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Chu Liu Xiang (Chor Lau Heung) Summaries Da Sa Mo - Part 1 
Original novel written by Gu Long Fan translation by Athena Dramatis Personae for "Da Sa Mo" (The Great Desert): -Chu LiuXiang: the hero of this novel, he's charming, handsome, elegant. A true gentleman and a true friend. In this novel he goes to (I think ) the Gobi desert in search for Su RongRong, Li HongXiu and Song TianEr. -Hu TieHua: one of Chu's best friends, he loves wine and women. He is rather grand and heroic and has good martial arts. He is willing to sacrifice his life for his closest friends. -Ji BingYan: another close friend of Chu LiuXiang, he is very wealthy and acquired a lot of wealth via trading with small border countries. He doesn't like to talk much but is very willing to give up his life for Chu or Hu. He has very good martial arts and he uses the so-called "judges brush" as weapon. -The Stone Avalokitesvara: a mysterious martial arts expert. She supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the world and dwells in these parts. Some people say she IS THE BEST martial arts expert of her time. -Princess PiPa: princess of the border country 'QiuCi.' Her father's throne is usurped and she and her father took refuge in a small castle in an oasis. She is very pretty and she has a crush on Chu LiuXiang. She also knows martial arts. -The King of 'QiuCi': a seemingly fatuous king, he is afraid of people trying to assassinate him and has hired a lot martial arts expert to protect him. -Yi DianHong: a professional killer. Also a good friend of Chu LiuXiang, he is not the cold-blooded murderer as he was before thanks to Chu LiuXiang. -Shi Tuo (Stone camel): a camel driver hired by Ji BingYan. He doesn't talk at all and his skin is all dried up. All he does is communicate with animals. -Wu brothers (Wu QingTian and Wu BaiYun): 2 martial arts experts hired by the king. Their technique is called 'The Touring Dragon Swordsmanship.' -SiTu LiuXing: also another expert hired by the king. He is a famous robber. -Du Huan: aka the merciless killer, he is infamous for his high rate of killings and he loves when people fear him. He too was hired by the king. -Wang Chong: also hired by the king. He looks sickly and doesn't appear to have any special abilities. No one has heard of him before. -Sun Kong: aka the black monkey. He is a feared and respected martial arts expert. But he is rather afraid of Chu LiuXiang mainly because Chu helped him out once. -Hong XianGong: a big merchant in these parts. He is in cahoots with The Stone Avalokitesvara and the treacherous ministers that are behind the usurpation of the throne of the Kingdom 'QiuCi.' -General Min: he is a traitor to the king and is working for the new pretender to the throne. -Wu JuXuan: a Chinese scholar with martial arts who is also working with the traitors to the throne and The Stone Avalokitesvara. He has a wretched appearance. -Qu WuRong: a disciple of The Stone Avalokitesvara. Her face is mutilated like Qiu LingSu. She and Yi DianHong will fall in love with each other. -HuangFu Gao: aka the righteous swordman also the head of The 7 Swords of HuaShan. He hasn't been heard of for almost 20 years. -Liu YanFei: aka 'The Little Divine Dragon Swordsman'. He is besides The 7 Swords of HuaShan, a famous HuaShan School disciple. He is also missing for almost 20 years. -Hua Mei Niao (The Trush): a mysterious killer that helped Chu LiuXiang a few times. But Chu hasn't the foggiest idea who this person could be. When Chu LiuXiang returned to his boat, he felt at home and warm. He called out for Su RongRong, Li HongXiu and Song TianEr. But no one answered, he was terrified that something happened to them. There are numerous traps set on the boat, however, none were activated, and he was confident that with their martial arts and ingenuity they could overcome any foe. He walked around the boat 7, 8 times when he finally saw a pile of sand on his favourite armchair and on top of the sand there was a black pearl. After examination he found a little note in the sand it said: Chu decided to go and look for Hei ZhenZhu, and he rode out on the black horse. Within a few days he reached a small village. He thought the horse and himself could use a good rest. Suddenly he saw a carriage riding by and a small kitten was on the road. The carriage didn't stop and the small kitten was about to be crushed when a man leapt in front of the carriage and protected the kitten with his body. The horse and the carriage rode over him. All the bystanders, even Chu LiuXiang, were shocked. The driver quickly stopped down to see whether the man was dead. The man stood up, picked up the kitten, and petted it. The man wasn't injured, only his clothes were a bit torn. The driver was ranting at this strange man. The strange ma didn't look at him and gently pushed and the driver flew up and landed on a roof. The strange man carried the small kitten in his arms and walked towards an inn. Chu LiuXiang leapt down from the horse and called out: "Hu TieHua! Madman Hua! How come you're here!" The man turned around and jumped up and said: "Chu LiuXiang, you old smelly insect! How come you're here too!" Hu flew up and struck Chu on the shoulder with his fist and Chu struck him in the stomach. Both of them screamed in pain but it sounded like laughter. Chu smiled and said: "No wonder you're missing for years, you've been hiding here." Hu TieHua said: "How come you're here? Are you being chased by girls? And you're taking refuge here?" The 2 of them are beating and laughing at each other and walked towards a small wineshop. Hu TieHua ordered some wine, the proprietress heavily put down the wine and left. The woman had passable looks, but she was petite and looked