Thanks everyone!
It was summer now, although the valley was in the shadow of the Kunlun Mountains, it was still very warm. And the sun would make one quite sleepy. It was noon now, the only time when the sun shone in the Valley of Evil. The inhabitants of the valley were not too keen on the sun, so they usually stayed inside when the sun shone.
Only a cat was lying in the sun and some flies were flying about, those were the only active ones in the entire valley. At this point someone from outside the valley was running towards the valley. There was no one near chasing that man at all, in fact there seemd there was not a living soul in a radius of 50 kilometres. But he was still running, like he had seen a ghost. He was panting heavily but did not dare to slow down.
His lightness martial arts were not bad, but his stamina was running out. It could be because of the running but it could also be that he has not eaten for days now. He does not look too ugly, but he has a very sharp nose. One look at him and one would dislike him immediately.
He was wearing rather expensive clothes, woven by the best tailor. But now it looked like rags and it was smelly and dirty now. The sun was shining in his face and sweat was dripping from his face, but he did not care.
When he saw the characters [Valley of Evil], he took a deep breath and felt relieved. But he did not slow down and even tried to increase his speed. When he entered the valley he was walking down the street, the sun brightened the houses but all the doors and windows were shut. He could not see anyone or hear a thing.
He was somewhat surprised and was feeling anxious now, he wanted to call out but was afraid to do that.
Suddenly he heard a voice from his left:"Hey!"
It was not very loud, but it was enough to scare him silly. He saw someone sitting on a bamboo chair under the eaves of that house. It was boy about 13, 14 years old and was narrowing his eyes to take a look at him. The young boy was topless and there were uncountable scars on his body. There was a scar from the corner of his eye to the corner of his mouth, his black hair was casually tied and he was stretching his arms and legs. He looked very carefree and it seemed he would not care even if the sky fell down.
He looked tired like an old man, but his eyes twinkled like a naughty boy with one gaze he looked like a small child. Somehow this lazy, naughty looking boy with uncountable scars had a very strong charisma.
Especially his face, even with the scar. He did not look ugly, the scar added something special, something charismatic to him.
The first impression when one sees this naughty and lazy boy was that he is very handsome. Extremely handsome even.
The man was stunned after looking once at him, he was thinking what would girls do if they saw that handsome young boy.
The young boy seemed to want to wave at him, but seemingly he was too lazy to raise his hand, he smiled:"Why are you lurking about? Come over here."
The man walked over and coughed lightly before smiling apologetically:"My respects, young brother."
The young boy laughed:"Do you know me?"
The man said:"No.... no I don't."
The young boy said:"Since you don't know me, why would you pay respects to me?"
The man was stunned and did not know what to say, he stammered:"I....this..." Normally he felt that he was quite eloquent but now he did not know what to say.
The young boy laughed loudly:"Hahaha! I am Xiao Yu'er and who are you?"
The man said:"I am Ba Shudong, the tiger killing constellation."
Xiao Yu'er giggled:"Tiger killing constellation? Nice name! How many tigers have you killed?"
Ba Shudong was again stunned and stuttered:"Ehh, I...."
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"I have killed many tigers, even I am not called the tiger killing constellation. You haven't killed any tiger at all and you're called the tiger killing constellation. How unfair!"
Ba Shudong was standing were flabbergasted, if this was not the Valley of Evil he would chop off the head of this boy.
Xiao Yu'er said:"Judging by your expression, you must be running away from some enemies with some mediocre martial arts. Tell me who those people are."
Ba Shudong remained silent for a moment before saying:"I have made many enemies, amongst them the Two Swords of Jiangnan, the Ding brothers, the Ill Tiger, Chang Feng, the dragon of Jiangbei, Tian Ba....."
"I thought you had some impressive enemies, these people..... I have heard of them but they're not formidable or anything."
Ba Shudong said coldly:"My young friend, you sound quite arrogant."
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"My old friend, you're too cowardly."
Ba Shudong gritted his teeth and said:"Perhaps these people aren't too great, but one of them is very famous and very much feared."
Xiao Yu'er asked:"Who? Some ghost perhaps?"
Ba Shudong ignored that remark and said softly:"This person is very very famous now."
Xiao Yu'er asked:"What is his name?"
Ba Shudong replied:"She is called Zhang Qing, the little fairy."
Xiao Yu'er said:"Little fairy? Sounding by her name she should be a pretty young woman, everyone would like pretty girls like her. Why should they fear her?"
Ba Shudong said hatefully:"This little wretch looks pretty, but she is very vicious and ruthless. Perhaps even surpassing Du Sha."
Xiao Yu'er said:"That such a girl exits?"
