Chapter 1 A Sudden Calamity
In a dark shady courtyard, there is an old man in a green robe standing under an old tree. His hair, eyebrows and beard are coloured greenish by the light. He looks very tranquil and carefree, his hands are folded behind his back as he watches the young man, who sits in front of him, writing.
The young man is kneeling in front of a small table, in his hand he is holding a brush. It is as thick as a the arm of a baby in diametre and it is about 7 metres long.
The young man is writing the final characters on his essay.
The young man puts down his brush and raises his head and says:"All the heroes in the realm wouldn't miss out on The Gathering at Lake Huang. Aren't you going, father?"
The old man smiles and says:"You ask me this question after copying the scriptures of Nanhua (a Taoist codex written by the Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu 369-286 B.C.)it seems that your cultivation has improved. However should you be asking this question altogether? After all this time haven't you been able to pass beyond the word "hero?"
The young man looks up and ponders for awhile and replies:"Yes, you're right."
A gentle breeze was blowing, the leaves rustled, suddenly a black figure came down from the tree tops. In an instant he ascended and came down without any noise.
The man is rather short and skinny man in a black robe. The robe is very tight revealing his trained muscles and every part of his body is maintaining a sharp vigilance.
The old and young man are not startled and just look at him casually, it seems like to them that this man was standing there the entire time.
The man lauged and said:"The Old Man of Mount Yue, Yu Fanghe has indeed great self- control. It's even more surprising that young master Yu has the same self-control. I, Hei Gezi (Black Pigeon) am deeply impressed."
Yu FangHe smiled:"Oh, you're Master Hei one of the 7 Heroes whose art of leviatation is famous throughout the realm."
Hei Gezi replied:"Old master should know that I am the weakest and most useless one of the "Seven Birds of Wulin". I'm unworthy of becoming a robber or even an armed guard. I just rely on my fast legs and my tight mouth to deliver messages."
Yu Fanghe happily said:" Brother Hei does not take money that is not honestly earned and that earns my deep respects. But I'm wondering which old friend has asked you to deliver a letter."
Hei Gezi replied:"If that person does not want to reveal his identity I'm obliged to keep his/her identity a secret. That is my professional code, I also know that you wouldn't force me to reveal his/her identity. But I know this letter concerns a important secret of old master Yu." After saying this he takes out a letter and gives it to Yu.
Yu Fanghe was hesitating for a minute and returned the letter to Hei Gezi and said:"Would you mind opening this letter and loudly read out the contents?"
Hei Gezi said:"But this letter concerns a secret of you...."
Yu Fanghe smiles:"Because of that, I would like you to read it because I have no secrets. And everything in this letter I am not afraid to let anyone know."
Hei Gezi was deeply impressed and smiled:"No secrets at all! Except for you who can say he has no secrets."
Hei Gezi opened the letter and found the pages in it. The pages are stuck together and Hei Gezi wetted his fingers with saliva and separated the pages.
He started to read the letter out loud:"Dear brother......"
Suddenly he fell down with convulsions, Yu Fanghe was startled and quickly rushed over to help. After feeling his pulse he knew that Hei Gezi was soon to die and quickly asked:"Who gave you this letter?" Who?"
Hei Gezi opened his mouth and wanted to say something but couldn't produce a syllable.
Yu saw the colour of Hei's face turn to green from white to from white to red and from red to black. In a matter of seconds the colour of Hei's face shifted 4 times and the flesh of his face disappeared mysteriously leaving behind a black skeleton.
The young man was feeling very frightened by this and exclaimed:"Goodnes! What a deadly poison!"
Out of the robe of Hei Gezi rolled out an ingot of gold, that was the price of the letter also the price of his life.
Yu Fanghe looked at that ingot of gold for some time and picked up the letter.
The young man was startled and said:"What are you going to do, father?"
Yu Fanghe returned to his calm self and said:" This man died because of me, furthermore whoever tried to ambush me will try again and who knows who will be the next innocent victim. It is best that I should die, instead staying alive feeling remosefull of the deaths that are to follow."
The young man said:"But...but, father who wants to harm you? You have never had any grudges with anyone in your life. Who would...."
Suddenly they heard a great explosion, the ingot of gold exploded the force of the explosion was so loud that all the leaves of the tree fell down.
It seemed like Yu Fangfe never moved but in fact during the explosion he retreated for about 11 metres away and returned to the same position after the explosion.
His normal very tranquil eyes were now filled with anger and he made a fist and said:"What a vicious person! This person does not only want to kill me but also wants to kill the messenger. He also calculated that the ingot would explode after delivering the letter."
The young man was also angry and said:"Who can this person be? Not only does he have an evil heart but also a pair of crafty hands. If this person is not stopped,...."
Yu Fanghe interupted him with a sigh:"Actually we cannot blame this person. If this person really hates me that much and really wants to kill me with that much passion, I must have done something to this person."
The young man had tears in his eyes and said:"Father, you cannot have done anything wrong in your life! The way you treat others, how can people still want to harm you? Is there no more justice in the realm."
Yu Fanghe said:"Peiyu, don't be upset. And don't say there isn't any justice in the world. Every person is bound to make a few mistakes in his life, even I. But at this moment I cannot remember what I did wrong.
At this moment they could hear people from far away shouting:"Where is Yu Fanghe?......
Where is Yu Fanghe?......"
To be continued...
<font size="1">[ April 15, 2003: Message edited by: Athena ]</font>