sour. Hu couldn't keep his eyes off her. They kept drinking and drinking. Chu asked why Hu TieHua was here. It seemed 7 years ago was the last time Chu saw Hu TieHua. Hu, Chu, Ji BingYan and a woman named Gao YaNan were drinking and enjoyed the scenery at Lake MoChou. When this Gao YanNan got drunk she would display her recently learnt HuaShan swordsmanship 'The Circuitous Dancing Willow Sword' and attract every WuLin person in the area to watch and steal 1 or 2 stances. According to Hu, her swordsmanship was passable but not good, however, Ji BingYan was full of praise and even said the leader of the HuaShan School, Chu ShuZhen, was not that good compared to her. Hu TieHua said that Ji BingYan was probably in love with Gao YaNan. Anyway, in a tipsy mood Hu TieHua said he would marry Gao YaNan and when he woke up he forgot the whole thing but she didn't. She tried to force him to marry her, and if he didn't, she would kill herself out of shame. Seeing no other way, he sneaked out in the night and jumped into the lake. She chased him for 3 years and that's how he came here. Chu asked him why stayed another 4 years. Hu said he had a special reason--that reason was the proprietress of this establishment. He tried to court her for 4 years but she didn't even pay notice of his existence and he would try and try till he won. Hence his reason for being here. Now he wanted to know Chu LiuXiang's reason. Chu told him Hei ZhenZhu took Su RongRong, Li HongXiu and Song TianEr and he was pursuing them. Hu TieHua said he would help him no matter what. Chu laughed and asked him whether he could forget the proprietress. Hu said if Chu wanted it he would even chop of his own head for him let alone a woman. Both of them laughed and walked towards the door. Suddenly the proprietress ran out and held Hu TieHua's leg and begged him not to go. Hu was flabbergasted and asked why did she ignore him these 4 years. She cried and said he liked her because she ignored him. Hu forcibly smiled and said to Chu: "Women are smarter than we think. If anyone thinks they're stupid that person must be an idiot himself." (*Translator's note: No truer words have ever been spoken) The woman cried and said if he would stay she would marry him. When Hu heard this he immediately jumped up and ran as quickly as possible. Chu rode the black horse to catch up with him, he laughed and said to Hu: "This woman doesn't know the art of levitation so you can relax." Hu TieHua said he will never understand women. Chu asked Hu where they were headed, Hu said Lan prefecture. Chu asked why they didn't head for the Gobi desert. Hu TieHua lectured Chu LiuXiang about the dangers of the desert, if one doesn't know the way or even got lost no matter how high that person's martial arts is he/she will surely die in the desert. Hu said they needed help from another person that person was: Ji BingYan or as Hu calls him, that darn rooster. Ji BingYan was living in the Lan prefecture. He made a fortune doing business with traders of the desert and he will have the resources and the skill to survive the desert. Chu LiuXiang had to agree with him and the 2 of them set off to the Lan prefecture. Arriving in the Lan prefecture they could easily find Ji BingYan's mansion as he was a well-known merchant in these parts. Chu LiuXiang and Hu TieHua were impressed by the mansion Ji was living in. The servants lead them into the main hall, and they saw 4 young women carrying a soft couch. Sitting on the couch was their old friend Ji BingYan. After a warm welcome they sat down talking and Ji BingYan said he could not use his legs anymore. Several years ago he got lost in the desert and would have died there if he wasn't found on time by a caravan. He sighed, saying that although he acquired a fortune in the desert, he also got rheumatism in return. He advised Chu and Hu not to go. Hu TieHua was getting all emotional seeing his old friend in such condition. Ji BingYan ordered a banquet for his 2 old friends. He prepared a king's meal for them and 2 beautiful women were serving them wine. Judging the looks in their eyes, the 2 women were very close to Ji BingYan. During the banquet Ji BingYan advised them not to go numerous times, but seeing they were adamant he stopped urging them. The next day Chu LiuXiang and Hu TieHua rode of again. Hu TieHua was sulking the entire time. Hu TieHua blamed Chu for not being a good friend. Chu asked why he said that. Hu blamed Chu for not saying a word to an old friend in such a condition. Chu smiled and asked him how long did he know Ji BingYan. Hu TieHua said although he didn't know him as long as Chu but for 10 odd years they have been friends. Chu asked him again whether he had ever heard Ji talking a lot. Hu said everyone knew Ji BingYan didn't like to talk. Chu said exactly if Ji BingYan really was an invalid he wouldn't talk that much. Hu TieHua asked Chu: "So it was all an act." Chu sighed and said whether he saw the 2 women yesterday, Hu said he did. Chu explained that the 2 women were not looking sad or had pity in their eyes. In fact they looked very pleased and satisfied. Hu TieHua jumped up when he heard this and demanded to know why Chu didn't tell him right away. Chu said if Ji BingYan didn't want to go with them they shouldn't force him. And besides, by talking that much he was feeling awkward towards them. Hu TieHua said why Chu wasn't feeling angry. Chu said he was very happy having a friend like Ji BingYan. Yhere wasn't more that he wanted from him. They continued their ride and suddenly they stopped at a crossing as Chu wanted to ask Hu which way they should go. Hu was already gone. Chu LiuXiang smiled forcibly and waited near dusk. Hu TieHua returned behind there was another horse behind him there were 2 women sitting