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Thread: = The Nine Colors of Rainbow=

  1. #1
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Post = The Nine Colors of Rainbow=


    “Find him! Find the Devil! Burn him!”

    Shouts of thousands of men shattered the silence of the cold night. The men’s torches lighted up the night. As the men dispersed, the torches’ fire looked like huge bunch of fireflies, hunting their prey.

    Not far from that, a little boy sat in front of a simple house. His huge eyes, still heavy from sleepiness, stared at the torches.

    “Han-ji, what are you doing here? Let’s go inside. It’s dangerous here…” A woman in blue dress walked out of the house. Her pretty face paled, her hands shaky, yet she tried her best to conceal her fear.

    “Su-bo, you go inside. Let me wait for teacher here and guard the door. I won’t let anyone harm you or A Lian,” the boy answered bravely. The lady sighed. Faintly, a baby’s crying was heard from inside of the house.

    Suddenly, the door swung open. Someone walked out limply. His white robe badly tattered and smeared with blood. Seeing this, both the lady and the boy gasped. Their eyes wide opened, seeing past the person’s cold, piercing eyes, past the horrible injuries that criss-crossed his body. Their eyes were fixated to the pink bundle that the man embraced.

    “My baby!” The lady gasped. She hurled herself to the man, her hands frantically tried to snatch her baby back. Without a blink, he hit the lady squarely on her head. Blood poured on her face.

    “You devil! What are you doing to my wife and my baby?” An angry voice thundered as a thin man ran approaching. On his shoulder hung a small basket filled with medicinal herbs.

    “Teacher, that devil kidnaps A Lian. Help her…,” the little boy punched the figure with his small fist fearlessly. His teacher followed suit, hitting that man with his basket. But what could an ordinary man like him do to the greatest fighter in wu-lin? With a single stroke, the thin man collapsed in the mysterious person’s feet, his face turned blue.

    “Don’t hurt A Lian! Give A Lian back!” the little boy continued punching the figure. Slowly that man turned his head. His eyes stared at the brave little boy coldly. He began lifting his palm, aiming at the little boy’s head.

    Just then…

    “Over here! The devil is in Doctor Thio’s house!”

    Hearing this, the man’s hand stopped. Seeing the torches now headed to his direction, he retreated.

    “A Lian! Give A Lian back!” the little boy kept on tailing him. But the boy’s little feet could not carry him fast. In a blink, the man has disappeared into the darkness.


    [ June 17, 2002: Message edited by: WhiteKrane ]

    [ July 23, 2002: Message edited by: Floo.. ]

    [ September 29, 2002: Message edited by: Floo.. ]
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  2. #2
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Ch. 1
    It was late at night, and it was dark all over the city. Even the mansion of Officer Lu has gone dark. It seemed that everybody in the mansion has fallen asleep.

    Beneath the starless sky, a shadow was lurking under the shade of the big tree in the mansion’s courtyard. A few minutes later, another shadow was approaching the first shadow.

    “Brother Li, did you see anything suspicious?” the second shadow asked.
    Brother Li shook his head.
    “No. Could that be that devil is afraid to show up?” he said.
    “That’s impossible!!! That ruthless devil is never afraid of anything, or anyone. Don’t you remember how cruel he was when he butchered the entire Wang family 5 years ago?”
    Brother Li scratched his head.
    “Old Ta, you have worked with our master for a very long time. Do you know what has our master done, that makes the devil want to kill him?”

    Old Ta sighed.
    “It’s been a very long time ago… I remember clearly, one night, a starless night like this one, our master went home badly injured. His clothes were full of blood, and his legs were broken. But somehow, he seemed very satisfied. I have no idea what happened that night. But shortly after that incident, our master sold all of his belongings and moved here, to this small town, and began joining the army.”

    “So, do you think whatever happened that night has something to do with the devil?” asked Brother Li.

    Old Ta frowned. “I told you, I know nothing about what happened that night. I just find it very strange that one of the greatest fighters in wu-lin world like that devil would go after a simple officer like our master. Therefore, I am suspicious that 15 years ago at that fateful night, our master must have done something that wronged the devil.”

    Brother Li pouted. “If only I know that the person that we suppose to fight is that devil, I won’t accept our master’s proposal to stay here. I’ll run, back to my village. It’s unfair, that all the maids have been sent back home, while we have to stay here and waiting for our death…”

    “What are you talking about?” Old Ta snapped. “You filthy b*st*rd!! Two years ago, master found you on the street, starved to almost dead and bitten by wild dogs. He brought you here and nurtured you to your health. And all the time you worked here, master and madame treats you well. And now you want to run when they faced difficulties??”

    “It’s easy for you to say!!” Brother Li yelled back. “You are old, crippled,.. You will die soon, so it doesn’t matter for you if you die now. But I’m still young!! I don’t wanna die…”

    Old Ta sighed. “In his letter to our master, that devil clearly stated that he would come tonight to murder seven people. That means everyone in this house: our master, our madame, our young master, the maids, you and me. Do you really think that you can stop the devil to kill you by running home?”

    Brother Li didn’t say anything, but he was still sulking. He didn’t believe that that devil would be able to find him once he was safe in his village.

    Suddenly, something fell from the big tree and hit the ground near Old Ta’s feet with a loud thump. It was a big package, wrapped in white fabrics.

    “What is that?” Brother Li whispered fearfully.
    Old Ta bent over carefully to open the package. He cut the rope that tied the fabrics and unwrapped the fabrics. And both of them screamed.

    There were two corpses in the package. Two white-faced corpses with open mouths and eyes that popped open in terror, as if they were scared to death. Brother Li and Old Ta recognized that the corpse were their friends, Officer Lu’s maids that have gone home two weeks ago. Cautiously Old Ta touched one corpse’s forehead. It’s still warm.

    “That devil really would kill seven of us today.” Old Ta said gloomily. “Come, let’s bring them to master.”


    Upon seeing the corpses, Officer Lu, a big man in his fifties, seemed strangely calm. “I know one day this day will come,” said him.
    He then looked at his wife and son, ”Today, all of us will perish. You are forced to bear the consequences on what I did 15 years ago. Are you afraid?”

    Madame Lu and young Lu shook their head.
    “Dad, I’m not afraid!! I even proud that you did what you have done, even if we have to pay it with our lives.” Young Lu said bravely.
    Madame Lu smiled tenderly. “I always hope that we could die together. It doesn’t matter how we would die.” She said, putting her hand in Officer Lu’s hand.
    Officer Lu smiled bitterly.
    “Old Ta, Li, how about you?”
    “Master, your father saved me when my village was drown by the flood. My life belongs to your family. What else should I said?” Old Ta said shakily. Brother Li only pouted. He didn’t dare to say a word in front of his master. Yet he was afraid to imagine that he would be dead in a few hours, just like the two maids.

    And so, five of them sat closely in front of the corpses, waiting for their deaths…


    ---
    “Oh, brother, can’t we stop for a while? I’m so tired, and it will be dawn in no time.” A female voice interrupted the silence outside the city. The voice is of a pretty girl. Her beautiful red dress was dirty from long journey. Her big eyes were glazed sleepily. Yet the young man that walked beside her didn’t slow his pace.

    “You know we are in a hurry. Imagine if we are too late, and I could not deliver this antidote on time!!” he scolded. The girl pouted.

    Suddenly, a shrill shriek echoed, piercing the silence of the near dawn.

    “What is that? Brother, that sound came from inside that city! We should go there and check!” said the girl, drawing her sword. The young man didn’t say a word. He silently used his gin-kang to run to the direction of the sound.

    In no time, both of them arrived at the Lu mansion.
    “Si-mei, be careful!” said the young man. The girl nodded. Cautiously both of them entered the main hall of the mansion, and gasped.

    Inside the main hall, an elderly man clad in a white robe sat calmly. He was sipping a cup of tea. He seemed so serene, very much contrasted with his surrounding, where bodies littered the floor. Not far from his feet, a man sprawled, blood poured from his eyes.

    Hearing the two person approaching, the man in white robe lifted his head and smiled,” Would you like a cup of tea?” he asked politely.

    The young man froze. He sensed that the man in white robe was not an ordinary person. He tried to figure out who the person was. His si-mei, however, could not suppress her anger.

    “You killed so many people, you couldn’t be a good man. I will kill you to pay for these people’s death!” she said, stabbing her sword to the man’s left chest. Her attack was very fast and powerful.

    The man in white robe smirked. Continuing sipping his tea, he seemed as if he didn’t pay any attention to the girl’s attack. As the sword almost touched his chest, he extended his hand. The girl felt as if something heavy hit her. Surprised, she backed down. Suddenly her hand felt light. The man has seized her sword.

    “Hmmm… Student of the God of Sword, you really disgrace your teacher.” said the man, tossing the girl’s sword to the floor. The girl’s face went pale. She never thought that the man would be able to unhand her so easily. More than that, he could also guess her teacher in just one style.

    Her si-hing stepped up.
    “Sir, please forgive my si-mei.” he said politely.
    “Hmm… so you are God of Sword’s eldest student, right?” the old man sneered cynically.
    “Yes, I am Wu Han, and this is my si-mei Ie Goat Lan. We didn’t know then that you are a friend of our si-fu. Please forgive her carelessness,” the young man said, bowing his body in respect.
    “Hmph…. Friend? Who want to befriend with that silly Kiau Leng Thian?” the man said coldly.

    Hearing this, Goat Lan could not suppress her anger much longer. ”You… How could you say that? My si-fu… He is much smarter than you are, stupid cow!!”

    The man only laughed. “You really have guts, little girl. Even your teacher wouldn’t dream to behave so rude to me.”

    As he said that, suddenly his body flashed, and out of a sudden that man has gone.
    “Please send my regards to your si-fu. Tell him to teach his students better,” his voice thundering from very far away.

    Wu Han could not hide his amazement. “Who is that man? It seemed that his martial skill is not lower than that of our si-fu. Sister, you should be more careful next time. Luckily that man didn’t get angry and killed you.”

    Goat Lan didn’t answer. Wu Han turned, and surprised to see Goat Lan’s face turned red.
    “What happened?” he asked.
    “I don’t know, I feel sleepy. Brother, may I sleep here?” Goat Lan asked sleepily. Wu Han immediately checked Goat Lan’s pulse.
    “Goat Lan, you are poisoned!! Hurry, I’ll transfer some of my lwee-kang to you to suppress the poison.”

    “If I were you, I won’t do that.” Suddenly a young man entered the hall. He then walked approaching Goat Lan and checked her pulse.

