The White Jade Tiger by Gu Long Section One 白玉老虎英文版

In my free time I enjoy reading and translating Chinese classical novels. Here's the first scene from one of them. If you are interested in something like this, please leave a message. Thanks and God bless. 

This story is called The White Jade Tiger, written by Gu long. Published in 1976


Chapter One


It's an enchanting spring day, an exceptionally important day for someone in particular.
Willy Zhao, lays on the warm bed attempting to regain strength after the long ride. His steed, powerful and quick, had taken him over 200 miles in a relatively short time. Still, afterwards he found the need to rest his head on the soft and fragrant sheets.

The bed belonged to a woman, Shanna, who is even softer and more fragrant than the luxurious mattress. Every time she knew she would meet with Willy, she attempted to make herself even more desirable.

The rays of the sun shine through the window,  the breeze carries in the aroma of the abundant flowers surrounding the house. As Willy looks out at the sky he lets out a deep sigh,

"It's a beautiful day isn't it?"

"Indeed it is a pleasant day." Shanna responds without smiling. "A good day to kill people."

"You plan on killing people today?" Willy asks, scratching his head in confusion.

"Only one person." Shanna responds.

"Who?"

"I'll kill you!" Shanna admits. Willy, unconcerned, smiles and then laughs warmly at Shanna. "I really did want to kill you initially, but I know how difficult it must have been for you to come see me."

"You already know?" Willy asks.

"Of course I know." She responds, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. "Today is the day that Willy Zhao is to be married." The sun illuminates the streams of tears on her impeccable skin. "I know the only reason you've come here is to cut our ties and even if we ever meet again, I'll be treated as someone common."

Willy is unable to deny her words or hide his remorse,
"I've come to give you something." He extends his hand, holding a strand of pearls, shinning as brightly as Shanna's tears. "I didn't forget my promise."

As Shanna takes the pearls, she slightly caresses it with her finger. "I knew you would bring these for me. You've always been a man of your word." Her tears have ceased, but her hand continues to tremble. She leaps up, hurriedly, tossing the pearls at Willy's face, "You son of a bitch. Just like you, these pearls are rare but they're shit!"

The pearls didn't strike Willy's face. The trajectory sent them out the window. Willy again smiles warmly, "There are advantages to being a son of a bitch."

"What advantage?!"

"It's better than being a scumbag or an asshole." He says, attempting to make her laugh. There was never any commitment among them, but even so, in separation there is always some form of agony. His hope was to leave a smile on her face before leaving, but there was no time for Shanna to smile. Then, the pearls she sent flying out the window had just as abruptly flown back inside, following a loud THUMP!

A three foot arrow crushed deep into the pillar. The pearls rattling back and forth from the impact. The silver feathers on the arrow continued to vibrate when another smaller arrow smashed into the back of the previous arrow.

Shanna stands, looking in unbelief. Whoever fired the arrow was accurate beyond understanding. Willy smiles bitterly for the first time, "Looks like it's time to pay my debt."

"What are they here for?" Shanna asks in fright.

"If I'm to be married today, it's the best day to repay what I owe." Willy explains.


Chapter Two

Outside of the small cottage, the green, blue and red flowers of various sizes and shapes decorate the front yard. The spectacle of colors is disturbed by two individuals standing, wearing all black: an elderly woman and a brick-shaped young man. The elderly woman is hunched over from age, but the fire in her eyes has yet to fade. The two of them carry two bows, one long and one short.

As Shanna peers out at them from the window, she can't help but ask,
"Who are these guys?"

"It's the Black Witch and her son." Willy explains.

"Who's the Black Witch?"

"She's someone who can fire an arrow right through the eye of a fly."

Scratching her head Shanna ponders out loud, "That hunchback is that good?"

Willy continues, "Her son is not as accurate as she is, but he's incredibly powerful. If he's in the mood, he can shoot an arrow through two people." Willy pauses as he sighs, "The Golden Bow and Silver Arrow. It's unfortunate for anyone who sees them."

"And you owe these people?" Shanna asks worriedly.

"I've always been unfortunate." Willy responds.

"What do you owe them?"

"Two people."

Shanna shakes her head in confusion, "How can you owe people...people?"

Willy takes a breath, "One night, near the Ming River I was having a few drinks when I saw a young lady fleeing for her life. Her son was following closely behind. I noticed the young lady had already been struck by an arrow as she pleaded for help." Willy takes another breath, still peering out the window, "Seeing them being chased by a burly man, instinctively I draw my sword and helped them escape."

