Lung Chang

[Christos200]

Lung Chang

Table of Contents

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7| 8

Chapter I: Feast on the Snowy Mountain

Severe winter, bitter cold in the Dragon Mountain. Snow covers everything and the earth is completely white. Snowflakes fall like rain. A young, healthy, tall, and handsome man, nevertheless, walks on this Mountain. He wears a white gown made of silk and, despite the bitter cold, he holds a white folding fan and fans himself. He looks like a wealthy and well educated man, a scholar maybe. What is he doing on a snowy and desolate mountain like this? Does he want to meet someone? Or he just wants to gaze at the beautiful scenery the white with snow mountain offers?

The young man is smiling and says again and again, "Good scenery! Good snow!". As he walks, he finds a young man with teared clothes digging a grave. The grave is quite deep and large and it is truly admirable how someone could dig such a grave in such bitter cold. But why would he dig a grave? For himself? Although poor, he seems healthy and could live for many more decades.

The young man stares at the digger and asks: "For who do you dig this grave?"

"For a man named Lung Chang."

The young man laughs.

"Ai-ya! You are going to kill Lung Chang?"

"Me? No. I have just been paid to dig a grave for him. I do not even know who Lung Chang is."

"Would you like to learn who he is?"

The digger remains silent for a while and then replies, "Why not?"

"I am Lung Chang."

The digger's face becomes pale when he hears his name.

"So....I am....digging a grave for you?"

"From what you told me, yes."

The most weird thing about the whole conversation is that Lung Chang remains calm and smiles all the time. Which man would be so calm and happy when he sees someone digging a grave for him? Could it be that Lung Chang expects to die soon and is happy that he will have a decent grave? Could it be that he is confident that his Kung Fu is more than a match for any opponent, and so he is not taking such threats seriously? Could it be that Lung Chang is a carefree man who is always happy, no matter what happens? Could it be some other reason? Anyway, going back to our story, Lung Chang suddenly hears the sound of people coming towards him.

A group of more than twenty people, all dressed like restaurant waiters, walks towards him. Some carry boxes of food, some carry a table and some chairs and some carry jars of wine. The group soon places the table and the chairs on the ground, below a tall and beautiful Peace Blossom Tree, and then puts the food and the wine on the table. Before Lung Chang can inquire them on what is going on, the men run away. The digger also runs away. Lung Chang stays alone. Well, at least he has wine to drink and food to eat.

He opens one of the jars with the wine and smells it. "Good wine!", he says and proceeds to drink it. As he begins to drink it, he hears some steps. Someone is coming towards him. He sees a middle-aged thin man with scruffy beard and wearing a blue Taoist gown coming towards him. What is a Taoist Priest doing on top of a desolate and snowy mountain? Is he looking for someone? Maybe he came to look for Lung Chang? The Taoist Priest seems to be very muscular, even more than people twenty or more years younger than him, and a long and very sharp sword, which is made of jade and decorated with gems, is hanging from his waist.

Lung Chang, instead of being surprised to see such a man coming on such a desolate place, greets him warmly like a friend, even though he does not know him.

"Priest", Lung Chang says while pointing at the table. "Please sit with me and enjoy some wine and food. I do not know about the food, but the wine is very good."

"Hahaha! Of course. Of course. How could I not sit and enjoy the wine I ordered?"

"Oh! So, you were the one who invited me here, right?"

"It seems that you are gifted with divine powers of perception."

"Hahaha! Priest, you are overrating me. Let us drink some wine."

"That's right!"

The Taoist Priest grabs a jar of wine and throws it with all of his power towards Lung Chang. The Priest put so much internal energy on throwing the jar, that it could easily kill someone. Lung Chang somersaults and catches the jar while on the air. He then lies on the white with snow ground, below the Peace Blossom Tree, and drinks all of the wine. After finishing it, he throws away the jar and shouts with excitement, "Good wine!".

"And good Qinggong!", the Priest remarks. "Do you want to know why I invited you here?"

"Let me guess! You want to make friends with me and, as the saying goes, wine makes friends. So, you invited me here to drink wine with you and become good friends, right?"

"Hahaha! No....no...no. I invited you here because I want to kill you."

"Am I so important that you brought such good wine and came to such a desolate place only in order to kill me? I am honored. I am honored."

"Lung Chang, do you know who I am?"

"Only one person has the 'Deadly Jade Sword', and that is the Chief of the Wudang Sect, Priest Yue Li."

"You indeed have divine powers of perception."

"Hahahaha! I am flattered that such a respectable Master says such good words for me. Let us drink some wine!"

Both men grab a jar of wine each, open it, shout "cheers!" and drink to their heart's content.

Yue Li, then, says: "It is shame that we are enemies. If we were not enemies, we would surely become best friends, even sworn brothers."

"You never know. We may become friends. As the saying goes, fight makes friends."

"Hahahaha! Shall we begin?"

"Why the hurry? If we fight, one of us might end up dead. Let us first get drunk with this wonderful wine and let us eat this delicious food you brought. It would be a shame to waste such good wine and food, right?"

"Right!"

The two men take another jar of wine each and drink. After a large gulp, Lung Chang lets out a breath and says, "Very good wine! Very, very good wine!"

The Priest takes a large gulp and, after staring for a few second's at Lung Chang's fan, says: "Nice fan!"

Lung Chang opens his fan, revealing some well written and elegant characters: "心在水精域 (My heart is in a world of water and crystal)".

"Nice poem, good characters!", the Priest says after taking two more gulp.

"You flatter too much an untalented man like me. The poem comes from Du Fu, the great poet of the late Tang Dynasty. It comes from the first of his four 'In Abbot Zan's Room at Dayun Temple' poems. It is my favorite poem. Let me recite it to you."

"Good! Recite it! I enjoy poetry!"

Lung Chang begins reciting the poem:

心在水精域
衣沾春雨时
洞门尽徐步
深院果幽期
到扉开复闭
撞钟斋及兹
醍醐长发性
饮食过扶衰
把臂有多日
开怀无愧辞
黄鹂度结构
紫鸽下罘罳
愚意会所适
花边行自迟
汤休起我病
微笑索题诗

My heart is in a world of water and crystal,
My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.
Through the gates I slowly walk to the end,
The great court the appointed tranquil space.
I reach the doors- they open and shut again,
Now strikes the bell- the meal time has arrived.
This cream will help one's nature strengthen and grow,
The diet gives support in my decline.
We've grasped each other's arms so many days,
And opened our hearts without shame or evasion.
Golden orioles flit across the beams,
Purple doves descend from lattice screens.
Myself, I think I've found a place that suits,
I walk by flowers at my own slow pace.
Tangxiu lifts me from my sickly state,
And smiling, asks me to write a poem.

Yue Li claps his hands and shouts: "Bravo! Bravo! This poem made my mood. I love Du Fu's poetry."

"Good! Let us drink another jar of wine for Du Fu and his magnificent poetry!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Once again, the two men drink a jar of wine each. If someone saw them now, without knowing who they are, he would have thought that they are good friends, or even sworn brothers. But, in fact, they are enemies, enemies awaiting to battle to death. Why would those two be enemies? What happened between them that has made those people fight each other?

"Lung Chang! We should now begin our duel. I must kill you! While you may seem like a polite and elegant man, in reality you are cruel and worse than an animal. You killed Wu Jing, son of the Chief of Huashan Sect, Master Wu Kang, almost a year ago, in August 14th. When your teacher, the Chief of Kunlun Sect, Master Song Yan, send you to apologize to Master Wu Kang, after apologizing the day, the night you entered his house, murdered him, massacred his entire family, raped and blinded his daughter and wrote with red characters on the house's wall: 'Lung Chang never apologizes'. And when your teacher expelled you from the Kunlun Sect, despite the fact that he raised you since the age of 10, because you were an orphan, you killed him. So, while you may pretend to be elegant, friendly and polite, your real nature is beastly! You are worse than an animal!"

"Bother Li, you say that my real nature is beastly and that I pretend to be elegant. But what if in reality what you say is, in fact, reversed?"

"Then, I shall find out the truth with my sword!"

"Good!"

Lung Chang takes another jar of wine, drinks it, throws it away and shouts: "Let's begin!"

Yue Li pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword', somersaults and thrusts his sword directly towards Lung Chang's throat. Lung Chang blocks his sword with his fan, using all his might and internal strength. Yue Li somersaults and attacks again Lung Chang with his sword. Lung Chang flinches, but his shoulder is struck.

"Brother Li, I do not have a sword right now with me, so why not fight with bare hands?"

