Round Robin #2: Secret of the Sword

[Goofy]

all right, time for the REAL villains to show up. <IMG SRC="smilies/evillaugh.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/naughty.gif" border="0">

Meanwhile, two figures were walking into a restaurant. They were an odd pair, as one was so thin and dressed so flashy, while the other was chubby looking with ragged old clothes.

The chubby one eagerly smelled the fragrance of cooking food and quickly ordered several dishes. He sat down at one table and dusted a chair for his companion.

"Mother, what else would you wish to eat?"

His voice was high and piercing as if it belonged to a woman. His mother, the bony woman laden with glittering jewelry, beamed.

"Ah Jing, I can eat anything, you know."

She looked around at the customers with gleaming eyes and mentioned, "not many rich people in this area, still we might get few coins from them."

She noticed her son leering at some female diners and snapped annoyingly.

"Ah Jing! Don't you dare looking at women! Didn't I teach you to keep your eyes away from girls?" A hint of jealousy shone from her beady black eyes. She touched a slight scar on left cheek and sighed.

"If only I'm beautiful, your mother would not have to leave our peaceful home to search for your father."

She shook her fingers bedecked with rings and pointed at her son.

"Until we get the Sea Monster sword and your father, you are not allowed to see any woman but me."

Wong Jing sighed morosely but nodded submissively. "Yes, Mother."

The ordered food soon came, and the conversation temporarily halted. Both mother and son quickly stuffed as much savory in their mouths as if they had been starving for so long. Surprisingly, in contrast to the slim figure, the mother could eat ever faster and more than her son did. When they were done, the mother nodded at her obese son who was blurbing contentedly.

"Now!" She said and leaped to the restaurant owner who was counting money. In one swing of a saber in her hand, she murdered him and snatched his big bag of coins. Then, before anyone could have come out from the shock, the two had disappeared.

<IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> guess who is the mother? <IMG SRC="smilies/catroar.gif" border="0">

[charbydis]

IS it YPP? hehe

Can I be a villian too? <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> But i don't want to be matched with Wong Jing! <IMG SRC="smilies/vomit.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/barf.gif" border="0">

[Goofy]

you can be whatever you like. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

but wj and ypp are here for us to vent out our frustrations. <IMG SRC="smilies/ninja.gif" border="0"> they are pure evil who can never be redeemed. <IMG SRC="smilies/disgust.gif" border="0">

[MYF]

guess who the two men are <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

----------------------
Two young men sat watching the mother and son couple run out of the inn. The two men were playing a game of checkers on a rough wooden board.

One of the men brought his hand down on the table with a loud bang as he saw them leave.

‘Hmph! Brother Gu those two bandits are really getting out of hand. They’ve even dared to come here to Li-an. I must stop them’

The other man fanned himself and said in a light hearted way: ‘Brother Jin, those two aren’t worth bothering about, lets finish this chess game first.’

‘But brother Gu “seeing injustice on the road, one unsheathes knife in aid”, seeing these people robbed in blind daylight, how can I not help these people reclaim some justice?’

The man fanning himself ignored him; he was looking at the checkers board. Suddenly a bright smile appeared on his face: ‘Brother Jin, lets go and find them.’

After saying ‘let’s go’, he leap from his seat and went running out of the inn.

The other man looked down quickly at the checkerboard and noticed that his opponent had made a very ingenious move and had his last couple of checkers cornered.

The man let out a loud laugh ‘Brother Gu is surely deserving of his fame!’, and with that, he too ran out of the inn to chase the mother and son pair

--------------

[ August 03, 2002: Message edited by: MYF ]

[Goofy]

ha-ha. I should have thought of that and have one of them as the hero that White Jasmine liked. However, it is a bit late now b/c you described them as old men. <IMG SRC="smilies/redface.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[MYF]

well.... I can thanks to the magic of editing <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

from old to young in 2 secs <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Goofy]

So may I dare and humbly ask Brother Gu's permission to use him as the hero in black clothes? <IMG SRC="smilies/love.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/bow.gif" border="0"> I can give him the Lu Xiao Feng + Chor liu Heung + Li Xun Huan qualities. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

As for Brother Jing, let him be the pure god, the master of all masters. <IMG SRC="smilies/love.gif" border="0">

I almost feel bad for hooking all the good guys for my characters (not for me though. <IMG SRC="smilies/redface.gif" border="0">) <IMG SRC="smilies/blush.gif" border="0">

Still, it was fun while the imagination runs.

