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Chu Liu Xiang (Chor Lau Heung) Summaries Xue Hai Piao Xiang - Part 2 
Original novel written by Gu Long Fan translation by Athena Chu LiuXiang asked why did he think he was Chu LiuXiang. Yi DianHong replied that only Chu LiuXiang is able to avoid his 114 techniques and still maintain a charismatic smile. Chu said he never killed anyone before and he probably will never do so. Yi DianHong said that Chu doesn't know the pleasure of killing, if he knew he wouldn't say such things. Chu calmly replied that Yi DianHong was never killed, how can he know the pain of death? At this moment the disciples of the Celestial Star Association have arrived and are pressing Yi DianHong to kill the spy. One of the disciples resorted to sarcasm saying that Yi DianHong was a coward. Just as he spoke the word 'coward', blood gushed through his throat. Yi DianHong said no one alive can call him a coward. The other disciples all shouted that Yi DianHong was unfair because they paid him a lot to work for them and now he was killing their own people. Yi DianHong said no one was allowed to insult him. The new leader of the Celestial Star Association, the powerful constellation Song Gang, angrily said that Yi DianHong should kill Chu because he was a ZhuSha disciple. Yi DianHong said Chu wasn't a disciple of ZhuSha Zhang. Chu LiuXiang said if they wanted their third sister back they should go to the headquarters of ZhuSha School of this city and then he left. After going back he saw the intruder was interrogated by Leng QiuHun. According to him the girl was a disciple of the Celestial Star Association and her name was Shen ShanGu. Chu LiuXiang had a few questions too. What was their purpose here. Shen ShanGu said their leader left a few days ago after receiving a letter and he told Song Gang he was going to look for XiMen Qian. Chu asked her whether she knew why Zuo YouZeng went to see XiMen Qian. She said she didn't know. Chu asked her whether they still have that letter. Shen ShanGu said Song Gang has it now. Chu LiuXiang pressed one of her acupoints which caused her to fall asleep. After some time, some people came and after exchanging names, they were Song Gang and some other disciples. Leng QiuHun used Shen ShanGu as a hostage. In order to get Shen back, Song Gang had to agree with Leng QiuHun that from now on Celestial Star disciples will never set foot in JiNan again. At this time Chu had a few questions he would like to ask Song Gang. Song Gang was annoyed by him and asked Yi DianHong to kill Chu. But Yi DianHong said he wasn't capable of killing this person and Song Gang should find someone else to do this job and threw down the money he received and went away. Seeing no other alternative, Song Gang had to hear Chu out. Chu LiuXiang wanted to see the letter Zuo YouZeng received. Song Gang said he already threw the letter away but he still knew the contents of it. For the sake of getting Shen ShanGu he had to oblige. He said: "The contents is no secret, all the letter said was........." Then Song Gan fell down after a moment blood gushed from his body. All the Celestial Star disciples hurriedly rushed forward to help but it was too late he was dead. Leng QiuHun turned to Chu but Chu LiuXiang was nowhere to be seen. Although Song Gang was killed within an instant and almost nobody could see who did it, Chu LiuXiang saw a shadow and quickly dashed out to see who the killer was. The attacker quickly used his art of levitation to escape, however, Chu LiuXiang followed closely. In the entire realm of martial arts no one was able to defeat Chu on the field of levitation. He was about to gain up on the attacker, the attacker turned and said he recognize Chu. (*Note at this moment Chu LiuXiang still wore his disguise as a ginseng merchant named Zhang XiaoLin). Suddenly a mysterious cloud of purple mist engulfed the attacker and when the mist cleared up he was gone without a trace. He recognized this vanishing technique, this skill was used by Japanese warriors. To his knowledge no one in the Chinese WuLin knew this trick. At this time he heard a cold voice telling him to draw his sword. It was Yi DianHong. He wanted to challenge Chu LiuXiang to a life and death duel. When he said that he started to attack Chu LiuXiang, but Chu LiuXiang refused to fight him. Seeing no alternative Yi DianHong pointed the sword at himself and tried to commit suicide. Chu couldn't let him do so and wanted to force his sword from him. It was a strange fight--the aggressor wanted to take his own life and the defender defended the aggressor's life. After exchanging several stances, they heard a zither. It produced lovely music but beneath that loveliness there lies bitter resentfulness. Chu LiuXiang was not affected by the music, however, Yi DianHong was under the music's spell. And he started to attack Chu LiuXiang like a crazed man. Chu didn't want to hurt him but if he didn't snap out of it soon he would see no other alternative but to hurt him. All of a sudden Chu jumped into the water (*Chu chased the mysterious attacker till a lake) and dared Yi DianHong to do the same. Without thinking Yi DianHong followed Chu into the water, and in the water no one was able to defeat Chu. In a few instances he unarmed Yi DianHong and pressed one of his acupoints and pulled him out of the water. He decided to investigate the music and found a small boat with one person. It was a monk with a handsome face and a gentle expression. It turned out to be the exquisite monk WuHua. Chu greeted him and WuHua saw through his disguise and called him: "Brother Chu!" Chu LiuXiang removed his mask and tossed it away. He explained why he was here and his encounter with Yi DianHong and the mysterious attacker. WuHua was a bit shocked when he heard the attacker used