"Alright."

Yue Li hangs once again his sword on his waist and charges and strikes out at Lung Chang with his left hand with such power that his palm makes a whistling sound. Lung Chang counters the blow with his right hand, using all of his internal energy, and at the same time strikes with his left palm at the man. Yue Li uses his other hand to parry Lung Chang's attack and their four hands meet. A duel of internal energy ensues and soon, both of them are pushed back and fall on the ground. They both feel weak because of their overuse of their internal energy, but they are both ready to continue their fight.

"Good Kung Fu, brother Li."

"Your Kung Fu is also quite good, brother Chang."

Yue Li somersaults and attacks with a flying kick Lung Chang, aiming directly at his chest, but Lung Chang dodges the attack. Yue Li kicks towards him thrice, but thrice Lung Chang dodges the attacks. The battle continues for quite some time, as Yue Li and Lung Chang exchange more than 350 moves, but still none of them is able to defeat the other. Yue Li decides to use the 'Heavenly Eagle Claws" technique and strikes out quickly at his opponent's eyes with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and Lung Chang is barely able to dodge the attack just in time. The two men continue to fight for 100 more moves, but Lung Chang manages to pass a fist of his through his enemy's defense and punches with it Yue Li's face. The fist was so powerful, that Yue Li's nose starts to bleed. Lung Chang, then, lands a powerful blow on Yue Li's right shoulder. As the Priest lets a cry of pain, Lung Chang kicks him with immense power on his groin. The Priest loses his balance and Lung Chang kicks him twice, using all of his internal energy, on the chest. Yue Li is pushed back and vomits lot of blood.

"I....I...I...have lost!", Yue Li says. "You can kill me."

"Why should I kill a good brother like you?", Lung Chang replies as he helps Yue Li get up. "Come, let us drink some wine."

"Everyone knows that you are a murderer and rapist, why do you spare me?"

"Well, not everything is as it seems. Maybe some of those who are considered gentlemen are in fact murderers and rapists and some of those who are considered murderers and rapists are in fact gentlemen."

"Indeed. It seems that I was wrong about you."

"Brother Li, let me tell you something. I did not commit any of those crimes you accused me of. Someone else committed those crimes and blamed them on me. I do not know who, but I shall find him and take revenge for all he has done!"

Yue Li pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword' and gives it to Lung Chang. "Please, accept this gift of mine. This will surely help you take your revenge."

"No! How could I take such a valuable treasure of the Wudang Sect?"

"You spared my life today and proved yourself to be a real gentleman, a real chivalrous hero. Also, nearly everyone in the Martial Arts World wants to kill you for your 'crimes'. This sword will help you defend yourself. It can cut through the most hard steel. There is nothing that it cannot cut."

"Very well, I shall take it. Better be polite than rude. I will use it to take revenge!"

"Good! Let us drink to your revenge! Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The two men drink once again a jar of wine each. They then eat the food that Yue Li had ordered and after spending almost the whole day drinking and chatting, they part their ways. Yue Li goes back to his Wudang Sect and Lung Chang returns to his quest of finding the one who framed him for all those crimes. Will he be able to find who framed him and take revenge? Or shall he have to live with the shame of being accused of murders and rapes?

[geraldsaw]

An interesting wuxia tale. Very elegant and classic writing style. Hope you can maintain it. Thanks for this.

[Christos200]

Thanks for your comment. Hope that you will also enjoy the next chapters.

[Avidfan]

This story looks interesting. Hope to see you continuing this! =)

[szfong]

This fan fiction looks great... I hope Lung Chang will meet someone like Gu Long's Dawan and Xie Yulun as they slowly trust and help him be exonerated for his crimes. Will we see flashbacks of how he was accused in the first place? The actual perpetrator must be someone close to him, a relative in concert with a best friend perhaps...

[Christos200]

Thanks for all the comments. szfong, yes there will be flashbacks of how he was accused (there is one in this chapter).

Chapter II: Red Feathered Golden Needles

Good wine is usually found in famous and popular inns. Famous and popular inns are usually found in bustling cities. Kaifeng is such a bustling city and Lung Chang is there in order to buy some good wine. He is dressed with a brown gown made of silk and, as usual, fans himself with his white folding fan. However, there is something unusual about him. He has a long black beard. 'How did he grow such a long beard in just a few days?', you will ask. If the beard was natural that would indeed be a mystery. But the beard is fake, you see. With nearly everyone in the Martial World searching for Lung Chang, he has to masquerade himself if he wants to have a chance of staying alive.

Lung Chang goes to 'Teng's Tavern', one of the most famous Taverns in all of Kaifeng. He enters the Tavern and soon a short and thin waiter leads him to one of the tables and brings him three jars of wine. Lung Chang opens the first jar and when he smells the fragrance of the wine, he repeats three times: "Excellent smell!". He then starts drinking the wine. After taking a large gulp, he shouts: "Excellent wine! Magnificent wine! That's the reason why this Tavern is so famous!". He then proceeds to drink all of the jar. As he is ready to open and the second jar, he sees two men entering the Tavern.

One of them wears a fox fur cap, a blue silver gown and carries a long sword on his waist. He is in his 30's and has an air of arrogance in him. A middle-aged man with the air of a servant is the second person. The middle-aged man follows the rich man and helps him to sit down on a table. Lung Chang hears the middle-aged man calling the rich man 'Young Master Jiang', and the rich man calling the servant 'Cao'.

Not long after, the same waiter that had served Lung Chang, serves the 'Young Master Jiang'. He brings him two jars of the tavern's best wine and the best dishes. After an hour, Jiang and Cao get up and ready to leave the Tavern, but the waiter stops them and asks them: "Will you pay me?"

"How dare you?!", Jiang shouts and slaps the unfortunate waiter. "I am the brother of the Master of the Guan Family, Guan Jong. I can eat and drink whatever I want without paying!"

"But...sir...."

Jiang pulls out his sword and makes a vertical cut which opens up the man from throat to crotch.

"The Guan Family must have great influence in this area for this man to be acting so wildly.", Lung Chang thinks. Lung Chang wants to give Jiang a good lesson, but with almost everyone in the Martial Arts World searching for him, that would not be such good idea. He then hears a man with deep voice saying: "You bastard, I am going to give you a good lesson."

The man, who is tall but not very handsome (although he could not be called ugly, either), and wears a simple black gown, approaches the table where Jiang and his servant where sitting. He softly touches it and the table, suddenly, breaks into tens of pieces.

"Great internal energy!", Lung Chang thinks but does not dare to say, afraid that if he compliments the man, he may become involved in the fight. However, he cannot help but admire him. "I cannot help him, but, at least, I shall enjoy a good fight."

"You scum!", Jiang says pointing at the man. "It is you who shall get a good lesson."

Jiang charges forward, sword raised, and chops at the man's thigh, but the man jumps and dodges the blow. Jiang attacks again and the man leaps backwards. The man quickly grabs one of the wooden legs of the table he had broken, somersaults and thrusts his weapon at Jiang's chest. The thrust is too fast to be avoided and hits with immense strength the arrogant man's chest. Jiang spits some blood and coughs.

Nevertheless, Jiang points again his sword at the man and thrusts it towards him. As the sword speeds forward, a loud sound is heard, revealing the strength behind the thrust. However, the man doesn't even move his feet. His wooden stick flickers and stabs Jiang's shoulder. Jiang, shouting in pain, lets his sword fall on the ground.

It looks like the strange man has defeated Jiang. But, as they saying goes, victory leads to arrogance. The man spits at Jiang and, laughing, he shouts: "You are a dog! Kowtow before me ten times and call me Grandpa, and I may let you live! Hahahahaha!".

Servant Cao is terrified and bows before the man, pleading with tears in his eyes for him to spare Jiang's life. But the man kicks him away. It is then when Jiang pulls out of his sleeves five golden needles and throws them with almost superhuman speed at the man's stomach. The man vomits quite a lot of blood and points with his index finger at Jiang for a few seconds. He then dies. Lung Chang, who until then had stayed quite, looks with surprise at the golden needles and shouts two times: "Those are the needles!".

Lung Chang waits for a few minutes for Jiang and his servant to leave and then runs towards the man's dead body. He pulls out the golden needles and examines them for a few seconds. His mouth opens, showing his surprise. Those golden needles have a red feather on them. "Those must be the ones that killed him!", Lung Chang shouts. Those needles bring Lung Chang back to the past.

