HSDS 1st Edition (translated into English from the Indonesian translation by BBT/OKT)

[Kirara]

post #42
"What is your purpose in coming to Mount WuDang?" asked one of them who stood on the right side. This person was tall, and on his left side there was a big black mole on which grew 3 long strands of hair.
"Our escort agency was hired to deliver a heavily wounded person to your Teacher, Old Master Zhang, at Mount WuDang," he replied.
"To deliver a wounded person?" that man asked. "Where's he? Who's he?"
"Someone by the surname of Yin has asked us to take that man to this mountain," he replied. "As for who he is and how he was wounded and why, we have no idea. Our Dragon Gate Escort Agency was just hired to do it and we try to do our duty as best as we can. We have never tried to interfere with personal matters." Being someone who had managed an escort agency, Du DaiJin had a vast knowledge. By saying that way, he had avoided any future trouble that might affect Dragon Gate Escort Agency. No matter whether Yu DaiYan was a friend or an adversary of WuDang Clan, the 6 people could not get upset at him.

The man with the mole turned his head to look at his two other friends, then he asked: "Someone named Yin? Who's he?"
"He's a good looking young man and he has a very good skill in throwing hidden weapons," explained Du DaiJin.
"Have you ever fought with him?" asked the person again.
Du DaiJin was taken aback and he replied nervously: "No.....no.....he....."
Before he could finish his sentence, another person already yelled: "Where's the Dragon Sabre? In whose hands that sabre is now?"
"What's the Dragon Sabre?" asked Du DaJin, surprised. "Do you mean that famous Bu-lim Ci-cun, Po-to to-liong (The most venerable in the martial arts world, the precious Dragon Slaying Sabre)?"
The man who yelled turned out to be short-tempered. Without much talk, he abruptly dismounted his horse, approached the carriage, opened its curtain, and looked inside it.

Seeing the man's lithe movement, Du DaJin became more suspicious. "Aren't you The 7 Heroes of WuDang?" he asked. "I have long heard of your big name and have wanted to meet you."
"That name is just an empty name not worth mentioning," said the man with the mole. "Big Brother Du is too modest."
Meanwhile, the short-tempered one had mounted his horse again. "His injury is too severe and he needs urgent help," he said. "It's better if we take him with us."
The man with the mole brought his hands together and said nicely: "Let me thank you for Big Brother Du's hard work and effort to take him here from far away."
Du DaJin quickly returned the formality with a few words of modesty.
"That friend in the carriage is heavily wounded, therefore, let us quickly take him up the mountain to save him," he continued.

Du DaJin wanted to release himself as soon as possible from the heavy responsibility, so he replied: "All right. Then we will pass him on to WuDang Clan here."
"Big Brother Du need not worry," said that man. "Now he's my responsibility. Is the fee paid already?"
"Yes, we have been paid enough," he replied.
That man took a piece of gold, which weight was about 100 taels, and gave it to Du DaJin: "This is to buy yourself some tea, please share with the other brothers."
Du Da Jin refused it. "2000 taels of gold is more than enough," he said. "I'm not a greedy person."
"Hm! 2000 taels of gold.....," said that man with the mole. Two of his friends came forward with their horses, and one of them mounted the carriage, took the rein over, and began to move, whereas the other then followed behind it.
The man with the mole moved his arm and threw the piece of gold toward Du DaJin. "Big Brother Du doesn't need to be so formal," he said, laughing. "It's better if you return to Lin An now."
Seeing the gold flew toward him, Du DaJin had no choice but to catch it. Actually he meant to return it, but the man had fast left with his horse.

From afar, he could see 5 horsemen accompanying the carriage with Yu DaiYan inside, and after turning into a road corner, they disappeared from sight. When he looked at the piece of gold in his hand, he was startled because he saw ten fingerprints about an inch deep each. What's amazing is that the fingerprints were carved so clearly on the gold, along with the marks of blood veins. Although gold was softer than other metals like iron or copper, but the huge Internal Strength used on those fingerprints were very amazing. Staring at the piece of gold with gaping mouth, he thought to himself: "The 7 Heroes of WuDang really have amazing kung fu skills. In Shaolin Clan, perhaps only 1 or 2 martial Uncles who had learned Kim-kong-ci (Golden Steel Finger) can do something like this."

Seeing their Leader was staring at the piece of gold with wonder, Escort Zhu said: "Escort Leader, the disciples of WuDang have no manner. After meeting us, they didn't even introduce themselves and didn't even ask our names. We came from very far until here. But they did not bother to invite us to have something to eat or to spend the night in their abode. As fellow martial arts experts, their attitude is very rude."

In his heart, actually Du DaJin also felt dissatisfied with those people's attitude. Only he did not say it openly. That's why after he heard what his friend said, he said flatly: "With them taking over, we have saved our energy. Isn't that better? Besides, I don't feel comfortable if we, Shaolin disciples, had to enter WuDang's temple. My two Younger Brothers, let's go home!"

On the journey home, although they had not met any trouble, the Dragon Gate Escort Agency had received an insult. The fact that The 7 Heroes of WuDang have not introduced themselves meant that they did not respect the agency at all. The more he thought about it, the more offended Du DaJin felt, and secretly he was thinking now how he could revenge on this insult.

While their leader was feeling vexed by himself, the other escorts and attendants felt happy. After working hard for 10 days and 10 nights, the Dragon Gate Escort Agency had succeeded to earn 2000 taels of gold and since the Escort Leader was a generous person, he would sure reward them with big rewards.

[Kirara]

Originally posted by HuntingX
Unnecessary for you to burden all the work yourself. The community can surely take the hok version and change to pin-ying.]

Thanks, HuntingX. I have just finished with the second version using Hokkienese, so there are 2 HSDS translations now on my HP.
Hermit is suggesting creating a wiki, so this could be an option too.

Instead of typing 100000000 words a day arguing about Yang Guo and his 2 million emotional problems, they can help me work through the translation and get a ping-ying version up simultaneously.

I KNOW at least half of the people arguing in the fiction section have NEVER read any of the works in any language whatsoever. They should be more than happy to help me with this so that we can all read the book once before we take to bickering

Hm...I didn't know, because I just concentrate on this thread.
Thanks for helping.

[Kirara]

Originally posted by hermit
maybe someone can setup a wiki so that people can go in and edit the names to make them pinyin

Good idea. Hermit, thanks.
I will set something like wiki soon, where people can edit the text.
It should be done by today.

[Kirara]

Originally posted by hermit
maybe someone can setup a wiki so that people can go in and edit the names to make them pinyin

The wiki I setup previously did not suit us because it allows me to publish just one page for others to edit.

So I uninstalled it again, sorry.

I am working on something else now, and it is supposed to work.

[Kirara]

post #43
As the evening fell, they had passed through Song-keng-cu. Seeing Du DaJin still looking sad, Escort Zhu said: "Escort Leader, please don't be sad. The mountain is high and the river is long, another day in the martial world we will surely meet them again. Hmph! Let us see for how long WuDang Cit-hiap can keep their name?"
Du DaJin sighed. "Zhu Hian-te, "He said. There's one thing that I really regret."