a ancient Japanese trick to escape Chu's pursuit. According to WuHua more than 20 years ago a Japanese warrior came to southern parts of China and lived there for 3 years. It is possible that he imparted that skill to Chinese disciples during that time. But WuHua had no desire to discuss WuLin matters and asked whether Chu had interest in talking about zen. Chu declined saying he had other pressing matters but he would certainly came again. As Chu goes away, WuHua smiled and said to himself: "It is fortunate to know such a person, it doesn't matter whether he is your friend or foe. It is still a delight!" He went back to the place where he left Yi DianHong and placed him in the branches of the highest tree, ensuring his safety against vile things. He will wake up in a few hours. Chu went back to Leng QiuHun, at first Leng QiuHun didn't recognize him. But after Chu said: "It's me brother Zhang XiaoLin!" Leng QiuHun recognized him and praised Chu for his superior art of disguise. Leng QiuHun had some new information. According to his sources, an expert of the HaiNan School was in the city. It was either reverend LingYing or reverend TianYing. Chu asked at what inn he was staying. Arriving there, reverend TianYing was not in, but his belongings were in his room. Chu hoped to find some clues through the belongings of TianYing Zi. Apart from some clothes, Taoist scriptures, the only thing there was is a letter. Chu LiuXiang opened the letter and the handwriting was small and feminine. The contents of the letter was: It was a simple letter explaining a woman cannot answer a man's love and she hopes he will move on. Chu LiuXiang felt a bit remorseful opening a personal letter and thought that reverend TianYing was a sentimental man. Furthermore he couldn't find any clues about the 5 murders. Chu LiuXiang went back to Leng QiuHun's mansion. Upon arriving, Leng QiuHun said he just missed reverend TianYing. Chu asked what he wanted. Leng QiuHun said TianYing Zi was looking for someone. It seems that an important figure of the HaiNan School was missing and he thought that ZhuSha Zhang School had some information. Leng QiuHun was supposed to meet him again tomorrow. Chu decided to go and see TianYing Zi again. When he arrived he saw TianYing Zi sitting with one hand holding a tea cup staring into the blank. It seems that TianYing Zi was contemplating. Chu LiuXiang decided to greet him and said: "Is reverend TianYing present?" There was no response. Chu secretly laughed and thought this old Taoist priest must be thinking of his old lover. Just as he was about to repeat his question he saw the table TianYing Zi was sitting at was covered with tea and his cup was empty. Chu LiuXiang quickly examined TianYing Zi and found out that he was cold and on his chest there was a big stain of blood. Someone must have pressed his acupoint and stabbed him with a sword. The killer was able to ambush this famous HaiNan School swordsman and could kill him so swiftly that his cup didn't even dropped. The killer must be a formidable martial arts expert. Chu LiuXiang was gloomy. Not only is he not closer in solving the original 5 murders but now 3 more martial arts expert are killed in the process. The only one who hasn't sent out people to investigate is Zha MuHe, the king of the desert. But as he lived thousands of miles away Chu couldn't just go to his place and investigate. As he walked along in the city he saw Shen ShanGu and some other Celestial Star disciples. Chu decided to follow them. He could hear them looking for an old painter and scholar Sun PuWen. After they found out where he lived they instantly rushed there to look for Sun PuWen. Chu LiuXiang quickly followed them. Upon arriving he saw that Shen ShanGu was questioning an old blind man whether he painted a portrait of an unmatched beauty. When Sun PuWen heard this he was terrified and wanted to leave at once. But Shen ShanGu stopped him and forced him to tell what he knew or else she would kill him. Seeing no alternative Sun PuWen sighed and said he painted 4 portraits that were exactly the same of the mysterious beauty more than 20 years ago. He said he was very fortunate at that time because he stayed with her for 3 months in order to finish the portraits. He was mesmerized by her beauty and elegance. Unfortunately after 3 months when the 4 portraits were finished she prepared a small dinner just the 2 of them. The next morning he realized he was blind, she poked out his eyes when he was intoxicated by the wine. After a while Sun PuWen asked Shen ShanGu why she wanted to find this woman. She said her leader of the Celestial Star Association Zuo YouZeng received a letter from her days ago and then he wasn't heard of again. Sun PuWen said he only knew her name it was Qiu LingSu. After Chu LiuXiang heard that name he had finally found a clue. The letter he found in the belongings of TianYing Zi was not addressed to TianYing Zi but to his martial arts brother LingYing Zi. Both TianYing Zi and Shen ShanGu were trying to locate this "Qiu LingSu" for answers. Chu LiuXiang floated down from the wall, Shen ShanGu demanded to know who he was. Chu LiuXiang smiled and said he also was looking for Qiu LingSu. After Shen ShanGu saw his smile she instantly calmed down. (*Shen ShanGu didn't recognize Chu LiuXiang at this moment, the first time she saw him he was still wearing a disguise). When he took a glance at the portrait he realized the woman in the picture was the same in the house of Zuo YouZeng. Chu LiuXiang still had a few questions for Sun PuWen, the first question was did Qiu mention why she need 4 portraits of herself. Sun replied that she wanted to give 4 men each a portrait of herself. It was clear to Chu that these 4 men are the 4 deceased. Shen ShanGu made a clever observation that Qiu probably married