on that horse. They were the 2 women at the banquet. Hu went back and brought the 2 women here in order to make Ji BingYan to pursue them. He entered the mansion while Ji was having a siesta and quickly "kidnapped" these 2 women. Chu LiuXiang couldn't do anything but sigh and smile. But Ji BingYan didn't show up at all. It was now night time and Hu TieHua thought his plan had failed and couldn't do a thing. The 2 women didn't seem to be worried and they were joking around with Hu TieHua. Chu LiuXiang laughed the entire time, Hu TieHua had no choice but to return the 2 ladies and wanted Chu to accompany him. On the way back they suddenly saw a caravan with horses and camels and leading this caravan was a big, muscular man. Hu TieHua approached the man and talked to him, the man just ignored him. Hu saw his skin was all dried up. Hu TieHua didn't like being ignored. If that person ignored him he would try harder to get his attention. Suddenly he heard someone talking to him from one of the carriages saying this man was deaf and there was no point in talking to him. The voice belonged to Ji BingYan. Hu TieHua was screaming and cursing him, but Ji BingYan didn't pay attention to him and approached Chu LiuXiang. They looked at each other and smiled. Ji BingYan said: "I'm here." Chu replied: "Very good." Ji said: "I had to prepare things we're going to need in the desert, that's why I am late." Chu said: "I think you prepared a bit too much." Ji said: "Better safe than sorry, tomorrow we can inspect the preparations." Chu replied: "Very well." Neither of them mentioned the broken legs, kidnapping. Hu was still ranting, but he was interrupted by Ji saying he brought wine. Hu stopped and entered the carriage. Ji prepared all sorts of wine and Hu could have his pick. Ji sent the 2 women home. He brought enough food supplies to last for a long period of time. Hu knew that Ji suffered a lot that time in the desert so he didn't laugh at his precautions. Chu, Hu and Ji discussed how they were to go and what was the route. Ji suggested a detour, because Hei ZhenZhu had the audacity to kidnap Chu's close ones he must have prepared something so it would be wise to avoid the territory of "The King of the Desert". Also, they would have to leave behind the black horse. Such a creature would attract a lot of attention and it was the horse of Hei ZhenZhu. Before long they reached LaoLong Bay. Chu and the black horse were feeling melancholic about parting. Hu TieHua was very interested in the camel driver Shi Tuo (stone camel) he was really curious to know how he turned out to be like this. And another person was Little Pan, he was very talkative and could chitchat for hours with Hu. After travelling with them for some time, Chu and Hu knew why Ji BingYan hired Little Pan. Little Pan spoke almost every dialect fluently wherever they came. And Shi Tuo was even more strange, he didn't speak at all except to the camels and Hu found out that he didn't "sleep." He would just keep walking and slept at the same time just like the camels. Ji explained that Shi Tuo was once tortured by someone and that's how he became like this. Before long they would reach the Gobi Desert. Finally they reached the desert. They stocked up at a small village. Chu, Hu and Ji wore disguises, they looked like ordinary merchants. They walked for days, Hu TieHua had to get used to the hot weather. One day they heard a soft voice, crying for help. Hu TieHua wanted to go immediately, but Ji BingYan said that would be unwise. According to him, lots of people die in the desert--how many could one save? Hu TieHua was adamant, he and Chu went towards the voice and saw 2 men tied up and pinned down. Their skin was all shrivelled up by the sun. Chu and Hu rescued them and brought them back to their caravan. They said they were attacked by robbers. Ji BingYan fiercly told them to tell the truth, there are no robbers in this area. They wanted water and Chu LiuXiang went to get some more for them. Suddenly the 2 men jumped up and touched their hairs and numerous needles shot out. Ji, Hu and Chu quickly jumped away with their martial arts. It is almost impossible to harm them, however, the needles hit the water containers and rays of water are gushing out. The 2 men quickly ran away, Chu and Hu pursued them while Ji BingYan tried to rescue some of the water. The 2 men couldn't escape Chu and Hu's pursuit and one man was hit by Hu and died. Hu TieHua was furious--he rescued them and this is the way they repaid his kindness. The other man fell down and Chu was standing in front of him. The man was laughing hysterically, Chu calmly said if he told them who sent him they would spare his life. The man just laughed and said they wouldn't stand a chance against the person who sent him. Chu asked him: "Did the son of Zha MuHe instruct you to do this?" The man kept laughing and said: "Zha MuHe is nothing compared to our master." His laugh died and he had a strange look in his eyes. Chu quickly bent over to look but it was too late, the man died. Apparently they had poison in their mouths and when they were discovered they could use poison to commit suicide. Chu sighed at this sight, it reminded him of WuHua. Ji BingYan came over. He didn't say a word, he just looked at the 2 corpses. Hu TieHua said he never thought these 2 shrivelled men had still some strength in them to attack them. Ji BingYan walked towards a corpse and used a cloth to wipe the skin, it was just make-up, their skin wasn't shrivelled at all. They discovered they still had half of the water. Hu TieHua exclaimed happily that they failed because they still had water. Ji BingYan didn't speak and poured the water on the sand. Hu yelled at him, Ji said the needles were poisonous the water is