Just as he finished saying that, suddenly from behind them a sound of a galloping horse was heard. The gallops of the horse were not too fast, they were even rather slow, but strangely, they were approaching so fast.
Everybody turned their head to look behind them. The horse turned out to have extremely long legs, and its body was about 60 cm higher than ordinary horse. With those long legs, his steps were also big, so that although he didn't run fast, he could cover a bigger distance than other normal horses. Not only that he has special legs and body, his bearing was also grand, and his hair so shiny as if being polished by oil.

"What a good horse!" Escort Zhu praised the horse. He was silent for a while and then continued: "Escort Leader, did we do something wrong?"
"No, not that you did something wrong," he replied sadly. "I just remembered something 25 years ago. At that time, I had learned kung fu for 12 years in Siauw-lim-si, and had completed al the conditions to pass. My teacher Goan-giap Taysu persuaded me to stay there for 5 more years in order to learn Tay-kim-kong-ciang. But I was young and short-visioned, and I thought I had had enough kung fu skills to stand out in the martial realm. Besides, I couldn't bear the hardship living in the temple anymore, so I had refused my teacher's persuasion. Ai! If at that time I had agreed to learn for 5 more years, today I wouldn't have been insulted by WuDang's disciples....."

When he spoke until this point, the man riding on that special greenish white horse had caught up with them and then passed them. As he passed them, he looked at Du DaJin and Escort Zhu from the corner of his eyes, looking a bit puzzled.

Du DaJin also looked at that man, who turned out to be a handsome young man of about 22 years-old, and his face looked dignified. At a glance, he seemed thin and weak, but if one looked further, the thin body was in fact very agile, lithe and firm.

Bringing both his hands together, the young man shouted: "Excuse me! Please let me pass!" And in a second, his horse had passed ahead as if flying.

Observing the young man ahead, Du DaJin asked: "Brother Zhu, what do you think about that young man?"
"He came down from the mountain, so perhaps he's a pupil of WuDang," he replied. "But he's not carrying any weapon and he doesn't look like a kung fu expert, so it's also possible that he's not WuDang's disciple."
Suddenly the young man turned his horse around and returned towards the group. From far he had brought his hands together and said: "Excuse me! I'd like to ask something, I hope you wouldn't mind."

Hearing this polite greeting, Du DaJin stopped his horse and asked back: "What about?"
"While glancing at the flag with the snakehead fish being carried by one of the bodyguards, the young man asked* "Are you The Dragon Gate Escort Agency from the city of Lim An?"
"Yes," replied Escort Zhu.
"May I know your Honorable names and titles? " asked the young man again. "Is Escort Leader Du fine?"
Escort Zhu liked the friendly and polite ways of the young man, but because it was hard to figure out the real intention of people from the martial world, he did not dare to be too too open yet. "My surname is Zhu, and who are you, Mister?" he said. "Do you know our Escort Agency's Leader personally?"

That young man dismounted his horse and took a few steps forward while holding his horse's reign with one hand. "My surname is Zhang, and my name is CuiSan," he introduced himself. "I have long heard of the great name of the Escort Leader, but what a shame I have never had the chance to meet him."
As soon as they heard the name "Zhang CuiSan," Du DaJin and the others were shocked.

Zhang Cui San was the fifth hero of WuDang Cit-hiap and in these few years, his name was very famous in the martial realm. He had a high-level of kung fu, so they never thought that not only he looked so young, but also he had gentle and refined ways like a literary scholar.

With much doubt in his heart, Du DaJin came forward with his horse and said: "I'm the worthless Du DaJin. Are you Gin-kauw Tian-hoa (Silver Hook Iron Brush) Fifth Hero Zhang?
The young man's face instantly blushed. "What hero? Escort Leader Du's praise is too high for me to accept. After coming to WuDang-san, why didn't you visit our place? Today is my teacher's 90th birthday and if it's not too inconvenient for you, I'd like to invite you all to go up and drink a few cups of long-life-wishing wine."

Du DaJin and his friends became very happy. "Why among WuDang Cit-hiap there is such a big difference in character?" he wondered. "The previous 6 disciples don't have any manners but this 5th Hero is so friendly." He dismounted his horse and said: "We came from Lim An to Siang-yang to see Zhang Cinjin. But we do not carry any gift for him, so we feel ashamed to go up the mountain."

Zhang CuiSan smiled. "We are all the same fellows from the martial world," he said gently. "Escort Leader Du doesn't need to treat us as if we were strangers. My teacher often said that WuDang Clan's kung fu originated from Shaolin Clan, so he always remind us to pay our due respect to any disciples of Shaolin whenever we meet them. If my teacher knew that Escort Leader Du will pass here, he would have ordered us all to welcome you much earlier."

[Kirara]

I managed to setup something where people can edit the text of my translation (if they register).

If you don't register, you can still read the story and see the pictures (I added more pictures along the way), but you cannot edit the translation.
To edit the namings (changing hokkienese to pin yin), you can do it directly whenever or wherever you like. Thanks so much in advance for helping.
But if you want to edit the story or wordings (maybe you think it is wrong or weird), please contact me first either here or there to let me know.

Other things you can do with registration is to read and post comments, and also you will still be able to access the pages and read the story in case it is automatically disabled/throttled due to a surge of high bandwidth, among other things.

I will still keep posting in the other place (black one) using the Hokkienese, because for me, I am more familiar with Thio Bu Ki than Zhang Wu Ji

*Whoever it is having given the rating to this thread, thanks!

[MizChi]

Kirara, I just start reading, and I just wanted to say,..ur doing a good job translating

[Kirara]

post #44
Hearing this, Du DaJin took it wrongly. He thought that Zhang CuiSan was pretending to be nice and that behind his words, there must be something hidden to insult him. So he laughed and replied flatly: "Although WuDang Clan's kung fu originated from Shaolin Clan, just like green color originated from blue color, but in the end, it is green color that outshines blue color. Young Hero Zhang is still so young but is already admired by so many people. But someone like me, although I'm old already, my head is like on the body of a dog still."

"Ah! Why did Escort Leader say that?" said Zhang CuiSan. "In the martial world, who had never heard of the great name of Dragon Gate Escort Agency? In the realm, everybody knows how amazing Ji-cap-shi-chiu Hang.mo-ciang and Lian-cu Kong Piauw. Escort Leader Du, would you please introduce these brothers to me?"
Because the request was polite, Du DaJin introduced Escort Zhu and Shi to the young man.
"I feel fortunate that today I can meet you all who have such a big name in the martial world," said the young man. "In the past, the Kim-to (golden sabre) of Escort Leader Zhu had defeated Ie-yang Ngo-hiong (Five Heroes from Ie-yang) at Sin-an, whereas the staff kung fu of Escort Shi is no less amazing as well. "

As Zhang SanFeng's beloved pupil, the young man had a vast knowledge about the martial realm because he often heard about it from his teacher. With his intelligence and strong memory, what he once heard, he never forgot it anymore. Meanwhile, being the founder of WuDang Clan and reaching the age of 90, Zhang SanFeng also knew about various clans and various kung fu experts, and he often shared the knowledge with his pupils. Because of that, as soon as he heard the names of Escort Zhu and Shi, Zhang CuiSan could instantly recalled their most famous kung fu skills.