someone else and wanted the 4 old lovers to remember her as she was. But the question is who did she marry? According to Chu and Shen it was either a man with incredible power, superior martial arts or is extremely wealthy. And then she turned to Chu LiuXiang smiled sweetly and said it could also be a man like you that stole her heart. Chu LiuXiang smiled and asked whether her heart was stolen. Shen ShanGu blushed and said someone like Qiu LingSu may not be interested in wealth and power, he must be a very famous martial arts expert, if we follow this lead we may find her. At this time Shen ShanGu used the term "we" very loudly no one not even Chu LiuXiang noticed it. With this information the husband of Qiu LingSu is narrowed down. Chu asked Shen to hand him the portrait and go home to wait for his news if he finds something out. Shen ShanGu again smiled sweetly and said why she should trust him and why should she give him the portrait. Chu LiuXiang went over to her and whispered something in her ear. And suddenly her facial expression changed and yelled: "It is you! You fiend!" and furiously ran away leaving behind the painting. Only Sun PuWen and Chu LiuXiang are still there, Sun PuWen asked Chu whether he still had some questions. Chu told old man Sun that all 4 receivers of the paintings are dead. Sun was shocked to hear this, Chu deducted that Qiu could be in some sort of trouble and needed help so she sent out word to her old lovers to assistance. Sun PuWen said although she blinded him, he still wouldn't bare to see her hurt and said when he painted the 4 portraits they were staying at the WuYi Convent. It is located outside the city and Su Xin Shi Tai of the convent was a close friend of her. Perhaps she knew where she is now. Chu LiuXiang took his leave of Sun PuWen and rented a carriage to take him to WuYi convent he couldn't use his martial arts during the day with so many people around. After a while the driver of the carriage said they were there. Chu LiuXiang got out of the carriage and walked towards the convent and he saw a Buddhist nun sitting under a tree meditating. Chu asked her whether SuXin Shi Tai was in. The nun replied that she was SuXin. Chu LiuXiang asked her whether she knew Qiu LingSu. SuXin Shi Tai said Chu LiuXiang have spoken to Sun PuWen and those 4 portraits were farewell gifts to her former lovers. SuXin Shi Tai said she became a Buddhist nun many years ago and a few years ago she passed away. Chu LiuXiang went back to the carriage thinking that all clues ended here. Chu was thinking about what to do when suddenly he realizes something is wrong how could SuXin Shi Tai know all these things. He quickly went back and entered the convent he saw a group of Buddhist nuns sitting on the floor meditating he carefully examined their faces and "SuXin" Shi Tai was not amongst them. An old nun approached him, he asked her where SuXin Shi Tai was. The old nun said there isn't anyone called SuXin in this convent. It seems that this isn't WuYi convent either--it's TaoHua convent. The driver of the carriage, the fake SuXin Shi Tai were all a ruse to keep Chu away from the real WuYi convent. He quickly used his art of levitation to seek for another convent. At this time the sun was setting. He saw an old, desolate convent when he entered and saw a Buddhist nun sitting on the floor. She wore an old, ragged robe and she looked foolish. Chu asked her whether this place was the WuYi convent. She said: "It is! Who said it wasn't." Chu LiuXiang asked her whether SuXin Shi Tai was in. The crazy nun smiled and said: "She is in! Who dares to say she isn't!" That laugh sent a shiver down Chu LiuXiang's spine. She told him to follow her, they stopped before a small room. The crazy nun said, she would go in and ask whether her teacher wanted to see visitors. She came out with a strange smile and said her teacher nodded. Chu thanked her and went in. The room was dark and he suddenly saw a human figure. He took a closer look and found a skeleton hanging in front of him. There was a foul smell of the decaying corpse and Chu LiuXiang was flabbergasted by this awful scene. The crazy nun was standing outside the door screaming and laughing: "You see her! You see her! Why don't you talk to her!" It was obvious to Chu that SuXin Shi Tai died a long time ago and her pupil didn't bury/cremate her body. This was all a sick joke of an insane woman. Suddenly the skeleton leapt forward as if to jump Chu LiuXiang and a sharp object was shot from the skeleton and was heading towards his chest. At the nick of time Chu could avoid the sharp object but a shadow jumped towards Chu with a long sword. Chu LiuXiang recognized the attacker as the mysterious assassin who killed Song Gang. The mysterious attacker jumped through the roof and when Chu LiuXiang followed he was already gone. He grabbed the insane nun, but saw blood flowing from her face the sharp object must have hit her instead of Chu. Chu LiuXiang couldn't save her and told her to rest. All of a sudden the madness disappeared in the nun and she struggled with difficulty the word 'Wu' and died. Chu LiuXiang was puzzled by the last word uttered by the insane nun. What did it mean? As he walked down the hill he thought perhaps a secret was hidden under the Wu Tong tree (* I couldn't find a translation for Wu Tong tree in English) as he turned around he saw a fire. Someone has set fire to the convent even if there was a secret under a tree nobody would ever know. There was nothing left to do but to return to the city. As he strolled along he heard someone shouting towards him: "Move away!" A horse ran passed Chu with incredible speed, Chu couldn't see the rider but he could see that the horse was a magnificent creature. He was thinking who could be the rider and what was his/her business here. Before