I decided to delete the old post and posting anew since I have made a few changes in chapter 1. Readers can also read this story from the story vault section.
Please give comments.
Chapter 1
The Eighteenth Birthday
A wave of force cut through serene air like a rock that was cast into a still pond. The energy spread out slowly and touched a cherry tree gently. The tree suddenly shook, and its pink blossoms instantly showered down. Fragrant petals twirled about in the wind before descending to the ground.
Ten meters away, a young man (Roger Kwok Chun On) was standing with closed eyes. He took a deep breath, smelling the delicate scent of cherry blossoms blissfully. All of a sudden, he leaped in the air and gracefully captured one green leaf that fell from the cherry tree. He landed lightly and opened his eyes. Then he studied the leaf and shook his head. “Too much force.” He reproved himself softly.
Yet, he was too happy to let a little mistake spoil his day. Today was his eighteenth birthday, and for the Fu family, he would be considered an adult. He looked at his dirty bare feet and walked to a nearby fountain to wash them. Then he brushed dust from his green robe and returned to the mansion.
He walked past several servants in the front courtyard who were bustling about preparing a banquet for the special occasion and went straight into a garden where he saw the housekeeper cutting roses for his father. The older man gave him a smile and pointed toward a small cottage set serenely under a willow tree. “Your uncles are waiting for you.”
The young man nodded and skipped cheerfully into his hut. Once inside, he noticed three piles of clothing on his bed. Nearby stood a tall man of late thirties (Sean Lau Ching Wan) who turned around at the sound of his entry and smiled at him warmly. Next to a window, a slighter older man (Simon Yam Tat Wah) was looking out at the garden absentmindedly.
The youth cupped his hands and greeted his seniors politely. “Fifth Uncle, Sixth Uncle.”
His sixth uncle nodded. “We have prepared three sets of clothes for you and couldn’t decide which you shall wear.” His smile showed a hint of sadness as he looked at his only nephew.
The other older man hummed and left the window to join the conversation. “I am for a scholar robe, but Sixth Brother wants you to look like a merchant.”
The sixth brother argued good-naturedly. “A merchant will be less noticeable.”
His older brother grunted. “But also attracts more robbers. Besides, Ah Nan fits more as a young scholar. Nobody will investigate a student who is on his way to take an examination at the capital.”
While his two uncles were talking, Fu Nan approached his bed and examined his choice of costumes. One set was an outfit that scholars usually wore, consisting of clean white robe and matching hat. The second pile held light yellow silk brocade with soft leather shoes. Finally, the third set was an old, gray cotton robe and a pair of reed sandals.
At that moment, a short man (Liu Kai Chi) appeared at the doorway. “Why don’t we let Ah Nan make a decision?” He suggested; his eyes danced lively.
The two brothers stopped and turned to their nephew who was trying on the old robe. “Third Brother is right.” The sixth brother agreed.
The fifth brother hummed. “It seems that he shares your taste, Third Brother.”
The short man grinned widely. “Simple is always the best.” He nodded at the youngster. “I was sent to fetch you three. Everyone is waiting at the house.”
Fu Nan nodded and quickly tied his belt before hurrying after his third uncle with appropriate space between them, and his other uncles followed leisurely behind. They passed the garden, took a left turn, and entered a main building where servants lined up in two rows at either side of the walkway. Automatically, Fu Nan paused at the threshold before slowly stepped forward. His heart beat faster as he stopped in front of his eldest uncle (Alex Man Chi Leung) sitting majestically on a low platform. The latter was a man of fifty some years old with thick eyebrows and wide forehead. His eyes were sharp and alert. At that moment, they looked at the young man kindly.
“Fu Nan, you turned eighteen today.” He stated, stroking his beard. His voice was not loud, but it carried across the silent hall. “It is also the day that you will leave us. We have trained you well, and it’s time for you to enter the quest.” He paused and clapped his hands twice. “For now, let’s celebrate.”
At once, the room was alive. The servants brought in two tables – one large and one small – and started serving dishes of food. The eldest brother got up and moved to the big table, and his younger brothers did likewise. Next, he motioned Fu Nan to take a seat at the small table before toasting to the young man’s health.
