The Jade Swordsman

[Ghaleon]

thank u all for ur support and comments <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

CrazyT, great observation. thats my own critique as well. I guess it is because I model some of the characters in the story from people I know. That's the only way for me to dig deep into their psyche. But u r right, the convo is rather modern. I guess it is a wuxia tale with a "modernish" twist <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">
kinda like those TVB ancient series made in the 90s that are influenced by modern stuff (like Journey to the West for example). But I think I'm going to keep the characters that way...So some people can relate to the characters since they never lived in the ancient ages. i'll see where approach brings me <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

<font size="1">[ June 08, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]</font>

[Ghaleon]

***** Chapter 15: The Vampire Swordsman ****

South of Chengdoi, the Yangche River wound around a plain called the Grassland Plains, then flowed on towards the town of Wufei. A lot smaller than Chengdoi, Wufei was known for its uncanny amount of fortunetellers and arcane magicians. The town was a magnet for the supernatural. It was also the home of the Bamboo Lodge, a commercial organization specializing in the transportation of precious cargo. Scattered throughout the streets were fortuneteller stands operated by old ladies mostly in their seventies.

Kai was walking alongside Jade when she stopped in her tracks and turned sideways to face a fortuneteller. Following close behind few meters back were Fox and Violet. Violet was the prostitute at the Ivory Flower brothel who was saved by Kai from the menacing Ivory. She decided to quit her shameful job and follow the young handsome hero in his exciting adventures. Master Ma, his daughter and Gon Ho went to the headquarters of the Kunlun sect on some important business. Master Wei and Wei Hong went back to Wah Mountain to prepare the body-less funeral for Wei Gong. Kai would see them all again at the meeting in Shaolin temple coming up.

“Want to know your future?”, asked the fortuneteller as Jade walked by.

“Oh I want to know my future!”, remarked Jade.

“You actually believe in that stuff?”, asked Fox curiously.

“Well… No. But I still want my fortune told!”, remarked Jade.

“Don’t worry… She’s like that…”, Kai told Fox with a sigh.

“I’m like what…?”, retorted Jade with a frown.

“So you want to know your future, pretty little girl?”, asked the fortuneteller.

“I’m not a little girl! But yes I want to know my future, what do I do?”, replied Jade.

“That would be three gold pieces please…”, said the fortuneteller.

“Here you go.”, replied Jade as she gave her the money.

“Stick your left palm out…”, requested the fortuneteller.

“Ok.”, replied Jade with her left palm out.

The fortuneteller grabbed the palm with her old wrinkly hands and closed her eyes.

“I see…”, said the fortuneteller.

“What do you see?”, replied Jade anxiously.

“I see…”, said the fortuneteller.

“Am I married to a handsome swordsman with a green sword?”, giggled Jade with a blush.

Fox softly elbowed Kai’s ribs and winked at him.

“She’s really into you!”, whispered Fox with a smile.

“Something is going on between the two?”, asked a nosy Violet.

“Hey, I’m ticklish in my ribs…”, replied Kai.

“… Great danger is awaiting you!”, warned the fortuneteller.

“What kind of danger?”, asked Jade with worrisome face.

“I don’t know… But some life-threatening danger…”, replied the fortuneteller.

“How do I avoid it?”, asked Jade.

“The stars… Watch out for the stars… Oh, I am losing the images now… That is all I can say.”, replied the fortuneteller.

“Ok thanks.”, replied Jade as she rejoined the crew.

“The stars? Huh?”, she thought to herself.

“Oh don’t put much faith into what she says… It’s all mumble-jumble!”, commented Fox.

“Yea I don’t believe in that stuff anyway…”, remarked Violet.

“I know… So where are we going now?”, asked Jade.

“To look for a blood-sucking vampire.”, answered Kai.

“A what?!”, asked Jade in shock.

“What?!”, remarked Violet in fright.

“Master Ma told me that there has been murders in this town. The victims have teeth mouth on their necks and their body completely drained of blood. Also strange is that there are stab wounds on the bodies. Rumors say that this town is being terrorized by a vampire…”, replied Kai.

“Completely drained of vitality…”, remarked Fox.

Fox and Kai both stared at Jade with worrisome faces.

“What? I don’t suck blood, I suck other stuff…”, replied Jade.

“Other stuff?”, inquired Fox with a naughty look on his face.

“Hahahaha…!”, Kai started laughing.

Violet rolled her eyes and sighed:
“Oh brother…”

“No, not ‘that’ stuff you pervert! I can suck the inner power from my opponents…”, explained Jade with annoyance.

“Oh look, there’s a big crowd over there… What are they fussing about?”, alerted Violet.

The four companions walked towards the terrified crowd and squeezed through. They were all staring at a body on the ground with blood slowly pouring from the teeth wounds on the neck. There were also sword wounds on the chest of the body. Kai knelt down beside the body and examined the chest wounds.

“Good wounds…”, commented Kai.

“There is such things as good wounds?”, asked Jade.

“What do you mean?”, asked Fox.

“From the wounds, I can tell that the killer is a great swordsman…”, explained Kai.

“So we have an elite swordsman who is a vampire? Great…”, remarked Jade with a sigh.

“I guess…”, replied Kai.

“Spooky! I’m scared…”, remarked Violet.

“Want me to protect you?”, asked Fox smiling.

“You are so heroic…”, joked Violet.

“Of course. I’ll do anything to protect a pretty lady…”, commented Fox as Violet started chuckling.

“Hey… So I guess we’ll just head to the tavern now. We’ll explore the town at night when the vampire wakes…”, suggested Kai.