    “What are you doing?” Wu Han hurriedly snatched the man’s hand away. “Don’t you know that it’s improper to touch a girl’s hand?”
    “Whatever.” The man said. He then took out a small jar from his pocket. “She’s lucky that the devil only poisoned her with White Dew poison. Here, give her one of the pills.”
    Wu Han opened the little jar. It contained many small white pills. “Who are you? Why should I trust you?” he asked.
    “Why? Hahaha… Nobody asks you to believe me. I don’t care whether she will die or not, so just give me back my pills if you don’t trust me.”

    “OK then, I trust you!!” By saying that, Wu Han took one pill and shoved it to Goat Lan’s mouth.

    The man nodded. “This kind of poison is very strange. If you try to heal her using your lwee-kang, the poison would exacerbate.”

    Wu Han took a closer look to that man. He was still young, about the same age as he was. He was wearing a simple black robe. In his waist Wu Han saw a rod. A dragon-shaped metal circling the rod. Upon seeing that unusual weapon, Wu Han remembered something.

    “Aren’t you the Weird Fighter Sie Je Jian, student of the Weird Man Yang Li Sheng?” Wu Han asked. Sie Je Jian nodded.

    “Weird Young Master and Weird Fighter, si-heng and si-de are very famous of their tiam-hoat. I, Wu Han, really admire your high martial skill,” Wu Han added.

    Sie Je Jian shrugged nonchalantly. “Then I assume you must be God of Sword’s student, Wu Han, Wu siau-hiap, the defender of the weak,” he said mockingly.

    Wu Han shook his head, ”Master Sie, please do not call me so. I’m not worthy of that addressing. But you’re right, God of Sword is my si-fu, and this is my si-mei, Ie Goat lan.”

    Just then, Goat Lan stirred. Her face has turned to its normal color. “What happened? Who is this guy, brother?”

    “Are you OK?” Wu Han asked her happily. “ You are poisoned by the senior we talked to before. This is Sie Je Jian, student of the Weird Man. He’s the one that saved your live. Master Sie,” Wu Han turned to Je Jian, “Thank you for saving my si-mei’s life.”

    “Oh!!” Goat Lan turned to Je Jian. “Thank you for saving my life, Sir!!” Je Jian only smirked. Goat Lan wrinkled her nose. She felt irritated with Je Jian’s coldness, but since he had saved her life, she decided to keep her mouth shut this time.

    “The senior is very skillful. In one style, he managed to seize my si-mei’s sword and poisoned her. Hmm… I wonder who he is...” Wu Han murmured.
    “Don’t you know who the man is?” Je Jian asked Wu Han in disbelief. “He is the Devil Ling Man Shin.”

    Upon hearing this, Wu Han’s expression changed. “You mean that old man in white robe is the Devil? The Devil as in the God, the Devil and the Weird Man? One of the greatest fighters at this time?”
    Hearing this, Goat Lan stuck her tongue, “No wonder he can defeat me that easily… He is on par with our si-fu in term of skill… Yet surely he could not be compared my si-fu, as my si-fu is the most righteous person while he is a heartless devil.”
    Wu Han didn’t pay attention to what Goat Lan said. He seemed to be lost in thought. ”I’ve look for him so many years… Yet when I met him, I didn’t recognize him!”

    Just now, one body in the hall moved. It was the body of the man with blood pouring from his eyes. Now the blood has dried, leaving trail of blood in his cheeks. Goat Lan ran toward the man, and helped him sat.

    “Has he… left….?” the man mumbled.
    “Sir, don’t worry. That evil Ling Man Shin has gone. You’ll be safe here.” said Goat Lan softly.
    “My family…. Did he… killed all of my family…?” the man, who turned out to be Officer Lu, whispered sadly. Goat Lan bit her lips, as she could not utter a word.
    “There are six bodies here,” Wu Han whispered.

    Suddenly Officer Lu laughed out loud. “Ling Man Shin… Ling Man Shin… You killed all of my family and leave me alone in this world. We are even now. Even! Do you hear me?” Again, he laughed bitterly. He then crawled in the floor. “Where is my wife? Where is my son?” he murmured. Wu Han guided him to the bodies. Officer Lu then sat in the floor, his hands were hugging the bodies of his beloved ones.

    “Now all of you listen. I want to tell you something, something that I did 15 years ago that made all of my family die today,” he said.

    “Years and years ago, my father was a great merchant, so as his only son I also helped him in business. We were very rich and respected. In one of his journey, my father met a Persian merchant. He offered my father to make a business connection. My father agreed, and so we started to cooperate. We sold him our best silk and porcelain, while he sold us tapestries. Things went well….”

    “Then one day, the Persian merchant came to see us, bringing a very beautiful statue, made from emerald. I’ve never seen anything that exquisite. That statue must be priceless! He asked us to help him selling the statue. My father has objected, as it’s not easy to find buyer for something so valuable, but the Persian merchant insisted. As my father respected him very much, we then agreed to help him. So he went back to his country, leaving his valuable statue with us.”

    “I have suspected that something bad would happen, and that was exactly what happened. Shortly after the Persian merchant went home, someone broke into our house and stole the statue!! My father was very shocked upon hearing the news. More, the Persian merchant came to our house and claimed most of our belongings as the repayment of his statue, and leaving us with only a very small asset. My father was so humiliated, that he died. On the day my father died, my mother committed suicide… “

    “I was so shocked, and decided to investigate the statue. After much work, I found that actually the Persian merchant was part of a gang that was headed by Ling Man Shin, and that they have planned the whole thing to get my family’s money. From then on, I swore to myself that I would kill that b*st*rd Ling Man Shin for what he did to my family.”

    “At that time, Ling Man Shin’s wickedness has been well known all over wu-lin world. So in no time, I found several friends that also want to take revenge to Ling Man Shin. We knew that we could not defeat him, as he was one of the best fighters in wulin world. So then we set up a plan…”

    “On this date 15 years ago, we heard that Ling Man Shin has agreed to have a duel with the God of Sword Kiau Leng Thian and the Weird Man Yang Li Sheng, two other best fighters in wu-lin world. Since the devil would face Kiau Leng Thian and Yang Li Sheng by himself, we then assumed that he would get killed. Meanwhile, we decided to kill the grass up to the roots, by killing Ling Man Shin’s family while he was on duel.”

    “You could not kill him by yourself so you’re using other people’s hand while you also took revenge by killing his innocent family!!” Wu Han said, frowning.

    “I know I’ve been low, but I’ll do anything to take revenge on him!” Officer Lu shouted. He sighed, as if he tried to compose his emotion. He then continued. His voice was flat.

    ”We killed everyone in his family. We killed his two servants, including the Persian guy. We killed his wife. We killed his son. And we threw his baby into the river….”

    Goat Lan gasped. Officer Lu didn’t pay attention to her, and kept continuing his story.

    “We thought everything was OK. Oh, I still remember, we partied that night. Brother Jin, Brother Ho, Brother Yap, Brother Wang and I, we drank like crazy that night. Little did we know that everything would turned to be nightmare in the morning…”

    “It turned out that Kiau Leng Thian and Yang Li Sheng could not, or would not kill Ling Man Shin, nobody knows for sure. All I know is that the devil went home and found us there, among his family’s bodies. His rage, you cannot imagine. Lucky for us, he was severely injured, so he could only killed Brother Yap. Yet all of us were badly wounded, as that devil is really powerful. We were managed to escape, but still we heard that the devil swore to kill us, our family and us, one by one. He would kill one of us every five years, to give us time to spend our life in fear, thinking about his revenge of his five family members…”

    “In order to distract him, the four of us changed our identity. I myself, I became an officer in this small city. Yet 5 years later, I heard that Brother Ho and his family have been slaughtered… And Brother Wang and his family died 5 years ago… And now mine…”

    “Why didn’t you ask for help?” Goat Lan asked hotly. Officer Lu opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly he fell unconscious.

    “What happen to him?” Goat Lan cried anxiously. Je Jian hurriedly checked Officer Lu’s pulse. He then opened Officer Lu’s mouth. Goat Lan gasped. Officer Lu’s tongue has turned black.

    “He was poisoned by Black Orchid Poison. He’ll die 2 days from now with blood pouring from his mouth. ” Je Jian said gloomily. “Ah… that devil really wants to see this man died a painful death.”

    “Then…. What should we do? Master Sie, you saved me when I got poisoned. Can’t you save him, too?” Goat Lan asked.

    Je Jian shook his head. “I’m afraid it is impossible. My pills are very effective to cure many poisons, but not for Black Orchid.”

    “Do you know who can help this man?” Wu Han asked.
    Je Jian sighed. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but then he hesitantly closed his mouth again.
    “Well, what is it? Do you or do you not know?” Goat Lan became impatient.
    “I think…. Apart from the Devil, only one person can help him. It’s just….” Je Jian didn’t continue his sentence.
    “Who is this person?” Goat Lan persisted. “Hey, why do you seem hesitant?”
    Still, Je Jian didn’t say a word.
    “Sister, stop pushing him. He might have his own difficulties.” Wu Han said patiently.

    At that time Officer Lu began to stir. “Hahaha…. Stop fighting for this old man’s life. I myself, I do not wish to live any longer...” he said.
    “Sir, what are you talking about? Do you really want to die now? Remember, you have not take revenge on the Devil yet!” Goat Lan said vehemently.
    “Ah…. What else can I do? Now the only thing I want to do is to die soon, and meet my family in heaven,” said Officer Lu calmly. “Ever since I heard the death of Brother Ho’s family, I have lost all of my hope to stay alive.”

    “My only regret is that Brother Jin would die 5 years from now. It’s a shame, as he has actually no grudge against that devil. His friendship with us made him went with us in killing the devil’s family.” Officer Lu continued. “Ah… if only I can be sure that he will be fine, I’ll die in peace. But… who could protect Brother Jin against the devil? The only persons that could help are only the God of Sword and the Weird Man, but nobody knows where they live...”

    “Don’t worry, my si-fu will help you!” said Goat Lan surely. “He is God of Sword Kiau Leng Thian, you know…”
    “Really?” Officer Lu’s face lit up. “Could you bring Brother Jin to your teacher? If you do, I’ll be greatly grateful.”

    Wu Han frowned. He thought his si-mei was very careless. He felt pity upon hearing Officer Lu’s story, yet he thought that Officer Lu’s vengeance toward Ling Man Shin was as ruthless as Ling Man Shin’s action.

    Meanwhile, Officer Lu continued his talking, ”You could find Brother Jin in the mansion of Feng family in Hang-ciu. He works there as servant under pseudonym A Khan. Go get him, and bring him to your teacher.”

