Chapter 10

The youngster giggled and replied, “So I take it that you’re the Leader around here?” The man answered with haughty pride, “Now you know not to mess around with the Black Pocks? Are you going to cough up the Jade Coral or not?” The youngster smiled and replied, “Sorry, but I’ve already exchanged it for money!” Black Pocks was infuriated and with an extension of his two hands, a pair of flying claws rocketed out to clamp down towards the top of his opponent’s head. The skinny old man shouted, “Don’t hurt him!” but with just a sweep of his flute, the youngster knocked the pair of flying claws over to one side and then by adding a poke, caused Black Pocks to fall to the ground with a loud plunk.

The face of the brittle and emaciated old man underwent a change of colour as he hissed, “What is your relationship to Tie Fie Long?”

The youngster just happened to be Tie Fei Long’s daughter, Tie Shan Hu. Ever since she was expelled from her home by her father, she disguised herself as a young man and wandered about at will, all in all living quite a free and unrestricted lifestyle. Whenever she ran out of money, she would go to the wealthy households to steal something.

But when she arrived at DengFeng a few days ago, she suddenly came across Jin Du Yi and his nephew wandering the streets with a big entourage. She hurriedly hid from their view and though she knew that she should have left the place as soon as possible, yet Jin Du Yi turning up here just might mean that her father and Yu Luo Cha would end up pursuing to this place as well! Although Tie Shan Hu was disowned by Tie Fei Long, yet she still misses her father very much. She knew that her father has gone with Yu Luo Cha to hunt down Jin Du Yi in order to retrieve the sword manual, and therefore having come across Jin and his nephew here right here and now, she decided to secretly tail after them despite knowing that her abilities were far from being their match.

By the time she arrived at DengFeng, [1] all the money that she’s stolen along the journey was used up. Therefore that night, she arrived at the mansion of one of the city’s wealthy households to steal something. Coincidently, she happened to come across one of Black Pocks’ men in the midst of doing a job. So she snatched a big bag of goods right out from the hands of the ferocious bandits and upon noticing a very adorable jade coral, snatched it away as well. She originally didn’t take much notice of these bandits, but to her surprise, the very next morning she received an Underground world “invitation” requesting her to arrive at the Five Cedars Hill located on the foot of the TaiShiMountain during the third hour of that very night. It was then that she discovered that there were people keeping her under surveillance.

Tie Shan Hu understood that her situation right now was tricky for if she caused a commotion with these bandits right there in her room, then her whereabouts just might be discovered by the Jin family. Since that was the case, she may as well just steal out quietly to meet with them at their pre-arranged destination, for she was pretty sure that this group of thugs were not her match anyways. But who would have thought that Black Pocks actually knew Jin Du Yi and his nephew and would end up asking Jin Qian Yan to come along that night to help him out?

Jin Qian Yan and Tie Shan Hu did originally know each other, but due to the fact that she has changed into a male disguise and they were encountering under the pale gleam of the wan moon and faint glitter of the sparsely dispersed stars, he was unable to get a good look right away. It was only when she has struck out did he finally discern clearly that it was the moves of the Tie family!

Yue Ming Ke was still hiding behind the rock boulder at that time, but upon hearing this he was secretly perplexed. Tie Fei Long and Jin Du Yi were two equally resonant names belonging to the Northwest regions. Why is it that both of them would simultaneously turn up here all of a sudden?

With a faint smile, Tie Shan Hu twirled her bronze flute around and asked, “Old Jin, haven’t you heard that Yu Luo Cha wants your life? And yet you still dare to hang around to cause trouble?” Jin Du Yi jumped with alarm while his eyes darted all around him as he exclaims, “Are you Shan Hu? Did your papa and Yu Luo Cha come here as well?” Tie Shan Hu brought the flute to her lips and with a toot, she smiled and said, “I know they’ll be able to hear my flute sounds.”

Tie Shan Hu was only putting up a façade, but Jin Qian Yan was already so terrified that his face turned a sickly green and his lips blanched a ghostly white as he thought to himself: Uncle has gone to the Shaolin temple to steal the manual, but why is it that he still hasn’t returned yet? If Yu Luo Cha and Tie Fei Long both came here at the same time, then by the time they’re finished with me, I wouldn’t even have a bone left over for uncle to bury!

Tie Shan Hu snickered again, causing Jin Qian Yan to be so worried that he hurriedly scrambled to affect a courteous bow while crooning, “Miss, I never knew it was you! Please don’t be angered!” Then with a sweep of his hands, he twisted around full circle and prepared to run for his life. By this time, Black Pocks has already gotten up from the ground as he suddenly snickered, “Brother Jin, don’t listen to his crap! During the last few days, aside from him, there has been no other JiangHu figure to arrive within the KaiFeng region!”

This Black Pocks was the leader of the HeNan clans and was furthermore a powerful bully of the KaiFeng area. Even though his abilities were not at all powerful, yet the cronies under his command were actually quite numerous, thus enabling him to have quite an efficient network in procuring news. Having heard these words, Jin Qian Yan’s palpitating soul began to settle down slightly as he shrieked, “Bratty little doll! You actually dare to fool me?”

Black Pocks was suddenly filled with surprised elation as he asked, “She’s a girl? Give her to me!” This caused Tie Shan Hu to be so infuriated that she issued yet another poke with her flute, causing Black Pocks to crumple to the floor once again with another loud plunk. But this time, he was hurt so much more severely that he was actually unable to get back up!

Jin Qian Yan cackled with laughter and said, “Little brat, don’t think that you can throw your spoiled little tantrums around me!” as he clamped straight towards her face with his right hand. Tie Shan Hu flitted away to one side as she screamed loudly in a high-pitched tone, “Lian Jiejie! Come save me!” Jin Qian Yan shrivelled up immediately, enabling Tie Shan Hu to sneak more than 20 feet away. Enraged, Jin Qian Yan soared up with one giant leap and arrived in front of Tie Shan Hu, blocking her escape route as he sneered coldly, “Hmph! Using Yu Luo Cha to scare me?” before he grasped out with his hand, forcing Tie Shan Hu to repeatedly retreat.

When Jin Qian Yan’s palm swept towards her, Tie Shan Hu stabbed out with her bronze flute. But her flute was snatched and tossed to the ground by Jin, whose left palm immediately followed in attack. This time, it was already too late for Tie Shan Hu to retreat! However, Jin Qian Yan suddenly halted his attack and retracted his palm while laughing, “I don’t want to hurt you with my Venomous Palms of Yin Winds yet. Little doll, you better be a good girl and answer my questions truthfully. If you dare say one little false word, I’ll make sure to torment you with so much pain that you could only wish you were dead! Where is your father?! Where did he go with Yu Luo Cha?!”

Tie Shan Hu asked, “Did you really want to see them?” Jin Qian Yan snapped back, “Did you think I was joking with you?” and flipped his palm over to grasp out. Tie Shan Hu darted over to one side while shouting, “Lian Jiejie!” but Jin Qian Yan would no longer be fooled this time as he stretched out with his talons. But just when his finger was about to touch her clothing, he suddenly screamed “Owww!” as he hurriedly retracted his hand. Even Tie Shan Hu was completely baffled by what just happened!

This was the work of Yue Ming Ke who was hiding behind the rock and was able to hear everything clearly. He originally thought that this was just a simple case of inner conflicts erupting between bandits and was not planning to help out either side. But when he later heard Tie Shan Hu say that this old man was surnamed Jin and further heard the old man himself proclaim the name “Venomous Palms of Yin Winds,” he was secretly shocked as he thought to himself: Ha! Who would have thought that I would come across them here? Since I was unable to capture the old freak Jin, then I’ll capture his nephew first!