If the young man knew about DuDaJin's skills, Du DaJin being already famous for so many years, it was not amazing. But the fact that he also knew about the kung fu skills of Escorts Zhu and Shi, whose kung fu levels just came 5th or 6th on the rank, it was rather surprising. This had made the 3 leaders of the escort agency happy.

"Escort Leader," said Escort Zhu. "It is correct if people say that Zhang Cinjin from Wudang Clan is the Mount Hwa-san or the Pak-tauw star of the realm. Today, coincidentally, is his birthday. In my opinion, it is very proper if we go up to wish him happy birthday."
"Right," said Zhang CuiSan. "After you all came here, we must do our duty as the hosts. My martial brothers are friendly people. Let's go up, I invite you to stay 1-2 nights."


Listening to this, Du DaJin thought: "How did he get to know so detailed about Escorts Zhu and Shi?" he wondered. "Perhaps there was something in the background. Is it because after knowing the other 6 pupils were so rude, their teacher had scolded them and sent this young man to apologize and invite us?" Thinking this way, he felt relieved. He laughed and said: "If your martial brothers were as friendly as Fifth Hero Zhang, we would have gone up the mountain much earlier."

"Pardon?" asked CuiSan feeling puzzled. "Has Escort Leader met with my martial brothers? Which ones?"
Du DaJin thought the young man was pretending again. "Today is my lucky day," he replied. "Just within one day, I have met all of WuDang Cit-hiap."
The young man's puzzlement grew bigger and he looked at the Escort Leader with his eyes opened wide. "Did you also meet with Third Brother Yu?"

"Do you mean Third Hero Yu DaiYan?" asked Du DaJin. "They did not want to introduce themselves, so I don't know, which one Third Hero Yu is. I just met with 6 persons and probably Third Hero Yu is one of them."
"Six persons?" exclaimed the young man, startled. "Really puzzling! Who are they?"
"How do I know? Your martial brothers did not bother to introduce themselves to us," he replied. "Because you are Fifth Hero Zhang, the other 6 must be Hero Song and the rest." Each time he said "Hero", he exaggerated it mockingly, but the young man did not notice it because he was feeling confused.
"Did Escort Leader really meet them?" Zhang CuiSan confirmed once again.
"Not only me, but all of the people in this escort expedition have met them too," he replied.


The young man shook his head. "It can't be," he said decisively. "Today Brother Song and the others are accompanying Teacher in Giok-hi-kiong and they never left his side, not even a step. And because until noon Third Brother Yu has not returned yet, Teacher ordered me to go down to meet him. How could Brother Song and the rest have met with Escort Leader?"
"Isn't the one with a big mole on his cheek, with 3 strands of hair on the mole, First Hero Song?" asked Du DaJin with heart pounding.
CuiSan was surprised, "None of my martial brothers has a mole on their cheek," he said.


His answer was like a pail of cold water being poured on Du DaiJin's head. "The six people said that they were WuDang Liok-hiap (The Six Heroes of WuDang)," he said with his heart pounding. "Two of them were Taoist priests with yellow hats. Of course we......"
"Although my Teacher is a Taoist priest, but all of his pupils are ordinary people and we don't have any specific religeon," he said. "Did they really introduce themselves as WuDang Liok-hiap?"

Du DaJin broke into cold sweat. It was true that those people never introduced themselves as WuDang Liok-hiap. It was he himself who assumed that they must be the six heroes of WuDang. The fact was, they just never denied it when he assumed that they were WuDang Liok-hiap. For a while, he couldn't say anything, and just looked at his two friends with his face losing color.
"If so, those six people must have evil purpose," he said suddenly. "Let's run after them!" He jumped onto his horse and rushed up the mountain.

Zhang CuiSan quickly ran his horse to catch up with DuDaJin; then running by Du DaJin's side, he shouted: "Brother Du," he said. "What's the use of running after them? I don't mind if they used our names."

"There's something else," said Du DaJin,"What about that person then? We were supposed to deliver him to Zhang Cinjin.....but those people had taken him away from us.....Oh no!" While whipping his horse to run faster, he explained in broken sentences.
"What's his name? What does he look like?" asked CuiSan feeling perplexed.
"I don't know his name," he replied. "But he is seriously wounded, and he cannot speak nor move, and has difficulty breathing. He is about 30 years-old." Then he described Yu DaiYan's facial and other body features.

"Oh no!" exclaimed CuiSan feeling vexed. "That's Third Brother Yu!" After calming himself down, he pulled the rein of Du DaJin's horse.
The horse was running fast, so when he was stopped so suddenly, he stood up and neighed very loudly, and his mouth bled due to the strong pull.
Startled, Du DaJin pulled out his sabre and jumped off his horse. He wondered why this thin young man had such a huge strength.

"Big Brother Du, please don't misunderstand me," said the young man. "You have escorted Third Brother Yu from very far away until here, and for that, I feel very thankful. So I really don't have any bad intention towards you."
Du DaJin put his sabre back into its scabbard, but his right hand was still holding its hilt.

"How did Third Brother Yu get wounded? Who's his enemy? And who asked Big Brother Du to bring him back here?" asked CuiSan.
But Du DaJin couldn't answer any of these 3 questions.
"What do the 6 people who took Third Brother Yu away look like?" asked CuiSan.
Before Du DaJin could reply, Escort Shi came forward and described the 6 persons.
"If so, let me chase them now," said Zhang CuiSan while bringing his hands together; and then he rode on his horse as fast as he could.

As martial brothers who had done good deeds together, the Seven Brothers of WuDang loved each other as if they were real siblings. Knowing that his elder bother was seriously wounded and now being taken away by unknown people too, CuiSan was very worried. He rode on his precious horse as if he didn't care the horse would die of exhaustion. In a short time, he arrived at Co-tiam, a place where the road split into two. One road led up to the top of the mountain, while the other went to the northeast and led to the city of In-yang.
"If those 6 people really wanted to escort Third Brother Yu up the mountain, I must have met them on my way down the mountain," he thought. He quickly took the road to the northeast.

[Kirara]

Originally posted by MizChi
Kirara, I just start reading, and I just wanted to say,..ur doing a good job translating

Hi MizChi! Thanks!

Also thank you to Gunner for signing my Guest Book, and to xikuang for helping with the pinyin (editing).

I will be away for 2 days with no internet access.
I promise I will catch up with the 2-day lost!

[Kirara]

post #45
After running for about an hour, though the horse was strong, he grew tired and he was becoming slower and slower. Daytime had changed to evening and there was no one anymore to ask on that deserted road. While chasing , the young man wondered. "Third Brother Yu's kung fu is excellent," he thought. "How could someone injure him that easily? But looking at Du DaJin's behavior and words, he couldn't be lying."

While he was thinking, suddenly his horse neighed loudly and then ran to an open field on which there were several graves. Zhang CuiSan knew that this was caused by something unusual. Cautiously he looked around the field. A little while later, he noticed a carriage lying on its side in the tall grasses. After he approached it, he saw a mule lying dead in front of the carriage with its head broken to pieces.

Hurriedly he jumped off his horse and lifted the carriage's curtain, but there was no one inside. He looked around carefully and his trained eyes caught a human body lying among the tall grasses. With heart pounding so loudly, he ran towards the body and lifted the person up. With only one look he recognized that he was no other than his own martial brother, the one he was looking for.