    Officer Lu then turned to Goat Lan. “Miss, could you please do me a favor? Kill me now…” he said flatly. “Now that Brother Jin will be safe, I want to meet my family as soon as I can…” Goat Lan opened her mouth in shock. Officer Lu’s request was beyond her expectation. She was silently eyeing her si-heng, asking what she should do.

    Wu Han actually didn’t agree on his si-mei’s suggestion to bring his si-fu interfering with Ling Man Shin’s grudge. If his si-mei killed this man, didn’t that mean that she took the responsibility on fulfilling Officer Lu’s request?

    As both of them didn’t know what to do, suddenly a golden needle sparked, and pierced Officer Lu’s thay-yang hiat in his forehead. Officer Lu’s body jerked. He died on the next second. Goat Lan and Wu Han gazed at Je Jian with disbelief, as Je Jian is the one that threw the needle.

    “What?” Je Jian said nonchalantly. “He’s the one that asked for it, right? Besides, it’s better for him to die now, before the poison works.”

    Wu Han groaned. There was no way out from this matter, now.

    “Sister, you really give me headache this time,” Wu Han said to Goat Lan. “I first should go delivering this antidote, and it would took some time. After that, we would spend about one and a half year to two years for going to Hang-ciu and going home to Bin San Mountain. Hopefully at that time si-fu have not yet gone wandering. Otherwise, we should think another way to save Brother Jin’s life.”

    “Oh, brother, you are too worried. Listen, I have an idea. You could go and deliver that antidote, while I’ll go to Hang-ciu. How about that?” Goat Lan said.

    “You? Could you do that all by yourself? It’s not an easy task, you know… Ah, if only you know where to deliver this antidote then I’ll ask you to deliver it while I’ll go to Hang-ciu… ”

    Suddenly a baritone voice answered, ”What if I accompanied this lady to go to Hang-ciu instead?” asked Je Jian.

    Wu Han hesitated. He knew that Je Jian’s martial art was very good. Yet his reputation was not that good. As the Weird Man’s student, Je Jian’s act was very unpredictable, just like the way he killed Officer Lu. Still, this is the only way to save Brother Jin’s life and fulfill Officer Lu’s last request.

    “OK. Sister, you’ll go with Master Sie. But don’t be naughty and don’t be a nuisance in the journey,” said Wu Han finally.

    Goat Lan pouted, ”When was I became a nuisance?” she sulked.

    Wu Han bowed to Je Jian, ”Master Sie, thank you for your kindness. I really appreciate your helping us.”

    Je Jian sneered, ”Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the one that killed this man, so it’s normal that I should also be the one that fulfill his last request.”

    Wu Han sighed, ”I really hope that this quest would not hinder you from doing your own mission.”

    “Hahahaha… I’ve heard that God of Sword’s head student is a very skillful fighter. I have searched you for a long time, because I want to challenge your sword. Now, why don’t we do our own tasks, we’ll see who is better in executing our tasks,” laughed Je Jian out loud.

    Wu Han also laughed, ”The Weird Fighter is indeed very weird, always eager to challenge someone. But I’ve never thought that I would get this honor. OK, let’s treat these tasks as our first duel.”

    Both of them laughed.

    Deep inside Wu Han’s heart, he began to like this strange character. On the other hand, Je Jian has heard much about Wu Han’s heroic deeds and how he loved to help people in distress. So both of them talked all night long, especially about many things in wu-lin world. Goat Lan, who was never wandered before, heard with her mouth wide opened.

    That night, the three of them buried the bodies of the Lu family. Next morning, they went to their own way; Goat Lan and Je Jian were heading south to Hang-ciu while Wu Han was heading west. They have agreed than once Wu Han finished delivering the antidote, he will go straight to Bin San Mountain to inform his si-fu about Brother Jin.
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  3. #3
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    ---
    “Master Sie, you told us that you live in an ice mountain. Tell me, is it beautiful there?” That day was the twentieth day after Goat Lan and Je Jian started their journey southward. All along the way, Goat Lan kept pestering Je Jian with questions. Although Je Jian only replied shortly, it didn’t stop Goat Lan for trying to engage Je Jian in a talk.

    “Sure, it’s very beautiful.” Je Jian said nonchalantly. Suddenly Je Jian stopped his pace.
    “What is it?” Goat Lan asked. Je Jian didn’t anwer. He positioned his head, as if he was trying to hear something. He abruptly grabbed Goat Lan’s hand and pulled her, jumping on top of a big tree near they stand.
    “Hey, what are you doing?” Goat Lan yelled. Je Jian didn’t say a word, just hushed Goat Lan with his looks.
    Goat Lan opened her mouth, wanting to say something. But before she got the chance to do so, thundering sound was heard. It was the sound of hundreds of horses’ feet, galloping fast past the tree where they hide.

    The riders of the horses were wearing red robes. Their faces were frightening. About the back of the group, a huge man wearing red robe with black sash was riding a huge black horse. The man’s face was very ugly. His left eyes were covered with a piece of black cloth and his right cheek was scarred. In his waist hung a big sabre, its blade glistening in the sun.

    Only after the last horse disappeared Je Jian released his grasp to Goat Lan and jumped down from the tree.
    “Who are these guys? They look scary,” inquired Goat Lan.
    “Did you notice the red spider emblem on their sleeves? They are from Red Spider sect, one of the biggest sects in Southern land. I wonder what they do here,” Je Jian answered.
    “And who’s the ugly guy that rides the black horse? Is he their leader?”
    “No… His name is Wong Chin, also known as the Thousand Sabre. He’s the concubine of Red Spider’s leader, Hung Pei Pei, and general in Red Spider Sect. His sabrework is really good” Je Jian told her.
    Goat Lan wrinkled her nose, ”Ugh! He is so ugly! Doesn’t this Hung Pei Pei have eyes? Why should she pick someone that ugly to be her concubine?” she murmured. “Hey, you told me he’s very good in fighting. Which one is better, you or him?”
    Je Jian frowned. “It’s difficult to say, as I’ve never fought him. But he had fought my si-heng, and my si-heng won him in about five hundred styles. Hmmm… I would love to fight him,” he said, squinting his eyes.
    “Then why didn’t you stop and challenge him?”
    Je Jian smirked. “I would… I would… Ah, actually that was a golden opportunity, it’s just too bad that I have you with me!”
    “What?” Goat Lan shrieked. “Do you think I’m afraid?”
    Je Jian laughed out loud. “Hahaha… as the student of God of Sword, if you were afraid you really put your teacher into shame! It’s not that, it’s just Wong Chin is very keen on beautiful face, and we will be in big trouble if he sees your face.”
    “Oh,” Goat Lan went speechless. She smiled sheepishly and then, ”So you think I’m beautiful, eh?” Je Jian really didn’t know what to say, so he continued to walk again, leaving Goat Lan smiling behind his back.

    ---
    It was already dark, and it rained hard. Two horses were prancing towards an abandoned temple.
    “Brother Je Jian, look! We could spend the night there,” A pretty girl in wet red dress pointed at the abandoned temple. Je Jian nodded, “Hurry then,” he said, spurring his horse.

    A couple of months have passed since they began their journey. Although Je Jian still kept his nonchalant attitude, yet Goat Lan could feel that Je Jian has soften towards her, which made her very happy. He began to open himself, telling more about his life in the snowy Heng Hai mountain with his sifu and si-heng. He also told her many of his adventure in wu-lin world. The stories were very interesting, especially for Goat Lan that have never wandered in wu-lin world.


    The God of Sword Kiau Leng Thian was an honorable and righteous man. He loved to go wandering around, helping people in trouble. On his journeys, Kiau Leng Thian befriended many people, including people outside wu-lin world. Goat Lan’s father was one of them.

    Fifteen years ago, on his way back to Bin San Mountain after his famous fight with Ling Man Shin, Kiau Leng Thian met a little boy on the bank of a river, crying all by himself. Kiau Leng Thian saw that the boy had good bones, so he took the boy to Bin San Mountain and made him his student. Wu Han turned out to be very talented and smart, and he also had a kind heart that made Kiau Leng Thian loved him as his own son.

    Later on, on one of Kiau Leng Thian’s journey, he discovered that the city where Goat Lan’s father lived in has plagued by a very strange disease, leaving everyone but Goat Lan died. As a tribute for his friend, Kiau Leng Thian then took the orphaned Goat Lan to be his student. Unfortunately, Goat Lan, who was spoiled by her late father, was not serious in studying her lesson, and thus made her left very far behind her si-heng in term of skill. That, and her careless nature made Kiau Leng Thian never encouraged her to go wandering by herself, like Wu Han usually did.

    After two years cooped in Bin San Mountain, Goat Lan was very bored and begged her si-hing to take her on his journey, particularly since her si-fu has mentioned his wish to go wandering after taught her so intensively. Wu Han pitied his only si-mei that he always left, so he helped her persuading their teacher to let Goat Lan out this time. But even in her journey, Goat Lan felt restless. Wu Han was a quiet and serious person, and they didn’t meet many interesting person. That was why Goat Lan was very excited upon meeting Je Jian, as this handsome man was unlike everyone she ever met before. Goat Lan found that talking to Je Jian was very amusing, since not only he was a great fighter, but he also had deep understanding on poetry, music, literature and history.

    As they were approaching the temple, they could see fire flickered inside.

    “Hmm… it seemed that someone has been in the temple,” Goat Lan said. Je Jian didn’t say a word, yet he noticed that in the temple’s yard there was some trace of blood, as if there were some serious battle there. Meanwhile, Goat Lan had pranced hurriedly into the temple after tied her horse on the temple’s yard. Je Jian followed suit, clutching his dragon rod in his hand.

    Goat Lan almost reached the door, when suddenly a flash of light struck, aiming at her head. Just then, Je Jian stepped ahead and warded off the light. His dragon rod clashed with the attacker’s sword and let out a loud bang. The clashed was so powerful that made the attacker’s body shook. But it didn’t scare him; instead he tightened his grip to his sword.

    “Hmm… Just take one step forward and I’ll cut your body to pieces!” he screamed threateningly.

    Je Jian frowned. The attacker was a man in his early forties. He looked tired, and his robe was stained with blood here and there. It seemed that his injury was quite fatal. Yet he was still standing stoutly.

    “Are you out of your mind?” Goat Lan, recovering from her shock, stepped forward and screamed back. “What’s the matter with you? Is this temple yours, so you are allowed to kill everyone that want to shelter here?”
    Hearing her answer, the man seemed hesitant for a minute, then, ”Hmph, do you think you can fool me? Just when I let you in, you would use the opportunity to attack me, eh?” he smirked.
    Goat Lan was annoyed. She drew her sword, ”You think you can stop me from entering this temple? Eat my sword first!!” she said, attacking the man.

