Chapter - 2 The Jade Cliff Under the Moonlight (2/2)

The changes and turns in this game was incredible and complex, almost as if it is what a Go player would call a puzzle, traps within traps, and can lead to many different outcomes. Duan Yu has been working hard on the game of Go for years. Back when he was obsessed, he spent entire days playing against a Mr. Huo from accounting. He was born smart and in merely a year's time, he had turned a 4 stone handicap on himself to a 3 stone handicap on Mr. Huo. His skills are among the best in all of DaLi. Yet he cannot figure out how this match would turn out, it seems like the black side has the game in hand, but there is still some chance for the whites to come back. He stared for a long time as the board got blurrier and blurrier. Seeing there is 2 candle-holders on the table, each with half a candle remaining in it, he grabbed the fire knife and fire stone of the tray on the candle shelf and lit the candles so he could look at the match some more. He looked and thought about the match so much that he began to feel dizzy and nauseous.

He stood up and yawned. Astounded, he thought: ”This match is really something. Even if I take 7 or 8 more days I still may not be able to figure it out. By then my life would be gone and Miss Zhong would have long been buried alive by the Divine Farmer Clan.” Knowing that if he look at the table again, who knows how long it would be before he can move on again. So he turned around and reached behind him to take ahold of a candle-holder so as to make sure that he does not lay another glance on the board. Suddenly excitement shot through his heart: ”That's right! Such a complicated game, must be a puzzle laid down by Dear Goddess herself and cannot be done by 2 people playing. Wonderful!”

He lifted his head up and saw that there is another cave entrance at the end of the stone bed. By the entrance were written: ”Blessed Reading Ground”. Remembering what Dear Goddess wrote on the outside of the silk bundle, he thought: ”So 'Blessed Reading Ground' is here. Dear Goddess told me that the collection of every kungfu of every sect would belong to me. I don't want to learn kungfu, so it's no big deal if I don't look through this collection but it's an order from Dear Goddess, I can't disobey.” So he walked through the door with the candle.

Once he had the chance to look around, he immediately let out a long sigh and felt a lot better. Turns out that this ”Blessed Reading Ground” is a huge room, several times bigger than the room outside. Inside the room was filled with rows and rows of book shelves, but there was not a single book on the shelves. He held up the candle and walked closer. Labels dotted the shelves, all of them saying things such as: ”KunLun”, ”ShaoLin”, ”QingCheng of SiChuan”, ”PengLai of ShanDong”, etc. There is even a ”Duan's of DaLi” label. But under ”ShaoLin” there was a note: ”Missing Sutra of Changing Nerves”, under ”Beggar Clan” was a note: ”Missing 18 Dragon Subduing Palms”, and the ”Duan's of DaLi” was noted with: ”Regrettably Missing 1 Yang Zhi, 6 Veined Divine Sword”.

A long time ago these shelves were undoubtedly filled with diagrams and instructions on all of the kungfus of every sect but someone has moved the books away a long time ago. A burden that Duan Yu has been carrying in his heart lifted as he could not be any happier: ”Now that the books aren't here anymore, I can't learn any of them. This doesn't count as disobeying Dear Goddess.” But then he felt ashamed: ”Duan Yu my good man, you are happy because you can't follow the instructions left by Dear Goddess, that is not being loyal to her. Not seeing the kungfu books, you should be sad, frustrated, and mad, not happy. Dear Goddess in heaven, please forgive me.”

{Is there any doubt now that Carefree Sect is the most powerful sect and that Duan Yu, Xu Zhu, Li QiuShui, Tian Shan Tong Lao are about the most powerful characters in all of JY canon? The sweeper monk in ShaoLin is up there, but he seemed to be a freak of nature and had some prior knowledge and skill before joining ShaoLin, after all, he had only been sweeping for some 40 years while he looked to be much older. Also any idea where the books are moved to? It never said in the book but I am pretty certain I know where the collection is.}

Seeing no other ways out of this ”Blessed Reading Ground”, he returned back to the room of the jade statue. He just barely looked at the eyes of the jade statue and became spellbound once again. He stared blankly for a long time before finally clasping his hands and bowing deeply, almost to the ground. He said: ”Dear Goddess, I have important matters that I must attend to, so I have to temporarily leave. After I have saved Miss Zhong, then I will come back to be with you again.”

With great effort and struggle, he walked out of the room with a candle in hand looking for another exit. There was another flight of steps heading upwards on the side that he did not notice before because as soon as he entered the room his attention fell onto the statue. He quickly walked to the end of the steps. There was a door that was barely large enough to fit through a head. He stuck his head out and took a look around. What he saw sent his heart racing out with fear.

What he saw was fearsome rapids as water roared passed him with great speed and noise, for he had came upon a river. The towering and jagged cliff stood by the bank of the river. From the looks of it he had reached the LanCang River. Excited and surprised, he slowly climbed out of the hole. Looking around him, he saw that he is more than 30 meters above the rapids. So no matter how high up the water gets, it would never reach the hole and flood the cave. But to get to the river banks is no easy task either. So he put his hands and legs to full use as he awkwardly and pathetically started climbing up. All the while he was taking care to remember all the details of his surrounding, so as to be able to return here once he finished saving lives. He thought: ”Every year from now on, I have got to spend several months in this cave to keep Dear Goddess company.”