long he reached the mansion of Leng QiuHun and saw the horse standing outside. As he entered he saw a group of people standing around a table they were gambling but none of them spoke a word. All their faces were anxious and stressed. All their eyes were fixed on a young lad dressed in black. He looked very handsome and had a perfect face. Finally Leng QiuHun took up a wager with this young man. The one with the least points will win. If Leng QiuHun won, the young man would give him his precious piece of jade, however if he lost he had to go with this young man and answer a few questions. Leng QiuHun shook the 6 dices and he scored a total of 6 points. It would seem that Leng QiuHun had won, suddenly the young man took out his whip and curled the dices and rolled them, when he stopped the dices were stacked up on each other and he had 1 point. (*Similiar trick used in TVB series The Legendary Four Aces) Leng QiuHun was terrified and said he cheated, the young's man whip curled up and flew towards him. Leng QiuHun wanted to draw his sabre but he was too late--his sabre was deprived from him. The young man told him to go with him. At this time Chu LiuXiang stepped in and said he would like to gamble with this young man. Leng QiuHun was very happy to see Chu LiuXiang stepping forward. If Chu wins he would keep the jade and Leng QiuHun didn't have to be taken away and he would like to ask the young man a few questions. But if he lost he would answer the questions the young man has and Leng QiuHun had to go with him. The young man wanted to roll the dices again but Chu said it wasn't neccessary so the young man still maintained his score of 1 point. Chu LiuXiang picked the dices and rolled them, and everyone was surprised that the dices rolled so slowly but when they stopped they all bumped on each other and they broke into pieces. So Chu had 0 point and had won. The young man used his whip to chase the other bystanders away and Leng QiuHun was hit in the face 4 times and left saying that he would certainly repay these 4 lashes. Chu LiuXiang asked the young man whether his father, Zha MuHe received a letter and whether this young man has seen it and what was in the letter? The young man sternly asked Chu LiuXiang back how did he know who his father was and how did he know his father received a letter. Chu said first the young man should answer his questions because he lost. The young man replied he never agreed to answer any questions, he had only agreed he would allow Chu to ask the questions. Chu was surprised that this young man was capable of such trickery and the young man demanded Chu answer his questions and Chu LiuXiang asked if he didn't want to answer what would happen. The young man said: "Death!" Chu said:" What if I do not want to die?" The young man was infuriated by Chu's behaviour and said: "If you won't perish then I will!" He attacked Chu with his whip, and although he is young he has superior martial arts. Chu LiuXiang picked up a number of bamboo sticks to ward of his lashes. The young man was shocked to see Chu using this strange method to block his lashes and attacked even more ferociously. Suddenly Chu threw out all his sticks in his hand with nothing there to protect him and suffered a lash on his cheek. The young man laughed and wanted to continue another series of attacks but then a sword blocked his whip. He was very angry and shouted: "Who's there!" It was Yi DianHong who blocked him, the young man scoffed at Chu LiuXiang saying he had invited helpers to back him up when he lost. Chu just smiled. Yi DianHong asked the young man to take a look at those bamboo sticks, when he took a look he was scared out of his wits. Every stick had a sharp, pointy, metal object in it. The young man realized Chu risked his life to save him and was ashamed and upset. He was about to break into tears. Yi DianHong said he didn't see who threw those objects. The young man said this was the letter Chu wanted and put in on a table and left. Just when Chu wanted to take the letter Yi DianHong raised the letter with his sword saying if Chu could defeat him he would give him the letter. Seeing no alternative again Chu quickly advanced forward to grab the letter, Yi DianHong returned the attack. However, Chu LiuXiang's attacks were focused on the letter he wanted to grab. Yi DianHong frowned and wanted to put the letter away. By doing so, one hand was occupied--Chu saw a window of opportunity and quickly advanced forward. Chu was thrilled seeing he could seize the letter but Yi DianHong used his finger to flip the letter to the tip of his sword. Chu jumped up and pressed the tip of the sword plus the letter with both hands. Yi DianHong was still standing on the ground but Chu was upside down and pushed down. Yi DianHong changed the position of his sword so that Chu would press down anymore. As a consequence Chu jumped away with the tip of the sword and letter, the sword broke into 2 halves. Yi DianHong praised Chu for his excellent martial arts. Just about to look at the letter, the letter burst into a hundreds of fragments and flew away. The letter couldn't withstand the internal energies unleashed by Chu and Yi DianHong. Chu LiuXiang sighed, Yi DianHong was feeling remorseful and said he would never challenge Chu ever again in his life. At this moment the young man came back. He looked worried but he quickly hid it. Yi DianHong and Chu LiuXiang were puzzled by this strange behaviour. All of a sudden snakes came crawling through the door. All of the snakes were big and poisonous. Following them, 3 beggars came in. The first one looked arrogant and mean, the other 2 had 7 or 8 poaches on their clothes. That meant they were high-ranking disciples of the Beggars Association, the first beggar didn't have any pouch on his clothes. But the