    At first it seemed that her sword almost pierced the man’s chest, but at the last second the man managed to slipped away. He even moved his sword, stabbing Goat Lan’s arm, while his left hand hit, aiming Goat Lan’s back. Goat Lan used her gin-kang to jump up high, avoiding the attacks and then jumped down, aiming her sword to the man’s throat.

    [ September 29, 2002: Message edited by: Floo.. ]
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  4. #4
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Hi ya all, I made some revision in my fan fic, please be commented <IMG SRC="smilies/bow.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/bow.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/bow.gif" border="0">

    I'll update again tomorrow...
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  5. #5
    Senior Member Goofy's Avatar
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    like your prologue. So I guess that the boy in it is Wu Han of today?

    You and charbydis became my favorite authors. Make me feel that my own fanfic is not on par with you two's. <IMG SRC="smilies/crying.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/sweating.gif" border="0">

    Update soon...

    BTW, how did goat lan know for sure that yeung pei pei is a female? he-he... <IMG SRC="smilies/evillaugh.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/naughty.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/shifty.gif" border="0">
    "History's third dimension is always fiction."
    -- The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse

  6. #6
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    <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> Miss your story Floo...comeback soon! I become rusty here waiting for your next post!

  7. #7
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    Hey FLoo..Is she your friend or something? She only comes here to post in your story and not anywhere else in the messageboard. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
    I just love how you Captivate My Mind

    Self reminder - Update blog more often and continue editing/writing for TOV fanfic.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Goof: You're KIDDING me!!!! There's no way my fanfic is as good as yours or Charby's!! Nobody reads mine, for sure <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

    Urm... I thought, as Wong Chin is a male, then it's logical for Goat Lan to conclude that YPP is a female....

    I didn't say it's true, though....
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  9. #9
    Senior Member Goofy's Avatar
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    I am your FAN!!! <IMG SRC="smilies/exhibit.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/love.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/rockband.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/smooch.gif" border="0">

    Update soon!!!
    PS: Goat Lan is still as annoy as last time but I see her cute side now. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">
    "History's third dimension is always fiction."
    -- The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse

  10. #10
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Standing on the side of the yard, Je Jian watched the two persons fighting in the rain. He guessed that the sword-style that the man used was a sword-style from the westward, while Goat Lan used Wind and Water kiamhoat. Her sword’s movement was very strange; at one time it flashed rapidly and powerfully, while at the other time it glided smoothly. Je Jian also noticed that although the man’s lwee-kang was higher than that of Goat Lan, her gin-kang was more superior, and it complemented her sword-style. As the man was badly injured, Je Jian predicted that in about 50 styles, Goat Lan would succeed in defeating the man.

    As he predicted, on about the 50th style, Goat Lan succeeded in unhanding the man. His sword fell into the ground. Yet he still managed to stand tall, his head high. ”If you want to kill me, just do it! But don’t mess up with my miss, or even as a ghost, I won’t leave you in peace!” he said, closing his eyes in deep surrender.

    ”Huh, you are crazy! When did I say that I want to kill you? I just want to sleep here for one night, as it rains hard. But you didn’t permit me…” Goat Lan scolded. As she said that, a soft cough was heard inside of the temple. Je Jian ran inside the temple and found a body lay in front of the campfire.

    The person in front of the fire wore man’s robe but the face was very beautiful, so it was easy to guess that the person was a girl disguised as a young man. Her face was very pale, with dried blood on the corner of her lips. Her eyes were closed, that made her looked as if she was dead. Her breath was short and shallow. But then suddenly she coughed again.

    “A Khan, A Khan, what happened?” she whispered weakly.
    The man that fought Goat Lan came hurriedly, “Miss, don’t be afraid. Two persons come to stay at this temple, but I don’t think they are from Red Spider sect.”
    “Is this injury caused by a follower of Red Spider sect?” Je Jian asked him.
    A Khan nodded. “They have followed me and my miss. Once, we were ambushed by them. Their leader, Wong Chin, injured my miss and me. We managed to trick them and escape, but some of them followed us here and they were killed by me outside this temple.”

    “Where are you from, and where are you going?” Goat Lan asked. But before A Khan could reply, his miss coughed again. This time blood poured from her mouth. Je Jian hurriedly checked her pulse. He frowned.
    “It seems that your miss was poisoned with Black Orchid Poison. Yet this poison is not as poisonous as it suppose to. And it also seems that her tongue didn’t turn black. This is indeed a very weird,” he muttered. “How long since she got poisoned?” he then asked.
    “We got attacked yesterday’s morning.”
    Je Jian sighed. Black Orchid Poison would kill its victim in two days, so if this strange poison were actually Black Orchid, this girl would die in about a few hours. Yet when he checked her pulse, he felt that although the girl was seriously poisoned, the poison was countered by a cold energy.

    “I gave my miss a very rare snow lotus. Is that OK for her?” A Khan inquired.
    “Snow lotus? Is that why the Black Orchid Poison could not kill her?” Je Jian said, thinking hard.
    “You mean, my miss would not die?” A Khan’s face lit.
    Je Jian nodded, “I think so, for the moment. It’s just although the snow lotus that she ate could helped prolonging her life, the poison itself will remain in her body and could attack her anytime.”
    “So my miss would suffer, then?” A Khan asked again, his eyes widened.
    Suddenly his miss moved, she smiled weakly, “A Khan, I don’t care if I have to suffer. As long as I still stay alive, I will try my best to find the treasure.”
    “Brother Je Jian, didn’t you say that you know someone that could neutralize the Black Orchid Poison?” Goat Lan asked abruptly. Je Jian’s body tensed. He frowned.
    “You know? Oh, siauw-hiap. I would be very grateful if you could tell me who could neutralize this poison and save my miss.” A Khan begged. He even started to bow to Je Jian.
    “Goat Lan…” Je Jian hissed angrily. His si-fu has warned him not to disclose the person’s identity!!

    Upon hearing this, the beautiful lady sighed, “Siauw-hiap, please do not pay attention to A Khan.” She then turned to A Khan. “It seems that this young master has his own difficulties, so please don’t force him to tell the name of the person that could heal me. I just hope that the snow lotus would give me enough strength to find the treasure before I died. Then I will truly feel that I didn’t die in vain, but that I contribute something to the greatness of Ciu dynasty.”

    Goat Lan’s eyes widened. “Are you talking about the lost treasure of Thio Su-Seng?” The beautiful girl nodded.

    At that time, the Mainland was under the Ming dynasty. Although it’s been decades, people still remembered clearly about the short reigning of the previous Ciu dynasty. Rumors said that the emperor of Ciu dynasty, Thio Su Seng, had collected a huge amount of treasure. Before he was overthrown by Cu Goan Ciang, founder of the Ming dynasty, he managed to hide the treasure somewhere. For decades, many people have searched for the treasure, yet they never found it. One could not even sure anymore, whether the existence of the treasure was real or only legend. That’s why Goat Lan was very thrilled upon hearing that the girl seemed to know the existence of the treasure.

    “At this point, my miss is the only person that know the treasure’s whereabouts.” A Khan said miserably. “Miss, if you die before we find the treasure, the great Ciu dynasty will never be revived and people would keep suffering!” The beautiful girl only smiled sadly.

    “Brother Je Jian, we could not let this jie-jie die! Don’t you hear that if she dies then the treasure will never be found?” Goat Lan pleaded.

    Je Jian contemplated. The reigning emperor at that time was Emperor Ki Tin. He was weak and stupid. He delegated all of the governmental affairs to corrupt ministers that oppressed the inhabitants, while the loyal ones were powerless. There were many attempts of rebellion to end the people’s suffering, yet none of these succeeded.

    “Hmm… I’m afraid it was impossible. Don’t you remember that we should go to Hang-ciu immediately?” Je Jian finally said.

    Upon hearing this, A Khan lifted his head. “Sir, may we know what your business in Hang-ciu is? My miss and I are from Hang-ciu, and we might be able to help you with your business there,”
    “Hey, you are from Hang-ciu! Tell me, do you know the Feng family there?” Goat Lan asked.
    A Khan nodded, “Of course I know! Great merchant Feng is my master, and my miss is his only daughter.”
    Je Jian quickly stepped up, “And your name is A Khan? Is that possible that your real name is Jin?”
    “Who are you? What do you want? How do you know my real name?” A Khan asked vehemently.
    “We are looking for you as requested by your friend Lu before he died.” Je Jian answered.
    A Khan’s face changed. “Brother Lu… So he also got killed by the devil Ling Man Shin?” Je Jian only nodded. A Khan screamed out in anguish.


    Brother Jin, or Jin Lam, was Officer Lu’s sworn brother. One day, after hearing that Officer Lu’s parents have died because of the devil, Jin Lam promised Officer Lu that he would help his sworn brother to take revenge. Alas, their plan did not run smoothly, and Brother Jin was even badly injured. Running away as far as possible from Ling Man Shin, Jin Lam arrived at Hang-ciu. As his martial skill was quite good, he was accepted to work as a bu-su in the Feng mansion.

    The great merchant Feng Yan was the richest man in Kang-lam. His mansion in Hang-ciu was full with many valuable things, yet the most valuable one was indeed her very beautiful daughter, Feng Li Hoa, which was dubbed the prettiest girl in Kang-lam. Jin Lam’s high skill made Feng Yan asked him to be her bodyguard.

    A few years ago when Li Hoa was still a little kid, Feng Yan brought her picnicking in the forest outside Hang-ciu city. She played hide-and-seek with Jin Lam, and went hiding in a cave. There, she found a letter. The letter was written by Thio Su-seng when he was hiding from Cu Goan Ciang’s army in that cave. In it, he depicted the location of his treasure, and urged anyone that found it to revive the Ciu dynasty and prosper the country. Li Hoa was very excited upon reading the letter, and in her excitement she dropped her firestone and ended up burning the letter. Luckily, Li Hoa was a clever girl with good memory, so she still remembered the treasure’s location well. Feng Yan was very shocked to hear Li Hoa’s story, and he insisted that Li Hoa kept mum about this, as he feared that the treasure’s news would spread and people would kidnap her to force her telling the location of the treasure. The only person that knew this matter was only Li Hoa’s trusted man, Jin Lam.

    As the years went by, Li Hoa became more and more irritated seeing the people’s suffering under Emperor Ki Tin’s corrupt government. More, she also heard that outside Gan-bun-koan border, there was a gang, supporter of the previous Ciu dynasty, called Sun and Moon (Jit-goat-ki) that aimed at prospering the nation and overthrowing Emperor Ki Tin. She felt sympathy toward the gang, and decided to look for the treasure and donate it to finance Jit-goat-ki’s struggle.