(Goofy's message that was posted in the wrong thread and she wished to moved into the right one..)

[ August 05, 2002: Message edited by: WhiteKrane ]

[charbydis]

The old men could be disguised, so they can be young men for White Jasmine. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[MYF]

Goofy; So may I dare and humbly ask Brother Gu's permission to use him as the hero in black clothes? I can give him the Lu Xiao Feng + Chor liu Heung + Li Xun Huan qualities

Sure thing <IMG SRC="smilies/thumbsup.gif" border="0"> , I was kinda hoping that someone would give him these personality traits <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

But yes, also let brother Jin be godlike <IMG SRC="smilies/evillaugh.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/evillaugh.gif" border="0">

[C Monster]

Back to Hero Hong and his spying of the two masked strangers. Heh heh heh! <IMG SRC="smilies/evillaugh.gif" border="0">

---

Upon seeing that serpent blade, Hero Hong hurled down without thinking from his hiding place. He launched a full stream of attack at the young lady. His sword strokes were quick and merciless like the blazing wind cutting through the murky depths of fog. At first, the lady in black was caught off-guard by the surprise onslaught. She hurdled back and forth boucing off from the grove of trees to avoid his strikes. But after an exchange of 50 moves, she soon settled into a natural cadence that teased and drew Hero Hong to strike harder and faster that expended his energy but not hers. Like the caress of soft silk, her strikes fell down like the summer rain.

She laughed deliciously as she brushed off another one of his hard blows like swatting off a pesky fly. "Hey, you're even more fun than Sihing! So easily provoked and inflamed."

"Why you little...." Hero Hong paused to gather his deep internal energy. Although he prefered using the sword when fighting, his Shaolin training had always concentrated on mastering inner strength through meditation and special breathing techniques. Amassing his chi from his 'dan-tean', he decided to give his opponent a taste of her own medicine and executed his own "sea of bitterness with no regret." Similar to her move earlier, he too used his sword. But his was the original, backed by years of Shaolin's strict teachings, not a cheap imitation. "See, how you like this!"

She froze in horror as the force of a tsunami swooped down swiftly wanting to engulf her. Out of nowhere, a counter force swept in like a shield circling her and protecting her. The two forces then collided and mingled to eventually whirl up in the air together. Its combined energy was so strong that it was able to lift the heavy fog that had been plaguing the forest. The lady turned around to grumble by stomping her feet. "Sihing! Why did you do that! I didn't need your help."

"Yeah, right!" The man in the shadows countered. He then turned to Hero Hong and said gallantly, "My apologies. My siu simui is known for her rashness and impetuous nature. By the...."

The lady cut in. "Hey, Sihing! He was the one who attacked me first!"

The man darted a sharp look to quiet her before continuing, "By the looks of your training and stature, sir, may I hazard a guess to presume that you are the late Mo Chun Daisi's oy-sut daizhi (outside disciple), Hero Hong Tai Loi?"

Still stunned and speechless at the magnificent display before him, Hero Hong only nodded and grunted. He was thinking to himself, 'Who is this man? This is the second time he's able to break that move so easily without expending any energy at all. How?" Finally finding his tongue, he asked sharply, "And who may you be?"

The man in black replied philosophically, "Our identities are of no consequence to you, Hero Hong. Just think of us as 'yeah wan yau hawk' (night cranes flittering in the sky). Know too much but not enough to quiet a pending storm."

"What about her then? She holds the 'sea monster' in her hands. My master died in her hands!"

