Wuxia Chronicles

[Long]

I was getting bored so thought I'd create another new thread called "Wuxia Chronicles". This is where I'll post all of my short stories. So it shold be filled with a lot of complete and entertaining little stories around 30 to 50 pages long (New Times Roman 12pt font).

The first story is sort of related to my other story the, "Black Dragon Swordsman".

Hope you enjoy the first update. It is 1/3 of the story.

[Long]

The Assassin and the Thief
Written by Long Dang

“After you”.

“After you”.

Two old bearded can be heard remarking to each other with an arm out stretched. The two old men were currently sitting within a small pavilion at the highest peak on mount Gwaishan located in the Sichuan province on the outskirts of Chengdu. It was early in the evening as the moon shone brightly from above. The two large lanterns to the side of the pavilion provided much needed light inside the small pavilion. Both men raised their tiny little wine cups to toast each other before downing it in one gulp. The old man on the left appeared to be around 30 years of age. He was quite a mysterious fellow who wore a torn and weathered black robe with red trimmings. A short moustache and a long beard covered his rounded face. A plain black mask was worn to cover the upper portion of his face. It was obvious that this man had wanted to keep his identity a secret. He appeared to carry no weapon in hand. Though he was rolling two medium sized meditation balls in his left hand to relax. They were both black.

The other man sitting at the table was a handsome fellow in his mid 30s. A long red robe with green trimmings covered his medium built body. A very long beard and short moustache covered his thin face. A large blue dragon was embroidered at the front and back of his robes. His hair was combed and tied neatly at the back by a rounded white marble cap. It was obvious that this man belonged to the Royal Court of the Ming Dynasty by his dress and appearance. A small white paper fan rested before this man.

“Congratulations, Minister Chu on your recent promotion as Treasurer”, remarked the old man in black robes.

Raising a hand in the air, the man in red robes replied, “There’s no need. I would not be promoted without your help. I owe you greatly”.

Stroking his long beard, he continued, “How do you wish to be rewarded?”.

“50,000 taels of gold as previously agreed! Not one cent more and not one cent less! There’s nothing more I desire! Understand?”, replied the old man in black robes with a very stern look on his face.

Clapping his hands together, the man in red robes remarked, “Of course. 50,000 taels of gold was the price we agreed upon for the head of the previous Treasurer, Minister Tong. I will keep my end of the bargain as promised”.

Two swordsmen identically dressed in dark blue robes with white trimmings walked up towards the small pavilion. They placed 5 large wooden chests on the ground before disappearing from view moments later. Walking over to open one of the large chests, to count the number of gold ingots contained inside, the old man in black robes remarked whilst stroking his beard, “There are 50,000 taels of gold inside each wooden chest. Why have you placed 5 chests of gold in front of me?”.

Walking back towards the table before sitting himself down, he continued in a curious tone, “What are the other 200,000 taels of gold for? Do you wish to purchase another head? But why at such a high price?”.

Laughing slightly, Minister Chu replied with his right hand stretched forward, “If I don’t offer you 200,000 taels of gold. I’m afraid that you won’t agree to the deal”.

“Do you mean that you actually wish to purchase his head?”, questioned the old man in black robes. His face suddenly turned a little pale. It was obvious that he was quite shocked at Minister Chu’s sudden request. Clearing his throat he managed to mumble, “But… But… why?”.

Nodding his head to indicate that old bearded man in black had guessed correctly, Minister Chu continued whilst giving a slight sigh, “Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful that your man managed to accomplish his mission. But he is too well known and famed throughout wulin for his many accomplishments. I wished this assassination to be kept as a secret. But your man left his traditional calling card at the scene of the murder. He is now a wanted man by the Ming Government. They will stop at nothing to capture him. A large bounty of 50,000 taels of gold has been placed on his head. Such a large bounty is certain to attract the attention of the various bounty hunters throughout wulin. I’m afraid…”.

“You’re afraid that he’ll be captured and reveal your secret one day?”, interrupted the old man in black robes.

Shaking his head he continued in a very serious tone, “But you shouldn’t be worried. You should place your trust in him as you’ve placed your trust in me. He is a man of great honour and will never betray you. He will take the secret with him to his grave. I can assure you of that”.

“Besides, he’s one of my best fighters. No bounty hunter can defeat him. Nor does the Ming Government possess the elite fighters capable of capturing him”, added the old man in black robes after a little while.

“A living and breathing man bearing dark secrets cannot be trusted to keep their words. Whether out of guilt or for love or for money or for other reasons they’ll betray you one day. Only dead men can be trusted to keep dark secrets”, replied Minister Chu with a sly look on his face. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to back down. He added after a short pause, “Besides, there’s a saying in wulin that ‘there’s also a taller and wider mountain’. Your man may possess exceptional skills today. But that alone does not mean that he’ll remain undefeated or invincible throughout his lifetime”.

Giving a sigh, the old man in black robes said, “That’s true. In a few years time my fifth senior apprentice will surpass his abilities. But I’m his master never the less. I would lose all credibility in wulin and within my own clan if I were to betray him. I will not take part in this. Nor will any of my men for that matter. Leave them all out of this. If you want to purchase his head then you must do so by your own skills and abilities alone”.

“What do you mean?”, asked Minister Chu with a very shocked expression on his face. He could have never guessed that a known assassin would refuse to accept a deal to murder someone.

Placing a chessboard on the table before setting up the various pieces, the old man in black continued whilst stretching his hand out towards the chessboard, “You may have his head if you’re able to take it”.

“With pleasure. After you”, replied Minister Chu as he returned the gesture. It was a sign to indicate that he was ready and up to the challenge presented by the old bearded man in black robes.

“No after you. Today you’re a guest of mine. You may therefore have the first move”, added old man in black robes whilst stroking his beard.

Minister Chu looked at the chessboard before pondering hard over his initial move. The chess pieces in front of him had green words carved into the surface. Advancing the pawn in the middle of the chessboard, he asked, “How will you counter this move?”.

***************************************

Meanwhile somewhere in the Henan province in the city of Luoyang a handsome young man in his early 20s can be seen walking casually down the crowded streets. He is waving a white paper fan in his hand left and right as he walks. His silky black hair is neatly combed and tied at the back by a red scarf. A golden belt is worn around his waist. At the centre is an insignia of a black snake. He does not appear to be a warrior however and has a scholarly feeling about him.

As he makes his way down the street, a noodle street vendor could be heard shouting at the top of his lungs, “Hot noodles for just two taels. Hot noodles for just two taels”.

An old beggar runs from the opposite side of the street before kneeling in front of the man in white robes. He asks, “Mister, I haven’t had a decent meal in two weeks! Can you be so kind as to lend me 2 taels so that I may buy some hot noodles?”.

The young man in white robes takes one glance at the old beggar. Smiling slightly, he responded by throwing two small coins at the feet of the old beggar before moving on.

“Thank you. Thank you. You’re a kind and gentle soul. My god bless you. May god bless you”, the old beggar could be heard praising as he rushed to buy a bowl of noodles from the street vendor.

The young man in white robes suddenly stops before a shopfront. Looking up, he noticed a large rectangle wooden sign. It was painted in bright red ink. Two peach blossomed coloured lanterns hung aloft the sign to provide much needed light to the streets below. The words, ‘Goddesses Inn’ had been carved into the sign and painted in black. Two rough and rugged men wearing grey robes stood at either side of the main gate leading into the ‘Goddesses Inn’. They stood there with their arms folded and chest out.

The young man folded up his paper fan before motioning to walk inside. A smile appeared on his face as he walked past the two men guarding the entrance. Just at this moment another street vendor wanders past him whilst yelling, “Sweet toffy for sale. 5 for 1 tael. Sweet toffy for sale. 5 for 1 tael”. A group of young boys and girls swarm around the toffy seller as he proceeds down the main street.

“Ah! Mister Kwok you’re back! What can I do for you today?”, asked a rather rounded lady wearing a dark red dress as she raced out to greet the young man in white. He had just entered into the courtyard and was fast approaching the entrance.

“Greetings Madame Wang, I’m here for the usual. Fine wine and beautiful women of course”, replied the man named Kwok whilst tapping his paper fan into his left hand. He proceeded forward and entered the ‘Goddesses Inn’ moments later. One could notice the fine décor and red carpet inside. Elegant paintings were hung on the walls. An intoxicating and flowery aroma filled the air.

Waving her red silk cloth errotically across her face before giving the young man in white a gentle nudge with her backside, Madame Wang continued, “Mister Kwok, aren’t you a bad one. Who’s the lucky girl tonight?”.

“Madame Wang, you should know me by now. I’m someone who gets bored very easily…”, replied the man named Kwok.

“Of course. Of course. Well you’re in luck today. I’ve just taken on two new and fine young ladies to work here at the ‘Goddesses Inn’. This is their very first night working for me. They might be more suited to your taste. Both of the young ladies have very elegant and soft curves. Their beauty is unmatched on the Central Plains of China. Both claim to be virgins as well. So this is the first time they’ve entertained men. That should interest you”, interrupted Madame Wang whilst brushing the young man named Kwok with her backside once more.

“I can see you haven’t changed one bit since the last time I was here. Always exaggerating things as usual. Where are they? I‘ll have to examine them for myself. If what you’re saying is the truth I’ll pay you handsomely in gold”, replied the man named Kwok with a smile. He did not believe that Madame Wang was telling him the truth.

“This way please”, continued Madame Wang whilst stretching her hand out towards the main lounge area. One could see that a number of men, both young and old, had gathered patiently inside. It appeared as if they were waiting for a show to begin.

As they approached closer to the lounge, Madame Wang added, “Mister Kwok, you should know the house rules by now. They’re both on auction tonight. The highest bidder gets to spend the entire night with either one of these young ladies”.

“Of course. I’ll have to see whether they’re worth it”, replied the man named Kwok as he entered the main lounge. He sat himself towards the corner at the back to observe the proceedings.

Madame Wang continued towards the front of the main lounge. She walked up to a small platform before tugging gently on small golden rope to the side. The red curtains were slowly drawn to reveal the two young ladies standing behind. Both of them looked rather nervous, innocent, and pure at the same time. One of the young ladies was wearing a tight red dress and the other was wearing a revealing blue dress. The gathering audience gave a soft cry upon seeing the elegant curves and pretty faces on the two young ladies. Some dropped their jaws whilst others drooled with sly expressions on their faces. All of the men immediately reached for their moneybags. It was now obvious that Madame Wang had been telling the truth for perhaps the first time in her life. Both of the young ladies looked very beautiful indeed. Clearing her throat Madame Wang shouted, “Gentleman. This is what you’ve come here for tonight. The young lady on the left is known as ‘Red Phoenix’ and the young lady on the right is known as ‘Blue Butterfly’. Let the bidding commence”.

“2,000 taels for Red Phoenix”, shouted a handsome young scholar in blue robes as he raised a hand in the air.

“2,000 taels for Blue Butterfly”, shouted a ugly fat merchant in black silk robes.

“3,000 taels for Blue Butterfly”, shouted a rough and rugged a swordsman in green robes.

“3,000 taels for Red Phoenix”, shouted a stocky butcher in greasy white robes.

Soon the bidding for Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly reached 35,000 taels of gold. Many of the men that had gathered did not have this kind of money and thus withdrew from the auction. All of them were quietly sitting with dejected looks on their faces. But they remained behind as they were interested in knowing who the lucky gentleman was that would get an opportunity to deflower either one of the young ladies. Noticing that two of the men that sat at the centre had not yet made a single bid during the entire auction, Madame Wang asked whilst pointing an index finger, “You two gentlemen! Do you wish to make a bid? If not the Red Phoenix will go to Mister Leung and Blue Butterfly will go to Mister Lau”.

“50,000 taels for Red Phoenix”, shouted a fisherman wearing grey robes.

“50,000 taels for Blue Butterfly”, shouted a hunter wearing brown robes. The gathering crowd gave another soft cry upon hearing the high bids made by the fisherman and the hunter. To most of the people that had gathered it was a total shock. Never did they expect that a mere hunter and a mere fisherman would possess that much money.

Raising her hand in the air, Madame Wang asked again in a loud voice, “If no one has a higher bid than 50,000 taels then Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly will go to the two gentlemen over there”. Pausing for a moment to catch her breath she continued, “I will now count to three. One. Two…”.

“Wait”, shouted the man named Kwok with a wide grin on his face as he observed the two men sitting at the centre of the main lounge. He had made numerous small bids during the auction before sitting out when the bid reached 20,000 taels. During that time he sat back quietly to observe the gathering audience and the two young ladies more closely.

Turning his attention back towards Madame Wang, he shouted, “200,000 taels of gold for both Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly”.

“Wow! That young scholar is paying 100,000 taels each to spend the night with Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly. He must be incredibly rich”, remarked the gathering audience together in total shock. They had reached the conclusion that 200,000 taels of gold was indeed too much money to be spending in one night. Some of the men stared at the man named Kwok in total awe. Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly were also shock as they shot a quick glance at one another. They were both amazed at the fact that someone would pay 100,000 taels of gold to spend the night with them.

A big wide grin crept across Madame Wang’s face as she asked in a very loud voice once more, “If there are no further bids, then young Mister Kwok will have the pleasure of being entertained by both Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly tonight”.

Everyone remained silent and did not respond. The man named Kwok had raised the stakes beyond what all of the gathering men could afford. Clapping her hands together, Madame Wang, signalled to a couple of servants. They walked up to guide Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly towards the main penthouse upstairs in the left wing of the Goddesses Inn. Holding her hands up in the air she added, “Gentlemen! Thank you all for attending this little auction. But tonight Mister Kwok has won the auction. He will therefore have the pleasure of spending the night with both Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly. See you all at our next auction”.

“Humph! Lucky little bastard”, mumbled most of the men as they walked out of the main lounge with disappointed looks on their faces.

The young man named Kwok remained sitting towards the corner of the main lounge. He had opened up his paper fan and was waving it right and left as he observed all of the men leave the room with a sly expression on his face. Reaching into his pockets he produced two paper notes. Stretching out a lazy hand he said, “Madame Wang. You were telling the truth this time. They’re both rare beauties indeed. Here is your payment of 200,000 taels of gold”.

“Another check?”, questioned Madame Wang upon taking the paper notes into her hand.

“Why? Is there a problem? Have any of my previous checks bounced?”, replied the man named Kwok as he stood up.

“No. But this time the price is 200,000 taels of gold”, replied Madame Wang whilst shaking her head. It was a lot of money so she didn’t want to take any chances. But at the same time, the man named Kwok seemed to have endless amount of riches. So she was a little hesitant.

“I’m a man of my words. You’ll have your money. Trust me”, reassured the man named Kwok with a slight grin on his face. The expression on his face carried a hint of evil with it.

Madame Wang felt a little uneasy upon seeing the wicked expression. She replied in a nervous tone, “Okay. I trust you. This way please”.

She walked forward and lead the man named Kwok up a series of steps coiled around the base of a large pillar that supported the roof. Upon arriving at the third level of the Goddesses Inn, Madame Wang, took a left turn. She arrived at a large chamber guarded by two maids. Knocking gently on the door before opening it, she remarked, “Young mistresses. Your guest is here. Are you both ready to entertain him?”.

“Madame Wang. Of course. Please come in”, replied a sweet innocent voice from inside.

Turning to the man named Kwok, Madame Wang said with a smile on her face, “Mister Kwok. Please go inside. They’re both at your service tonight. They understand the rules of the house. Do with them as you wish”. Turning to leave she added, “I’ll leave you to it. Enjoy and goodbye”.

Walking inside the room, the man named Kwok saw a large satin bed covered in red silk blankets. Light pink curtains covered the window. Rounded red lanterns were hung aloft the room to provide much needed light. There was a large brown dining table at the centre of the room. A jug of fine wine and a few small cups rested on the table. A small black zither rested to the side. Various erotic paintings covered the wall displaying men and women in a number of sexual posses. Red Phoenix was sitting on the right side of the dining table. Blue Butterfly was sitting on the left side playing a soft erotic tune on the black zither.

Seeing that the man named Kwok had entered the room and was now proceeding towards the table, Red Phoenix spoke in a rather shy and soft voice, “Master Kwok welcome. Please sit. Have some wine”.

“Thank you”, replied the man named Kwok as he sat down. Red Phoenix handed him a cup of red wine. They both toasted each other before downing it in one go. Turning to Blue Butterfly he added, “Miss Blue Butterfly, its your turn. After you”.

“Cheers”, replied Blue Butterfly as she held her cup aloft before downing it in one go. She resumed playing an erotic tune on the zither moments later.

The man named Kwok sat at the table for another half-hour or so enjoying the company of the two prettiest ladies he had ever seen. It felt like being in heaven. He cherished every moment of it before moving to lie down on the bed. Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly rested on the bed as well to keep him company. They fed him ripe grapes and various fruits as he alternated between resting on the bosom of Red Phoenix and then Blue Butterfly. After a short while, the man named Kwok finally said, “Hmm. This is very nice. But there’s something more I want”.

“What is it master Kwok? What would you have us do?”, asked Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly together.

Smiling delightfully, he continued, “I want both of you to entertain me by stripping off your clothes”.

Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly shot a nervous glance at each other. Being virgins they were a little shocked at the man named Kwok’s request. They had also momentarily forgotten that they are now working in a brothel. Both didn’t mind entertaining him and feeding him grapes, but this was an entirely different matter. Red Phoenix looked very hesitant as she stood up from the bed before standing in front of the man named Kwok. Blue Butterfly stood next to her. She removed her blue silk dress slowly with a nervous smile. Noticing that the two young ladies were a little stiff in their strip tease, the man named Kwok shouted, “What do you call this? This is not a strip tease. Dance. Move swiftly like the wind. But most importantly, you must enjoy it. You must think as if you’re in total control of the situation”.

Blue Butterfly got into the mood upon hearing those words. She had already removed and flung her blue silk dress on the floor. She was now in the process of slowly removing her white undergarment to reveal a light blue brassier underneath. Smiling in a sexy pose, she spun around slowly to give the man named Kwok a better view of her elegant and soft body from behind. She bent over to display her smooth and rounded bottom. Clapping his hands together, the man named Kwok laughed out loud, “Excellent. Excellent. That’s more like it. That’s what I want to see”.

Unlike Blue Butterfly, Red Phoenix still looked very stiff. It appeared as if she did not want to undress herself in front the man named Kwok, or any other man for that matter. Her face had turned a reddish colour. It was an indication that she was embarrassed by the whole situation.

“Something is not right”, thought the man named Kwok as he took a moment to examine the two young ladies more closely.

Looking slightly disappointed, he said whilst pointing an index finger towards Red Phoenix, “Young miss, you disappoint me. Please leave the room. But I’ve not yet released you from your duty. I may recall you later in the evening. Until then you still owe me your company. Understand?”.

“Master Kwok, but… but… but…”, mumbled Red Phoenix. She was actually pleased that the man named Kwok had asked her to leave the room. But she was also slightly disappointed upon being unable to bring herself to strip in front of another man. She knew that she would have to perform sexual acts to pay her act sooner or later. She was a little undecided therefore as to whether she should stay or go.

“Please leave. Now. Don’t return unless I ask you to. Okay?”, demanded the man named Kwok in a very authoritative tone. He was pointing towards the front door as he said this to indicate that he was dead serious.

“Yes master Kwok”, replied Red Phoenix as she turned to leave. She walked out of the room moments later before gently closing the door behind her.

“What do you think you’re doing? Please continue”, added the man named Kwok upon noticing that Blue Butterfly had stopped stripping.

“Yes master Kwok”, replied Blue Butterfly as she slowly untied her blue brassier at the back. She removed it moments later to reveal her naked breasts. They were very soft and smooth.

“Master Kwok, please come over and let me undress you”, added Blue Butterfly in a soft and sexy voice. An inviting warm smile flashed across her face as she stood in front of the table at the centre of the room.

“Why of course”, replied the man named Kwok as he stood up from the bed before walking over to where Blue Butterfly was. He stood three paces in front of her.

“Please turn around”, continued Blue Phoenix as she ran her hands gently across the chest of the man named Kwok. He obliged and turned himself around with his back facing Blue Butterfly. He felt a soft and warm body pressed up against his back moments later. A gentle hand massage his shoulders before moving to untie his long white robes at the front. The man named Kwok felt like being in heaven once more.

“That feels really good. Please do continue”, remarked the man named Kwok as he closed his eyes and lent back on the soft body. He let Blue Butterfly take total control over his body. She was now massaging various regions of his chest and back.

“Master Kwok. How does this feel now?”, questioned Blue Butterfly with a big grin on her face. From the tone of her voice it appeared as if she was no longer nervous and was now in total control of him. The man named Kwok suddenly felt a sharp object pressed towards the upper region of the back near the heart. Despite the sudden quick turn of events he did not appear to be alarmed or concerned about his life at all.

“What do you think you’re doing?”, asked the man named Kwok appearing to be a little shocked.

“Kwok Ching Ser. Kwok Ching Ser. Who would have thought you’d be captured so easily. You’re under arrest for the murder of the former Treasurer, Minister Tong”, replied Blue Butterfly as she pressed the small dagger harder into his back. Taking a moment she sealed Kwok Ching Ser’s pressure points around the legs and shoulders to prevent him from moving his upper body and running away. She then bent over to retrieve her light blue brassier, white undergarment, and blue dress before dressing herself in full again.

The man named Kwok was none other than Kwok Ching Ser the second senior apprentice of the Chief of the 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins. He is more commonly known throughout wulin as the ‘Romantic Assassin’ for his passion for women, sex, and wine. He is also known as the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ because he wears a red cape with a black snake embroidered at the centre. Rumours around wulin is that he has never failed to accomplish a mission and is renowned as the world’s number 1 assassin of his time. He is renowned as a man of extraordinary bravery and power. He was also unique in that he was not afraid of retribution and liked claiming the credit for a number of murders that he had committed. He often left his trademark black snake dart at the scene of a murder to mark it as his handy work.

“So you’re none other than Kwong Sing Juk one of the renowned ‘5 Jade Knights’ of the Ming Government. I should have known it was you”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser with a slight smile. His voice carried with it no ounce of fear. In fact a beaming grin appeared on his face.

It was rumoured throughout wulin that the ‘5 Jade Tigers’ were the last generation of elite fighters from the Ming Cult that now swore allegiance to the Ming Government following the rebellion against the Mongol Dynasty. They were the best investigators and inspectors within the Ming Government. Rumours had it that Emperor Yongle had dispatched the ‘5 Jade Tigers’ to capture the Black Snake Assassin upon receiving news that Minister Tong had died at the edge of his 'exquisite snake sword’.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Who would have thought a renowned official of the Ming Government would stoop so low as to go under cover in a renowned brothel to arrest me. Your reputation would surely be ruined if this ever got out”, laughed Kwok Ching Ser after a little while.

Getting annoyed and pressing the blade into the back of the Black Snake Assassin, Kwong Sing Juk replied, “I’m going to kill you now so no one will ever know or hear about this”.

“No so fast. You forget who I am”, added Kwok Ching Ser with a beaming smile all of a sudden as a devious thought ran through his mind. He had already managed to release his pressure points whilst Kwong Sing Juk was dressing herself by channelling his ‘divine snake’ inner energy. He suddenly ran his right hand gently along the thigh of Kwong Sing Juk. He then motioned to run his hands up between her legs.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”, shouted Kwong Sing Juk as she leapt several paces backwards. Being a virgin it was a natural reaction to being touched in a very private area. She had also forgotten that she was in the process of arresting a wanted criminal. She now stood around 10 paces away from her hostage.

“Oh no”, she gasped upon realising what had happened. She immediately produced and drew a long green broad sword that she had hidden within the black zither resting on the table. A white tiger had been carved into the hilt of the sword. Being undercover, Kwong Sing Juk was not in her customary Inspector uniform.

A loud ‘cling’ echoed through the room as Kwok Ching Ser drew his ‘exquisite snake sword’. It glowed a metallic black. One could now see that the sword had been worn around his waist and that the golden belt was none other than the sheath of the sword. Raising the sword above his head in an attacking stance he continued, “Ha. Ha. Ha. Virgins will always be virgins”.

“How… How… did you manage to release your pressure points so soon?”, asked Kwong Sing Juk in total shock having not expected Kwok Ching Ser to be able to release his pressure points.

“Inspector Kwong. Surely you did not expect that I’d fall so easily into this simple little trap of yours. In fact I guessed that something was wrong as soon as I arrived. So I was well prepared in advance”, responded Kwok Ching Ser with a smile.

Looking up towards the rooftop and the windows to the side of the room, he shouted, “Why don’t the other four’ Jade Tigers’ show themselves? It’s no use hiding about. I know where all of you are. Two of you are hiding on the roof and two more behind the windows. Just come out and let’s get this over with”.

“Ha. How did you know were hiding outside?”, shouted four men simultaneously in shock as they entered the room. Two of the men crashed through the roof, and two others jumped through the window.

One could now see that all four of the men that had entered the room were in their mid 20s. They all wore light green robes with white trimmings. A large white tiger was embroidered at the front and back of their robes. This was an indication that these swordsmen did indeed belong to the Ming Government. All of the men were wearing a black rectangle hat on their heads. A peacock feather rested on the right side. Four long broad swords had been drawn in an attacking position. A white tiger was carved into the hilt of the sword.

“So you’re all here as I expected. How did I know? That’s very simple”, replied Kwok Ching Ser with a smile on his face.

Looking directly at the swordsman standing on the left, he continued, “If I’m not mistaken you were the first one I came across earlier tonight. You were the one disguised as a beggar”.

“Ha. How on earth did you know?”, replied the first swordsman in total shock. He thought no one would be able to see through his disguise.

“It’s very simple. A butcher cannot cut his meat without a machete. A blacksmith cannot forge swords without a furnace. A carpenter cannot make furniture without his tools. A beggar cannot beg without a porcelain bowl at his side” added Kwok Ching Ser with a proud expression on his face. It was obvious that he had noticed something very strange when the beggar approached him without a porcelain bowl. He was thus required to throw the two taels on the floor. That’s when he suspected that the beggar before him was none other then a spy. So he became very alert from that moment forth.

“Humph. You’re a very clever man indeed. But how did you know that I was also here?”, asked the second swordsman standing next to the first swordsman.

“Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t actually know who you people were until now. But I recognise you as the second person who crossed my path. It wasn’t hard to guess that you were a spy disguised as a toffy vendor”, cheekily replied Kwok Ching Ser once more.

“Oh. How could you have seen through my disguise so easily?”, asked the second swordsman with a shocked expression on his face. Like the first swordsman, he thought he had disguised himself quite well.

“The fake beggar had already aroused my suspicions. Where there’s one spy there’s bound to be many more. Besides a toffy vendor makes a living off the business of the many decent parents and their little children wandering through the streets. So why would an ordinary toffy vendor choose to set up next to a brothel were few kids and decent parents are about. When I asked this question in my mind, I came up with the answer that you were no ordinary toffy seller”, added Kwok Ching Ser with a beaming grin.

“Humph. How very clever. So how did you know the two of us were here also?”, asked the third and fourth swordsmen standing towards the right.

Looking at them and smiling at the same time, he said, “One of you were disguised as a hunter and the other a fisherman. I have to admit that I wasn’t able to see through your disguises at first. I was too focused on the auction for the two pretty young ladies and the bidding to notice any of you. It was actually Madame Wang who uncovered your identities”.

“Oh. How’s that possible?”, questioned the two men with stunned looks on their faces.

“When she mentioned that you two gentlemen had not yet made a bid at the auction my suspicions were aroused once more. Firstly what could the two of you been doing at a brothel if you had intended to make a bid. Secondly what kind of man could resist the temptation to make a bid when two rare beauties stand before them. Thirdly how could an ordinary fisherman and hunter possibly earn 50,000 taels of gold each? The 50,000 taels of gold gave you two away as members of Ming Government”, continued Kwok Ching Ser with a wider grin.

“What do you mean? How could you possibly know that we worked for the Ming Government?”, asked the 5 Jade Tigers in shock once more.

Turning his head towards Kwong Sing Juk he continued, “I’m aware that the Ming Government has placed a bounty of 50,000 taels of gold on my head. At first I assumed that your two men were just ordinary bounty hunters after the reward of 50,000 tales of gold. But on closer inspection I noticed that both of them had an air of noble pride about them. In fact they behaved and spoke very much like the true gentlemen they are. This is very rare I thought given that they’re both at a brothel. They did were not sly or sleazy at all. So they couldn’t possibly be bounty hunters. Besides they both had handsome faces and did not appear to have been engaged in many battles during their lifetime. If the two men were not bounty hunters, then there’s only one other possibility”.

Clapping her hands together in some awe, Kwong Sing Juk remarked, “Very good. But how on earth did you manage to see through my disguise?”.

“If you had been the only one entertaining me tonight, I would have fallen for your trap and died at your blade. But I thought it was strange that I’m in the company of two virgins who have never been touched by a man or slept with a man before. One was reacting exactly the way I had expected a virgin to react whilst the other one seemed to be a little too sure of herself. When I saw the way you danced and moved, my suspicions were a little aroused. The routine seemed to be very unnatural but well rehearsed in advance. You didn’t look to be enjoying yourself even though you pretended to have a good time. My suspicions were confirmed when you refused to take of your panties and instead called me over to your side. It is a house rule at this brothel that you’re required to fully undress when a customer requests a strip tease. But you did not do so”, continued Kwok Ching Ser with a beaming grin on his face.

“Oh”, gasped Kwong Sing Juk out aloud. She had indeed rehearsed her little strip and dance for the past few months hoping to get it right so that she could capture the Black Snake Assassin. But she had been a little too over confident upon seeing that the Black Snake Assassin had not been able to see through her disguise. In doing so she had forgotten the house rules and was thus exposed.

Looking directly at the white tigers carved into the hilts of the swords, Kwok Ching Ser continued whilst shooting a direct glance at Kwong Sing Juk, “When I saw what was carved into the hilt of your sword I was able to put two and two together. Since you were a female, I was able to guess your true identity. Since you’re the leader of the ‘5 Jade Tigers’ I was certain that the other four were close by. So I figured the four spies I had come across earlier in the night to be the other members from your elite task force. Besides I heard some faint noise from the rooftop and from outside whilst you were undressing. So it wasn’t hard to guess that the ‘5 Jade Tigers’ had arrived together to set a trap to capture me”.

“Do you have any further questions to ask of me?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser with an evil glint in his eye. He turned his head slightly to observe the positioning of the five swordsmen in front of him as he said this.

“No. Why?”, questioned the 5 Jade Tigers together. They raised their swords in an attacking position above their heads preparing to attack and defend themselves. They were well aware of the superior skills possessed by the Black Snake Assassin.

“Because you’re all going to die in a little while. I just wanted to make sure that all of you could die contentedly so that you can go directly to the underworld from here”, continued Kwok Ching Ser with a wicked grin.

“Nonsense. Attack”, shouted Kwong Sing Juk whilst waving her hand in the air.

The first swordsman span around and swiftly attacked towards the mid stomach region of Kwok Ching Ser. He blocked the move by lowering his sword diagonally towards the left side of his body before suddenly flicking his wrists in a weaving motion. A loud ‘clank’ echoed through the air as the ‘exquisite snake sword’ wrapped itself around the blade of the first swordsman. It appeared to be a python wrapping itself around a prey to suffocate it to death. The first swordsman tried to retrieve his blade in vain. It broke into several pieces as a result of the incredible ‘chi’ energy possessed by Kwok Ching Ser. Holding a broken blade in his right hand with a stun looked on his face, the first swordsman cried out, “Ah Ya”, moments later as he had been penetrated through the heart by the ‘exquisite snake sword’. His body shook violently as if he had just been electrocuted upon landing on the ground. He died moments later after coughing up a mouthful of blood.

“Dam you”, cursed Kwong Sing Juk upon seeing that one of her comrades had been slained.

Just at this moment the tips of the swords of the other four swordsman attacked towards the back and side of Kwok Ching Ser. He leapt away in a horizontal weaving motion. He looked very much like that of a snake escaping through the thick bushes to hide himself. The tips of the four swords narrowly missed piercing through his body. Moving like a ghost Kwok Ching Ser counterattacked by launching a quick strike towards the adam’s apple of the second swordsman. The ‘exquisite snake sword’ made loud metallic rattling sounds like that of a cobra as it attacked forward. It appeared as if a live black snake was attacking the second swordsman. He broke out in cold sweat as he slashed his sword upwards hoping to block the fatal blow. A loud ‘clang’ echoed through the air as the swords clashed. But the exquisite snake sword bent around the long broad sword as it continued to strike towards the second swordsman. He could be heard crying out, “Ah Ya”, moments later as he had been pierced through the neck. He fell to the floor whilst grasping onto his neck. He died without a murmur. Another soft ‘clang’ echoed through the air as his sword fell on the ground next to his body moments later.

Kwok Ching Ser continued the offensive move by slashing his sword right towards the third swordsman and then left towards the fourth swordsman. Two loud ‘clang’ sounds echoed through the air as the ‘exquisite snake sword’ bent around the two defensive stances utilised by the two swordsmen. It was followed by two loud cries of, “Ah Ya”, and then four soft ‘thuds’ as another two bodies followed by their heads slumped to the ground.

Seeing that her comrades had fallen one by one in quick succession, Kwong Sing Juk, began to panic a little. She launched a couple of short daggers in the air before turning to escape out of the window. Two loud ‘cling’ sounds echoed through the air, followed moments later by two loud ‘swooshing’ sounds. It was an indication that Kwok Ching Ser had blocked the two short daggers launched at him before counterattacking with two black snake daggers of his own. Kwong Sing Juk did not bother to turn around as she attempted to leap out of the window. She hoped that she would be able to escape just in time before the two snake daggers reached her.

“Ah Ya!”, Kwong Sing Juk could be heard crying out moments later as she fell from the window and crashed to her death on the main street below. The two snake darts had been launched with such force and at such a rapid rate that she could not avoid nor escape them. In fact they pierced through her body and she died upon impact.

Taking out a black silk cloth from his pockets, Kwok Ching Ser, wiped away the little amount of sweat that had formed on his forehead during the battle. He then used it to wipe away the blood from the ‘exquisite snake sword’ before sheathing it. Pausing for a moment he threw the silk cloth in the air. He then took out a black snake dart before launching it in the air. He moved with such precision that he managed to stab the silk cloth with the black snake dagger towards the wall next to the bed. This was his usual calling card to indicate that he was the one that had slained the ‘5 Jade Tigers’ of the Ming Government.

