Chapter - 4 High Cliffs And Faraway Persons (2/2)

As he said that, Divine Croc lifted Duan Yu off the ground and slammed him down hard back onto the ground. Duan Yu temporarily blacked out from the impact before recovering to feel as if all of his internal organs had exploded.

”I'm not going to fall for that! I'm not going to kill you 2 little devils!” Divine Croc mumbled to himself before suddenly reaching out and grabbing the green silk cape that Mu WanQing was wearing.

With a loud rip, he tore it off. Mu WanQing let out a shocked yell as she instinctively shrank back. Divine Croc merely raised his arm up and tossed the cape aside. The cape caught the wind and started to fly off. Like a giant lotus leaf, it gently glided over the edge of the cliff and into the raging currents of the LanCang River. ”If you don't take off your veil now, I'm going to rip off your shirt next!” Divine Croc said with a sinister smile.

”Come here,” Mu WanQing gestured towards Duan Yu, who limped over to her side as quickly as he could.

Mu WanQing turned towards him so as to face away from Divine Croc. ”You are the first man in this world to see my face.” She said gently and slowly removed her veil.

Duan Yu's entire body shook. What he saw before him was more elegant than the shiny moon on a cloudless night and more beautiful than the lonesome flower that blossoms in the middle of a blizzard. A beauty fit for legends. The only thing was that her face was incredibly pale, which was most likely due to the fact that she was wearing the veil for such a long time. Even that thin pair of lips lacked color, but to Duan Yu, it just made her seem even more vulnerable and lovely. How could this be the same person be that monster who wouldn't even blink when she killed?

Mu WanQing put her veil down on the ground. ”If you want to see my face, you are going to have to ask my husband first.” She said to Divine Croc without turning around.

”You are married? Who's your husband?” Divine Croc didn't quite believe what he just heard.

”I swore that if a man ever saw my face, I would either kill him or marry him.” Mu WanQing said as she pointed at Duan Yu. ”He had already seen my face, and I don't want to kill him. So I can only marry him.”

”This... this is....” Duan Yu was rendered completely speechless from this turn of events.

After recovering from the initial shock, the Divine Croc turned to Duan Yu. He sized Duan Yu up and down with those pea like eyes of his, sending chills down Duan Yu's spine as he was afraid that Divine Croc would, in a fit of rage, would snap his neck in an instant. Suddenly, Divine Croc began clicking his tongue over and over again out of excitement. ”Amazing! Simply amazing! Quick! Turn around!” He said as his face lit up.

Too scared to disobey him, Duan Yu turned around. ”Amazing! Wonderful! You look just like me! You are just like me!” Divine Croc commented.

There was not a thing that he could have said that would have shocked Duan Yu and Mu WanQing more than those 5 words: ”You look just like me”. The 2 of them thought to themselves: ”What are you talking about? You are a kungfu master, and ugly. There is not even a similarity, not to mention the words 'just like'?”

Divine Croc practically jumped behind Duan Yu as he proceeded to grab the back of Duan Yu's head, squeeze his arms and legs, and even poke his waist a couple of times. After a couple of pokes and grabs, he cracked open a huge smile: ”Just like me! Almost exactly like me!” Grabbing Duan Yu's arm, he continued. ”Come on with me!”

”Go with you to where?” Duan Yu asked, completely befuddled.

”Oh just come with me!” Divine Croc replied. ”Quick, kowtow! Then beg me to take you on as a disciple. As long as you beg, I will immediately take you in.”

”What! This... this....” For the second time in just minutes, Duan Yu was rendered completely speechless by the surprising turn of events.

Divine Croc began jumping around and waving his arms like crazy, as if he had just found the most precious jewel in the world. ”Your arms and legs are extraordinarily long, the back of your head is protruding out, and your waist is very soft and flexible; plus you are smart, young, and male. You are truly an amazing specimen for learning kungfu.” He turned around as he spoke. ”See? This is the back of my head, isn't it just like yours?”

Duan Yu felt the back of his head, it really did seem as if the back of their heads were very alike. Who knew that when he said ”You are just like me!” he was only talking about the back of their heads?

Turning back around with the biggest possible smile on his face, Divine Croc continued: ”We South Sea Sect had always had this rule, each man can only take one disciple. That dead disciple of mine, 'Little Devil' Sun SanBa, the back of his head was nowhere near as good as yours. So he sucked, couldn't even learn a tenth of my kungfu. It's best that he died, this way is all clean and neat, because I don't have to kill him now so I can take you as a disciple instead.”

Duan Yu involuntarily shuddered. He was thinking to himself how cruel this man in front of him was, willing to kill his very own disciple so as to be able to change disciples just because he noticed someone else was better suited for kungfu. Even if he did want to learn kungfu, which he didn't, he would never choose this person to be his master. But if he refused, then disaster would be upon him. Just as he wasn't sure what he should do, Divine Croc suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs: ”What do you think you guys are doing sneaking around like that! Get the hell out here now! Every single one of you!”

A dozen or so people came crawling out of the bushes, among them were Grandma Rui, Grandma Ping, and that swordsman. Since Divine Croc had climbed onto this ledge, Duan Yu had not been able to toss more rocks and thus keep them away. So this group was able to sneak up the cliff as well.

