fighting with what kind of enemy, he did not give it the least bit of care; he expected her skill was so divine that even more formidable enemy would not be able to do anything to her.

Ah Ke used her right hand to prop herself against Wei Xiaobao’s chest; slowly she straightened her back, took a deep breath, and finally she was able to stand up. “Why are you lying in here?” she said in an annoyed voice, “You wanted to trip me?” She was fully aware that Wei Xiaobao met the same fate as she did, he had no control over himself, but she was simply too embarrassed just now, hence she could not help but lashing it out on him.

“Yes, yes,” Wei Xiaobao said, “I knew you were going to fall on the ground, so I should have crawled three chi away. No, three chi is not enough; if I only crawled three chi away, then I would lie side by side with you, it won’t look too good.”

Ah Ke spat, but she was more concerned over her Shifu, so she turned her gaze toward the room. She saw the nun in white was still sitting on the floor, striking with her palm and flicking her sleeve to repulse the enemy. In a glance she could see that altogether there were five enemies besieging her, they all wore red lama clothes, each one moved extremely fast, sending palm strikes and punches, but the nun in white’s palm power held them off, forcing them away so that their backs were pressed tightly against the wooden partition and were unable to get close to her.

Ah Ke took a step closer, she wanted to see if there was anybody else other than these five people, but as she took a step forward, she felt strong gust of wind pressing her body that she was unable to breathe easily. She had no choice but to withdraw two steps back, kicked Wei Xiaobao and said, “Hey, aren’t you going to stand up? Look at the enemy; do you know their background?”

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[1] Cangzhou - A prefecture level city in Hebei.

[tweety365]

Reading how WXB grovels about in such a manner reminds me of You Tanzhi and Duan Yu in DGSD.

Thanks foxs.

[Gubrak]

Thanks Foxs