"Then?" Shanna inquires.

"Later I found out that the young lady wasn't a lady at all. She was a man, in the martial arts underground known as the Hive. An expert thief that prefers to disguise himself as a lady."

"So it turns out the two of them were thieves." Shanna responds.

"Lucky for me, the Black Witch didn't assume I was one of them." Willy says, almost bitterly.

"But of course they can't let you off the hook completely." Shanna adds.

"They gave me a deadline of three months to find the thieves and bring them back."

"Is today the deadline?"

"Almost." Willy states dryly.

"Did you capture the thieves? Shanna asks.

"Not yet." Willy admits.

Frustrated, she responds,  shaking her head,
"You're like a little boy who enjoys going around putting bugs in his hair."

"If there were only a few bugs in my hair it wouldn't be so bad?" Willy adds.

"You have other things in your hair as well?" Says Shanna.

"I also have a few scorpions and poisonous snakes in my hair as well." He explains.

Shanna couldn't even respond. While glancing out the window, the sudden appearance of snakes frightened her speechless.

Just then a man arrived with a basket. Snake heads protruding from all sides. The man carrying the snakes had a disturbing appearance: only half of a nose and ears that had been bitten so many times that they could no longer be called ears. On his person, he also carried eery-looking red and green bags. Making him look all the more menacing. He appears completely unconcerned as many of the snakes climb along his shoulders and neck. The sight made Shanna want to vomit.

"You also owe this man?" She asks.

"Yup." Willy responds, swallowing. "I owe him five snakes. Five of the most poisonous snakes there are."

Shanna contemplates almost to herself out loud, "You helped two thieves escape and then you mistakenly killed this man's snakes. Why would you have to pay him back for that?"

"Because it turns out he's a Poison Buddha." Willy states. "Even though his body is filled with poison, he has a heart like Buddha."

"A Buddha that raises snakes?" Shanna asks

"Some people raise snakes to harm others, but he raises snakes to save lives." Willy explains. Looking over at Shanna, he could see she was still unclear of his meaning. "Only by extracting the poison from certain venomous snakes can the antidote be created."

"And so...you owe him five snakes?" Shanna asks.

"They are snakes of a particular breed. The Poison Buddha had been searching for them in the swamps for three years before he collected all five. The combination of the five venoms could create a concoction that would be an antidote for hundreds of poisons."

"I've heard that snakes don't release venom until they bite someone." Shanna adds. "Is that why he lets the snakes continually bite him?"

"That's his method." Willy agrees. "The first time I saw him, he was being bitten by five snakes."

"And then?"

"What else could I do. Without thinking, I drew my blade and cut the five snakes into ribbons."

"You must be pretty handy with the sword." Shanna comments.

"Yes, but once again I was mistaken." Willy responds, a bit annoyed with himself.


The Poison Buddha, Black Witch and her son stand waiting in the garden. The silence is deafening, when a distant banging sound thunders through out the air.

"Is that the sound of a drum?" Shanna asks.

"It would seem so." Willy agrees.

"Why would someone be using a drum this early in the morning. He must be some kind of fool." Shanna remarks.

"He doesn't use the drum like normal people would use it. He uses it to split souls." Willy explains.

"Split souls?" Shanna asks, still unclear.

"Every time he drums three times, someone's soul is taken away." Willy adds.

The drumming repeated itself as it echoed throughout the entire area.

"How many times is that?" Shanna asks, feeling a bit nervous.

"Two times."

"Don't tell me you owe him a debt as well? Shanna asks.

"I owe him a great debt. I owe him a blade." Willy explains.

"How many more people do you owe?" She asks.

"As far as big debts...just these three." He says.

"All of these monsters just happened to know you would be here?" She asks.

"They didn't know until I invited them. It's a good day to pay what I owe." Willy says peering out the window.

Chapter Three

The soul drum rings out loudly once again. The man beating the drum is called Sean Liu. As the noise rang through out the air, he can be seen emerging from the bushes in a distance. He dawns a jade green jacket and pale white shirt. The shirt is just as pale as his expressionless face.

He uses a white cane made of bamboo, continually tapping ahead of his pathway. How could this possibly be a man that takes souls? It's not strange that someone who generally avoids the sun would be pale. What is strange is the whiteness of his eyes. No color in his pupils. It would appear that this seeker of souls is a blind man.

He travels on a small path that winds through the garden-like scenery. The Black Witch and her son stand at the side, unmoved. Of course the blind man is unable to see them waiting. Yet, he turns as he approaches,

"Black Witch. I hope you are well."