The woman shouted back matching his outburst. "What are talking about?! I did no such thing!" She stepped forward ready to draw her sword and come at him again.

"Siu simui!" The sihing warned once more. To Hero Hong, he remarked, "You are known in circles far and wide to be a man of keen intelligence and integrity. What proof do you have that my siu simui is responsible for Mo Chun Daisi's death? You were not there to witness it."

Hero Hong narrowed his eyes. "Her sword is proof enough! Before master was sliced into two, he had scrawled 'sea monster' on one of the back pillars at the temple. I saw her sword. It has an etching of a slithering serpent just like a 'sea monster'!"

The man broke out into a peel of laughter. "Hah hah hah! What child-like sense of reasoning you have, Hero Hong!" Steadily and slowly, he unsheathed his own sword that was slung across his shoulder. Ching! "Take a look!" said he as he reflected the blade in the clear moonlight for plain view. "My sword too is marked with a drawing of a 'sea monster'. Am I also the enemy you seek?"

[MYF]

<IMG SRC="smilies/shocked.gif" border="0">, I am speechless C Monster... that was an amazing add <IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/thumbsup.gif" border="0">

I'll have to make sure if i add anything else, that it wont detract from this section... <IMG SRC="smilies/sigh.gif" border="0">

[C Monster]

Please don't let me scare you off, MYF. I just had a bit of inspiration. That's all! Would really like some fresh blood in this piece.

<IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

[MYF]

*Ahem* sorry is this section is a bit long <IMG SRC="smilies/bow.gif" border="0"> (i kinda started out writing a page, but it somehow got out of hand <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">)

Anyway, at least at the end of it, they're all out of the foggy forest. <IMG SRC="smilies/tearlaugh.gif" border="0">


continued................

Hero Hong stared at the sword silently.

The etching on the man’s sword was indeed that of a long slithering sea serpent. Glinting coldly in the light of the moon, it seemed as if the serpent was alive and was resting majestically on the sword.

Hero Hong finally uttered a ‘Hmph!’ and said: “So, you have the sword too. Tell me then, who is your Sifu and why did he send you to Man Fut Tze? (ten-thousand Buddha temple) “

A sudden moment of surprise flashed on the man’s face, but was quickly covered up again as he replied in a serious tone: “Hero Hong, I know you’re a man of respect and fame in the gong-wu [another name for pugilistic world?]. So I am going to be frank with you. Besides our Sifu, many other people have been sent out by their Sifu’s. Besides us, tonight there have been people from HuaShan, Kwun-lun, and Hung Dong, as well as a great many people who belong to no Sect or Clan. Your Sifu was not killed by us.”

The mans simui smiled in amusement at the look of absolute bewilderment and confusion on Hero Hong’s face.

Hero Hong’s heart and mind were in a state of confusion and sorrow ever since the events at the temple. His Sifu had looked him ever since he was a child, and taught him everything he knew about martial arts; so to lose him was like losing a father to Hero Hong.

Hearing the man in black say that people from HuaShan, Kwun-Lun, and Hung Dong were there at the temple as well he did not really believe it and kept thinking: ‘Sifu and Shaolin have always had good relations with these orthodox sects, why would they all attack my Sifu suddenly, and what for?’

The man cupped his hands slightly and said: “Hero Hong, I have said as much as I have to say. If we’re fated, some day we’ll meet again; until then, farewell.”

As soon as he said ‘farewell’, he noticed that there was a loud murmuring of voices, and that it was getting very close.

Noticing the look in her sihing’s face, his simui looked around as well.

Squinting her eyes slightly, she could make out the dim light of torches through the fog.

She gasped suddenly in realisation of what they were. “Sihing!” she said “they’ve found us”

“They? Who are they?” Hero Hong asked sharply whilst trying to peer through the fog himself.

The girl’s Sihing didn’t say anything, he noticed that the lights had made a circle around the grove that they were in and were getting closer by the second.

“They? they’re the friends of Mo Chun Daisi of course!” the girl’s sihing said sarcastically. “Siu Simui, you wanted to fight more? Well, here is your chance, those dogs have caught up with us again.”