    Feng Yan tried to persuade his beloved daughter not to go, as he was very afraid that something bad would happen to her. Yet she insisted, so there was nothing Feng Yan could do beside let her go, accompanied with Feng Yan’s most skillful bu-su Jin Lam. They had tried to keep their journey secret, yet somehow Red Spider Sect knew about their mission and began hunting them down.


    “A Khan, do you want to go to take revenge of your friend’s death?” Li Hoa asked softly. “If you do, please don’t hesitate to do so. I’ll look for the treasure by myself.”
    Jin Lam shook his head, “Miss, I promised to your father, the man I respect most, that I’ll take care of you.”

    He continued, “Fifteen years ago, when I came to your mansion, you are only a three years old kid. Master Feng welcomed me, a stranger, open-handedly. Little did you know that I was using your house as a hiding place. I tried my best to keep my identity a secret, for I fear my enemy would kill you and your father. In my opinion, Jin Lam has died fifteen years ago, and a new man A Khan has born.”

    “Yet no matter how good my friends and I are in hiding ourselves, the devil seems to know, and continues killing us one by one as he promised. Miss, maybe before I could help you find the treasure, the devil would kill me beforehand,” he said.

    Goat Lan clapped her hand, “No, you don’t have to die, Master Jin! We have promised your friend master Lu that we will bring you to my si-fu, Kiau Leng Thian.”

    Jin Lam shook his head. “No, I won’t go with you. I owe my master a lot, and I’ll spend the rest of my life to repay it! I’d better looking for antidote for my miss and assist her in finding the treasure!”

    Goat Lan scratched her head, “Sure, we can’t let this jie-jie die, yet we could not let you die either… Hmm, Brother Je Jian, what should we do?” she said, turning her head to Je Jian.

    Je Jian thought hard and, “That’s easy. We’ll take miss Feng to Heng Hai Mountain.”

    Goat Lan’s eyes widened, “You mean, the person that is able to cure her is your si-fu? Then… what about Brother Jin?”

    Je Jian shook his head, “No. It’s not my teacher that could cure the Black Orchid Poison, but other person. But still, my teacher could protect Master Jin from the devil’s revenge, so there’s no need for us to go to Bin San Mountain afterwards.”

    Upon hearing this, Goat Lan clapped her hands again. Their new destination has been set.

    ---
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  11. #11
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    ---
    Thousands of li from the abandoned temple, rain also poured hard. Wu Han sat alone in the corner of a restaurant, sipping his tea. It was already dark, yet the restaurant was still crowded, as most of the guests decided to go home only after the rain stop.

    Suddenly, the door opened and a man walked in. He was wearing an expensive black robe. His handsome face was wet from the rain, yet it didn’t lessen his charismatic and suave aura. Upon seeing the fan in the man’s hand, Wu Han wrinkled his brow.

    “Is he the Weird Young Master Fu Hong Ming, Je Jian’s si-hing?” Wu Han silently thought.

    Fu Hong Ming stepped out nonchalantly, approaching the fire. He then stared at a boy that sat next to the fire. The boy was about sixteen years old, he was cute and quite handsome. Yet his face was dirty and his skinny body was wrapped in a tattered robe. His hair was covered entirely by a wide cap. He shifted uneasily under Fu Hong Min’s penetrating gaze.

    “What is he doing?” Wu Han could not helped but wondered after Hong Ming’s strange attitude. “I heard that Fu Hong Ming is always chased by girls, due to his extraordinary good-look. Why then he stares at that boy?”
    “Master, what do you want?” the boy finally asked. His deep voice squeaked.

    Hong Ming sighed, “Sheng Nan, you know what I want. Come, you go home with me,” he said tenderly, holding the boy’s hand and ushering him to the door. The boy panicky tried to free his hand.
    “Who are you? I don’t wanna go with you! I’m not Sheng Nan! Let me go! Let me go!” he screamed, trying to escape from Hong Ming.

    Hong Ming frowned, “You are really naughty!” he said, hitting the boy’s Moa-hiat and Ah-hiat, the acupressure points that made the boy couldn’t move and talk, with his fan. Hong Ming then proceeded to snatch the boy’s body to carry him outside. But suddenly Hong Ming then proceeded to snatch the boy’s body to carry him outside. But suddenly he froze, staring at the boy’s throat with disbelief. From Wu Han’s place, he could see that the boy’s adam’s apple, that previously was hid by his robe, was moved, as he was trying to scream.

    “You are not Sheng Nan! She could fake a boy’s voice, yet she could never fake adam’s apple!” Hong Ming hurriedly unhanded the boy and released his points. He took out a small grain of gold from his pocket and shoved it onto the boy’s palm. “I’m sorry!” he said absentmindedly. Then he walked out of the restaurant hastily. On his way out, he almost collided with a person that walked into the restaurant.

    “Hmmm… Young men nowadays never use their eyes,” the person that just entered the restaurant scorned. She was a fat lady in her late forties. Her purple dress was wet. Hong Ming didn’t pay attention to her and continued his walking, ignoring the rain that poured hard.

    The lady blinked. As the restaurant was very crowded, it seemed that there was not any empty seat left. She looked at the crowd around the fire, yet everyone avoided her pleading gaze. Instead, a huge man with big mustache waved his big hand to the lady, “Hey lady, your dress seemed wet. Why don’t you open it altogether?” he said, laughing hard. All his friends roared in laugh. Hearing this, the mustache man became more daring. He extended his hand, trying to catch the lady’s robe.

    At that time, a teacup flashed, hitting the man’s wrist. He then jumped up in pain. “Who dares to hit me?” he growled.
    “I do,” Wu Han said, standing up.
    Seeing Wu Han’s calm attitude, the man lose his gut. He cowardly sat among his friends, his face turned red.

    Meanwhile, Wu Han politely ushered the fat lady into his seat. “Madam, please be seated. I hope you don’t mind that my seat was not near fire, so it might be cold here.”
    The lady smiled, “Thank you, siauw-hiap. That’s very kind of you,” her eyes twinkled. Upon seeing the lady’s smile, Wu Han felt struck. She was definitely not pretty. Yet he felt warm feeling towards her, as if he already knew her all of his life.

    The lady poured some tea to two teacups on the table, “Siauw-hiap, you are a very nice man, let me offer you a cup of tea as a token of my gratitude,” she said, offering Wu Han one. Wu Han accepted the tea and drank it. Was it his imagination, or the tea felt thicker than before? The lady, beamed happily, drank the other teacup.

    After finishing his tea, Wu Han bowed, “Lady, please be excused. It’s been very late now,” he said. He then proceeded to the inn at the back of the restaurant, where he has booked a room. The fat lady opened her mouth, as if she wanted to call out for Wu Han. Yet she hurriedly closed her mouthy again, her eyes sparkled.

    The next morning, Wu Han woke up early. He then walked to the restaurant to order some breakfast. Yet to his amazement, nobody was there, not even a single waiter!

    “Waiter,” he called out. Nobody answered. Wu Han wrinkled his brows. Had something bad happened? A few minutes later, a waiter came up hurriedly, his hands were clutching his stomach.

    “Eh, mister, that’s you. Luckily, I thought I heard someone in here. Otherwise, you could called out for hours and nobody would come,” he said, still clutching his stomach.

    “What happened?” Wu Han asked.

    The waiter shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s just everybody get diarrhea. You could not imagine how long the queue to our toilet this morning! Sir, I suggest you to buy your breakfast somewhere else, as nobody would be able to serve you here,” he explained. Then suddenly he shrieked, “Aiya! I really need to go to the toilet now!” he said, running as fast as he could to the toilet.

    Wu Han shook his head. This was indeed very weird! He then walked out, trying to find other restaurant to get some breakfast. Before he reached the door, somebody walked in, ”Siauw-hiap, where are you going? Come, let’s eat some breakfast first,” said the fat lady. In her fat hand, she brought a box from which delicious smell of food oozed.

    She then proceeded to the nearest table and started to serve the food. She even did not forget to bring a teapot.

    Wu Han smiled, “Madam, that’s very kind of you to serve me breakfast, especially at this particular morning when the restaurant doesn’t serve breakfast.”

    The fat lady’s eyes widened, “They don’t serve breakfast this morning, eh? Hmmm… isn’t that strange? Are they out of business or something?” she asked innocently. Wu Han frowned. He firstly suspected that this lady is the one that poisoned the whole inn in revenge of the incident last night. But this lady seemed innocent enough…

    He just bit a small bun when suddenly a crowd broke into the restaurant. Some of them were very pale, their hands were clutching their stomach. One of them stepped out and pointed to Wu Han with his sabre, “Give me the antidote!”

    “What do you mean?” Wu Han said.

    “Hmph, don’t pretend to be innocent! You hit my brother’s hand last night with your teacup, and today his hand turns blue and should be amputated! More, all of our friends that ate here last night get diarrhea! If it’s not your game, then who is?”

    The man’s name was Khoo An. He was the head of the city’s bandits. His brother, Khoo Li was a womanizer and was very keen to pretty face. Not only he raped girls, he also flirted with married women.

    Wu Han frowned. It is obvious that this whole gang has been poisoned! Although he never used poison, yet the tea cup was thrown by him. So how could he deny this accusation?

    Meanwhile, one of the pale faced men whispered something to Khoo An’s ear, while pointing at the fat lady. Khoo An scoffed, “Hmm… so you are the fat woman that triggered this whole incident, eh? Then I have to kill you!”

    The fat lady shouted, ”How could you blame me for your brother’s own fault. I was this fat, yet he’s still lusting after me!!” Khoo An only growled, he then drew his saber and stabbing it to the fat lady. The lady screamed. She ducked, trying to escape the saber clumsily.

    Seeing that the lady knew no martial arts, Wu Han immediately flicked Khoo An’s saber, breaking it onto two. Khoo An roared in anger, “Kill them both!” Hearing this, his whole gang drew their weapons and started to attack Wu Han. But how could they defeat God of Sword’s student? Wu Han’s body flashed around, and in a minute all of his attackers were sprawling on the floor.

    Seeing this undesired circumstance, Khoo An hurriedly ran out of the restaurant. On the door he turned back, eyeing the fat lady with grudge, ”I’ll hunt you down! You can’t run from me,” he hissed. Noticing that their leader has escaped, the rest of the gang hurriedly got up and followed Khoo An.

    The fat lady laughed out loud. “Hahaha… they look so silly ran away like rabbits. Hey, siauw-hiap, you are really good in picking your victim! The man that tried to attack me yesterday was a great bandit. By poisoning his hand, you make him think twice to rape innocent woman!”