Ba Shudong was gritting his teeth and continued:"My five brothers were all killed by her in one night, the six constellations of the tiger forest, only I have survived."
Xiao Yu'er said:"I would like to meet her, if I have the chance."
Ba Shudong said:"You will regret the moment when you see her."
Xiao Yu'er said:"Tell me how you offended her."
Ba Shudong said angrilly:"You have a lot of questions."
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"It is a rule."
Ba Shudong was surprised and remained silent for a moment, at last he laughed:"Allright! My brothers raped the sister and widow of the deceased chief of the the united armed guards agency of Zhenyuan, Weiyuan and Lingyuan, Shen Qinghong."
Xiao Yu'er gazed at Ba Shudong for a moment and said:"That is an evil deed! What you did is hardly worth mentioning, similar to what ordinary crooks would do! Nothing special."
Ba Shudong angrilly said:"It is nothing special! Although Shen Qinhong lost the treasure he was supposed to protect and has vanished without a trace for many years. But his wife and sister are still very much respected by Wulin, therefore...."
Xiao Yu'er shook his head and laughed:"No matter how you put it, with that deed you're not fit to enter this valley yet. Unless...."
Ba Shudong asked:"What is going on here?"
Xiao Yu'er answered:"It is a rule."
Ba Shudong did not dare to break the rules of the Valley of Evil, especially now he was in it. He laughed and asked:"Unless what?"
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"Unless you present two nice treasures to me."
Ba Shudong said:"I rushed over here and have no presents on me."
Xiao Yu'er said:"Since you have no presents, show me a few of your special skills."
Ba Shudong's face changed and was stunned, after awhile he said:"Very well!"
He pulled out a flexible sabre from his girdle, he shook the sabre and started to display three of his best techniques. Flashes of light could be seen, those three stances were quite good. It was called the three tiger killing special stances. The three techniques were swift, lethal and precise.
Xiao Yu'er shook his head and laughed:"This is what you call your best skills? Exactly like the crime you commited, laughable and low. I think you're not qualified to stay here, you must think of another way if you want to stay."
Ba Shudong asked:"What...what kind of way?"
Xiao Yu'er's eyes twinkled and laughed:"Kneel down and kowtow three times to me. And call me [grandfather] three times and give me your sabre."
Ba Shudong said:"Is this another rule?"
Xiao Yu'er replied:"Yes, it is."
Ba Shudong shouted:"I.... I never heard of such a rule of the Valley of Evil!"
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"Who told you it was a rule of the valley?"
Ba Shudong was flabbergasted and said:"But... but..."
Xiao Yu'er giggled:"It is my rule."
Ba Shudong was so angry he was shaking, he roared:"I will give it to you!"
He hacked at Xiao Yu'er with his sabre.
The lazy looking Xiao Yu'er was not lazy anymore, he smoothly glided away. Ba Shudong's hack missed Xiao Yu'er and hacked the bamboo chair in two halves.
Ba Shudong was surprised and heard someone saying:"I am here, can't you see me?"
Ba Shudong turned around to slice the speaker but missed again, laughter was coming from the roof. Xiao Yu'er giggled:"Don't be hasty, I am right over here."
Ba Shudong was furious and wanted to leap up too.
Suddenly someone called:"Is that second brother Ba?"
A man was running towards Ba Shudong, he was about the same age as Ba Shudong. Somewhere in between 40 and 50 years old, but his movements were much swifter than Ba Shudong.
The man was tall and skinny, he looked very mean and his right arm sleeve was swaying along with him. He had only one arm.
Ba Shudong looked carefully and said happily:"Is that the silent lightning blade third brother Song? You.... you are really here, I had been looking for you. I came to seek refuge here."
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"So you two blades know each other."
Ba Shudong looked up and was furious again, he said:"Brother Song, this little brat......"
Before he could finish, Song San pulled him away and said with a smile:"Since you're here, I will take you to meet...."
Xiao Yu'er giggled:"Wait, wait! Before you lead him away, he has to pay for the broken chair."
Ba Shudong angrilly said:"You...."
Song San quickly interrupted him and smiled:"Of course, of course he will pay for the chair. But how much will it cost?"
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"Since he is your friend, just tell him to leave his sabre behind."
Ba Shudong shouted:"That broken chair.... you want my ...."
Before he could finish Song San took his sabre and presented it to Xiao Yu'er. Ba Shudong wanted to speak but was again stopped by Song San.
He quickly pulled him away and both of them quickly ran off.
After putting some distance between them and Xiao Yu'er, Song San sighed:"Why did you antagonize that little mischief immediately after you entered the valley?"
Ba Shudong was surprised and shocked:"Brother, why are you that afraid of him?"