The banks of the river is covered by rocks, not even a small path could be found. He walked like this for about 4 kilometers when he came upon a wild peach tree. Peaches were all over this tree; he picked them and had himself a good meal. Once his stomach filled up, his spirit did as well and he walked another 5 kilometers when he came upon a small trail. Following this trail until it was almost dusk, he finally came upon an iron chained bridge. On a rock by the bridge were carved: ”Well-Doer's Crossing”.

He could not be happier, for ”Well-Doer's Crossing” was one of the places that he had to pass according to Zhong Ling. He has made it onto the right path! So he grabbed the iron chains for support as he stepped onto to a plank of wood. This bridge is comprised of 4 iron chains, the 2 at the bottom have planks of wood laid on top to walk on while the 2 on the side are for support. As soon as he stepped onto the bridge, the chains started to shake. When he got to the middle, the shaking got even worse. Glancing down, the river was rushing by like stampeding horses below his feet. One bad step could lead to falling into the river, then no matter how good of a swimmer you are, you would not survive. He dared not to take another look down. Staring straight ahead, he nervously and shakily began to pray: ”Amida Buddha! Amida Buddha!” One step at a time, he finally made it to the other end.

Only after sitting down and resting by the bridge for a while did he continue on as Zhong Ling had directed him. After walking quickly for more than an hour, he came upon a huge and dark forest. He knew he had arrived at the entrance of ”Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities”, Zhong Ling's home. Walking up a little closer, he came upon 9 huge pine trees lined up on the left. He counted to the fourth tree from the right. Following Zhong Ling's direction, he went around, behind the pine tree, pulling away the tall grass, and as expected, an hole appeared before him. He thought: ”This 'Valley of Ten Thousand Calamity is really well hidden indeed. Had I not been told by Miss Zhong, who could have figured out that the entrance is actually inside a pine tree?”

He walked into the hole, while keeping the grass out of the way with his left hand, his right hand found a big iron ring. With a mighty pull, he lifted up the block of wood, revealing a series of steps. He walked down several steps, turned around, used both hands to gently let the wooden block fall back into place, and continued on down the steps. After 30 or so steps the path took a turn to the right, and then after several meters it turned upwards. He thought to himself: ”Building stone steps in a place like this is not easy at all but when compared with the steps at Dear Goddess's place, these come up way short.” After about 30 steps upwards, he reached level ground.

In front of him was a great field of grass, at the other end was another collection of pine trees. He walked over the field of grass and saw that one of the pines had a 3 meter long 1 meter wide section pared off and a layer of white paint was painted on. On it was written: ”Those with the Surname of Duan will die without exception”. Nine of the words were black, the word ”die”, however, was blood red.

Duan Yu thought: ”Wonder why the master of this valley hate us Duan's so much? Even if a guy with the surname of Duan wronged him, there are thousands of Duan's in the world, is he going to kill them all?” At this time the light is dark, these 10 words looked fearsome and threatening, especially that red ”die”, for it looked as if it was written in blood. He thought some more: ”So this is why Miss Zhong told me not to say that my surname is Duan. She told me to bang on the 6th word 3 times, meaning banging on this 'Duan' word. She didn't say 'Duan' because she was afraid that I would get mad. If I have to bang on it I'll bang on it, what's the big deal? She saved my life, not only is it ok to bang on that 'Duan' word 3 times, even if I have to bang Duan Yu's head 3 times I would do it.”

Noticing there is nail nailed on the tree with a small iron hammer hanging from it, he grabbed it and banged on that 'Duan' word. ”Zheng”! A loud sound of metal meeting metal came when the hammer fell. Taking Duan Yu by surprise, he was momentarily startled before realizing that behind the 'Duan' was a iron board and behind that was hollow. Because the outside was painted white, he didn't notice it. He banged the hammer twice more and hung it back up.

After a while, a young girl's voice came from behind the pine: ”Miss, you are back!” Her voice was full of happiness and excitement.

Duan Yu replied: ”I'm here because Miss Zhong asked me to come here to meet with the master of this valley.” The girl let out a surprised ”Yi!” Then she asked: ”You... You are an outsider? Where's miss?” Duan Yu did not see her body, but he answered: ”Miss Zhong is in danger, I came here especially to report that.” That girl asked anxiously: ”What kind of danger?” Duan Yu answered: ”She is captured and it may be life-threatening.” That girl replied: ”Ai-Yo! You... You... You wait here for a little bit, I'm going to report to the Madame.” Duan Yu replied: ”That would be great.” He thought to himself: ”Miss Zhong told me to see her mother first anyway.”

After waiting for a while, he heard hurried footsteps come from behind the tree. The girl from before said: ”Madame request your presence.” She came out from behind the tree. She was about 16 or 17 and is dressed like a servant. She spoke up again: ”Honored guest... sir, please follow me.” Duan Yu asked: ”How do I address you?” The servant girl shook her head, meaning that she can't talk anymore. Seeing fear on her face, Duan Yu dared not say anymore.