In the darkness, faintly he could see that this elder brother's eyes were closed, while his face was as as pale as a corpse. Seeing this, his heart was shocked and pained. With trembling fingers, he picked him up in his hands and put his cheek on the very pale face. Suddenly a flicker of hope lighted his sad heart because he could feel warmth on Yu Daiyan's cheek. Hurriedly he checked his elder brother's chest and found out that his heart was still beating weakly.
"Third brother...." he shouted while his tears flowed down his cheeks. "Third brother.....what has happened to you? I'm Fifth brother....your Fifth brother....."

Then slowly and carefully he got up on his feet. Once again his heart jumped out, because Yu DaiYan's two arms and two legs dropped limply down. It seemed that his bones had been broken, while blood came out from his fingers, his wrists, his arms, and legs.

Seeing the enemies' cruelty, Zhang CuiSan felt as if his chest was going to explode. Looking at the wounds, he knew that the enemies had not gone far so that if he chased them further, he would be able to catch up with them. In his fury, abruptly he jumped onto his horse to chase them. But soon another thought striked his mind, a clearer mind now. "Third Brother Yu's injury was very serious and he needs urgent help," he thought. "If a real man wants to take revenge, even 10 years won't be too late."

Because he was worried that the jolts and jumps of riding a horse would worsen his elder brother's injury, after thinking for a while he carried Yu DaiYan's body carefully with both hands and walked home using his Lightness kung fu. His unusual horse, perhaps feeling puzzled why his master did not ride on him, followed from behind.

End of Chapter 4.

[Kirara]

CHAPTER 5

post #46

That day was the 90th birthday of the founder of WuDang Clan Zhang SanFeng. Since early in the morning, Giok-hi-kiong was filled with a festive mood. In turn, his 6 disciples had kowtowed to him to wish him a happy birthday. Only what a pity, one disciple out of 7 was not there. It had been estimated that after finishing his duty killing a big outlaw in the southern China, Yu DaiYan would have returned home much earlier. But though it was past noon already, he was still nowhere to be seen. Everybody began to worry and to feel restless. "Let me go down the mountain to welcome Third Brother Yu," said Zhang CuiSan.

But as soon as he was gone, Zhang CuiSan disappeared as well. Riding on his unusual horse, even if he had gone down to as far as Lao-ho-kouw, he should have returned by then. However, although they had been waiting until Yu-si (from 5 to 7 in the evening), he was still out of sight.

In the middle hall, the dining table had been prepared, while the red candle had burnt to a half. The 6th disciple Yin LiTing and 7th disciple Muo ShengGu had come in and out for tens of times, while the other disciples were no less worried. As someone whose spiritual growth had reached a high level, Zhang SanFeng kept calm. But he knew, that the disappearance of the two disciples must have been caused by something extraordinary. He knew both their characters. Yu DaiYan was cautious and one could rely on him to accomplish a task well; whereas Zhang CuiSan was very smart.

Looking at the candle, which was getting shorter and shorter, Song YuanQiao laughed and said: "Teacher, Third Brother Yu and Fifth Brother Zhang must have met an unusual event and so they rolled up their sleeves to help. Teacher always advises us to do good deeds, and so today, on your birthday, the two brothers must be helping some people as a birthday gift."
Zhang SanFeng stroked his beard. "Hm! On my 80th birthday, you have saved a widow from throwing herself into a well," he said, laughing. "What you did was very good. But, if you just help people once every ten years, those people who need your help would be getting impatient."
Hearing what the teacher said, the 5 disciples laughed.

Although Zhang SanFeng was a big Master from a big kung fu Clan, but his attitude was always open and he often joked with his disciples.
"Teacher will live until at least 200 years," said Zhang SongXi, the 4th disciple, while smiling. "If every 10 years we do one good deed, adding one to another, it won't be too few."
Muo ShengGu, the 7th disciple, laughed loudly. "Only too bad, perhaps we won't live that long," he said.
He had just finished this sentence when suddenly Song YuanQiao and Yu LianZhou, the 2nd disciple, jumped out and shouted: " Is that Third Brother there?"

"Yes!" answered Zhang CuiSan with a hoarse voice. The next moment, with both hands carrying someone, and with his robe bloody and his face full of sweat, he entered the room with staggering steps and threw himself on his knees in front of Zhang SanFeng. "Teacher...." he said. "Third Brother Yu...was...attacked by someone...!"

Everybody was shocked. After saying that, Zhang CuiSan's body swayed and then fell back unconscious to the floor, due to exhaustion and grief.

Song YuanQiao and Yu LianZhou were experienced people, so they knew the reason why Zhang CuiSan fell unconscious. They knew that it was more important to check on Yu DaiYan first. So they quickly jumped forward and picked Yu DaiYan up, as his body also fell down along with Zhang CuiSan's. The moment they checked on his chest, they were startled, because they found out that Yu DaiYan's breathing was very weak.

Seeing that his beloved disciple was so heavily injured, without saying any word Zhang SanFeng quickly went into his own room and came out again with the jar containing Pek-houw Tok-beng-tan (pill to restore life), which was covered with a layer of white wax on the top. Without wasting any more time, he pressed the jar with his two fingers, and it broke to pieces. Taking out 3 pills, he put them into Yu DaiYan's mouth. But Third Hero Yu's mouth and teeth were closed tightly.

Zhang SanFeng immediately raised his hands and using his thumbs and index fingers, he pressed on Yu DaiYan's Liong-yauw-kiauw (acupoints on the tips of one's ears) while generating an energy called Ho-cwe-kin Tian Liong-yauw-kiauw (energy of Ho-cwe-kin sealing the Liong-yauw-kiauw acupoints). With this, usually he could even temporarily revive a person whose heart had stopped beating. But this time, even after he had pressed those acupoints for more than 20 times, the disciple did not respond at all.

Sighing, he quickly turned over his two palms and pressed Yu DaiYan's Jia Che acupoints while using Im-chiu (cold energy). Later, again he turned over his two palms and pressed the same acupoints using Yang-chiu (hot energy). After pressing those acupoints 12 times, alternating with cold and hot energy, slowly Yu DaiYan's mouth opened and swallowed the 3 pills.

But although he could swallow the pills, Yu DaiYan's muscles had grown so stiff that the pills could not go down to his stomach. The honorable teacher quickly ordered Zhang SongXi to massage Yu DaiYan's neck, while he then pressed his acupoints at Kwat-pun and Ji-hu on his shoulders, and at Yang-koan and Beng-bun at the tips of his spine, so that when he gained consciousness, he would not feel severe pains.

[Kirara]

post #47
Since Song YuanQiao and Yu LianZhou became Zhang SanFeng's disciples, they always saw their teacher keeping calm. But now they could see that the teacher's hands were trembling, while his face showed anxiety, so they became extremely worried.

After a while, Zhang CuiSan gained his consciousness.
"Teacher," he asked with a sad voice. "Can Third Brother Yu's life be saved?"
Zhang SanFeng did not reply directly. He only said: "In this world, who can live forever?"