Kai and his companions waited until the moon was up before they continued their investigation. The streets were empty and all the fortuneteller stalls were closed for business until the next early morning. The four companions made their way through the dark dusty roads, touring the town searching for signs of danger. A gray mist surrounded the evening air, limiting the vision to few meters ahead. The lamp posts illuminated the streets making it possible to move through the thick gray mist. Kai led the search with the rest following close behind.

“Are you girls scared? I am here to protect you…”, said Fox as he wrapped both arms around the shoulders of Jade and Violet.

“Shh… We are doing serious stuff, behave.”, ordered Jade.

“Everybody stick close together…”, warned Kai.

As she was walking, Violet noticed a blood trail on the ground. She alerted the crew and they all followed the blood trail into the grasslands. The trail followed a bricked path that cut through the grass. At the beginning of the path was a sign that read: The Wufei Cemetery. The foggy mist was thicker and without the lamp posts from the streets the area was absolutely dark. Fortunately Fox carried a lamp, having ample illumination to lighten up the bricked path. Few oak trees were visible up ahead in the midst of the fog. Many leaves littered the ground beneath the trees; the branches of the old trees were completely bare. Beyond the oak trees laid a cemetery with hundreds of dirty old gravestones. The cemetery existed for four generations and housed the corpses of the once local residents. It was enormous in size, approximately one-fifth the size of the entire town. Surprisingly there was no mist floating amongst the tombstones and it was much easier to observe the surroundings. At one end of the cemetery, the crew could almost see the entire stretch of gravestones lined up one behind the other. Four crows were circling in the air right above a corpse that lied beside a gravestone. The body was the source of the blood trail that began at the outskirts of the roads. The black crows were eyeing the corpse with a greedy hungry look. Three of the crows rapidly descended and landed on the corpse, eating away the rotten flesh. Jade and Violet eyed the crows and the corpse with disgust. The last crow glided towards the center of the cemetery and landed on a shoulder of a standing shadowy figure. The faint breeze was blowing against the long black hair of the mysterious figure. He was carrying a long black ivory sword on his left hand about his waistline. The crow was resting on his right shoulder, eyeing the four incoming figures.

“Greetings, fresh meet…”, greeted the shadowy figure with a wide grin revealing two sharp pointy teeth below the front lip.

Jade and Violet saw the vampire teeth and his pale skin and shivered in fear. Fox was gasping in awe at the sight of the vampire.

“Who are you?”, asked Kai.

“My name is Pani. I am an ancient swordsman from Persia. You must be the Jade swordsman that the locals talk about.”, greeted the grinning vampire.

“You have been killing the villagers in this town?”, asked Kai.

“Yes. I am a living vampire, I need blood to sustain my existence.”, answered the vampire as the crow on his shoulder made a croaking sound.

“I cannot let you kill any more innocent people…”, replied Kai.

“Then you will have to defeat me first…”, remarked the vampire.

“Prepare yourself…”, warned Kai as he motioned his companions to step back.

“I have existed for three hundred years and have lost only a handful of fights. I look forward to this challenge after hearing stories of your heroics in this district. Draw your sword!”, replied the vampire swordsman as he pointed his long black ivory sword towards Kai’s heart.

Behind of the tombstones stood a robed man wearing a demonic mask. He watched in delight, as Kai was about to face his toughest opponent yet.

“Kai is about to face the immortal swordsman from Persia. This should be an interesting battle…”, thought the robed man with a grin hidden beneath his mysterious mask.


[Elsewhere… In the dark pits]

“Why am I still alive?”

“Because I saved you.”

“I can’t see anything!”

“It is dark down here. The sun no longer exists.”

“Who are you?”

“I am here to help you. I will teach you invincible kung-fu so that you can help us escape this devastating pit.”

“How come you can’t escape?”

“My legs are broken. When you fell down from the cliff, I used my power to ease your landing. I have been waiting for ten years for someone to fall down!”

“How do you survive down here? What do you eat?”

“Rats. Spiders. Cockroaches.”

“I can’t eat those things!”

“You will have to. I will teach you my kung-fu now.”

“It’s completely dark here. How can you teach me?”

“I memorized the manual. I will read it to you. I will also give you some of my inner power. One month’s time and you will be powerful enough to escape. You are now officially my student.”

“Powerful kung-fu?! Yes master! I will not disappoint you! How long have you been down here?”

“Many years, I cannot remember. I stayed alive so that one day I could have my revenge against the world that wronged me. That day is coming soon with your arrival!”

[jeh]

Great update, I believe what the fortuneteller said will come true. Poor Jade, hope she will be okay <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0"> I'm looking forward to the battle between the two swordsman in your next update. Oh no, that guy going to teach Wei Gong martial arts. That Wei Gong doesn't deserve it. I wonder who is the old man and why does he want to seek revenge on the world? Update soon.