Even though they were holding their breaths and not moving while they were in the bush, they had no chance of escaping Divine Croc's sensitive ears. Because he was so overjoyed at discovering such a spectacular treasure in Duan Yu, he didn't really get angry right away. So he shot a mean look towards Grandma Rui, with a smile still lingering on his face, and shouted: ”What are you doing here? Did you come to congratulate your old man here on finding a price disciple?”

”We are here to catch this little whore,” Grandma Rui pointed to Mu WanQing and said, ”to avenge the deaths of our companions.”

”She's my disciple's wife!” Divine Croc yelled back, ”How dare you try and capture her? TaMaDe! Get the hell out of here!”

Everyone was speechless as they just stood there, staring at each other.

Duan Yu finally summed up his courage and spoke up: ”I can't be your disciple, I already have a master.”

This made Divine Croc furious: ”Who's your master? How can his kungfu be any better than mine?”

”You probably can't do a single bit of my master's kungfu! The 'Gua-Xiang' and the 'Xi-Ci' of 'Zhou-Yi', do you know anything about them? How about the reasons behind 'Ming-Yi' and 'Wei-Ji'? Can you explain them to me?”

Divine Croc of the South Seas just scratched his head. Gua-Xiang? Xi-Ci? He really never ever heard of any of them. Ming-Yi? Wei-Ji? For all he knows they really might be some kind of incredible kungfu.

{Note: Once again, all those things that Duan Yu just quoted are ideas from the Book of Changes.}

Seeing the troubled look on his face, Duan Yu continued: ”Looks like you don't know any of these high level stuffs. So, while I'm grateful that you would actually consider me as a disciple, I could only accept it in my thoughts and not in my actions. How about next time I invite my master along and the 2 of you can duel it out and see who is really better. If you beat him, then I could still ask to be your disciple.”

”Alright! Who's your master? It's not like I'm scared of him or something. When do you want this duel to happen?”

Duan Yu only really wanted to ward him off for a while with that line of defense, but unexpectedly, Divine Croc was actually really demanding a duel. He was just in middle of trying to figure out what to say next when a sharp and metallic whistle came piercing through the mountains, apparently originating from very far away. The shrill lasted for an incredible, a disturbingly long amount of time. It was amazing that the person who was blowing the whistle could have such a long breath, as if his breath had no end. At first, what everyone on the ledge noticed was the almost unbearable pitch of the whistle, but the longer they listened the more shocked they became, until all they could do was stare at each other, again.

Divine Croc patted his head some and shouted: ”I don't have time to talk to you right now, Big Brother is calling me. When does your master want to fight me? Where at? Well? Come on!”

”This... uh... I... can't really just arrange a fight for my master.” Duan Yu stuttered before suddenly turning around and pointing to Grandma Rui: ”As soon as you leave, these people will kill the 2 of us. How will I be able to tell my master then?”

Without even turning around, Divine Croc reached back with his left hand and grabbed that sword-wielding man by the chest. Then, with a simple lean to his left, his right hand fell onto the top of the man's head, his left hand rotated right, his right hand rotated left, and his arms intersected. ”Crack!” That man's neck snapped. His eyes stared out behind him as his head softly fell down. The sword in his right hand was half pulled out, which was already amazingly quick; but he still nevertheless died before he even pulled his sword out.

This was the same man, during the fight against Mu WanQing before, whose quickness stood out and was able to knock down those poison arrows that she fired at almost point blank range. But now, against just a simple twist from Divine Croc, he didn't even have a fighting chance. All the spectators were so shocked that they couldn't even move. Divine Croc then casually flicked his arm and tossed the corpse to the side. Three men who were with Grandma Rui suddenly, and simultaneously, let out a huge howl and charged. Divine Croc lifted up his right foot and kicked 3 times. All 3 of the men took off and flew over the cliff. The bloodcurdling shrieking came shooting up from the bottom of cliff and echoed all around the mountains until every hair on Duan Yu's body was standing on its end. Everyone of the group with Grandma Rui was scared out of their wits. ”'Crack' and one neck is snapped. Hehe, so much fun!” Divine Croc said with a laugh. ”One is not enough, I have to do it again. Whoever gets left behind will get his neck snapped.”

Scared beyond description, Grandma Rui, Grandma Ping, and the rest of the people in her group all scrambled to the edge of the cliff as fast as they could and began to climb down.

”Can your master do that?” Divine Croc turned towards Duan Yu with a strange laugh. ”If you become my disciple, I would immediately teach you how to do that. Your wife's kungfu is pretty good, so if she doesn't listen to you, then you can just 'Crack' and snap her neck in half.”

Suddenly the metallic shrill picked up again, only this time it was in an endless number of short screeches. ”Alright, alright! I'm coming! You and your grandmother, what's the hurry?” Divine Croc yelled at the direction of the whistle, as if the other person could hear him. ”Be a good boy and wait here, don't you go anywhere.” He instructed Duan Yu before he hurriedly ran to the edge and jumped over the edge.

”That'll surely kill him wouldn't it?” A surprised Duan Yu thought to himself.

So Duan Yu ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Divine Croc was making his way down the cliff a huge hop at a time. For every 30 meters or so that he fell, he would just reach out with his hand and push off of the cliff, enabling him to fall another 30 meters or so without hitting anything. Soon, he disappeared among the white clouds that surrounded the cliff.

Duan Yu stuck his tongue out and made a face out of a mixture of surprise, worry, and relief. Nothing else to do, he returned back to Mu WanQing's side. ”That was so clever of you Miss, just like that, you had that evil-doer stumped.” He said with a smile.

