A Legacy of Secrets

[Suet Seung]

.:Chapter 3: Reunions & Farewells:.

The next morning, the Yip and Cheung families bid each other farewell and continued on their journeys to their separate destinations. The Yip family was traveling again on an open road, heading towards the Lost Woods, a forest that bordered the province. The reason why it was called the "Lost Woods" is because anyone who dared to travel through it could enter it from one location and then exit it from the very same location without ever being able to pass through the woods to go on to the next province. To outsiders, the Lost Woods seemed like was an easier way to go on to the next province, but the locals who lived near by knew better and always traveled the longer and harder route around the forest. They knew if they were to enter the Lost Woods, they would be caught in the forest's maze, unable to find their way to its other end.

However, luckily for the Yip family it was different for them because Chor Wai Sam grew up in the Lost Woods. Wai Sam's sifu, Mok Jan Lung, had settled there only because it was secluded and because his house would be hard to find since the Lost Woods was such a puzzle to those who didn't know how to solve its maze. The maze itself is created based on the five elements and eight trigrams(Wu Xing Ba Gua).

The sun was shining brightly while the Yip family traveled across the green grass and among the sparse weeping willow trees towards the forest. Yip Chi Tin stopped the carriage at the edge of a small rock-filled stream to allow the horses to drink and to fill their empty canteen because the girls were growing thirsty and all their water was gone.

"Wait here while I fill this up with water," said Chi Tin.

Wai Sam nodded and returned her attention to her little daughters, who were singing a rhyme.

"Ngo, ngo, ngo,
Kuk geng heung tin go.
Bak mou fau luk sui,
Hung jeung but ching bo."

(See authors note below for translation of rhyme)

Chi Tin returned soon with the canteen of water for his wife and daughters and after the little break, they continued on their journey towards the Lost Woods. Then suddenly the two horses and the carriage stopped abruptly as ten figures dressed and masked in black jumped out from the surrounding hills, causing the horses to be spooked. All carried weapons, showing their intent to create a massacre or at least a river of blood, with the Yip family's blood in particular.

"If you have enough courage to kill people, then why don't you have enough to kill them face to face instead of cowardly hiding behind your masks and veils," asked Chi Tin in a strong, firm voice.

With one swift motion of the leader's right hand, seven of his followers quickly surrounded the carriage in a circle, with the clear intent of letting no life escape this ordeal, while the leader remained standing in front of the carriage along with two others on either side of him. One was of average height with a slender body and the other was tall in stature with masculine features. Finally, after all was silent, the figure on the left of the trio in front of the carriage spoke up.

"Yip Chi Tin, you're the coward! You impregnate a woman and leave her in the morning after a night of pleasures! Then you go marrying that brat!" shouted, the slender figure in black.

Yip Chi Tin did not know what to say because he was confused by what his accuser had said, for he had always been in love with only one woman, and had lost his innocence to this same one woman...his wife.

Chor Wai Sam was in the carriage and heared the vulgar accusations used against her husband. She immediately instructed her daughters to cover their little innocent ears in case there was to be more inappropriate words exchanged for them to hear. She then came out from behind the carriage curtains to sit very intimately close with her Chi Tin. Although the slender figure was masked, Wai Sam was still able to recognize her womanly
voice.

"Oh... is that Bak Bing Sau Jie Jie? It's so wonderful to see you again. And what welcoming words you've said to us! If he really did that with you, then when, pray tell… when did it happen, huh?"

The slim womanly figure laughed an evil laugh and unmasked her veil to reveal herself, as Bak Bing Sau (Irene Wan).

"Chor Wai Sam, you are a very naive woman. Do you really think that your beloved husband has always faithful to you? On one autumn night, ten years ago, Yip Dai Go spent the night in my bed," said Bak Bing Sau without shame. Shame meant nothing to her. Even having a baby out of wedlock would not matter as long as she could hurt her rival, Wai Sam.