Suddenly they heard footsteps. A little attendant entered the room and informed them that Du DaJin and other escorts from the Dragon Gate Escort Agency had come for a visit.
Zhang CuiSan's face changed with anger. "This is all their fault!" he yelled while jumping outside. Soon they could hear the sound of weapons falling onto the ground. Before Yin LiTing and Muo ShengGu could jump out to help their elder brother, Zhang CuiSan already walked in with one hand holding a big and tall man. Throwing that man roughly on the floor, he shouted: "This is the man who had messed it all up!"

Among the 7 Heroes of WuDang, Yin LiTing's temper was the shortest. As soon as he heard that the man had caused his elder brother's injury, abruptly he leapt forward and raised his leg to kick Du DaJin.

"Sixth Brother! Hold it!" yelled Song YuanQiao.
"Hey! WuDang people, do you have any manners or not?" yelled someone from outside the temple. "We are your guests who came to visit you. Why did you insult us like this?"

Song YuanQiao frowned. He approached Du DaJin and tapped the back of his head and his back to release his acupoints, which had been sealed by Zhang CuiSan.
"The guests outside, please don't get upset," he yelled. "Wait a moment." The voice was stern and very loud and because they thought it was Zhang SanFeng himself, they did not dare to make any more fuss.

"Fifth Brother," said Song YuanQiao. "How did Third Brother get so severely injured? Please tell us calmly."
After glaring at Du DaJin with anger in his eyes, Zhang CuiSan told them how the Dragon Gate Escort Agency had been hired by someone to escort Yu DaiYan back to Mount WuDang, and how he had in the end been taken away by 6 evil people disguising themselves as WuDang disciples.

Since the beginning, after seeing the level of Du DaJin's kung fu, Song YuanQiao already knew that the Escort Leader could not have been the one who had injured his younger brother Yu DaiYan. Therefore, after listening to Zhang CuiSan's explanation, his face showed more patience and politely he asked Du DaJin to tell his story.

Du DaJin quickly told them in detail what had happened. Lastly, he said with a sad voice: "Hero Song, I am really foolish and because of my stupidity, Third Hero Yu had to suffer that greatly. I understand, that I had made a big mistake and I deserved to die as a punishment. We don't know either with the fate of our families in Lim An."

While his disciple was talking with the guest, Zhang SanFeng did not interfere; instead, using his energy, he put his palms on Yu DaiYan's acupoints at Sin-cong and Leng-tay to warm him up. But as soon as he heard Du DaJin's last sentence, he quickly said: "LianZhou, you go right now with ShengGu to Lim An to protect The Dragon Gate Escort Agency's families."

"Teacher," said Zhang CuiSan protesting. "This person Du is too crazy, and although he did not deliberately do it, it is he who has caused Third Brother to suffer this greatly. That we have not punished him is already too good for him. Why do we need to protect his wife and family?"

His teacher did not answer, he just shook his head, meaning that he did not agree with his pupil's opinion.
"Fifth Brother," said Song YuanQiao. "Why did you think like that? For whom do you think Escort Leader Du have come here from very far away?"

[Kirara]

post #48

"To pocket 2000 taels of gold," he replied. Hearing this, Du DaJin's face turned red. In his heart he admitted that he agreed to escort Du DaJin's because of the high reward.
"Fifth Brother!" yelled Song YuanQiao. "Don't be rude to our guest. You are too tired, go take a rest."

In WuDang Clan, the elder brother status was highly respected and obeyed. Both in kung fu level and in age, and both in character and moral, Song YuanQiao was a rank higher than all his younger brothers. Because of that, beginning from Yu LianZhou until Muo ShengGu, no one dared not to respect him. So after Zhang CuiSan was scolded, he did not dare to utter another word, though he still stood there because he was worried with Yu DaiYan's condition.

"Second Brother," said Song YuanQiao. "Helping someone's life is like helping to extinguish a fire (the faster the better). As Teacher has ordered it, you had better depart this evening with 7th Brother."
Yu LianZhou and Muo ShengGu quickly left the room to prepare themselves.

Seeing how the two heroes went to prepare themselves to protect the Dragon Gate Escort Agency at Lin An, Du DaJin felt so grateful. But this gratitude was mixed with great shame. "Zhang Cinjin," he said to Zhang SanFeng while bringing his two hands together. "In this matter, we do not dare to trouble 2nd and 7th Heroes. Let us take our leave now."

"It would be better if you spend the night here for tonight," said Song YuanQiao. "We still have a few things to ask you." This was said politely but also authoritatively that Du DaJin could not refuse, and so he just went to sit at the side of the room.
After a while, Yu LianZhou and Muo ShengGu said their parting words to Zhang SanFeng, and after staring at Yu DaiYan several times, with a very heavy feeling they went down the mountain to do their teacher's order. It was understandable that they felt very reluctant to leave this severely injured brother, because the question was still left whether they could see him again in the future.

The hall was silent now, and only Zhang SanFeng's heavy breathing was heard. From his head came out something like a hot steam, signifying that Zhang SanFeng was generating a very strong Internal Strength. After about 30 minutes or so, suddenly Yu DaiYan yelled thunderously that the hall seemed to shake.

Du DaJin was startled and without realizing it, he jumped up from his chair. He glanced at Zhang SanFeng and found out that the old man's face showed neither worry nor relief, so it was hard to guess what Yu DaiYan's yell meant.

"SongXi, LiTing, take your Third Brother to his room so he could rest," ordered the teacher.
After following their teacher's order, they returned to the hall again. "Teacher, can Third Brother's kung fu be restored?" asked Yin LiTing.

Zhang SanFeng took a deep sigh. It was after a while before he replied with a low voice: "To know whether he would be able to survive or not, we must wait for a month. His muscles are heavily damaged, and his bones broken to pieces beyond repair. All his life...all his life...." He could not continue, and just shook his head with sadness on his face.

Hearing this, Yin LiTing could not bear his sadness anymore. Immediately he sobbed. Although his kung fu had reached a high level of martial arts expert, among the 7 Brothers, his heart was the most sensitive and he easily teared.

Looking how his brother sobbed, Zhang CuiSan's blood boiled. With one leap, his hand flew, slapping Du DaJin's face. The Escort Leader tried to ward it off, but Zhang CuiSan's hand was as fast as lightning, and his cheek got slapped. Still feeling unsatisfied, CuiSan launched his fist to hit Du DaJin's waist, but fortunately, before he suceeded, Zhang SongXi pushed his shoulder so his fist missed its target. At that moment, Du DaJin tried to save himself by leaping backward and while he was doing it, suddenly a sound "clang!" was heard, and a piece of gold dropped out of his pocket onto the floor.

[Kirara]

While the Forum was down, I kept working on this translation and now I am arriving at the part when Zhang CuiSan went to the residence of the Dragon Gate Escort Agency at Lin An.

The Guest Book was also transfered, and the Name Data Base will be coming too. I just need to change the css again to match the colors and designs.

For the translation with the Chinese pin yin names, you can edit the names if you register; while for the translation with the Hokkienese names, it stays as it is for my own keepsake.

Thank you again for all the help.
I will keep working there for some more before posting a big chunk here.