Song San smiled wryly:"Don't underestimate him. Who isn't afraid of him in the entire valley? In these recent years, this little mischief has everyone in the valley fretting and worrying. Whoever annoys him will suffer badly within three days."
Ba Shudong was so surprised and did not know what he heard, he said:"That little brat is really that formidable?"
Song San sighed:"Listen to me, being humiliated by this little brat is not a disgrace. Think about it, there are no good men here in this valley. With his young age he was able to run amok freely in the valley, have you considered how lethal he is?"
Ba Shudong stuttered:"I...I can't believe it. I really cann...cannot believe it."
Now he noticed that Song San only had one arm and asked with shock:"Brother, your...your arm... was it...."
Song San sighed:"It is not his doing, but he has something to do with it."
He looked at his own armless sleeve and sighed:"I lost my arm the day he entered the valley. 14 years, it has been 14 years. The awesome martial arts of Yan Nantian, if I did not make a prompt decision I wouldn't have lived till today."
Ba Shudong exclaimed with surprise:"Yan Nantian? That little brat is Yan Nantian....aarrrgggh."
Before he could finish he shouted loudly with pain and fell down. There was a hole in his back, blood was gushing out of the hole.
Song San was terrified and turned around, he saw a ghostly apparition in a grey robe. It was floating about and was looking at him with his deep eyes.
Song San turned pale and stuttered with a trembling voice:"Mr.... Mr. Yin..... Mr.. Yin, you...."
Yin Jiuyou laughed sinisterly:"Nobody in this valley is allowed to speak of the relationship of Xiao Yu'er and that Yan fellow! Have you forgotten?"
Song San said:"I....I didn't have the chance to tell him that."
Yin Jiuyou smiled evily:"Before you could tell him, I already killed him. Are you unhappy about that?"
Song San backed away and stammered:"I....I...."
Suddenly he flew up about eight metres into the air and landed on the ground without a trace of injury, but he did not move anymore.
An old smiling woman was standing where Song San was before, she was holding a cane and could not stand up straight.
She laughed:"Old Yin Jiuyou, were you benevolent to him? The moment he spoke you should have killed him, why did you not kill him instantly?"
Yin Jiuyou said:"I wanted to leave him to you."
The old woman said:"Leave him to me? I haven't killed for a long time, were you afraid that my hands would itch?"
Yin Jiuyou said coldly:"I just wanted to see whether your delicate hands have improved or not?"
The old woman laughed loudly:"Well, did they improve? Do you want to see how delicate they are?" Her voice changed from old to clear, young and melodious. It was the voice of Du Qiaoqiao.
Yin Jiuyou said sinsterly:"If you want to accompany this ghost, I suggest you would wear better clothes."
Du Qiaoqiao laughed:"I am too old now, how can I keep pretending to be a young girl?"
Yin Jiuyou laughed strangely:"No matter what you say, the next time I see a young pretty girl I will think it is you. If you want to enchant this ghost you still lack the skills."
Du Qiaoqiao said with a smile:"Allright, I know you're clever..... Say, did that little devil hear the conversation of those?"
Yin Jiuyou said:"If you don't know, how should I know?"
Suddenly they heard the singing laughter of Xiao Yu'er coming from afar:"A bottle vinegar, a broken nose. Marry a woman and have baby. But the baby has no nose....."
Du Qiaoqiao laughed:"Old Xi is in trouble again, the little brat is at his place."
Yin Jiuyou said:"If he is at old Xi's, he could not have heard the words of these two."
All of a sudden a man laughed loudly:"What are the two of you talking about? Hmmm, one man and one woman. One ghost and one human-----That makes four of you, isn't that strange?"
Du Qiaoqiao did not turn around and laughed:"Li Dazui, there are two corpses here. Stuff those in your mouth please."
Li Dazui laughed:"I don't have the appetite to eat those who have died at your hands."
Yin Jiuyou asked:"Are you going to see brother Du Sha?"
Li Dazui said:"Yes, I am. Ha Ha'er called us all over, I wonder what he wants."
So the three of them set off to the house of Du Sha, but they kept at least four metres apart from each other. It seems that they were unwilling to stand to close to their companions.
Du Sha as usual was sitting in his corner not moving.
When everyone was assembled, Ha Ha'er laughed:"Hahaha, it has been a long time since all of us have gathered."
Yin Jiuyou coldly said:"I hate gatherings, what is it that you want? If you don't have anything to say, I will....."
Ha Ha'er quickly raised his hands and said:"Don't threaten me, don't forget I am coward."
Du Qiaoqiao asked:"Did you call us over to discuss Xiao Yu'er?"
Ha Ha'er laughed:"Little Du is always the smartest one."
Yin Jiuyou said:"About that little mischief? What is there to discuss? All of us taught him something, to kill, to laugh, to cry.... Well, now he has learnt everything."