”Stumped?” Mu WanQing was quite puzzled.

”This... well, had Miss not lied and said that I was the first man to see your face, then you would... would....”

”Who lied? I can't go back on something I swore on. From this day forth, you are my husband. But I won't permit you to become his disciple and learn that neck breaking skill of his to use it on me.”

Duan Yu was startled for a moment before replying: ”You were in danger and were merely stalling, why take it so seriously? How can I be Miss's... Miss's... that... husband?”

Using the rock that she had been leaning on as support, Mu WanQing slowly and shakily stood up. ”What? You don't want me as your wife?” She demanded. ”You don't think I'm good enough, is that it?”

”Miss, the most important thing right now is for you to get better. Please don't worry too much about all this talk.” Duan Yu replied, figuring that it's best not to anger her even more at this moment.

Mu WanQing took a step forward and slapped him hard on the cheeks. But as she did, her leg suddenly gave out and she lost her balance, falling into him. Duan Yu instinctively wrapped his arms around her and caught her.

Wrapped in his arms, the sudden realization that he was her husband hit Mu WanQing, causing her to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, instantly her anger was gone. ”Let me go!” She demanded, blushing hard.

Duan Yu helped her to sit down by that rock again. ”She has a weird personality to begin with, and now that she's wounded she's probably confused as well. I guess the best thing to do now is to go along with whatever she says. Didn't the 'Trap' dialogue talk about 'saying without sincerity'? Well, now that I'm 'trapped' here, I might as well go along with 'saying without sincerity' as well. Otherwise, not only will I become that devil of a monster's disciple, I'll turn into this little devil of a girl's spouse. Then wouldn't I, Duan Yu, become a little servant of a devil?” As he thought about this, he couldn't help but crack a laugh at his own reasoning inside.

Having made up his mind to just go along, he said in a tender voice: ”Don't be mad. I'm going to get something for you to eat.”

”As bare as this ledge is, where are you going to find anything edible?” Mu WanQing replied. ”Good thing those guys were all scared off. Let me rest for a bit until I get some strength back. Then I'll carry you down.”

”N... no... no!” Duan Yu waved his hand from side to side as fast as he could. ”Absolutely no. You can't even walk, how can you carry me?”

”You would rather die than to owe me anything? Darling, even though I, Mu WanQing, is a girl that kills without blinking, I am still capable of sacrificing my life for my husband.” She was dead serious and resolute when she said those words.

”Alright, thank you. Why don't you rest up a little first and then we'll worry about the rest. From now on, can you not wear that veil anymore?”

”If you don't want me to, then I won't.” Mu WanQing replied as she took her veil off.

Once again, Duan Yu was startled by her beauty. Only this time he was rudely interrupted by an incredibly sharp and shooting pain in his belly that forced him scream out in pain. It felt as if there was a small dagger spinning and dicing inside his belly, chopping his intestines to little pieces. Doubling over, huge beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

”What... What's the matter?” Mu WanQing was just as shocked.

”That... that Intestine Fragmenter....” Duan Yu replied in between groans.

”Ai-Yo! Didn't you take the remedy?”

”I did!”

”Maybe you didn't take enough.” Mu WanQing said as she took the little bottle from inside his shirt and poured out some more powder for him. But seeing no signs of improvement from him, she sat down besides him and tried to comfort him: ”Is it getting better?”

Nearly passing out from the pain, Duan Yu replied: ”It's getting worse and worse. Maybe that remedy is a fake... fake one.”

”How could that SiKong Xuan use poison to hurt people? Once this is over we'll go and kill every single person in that Divine Farmer Clan.”

”We... we also gave... gave him the fake medicine. SiKong Xuan's just responding, we... we can't really blame him.”

”What do you mean can't blame him? It's not a big deal if we give him some fake medicine, but how could he give us the fake medicine?” As she said this, Mu WanQing wiped off the sweat off of his forehead with her sleeves.

Seeing his ash white face, her heart was suddenly overwhelmed and tears began to fall from her eyes. ”You... you can't die.” She shakily said between sobs as she leaned down and rubbed her right cheek against his left cheek. ”Dar... darling, please don't die.”

Duan Yu, being hugged by her like this, had never been this close to a young girl in his life. On his cheek he felt her tender and smooth skin, in his ear he heard her gentle and desperate calls of ”Darling”, and from his nose he smelled her faint and sweet fragrance. How could he not feel as if he was in heaven? Coincidentally, the pain in his belly seemed to subside just at this moment. Turned out what SiKong Xuan had given him wasn't fake. This is actually because the Intestine Fragmenter, being as incredibly lethal as it is, was just beginning to kick in. Even though the cure had already eliminated most of the poison, a couple waves of almost unbearable pain could not have been avoided. Of course, SiKong Xuan had known this all along, it was just that he was too afraid to bring this up earlier in fear of annoying the Holy Emissaries from the Nimble Vulture Palace.

”Is the pain getting better?” Mu WanQing asked, noticing that he had stopped groaning.

”It is a little better. But... but....” Duan Yu replied.

”But what?”

”If you leave me, it'll probably start hurting again.”

Mu WanQing blushed and pushed off of him. ”So you were faking it all along.” She scolded, in a girlish way.

Duan Yu blush furiously as well. But another pain shot through his belly again, causing him to start groaning again.