Yue therefore gathered together a dirt ball and then with a flick of his fingers, struck the dirt ball smack on the pulse point of Jin Qian Yan’s wrist. The thought of Yu Luo Cha really arriving caused Jin Qian Yan to be so terrified out of his mind that his soul just about dissipated right there on the spot as he hurriedly turned around to flee.

Black Pocks was helped up by his cronies and seeing the situation at hand become problematic he cried out, “There is nobody else here aside from this little rogue!” Jin Qian Yan turned his head back around and indeed saw only Tie Shan Hu standing there laughing to herself in cold contempt. But where was there even a trace of Yu Luo Cha’s shadow? Jin Qian Yan was petrified to the bottom of his heart and did not dare to return, but after observing the situation for a little while longer, he found that there indeed were no other strange occurrences. By then, Black Pocks’ men had already surrounded Tie Shan Hu but since they’ve encountered Tie Shan Hu’s martial arts before, they didn’t dare to strike out recklessly unless Jin Qian Yan returned.

After Jin Qian Yan had a little time to calm himself down, he started to think: If that really was Yu Luo Cha, once she strikes out she never holds back and would have most definitely revealed herself by now to chase after me. He then also thought to: If Yu Luo Cha really was here, she comes and goes with such lightning speed that I wouldn’t be able to escape even if I wanted to! Since I’m going to die anyways, then why don’t I go back for another look just in case? Otherwise, if it really does turn out that it’s not Yu Luo Cha, then Black Pocks and his men will end up laughing at me for being such a gutless coward.

When Tie Shan Hu saw Jin Qian Yan retreat one step at a come, she was lost at what to do and in her anxiety called out “Lian jiejie!” once again. Although Jin Qian Yan has already decided on what he was going to do, yet birds that are scared of the bow will by habit shrivel at the sound of its strings. Thus he snapped up his head and was frantically glancing all around him when he suddenly felt the stir of a light breeze, causing him to hurriedly bring up his palm and with a sweep cry out, “Dirty rat! Don’t even think about using projectiles!” But the very moment that Jin’s palm struck, a hoarse scream of pain immediately accompanied the action as he was suddenly seen to roll to the floor. By then, Yue Ming Ke has already revealed himself from behind the boulder!

When Yue Ming Ke shot out the very first dirt ball, he was originally intent on shocking down Jin Qian Yan. But Jin Qian Yan’s martial arts actually turned out to be quite established so that even though he was struck on his pulse point, he could still manage to sustain the pain. Since Yue Ming Ke’s poison has just begun to exhibit the signs of being under controlled, he didn’t dare to execute his levitation skills in order to chase after Jin Qian Yan and could therefore only watch as he prepared to escape. Yet what was amusing was that this actually ended up making Jin Qian Yan suspicious, inducing him to return. In his heart, he was only afraid of Yu Luo Cha and didn’t know that Yue Ming Ke’s martial arts would turn out to be even more powerful than Yu Luo Cha! Thus when Jin turned back around, Yue Ming Ke already had three dirt balls within his hand and after picking up two more brittle twigs, he hurtled them out all at the same time. When the twig hit Jin Qin Yan’s right eye, it was as if he was suddenly shot by an arrow as blood immediately spurted out all over his face causing him to thrash about on the ground, screaming wildly in pain.

Black Pocks and his cronies were all so terrified that they hurriedly fumbled about to raise their weapons. But Yue Ming Ke only unleashed a long laugh before suddenly extracting his Gliding Dragon sword from its sheath. With a round sweep, Yue brought about a mass of splintering sounds that was caused when all the weapons were shattered by the Gliding Dragon Sword! Black Pocks ignored his own physical pain and immediately rolled down the hill while Jin Qian Yan also swallowed up his pain as he jumped up and attempted to escape. But by then, Yue Ming Ke already had the tip of his blade pointed towards his throat!

Yue Ming Ke asked, “What is your relationship to Jin Du Yi?” Jin Qian Yan replied, “He is my uncle” for the ages of the uncle and nephew were separated by less than ten years. Yue Ming Ke continued, “Fine. Then tell your uncle to bring his sword manual in exchange of you.” Jin Qian Yan asked, “What sword manual?” Yue Ming Ke snapped, “What are you still pretending for? Where is Yu Luo Cha’s sword manual?” Jin Qian Yan asked, “Huh? What does Yu Luo Cha’s sword manual have to do with you?” Yue pricked forward with his sword and a person suddenly dashed out from the mountain crevices around the corner while shouting out, “Let him go! I’ll give you the sword manual!”

Yue Ming Ke pushed out with his left palm, striking Jin Qian Yan to the ground as he swerved his sword around to seal across his chest in anticipation of his enemy. By then, Jin Du Yi had already arrived with the same eerie grin as he snickered, “Hmph! You really want to knock on the gates of hell? Alright, c’mon on then! C’mon! The sword manual is right here, come get it if you have the guts!”

You may be wondering why Jin Du Yi never turned around to combat Yue Ming Ke when he was being chased and only now did he finally reveal himself to challenge Yue to a fight? This was all due to the fact that the punch Jin Du Yi received from Zun Xing had caused him to sustain internal injuries, therefore preventing him from exchanging stances with Yue. It was only after he had escaped from Yue Ming Ke did he finally have the chance to sit down and generate his Qi in attempts to mend his injuries. After the duration of two hours, he was finally able to generate his Qi to his four limbs and bring the circulation of his breath back to its natural rhythm. Since he had already agreed ahead of time to meet his nephew at this very place, once his internal injuries got better, he immediately hastened here.

Yue Ming Ke replied, “Good! I wanted to have another fight with you anyways! Don’t escape this time if you have enough guts!” and then with a flip of his wrist, his Gliding Dragon Sword suddenly whipped out as Jin Du Yi twisted his body around and retaliated with a palm as the two of them initiated an intense battle right there on the hillside.

Since Yue was cautions of the potent deadliness in Jin’s Venomous palms, he swerved up a storm with his sword stances that showered down like tempestuous storms and raging winds, forcing Jin Du Yi to be unable to approach him. Jin Du Yi was similarly weary of the fierceness of Yue’s sword and therefore only weaved in and out from amongst the light shield of the sword, anticipating for the gap of where he could issue an attack with his palm.

After battling for about an hour, each additional stance that Yue Ming Ke executed became faster than the last. As Tie Shan Hu watched from the top of the stone crag, all she could see was that Jin Du Yi was already completely encased amongst the sword’s gleam, causing her to be secretly in awe as she felt only absolute admiration and respect for Yue Ming Ke.

This style of sword skill that Yue Ming Ke was executing was known as the “Wind Chasing” sword style belonging to the Tian Shan Sword Skill. Though it was an incredibly rapid and fierce force, this was actually Yue’s first time in employing it within combat. Upon executing it, he found that it indeed had the power to force Jin Du Yi into a continual and consistent mode of retreat. Yue Ming Ke was incredibly elated for this was an indication that all the gruelling work and high hopes that his ShiFu invested in the sword skill during these last twenty years were not wasted. Just this one style of the Tian Shan sword skill was already enough to be undefeated within the martial arts world! Though Jin Du Yi flitted, soared, thrashed and twisted about, his situation was clearly becoming increasingly dangerous. Yue Ming Ke ordered loudly, “Return the sword manual right away!”

Jin Du Yi suddenly unleashed a strange whistle while he said with icy coldness, “If I don’t teach you a lesson by making you taste the bitter results of your own mistake, you’ll think that I’m afraid of you!” Thus with a transformation of his palms, the force of his attack suddenly raged with deadliness as every palm embodied along with it angry winds that howled in the air. The tip of Yue Ming Ke’s sword was shocked over to one side, greatly alarming him. After continuing the fight for a little longer, he suddenly felt his mouth to be parched and dried up while both his heart and body burned with agitation. Since this “Wind Chasing” sword skill was completely concerned with attacking, it requires a great deal of energy and because Yue Ming Ke’s injuries have just begun to show signs of rehabilitating, now after such an intense battle, his poison was immediately instigated again.