undrinkable. They only had a small amount of water left at this point. Chu said he examined the device that shot out the needles. According to him, this device is ingenious, it is even better than the so-called "9th Heaven 10th Hell Celestial Demon Needle." Ji BingYan suggested to move on and think about this at another moment. Hu TieHua was cursing himself for falling into a trap, he wanted Ji to scold him. Ji just said to him that rescuing someone is a good thing, why should he be blamed. Hu TieHua couldn't believe his ears, Chu walked to him and said: "The darn rooster isn't that terrible as you think, is he?" Later on Chu discussed the device again. According to him there were only 3 people he knew of that could make this device. The first one was the leader of the Tang clan in the SiChuan province, the second was old Mr. Zhu in the Su province and the third one was Chu LiuXiang himself. The first 2 wouldn't go to the Gobi desert and Chu certainly didn't make this device. So they haven't got a clue who wanted them dead. They had to ration their water from now on. They continued their journey and suddenly Ji BingYan ordered Shi Tuo to stop. He saw a withered tree, he said there might be a water source. Chu LiuXiang, Hu TieHua, Ji BingYan and Little Pan all started digging. They dug for some time but still couldn't find a drop of water. Chu asked Ji whether he could be mistaken. Ji leapt up and yelled: "Don't you trust me!" Chu knew Ji must feeling upset and didn't say anything and just stood there. Little Pan said the water source may be dried up now. Ji apologized to Chu. Chu said it didn't matter, everyone is allowed to be upset and close friends should be able to understand that. Little Pan watched them and said: "In my humble opinion, whoever can be friends with master Chu or master Hu must be a very lucky person." Suddenly they heard horses coming their way, they hid in the pit they just dug. 5 horses rode by, the riders clutch to the horses like fleeing from something awful. Only 4 horses had riders, they were dressed like Chinese warriors and each carried a sabre. Suddenly they drew their sabres and began hacking into the sky as if it was their enemy. Hu TieHua asked what was wrong with these men, were they seeing ghosts? Little Pan said he heard of stories of demons eating the hearts of travellers. Ji BingYan told him not to say such nonsense. The 4 men kept hacking into nothing, by this time 2 men had fallen down. Ji BingYan suddenly said to Chu: "They are using the sabre techniques of the Peng family." Chu said: "Indeed." Hu TieHua said: "They are displaying 'The Five Tiger Sabre' judging from their internal strength they must be rather famous disciples." Ji BingYan: "The martial arts of the Peng family was to be taught to family and not to others, if I'm not mistaken they must be the sons or nephews of Peng Yun. The so-called 7 Tigers of the Peng family. The one with the beard could be Peng YiHu." Chu asked: "Did the 7 tigers take over the duties of their father?" Ji said: "Yes, they are running the armed protection service." At this time another man fell down. Hu TieHua said Peng Yun is a good man he couldn't bare to watch his sons die and jumped out to help them. Ji BingYan coldly asked him how he was going to help them. Hu couldn't answer and sat down again. Ji explained someone caused the 4 Tigers to go insane because that person wanted to steal something the 4 Tigers were protecting, they should now wait till he arrives and capture him. Suddenly a big shadow flew over their heads, they saw a big vulture circling above the 4 Tigers and swooped down and picked up a red box and flew up again. Chu sighed: "A very good plan, indeed." Hu didn't understand, Chu explained that the red box must be marked and the vulture was trained to recognize the box and bring it to its master. Whatever the 4 Tigers were protecting was gone. Hu TieHua rushed towards the only breathing man, the rest already died. Hu TieHua asked him whether he was Peng YiHu. But the man just panted heavily, Hu asked him whether he could still talk. Hu grabbed him by the shoulder, he felt that one shoulder had a strange lump. The man could hardly make a sound but it sounded like: "Demons.....demons, thousands of demons......kill....kill!" Hu TieHua asked: "Where are the demons?" The man's eyes suddenly blinked and pushed Hu away and yelled: "You can never steal it away from me! You....you..." He tripped and fell down and he will never be able to get up again. Ji BingYan went to investigate the bodies and he concluded the death was due to hunger, thirst, fatigue and they were poisoned by a hallucinatory drug, probably opium or something like it. They moved along, rationing every drop of water they had. In the night they heard 20 horses. Someone surrounded them. Chu LiuXiang, Hu TieHua and Ji BingYan were not afraid and decided to play along with them. All the riders were dressed in black, the leader of the group spoke to Chu and others and demanded they would hand "it" over. Ji asked them what should they hand over. The leader sneered and said they must have found something on the corpses. Hu said only fools wanted stuff belonging to dead people. The leader ordered his men to search them. They could find anything, Ji asked them what the thing was they were looking for. The leader of those men said they wanted "The Star of Happiness." The leader turned to Chu, Hu and Ji again and said the only thing they wanted was "The Star"--if they gave it to them they would spare their lives and give them water. Ji BingYan said:"Excellent, I will tell you where the star is." Hu was surprised and asked him how did he know where this "Star of Happiness" could be. Ji smiled and said did he forget that when Hu grabbed Peng YiHu, he felt a