The servant girl led him through the woods, followed a small trail toward the left, and arrived in front of a house. She pushed the door open, waved her hands at Duan Yu, and stepped to the side to let him in first. Walking in, Duan Yu noticed that he has entered a small lounge with a huge candle alit on the table in the middle of the room. Even though the room is rather small, it was very elegantly decorated. After he sat down, the servant girl came with a cup: ”Sir, please try the tea. Madame will be out very soon.”

He took 2 sips of the tea when he noticed that there were 4 hanging scrolls on the east wall. On them were drawings of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum (Mei Lan Zhu Ju). But they were hung in the order of: orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum. On the west wall was 4 scrolls of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter; but their order was wrong as well: Winter, Summer, Spring, and Autumn. He mused: ”Miss Zhong's parents are both martial type of people. No surprise there if they don't know much about books, paintings, and things such as those.”

Hearing sounds of jewelry clanking, a mistress had walked out from the back. She was wearing a silk shirt that was of a light green color and looked about 36 or 37 years old. Seeing that her face was pretty and delicate with a faint resemblance of Zhong Ling between her eyebrows, Duan Yu knew that this was Madame Zhong. So he stood up, clasped his hands, and bowed: ”Humble Duan Yu respectfully salutes to Madame.” As soon as he said it he grimaced: ”Ai-Yo! Why did you blurt out your real name? I was concentrating entirely on how much she looked like Zhong Ling and completely forgot about making up a fake name.”

Madame Zhong was a bit taken aback, but she bowed in return nevertheless: ”Many fortunes to you!” She followed with: ”You... your surname is Duan?” There was surprise in her expression. Duan Yu figured that since he had already blurted out his own name, it is too late to lie about that, so he replied: ”Yes, my humble surname is Duan.” Madame Zhong continued with her questions: ”Don't know where your hometown is or what your father is known as?”

Duan Yu thought: ”Got to tell two big lies here, or else she might guess who I am.” So he replied: ”I am from the city of LinAn in HeNan province. My father's given name is 'Long'.” There were some traces of suspicion on Madame Zhong's face: ”But you are speaking in the DaLi dialect.” Duan Yu replied: ”I moved to DaLi 3 years ago and learned the local dialect. I'm afraid it is not very good, please excuse my bad accents.”

Madame Zhong took a deep breath and replied: ”Very convincing dialect, not the least bit different from the locals. Please sit down.”

The 2 of them sat down. Miss Zhong kept on looking up and down nonstop, sizing him up. All this attention made Duan Yu very uncomfortable, so he spoke up: ”I ran into some troubles on the way here, causing my clothing to get torn. Your daughter is in danger, that is why I came here. Only that the news was very urgent, so I had no chance to switch into something more clean and appropriate, please forgive my rudeness.”

Madame Zhong seemed to have suddenly been snapped out of a trance by his words. She anxiously asked: ”What's happened to my daughter?”

Duan Yu took out the pair of shoes from his shirt and said: ”Miss Zhong told me to come here with these as proof and see you.” Madame Zhong took the shoes over into her hand and replied: ”Thank you so much, don't know what kind of trouble my daughter has run into?” So Duan Yu told her everything that has happened from Sword Lake Palace to now, leaving out only the section regarding Dear Goddess.

Madame Zhong was quiet the entire time, but her face got darker and darker. When Duan Yu finished, she sighed and said: ”As soon as she leaves the house she runs into trouble.” Duan Yu replied: ”All of this started because of me, Miss Zhong has no fault in this matter.”

Madame Zhong looked at him and then quietly said: ”Yes, that's right. Not really that surprising really, back then... back then I was the same....” Duan Yu asked: ”What?” Surprised, Madame Zhong's cheeks suddenly turned red. Even though she's almost at middle age, when she gets bashful and shy she looks just like a young girl. She bashfully replied: ”I... I just remembered something else.” After saying that, her face turned even redder, so she immediately tried to change the subject: ”I... I think this matter... is a bit... a bit troublesome.”

Seeing how bashful she is, Duan Yu thought: ”Of course this matter is rather troublesome, but you don't need to blush like this. Compared to you, your daughter is much more natural about these things.”

Suddenly, a burly male voice came from outside the door: ”Everything was going well, how did JinXi-Er get killed?”

This startled Madame Zhong, she turned and whispered: ”My husband is here, he... he is always suspicious. Mr. Duan, could you go hide for a bit.” Duan Yu replied: ”I still should really meet his acquaintance, wouldn't it be better....” Madame Zhong covered his mouth with her left hand and grabbed his arm with her right. She pulled him to the east winged room and whispered: ”Stay here, don't make a sound no matter what. My husband's temper is short and violent. Just a little bit of misunderstanding could cost you your life, then even I can't help you.”