[Ghaleon]

jeh..... thanks for reading..... and hmmmmm i wonder what will happen to jade? hehe


***Chapter 16: Nocturne in the Moonlight ***


The pale crescent moon above shone on the Jade sword casting a green glow against the white rocks of the gravestones. Kai pointed his green sword towards the vampire and stared into his deep empty eyes. Pani responded with a wide grin and charged towards Kai with his long black ivory sword pointed towards Kai’s heart. The crow on the vampire’s shoulder flew up into the evening air and watched the fight from above. The rest of the crew was watching from the sidelines, confident in Kai’s abilities. Both the black and green swords clashed, causing sparks of electrostatic to sprinkle on the worn out grass on the ground. Kai felt the momentum of the impact and drifted few meters backwards with his left foot against the base of the hard gravestone. Pani resumed his charge towards Kai and again pointed his long sword towards Kai’s heart. Kai jumped backwards over the gravestone behind, somersaulted in the air and landed on both feet facing the grinning vampire. Within seconds, Pani was thrusting his sword in the direction of Kai’s body. Kai whirled his green sword to the left and blocked the incoming thrust. Pani continued his unrelenting poking with his long black sword, trying to pierce Kai’s body. Kai kept blocking the pokes while rapidly stepping backwards to leave a comfortable space between him and his rushing opponent. He had to be careful not to trip over the gravestones as he moved backwards. Kai was on the defensive; he had no time or opening to attack the vampire swordsman. He had never been on defensive in all his previous sword duels. When he had created few meters of space between the two, the vampire would be within striking distance in less than a second trying to poke his body with the hard thrusts of his long sword. Kai quickly spun around to the left dodging the long black sword which consequently hit the hard gravestone behind, smashing it into hundreds of pieces. The four black crows in the sky were circling above the two swordsmen, waiting for the corpse of the loser. Kai dashed five meters backwards and gathered his breath. His heart was pounding rapidly and sweat trickled down his head. Pani rushed forward and spun himself three hundred and sixty degrees with his sword stuck out at Kai’s chest level. Kai jumped high into the air to dodge the swipe and landed a meter behind the vampire. With Pani’s back facing him, Kai took a forceful swipe. The vampire turned around in time to block the blow with his black sword. He felt the momentum of the hard swing and shifted couple of meters from Kai. Pointing his long sword at Kai’s heart, the vampire resumed his merciless charge. Kai looped his sword to block the pokes but was forced to move backwards. Eventually Kai banged his left leg against the hard gravestone behind and let out a groan of pain. Observing this, Pani gathered his entire strength and dashed towards Kai at lightening speed. Kai somersaulted backwards into the air and managed to barely escape the long sword. As he landed on the ground his injured left leg collapsed and he fell onto the ground with a thump. Kai gathered all his stamina and quickly rose from the ground. With at least ten meters between him and the vampire, Kai had barely enough time to plan a counterattack against his opponent’s relentless poking. Blood was trickling down his left knee under his pants and onto the ground. The vampire smashed the gravestone in front of him and continued his mad dash towards Kai. As the vampire began poking, Kai dodged the long black ivory sword and jumped high into the air in the process of leaping over the entire height of the tall vampire. Right when Kai’s shoes were above the vampire’s head, Kai directed his blade against the pale moonlight from the crescent moon above towards the vampire’s eyes. The green sword reflected a bright green glow that temporarily blinded the vampire. As he was about to land on the ground from the air, Kai took a strong swipe at the vampire unleashing all his strength. The vampire blindly poked at the sky aiming at Kai’s body but missed and instead accidentally blocked Kai’s swipe. The two swords clashed hard with sparks of electrostatic flying throughout the evening air. The powerful impact caused both swords to fly off the hands of both swordsmen. Without their weapons, both swordsmen turned and faced one another in respect.

“It’s been a long time since I faced a good challenge…”, remarked the vampire.

“This has been my toughest fight yet…”, responded Kai who was catching his breath.

“Shall we consider it a tie?”, asked the vampire.

“Yes, I guess so.”, commented Kai.

“Since I could not defeat you I will leave this town…”, replied the vampire.

“Thank you…”, replied Kai.

Kai and Pani went to grab their swords and began parting ways.

“Not so fast!”, yelled a mysterious voice somewhere in the cemetery.

Both startled, Kai and Pani examined the surroundings to locate the source of the voice. They saw a mysterious robed man with a demonic mask standing on top of a stone pillar at the other end of the cemetery.

“Time to make Kai enter the state of pure anger so that he can unleash his true power…”, thought the mysterious masked man.

All of a sudden, a melody from a flute was playing from the direction of the tall pillar. Kai and Pani were dumbfounded at this mysterious music. The exotic music caused Kai to fall to the ground, shaking in a spasm. Jade ran across the graveyard to find out what was wrong with Kai.

“Are you ok?!”, asked the curious vampire.

“Kai, what’s wrong? Is the music hurting you?”, asked a concerned Jade.

Without warning, Kai sprang up from the ground and shoved Jade aside causing her to fall. He faced the vampire and gave an evil grin. His eyes were completely red, the white eyes completely changed in color.

“Those flaring glowing eyes…”, thought the vampire.

“I’m not done with you yet!”, yelled a furious Kai at the vampire.

“So you still want to fight?”, asked the vampire.

“I will defeat you now…”, remarked Kai.

“Let’s see what you got!”, yelled the vampire as he began charging towards Kai.

As the vampire began poking against Kai’s body, he thought his vision became blurry. He saw three mirror images of Kai circling him with their green swords.

“Four Jade swordsmen?! How can this be?!”, yelled the vampire.

“You cannot defeat me…”, said one of the Kai duplicates.

“You are too weak…”, remarked another duplicate.

“Go back to Persia…”, commented the last mirror image of Kai.

Suddenly, flurries of green swords were slashing from all angles towards the vampire. Pani turned around to block a blow, but another sword cut his back. No matter where he turned, a green sword would swipe against his back. The vampire fell to the ground in defeat, blood gushing from his wounds.

“Is this the legendary Ramada Sword technique?”, thought the vampire to himself.

The mysterious music stopped and Kai’s eyes became white again. He instantly collapsed to the ground in agony. Jade, Fox, and Violet were in awe at the power of Kai’s sword technique. Having multiple sword wounds, the vampire made his escape from the graveyard forever remembering this fateful day.