    Wu Han smiled sourly. How could he clear the whole things? He then continued his breakfast. The fat lady looked at him, and suddenly she bowed her body. “Siauw-hiap, you have saved my life twice. I would not forget you. I hope in the next life I’ll be able to repay it,” she said, turning her back. She then walked out from the restaurant.

    “Madam, wait a minute!” Wu Han immediately stopped the lady. “By going out all by yourself, aren’t you exposing yourself to danger?”

    The fat lady smiled proudly, “Thank you very much for your concern, siauw-hiap. But should I hide from that bandit forever? Or should I humiliate myself and beg other person to guard me?” Wu Han silenced. This lady’s saying intrigued him.

    “Where do you want to go?” he finally said. The lady only shrugged her shoulder, “The world is so wide…” she whispered.

    “If you have no particular destination, do you mind to accompany me to the Shih-Chu Valley?” Wu Han then said.

    The fat lady’s face softened, “You are really a nice young man. You know that I would not ask you to guard me, so you offered me to go with you. If I would not be a nuisance to you, surely I’ll go with you!”

    Wu Han smiled widely. At least he was able to ensure that the bandit would not disturb this lady anymore.

    ---
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  12. #12
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    ---
    “Brother Je Jian, we have walked for ages in this boring forest. My feet hurt, can we stop for a while?” A melodious voice was heard, shattering the silence of the forest.

    Je Jian sighed. Now, as they brought Li Hoa and Jin Lam with them, Je Jian and Goat Lan could no longer walk openly in the cities, as they had to hide from Red Spider Sect’s followers.

    “Lan-mei, please be patient. If I’m not mistaken, once we get out of this forest, we will arrive at a city called Ching An. We will be able to take a rest comfortably there,” Li Hoa soothed softly.

    “Hmm… I hope your feet could carry you there. It’s weird, how Miss Feng and Master Jin that are injured could walk farther than you,” muttered Je Jian. Goat Lan pouted. She was actually embarrassed for complaining, but her feet were really hurt!

    “OK then, let’s take a rest here,” Je Jian suddenly said. Goat Lan hurriedly sat below a big tree.

    “Ahhh… My feet are hurt. Li Hoa jie-jie, please take a look at the guys, as I want to open my shoes,” Goat Lan said. Li Hoa smiled, “Relax, I think they are fetching some water for us, so they could not take a look at your feet.”

    Just as Li Hoa said that, a shadow loomed over them, “Here, use this on your blistered feet!” Je Jian said, giving a small valve to Goat Lan. He then added, “Now I would go fetch some water for you, so you could put that medicine calmly.”

    Li Hoa could not suppress her laugh, “Master Sie is very attentive to you!”
    Goat Lan grinned back, “He doesn’t treat you bad, either. But no wonder, you are so pretty and kind,” she pouted. “Aah…Li Hoa jie-jie, I think Brother Je Jian likes you very much…”

    Li Hoa laughed, “You silly girl! There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s obvious that your Brother Je Jian pays more attention to you!”

    Goat Lan blinked, ”Is it so?” She sighed. “If only I can be sure about that. Sometimes I think I am only a nuisance for him. Besides, he never shows that he cares for me…”

    Li Hoa patted Goat Lan’s hand, “Be patient,” she said encouragingly.
    Goat Lan sighed again, “Li Hoa jie-jie, I wish I could have a sister like you… “ Her eyes twinkled, “Hey, I have an idea! I have a si-heng. He’s very skillful and handsome. What if I play matchmaker for both of you?”

    Li Hoa smiled dreamily, “I’ve heard that God of Sword’s student Wu Han is a great hero that always helps people in trouble. He once even saved one of our bu-su. It’s too bad I never met your si-heng to thank him personally…”

    Goat Lan clapped her hands, “Someday, I’ll ask him to meet you! He’s very polite and gentle, you’ll like him. And oh, he’s also very handsome…”

    “But still, in your eyes, your Brother Je Jian is more handsome, eh?” Li Hoa intercepted.
    Goat Lan blushed. Both of the girls laughed.

    “What are you laughing at?” Je Jian suddenly appeared. Jin Lam followed. Both of them were bringing bottles of water.

    “Oh, nothing!” Goat Lan quickly replied. She then winked her eyes to Li Hoa. Both of them laughed again.

    “Women…” Je Jian muttered, shaking his head.
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  13. #13
    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Hi ya all, end of Chap 1. I add a prolog, cut a big chunk of it and do some grammar-editing work, but that's all. Nothing new, still....

    And oh!! At first I planned to make Jin Lam and Li Hoa a May-Dec (one-sided) love story, but I changed my mind....
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

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    I only visit this story since I like the suspense Floo created in this story. <IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0"> Of course I read other stories also. But I put more attention on this story because....once I dated someone whose name is Sie Je Jian <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">


    <IMG SRC="smilies/azzangel.gif" border="0">

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    --- Ch. 2
    In a barren, rocky valley, two persons walked in hastily. Wind blew their robes ferociously.

    “Auntie Pheng, it will be dark soon. Maybe we should find a place to sleep now, and start exploring this valley tomorrow,” Wu Han said. As he spotted a cave not far from them, he ushered the fat lady there. Then he lit up the fire and, opening his satchel, he began to share his dried food to the fat lady.

    “Hey boy, we’ve traveled so far. What are you looking for here, actually?” the fat lady, sitting in the backside of the cave, asked.

    “Auntie Pheng, please forgive my carelessness. I should tell you from the beginning about my mission. Actually it is very simple, as my si-fu asked me to deliver this antidote to someone.” Wu Han explained.

    The fat lady lifted her brow, “What kind of poison that should be neutralized with antidote from eastward? Besides, I don’t reckon eastward has some special antidote… Hmmm… can I take a look at this important antidote?”

    Wu Han carefully took something out from his pocket and gave it to her. The fat lady inspected the goods carefully. It was a small bottle made from black jade. Its exterior was carved beautifully.

    “Hmmm… so you are the student of God of Sword Kiau Leng Thian,” she then said flatly. Her answer surprised Wu Han, as he never thought that by only seeing this bottle, the fat lady could identify his teacher. Who was this lady, actually?

    “Kiau Leng Thian loves this bottle very much. Yet not only he agrees to lend it to someone else, but he also doesn’t deliver it by himself. Hmmm… little boy, the person that you look for in this valley is an old woman named Granny Sun, right?”

    Wu Han went speechless. This fat lady must be someone close to his teacher then! Yet, he couldn’t recall his si-fu ever mentioned someone like this lady before…

    “How do you know?” Unable to contain his curiosity, Wu Han asked.


    The fat lady sighed, “Ahhh… I might not know many things, but things concerning this bottle I know clearly. Tell me now, boy, do you know what’s inside the bottle?”

    Wu Han shook his head. “Since I was a little kid, I often saw si-fu caressing this bottle, yet whenever I asked him about it, he always seems so sad. Few months ago, an old beggar delivered a letter to my si-fu. Upon reading it, si-fu’s face turned dark, and he immediately ordered me to bring this bottle here, but he kept silence about all this matter.”

    Again the fat lady sighed, ”Ahhh… This affair is indeed very tragic, who can blame your si-fu for not wanting to remember it?” Suddenly she changed her tone, “Tell me, how should you deliver this bottle?”

    Wu Han shook his head. “Si-fu only told me that once I am on the south side of Shih Chu valley, I should look for a tall bamboo tree on the bank of a river. Then, I should knot a piece of red cloth on its highest branch. Someone would come and bring me to Granny Sun, to whom I should lend this bottle for only one night.”

    The fat lady laughed, “Silly boy. Do you think Granny Sun would be satisfied if you lend her this lethal poison for only one night?”

    Wu Han eyes widened, “What? Poison? But how come…. My si-fu clearly stated that this is an antidote to help people!”

    “Hmmm… the Seven Colors of Rainbow is indeed the most poisonous poison on this earth. Yet when combined with other medicament it could also neutralized other poison, especially poison that made from one of its seven rare flowers. The first step to neutralize The Black Orchid Poison, for an instance, is by inhaling The Seven Colors of Rainbow.”

    Wu Han could not contain his amazement, “Auntie Pheng, I don’t know you are a poison expert! Tell me, what kind of poison is this Seven Colors of Rainbow? Is it even more lethal than the Black Orchid Poison?”

    Auntie Pheng scoffed, “The wu-lin world might be trembled upon hearing Ling Man Shin’s Black Orchid Poison, yet it could not be compared with Goddess of Poison’s Seven Colors of Rainbow!”

    Wu Han widened his eyes, “Do you mean… Goddess of Poison In Li Mei?”

    “Goddess of Poison was the greatest fighter in Ciu dynasty, I couldn’t believe that after all this years you still recognize her great name!” Auntie Pheng smiled.

    Wu Han frowned, “Then… if this bottle contains In Li Mei’s poison, then how can my si-fu owns it?”

    Auntie Pheng laughed, “Can’t you guess why your si-fu treats this bottle lovingly? It’s because he was engaged with Goddess of Poison’s student, and this bottle is her token of the betrothal!”

    Her explanation stunned Wu Han even more. He just sat there, his mouth opened. Seeing Wu Han’s expression, Auntie Pheng giggled. But suddenly her expression turned serious, “Little boy, promise me something.”

    “After you tied the red cloth on the top of the bamboo, if the person that shows up is not a little girl, then you should not pay attention to me or anything else. You should run as fast as you can, back to your si-fu. Tell him that Granny Sun has been murdered by Ling Man Shin and he should not let this precious bottle fall into Ling Man Shin’s hand!”

    Wu Han’s frown became deeper, “What’s this all about? Auntie, tell me what’s going on. Why would Ling Man Shin suddenly appear here?”

    Auntie Pheng sighed, “From what I know, Ling Man Shin has searched the Seven Colors of Rainbow for a very long time. He recently found out that this bottle was kept by your si-fu. Hmmm… at this point I don’t know whether the letter that your si-fu received is actually written by Granny Sun or if it’s only one of Ling Man Shin’s trick.”

    “You’re right. It will be a disaster for wu-lin world if that Devil gets the poison! I wonder if si-fu suspects that all of this could be Ling Man Shin’s trick.”

    Auntie Pheng shook her head, “I don’t think so. Your si-fu is very smart, yet I don’t think he could fathom Ling Man Shin’s tricky mind.”

    Wu Han nodded gloomily, “Yes. That devil is very cunning, Auntie. Could you please tell me who this Granny Sun is? And why does she seem to know that my si-fu owns this bottle? Hmmm… that devil is really disrespectful to my teacher! Fifteen years ago si-fu spared his life on the duel, yet now he wants to trick si-fu’s token of engagement.”