other 2 beggars treated him with a lot of respect. Chu LiuXiang recognized this beggar as Bai YuMo(Gai). They say they had order from NanGong Ling to capture a small thief. Bai YuMo's attitude was far from friendly and he was extremely annoyed by Chu LiuXiang's behaviour and sent out his snakes to attack him. Chu LiuXiang used his bare hands to kill all 20 odd snakes. Bai YuMo was furious and was about to attack when NanGong Ling came and shouted to stop. NanGong Ling scolded Bai YuMo and the other 2 beggars for not recognizing Chu LiuXiang and Yi DianHong. When the 3 beggars heard that these 2 men were famous martial arts experts they were all shocked. Bai YuMo said he felt no shame losing at the hands of Chu and left. NanGong Ling apologized on behalf of Bai YuMo. As NanGong Ling and Chu LiuXiang are engaged in small talk, suddenly a few beggars came in and reported that they didn't see the young man outside. Chu asked him why they wanted this young man. According to NanGong Ling, this young man stole something from them and wounded elder Song and other disciples. He suddenly focused his eyes on the place where the young man was hiding, the tip of a shoe was seen. Swift like the wind, NanGong Ling drew his sword and stabbed the tip of the shoe and asked the young man to reveal himself. But the young man didn't move, NanGong Ling nodded to 2 beggars and the 2 beggars drew their sabres and hacked at the hiding-place of the young man. But no one was there, NanGong Ling asked who patrolled outside. The beggars said the disciples of JiNan. NanGong Ling ordered them to take those disciples to GongSun elder for punishment. NanGong Ling took his leave and Chu LiuXiang said he would drop by for some good wine soon. NanGong Ling said he would welcome him any time. Yi DianHong asked Chu whether the young man really left and Chu said there were more hiding-places than one here. The young man came out and asked why Chu helped him. Chu said NanGong Ling was poor and the young man was rich--it would be silly to work against a rich man. The young man was amused by this remark but didn't smile and said Chu shouldn't count on favours from him. Suddenly he jumped up and almost jumped in Chu's arms because he accidentally stepped on a dead snake. Both Chu and Yi DianHong were amused to see this arrogant young man afraid of snakes. At this point Bai YuMo came in again and said to the young man whether he should see their leader willingly or do they have to force him. The young man said he would go alone and went outside. Bai YuMo wanted to settle a score with Chu for killing his snakes. He took out his weapon (a club shaped like a claw) and started to attack Chu LiuXiang. Chu never saw such a strange new weapon before so he deliberately wanted to see what new techniques this man invented. All martial arts experts are interested in new weapons, techniques, etc. Even Yi DianHong was eager to see how Chu LiuXiang was going to counter this new weapon and what other strange stances Bai YuMo was going to use. The fight was at its heat and Chu was being pressed into a corner when suddenly the claw of the club flew towards Chu's chest. Seeing there was no way to escape, Chu took out the painting of Qiu LingSu and used to block the pincing claw. Bai YuMo was flabbergasted that Chu could so easily and skillfully avoid that mortal blow to his chest. He wanted to see what was stuck between the pincers of the claw and he rolled out the painting. When he first saw the portrait he was slightly shocked and questioned Chu why did he have a portrait of Ren Ci's wife. Chu was very happy to hear this he finally found out who Qiu LingSu married--it was the former leader of the Beggars Association, Ren Ci. Chu asked him whether he knows where Qiu LingSu was now. Bai YuMo said her name was Ye ShuZhen and not Qiu LingSu. Chu figured out that Qiu must have changer her name when she married Ren Ci. He didn't know where she was now but he said NanGong Ling knew. Chu said he might not tell him. Bai YuMo suggested that Chu could swap information with him. Chu would tell them who that young man was and NanGong Ling would tell him the whereabouts of Madame Ren (Qiu LingSu/Ye ShuZhen). Chu followed him to the place where NanGong Ling was and said it was up to Chu to get inside, he had helped him enough. Chu looked back hoping Yi DianHong could assist him but no trace was to be seen of him. As Bai YuMo entered the house and asked a beggar whether the young man was captured. The beggar replied he came on his one and NanGong Ling was talking to him now. As soon as Bai YuMo entered the house, Chu swiftly moved up to the beggar standing guard and pressed his acupoint so he couldn't move or talk. He sneaked up the roof and listened and saw what was going on. He saw NanGong Ling and some old beggars sitting in the hall, all of those old beggars had 9 pouches on them. Bai YuMo joined them and it seems that NanGong Ling was questioning the young man why he wounded several of their disciples and one of their elder. The young man was not answering any of his questions and told NanGong Ling to kill him if he dared. He angered NanGong Ling and the other elders by this rude attitude. All of a sudden someone flew in through the window holding a sharp sword, it was Yi DianHong. He pointed his sword at NanGong Ling. Bai YuMo and the 8 elders all of them were take off guard and quickly jumped away. YI DianHong told the young man to go now. But he refused and Yi DianHong said he would expose his identity if he stayed so seeing no other choice he had concur. At this point NanGong Ling, Bai YuMo and the 8 elders had drawn their weapons and launched their attacks on Yi DianHong and the young man. The young man took out his whip and together with Yi DianHong they warded of 10 martial arts experts of the Beggars