Although Yue Ming Ke was silently crying with dismay, yet what he did not know was that Jin Du Yi was in even worse shape than he was. Ever since Jin Du Yi sustained Dhyana Master Zun Xing’s Shaolin fist, he has relied on his deep reserve of inner energy to circulate his inner Qi and mend his body so as to momentarily force down his injuries. But the majority of his internal damages still remained to be untreated. Now, in order to withstand Yue’s unbelievably fast and fervent sword attacks, he had no other choice but to force himself into generating his inner Qi. Therefore even though he was momentarily taking the lead, yet his five Zang organs and his six Fu organs [2] were already shocked and traumatized down to the core. After another little while, even his eyesight began to grow blurry.

Amongst the clashing and clanging din of the fierce battle, Yue Ming Ke suddenly drove forward with a stance. Since Jin Du Yi had the ability to discern attacks through analyzing the sounds it emanates, he retaliated with a palm strike that once again caused the tip of Yue’s sword to swerve over to one side. Then with a hook of his left arm, he transformed his attack to the grappling technique, thus locking down Yue’s wrist. By that point, Yue Ming Ke suddenly felt an unbearable pain overcome his whole aching body as his legs weakened out from underneath him. As a result, he very instinctively drove his sword down towards the ground, but it just so happens that this would be the very move that would hit the nail on the spot!

Jin Du Yi’s internal injuries were suddenly initiated, thus disabling his vision. Since he was unable to see anything and since Yue Ming Ke just happened to have lost all his strength, that very sword that he drove towards to the ground was both slow and weak in execution. As a result, Jin Du Yi was unable to discern clearly through sound the nature and direction of Yue’s attack, therefore ended up being stabbed right in his thigh bone. The Gliding Dragon Sword was incredibly sharp, which was why even though the driving force behind it was actually very weak, yet it still drove straight through Jin’s bone!

With a loud roar, Jin Du Yi whooshed out two palms with mad frenzy and since Yue’s wrist was locked by his grasp, he had no means of escaping as Jin’s two palms landed smack on him, causing him to be shocked into the air like a ball of yarn! Yue’s body rocketed up high into the skies before it lost its momentum to hurtle head first towards the hard ground!

Upon witnessing this, an incredibly petrified Tie Shan Hu immediately leaped out and extended her arms to very concretely catch Yue Ming Ke within her embrace. Yue Ming Ke immediately vomited out a mouthful of blood before calling out hoarsely, “Hurry, bring the sword back to me!” Tie Shan Hu expression was one of hesitation as she asked, “Are you alright?” Yue Ming Ke snapped with anger, “Go! Go!”

Jin Du Yi had fallen unconscious the moment he threw out those two palms while Jin Qian Yan having been blinded in one eye and having sustained a palm from Yue Ming Ke was similarly weakened with exhaustion. However, Jin Qian Yan was still able to move about and seeing his uncle fainted on the ground, he called upon all his strength to come forward in rescue.

Tie Shan Hu picked up the prized sword and with a whoosh, drew out a streak of silver ray immediately followed by another stance that caused a nearby rock boulder to ignite into sparks of fire while the chunks of rocks spewed out all around them. She was afraid that Jin Qian Yan would attack Yue which was why she flourished her sword in attempts to scare them off. But what she didn’t know was that Jin Qian Yan actually did not have a single ounce of strength left in him and was afraid instead that Tie Shan Hu would be chasing after him so as to settle their scores. Therefore with his uncle in his arms, he hurriedly rolled down the hill.

Black Pocks and his men have all ran away during Yue & Jin’s battle, therefore the only people left on the foot of the Tai Shi Mountain at that time was Yue Ming Ke and Tie Shan Hu. When Tie Shan Hu ran up to him, Yue Ming Ke said, “Help me up” and having sat down crossed-legged in silent meditation, he said with wheezing hoarseness, “You leave this place first.” Tie Shan Hu ignored these instructions as Yue Ming Ke continued, “The enemy might return! You should leave this place first! Go and inform the Shaolin temple.” Seeing how he was injured so severely and yet was still concerned about her own safety first, Tie Shan Hu was extremely touched. Yue Ming Ke reprimanded, “Why aren’t you listening to me?” Tie Shan Hu has always been like a big kid and normally, if someone had spoken to her in such a severe tone, she would have most definitely thrown a temper tantrum. But now with her face streaked full of tears, she said instead with soft tenderness, “Alright, I’ll listen to you, I’m going right now.”

Although Yue Ming Ke tried to generate his Qi with devout concentration, yet his injuries were simply too severe and he just couldn’t circulate his breath around. He sat there for a while and by the time he opened up his eyes, the skies had already grown light and the first sight he was greeted to was Tie Shan Hu standing near him with the prized sword in her hand as she guarded beneath a cedar tree.

Yue Ming Ke asked, “Why didn’t you leave?” Tie Shan Hu immediately jumped towards him and twisted her little mouth into a pout as she asked, “Why are you being so unreasonable?” Yue Ming Ke asked back, “How am I being unreasonable?” Tie Shan Hu replied, “You saved my life, so why won’t you allow me to do something back in return and stand guard over you? Are you the only one who’s allowed to be the valiant hero around here?” Yue Ming Ke had no argument to retort these words and therefore tried to move his limbs around instead, but he was overwhelmed by an unbearable aching pain and felt as if his whole skeleton was shattered. Tie Shan Hu offered, “I can carry you back to the Shaolin temple on my back!”

When Yue Ming Ke looked over at her, he was immediately reminded that she was a girl disguised as a boy and therefore shook his head to say, “There’s no need” as he returned to his silent meditation in attempts to generate his Qi again. Tie Shan Hu was thinking to herself: Why does this person enjoy so much in giving others a hard time? She was of such childlike directness that she did not realize that Yue Ming Ke was refusing her offer because he was taking into account of the social proprieties between a male and female.

But even after sitting for a very long time, Yue Ming Ke was still unable to circulate his Qi around to heal his injuries. Not only that, but even the very act of breathing was proving itself to be an increasingly difficult task. This was a result of him having eaten nothing all night compounded with the fact that his injuries were simply too serious, thus leaving him unable to use his internal energy as a method of ameliorating his own injuries. When he opened his eyes again, Tie Shan Hu was still guarding silently by his side. Yue Ming Ke sighed and Tie Shan Hu immediately said, “C’mon, let me carry you on my back.” Yue Ming Ke didn’t say anything in reply and therefore with a relieved grin, Tie Shan Hu threw him on her back and slowly walked towards the Shaolin temple.

Although Shaolin’s monastery inspector, the Dhyana Master Zun Xing has also sustained one of Jin Du Yi’s palms, yet he also had a very deep reserve of inner energy that was above that of even Jin Du Yi’s. Furthermore, he also had the Minor Rejuvenation Pills to aid in dissipating the poison and regulating his Qi, thus freeing him from all harm after just one night’s rest.

