First of all, thank u if u have read Legend of Peach.
i didnt like the style too much so im rewriting the story in a more serious style.
in this novel, the storyline will stay as similar as possible to Legend of Peach, that's basically y it's called Legend of Peach Remix.
but i deleted certain characters to make their characteristics more vivid. if u have read the other one, in this novel characters wont have the same personality again.
the novel starts with short stories of some characters other than the main character, and establishes the setting of the main body of the story through these short stories. so dont get confused of who is the main character. (i only have one chapter of one of the short stories done anyway so there shouldnt be any confusion)
so hope u enjoy.

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The Holy House

Chapter One: Tiger & Woods


Dynasty Tang four hundred and thirty seven.

A squirrel sneaked out of its nest on one of many giant trees with millions of branches wrapped around each other. It cautiously looked around, making sure of its safety, and then agilely slid off the tree and headed toward the creek not far away. The forests seemed to have became quieter as it ran, even the lousy birds stopped showing off their voices. Suddenly, a bowl-thick rope lifted up from the ground in front of the squirrel and instantly engulfed the tiny creature. It was an unpredictably long boa coloured in disgusting yellowish green. On its forehead was a grape-sized red tumour which appeared to be wriggling on its own. After swallowing its food, its already giant body became more tumid for a few seconds, then returned normal. As itself returned to its hidden position, waiting for its next target. And the forest retained its silence, as if nothing had happened.

Thousands of forests located north of the Pass of Mountains and Seas, and were separated by major roads that had served not many passengers each day. Some forests were denser than others, therefore less lights can pass through. These ones usually breed more rare animals, of which many, like the giant boa, were deadly dangerous. Weaker animals can only hide themselves to avoid been consumed. As a result these forests were much quieter than the others.

A shadow of a man broke the quietness by leaping over a creek, and quickly disappeared into one of the dense forests. Twenty yards away, three men chased tightly after him. The three men were all covered in black, with only eyes and hands shown barely. In each of their hands was a short but sharp sword; and in their eyes were the same sharpness. The first one of them seemed a bit faster: he rushed into the wood a few seconds before the other two. Breaths of air were raised both behind and in front of him.

But he was not fast enough to dodge the tip of a sword that plunged into his throat. The other two men stopped suddenly. They shared a glance of terror, and then turned their eyes to the mysterious forest. The leader of their squad was lying motionlessly in the dust, killed by the mysterious enemy hiding in the dark.

The shadow pulled back his sword, and resumed running, but quietly. That was the best he could do – to kill one of the pursuers by surprise. He has a deep slice on his right shoulder, as well as one on his waist, almost showing his rib. He returned his sword back into his scabbard and covered his wound with hands to stop the blood from dripping. He had to cover his trial while the pursuers hesitated outside. He needed this gap to hide himself until the end of the hunting.

He was lucky: the forest was too dense for two persons to find one. He could just hide in one of the stacks of trees and no one would ever know. So he did, hid himself completely from outside while still maintaining a clear vision of the surrounding.

He closed his eyes to clear his mind. How did it happen? A dozen men in black surrounded them before they had noticed. He broke an opening and ran to separate the pursuers’ focus while Miss Purple protected Prince Rabbit and escaped. But only three men followed him, plus one he killed during the combat, and one Miss Purple killed; the rest must all went after Miss Purple and Rabbit.

Thinking of Miss Purple, the texture of his face smoothened, and the tips of his lips curved slightly upward. She was like a dream, a dream that a man can ever have. She conquered his heart since her entrance in the welcome banquet of Prince Rabbit’s arrival to Shenyang. A dazzling bolt of lightning shocked onto a volcano and mixed with the lava of the same heat – that was how he felt when his eyes glanced over and mixed with hers. Her image had been in his mind all the time lately, covered so much of him that when she was not around, like this time, he felt moths of emptiness biting through his brain.