Giving a little sigh he walked over to window. He saw the body of Kwok Sing Juk laying motionless on the main street just below where he stood. A crowd of locals and travellers had gathered around the deceased body. They were all shaking their heads as they tried to piece the last moments of her life. Many of the locals assumed that she had committed suicide. Kwok Ching Ser let out another sigh as he thought, “What a pity. She was a rare beauty indeed”.

***************************************

“Minister Chu, I’ll have to advise you as a friend that was a terrible move that you’ve just made. Another bad decision like that and I’m going to win for sure”, remarked the old man in black robes whilst stroking his beard.

There were five rounded wooden chess pieces resting to the side of the chessboard next to the man in black robes. All of the chess pieces were identical. The words ‘Pawn’ were carved and painted in green on the surface of all of them. It was obvious that the game had just started and that the old bearded man had somehow managed to claim Minister Chu’s five pawns.

“I thought I’d be able to take out your Cannon by advancing all of my pawns across the river. That way they are not as restricted in their movements and can thus achieve a lot more”, Minister Chu replied with a sigh. He was now at a great disadvantage as his secondary line is now at the mercy of the man in black robe’s two Cannons and heavy artillery like Rooks.

“Pawns will always be pawns. They have very limited ability and skills and should not be relied upon to accomplish difficult tasks and missions. You need to know how to use them properly before advancing them. Besides its difficult to capture a Cannon in its own environment. Though the red Pawns had remained static they are still able to assist the Cannon to defend and attack. You’ve also been very lucky in the fact that I haven’t advanced any of the other pieces just yet”, replied the old bearded man in black robes with a smile as he advanced a Cannon across the river into enemy territory.

One could now see that all of the red pieces on the chessboard had remained stationary in their starting positions. The only piece that had been moved was the Cannon on the right side of the chessboard. But the Cannon was one of the most deadliest pieces in chess. Provided that nothing blocked its path, a Cannon can move as many spaces horizontally and vertically as it wished. It captures an opposing piece on the same line by jumping vertically or horizontally over another piece on the board.

“I’ve learnt my lesson this time. I won’t make another mistake. How will you counter this move?”, continued Minister Chu with a smile as he advanced a green Bishop in an attacking position near a green Cannon.

“Good move. Good move”, replied the old bearded man in black robes as he clapped his hands a little. He advanced the red Cannon on the same horizontal line next to the green Bishop.

“What are you doing?”, asked Minister Chu in shock upon noticing that the old bearded man had placed the red Cannon in a position of great disadvantage by advancing it into enemy territory by itself. The red Cannon had been further disadvantage as it had been placed next to a green Bishop when a green Cannon is lurking close by on the next vertical line. There was also a green Knight close to the positioning of the red Cannon.

“You’re paying 200,000 taels of gold for his head. So I’m giving you an opportunity to do so. Otherwise I’m not being a good host or friend”, replied the old bearded man in black robes with a smile. He poured himself a cup of wine before downing it moments later.

Noticing that Minister Chu was lost in thought, the old bearded man in black robes stretched out a hand before remarking, “After you. Make your move wisely. Otherwise you won’t get another opportunity”.

***************************************

(To Be Continued)

[patricia n]

excellent read! i'll be waiting patiently for the next update.

[Melanie]

Great job, Long! Since you already have these short stories completed, why not post the whole thing? Patience is not my strong point.

[Long]

Hi Melaine - I haven't actually finished any of these short stories yet. I just have many ideas for these short stories and know what I want to write about. I thought this would be a good way to relieve some creative writing tension when I'm struggling through diffcult parts of the plot of the 'Black Dragon Swordsman'.

The next edition of 'The Assassin and the Thief' should be up soon. The next part introduces the Thief and concludes the story. What's coming after 'The Assassin and the Thief' include:

1. The Drunkard and the Swan Princess - explores the deep and emotional story of how a talented man destorys himself and his career for love. (love)

2. The Quest - The story about a quest undertaken by a group of elite fighters in the search for the ultimate weapon (two kung manuals) which could help them to dominate and conquer wulin. They must uncover the traitor amongst them before its too late. (mystery)

3. The Ancient Code of Chivalary - A tale of a swordsman who upholds justice and protects the weak at all cost. (action)

[Long]

It’s another dark and misty night on the outskirts of Hennan. Its around 8.00pm in the evening. The full moon is shining high above providing much needed night below. A large stone tablet rests towards the right side of a long wooden bridge. The words ‘White Lotus Bridge’ have been carved into the surface of the rock. A man in his mid 30s is standing at the other side of the bridge with his back turned. He appears to be lost in thought as she stars up at the moon. A blue silk robe with green trimmings is wrapped around his medium built body. A white dragon has been embroidered on the back and front of his robes. His hair has been neatly combed and tied into a bundle at the back. A black marble cap rests on his head to keep his hair in place. It was obvious by his dress and appearance that this man belonged to the Ming Government. He appears to be a little nervous as a trickle of sweat drips down the right side of his face. It was obvious that he was waiting for someone at the bridge. Apart from the sound of the water flowing in the stream below it was dead silent.

Suddenly a strange ‘hissing’ sound that pierced through the air. Almost like the sound of a cobra gliding through the dry grass in summer. The man in blue robes immediately turned around towards the source of the sound. It appeared to have come from the other side of the bridge near the stone tablet. Squinting his eyes he could not see anyone close by. But he felt a cold chill go up his spine as he stared into the darkness. He jumped up slightly as a result. A stream of cold sweat flowed down his back as his heart beat rapidly. It was obvious that someone had arrived but he did not know who. Clearing his voice he mumbled in a loud voice, “Who… Who… goes there?”.

Hearing no response he continued whilst looking around, “Are… Are… you a friend or foe? Speak”.

“I’m neither!”, replied the voice of a young man. The man in blue robes became very shocked upon turning around to the source of the voice. He felt a sharp blade pressing against his adam’s apple pressure point. Just like that his life was now at the whim of the person who stood before him. One could see that this man wore a black silk robe with red trimmings. A red cape was worn over his shoulders and was flustering gently in the evening breeze. A large black snake had been embroidered at the centre of the cape. A gold belt was worn around his waist. He held a thin and flexible black blade in his right hand. A white paper fan was strapped to the left side of his waist. He wore a bamboo rain hat that shielded his face from sight. A pair of cold and chilling eyes could be seen underneath.

Observing the young man in black robes more closely, the man in blue robes asked, “Are you the Black Snake Assassin, Kwok Ching Ser?”.

Removing the tip of the sword away from the man in blue robe’s throat before sheathing it, the young man in black robe replied with a casual laugh, “You’re the one who requested the secret appointment. Who else would you expect to turn up except for me?”.

“Though I specifically requested your assistance, I could never be too sure that you actually received the letter!”, rebutted the man in blue robes. He had calmed down somewhat upon realising that his life was no longer in danger. Seeking the help of a well-known assassin was a rather risky business. One’s own life would be at stake if the assassin decides not to accept an assignment. It is well known in wulin that the world’s best assassin does not kill for money alone but for enjoyment. Therefore he must enjoy his mission.

“Oh! Are you implying that members from the 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins cannot be trusted?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser with a slight grin as he took the white paper fan into his right hand. He opened it before fanning himself.

But the man in blue did not respond. Taking a note from his pockets with his left hand, Kwok Ching Ser continued, “Don’t worry! I received your note! I’ve travelled long and fast upon receiving it! Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to meet up with you tonight! In fact it was my Master instructed me to meet you here personally and to place your assignment at the top of the priority list!”.

“Oh! Are you suggesting that you would have refused to undertake this assignment had your master not instructed you to do so?”, questioned the man in blue robes with a rather curious and sly look on his face.

Kwok Ching Ser remained silent and did not reply. He kept his head down so that the shadow of the bamboo rain hat would cover his face. Casting a side-glance at the man in blue robes, he added, “This is the first time that my Master has given me such instructions! If I’ve guessed correctly it seems as if my Master once owed you a great favour! Who the hell are you?”.

“Who I am is not important! Nor do you need to know what connection I have with your Master to complete your mission”, replied the man in blue robes in a very stern voice. Realising that the Black Snake Assassin had been given specific instructions by his master to carry out this assignment, the man in blue robes only grew in confidence and regained his tone of authority. Earlier he did not know the motivations of the cold-blooded killer. But he was now the one who was in control.

“Fair enough! Who do you want me to kill? How much?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser as he folded up his fan. He wanted to get straight down to business after having enough of the small talk.

Preferring not to say whom he wanted to kill out loud and for what price, the man in blue robes talked in riddles. He said, “I’m paying you 50,000 taels of gold for the head of a young man!”.

“A young man? Which young man are you referring to? There are many people who could be classed as young in China! I would not kill all of them for just a mere 50,000 taels of gold. Please be more specific”, smirked Kwok Ching Ser in a rather cheeky voice.

Laughing slightly, the man in blue robes continued, “Nor would I have you kill just any ordinary person! The man I want dead is very easy to recognise. He carries a white marble flute wherever he travels! He only has four fingers on his left hand! His kung fu foundation is from Huashan”.

“Who is this man? Are you able to tell me?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser in a curious tone. For he could did not recognise from the clues given to him, who the identity of the man that he was going to kill. But he did know that there were a number of Hushan apprentices currently working for the Ming Government as officials and generals. But he did not know many of them. So he was a little intrigued.

Looking across at the Black Snake Assassin, the man in blue robes said with a sly grin, “You don’t have to know who he is to kill him. All you need to know is that your target is currently preparing to travel to Kaifeng on a secret mission tomorrow! I know that he’ll be taking the ‘Fortune Ferry’ down the Yellow River at 7.00am in the morning! It is likely that he’ll be dressed as a merchant! You could kill him then!”.

Folding up his paper fan, before taking a look at the man in blue robes, Kwok Ching Ser replied, “Okay! It’s a done deal!”.

“When will you set off?”, questioned the man in blue robes.

Turning to leave, Kwok Ching Ser replied in a cold voice, “Now!”.

“I’ll send someone to bring you his head here in 7 days! Just hand the 50,000 taels of gold to my friend! We won’t see each other again!”, added Kwok Ching Ser as he glanced over his shoulders.

“Oh! How can you be so sure that we won’t meet again?”, asked the man in blue robes in a curious tone.

“Because I’m the type of person that never meets the same person twice or I’d have to kill them!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser with a sly smile.

The man in blue robes laughed slightly upon hearing those comments. Seeing that Kwok Ching Ser was about to utilise his lightness kung fu to disappear into the darkness, the man in blue robes rushed to ask, “Are you going to take action tomorrow?”.

“Humph! I’ll take action when I think the time is connivent! You’ll have your head within 7 days! Just be patient! Goodbye!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he finally utilised his lightness kung fu and disappeared into the night like a ghost.

After meeting with the man in blue robes, Kwok Ching Ser decided to head back to the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’ where he was currently residing for dinner. But he decided against entering at the front of the Inn as he was dressed in his official 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins attire. He was required to dress in such a way when meeting with potential customers. But he was one who preferred to travel in normal civilian attire. He wanted change before dinner. Utilising his lightness kung fu Kwok Ching Ser leapt up onto the parallel beam at the front of the main gate before leaping onto the roof of the Inn. He ran across the rooftop in some sheath by carefully treading along the tiles. No one seemed to have noticed his presence thus far. His room was located on the third floor on the east wing on the opposite side from where he presently stood. Just as he was about to leap through the window to enter his room, when he noticed that a person wearing a plain black masked and a plain black robe was presently searching through the room on the second level below his own room. The window to that room remained open and he had a good view of what was going on inside.

“What on earth is that masked person doing?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly as he crouched down and laid down horizontally on the rooftop to observe the events more closely. This way he remained out of sight and out of view.

Inside the room, the person wearing a black mask seemed to be searching every corner of the room for something. That person searched on and underneath the bed. Examined every object in the room from the vase to the small candle holder at the centre of the table. All of the items in the room had been turned upside down as the person in masked frantically searched around. Suddenly the person wearing the black masked jumped out of the window before leaping into the rooftop. That person appeared to be holding a scroll of some sort in the right hand and was now standing on the opposite side of the rooftop to where Kwok Ching Ser was currently laying. But that person did not immediately run away. Nor did that person appear to notice that Kwok Ching Ser was also laying along the rooftop. Giving a little laugh in triumph the person wearing a masked ran along the rooftop, tip-toeing past Kwok Ching Ser, before disappearing into one of the rooms in the west wing of the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’.

“Who was that person?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought to himself as he watched the masked person disappearing from sight. Sniffing the air, he caught the delicate scent of rose perfume left behind by the person wearing a masked as they ran past him. It was now obvious that the person wearing a mask was a female.

Kwok Ching Ser was just about to leap back into his own room to change his robes when he heard sounds coming from the hallway outside of the exact room from which the masked female had just escaped from, on the second level. It appeared as if two men were walking along the hallway to return to their rooms. One could be heard saying to the other, “When we return to the Capital we’ll get a promotion for this for sure!”.

“Yep! Minister Chu should be happy with what we’ve just recovered from a traitor!”, agreed the second man.

“Senior apprentice brother Ma, did you blow out the candle light when we left for an early dinner?”, asked the first man upon noticing that their was no light in the room.

“No”, replied the second man.

“Dam!”, cursed the first man named Ma as he kicked open the door to the room.

Quickly lighting the candle at the middle of the table, both men noticed that their possessions had been tampered with. A stream of sweat dripped down ran down the face of the second man as he threw one of the porcelain vases on the ground. A loud ‘clack’ sound echoed through the air as it broke into several pieces. But there was nothing inside. The faces of both of the men suddenly turned pale. The man named Ma could be heard shouting in shock, “The name list… it’s… it’s gone!”.

Glancing out of the window and around the room the second man remarked, “But…. But… how? No… No one could have known we obtained the list today and it was well hidden within this room! There’s no way any one could have stolen it”.

“But it’s gone never the less! There can only be one explanation to this!”, replied the man named Ma upon overcoming his initial shock.

“What’s that?”, asked the second man.

Turning to face the second man, the man named Ma replied, “There’s another traitor in our network! We must immediately report this incident to Minister Chu!”. Both men decided to jump out of the window before heading for their horses at the stable. They disappeared from sight moments later and could be seen riding their horses in the direction of Kaifeng.

“What name list could they be referring to?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought to himself as he watched the two men disappear into the darkness.

But Kwok Ching Ser gave it no further thought as he took this opportunity to leapt through the window into his own room. He decided to remove his red cape, bamboo rain hat, and black robes. He neatly folded his cape and black robes before placing it back into his travelling bag. He hung the bamboo rain hat up next to his bed. Moments later he dressed himself in a white robe with red trimmings. He combed his hair into a neat bundle before tying it at the back with a red scarf. After dressing himself in civilian attire, Kwok Ching Ser decided to go down to the restaurant to order a meal. As he walked into the lobby a 7-8 year old boy greeted him with an enthusiastic smile. He said, “Master, you’re back! I’ve already ordered a large bowl of steamed rice and roast pork for you! It should be here shortly! Follow me!”.

“Ah Ngau, thanks!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he followed his little apprentice to a table for two at the corner of the restaurant at the balcony. That way they could observe the events taking on the streets below. Despite being highly skilled and intelligent, Kwok Ching Ser, always preferred to sit on the balcony when having a meal. This way he could keep a close eye on all of the patrons within the restaurant and down on the street below. He could easily detect a potential ambush from this position, and it was also a good position from which to escape. Soon the waiter arrived at the table before placing a jug of wine, a large plate of steam noodles, rice, and serval dishes on the table. Kwok Ching Ser and his young apprentice did not immediately begin eating. Instead they waited until the waiter had left, before Ah Ngau took out a small needle to test the wine, water, rice and dishes for poison.

Smiling delightfully, Ah Ngau said, “Master the dishes are okay to be eaten!”.

Kwok Ching Ser did not respond as he picked up his chopstick and started to eat at a very rapid rate. It appeared as if he had not eaten for days and was very hungry. He finished his dinner in around 10 minutes time. Turning to his young apprentice he asked, “Have you taken care of the large bill of 200,000 taels with Madame Wang?”.

“Yes I have! You needn’t worry about that any more! Madame Wang asked me to pass on a little bit of information to you!”, replied Ah Ngau with a mouthful of rice.

“Oh! And what’s that?”, asked Kwok Ching Ser in a curious tone.

“Madame Wang, said that Red Phoenix had stopped working at the ‘Goddesses Inn’ after receiving her payment of 100,000 taels of gold after entertaining you that night! Apparently she left as a virgin and did not entertain anyone else after that night!”, replied Ah Ngau with a smile.

“Why would Madame Wang think I would be interested in such minor trivia?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought out aloud.

After a while he asked, “How much money do I have left in the bank?”.

“Only 50,000 taels of gold I’m afraid! You’ve used up a lot of money these past few months on expensive meals and fast women!”, replied Ah Ngau looking across at his master. Never once has his bank account fallen below 200,000 taels of gold. So he was slightly concerned. But 50,000 taels of gold was still plenty of money never the less.

“In that case an extra 50,000 taels will be handy!”, continued Kwok Ching Ser with a smile.