"You must be dreaming, Bak Bing Sau!" exclaimed Chi Tin. "How could that ever have happened between us? I've only met you twice in my whole life. Once after you stole some valuables from the Li Manor and was later captured by the authorities. And the second time, when you pretended to have broken your ankle and made me carry you around the city to find a doctor. Luckily Wai Sam even then knew what you were up to -- which was no good! I am a righteous person. I would never do anything sinful with a woman out of wedlock! I have always loved my Wai Sam," said Chi Tin in a strong, determined voice.

"I remember that autumn ten years ago well. My husband and I had just gotten married and were living out on boat out at sea. Needless to say, you're a liar! If you want Chi Tin, you've got to try harder, Bak Bing Sau," said Wai Sam, mockingly.

"That's right, Sam Yee!" said Chi Tin proudly as he held Wai Sam in an even closer embrace, making Bak Bing Sau very angry and jealous.

Whatever Bak Bing Sau had planned to do with her accusations against Yip Chi Tin obviously was not working. Chi Tin and Wai Sam's love for one another was just too great to separate them by either destroying that love or their marriage. Out of frustration, Bak Bing Sau was about to charge forward with her sword. But the leader of the group reached out to grab her arm before she could do anything rash.

Dissatisfied, she reluctantly stepped back. 'Was it really all just a dream? If what Chi Tin says is true then who really was with me that night and who is the real father of my Yim Lin (Kristy Yeung)?' pondered Bing Sau. 'No, he's lying! What Dai Go said and saw that morning must be true! It has to be true!' thought Bing Sau.

The leader of the group, standing between Bak Bing Sau and the tall, muscular man, continued to say not a word at all, but simply raised his right hand again, signaling the seven black figures around the carriage to attack. Chi Tin quickly unsheathed his sword from it's scabbard, jumped from the carriage and fought with the seven men attacking him as he lead them away from the carriage in order to keep his children from harm.

"Ying Yee and Ming Yee, mama and papa have to go fight some bad people. I don't want either of you to get hurt. In order to keep you two safe, you must never step out of this carriage until your dad and I come back,"
said Wai Sam in a stern voice.

She then gave each girl a kiss on the forehead and leaned over to retrieve her sword from underneath some baggage just as Wai Ming grabbed and held onto her mother's wrist.

"Mama, I want to go with you," pleaded Wai Ming as she looked at her mother.

"Mama, I want to go too!" said Wai Ying.

"No! It's too dangerous for you both and remember to not leave this carriage. Also don't let anyone see you in the carriage. So sit here and remain silent," said Wai Sam.

"Yes, mother," said the two girls in unison.

Suddenly, from afar, two voices were projected towards the battle that was taking place. The voices were crisp and clear enough for all to here despite the distance. But, the people talking could not be seen.

"Ten against two. Even animals are superior than you!"

"Who said that?" shouted Bak Bing Sau, angrily.

"Your mother and father!" said another voice.

"Show yourself! Cowards!" shouted the tall, masculine man standing to the right of the leader.

Seeing that the seven men were attacking Chi Tin mercilessly, Wai Sam quickly intervened to fight three of her husband's attackers. After a few moments of fighting swords to sword, the three men became more and more irritated of their failure to subdue her. Especially, after so many close stabs and slashes at her with their swords. She had fooled them a couple of times, leading them to think that they had cornered or weakened her. But as soon as they were caught off guard she would playfully slice and tear at parts of their black outfits. Her kung fu and swordplay were obviously just too good.

What pissed them off even more was that she was smiling and laughing as though she were playing with a few crabs at the seashore -- crabs that were snapping their claws at her in vain, only to end up becoming easy pickings for her dinner pot. Pretty soon the three men began to lose their patience and only wanted to kill her. Their anger led them to forget to aid one another in their defense against her attacks. Wai Sam saw that although their attacks were more aggressive, they left themselves more open to counter attacks. With one swift arm movement, she easily slit one's throat and then deeply pierced the chest of another, as a flash of blood sprayed from the neck of one, spewed forth from the chest of another and both fell simultaneously to the ground. Despite all the blood, she used her great agility and excellent kung fu to keep her clothes spotless!

As she was about to deliver a deadly blow to the third, the two voices where heard again. But this time, they sounded much closer than they were before, near hills.