“Impressive… Impressive indeed! His technique has reached another level…”, thought the man with the demonic mask.

Standing below the pillar were three golden monks who were awaiting orders from the masked man.

“I want you three to follow the vampire Pani…”, ordered the masked man.

“Yes my lord…”, replied all three golden monks.

“Most likely, he will be heading to the tournament in the desert city of Samadu… The Lunar cult is electing a new Demon Emperor… I also want you to send the following message to our secret ally from the Lunar cult…”

<font size="1">[ June 10, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]</font>

[jeh]

Great job, Kai is so powerful. If that masked man can turn Kai evil, will he be able to make Kai attack his friends? I hope not. Update soon.

[Ghaleon]

jeh - thanks for ur comments <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

*** Chapter 17: The Coming of Darkness ***


The nine hooded prophets stood in a circle surrounding a robed man wearing a mask. The chamber was damp, small number of candles hung against the dark hollow walls.

“We can sense the evil force arising…”, warned one of the prophets.

“The evil you prophesized before?”, inquired the masked man.

“We believe so. This evil person will become a major player in the martial arts world in the near future… Not since the previous Demon Emperor did we see this great a darkness…”, warned the prophet.

“I see. Well I have tested the powers of the Jade swordsman. It seems that he has immense powers when he is in the state of anger. He even defeated the legendary vampire swordsman Pani with ease.”, remarked the masked man.

“Interesting… His background and future is clouded… You plan to use him against the new evil force?”, asked another of the nine prophets.

“Perhaps… For now we should concentrate on the upcoming tournament for the election of the new Demon Emperor. Our secret ally from the Lunar cult should keep things according to plan…”, remarked the masked man.

[Desert City of Samadu]

Snake was drenching under the scorching sun of the Samadu desert. He hoped that the sun would give way to the moon and that the tournament would be held in a cooler place. But life is not fair and Snake was in a terrible mood. He had got in a fight with his lover Ivory over their current task. His new master, Lilith, had sent both of them to search for innocent locals for the purpose of draining their life force. With the tournament few days away, his master was determined to gather as much power as possible. Snake thought he should take control of the task because he was more experienced and intelligent, infuriating his lover Ivory. Ivory went off on her own and left Snake performing the task all alone. Right before they separated, Ivory screamed at him:
“You are not getting any loving tonight! You jerk!”

Snake was wandering about in the desert walking slowly and feeling depressed. He kept on walking until he noticed a large yellow tent that stood out from the rest. The tent was sitting in the desert surrounded by countless smaller tents housing the prominent members of the Four Lunar cults. Pictures of serpents and fairies dominated the exterior. It could fit roughly one hundred people and was currently used by members of the Yellow Lunar cult. Staring at this large yellow tent, Snake was curious to see what was inside. Without anybody noticing he secretly slit a hole on the tent and peaked in. He saw three golden monks talking to the leaders of the Yellow Lunar cult hiding inside a carriage. He could was not close enough to hear the conversation but he knew something was peculiar here. In all his days at the desert he has never come across any golden monks. He predicted that they were not from the demon cult but from some other secret and powerful organization.

The three golden monks were dressed in yellow monk robes standing in front of the mysterious carriage awaiting the response of the Twin Kings, enigmatic leaders of the Yellow Lunar cult.

“That sounds good. Then you three shall represent me during the tournament as I do not wish to reveal my physical appearance.”, said a voice inside the carriage.

“The Celestial Order can hope for your support when you become the next Demon Emperor?”, asked one of the golden monks.

“Of course. The Prophets can rest assure that our interests coincide. ”, replied the voice from the carriage.

“I will relay that message to our master…”, remarked the golden monk.

“By the way, who is the master of the Celestial Order?”, asked the voice.

“We have a leader. But nobody knows his identity because he wears a mask. Not even the Prophets know who he is.”, replied the monk.

“… Interesting. Then how did he become the leader?”, asked the voice curiously.

“We believe that he is the reincarnation of Lord Gatuma, previous lord of the Celestial Order. Our current leader supposedly possesses all of his memories and experiences. Anyway, remember the plan when you become the Demon Emperor… We are counting on you. ”, said the monk.

“I see. I look forward to meeting the lord of the Celestial Order. I will keep my word.”, replied the voice.

“One more important thing…The Prophets have predicted the emergence of a new dark evil force. He will become a major player in the martial arts world. Be careful.”, warned the monk.

“What?! When?!”, asked the startled voice.

“Very soon. Perhaps it has already emerged.”, responded the monk.


[On the road to Shaolin Temple]


The old Tibetan monk Kull was walking along the road determined to reach his destination by the following week. In his right arm, he was holding the coveted golden box, housing a powerful martial arts manual. Countless thieves and greedy martial artists have attempted to steal the golden box but were stopped by his deadly Flaming Palm technique. He was regarded as one of the Seven Great Pillars of the marital arts world, amongst the top of the fighting elite. It was widely believed that Shaolin Abbot Song had the most inner power of all marital artists with the Tibetan monk Kull following close behind. Almost a year has passed since he left the Great Sun Pagoda in Tibet under the orders of the enigmatic nine Prophets from the Celestial Order. His mission was to deliver the golden box to Shaolin temple to stop the great emerging evil force. If Abbot Song learned the techniques inside the box and combined it with his own, he might be able to overcome this great darkness. A thunderstorm erupted from the clouded dark sky. Rain was pouring down hard from the gray misty clouds up above causing the old monk was drenched. The lightening flashed across the skies and roared for miles. The old monk somehow knew that the emergence of the great darkness was at hand.