[Kirara]

A friend of mine found the Chinese HSDS on Shuku.net. It must be the second edition, right?
He can read Chinese and is going to help me find the beginning of each of the 40 chapters (and maybe also some of the pinyin namings). So to avoid further confusion, I will re-chapter my translation according to the original 40 chapters, especially on both translations in my Home Page. But considering that each chapter will be too long for a browser to load and to scroll down at one time, I will still break each chapter to smaller parts just like what I already did, based on a change of event or scene. This, I hope, will also help people locate an exact scene.

I noticed that each chapter has an original title, some of which are also written in my books. I have not yet decided about the titlings, but most probably I will only give titles to the smaller Parts, not the chapters.

Thanks to DXJ for signing my Guest Book, I really appreciate it.

[Kirara]

post #49

Zhang CuiSan picked up the gold from the floor and said coldly: "Greedy person! As soon as you saw the glitter of this gold, you quickly gave away Third Brother Yu to ...." Suddenly his words stopped half way, followed by an exclamation "Eh!"
"First Borther," he said while looking at the piece of gold. "Look...! These fingerprints were made using Shaolin's Golden Steel Finger."

Song YuanQiao looked at the gold for a while and then gave it to his Teacher, who then observed and turned it over several times, but remained silent.
"Teacher!" yelled Zhang CuiSan. "No mistake, that must be Golden Steel Finger from Shaolin Clan. In the martial world, there is no other school which has that skill. Teacher, is this correct?"

At the moment, Zhang SanFeng recalled the long-gone events in the past. He remembered that when he was young, he served his teacher Great Monk Jue Yuan, whose duty was to manage the library, how they had defeated The Three Saints of Kun Lun, how they had escaped from their Shaolin pursuers, and how he finally resided on Mount WuDang. Seeing ths fingerprints on the piece of gold, there was no mistake that they were made by someone from Shaolin Clan. WuDang School of kung fu emphasized Internal Strength, and did not pay attention to External Strength (gwa-kang) to break a rock or other hard materials. Other schools which also taught External Strength had various skills like breaking things by using the strength of palms, fist, or feet. But no school so far had such an amazing strength of fingers. For this reason, although Zhang CuiSan had repeated his question 2 or 3 times, he did not reply still. He was worried that if he told them openly, they would not understand and would attack Shaolin Clan to revenge, causing two big Clans to fight.

Zhang CuiSan, who was very smart, could guess what his teacher was thinking. "Teacher," he said again. "Is it possible that in the martial realm someone very intelligent could have invented Golden Steel Finger without having to learn from any teacher?"

Zhang SanFeng shook his head. "Impossible," he replied. "Golden Steel Finger is the result of more than a thousand years, it is not a skill that can be created in a short time. In my opinion, even someone very intelligent won't be able to learn Golden Steel Fingers without any teacher to guide him." He paused for a while and then added:"In the past, when I was staying in Shaolin Temple, I did not have any chance to learn that skill, so until now I don't know how human fingers can have such an amazing strength."
That moment, Song YuanQiao's eyes changed. "Teacher," he said. "From what you said, it seems that Third Brother's muscles and bones have been destroyed by Golden Steel Fingers."
Hearing what his First Brother said, Yin LiTing cried again.

Meanwhile, Du DaJin listened to the talk among the teacher and his disciples with his heart pounding. He tried to speak something several times, but his mouth could not utter it. Finally, after composing himself, he managed to say: "No. He couldn't have been Shaolin's disciple. I had stayed in Shaolin Temple for many years, but I had never met that person before."
Song YuanQiao looked at the Escort Leader with doubt in his eyes. "Sixth Brother, take our guests to their rooms so they can rest," he said. "Tell Lo-ong to take good care of all our guests." Yin LiTing said yes and then asked Du DaJin and the other escorts to follow him to the back of the temple.

After taking all the escorts and attendants of Dragon Gate Escort Agency to their rooms, Yin LiTing went into Yu DaiYan's room. He saw this elder brother lying on the bed with his face as pale as a corpse, while his breathing was also very weak. "Third Brother!" he exclaimed sadly and then with both hands covering his face, he ran out of the room.
In the hall, Song YuanQiao and his other brothers were sitting around their teacher, so he sat down beside Zhang CuiSan.

For a long time, with his eyes open wide, Zhang SanFeng stared at the Kwi tree in the middle of the garden. He shook his head and said with a sad voice: "This matter is very difficult. SongXi, what's your opinion?"
Among the 7 disciples of WuDang, Zhang SongXi was the cleverest. Each time WuDang Clan faced a difficult problem, he was the thinker and usually he could solve difficult puzzles. Since Zhang CuiSan returned home carrying the severely wounded Yu DaiYan, he had used his brain analyzing the matter in order to solve this mystery. Hearing his teacher's question, he replied: "In my humble opinion, this sad happening is not caused by Shaolin Clan, but by The Dragon Sabre."

"Fourth Brother," said Song YuanQiao. "Please explain your opinion as clearly as possible so that Teacher can draw a conclusion."
"Third Brother Yu is a cautious and friendly person, it is impossible that he would fight rashly," said SongXi. "Besides, the big outlaw whom Third Brother killed only had 3rd-rank kung fu and he was hated by other kung fu experts in the realm. Therefore, it is unlikely that the people from Shaolin Clan would take such a ruthless revenge for this outlaw's sake."
Zhang SanFeng nodded his head several times.

"Third Brother's muscles and bones were broken on the way back to Mount WuDang," he continued. "Before he departed from the city of Lin An, Third Brother was already seriously poisoned; therefore, in my humble opinion, the only way for us to do is to go to Lin An in order to investigate how Third Brother was attacked by poisoneous weapons and who had done it."

"Right," said Zhang SanFeng. "The poison in DaiYan's body is very unusual. Until now I have no idea what poison that is. On his palm there are 7 tiny holes, as if striked by needles. I have never heard of such strange hidden weapon in the martial realm."
"This matter is really strange," said Song YuanQiao. "Normally, if someone could hurt Third Brother with hidden weapons, he must be a 1st-rank kung fu expert. But a 1st-rank kung-fu expert usually will have reservation in using poisoneous hidden weapons."

Everyone became silent. the whole hall became so quiet that one could clearly hear the breathings of the teacher and his disciples.

After a while, Zhang SongXi broke the silence. "Why did that person with the mole destroyed Third Brother's bones?" he asked. "If he hated him, with just one single blow he could have killed Third Brother. If he wanted to torture him, why hadn't he hit his spine? I think he was hurting Third Brother in order to force him to inform them about something. What information? Information about The Dragon Sabre. Didn't Du DaJin say that one of them mentioned The Dragon Sabre?"

"The saying 'Bu-lim cit-cun, po-to to-liong, Ie-thian put-cut, swe-ie ceng-hong' (The most venerable in the martial realm, The precious Dragon Slaying Sabre, If the Heaven Sword does not show up, What will dare to compete?) was already famous for several hundred years," said Song YuanQiao. "Is it possible that a Dragon Sabre has really come into existence now?"
"No, not several hundred years," said his teacher. "That saying came out only about 70 years ago. When I was young, I had never heard such saying in the martial realm."