    Auntie Pheng stared at the flickered fire. For some minutes she didn’t utter any words. Then she began to speak flatly, “But still, I could understand why Ling Man Shin is very eager on getting this bottle. He killed his own si-mei to get it! Luckily, she managed to give the bottle to your si-fu beforehand.”

    “You mean… my si-fu’s fiancée and that devil are both the students of In Li Mei?” Wu Han asked incredulously.

    Auntie Pheng nodded, “Goddess of Poison had two students. The eldest is Ling Man Shin, while the youngest and her favorite is Li Siang, your si-fu’s fiancée. Ever since he was young, Ling Man Shin is a diabolical and cunning person. In Li Mei saw this, but alas, she has already imparted all of her skill to him. That’s why she only taught her last and most lethal poison, the Seven Colors of Rainbow, to Li Siang. Ling Man Shin was very unsatisfied about this, yet he didn’t dare to say anything to his si-fu.”

    “One day, In Li Mei decided to complete The Nine Colors of Rainbow. Li Siang and Ling Man Shin couldn’t fathom what she meant by that, but maybe that’s development of The Seven Colors of Rainbow. In Li Mei went, and from that time, was never heard again.”

    “Ling Man Shin then forced Li Siang to reveal the Seven Colors of Rainbow secret. But Li Siang persisted to keep silence. Angered, Ling Man Shin then threw Li Siang from a cliff…”

    Wu Han gasped. So his si-fu’s fiancée has been murdered by Ling Man Shin!

    “Is this why fifteen years ago my si-fu challenged Ling Man Shin for a duel?”

    Auntie Pheng nodded. “Upon hearing the news from Li Siang’s maid, Kiau Leng Thian was very enraged. He vowed that he would take revenge. Kiau Leng Thian then challenged Ling Man Shin for a duel. Hearing the news, the Weird Man Yang Li Sheng then decided to attend the duel and act as the judge. Or so he said…”

    “So the rumors in wu-lin world that said that my si-fu and the Weird Man cooperated to kill the devil is not true?”

    The fat lady smiled mockingly, “The God, the Devil and the Weird Man, the three of them are the greatest fighters in wu-lin world. Hmph, the Devil Ling Man Shin is not that powerful that he should be challenged with both the God and the Weird Man!”

    She then continued her story, “However, on the duel day the Weird Man acted strangely. He that usually loves to fight, he that usually takes kill and to be killed as granted, not only he didn’t let Kiau Leng Thian killed Ling Man Shin, he also didn’t let Ling Man Shin killed Kiau Leng Thian!”

    “As their skill is on par, it was not easy for Ling Man Shin and Kiau Leng Thian to kill each other, especially with Yang Li Sheng that kept preventing them to hurt each other. Ling Man Shin, badly injured from your si-fu’s sword, escaped, while your si-fu, also injured by Ling Man Shin’s Red Scorpion Palm was tended by Yang Li Sheng.”

    “Yang Li Sheng is also an expert in medicament, then… No wonder his student, Sie Je Jian, is also knowledgeable of medication. But why did he prevent my si-fu to take his revenge?” Wu Han murmured, thinking hard. Wu Han’s suspicion getting deeper. Who was this woman? Why did she know about this matter, the matter that his own si-fu has never even mentioned to him? Is she related to the Weird Man? But still, as far as he knew, Yang Li Sheng lived secludedly with his two students, Fu Hong Ming and Sie Je Jian in Heng Hai Mountain.

    “And who is this Granny Sun?” Wu Han asked after several minutes of silences.

    “Ahhh… she’s Li Siang’s old maid! Remember, your si-fu has sworn to her that he would kill Ling Man Shin. Yet he failed. Granny Sun was very angry, she swore that she would never want to see your si-fu again. I think the reason your si-fu asked you to replace him delivering this antidote is because he wouldn’t want to break Granny Sun’s vow.”

    Wu Han silenced, pondering the whole story. Seeing Wu Han was deep in thought, the fat lady spoke softly, “Boy, it’s been very late now. I’m sorry if my story confused you. Come, let’s sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day,” she put out the fire.

    On the next morning, Wu Han woke up and discovered that Auntie Pheng has lit up fire, and now she was busily roasting a chicken.

    “Come, boy. I have made a roasted chicken for you! Let’s try it,” she said, giving the chicken to Wu Han. Wu Han hurriedly shook his head, “Auntie, you haven’t eaten anything either! Let me cut this chicken in half so we could eat it together.”

    “Aiya, how come? Boy, don’t you remember that today we might face Ling Man Shin? If that happens, aren’t you and your martial skill that will fight him? Oh boy, you really should eat this chicken so you’ll be able to protect this fat woman,”

    Wu Han could not hide his amusement. He gazed at Auntie Pheng’s face tenderly, as their journey together has made him to feel strongly attached to this fat woman.

    Suddenly Auntie Pheng’s face turned sour, “Boy, you haven’t given me your promise. I want you to promise that if all of this is Ling Man Shin’s trick, you will go as fast as you can to your si-fu.”

    Wu Han shook his head, “Auntie, I really thank you for your concern. But how can I promise to leave you alone in the devil’s hand? Besides,“ his expression hardened, “I’ve been looking for him for this past fifteen years. How can I run away from him?”

    Auntie Pheng’s eyes widened, “What are you looking for him for?”

    Wu Han sighed, “I want to take revenge,” he said flatly. His eyes wandered far away.

    Wu Han slowly turned his head towards Auntie Pheng, “Auntie, I have an idea. What if you stay here with this bottle? Once I am sure that this is not a trap, I’ll fetch you here. But if this turns out to be a trap…”

    “No, no!! Boy, I’ll go with you to face that devil!” Auntie Pheng cried, her hands clutched Wu Han’s.

    “Auntie, you’d better stay here. I promise if everything is OK, I’ll pick you up. But if this turns out to be a trick, there’s no need for you to sacrifice your life!” Wu Han said soothingly.

    Auntie Pheng’s eyes blazed, “Boy, how can you think that I will be able to see you go alone? I told you, Ling Man Shin is very tricky! Now let’s face his trick together. Or… do you think I’m a coward?”

    Wu Han couldn’t hide his emotion upon hearing Auntie Pheng’s talking. “All right, we’ll go together. And if it turns out that this is a trap, I’ll drink the Seven Colors of Rainbow, so Ling Man Shin could not use it to hurt more people!” he said.

    Auntie Pheng smiled weakly, yet her eyes were wet. Seeing this, Wu Han again felt very warm toward her. Then, without fully aware of what he did, Wu Han muttered softly, “Auntie, I swear that no matter what happened, I’ll protect you forever.” Hearing this, Auntie Pheng’s tears rolled silently.


    All of a sudden, Wu Han leaped, “What did I say? Auntie, please forgive me! Ah, I’m so disrespectful to you!” Wu Han said panicky, his hands hit his mouth several times.

    “Stop it! I know you didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I… I should thank you that you thought so much of this old woman’s safety,” Auntie Pheng said softly.

    Wu Han sighed. “The last time I promised someone that… She died several days later, killed by that devil… Auntie, I hope you’ll be luckier that her…”

    Both of them silenced…

    Suddenly the fire flickered. Its flame almost burnt the chicken to charcoal. Auntie Pheng cried, “Aiya, my chicken!” Seeing the now black chicken, she couldn’t help but laughed, “Boy, I think now I won’t object if you want to give half this chicken to me now. I couldn’t let you eat all of this burnt chicken and get stomachache, so nobody could protect me when Ling Man Shin want to chop down my head!”

    Wu Han also laughed, “Auntie, today let’s eat my dried food instead. We’ll keep the chicken for after we deliver this antidote.”

    After both of them ate their dried food, they began the last part of their journey, to face the uncertainty.


    ---
    About the same time as Wu Han and Auntie Pheng walked into the Shih Chu Valley, Je Jian, Goat Lan, Li Hoa and Jin Lam arrived at Ching An. It’s a big city, with many people in interesting clothes passed by. Goat Lan hurriedly entered the biggest restaurant in town.

    “I’m very hungry after walked that far and only ate wild fruits! Now we should eat something more edible… “ she said, clutching her stomach. Then, “Waiter!” she called out.

    But to her amazement, no waiter came to serve them. In fact, some of the guests in the restaurant were murmuring behind their backs.

    “What’s going on here? Do they think we’re criminals or something?” Goat Lan pouted. Li Hoa stood from her chair and walked approaching a young waiter.

    “Little brother, could you please serve us? We had a very long journey and would like to eat something,” she said politely.

    The waiter, stunned by Li Hoa’s beauty, nodded speechlessly. He then ran to the kitchen to bring out food for them. A minute later he showed up, his hands busily carried plates full of delicious dishes.

    “Ahhh… my dream finally come true! Come, let’s eat before it gets cold,” Goat Lan beamed. The others smiled, while they also started to eat. Meanwhile, the waiter kept bringing out wine and other dishes for them. And after they finished their meal, the waiter still brought out some dessert for them.

    Je Jian chuckled, “Seeing Miss Feng is a very polite girl, the waiter then can easily guess that she comes from an educated family, so he brings out all of this delicious foods. I reckon he didn’t have good impression on Goat Lan, as he avoided her.”

    Goat Lan pouted, “So you think I’m not polite, eh?” Je Jian only smiled between his cups of wine.

    Suddenly, the sound of horses galloping was heard outside the restaurant.

    “Do you think they found us?” Jin Lam asked, his face paled.

    The door of the restaurant banged open swiftly, and a huge man walked in. He was wearing red robe with black sash, and his left eyes were covered with a piece of black cloth while his right cheek was scarred. Li Hoa gasped. That man was Wong Chin, the general of the Red Spider Sect!

    “Hahaha… Miss Feng, we meet again. Maybe you are destined to accompany me and make me a rich man,” Wong Chin laughed out loud.

    Je Jian’s face changed. He drew his dragon-rod, preparing for a serious battle. Seeing this, Wong Chin only laughed, “And I reckon this young man is the Weird Fighter Sie Je Jian, eh? I heard that you always wandering around, challenging top fighters. Hehehe… Not only this time I am the one that challenge you, you’ll also die under my saber!”

    “You animal! You have been defeated by my si-heng, and you still bark like a crazy dog!” Je Jian snapped back. Wong Chin’s face turned sour.

    “Hmmm… let’s see if you still can curse me when your head has been separated from your body,” Wong Chin said, drawing his saber. His saber flashed around, and in the next minute, it seemed that Je Jian was surrounded by thousand of sabers.