“Unfortunately, this poor widow is so upset she could die." The Black Witch responds.

"It's been about 13 years am I right?" Sean Liu asks. "Time really does fly."

"There are only a few hours in the day, a few hours in the night. How could time go slowly?" The Black Witch snickers. Sean nods his head in agreement, no expression on his face.

"Some days seem longer than others." Sean says to himself, still tapping his cane as he moves forward carefully. As he reaches the Poison Buddha he takes another pause. They both remain silent, but two snakes just happen to escape the basket as he approaches. They slither in Sean's direction and "Pop Pop." Two sounds ring out as his cane strikes the snakes lightly, but directly leaving them motionless like dirty ropes.

"It seems I may have accidentally killed your snakes." Sean says to the Poison Buddha. "Should I pay for them?"

"Can you pay?" Poison Buddha responds, irritatedly.

“Those were just common rock vine snakes. If you want I can catch seventy of them in no time." Sean responds.

The Poison Buddha is startled by Sean's cunning accuracy and awareness. "No need. I can get more on my own." He admits.

"Well that's good. Yet, I still have a word I would like to speak with you." Sean adds.

"Go ahead." Poison Buddha responds.

"You use your body as a way of extracting the poison of the snakes." Sean remarks. "But even after you remove the poison from your system, there is a bit of poison that still remains." The Buddha looks at him, not agreeing or objecting to his statement. 

"Currently your body holds 103 different types of poisons."

"You can see that?" The Poison Buddha responds almost in fright.

"I'm blind, I can't see anything." Sean responds chuckling. "But I'm well aware that if you took on another 5 different poisons, the Poison Buddha would be nothing but a corpse." Willy walks down the stairs appearing outside in the radiant sunlight. Continually wondering to himself, could this man really be blind?

No one could no for sure except for Sean himself. The sound of the blind man's cane made a very unique sound as it tapped against the small path. It couldn't be bamboo, wood, or metal. What in the world could it be made of? Willy continued to wonder. While Willy raised his head, he saw that Sean the blind man was already standing before him. 

As Sean appeared before Willy, he could be certain he was blind as he stared into his dead pupils. Eyes like those could never be faked or pretended.

"You are looking at my pupils?" Sean responded, frightening Willy. Even though he was unable to see, it was as if he had some sort of mysterious ability to sense every movement of the environment. "Why don't you have a closer look?" Taking his finger, Sean reaches and pulls out his eye, holding it in his hand. Willy is unable to tell if the eye is made of glass or some other substance, continually rolling around in his hand as if it were alive. Even knowing the eye was fake, it gave him shivers. 

Sean, "Is that a good enough look for you?" 

Willy is finally able to take a breath, "Yes that's enough."

"You had better take a careful look because this was my price for making a mistake." Sean adds, suddenly expressing a hint of sadness on his face. "Twelve years ago a made a mistake with the wrong person...and even though he carved out my eyes I can't complain. We all must pay for our mistakes."

"I agree. "Willy admits.

"Do you believe your friend deserves to be punished for his mistake?" Sean inquires.

"I do." Willy agrees.

"And he would receive punishment from my blade without any excuses?" Sean asks.

"He would." Willy nods. 

"But you'd rather take his place?" Sean raises his eyebrow.

"Absolutely" Willy agrees. 

"Why?" 

"Because he's my friend." Willy says shortly "He's also already injured and probably won't survive the blow."

"So you understand that my blade is quite heavy." Sean inquires.

"No matter how heavy, I'm willing to accept it." Willy says adamantly.

Sean smirks slightly, "No regrets then."

"I've never regretted anything in my life." Willy adds boldly. After his remark, the blind man inserts his dead eye back into his pitch black socket. "Anytime you are ready." Willy finishes.

"Very well." Sean responds flipping his cane over quickly from under his armpit, removing a snow colored blade from within. Willy, sticks out his chest, accepting the inevitable. 

"Wait!" The Poison Buddha intervenes. 

"Wait for what?" Sean replies confused. 

"He still has other debts to repay. Let him settle with the others before taking his life." Poison Buddha explains. 

"Sooner or later I have to pay my debts" Willy intervenes. "It doesn't really matter who goes first."

"Then you must not be the same Willy that I know." Poison Buddha adds.

"Which Willy are you looking for?" Willy asks, tilting his head. 