“Master, do you have another assignment? Who is it this time?”, asked Ah Ngau with an excited expression on his face.

“Eh! Ah Ngau, don’t be so nosy! But I want you to come with me this time! It’ll be your responsibility to deliver the goods and accept payment from our customer”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he took a glanced around the restaurant.

“I’ll pack tonight in that case!”, continued Ah Ngau as he continued to munch down on his meal.

Kwok Ching Ser did not immediately respond. Instead he fixed his gaze towards a young scholar sitting at a table for one eating a very large and expensive meal by himself. His hair was neatly combed and tied at the back by a green scarf. He wore a long white robe with green trimmings. A white paper fan rested on the table before him. There were large plates of oysters, clams, and lobster on the table. A bottle of fine wine rested next to the young man. The complexion of the young man’s face looked a little whiter than that of an average man. In fact he looked very neat and clean. His skin looked soft and smooth. The facial features of the young scholar looked very familiar to Kwok Ching Ser, but he could not for the time being, guess where he had seen this person before. The young scholar appeared to have noticed Kwok Ching Ser starring at him. At first he appeared a little uneasy. Smiling slightly the scholar in green then poured himself a cup of wine before raising it in the air to toast Kwok Ching Ser. He said, “Friend, I’m just a traveller through Hennan this evening! Would you like to join me for a drink?”.

“Have we met somewhere before?”, asked Kwok Ching Ser as he remained seated at his own table without moving an inch. He was not the type to entertain strange men that he had never come across. If it was a female who had asked him this same question, he would not have thought twice about it, and would have immediately joined them.

“I don’t think so! How could we have met? I’ve been studying down South for the past three years! This is the first time that I’ve decided to head home for a vacation! Tonight is also the first time that I’ve been to Hennan! So it is unlikely that you’ve met me before”, replied the young scholar in green robes as he downed a cup of wine.

“Perhaps I’ve mistaken you for someone else! But I’m sure I’ve seen your face somewhere before during my travels!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser. He was sure he had seen the scholar in green robes before.

“Maybe you’ve just seen my face in your dreams or maybe I just look like a friend that you’ve long forgotten about!”, replied the young scholar in green with a slight grin.

Kwok Ching Ser pondered over those comments. He slapped himself on the thigh before giving a loud laugh. He said, “Friend, I’m someone who does not dream nor do I have any long lost friends”.

Still laughing he added, “The only person that I would dream about is a rare beauty, and I’ve never met any beauties worth dreaming about!”.

“Oh! Are you saying that you’ve never met a rare beauty before on your journey? I don’t think you’re telling the entire truth here!”, replied the young scholar in green. He appeared to be half happy and half annoyed.

Moments later he placed a couple of ingots of silver on the table to pay for his meal. Cupping his hands together he said, “Friend, it’s getting quite late! I must rest for the long journey tomorrow! Take care! Perhaps we’ll meet again some day!”.

“Friend, likewise! Take care!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he cupped his hands together.

“Where have I seen him before?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought to himself as he watched the young scholar in green leave the restaurant. The scholar turned right down the hall, before taking a flight of stairs up towards the rooms located in the west wing.

(To Be Continued)

[witchiz_brews]

i'm wondering what would happen next... that young man that we saw is a girl in disguise? Maybe the vergin gal in the bothel? (any wrong sp?) ... nvm... she's the thief? hehe.. update soon... i wanna know what happen! Good work! I like your stories.

[patricia n]

i agree with witchiz_brews that the young man is probably the other virgin from the brothel. i hope you update this fic soon. want to see what the ending for the protagonist is, will it be death or a narrow escape or just plain invincibility?

[Long]

After finishing his meal, Kwok Ching Ser and his young apprentice retired to their rooms to rest for the long journey ahead. The night passed by without incident and Kwok Ching Ser slept like a baby, particularly as a result not having much rest these pass few days. He had been travelling non-stop from Luoyang to arrive at Hennan in time for his appointment earlier in the night. But as he snored away into the deep hours of the night he was suddenly awoken by the soft and gentle hand of a maiden. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw a blinding golden light and a pretty maiden dressed in red. He had the sudden urge to get up and speak with her. As he approached the maiden in red, she started to dance and circle around him. At all times fixing her gaze deep into his eyes. He wanted to ask her some questions, but she did not say one word. All she did was smile, and appeared to be half teasing him, by waving a red scarf left and right before his face. But she would not allow him to touch her in any way. Each advance of his was turned back by a swift hand that forced him back several paces. Then she transformed into a red phoenix and appeared to have disappeared from sight. Kwok Ching Ser was left standing speechless with a hand out stretched calling, “Oh precious maiden, the most fair maiden, please wait! For if my eyes do not deceive me, and if there’s ever someone on this earth worth of being called a beauty, then it is she! To have her in my heart I’d die contently”.

But the maiden in red had appeared to be long gone and he was left standing all by himself looking directly into the golden light. Suddenly his heart ached with a hollow feeling. It was the first time in his life that he’s ever felt such a way. He felt alone in the world as the emptiness filled his heart. As he pondered over this sad feeling, he just could see from the corner of his eyes, a person dressed in green striding casually towards him. He couldn’t help but ask, “Friend, did you just see a red maiden pass your way?”.

To that the green traveller replied, “I think you’re mistaken, the red maiden never left this place!”. Upon finishing that sentence the green traveller journeyed on his way and never turned back.

Scratching his head, Kwok Ching Ser, thought out loud, “Why does that traveller say that the red maiden never left this place?”. As he pondered over this he noticed a small beggar boy fishing near the lake with a long bamboo fishing pole. He was humming some kind of country folk song and was starring into the water with a rather sheepish and cheeky grin. Kowk Ching Ser couldn’t help but become a little curious. Walking over to the beggar boy, he asked, “Did you see a red maiden pass your way? Why is it that the green traveller said that she has never left the place? Do you know?”.

The beggar boy ignored him, and continued fishing whilst humming a slightly different tune. He appeared to be mocking Kwok Ching Ser slightly. After a while he managed to say, “What the green traveller said is correct! The red maiden has never left this place! Can you not see for yourself?”.

“Where?”, asked Kwok Ching Ser as he observed the surroundings. Apart from the beggar boy and himself there was no one else about.

The young beggar boy did not respond. Instead he gave a slight yawn. He changed the subject after a while, and continued, “You’re such a fool do you know that?”.

“How am I a fool?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser a little surprised.

“You’ve lost something just now, and yet you do not know it! Are you not a fool because of that?”, replied the little beggar boy as he suddenly stood up and motioned to leave. In trying to leave, the little beggar boy bumped into Kwok Ching Ser, and fell to the ground. After picking himself off the ground, the beggar boy apologised, before placing the fishing pole over his shoulders, and walked towards the bright light. Once again another person had disappeared before Kwok Ching Ser’s eyes and he did not know why.

“What have I lost?”, Kwok Ching Ser couldn’t help but think to himself.

As he pondered over this very question, the bright light disappeared and he was surrounded by darkness. Suddenly the heavens opened up and poured down on him. He started to feel very cold. A sense of fear gripped his heart, but he did not know why. A flash of lightning appeared in the sky, followed by the sound of thunder. And before he knew it, a masked swordsman dressed in green stood before him. Moments later the green swordsman drew his sword and thrusted it towards Kwok Ching Ser’s heart. Wasting no time, Kwok Ching Ser, reacted by reaching for his sword. But to his surprise the exquisite snake sword that was normally wrapped around his waist had gone missing. A cold stream of sweat raced down his back as he watched on with great horror. His opponent’s sword was about to penetrate through his heart and take his life. All he could do was scream , “Ahhhhhh!”, out loud.

But he felt no pain upon gripping his heart. Kwok Ching Ser felt a sense of relief upon opening his eyes. Though he could feel cold sweat dripping down his back and off his forehead, he realised that it was only a ‘dream’. He felt the comfort of the straw bed underneath him. So he was sure that he was still in his room. But it was still dark. Indicating that it was still very early in the morning. He couldn’t help by remark, “What a weird dream!”, upon wiping the sweat away from his forehead.

Moments later he could hear a soft knock outside of his door and someone questioning, “Master, is everything okay? Are you awake?”.

It was only then he realised that it was Ah Ngau who had come to check on him upon hearing the scream. He replied, “Yes! I’m alright!”. Taking a pause he added, “What time is it now?”.

“Master, its already 6.00am in the morning! We should get going soon, otherwise we’ll miss the ferry! I’ve already packed our stuff!”, replied Ah Ngau whilst yawning slightly.

“It’s already 6.00am in the morning?”, Kwok Ching Ser muttered to himself. In normal days the sun would have already risen by this hour in the city of Hennan. He couldn’t help but think to himself, “The mornings are getter darker by the day! Perhaps it’s a bad omen!”. He rolled out of bed slowly to change and begin his journey moments later.

***************************************

“What’s the meaning of this?”, protested Minister Chu upon observing the old bearded man’s defensive move against his own attacking move on the red cannon.

During his move, Minister Chu, had decided to position one of his green cannons on the same horizontal line behind his green bishop. At that very moment the red cannon was sitting slightly behind the green bishop on the same horizontal line, and was thus ready to be taken on the next move by Minister Chu. Unfortunately the old bearded man in black during his move, had just decided to advance one of his red pawns on the same vertical line between the green bishop and red cannon. Such a move prevented Minister Chu from taking the red cannon through an attacking move with his green cannon. He could only take out the red pawn that was now positioned behind the green bishop. Should Minister Chu proceeded with this move, it mean that on the following move the old bearded man in black could take out the green bishop. So the old bearded man had actually been very sneaky in making an attacking counter move. The pawn was actually used as bait to lure Minister Chu into proceeding with an attacking move with the green cannon. So Minister Chu was greatly annoyed at having lost the upper hand.

Raising a hand in the air and laughing slightly, the old bearded man said, “Now! Now! Minister Chu, don’t get upset! I said I would give you an opportunity to take his head! But I never said anything about giving up his head to you on a platter so freely! That I mean that I would have abandoned the art of chess! If that were the case this game would not be worth playing!”.

Pouring a cup of wine before downing it, he continued, “As I said previously! You may have his head if you can take it! I never said that it was going to be easy!”.

“Humph!”, snorted Minister Chu upon observing the position of all of the green and red pieces on the chess board. He had already lost all five of his green pawns on his initial phase of attacking moves and was thus greatly disadvantage as a result. If the old bearded man wasn’t going to give up his right cannon so easily, it meant that Minister Chu had to take it by force. He still had plenty of powerful pieces to do that. But he needed to be wise in manoeuvring them in order to be able to take out the red cannon. There were currently only two red pieces that had been moved into enemy territory. That was a red pawn and red cannon. The other pieces were pretty much static.

Minister Chu took a moment to pour himself a cup of wine without taking his eye away from the chess board. He smiled as he downed the cup of wine. Slamming a fist on the table, he said, “Ah Ha! I’ve got it!”.

“Oh! What is your plan?”, questioned the old bearded man with a curious look on his face.

“I’m not telling you! All I can say is that I’ll be able to take your red cannon out within the next 10 moves!”, replied Minister Chu looking and sounding rather confident that his plans would work.

“What? In just 10 moves?”, remarked the old bearded man in shock.

“I don’t believe you! Surely, you’re only boasting here!”, added the old bearded man after a momentary pause waving his hand about. It was obvious that he did not believe that Minister Chu could take his red cannon within 10 moves. In fact the old bearded man appeared to be mocking Minister Chu, by the way he was waving his hand, through the tone of his voice, and the body language. Besides, he’s always had Minister Chu’s measure up till now, and there was no reason for him to believe that he could possibly lose from such a strong position. Besides he still had a few aces up his sleeve that he had yet to utilise.

Minister Chu was greatly annoyed upon seeing this. His heart filled with some rage as he said, “If you don’t believe me, why don’t we put a wager of $50,000 on this?”.

“$50,000? Well if you insist on giving me extra pocket money today, then I’ll have to accept it with open arms! You’re too kind! It’s a deal!!”, replied the old bearded man with a confident laugh.

Minister Chu was not pleased upon hearing those comments. The complexion of his face changed to a slightly reddish colour. All he could do was mutter and curse underneath his breath. He badly wanted to win this game now. Taking a moment to collect his own thoughts, Minister Chu advanced one of his green knights in an attacking position to take the red pawn in the next move. That gave the old bearded man two choices. One of them was to abandon the red pawn by moving the red cannon into a safer position. The other was to protect the red pawn and sacrifice the red cannon.

“Interesting move!”, remarked the old bearded man as he observed the positioning of all his red pieces. A wide grin crept across his face as it appeared as if Minister Chu recklessly overlooked something on the chess board.

(To be Continued)

[Long]

1. Minister Chu opens by advancing the central pawn on the chess board. (Black represents the green peices).

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The central pawn is also represented by the character of Kwong Sing Juk who is the leader of the '5 Jade Tigers' of the Ming Government in the story...

2. The Black Snake Assassin, Kwok Ching Ser, begins his attack on the '5 Jade Tigers' at the Divine Godess Inn.

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Kwok Ching Ser kills the first pawn on the left, then leaps over the central pawn to take the one on the inner right, then back over the central pawn to take the one inner left, then over the central pawn again to take the one on the right, as one by one they advance over the river. The central pawn is taken last. The green (black cannon in this case) in enemy territory is designated by the character of 'Red Phoenix).

3. The Black Snake Assassin kills all of the '5 Jade Tigers'.

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This is how the Chess Board looks when we return to Minister CHu and the old bearded man playing chess for the first time. They do make a few moves whilst they talk, but are not important moves.

4. Old bearded man advances the Red Cannon, next to Green Bishop, and places him at great disadvantage.

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See how the Green Cannon, and Knight are lurking in dangerous positions close by. There is a mistake on this diagram though (the knight is moved up in the following move, and its the old bearded man's turn, so the red cannon can't be taken). I captured the wrong picture, it should have been the move before this one.

5. The Black Snake Assassin, is on the rooftop, observing the thief.

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Thief designated by black cannon. The two men who lost the scroll are designated by the two guards on either side. The red cannon is of course the black snake assassin.

6. The old bearded man uses red pawn to defend the red cannon from being taken by the green cannon.

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The red pawn designates the black assassin's apprentice, Ah Ngau.

7. Minister CHu advances his knight to take the pawn. next move = old bearded man to decide.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.geocities.com/graduate007/move7.jpg')

This picture represents where the game is currently at. As you can see it starts getting interesting.

I have actually based these pictures on real moves. Although at the beginning there's a lot of moving back and forth to get the peices in place. Over 26 moves in total. Those familiar in chess, can probably guess how the red cannon will become trapped by within the next 10 moves.

THose not familiar with this version of chess should visit the following link:

http://www.chessvariants.org/xiangqi.html

[shannen]

UPDATE SOON!

[Long]

The sun begins to rise from the east providing a sparkle of golden light for weary travellers and early birds. On the banks of the Yellow River stood a crowd of about 30 merchants, scholars, and common folk with travelling bags slung over their shoulders. All were gathered around the dock eagerly awaiting the arrival of the morning ferry from Wuling to travel to Kaifeng. A group of local men could be heard chatting happily away, catching up on the days of their youth. Young babies could be heard crying on the bosoms of their mothers. A group of scholars were engaged in a philosophical debate about politics on the side. Little kids entertain themselves by playing hide and seek in the bushes and scrubs as their parents watch over them. Not far from where the little kids were playing, sat a little beggar on a large rock. A large willow tree situated on the muddy banks of the Yellow River provided the young beggar with shelter from the sun. He was at this moment chewing on a long strand of straw whilst baiting his long bamboo fishing pole. Giving the bamboo pole a light swing he was casted the line in the river for a good early morning catch. The young beggar’s face and arms were covered in dirt and mud. Despite this one could still notice that the young beggar had a rather smooth, thin, but handsome face. An old green silk travelling bag rested by the young beggar’s side. The beggar was at this moment humming some kind of country folk song whilst fixing his gaze into the river.

As the beggar hummed away, the sounds of heavy horse hoofs could be heard trudging from a narrow dirt path along the Yellow River leading to the right hand side of the dock. It was rumoured in Wulin that this path lead to the bamboo forest that was the home of the ‘Green Raven’, Du Ching Fung, who also held the title of the ‘Marquise of Hennan’. In times of peace Du Ching Fung had acquired a steady reputation as an elite swordsman in Wulin and was also a well renowned bounty hunter.

As the sounds of the horse hoofs got louder and louder, one could just see a lone rider on a white horse emerging from the bamboo forest. As the rider approached the dock, one could see that he appeared to be a man in his late 20s. Though he had a noble air about him, he looked as fierce as a bull and had a war like appearance. A long beard and short moustache covered his glowing red face. One could tell this man was a general of the Ming Government by his dress and appearance. A suit of black plated armour covered his well built body and massive frame. A black helmet with green tassels was worn on his head. An insignia of a raven was carved into the centre of the helmet at the front. A long green cape was worn over his shoulders and was flustering into the breeze as he rode. A white raven was embroidered at the back of the his cape. He carried a long ‘Kwan’ spear in his right hand. A sword was strapped by his waist. This man was none other than the renowned ‘Green Raven’, Du Ching Fung. It was rumoured that his kung fu foundation was from the famous Wudang clan.

