What if Cheung Gwun Bo had accepted Gwok Seung's offer?

[Ken Cheng]

Cheung Gwun Bo (the future Cheung 3 Fung) chose to eschew his friend Gwok Seung's offer to take up residence with her parents, Gwok Jing and Wong Yung, in Seung Yeung...choosing instead to find his own way and eventually, founding the Mo Dong Sect.

What if, however, Cheung Gwun Bo did indeed go to Seung Yeung and became Gwok Jing's student? Given Cheung Gwun Bo's talent, would he have been able to master all of Gwok Jing's martial arts? If he did, would Gwok Jing have given the Dragon Sabre to him instead of to Gwok Por Lo?

[jadebunny9]

If he had gone there and stayed with the Guo's, he would probably have died along with them when the city fell.

[Ken Cheng]

If he had gone there and stayed with the Guo's, he would probably have died along with them when the city fell.

Not necessarily. Because of Cheung Gwun Bo's talent and youth, Gwok Jing and Wong Yung might have *ordered* him to escape with the Dragon Sabre...to carry on their work in the event that they did not survive.

[Trien Chieu]

I think Cheung Gwun Bo had a crush on Gwok Seung but Gwok Seung was not interested in him. If Gwok Seung accepted his love, things would be very different.

[tape]

It's natural for a young guy to have a crush on almost any girl at that point, but I really don't think there is anything more than that. He holed himself up in a mountain training because he really had no other plans.

[Trien Chieu]

It's natural for a young guy to have a crush on almost any girl at that point, but I really don't think there is anything more than that. He holed himself up in a mountain training because he really had no other plans.

It wasn't a simple crush. If it was a simple crush, Cheung Gwun Bo would move on and find someone else. Given his reputation, it would be easy for him. I suspect he was madly in love with her while knowing he wouldn't stand a chance to be with her. He couldn't move on so he stay single for the rest of his life thinking about her. I feel sorry for him though as I believe if GS accepted him, both their lives would be much better.

[tape]

It wasn't a simple crush. If it was a simple crush, Cheung Gwun Bo would move on and find someone else. Given his reputation, it would be easy for him. I suspect he was madly in love with her while knowing he wouldn't stand a chance to be with her. He couldn't move on so he stay single for the rest of his life thinking about her. I feel sorry for him though as I believe if GS accepted him, both their lives would be much better.

I think he literally encountered no other people until he was like 50. It said he stayed in the mountains alone for decades.

[Trien Chieu]

I think he literally encountered no other people until he was like 50. It said he stayed in the mountains alone for decades.

There were reasons for him to isolate himself. I think he was unable to move on from Gwok Seung, so he stayed in the mountains by himself thinking about her. I wish he was as smart a Duan Yu. If he joined her in a long journey, I would say the chance of success is pretty high.

[Ken Cheng]

One thing I don't understand if Cheung 3 Fung did not emerge from seclusion until he was fifty...

As of the beginning of HSDS proper, Cheung 3 Fung had seven founding students of his Mo Dong Sect...the eldest (Sung Yeun Kiu) of which was only in his late twenties or early thirties. Yet Mo Dong Sect already seemed to be a HUGE sect, with most of the Mo Dong 7 Heroes each having a number of students himself. People in wulin seemed to speak of Mo Dong Sect as if it was a venerable old school that had been around for generations and generations like Shaolin or the Beggar's Union, rather than a Johnny-Come-Lately sect that had started less than a half century earlier.

[tape]

One thing I don't understand if Cheung 3 Fung did not emerge from seclusion until he was fifty...

As of the beginning of HSDS proper, Cheung 3 Fung had seven founding students of his Mo Dong Sect...the eldest (Sung Yeun Kiu) of which was only in his late twenties or early thirties. Yet Mo Dong Sect already seemed to be a HUGE sect, with most of the Mo Dong 7 Heroes each having a number of students himself. People in wulin seemed to speak of Mo Dong Sect as if it was a venerable old school that had been around for generations and generations like Shaolin or the Beggar's Union, rather than a Johnny-Come-Lately sect that had started less than a half century earlier.

I think it was mentioned that Song was over 40 by the guy who had the Dragon Sabre in the beginning of the story. Their reputation did seem to grow almost too fast, but I think that might actually be the norm in wulin. Emei also seems to have that air of history, but it likely isn't much older than Wudang.

[Ren Ying Ying]

One thing I don't understand if Cheung 3 Fung did not emerge from seclusion until he was fifty...

It's similar to how Quanzhen sect was considered a large sect by the beginning of LOCH. Qiu Chu Ji described in his 30s, similar to Yu Dai Yan at the beginning of HSDS. Someone like Zhang San Feng does not need long to become famous and it looks like Wudang had at least a few decades of fame by then, which is probably almost a lifetime for many of those people.

Though I'm not sure how long ZSF stayed in seclusion (too lazy to review the entire text). I only skimmed the begining and it mentioned that after parting with Guo Xiang, he spent 10+ years wandering and practicing and theorizing martial arts and Taoism until he finally arrived at Wudang and became a Taoist (seems that the Taoist temples had already been established prior to his arrival?). Perhaps further details are mentioned in the rest of the text.