"The Willy I am looking for is of the Clan of the Great Wind." Poison Buddha states smuggly. In the martial underworld, everyone was very familiar with the Clan of the Great Wind. They were no ordinary clan, their power, secretiveness and mystery spread throughout every place in the land. Their motto could be summed up in four words: strong protect the weak. The clan was both admired and feared. 

The Poison Buddha continues, "Even though the Clan's official leader is Grand Master Cloud, in actuality masters Jay Zhao, Scarlet Sky and Shang Steel run the organization.

Willy sighs, "It' a bit disappointing that you can know this much." 

"If you are Willy Zhao from the Clan of Great Wind, you shouldn't even be here." Poison exclaims. 

"Where should I be?" Willy asks.

"You should be in the House of Zhao, waiting for guests to congratulate you on your marriage." Poison Buddha explains. Still staring at Willy in wonder, "Even Scarlet Sky and Shang Steel will be there. If you don't show up, there will be hell to pay."

"I have a debt that I need to clear." Willy expresses. "This has nothing to do with the Clan of Great Wind nor my father, Jay Zhao."

"If you are really Willy Zhao of the Clan of Great Wind, this should be a joyful day for you." Poison Buddha suggests.

"It should be." Willy agrees.

"A joyful day should not be a day of repaying debts." Poison Buddha adds.

"But after today, I'm no longer the same person." Willy explains. "I'm going to have a wife, a family...I can't be wild like I was in the past." He continues, light flickering in his eyes, "My wife is my soulmate. We have to have a mutual respect for each other. I can't drag her into my old mess. I need to be someone she can depend on."

“So you are determined to settle all debts before your marriage." Poison Buddha replies.

"Yes." Willy answers.

"I bet she is a warm and beautiful women." The Black Witch adds. "She's quite lucky."

"I'm the lucky one." Willy says. 

"So what should I take?" The Black Witch asks." Do you want to lose an arm or a leg?" Her eyes glisten more brightly than Sean's blade. 

Willy without hesitating, "Which one do you prefer?"

The Black Witch stares at the Poison Buddha, "What do you think is best?"

"Of all of the snakes I have collected, there are nine that are the most deadly." Poison Buddha explains.

"I don't understand any of your snake business. I don't even want to think about it." The Black Witch expresses hurriedly. 

"There are only three people in the world who could collect them. None of which is Willy." Poison Buddha adds.

"So you there is no way he can repay your debt?" The Black Witch asks raising her eyebrow.

"I didn't come here to collect at debt, but to repay him." Poison Buddha explains. "Just as Sean said, if I had more poison in my system, it would have killed me. 

"So in reality, Willy saved you." The Black Witch adds.

"If he didn't intervene, I'd be a corpse." Poison Buddha adds. 

"So whether it was deliberate or not, he saved your life." The Black Witch says as her eyebrows frown in contemplation. 

"That's right." Poison Buddha agrees. 

"So you are willing to pay for his debts?" Black Witch inquires. "Does that mean you will find the thieves who stole from us?"

"Not only will I find the thieves, I will also pay interest." Poison Buddha says. 

"What interest?" The Black Witch asks.

"I can give you everyone involved with the Hive." Poison Buddha says confidently. "My toxins can both heal or destroy. Eliminating a small clan is not an issue for me."

"If you could eliminate the clan from existence it would be best." The Black Witch agrees. 

"Then as far as you are concerned, your debt is repaid." Poison Buddha concludes. Willy watches in silence as the others agree on their transaction. "Have I repaid my debt to you?" Poison Buddha asks Willy.

"You never owed me anything." Willy responds almost dryly. 

"Then make me a promise." Poison Buddha suggests. 

"What promise?" Willy asks. 

"Today is a very big day for you. Be sure to have a drink in my honor." Poison Buddha says.

"Not just one drink." Willy smirks. "I will have many drinks in your honor."

"No drinks for you." Sean interrupts abruptly.

"Why's that?" Willy asks confused.

"Because you are injured." Sean replies.

"Where am I injured?" Willy inquires.

The snow colored blade still in Sean's hand, "Where ever my blade decides." As the sharp blade glistens, the colors show more expression than Sean's face. Anyone can see that he is not a man easily moved by sentiment. Whatever debt is owed to the blindman, it must be collected. 

Willy's hands are filled with sweat as the soul drum beats once more. Even if he was scared, he would never try to escape. He's already accepted his fate. 

"Where do you want your cut?" Sean asks.

"Do I have a choice?" Willy responds.