The early morning ferry arrived at the exact same time as the ‘Green Raven’ reached the dock. The crowd of 30 people waiting on the dock immediately lined up in single file to board the ferry. Two attendants on the ferry were busy rushing about to make the necessary preparations for the boarding. A plank was secured on the dock to allow passengers onto the ferry. Just at this moment the ‘Green Raven’ dismounted from his white horse and tied it to the tree next to the dock. He appeared to be in some haste as he immediately rushed up to speak with the two attendants on the ferry. They were, at this moment, in the process of allowing the first two passengers on board the ferry. Waving his hands about towards the two attendants, the ‘Green Raven’ shouted, “Hold it! Don’t let anyone board without my permission!”.

“Go tell the boat master!”, said one of the attendants to the other as he held the passengers up on the plank.

Moments later the boat master appeared from the helm of the ship. He was a well rounded man in his early 40s. A long beard covered his face. Looking directly at the ‘Green Raven’ who had now taken up a position besides the other attendant with his arm out stretched to prevent anyone from boarding the ferry, he said, “General, may I have the pleasure to know who you are and what the problem is?”.

Stroking his beard he added, “I am but a simple man! I would be grateful if you could let me get on about my business!”.

Cupping his hands together, the Green Raven replied, “I am General Du, the Marquise of Hennan! I must apologise for this inconvenience! But I have received information that the renowned assassin, the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ is passing through Hennan and is rumoured to be on his way to Kaifeng!”.

Casting a glance towards the crowd of passengers, he added with an arm out stretched, “The ‘Black Snake Assassin’ is a wanted criminal! I suspect that he’s hiding amongst this group of passengers! I therefore wish to search each and everyone of them before allowing them to board your vessel!”.

“General, as you wish! We’re under your jurisdiction and authority here in Hennan! Please proceed with your search. But I hope that you won’t delay us for long! In this trade being on time is everything!”, replied the boat master with a slight bow before returning to the helm of the ferry to make the necessary preparations to sail off.

A murmur went up from the crowd upon hearing that a they were going to be subject to detailed search and examination on the dock before being allowed on the ferry. The common folk had always been mistrusting of the Ming Government and a search meant that they could be the object of false accusations. For it was not uncommon for a corrupt government official to just pull aside an innocent person and accuse them of being the wanted murders and criminals to claim reward from the Emperor. Such was the state of corruption in the Ming Government.

“Boat master, my sincere thanks! It won’t take long! I promise!”, replied the ‘Green Raven’ as he began examining each passenger carefully against a rough portrait of the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ that he had been given. He also took care to examine the personal papers and belongings of each of the passengers for something that looked remotely suspicious. But he did not find any trace of evidence that would indicate that the Black Snake Assassin was amongst the group of passengers after searching the 10th passenger and allowing them to board the ferry.

As the Green Raven conducted his search on the rest of the passengers, a young man and a boy could be seen walking towards the dock from a narrow dirt path along the bank of the Yellow River on the left. The path was normally taken by travellers who had come from the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’. The young man wore a white robe with red trimmings. He took long but casual strides whilst fanning himself with his paper fan. The young boy was dressed in the exact same attire as the young man. A large travelling bag was slung over his shoulders. The young man and boy were none other than Kwok Ching Ser and his young apprentice, Ah Ngau. They were a little late in checking out of the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’ and were thus were a little late in getting to the dock. If not for the short delay caused by the ‘Green Raven’ they would have actually missed the ferry. As they both approached the ferry, something caught Kwok Ching Ser’s eyes, and he stopped in his tracks.

“Master, what is it?”, asked Ah Ngau upon realising that his master had stopped in his tracks. But Kwok Ching Ser did not reply. His gaze was fixed on the young beggar sitting on the rock.

“Master, we don’t have much time left! They’re already boarding! Let’s get going!”, continued Ah Ngau as he tugged the sleeve of his master to get his attention.

Taking a look towards the crowd of passengers lined up by the side of the dock, Kwok Ching Ser said, “The ferry won’t be leaving anytime soon! There’s some kind of inspection going on!”.

Turning his attention back on the young beggar, Kwok Ching Ser remarked, “Strange!”.

“What’s strange?”, questioned Ah Ngau not entirely sure why his master acted in such a way. It was the first time that his master appeared to be unsure of himself. So he was eager to know the source of his master’s concern.

“Last night there was a young beggar fishing by the river in my dreams! And there’s a young beggar fishing by the river now before me!”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser out loud.

Turning to his young apprentice, before fixing his gaze back on the river, he continued, “Do you not find it strange?”.

“Master, Uncle Kiu often told me that dreams are unconscious thoughts that can foretell the future! Perhaps that what you dream was about last night! So it would not be strange that you dreamt of meeting a beggar and today there’s a beggar before you!”, replied Ah Ngau.

“Uncle Kiu?”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser appearing to be a little puzzled by Ah Ngau’s comments.

After a little while he added, “You mean my third junior apprentice brother, Kiu Pin Fok, the Black Bat Assassin told you this! Correct?”.

Ah Ngau did not respond by nodded his head to indicate that Kwok Ching Ser had guessed correctly. It was well known that Kiu Pin Fok, also known as the ‘Black Bat Assassin’, prior to joining the 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins dedicated his life to the study of Taoism. So Kiu Pin Fok’s words carried with it great wisdom. Folding up his fan before grasping it with both hands, Kwok Ching Ser remarked with a touch of horror, “But if that’s true! Then….”.

Just at this moment, the young beggar could be seen hoisting up the bamboo rod from the river. A large fish could be seen struggling at the end of the line. The beggar had landed the first catch of the day. A sheepish smile emerged on the young beggar’s face as he unhooked the fish from the fine. He could be heard remarking, “Little fishy! Little fishy! Aren’t you a stupid one to have been so easily caught by me!”. Moments later the young beggar threw the fish back into the river. Packing up his fishing rod, before swinging his travelling bag over his shoulder, the young beggar walked back towards the narrow dirt path where Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau stood. He appeared to be headed towards the ferry as well.

“I’ve seen that face before!”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly as the young beggar approached them and was now standing around 10 paces away. But he could not make out the face of the young beggar properly as it had been covered in mud. Besides he wasn’t sure if the familiarity of the beggar’s face had something to do with the image that he saw in his dream of the previous night, or whether he had actually seen a real person with similar facial features. But as he pondered over this thought the young beggar skipped happily passed him like a giddy little boy with a big grin on his face.

Not long after the young beggar could be heard giving a cry of, “Ah Ya”, as he appeared to have slipped and fell onto the dirt path. He was at this moment sitting on the ground whilst rubbing his ankles. The young beggar appeared to be in some pain and was cursing underneath his breath.

Kwok Ching Ser smiled as he increased his pace. Turning to Ah Ngau he said, “Let’s go and help that poor little fellow!”.

“Master, why? You’ve never cared for anyone before in the past! Why should we help that stinking beggar today?”, questioned Ah Ngau once more. Though his master had always been kind and caring towards him, he had never cared about the safety and well being of others, whom he met along his path. Ah Ngau was aware that Kwok Ching Ser was a very simple man who wondered about freely within the realm of Wulin without a care in the world. Nor was he the kind to perform heroic deeds to save the common people from harm and suffering. In fact Ah Ngau had witness many times during his travels with his master, where he had refused to help those in need, despite them begging him to do so. In fact Kwok Ching Ser had once told Ah Ngau, “The world’s sufferings are many! One man alone can not cure them all!”. Yet today, he was showing signs of sympathy towards a young beggar who had just taken a simple fall. So this was very unusual indeed.

But Kwok Ching Ser did not respond. He had already rushed up to the young beggar and now stood over him. He said, “Friend, are you okay?”.

The young beggar continued rubbing his ankles without looking up. He replied, “Of course I’m not okay! Are you blind or what? Can’t you see for yourself? I’ve severely twisted my right ankle! Oh! Ouch!…”.

“Well are you able to walk?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser with an air of concern. He realised that the young beggar was being a little rude but ignored it for the time being. He would not have tolerated such behaviour from a stranger, let alone a young boy, in the past.

“Don’t you think I’d be on my way now if I was able to walk? Or do you think that I actually enjoy sitting here on this muddy dirt path?”, replied the young beggar as he cursed underneath his breath.

Ignoring the young beggar’s comments once more, Kwok Ching Ser, reached forward with a hand out stretched and said, “Here, let me help you!”.

Slapping away Kwok Ching Ser’s hands, the young beggar said, “Humph! Just because I’ve fallen doesn’t mean that I want your help! I don’t recall asking anyone for help either!”.

Struggling to stand on his feet whilst looking towards Kwok Ching Ser for the first time, with a rather roguish smile, the young beggar continued, “How do you propose to help me anyway? Are you some kind of doctor? Otherwise you’re good for nothing! I don’t need your help!”. The young beggar cursed underneath his breath once more as he struggled to walk past them whilst appearing to winch in some pain.

“Why you little brat…”, cursed Ah Ngau to the side upon hearing that his master was being insulted by a little beggar. But Kwok Ching Ser shook his head towards Ah Ngau to indicate to him to remain quiet.

Kwok Ching Ser just smiled as he watched the young beggar limp towards the dock where the line was now getting shorter and shorter. Giving a little laugh he said, “Friend, I am no doctor! So if you’re okay to walk, then we’ll be getting on our way! Goodbye!”.

But as Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau walked past the young beggar, he appeared to have lost his balance and was about to fall to the ground a second time. Utilising his lightness kung fu, Kwok Ching Ser, reached back to brace the young beggar to prevent him from falling. He expected to receive some kind of thanks or praise, but all the little beggar said to him was, “Humph! Its all your fault that I nearly fell to the ground and injured myself once more!”.

“How’s this my fault?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser a little confused and amused by the little beggar at the same time. Never in his life had he come across someone like that before. He thought the young beggar’s reasoning was a little bit illogical. In his own mind, he knew that he had offered to help the little beggar, but it was the beggar who refused his help.

Struggling to stand back on his own two feet, the young beggar said, “You knew that I was injured! Yet you chose to walk directly pass me without providing any assistance! That’s something that a gentleman would never do! Humph!”.

Turning his head away the beggar continued, “You insensitive, inhumane, and rotten scumbag!”.

By now Kwok Ching Ser was becoming a little tired of the young beggar and the insults that were being directed towards him. He said with a smile before turning to leave, “I never professed to be a gentlemen did I! So if you’ll excuse me, I must be going!”.

As they arrived at the dock, the young beggar could be heard shouting from some distance behind, “Wait!…”.

But the shouts were in vain as Kwok Ching Ser had made a conscious decision not to turn around and help the young beggar any more. Besides had it been any ordinary person, Kwok Ching Ser would not have offered to help him in the first place. He was only curious about the young beggar, because a beggar had a appeared in his dream, and he had also noticed that the young beggar looked very familiar. So he had initially wanted to befriend the young beggar and find out more about his identity. But he could have never guessed that the beggar would treat him with such disrespect and even talk down towards him. So he was a little angry inside, though on the outside he displayed a calm and emotionless disposition.

Upon reaching the dock, Kwok Ching Ser, noticed for the first time that it was actually the ‘Green Raven’ who was conducting the search of passengers boarding the ferry. He smiled slightly upon noticing this. Directly in front of them stood a merchant in his mid 20s. He was of medium height and had a rather handsome face. It was obvious that he was a well-educated man by his dress and appearance. A long green silk robe covered his medium built body. A black square merchant’s hat with green trimmings rested on his head. He carried no weapon in hand, but instead held a small birdcage, that housed a little parrot with green, red, and blue feathers inside in his left hand.

Tapping the young merchant on the shoulder, Ah Ngau inquired, “What’s happening here? Why have they delayed the boarding?”.

The young merchant turned around before shooting a side-glance towards Ah Ngau, and then Kwok Ching Ser. He responded by saying, “The general here suspects that the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ is in Hennan and will be taking this ferry to travel to Kaifeng! So he has decided to search all of the passengers before allowing them on board!”.

“Oh!…”, replied Ah Ngau looking slightly nervous.

“Good gracious! What makes him think that?”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser out loud with a big grin.

“Humph! You’re asking me? Then who should I ask? I’m just a simple man trying to earn a living! How should I know what these Ming government officials are doing?”, snorted the young merchant, appearing to be slightly irritated by the question. He was due for inspection next as the ‘Green Raven’ had just allowed the 29th passenger on board the ferry after a prolonged search.

As the young merchant was being searched, the young beggar had finally caught up and stood to the side of Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau. He was puffing slightly and looked rather annoyed that Kwok Ching Ser had ignored him all this time. He had initially wanted to unleash some anger about being left behind by them when he was clearly injured. Noticing that the young merchant was being searched by the ‘Green Raven’ the young beggar couldn’t help but ask, Ah Ngau, what was going on. Ah Ngau passed on what had been said earlier to the young beggar. He stood to the side and remained silent. Though a wicked grin suddenly appeared on the young beggar’s face.

“Please open your bag!”, the Green Raven could be heard saying to the young merchant in green to the side.

Kwok Ching Ser, Ah Ngau, and the young beggar couldn’t help but become a little curious as what was contained inside the young merchant’s travelling bag. So they all fixed their gazes upon it. Kwok Ching Ser’s face immediately lit up upon noticing the long marble flute hidden amongst the spare clothes.

“So this young merchant is that man that I’ve been sent to kill!”, he thought inwardly as he gave a cold stare towards the young merchant in green. In normal days he would pull out his sword and immediately strike his target down. Even in broad daylight and even in the presence of other Ming government officials. For he had no fear towards his opponents. He thought he was invincible after all, and that no one would be able to defeat him. In fact he has never met a single worthy opponent in his life thus far.

But as these murderous thoughts ran through Kwok Ching Ser’s mind, he couldn’t help but wonder, “But who is this man? And why do they want him dead?”.

He was slightly surprised with himself, as these thoughts flashed through his mind. Never once before in his life has he raised these kinds of questions in his own mind when it was the time to kill. In the past he killed whomever he was sent to kill without giving it a second thought or questioning it. So it was odd that these thoughts had crossed his mind. After a while he reached a decision and was about to reach for his sword, but then hesitated. Was it because of the presence of the Green Raven, or was it for the safety of his young apprentice that he hesitated in striking the young merchant down at this point in time? No one could know for sure. But Kwok Ching Ser now sought to uncover the identity of the green merchant before taking any further action.

Not long after the Green Raven, finished searching through the green merchant’s belongings and allowed him to board the ferry. Pointing an index finger towards Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau he said, “You two are next! Please proceed here!”.

Just as the Green Raven was about to lift up the rough portrait of the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ to compare it to Kwok Ching Ser’s face, the young beggar could be heard saying in a loud voice, “Oh it’s useless! It’s useless! It’s utterly useless! I may as well give myself in…”.

The Green Raven became slightly intrigued upon hearing the words, “I may as well give myself in”, from the young beggar. So he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s useless? What are you talking about?”.

Kwok Ching Ser on the other had was about to draw his sword to strike the Green Raven down, when he heard the young beggar shouting. He stood back with a smile and watched the events fold before his eyes. It was obvious to him that the young beggar had also wanted to avoid being searched for some reason, and was creating a diversion for himself by creating a scene. Kwok Ching Ser couldn’t help but wonder, “I am a wanted assassin! But what’s that young beggar trying to hide by avoiding the authorities?”.

“Oh its useless! I must confess… Yes, its better for me to confess…”, muttered the young beggar to himself. He appeared to be talking to himself, and debating a great issue in his own mind.

“Confess what?”, questioned Green Raven becoming slightly annoyed at the various mutterings of the young beggar to the side.

Looking directly towards the Green Raven with a sly smile, the young beggar replied, “Oh! It’s just useless… Utterly useless…. Please arrest me! I willingly give myself up! I’m the ‘Black Snake Assassin’!”.

“Ha! What…”, gasped the Green Raven initially shocked by the response. He leapt three paces backwards and was about to draw his ‘Kwan’ spear to defend himself when another thought entered his mind.

Wasting no time, he decided to compare the face of the young beggar against the rough portrait of the ‘Black Snake Assassin’. After a while the Green Raven said, “Young man, stop fooling around! You’re not the ‘Black Snake Assassin’! Why do you profess to be so? Do you know it’s a crime to make false accusations or mislead a Ming government official?”.

“What? You must be joking! I tell you that I am the real ‘Black Snake Assassin’! What evidence do you have to suggest that I’m not?”, questioned the young beggar in return. He seemed quite determined and sure of himself.

But the Green Raven was convinced that the young beggar was just joking with him, as he has caused a rather lengthy delay by searching through all of the passengers individually. Presenting the rough portrait to the young beggar, the Green Raven said, “Here! Take a look for yourself! This portrait was drawn recently by an official who witnessed the murder of the Minister Tong! You look nothing like the young man who’s in the portrait!”.

“What? Let me see!”, remarked the young beggar as he took the portrait.

Shortly after looking at the rough portrait, the young beggar looked across at Kwok Ching Ser and smiled. He remarked, “Eh! What a handsome fellow! How could someone like that possibly be a cold criminal? It’s a pity really!”.

Handing the rough portrait back to Green Raven, the young beggar added, “Also I must confess that I’m not the Black Snake Assassin! I only wanted to know what he looks like!”.

Taking the portrait back into his hands the Green Raven said, “Humph! You can stop fooling around now!”.