Almost a year ago, in August 14th, Lung Chang was in Fuzhou, in South China. When he arrived at the city, that fateful day, he went to a tavern and drank alone. Then, a handsome young man entered the tavern. That man was Wu Jing, son of the Chief of Huashan Sect, Master Wu Kang. Wu Jing, who was very fond of girls, saw a young and very beautiful woman sitting alone and drinking some wine, most probably waiting for someone. Wu Jing approached her, but she refused to let him sit with her. Wu Jing then grabbed her and started kissing her. When the woman tried to resist, he slapped her so hard that her cheek became swollen. This made the woman resist even more, but he punched his fist on her face, breaking her nose.

Lung Chang could not watch this and pretend that nothing was happening. He drew his sword and approached Wu Jing. At first, he tried to reason him with polite words, but this failed and so the two men resolved to duel. Wu Jing pulled out his sword and leapt in front of Lung Chang, thrusting at his right shoulder. Lung Chang met Wu Jing's sword with his own and the two of them clashed. Both of them were pushed back, and Lung Chang attacked Wu Jing using the 'Soaring Dragon in the Sky (飛龍在天劍法)' Swordplay. Their fight continued for 120 more moves, but, slowly but steadily, Lung Chang was gaining the upper hand and slashed thrice Wu Jing's chest. The slashes were not very deep nor did they aimed at killing his opponent. However, after the third slash, Wu Jing suddenly fell on the ground, dead. Lung Chang searched Wu Jing's body for any wounds and he found stabbed on his back the same golden needles with red feather that Jiang had thrown at the man. So, it is not weird that Lung Chang was very surprised when he saw the golden needles Jiang had thrown.

Back then, his teacher, Master Song Yan, had not believed him and instead accused him of killing Wu Jing with his slashes. Now, Lung Chang has a chance to find who killed Wu Jing and blamed the crime on him. He immediately runs towards the tavern owner and asks him about the Guan Family. After giving him a few golden coins, Lung Chang is able to learn where the Guan Family lives: in a large Mansion a few miles outside the city.

After a few hours, Lung Chang heads towards the Mansion. When he arrives at the Mansion, he sees that it is rectangle and surrounded by a thick stone wall. As he is ready to knock the large wooden door at the Mansion's entrance, he hears two men, maybe servants, talking.

"Did Master punish Young Master Jiang?"

"The sworn brother of our Master's friend was enraged that the Young Master used in public the golden needles and so Master was forced to punish him."

Lung Chang realizes that behind Guan Jong, the elder brother of Jiang and head of the Guan Family, there is an other man. Could this man be also related to the murder of Wu Jing, and that's why he forced Jong to punish his brother?

Anyway, Lung Chang knocks the door of the Mansion and soon, a servant opens it. He stares at Lung Chang for a few seconds and then asks, "Sir, what do you want?"

"I want to meet Master Guan for a trade deal."

"Oh. Come inside."

Lung Chang enters the Mansion and is led in the Mansion's Great Hall. Not long after, a man in his fifties wearing a flowered silk robe and a black woollen jacket enters the Great Hall, accompanied by twenty men, all swordsmen.

"Mister, what is your name?", the man in his fifties asks.

"I am...Zhang Dongfang."

The man understands that this is an alias, since Dongfang simply means 'Orient'.

"I am Guan Jong. How can I help you?"

"I want to buy some of your golden needles."

Guan Jong is startled to hear this and, being very anxious, shouts: "We do not sell our needles!"

"Alright. Alright. No need to be so angry. So....since you do not sell your needles, where you the ones who killed Wu Jing last year, in August 14th?"

Upon hearing this, Guan Jong realizes that the man in front of him is Lung Chang and orders four of his men to charge at him with their swords. Lung Chang just smiles and waits for them. When they come close enough to him, he quickly pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword', moves like a flash, cuts off both of their hands and hangs his sword back to his waist.

"This time, I cut off your hands. Next time, I shall cut off your heads."

Guan Jong, very angry, shouts: "Bring my Sword to me!". Soon, a servant brings a long Jian, a double-edged straight sword, which is carved from a single solid piece of jade. The blade is 80 centimeters (31 inches) in length. The weight of the sword is approximately 900 grams (2 pounds). A hilt protects the hand of wielder from an opposing blade. The shape of the hilt is short wings pointing forward. A handle behind the hilt accommodates the grip of one hand plus two fingers of the other hand. The end of the handle is finished with a pommel for balance, to prevent the handle from sliding through the hand if the hand's grip should be loosened. Upon the Sword, the figure of a Dragon is carved.

"You have the 'Deadly Jade Sword', I see. Well, I have the 'Jade Dragon Sword'. Let's see how you shall fare against this sword!"

Guan Jong grabs the sword, somersaults and thrusts his sword directly towards Lung Chang's throat. Lung Chang goes on the defensive and the two blades clash with a great 'clang'. Lung Chang and Guan Jong exchange more than 200 moves. Their fight takes them out of the Great Hall and they continue their duel in the Mansion's yard. It is then when Lung Chang decides to use the Kunlun grappling technique 'Kunlun Wishful Hand (崑崙如意手)'. When Guan Jong charges with his sword against him, Lung Chang makes no move until the sword is only one inch from his nose, then stretches out his hand and grabs it by the hilt. Guan Jong lets out a ragged breath.

"Will you talk now?!", Lung Chang shouts. But before the man can reply, he vomits blood and falls on the ground dead. Lung Chang sees a golden needle stuck at the man's neck and hears the sound of someone running coming from outside the Mansion. Lung Chang excels in the levitational Kung Fu known as the 'Art of Flying' and, despite the fact that the stone wall surrounding the Mansion is quite high, he jumps above it and chases after a masked man clad in black garb. However, the man runs too fast and soon Lung Chang loses him. After a few minutes, he returns back to the Mansion. But, when he enters from the Main Entrance, he finds everyone dead. Lung Chang searches around for almost an hour, but he cannot find anyone alive in the Mansion. He then decides to leave and find a room to stay for the night.

He finds a room in a inn in a small village outside Kaifeng. The inn is crude and simple to the extreme, with earthen walls and mud floors. There, he thinks about the day's events. After thinking for hours, he comes to the conclusion that "The massacre at the Guan Mansion must have something to do with the sworn brother of Guan Jong's friend. I heard the servants saying that this man was angry that Jiang had used the needles in the public and forced Jong to punish his brother. So, that man must have something to do with the murder, otherwise he would not have been so afraid of Jiang using the needles. Also, when I talked about Wu Jing's murder, Guan Jong and his men attacked me. That means that they were the ones who gave the needles to the murderer. It seems that the sworn brother of Jong's friend had send some men to the Guan Mansion, to make sure that I do not learn who the murderer is. One of those men killed Guan Jong in order to lure me outside. His Qinggong was too good, so he must intentionally have let me hear him running away, so I would chase after him and the rest of his comrades could massacre the Guans. Now that the Guans are dead, I cannot find who the murderer is and that sworn brother has accomplished his goal. Dammit, I was so close!"

The next day, Lung Chang leaves the village. On his way, he sees two villagers talking about a great massacre. Lung Chang approaches them and asks them what happened. One of them replies: "Lung Chang massacred Guan Jong and his men yesterday and in the night he went to the Jia Family, whose head was sworn brother of Guan Jong, and killed him, all of his family and raped his two daughters."

"How do you know it was Lung Chang?", Lung Chang, terrified, asks.

"He wrote his name on the Guan Mansion and the Jia Mansion with red characters."

Lung Chang is sure that the 'sworn brother' had committed those atrocities. He also knows that the massacre of two so prominent and influential in the Martial Arts World families would certainly cause an uproar. Indeed, only five days pass when a student of the Kunlun Sect enters the Great Hall of the Kunlun School and informs the Sect's Chief, Master Piao Zhen, of the massacres.

Master Piao Zhen is a young man, only in his late twenties, with long black hair, a handsome face and a thin but very muscular body. He wears a black gown. He is also known in the Martial Arts World as 'Gentleman Swordsman' and 'Chivalrous Hero'. Piao Zhen was once the brother in arms of Lung Chang and the two of them were like real brothers, until the moment Lung Chang 'killed' their teacher, Song Yan. After the death of Song Yan, Piao Zhen became Chief of the Kunlun Sect.

Upon hearing the news, Piao Zhen walks up and down the Great Hall. It is then when a young woman enters the Hall. Her skin is almost as white as snow, she has a deliciously petite figure and her eyes are full of life. That woman is Song Lihua, daughter of Song Yan. She and Lung Chang were for many years much in love, and Lung Chang would have married her last year's summer, had the unexpected murder of Wu Jing not happened. Now, she is engaged to Piao Zhen.