Mu WanQing grabbed a hold of his hand: ”Darling, if you die, I don't want to live on either. We'll meet again in the afterlife and be husband and wife then.”

”No, no!” Duan Yu replied, not wanting her to do anything like that. ”First you have to avenge me. Then you'll have to visit and clean my tomb every year. I want you to do that at least 30...no, 40 years. Only then will I rest in peace.”

{It is a Chinese tradition to visit and clean a dead relative or friend's tomb every year on a particular date to pay respects to the dead.}

”You know, you are a really weird person. What difference will it make to you if I visit and clean your tomb once you are dead? It's not like you get anything good out of it.”

”But if you die with me, I will get even less out of that. Ok, listen to me. As beautiful as you are, if you just visit and clean my tomb once a year, I would be happy to just catch a glimpse of you in the afterlife. But if you die along with me, we'll all just turn into a pile of white bones, nothing pretty to look at there.” Duan Yu replied.

Hearing him praise her, Mu WanQing was happy for a moment. But then she turned to the thought that she had just gave her life to him today and now she was going to watch him die. She couldn't stop the tears from falling once again.

Duan Yu reached over and held her around her waist. Feeling a tender and warm softness around his fingers, a light went on in his head and he lowered his head to kiss her on the lips. It was the first kiss of his life, so he didn't dare to prolong it too much before lifting his head back up and resume staring back at her beautiful face. Sighing, he said: ”It's a shame that I won't live too much longer and can't stare at your beautiful face more.”

The kiss caused Mu WanQing's heart to beat like crazy, her face blushed crazily as her bashfulness took over. The white face became even more colorful and beautiful because of it. ”You are the first man in this world to see my face.” She said. ”After you die, I will carve up my face so as to not let another man see my real face.”

Duan Yu wanted to tell her no, but for some reason, a wave of envy suddenly washed over him as he really did not want any other man to see such a beautiful face. So the words made it to the tip of his tongue but just wouldn't come out. Instead, he asked: ”Why did you take such a harsh oath? Such a strange oath, it's kind of... kind of good!”

”You are now my husband, so it shouldn't be a problem for you to know.” Mu WanQing replied. ”I was an orphan and never knew my father or mother. Once I was born I was abandoned and left in the wild. Luckily, I was saved by my master. She brought me up, took care of me, and taught me martial arts. She told me that all men in this world are liars and if one of them ever saw my face, they would undoubtly try anything they can come up with to lead me into traps. So ever since I was 14, I wore a black veil. I have lived all 18 years of my life in the mountains with my master.”

”Oh, so you are 18,” Duan Yu cut in, ”one year younger than me.”

Mu WanQing nodded and continued: ”This Spring, a person came to visit us. He was a messenger from my master's martial sister, 'Pretty Medicine Fork' Gan BaoBao.”

”'Pretty Medicine Fork' Gan BaoBao?” Duan Yu interrupted her again. ”Isn't she Zhong Ling's mom?”

”Right, she's my martial-aunt.” Mu WanQing replied before her face suddenly darkened. ”I forbid you from thinking about that little devil, Zhong Ling. You are my husband, you can only think about me.”

Duan Yu stuck his tongue out a little and made a face.

”What was that for? I'm your wife. So that means I only think of you and you alone. To me, other men are pigs, are dogs, are dirty swines.”

”But I can't do that.” Duan Yu replied with a smile.

”Why not?” Mu WanQing fiercely demanded with her hands raised, ready to strike.

”My mom, and your master, aren't they all women? How can I pretend that they are dirty swines?”

Mu WanQing was rendered speechless for a long while before finally nodding ever so slightly: ”But I won't allow you keep thinking about that little devil Zhong Ling.”

”But I didn't keep thinking about her. You mentioned Madame Zhong, which reminded me of Zhong Ling.” Duan Yu argued. ”So what did that letter to your master say?”

”I don't know. After Master read the letter, she became very angry and distraught and tore the letter to pieces. Then she told the messenger: 'I understand now, go back.' After he left, Master cried for several days straight, not even eating. I tried to console her, but she wouldn't listen, she wouldn't even tell me why, other than that 2 women wronged her.

”I said: 'Master, don't be distraught. If those 2 evil women wronged you, then we'll just kill them.'

”'That's right!' Master agreed. So right away the 2 of us left the mountain to kill those 2 women. Master then said that she had no idea that all these years that these 2 women were the cause of all her sorrows, and that luckily Gan BaoBao finally explained it all to her and told her where the 2 women lived.”

”Madame Zhong seemed so innocent and shy, but who knew she would be so sinister and scheming?” Duan Yu thought. ”She's using you! She hates those 2 women herself, but instead she has set your master up to kill them.”

”Once we left the mountain,” Mu WanQing continued, ”Master made me swear that if any man saw my face, if I couldn't kill him, then I would have to marry him. If that man won't take me as his wife, or he leaves me after he marries me, then I have to kill that heartless man myself. If I go back on my word, my master would kill herself as soon as she finds out. My master can go through with anything she says, so this is no empty threat made just to scare me.”

Inside, Duan Yu couldn't describe how surprised he was: ”All oaths sworn in the world says something to the effect of if I go back on my word, this would happen to me. But her master actually used her own suicide as a threat, better not let her break his oath.”