The food was very delicious, and the wine was excellent, but Fu Nan hardly felt the taste. His uncle’s words still resounded in his mind, and he was both curious and excited. However, his long habit of self-discipline prevented him from asking further questions. So, he solemnly ate and drank along until the banquet was over.
After that, the servants cleared the tables and departed. Alone with their only nephew, the four seniors returned to the low platform and took a look at the youth.
The eldest Fu was the first to speak. “Ah Nan, you are an adult now, so you deserve to know what’s going on here. All these years, you must wonder why you have to live separately from us, why you need to be at another side of curtain when you take lessons with us, and why you are not allowed to see your father.” He sighed grimly. “We did all these things to protect you because you are our only hope for salvation. Our lives and future depend on this quest of yours.”
His face turned melancholy. “Twenty years ago, we seven brothers are known as Seven Tigers of Jiangnan. In the pugilistic realm, we were highly respected and feared. Throughout the southern region, nobody dared to cross our paths.” His face showed pride, and his younger brothers nodded, agreeing with his boast.
“However, pride comes before fall. Because we wished to establish our fame in the north as well, we traveled from Jiangnan to Bianliang, showing off our skills on the way. However, at the capital, we encountered the South Hero Zhan Zhao and were defeated by him. We then realized that if we were to be captured and taken to in front of Justice Bao, we would lose our heads for sure, so we fled westward into the kingdom of Xixia. There, our misfortunes continued as we received the worst curse a man could have ever faced.” Grief spread on his face, while tears appeared in the eyes of his third brother, and anger showed on the face of his two youngest brothers.
“We met a beautiful nun, and the seventh brother playfully flirted with her. The nun was furious, and she flipped her whisk at us. Her movement was fast like lightning, and before we could guard ourselves, our pressure points were sealed, rendering us immovable.
The nun laughed, and she looked at us evilly. One by one, she fed us a fragrant pill before releasing us. Then she said, “you have taken my new invention, ‘A Vow of Celibacy’. From now, you can never go near any women again.” She chuckled slyly. “Thank you for offering yourselves to test my medicine. Ha-ha. Ha-ha.” She then disappeared like wind. Her lightness kungfu was extraordinary, and her inner power was high. She could have killed us easily then. At that point, we were too glad to be alive to pay much attention on the nun’s warning. We just hurried on, afraid that she would change her mind and come back for us, but nothing happened. We traveled two whole days without stopping and finally spotted an inn ahead. Tiredly, we entered, had a meal, and decided to spend a night there, so we got some rooms and went up to rest.
That inn was on the border between Song and Xixia; its guests were mostly traders and soldiers, so it was no surprise that there were many prostitutes about, looking for customers.” He chuckled wryly as he saw Fu Nan’s puzzled expression. “Prostitute is one profession of women. You will understand more when you leave our valley.” He then continued. “Our seventh brother was the only bachelor in our group, and he was fond of being with women, so afterward, he went down to pick up a girl and brought her to his room despite my objection. I recalled the nun’s last words and accordingly warned him, but he only shrugged and laughed at my fear. “That nun only pretended to be angry. I caught her eyes while she looked at me, and I know that she was attracted to me. Otherwise, why did she forbid me to touch another girl? She just wants me for herself.”
The youngest brother was a handsome man, perhaps the best looking among us. He was also playful and charming. Many girls fell in love with him, so it was possible that the nun might like him as well. We were reassured and went back to bed. However, not long after, we heard a scream from the seventh brother’s room. We rushed there and saw him on the bed dead. The girl who was with him was screaming nonstop from fright. When she saw us, she snapped back to her sense and dashed to the door, but after a few paces, she suddenly dropped dead to the floor. At that moment, we heard a vicious laugh from outside, and when we rushed out, we saw the nun standing tall on the roof. She looked like a messenger of death in a white loose gown.” His face twisted as he recalled the dreadful event.