"What is it, dear?", Song Lihua asks Piao Zhen, seeing how troubled he is.

"That Lung Chang! He is making trouble once again. Five days ago he massacred the Guan and Jia families in Kaifeng."

"Could it be a mistake?"

Song Lihua had never really accepted that her former brother in arms and lover had murdered her father and always thought that it was a misunderstanding. She knows that Lung Chang loved and respected her father as he was his own father.

"How could it be mistaken! He himself admitted it! He wrote with red characters on the walls of the Guan and Jia Mansions his name."

Piao Zhen then turns towards the student who had told him the news and says: "Go and inform the Chiefs of Huashan, Wudang, Emei, Kongtong and Qingcheng Sects, as well as the Abbot of Shaolin, to gather here to discuss about how to deal with this scum, Lung Chang."

The student leaves and Piao Zhen embraces Lihua.

"My love, I know that you still do not feel at ease with us hunting down Lung Chang, but we have to do it."

"Why us? Can't the other Sects do it?"

"My love, I also do not feel at ease when I have to fight my former brother in arms, but for the greater good, I will have to bear the pain and do it. After all, Lung Chang was a former student of the Kunlun Sect, how can I ask the other Sects to hunt him down while we, the ones who raised such a poisonous snake, do nothing?"

Will Piao Zhen be able to persuade the other Sects to join him in his quest to hunt down his former brother in arms? Will Lung Chang be able to survive from the uproar of the Martial Arts World and find who framed him? Who are the mysterious 'sworn brother' and the friend of Guan Jong? Do they have anything to do with the framing of Lung Chang?

[szfong]

Thanks for another update!

[geraldsaw]

Thanks for another update. But I wonder why Lung Chang upon discovering the double slaughters did not say aloud why that Lung Chang is so stupid to announce that he is the killer. Likewise his darling never defended Lung Chang by saying Lung Chang cannot be so stupid as to announce his own crimes.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

This is turning out to be quite the murder mystery. Are we allowed to guess the culprit?

[Christos200]

Thanks for all the comments.

geraldsaw, this shall be used by someone else to try to persuade the Martial Arts World that Lung Chang is innocent.

Mandred Skavenslayer, why not? You could try, but the case is not as simple as it may seem.

[geraldsaw]

geraldsaw, this shall be used by someone else to try to persuade the Martial Arts World that Lung Chang is innocent.
.

Great. Glad to know this is part of the plot.

[Christos200]

Chapter III: The Four Devils of Shandong

A young girl walks on a dirt road in Shanxi. The girl is eighteen or nineteen years old with a tanned face and thick eyebrows, and wears a simple pale green gown. On her waist, a sword is hanging. She seems troubled and in deep thought. Suddenly, she hears shouts and the sound of swords. She walks towards the direction of the sound. To her surprise, she finds a handsome young man, wearing a white gown, fighting with three other men who, from their black gowns which have a yin yang symbol on the chest, seem to be members of the Qingcheng Sect. One of them shouts at the young man: "Lung Chang, you thought that a fake beard could hide your identity? Last year, we fought on a Martial Arts tournament and I would recognize you no matter what you wear!"

"Hahaha! Brother Li, you indeed have good memory. Bravo!"

Upon hearing Lung Chang's name, the girl's face becomes pale. Meanwhile, Li charges with his sword against Lung Chang, but when he pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword', Li leaps backwards. Li quickly recognizes the weapon and, knowing that if their two swords clash, his own blade will come off as worst, decides not to parry his enemy's strokes directly. The two men whirl round and round, and Li begins to sweat. However, he manages to secretly work a number of darts into his right palm and swaps his sword over to his left hand. The Qingcheng Sect is known for it's 'Snake throws Poison' dart throwing technique. Li, slashing out with a left handed stroke, simultaneously flings the darts at Lung Chang. Lung Chang manages to dodge both the blade and the darts, but he becomes more and more flustered by the onslaught. He sweeps his sword across at Li's waist. As the two sword's clash, Li's blade is snapped clean in two. Li throws all his remaining darts at Lung Chang, who somersaults and catches three of them at mid air. He then throws the darts at Li: one of them stabs him on his right eye and the other two on his stomach. Seeing their comrade wounded and bleeding, the other two Qingcheng disciples run away. Li, despite his wounds, also runs away.

Lung Chang, having defeated his enemies, walks away towards the nearest village, in order to buy some wine. Every man has his weakness. Others like women, others gambling. Lung Chang likes to drink wine. As he walks, he realizes that a young girl is following him, but he decides not to say anything and continues walking. However, she continues following him. Lung Chang turns round and smiles at the girl.

"Miss, forgive me for being blunt, but where are you heading to?"

"Lung Chang, I am going to take revenge!", she shouts harshly.

"Forgive me for having a bad memory, but we have never met, have we?"

"No."

"Then, why do you want to pick a fight with me?"

"I am Wu Lan, daughter of Wu Ma, brother of the deceased Chief of Huashan Sect, Master Wu Kang. You murdered my cousin, Wu Jing, and murdered my uncle and his entire family. I have been searching for you for almost a year."

"I guess that if I say that I did not commit any of those crimes, you will not believe me, right?"

"Right."

"So, we will have to fight."

Lan pulls out her sword, a long and very sharp sword with some Chinese characters carved upon it. With her sword held high, she strikes out at Lung Chang. Lung Chang, not wishing to hurt the girl, deflects the blow with his white folding fan instead of using his sword. Nevertheless, Lan resumes her attack on Lung Chang, who dodges left and right. Lung Chang swings his fan wildly towards the young girl. The girl dodges the attack and counters by chopping at his shoulder with her sword, with the move known as 'Wild Wind Swift Sword (狂風快劍)'. Lung Chang blocks her sword with his fan, using all of his might and internal energy. Under the intense intense shock of the impact, Lan's arm goes numb and her sword falls from her hand.

"You! What are you going to do to me?", she asks. Lan had heard about Lung Chang raping girls. According to her father, Lung Chang had raped her cousin. So, Lan is quite scared and her face is as white as ashen.

"Nothing. You are not my type of girl, anyway. You are too tough for a lady."

"You!"

Lung Chang ignores her and walks away, laughing. "I need some wine or I shall not survive the rest of the day.", Lung Chang thinks as he walks. After a few minutes, he arrives at a small village and goes to a small tavern, whose walls are earthen.

"Bring me some wine!", Lung Chang shouts at the innkeeper, a middle-aged fat man.

"Bring me some wine too!", a muscular man with a thick black beard and wearing Mongol clothes shouts.

"But...but...there is only one jar of wine, sirs."

Hearing this, both Lung Chang and the Mongol offer to pay double the price. They then offer to pay thrice the price. This goes on for some time, until the Mongol, out of patience, punches his fist on the wooden table he is sitting and breaks it. He then shouts: "We shall hold a Martial Arts content and the one who wins shall get the jar of wine!"

Lung Chang nods his head and says: "Good. Let us fight!"

The Mongol, seeing that Lung Chang is dressed more like a scholar than a pugilist, believes that it will be an easy fight. The two men take positions. The Mongol shouts: "Let's begin!". As he speaks those words, his left fist shots out and his right hand slices across towards Lung Chang's right shoulder. Then, in a flash, his left fist flips over and aims for the right shoulder while the right hand goes for the chest. Lung Chang retreats three paces and fends off the blows. Suddenly, Lung Chang steps forward and sweeps his left leg across at the Mongol, who jumps clear off the ground to avoid it and counters with a fist aimed at Lung Chang's face. Lung Chang avoids the fist and the two continue to fight for 60 more moves. Suddenly, Lung Chang strikes at the Mongol with both fists, one of which slams into his shoulder. The Mongol takes hold of Lung Chang's wrist and strikes out at his elbow in retaliation. With his free hand, Lung Chan swings at the Mongol's other shoulder and the two leap apart.

The Mongol had had the worst of the encounter. "Excellent Kung Fu!" he shouts. "You can have the wine."

"Thank you for being lenient with me. Your Kung Fu is marvelous."

Lung Chang takes the jar of wine from the innkeeper, opens it and smells it. "Good wine!", he exclaims and takes a large gulp. He then leaves the Tavern. As he is walking out of the village in a dirt road, he wonders what to do next. The bright sun is shining on the clear blue sky and a cool wind is blowing. On both sides of the dirt road, there are Peach Blossom Trees which give to the area an almost magical beauty.

