Valley of Death

[Mystery]

This is a collaboration of Mystery and TV Fans. A work in progress thus subjected to revise and change as we go along. Please leave your comments/critique to help us in our writing.

[Mystery]

A BEGINNING OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP

It was a beautiful morning where the sun shined gently upon all living things. In the forest near the Nie Gia Trang (Nie Mansion), three children – two boys and one girl, played and sang under the watchful eyes of three men in their mid-30s. By the way the children dressed, an observer could tell they belonged to a wealthy family as three of them dressed in the most expensive silk. Most noticeably was the little girl who dressed in red with shining ebony hair weaved into two long pig tails down her shoulder. The little girl sang and performed the tale of a princess who found herself indecisive when it came to selecting one of the suitors to be her future husband. Her voice was sweet and clear along with the beautiful melody mesmerized the boys who sat quietly and listened to her.

Suddenly, a piercing cry broke the serenity of the forest and alerted the servants. The men with swords in hands, instantly surrounded the children and ready to defend the young masters and mistress at any cost. The little girl pushed the guards aside and listened more closely, then ran toward the sound. The group remained still for a second then ran after her. They found a young girl, dressed in gray near the riverbank, lying motionless on the ground and a small snake slithered away. The girl in red ran toward the girl on the ground but was stopped the by men.

“Tieu Tho (Miss), please let one of us check, this may be a trap!” The oldest man in the group addressed the little girl.

She looked up at them and nodded her head, “Thank you Tam Thuc (Uncle Three). But please hurry!”

He approached the young girl on the ground and picked up her right hand which shown the teeth mark that turned the skin around that area into a greenish color. He quickly tapped on a point near her shoulder in the middle of her hand to stop the blood from flowing to that infected area and popped two small round pills into her mouth. After a while, the girl started to open her eyes and sat up.

Noticed the onlookers and quickly realized the man sat next to her must be her An Cong (Benefactor), she kneeled down to acknowledged him: “An Cong, thank you so much for saving my life! Please accept my bow as a gratitude!”

The man stopped her, “Tieu Co Nuong (Little Lady), I only saved you at the request of my Tieu Tho (Young Mistress) so don’t worry yourself!”

The little girl moved toward the other children, “Thank you Tieu Tho (Miss) for saving my life. My name is Jun-er.”

The girl in red smiled mischievously and took Jun-er’s hands, “Don’t worry about that! My parents always taught me that saving a person’s life is more worthy than building seven temples! My name is Nie Ling. These two boys are my friend, Shao Long and Shao Jun. Those men are my father’s guards sending to protect my friends and I. They shared my last name. The oldest one is Nie Dai Thuc (Uncle Nie Dai), Nie Nhi Thuc (Uncle Nie Nhi), and Nie Tam Thuc (Uncle Nie Tam).”

Even though Jun-er was just a young girl of seven, she knew that Nie Gia (Nie family) is one of the most influential families in town. Yet this young girl, Nie Ling, was too friendly and did not seem to mind that her clothes and hands were too rough. Her trance of thoughts was broken by the impatient urgings of the boys.

Shao Long urged, “C’mon, Ling Ling. Let’s play. Jun-er, why don’t you join us?”

Jun-er smiled sadly and replied, “Thank you for your invitation but I need to catch some more fishes in time for sale at the market today. I need the money to buy rice for dinner tonight. If not, the nuns will punish me!”

“But how come? Aren’t nuns suppose to be nice and everything?” Shao Jun interrupted Jun-er, “Hmm, no wonder Siu Han Thuc Thuc (Uncle Siu Han) said that all the nuns are horrible!”

At that, Nie Nhi and Nie Tam both laughed, even the stern Nie Dai smirked for all knew that Nie Siu Han harbored a contempt for those who supposedly worshipped Buddha yet more greedy and grasping than anyone else.

Nie Ling knocked on Shao Jun’s head and stuck out her tongue, “Siu Jun, Siu Long, you two are always playing and now making everyone laughed at my beloved uncle. Anyway, Jun-er, don’t worry about the money. Come play with us, then I’ll have Dai Thuc bring you home with lots of rice, ‘kay!”

Jun-er shook hear head, “No thanks! I am not a beggar. I will not accept free food!”

Nie Ling and the Shao brothers looked at each other, “Jun-er. I’m so sorry. I did not mean to offend you. Why don’t we help you catch those fishes then sell them at the market?”

Jun-er pondered then shook her head again, “Sorry, but you belong to Nie Gia, you cannot be seen selling fishes at the market like me. You save my life. If I cannot even comply with a simple request, then I will be known as the most ungrateful person ever.”

As the children began to play, the wind started to pick up its pace which pushed the beautiful clouds toward the forest and the sky changed its light blue dress into dark blue. The Nie guards decided to escort the children back to Nie Gia Trang (Nie Mansion) and away from the rain.

Inside the warm mansion, Nie Ling took Jun-er to her room for a change of clothes. For the first time, Jun-er allowed to put on a silk dress. Never in her life had she touched anything so soft and fine. The nuns all dressed in gray and earth tone as opposed to the vibrant colors in Nie Ling’s closet. Nie Ling chose a purple dress for Jun-er.

“If you don’t mind, put on this dress. The color will look so nice on you!” Nie Ling pointed out. “Then let me dressed your hair. My mom taught me. Oh, don’t call me Nie Tieu Tho like all the Thuc Thuc (uncles). Just call me Ling Ling like Siu Long and Siu Jun.”

The girl talked a mile a minute while weaved Jun-er’s hair into two pig tails just like her. Even though Jun-er was one year older than Ling Ling, she was much scrawnier due to lack of food and her skin a shade darker due to being out too much in the sun. All can see already the bond between the two girls.

As the girls chatting away inside the bedroom, the boys waited impatiently in the living room of the mansion. Siu Jun ran around and hopped up and down on the stairs that lead to the stoned throne. Siu Long walked around and looked at the writings on the wall around the room. Outside the rain poured harder and harder and thunders flashed and clasped loudly…a superstitious person would said that it was a sign of danger waiting to happen!

[tv fans]

Here are the name list.

Rebecca Chan as Ying Gu
Shek Sau as Tian De
Damien Lau as Nie Hu
Michelle Yim as Huan Jing
Adam Cheng as Shao Te
Cecelia Yip as Lin Mei
Gigi Lai as Jun ling
Kenix Kwok as Nie Ling
Joe Ma as Shao Long
Chilam Cheung as Shao Jun
Anthea Chu as Wen Juan
Zhong Shi as Frankie Lam

Have fun reading!