lump in his shoulder. They went to the body of Peng YiHu. Ji cut a small opening near the shoulder and a big diamond fell out. It was "The Star of Happiness." He handed the gem over to the leader who was amazed by the perfection of the stone. He sneered at them and said he would let them live but they shouldn't expect water from them and left. Hu TieHua blamed Ji BingYan and Chu LiuXiang for not being intelligent enough. Ji BingYan smiled and said he knew they didn't carry any water. That meant they must live nearby, if they followed them, they will reach their den. Furthermore, these men were sent out by the "demon" so if they rushed towards the den they will meet this foe and fight him there. Chu LiuXiang, Hu TieHua and Ji BingYan followed those men. The 20 men entered a small house and they all looked respectfully now, apparently their master was inside. They reached the small house. Chu, Hu and Ji decided to wait and observe the men first before they storm in. Suddenly they heard a strange noise coming out of the house, Chu, Hu and Ji rushed towards it and saw all the men dancing strangely and falling down. Hu kicked open the door and found all 20 men dead. They all committed suicide and there was no trace of the "master". Probably the master knew the men were followed and forced them to take poison. The house had no special characteristics, there was only a shrine with a life-size stone statue of the Avalokitesvara. Little Pan rushed inside and yelled that Shi Tuo has gone insane and ran off. Ji quickly asked him what happened. Little Pan and Shi Tuo both entered the house and suddenly Shi Tuo turned around and ran off. Ji, Chu and Hu quickly ran outside to chase Shi Tuo. When they caught up with him, they struggled and, with a lot of difficulty, they were able to restrain Shi Tuo. They had no idea what possessed him, he wouldn't explain to them. Hu TieHua said there wasn't anything in the house so no one could hide from them, Chu asked him again if he sure about that. Hu said there were only some chairs, tables and a shrine with a life-size statue of the Avalokitesvara. When he said the 3 of them rushed back to the house, the statue was gone but now there was a large kettle of soup in the house with a little note. The characters were quite feminine.
The note said: Hu TieHua was flabbergasted, who was this person in the shrine, he thought. Chu LiuXiang smiled wryly and said their cover was blown after all. Hu TieHua kept thinking who this mysterious person could be. Chu said there is only one person who was capable in pretending to be a stone Avalokitesvara and that must be the so-called "The Stone Avalokitesvara." Hu was shocked to hear this name, he knew that she was proclaimed to be the most beautiful, most wicked and merciless woman of this time. And her martial arts was supposed to be unequalled in the realm. All 3 of them were thinking of the stories they heard of "The Stone Avalokitesvara". All those stories were not very pleasant. None of them dared to touch the soup, suddenly a dog strayed in and drank some of the soup and ate a piece of meat. Hu TieHua was yelling at the dog: "Do you want to die?" All of them expected the dog to fall over and die in a second, but the dog lived and nothing happened to it. The soup was not poisoned. Hu said no matter what they couldn't eat something a dog ate of. He would rather die, he took the kettle outside the house and said they shouldn't eat from it. Ji and Chu just smiled when suddenly they heard Little Pan screaming in pain. They rushed out to see that he ate some of the soup, he cried out: "Poison....soup...meat...." and died. Ji BingYan explained that the dog must have had some poison in his mouth and when he drank from the soup. The poison got mixed with the soup making it poisonous. Ji BingYan and Chu LiuXiang thanked Hu for being so stubborn and shivered when they thought of the poison and the deadly trap set by the Stone Avalokitesvara. This was the second day they didn't have any water anymore. Shi Tuo would sometimes sniff at the sand to see whether he can "sniff out" some water source but till now he has found nothing. In the night, Shi Tuo started to dig a hole like crazy, the others knew he found some water and all of them started digging. They found a little bit of water, and to them it was the best gift they could ever find at this moment. With their energy slightly recovered, they decided to move on. After walking for a little way, they saw something green looking like trees. Hu thought he was dreaming and Chu said it could be a mirage. Chu said he would investigate and used his art of levitation to proceed ahead. It was confirmed this was truely an oasis. He heard some laughter and went to that noise. He reached a pool and hid in the trees. He saw a beautiful young woman bathing in the pool, she was absolutely enchanting. As Chu LiuXiang was a true connoisseur of beauty he couldn't keep his eyes of this young woman. The young woman turned her head towards the tree Chu was hiding, he knew she noticed someone was watching her. She said: "Haven't you seen enough?" Her voice was really lovely and Chu came out feeling rather embarrassed. The young woman was really angry in the beginning but after she took a good look at Chu, her anger died out. The young woman scolded him for his audacity, Chu admitted his guilt and apologized. The young woman smiled and said a true man will accept his mistake and apologize. Chu said she should cover the area with silk, the young woman angrily said that Chu dared to accuse her for something he did wrong himself. Chu said he didn't know that a beauty was bathing here. The young woman asked him if he knew, would he stay away. Chu replied even if his hands and feet were broken he would still find