”My master is like both my mother and father,” Mu WanQing continued, ”I owe so much to her. How can I not listen and obey her? Besides, she only did this because she was looking out for me. I didn't even think twice, I immediately kneeled and took the oath. The first thing the 2 of us did when we made it down the mountain was to go to SuZhou to kill the woman named Wang that lived there. But she lived in a really strange place, every way you turn you always end up in this little river bay or something like that. My master and I killed quite a number of that woman's underlings, but we still weren't able to see her. Later on my master suggested that we split up, and if we don't meet up in a month, then we'll head to DaLi separately and meet there because the second woman lived there. But unexpectedly that woman named Wang had a lot of very powerful servants, Grandma Rui and Grandma Ping those 2 old bags are the leaders of them. I can't beat all of them by myself, so I fought them off the best I can as I made my way towards DaLi and found Martial Aunt Gan. She said that it was best if I stayed with her at her Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities until my master showed up, then we'll all go into DaLi and kill that other woman. But my master wasn't able to make it before Grandma Rui and her gang of servants showed up. You should know all about what happened after that.”

She was very tired from talking this much, so she closed eyes and took a break. After a bit, she continued: ”At first, I thought you were just like my master said, a liar with no heart and no feelings like all the other men in this world. But after you borrowed Black Rose, you actually came back to warn me about the coming danger, I know that was not easy just by itself. And then when all those servants surrounded me, and even though you didn't know any kungfu, you still tried to protect me. I... I'm not heartless you know, naturally, I was very grateful.”

”Uh-huh,” Duan Yu mused. ”You dragged me around behind your horse, dragged me through water, and slapped me at the slightest provocation, turns out that it was because you were grateful! Wow! Of course! If you weren't grateful, you would have killed me with an arrow a long time ago.”

”When you cared for my wounds, you saw my bare back,” Mu WanQing continued, ”and I saw your bare bottom. I had already figured that I probably have to marry you anyway. And then Divine Croc of the Southern Seas kept on forcing me and I had no choice but to let you see my face.” She stopped and turned to look at Duan Yu, her eyes filled with love and tenderness.

”Can it... can it be that she really developed feelings for me?” the realization finally shot through Duan Yu's mind as he said. ”So what if you saw my bare... bare that, don't worry about that. Also, you were in danger just then and had no other choice, in that situation you don't have to follow your oath that closely do you?”

”I swore to it, how can it be changed?” Mu WanQing shouted. ”Do you think that bare bottom of yours look good or something? It was ugly as death! If you don't want to marry me, then come out and say it. That way I can just kill you right now and not worry about breaking my oath.”

Duan Yu didn't know how to respond to that. Suddenly, his belly began hurting again, doubling him over once again.

”Say it, are you or are you not going to marry me?” Mu WanQing demanded.

”My... my belly... belly hurts!” Duan Yu groaned.

”Do you or do you not want to be my husband?”

Figuring that with this pain, he couldn't live much longer anyways, Duan Yu decided that there was no point in hurting her before dying and and causing her great sadness, nodded as much as he can with the pain and replied: ”I... I'll marry you.”

Mu WanQing's finger had wrapped around the arrow-firing trigger within her sleeve. Hearing him say those words, she was overjoyed, making her face look like a newly blossomed flower. Taking her finger off the trigger, she hugged Duan Yu and smiled.

”Darling, let me rub your tummy for you.”

”No, no! We are not married yet!” Duan Yu objected. ”Men and women... men and women shouldn't... that is... you shouldn't do this.”

”Pei! Then why did you kiss me just then?”

”That's because you were so beautiful that I couldn't help myself. Please forgive me!”

”No need to ask for forgiveness,” Mu WanQing smiled even wider. ”I liked it too when you kissed me.”

”She's so innocent and naive, and it's all real. Not like Madame Zhong's fakery. Zhong Ling's so young that her innocence is real too.” Duan Yu mused.

”Oh I know! You are starving, that only makes the pain worse.” Mu WanQing continued. ”Let me go cut off some meet off of that guy for you.”

Before Duan Yu's mind registered what she meant, she stood up using the rock for support and looked as if she was about to walk over to that swordsman whose neck Divine Croc had snapped.

So shocked that he forgot about his belly ache, Duan Yu shouted: ”Human flesh is inedible. I would rather die than eat that!”

”Why not? When I was with my master, we ate tiger meat and leopard meat. Are you saying that we shouldn't eat all of them?” Mu WanQing was rather confused.

”Of course you can eat tigers and leopards, but not humans!”

”Is human flesh poisonous? I didn't know anything about that.”

”It's not poisonous. It's just that you are human, I'm human, and that guy is human too. We can't eat humans!”

”How come? I saw jackals and wolves eat other jackals and wolves when they were hungry all the time.”

”That's right. But if we humans eat human, then aren't we no better than those wolves?” sighed Duan Yu.

Mu WanQing had stayed with her master all her life and never had any meaningful contact with another person. Her master was an eccentric character and never talked to her about the world outside. As a result, she was completely clueless about the rules, etiquette, or morals of the world. So at this point, hearing Duan Yu saying that ”humans can't eat humans”, she could only stare at him with her elegant eyes in confused trust.

”Killing all those people wasn't right of you either. Confucius wrote: 'Do onto others as you would have do onto you.' If you you don't want to be killed then you shouldn't kill others. If others are in trouble, then you should help them. That's what it means to be human.”