“I better hurry and complete my task!”, thought the old monk.

Up ahead dashing through the hard rain was a handsome young man in his twenties carrying the legendary Yin-Yang sword that once belonged to the Sword-God.

“How are things my young friend Phoenix… When was the last time I saw you? At the Great Sun Pagoda in Tibet?”, greeted the old monk.

“Good to see you again… My master told me to accompany you all the way to Shaolin temple. Yes I believe I last saw you there at the Great Sun Pagoda… So run into any trouble during your long journey?”, replied Phoenix.

“Do you think those villains can steal the golden box from my powerful hands?! Hahahhahha! So how is the legendary Master Zu doing? Or shall I say, the Sword-God himself…”, asked the old monk.

“My master is doing great… He is enjoying his pleasant, peaceful retirement… By the way, Shaolin temple is holding an important meeting for all seven traditional schools of martial arts upon your arrival…”, said Phoenix.

“I’ve heard…”, remarked the old monk.

“So the Siva sutra is inside the box?”, asked Phoenix.

“Yes. Possibly the only means to defeat this great darkness. It is the most powerful martial arts that I know of in the entire martial arts world. Even the demon cult wants to get their hands on it.”, replied the old monk.

“Yes, I’ve heard that you had some trouble with the demon cult along your journey…”, commented Phoenix.

“I handled them easily. They weren’t even the elite, just measly foot soldiers. So with your good looks and arguably the best sword techniques in the world, you must have tons of girls going after you…”, remarked the old monk with a smile.

“Yeah… Even my master is bugging me to find a wife… I suppose I haven’t found the right girl yet…”, replied Phoenix.

“Don’t worry, you will eventually find the right one. I can sense something now in the air… Something disturbing… Oh… It is true… The prophecy is true…The darkness is emerging… I can feel it…”, alerted the old monk with a worrisome face.

[Deep inside the dark pits…]

“Master, thanks for teaching me your invincible kung fu. Now I can have my revenge on the people who brought me here!”

“I haven’t taught you everything yet. There is one thing you need to know…”

“Yes, master?”

“To achieve your true potential, you must drink blood.”

“What?!”

“If you want to release your full power, you must do this. Using the techniques I taught you, the blood will also prolong your life. You can live for hundreds of years… Like me, you are practically immortal!”

“Blood… Blood… Human blood?!”

“Yes.”

“Shall we escape from this dark pit and look for human blood? I want to become immortal!”

“We shall wreak havoc upon this world… Gather your inner power!”

&lt;font size="1"&gt;[ June 11, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]&lt;/font&gt;

<font size="1">[ June 11, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]</font>

[jeh]

Interesting. Update soon.

[Ghaleon]

***** Chapter 18: The Demon Emperor ****

Rolling along the grass of the cemetery, Kai was shrieking in pain. Jade attempted to comfort him but to no avail.

“What’s wrong with him?”, asked Fox curiously

“What should we do?”, asked a worried Violet.

“Kai! Oh tell me what’s wrong!”, pleaded Jade.

“Leave me alone!”, demanded Kai.

Jade was crying helplessly, tears rolled down her cheeks and onto the worn out ground. All of a sudden, Kai leaped up into the air from the ground and turned around to face his companions. They could all see his glowing, red eyes and furious face; this was not the same Kai they all knew.

“Kai, what’s wrong?!”, asked Jade worried.

Without warning, Kai spun around and ran off towards the surrounding gray mist.

“Oh no…”, remarked Violet.

“Something is wrong…”, commented Fox.

“We must chase after him!”, ordered Jade who was teary-eyed.


[Desert city of Samadu]


The great “Cavern Under the Stars” hidden beneath the sands of the desert were packed with hundreds of members of the Lunar cult. The tournament for the election of the new Demon Emperor was being held today. Each of the Four Lunar cults carried their respective banners as they marched into the gigantic underground cavern preparing for the great tournament. The sounds of drums and the exotic dances of the naked female vampires entertained the people coming through the cavern entrance. The pale naked vixens were dancing exotically on top of a table, stroking their hands along their firm erect breasts and all over their soft bodies. The vampire swordsman Pani was standing tall behind the dancing vampires with his arms crossed and his long black ivory sword hanging from his back. Pani was the leader of this small band of vampires that were allies of the Four Lunar cults. The Persian red carpet stretched from the entrance to the plateau and only the four leaders were allowed to walk upon it. Lilith was walking with pride, confident in her abilities to overcome the other leaders. Thanks to the efforts of Snake and Ivory, her inner power was immense. They both managed to drain the power of fifty innocent victims for their master. The Blue King was anxious to reveal his martial art progress over the years. He was regarded as one of the Seven Great Pillars of the world and was widely believed to be the most powerful fighter from the demon cult. However the powers of the Twin Kings remained a mystery since they had become the leaders of the Yellow Lunar cult within the past decade. Walking behind the carriage of the Twin Kings, the three mysterious golden monks marched onwards each carrying a metallic rod on their shoulders. The closest match to the Blue King was the Dragon King, leader of the Green Lunar cult. He was confident in the new abilities he learned in the past few years to overcome his nemesis the Blue King.

When everyone had arrived, the members of the demon cult stood around in a huge circle around the leaders of the cult. The empty area was sufficient space for the battlegrounds of the power cult leaders. All the members were anxiously waiting for the tournament to commence. The vampire swordsman Pani stood in the crowd silently, ready to observe the fighting prowess of the demon cult leaders. Snake was standing beside Ivory, with his arms wrapped around her soft waist.

“I’m sorry that I screamed at you… It was stupid of me… Forgive me?”, apologized Snake.