"Wai Sam Mui, long time, no see. Let me come assist you and Chi Tin," said a familiar feminine voice.

Wai Sam, upon hearing her si jie's voice, looked around in all directions and then turned to face her remaining opponent. His legs began to shake as he saw how quickly she had killed the other two, who's lifeless bodies now laid on the blood soaked ground before him. But he could not cowardly run away. For his pride denied him that option. Plus, the three masters, especially Bak Bing Sau, would kill him anyway for his failure. So with the mindset of a dead man, he lunged forward to attack. If she didn't die, then he surely would.

Without regard for his own defense, he chopped and slashed at Wai Sam ferociously. However, Wai Sam's skills were much superior to his, and no matter how hard he try, could not even touch her as she playfully dodged his reckless attacks. Seeing that Chi Tin was fighting alone against four men, Wai Sam could not waste any more precious time. She swiftly slashed at the wrist of the man's sword hand, causing both his hand and the sword within to fall to the ground. Before a single drop of blood could even fall
from what was left of his cleanly cut hand, she pulled back her free hand and then, with great force, slammed her palm into his chest. With that blow, he flew backwards and hit the tree directly behind him, vomiting a large amount of blood and then fell to the ground… dead!

Soon enough, Tong Sou Ching (Suet Li) and her husband, Lam Shing, approached the battle scene to assist Sou Ching's si mui, Chor wai Sam, and her husband. Tong Sou Ching and Lam Shing happened to be out hunting when Lam Shing, using his very good ears -- ears that allowed him to hear twenty
miles away -- heard the clashing of swords. Though knowing that trouble was close by, they approached the scene to investigate.

Chi Tin had grown tired of the persistent badgering of the two on his left side and decided to kick the two men in the chest. The quick blow sent both flying backwards, causing them to pass out as they hit the ground, meeting a much kinder fate than their fellow swordsmen where to very soon meet.

While Chi Tin faced the two lying on the ground, his other two opponents raised their swords and came charging at his back. Though their swords were just mere inches away from him, he didn't even need to look as he responded. Chi Tin used his left foot to boost his right and propelled himself into the air and swirled his body into a circle. The cyclone like force created by his body was too much for the men to overcome its effects and they were blown to the ground. While still in the air, Chi Tin swooped down like a crane over his fresh and unaware prize of fishes, slitting the throats of the two men, as two fountains of blood sprayed up from the ground where their bodies now lay motionless. They were dead within an instant of Chi Tin's sword making contact with their throats. Yip Chi Tin landed feet away from their bodies without a drop of blood to be found on his robe. Clearly, his Lightness Kung Fu and swordplay were excellent.

Meanwhile, while her parents were busy fighting, Wai Ying disobeyed her mother's orders by running towards her mother after she had just finished battling with her three opponents. The leader of the group of what once was ten saw the possibility of the new arrivals to the scene ruining his plans. He immediately ordered the tall, masculine man standing next to him to fight Tong Sou Ching and Lam Shing.

Although Tong Sou Ching and her husband had come to help the Yip family, neither knew what the future would bring them and were fully aware that anything could happen in battle. Bak Bing Sau, who was enraged to see that Wai Sam was easily able to beat the three men, saw her chance to attack the person whom she still considered was her love rival. While Wai Sam was hugging her daughter her back to Bak Bing Sau, she charged with a few swift steps towards her back.

"Ying Yee, you did not listen to my orders. You could get hurt..." Wai Ying looked up at her mother and wondered why she had stopped in mid-sentence while scolding her. Wai Sam did not want her daughter to get hurt by what she was sensing as an on coming charge. After realizing what was happening, she pushed Wai Ying over to the side and was about to fend off Bak Bing Sau. However, Bak Bing Sau's sword blade had pierced right through her abdomen just as Wai Sam had pushed Wai Ying over to the side for her own safety.

"MAMA!" screamed Wai Ying as fresh, warm tears flowed down her cheeks.

.:Chapter 4: Tearful Goodbyes:.