    Yet Je Jian didn’t lose his composure. His dragon-rod moved quickly, aiming at Wong Chin’s thay-yang hiat at the forehead. Wong Chin ducked his head to dodge Je Jian’s attack. Seeing this attack could be parried by Wong Chin, Je Jian swiftly changed his aiming, towards Wong Chin’s yong-cong hiat in his left leg.

    However, Wong Chin was quick. He hastily jumped up, his saber was bashing at Je Jian’s left shoulder. Je Jian saw this attack coming, yet he didn’t duck. He stabbed his dragon-rod towards Wong Chin’s yang-leng hiat in his right thigh. To prevent his yang-leng hiat being hit by Je Jian, Wong Chin hurriedly rolled back.

    In a few minutes, Je Jian and Wong Chin have attacked with more than a hundred styles. But suddenly, as Je Jian jumped up to attack, he felt a terrible pain in his stomach.

    Seeing this, Wong Chin snorted, “Sie Je Jian, what do you think of my Red Spider Poison?” Upon hearing this, Je Jian’s face paled, “You bastard! You have poisoned our food!” Wong Chin laughed, “ At least now you can die with full stomach.”
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  16. #16
    Senior Member Goofy's Avatar
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    Cool

    I strongly suspected that the big woman was In li mei??? <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
    "History's third dimension is always fiction."
    -- The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse

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    Andrea: I hope your date w/ your Je Jian went on smoothly... <IMG SRC="smilies/kiss.gif" border="0">

    Goofy: THEN you haven't read my story (before correction)
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

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    Senior Member Floo..'s Avatar
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    Meanwhile, Li Hoa and Jin Lam, whose lwee-kang were more inferior than Je Jian’s have fainted.

    “Hmm… Sie Je Jian, I’ll kill you today!” Wong Chin roared. His palm has turned red, he was ready to strike Je Jian with his Red Spider Palm.

    Feeling that she, too, would soon drifted away in unconsciousness, Goat Lan drew her sword and shouted, “Wong Chin, you filthy bastard! I won’t let you hurt Brother Je Jian! I’ll kill you today!” She then jumped towards Wong Chin, her sword aiming at Wong Chin’s heart.

    Unfortunately, before she came near enough to Wong Chin, there are no strength left in her body. She felt down. Wong Chin quickly changed the aiming of his palm. Now, his Red Spider Palm was directed to Goat Lan’s head!!

    Seeing this dangerous circumstance, Je Jian jumped up fast. By using his last power, he shoved Goat Lan’s body, away from Wong Chin’s palm. Alas, his remaining power was not enough for him to parry Wong Chin’s palm. Wong Chin’s Red Spider Palm hit him squarely on his chest…

    ---
    “Little boy, look! There’s the river. Now we should look for the bamboo tree!” Auntie Pheng pointed at the wide river that divided the Shih Chu Valley.

    “Hey, there’s a bamboo tree! It seems that it is the only tree on this rocky valley, so it must be the one we’re looking for,” Auntie Pheng ran towards the tall bamboo tree. Indeed, it was really tall. Its leaves shushed silently as the leaves were blown by the ferocious wind.

    Without hesitation, Wu Han jumped up high. He used his gin-kang to knot a red handkerchief to the highest branch. “There! Now we can only wait,” Wu Han said.

    Auntie Pheng’s face paled. She whispered softly, “Little boy, if the person that shows up is Ling Man Shin…”

    “Then we’ll face him together!” Wu Han said with certainty. He pat Auntie Pheng’s hand reassuringly, “Auntie, no matter what will happen, I’ll protect you with all my life.”

    Just as he finished his saying, a splash sound came from the river. A small boat floated towards them, rowed by a petite girl in maid’s clothes.

    “Master, Madame, please hop into my boat,” she said. After Wu Han and Auntie Pheng hopped into the boat, the maid turned the boat, now heading to the direction she came from.

    “Miss, how is Granny Sun?,” Wu Han asked. Yet the maid only shook her head.

    “Little boy, I think she looks scared,” Auntie Pheng whispered. Wu Han nodded. “Do you think it’s Ling Man Shin’s trick?” she whispered again.

    Although she was small, the maid could row the boat very fast. But still, she kept rowing towards south for hours. Only after the sun has set and the moon was high did she slowed her boat down.

    “We’ll arrive soon,” she said, pointing at a tiny dot of light southward. She then continued rowing the boat towards the light.

    The light came from a big wooden house-boat. The maid hurriedly hauled her small boat to the house-boat, and walked inside. “Please follow me,” she signaled with her hand.

    They were ushered to the houseboat’s front room. The maid opened the door and said, “Master, Madame, please have a seat. I’ll inform my master that you are already here.” She then walked to the adjoining back room.

    Wu Han looked around. The room that they were sat on was small, yet it was beautifully decorated. In the wall hung beautiful paintings and valuable calligraphies. Just as Wu Han was admiring the calligraphies, suddenly a screeching shriek heard from the back room. The next second, a body hurled towards Auntie Pheng. Wu Han swiftly caught the body, which turned out to be the maid’s dead body!

    Auntie Pheng observed the corpse carefully, “She’s dead by Yellow Magnolia Palm. See, her eyes have turned yellow. She was indeed killed by Ling Man Shin!”

    Wu Han and Auntie Pheng stared at each other. In the boat, they have forecasted that this kind of thing will happen. But still…

    “Auntie, you’d better run off,” Wu Han whispered.

    Auntie Pheng smiled bitterly, “Little boy, I thought we had a deal that we’ll face the devil together. Besides, where could we go?”

    Wu Han grasped Auntie Pheng’s hands. Inside his heart, he renewed his promise to protect this woman he became fond of, even if that means his death…

    Hand in hand they entered the back room.

    “Ahhh… young man, you have finally arrived!” An elderly man in white robe sat in the middle of the room, drinking tea. Wu Han noticed him as the man that attacked Goat Lan in the Lu mansion. Not far from Ling Man Shin’s feet, a body lay. It was a woman’s corpse, and from her white hair, it was presumed that it was Granny Sun’s corpse.

    “So you are the Devil Ling Man Shin?” Auntie Pheng asked, raising her brow.

    Ling Man Shin laughed out loud, “It’s a pleasure for me to be recognized by you, Madame. Now, before I kill you, do you want a cup of tea?”

    “Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t want to drink with someone that can only kill grannies and little girls,” Auntie Pheng smiled, her voice still calm.

    Meanwhile, Wu Han could not contain his anger any longer, “Ling Man Shin, today you have to pay for the death of Thio family fifteen years ago!” he said, drawing his sword.

    Ling Man Shin laughed, “Who the h*ll are those pathetic, unimportant persons? Are you one of their relatives? Hey kiddo. You’d better hand me the Seven Colors of Rainbow now. Then I’ll send you to meet your dead relatives painlessly.”

    Wu Han growled in anger. He drew his sword and started to attack Ling Man Shin with his ‘Wind and Water’ swordstyle. Using by Wu Han, the attack power of this special kiamhoat was much greater than when used by Goat Lan in the abandoned temple. His sword stabbed fast and powerfully, yet suddenly it glided smoothly. Despite Wu Han ferocious attack, Ling Man Shin still stood calmly. He fought Wu Han using his right hand, while his left hand was holding his cup of tea.

    Seeing all of his attacks could be parried by Ling Man Shin easily, Wu Han changed his swordstyle. He now used Kiau Leng Thian’s final swordstyle, ‘Thunder in Waterfall’ kiamhoat.

    Fifteen years ago, feeling miserable about his fiancée’s death, Kiau Leng Thian poured out his frustation, sad and anguish in creating this kiamhoat. Inspiring from thunder that roared above a waterfall in Bin San Mountain, ‘Thunder in Waterfall’ swordstyle is very complicated that Ling Man Shin was forced to defend himself more seriously.

    “Hmmm… I never thought that Kiau Leng Thian could improve this much after our duel. Who could guess that a plain man like him can invent an unpredictable kiamhoat like this?” Ling Man Shin pondered.

    But still, there was too much difference between Wu Han’s skill and that of one of the greatest fighter at that time. In about one hundred styles, Wu Han has been cornered. He could only defend himself, and it seemed that in a few more style, he would be defeated.

    As Wu Han was gyrating his sword to protect himself, Ling Man Shin abruptly jumped back. He inhaled, his palm oozed a pungent odor. Seeing this, Auntie Pheng cried, “Little boy, watch out! He will hit you with his Yellow Magnolia Palm!”


    But no matter how fast Wu Han dodged, Ling Man Shin moved faster. The next second, Wu Han’s chest has been hit squarely by Ling Man Shin’s Hundred Grass Palm! Wu Han tossed back unconsciously.

    “You… devi! Repay for what you have done to him!” Auntie Pheng cried, as she ran towards Wu Han’s body.

    “Hahaha… Madam, I could see that you know no martial art. Why don’t you just be easy and hand me the Seven Colors of Rainbow, and maybe I’ll let you die easily… ” Saying this, Ling Man Shin walked approaching Wu Han body to take the bottle. Auntie Pheng hurdled, but what could she do? With one shove Ling Man Shin pushed her away.

    Suddenly, Auntie Pheng extended her palm and blew something towards Ling Man Shin. Ling Man Shin felt that his eyes turned heavy and his face turned hot.

    “You filthy ***** ! How can you own White Dew Poison?” He hurriedly took out a small white pill from his pocket.

    Auntie Pheng used this opportunity to seize Wu Han’s body and dragged his body out. She just reached the houseboat’s deck when Ling Man Shin walked out. Although he still looked a little bit pale, his looming body approached them threateningly.

    “Woman, not only you could identify my Yellow Magnolia Palm, but you also own the White Dew Poison. Tell me, who are you and what’s your relation with Li Siang?”

    Auntie Pheng scoffed bitterly, “You have murdered your own si-mei, and still you are not ashamed to mention her name?”

    Ling Man Shin growled menacingly, “All right then, I don’t care who you are. You must be one of her allies. Prepare now to meet her in hell!” he barked. Meanwhile, his hand grabbed Auntie Pheng’s shoulder.

    In order to dodge this lethal attack, Auntie Pheng jumped down to the river, taking Wu Han’s body with her…
    back w/ a vengeance ^_^

  19. #19
    Senior Member Goofy's Avatar
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    Back at my homeland
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    Cool

    I read till the part where goat lan and co's were poisoned. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/redface.gif" border="0">

    I see now...
    "History's third dimension is always fiction."
    -- The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse

  20. #20
    Senior Member C Monster's Avatar
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    Thumbs up

    Great writing, Floo... A lot of mystery suspense and drama. I'm really curious about Auntie Pheng's true identity. For some reason, I don't know why, I have this sneaking suspicion that she's not really all that fat and that she's a mistress of disguises. Heh heh!

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