He walks for some time and reaches a river. He sits alone on the ground and gazes at the panorama of water and mountains. In the dense forests of bamboo and trees that run along the hillsides, a myriad leaves glisten brightly. The air is moist and hazy. "With Guan Jong and his family all dead, there is no way I can clear my name.", he thinks and sighs. "I will never have peace. The massacres of the Guan and Jia families shall make all Orthodox Sects hunt me down. If only I could retire the Martial Arts World and live here, besides the river and the forests of bamboo and trees, a peaceful life! But, unless I manage to clear my name, I will not be able to realize this dream. But how can I clear my name? Damn those bastards who killed the Guans!"

Lung Chang takes another large gulp from the jar with the wine. Wine helps him forget his troubles. But, most of all, helps him forget the woman he loves: his former sister in arms and the daughter of his Teacher, Song Lihua. Lihua is, as her name means, beautiful and elegant, and no matter how hard Lung Chang tries, he cannot forget her. However, from the news he managed to learn, he knows that his former lover is engaged to his former brother in arms, Piao Zhen. Lung Chang knows that Piao Zhen is a chivalrous person with a strong sense of honor and justice, and so he is somewhat relieved to know that his beloved woman is with someone who is a true hero. It would be a lie to say that Lung Chang does not feel at all jealous, but he does not feel hatred for Piao Zhen. What he feels is mostly gratitude. If Lihua came with him, Lung Chang knows that she would never have a peaceful day. But as the fiancee of an honorable Chief, she will have peace and be respected.

As he is drinking his wine and thinking what to do next, he hears the cry of a woman and some laughs. He runs towards the direction of the sounds and, to his surprise, finds four men surrounding Wu Lan. The four men are a good two heads taller than most ordinary men and are heavily build.

"Hey, do you need some help?", Lung Chang asks Lan and smiles.

"No!", she shouts, despite the helpless situation she is in.

"Well, then I shall take my leave."

As Lung Chang walks away, Lan cries "Come back! Help me!"

"So, you need my help?"

"Yes."

"Alright."

One of the four men, seeing Lung Chang approaching, shouts "We are the Four Devils of Shandong!" and grasps the trunk of a tree in his arms and after a few rigorous tugs, pulls the entire tree bodily out of the ground and throws it away.

"Ai-ya! You are really the famous Four Devils of Shandong?", Lung Chang, laughing, asks. "It is my honor to be able to meet with four so famous villains."

"Since you know who we are, why don't you let us alone?"

"I will let you alone, if you let that girl go."

"You must have a death wish!"

Two of the 'Devils', Devil Three and Devil Four, charge at Lung Chang with a blood curdling roar of rage. Chang skips nimbly around behind Devil Three and shoves him at Devil Four. The two men smash into each other, topple to the ground and lose their consciousness. Lung Chang cannot help but laugh at them. He collapses into a ball and rolls and laughs hysterically on the ground. Devil Two comes in front of Lung Chang, but he continues laughing until Devil Two is within arm's reach, then he topples him over backwards with a push, grabs him by the leg and hurls him away. Devil One, the eldest and most powerful of the gang, roars and kicks out with his right leg, but Lung Chang grabs him by the trousers and shirt, lifts him up and with a hefty kick sends him flying through the air.

Lung Chang smiles. "You have three seconds to leave", he says.

The Four Devils would run away even if Lung Chang had not told them to do so. Despite their injuries, they run with almost superhuman speed. From this, Lung Chang comes to the conclusion that it is true that fear makes you do things you would normally be unable to do.

Before he could turn round and ask Lan if she is alright, she had already pulled out her sword and stuck out at him. Lung Chang swings round to counter the stroke. The two of them fight for five more moves, before Lung Chang can seal her Vital Points with a swift move, thus temporary paralyzing her.

"Let me free!", Lan cries.

"You know, you really need to learn some manners. I saved you and you attacked me. Only if you say that you are sorry shall I unseal your Vital Points."

"I shall never say sorry to you. You murdered my uncle and his entire family. I shall take revenge."

"Then I should leave."

Lung Chang walks away and after a few minutes, he picks some small stones from the ground and sends them flying towards Lan, unsealing her Vital Points.

The same night, on a cliff on a mountain, a man wearing a large cape with the collar turned up and a black garb and an other man, who seems to be very old, has long white hair and beard and wears a grey gown, meet under the bright moon.

"You have done well in creating trouble in the Martial Arts World", the old man says with a deep voice. "How did you managed to make your story about the massacres so believable?"

"It is all thanks to our friend, Lung Chang. I had long planned to massacre some important in the Martial Arts World families in order to create an uproar, but with Lung Chang creating trouble in the Guan Mansion, the whole thing became far more believable."

"Hahaha! It seems that I was right when I advised you not to murder Lung Chang. He is the perfect scapegoat for our massacres. If you also follow my advises on what to do during the meeting of the Orthodox Martial Arts Sects on Mt. Kunlun, you shall become the leader of the Martial Arts World."

"Of course I shall follow your advice. I shall use the massacres of the Guan and Jia families to push for the merge of all Orthodox Martial Arts Sects. And, of course, the leader shall be me."

"Good. Very good. If all goes well, you shall be handsomely rewarded by his Highness."

The old man walks away and rides a strong and tall white horse that is waiting for him. As he gallops, he laughs and thinks: "The first step for a Manchu conquest of the Ming Empire shall be soon completed. The Martial Arts World shall be under Manchu control."

[szfong]

Thanks for another exciting episode...

[geraldsaw]

Interesting angle your story is heading to. The Manchus stirring trouble and the one dimension orthodox clans falling for it line hook and sinker.

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Good twist. Was not expecting the manchu connection. Now that we have a time frame for the story are we going to get any guest appearances from historical figures?

[Christos200]

Thanks for all comments.

Mandred Skavenslayer, there may be some historical figures, but they will not play any major part in the story, except for Hong Taiji (the Manchu Emperor), who will have a bit more important role. As for time frame, the story takes place a few years after the death of Yuan Chonghuan.

[Christos200]

Chapter IV: Meeting of the Orthodox Sects on Mt. Kunlun

The sun shines brightly on the clear blue morning sky on Mt. Kunlun. On the Great Hall of the Kunlun School, the Chiefs of Kunlun, Huashan, Wudang, Emei, Kongtong and Qingcheng Sects, as well as the Abbot of Shaolin, meet in order to discuss about how to deal with Lung Chang. All Chiefs are served tea while servants of the Kunlun School fan them with white folding fans. Piao Zhen, Chief of Kunlun Sect, sits on a simple wooden chair on the center of the Hall, in contrast with the other Chiefs who sit on lavishly decorated with gold chairs. All Chiefs, except for Priest Yue Li, Chief of Wudang Sect, and Abbot Yongyu of Shaolin, who wear their religious clothes, wear lavish gowns made of silk. Only Piao Zhen wears a simple black gown.

Piao Zhen smiles and sips his tea. He then says: "Honorable Chiefs of the Orthodox Martial Arts Sects, I welcome all of you to Mt. Kunlun and hope that this meeting shall solve the recent troubles of the Martial Arts World."

All Chiefs respectfully greet Piao Zhen and thank him for hosting the meeting, except for the Chief of Qingcheng Sect, the elderly Pan Tong, who just sighs. Because Piao Zhen is a relative young Chief, only in his late twenties, Pan Tong, who is in his early eighties, does not respect him much. Piao Zhen ignores Pan Tong's rudeness and continues his speech.

"Honorable Chiefs, although I am the youngest of all of you and the Kunlun Sect is not nearly as populous or powerful as your Sects, I took the initiative to host a meeting of the Orthodox Sects on Mt. Kunlun because the one who massacred the Guan and Jia families in Kaifeng was once a student of our school."

"At least you know your place!", Pan Tong shouts loudly. Piao Zhen, however, manages to stay calm and ignores him. He is not nicknamed 'Gentleman Swordsman' for nothing.

"I do not believe Lung Chang committed those massacres.", Priest Yue Li says. "I met him on Mt. Dragon and he proved to be a real gentleman and a chivalrous hero. Also, if he did commit the murders, why did he wrote his name on the Mansions of the Guan and Jia families?"

"Indeed.", adds Abbot Yongyu of Shaolin, an old man with long white beard, long eyebrows and prayer beads around his neck. "Only a lunatic would do that."

"But he is a lunatic.", replies Abbess Meijoui of Emei Sect, an old woman with long grey hair and wearing a grey Taoist robe. Abbess Meijoui is well known for her great martial arts and swordsmanship skills, as well as for her strict moral code. "His killing of Wu Jing last year was witnessed by many people. Also, it is well known that he is very proud. That's why he massacred Master Wu Kang and his entire family after being forced to apologize to them by his Master, the late Master Song Yan. He then murdered his own teacher and the proof for this is that Master Song Yan's last words were Lung Chang's name. He is an erratic man who enjoys gaining fame by massacring people. That's why he paints his name on the walls of the Mansions' of his victims."