Wai Ming, hearing her sister scream after she was pushed aside by her mother, looked through the carriage's curtains with shock to see her mother pierced through her abdomen by a long sword, while the sword's owner was laughing mercilessly. Bing Sau slowly retracted her sword from Wai Sam's back. But still not satisfied with her victory, she walked around in front of Wai Sam and looked down upon her with disgust as she was hunched over with her knees on the ground with bloodstained hands over her stomach. Bing Sau then began waving the tip of her sword in Wai Sam’s face.

“I’ve finally won! You will lose Chi Tin forever! Without you, Chi Tin will certainly fall in love with me again!” Bak Bing Sau gleefully exclaimed as she continued to wave the tip of her sword back and forward in front of Wai Sam’s pale face.

Wai Sam knew that if she were to die, Chi Tin would not go onto love another. Still, she had no desire to let Bak Bing Sau have the last laugh. As she saw Wai Ying get up from the ground and run towards her, she told her daughter to stay where she was. As Bing Sau continued to gloat over her, she then began to summon all the energy left in her. With her right hand, she swiftly caught Bing Sau’s sword between her index and middle fingers, cleanly snapping the sword’s tip.

Before it could fall to the ground, she reached for the broken end and with all her might she threw it at Bak Bing Sau’s face, cutting her left cheek. Taken off guard by Wai Sam’s quick motions, Bing Sau initially stepped back. But it was too late. Though the sword’s tip only nicked her face, she felt her warm blood flowing down from the fresh wound on her cheek.

Wai Sam knew well that her beauty was the most important thing to Bak Bing Sau. Scarring her face was the ultimate payback. Though Wai Sam was never fond of Bak Bing Sau or her childish ways, she didn’t want to kill someone whose only mistake was to love a man whose heart was already given to another woman. Even if she had wanted to kill Bak Bing Sau, her strength and energy were draining fast out by the second.

At the exact instant Bing Sau was slashed in the face, Chi Tin was just finishing his defeat of the four men that were fight against him. He turn to see his wife on the ground, seriously wounded by Bak Bing Sau, who was standing close by with one hand covering her cheek and the other holding what was left of her sword. He quickly ran to his wife.

“Sam Yee!”

Her strength could not hold out any longer. After briefly standing, she lost her balance and fell right into her husband’s arms.

“Sam Yee, just hang on. You’ll be okay! We still have our whole lives to spend together and we still have to see our daughters get wonderful husbands,” said Chi Tin as tears formed in his eyes, causing them to gloss over. It hurt him deeply to see his wife of ten years dying before him without the power to heal her life-threatening wound.

Wai Ying and Wai Ming rushed towards their parents in tears. Guilt began to form in their hearts and minds as they ran. ‘If I had not left the carriage, Mama would have been able to defeat that woman. But I just had to be there with her, slowing down her reactions!’ thought Wai Ying. ‘If I wasn’t so sick, Mama would have never brought us out here and she wouldn’t have gotten injured!’ thought Wai Ming as she cried uncontrollably.

Despite her facial wound, Bak Bing Sau was still laughing. Wai Ying knew she had no kung fu. But the anger flowing through her veins was like a large blazing fire, causing her to wipe her tears from her cheeks and charge directly into the laughing Bing Sau. Though it was pointless for her to try hitting Bak Bing Sau, it did not matter to her. At this instant she was not concerned about what could happen to her, but for avenging her mother. Without mercy for the little child, Bak Bing Sau kicked Wai Ying, sending her flying off towards a tree. After hitting it, she fell motionless to the ground.

“Ying Yee!” yelled the Yip couple in unison.

By this time, the man who was fighting with Tong Sou Ching and her husband had grown tired of fighting with the couple. Not because he could not beat them, but simply because he didn’t want to fight them in the first place. However, he could not disobey his older brother and kept fighting until he notice between glimpses during the fight that his big brother was instructing his adopted sister to capture the Yip’s oldest daughter as a hostage. He took then took a chance of purposely allowing Lam Shing to injure him in order to have an excuse to end their fight.

The moment was tense as Bak Bing Sau rushed to grab Wai Ying and take her hostage. Finally, the leader spoke what his blackened heart had desired.