"Not really." Sean responds as his blade flashes swiftly. The body hits the floor dead, motionless, as blood pours from the throat. The blood is bright, obviously a severed artery. But it wasn't Willy's body on the ground, it was the Poison Buddha. Both Willy and the Black Witch stare in astonishment, never expecting the blow to be delivered so swiftly...the Poison Buddha didn't even have a chance to react. 

"Seems your blade struck the wrong person." Willy says, looking confused. 

"I've only made a mistake once in my life." Sean replies coldly. 

"But I'm the one who owes you, not the Poison Buddha." Willy responds scratching his head. 

"You shouldn't die today. But he deserves death." Sean responds. "Does he have a medicine bag?" Sean asks as the snakes lick the Poison Buddha's fresh blood.

"Yes." Willy responds. "It's filled with snakes."

"How many?" Sean asks. 

"Aside from the ones you killed, there's still seven." Willy confirms. 

"The seven snakes have fled from the medicine bag, but there's still something that remains." Sean explains. As Willy looks at the bag, there is still something protruding from beneath. "Why don't you take a look." Sean adds. 

"I'll look." The Black Witch says adamantly. The Black Witch uses her bow to lift the bag carefully. A few small pills fall from the bag as the snakes scatter. As she grabs one of the pills and throws it in the air, her son's arrow shatters it completely. The air is filled with the smell of sulfur. 

"You recognize that smell." Sean asks. 

"This is Thunder." Willy responds as the Black Witch Ponders. The Black Witch, 61, had become a part of the martial underworld since she was 16. Thunder wasn't the same thunder as you hear in a storm, it was a rare hidden weapon. At least half of the victims of the Thunder Clan fell prey to this weapon. The leader of the Thunder Clan, Ray Heaven, was ranked number two of all the masters of assassination weaponry. The Thunder Clan is irrefutably the greatest rival of the Clan of the Great Wind. 

The only reason the two clans exist at the same time because one has always been unable to defeat the other. The Black Witch gives a small look to her son, "This is thunder isn't it?"

"Absolutely." Willy interjects. 

Sean, unable to see, but knowing exactly where the shattered pill fell, leans down to pick it up. He places it in his fingers and flicks it with more force than could be done with a bow. The pill flies ten meters out of the garden, landing with a deafening explosion as it hits the ground. The Black Witch is astonished as the smell of sulfur and something unfamiliar  fills the air. 

"What's that smell?" Willy asks.

"Take a look for yourself." Sean replies. As Willy examines the remains of the explosion, he sees the leaves falling from the trees all around. 

"Century Poison" Willy exclaims. 

"That one pill contains enough poison to kill everyone here." Sean explains. Even though the Thunder exploded at a great distance away, they all begin to feel dizzy and nauseous. "Is it strange that a man named Poison Buddha intended on poisoning people? This was his present for your wedding day."

All of the elite of the Clan of Great Wind were sure to be in attendance at Willy's wedding. Just a few pills placed into a lantern would surely be enough to wipe out the entire clan. Just the thought put Willy into a cold sweat. 

"You didn't know the Poison Buddha recently joined the Thunder Clan?" Sean asks as Willy shakes his head in disbelief. "They were going to use your naivety to poison your entire clan on your special day. They would have only lost the Poison Buddha while they would continue to thrive."

"There are thousands in our clan, so they would use such low tactics to prevent a war." Willy says to himself. "But the result would still be the same."

"What do you mean?" Sean asks.

"There will be war no matter what." Willy responds. Everyone in the Clan of the Great Wind would be ready to spill their blood in protection of their organization. Willy would be eager to battle for his clan's survival. Even if they risked the death of every member, it would be worth it. 

Sean chuckles to himself quietly. Willy is happy to see Sean smile for the first time, but is puzzled by his laughter. 

"I'm laughing because your are wrong." Sean explains. "They attempted to use Poison Buddha as a scapegoat to instigate your battle. But he's already dead. It's as if nothing ever happened. 

"But..." Willy attempts to interject. 

"The Clan of Great Wind has been around for 30 years, and perhaps they will be around for another 30 years. Why cause your own destruction for a plot that didn't succeed." Sean finishes. 

"Then how should I respond?" Willy asks. 

"You should go enjoy being with your new wife and have a few drinks." Sean says smiling. Willy being so youthful was as easy to be agitated as he was to be happy. "Now you don't owe me or the Black Witch, I can handle her little problem. Get on that fine horse, put on a suit and enjoy your special day."

"I'm on my way." Willy says smiling. 