The girl grinned impishly in anticipation whilst the man waited patiently as he knew they were now surrounded and probably could not escape without a fight. He said with a sigh, “Hero Hong, if you want to know the truth about your Sifu, then I think you should wait here with us for a little while.”

In a minute or so, about thirty men had surrounded the three of them. The men were dressed in dark grey robes, and seemed powerfully built. Each man carried a short sword in their hand, gripped tightly. They were all sweating profusely in the damp foggy air.

As soon as one of the men saw the young man and his Simui he shouted in a menacing tone: “So you’re hiding here are you? Well, you won’t get very far or escape from us, even if you have found yourself a new helper!”

The young man smiled in reply and said politely: “this man is Hero Hong; he is the daizhi of Mo Chun Daisi. He is not here to help us, but to find out who killed his Sifu.”

The ulgly looking man with a crooked nose glanced at Hero Hong and spat in a mocking laugh: “this weak looking man is Hero Hong? Haha, what should I really expect? After all, Mo Chun the useless old fool has such bad judgement; it’s not surprising that such a weak looking man is his best daizhi.”

Hearing the man deride his Sifu so much, Hero Hong felt a great wave of anger sweep through him, but somehow, he forced a smile and replied: “I haven’t had the pleasure to meet this gentleman, please, what is your name and to which sect do you belong?”

The ugly looking man sneered proudly and said: “I am sure you have heard of my great name, Nau Dei Pang”

The young man’s simui stifled a giggle as the ugly looking man mentioned his name and thought: “he has such an ugly name, no wonder he has such a stinking personality”

Although Nau Dei Pang was oblivious to the girl giggling, Hero Hong wasn’t. He let out a sly smile and said to the man: “So you’re Hero Nau?, never could have guessed. Bull-necked and horse faced… I guess your Sifu must be a great farmer from the south, am I correct?”

The girl couldn’t hold back anymore, and let out a loud ‘ha!’ and started giggling loudly.

Her sihing watched the events with a smile on his face.
Nau Dei Pang’s eyes grey wide with anger when he heard this; he clenched his fists and said: “Hmph, You must be tired of living, I think I should be merciful and send you down to see your Sifu, and maybe you can ask him then who my Sifu is”

In a flash, the man’s short sword came down in a powerful chop, heading for Hero Hong’s ‘Deng Men’ [head]. The man and his simui both felt the force of the chop as it flew through the air.

But just as quick as the chop, Hero Hong moved his head to the side and used his left hand to catch the blade using a move from the Shaolin technique ‘Mo Seurng Kip Tze’. [don’t know the translation, but it was referred to in DGSD’s a lot. Its one of Shaolin’s 72 techniques/skills]

Instantly, the man’s blade stopped cold. All his energy put into the chop was dissipated. Realizing the way Hero Hong had stopped his sword, the man suddenly felt a twang of regret and fear in his heart.

Hero Hong was only holding the blade between two fingers, yet Nau Dei Pang, was not able to move the sword one inch no matter how hard he tried.

Seeing the strange look on Nau Dei Pang’s face, Hero Hong raised his sword which he was holding in his right hand, and tapped Nau Dei Pang’s sword gently; creating a low humming sound.

Nau suddenly felt a powerful shock run though his arm, causing him incredible pain. He had no choice but to let go of his sword and step back a couple of feet

“So, why did you kill my Sifu?” Hero Hong asked.

Nau’s face twitched in anger and fear, “get them! Chop them all into a thousand pieces!” he shouted to the other people in grey.

As soon as Nau gave the command, all the people in grey instantly attacked the three people.

Hero Hong left go of the short sword he was holding, and engaged the people attacking him. Two of them trusts their sword out to bar his escape and swung in at a low height, aiming to cut at his waist. Hero Hong somersaulted back before the move was complete and used his sword to tap at the wrists of the two men, forcing them to drop their swords.