away to come. This young woman had never encountered such a cute ruffian before, she didn't know if she should be angry or happy. The other young women all laughed and one said to Chu: "How dare you insult the princess." Chu apologized again and said he shouldn't have said those words, but he added that he never told a lie and he was saying what he thought. The princess said to him that she never thought she would meet a Han Chinese who told the truth. Chu asked the princess whether she respected people who told the truth. The princess just said: "Hmm." Chu LiuXiang asked whether she forgave him. She looked at Chu for some time and smiled sweetly and said that she will forgive and even treat him like a guest. She asked him whether he would follow her. After walking for a bit, Chu saw a group of fierce-looking soldiers standing guard in front of a large tent. He heard laughter and talking coming from the tent. When they entered the tent, Chu saw a few men dressed nicely sitting at a few tables and a middle-aged man with a beard with a majestic look sitting at large table. This man was dressed in an expensive red robe and he was wearing a crown. This man talked to the other people saying: "There is our lovely princess PiPa after refreshing herself. Isn't she even more enchanting? And she brought a guest." The princess whispered something in the red-robed man's ear and he nodded. He offered Chu a seat. Chu was famished after all these days and seeing lots of food, he started eating. Suddenly 4 soldiers approached him in the back and drew their halberds to stab Chu in the back. Chu didn't turn around, the princess thought he couldn't avoid the attacks. Her facial colour changed. However the 4 halberds were somehow held down under Chu's arms. The 4 soldiers bumped into each other and couldn't lift their arms for awhile. The red-robed man praised Chu's martial arts and said his daughter had a keen eye. All of a sudden a man dressed in a green robe stood up and rudely asked Chu's name. Chu gave him a false name and sat down again. He disliked this man and felt he didn't want to talk to him. Princess PiPa apologized again and said she will play him a song and took out her pipa and played. The music was enchanting, and everyone was dazzled by it. When she stopped she asked what Chu's opinion was. Chu said he never thought he could hear such music in these parts. The red-robed man said the pipa was introduced into China by them. He asked Chu whether he heard of Su QiPo. Chu asked this man whether he was the king of QiuCi kingdom. The king replied positively. Chu said he heard of Su QiPo, Su QiPo was the king of QiuCi, he played enchanting music with the pipa during the Northern and Southern dynasties period (±5th century A.D.) and he introduced the pipa in China. The king clapped his hands, he praised Chu for his insight, Chu said he only knew the rough lines. Suddenly Chu LiuXiang heard Hu TieHua calling him: "Old smelly insect! Where are you!" Following where some noises of anger and someone falling into the water, Chu concluded some soldiers must be struck down by Hu and fell into the water. Princess PiPa turned to Chu and asked sweetly him why that man called him smelly old insect. Chu said those were his friends and asked the king to forgive them. The king said it didn't matter and wanted to meet them. Hu TieHua struck down 3 soldiers and was feeling upset for Chu leaving them behind to drink. But after the king invited him and Ji to sit down he forgot everything. The king introduced his other guests to Chu, Hu, and Ji. They were the Wu brothers, Wu QingTian and Wu BaiYun. They were famous for their "Touring Dragon Sword Techniques." Also the famous robber SiTu LiuXing was present, and the man in the green robe was the infamous Du Huan aka the Merciless Killer. When Chu heard his name he frowned, he knew that Du Huan was famous for his high killings and he was feared by many people. And finally there was a man called Wang Chong. Chu and his friends never heard of him before, he looked sickly but of all the guests, Chu thought he was the most pleasant one. The king asked the names of Ji BingYan and Hu TieHua. Ji just said his family name was Ji and remained silent. The king smiled and said to Ji that he was quite reticent. Hu laughed and said Ji was famous for it. The king smiled and asked Hu what his special ability was. Hu said the only thing he was good at was drinking and having some strength. The king called in a big, muscular soldier and asked Hu to compete with this soldier. The soldier seized Hu's and held Hu in the air. The Wu brothers, SiTu LiuXing, smiled thinking Hu will lose. Du Huan was hoping Hu was going to be embarrassed and laughed grimly. Hu stretched out his right hand and gently pushed against the giant's shoulder and the giant fell down and Hu landed softly on the floor. Hu used the famous "Using the strength of you opponent against himself," or better known as 4 liang (50 grams) can move a thousand jin (1/2 kilogram). The king thought it was sorcery, but princess PiPa explained it to him what that was. Chu and Hu were surprised to see that this princess had such insight. The soldier tried again and seized Hu and used all his strength to throw him on the ground. But again, the soldier fell down, and Hu was still holding his cup without spilling a drop of wine. Princess PiPa personally poured a cup of wine and wanted to give it to Hu, but Du Huan stood up and said he wanted this cup. Du Huan said Hu could try to use the same way to push him down like he did with the soldier. Hu pushed against his shoulder. Du Huan stood still and sneered. Everyone thought Hu was going to be killed by Du Huan except Chu LiuXiang and Ji BingYan. All of a sudden Du Huan's right hand shot out and