“Shush… The tournament is about to begin… We’ll talk later.”, replied Ivory coldly.

Lilith removed her long silky red cloak and stretched her arms and legs for the fight. She was preparing to face off against the gray-armored Blue King. Both were weaponless and were determined to use inner power techniques.

“Prepare to lose…”, warned Lilith.

“Hahahahhaha! We’ll see about that!”, retorted the Blue King.

Lilith was in a defensive posture, squatting down and placing both hands on her hips with her face towards her opponent. She let out a high-pitched shriek causing the whole cavern to vibrate rigorously. Her long thick black hair mysteriously grew extremely long and she flung it towards the Blue King. He dodged her long hair by jumping far to the left and re-established his footing. Lilith flung her long hair to the side, aimed at the body of the Blue King. Her hair was now ten meters in length and the Blue King could not dodge in time. The thick black hair wrapped around his waist like a tight rope stopping his movement.

“Splitting Wave!”, screamed the Blue King.

He forcefully brought down both arms and a wave of energy sliced through the long thick hair. The loose hair drifted into the air and scattered over the cavern ground. The Blue King had broken free from her grasp and stepped few meters backwards.

“Evil Oak Tree technique!”, screamed Lilith.

Countless streams of energy emanated from her body like branches on a tree and flew towards her opponent. The energy streams were created at every location in her body. The Blue King remained at the same location in a squatting position with both palms facing the incoming streams of energy.

“Tidal Wave!”, cried the Blue King.

A giant blue plasma sphere formed from his sweaty palms that absorbed all the incoming energy streams. The crowd was stunned, never before have they seen an inner power technique that absorbed energy. Lilith was completely shocked and dumbfounded. The Blue King flung his two palms forward and the blue sphere launched from his palms aimed directly at Lilith. Before she could dodge the attack, the plasma sphere hit her chest hard and she fell backwards onto the ground. The force of the impact caused her to cough and spit out blood. She acknowledged her defeat and the Blue King smiled proudly. Both leaders walked off to the crowd to watch the next battle.

“Even with my superior inner power I still lost…”, thought Lilith with disappointment.

“So my master is defeated…”, remarked Ivory amongst the crowd.

“The Blue King is extremely powerful…”, answered Snake.

The first battle was now over and the next contestants entered the stage. The carriage housing the Twin Kings of the Yellow Lunar cult rolled forwards to the battlegrounds from the noisy crowd. A voice from the carriage spoke aloud:
“These three golden monks will represent me today.”

Three golden monks dressed in blue monk robes walked in front of the carriage and gave a bow to the Dragon King, leader of the Green Lunar cult.

“Is this acceptable?”, asked the voice.

“A curious move. I suppose you want your physical appearance to remain a mystery. This is acceptable.”, replied the Dragon King with a confident smile.

The Dragon King was wearing a green armor adorned with pictures of dragons and fairies. He was also weaponless determined to use his powerful inner power techniques against his opponents. The monks were each holding a silver metallic rod on their right hand. They stepped forward and eyed the leader of the Green Lunar cult. After few seconds of staring down their opponent, they spoke aloud:
“Prepare yourself!”

The three golden monks marched forward towards their opponent with their weapons raised above their shoulders with both hands. The Dragon King stretched both arms down with his palms flat out facing the ground. He closed his eyes and circled both hands rapidly in motion. When the monks were three feet away from him, he flung out both arms with his palms sticking out.

“Dragon Palm!”, cried the Dragon King.

A loud roar shook the foundations of the cavern causing the crowd to plug their ears. A bright green flash erupted towards the three monks who stopped their advance. The golden monks closed their eyes chanting a hymn. An enigmatic force field was generated around the monks causing the energy attack to ricochet off the shielded surface. The crowd was stunned once again. The re-directed green energy projectile pierced the armor of the Dragon King causing blood to gush out from the wound.

“Crown of the Serpent!”, roared the Dragon King.

A plasma-bomb launched from his bloody palms and landed within a feet from the monks. The energy bomb detonated and countless rays of green light flew out in all directions from the ground of the cavern. Rocks and dust from the ground plowed through the air which blocked the visibility of the fighters. Protected from the attack by their energy fields, the three monks launched their metallic rods into the dust storm. Blinded by the rocks and dust flowing in the air, the three metallic rods managed to hit the chest and back armor of the Dragon King causing him to fall to the ground in defeat. Blood was dripping down his armor and onto the ground.

“I lost the fight.”, remarked the Dragon King standing up.

“Remarkable!”, thought Lilith amazed at the powers of the three mysterious monks.

“A tough opponent…”, thought the Blue King with a frown.

“One more win and I am the Demon Emperor”, said a voice from the carriage.

The three golden monks bowed to the Dragon King and slowly walked towards the carriage. The Blue King stepped out from the crowd and entered the empty space of the battlegrounds. He clenched his fists and stretched his neck by circling his head. After a minute of relaxing his neck muscles, he asked in a loud intimidating voice:
“Are you ready yet?”

Without warning, the Blue King executed his Splitting Wave attack forcing the three golden monks to take a defensive posture and generate a protective force field. The sharp and thin energy projectiles evaporated when it contacted the field. The Blue King quickly dashed towards the defending monks and placed his palms against the surface of the field.

“Tidal Wave!”, cried the Blue King.

