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Thread: Why did Lam Sin Yee enervate Ah Fei?

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    Default Why did Lam Sin Yee enervate Ah Fei?

    Lam Sin Yee never truly loved any of the wulin men with whom she became involved. She simply seduced them for their martial arts skills or treasures, took what she wanted from them (often protection/someone to enforce her will), and then discarded them as soon as someone more powerful came along. She did this to many wulin men...Yi Huk, Yau Lung Sang, Gwok Sung Yeung, Lui Fung Sin, Ging Mo Meng, Seung Gwoon Gum Hung, and most memorably and painfully, Ah Fei. She tried it on Lee Chum Foon as well, though she failed with him.

    One thing I don't understand, however, is the reason that Lam Sin Yee deliberately enervated Ah Fei...weakening his body with those drugs she put into his food and drink, and weakening his fighting spirit by seducing him. The only reason that Lam Sin Yee was interested in Ah Fei were his sword skills; if that's the case, why did she deliberately do things that she *knew* would weaken him? If she were to use him as the sword by her side, shouldn't she have tried to keep him as sharp as possible?

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    I think the main purpose of the drugs was to knock him out at night so that he wouldn't know that she was sneaking out to sleep around.. though it did have the side effect of weakening his body, I'm not sure if that part was intentional.

    As for weakening his spirit, maybe that was to show her power over him? It seemed that she was more interested in asserting her power over men, though she did make "good" use of their abilities for her own benefit when she could
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    Just my 2 cents worth.

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    Let's trace Ah Fei's decline during the time he was involved with Lam Sin Yee.

    When Ah Fei first appeared in SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, RUTHLESS SWORD, he was at the top of his game (at least as far as that story was concerned; we know that Ah Fei would be much more powerful/skillful later in his life, but those are later stories). Ah Fei was at 100% of his ability when he first appeared.

    He was still at 100% when he first encountered Lam Sin Yee and rescued her from the fake Plum Blossom Bandit.

    Where it gets interesting is when Ah Fei goes with Lam Sin Yee to rescue Lee Chum Foon the first time and Lung Siu Wan's home (e.g. Lee's former home).

    At first, Ah Fei seems to be 100% or very close to it (95%?), easily making fools of Teen 7 and Yau Lung Sang. Shortly afterwards, however, after speaking to Lee and his enemies for a bit, Ah Fei seems to have slowed down a bit. He was able to handle the combined skill of Teen 7, Chiu Jing Ngor, Yau Lung Sang, Swordsman Gung Sheun, and Lung Siu Wan, but just barely. I'm not sure if it was the overwhelming numbers or the beginning of his decline, but Ah Fei struggled a bit against this group...able to take them all on, but just barely and not really having the easy advantage he had in earlier fights.

    A little later, Ah Fei took on Chiu Jing Ngor one-on-one and critically injured (but did not kill) him with the old ease. What are we to make of this?

    Ah Fei seemed to weaken a bit after being stricken in the leg by Shaolin monk Sum Mei's worry beads and then, having his internal organs a bit messed up by Sum Mei's Lion's Roar.

    Shortly afterwards, Ah Fei took on Mr. Iron Flute and was able to outduel him, though not easily. Ah Fei then suffered the dart attack by Iron Flute, compounding whatever injuries he sustained at Sum Mei's hands.

    After convalescing in Lam Sin Yee's care, we see Ah Fei begin to seriously decline. Green Demonic Hand Yi Huk beat up on him in a way I doubt would have been possible at the time of Ah Fei's first appearance. Possible lingering effects of Ah Fei's physical injuries combined with the loss of his edge due to Lam Sin Yee's seduction? Ah Fei seemed to be down to 50% of his original capacity here.

    Nonetheless, Ah Fei was able to help Lee Chum Foon at Shaolin, though by the end of the fight, it seemed almost as if Lee had to rescue Ah Fei.

    Two years later, Ah Fei was completely pathetic. He was probably below 50% his original strength for most of the story until the end, when rejected Lam Sin Yee and appeared to regain his full strength.

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    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    I still feel that Lam Sin Yee was being counterproductive to her own purpose by weakening Ah Fei. More than anything, she exploited him for his martial arts abilities. By weakening Ah Fei, Lam Sin Yee was degrading the very thing she valued in him.

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    She was just keeping all options open. Ah Fei by himself wasn't enough for her to be satisfied, since she craved power and wealth along with men fawning over her. She had to keep her good girl image up to him in order for him to have been smitten so hard, but she had to drug him at night so she could sleep around and gain power and wealth from various businessmen and other wulin heroes.

    He was one of the strongest fighters around so definitely has his uses, and of course she had a vendetta against Li that nobody in the world would be more useful of a pawn than Ah Fei would be when the time came. I think her overall plans were quite good, though inevitably things eventually fall apart when the whole basis of your schemes comes from emotional manipulation. Usually the successful ones have power to back it up when one thing fails.

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