The rest of the Chiefs applaud Abbess Meijoui and Yue Li and Abbot Yongyu realize that they cannot do anything to help Lung Chang. Although the evidence that Lung Chang's enemies have could not really be called and the most strong, there are nevertheless evidence, while Yue Li and Abbot Yongyu have no evidence of Lung Chang's innocence at all. And since they do not have any evidence, they have to accept the official position of the Orthodox Sects, that Lung Chang is a lunatic murderer.

Piao Zhen continues his speech: "Those massacres, and our inability to prevent them, show that there is something wrong with what we are doing. Lung Chang is only one person, but through so many centuries countless such evil people or even whole Sects appear that cause uproar in the Martial Arts World and do not allow peace and justice to exist. Killing Lung Chang could stop the problem for now, but sooner or later an other evil man or organization shall shake the Martial Arts World. The only way to stop this is for all Orthodox Martial Arts Sects to unite."

"Indeed!", Abbess Meijoui agrees. "We should unite in order to stop evil from spreading. Lung Chang is just the problem of those years. A few years later, someone else will appear and cause an uproar. If we unite, however, no evil men shall cause trouble in the Martial Arts World and even if they dare to, we shall be able to respond quickly and with overwhelming force."

"I agree!", Pan Tong states. Although he disregards Piao Zhen, he knows that what he said was logical. He also has the ambition of him becoming leader of the new Alliance. "United we are strong, divided we are weak! One arrow can easily be smashed. But many arrows together are impossible to be smashed."

Soon, all other Chiefs express their agreement, except for Yue Li and Abbot Yongyu, who do not like the idea of all Orthodox Martial Arts Sects being united under one man. So, when Piao Zhen asks Priest Yue Li for his opinion, he replies: "Our Sects have each a history of hundreds of years. Each Sect has it's own traditions and rules, so how can we possibly merge them and forget our traditions? And how can we trust one man to become leader of the entire Martial Arts World? I strongly disagree!"

"Since Priest Yue Li disagreed, I, Abbot Yongyu of Shaolin, because of the long standing friendship between Shaolin and Wudang, cannot agree."

"Very well.", Piao Zhen replies. "However, I would like to ask all Chiefs to stay here in Mt. Kunlun, so we can meet five days later. Merging the Orthodox Sects is an important issue which cannot be decided in just a few minutes. So, in those days, everyone please think about and make a wise decision."

Many hours later, in the night, Priest Yue Li argues in his room with his brother in arms, Zhang Yude. Although Zhang Yude is a senior of Yue Li, their teacher made Yue Li instead of him Chief of Wudang and this makes Zhang Yude very jealous. However, this is not the reason why they are arguing. The reason is that Zhang Yude is a firm believer of Piao Zhen's proposition and wants the Orthodox Sects to unite.

"Chief!", Zhang shouts, "You should agree to Piao Zhen's proposal. For centuries, the reason the Orthodox Sects have been unable to prevent evil men from doing harm is their disunity. This is a chance to unite and achieve ever lasting peace in the Martial Arts World. How can you refuse it?!"

"Brother Yude, each Sect has a history of hundreds of years. Each Sect has it's own traditions and laws. I am not against closer cooperation between the Orthodox Sects, but we cannot just merge all Sects."

"In my opinion, you are only interested in keeping your position as Chief!"

Zhang Yude storms out of the room. He then walks alone on a cliff on Mt. Kunlun and gazes at the bright moon. The moon and the stars on the night sky remind him certain lyrics of Cao Cao's 'Short Song Style' poem:

"Bright is the moon's spark, when can I pick it apart?" and "Stars around the moons are few, southward the crows flew."

He sighs as he remembers the day when his teacher gave the 'Seal of Command' to Yue Li instead of him. "Yue Li was my junior, but he became leader of the Sect! It is so unfair. Teacher was biased and a fool.", Zhang Yude thinks. Anger, jealously and hatred flare up within Zhang Yude all at once. "Instead of giving to me the 'Seal of Command', he gave it to that idiot! And now, this stupid and muddle-headed idiot gets on the way of bringing peace to the Martial Arts World! Thanks to his persistence in maintaining his position as Chief, the Orthodox Sects shall never be united!"

All the anger and jealously of Zhang Yude comes spilling out. He pulls out his sword, a long, elegant and thin blade, roars and practices the 'Divine Gate Thirteen Swords (神門十三劍)' swordplay with immense fury and hatred.

Suddenly, he hears the sound of steps. He turns round and sees an old man, who has long white hair and beard, and wears a brown gown. Zhang Yude had not seen him before on the Mt. and he does not look like a Kunlun student, so who could he be?

"Who are you?", he politely asks the old man.

The man just laughs for a few second and then replies: "I am an elder of Wudang Sect."

"That's impossible! I've never seen you and neither teacher nor any other elder of Wudang ever mentioned anything about you."

"Ai-ya! So, they forgot about me so quickly?". The old man remains silent for a few seconds before speaking again: "Your teacher must have told you of a man called Sun Shiyi, right?"

"Eee......yes, I remember teacher mentioning that man once. He said that Sun Shiyi was his brother in arms. He fell in love with a young and very beautiful woman and she liked him too. But because the woman was the daughter of a high ranking Official and she was very beautiful, she became a concubine of the Taichang Emperor, father of the current Emperor, Emperor Chongzhen. Sun Shiyi went crazy when he learned this and no one knows what happened to him."

"Good. It seems that my brother in arms had not forgotten about me."

Zhang Yude laughs. "Do you expect me to believe that you are Sun Shiyi?"

"Let us have a fight and I will prove to you that I really am Sun Shiyi!"

"I accept your challenge!"

The old man pulls out a narrow, double-edged Jian Sword with a thin blade and a tassel attached to the pommel. He sweeps his sword across with almost superhuman speed. Zhang Yude ducks down to avoid it, then counters with a thrust from his sword. The two fight round and round. Zhang Yude, seeing that his opponent's swordsmanship is even greater than that of his own master and knowing that he will never be able to defeat him, concentrates instead on trying to tire the old man out. But his Internal Energy is profound and, as time passes, Zhang Yude cannot discern the slightest slowing of the old man's actions. Instead, his sword seems to whirl and dance with ever increasing speed. Finally, the old man's sword clashes with Zhang Yude's sword, a 'clang' is heard and Zhang Yude's sword snaps clean in two.

"Now, do you believe me?", the old man asks.

Zhang Yude bows before him and says: "Greetings Elder Sun! Forgive me for my rudeness."

"My brother in arms was muddle-headed."

"Why do you say so?"

"Because instead of making Chief of Wudang a great and able man like you, he gave the 'Seal of Command' to that idiot Yue Li."

Zhang Yude cannot hide his happiness upon hearing those words. Maybe Elder Sun can help him become Chief, he thinks.

"Elder Sun, I need your help. Yue Li refuses to accept the merge of all Orthodox Sects and this will prevent the Martial Arts World from having peace and stability. Also, evil people like Lung Chang will be able to continue their massacres. Please, change his mind."

"You are right. But Yue Li will never listen to anyone. There is only one way to make sure that the Orthodox Sects merge."

"What is it?"

"To kill Yue Li!"

"Kill....kill....kill Yue Li?"

"It is the only way to make sure that the Martial Arts World has peace."

"But....how should I kill him? My skills are not good enough."

"Take this."

Sun Shiyi gives Zhang Yude a red pill and a jar of wine.

"I...will poison him?"

"Yes. Before you go and see Yue Li, swallow the red pill. This will make sure that the poison will not affect you."

"Thanks for your help, Elder."

Zhang Yude swallows the pill and runs back to the Kunlun School. He knocks the door of Yue Li's room. Yue Li opens the door and warmly says: "Brother Yude, come inside."

When Zhang Yude enters the room, he bows before Yue Li and, with tears in his eyes, shouts: "I have unjustly insulted you! Chief, please punish me!!"

Yue Li, smiling, helps Zhang Yude gets up and says "Since you know your mistake, there is no need for me to punish you."

"Chief, I have bought some wine. Would you like to taste it?"

Zhang Yude takes a large gulp from the jar with the wine and remarks "Excellent wine!"

Yue Li, who likes good wine, takes the jar from Zhang Yude's hands and drinks it.