Suddenly Zhang CuiSan jumped up from his chair and and said: "What Fourth Brother said was correct. The person who had first harmed Third Brother must be in the Kanglam region. Let's all go to search for that person. But the Shaolin people had also hurt him so ruthlessly, so we should not let them get away with it."
"YuanQiao, what do you think we had better do in this matter?" asked Zhang SanFeng while turning his head toward his disciple. For the last few years, all kinds of matters in WuDang Clan, big and small, were already given by the teacher to the Head Disciple to manage. As someone who was able and who always did things with care, so far YuanQiao had never disappointed his teacher.
Hearing that question, he abruptly stood up and replied respectfully: "Teacher, this is not only a matter of taking revenge for Third Brother's sake, but also of WuDang's reputation and safety. If we made even a small mistake, the result could be disastrous to the whole martial realm. Therefore, in this very important matter, I wish for your guidance and decision."


"All right," said Zhang SanFeng. "You go with SongXi and LiTing to Shaolin Temple and give my letter to the Great Abbot Kong Wen, and tell him everything as clearly as possible. You can also add a request for the Great Abbot's advice. In my opinion, we shouldn't meddle with Shaolin Temple's internal matters. Shaolin Clan is a very strict clan concerning their own rules, and the Great Abbot Kong Wen is also a highly respected figure in the martial realm. Therefore, I am sure that they can manage their own internal affairs."
The 3 disciples complied respectfully.

"If the trip was just to deliver a letter, just Sixth Brother going would be more than enough," thought Zhang SongXi. "Why did Teacher also order First Brother and me to go too? This must have a deeper reason. Perhaps Teacher is worried that Shaolin Clan will trouble us, so he sent the 3 of us to act accordingly."

After a while, just as SongXi thought, the teacher said again: "The relationship between our Clan and Shaolin Clan is not too good. I was a Shaolin disciple who had ran away from their temple. Maybe considering I'm already old, they had not come to WuDang to drag me back to Shaolin Temple. Still, no matter what, the two clans are not cleanly related."
He laughed and then continued: "As soon as you arrive at Shaolin Temple, the 3 of you must show respect to The Great Abbot Kong Wen. However, you must not disgrace our own Clan either." The 3 disciples nodded their heads several times, promising that they would heed their teacher's advice.

Zhang SanFeng turned his head to Zhang CuiSan ans said again: "CuiSan, tomorrow you set out to Kanglam to investigate this matter, and you must listen to your Second Brother in anything." The disciple quickly bent his body and said he would obey this order.

"Tonight's celebration is canceled, we won't drink the birthday wine," said Zhang SanFeng again. "A month later, we will meet again here. If DaiYan could not recover, at least you can still see him again." The last sentence was said with a trembling voice. In his heart, the old man felt a huge sorrow; he never thought that after having a big reputation for tens of years, suddenly one of his disciples met with a great calamity when he was exactly 90-years-old. Yin LiTing, who easily cried, cried again softly.
"Go to sleep," said the teacher while waving his sleeve.

"Teacher," said Song YuanQiao in a comforting tone. "Third Brother is a noble person who loves to help fellow humans. A righteous person will always have God's blessings. I believe that God is not blind and Third Brother will survive..." Saying until here, his voice became hoarse and his tears fell down. He couldn't continue, and knowing that the more he spoke the sadder his teacher would be, he just left the room with his brothers to their own rooms. But for a long time they just tossed about on their beds, unable to fall asleep.
These heroes, who had usually faced any danger without blinking, now shed tears because of huge grief and anger.

End of Chapter 3

[Kirara]

CHAPTER 4

post #50

In his relationship with the other brothers, Yu DaiYan and Yin LiTing were the closest to Zhang CuiSan. That's why it was Zhang CuiSan who was the most furious, and this fury was suffocating his chest because he had not been able to let it out. After lying restlessly in his bed for about an hour, quietly he got up and walked out of his room, looking for Du DaJin in order to punish that Escort Leader. He was worried his First and Fourth Brothers would stop him, so he was careful that no one would hear his footsteps. When he arrived at the front hall, suddenly he saw someone pacing back and forth while folding his hands. The person, who was tall, was no other than his own Teacher. He stood transfixed behind a pillar, not daring to move. He knew that if he moved to return to his own room now, his teacher would hear him. And if he admitted that he came to beat Du DaJin up, he would be harshly scolded.

A moment later, suddenly Zhang SanFeng raised his right hand and wrote some letters in the air. Observing the movements of the hand, CuiSan found out that his teacher was writing two characters "song-loan" (sorrow-chaos). After repeating it several times, now the teacher wrote two other characters, namely "to-tok" (torture-destroy). Seeing this, Zhang CuiSan realized that his teacher was writing "Song-loan-tiap" (Sorrow-Chaos Style) from Wang XiZhi.



Zhang CuiSan got his title Gin-kauw Tian-hoa (Silver Hook Iron Brush) because he used a Houw-tauw-kauw (hook with tiger head) made of silver with his left hand; whereas his right hand used a Poan-koan-pit (a weapon resembling a Chinese brush) made of iron. Because he was worried that the literary scholars would laugh at him, after his kung fu was good enough, then he began to learn literary studies under his teacher's guidance, who was someone bun-bu-coan-cay (eloquent in both martial and literary arts). So he had ever studied Song-loan-tiap two years ago.

While hiding behind the pillar, he observed his teacher's hand movements, which wrote: "XiZhi tun-siu, song-loan ci-kek, sian-bok cay-li to-tok, tui-wi-kouw-seng". (XiZhi paid respect: Grief and chaos were limitless, the ancestors' graves were destroyed, if they were recalled, the sadness was boundless."

After observing for a while, CuiSan could feel that each stroke made by the teacher contained a great sorrow, and suddenly he could understand Wang XiZhi's feeling when he was composing Song-loan-tiap.
Wang XiZhi was a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin period. At that time, China was in ruin and foreigners spread out their wings of power. In time of great grief and chaos (song-loan), Wang XiZhi's pupils escaped to Southern China. Not only living human beings, but even graves were being ransacked, so the people were extremely angry and sad to see how their ancestors were being violated. All these sufferings were depicted in Song-loan-tiap.
In the past, when he was in a happy mood, Zhang CuiSan could not understand the meaning of the writing style completely. But now, because he was grieving over Yu DaiYan's injury, suddenly he could comprehend the meaning of "song-loan" and "to-tok".


After writing several times, again Zhang SanFeng took a deep sigh and then walked into the middle room, and for a while he looked lost in thought. Suddenly he raised his right hand and wrote some characters in the air again. This time, they were different from the characters of Song-loan-tiap. The first character was "wu" (martial) and the second character was "lin" (forest or world). He continued writing until finishing 24 characters.
Observing the movements of his teacher's hand, he could read that his teacher was writing "Po-to to-liong, hauw-leng thian-hee, boh-kam put-ciong. Ie-thian put-cut, swe-ie ceng-hong". (The most venerable in the martial world, The precious Dragon Slaying Sabre, Controlling all under Heaven, None dares to not follow. If Power of Heaven Sword does not appear, what else could match it?)

"Is Teacher trying to solve the meaning of that saying?" he asked himself. Zhang SanFeng wrote the words repeatedly, and his arm movements grew slower and slower, each movement resembing a movement of kung fu. All of a sudden, Zhang CuiSan was enlightened. Now he realized that by writing those 24 characters, his teacher practising a powerful martial arts style, with each stroke of each character becoming a kung fu strike.