Having observed that Zun Xing will be fine, Taoist Priest White Stone and his sister thus expressed their intentions of departing early the next morning. Zhuo Yi Hang remarked, “I wonder how Brother Yue is doing? Why is it that he still hasn’t returned yet?” Taoist Priest White Stone said, “I’m afraid that he’ll have to chase on for a few dozen more miles before he could capture that old freak Jin.” Zun Xing also added, “That old freak was hit by one of my divine fists, I doubt that he would be Sir Yue’s match.” These words reassured Zhuo Yi Hang even though he still wanted to wait around for Yue’s return. Yet since Taoist Priest White Stone wanted to depart, Zhuo of course had no other choice but to follow after him. But in truth, Taoist Priest White Stone really had another prospect in mind. He wanted to bring his daughter along with Zhuo and him as they journeyed towards the capital because he felt that this would allow the two of them to spend some more private time together and thus get further acquainted with each other. Therefore if they suddenly had an extra Yue Ming Ke tag along with them, the situation would be far less ideal.

With Yue Ming Ke on her back, Tie Shan Hu finally managed to arrive at the Shaolin temple by the noon hour. After the admittance monk went inside to report their arrival, the Dhyana Master Zun Xing personally came out to receive them. But upon taking one look at the situation, he was so alarmed that he hurriedly asked Tie Shan Hu for the details of last night. After Tie finished explaining, he sighed and said, “Our head abbot is so compassionate. But in the end, it only inflicted unnecessary pain on Sir Yue.”

He then hurriedly brought Yue Ming Ke inside the inner meditation rooms and fed him with first grade ginseng soup before feeding him three minor rejuvenation pills. When the Reverend Jing Ming came in for a visit and noticed Tie Shan Hu standing by one side to take care of Yue, he suddenly instructed, “There’s no need for you to be here.” Tie Shan Hu was taken back by surprise but the Dhyana Master Jing Ming simply continued, “He only needs to rest in peace and quiet for two days in order to recover. I will be giving you a letter of which you can bring to the Abbess Ci Hui living on the peak of the TaiShiMountain. She will let you stay with her. You can come back to the front doors of the temple and meet up with him after two days.” Realizing now that the old monk has seen through her real identity, Tie Shan Hu’s almond shaped face instantaneously blushed to a deep red as she hurriedly departed after taking his letter.

After Tie Shan Hu left, Dhyana Master Zun Xing walked out of the meditation room with his martial arts brother while whispering softly, “The martial arts of that Yue Ming Ke is not only profound and powerful, but he also harbours extraordinary promise and a heroic spirit that is rooted deep within him. When you put Zhuo Yi Hang and him beside each other, it further accentuates their distinct superiority, for both youngsters are phenomenal talents that one rarely ever has the chance of encountering. But who would have thought that his behaviour would actually turn out to be so unruly? Our Shaolin’s religious practice was almost soiled by him! If brother you didn’t manage to discover that she was a girl, we might have let her stay in the same room with Yue Ming Ke. Then if word of this gets out, wouldn’t it end up being the laughing stock of the martial arts world?” Reverend Jing Ming sighed faintly and said, “I was not concerned about this.”

Dhyana Master Jing Ming continued, “Matters are assessed differently in serious and non-serious situations. Since he was injured so severely, it matters not whether it was a male or female who brought him to here. In such times, there is no need to insist on such strict proprieties between a male and female. And if there really wasn’t anybody to take care of him, then even if they had to share one room together, that will still be acceptable.” Zun Xing asked, “Then what are you sighing over honoured brother?” Jing Ming replied, “Yue Ming Ke has quite an intuitive understanding of the Dharmic intelligence. I feel that not only can he become a master of the sword, but he also has the potential of being a revered monk. I was just worried that he’ll end up falling into the trap of love’s net.

Let’s put aside the private discussions of Reverend Jing Ming and his brother for now and turn our attention to Yue Ming Ke. After undergoing two full days of rest and recuperation, Yue’s poison was completely eradicated. His injuries have similarly healed so that aside from having not retained his full strength yet, all his other bodily functions have returned to normal. The early morning of the third day, the Reverend Jing Ming passed a hand-written duplicate of the “The One Hundred Constructive Arts of the Dragon Springs” onto Yue before leaving him with a few words, “All 84 000 methods of Buddhism leads back to the Pure Land. The wonderful virtue in the sands of the Ganges’ will forever exist in the fountain of the mind. If ignorance can be abolished, enlightenment will be realized.”

After Yue Ming Ke performed obeisance and departed from the temple, the first thing he saw when he exited outside the temple’s gates was Tie Shan Hu waiting for him with a smile on her face. Thinking back to how she had carried him on his back, Yue Ming Ke couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed as he asked, “How come you’re here?” Tie Shan Hu replied, “One: to check up on you and Two: to say thank you.” Yue Ming Ke said, “I also have to express my gratitude to you. Where are you planning to go?” Tie Shan Hu asked back, “Where are you going?” Yue Ming Ke replied, “I’m going to Beijing.” Tie Shan Hu grinned and said, “I’m also going to Beijing.” Yue Ming Ke was a little surprised as he asked, “You’re going to Beijing as well?” Tie Shan Hu quipped, “Yup! So we should travel together.” Since Yue Ming Ke had no reason to object, he could therefore only agree.

The two of them thus traveled Northbound together. Tie Shan Hu was full of childlike exuberance and would chat with Yue Ming Ke about anything and everything. But the only subject she wouldn’t talk about was her father, which Yue found quite perplexing. Having observed how she treated him like an older brother, those slight traces of discomfort and unease that Yue initially felt gradually dissipated.

Although Tie Shan Hu may seem to be like an ignorant little girl who has not yet outgrown her childhood, yet because she has accompanied by her father’s side ever since she was a little child as they roamed towards the South and traveled throughout the North, she has therefore become quite acquainted with the worldly matters of the JiangHu world. All along their journey, they repeatedly came across figures of the JiangHu world, riding past their horses as they hurried towards the North.

One day, when they came to HeBei’s major city HanDan, the two of them wandered into the street market area where Tie Shan Hu suddenly whispered, “There’s a tavern up ahead where a leader of the Black societal clans will be found.” Yue Ming Ke warned, “Don’t interfere with other people’s matters” but Tie Shan Hu said, “Can you come take a look with me? This person’s status is quite exalted. I’m afraid that all the JiangHu figures we’ve encountered during the last two days will have to bow down to this person in acquiescence.” Yue Ming Ke asked with surprise, “How do you know?” Tie Shan Hu replied, “Look over there. Drawn on the corner of that tavern wall is the picture of a plum blossom right? Count how many petals are on the flower.” Yue Ming Ke went in a little closer and then answered, “Twelve petals.” Tie Shan Hu continued, “That’s it then. That plum blossom functions as secret symbol where the number of petals on the flower determines one’s hierarchy. The most that one flower can have is only thirteen petals. Since this plum blossom has twelve petals, it is already quite a rare sighting in the JiangHu world!” Yue Ming Ke thus said, “Alright. Then we’ll go in and have a look. But you must promise not to behave recklessly or cause any trouble!”

The two of them entered into the tavern and sat down at one of the vacant tables. Yue Ming Ke’s eyes wandered about the room and suddenly came across two people sitting by the window of the Eastern corner with their hats pulled down very low over their faces. One of them looked incredibly familiar. A shock suddenly jolted through Yue’s heart that brought him to his feet while an alarmed Tie Shan Hu cried out, “Brother, what are you doing?” But Yue Ming Ke just made a beckoning gesture with his hands and then said, “Waiter, prepare a jug of Dragon Well tea for me!” then with another wave of his palms, he blew the hat right off the head of that mysterious person. Yue Ming Ke then suddenly flitted over two tables and grasped down while shouting, “Ying Xiu Yang you old bandit! Do you recognize who I am?”

That person suddenly revealed a tassel whip and curled it towards Yue’s wrist. Tie Shan Hu was left in a state of total confusion for she was thinking: He was the one who told me not to cause any trouble, but why is it that he would end up causing trouble himself?”