A blue plasma ball was formed from his palms clashing against the highly intense protective energy field. Sparks of energy flew off and scattered against the ground mixing with the blood. The plasma ball was rapidly increasing in size absorbing the energy from the field. The force field started to rapidly decrease in size, eventually evaporating in thin air. The Tidal Wave attack managed to absorb the power generated by the monks and destroy the intense force field. On the verge of defeat, the golden monks launched their rods towards the Blue King. The force of the impact against his armor caused the Blue King to drift backwards. As he was drifting, the Blue King thrust his palms out and the giant plasma ball launched forward with breathless pace and hit the three golden monks in the chest causing them to explode into million pieces. Blood, guts, and body parts spilled all over the ground. The tournament battleground was a complete bloodbath. The Blue King was coughing blood, severely injured by the three rods. He sat down cross-legged away from the blood and a grin formed on his face. The tournament was over. The color blue reigned supreme. The Blue King Cao was now the Demon Emperor of the Four Lunar cults.

“Our plan has backfired. We have severely underestimated the powers of the Blue King”, thought the Twin Kings inside the carriage.

“His powers are great… How does it compare to the Jade swordsman?”, thought the vampire swordsman Pani.

Everyone in the crowd including the other cult leaders kneeled on the ground and bowed to the Blue King. They all began chanting endlessly:
“Mighty Demon Emperor Cao, you reign supreme!”

“Hahahahahahahahahhahaha!”, laughed the new Demon Emperor as he coughed out blood.

&lt;font size="1"&gt;[ June 12, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]&lt;/font&gt;

<font size="1">[ June 12, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]</font>

[jeh]

That Blue King is powerful but so is the monks. They manage to injure him severely. Are the Twin Kigs good or evil? That still remain a mystery to me. I hope Kai will be okay.

[nickianjo]

Ganryu, wow this is a very good fan fic. I just finished chapter one, but I think I'll catch up by tomorrow. Keep up the good work. (Just want to let you know you got me as a reader. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> )

[Ghaleon]

thanks for your support guys/gals!

jeh - twin kings are evil <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">


**There are five more chapters to go before Part One: The Golden Box is finished. After that, i'll start Part Two: The Face Dancer.**

I also updated the cast list on the first page.

<font size="1">[ June 13, 2003: Message edited by: Ganryu ]</font>

[FoxyButtefly]

good job, keep on going ar!

[Yon]

Andrew...is there way I can have ms word version of this... I want to print out...

[Suet Seung]

Originally posted by Yon
Andrew...is there way I can have ms word version of this... I want to print out...

You do know we have a Show Printable Version at the bottom of the thread right?

[Yon]

Oh... I didn't know that... thanks for point that out.

But.. I don't want to read others comment..I just want to read the fanfic.

[nickianjo]

Well I finally finished. It took me longer than I thought I would. Ganryu, this is an AWESOME fanfic.

[Ghaleon]

nick, thanks so much for reading
i've been so busy with school this past few weeks so couldn't update. but i'lll update on the weekends. thanks for the support!


Yon, i'll send u an MS word version of it if u want it

[BluLotus]

Great fanfic Ganryu! I give it !

Hurry up and update, hehe .

[Ghaleon]

****** Chapter 19: The Challenge ************





Jade, Fox, and Violet packed their belongings and left the tavern in Wufei for the roads. Fox was walking beside Violet with his arm around her shoulders. A sulky Jade was walking slowly few meters behind. They were trying to find the whereabouts of their travelling companion Kai who mysteriously departed from their group couple of nights ago. Jade was wearing gloomy face with dried tears against her pale cheeks. She was heartsick, losing motivation to perform other duties except to find her lover.

“You have to eat Jade…”, pleaded Violet.

“You can’t find Kai on an empty stomach.”, commented Fox.

“Where could he be?”, wondered Jade aloud.

“It’s almost impossible to find him since we have no clue where he was running off to…”, remarked Fox.

“I have a suggestion…”, remarked Violet.

“What?”, asked Jade with glimmers of hope.

“We were originally planning to go to the Shaolin Temple for the meeting held next week after we solved the vampire killings. There’s a good chance he might go there as well. I think that’s our best choice right now…”, suggested Violet.

“Then off to Shaolin we go!”, replied Jade whose face was full of life again.

“I suppose that is our only choice…”, agreed Fox.

The three travelling companions reoriented themselves and walked along the road that led to Shaolin Temple.


[The Great Cavern of the Demon Cult]

The underground cavern under the hot scorching desert was to be used as the headquarters of the united Four Lunar cults. The Demon Emperor Cao was organizing his army of darkness in preparation for the meeting at Shaolin temple for the Seven Traditional Schools of Martial Arts. The other three leaders of the Lunar Cults were promoted as the Great Lieutenants of the demon army. Cao was sitting on his throne with his lieutenants Miao and Lilith discussing the most efficient way to invade Shaolin Temple. The Twin Kings, leaders of the Yellow Lunar cult were mysteriously absent for this meeting. The three hundred members of the cult knelt in silence on the cold hard cavern floors as their leaders debated their invasion strategy. Snake and Ivory stood near the entrance of the cavern, clueless of the current activities and talking among themselves.

“Do you think we can defeat the Seven Traditional Schools of Martial Arts at Shaolin Temple next week?”, asked Snake.

“It’s going to be a fierce battle. The leaders of Shaolin and Wu Tang are especially powerful but I think we will prevail. I have faith in our Demon Emperor.”, answered Ivory.

“I see. Are you still angry with me, my love? We haven’t done it in a while…”, asked Snake with a puppy dog face.

“I have more important things to think about than ‘that’…. You dog!”, replied Ivory coldly.

“Like what? Don’t you love me?”, pouted Snake.

The entrance of the tall vampire Pani from the desert outside interrupted their conversation. He entered the cavern with his seductive vampire vixens and gave a welcoming nod to both Snake and Ivory. He seemed to glide along the cavern floors with his feet elevated over the ground.