As soon as he landed four more men charged at him. Feinting a sword move he drew in the leading attacker, and thrusted a heavy palm towards the man’s chest. The force from the palm was immense, a wave of pure yang energy from his ‘Demon Suppressing Palm’ thundered across the distance from Hong’s palm to the man, and struck him squarely in the chest.

Several loud snapping sounds were heard as the man flew backwards into the path of the other charging men, tinting the foggy air red, as he spat out a great amount of blood. ‘Although I am very lucky at the moment. These other people in grey have very good swordskills and inner energy’ he thought, ‘much better than that fool Nau, I am glad I did not have to take on all thirty of them at once!’

Once the men charged, the girl immediately joined in the fight, several people sliced at her, swords shimmering coldly in the pale moonlight.
However, their swords could not match the slithering serpent as it weaved and danced it way in and out of the men’s chests, with an almost happy glee. “sihing! this is fun, why didn’t we wait for these people sooner?” she yelled and instantly launched into a move she had picked up from Kwun-Lun a while ago called ‘Heaven and Earth, no Regrets’

But, before her sihing could reply she suddenly realised that her placement for her move was wrong, and she was quite off balance as she ended the move and struck nothing but air. Before she could recover a sword slashed out at the exposed arm, causing a deep gash. Screaming in pain, she dropped her sword and resorted to evading and attacking with her left palm.

“Simui!” her sihing cried as he heard her scream, however, he himself was unable to help her at the moment as he was being attacked by a group of people.

Circling is sword round; he caught the attackers’ swords which were being thrusted out at him. The powerful tsunami of energy generated from the cyclone, ripped the swords painfully from his opponents grasps, before circling round again and tainting the air red with blood.

Parrying of a few attacks, the man ran over to assist his simui.

The man’s simui was having great trouble dealing with her attackers. Because she was skilled at using a sword, being forced to suddenly fight with one hand, and without a weapon was nearly impossible for her. At best she was landing relatively weak palms on people. But now she was barely able to do that at all as, their swords flashed all around her in an uninterrupted, hypnotic dance.

Suddenly she felt a palm strike heavily on her back. The energy from the palm caused all her senses to dissolve into one of pain as she felt all the insides of her body tighten.

Seeing the girl in black suffer such an attack Hong Tai Loi raised his sword and dealt easily with the few attackers that were left and rushed over to help the girl and her sihing.

Along with the girls sihing, they managed to finish of all the attackers.

The girl in black was very badly injured by the palm, her face was nearly as pale as a piece of paper. She staggered over to her sihing, and rested on his shoulder awekewdly

“We have to get out of here, now” said the girl’s sihing.

Hong was kneeling down trying to inspecting the bodies to see if they showed any sign of which sect they belong to.

However, as he casually glanced of into the fog again, he noticed that more lights were heading this way in the distance.

Letting out a sigh, he said to the two: “there are more people coming this way soon, and if it is more that this, then we will be in trouble. Your simui is very badly injured, maybe poisoned at the moment. It would be best if we get away from this area as soon as possible.”

Although the man did not really like the idea of running with Hero Hong, he felt that this was not the time to get rid of a potential ally, especially with more elite fighters heading this way.

The man reluctantly nodded his head.

“come” said Hero Hong, “lets head north of here, there should be an old temple where we can rest, and help your simui attend her wounds.”

Lifting up his now unconscious simui, the two of them sped northwards through the morning fog.

--------------------

[ August 06, 2002: Message edited by: MYF ]

[MYF]

Please delete this message whitecrane, i posted a wrong messgae here.

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

[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: MYF ]

[andrea7974]

Floo...can you make the outline of this story again? <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Too many characters in this story make me confuse <IMG SRC="smilies/confused.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/confused.gif" border="0">

Can you make the thin red line (benang merah? <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">) to connect all of the characters? I'm sure that everybody is waiting one another to continue this story <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Thanks!

