Final duels of SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, RUTHLESS SWORD: questions and observations

[Ken Cheng]

Some observations/questions about the final duels of SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN, RUTHLESS SWORD:

Lee Chum Foon vs. Seung Gwoon Gum Hung: does it seem to anyone that Gu Long wrote himself into a bit of a corner here and needed to contrive a convenient solution? It was quite clear that Lee Chum Foon could never release his dagger against Seung Gwoon Gum Hung unless Seung Gwoon dropped his guard and allowed Lee an opening. Of course, Gu Long planned for his hero to defeat the villain, but it seemed like the only way to reach this objective was for the villain to make the uncharacteristically stupid decision to give Lee an open shot. Seung Gwoon Gum Hung was a risk-taker, it's true, but he wasn't stupid and didn't make mistakes against himself. No matter how great his ego, Seung Gwoon Gum Hung could not have been stupid enough to give Lee Chum Foon an open shot (and yet, somehow, Seung Gwoon did, which is one of the most perplexing character moments in the annals of wuxia). How else could Gu Long have resolved this duel with a victory for Lee, but without such an uncharacteristic moment for Seung Gwoon?

Ah Fei vs. Ging Mo Meng: after rejecting Lam Sin Yee, Ah Fei quickly regained his original killer mojo, but even so,was he really capable of defeating/killing Ging Mo Meng at that point? Ah Fei won his second duel against Ging even more easily than Ging won the first, but did Ging lose because Ah Fei was really superior, or was Ging simply too much in shock from Seung Gwoon Gum Hung's death to fight at full capacity?

[Ian Liew]

I quite liked the way it ended. Shangguan Jinhong was also a very proud man who would very much have believed that he was good enough to dodge that dagger. It's a shame we never really get to see how it was thrown and how it hit (although TVB's adaptation was cleverly done enough - if a bit unrealistic). I personally can't really see Shangguan Jinhong backing down from a fair fight against someone he felt he could beat. Li Xunhuan was always ranked below him, and he had just beaten Old Man Sun. The wulin was at his feet and he had proven that he could beat Li by not allowing him to throw his dagger. Dodging the dagger would be the final challenge he could possibly visualise, and would have been the climax to his story. If he had killed Li without ever seeing the dagger in action, Shangguan might have spent the rest of his years wondering "what if"....

[Ren Wo Xing]

A previous poster (I don't remember who) said it best, using Gulong's own inimitable style; if Shangguan Jinhong had not wanted to see if he could avoid Li Xunhuan's dagger, then he would not have been Shangguan Jinhong! The fight between them, I think, was fated to be Shangguan Jinhong, because Shangguan Jinhong would always have wanted to be the person who would done what no one else could have done; survived/dodged Li Xunhuan's dagger. Alas, no one (with the exception of Fat Buddha) survives Li Xunhuan's dagger!

Jin Wuming lost because he was too much in shock; throughout all the novels, it seemed to me that him and Ah Fei were essentially on the same level.

[daydreamer_gal]

Jin Wuming lost because he was too much in shock; throughout all the novels, it seemed to me that him and Ah Fei were essentially on the same level.

Yeah, I think he was too shocked and depressed about Shangguan Jinhong's death. He even lost his usual scary aura. From the translation:

It appeared as if Jing WuMing hadn't even noticed anyone coming in. Although he was standing idly behind Ah Fei the entire time, it was as if he stood in a completely different world.

Although his eyes were set on ShangGuan JinHong, he was really staring at himself.

ShangGuan JinHong's life was his life, he was ShangGuan JinHong's image.

When life had already disappeared, how could the image still remain?

No matter what, whenever Jing WuMing stood nearby, everyone would always feel a dreadful killer's aura enveloping them from all sides.

But now, that aura was nowhere to be found.

When Ah Fei stepped into that room, he didn't even notice that another soul was inside.

Although he was still alive, all that was left an empty shell. He was like a sword that had lost its edge, completely without purpose.

Ah Fei couldn't help but sigh inwardly, he understood very well how Jing WuMing must have felt.

Because he had experienced that very same feeling before.

After some time, Jing WuMing walked over and lifted ShangGuan JinHong's corpse with his hands.

He still hadn't laid an eye on anyone else as he slowly walked towards the door.

"You don't want to seek revenge?" Ah Fei said.

Jing WuMing didn't turn around, his steps didn't slow down either.

Ah Fei laughed coldly, "Are you afraid?"

Jing WuMing suddenly stopped in place.

"There is still a sword at your waist, why are you afraid to take it out? Unless that sword of yours is only there for show?" Ah Fei said.

Jing WuMing suddenly turned around.

The corpse dropped to the floor, the sword flew out from his waist!

The sword flashed, and shot straight towards Ah Fei's throat!

He was still incredibly fast, just as fast as he was before. But for some reason when his sword was within about half a feet of its target, the bamboo sword in Ah Fei's had already reached his throat!

Ah Fei had made three bamboo swords, this was the second one.

He looked at Jing WuMing and slowly said, "You are still extremely fast, but you can no longer kill. Do you know why?"

Jing WuMing lowered his sword.

"Because you desire death more than your opponent. That is why you will never be able to kill." Ah Fei said.

Jing WuMing's normally lifeless eyes suddenly lit up with incredible sorrow. After a long while, he finally responded, "Yes."

"I can kill you." Ah Fei said.

"Yes." Jing WuMing replied.

"But I won't kill you." Ah Fei said.

"You won't kill me?" Jing WuMing asked.

"I won't kill you, preceisely because you are Jing WuMing!" Ah Fei said.

Jing WuMing's face suddenly twitched.

These were the exact same words that he had said to Ah Fei during their first encounter. But today, his words had suddenly turned into Ah Fei's words.

He pondered maliciously about those words. A flame seemingly ignited in his eyes, like a pile of ashes that had suddenly caught fire again.

Ah Fei looked at him and said, "You can leave now."

"Leave ... ?" Jing WuMing said.

"You once gave me a chance. Now I'm giving you a chance as well ... your very last chance." Ah Fei said.

He watched as Jing WuMing made his way out, a strange feeling swelled up inside of him.

"A tooth for a tooth, blood repaid with blood."

What Jing WuMing had once given him, he now repaid in full.

When a person's heart had already died, there are only two things that can keep that person alive.

One of them is love, and the other is hatred.

Ah Fei was able to keep living because of love. And now, he wanted to prolong Jing WuMing's life through hatred.

But truly, he just wanted for Jing WuMing to live on.

If this was really vengeance, it would be the most selfless kind of vengeance possible. If all vengeance was carried out like this, the history of mankind would have been much brighter. Mankind would undoubtedly be able to live on forever.

It sounded as though his life had lost its meaning and purpose.. I felt really bad for him at this point. Ah Fei seemed to think he might be suicidal too, which is why he goaded him about revenge and whatnot so that he would live on.