His loosened muscles tightened up again as he opened his eyes. "Miss Purple is in danger!" This thought woke him up from his rest. She was the spiritual leader of the Righteous Union and the only member of the current generation of Purity Sect. She was supposed to be one of the best fighters in the country. But she was also only sixteen-years-old. And she had to protect Rabbit, an also sixteen-year-old who knew nothing about Kong-Fu. He started to regret, regretting not to bring his squad with him. Throughout his sixteen years of living, he had never fought over-numbered enemies. He liked to always seize control in his hands.

The forest darkened. The sun tiresomely sitting on the horizon of the west sky, shaded the clouds to the depressing colour reddish purple. A few birds squeaked and fled as sounds of footsteps pounded into his eardrums. He pulled out a tiny dagger and stalked it in between his right index and middle fingers. This was not, again, what he had planned before, but if he wanted to help Purple, then he must get rid of these two pursuers quickly.

He aimed at one of the men’s heart as they appeared into his sight. A drop of sweat leaped off his forehead, and hanged itself helplessly at the bottom of his chin, but still couldn’t distract his focus. He fired, but the action stretched and broke the scar on his right shoulder which caused his hand to shake. He released a painful and powerless moan, and pulled out his sword. The dagger missed slightly, only plunged into the target’s left rib.

“Ah!” the target lowered and curled a little and covered his wound quickly. The other man pulled out his sword and headed for the direction where the dagger came. A scabbard suddenly emerged from the direction and dashed against him. He blocked it with his sword, just in time to hear his partner’s last word from behind, “No!” He turned around, and saw another dagger embedded in his partner’s throat.

It was the shadow man, who fired the dagger right after the scabbard. And this time he obviously did not miss. But there was no time to celebrate. His wounds started bleeding again. He quickly turned back and started running, before the last pursuer reached him. All the energy he had restored was used up during the counter attack. It was his determination that supported him to keep going.

But the pursuer was too close this time. It was just a matter of time that he ran out of energy and got killed. And he seemed to have realized this as well. He suddenly turned to the pursuer and stroke with his sword surprisingly, but his wound on the shoulder stopped him from attaining his maximum speed and power.

His stroke was easily blocked by his enemy. But he kept striking, trying to break through his enemy’s guard before running out of strength. Under the cover of his grey hood, his eyes reflected the shine of eagerness of winning from the deepest spot in his heart. But the force he could apply onto the sword was unavoidably decreasing as he stroke, and finally he lost the possession of attacking.

He started to step backwards while blocking his enemy’s attack. Every step seemed heavy, as well as his arms. He could see the bloodthirstiness in his enemy’s eyes, preceding anger, fury, and even fear. He kept retreating until tripped over a rock and fell onto the ground. His sword was out of reach, and his enemy’s sword was on his neck. His legs uselessly kicked and trying to get up, but the addition force on his neck shattered his attempt. The sun disappeared behind them.

“Just for your persistence, what’s your name?” His enemy asked with the pride of winning. He had been pursuing this general for more than three hours, and his partners died one after another in this person’s hands. He thought about the reward for this operation, and allowed greed to takeover his face and mind. But his reward never became real: He instantly lost his breath as a razor sliced his heart in half.

“Just for your cooperation, the name is Yang Wang.” Yang pulled back the razor on his left shoe, wiped it on the dead man’s clothes, and pushed it back into its hidden slot. He liked to invent new and interesting tools, not only for fun, but also equipped them for emergency purpose. Under his coat, other than the daggers, there are also two spider daggers which would expand when hit a target, and create more pain. He invented those when he was ten, and there were lots more unique tools with unique functions did he have.

He tried to get up, but the pain on his rib and shoulder kept him lying down. The two scars were all stretched and broken again during the battle, except he was so concentrated that he did not even notice. He tore two strips of cloth from the dead man’s clothes to bind up his wounds. And he noticed, on the bare skin of the dead man’s shoulder, there was a tattoo of a roaring bear.