He added, after a short pause, “Besides, you don’t know that much! So of the most handsome and beautiful people in this world are the most wicked and evil!”.

The Green Raven’s face was suddenly filled with horror upon looking at the rough portrait that was returned to him. The portrait was now covered in mud and beyond recognition. He hadn’t yet had an opportunity to assess the portrait against the face of Kwok Ching Ser, yet so he was very annoyed. He cursed, “Dam you! You little beggar brat! You’ve ruined the portrait! I’m going to punish you for this!”.

“Since when is having dirty hands a crime? I’ve been fishing all morning! So how is it that I am to be blamed for dirtying the picture?”, protested the little beggar whilst holding his hands in the air. One could see that it was covered in dirt and mud. A slight smirk appeared on his face.

“Besides, if you didn’t want your picture dirtied you could have just said so! I would have washed my hands by the river and this problem would have never occurred!”, added the little beggar with a wide grin after a little while.

The Green Raven had no response to the comments by the little beggar. He was still fuming inside as the little beggar by the clever words had actually turned the tables and accused him of being the one at fault. All he could do now was point an accusing finger whilst cursing underneath his breath, “You…. You…. Humph…”.

“What a devious little fellow!”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly to the side. Though he was curious as to why the little beggar would want to know what he looked like. Perhaps it was just another tactic of diversion being used by the young beggar? But he couldn’t know for sure. But he was becoming all the more curious about the little beggar with each passing moment.

Just at this moment, the boat master, re-emerged from the helm of the ship. He looked very annoyed and impatient. It was obvious that he wanted to immediately set sail so that he would arrive on time at the port of Kaifeng where other passengers were waiting to be transported. Giving the Green Raven a slight glare, as a sign of protest, he enquires, “General Du, are you done with your inspections yet? How much longer must we wait? I’ve been docked here for over 20 minutes now!”.

Casting a glare towards the young beggar, and then a side-glance towards Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau, the Green Raven replied with an arm out stretched, “These passengers are cleared for boarding! You may go about your business!”.

No long after Kwok Ching Ser, Ah Ngau, and the young beggar boarded the ferry. The Green Raven remained at the dock to wait for the other ferries that we due through Hennan that day to conduct his inspections. Though the portrait was ruined he was sure that he’d be able to find some suspicious evidence that would reveal the identity of the Black Snake Assassin later on in the day.

*************************************************

“Eh! My old friend, why haven’t you made your move yet?”, Minister Chu could be heard questioning the old bearded man in black with a little laugh. He poured himself a cup of wine and downed it moments later. Stroking his beard he leant back in a casual pose and waited for the old bearded man to make his move. Over 20 minutes had passed since he made the previous move.

But the old bearded man did not respond. His gaze was fixed on the chessboard and the positioning of the various green and red pieces. One could see that the various pieces, except for the red cannon, were positioned in the exact same position following the previous move by Minister Chu. The old bearded man in black had taken the red cannon off the chess board, and was now fiddling with that particular piece in his right hand, whilst stroking his long beard with his left hand. It was obvious that he had originally wanted to take the green bishop that was positioned between the green cannon and the red pawn, with the red cannon. But he was now hesitating to compete the move for some reason. In fact a layer of thick sweat had began forming on his forehead. Indicating that he was no longer certain of the outcome. He had indeed overlooked and missed something on the chessboard when deciding on his initial move. At first he wasn’t concerned about sacrificing the red pawn. But he now had his doubts.

“Why are you hesitating?”, questioned Minister Chu to the side upon noticing that the old bearded man had not yet reached a decision.

Taking his eye from the chessboard for the first time in 20 minutes, the old bearded man responded by saying, “Eh! Minister Chu, you know that chess is a strategic game! Winning and losing depends on executing a well thought out plan! It is not wise to make any rash decisions! I just needed to think over my initial strategy that’s all!”.

“Well have you reached a final decision yet?”, questioned Minister Chu in a rather confident and arrogant tone. He knew he had gained the upper hand by advancing the green knight in an attacking position, and was certain that he would be able to take the red cannon within the next 10 moves as he had claimed.

Pouring a glass of wine before downing it in one gulp, the old bearded man responded by saying, “Yes I have!”, as he took the green bishop in between the green cannon and red pawn from the chessboard and placed it to the side of the table. He followed this by placing the red cannon in the exact position as that previously occupied by the green bishop. He had captured the green bishop with that move, leaving the red pawn exposed to a possible attack from either the green cannon or the green knight.

The old bearded man smiled, as he shot a quick glance towards Minister Chu. He said, “It’s your turn! The red pawn is at your mercy! But I must advise you to chose wisely as the outcome of this game will depend on your next move!”.

(To be Continued)

[Long]

*************************************************

The ferry cruised down the Yellow River from early hours of the morning till the early hours of the evening. Up until around mid-day the ferry had cruised at full speed. But one could now see that the mast and sail had been lowered. Not because the boatmaster had wished to sail slowly and take a leisurely tour down the Yellow River, but rather it was a result of the unexpectedly strong and fierce winds blowing in the opposite direction. The various passengers had all expected to arrive at the port of Kaifeng by at least 10.00pm in the evening. But the delay caused by the ‘Green Raven’ earlier in the day combined with the strong winds had caused a further lengthy delay to their trip.

Whilst most of the people were resting down within the cabin drinking wine and alcohol, and eating light snacks prior to dinner, the merchant in green robes could be seen pacing backwards and forwards along the deck. He was at this moment standing motionlessly near the stern of the ship whilst fixing his gaze along the Yellow River. He gave a sigh and appears to be lost in thought. Such was the magnitude of the wind that he nearly lost his rectangular merchant’s hat overboard. But he managed to catch the hat back in his grasp before it floated away. He wore a very impatient and anxious expression on his face as he placed the rectangular hat back onto his head. It was obvious that the merchant was contemplating something that was of great importance and was a little stressed at this moment in time.

“Young sir, you were very lucky to have been able to retrieve your hat!”, someone could be heard remarking to break the silence.

Upon turning his head towards the source of the sound, the green merchant recognised it was only the boatmaster who was occupying a position behind the steering wheel to safely guide the ship down the Yellow River. Cupping his hands together, the green merchant replied, “Good evening boatmaster!”.

Gently stroking the white marble flute strapped to his waist, he questioned, “When are we likely to reach the port of Kaifeng?”.

Rolling the eyeballs to the back of his head to calculate an approximate time of arrival, taking into consideration of the strong winds, the boatmaster replied, “It’s hard to give you an approximate arrival time under these kinds of circumstances! We were due at the port of Kaifeng at 10.00pm! But I’d say we’ll most likely get there around 2.00am to around 3.00am in the morning!”.

Seeing the annoyed look on the young merchant’s face, the boatmaster added with a sigh, “Young sir, you have to understand! There’s nothing that I can do about this delay! I’m just a simple man trying to make a living! How can I possibly contend against the will of heaven?”.

“No I wasn’t blaming you!”, remarked the young merchant as he turned his attention to gazing down the Yellow River once more.

He gave loud sigh before turning back towards the boatmaste. He added, “I was hoping to arrive at Kaifeng a little earlier that’s all! I have an important message to deliver!”.

“Patience my friend… For great mischief befalls those who are impatient!”, replied the boatmaster a he turned his attention back towards steering the ship safely down the Yellow River.

The merchant in green robes remained standing on the deck, whilst gazing up at the moon above in the night sky. He started to pace up and down along the deck once more, before walking towards the rear of the boat. He was now out of the boat master’s view. There was a wind channel at the rear blowing wildly, causing a kind of a hollow hissing sound. The kind of sound that is normally made by a cobra before it launches its poisonous venom. Unstrapping the white marble flute from his waist, the merchant in green decided to place it next to his lips and started playing a tune. It was a rather sad and sorrowful sounding tune. The kind normally played to honour a long lost friend. Shortly after playing the tune the merchant in green suddenly felt a cold chill up his spine, making him jump up and shiver slightly in fright. Startled, he demanded in a raised voice, “Who goes there? Speak!”.

But he heard no response. Upon turning around, the merchant in green noticed a young scholar wearing white robes with red trimmings resting on the side railing observing the moon. He was standing around five paces away. But the green merchant did not immediately recognise him as he had his back turned.

“Just a friend admiring the view, that’s all!”, replied the scholar in white as he turned around to face the green merchant. Underneath the pale moonlight one could just see that the scholar in white robes was none other than Kwok Ching Ser.

“What on earth are you doing here?”, asked the green merchant. He appeared to be initially startled upon seeing the face of the white scholar. Upon composing himself, he took another casual glance up and down at Kwok Ching Ser.

Smiling slightly, Kwok Ching Ser replied, “It’s a free world… What makes you so special that no one else is able to stand here and admire the beauty of the full moon?”.

“Humph! I don’t mind anyone else standing out here whilst I’m alone! But definitely not someone like you!”, replied the merchant in green as he lowered his white marble flute and gently tapped the end against his left hand. He then took up a casual pose and leant against the side riling. There was a slight smirk on his face as he glanced back at Kwok Ching Ser.
“Oh! Why everyone but not me? Surely this is an act of discrimination against me for no reason! I’ll report you to the authorities!”, jested Kwok Ching Ser with both of his arms out stretched in a slight mocking protest. He also looked upon the green merchant with a touch of surprise upon noticing the casual pose he had taken. It seemed as if the green merchant had guessed who he was and what his intentions were. But at the same time did not seem to fear his abilities. This was indeed very remarkable.

Looking at the black snake insignia embroidered on the gold belt worn around Kwok Ching Ser’s waist, the green merchant replied, “Humph! Don’t take me to be a fool! I know who you are! And I know why you’re here!”.

Kwok Ching Ser observed the merchant in green more closely for the first time. Apart from the white marble flute, and the four fingers on his left hand, he did not notice anything unusual about the green merchant. He was also slightly surprised that the green merchant had actually been able to guess who he was. A little curious he asked, “Who are you? How do you know who I am?”.

Pointing the tip of the white marble flute towards Kwok Ching Ser before gently tapping it against his own chest, the merchant in green replied, “You don’t remember me do you?”, indicating that they had met on a previous occasion.

Even more shocked, Kwok Ching Ser, continued, “Should we have met before? I don’t seem to know you!”.

“Humph! You may not remember my face! But I’m sure you’ll be able to remember this!”, added the green merchant as he tilted his head to the left before removing the collar of his robes slightly to display a big black rounded scar on the shoulder blade. It was a sign that he had been struck in that region by a medium sized projectile that was poisoned. Moments later the green merchant produced a black snake dart in his left hand.

Upon seeing the dart and the wound, Kwok Ching Ser, immediately recognised the merchant in green. He remarked, “Ah! So you’re none other than Minister Tong’s elite bodyguard, Jin Wing Chi! So you managed to survive my poison snake dart after all! How have you been all these months?”.

On the night that the former Treasurer, Minister Tong, was murdered, Kwok Ching Ser and Jin Wing Chi had fought a heated round on the rooftops of the Forbidden City. It lasted around 20 stances before Jin Wing Chi was finally injured by a poison black snake dart. Thinking that Jin Wing Chi was dead, Kwok Ching Ser, decided to leave scene. But that night it was dark and Jin Wing Chi was wearing his inspectors uniform. So it was hard for Kwok Ching Ser to be able to recognise him.

Jin Wing Chi on the other hand was fortunate that he had been fighting Kwok Ching Ser at the Forbidden City, where the Royal Doctor resided. Otherwise he would have been doomed to death. But the Royal Doctor was able to create an antidote for the snake poison dart. When Jin Wing Chi was cured of his injuries, he drew a portrait of Kwok Ching Ser and distributed to the various law enforcement agencies, secret service, and various task forces of the Ming Government. He had also been secretly tracking Kwok Ching Ser’s movements since that night. He was aware that Kwok Ching Ser was a regular customer at the ‘Goddesses Inn’ and had spent many nights there uncover to wait for him. He had been there on the night that Kwok Ching Ser had participated in the auction for the Red Phoenix and Blue Butterfly and witnessed the murder of the ‘5 Jade Tigers’. He has been following Kwok Ching Ser in secret ever since. As Minister Tong’s former bodyguard he had hoped to capture and bring Kwok Ching Ser to justice. At the same time he also wanted to uncover the mastermind behind Minister Tong’s murder.

“I’m well! I see you haven’t changed your murderous ways!”, replied Jin Wing Chi with a smile. He appeared to be very calm, relax, and confident despite knowing the obvious fact that Kwok Ching Ser had come to kill him.

“I earn a living of killing! So of course I haven’t changed! I see you’re just as meddlesome as ever… That’s going to cost you your life!”, smirked Kwok Ching Ser, wishing that he had ridded himself of Jin Wing Chi many months ago. It was because of the fact that he had failed to kill Jin Wing Chi that the Ming Government and various authorities have a rough portrait of what he looked like. Prior to that, only members of the 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins, and his young apprentice, knew who he was. Anyone else that had seen him had died by the edge of his blade.

Seeing the calm manner in which Jin Wing Chi was standing before him, Kwok Ching Ser couldn’t help but ask, “If you already knew who I am, why did you not reveal my true identity earlier and team up with the ‘Green Raven’ Du Ching Fu to capture me?”.

Glaring at Kwok Ching Ser before giving a long sigh, Jin Wing Chi replied, “Humph! The ‘Green Raven’ only seeks reward for the bounty of 50,000 taels of silver. He does cares about justice and would turn you in to the hands of the various corrupted Magistrates and Ministers. They would murder you before there’s ever a fair trail! What justice is that?”.

“Oh! If the one person who’s responsible for the murder of Minister Tong is hanged before the gallery is not called justice! Then let me ask you, ‘what is justice’? What do you want?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser a little surprised by Jin Wing Chi’s comments. It normal days he would pull out his sword at this moment and strike his opponent down without thinking. To him killing a person was killing a person. It was as simple as that. No further thoughts were needed, nor required. But he was a little curious as to what Jin Wing Chi had to say and thus allowed him to finish.

“I was hoping to learn from you, the identity of the person who hired you to murder Minister Tong! That is the person I’m after! That is the person who should be brought to justice! You’re not the person I seek! We need not fight tonight!”, replied Jin Wing Chi sounding very sincere about his proposal.

Kwok Ching Ser gave a slight snicker of disgust upon hearing those comments. He said, “Not fight? No you’re sadly mistaken! Surely you’ve managed to guess my purpose here tonight! Fighting is unavoidable!”.

It was now clear to Kwok Ching Ser, as to why he had been sent by the merchant in blue robes to murder Jin Wing Chi. It was also obvious that the blue merchant was working for Minister Chu and wished to eliminate all those who went against him. Since he, himself, was the person responsible for murdering Minister Tong, he was never going to let Jin Wing Chi live either. Particularly when Jin Wing Chi had been able to track him for many months in secret, and shadow each and every move of his. Laughing out loud Kwok Ching Ser added, “Besides, assassins also have a ‘code of honour’ to adhere to! Do you think that I’d stoop so low as to betray my colleagues and customers?”.

“Ah! But on the contrary! You’ll have no other option but to tell me! Whether its now or later! You will tell me who hired you to murder Minister Tong!”, replied Jin Wing Chi as he strapped his white marble flute to the side of his waist before reaching for the sheath of his sword in preparation for an attack.

“Oh! And why would I do such a silly thing?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser appearing to be slightly intrigued. No one had managed to defeat or capture him thus far, and he was confident of his own abilities. Having gone down this line of thinking, he grinned slightly as he reached for the paper fan strapped by his waist. He opening it up and began fanning himself.

“Because I’m going to arrest you!”, replied Jin Wing Chi as he finally drew his sword. A loud ‘cling’ echoed’ through the air as he did so. There was a slight metallic tinge of green reflected of the long broad sword. It was said that his sword had once belonged to the famous ‘Jade Swordsman’ of the Huashan Sect, which Jin Wing Chi had inherited as the senior apprentice.

“Arrest me? You must be joking!”, smirked Kwok Ching Ser as he closed up his paper fan.

Strapping the paper fan back to the side of his waist, he added, “What makes you think that you can arrest me?”.

“What makes you so sure that you’re able to kill me?”, asked Jin Wing Chi in return.

“Because you’re a defeated foe and I could have killed you before!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he reached to for his sword with a wicked laugh.

“But you failed to kill me once and you’ll not be able to kill me tonight either!”, smiled Jin Wing Chi was the thrusted his jade sword directly forward aiming for the right shoulder region of his opponent.

Kwok Ching Ser’s normal reaction was to reach for the hilt of his own sword, and draw it to defend himself. But to his surprise his sword was no where in sight. It had gone missing. All he managed to pull out from his golden belt was a single red rose. The thorns of the rose pricked him as he pulled it out.

“What the heck?”, he thought inwardly, upon looking at the red rose in his hands. He immediately back tracked in his mind how he could have lost his sword. He thought about whether he had actually forgotten to pack his sword in the urgent rush to leave the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’ or whether for one reason or another, that his young apprentice, Ah Ngau had taken it to clean and sharpen it without telling him. But one thing was for sure. He was currently engaged in a battle without his ‘exquisite snake sword’ by his side. A trickle of cold sweat flowed down his back upon this realisation.

Suddenly another thought ran pass his mind as he gasped in horror upon remembering his dream, “It must have been that little beggar…”.