“Yip Chi Tin, you listen here! You are to hand over your family White Crane Sword Manual or face the consequences of having one less daughter!” said the leader.

Just as Chi Tin was about to answer, his wife tugged at his shirt weakly as Tong Sou Ching and Lam Shing kneeled by Wai Sam’s feet.

“Chi Tin, you must rescue our daughter...” She paused and reach forward to feel Chi Tin‘s left cheek as she continued. "Promise me that when I die you will stay and see to it that our daughters have good lives.”

“No... You’re not going to leave us… Sou Ching Jie Jie is here... She can save you," cried Chi Tin as he looked towards Tong Sou Ching, hoping that she could do something to help.

Tong Sou Ching shook her head. She too was deeply hurt to see her little si mui (younger martial sister) dying before her. She knew that she had no power to stop her si mui’s life from withering away like a beautiful rose slowly wilting in winter.

“Chi Tin, I’m so sleepy and cold,” said Wai Sam as she cuddled in Chi Tin’s embrace.

“Mama...mama...mama...” said Wai Ming repeatedly as she continued to rest her head on her mother’s chest and cried softly.

“Sam Yee, don’t sleep! We still have enemies before us. We need to fight them off and get out of this...” said Chi Tin determinedly.

“I’m sorry, Chi Tin. Perhaps we shall continue our fate and destiny as husband and wife in the next life. Can you promise me something dear?”

“Sam Yee! I can promise you anything, just as long as you promise me to hang in there!”

“Yip Dai Go, don’t say that. You know I can’t promise that. Please promise me one more thing...when I die, can you please bury me at...” She paused. Not wanting Bak Bing Sau and anyone else to hear, she whispered the rest in his ear.

Wai Sam looked at her husband with tearful eyes and her right hand still on Chi Tin’s left cheek. Even though she was smiling bravely at her husband, her tearful eyes told him that she loved him very much and that to die, leaving him alone to raise their children, would have been the last thing she would have desired.

“Sam mui... please don’t leave us! You’ve always survived through everything,” said Tong Sou Ching (Suet Li/played Li Mo Chou/ Siu Long Nu’s sister in ROCH95).

The man who was wounded by Lam Shing saw how brave Chor Wai Sam was. Even though she was dying, she faced it with a smile though it must have been very painful for her to leave her loved ones so suddenly. Although he did not know her well, he could help but to admire her for her bravery. ‘Bing Sau was wrong about Chor Wai Sam. She seems like a good and honorable woman,’ thought the man.

The leader, seeing how his younger brother was watching the Yip family attentively, got suspicious of his wound caused by Lam Shing’s sword.

“Ying Pui! I knew you were easy on those newcomers! Why do you always have to be gentle like a woman?!”

“Sorry, Big Brother!” said Bak Ying Pui (Eddie Cheung).

Time seemed to stop as Chi Tin and Wai Sam stared at one another, and began once again as Wai Sam closed her eyes and her hand slowly fell down from Chi Tin’s face. Chi Tin suddenly felt a terrible pain in his heart caused by the sudden loss of his wife and also a burning anger and desire to avenge her death.

Bak Bing Sau stood beside her two brothers and simply laughed. She had succeeded in killing her love rival and now she could finally have Yip Chi Tin’s love for herself. However, she was sadly mistaken.

Chi Tin laid his wife’s head gently on the ground and promptly stood up to face his enemies, who were still standing before him, waiting to attack him any moment. He stared at the three people in black -- Bak Bing Sau, the leader and Bak Ying Pui -- with thirst in his eyes for his wife’s revenge and his sword held firmly in his hand. He began to walk slowly towards his enemies with the tip of his sword towards the ground. His enemies remained standing as he approached and all started to laugh and smile mockingly with confidence for they had other plans of subduing him.

Without turning back, he paused for a moment to ask Tong Sou Ching a favor as she lay on one side of her lifeless si mui. Wai Ming continued to cry sadly on the other.

“Sou Ching Jie Jie, I will rescue Wai Ying from this snake’s hands. Please... may I ask you a big favor… to take my daughters back to your home and raise them like your own and to teach them well?!”

“I promise!”
With that, Chi Tin began again to approach his enemies.