How was Tie Shan Hu supposed to know that this man was the big villain who was secretly conspiring with the Manchurians and that he was the same head leader who once organized the “Seven Greats Formation” to surround Yu Luo Cha on the highest peak of Hua Shan? That year, when Yue Ming Ke was secretly helping out Yu Luo Cha, he just happened to come across him.

Although Ying Xiu Yang’s martial arts were actually very good, yet upon encountering Yue Ming Ke he was still quite frightened. He tried to attack with one sweep of his tassel whip but was unable to succeed. By then, Yue’s left palm has already arrived. With a loud grunt, Ying lifted up the table to ward off the attack, thus causing all the cups, plates, drinks and food on the table to hurtle towards Yue. Yue Ming Ke managed to escape out of the way with just one leap, but Ying Xiu Yang has already jumped out the window and landed onto the streets below. Ying Xiu Yang’s accomplice had no idea how powerful Yue was and actually dared to rush forward in attempts to obstruct Yue. By grasping onto the skin of the man’s scalp, Yue flung him down towards the middle of the street!

By the time that Ying Xiu Yang’s feet landed on the street, Yue Ming Ke has already caught up to him with his Gliding Dragon Sword glittering out icy rays as it continually attacked. Ying Xiu Yang had no other choice but to tough it out and thus with a swing of his tassel whip, he turned around to battle.

Ying Xiu Yang’s tassel whip could be used as a 5-element sword as well as an acupoint-sealing device which also had the ability to entangle or snatch away swords and sabres. But though his stances were originally brilliant, yet Yue Ming Ke’s Heavenly Mountain Sword skill was simply too profound and boundless, compounded with the gold splintering and jade fracturing ability of the Gliding Dragon Sword, Ying Xiu Yang’s bronze-like tassel whip suddenly paled greatly in comparison.

Such a ferocious fight between the two fighters in the middle of the street had already caused all the pedestrians to flee in fright and all the stores to bolt up their doors. Every additional stance that Yue executed was faster and more pressing than the last, forcing Ying Xiu Yang to be backed up to the point of where he only had the ability to defend and no longer to retaliate.

Just as they were caught in this intense battle, sounds of gongs were heard to clear the streets as eight mighty steeds marched out. Eight eunuchs marched at the very back of the group banging against their gongs. In the middle of this entourage was a governmental carriage. Ying Xiu Yang cried out, “Come quickly and catch this malicious criminal!” Eight imperial guards instantaneously leaped down from their horses to simultaneously surround Yue Ming Ke. They all seemed to be very well acquainted with Ying Xiu Yang for they took turns in greeting him.

Yue Ming Ke immediately recognized the trickiness of this situation for even though he was not afraid of these imperial guards, yet he was the secret envoy sent back to the capital by Military Commissioner Xiong. If he caused too much commotion, then this might end up creating some unnecessary inconveniencies or unwanted problems. Therefore after faking an attack with a swipe of his sword, he flitted away with a twist of his body. Even if all those people wanted to chase after him, they wouldn’t have had the ability to catch up.

After Yue soared over two long streets, Tie Shan Hu suddenly jumped out of a dark corner and giggled, “Hey! Why did you just cause trouble back there?” Yue Ming Ke laughed and replied, “You’re quite clever! How’d you know to wait here for me ahead of time?” Tie Shan Hu answered back, “Well I knew that you wouldn’t be their match so of course I had to run away first!” Yue Ming Ke remarked, “It’s not that I wasn’t their match …” causing Tie Shan Hu to cackle with amusement as she said, “I was only kidding with you! What are you being all serious and anxious about? I know it’s not that you weren’t able to defeat them, but you were only concerned about those guards right? Hey, did you know who was sitting in that carriage?” Yue Ming Ke asked, “Who?” and Tie Shan Hu answered, “A little girl who’s now all grownup!” Yue Ming Ke scoffed, “Nonsense!” but Tie Shan Hu insisted, “Who’s kidding with you? I just asked around and found out that sitting in that state carriage was the daughter of the royal prince’s wet nurse! This wet nurse of the royal prince is known as Madam Ke and they say that she is extremely doted on by the new lord. Right after he ascended the throne, he specifically sent an entourage to her native land in order to escort her daughter here.” Yue Ming Ke asked, “What? What new lord are you talking about?” Tie Shan Hu replied, “The old Emperor has already died and now the crown prince has ascended the throne!”

When Yue Ming Ke departed the capital the old emperor was already incredibly sick, but he didn’t expect him to pass away so soon. Yue heaved out a big sigh that caused Tie Shan Hu to ask, “What’s wrong? What good has the old emperor ever done for you that would cause you to be so saddened over his death?” Yue Ming Ke answered, “I’m not saddened because of the old Emperor. But there’s no point in discussing these matters of state and country.” With an angry “Hmph,” Tie Shan Hu huffed, “I know. It’s because you think I’m still a little kid so you think I’m not entitled to listen in on these matters of state and country right?” Yue Ming Ke answered, “No, it’s not that,” but just when he was about to continue, he suddenly saw a troop of soldiers come out from a side street, forcing Yue to hurriedly grab Tie Shan Hu by the hand and flee from the place.

The two of them ran all the way to the outskirts of the capital before they stopped. Yue Ming Ke remarked, “After causing this ruckus, we should try to hide out for a while” before he continued to explain, “I originally thought that the crown prince was a worthy and competent ruler who would be even more scrupulous and diligent once he ascends the throne. But who would have thought that he would behave like this? Even a wet nurse is indulged upon like this! Forget how such actions have already violated the rules and regulations of our ancient ancestral system, but what I can’t further believe is how even villains were allowed to infiltrate into the palace! I pity how Military Commissioner Xiong and Brother Zhuo’s good intentions have been wasted.”

That year, when Zhuo Yi Hang discovered that there were spies amongst the palace guards, he entreated Yue Ming Ke to relate this information onto the Emperor. It was because of this reason that Yun Yan Ping and Qin Qian Yan had to escape out of the palace for fear of having their conspiracy being revealed. Although Ying Xiu Yang was not an imperial guard, yet his name was also mentioned in the imperial courts. It’s hard to believe that once the old Emperor dies, even Ying Xiu Yang would have the guts to not only appear in public again but would furthermore dare to associate with the imperial guards!

After this incident, the two of them took pains to be extra cautious as they went around the big cities such as ShiJiaZhuang and BaoDing before they snuck into Beijing. Yue Ming Ke brought Tie Shan Hu to Military Commissioner Xiong’s good friend, the government official Yang Lian’s home. It was there that they were informed about the details on how the Emperor Shen Zong has passed away more than a month ago and how the crown prince Chang Luo has now ascended the throne and took the regnal name of Guang Zong.

Yang Lian remarked, “There are two strange happenings which have been shocking the capital recently. One, being the strange illness that was contracted by the crown prince right after he ascended the throne. Under the examination of the imperial doctors, they have diagnosed it as dysentery. But treating the ailment with the usual formulas used in treating dysentery has proved to be unsuccessful. It has now been a whole month and the Emperor has still been unable to attend the daily court meetings!” Yue Ming Ke remarked, “The Crown Prince has practiced some martial arts in the past and his body has always been quite healthy. Why would he suddenly contract such a strange disease? What is the second strange case then?”

Yang Lian replied, “Recently, there have been many strange disappearances of young men within the capital. Included amongst these disappearances are even members of the rich and powerful! The Military Commandant of the Nine Gates [3] has already ordered for a thorough and serious investigation, but they have still been unable to turn up with any results. Don’t you think that this is all very strange?” Yue Ming Ke remarked with perplexity, “If it was young girls who were disappearing, then we could at least deduce that it was the works of rapists and abductors. But men disappearing? That is very strange indeed.”