Even though she looked weak and bashful, her kungfu is first rate. This little push-pull left Duan Yu no chance to refuse as he obediently followed her into the room. But he was secretly angry with her: ”I came this far to tell you about your daughter, for better or worse I'm still a guest. Making me hide and sneak around like this, isn't that making me out to be a thief?” Madame Zhong smiled at him tenderly. As soon as Duan Yu saw the smile, all his rage disappeared as he nodded in agreement. Madame Zhong turned around, walked out, and shut the door on her way out.

Soon he heard 2 people walk in followed by a man calling out: ”Wife!” Duan Yu peeked out from the crack between the door and the wall. He saw a man of around 30 dressed in servant clothing, face full of panic and terror; there was another tall and thin man, he was wearing black and facing outwards so Duan Yu cannot make out his face. But he could see his fan-sized hands at his side, the back of the hand was covered with veins. Duan Yu thought: ”Wah! Miss Zhong's dad has got some big hands!”

Madame Zhong asked: ”JinXi-Er died? How?” The servant replied: ”Master send me and JinXi-Er to the north manor to welcome the guests. Master told us there would be 4 of them. At noon today one of them arrived, said his surname was Yue. Master instructed to call the one whose name is Yue as 'Third Sir'. But the man immediately went into a rage and shouted: 'I'm Yue number 2, why are you calling me 'Third'? Trying to degrade me?” And with one slap he smacked JinXiEr's face so hard he fell over bleeding.” Madame Zhong frowned: ”Such flagrant violence! Since when did good ol' third Yue turn to second?”

Master Zhong replied: ”Yue Number 3 always had a weird and short temper, not to mention his deranged personality.” As he replied, he turned around.

Peeking through the crack, Duan Yu was in for a shock. For his face was stretched out long like a horse. His eyes were unusually high with his huge, round nose and mouth squeezed closed to one another. So between his eyes and nose, there was a huge area of nothing. With Zhong Ling being as pretty and enchanting as she is, who could have guessed that her father would be this ugly? Duan Yu mused: ”Thank goodness she resembles her mother and not in the least bit like her father.”

Master Zhong's face was full of worry and concern, but as soon as he turned around and faced his wife, his face turned happy and tender, adding a bit of appeal to that horrid face of his. He continued on: ”Yue Number 3's temperament is exactly what I thought might offend and frighten you. That's why I didn't let him enter this valley. This is a small matter, no need to fret about it too much.”

This is all very strange to Duan Yu: ”Just a bit ago, Madame Zhong was very frightened when she heard that her husband is coming. But from how he is treating her, it seemed like he has nothing but love and respect for her.”

Madame Zhong replied: ”Small matter? JinXi-Er has loyally and whole heartedly served us for all these years and now is killed by that pig of a friend of yours. My heart can't take it as well as yours can.” Master Zhong smiled at her in an attempt to make her feel better: ”Yes, yes. You sympathize with the servants, that's because of your kind heart.”

Madame Zhong asked that servant: ”LaiFu-Er, what happened after that?”

LaiFu-Er answered: ”When JinXi-Er was hit onto the floor, he hadn't died yet. I immediately started to yell: 'Second Sir, Second Sir! Please don't get mad at us ignorant fools.' He laughed and seemed very happy. I helped JinXi-Er up and started setting up the table for that man named Yue. He asked: 'How come Zhong... Zhong... isn't here to see me?' I replied: 'Master haven't found out about Second Sir's honored arrival, or else he would have came here much earlier to welcome you. I'm going to report this to him right now.' He nodded, then he saw that JinXi-Er was standing there shaking, so he asked: 'I just slapped you, I bet you are cursing me deep down inside aren't you?' JinXi-Er replied: 'No, no! I wouldn't dare, never ever dare!' That man said: 'Deep down inside, you are probably calling me an evil person, so evil that I can't get any more evil, right? Hahaha.' JinXi-Er replied: 'No, no! Second Sir is a great person, not at all evil.' That man's eyebrows turned sideways and he shouted: 'You are saying I'm not evil at all?' JinXi-Er is so scared that his whole body was shaking: 'You... Second Sir... is not evil at all, not... not a trace of evilness.' That guys screamed in rage, suddenly he grabbed JinXi-Er, and snapped his neck....” His voice was shaking, obviously still shocked by what he saw.

Madame Zhong sighed and waved her hand: ”You have had enough shock for one day, why don't you go and get some rest.” LaiFu-Er bowed: ”Yes ma'am.” And walked out.

Madame Zhong shook her head and let out a long sigh: ”I'm not feeling very well and would like a little bit of peace and quiet.” Master Zhong replied: ”Alright, I'm going to go see Yue Number 3 to make sure he doesn't cause more trouble.” Madame Zhong observed: ”I say it's best if you call him 'Yue Number 2' instead.” Master Zhong replied: ”Hmph, Yue Number 3 might be vicious, but I'm not scared of him at all. I'm not fussing over JinXi-Er's murder only because he is giving me a lot of face by coming all this way to help me.”