Slightly stunned by the sudden turn of events he was unable to react to the first wave of attacks from Jin Wing Chi and received a minor flesh wound on the right shoulder and across his chest. He felt a stinging pain as blood dripped down onto mid-stomach region. This is the first time he’s actually been injured in a battle following the completion of his apprenticeship. Such was the level of his swordsmanship. He and became angered as a result and cursed, “Dam it! I’ve fallen into a trap!”.

Wasting no time he drew his white paper fan before leaping several paces backwards to create some space between himself and his opponent. Thinking that he was in an advantageous position Jin Wing Chi rushed forward and attacked. He used a stance called the ‘Divine Goddess fools the Monkey Lord’ from the Huashan Sect sword arts, where he appeared to have six arms. They were all wielding a jade sword and were attacking the six vital pressure points on Kwok Ching Ser’s body. A successful attack would cause severe and fatal injuries. Most martial artists would have immediately retreated several paces to defend against this move. But Kwok Ching Ser stood his ground, whilst closing up his paper fan and holding it like a small dagger.

Just when it appeared as if the six swords would penetrate through Kwok Ching Ser’s body, he suddenly opened up his fan and protected the pressure point at the mid stomach region. At the same time six ‘hissing’ noises could be heard through the air, as six black objects flew towards Jin Wing Chi. To the naked eye they appeared to be six tiny black snakes guiding through the air.

It was followed by a loud shriek of “Ah Ya”, as Jin Wing Chi crashed hard on the deck of the boat and coughed up a mouthful of blood. When Kwok Ching Ser had closed up his paper fan, he had actually loaded it with six snake darts. They were launched upon the opening of the fan. It happened so quickly that Jin Wing Chi was unable to guard or defend against it, and was thus injured by them. Cursing slightly, Jin Wing Chi asked, “How… How did you manage to defeat me without your sword?”.

“You’re forgetting who I am…”, replied Kwok Ching Ser with a grin as he proceeded towards his fallen opponent.

Crouching over Jin Wing Chi before placing his white paper fan across his neck, he continued, “Your ‘Divine Goddess fools the Monkey Lord’ stance is truly amazing! But since you did not seek kill me, but rather capture me, I could easily anticipate which of the six pressure points you were attacking towards! It was obvious that you were aiming for the least fatal pressure point!”.

Looking very disheartened at being defeated, Jin Wing Chi cursed, “Humph! I’m defeated! Just kill me and get it over with!”.

“Humph! Don’t worry about that! I’ll kill you in good time!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he pressed the edge of the paper fan harder against his opponent’s neck.

Looking down at the golden belt wrapped around his waist, he added, “But before I do, you’re going to tell me who it was that has been working for you and has stolen my sword!”.

“Not a chance… Ah!…”, cried Jin Wing Chi with his last breath. He had used his last ounce of strength to pull Kwok Ching Ser’s paper fan hard against his own neck, and committed suicide by cutting off his head.

“Ah! A real pity!”, sighed Kwok Ching Ser upon realising that Jin Wing Chi had committed suicide. The once white paper fan that was in his right hand was now stained in red blood. He immediately took out a black silk cloth to clean the blood from his white paper fan and his hands. He then tore up part of his clothing to wrap it around his wounds. There was a pool of blood on the deck. Taking Jin Wing Chi’s head into his own hands he wrapped it up with a silk cloth. As he began wipping the blood from the floor, a small blue envelope resting in the right hand corner pocket of Jin Wing Chi’s robes caught his attention.

“What’s this?”, he thought as he placed the blue envelope into his own pockets, before cleaning the rest of the blood on the deck with another silk cloth. Upon cleaning up the blood around the body, he threw the piece of blood stained cloth overboard.

Just when he was about to pick up and throw Jin Wing Chi’s body overboard, the boatmaster could be heard shouting, “Hey! What’s going on back there?”.

Kwok Ching Ser immediately jumped up onto his feet and drew his paper fan, thinking that the boatmaster had seen him murder Jin Wing Chi and was now approaching the rear of the ship to investigate. But to his surprise there was no one standing before him.

“Oi! For the last time what’s going on back there? Don’t make me come down there!”, demanded the boatmaster once more with a raised voice.

Upon walking out from the rear of the ship, Kwok Ching Ser could see that the boatmaster had remained at the helm to steer it through the rough tides created by the wind. It was obvious that the boatmaster did not know what was going on. In fact it had been so windy that the boatmaster had been unable to tell that a battle had taken place at the back of the boat and that someone had been slained. All he heard were the mutters now and again when the two men were shouting. The cabin was sound proof so no one below would have noticed the battle taking place. Walking around to the front of the ship so that the boatmaster could see and hear him, Kwok Ching Ser, replied, “Boatmaster, it’s really nothing! I was just having a political debate with a friend of mine!”.

“Humph! Well just keep it down will you! I’m trying to concentrate on steering us on a safe course! It’s such a windy night, that one slip up could cause us to hit a rock and send us crashing to the bank! That’ll end your trip really quickly wouldn’t it?”, snuffed the boatmaster as he turned his attention to steering his boat down the Yellow River.

“Of course… Of course…”, replied Kwok Ching Ser trying his best to sound apologetic.

After conversing with the boatmaster, Kwok Ching Ser decided to walk back towards the rear of the ship to finish tidying up. Upon accomplishing his assassination mission, he eagerly wanted to toss Jin Wing Chi’s body overboard. Since he was travelling on the ferry he needed to destroy any evidence that a murder had taken place on board to avoid any delays or attract any unwanted attention. The boatmaster and the various passengers had already been alerted to the fact that the ‘Black Snake Assassin’ was travelling to Kaifeng. So they would definitely put two and two together if they uncovered that someone had been murdered on board. Not that they could stop him, but Kwok Ching Ser was the type who did not wish to murder those he was not hired to kill. For he did not kill for free and had always killed for a price.

But Kwok Ching Ser had the biggest shock when he turned the corner. Jin Wing Chi’s body had gone missing. Shocked once more by the turn of events, he immediately rushed around rear of the boat, from corner to corner, to track the location of the body. But it appeared to have vanished from sight. He was just about to return to the cabin to search when he noticed a small trail of blood on the railing near one of the red flags at the corner. He thought inwardly, whilst gazing back down the Yellow River, “So someone has already disposed of the body! But who could it be?”.

For when he was talking with the boatmaster, he did not notice anyone arriving on or leaving the deck. Another thought entered his mind, “That person must have remarkable lightness kung fu that even I can’t detect whether they’re coming or going!”.

He pondered and pondered, until he stumbled across a most likely answer. He remarked out loud to himself, “It must be her!”, upon remembering the masked thief who tip-toed past him on the roof of the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’ without making the slightest of sound.

“Who is she? What does she want? Why did she throw Jin Wing Chi’s body overboard?”, he pondered again as more questions than answers entered his mind.

As Kwok Ching Ser was pondering over these and various questions burning on his mind, someone had joined him on the deck of the boat. Slightly startled, he turned around with his paper fan raised once more, only to see that it was his young apprentice, Ah Ngau. He said, “Ah Ngau, what on earth are you doing here?”.

“Master, it’s dinner time! I just came to tell you, that’s all…”, replied Ah Ngau before stopping short.

Something seemed to have caught Ah Ngau’s eye whilst he was speaking with his master. Wasting no time he raced over to the red flag poles on the opposite side to where they stood before returning by his master’s side. Seeing such odd behaviour from his young apprentice, Kwok Ching Ser couldn’t help but ask, “Eh! Ah Ngau, what is it? What did you find?”.

Placing a red silk cloth into Kwok Ching Ser’s hands, Ah Ngau replied, “Master I think this message was left behind for you! It was tied to the base of the red flag!”.

“Strange that I could not find it…”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser out load as he read the letter to himself.

It said, “Dear Black Snake Assassin, I have your sword. You have my blue envelope. Meet at the Memorial Temple of Justice Pao at 8.00pm tomorrow night for a trade. Come alone, and unarmed – Red Rose Bandit”.

“Ha! So the Red Rose Bandit of Kaifeng has stolen my sword!”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser out loud upon reading the letter. He now understood why he had pulled out a red rose from his golden belt when he had expected to draw his sword. It was obvious that the red rose had been left behind as a calling card by the ‘Red Rose Bandit’, similar in the way that he marked his killings with a black snake dart.

“What? Someone has your sword?”, repeated Ah Ngau out loud. He has been with his master for many years, and never once has someone managed to steal his sword. So it was a great shock indeed. Ah Ngau started to worry about his master, as it appeared as if he had not been his usual self for the past few days. He appeared to have let his guard down in many respects.

“Eh! Ah Ngau, don’t be so nosey!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser guessing what was on his young apprentices mind.

Handing the bundle that contained the head of Jin Wing Chi, he ordered whilst pointing towards the small rowing boat at the rear of the boat, “Ah Ngau, once the fierce winds have subsided I want to take that rowing boat and head back towards Hennan! You must deliver this head to our client at the ‘White Lotus Bridge’ within 7 days. Wait for him there until 12.00am in the evening and be sure to claim our payment of 50,000 taels of silver”.

“Yes master, I understand!”, replied Ah Ngau as he headed back down towards the cabin to find something to eat.

Kwok Ching Ser took one more glance around the rear of the boat before following his young apprentice down to the cabin. Upon arriving returning below, he carefully panned his head around to observe the various people that had gathered. He immediately wanted to locate the little beggar that had travelled with them for questioning. For he was certain that it was the little beggar that had stolen his sword. But to his surprise, he could fin no trace of the little beggar anywhere. He also noticed that the tables in the cabin below were full of people. It would be hard to find a place to sit and eat.

During this time Ah Ngau had gone and fetched some food from the chef. Upon returning and noticing his master panning around the room, he couldn’t help but ask, “Master, is there anything wrong?”.

“I was looking for that little beggar who we stumbled across earlier in the day! Have you seen him?”, replied Kwok Ching Ser sounding very serious as he panned once more around the room.

“Master, now that you’ve mentioned it! I haven’t seen him either! The last time I saw him was when we boarded the boat together! Perhaps something has happened to that poor fellow!”, replied Ah Ngau whilst shaking his head.

“I very much doubt it! Hmm… It’s more than a just a mere coincidence!”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly as he took a plate of steamed beef and white rice in his hands. He now turned his attention to finding a table to eat. For he was certain that the young beggar they had come across earlier in the day was none other than the Red Rose Bandit.

Seeing that his master had remained silent and did not respond, Ah Ngau added with an enthusiastic voice, “Master, you shouldn’t worry about that little beggar! I’ve found a place where we can sit and eat!”.

“Where?...”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser with a touch of surprise. For he could not see a table that was free.

Pointing with an index finger towards a table of four occupied by a young scholar in green robes, Ah Ngau replied, “Look over there… That table is only being occupied by one person! We could probably sit over there if we asked him”.

Kwok Ching Ser nodded his head to indicate that he agreed with the suggestion. Shortly after, Ah Ngau lead Kwok Ching Ser over to the table being occupied by the young scholar in green robes. Upon arriving at the table, Kwok Ching Ser, immediately recognised the lone scholar in green robes to be the exact same scholar who had invited him for a drink at the ‘Golden Dragon Inn’. But he had rejected that kind gesture the previous evening, and so thought that fate had given another opportunity to befriend the young scholar. Smiling slightly he said, “Friend, may I and my young apprentice join you for dinner?”.

A slight smile appeared on the green scholar’s face as he looked up and appeared to recognise Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau, he said, “Friend, you may take a seat if you wish. But don’t you find it strange that we should meet again… and so soon after you declined my offer for a drink?”.

“Yes, very strange indeed… Perhaps its fated that we meet again!...”, replied Kwok Ching Ser as he sat down and started to eat without giving it any further thoughts to the comments from the young scholar.

After a while he could not help looking up and closely examined the face of the young scholar one more time. Noticing that the young scholar had turned slightly red by the way he was staring at him, Kwok Ching Ser couldn’t help but ask, “Friend, I may have asked you this before, but haven’t we met somewhere before?”.

“Friend, I’ve already told you at the Golden Dragon Inn that we haven’t met before! Besides, this is the very first time that I’ve taken a trip up this way! So how could we have possibly met before!”, replied the scholar in green as he poured himself a cup of wine and downed it.

The green scholar had held his wine cup in a most peculiar way, that it was almost lady like. But Kwok Ching Ser had never been down South before and thought that it must have been some sort of custom in the south that they held their cups of wine in such a manner. But yet there was something very familiar about the young scholar, so he asked another question, “Friend, if you don’t mind me asking! Where are you travelling to?”.

“It’s the mid-semester university break! As an aspiring Magistrate I was heading to Kaifeng to visit the Memorial Temple of Justice Pao!”, replied the young scholar with a sheepish grin.

“Memorial Temple of Justice Pao!”, remarked Kwok Ching Ser as both he and Ah Ngau looked at each other. But since the young scholar claimed to be an aspiring Magistrate and did not appear to know any kung fu, both Kwok Ching Ser and Ah Ngau gave it no further thoughts and began eating again.

After a while, Kwok Ching Ser replied, “Friend, I’ve also visiting the Memorial Temple of Justice Pao! So if you wouldn’t mind, why don’t we travel together?”.

Kwok Ching Ser had made this suggestion as he wanted to find out more about the young scholar in green. He had become totally intrigued by him. Besides he was certain that he had met the scholar in green before, and it was driving him mad trying to think where they had met before. So he wanted reclaim his sword from the Red Rose Bandit, and then uncover the identity of the young scholar in green before journeying back to meet up with his master at the Ghost Valley.

Fidgeting with his chopsticks for a while as he pondered over the proposal, the green scholar finally replied, “Friend, I think that’s a great idea… You know wulin is full of peril and danger and a young la… I mean a young lad like myself, shouldn’t be travelling alone. Particularly when I don’t know any kung fu! As the saying goes there’s safety in numbers!...”.

*************************************************

“Hmm…. A most interesting move! You could have taken the pawn with the knight yet chose to advance a rook from afar!”, remarked the old bearded man upon observing the various pieces on the board. One could notice that a rounded piece of chess with the green words inscribed, ‘Bishop’ had been stacked on top of the five pawns on the old bearded man’s chess board. It was obvious that he had indeed claimed the green bishop during the previous move.

Minister Chu on the other hand had countered by moving the rook on the right side of the board on the exact same horizontal line as the red pawn. He decided not to take the red pawn. Stroking his beard Minister Chu, added, “When weaving a web of death, one must first seek to cut off an opponent’s options and escape routes before luring him to the nest!”.

“Oh! Do you think that you’re capable of achieving that with the remaining pieces?”, remarked the old bearded man with a slight grin upon downing a up of wine. He looked across at the positioning of his other red cannon and a slight smile appeared on his face. Though a trap had been formed around the first red cannon, there were still various avenues of escape. So he was not totally convinced that Minister Chu’s plans would succeed. Besides he had a say in that also by the positioning of his other pieces if needed.

“Humph! Of course I’ll succeed…. I know what I’m doing!”, scoffed Minister Chu, disapproving of the old bearded man’s comments.

Seeing that the old bearded man had yet to make a move, he added, “Well if you’re so clever, why don’t you make your next move?”.

“Fine! I’m interested to see how you’ll take the my red cannon within the next 9 moves!”, replied the old bearded man with a slight chuckle as he suddenly moved the his other red cannon behind his centre pawn. It was ready to take the green knight on the next move. Minister Chu’s comments had sparked him into making such a move.

“What are you doing? I thought you weren’t going to involve any of your other men in this!”, protested Minister Chu upon noticing the attacking position being occupied by the other red cannon.

“What are you talking about? I’ve just decided to leave my other red cannon and pawn in the same position for this move! So I needed to move one of my other pieces to compensate that’s all! Besides the other cannon has not yet crossed the river, so why are you so concerned about it?”, replied the old bearded man with an arm out stretched to explain the positioning of the other cannon.

“You have no intention of utilising your other cannon? Do I have your word on this?”, questioned Minister Chu with a touch of uncertainty and suspicion.

“Of course! You have my word that I will not attack with my other red cannon!”, replied the old bearded man, appearing to laugh slightly.

“Humph! Then it’s time to make my move!”, continued Minister Chu as he motioned to move advance his rook.

*************************************************

(To Be Continued)

[Long]

The soft rain slanted sideways as it gently fell to the ground. A thin layer of moisture began forming on the soft paved paths, making it difficult to keep one’s footing. But the grey tiles hot from being simmered by the afternoon sun, rejoiced the cool change and relieved itself of the heat trapped within by evaporated the soft layer of moisture as quickly as it had been formed on the path. So soft was the falling rain that the many pedestrians and street performers in the market did not even bother to shield themselves with an umbrella or take cover in doors. Instead they endured the little inconvenience of nature and went about their way is if nothing had happened at all. The locals knew full well that the rain would soon subside. For it was still extremely hot at ground level as the early afternoon sun shone brightly above. A lone patch of black was the only blemish on an otherwise good day.

A short distance away from the crowded market place, a large black swan with a reddish beak was slowly prodding itself towards the bank of the Baogong Lake. This part of the city housed the Memorial Temple of Justice Pao and the lake was also named after the famous judge of the Song Dynasty. The lake itself was situated right in the heart of the bustling city of Kaifeng and was the centrepiece of the tourist attractions.