”But if I was in trouble, would others come and help me? How come that other than my master and you, everyone else I met want to bully me, harm me, and kill me? If tigers or leopards want to bite me or eat me, I would kill them. If people wanted to kill me, then naturally I would kill them. How is that any different?”

Duan Yu had no answers for her questions. All he could say was: ”So you really don't know anything about how the world works.”

”You don't know any martial arts, yet you meddle in the matters of the martial world. Seems to me that you don't know that much about how the world works either.”

”Can't deny that!” All Duan Yu could do was force a smile and nod in agreement.

Suddenly, Mu WanQing let out a little yelp and jumped into Duan Yu's arms. ”He... he's back....”

Duan Yu turned around just in time to see a yellow figure jump up over the edge of the cliff as Divine Croc of the Southern Seas landing on the mountain top.

As soon as he saw Duan Yu, he smiled. ”You haven't kowtowed to me and officially become my disciple yet. So I have to be careful. Some shameless dude could come along and steal you from me. Number 1 said that everything world always favors those who make the first move. Only when you actually have the thing you covet should you consider it as yours, else if somebody took it from you, it's much harder to snatch it back. Number 1 is always correct, I can't beat him, so I got to join him. Hey! Kid, get over here and become my disciple!” Divine Croc ranted.

Noticing how he freely admitted that he lost to ”Number One” despite being very competitive, Duan Yu was quite surprised. But with Divine Croc's left eye was swollen and the corner of his mouth split open, Duan Yu had to be convinced that it was ”Number One” who had done this to him. Knowing that he could not become his disciple, Duan Yu instead decided to try to change the subject and waste time.

”That was Number One who blew the whistle just then wasn't it? Did you guys have a fight?”

”That's right!”

”Then you must have won and beat Number One black and blue, right?”

”No, not at all,” Divine Croc violently shook his head. ”His martial arts skills are way better than mine. We haven't met in so many years and I figured that even if I couldn't beat him this time and become Number One of the '4 Arch-Villains', I would at least be able to last 100 or 200 moves with him. But who knew that after 3 punches and 2 kicks he had knocked me down for good. So Number One is still his place to take, I'll just settle with being second. But I was still able to land a couple of good kicks on him. He actually said to me: 'Yue Number Three, your kungfu has improved quite a bit.' Number One actually praised my kungfu, and what Number One says is always correct.”

”But you are Number Two, not Number Three,” Duan Yu pointed out.

”It's been a long time since we met,” Divine Croc's face changed color as he replied. ”Number One just said it without thinking. He forgot about it.”

”But 'what Number One says is always correct.' How could he mistakenly mis-rank you?”

Unfortunately, this seemed to have hit a sensitive spot for Divine Croc as he suddenly howled and shouted in fury: ”I'm Number Two, not Number Three. Now get over here, kneel down, and beg to become my disciple. Then I'll pretend not wanting to, and then you beg some more, kowtowing over and over again, forcing to me acquiesce and accept you as a disciple even though I'm really actually happy inside. This is our South Seas Sect's rules, later on when you accept a disciple, you got to do the same thing, don't forget it.”

”Can this rule be changed?” asked Duan Yu.

”Of course not!”

”If it is changed, then you are still a tortoise son of a turtle?”

”That's right!”

”This rule is really great, I agree. But you have to be sure not to change it, or else you would be a tortoise son of a turtle then.”

”Good, now kneel down and beg me.”

”No, I won't kneel down and kowtow to you, nor will I beg to become your disciple.”

Divine Croc was so furious that his face turned burnt yellow. He snarled, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, as if he was about to pounce onto Duan Yu. ”You are not going to kowtow and beg?” He shouted.

”No kowtowing, no begging.”

”Then I'm going to snap your neck into two!” Divine Croc shouted as he took a step forward.

”Go ahead and snap. I can't fight back anyway!” Duan Yu replied as Divine Croc grabbed his shirt with his left hand and put his right hand on top of Duan Yu's head. ”I can't fight back. What does that make you if you kill me?”

”A tortoise son of a turtle?”

”That's right.”

”I can't kill him, and he isn't willing to beg me, what can I do?” Divine Croc was stumped. He look around and suddenly noticed the Mu WanQing's concerned expression. An idea came to him as he scurried over to her and picked her body up by the back of her neck before taking a couple of steps back toward the cliff. Once he had arrived at the edge of the cliff, he took a step back with his left foot but kept his right toe on the edge in a move called ”Rooster Stands on One Foot.” It looked as if he was about to fall down the cliff along with Mu WanQing as he teetered there on the edge of the cliff.

Not realizing he was playing around with him and genuinely afraid for Mu WanQing's life, Duan Yu shouted: ”Careful, stop that! You... let her go!”

”Boy, you are just like me. I have to have you as a disciple! I have to go over to that peak over there to wait for a couple of people...” smiling a sinister smile, Divine Croc paused for a moment to point to a faraway peak before continuing. ”So I don't have time to waste here with you. So quickly come and beg to become my disciple, then I'll let your wife go. Otherwise, hehehe! Geh!”

He made a gesture with his hands as if he was snapping Mu WanQing's neck before suddenly turning around and jumping off the cliff. Pressing his right hand against the face of the cliff, he began to make his way down, carrying Mu WanQing with him.

”Hey, hey! Careful!” Duan Yu shouted and ran to the edge of the cliff as fast as he could. Looking down, he saw that Divine Croc had already fell almost 50 meters with Mu WanQing. As soon as Duan Yu sat back down from relief, his belly began hurting again.