After talking for a while, Yue Ming Ke asked, “What is the situation with Military Commissioner Xiong’s case?” Yang Lian replied, “Right after you left the capital last time, a few Censor-in-chiefs [4] submitted to the Emperor official charges against Military Commissioner Xiong. In charge of this case is the vice-minister of the War Department Liu Guo Jin and the Censor-in-chief Yao Zong Wen, while the person who wrote the document is the Censor-in-chief Feng San Yuan.”

Yue Ming Ke snorted with disgust and said, “That Liu Guo Jin used to be stationed at the Eastern LiaoNing Provinces as a Grand Adjutant. But he was avaricious and debasing the country’s laws, therefore Military Commissioner Xiong reported this to the Emperor who then had him sent home. Because of this incident, he has always harboured hatred and resentment at heart. As for that Yao Zong Wen, he’s even more despicable for he was trying to extort from our honoured Military Commissioner and requested Commissioner Xiong to give him three of the best Purple Mink Fur. But you know how Military Commissioner Xiong is an official who is as honest and pure as water, how would he be able to afford first-grade mink fur? Therefore, he could only transfer onto Yao the one piece of mink fur that was given to him and of which he hasn’t even worn yet. But that Yao Zong Wen actually has the audacity to secretly complain that we were trying to insult him! As for Feng San Yuan, I’m not familiar with his background but I’ve heard that he is in opposition to the righteous DongLin Group [5] so it can be conjectured that he’s no good either.”

Yang Lian added, “This person has one powerful pen though. He wrote an incriminating document that actually accuses the Military Commissioner Xiong of eleven crimes – eight of which accuses Military Commissioner Xiong for being inept and thus detrimental to our country while three crimes charge him of deceiving the Emperor and his superiors.” This caused Yue Ming Ke to erupt into loud laughter as he said, “That’s strange. They actually have the audacity to say that Military Commissioner is inept and detrimental to our state? But the Manchurian troops have now been forced to retreat to XingJing, and exactly whose achievement is that? Every time that Xiong TingBi makes any changes or reforms, he would write a report and send it to the capital. Despite having military power in his possession and the Royal Sword in his hands, he still wouldn’t dare to take any advantage of this, so how can that he be charged as ‘deceiving the Emperor and superiors’?!” Yang Lian said, “That’s why I say that this Censor-in-chief Feng has one powerful pen. He has the ability to completely twist the truth around and turn what is white into black. People like us would have never been able to write such a document.” After a short pause, he continued, “But you don’t have to worry. The Emperor has been sick for more than a month now and these unread reports have all accumulated to one side. Besides, although there are indeed many bad seeds in the courts yet there are still quite a good number of upright gentlemen.”

That night, Yue Ming Ke’s heavy heart was full of indignant anger which inadvertently induced him to consume large amounts of alcohol as a means of drowning his sorrows. He ended up drinking to the point of being stinking drunk. The next morning, he suddenly detected that there was someone sitting by his beside, blowing small puffs of cool air directly onto his forehead.

When Yue turned around for a look, he discovered that it was Tie Shan Hu. Yue laughed and said, “Stop fooling around,” whereas Tie Shan Hu replied, “Look at you – a practitioner of martial arts and drunk out of your mind! You were out like a dead log and wasn’t even able to detect that someone has actually approached your side! Aren’t you embarrassed? Good thing it was only me, if it was that so-called female rapist who abducted you away, then oh my!” Yue Ming Ke scoffed, “Nonsense!” Tie Shan Hu retorted back, “What nonsense? Didn’t you hear Official Yang say that there have been many disappearances of young men in the Beijing area these days?” Yue Ming Ke scolded, “A girl should watch the kind of words that comes out of her mouth – your words are much too uninhibited. If you continue to spew such nonsense, I’ll have to give you a beating.” Tie Shan Hu stuck her tongue out at him and scoffed, “Alright! Even if there weren’t any female rapists you should still get up you know.”

With a smile, Yue Ming Ke got out of his bed and said, “Today I will be visiting Brother Zhuo. I believe he should have arrived in Beijing by now but you stay here in this house. I’m afraid that Taoist Priest White Stone might have some grudge against you and your father.” Tie Shan Hu snickered, “I wouldn’t go even if you asked me to. From what I can see, that Zhuo Yi Hang is not much of a true friend.” Yue Ming Ke immediately pulled out a long face as he asked, “What?” Tie Shan Hu giggled and asked, “You’re angry because I’m talking about your friend aren’t ya? Let me ask you, if he really was a true friend, then why didn’t he come along to help you out that night at the Shaolin temple?” Yue Ming Ke replied, “He did chase after us, it’s just that he didn’t catch up.” Tie Shan Hu remarked, “Even if he couldn’t catch up he should still have continued to chase on. I think the truth is, he simply doesn’t care about you enough.” Yue Ming Ke snapped with anger, “I don’t want to hear you bad-mouth other people with such slanderous talk.” When Tie Shan Hu observed that Yue really was angry this time, she answered with a pout, “Fine. I won’t say anymore then.”

After Yue finished his breakfast, he then went by himself to the DaiFangJia HuTong’s ShaanXi Guild Hall to ask about Zhuo Yi Hang. As he approached the DongChanAn Street, a horse carriage suddenly loomed out in front of him and throttled by. All around the horse carriage were silk embroidered decorations that added to its lavish opulence. Sitting within the carriage were two people dressed in yellow. As the carriage lumbered right past Yue, he seemed to have vaguely heard the person in the carriage say, “What a handsome young man!” Not taking much notice of it, Yue then arrived to the ShaanXi Guild Hall and asked around to discover that Zhuo Yi Hang had indeed arrived in the capital two days ago and was now staying at his father’s colleague, the Minister of the Personnel Department Yang Kun’s house. After asking for the address of Yang Kun’s mansion, Yue then hurried over there but Yang’s housekeeper reported back to him that, “Young master Zhuo has been extremely busy during these last two days. Yesterday he entered into the palace in hopes of seeing the Emperor. But since he was unable to see the Emperor, he has therefore gone back again today.” Yue Ming Ke asked, “When will he be back?” The housekeeper replied, “That I don’t know. Why don’t you come back at night and ask again?”

With a troubled and frustrated heart, Yue Ming Ke retreated outside. Yang Kun’s mansion was located right by the LiuLiChang [6], a classical antiques street in Beijing famous for its paintings and calligraphy art market that often attracts many of the literati, artists, passing scholars on their way to an examination or other wealthy lords. Yue Ming Ke was passing by there when he suddenly discovered that the very horse carriage he had just encountered a while ago was also stationed outside the market. The weather was beautiful that day and yet the amount of people who were browsing through the market was actually not very numerous.

Yue Ming Ke went into the Rinsing Stone Exhibition Room to look over some paintings, but after glancing around once, he realized that there really weren’t many real treasures and so just picked up one of Wen Zheng Ming’s creations, the flower-and-bird painting for a look. Suddenly someone was heard to remark beside him, “What do you see in this painting?”

With a glance, Yue discovered that it happened to be one of the yellow-robed men from the horse carriage who had just spoken to him. He thus answered “Wen Zheng Ming’s work is not bad” while one of the yellow-robed men remarked, “Wen Zheng Ming is one of the Four Masters belonging to the early period of our dynasty. His paintings of course could not be considered as bad. But this one you have in your hand is most definitely not his best work. Your unworthy brother I have in my collection one of his masterpieces. If you, my brother are a fanatic of his paintings, then I am willing to show you the ‘Travelling by the Sacred Red Cliff’ [7] painting that he collaborated with Xie Shi Chen in order that you may also have the chance of appreciating his greatness.” The painting just mentioned by this man was one of Wen Zheng Ming’s prized works that was created during his later years and was considered as a treasured commodity in the realm of art collections. When Yue heard this, he was extremely surprised to hear that this man would be willing to invite a complete stranger over to his house to appreciate a famous painting.