Madame Zhong shook her head and said: ”We have been living here in peace and quiet for 10 years now. In these 10 years, I have not left the valley at all, are you still not satisfied? Why must you go invite 'The 4 Arch-Villains' here to make a mess of everything? You... you give me all that sweet talk all the time when in reality you don't care about me at all!” Master Zhong immediately replied: ”I... Since when did I not care about you? I invited the 4 of them here for you.” Madame Zhong humphed: ”For me? Well let me thank you. If you really care about me, then listen to me and send these '4 Arch-Villains' on their way.”

Duan Yu was just feeling rather odd about this whole situation in the neighboring room: ”That Yue Number 3 killed for no reason at all, he really is downright evil. Could there really be 3 more people who are as evil as he is?”

Master Zhong was pacing back and forth in the hall. He spoke up with a bit of anger in his voice: ”That guy named Duan disgraced me too much, if I don't avenge this wrong, then how can I, Zhong WanChou, have face to live in this world?”

Duan Yu mused: ”So your name is Zhong WanChou? Ten-Thousand Enmities? This name seems rather inappropriate. As the saying goes: 'Enemies are easy to make and hard to make up to.' Holding one enmity already is not a good thing, much less 10,000 enmities. No wonder your face got pulled that long. The fact that you were able to marry such a flowery and goddess-like wife with your looks means that you have about all the luck in the world. You should change your name to 'Ten-Thousand Fortunes', Zhong WanXin.”

Madame Zhong frowned and coldly replied: ”Actually, the one you really hate is me and not that other person. If you really wanted to cause trouble for him, why don't you go to their house and fight it out with him? Asking for help like this, there won't be much glory in it even if you win.” The veins on Zhong WanChou's forehead were all clearly visible as he shouted: ”He has all kinds of dogs and sidekicks under him, you know that! I wanted to duel it out with him, but he never shows his face, what can I do?” Madame Zhong lowered her head as drops of tear quietly landed on her sleeves.

Zhong WanChou panicked: ”I'm so sorry, Ah-Bao. Ah-Bao, please don't get mad, I was wrong to yell at you like that.” Madame Zhong did not reply, but even more tears are appearing. Zhong WanChou scratched his head in distress: ”Ah-Bao, please don't get mad at me. I couldn't control myself, I'm so sorry.”

Madame Zhong quietly replied: ”You still can't forget that matter no matter what. What's the point of me going on like this? Why don't you just kill me and end all of this. That way, you don't have to keep on getting mad about this. Then just go marry another pretty wife and that'll be that.”

Zhong WanChou lifted his hands up and slapped himself twice: ”I was wrong, I need to be punished!”

Seeing the big hand of his hitting that long horse-like face, Duan Yu could not help but laugh at this comical scene. Even before he stopped laughing, he knew that he had really done it this time and hoped against hope that Zhong WanChou did not hear him. But Zhong WanChou immediately shouted: ”Who's there?” ”Peng!” Someone had kicked open the door and jumped into the room. Duan Yu felt suddenly felt someone grab the back of his neck and threw him into the middle of the outside room. His eyes went black from the fall as he felt as if every bone in his body had just snapped.

Zhong WanChou grabbed the back of his neck with his left hand and lifted him up: ”Who are you? What are you doing in my wife's room?” Seeing Duan Yu's handsome face, he immediately became suspicious. He turned to Madame Zhong and said: ”Ah-Bao, you... you... again... again....”

Madame Zhong rebuked: ”'Again' this, 'again' that, 'again' what? Put him down, he is here to report an emergency.” Zhong WanChou asked: ”What kind of emergency?” He still had Duan Yu in midair and turned to him: ”Stinking bastard, I can tell from your appearence that you are not a good person. What are you doing secretly hiding in my wife's room? Tell me, tell me now! If you even tell half a lie, I'll make sure your head end up like this table!” He brought his fist down hard onto a pear wood table, smashing half of it to bits.

After being painfully thrown on the floor, lifted up in the air, and hearing from Zhong WanChou's tone of voice that he suspect that there maybe something indecent going on between him and Madame Zhong, Duan Yu got mad instead of scared. He shouted back: ”My surname is Duan! If you want to kill me then hurry it up! I don't know what kind of rubbish you are talking about!”

Zhong WanChou lifted his right fist up and shouted in rage: ”Your name is Duan too? Another one named Duan, a... another one named Duan.” By now, the rage in him has turned to sadness and disappointment, and tears were filling those big, rounded eyes of his.

Suddenly, Duan Yu felt very sorry for this man; figuring that he knows that his appearance does not match his wife's, and that is the reason why he gets jealous and mad for no reason whatsoever, actually a very pathetic situation for him. Unexpectedly, even though his life is in the other man's hands, he started to console him: ”My surname is Duan, but I have never seen Madame Zhong before in my life. You have no need to be suspicious or sad.”

Happiness returned to Zhong WanChou's face as he asked in a crackled voice: ”Really? You've never seen... never seen Ah-Bao before?” Duan Yu replied: ”I only came here for the first time not an hour ago.” Zhong WanChou laughed sillily a couple of times and said: ”Yes, of course! Ah-Bao hasn't left the valley in 10 years. Ten years ago, your were only 8 or 9, of course you can't... can't... cant....” But he still had Duan Yu up in the air.