Grabbed by the back of her shirt and dropping along with Divine Croc, Mu WanQing noticed that his hand was flat against the face of the cliff. Whenever the speed of their fall became too fast, their bodies would suddenly slow up a bit, as if he was using the power of his palm as a brake. Mu WanQing had no strength at all at this moment, but even if she did, there was no way she was going to struggle to free herself in midair. After a while, she decided to just close her eyes all together. After what seemed like forever, she felt her body suddenly bounce upward, signaling that they have landed. Not hesitating for even a moment, Divine Croc began to walk as soon as he landed. He was about average height, and with Mu WanQing being a rather tall woman, the two of them were about the same height if lined up next to one another. However, Divine Croc was carrying her like a baby, as if she weighed nothing at all. Walking swiftly through the rock filled, foggy valley, he made his way out in no time at all.

Upon reaching the end of the valley, he finally turned to Mu WanQing. ”You are my disciple's wife, so I won't trouble you just yet. But if that boy doesn't become my disciple, hehe, then he won't be my disciple anymore, and you won't be my disciple's wife anymore. When the Divine Croc sees a pretty young girl, he has always first enjoyed her then killed her without exception,” he said in a rather loud voice.

Mu WanQing involuntarily shuddered. ”My husband don't know any martial arts, how is he suppose to get down from the cliff? If he was too worried about me and accidentally slips on his way down, where would you go find another disciple? Where will you go and find another talent like him?”

”A very good point. I didn't think about how he's suppose to get down,” Divine Croc nodded in agreement before suddenly letting out a drawn out howl.

Soon, 2 men wearing yellow appeared on the mountain side and bowed to Divine Croc. ”Go to the top of that cliff over there and look after that boy there. If he says he want to become my disciple, then carry him down. If he refuses, then just stay there by his side until he does, but don't hurt him. He's my hand picked successor, and definitely do not let anyone else take him in as a disciple!” Divine Croc instructed.

”Yes sir!”

After leaving his instructions, Divine Croc picked up Mu WanQing and began walking off again. Mu WanQing was slightly relieved, knowing she would be safe until whenever Duan Yu arrives. But her darling was stubborn as a bull and probably would rather die before becoming the disciple of someone as cruel and vicious as this Divine Croc.

”His feelings towards me seems to be very chivalrous but not loving. He probably wouldn't become this evil man's disciple just for me,” Mu WanQing thought to herself. ”Ay! I just wish that he's safe and sound and wouldn't fall off of the cliff. I wonder if his belly is still hurting?”

Like her emotions and thoughts, Divine Croc was carrying her up and down as he made his way through the mountains. This man's stamina was truly astounding, as soon as he made it up a peak he would immediately walk back down without the slightest pause to rest. After making his way over 4 peaks in a row, he finally stopped atop of the highest peak around.

The first thing he did after he put Mu WanQing back down was pull his pants open and take a piss at the bottom of a tree. Mu WanQing, disgusted, immediately walked to a distance and pulled out her veil. Afraid that he might lose his control and throw all that master-disciple thing out of the window if he looked at her one too many times, she put on her veil, sat down on the side of a rather large rock, and tried to get some much needed rest.

After finishing his business and readjusting his pants, Divine Croc walked up to her.

”I see that you have put on your veil. That's probably for the best, or if I look at your a bit more, something might happen,” he commented.

”Well, at least you still can tell what is right and wrong,” Mu WanQing mused.

”Why aren't you talking to me? And why are you pretending to be asleep? Think you are too good to talk to me?”

Mu WanQing shook her head and opened her eyes. ”Mr. Yue, what's your given name? In the future when my husband become your disciple, I have to know your given name at least.”

”My name is Yue... Yue.... Oh dammit! My dad picked my name for me and it's a terrible name! My dad did not do a single thing well in his life that bitch son of a tortoise!”

Mu WanQing almost cracked up at that remark: ”If your father is a bitch son of a tortoise, what does that make you? Cursing at even your father, I guess you really don't have any manners at all.” But then she was reminded that she didn't even know who her father was at all, even then her master told her that her father was a traitorous man. Realizing that she was not necessarily much better off than Divine Croc, she fell silent in sadness.

He paced in one direction for a bit, then turned around and paced back in the other direction, not letting Mu WanQing one moment of peace. Tired of watching him just walk back and forth, Mu WanQing closed her eyes. But she could still here his footsteps pacing around endlessly.

”You just finished climbing several mountain peaks, aren't you tired?” She asked him. ”Why don't you sit down and rest a bit?”

”Who asked you? Your daddy here just don't like sitting!”

Mu WanQing had no choice but to try and ignore him. Immediately her thoughts went to Duan Yu, leaving her heart warm and sweet one moment but cold and bitter another.

Suddenly, the sounds of crying gently drifted through the air, the sound was unspeakably sad and wretched. Faintly, it sounded like a woman was crying: ”My baby, my baby!”

Divine Croc spat in the general direction of the sound. ”Pei! She's mourning again!” He commented before shouting. ”What are you mourning for? I've been waiting here forever!”

”My baby! Your mother misses you so!” The voice seemed to continue on.

”Is that your mother?” Mu WanQing was greatly confused by this turn of events.