“She laughed shrilly once more and shouted, “if you don’t want to die horribly, you’d better castrate yourselves or become a monk. Otherwise, everyone, men or women, who has a contact with you will be effected with my poison unless they are taken the vow of celibacy.” She flipped her whisk and leaped away, vanishing without trace.
The second brother had the most martial skills and best lightness kungfu, so he immediately chased after her. We all followed him but in the dark, we lost tracks of both. In the morning, we scoured the area but found no one, so we could only conclude that we have lost yet another brother.”
Fu Nan’s third uncle let go his tears, sobbing uncontrollably, while his other uncles bit their lips distressingly. His eldest uncle paced the floor slowly. “By then, we all were very afraid, and as we drew near our home, we were so frightened that we decided not to go back to our wives. So, we came here and built a house to get away from other people and look for a way to cure our poison. At the same time, we trained hard in order to avenge the nun for our dead brothers.” He sighed. “Time passed, and one day your father was gone without warning. Turned out that he missed your mother so much that he was willing to risk his life to see her one more time. Nobody knew what actually happened, but he returned to the valley a month later in a heavily injured state with a baby wrapped carefully inside a basket. It was a boy, and we learned from your father’s last word that the infant was his son. After that, he went into a coma and has not woken since.”
His third brother cried out. “Poor Fourth Brother! I did everything I could, but I cannot wake him up.” Fu Nan had known that his father was under the other’s care and now had just realized why all these years his third uncle was so engrossed in studying medicine. He kneeled down and kowtowed gratefully at the other who could only stare at his nephew agitatedly.
“After some thought, we found a way to prevent another tragedy. We named the place ‘Widower Valley’ and prohibited females to enter the valley. Then we unsexed our servants as a precaution, but we could not do the same thing to ourselves. At the back of our minds, we still have hope that we can find the antidote and reunite with our families some day.
Ah Nan, you are a talented boy, and we have taught you everything that we know. Now it is time that you go out and seek experience. Originally, we want to keep you here for a few more years to strengthen your skills, but we have just heard that Justice Bao had passed away. Therefore, we no longer have to fear that our hiding will be exposed. Moreover, your father is getting worse than before, so there is no time to lose. You are the only one in the family who is not afflicted with the poison, so you shall try to find the antidote for us. Beware all beautiful women for they are the root of the men’s miseries.”
The eldest uncle finished and nodded to his sixth brother who stepped forward with a cloth bundle. “There are clothes, food, and traveling money inside. Take good care of it and don’t trust anyone.”
He turned to his fifth brother who placed an ivory fan and a jade flute on Fu Nan’s table. “Weapon often draws danger to its owner, so I give you these instead.” He pointed at the fan. “This is your two uncles’ masterpiece. It hides 512 projectiles that will release at once when you press a hidden spring. As for the flute, it contains the most poisonous needles. Your third uncle will tell you the recipe of its antidote.”
Fu Nan turned to his fifth and sixth uncles and kowtowed. The former was an expert in hidden weapons. He was also a scholar and gifted musician, while the latter was a mechanic genius and a learned mathematician. Both were his martial arts instructors.
His third uncle brought out a smaller bundle and said with quivered voice. “I have prepared several medicine and antidotes for you in case of an emergency. Here is also the book of medicine that I have been researched for twenty years. When you memorize it, burn it so that no outsider can use it to harm others.”
Fu Nan picked up his things and kowtowed to all his uncles again. His eyes suddenly felt heavy. He tried to get up but had to sit down from drowsiness. He heard his uncles saying farewells and he knew no more.
When he woke up, he was already outside the valley. He looked around and saw a note on a tree above him. “When you come back with the antidote, just wait under this tree, and we will let you in. Good luck.”
Inside his shirt was a thin manual on his first uncle’s ultimate kungfu. Realized that this was the other’s lifetime work, Fu Nan could not help feeling overwhelmed by his uncle’s kindness. Although the latter was the strictest and looked the most intimidate, he actually had a real concern for the only nephew of his.
Fu Nan put the kungfu manual away carefully and followed the rising moon. He had a long way to go, and many adventures were awaiting him.
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I'm back, finally.