A shade of red appeared on Madame Zhong's face as she spoke up: ”Aren't you going to put Mr. Duan down?” Zhong WanChou immediately replied: ”Yes, of course.” He gently put Duan Yu down, but suddenly a look suspicion appeared on his face again: ”Mr. Duan? Mr. Duan? Who... Who's your father?”

Duan Yu figured: ”If I lie about it this time, it would actually seem like I have something to hide or whatever.” So he said in an earnest tone: ”Back then I did not tell Madame Zhong the truth when I shouldn't have. My name is Duan Yu, styled HeYu. I'm from DaLi. My father's given name is first-Zheng-then-Chun.”

Zhong WanChou hadn't really figured out what ”First-Zheng-then-Chun” meant when Madame Wang asked with her voice shaking: ”Your father is... is Duan... Duan ZhengChun?” Duan Yu nodded: ”Yes!”

Zhong WanChou screamed: ”Duan ZhengChun!” His scream was so loud that it seemed like the whole world was trembling. His face was red with rage and his entire body was shaking as he yelled: ”You... You are the son of that dog, Duan ZhengChun?”

Duan Yu was furious and shouted back: ”How dare you insult my father?”

Zhong WanChou shouted back: ”Why wouldn't I dare? Duan ZhengChun, you are a dog, a bastard, a turtle egg!”

Suddenly, Duan Yu pieced it together: ”That's why he wrote outside: 'Those who enter with the surname of Duan will die.' Must be because he hates my dad so much that he hates everyone named Duan.” So he calmly and coldly replied: ”Master Zhong, if you have a grudge or hatred for my father, then you should get it over with once and for all in the view of the world. If you got guts then go and insult my father to his face. Insulting him behind his back is not the way of a real man. My father is in DaLi, if you want to find him then you'll find him easily. What's the point in putting up a sign in front of your house saying 'Those who enter with the surname of Duan will die'?”

Zhong WanChou's face turned many different shades in a row, as if every single word of what Duan Yu just said went straight into his heart. Rage shot out from his eyes as he looked like he was about to kill. After staying motionless for a while, he suddenly threw out 2 punches and smashed 2 chairs to pieces. He followed by throwing a kick at the wall, instantly creating a huge hole in the wall. All the while he screamed: ”I'm not afraid of not being able to beat your father, I... I'm scared... scared that your father would find out that Ah-Bao is here....” When he got to here, there were faint traces of sobs in his voice. He covered his face with his hands and screamed: ”I'm a coward, I'm a coward!” Suddenly he ran out of the room, but smashing noises kept on coming from outside as he kept on running into fences, flower pots, chairs, and such.

Duan Yu was in shock for a long time, he thought: ”So what if my dad knows that your wife lives here? Would he come here and kill her?” He thought that he was way too harsh with what he said, hurting Zhong WanChou like that. Regretting what he said and feeling bad about the whole situation, he turned around and saw that Madame Zhong was staring at him.

As soon as their eyes met, Madame Zhong immediated turned her eyes away. Her pale face suddenly turned a shade of pink. After a little silence, she asked in a faint voice: ”Mr. Duan, how has you father been? Is he doing ok?”

Since she was inquiring about his father, Duan Yu stood up and answered very politely and formally: ”Father has been very good and healthy, he is doing great.”

Madame Zhong replied: ”That's great. I......... I also....”

Once again, Duan Yu saw that there were little tear droplets on her long eye lashes. She didn't even finish the sentence before having to turn away to wipe away the tears with her sleeve. Duan Yu felt sorry for her and tried to console: ”Auntie, even though Master Zhong has quite a temper, he has nothing but love and respect for you. The 2 of you have a full and beautiful marriage, this is a little disagreement, no need for Auntie to be sad like this.”

Madame Zhong turned around and gave him a little smile: ”At such a little age, what do you know about whether or not a marriage is full or beautiful?”

Seeing the faint traces of innocence and tenderness in her smile, Duan Yu's heart shook a bit as he was immediately reminded of Zhong Ling. He turned his eyes toward Zhong Ling's pair of flower shoes on the table and thought: ”Miss Zhong with that Goat Beard, she's probably suffering every moment of it. Got to get her out of there as soon as possible.” He spoke up: ”I was just very rude to Master Zhong, could Auntie please go on my behalf and ask Master Zhong for forgiveness. And also ask him to leave and save his beloved daughter at once.”

Madame Zhong replied: ”My husband is busy taking care of some friends that had just arrived from very far away. It is truly very hard for him to leave right now. I'm sure you just heard as well how peculiar these friends are, killing at the slightest provocation. If we aren't polite enough too them, who knows what kind of troubles that would bring to us? Hm. The way things are now, let me go with you instead.” Excited, Duan Yu replied: ”If Auntie herself can go, then there is nothing more that could be asked for.” Remembering something that Zhong Ling told him, he asked: ”Can Auntie cure that marten, Lightning's poison?” Madame Zhong shook her head: ”No, I can't.” Duan Yu hesitated: ”Then... this....”