Within the 24 characters, the characters "liong" (dragon) and "hong" (sharp/match) had the most strokes, whereas the characters "to" (sabre) and "hee" (under) had the least strokes. However, although the strokes were numerous, the movements did not look redundant; and although the strokes were few, the movements did not look insufficient. Each stroke was accurate and firm, beautiful and agile, maginificent like the blowing wind in a storm, powerful like a tiger crouching ready for the kill, strong and firm like an elephant's footsteps, and fast like the flash of lightning in the sky. Among the 24 characters, there were two "put" (not) and two "thian" (heaven), but in accordance with their different meanings, the spirit or the soul that accompanied each stroke was different as well.

In the last few years, Zhang SanFeng seldom taught kung fu. Yin LiTing's and Muo ShengGu's kung fu were taught by Song YuanQiao and Yu LianZhou who took the place of their teacher. Therefore, although Zhang CuiSan was the 5th disciple, in practise he was the last disciple who ever learned kung fu directly from Zhang SanFeng.

That night, the teacher and his disciple were united in sorrow over the sad incident. They were grieved and worried over Yu DaiYan's injury, and irritated by the threats coming from an enemy who was still unknown. In his sadness and frustration, Zhang SanFeng wrote those characters and accidentally, he created a new kung fu style. It was accidental because when he was writing them, he had no plan to invent a new kung fu style. Just as accidentally, Zhang CuiSan, who was also greatly grieved and angered, had seen this new style of kung fu while he was hiding behind the pillar, and comprehended it since he also shared the same feelings as his teacher. So this was how, in an extraordinary way, a new kung fu based on calligraphy was born in the martial realm.

For about 2 hours, until the moon rose high up in the sky, Zhang SanFeng continued practising. After a while, with a loud whistle, his right palm slashed down forcefully as if the ray of a sword slashing downward. This powerful movement was the last stroke of the last character "hong".
After making this last movement, he raised his head up and said: "CuiSan, what do you think about this Su-hoat (artistic style of writing, calligraphy)?"

Zhang CuiSan was startled. He never expected that his teacher knew he was hiding there. Hurriedly he came out and replied: "Today I am very fortunate, because I could see Teacher's amazing kung fu. May I call First Brother and the others so that they can also see it?"
The teacher shook his head. "My interest had vanished, so probably I wouldn't be able to write again as well as previously," he said. "YuanQiao, SongXi and the others do not understand Su-hoat, so even if they saw it, they wouldn't benefit much from it." After saying this, while waving his sleeve, he went into the middle room.

Zhang CuiSan did not dare to sleep because he was worried that once he slept, he would forget the new kung fu style. So he quickly sat crossed legged on his bed and practised it while trying to concentrate, so that he could memorize each stroke he had just seen, sometimes standing up to imitate a few difficult strokes. After a long time that seemed like several hours, finally he could memorize the whole kung fu style which consisted of 24 characters with 215 moves.

After that, he jumped up from his bed and practised the whole kung fu and its entire strokes. After a few moves, his strokes came out naturally and easily as if water spilling out, while his body jumped about lithely as if he were a monkey. At the end, when he made the final stroke of the final charater "hong" (sharp) using his right palm, suddenly "bret!", the tip of his sleeve was torn because of the blow. He was pleasantly surprised. And suddenly he realized that the sun had risen high up in the sky.

Quietly, so that he won't disturb the others, he walked out of his room. Wiping his sweat from his face, he entered Yu DaiYan's room only to find out that his teacher was there with both his palms on his elder brother's chest; the teacher was using his Internal Strength to save Yu DaiYan. So he went out again and asked about his other brothers. He found out that Song YuanQiao, Zhang SongXi and Yin LiTing had left, while the Dragon Gate Escort Agency group had also left the mountain. It seemed that the 3 brothers did not want to disturb him when they saw him meditating, so they left without greeting him first.
Quickly he also prepared himself to leave, carrying with him his weapons and some tens taels of silver, and lastly he went into Yu DaiYan's room. "Teacher, I am leaving now." he said. His teacher nodded his head several times.

After that, he came near the bed and saw how Yu DaiYan's face had turned rather black because of the poison; his eyes hollow and his cheeks sunken, and the only sign that he was still alive was that he was still breathing very weakly. How sad Zhang CuiSan was to see this. "Third Brother," he said hoarsely. "Even if my body must be destroyed to a thousand pieces, I will surely take revenge for you." He kowtowed on his knees to his teacher, then while covering his face with his hands, he left the room.

[Kirara]

Now I have fixed the re-chaptering at the 3 sites: here in this Forum and at the 2 HSDS translations on my HP.
Sorry for the confusion.
From now on I will stick to the original 40 chapterings, with chops into smaller parts within each chapter for easier reference.

To see the pictures, please see them on my HP because they cannot be embedded into the postings here anyway; so to save time, I'm not posting them here anymore. I will also scan the colored illustrations and post them at the beginning of most chapters.

I like those pictures very much, the illustrator did a good job. I took them from both my books by B.B.T and Gan K.L.
The ones translated by Gan K.L. has more pictures and it is an antique, I bought them from a second-hand book shop and it was printed in 1961! The original owner signed on it , dated 1962!! It is now one of my treasure.

[rifimu]

Kirara,

I was wondering, How are you going to finish the translation of the book.
HSDS translated by OKT was never finished...He did not finish the translation.

You will take the ending of the story which was translated by Gan Kok Liang ????

[Kirara]

Kirara,

I was wondering, How are you going to finish the translation of the book.
HSDS translated by OKT was never finished...He did not finish the translation.

You will take the ending of the story which was translated by Gan Kok Liang ????

Rifimu,

I have the books translated by O.K.T or Oey Kiem Tiang and they are complete to the end. At first I thought that I did not have the complete series, but when I was looking for my HSDS by Gan K.L or Gan Kok Liang a few days ago, I found out that I have another series of HSDS by O.K.T and they are complete until the end. It has the same ending as the one translated by Gan K.L.

O.K.T translated wuxia stories under 3 pen names, namely O.K.T, Boe Beng Tjoe, and Aulia. A publisher also gave the name "Can" (by Chanan/San Agency).

Before I know that I have a complete series by O.K.T, I thought I would either switch to the one translated by Gan K.L., or will take the story from the internet at http://indonesia.spcnet.tv
Someone there is posting the HSDS in Indonesian, translated by Boe Beng Tjoe aka O.K.T.

Sorry I was mixed up. I collect these wuxia books in Indonesian so sometimes I am confused which is which

I usually decide that a HSDS translation is by B.B.T/O.K.T./Aulia if the name for Zhou ZhiRuo is "Ciu Ci Jiak" and it is by Gan K.L. if the name is "Ciu Ci Yok". Please correct me if I am wrong.

I also noticed that both O.K.T and Gan K.L. each has what the other might miss, so actually it is best to combine both to get a more complete translation. If I am not too lazy I might some day combine the two in Indonesian.
As to what I am translating now, I sometimes added a few from Gan K.L if i see that O.K.T missed it. Maybe I should say it in the introduction.