”Like hell she's my mom! What's wrong with you?” Divine Croc looked insulted at the mere question. ”That bitch right there is 'No Evil Left Undone' Second Madame Yie. The word 'evil' is second in her nickname. One of these days, I'm going to exchange my nickname, 'Vicious Demon Evil Fiend', with hers!”

Mu WanQing suddenly had an epiphany: ”So if the word 'evil' comes second in the nickname, it means that person is the second among the 'Arch-Villains'.”

”What what is the number one's nickname? What is number 4's?”

”Can you stop asking me question? Your daddy here don't want to talk to you anymore!” Divine Croc impatiently replied.

”Number One's nickname is 'Evil Overflowing the Cup', Number Four is called 'To the Core Evil'.” A serene female voice suddenly answered.

{I know the nicknames are a little bad, but I'm working on it, and it's hard to make the word evil appear in the right places. I'm open to suggestions. :o)}

Mu WanQing was shocked by the speed of Second Madame Yie, the sound of her voice hadn't faded yet and she had already quietly made it up the mountain. Immediately Mu WanQing turned to get a good look at her. She was wearing a light green dress. Her hair was long and dancing in the wind. She looked about 40 and her face graceful and elegant. But both side of her face had 3 blood red scars that went from the bottom of her eyes all the way down to her chin as if somebody had just scratched her face open. In her arms was a 2 or 3 year old baby, a cute, chubby looking boy.

Mu WanQing had thought that this ”No Evil Left Undone” Second Madame Yie would have been a terrifying woman because she was ranked ahead of Divine Croc. But she turned out to be quite good looking. In her surprise, Mu WanQing had to look her over again. Second Madam Yie shot her a sweet smile, but it caused Mu WanQing's entire body to shudder, for her smiled seemed to hide beneath it an infinite amount of suffering and sadness. Almost starting to cry right then and there, Mu WanQing immediately looked away.

”Third Sister, why isn't Number One and Number Four here yet?” asked Divine Croc.

”From the beat-up look on your face, it's obvious that you've just been taught a lesson by Number One, and yet you are thick skinned enough to ask why Number One isn't here yet?” Second Madame Yie quietly answered. ”And besides, you are obviously third, yet you are so determined to get ahead of me. If you call me 'Third Sister' one more time, your older sister is going to have to get serious.”

”Then get serious! What do I care?” Divine Croc angrily answered. ”Do you want a fight?”

”If you want to fight, then I guess I'll keep you company then,” Second Madame Yie answered with a slight smile.

”Mommy! Mommy! I want my mommy!” The kid in her arms suddenly began to ball.

”Good boy, I'm your mommy, stop crying.” Second Madame Yie tried to console the boy.

But the boy just began to cry even louder: ”I want my mommy! I want my mommy! You are not my mommy!”

Second Madam Yie began to rock him in her arms and start singing a little lullaby. ”Rock rock rock, rock to grandma's bridge, grandma calls me angel....”

But the kid wouldn't stop crying. Divine Croc was getting really annoyed listening to this.

”Why are you trying to console the kid? If you going to kill him, then you might as well hurry up and kill him.”

”... a bag of candy, a bag of fruit, eat a bag and keep a bag.” Second Madame Yie kept on singing with a smile on her face.

Mu WanQing was shaking uncontrollably as the more she thought about what Divine Croc said the more frightened she became. According to Divine Croc, Second Madame Yie was going to kill the child, she was furious and afraid at the same time. Second Madame Yie endlessly tried to comfort the kid with another lullaby: ”Good kid, mommy's good little boy, good little boys go to sleep soon.” Her voice was filled with warmth and care that Mu WanQing could not bring herself to believe what Divine Croc just said.

”You kill a kid every day but yet you still put on this little act every time, have you no shame?” Divine Croc was furious.

”Don't be so loud, you are going to scare my little baby,” Second Master Yie quietly told him.

Divine Croc suddenly reached out and tried to grab the kid, wanting to fling him to his death so he doesn't have to listen to another minute of his crying. But even though he was fast, Second Madame Yie was faster still. Her body stepped aside like a ghost or apparition and Divine Croc's move came up empty.

”Ai-yo! Third Brother, why are you trying to bully my baby for no reason?”

”I want to throw that little devil as far as I can so he will shut up!”

”My little darling baby, mommy loves you. Don't be afraid of your ugly monstrous third uncle, he can't beat your mommy.” Second Madame Yie softly tried to comfort the kid. ”You are so cute, mommy has to play around with you for the night before killing you. Your mommy can't bring herself to part with you yet.”

Mu WanQing almost threw up after hearing that. ”This Second Madame Yie should indeed be ranked ahead of Divine Croc. This Yue Number Thew is stuck being 'Vicious Demon Evil Fiend,' he's not going to get past her for the rest of his life!” She thought.

After failing on his first attempt, it seemed as if Divine Croc knew that any other attempt would just be futile as he just paced back and forth, cursing fiercely at her under his breath. Suddenly, he shouted: ”Get the hell out of here! Where is that kid? Why isn't he here to ask me to become his master?”

Two yellow shirt men slowly stepped out from behind a rock and stopped as far away from Divine Croc as they could. It was the 2 men that Divine Croc instructed to look after Duan Yu.

”Your... your humble servant climbed up that cliff, but... but he's not there. We can't... can't find him anywhere.” One of them stuttered out.

Mu WanQing was shocked: ”Did... did he fall off the cliff?”