“How goes the strategy talks?”, asked the vampire swordsman.

“Its been going on for hours… I guess they are still debating on the best offensive strategy…”, replied Ivory coldly.

Snake was too busy eyeing the female vampires with lust to notice the tall vampire.

“So what do you think of our new Demon Emperor?”, inquired Ivory.

“He is very powerful indeed. But I wonder how he compares to Kai…”, responded the tall vampire.

“The Jade swordsman??!”, inquired Ivory with surprise.

“Yes. He is extremely powerful. In fact, I lost a duel with him. I have never met a more powerful swordsman…”, answered Pani.

“You actually lost in a sword fight?!”, asked Ivory in shock.

“Yes. I haven’t lost for a very long time. He is indeed a powerful adversary.”, replied Pani.

“I am truly invincible…”, said a voice coming from outside the cavern entrance.

Both Ivory and Pani looked at each other in surprise.

“Who’s there?!”, yelled Pani.

“It is me… The person who defeated you…”, said the voice as the mysterious figure entered the cavern entrance.

“Kai!”, yelled Snake.

“It’s you!”, howled Pani.

“Very interesting…”, remarked Ivory with a smile.

Kai entered the cavern carrying his bright jade sword on his left hand. His eyes were glowing red and his smile was both devious and evil.

“How are you two doing? I haven’t seen you two since our last encounter…”, asked Kai addressing both Snake and Ivory.

“How dare you enter the headquarters of the Lunar cult!”, yelled Snake.

“I go wherever I please…”, replied Kai with a smile.

Snake reached for his iron daggers inside his left sleeve. Pani noticed Snake’s actions and warned him:
“Don’t! The three of us are no match for him. He will kill us all…”

Snake followed Pani’s advice and halted his attack. Ivory took a seducing glance at the handsome and powerful swordsman Kai.

“So what brings you here?”, asked Ivory with a warm inviting smile.

Snake was clearly angered by the sudden interest in Kai from his lover Ivory.

“I come to take control of the Lunar cult… I will become the new Demon Emperor”, answered Kai with a warm smile mimicking Ivory.

“But there’s no way you can defeat the Demon Emperor, he is very powerful…”, warned Ivory.

“We shall see…”, answered Kai.

“So how’s my sister?”, asked Ivory who was still smiling.

“I ditched her. I have no need of a useless female companion…”, answered Kai.

“But she’s very beautiful… I’m sure every guy would want her…”, remarked Ivory.

“You are beautiful as well. Why are you with this useless weak assassin? You can do much better…”, asked Kai with an evil grin.

Snake was boiling inside, ready to release his anger against Kai. Fortunately, he regained control of his senses and stood there patiently hoping that his lover would defend him.

“I know he is useless! I am not with him anymore… But let me be your companion! If you can defeat our Demon Emperor of course…”, smiled Ivory.

Snake could no longer control his anger. He quickly unleashed five daggers from his left sleeve aimed at both Ivory and Kai. With one quick and blinding slash of his green sword, Kai knocked the daggers to the ground and sliced the throat of his attacker. Blood gushed out from the throat wound as Snake fell to the ground dead. Pani was mesmerized. Ivory was eyeing the whole incident with lust, apparently she was turned on by Kai’s prowess.

“No more time to waste… I shall defeat your Demon Emperor…”, remarked Kai with blood dripping down his bright green sword.

Kai made a quick dash towards the center of the cavern.

“I wish to challenge the Demon Emperor for the leadership of the Lunar cult!”, yelled Kai.

His voice was loud, echoing across the entire cavern. Lilith, Miao and Cao turned their heads towards the origins of the voice. All three hundred members turned their heads towards Kai. They were all gasping in awe at this brave young foolish man.

“The Jade swordsman!”, yelled Lilith.

“Is this guy crazy?!”, thought Miao to himself.

The Demon Emperor Cao examined the young swordsman closely. He noticed Kai’s bright green sword. A smile formed on his face.

“Hahahhahahahahahahha…!”, laughed Cao with an equally loud voice. “You dare come to the headquarters of the Great Lunar cult and challenge the Demon Emperor himself?!!!! Who do you think you are?!”

“Enough with your nonsense. I am challenging you! Do you accept or not?!”, retorted Kai.

“Hahahahahahhaha…! Of course I accept! I need a little practice before next week’s invasion of Shaolin temple. I will kill you without breaking a sweat! Let this be a lesson to all… Whoever challenges my authority will have the same outcome as this foolish young swordsman!”, laughed Cao.

“Who is he?!”, whispered Miao to Lilith with curiosity.

Lilith was eyeing Kai’s bright Jade sword with envy.

“He is the Jade swordsman. He recently became famous as a hero… But I have never personally seem him fight… Supposedly he is a promising young swordsman… What a waste of a life… The Demon Emperor will reduce him to ashes in a matter of seconds!”, replied Lilith with disgust.

Cao leapt from his throne on the high plateau and landed few meters from the young swordsman. Cao was wearing a black armor that surrounded his entire body. On his head was a golden crown reserved for the Demon Emperor. Kai pointed his bright green sword towards the golden crown and started to taunt:
“Prepare to lose…!”

Ivory was secretly rooting for Kai, her newfound obsession. The tall vampire watched in excitement, as the powerful young swordsman was about to square off against the Demon Emperor himself. His vampire vixens were busy sucking the blood from Snake’s dead body.

[nickianjo]

Ahhh!! Kai turned evil?! Now I feel bad for Jade.

Well I'm glad you finally updated Ganryu.