[Goofy]

MYF, I think you can delete the post yourself because you are a moderator now. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">


I am working on my villain couples (YPP and WJ) encountering with the two Divine Gods (JY and GL) <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[MYF]

Can't delete it at the moment, I am not moderator for this board <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

Make sure YPP and Wj are rightfully humiliated... but then again, no amount of punishment and humilation can even out the damage they've done <IMG SRC="smilies/sigh.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/smash.gif" border="0">

[ August 09, 2002: Message edited by: MYF ]

[Goofy]

The mother and son stopped under a big tree to take a look at their loots when they felt a presence of strangers. Looking up, they saw two shadows swoop by and suddenly felt numb. With wild eyes, they could only observe the two figures materialize in front of them.

One was a fair man in white robe; and the other was a dark skinned man clad in gray clothes. Both were good looking and had ageless face. Their eyes were wise and sharp, peering right into the souls of these two thieves.

Wong Jing had no clue of these two strangers' identities, but his mother turned pale at their sights.

She shakily croaked out. "You are... You are the Two Divine Gods, Southern Gu and Northern Jin."

The dark man raised his eyebrows. "I didn't expect us to be recognized after all these years. I think I know you too. I assume that this madam is the infamous Immitating Shrew Yang Pei Pei, and this gentleman is the Pretentious Villain Wong Jing. Nice meeting you." He cupped his hands gracefully.

Yang Pei Pei winced at her painful title. Forty years ago, she was known as the most beautiful thief in the martial realm. Only when she lost to Granny Flower and accordingly was disfigured. Since then, she had lost wealth and status among her admirers and had to resort to faking her stolen goods to sell in black markets. Thus, she earned the current title through years of living in dark crimes.

Yang Pei Pei swallowed her abusive and instead cooly replied. "Fourty years ago, you would have fallen for me too, young man. Although you know my name, you might not know who my husband is..."

The white robe man nodded and interceded. "I know all too well since that poor man was my former martial nephew. He was unfortunate enough to meet and marry you, and he lives to regret it."

Yang Pei Pei's heart skipped. She looked at the fair man sceptically then recalled that her husband once told her that his grandmaster had received a boy as the last disciple.

She questioned him eagerly. "So, you know where my husband is. Where is he?"

She tried to charm him with her smile, but the gentleman in white only laughed and turned away. He then turned to his friend and asked the other what they should do with these thieves.

The man in gray robe smiled lazily and replied. "Brother Jin, it is up to you since you are the one who wants to pursue them in the first place. I have a mind to punish them for a while before sending them to the officials."

Brother Jin nodded thoughtfully, and Wong Jing quickly shouted out series of swearing. "You attacked us without warning, not manners of the hero. If you dare, release our pressure points and let's fight fairly."

Brother Jin looked at the chubby man carefully and nodded seriously.

"Hmm, although you committed a crime, you should have a chance to defend yourselves."

He flicked his fingers and the pair of villains felt cold air around their pressure points. Then, they were able to move.

Without delay, Wong Jing weilded his saber and bounded toward the man in gray, while Yang Pei Pei attacked another with deadly stance.

Despite the bulky shape, Wong Jing was nimble and fast. However, the man Gu was faster. Wong Jing executed more than a hundred moves, yet he was unable to get close to his opponent. Seemed as if the dark man needed to twist his body a little here and there to deflect the attack.

At last, tired out, Wong Jing cast out his 'Rain Nails'. They were poisonous projectiles in a shape of tiny pinheads. Although one could escape some of them, it was almost impossible to avoid all.

To his surprise, his opponent disappeared at the blink of an eye. The nails hit empty air and lodged deep in a big tree. Then, the man in gray reappeared as if he came from thin air. He twisted his torso and waved his sleeves slightly. All nails that buried in the trees then flew off and returned to their owners.

Wong Jing cried with fear. He tried to dodge his own projectiles but his big body was an easy target for the shower of nails. Before long, he fell down on the ground, groaning to his mother for help.