"So it really was them, General Mao’s prediction was correct." Yang was a general directly under the command of Mao, who was one of the six Great Generals in charge of the national security of China. A few weeks ago Prince Rabbit arrived Shenyang without any warning. Rabbit was one of the children of Emperor Tang and “wild” women – a name for the emperor’s sex partner outside of his palace. According to the tradition, this kind of children should be sent to the emperor’s palace, and be officially announced as a prince of China after being verified of his relationship with the emperor. Just a few days ago, Mao’s intelligence agency reported that The Animals – the most famous bandit tribe in the country – was showing interests in Rabbit’s trip to Beijing. And to make it worse, evidence were indicating that this bandit tribe is under the command of the Korean government. Mao treated this very seriously: he sent a troop of eight-thousand as a mock to distract the enemy’s attention, while requesting help from the Righteous Union – a union of all the righteous, or appeared to be righteous, Kong-Fu sects in the country – to protect the prince. And surprisingly, the spiritual leader of the union, Miss Purple, came by herself. Thus Miss Purple and Yang secretly protected Rabbit on his way to Beijing, and were apart after the combat.

This tattoo, a bear, was an identity of The Animals. Every one of them had such tattoo, because their leader was named Bear. This tribe was known for many bloodthirsty robberies. They did not just rob, but had also killed their targets, in spite of the age or gender. They were mostly active in General Mao’s region – north of the Pass of Mountains and Seas. And they disappeared quickly after each robbery, left nothing but dead corpse to Mao’s security troopers. But there were times when Mao’s men caught their trial, and were led to the boundary of China and Korea.

“If my predictions are right, then there must be political conspiracy behind The Animals.” Mao said before they left Shenyang. If Prince Rabbit was killed in Mao’s region, Emperor Tang would definitely demote Mao and reappoint another person to replace him. The period of time for exchanging power would be enough for the Koreans to invade and takeover the whole territory. And according to the shattered political friendship between the two countries, Korea had more than enough reasons to do so.

Yang thought it was just a joke, until he identified the pursuers. A dangerous idea came through his mind that evaporated the least confidence he had gained after battling the pursuers: if the Korean government wanted to kill Rabbit, then they must had sent all their best fighters to execute the operation. The three men chased after him were tough, but not tough enough to be the best. Therefore the seven men went after Purple and Rabbit must be the real assassins.

Yang tried to get up again, this time avoided the pain on his wounds. He had to go back and help Purple, even though his health status would cause his effort to possibly not make any difference. He tried to find his way back; but instead, he found himself lost in the woods, amid the unseen and unforeseen. Every tree looked the same— gigantic and weird-shaped. Every step he took caused him to be deeper in the forest. He tried to walk straight and hoped that he could eventually get out, but the trees blocked his way every-so-often and forced him to lose his sense of direction. But he kept moving, ignoring the constant pain coming from his wounds, and tried his best to find a way out, until he heard an unfriendly roar behind him.

“Who is this?” He turned around while pulling out his sword. It was not a normal sword: it was shorter and wider than the common sword scale in China, specially designed for striking, not stabbing. Its body was made of uniform steel, with special treatment on the blades to make them sharper. There was a chain made of shiny unknown crystal wrapped around the end of the hilt seemed like a very neat and luxurious ornament.

But his opponent was not normal, too, and very dangerous. The roar came from a tiger-like creature, with mostly white furs and black strips covering its body. But what had actually risen Yang’s caution from its abnormal appearance was the fiendish long-tooth on each side of its mouth, and the ruthlessness inside its eyes.

Yang’s right foot slid back one quarter of a feet, in the position of preparing to move both forward and side ways, but not backward. He knew that his speed could not possibly stand a chance against the tiger, therefore his only choice is to stay and fight.

The tiger roared again, seemed to be surprised to see such negligible creature dared to stand up against it. “Rawr,” it growled and made its first attack. Normal tigers only have three attacks: first they sprang at their target; if they have captured the target, they would then bite on the neck and kill their target; if the target dodged, then they would whip the target with their tails. But this tiger knew more. It seemed to know the sharpness of the sword, and carefully selected a spot of Yang’s body that is not protected by his sword to attack.