Ha Ha'er said:"Because he has learnt everything, I called for this meeting."
Li Dazui asked:"Why?"
Ha Ha'er sighed:"I can't take it anymore."
Du Qiaoqiao laughed:"The always laughing Ha Ha'er is actually sighing, I think he really can't stand it anymore."
Ha Ha'er said:"This little overlord goes anywhere he wants, he eats and drinks anything he desires. Nobody dares to antagonize him, everyone fears him in the Valley of Evil. For the past few months, 30 people have come by to cry their grievances to me."
Intestines gutting sword Sima Yan sighed:"This little mischief is becoming more formidable every day. Every time he talks to me, I have to think about my answer three times in my head before actually replying."
Li Dazui smiled wryly:"Well, at least your situation is better. Every time I see him, I am terrified. If there was one day he doesn't visit me, I... I can finally sleep tightly. Otherwise I will be vigiliant of him even in my sleep."
Ha Ha'er said:"We harm people for a purpose, but he does it for fun."
Du Qiaoqiao said:"Isn't that what we hoped for?"
Ha Ha'er said:"Yes, we wanted him to harm others, but who would have guessed that this little brat is plotting everyone he sees. Friend and foe are his victims, the only one who is better off here would be little Du."
Du Qiaoqiao said:"Better off? Hardly! He has learnt all those specialties of mine, in fact he even surpasses me."
Ha Ha'er asked:"How about you, brother Du?"
Du Sha said:"Hmm."
Du Qiaoqiao smiled:"And what does [hmm] mean?"
Du Sha remained quiet for a moment before saying:"If you lock me and him in one room, the one coming out alive would be him without a doubt."
Du Qiaoqiao sighed:"Well, it seems everyone cannot cope with him anymore. And that is the people in the valley, imagine how the outside world would deal with him? I think it is time to ask him to depart the valley....."
Li Dazui immediately added:"Yes, exactly! We have suffered enough, it is time for others to suffer. Luckily all of us combined can stop him, think of the day when even our combined efforts are useles. That is an awful thought."
Yin Jiuyou said:"If he is to leave, the sooner the better."
Du Sha said:"Today."
Ha Ha'er said:"Hahaha! Friends of the realm... heretic friends, orthodox friends, friends of the water and friends of the mountains, now it is your turn to suffer."
Li Dazui added:"If that little brat is gone, I will not eat human meat for a month."
At dusk, the Valley of Evil became alive again.
Xiao Yu'er was frolicking about, until he ended up at Wan Chunliu's place.
Wan Chunliu was cooking seven types of different herbs and was observing the changes of the cooked juices, when he saw Xiao Yu'er he asked:"What gifts did you receive today?"
Xiao Yu'er laughed:"I managed to obtain a nice sabre."
Wan Chunliu asked:"Where is it now?"
Xiao Yu'er answered:"I gave it to old Xi."
Wan Chunliu used a pair of chopsticks to stir the herbal contraction, the smoke from the oven made the face of Wan Chunliu look very mysterious. He was silent for awhile and asked:"Where is that little box of yours?"
Xiao Yu'er said:"I threw it away a long time ago and I gave away those objects in it."
Wan Chunliu said:"Why did you give those items away? You went through a lot of effort to obtain them."
Xiao Yu'er said:"Well, they were quite usefull, but if I have to keep them I will have to fret as to where to keep them. I also have to worry about about losing them or being stolen, most troublesome."
Wan Chunliu said:"Good!"
Xiao Yu'er said:"If I give them away, I will also pass those troublesome thoughts to them too. I heard that there are some idiots who love to collect money and treasures, but they are too thrifty to spend. They must be mad."
Wan Chunliu said:"If those idiots they didn't exist, we wouldn't look extraordinary compared to them."
He stood up and said:"Take this pot of medicine and follow me."
A wonderul herbal fragrance covered the entire room, behind the big house there were three seperate small houses connected to this house. There were no windows or other doors, these were the sickrooms.
Nobody disturbed Wan Chunliu when he was busy in the sickrooms. There was a possibility that they were lying in one of those sickrooms one day, so they gave Wan Chunliu the space when he was there.
There was no light in the sickroom, just like Wan Chunliu's face it was filled with mystery. In the corner on a small bed was a figure sitting there, motionless. It seemed he was created for the purpose of just sitting there, it was the living medicine cabinet.
When Wan Chunliu entered the sickrooms he had closed the door, it was as the sickrooms was in a different world. Unrelated to the Valley of Evil.
The expression of Xiao Yu'er also changed, he pulled Wan Chunliu's hand and softly asked:"Is there any change in uncle Yan's illness?"
To be continued