aimed at Hu's chest. He wore 5 rings on this hand, each ring was glowing. It was obvious there was poison on those rings. Suddenly Hu's both hands pressed against Du Huan's hand and broke his hand. Du Huan never thought he would lose, and that goes for SiTu LiuXing, the Wu brothers. Only Wang Chong wasn't paying attention to all this. Du Huan fainted. Everyone was amazed by Hu's martial arts. Suddenly Wang Chong asked: "Are you the famous Hu TieHua, a close friend of the renowned Chu LiuXiang." When he said that, SiTu LiuXing, the Wu brothers were all very impressed. Hu asked Wang Chong how he recognized him and who Wang Chong was and what his martial arts school was. Wang Chong smiled bitterly and said his name didn't matter and turned to Chu and said: "You must be Chu LiuXiang." Again everyone was in awe. And turned to Ji BingYan and said that he must be the famous Ji BingYan. Chu turned to him and asked how he knew and asked him whether they met each other once. Wang Chong said he was just a nameless WuLin person, he could never meet such heroes. The king laughed and said: "Although We don't know who you are, but judging by your skills you must be formidable martial arts experts. Let us drink to our heart's content." A soldier came in and whispered something in the king's ear and the king changed his expression. Ji BingYan asked the king: "We have been wandering in the desert for some days now, if it is convenient we would like to make use of Your Majesty's space to freshen up." The king smiled and said: "No problem even if you wanted to leave We would try to convince to stay." The king smiled rather strangely and his words had a deeper meaning. Late in the night, the 3 friends were discussing their current situation. According to Ji BingYan, there are some strange things going on. First of all, what was the king of the QiuCi kingdom doing here in this forsaken place. Probably he was taking his refuge here said Ji. Secondly, why did the king hire so many Chinese martial arts experts, the most obvious reason was that he needed protection concluded Ji BingYan. Furthermore, they couldn't stay here, the Stone Avalokitesvara was after them, the best thing they could do is stock some supplies here and quickly leave, that was Ji BingYan's advice. Hu TieHua didn't like the idea, he felt obliged to help out the king because he had treated them friendly. Chu said they couldn't leave either, because the Stone Avalokitesvara must be nearby or some of her spies must be here. Also the Star of Happiness was brought here in the area, because a soldier walked in earlier today to whisper something in the ear of the king. Chu said although he couldn't understand the language but he could definitely hear some Chinese words uttered like Star of Happiness, Peng YiHu and Stone Avalokitesvara. Perhaps the king's adversary was the Stone Avalokitesvara. Hu said that was excellent--that meant they could fight her right here. They wondered who the spy could be. It must be someone local or a person with no special characteristics. Ji BingYan said Wang Chong was rather suspicious, Wang was surely concealing his martial arts. Chu said someone else was concealing her martial arts too, that was princess PiPa. She had good martial arts insight, that meant her martial arts must be quite good. Hu TieHua wondered why a princess could be a martial arts expert and for what purpose. Suddenly they heard a voice saying: "Are you still awake? I have come for a special reason." It was one of the Wu brothers, Wu QingTian. He said he came on behalf of the king. The king had intentions to find a son-in-law amongst the 3 friends. Hu and Ji looked at Chu LiuXiang. Wu QingTian said the princess was quite impressed by HU TIEHUA. They couldn't believe it, all 3 of them were surprised by Wu's announcement. Chu was laughing at Hu, but he felt slightly disappointed and bitter but nonetheless he felt happy for his friend. All 3 were joking, that Hu turned down the proprietress in order to be the son-in-law of a royal family, that's a good deal. Why settle for a restaurant when you can have an entire kingdom? Hu TieHua decided he couldn't hurt the feelings of the princess and he would undertake this "difficult" task as best as one can. All 3 of them were laughing. In the night, Chu LiuXiang decided to take a stroll, he saw Shi Tuo communicating with the camels. Suddenly he saw Wang Chong observing Shi Tuo carefully, Chu wanted to ask him why he took that much interest in Shi Tuo, but Wang noticed Chu and quickly ran. Chu wanted to pursue him, but he heard sounds of laughter. A lovely voice asked him why he was up this late, it was princess PiPa. Chu said it was getting late, they should both rest now and started to walk away. The princess pouted and asked Chu why he ignored her. Chu turned around, the princess looked ever so sweet, Chu restrained his emotions and asked her what he could do for her. She wanted to know why Hu TieHua called him "smelly old insect." Chu found it improper to joke around with the future wife of his best friend and calmly said she should ask Hu TieHua. At this time he saw Wu QingTian, who said the king wanted to speak to them. After awhile they had an audience with the king who prepared a feast for the friends. Wu QingTian said with a smile a son-in-law should pay his respects to the father-in-law. Hu TieHua was blushing and kowtowed. The king gave Hu a present a beautiful diamond not inferior to the Star of Happiness. Chu felt this was rather strange, the king could give away this priceless gem but was really anxious to retrieve the Star of Happiness. Suddenly a maid came out and announced the queen. Wu BaiYun smiled and said the queen wanted to see her future son-in-law. The king said the queen has been bedridden for