The man in the yellow garment continued, “There are some people in this world who if they have any famous paintings and calligraphy arts in their possession will hoard over them like sacred treasures and are unwilling to reveal them to others. But your humble brother I do not agree with such an attitude. If antiques and famous paintings could not be appreciated along with other fanatics, then where is all the enjoyment?” Yue Ming Ke thought to himself: this person’s passion for the arts is quite adorable.

Yue was also thinking to himself: since he was possessive of martial arts, even if any incidents did occur, there was still nothing to be afraid of. Therefore he may as well take half a day off and follow them to their home for a look. Yue Ming Ke thus answered, “Since Brother you are kind enough to extend such an honourable invitation, then don’t mind it if your humble brother I accept your gracious offer.”

When they introduced themselves to each other, Yue found out that the two men were surnamed Wang and Lin. After they entered into the carriage together, the one surnamed Lin took out an emerald snuff bottle and handed it over to Yue Ming Ke saying, “This snuff bottle is an import from the West. The scent is not too bad.” Yue Ming Ke expressed his thanks and said, “Your humble brother I am only an unsophisticated person who does not know how to appreciate such luxuries.” Then the one surnamed Wang took out a pipe filled with spring tobacco, inducing Yue Ming Ke to say, “Your unworthy brother is also not acquainted with alcohol or tobacco.” In truth, he did drink alcohol, but now being in the presence of strangers, he wanted to take extra caution which was why he said such words.

The man surnamed Wang puffed on his pipe, blowing out one great cloud of smoke after another. Yue Ming Ke found the smell quite repulsive and was feeling quite annoyed when the Wang fellow suddenly blew a mouthful of smoke straight into the direction of Yue’s face, causing Yue Ming Ke to be suddenly filled with nauseating dizziness as he roars, “What are you doing?” The Wang fellow again blew another thick cloud of smoke towards him and this time Yue felt as if the whole world was spinning around uncontrollably. He struck out with his palm while shouting, “Dirty rats! How dare you use such despicable tricks?” But by then, the two men have already jumped out of the horse carriage so that Yue’s palm was unable to land on his target as he fell unconscious and crumbled to the floor of the carriage.

Yue Ming Ke wasn’t even sure exactly how much time had past before he gradually began to awaken. But when he came to his senses, he noticed that there was a faint fragrance that enveloped around him. His bones were aching and his muscles were limb, but when he opened up his eyes, he found that he was lying on top of a brocaded mattress and on the bedside table was a small incense stove that was emanating trails of smoke. The room he was now in was decorated with an unbelievably opulent splendour, with a hanging gorilla fur and a suspending Mirror crafted in JianChang. On the wall was a scroll of painting that featured figures and a landscape that was so striking and realistic that it seemed as if it was ready to leap out of the page and enter into life. Yue Ming Ke’s eyes were sharp and after a careful examination found that it really was the “Travelling by the Sacred Red Cliff” painting that was created under the co-operation of Wen Zheng Ming and Xie Shi Chen. Yue Ming Ke felt as if he was lost in a dream or wallowing in an illusion, until his heart suddenly skipped a beat when Tie Shan Hu’s warnings of the “female rapist” suddenly rang in his head. He thought to himself: Her words couldn’t possibly end up coming true could they? But after thinking over this possibility, he laughed at himself for being so silly for how could a “female rapist” have such an extraordinary luxurious and lavish room?

Yue Ming Ke tried to turn his body around, but felt his four limbs to be both weak and aching as he thought to himself: those few gulps of smoke were really powerful! Even my martial arts were not enough to withstand it. He then struggled to prop himself up into a cross-legged sitting position before he began to generate his inner energy. After a little while, his blood and breath gradually came to circulate about naturally as it coursed through his whole body and brought about a wave of relief to every single one of his bones.

Let us now turn out attention back to Zhuo Yi Hang who has along with Taoist Priest White Stone and his daughter arrived in the capital. In order to make Zhuo’s process of entering the courts more convenient, he settled down in the home of Yang Kun, the Minister of the Personnel Department. Taoist Priest White Stone and his daughter stayed in the martial arts instructor Liu Xi Ming’s house. White Stone was eager to repeatedly remind Zhuo Yi Hang, “As soon as the important matters are taken care of, we will be hastening back to the mountain. Make sure you do not take on any of those stinking job titles” to which Zhuo Yi Hang replied, “Most definitely.”

But contrary to their expectations, the Emperor Guang Zong was bedridden within the recesses of the inner palace. The day right after his arrival in Beijing, Zhuo Yi Hang and Yang Kun took off early morning to arrive outside the gates of the Hall of Supreme Harmony where they respectfully inquired about the wellbeing of the divine lord before submitting their names and waited to be received. After waiting around for half a day, the only sight they were greeted to was the number of officials waiting to be received accumulate as the day went on. The large number of officials piled up in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and filed all the way to the outside of the Hall. The Emperor only called in one person, the official Li Ke Zhuo, leaving all the officials to be absolutely baffled. Li Ke Zhuo was only an official belonging to the second rank, for what reason would he be blessed with such a unique holy grace?

Zhuo returned to Yang Kun’s house filled with frustration and disappointment as he thought to himself: To see the Emperor is turning out to be such a hard task, it seems that this trip will just end up being a waste of time and effort. Yet surprisingly, by nightfall, an internal security officer from the palace suddenly arrived to Yang Kun’s house and announced, “The Heavenly Lord’s sacred health has shown great improvement today. He has heard that the grandson of Supreme Commander Zhuo has entered into the capital and gives orders that he is to come to the Hall of Mental Cultivation early next morning.” Zhuo was immensely relieved upon hearing this news while Yang Kun asked, “Which imperial doctor’s miraculous formula produced such great results?” The internal security officer replied, “You would never have been able to guess. But this ailment was not cured by a doctor!” leaving Yang Kun in a state of muddled confusion.

Whenever an Emperor falls sick, the natural custom is to have the imperial doctors be summoned in order to treat him. But if they were unable to produce a cure, then a national notice would be issued in order to enlist the help of the various regions’ famed doctors. Guang Zong has been sick for more than a month now, leaving all the imperial doctors befuddled and without a clue on how to remedy his condition. The famed doctors of all regions have also been called upon one after the other, but despite administering medicine and applying remedies, all methods have proved themselves to be ineffective. Now hearing the internal security officer say that the doctors did not administer any medicine, Yang Kun would of course be perplexed.

The internal security officer continued, “Li Ke Zhuo has somehow fallen upon good fortune and managed to accomplish a great feat!” Yang Kun asked, “What? What accomplishment has he achieved?” The security officer replied, “He was the one who cured the divine lord’s ailment,” causing Yang Kun to exclaim with surprise, “Since when did Li Ke Zhuo know medicine? Why would the divine lord be willing to consume his medicine?” The security officer replied, “Li Ke Zhuo came highly recommended by the Prime Minister Fang Cong Zhe himself. He said that Li had a miraculous red pill that would be able to cure all ailments. Li Xuan Shi then further urged the divine emperor in consuming it.” Li Xuan Shi was the Emperor’s favoured concubine, causing Yang Kun’s eyebrows to knot together as he remarked, “Why would the Emperor listen to a woman’s words and be willing to use his sacred health to try this so-called red pill?” The security officer laughed and remarked, “But all thanks to Li Ke Zhuo’s red pill, the lord of a million years felt much better in just an hour after consuming it. He’s even got his appetite back! So the Lord of a Million years is now repeatedly praising Li for being the loyal official.” Hearing the security officer say this, Yang Kun knew it was no longer appropriate for him to comment on the matter anymore.