“You want the White Crane Sword Manual? Well, here it is!” said Chi Tin as he took the manual out of his inner shirt and waved it in the air.

“Give it to me and perhaps I will let your daughter go,” said the leader as he briefly looked at the now unconscious Wai Ying.

“Sure. Let’s fight somewhere else… and if you beat me fair and square, I shall give you the manual,” said Chi Tin.

“Splendid!” said the leader as he laughed sadistically. Yip Chi Tin’s kung fu and swordplay were excellent. He knew very well that he could not beat him in a swordfight… at least not fairly! So with much confidence, he agreed to fight.

Yip Chi Tin and the leader then walked alone towards an open space near a steep cliff. Tong Sou Ching and Lam Shing immediately pried Wai Ming away from her mother, as she stretched and reached out for her lifeless body. They then carried wai Ming back to the carriage. The Lam couple didn’t want to lose any time and thought that Chi Tin would eventually beat the enemies’ leader and come back for Wai Sam and Wai Ying. They hurried to get Wai Ming out of harm’s way.

Bak Bing Sau cruelly thought to herself that she shouldn’t let anyone from the Yip family survive this ordeal, especially the Yips’ offspring. This meant of course killing them too. She threw Wai Ying into Ying Pui’s arms and somersaulted to Lam Shing as Tong Sou Ching carried Wai Ming to the carriage.

“Sou Ching, I’ll deal with her. You must take Wai Ming to safety,” said Lam Shing as he began to fight with Bing Sau and Tong Sou Ching quickly drove the carriage away back towards The Lost Woods.

Bak Bing Sau fought with Lam Shing for a while as he held the reins to the horses and was about to head back to The Lost Woods. Seeing that this fight was getting her nowhere fast, Bak Bing Sau wanted to end it soon. So she began to gather her internal energy in her left hand and thrust her Poisoned Palm into Lam Shing’s chest, causing him to fall and vomit blood. She left him seriously internally injured and hurried back to see the battle between Yip Chi Tin and her older brother.

As Bak Bing Sau somersaulted towards the fight, she threw a poisonous dart at Chi Tin, who was quickly overpowering her older brother with his quick sword stances. But gradually, his sword movements began to slow down as the poison started to take affect on him.

“You coward! You knew you could not defeat me single handedly and dared to poison me!” yelled Chi Tin as he used his sword to help himself to stand, for he was weakening with each passing second. He then removed the poison dart from his chest with his free hand.

“Naturally, I would never have won a fair fight against you because your family sword manual is indeed so very powerful. I could only defeat you with the help of my beloved Bing Sau Mui,” said the leader as he laughed victoriously.

“If you had not chosen that brat over me, then it would not have come to this, my dear Chi Tin!” Bak Bing Sau announced proudly.

“Even if I had never met Sam Yee, I would never have chosen a snake like you to live my life with,” said Chi Tin as he raised his sword up to fight once more.

“Yip Chi Tin, I advise you to take a rest, for the poison is no ordinary poison. You see... the affects of the poison are stronger in the sunlight, causing it to be more poisonous for you in the light. Even if you didn’t die from the poison, you would live forever in darkness!” the man laughed again.

“Humph! You will pay now for all the pain you’ve caused me, Chi Tin! This poison will weaken you as long as you show your face in the sunlight! How fortunate that the sun is at its highest point right now,” said Bak Bing Sau.

Yip Chi Tin stepped back as the leader stepped forward to corner him. With the edge of the cliff behind him and the hungry wolves before him, Chi Tin charged forward and yanked from his face the black veil that was masking the leader. However, just as he succeeded in unmasking the leader, the leader in turn used his Powerful Palm and hit him with immense force, causing him to fall to his death.

“Ahhh... Wai Sam! I’m coming for you!” cried Chi Tin as he fell down the steep cliff.

The leader turned around to face his sister and laughed loudly at his success.

“Brother Hung Tin, did you get the sword manual?” asked Bing Sau (Irene Wan).

“Of course I did!” as he raised it in the air.

Bak Ying Pui approached his brother and sister at the cliff’s edge with Wai Ying in his arms.