"Quite good wine indeed!", he says. He had more than a week to drink wine.

Suddenly, Yue Li feels a pain on his stomach and vomits blood. As Yue Li shouts in pain, Zhang Yude pulls out a dagger and stabs thrice Yue Li's chest before Yue Li kicks him on the stomach. Yue Li tries to grab his sword but, as he is dizzy, he he is not able to do so. Instead, he moves left and right and cannot stand on his feet. Zhang Yude, fearing that his assassination attempt will fail and that he will surely die, attacks again, this time with immense hatred and stabs more than twenty times Yue Li's stomach to make sure that he is dead. He then calms down and realizes that his arch-enemy is finally dead and laughs hysterically.

As he is laughing, he realizes something that makes him desperate again: the other students of Wudang will inquire how Yue Li died. Even without close examination, just by looking at Yue Li's body, one can come to the concussion that he got stabbed to death. And of course, sooner or later, Zhang Yude will be suspected. So, he must find a way to prevent this. He thinks for a few seconds, and then an idea comes: he will throw one of the candles of the room onto the floor, starting a fire. Everyone will think that the fire was started by an accident and that Yue Li did not manage to get out in time and got burned alive. So, he lights a candle and throws it on the wooden floor of the room. Zhang Yude runs out and soon the flames engulf much of the Western Section of the Kunlun School. Only after two hours are the pugilists of the Orthodox Sects able to put down the fire. In total, twenty people were burned to death.

The next day, the Wudang students find the burned body of their Chief, which is barely recognizable, and they bury him. They then elect Zhang Yude as the new Chief of Wudang. Four days later, the Chiefs of the Orthodox Sects meet again on the Great Hall of the Kunlun School.

"Honorable Chiefs!", Piao Zhen says. "I hope that in those five days you had, you have thought about my proposal. So, do you agree to the merger?"

"I agree!", Zhang Yude shouts.

"Me too!", Abbess Meijoui of Emei Sect adds.

"I also agree.", Abbot Yongyu says, sighing. He knows that it is of no use to try and oppose alone the merger.

All other Chiefs follow suit. Piao Zhen cannot hide how relieved he is that everyone agreed. "So, how shall we choose the leader of the Alliance?", he asks. "I say that we hold a Martial Arts Tournament in four months and the victor shall become leader of the Orthodox Sects. Also, I propose that we hold the tournament on Shaolin, if Abbot Yongyu agrees, as all Martial Arts originate from Shaolin."

"It will be my honor to host such an event.", Abbot Yongyu replies.

The other Chiefs agree to Piao Zhen's proposal. So, the meeting of the Orthodox Martial Arts Sects on Mt. Kunlun ends with a historic decision: for the first time in the history of the Martial Arts World, all Orthodox Sects shall merge. The same night, Sun Shiyi gallops away from Mt. Kunlun with his strong and tall white horse. "My dear Shunu, I will take revenge for you!", he thinks. "That bastard Taichang Emperor snatched you away from me. He made you his concubine and forced you to sleep with him and give him a son, the current Emperor Chongzhen. But your heart remained loyal to me. So, he had you executed. But now, I shall take revenge for you. Although Taichang died before I could take revenge, I shall avenge you by bringing down the Ming Empire. In four months, the Martial Arts World will come under Manchu control. And then, the Manchu Armies shall conquer the Ming Empire and I will have avenged you!!"

[szfong]

Thanks for another exciting update! Can't wait for another chapter...

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Good work.

My guesses for the culprit;

The Lover
The Brother
Or The Master.

[Christos200]

Chapter V: Shaolin Temple

The clouds hide the sun. A cold wind is blowing and the sound of birds singing can be heard all over the forest of bamboo and trees. The air is moist and the ground is muddy. It had been raining for the past two days. Suddenly, the sound of steps interrupts the singing of the birds and the sound of the wind blowing is replaced with the sound of fallen leaves being cracked. The man walking wears a white gown and is none other than Lung Chang. As he walks, he takes large gulps from a jar with wine and occasionally shouts "Good wine!" or "Excellent wine!". Drops of water fall over his head sometimes, as the trees have not completely dried from last two days' rain yet. But this seems not to bother at all Lung Chang.

Everything seems to be calm and in peace. Everything seems to be in harmony: but for long this will not last. Suddenly, the sound of shouts and fighting is heard. Lung Chang is at first not bothered at all. But after the sound of fighting becomes move violent and the "clang" sound of swords clashing is heard again and again, his curiosity gets the best of him and he decides to walk towards the direction of the sound and see what is happening. What he sees is three men dressed in black garb and with swords in their hands fighting a middle-aged lady and a young woman, probably her daughter. Lung Chang does not pay much attention at the two women, but he sees that they are both beautiful and have white like snow skin.

"Hey!", Lung Chang shouts. "Why are you harassing them?". Although Lung Chang wants to avoid gaining attention, when he sees women in danger, his heroic and chivalrous nature wakes up in him. He just cannot stand it and no matter how cautious he is, he has the urge to interfere.

"Hey, you kiddo.", one of the men laughingly says. "What business is this to you? Maybe you like the girls because they are pretty?"

Lung Chang blushed when he heard of this. Seeing his reaction, the other two comrades of the man also laugh. Finally, after a few seconds, Lung Chang replies: "Whenever the weak are bullied, it is my business."

"Oh! You think that you are a great hero? Hahahaha!". The man's face becomes red because of how hard he laughs. He points at Lung Chang and says to his comrades: "Look! This kid believes that he is really a hero!"

"Maybe he is Piao Zhen.", an other man jokingly says.

"Or is he Abbess Meijoui?"

Hearing this, the younger of the two women lets out a laugh. Although they are mortal enemies and before a few minutes they were fighting to death, the man's words were nevertheless too funny for her not to laugh. The other woman, the middle-aged one, looks harshly at her, scolding her.

Lung Chang also laughed when he heard this and replied: "Nuns, that's right. I am your Abbess."

Now, the young girl laughs even more heartily, but the three men grunt instead.

"Bastard, I shall teach you a lesson!", one of them says and the three men form a triangle.

The "Triangle Formation" (三角形的形成), although it is not very sophisticated, it is nevertheless a very dangerous formation for anyone to face, as long as the three members of the formation are at least competent fighters. The fighter in the center of the formation aims to tie down the enemy while the other two men outflank and encircle him. Then, the enemy will be quite easily killed. The main idea for this formation came from military strategy and warfare. The fighters of the triangle represent an army and the enemy represents an other army. The center of the army ties down the enemy army and the other two wings encircle and then destroy it. This military strategy was applied to pugilistic fights by a General who had outstanding abilities, in both War and Martial Arts. Unfortunately, his name has been lost.

The three men point their swords at Lung Chang, but they do not dare to make the first move. Although they gave the impression that they are arrogant, they are in fact cautious and they know that in pugilistic fights, one must never be too overconfident. So, while in the fight of words they are arrogant, because words cannot kill, in the fight of swords and fists they do not dare to act rashly. They want first to see what move their enemy will make and how strong and able he is. Lung Chang would usually have attacked by now, but seeing the formation the three men formed, he does not dare to act rashly either. Instead, he monitors closely the formation and strives to find a weakness. For a few seconds, there is silence. The four men do not move at all. The one, Lung Chang, observes the formation and wants to find a weak point, the other three wait for him to show his abilities.

After a few more seconds, Lung Chang pulls out his white folding fan and utilizes his lightness Kung Fu to move with almost superhuman speed against his opponents. He moves so fast that a whistling sound is heard and the two women who are watching the fight do not notice that he has moved until a few seconds later. But, when his fan is only a few inches away from the chest of the man who is in the center of the formation, he retreats back by a few paces. Meanwhile, his opponents had already reacted; the man in the center had taken up a defensive stance and when he realized that Lung Chang had retreated, he moved forward by a few steps. The men in the right and left wings of the triangle had also moved forward, keeping the formation intact.

Lung Chang repeats the same move, this time against the man in the left wing of the formation, but the results are the same; when he retreats, his enemies do not rush forward, but they move only a few steps, keeping their formation intact. Lung Chang realizes that it will not be easy to break the formation.

In order to break the formation, he must somersault and land behind the man in the center of the formation. With him defeated, the formation will break and the other two men will be easily defeated. However, for someone to jump so high and to avoid the enemy swords, he needs to have profound internal energy. If the one who tries to somersault fails and does not manage to land behind his enemy, he will surely die as his opponents will surround him and finish him off. And even if he succeeds, he may be injured by an enemy sword as he tries to jump above the enemy. But, Lung Chang knows that if the enemy takes the initiative, it will be much harder for him to escape alive.