Early morning of the next day, Zhuo Yi Hang and Yang Kun proceeded to the Hall of Supreme Harmony once again to wait for their names to be called. When they passed by the Meridian Gate, they bumped right into a glowing and smug Li Ke Zhuo accompanied by two attendants who waited for him outside the gates. Zhuo Yi Hang was incredibly surprised once he saw who these two attendants were. Have you guessed who they were yet? It turns out that they just happen to be the two old blokes who were whining for a duel outside the Shaolin temple gates just the other day – Hu Mai and Meng Fei!

Hu Mai brought his hands together and said, “After honoured official finishes curing the Divine Emperor’s illness today, a promotion will be a sure thing.” Li Ke Zhuo assured, “The two of you will most definitely be getting a share of whatever advantages I obtain.” Meng Fei joyfully exclaimed, “Thank you for your generous patronage Master.” Li Ke Zhuo then whispered to them in a low voice, “The two of you must not go away. If there are any complications after the Divine Lord has consumed the medicine, I will ask the internal security officer to come out and get the two of you.” Meng Fei replied, “The Minor Rejuvenation Pill eradicates all ailments once it is consumed. Honoured official need not worry.” Li Ke Zhuo therefore proceeded through the Meridian Gate while Zhuo Yi Hang also followed after him. Meng Fei’s face bloated to the colour of beet red the moment he noticed Zhuo, but then hurriedly turned his head over to one side and pretended not to have seen him.

This time the number of officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony waiting to be received was even more numerous. After a while, the internal security officer came out to summon Li Ke Zhuo, Minister of the Personnel Department Yang Kun, Minister of the Rites Department Sun Shen Xing, Censor-in-chief Wang An Shun and about a dozen other officials to wait by the Tower of Manifest Benevolence. The last name to be called was Zhuo Yi Hang’s, but when the hundreds of officials witnessed Zhuo’s name being summoned despite the fact that he did not carry an official rank, they were all in respectful awe. There were some who knew that he was the grandson of the former Supreme Commander of Yun Nan and Gui Zhou Provinces Zhuo Zhong Lian, and thus began to murmur and comment amongst each other, insisting on how the Emperor was really exhibiting special favour towards him.

The Emperor Guang Zhong was now resting inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation which was located near the Tower of Manifest Benevolence. Zhuo followed behind the crowd of officials and sat down on the chair placed at the very back of the room. The officials who were waiting to be received all crowded around Li Ke Zhuo to express their congratulations. Li Ke Zhuo was beaming when he said, “This was all due to the divine emperor’s infinite good fortune. My red pill just happened to be completed only last month!”

The Minister of the Rites Department Sun Shen Xing remarked, “Your red pill really is a miraculous elixir from heaven. May I ask how it is prepared? If its formula could be announced to the world, then that really would be granting all living organisms with endless blessings of good fortune.” Li Ke Zhuo snickered, “You think these pills are easy to produce? It requires a thousand year old Fleece Flower Root, the Snow Lotuses of the HeavenlyMountain and the first grade Ginseng of the ChangBaiMountain as its ingredients as well as a pair of crickets who were in the midst of mating during the noon hour of the Dragon Boat Festival Day as its catalyst. I have spent over a few dozen years’ work before I was lucky enough to be able to collect together all these ingredients.” When the crowd of officials heard this, they all clucked their tongues in awe, but Zhuo Yi Hang could barely keep from laughing out when he heard Li blindly spew out such exaggerated claims for he knew that this red pill must be the Shaolin temple’s Minor Rejuvenation Pill.

After a while, the internal security officer came out to bring Li Ke Zhuo inside and it was then that Zhuo suddenly remembered that though Hu Mai and Meng Fei have tricked away two minor rejuvenation pills, yet one of them was already swallowed on the spot. Thus there could only be one red pill left over! Assuming that the one the Emperor consumed yesterday was the real red pill, then the one being submitted today must be fake! To play around with an Emperor’s life in such a careless fashion was simply much too contemptible!

When Yang Kun saw the anxious and worried expression on Zhuo’s face, he hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?” Zhuo replied, “I’m afraid that Li Ke Zhuo would be blindly submitting some fake medicine.” An official standing beside Zhuo shot him an angry glance causing Yang Kun to recognize that this was a trusted man of Fang Cong Zhe, thus he hurriedly insisted, “A man that Official Fang so highly recommends most definitely could not be wrong.”

After a while, Li Ke Zhuo came back outside with glowing face as the crowd of officials hurriedly came forward to ask about the situation. Li Ke Zhuo gloated, “My red pill is one powerful substance. Consuming just one was originally more than enough, so you can imagine what miracles consuming two can produce. The Divine Emperor’s energy has rejuvenated significantly and will be able to attend the courts to greet the various officials tomorrow!” The crowd of officials all hurriedly came forth to express their congratulations.

But Zhuo Yi Hang was caught in a conflicting struggle between belief and disbelief. He was thinking to himself: even a real Minor Rejuvenation Pill should not have produced an effect so quickly. It was at this time that the internal security officer came out to announce, “The Divine Emperor summons Zhuo Yi Hang inside.”

Such is: Jianghu tricksters cooks up illusion and deceit, the Lord of a million chariots’ life is fooled around with.

 

 

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[1] DengFeng: A city located in the capital of HeNan. The SongMountain (and hence Shaolin temple) is located in this city.

[2] “five Zang organs and his six Fu organs”: 5 Zang (Solid or also sometimes referred to as Yin) organs refers to the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys, while the six fu (hollow, Yang in nature) organs indicate the gall bladder, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, bladder and the triple (upper, middle and lower) warmers (the openings to the stomach, small intestine, and bladder).

[3] “Nine Gates”: A symbolic reference to the ImperialCapitalCity.

[4] “Censor-in-chief”: An official belonging to the department in the imperial government that was responsible for overseeing or investigating into the conduct and misbehaviour of officials. Headed by one or two censor-in-chiefs, they also worked along with vice-censor-in-chiefs. Their reports to the Emperor about officials’ misconduct have the power to influence or cause their impeachment.

[5] “DongLin Group”: Also known as the DongLin Faction/Society/Academy of Classical Learning, the term “DongLin” literally translates as “East” (Dong) “Forest/Woods” (Lin). The group originated from a group of scholars who shared similar political views and ideals of reform, Confucian morality, defending against foreign invaders, taking a true concern to the troubles of common peasants and eradicating the corrupt officials to establish a non-corrupt government system. A group of scholars (who later became to be known as the DongLin 8 Scholars) held classes and organized meetings at the DongLin Academy, a school in the Jiangsu city during the WanLin’s (aka Shen Zong’s) period of reign. This group eventually became an organized community (with an official declaration of their mission) that grew in power and numbers to become a crucial force in combating against corruption. The DongLin Group rose significantly in power when they assisted ShenZong’s grandson (ChangLuo’s 16 year old son Zhu YouJiao) in ascending the throne, but coming across the opposition and political attacks of the Eunuch Wei ZongXian’s faction, the DongLin faction eventually lost power and many of its members (including the official Yang Lian) suffered a dreary fate when Wei ZongXian distorted the truth to somehow tie the “3 strange cases of the Ming Dynasty” to this group.

[6] “LiuLiChang”: The name of this street literally translates as “Glazed Tile/Glass (LiuLi) Factory (Chang).” Known as the Antique Street, this market was famous for its art market especially during the Ming and Qing dynasty (when this story takes place). In the 1950s, this market was restored and expanded by the government.

[7] “Traveling by the Sacred Red Cilff”: One of Wen Zheng Ming’s “Red Cliff” series paintings.