Madame Zhong walked back into her room, left a brief little note, hurriedly tied a belt around her waist, and hung a sword off of it. Returning to the hall, she said: ”Let's go!” And she immediately started to walk out.

Duan Yu casually and naturally picked up the flowery shoes and put it inside his shirt. Madame Zhong shook her head in silence, as if she wanted to say something. But she finally decided against it and kept on walking.

Once the 2 of them got outside of the hole in the tree, Madame Zhong picked up her speed. Even though she looked delicate and frail, she was walking much faster than Duan Yu.

Duan Yu still did't feel assured: ”Auntie, since you don't know how to cure, I'm afraid that Divine Farmer Clan might not let your beloved daughter off so easily.”

Madame Zhong casually replied: ”Who said we are asking them to let her go? Divine Farmer Clan dared to detain my daughter and threaten me, they must have grown tired of living. I don't know how to save someone, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to kill someone.”

Duan Yu involuntarily shuddered as he felt that the disregard for human life in these last several casual sentences were as prevalent as the actions of that Yue Number 3.

Madame Zhong asked: ”How many concubines does your father keep?” Duan Yu answered: ”None, he doesn't keep any. My mom won't allow it.” Madame Zhong asked: ”Is your father really scared of your mother?” Duan Yu laughed and replied: ”Not really afraid. It is mostly love and respect, much like how Master Zhong is like to Auntie.” Madame Zhong replied: ”Um, does your father practice kungfu everyday? In these years, has his kungfu gotten much better again?” Duan Yu replied: ”Dad practices everyday. But as for how good he is, I haven't the slightest clue.” Madame Zhong commented: ”He hasn't slacked off on his kungfu, then I... I can set my mind to rest. How come you don't know any kungfu at all?”

Amidst the conversation, the 2 of them had walked another half a kilometer or so. Duan Yu was just about to answer when he heard a man screaming: ”Ah-Bao! Where... Where are you going?” Duan Yu turned around and saw Zhong WanChou chasing up from behind with blinding speed.

Madame Zhong grabbed Duan Yu's arm and shouted: ”Hurry up!” She started to run forward with great speed. Duan Yu's foot was off the ground as he was almost being carried by Madame Zhong. The 3 of them covered 50 meters or so in a flash. Athough Madame Zhong's Qing Gong is not weaker than her husband, she was nevertheless dragging another person and Zhong WanChou gradually began to gain ground on her. After another 50 meters or so Duan Yu could have swore he can feel Zhong WanChou's breath on the back of his neck. Suddenly there was a ripping sound and he felt cold air blowing on his back. Part of the back of his shirt was torn off by Zhong WanChou.

Madame Zhong directed some inner force into her left arm and threw Duan Yu up over ten meters ahead while shouting: ”Get out of here!” Her right hand had already stabbed back with the the sword. Considering Zhong WanChou's kungfu, this move naturally shouldn't hit him. Besides, Madame Zhong had no intentions of injuring her husband, she just wanted to stop his pursuit. But when she struck out with her sword, she suddenly felt some slight resistance on the sword as it had stabbed her husband in the chest.

Turns out that Zhong WanChou did not dodge nor parry, but instead leaned forward and ran onto the sword.

Madame Zhong was shocked and immediately turned around. Her husband was staring at her with a furious face but with tears in his eyes. With blood gushing out where he had been stabbed, he said in a shaking voice: ”Ah-Bao, you...... are finally going to leave me?”

Even though her sword missed her husband's heart, it nevertheless was several inches deep in his chest and life-threatening. In panic, Madame Zhong immediately pulled the sword out and jumped forth to press hard on his wound. But blood was gushing out so much that they were shooting out through the little spaces between her fingers.

Madame Zhong angrily said: ”I didn't want to harm you, why didn't you get out of the way!”

Zhong WanChou forced a wry smile and said: ”You... You... are leaving me, I... might as well die.” He then broke into a coughing fit. Madame Zhong replied: ”Who said I was leaving you? I'm just going out for a couple of days and then I'll be back. I'm going to save our daughter. Didn't I explain everything in that note that I left?” Master Zhong replied: ”What note?” Madame Zhong scoffed: ”Ay! You are just too careless for your own good.” So she briefly explained Zhong Ling's capture by the Divine Farmer Clan.

Duan Yu had been scared out of his wit by what he saw. When he had recovered from the shock, he immediately tore off a piece of clothing and tried to bandage up the wound for Zhong WanChou. Suddenly, Zhong WanChou's left foot came flying in and sent him rolling along the ground. Zhong WanChou shouted: ”Little bastard! I don't want to see you ever again!” He turned to Madame Zhong: ”You are lying, I don't believe you. He obviously came... came to get you. This little bastard is his son... he also insulted me....” He began coughing again, causing the blood to gush out of his chest even more. He pointed at Duan Yu and shouted: ”Come on! Even though I'm wounded, I'm still not afraid of your 1 Yang Zhi! Come on!”