So, he gathers his internal energy to the Lower dantian (下丹田), lets out a breath and charges against the enemy. When he is a few inches away from the man in the center of the formation, who has taken a defensive stance along with his comrades, he somersaults and jumps above him. Seeing this, the man, although surprised, instinctively moves his sword upwards, slashing Lung Chang's stomach, but despite his injury, Lung Chang manages to land behind the man. With a quick move, he kicks the back of the man in center. His kick was very strong and caused the man to vomit blood. As the man in the center is injured, the formation has been broken.

The other two men charge at the same time against Lung Chang. Although he had refused to use his 'Deadly Jade Sword' in order to not gain attention, Lung Chang is now forced to use it, as he is in a life and death situation. So, he pulls out the sword and with a swift horizontal move, he breaks the swords of his opponents. The 'Deadly Jade Sword' is known for being able to cut even the hardest steel, so when it met the enemy swords, of course it snapped them in two. However, the injured man had charged against him. Lung Chang was preoccupied with snapping in two the swords of his two enemies and had though that the kick he had given to the man was enough to stop him from further action, so he was surprised when he stabbed him with his sword on the back.

Lung Chang lets out a cry and back kicks the man on his belly. The kick was even stronger than the one he had given before, because his pain made him act like an injured beast. The man is pushed back and falls on the ground, dead. At the same time, his two comrades attack again, this time with their bare fists, as their swords have been broken. But before they can reach him, the two women, who where watching the fight with great interest and anxiousness, step forward and with their swords defend Lung Chang. The two men, seeing that the women have swords in their hands, decide to run away. They know that they will be no match for them without a weapon.

Lung Chang vomits blood and then there is darkness. When Lung Chang manages to open again his eyes, he finds himself lying on a wooden bed in a small and wooden room. The room has only a bed and a wooden table. Nothing else. Lung Chang tries to get up, but he feels a pain in his chest and has to lie down once again. Suddenly, a man enters the room. The man is a very thin Buddhist monk. It seems that he is in his forties. He wears a simple yellow Buddhist gown. His nose is symmetrical and his eyebrows are very dark.

"Buddha bless you.", the man calmly says.

"Where am I?", Lung Chang asks. But before the monk can reply, he feels a pain in his chest and lets out a cry.

"Do not talk. You will exhaust yourself. Lie down and rest."

"Bu-"

"I insist. And do not worry. You are in Shaolin."

"Shaolin?!", Lung Chang thinks. "If they find out my identity, they will surely hand me over to the other Orthodox Sects, who will surely kill me!". Lung Chang then realizes that his 'Deadly Jade Sword' has been taken away. He just hopes that they will believe that he is a Wudang disciple and that's the reason why he has Priest Yue Li's sword. While he is thinking about those possibilities, the monk leaves the room. A few hours later, the two women he had rescued enter the room. The middle-aged one talks first: "Greeting hero. Thank you for your help. I am Yang Youjia and this is my daughter, Yang Liqiu."

Liqiu means beautiful autumn. And the young girl is indeed beautiful. Before, Lung Chang had not noticed her because he was focused with fighting the Triangle Formation, but now that he sees her again, he is mesmerized by her beauty; she has a slim waist, porcelain-like skin, a beautiful face with big round hazel eyes and raven-black long hair.

"Thank you for your help.", Liqiu says with a sweet voice.

"It was nothing."

"Could you tell us your name?"

Lung Chang thinks for a few seconds. He then finds the right name: "I am Chong Guozhi."

"Brother Chong, my mother has prepared some medicine for you."

Indeed, Youjia gives Liqiu a bowl, who in turn gives it to Lung Chang.

"Drink it. It will help you recover."

"I thank you."

Lung Chang drinks all of the medicine and the two women leave. A few minutes later, he feels much stronger and is able to get up without hurting his chest. "That medicine is really effective.", he thinks.

When he gets out of the room and walks around the monastery, he sees how monks live; some practice martial arts, others pray to Buddha, others sweep the floor, cut wood or carry water on two huge wooden water buckets. They all seem to be harmonious and live in peace. Lung Chang sighs. "If only I could be a monk and live in peace like them. But before I am able to fulfill this dream, I must clear my name or else I will bring trouble to the temple if I become a monk here."

The monk he had met a few hours earlier, seeing that Lung Chang has gotten up, walks towards him with slow movement.

"Buddha bless you. You managed to get up?"

"Yes, thanks to Miss Yang's medicine. Thank you for helping me recover. But, I have a question. How may days was I unconscious?"

"A whole week. Miss Yang and her daughter brought you here."

"Oh, I see."

"But, I also have a question. Who are you?"

"I am Chong Guozhi?"

"You seem like a pugilist. To which Sect do you belong?"

"To Wudang Sect."

"Oh, that's why the 'Deadly Jade Sword' of Priest Yue Li is in your possession."

"Can you give me back my sword? It is an important treasure of Wudang and must not be lost."

"Do not worry. I will give it to you when the time comes. For now, could you please come along with me?"

"Of course."

Smiling, Lung Chang follows the Buddhist Monk. The two men walk until they reach a river. The current of the water is not strong, so one can go near the river with no danger. Lung Chang sees that there are two huge wooden water buckets on the banks of the river. The monk points at them and laughing, he says: "We have helped you recover. So, we wish that you can help us. I hope that you do not find this unacceptable."

"Eh....no."

Lung Chang is confused and anxious to know what help do the monk needs.

"I want you to carry water to the Temple. You must do this at least ten times for today."

"Alright."

Lung Chang, seeing how easily the monks carried the water buckets, believes that it will be an easy task. But when he tries to carry them after filling them with water, he finds them to be unbearably heavy. "How the hell do those monks manage to carry with such ease those water buckets?", he wonders.

Nevertheless, after using his internal energy and all his might, he manages to move a few steps, but then the pain on his back is too much and he almost falls to the ground; it was the monk who held him in his hands that did not allow him to fall. Smiling, the monk just says: "Please do not be lazy and complete the task." and leaves. Lung Chang, after two hours, manages to bring the water buckets to the temple. But he is in much pain and his back is bleeding. "At last, I will rest a bit."

Lung Chang lets out a breath and is ready to lie down and rest when the monk rushes toward him and laughingly says: "You have to carry the water buckets back to the river, fill them and bring again water here. You must bring water here nine more times for today."

Lung Chang sighs. He wants to refuse, but his nature does not allow him to do so. After all, the monks saved him from certain death. So, he just carries the water buckets with whatever strength he has back to the river. Using his internal energy and his might, he brings water three more times, but the fourth time, he feels like he is ready to collapse. It is then when the monk appears again. He approaches Lung Chang and whispers in his right ear: "Move your internal energy from the dantian to your laogong". Laogong is an acupuncture point in the hands of a person. Lung Chang follows the instructions of the Monk and he feels far stronger than before. "Open your Shanzhong and transfer to it internal energy from your laogong."

Shanzhong is an acupuncture point in the middle of the chest. Lung Chang does what the Monk says and he feels much more energetic, even more than before he came to the Temple. "Shoot out your palms and let out a roar".

Lung Chang shoots out his palms with such speed and prowess that a wind gust is created and his roar shakes the ground. "Repeat the following word: 'Lang Jiang Ju Wuing Huilg Zhong Fan Cheng Cao Liu Wu Huatrang Hundraspanga Enchiang.'"

Lung Chang repeats the words and feel like his chest is burning. "Now, carry the water buckets."

This time, Lung Chang carries the water buckets with much ease and in just an hour, he completes his task. Night has come, so he goes to his room to rest. But when he is in his room, he is too excited about this new technique the monk showed to him and cannot rest. He does not even bother to think why the Monk could have teached him such a technique. So, at midnight he sneaks out of the monastery and goes to the nearby forest to practice the skill. He repeats the transfers of the internal energy and the formula the Monk taught to him and feel even more energetic and strong. So, he decides to test his new prowess; he shoots out his palms against a tree. The prowess of the palms create a wing gust and a whistling sound is heard. When his palms touch the tree, a 'bam' sound is heard and the tree is shattered to pieces.

"That is a truly divine skill!", Lung Chang, excited, shouts. As he strolls happily in the forest, unable to rest after learning such a skill, he suddenly falls in a pit that had been covered by lot of leaves and so he had been unable to notice it. The falling lasts for a few minutes, as the pit is very deep under the ground and when he lands to the ground, his head is smashed on the surface. His head is bleeding and a few seconds later, he collapses.