“Little Brother, why don’t you throw the little girl down there to join her father?” asked Bak Hung Tin of Ying Pui.

“No, I want to cure this little girl of her injuries,” he replied with a stern voice and firm eyes, staring at his older brother.

Bak Hung Tin stared angrily at his younger brother. After a moment, he let out a sigh.

“Very well, then. Do as you wish with the little girl. She’ll die too sooner or later anyway,” said Bak Hung Tin. He did not care anymore if Wai Ying lived or died because he succeeded in getting what he wanted.

The arrogant Bak Bing Sau did not even say a word. She just looked at him coldly and left Bak Ying Pui standing near the cliff’s edge with Wai Ying in his arms.

The sun began to set like any other day. But the events that had just taken place on this day would never be erased from the minds of those who had experienced it.


----------------------
Author's Note:
Yay! I finally finished this chapter. Thanks for CrazyT for helping me with the fighting scenes! <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> I hope you guys like this long, long, long chapter. Please give me some feedback.

Translation of the rhyme Wai Ying and Wai Ming was singing...

English Translation:

Hymn to the Goose

Honk, honk, and honk,
With upward neck thou to the sky loudly sing.
Thy white feathers float on the water green,
Thy red webs push the crystal waves with a swing.

This poem was done by a very young (3-5) year old Lok Ban Wong, a famous Tang poet during Empress Mou's (Wu Ze Tian) era.

[ December 25, 2002: Message edited by: WhiteKrane ]

[Suet Seung]

Anyone still reading my fanfic? <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/frown.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/help.gif" border="0">

[charbydis]

yes I am. SO who's going to be Noel? <IMG SRC="smilies/confused.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Charbydis: What do you mean, whose going to be Noel? Noel is Wai Ming. In my story Noel will pair up with Louis. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Southern Crane]

Hi charbydis! <IMG SRC="smilies/wave.gif" border="0">

I'll answer your question very quickly in this thread. That way the other one will disappear even sooner (... $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif') ).

Yeah... that smilie is from ezboard. But I use a lot of different ones from several other boards too, including SPCNET. So, I just reuse the ones I like or that fit best with what I'm trying to express. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">


Krane ("White Rain"), I've been reading and I like very much what I've read thus far. It's a very good story. $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/happy.gif')

I do have a couple of questions though before I start posting any comments and suggestions. . . .

Are you working on a final draft of your fanfic to post on your own website for others to read? If so, what's the link? It'll just give me an idea on how far to go with any recommendations. For example, whether or not to go so far as recommending changes in spelling and grammer. $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif') ...lol! j/k $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ziyifilms.com/zboard/images/smilies/biggrin.gif')

Keep up the cool work, Krane. $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/pimp.gif')

[Suet Seung]

Southern Crane: hehee...I know my grammar and stuff aren't the greatest...yeah...theres some spelling mistakes...very minor I believe...I've went thru it...and I've also posted it in Winglin fanfic. www.winglin.net/fanfic/alos/

I'm not good at editing or grammar stuff, so I was hoping when I'm done writing this fanfic, it would be edited by SC himself or someone who is great at proofreading. And later be archived in the fanfic section of his site not the forum...heheh...

I'm glad you like the story so far, any expectations or whatever you'd like to happen in the future chapters? <IMG SRC="smilies/azzangel.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/idea.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/shifty.gif" border="0">

[Gotrice4free]

does chi tin survive after falling from the cliff, and the poison?

anyways, love it. the only part i find hillarious is the White Crane Sword manual. A little bit ironic that your name is whitekrane, ah. kind of sad, but not teary as you said it would be. it would be better if chi tin died with his wife, unless you let him live. he should be crawling to her, and with every stride he makes, blood gushes out of his mouth, and etc. lol. good job. looking forward to reading some more. don't make us wait too long. and it was a shameless advertisement that got me here. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

GotRice4Free: hahahha! I love these smilies <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/rofl.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/shifty.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/shifty.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/shifty.gif" border="0">

I have my reasons for having Chi Tin died the way he did, you'll see in the future chapters why or why not. I would have made it more dramatic the way you said, however,Chi Tin isn't the kind of man who crawls, I would have had him being flying thru the air and land close to his wife and reach out towards her and die...or something like that. About the White Crane Sword Manual, I meant to do name it like that, since people in the round Robin fanfic Legend of Kilin have already used my name in there as White Crane Mountain, heheh I might as well, use my nickname, to the most of its usefulness.