Association. Yi DianHong suddenly shouted:"If you don't come out now and help, I'll call out your name!" Chu LiuXiang smiled and took a few tiles from the roof and hurled them into the hall saying: "Watch out for my 5 poisonous copper cymbals!" He just threw a few ordinary tiles into the hall, but with his internal energy those tiles had a tremendous force, everyone jumped away at the word 'poisonous'. Yi DianHong and the young man quickly made their escape and NanGong Ling could see someone on the roof and but couldn't see his face and flung a chair towards the figure and told him to stay behind. Of course, Chu wouldn't stay and swiftly he was out of sight. The young man asked Yi DianHong why he saved him. Yi DianHong said he couldn't care less if he died but he accidentally damaged someone's thing and he is now using the young man as compensation. The young man scoffed at him and walked away, suddenly Chu appeared before him and thanked Yi DianHong. Yi DianHong said to him: "Here's your letter." and walked away. Chu noticed that the young man's face was full of curiosity and Chu answered the questions he had for Chu. Chu LiuXiang saw the young's man robe and guessed he must be related to Zha MuHe. The young man asked whether he had seen his father but Chu sighed and asked the young man to trust him. The young man took a deep look into Chu's eyes and smiled and then said: "I trust you." Chu asked him what was in the letter, the young man said the contents is as following: After all this time Chu LiuXiang was able to find out what the contents of that letter was. Chu LiuXiang and the young man both were thinking what kind of trouble Qiu LingSu must be in. Why didn't she ask the Beggars Association for help, was it too personal to involve them? The young man thought the disappearance of his father was connected to the Beggars Association therefore he interrogated numerous beggars but none of them had any information. He asked Chu whether he could go and ask NanGong Ling, because NanGong Ling and Chu are friends. Chu LiuXiang agreed and the young man smiled very happily and said Chu LiuXiang isn't that annoying as said. Chu asked how was he to meet the young man again. The young man said that Chu must go to DaMing lake in the morning, he would see a black horse he should gently pull the horse's left ear and say 3 times: "Take me to Hei ZhenZhu (Black Pearl)!" and he would bring you to me. When he said this, he left. Chu finally knew this strange young man's name. Chu headed towards the mansion where NanGong Ling was staying, when he entered he was welcomed by NanGong Ling. Chu smiled and said he came here to taste some fine liquor together with him. It seems that WuHua was here as well, so the 3 of them drank at heart's content. (*It is strange that WuHua could drink wine, I mean aren't Buddhist monks prohibited from drinking. Perhaps that's also a reason why reverend TianHu of northern ShaoLin didn't appoint him as the next leader/abbot of ShaoLin). Suddenly Chu said he knew someone who could drink even more than they did. NanGong Ling asked who this person might be. Chu said this man was Zha MuHe aka King of the Desert. While he said Zha MuHe's name he observed NanGong Ling's face for facial changes. But he couldn't see any. Both WuHua and NanGong Ling were interested in meeting Zha MuHe, but Chu said it was impossible now because he was dead. NanGong Ling was surprised to hear this because he was always well-informed on current WuLin affairs. Chu said he hid the body of Zha MuHe, because his killer wants to create havoc in the entire realm of martial arts so no one knows of his death. Again he casually observed NanGong Ling for any strange or guilty behavior but he showed none. Chu LiuXiang added that clues of the killer could be found via Madame Ren (Qiu LingSu). NanGong Ling said Madame Ren (Qiu LingSu) lived secluded now but he was willing to take Chu LiuXiang to her. However he had to take care of some business at this time and asked Chu to come back 2 hours later. Chu said he had some business too and said he would return shortly. WuHua smiled and said whether he had an appointment with a lovely lady. Chu laughed and said he couldn't keep a secret from WuHua. And he was off 2 hours later he would come again. As Chu LiuXiang approached the DaMing lake he saw Hei ZhenZhu's black horse. He did as Hei ZhenZhu instructed and the horse obediently took Chu to Hei ZhenZhu. When he saw him, he was standing on a small boat pondering. Chu LiuXiang asked him what was he thinking of. Hei ZhenZhu said he was thinking of Chu, all of a sudden he realised Chu was there and jumped and asked him whether he had questioned NanGong Ling. He said he couldn't get any information but NanGong Ling would take him to Madame Ren (Qiu LingSu). Hei ZhenZhu asked Chu when will he return, Chu replied 2 days. Hei ZhenZhu said she wait here again 2 days later. Chu said 2 days later a young girl would rendezvous with him at dusk. Hei ZhenZhu scoffed saying he would not be able to recognize this girl. Chu said 2 days later he would surely recognize her, because someone like her cannot be easily found in these parts or anywhere in the world, her name is Su RongRong. Hei ZhenZhu wanted to know whether she was very beautiful, Chu answered that simply the word beautiful would not do her justice. Hei ZhenZhu asked Chu what his relationship was with Su RongRong. Chu smiled and said Hei ZhenZhu had a lot of questions for a man. Hei ZhenZhu coldly said he would wait for her and told Chu to go now. NanGong Ling took Chu LiuXiang to a mountain not far from here, it was called Mount Ni. It was a beautiful place to be, very secluded. Chu commented that this place was a small paradise on earth. NanGong Ling sighed and said that Ren Ci wanted to spend his remaining years here, but before