Duan Yu's left cheek had hit a particularly sharp rock when he fell down. So when he pitifully got back up, half of his face was covered in blood. He replied: ”I don't know 1 Yang Zhi. And even if I could, I wouldn't use it on you.” Zhong WanChou coughed some more before angrily replying: ”Little bastard, what are you pretending to be? Go... Go get your old man here!” His coughing got even worse now that he is mad.

Madame Zhong spoke up: ”You are always suspicious about everything. Since you can't trust me, then I might as well die right in front of you and end it all.” She picked up the sword on the ground and brought it up to her throat.

Zhong WanChou grabbed the sword out of her hand, but happiness filled his face as he said in a shaking voice: ”Ah-Bao, you really weren't running off with this little bastard?”

Madame Zhong angrily replied: ”He is Mr. Duan, would you stop with the little bastard, big bastard talk? I was going with Mr. Duan to get rid of Divine Farmer Clan and save our daughter.” Hearing that she wasn't leaving him, Zhong WanChou was happy beyond belief, add that on top the slightly angry expression on her face, and immediately his love and affection returned: ”If that's the case, then it's all my fault. But... But since I have already chased all this way, why didn't you just stop and tell me all this?” Madame Zhong's face turned just a little redder as she replied: ”I didn't want you to see Mr. Duan again.” Zhong WanChou's suspicion was suddenly aroused again: ”This little.... This Mr. Duan isn't your son is he?”

Angry and embarrased, Madame Zhong replied: ”Pei! Why are you just talking nonsense? First he's my lover, now he's my son. To tell you the truth, he's my old man, your father-in-law.” After saying that, she laughed despite of herself.

Zhong WanChou was taken aback for a moment before he realized that his wife was joking. That sent him into a wild laughter, which caused the blood to flow out even faster out of his wound.

With tears rolling down her cheeks, Madame Zhong said: ”What... What should I do?” This made Zhong WanChou even happier as he put his arm around her waist and said: ”Ah-Bao, with you worrying so much about me. Even if I die right now I would not feel wronged.” Madame Zhong's cheeks were burning red as she lightly pushed him away: ”Mr. Duan is here, how can you still act like that?” Zhong WanChou heartily laughed. After several laughs, he coughed several times.

Seeing the pale and exhausted expression on her husband's face, Madame Zhong wasdeeply worried and said: ”I can't go save Ling-Er now, she caused the troubleherself, she'll just have to see what fate she is dealt.” She helped herhusband up and then turned to Duan Yu: ”Mr. Duan, go tell SiKong Xuan: myhusband is that 'Divine Horse King' Zhong WanChou who shocked the martial worldyears a go. I'm Chan BaoBao and have a rather unpleasant nickname: 'PrettyMedicine Fork'. If he dares to even touch a single strand of hair on ourdaughter, remind him that the 2 of us are tough and merciless.” For everysentence she said, Zhong WanChou would add after it an ”Yes, that's right!”

Duan Yu had figured that Zhong WanChou could not go himself and that MadameZhong cannot leave her husband to save her daughter after witnessing what hesaw. Just using Divine Horse King Zhong WanChou and Pretty Medicine Fork ChanBaoBao's name probably could not scare SiKong Xuan into submission. So it seemsthat the ”Intestine Fragmenter” in his belly would not be cured. He figured:”Since things are like this, then there is no point and nothing good will comein saying anymore.” So he replied: ”Alright, I will go and tell themimmediately.”

Seeing how he just naturally and suavely got up to leave as soon as he said hewould, Madame Zhong was once again reminded of someone in her mind, she criedout: ”Mr. Duan, I have one more sentence to say to you.” She gently put herhusband down and run up to Duan Yu. She took an object out of her shirt,stuffed it in Duan Yu's hand, and whispered: ”Take this to your father and ask him to please save our daughter.”

Duan Yu replied: ”If my dad would come out, then of course Miss Zhong would besaved. But the journey to DaLi is not a short one, I'm afraid that I might notmake it in time.” Madame Zhong said: ”Then I'll lend you a good horse,please wait here for a bit. Please don't forget to tell your dad exactly:”'Please save our daughter'.” She did not wait for Duan Yu to reply beforerunning to her husband's side, helping him up, and starting to walk back the way they came.

Duan Yu held his hand up and saw that what Madame Zhong stuffed in his hand wasa delicately made golden box. He opened it and saw that there was a piece ofpaper inside. The paper was faintly yellow, obviously very old, with severalfaint traces of spilled blood on it. On it was written: ”Girl born between 1and 3am, February 5th, year of Geng-Shen”. The calligraphy was soft and weak,obviously written by a female, and the style was rather lacking, other than thatthere was nothing in the box. Duan Yu wondered: ”Who's birth certificate isthis? Madame Zhong wants me to give this to my dad, what for? The year ofGeng-Shen, Geng-Shen....” He did a bit of counting backwards with his fingers,that was exactly 16 years ago, ”.... Could it be Miss Zhong's? Madame Zhongwants to marry her daughter off to me so that my dad would go save hisdaughter-in-law?”

Deep in his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by a man's voice: ”Mr. Duan!”