Well, I do hope you continue reading and giving me feedback. Any expectations for the future chapters?

[Gotrice4free]

well, I really don't have any expectations. I prefer to be surprised by whatever you have for us all. I just don't want the older sister to be evil, because she did attempt to save her mother, thus showing a good heart, unless she is torn from evilness and goodness. It's kind of like human nature vs. human nurture, and human nurture always win for some odd reason. Reminds me of Wuthering heights, an old high school book I read that dealt with nature vs. nurture.

And is this gonna be another woman bias story? Where is the lead male character? Now I'm contradicting my own bias, but I always prefer to have a male leading character. <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

That's it whitekrane. Enough of my analysis. No criticism because it is so far well written, except for the lack of an emotional meltdown during the death of both parents, but of course there's probably a reason for that. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Well, i tried my best with the sadness. The main hero? Of Course it has a main hero, I just wanted to start with the story thru a main heroine source...(did that make sense at all) anyways, the main hero should show up in the next chapter, although at the next chapter he isn't grown up yet...I'll have the characters grown up by I think the end of the next chapter...I hope...heheh...

[charbydis]

Hey, is Yeung Siu in this or is he dead? <IMG SRC="smilies/azzangel.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Charbydis: Which do you prefer? I'm not sure I'll be focusing on the Ming Sect either. The only reason that I have some characters from MoDang? or MoDan is because Louis will be part of the sect. Oops! Said too much ehehheh... <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0">

[Southern Crane]

Krane, thanks to GiGi, I just took a look at Tu Vi's Destiny. Now, I see where a lot of these great ideas on presentation come from. So, just take many of my suggestion with a grain of salt. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/azzangel.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Brother Crane: I'm touched that there is someone out there who cares enough to go through and read carefully to notice my mistakes and flaws. I really appreciate your sharp eyes. <IMG SRC="smilies/shocked.gif" border="0">

I know I'm no where near good at writing, but I do try my best to write it well. <IMG SRC="smilies/coffee.gif" border="0"> If there is any other minor mistakes or big mistakes, please email me at [email protected] and tell me. I was wondering, if you would like to read the chapters before I post them first to make the corrections for me? If so please tell me.

Other than that,if you like my current poster, I'm sure you will like my new poster, that I've recently had made for me.
I can't do anything about adding the names into the poster because I think it won't be able to fit in the poster. <IMG SRC="smilies/drool.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/tongue.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/wink.gif" border="0">

[Southern Crane]

Don't be so concerned about all the small stuff. It's the story itself that really matters. Small rinckles can always be ironed out later. So just continue to focus your energy and efforts on just that. What you have is great! <IMG SRC="smilies/drool.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">

Oh... yeah, I figured all their names wouldn't fit. probably wouldn't look good anyway. And I look forward to seeing the new one. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">

I gotta run, so that I can catch up with my reading. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0"> ...lol!

[Southern Crane]

Just curious, Krane... I've just been reading (good story, btw!:thumbsup <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0"> and was wondering why Wai Sam's surname's different from her husband? <IMG SRC="smilies/help.gif" border="0"> <IMG SRC="smilies/azzangel.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Well, of course her surname should be different from her husband isn't like that in olden days?

[Southern Crane]

Is that right?! <IMG SRC="smilies/confused.gif" border="0">

Guess I just learned something new today. <IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">

[Suet Seung]

Southern Crane: Like in ROCH, people don't call Wong Yung--Leader Kwok of the Beggar Clan, they call her Leader Wong.

The Wife is always called by her maiden surname, and never take on the husband's surname in those olden days.

[Chiu Man]

White Krane: I just started reading your fan fic. It is very good. Kept my attention. Good story and I like how you start the story. When are you gonna port your next chapter?