many years, this happy occasion will do her good. The queen was a true beauty, although she was a bit pale and she still looked enchanting for her age. But the strange thing was, this queen would (un)intentionally look at Chu LiuXiang. After finishing 2 cups of wine she left again. The only people not present were Du Huan, Wang Chong, and SiTu LiuXing. Du Huan took leave already, he felt humiliated, SiTu LiuXing left without a word and Wang Chong declined the invitation to this banquet. The king said he wanted to ask the help of Chu, Hu and Ji. The king said his throne was usurped by treacherous ministers and they sent some martial arts experts to assassinate him. The king also said he received intelligence that they hired 4 or 5 experts to try to assassinate him. One of them was an excellent swordsman, even said to be unequalled. Wu BaiYun asked the king whether he knew the name of that person, the king said no. The Wu brothers said they would do everything possible to protect the king and assured the king he would be save with experts like Chu, Hu and Ji on his side. The king had another problem, he told them that the Star of Happiness was missing and someone left him a note, telling him if he wanted the stone back he should pay the high amount of ransom money or else he would never see the Star again. The king said he was willing to pay but he was afraid the people who stole it will not return the Star and he asked the Wu brothers and Chu, Hu and Ji to exchange the ransom. Ji BingYan said even if they pay, the thieves might not return it to them. The king said to the thieves the Star is worth a lot money but to him it was invaluable. According to the king, there was a big secret connected to this Star of Happiness and only he knew of this secret. All of a sudden they heard the camels crying out restlessly, Ji decided to investigate. When he came back he said the camels were restless because Shi Tuo was gone and so was Wang Chong. Chu LiuXiang asked whether Wang Chong took Shi Tuo away. Ji said that it would appear so. Chu remembered Wang Chong observing Shi Tuo. Suddenly someone shouted:"Fire! Fire!" Hu TieHua rushed out. Chu wanted to tell them not to be misled by a ruse but Ji BingYan already pulled him outside. Ji BingYan questioned a soldier why there weren't any guards protecting the king. The soldier said the king should be safe with those martial arts experts protecting him. Ji BingYan knew this was a ruse and told Chu to watch what was happening. He would search for Hu TieHua. Chu LiuXiang saw that the Wu brothers drew their swords turned around to face the king. Wu QingTian laughed and said there was a price of the king's head. He said the enemy of the king had payed them double and they would surely listen to him. Wu BaiYun said there were 6 people in total that were hired to kill the king. Princess PiPa grabbed her pipa and warded off Wu QingTian' sword. Wu BaiYun said he would stand guard and Wu QingTian should finish them before someone else came. Suddenly the pipa shot out a dozen of needles and hit Wu QingTian. He cried out and fell down. His brother, Wu BaiYun, with tears in his eyes flew up and aimed his sword at the princess. The 2 of them fought. Her stances were strange, dangerous and fast. Before long she was able to stab Wu BaiYun in the stomach killing him. Another 2 men came in. One of them was Du Huan who grabbed princess PiPa. She was in pain and had tears in her eyes. The king told them to release his daughter, Du Huan sneered and said he would kill them both. Du Huan turned to the other man and asked: "Shall I kill them? Or does brother Sun want to do the honours?" The other man just coldly replied: "I don't want to deprave of your passion." Suddenly they heard of voice: "You can't kill these 2." and a figure landed softly on the floor. The mystery man was looking very arrogant, but when he saw this figure was Chu LiuXiang his face changed. Chu asked him:"Do you still recognize me, monkey Sun?" This man was the famous "Black Monkey" Sung Kong. Sun Kong turned to Chu and said: "If I have known you were here, I wouldn't have come," and turned around walked away. Du Huan asked him why he left and asked who this young impudent was. Sun Kong scoffed: "Who are you to call him an impudent? You're not worthy to know who he is." Sun Kong flew out one of his hand, Du Huan couldn't avoid it and struck him on the chest and fell down. Sun Kong penetrated his chest with his hand, wiping the blood off on Du Huan's clothes and kicked away his body and turned to Chu: "I know you don't kill anyone but leaving him alive would complicate things a lot. So I took the liberty for you." He left. The king ordered the corpse to be removed, he was terrified. Sun Kong suddenly turned his head and warned Chu that another strong foe would arrive soon, this man was 10 times stronger than himself, he told Chu to be careful. Chu asked who this man was, Sun Kong said he would have a headache just mentioning that man's name. He said he had to leave, otherwise, he would like to stay and watch Chu fight this mystery man. Saying that he quickly left. Hu TieHua and Ji BingYan came in now, Hu TieHua said Ji BingYan saw Sun Kong earlier and said Sun Kong was afraid of Chu LiuXiang and he deliberately let Hu go to the fire. Otherwise, Hu would probably be killed by Hu TieHua. Ji said Sun Kong wasn't bad to the bone, if he was he would let Hu deal with him instead of Chu. They wondered who that unknown powerful assassin could be that Sun Kong warned them about. Ji said there was no point arguing about that now and turned around he wanted to get some rest. Hu and Chu wanted to follow him. But the king said he wanted to decide the date of the wedding of his daughter and said tomorrow would be a good day. |