he could enjoy it he was dead. Chu asked him whether he missed Ren Ci. NanGong Ling said that Ren Ci was the most benevolent, friendly man he knew and if it wasn't for him he wouldn't be the new leader of the Beggars Association. They continued their hike, Qiu LingSu lived on the mountaintop. As they walked along they saw a man holding a strange shaped sword blocking the mountain ridge. In order to reach the house of Qiu LingSu you had to walk via the ridge. Chu asked this whether they could pass twice. But the man still didn't answer. Chu asked politely his name. The mysterious man answered: "TianFeng ShiSi Lang!" Chu said he wanted to pass and pay his respects to Madame Ren. TianFeng ShiSi Lang wouldn't let him pass and saying Madame Ren will not see anyone. Chu LiuXiang asked him how he knows Qiu LingSu. According to TianFeng ShiSi Lang, he was in love to with Qiu LingSu but unfortunately he couldn't win her heart and wasn't strong enough to overcome Ren Ci. So more than 20 years ago he left for Japan and vowed never to come back unless Ren Ci died. Chu LiuXiang was persistent in his request in seeing Qiu LingSu. TianFeng ShiSi Lang dared Chu to try and pass this ridge. Chu LiuXiang accepted this challenge. NanGong Ling told Chu to be careful because TianFeng ShiSi Lang was a great martial arts expert. TianFeng ShiSi Lang drew his long samurai blade and stood still on the ridge, Chu was approached and stood still too. Neither of them moved for some time. Suddenly TianFeng ShiSi Lang used his best skill "One blow of the blade facing the wind" to hack Chu LiuXiang. This skill was designed to seal off all avoiding/escaping techniques of the adversary and even more dangerous was the fact that Chu was standing on a ridge leaving no place to maneuver at all. He saw the blade coming towards him so he clutched his feet against the ridge and jumped out of the way and bouncing back and advance towards TianFeng ShiSi Lang. TianFeng ShiSi Lang never guessed his art of levitation was this magnificent. He placed all his strength into that hack, now he couldn't withdraw his blade and use a counter attack. He suddenly stood still and Chu grabbed him but when he did there was only a heap of clothes and a mask. He saw a figure leaping off the cliff and making a somersault and landing in the stream below and escaped. At this time NanGong Ling approached and said this a Japanese escape trick. Chu commented that this man did not come from Japan and he is probably not TianFeng ShiSi Lang. Because he knew Chu LiuXiang's name. Chu never introduced himself, furthermore, if he came from Japan then no one would know him--why wear a mask? So he guessed that this pretender must use Japanese martial arts to cover his original martial arts and his actual identity. Chu and NanGong Ling proceeded to Qiu LingSu. They stopped in front of a little house. NanGong Ling asked permission to enter the house. A most enchanting voice told them to enter. As they entered they saw a woman standing with her back towards them. Although Chu couldn't see her face he knew she was a beautiful woman. Her stature was unparalleled, Chu was completely mesmerized by her. Qiu LingSu asked NanGong Ling who the other man was. He replied that Chu had some questions he wanted to ask her. Qiu asked what kinds of questions. Chu said that Zou YouZeng, XiMen Qian, LingYing Zi and Zha MuHe received a letter from her and now they have all died. As he said those names he observed Qiu LingSu to see whether she was shocked, angered or anything, but he saw none. She replied that she never wrote any letters and Chu must be wrong and she turned around and asked them to leave now. Chu couldn't see her face, she wore a veil covering her face--you could only see her beautiful eyes. Chu was even more confused and was about to leave when he saw an urn. He asked Qiu LingSu whether Ren Ci was cremated. She replied coldly that this was a tradition of the Beggars Association. Chu LiuXiang said he would like to have met Ren Ci before he died. Suddenly Qiu LingSu said the following to Chu LiuXiang: "My husband was bedridden for many years, when he suddenly died not many people were present to see him for the last time. Please leave now!" Chu LiuXiang thanked Madame Ren and left. He was thinking of the those 2 sentences Qiu LingSu said. When they got back to JiNan, NanGong Ling said he had some business and parted. He apologized for not be able to help Chu. Chu smiled and said that it didn't matter. He quickly went to see Hei ZhenZhu, when he got there he asked whether Chu had met Qiu LingSu. Chu said he did and Hei ZhenZhu asked whether she was very beautiful and Chu smiled and said Hei ZhenZhu really asked some girlish questions and didn't focus on the words Qiu LingSu said. Chu told her she wore a veil, Hei ZhenZhu seemed disappointed. Chu also told her that Qiu LingSu said she never wrote any letter. Hei ZhenZhu seemed even more disappointed and said it was impossible to solve this mystery. Chu said: "In the eyes of Chu LiuXiang, there is never impossible." And asked Hei ZhenZhu whether he saw Su RongRong. Hei ZhenZhu said he did. Chu asked him where she was at this moment. Hei ZhenZhu replied:"She is dead!" "Dead!" Chu LiuXiang was shocked and quickly grabbed Hei ZhenZhu's shoulders and asked again what he just said. Hei ZhenZhu said that he saw Su RongRong being murdered. Chu LiuXiang screamed at Hei ZhenZhu questioning her why he didn't rescue her. Hei ZhenZhu's shoulders were almost crushed and tears were rolling in his eyes but he coldly said: "You didn't tell me to protect her. I don't even know her, her death is no concern of me." Chu LiuXiang was stunned. He released Hei ZhenZhu and sat down. He couldn't believe it--Su RongRong dead. This smart and beautiful girl dead. Hei ZhenZhu bit on his lip and asked