Not long after it first set off the black swan had reached the bank of lake Baogong. But it did not immediately enter the water but instead displayed its mighty black wings before turning around. It gave a few soft cries towards the direction of a small pavilion by the lake by the bank. Soon enough the black swan’s cries were met with another few soft cries. Not a moment had passed by when a majestic white swan trotted out from underneath the small pavilion. The white swan flapped its wings in joy as it raced towards the bank where the black swan had been patiently waiting. When the white swan had caught up, the black swan looked across before giving a few gentle cries, as if they were exchanging words of love between each other. Together they glided into the crystal clear water. The black swan was the first to increase its pace as it glided some distance away before circling backwards to return by the white swan’s side. But as the black swan returned the white swan increased it speed and raced towards the other side of the lake. The black swan gave another few cries in protest before pursuing after the white swan.

As the black and white swan happily basked in each others’ company a small rowing boat glided along the lake besides them. The paddles cut through the once calm waters. The soft rain had now subsided. The boat was captained by a young scholar in white robes with red trimmings. He was obviously, Kwok Ching Ser.
The passenger was another young scholar in green robes with white trimmings. This was obviously the same young green scholar that Kwok Ching Ser had met on the ferry the previous evening.

They had agreed to travel with each other to the city of Kaifeng. Shortly after arriving in the city, Kwok Ching Ser had suggested to the green scholar that they lodged at the famous, “Black Lotus Inn”. A local resting place for scholars and merchants. Kwok Ching Ser as always booked a room for himself on the east wing, and the young scholar had decided to book a room directly opposite. The two made there way to the Flying Squid Restaurant for a lunch consisting of steamed black salmon, fresh oysters, and white rice. Shortly after lunch Kwok Ching Ser suggested the idea of killing some time in the city by hiring a rowing boat to cruise around the Baogong Lake. Having travelled to Kaifeng on numerous occasions Kwok Ching Ser was aware of the many wonderful attractions, including the marvellous beautiful scenery around the lake.

Since the young scholar had claimed that he had never been to the city of Kaifeng before, Kwok Ching Ser decided to show him around, to ensure that he had a good time and found memories of the North after he returned to the South. In normal days Kwok Ching Ser would not go to so much trouble to take on a travelling companion whom he had never met before, let alone spend so much time with them. But for some reason he felt a very close connection with the young green scholar with who he was travelling with and was obligated to show him around. It was almost as if they fully understood each other and were long-lost friends or family. In fact both of them had claimed to each other to be refined scholars, though the green scholar was still only a student, and had spent the majority of time engaging in a philosophical debate. Ah Ngau on the other hand had taken the small rowing boat and had returned to the city of Hennan to deliver the head of Jin Wing Chi to the mysterious blue merchant.

“Brother Kwok, look over there! What a magnificent sight!”, exclaimed the young scholar in green in some excitement. His index finger pointing in the direction of the black swan and the white swan who were now playfully swimming synchronisation with each other.

Observing the sight of the two swans swimming together, Kwok Ching Ser remarked without much thinking, “Brother Ka, what’s so special about that? It’s only a pair of swans having fun with each other! Swans normally travel in pairs! There’s nothing unusual or amazing about it! It’s just an everyday occurrence here in the North!”.

When Kwok Ching Ser had asked the green scholar for a name the previous evening, he responded by saying that his surname was ‘Ka’ meaning ‘fake’ and that his first names were ‘Siu Wan’, meaning ‘to laugh at fate’. When Kwok Ching Ser had mentioned that it was a ‘strange’ name, the young scholar in green just looked at him with a sheepish grin, smiled and said nothing more. Kwok Ching Ser thought nothing of the name and assumed that people down South loved giving their children strange names. Besides he knew of various eccentric people throughout wulin with very strange names and thought that the young scholar’s father must have been an eccentric man in nature as well.

Looking and sounding slightly disappointed at Kwok Ching Ser’s previous comments, the green scholar replied, “Yes, its true that there’s nothing special about seeing a pair of identical swans together! Swans are creatures who are attracted to swans of the opposite sex with similar characteristics. You’d normally see a white swan with another white swan, and a black swan with another black swan! But very rarely would you see a black and white swan together! They’re not normally attracted to each other!”.

Pausing for a moment to ponder over what was being said, Kwok Ching Ser explained, “It’s well known that opposites attract! The rich are sometimes attracted to the poor. The beast to the beauty. The good to the bad! So it’s not an unusual occurrence for a black swan to be swimming together with a white swan!”.

Seeing that Kwok Ching Ser had stood his ground and refused to change his views, the green scholar gave a little ‘humph’ of disapproval before folding his arms. He fixed his gaze towards observing the various couples rowing besides, towards, and around them to enjoying beautiful scenery around the lake. It was also the first time that the young scholar noticed that whilst they were observing the pair of swans swimming with each other, that the various other couples on the lake were observing them. For it was an unusual to see two males together in the most romantic spot in the city of Kaifeng. Obviously the locals thought that they were queer folk. The young scholar just started back at the various people and gave them a sheepish smile. His eyes beamed brightly as if a sudden idea had entered his mind.

Noticing the odd expression, Kwok Ching Ser asked, “Brother Ka, is there anything wrong?”.

“No, I was just admiring the scenery just now”, replied the green scholar as he unstrapped the white paper fan by his side and began fanning himself.

He continued moments later whilst pointing an index finger towards a small bank of wild flowers, “Brother Kwok, you were right! This is a most scenic and romantic spot!”.

Stretching out his hands and yawning slightly he added, “Ay, what a pity!”.

“Pity? How?”, questioned Kwok Ching Ser upon hearing the green scholar’s comments.

“If only my fiancé was here to see such a lovely sight! She would have truly appreciated the purity of this place! It’s almost like being in heaven on earth!”, replied the young scholar with a smile.

Those comments seemed to stir some deep memories for Kwok Ching Ser. For this was not the first time that he had visited the lake. He had been to the lake on four previous occasions. Each time he had entertained a rare beauty from Princess Chu, Madame Zeng of Hennan, Maiden Qiu, and the widow of General Su. So he found it a little strange that on this very day, he had visited the lake with a young man whom he met along his journey. Rather than spend company with one of the rare beauties in China. Drinking fine wine, reciting poems, and playing his zither.

Noticing that Kwok Ching Ser did not respond and appeared to be lost in thought, the young scholar in green probed, “Do you have a girlfriend or fiancé?”.

Taking a momentary pause from rowing, Kwok Ching Ser replied in a curious voice, “Why do you ask?”.

“I was just curious to know if you had one, that’s all!!”, replied the young scholar with an innocent smile.

“I have no one! And there will be no one!”, replied Kwok Ching Ser. There was a touch of strict seriousness, and coldness in his voice. Almost as if his heart had long been protected by an unbreakable golden vest, that no emotion or feelings of love could penetrate it. For although he loved fine wine, women, and food, there was not a specific or special person in his heart. From a very young age he was taught to have no emotions and feelings of love. For he well knew that love was something that he, as an assassin, could not desire as long as he wanted to live. So he treated the various women that had crossed his path the all the same as he treated a good bottle of wine. It tastes good and makes one happy when they indulge in it. But it doesn’t last for long. A bottle of wine quickly becomes empty. Just as he enjoyed various varieties of wine, he had enjoyed the company of various women throughout his lifetime. He might drink the same wine twice, but never from the same bottle twice. Having gone down this line of thinking, Kwok Ching Ser gave a little laugh and slapped the side of his thigh.

Seeing that the young scholar was also in a good mood and wore a happy expression on his face, Kwok Ching Ser continued, “I’ve been an orphan all my life! Unlike most I’ve never longed for companionship or company! Love is just another complication in life! I therefore do not desire or wish to seek it!”.

Suddenly the expression on the green scholar’s face changed from being happy to being a little annoyed upon hearing those words. Seeing the change of expressions, Kwok Ching Ser asked, “I guess you must be thinking about and missing your fiancé now!”.

But the young scholar in green did not respond. He just let out a long sigh and turned his attention back towards the attractions to the side of the lake. Thinking that he had guessed correctly, Kwok Ching Ser, smiled before continuing, “See, I was correct when I say that love brings nothing but misery and endless suffering in one’s life! It’s also like cage that captures the unsuspecting fool! It’s a weird world this one, that so many people are extremely happy and look forward to finding utter sadness in their lives! For few people are ever truly happy in relationships!”.

Once again the green scholar did not respond and appeared lost in thought. The small boat had drafted aimlessly for the past few minutes whilst the young scholar and Kwok Ching Ser were talking. Out of the corner of his eye, Kwok Ching Ser saw another craft approaching them from the rear. There was going to be a certain collision if he did not immediately pick up the paddles and steer the boat to safety. But seeing the young scholar in such a sad state, Kwok Ching Ser wanted to do something that would cheer him up. So he decided to grab both of the paddles and rowed at full speed towards the oncoming craft.

“Look out!”, shouted the rower of the other boat in total dismay whilst waving his hands frantically in the air to try and get Kwok Ching Ser’s attention. But how could he have possibly known that Kwok Ching Ser had done this deliberately.

As Kwok Ching Ser’s boat glided at full speed towards the other boat, the rower gave up, before grabbing his girlfriend by the hand. He shouted and cursed, “You fool!”, before leaping into the water to protect themselves from the crash.

The young scholar immediately snapped out of his daze upon hearing the shouts of the other rower. He panics slightly upon realising that they were going to crash.

“Brother Kwok, what are you doing?”, questioned the young scholar before leaping to the front of the boat to grab one of the paddles to try and steer them to safety.

Kwok Ching Ser wore a big smile on his face as he said, “What are you doing?”.

He pulled hard on one of the paddles and managed to steer them on a safe course away from the other vessel, just inches away from impact. He laughed whole heartedly upon avoiding a mishap and kept on rowing along the lake at full speed.

“I thought you were going to crash the boat!”, replied the green scholar with a touch of relief as he released his grip of the other paddle.

Still laughing hysterically whilst glancing across towards at the couple who were cursing underneath their breaths whilst trying to stay afloat at the same time, Kwok Ching Ser explained, “No! You’re mistaken! I did not intend to crash the boat! I only wanted to scare them for fun! Ha! Ha! But who would have guessed they over-reacted and jumped overboard!”.

“It’s just like love and marriage! So many people fly off the handle and jump at the chance to get married without fully knowing what’s going on and without fully finding out who the real person they’re really getting married to! Only to regret it later for life!”, added Kwok Ching Ser.

“You idiot! You almost got us killed!”, protested the green scholar, not appreciating Kwok Ching Ser’s odd sense of fun and humour.

But Kwok Ching Ser ignored the protests and continued laughing. Suddenly a loud ‘bang’ sound echoed throughout the lake, as their boat collided into a rock. Such was the speed at which they were travelling that the boat was flung high in the air, and flipped completely upside down before it landed. Throwing both Kwok Ching Ser and the green scholar in the water. The various couples that had seen the incident laugh, clapped, and applauded. They had witness the reckless behaviour by Kwok Ching Ser, and was glad that he got his due punishment. By now the scholar in green was totally incensed. His face had turned a reddish complexion. It was almost as red as a rose. Steam appeared to be coming from his ears. He shouted, “Brother Kwok, that wasn’t very funny!”.

For whatever reason, Kwok Ching Ser, found it all the more amusing that he had crashed the boat by accident and had landed in the water as a result. So laughed his heart out again in spite of the protests from his friend.

The young scholar continued to brood for a long while. Suddenly the expression on his face changed slightly. For only a brief moment there was a slight hint of shyness underneath the anger. He suddenly gasped out loud upon collecting himself, “Oh No!”.

Wasting no time the young scholar turned his head away from Kwok Ching Ser, so that he could not see his face. He began swimming frantically in freestyle towards the bank of the lake. Not waiting for Kwok Ching Ser to turn the boat over, so that could resume travelling down the lake together.

“Eh! Brother Ka, where are you going?”, Kwok Ching Ser raised his right hand and called out loud upon noticing that the green scholar had swam off.

But the green scholar did not turn around nor did he even acknowledge that he had called out. So Kwok Ching Ser thought that the green scholar was still upset at him for crashing the boat. He thought as he swam towards the capsized boat, “I’ll wait for him to cool down and then catch up with him back at the hotel”.

Utilising his ‘Divine Snake’ inner energy Kwok Ching Ser was able to overturn the boat by himself. As he sat himself back on the rowers seat, he glanced across at the bank hoping to catch sight of his young friend.

“That was quick!”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly, unable to catch a glimpse of the young scholar in green amongst the rushing crowd. Being an experienced fighter in wulin, he realised that none one could have disappeared from his view so quickly. So he thought it very odd that he could no longer see his young scholar friend.

As Kwok Ching Ser pondered over the disappearance of his friend a small object floating in the water caught his attention. Immediately bending over the side he scooped up the small object with his right hand. After some close examination he realised that it was the young scholar in green’s white paper fan. Opening up the paper fan for the first time, Kwok Ching Ser noticed that there were two red roses painted on the side of the fan.

“Strange, why would a man carry a paper fan with red roses on it?”, Kwok Ching Ser thought inwardly. But he stumbled upon a likely answer as he recalled the earlier conversation. He concluded that his young friend was a passionate lad and had bought this fan during his journey to give it to his fiancé. He gave it no further thought and strapped the paper fan by the side of his waist. He would return it to his young friend at the hotel.

Given that it was still early in the afternoon, Kwok Ching Ser, decided to kill some more time. He returned the rental rowing boat before heading off to the “Dragon Tavern” for some early afternoon drinks. The tavern was particularly full that day. But not one single martial artist from wulin was amongst the crowd that was made up mostly of local merchants and scholars. There were a few fishermen and hunters about also. The day passed by peacefully and without incident as Kwok Ching Ser drank till his heart was content. Soon he started to feel hungry and dined out on rice noodles underneath and old willow tree. Looking up at the sky he noticed that sun had began to fade. It was now late afternoon.

Stretching out and yawning after a heart felt lunch, he thought, “It’s probably a good time to head back to the hotel and prepare for my appointment with the Red Rose Bandit!”.

With that thought in mind Kwok Ching Ser headed back to the Black Lotus Inn. He gave a gentle knock on the door of the young scholar in green’s room upon returning. But to his surprise there was no answer.

“Perhaps, he’s gone out to catch some air!”, Kwok Ching Ser thought, as he opened the door to his own room before entering it.

Though the room appeared untouched, Kwok Ching Ser, with all his years of experience could tell that someone had entered the room. His suspicions were confirmed upon noticing that had note of some kind had been stabbed into the table by a small dagger with a black dragon carved at its hilt. Kwok Ching Ser immediately recognised the dagger and smiled slightly before pulling on the handle to remove it from the table. The piece of paper on the table contained just five simple characters. Picking up the piece of paper Kwok Ching Ser read out aloud to himself, “Beware! You’ve been sold out!”.

Though the letter had been unsigned, Kwok Ching Ser, could tell which one of his junior apprentices has sent him this letter. The thin and elegant calligraphy style in which the characters were written confirmed his guesses. It was none other than his 5th junior apprentice brother, Yeung Tin Lung, otherwise known as the ‘Black Dragon Assassin’. The young and upcoming fighter within the 13 Ghost Mountain Assassins, with the skills capable of dominating wulin. Even at the tender age of 16 he had managed to carve out quiet a fearsome reputation that even most of the elite masters would shiver in fear upon mention of his name. Kwok Ching Ser was aware that his 5th junior apprentice brother was a man of few words. But the five characters written on the letter had clearly warned him of the grave danger. He thought inwardly, “Who has sold me out?”.

Kwok Ching Ser recounted all of the assassination assignments that he had performed over the past couple of years for a likely customer who would betray and subsequently seek to murder him to cover all evidence that they had hired him for an assassination mission. He also pondered out of all of his customers, who would actually be brave enough to betray him. It was like seeking an early death. For Kwok Ching Ser was the type that would certainly sho no mercy and strike the person who betrayed him down if he uncovered their identity. He had murdered a number of government officials the past year and thus it could have been any of the Ming Government officials whom he had worked for who would seek to betray him. But regardless of who it was, Kwok Ching Ser, had now been warned of the pressing danger. If he had let his guard down the past few days, he would not allow is concentration to lapse from this moment forth. Then suddenly a smile crept across his face as he thought, “It must be him! It can be no other!”.

*************************************************

The left green rook was now positioned on the same vertical line as the red cannon. The right green rook had already been placed next to the lone red pawn that was in enemy territory. The green knight on the left was positioned to take out the red pawn also. The second red cannon had been positioned to be able to take out the green knight if needed. But as a result of this positioning, Minister Chu had once again forced the old bearded man in a though position. That is to either sacrifice the red cannon or the red pawn. He had previously chosen to sacrifice the red pawn but Minister Chu had refused to take it. There was some great strategy and gamesmanship being employed by Minister Chu. But the old bearded man looked confident and appeared to have him covered.

A smile crept back onto the old bearded man’s face as he remarked, “This move of yours will not capture the red cannon!”.

“I do not intend to capture the cannon with this move!”, replied Minister Chu with a laugh.

“Oh! Then which piece would you use to capture the red pawn then? The knight? Or the Rook?”, questioned the old bearded man as he moved the red cannon out of harms way, conceding the red pawn to Minister Chu once more.

Whether Minister Chu would take the red pawn was another matter. He took once glance at the positioning of the various chess pieces and appeared to smile slyly.

(To Be Continued)