“Tzz,” a strip of Yang’s cloak was scratched away. If he did not agilely squat down and roll aside, this strip could be of flesh. Half of his back was shown, 4 thin red lines appeared upon his bare skin. But he had no time to check his new wound, he quickly stood back up and attempted to slash the tiger’s back, when it left itself unprotected.

But the tiger seemed to have already foreseen his move. Without turning around, it swung its tail against Yang’s left foot, the one that supported his balance. Yang had no choice but to leap away again. If he still remained in the attacking position, his foot would have been tore apart before the tip of his sword could touch the tiger’s back. “Damn it,” he tried to attack again, but the tiger had already turned back, and sprang at him again.

"This can’t go on any longer." Yang knew he could not keep dodging the tiger’s attacks. His whole body was aching after long hours of fighting. With the strength he had left, the tiger would eventually get him. He must use the move. The move was also one of the new tools he had invented. It was designed to kill the opponent in very fatal situation. But it was never been used before and its effectiveness was still in theory. What if it wouldn’t work?

A shine of determination flew through his eyes: he had decided to gamble for his life. This time he did not leap side ways to dodge the tiger’s spring. He took two small steps backwards, and stood at the end of the tiger’s attacking range. And stabbed his sword upright at the point of fall of the tiger. A shine of sneer appeared in the tiger’s eyes as it suddenly stretched its body while in the air, and increased its attacking arrange just so could reach him, before his sword could reach its stomach.

But Yang was prepared. He lifted his sword a bit higher so it would again be on the tiger’s point of fall. At the same time, his left hand straightened the unknown crystal chain at the end of his hilt just sturdy enough to block the tiger’s paws. That was the purpose of the chain: to block the enemy’s attack while not interrupting his own attack that supposed to be a bit slower than the enemy’s. It was designed to turn the battle other-way-around when he and his enemy both strike each other at the same time.

But his own attack was affected, however, by the force that the tiger applied onto its paws. The supposed enemy of this technique was humans, not animals, and definitely not a long-toothed tiger who sprang down with its full body weight. He was not able to endure the force with one arm, therefore he was pushed backwards, and his right hand was slightly slanted and scratched only a swallow wound along the tiger’s rib.

“Rawr!” The pain made the tiger furious. After its landing, its tail smacked toward Yang, who was bounced off onto the ground and left unprotected. Yang attempted to block the tail with his sword, but his weak effort was easily blown off by the tiger’s fury, so was his sword.

The tiger turned facing him and slowly walked toward him. The blood drops added a bit of shiny effect onto its fur, but not as shiny as the bloodthirstiness in its eyes, mixed with anger, cruelty, and revenge. To Yang, the tiger’s image combined with the pursuer’s; despite their difference in physically cover, their souls were all the same.

But same as the pursuer, the tiger’s revenge was never taken.
A shadow of feminine human shape emerged ten yards away from them and captured their attention. She seemed to have launched herself so incredibly fast that her second image appeared while the first one still remained in their eyes, causing Yang and the tiger to see her cloning herself every fraction of a second – it did not take her a full second to overcome the ten yards.

A very thin and somewhat delicate sword suddenly emerged in her hand. However, it did not feel so sudden – almost natural; it seemed like there was a sword there all the time, except no one had seen it until its appearance.

The sword extended toward the tiger. It seemed to be travelling in a straight line but actually was swaying its blade, thus potentially covered all pressure points of the tiger’s front view, and left the tiger no where to run.

Yang somehow saw the attack as very slow, and probably so did the tiger. Its eyes was filled with terror which was increasing as the sword approached every inch, until the tip of the blade disappeared into its forehead.

The tiger’s rear right paw attempted to lift. That was its first reaction to the attack, and last action in the world.