Chu: "Did that woman mean so much to you?" Chu said: "You'll never know how much she means to. I would rather die a hundred deaths then let anything happen to her!" Hei ZhenZhu was silent for a moment, but then she became very emotional and said: "You can cry all you want, but I don't have to be upset and you don't have the right to force me to feel upset." Chu said: "You're right! But I want to know who killed her!" Hei ZhenZhu narrated what happened that day. He went to the place where Chu and Su were supposed to rendezvous. As he was about to walk over to greet Su RongRong, 4 men came up to Su saying something to her. Because there was some distance between Su RongRong and Hei ZhenZhu he couldn't hear or clearly see what they said or looked like. It seemed that the 4 men wanted Su RongRong to follow them, but she declined. And the 4 men decided to take leave when suddenly a few darts flew out of their sleeves and struck her body and she fell into the lake. When Hei ZhenZhu rushed over the 4 men were gone and he saw lake turning red with blood and there was sign of the corpse. Chu LiuXiang left swiftly before Hei ZhenZhu could finish her sentence, and Hei ZhenZhu quietly sighed. Chu rushed to the scene of the crime hoping to find a clue but he couldn't find any. He just staring at the lake when a boat came by. On board was an old fisherman who asked to come aboard for a drink. Chu accepted and found the old man quite refined. The old man asked him why he was crying. Chu laughed out loud saying Chu LiuXiang never cried before but his laugh soon choked. The old man suddenly sighed and said: "Seeing you in this state, if I truly died I would have no regrets." Chu held the old man and said: "Is it truly you, RongRong?" He was so happy he held Su RongRong very tight in his arms not letting go. Su RongRong told Chu what happened, those 4 men came up to Su asking her whether she was Su RongRong. And saying they were disciples of the ZhuSha Zhang School, they had received orders from Chu to take her to somewhere else. Su didn't believe them because Chu knew she disliked contact with strange men. And she saw the 4 of them exchanging looks and she pretended to hit by their darts and fell into the water and the so-called blood was rouge she bought for Song TianEr. Chu praised her for her ingenuity. Su RongRong also told Chu what she found out or didn't find out at the Divine Water Palace. According to Su's aunt no men were allowed to enter the palace. The girl who committed suicide was called SiTu Zheng, who was a very quiet girl who occasionally played the zither. And she didn't leave anything behind. According to Chu there must be a clue there because otherwise those 4 men wouldn't have come to silence Su RongRong. Su asked Chu what he found out, Chu told her everything he had encountered so far. They concluded that the mysterious killer is the same person who killed Zuo YouZeng, XiMen Qian, etc. Su said he tried his best to keep Chu away from Qiu LingSu but still Qiu didn't say anything relevant. But Chu said she did and told Su the last 2 sentences Qiu said: "My husband was bedridden for many years, when he suddenly died not many people were present to see him for the last time." Su RongRong didn't hear anything special, but Chu asked her to think carefully. Suddenly she understood the message, Ren Ci was bedridden for many years and "suddenly" he died. The disciples of the Beggars Association knew their leader was ill and should have stayed at his deathbed to hear out his final instructions. How is it possible that "not many people were present to see him for the last time." Su RongRong asked whether he was going to visit Qiu LingSu again. He said he must go and told her to go back to the houseboat and he would join them 5 days later. As he returned to the lake someone appeared before him. It was WuHua he wanted to play chess with Chu LiuXiang and Chu happily accepted. Hei ZhenZhu was also present too, he was just staring into the lake and he looked pensive. Chu joked and said to him: "Only horses sleep standing, you do want mimic them?" Hei ZhenZhu coldly replied: "If you want to make small talk, you should go to the old fisherman and not me." Chu praised him for his keen eye and laughed out loud saying: "I have a chess appointment tonight therefore I can't drink with you tonight." Hei ZhenZhu didn't know what he was talking about just as he wanted to say something back. Chu quietly whispered: "Take your horse to the South gate and wait for me there. This is an important matter, solving this entire mystery depends on it." And then he laughed again and left leaving a very puzzled Hei ZhenZhu. Chu and WuHua entered the mansion of NanGong Ling. Everything was prepared a chessboard, wine and food. Chu LiuXiang felt immediately at home and started drinking and laughing. WuHua laughed saying NanGong Ling didn't know the pleasure of chess and NanGong smiled saying it takes too much time and energy for him. Suddenly Chu placed a chess-man on the most strange position possible. It was even a bad move, but WuHua thought Chu must have a brilliant strategy. So he was really puzzled by this move and thought of all possibilities. Chu said he wanted to use the toilet and asked NanGong Ling to lead the way. He obliged and Chu swiftly entered the toilet and when NanGong Ling went back in he quickly jumped over the wall and thought to himself: "WuHua, that move of mine was terrible. If you think I have a brilliant strategy you're very wrong. By the time you have figured that out I'll at Mount Ni." He rendezvoused with Hei ZhenZhu and asked him for his horse. Hei asked Chu when will he return, he said about 2 days if he isn't killed. Hei ZhenZhu said he didn't care less, he just wanted to make sure his horse would be returned on time. Chu laughed and rode away. |