Yang Pei Pei at that moment was being defeated by the man named Jin. She made a mistake by trying to overcome the opponent with his own kungfu. Being a skillful imitators, she had learned various types of martial arts from her husband and other admirers in her youth. Throughout the years, she had practiced and mastered those skills just to find out today that the originals were always the best version. <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

<IMG SRC="smilies/ninja.gif" border="0">
Yang Pei Pei began with Iron Palm, and her opponent calmly encountered her with the same stance. His inner power was higher than she was, and his palms reached her first. Yang Pei Pei had to jump back before renewed another attack. Times after times, she tried different approaches, but this fair man seemed to have equal or deeper knowledge of martial arts than she did. He knew the Shaolin's palms, the Beggar Associasion's two most treasured martial arts, the renowned Tai Chi Fist from Wu Dang, and all the formations from different sects.

At the final move, the man in white robe adeptly sent his palms and grabbed at the other's neck with lightening speed. Yang Pei Pei had not a chance to defend herself. He then closed her pressure points, rendering her immovable.

At this point, Wong Jing burst out tears like a baby. "Help me, Mother. I don't want to die. Don't kill me, please. I didn't do anything. She did it all. Let me go, and you can have her."

Tears ran down his once pinky face and mixed with the dirt that he picked up while contorting painfully on the ground. He looked a sight, and any viewer would not know either to laugh or pity this round object or not.

Yang Pei Pei gritted her teeth and tried to cool her son down. She was not so successful and had to give up eventually. Just when her opponent was preparing the robe to tie her up, she spoke in clear voice.

"Two great rivers - one in the north and one in the south - run into the ocean. All creatures big and small have mercy onto one another."

The man in white paused and looked at her for one moment and sighed. "You have recited my former martial nephew's favorite sentence. For his sake, I will let you go this time. However, pray that you would never meet me again for this trick could only work once."

Yang Pei Pei glanced at the two men cunningly. "I heard that Southern Gu Long never takes life. Would he break his words today?"

Gu Long, the dark man in gray robe, laughed. "Of course not. I never dream of killing anyone, however they deserve it. I only plan to take you two to the legal officals for the proper punishment. But for brother Jin's face here, I will let you two go. If you commit a crime in front of me again, hmm."

He sent his energy to release the bony woman but was surprised that she did not seem hurry to leave.

Yang Pei Pei gazed at the two young men slyly and said, "you two resurfaced again in the pugilistic world for the Sea Monster Sword, right? He-he. You are not that different from us greedy thieves after all."

She continued in sweet tone. "To thank both of you for sparing us, here is something for you. Find Yellow Rose, and she will lead you to the secret."

The name captured Gu Long's interest. "Yellow Rose?" He repeated with fascination.

Yang Pei Pei realized that her trap was hooked. She smiled winningly and confirmed the information. "Yes, she is the most beautiful girl in the martial realm. She is talented in singing and dancing arts."

At that, she popped an antidote into her son's mouth and dragged him away before the two men would change their minds.

Jin Yong shook his head and talked to his friend. "Don't you realize that she tried to pull you into the ugly business that is going on now? We are here to enjoy the scenary and good wine, remember?"

But his friend had already been intrigued. Gu Long laughed. "Ha-ha. I am known as a nosy man. Good wine without beautiful women seems a bit too dull. This sword hunting sounds fun and since we are already accused of coveting it, why not see what it is all about?"

"I will race with you, brother Jin. The bet is a calabash of Green Bamboo Wine."

The next second, he left the area without trace.

[ August 11, 2002: Message edited by: Goofy ]

[Floo..]

<IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/thumbsup.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0"> Goofy: you're NOT forgetting Western Liang (Liang Yusheng), eh????? And who's worthy enough to be on the the Eastern position?? (I would like to propose SC, but he's been Granny Flower...)

[MYF]

Very good <IMG SRC="smilies/clap.gif" border="0"> , you seem to have captured the very essence of Wong Jing - crying on the floor and calling out for his mommy pathetically <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0">

However, I am surprised that YPP hasn't done any crying, and overemotional weeping yet - given the horrid abundance of that in her series... <IMG SRC="smilies/ninja.gif" border="0">

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