金庸小说 英文版 英文翻译 天龙八部 第一章

Just a small sample of my translation of a Chinese Novel By Jin Yong. My policy is to do the first chapter free of charge. If the author is interested I complete the whole novel. Enjoy martial arts novels for the first time in English.




Heaven Dragons 8 parts

Page 1

A green spark flashes through the air in various directions. The jade sword is powerful and uncompromising as it seeks to pierce a young fighter's left shoulder. Just before penetration, the jade sword suddenly changes direction as the yeilder shifted the weight in his hips causing the blade to slice across the young warrior's collar bone. A ping sound, as the young fighter is able to use a horizontal block to stop the jade sword from making its complete course through his throat.
The two swords are agonizing screams as they are continually grinded against each other. Both of the younger and older fighter press together the opposing swords while trying to detect the balance of the other or an opening....Ping, Ping, Ping Three more attacks flash out none of them hitting there target. The older fighter swings from a top of his opponents head, just missing as the young warrior evades to the side and with a flick of his wrist his sword tears into the flesh of the older fighters thigh. Both are dexterous with the sword, harnessing all of their abilities for this battle. Two figures sit along side the eastern part of the practice arena. A Taoist nun around the age of 40. Her face is hardened, her mouth is closed and her lips are tight. Along side her is a man around fifty years of age whose right hand is fiddling with his beard. His facial expression is one of pride. Standing behind these two are apprentices.
The west side of the arena is aligned with a row of about 10 chairs for guests with seated guests. The entire focus of the room is aimed at the mesmerizing sword battle.
Hypnotized as they watch the two swords men perform over 70 attacks. Each more intense and more lethal than the previous attack, but neither able to seize the advantage. At that moment the older fighter swings his sword with staggering force flailing his body and "BANG" the young scrapper hits the floor. The older fighter also falls from the momentum of his own attack. A young man wearing green in the guest area can't help but to chuckle aloud and then quickly covers his mouth as not to offend the others watching. The young fighter from the floor attempts to pierce the older fighters heart, however the older man steps forward crossing his legs and evades the attack with much ease. They are now face to face waiting to engage again even though the young man has suffered from a severe injury on his upper thigh.

Page 2

The older fighter smiles while sheathing his sword to say, "Brother Chu, its over...its finished. You are too severely injured to continue."
The young mans face is pale white and while biting his lip says faintly,
" Thank you Brother Gong for showing me mercy under your sword." The man alongside with the beard is wearing an expression even more proud than before. While smiling remarks, " The Eastern Province has already won three matches, it seems they shall reside in the Lake of Swords for yet another 5 years. Sister Xing is it necessary to continue comparing skill?"
The Taoist nun admits angrily, "Brother Zuo, it is apparent that you have taught all of your students exceptionally well, but I feel that our faction has learned much in our vigorous training and research."
The man with the Beard asked plainly, " Sister have you forgotten the rules of our system?"
The nun hesitates for a moment but doesn't utter a word. The bearded man is called Zuo, Cemore Zuo. He is the head of the "Eternal Sword" of the Eastern Faction. The nun is Sister Xing, also known as Purity. She is the head of the "Eternal Sword" of the Western Faction. The group of fighters known as the Eternal Sword has been divided into three separate factions: North, West, and East. The Northern faction's fighting skill level has already been deteriorating for the last ten years. The Eastern and Western faction have managed to maintain high level fighters.
Five generations ago the Eternal Sword was one faction which resided in the Southern Shao Mountains. Da Song Ren, who was the head of the Eternal Sword stayed in the palace called "the Lake of Swords." He later divided the group into three different factions which would hold a martial arts contest every five years inside the palace of The Lake of Swords to determine who would continue living there for the next five years.
It is a contest that is decided by three victories. The winner stays in the palace while the loser is forced to head outward and undergo
rigorous training to seek out a method to win the next contest in order to wipe clean their humiliation. The winner should also continue their training. Forty years ago the Northern Faction won the contest but during their time in the Lake of Swords neglected their training. At the next match they were beaten so thoroughly that the head of the Northern Faction migrated to the mountains in the West, and they have not returned since. Thus, recently the battles have only been between that of the Eastern and Western Faction.

Page 3

For the past 35 years the winner of the Eastern and Western factions has traded back and forth. The East has won four times while the west has won two times. The fight they had been watching between Brother Gong and Brother Zhu was the fourth match. Gong is victorious making him the third victor of the Eastern Faction. Meaning this time there is no need for a fifth match. The guests along side are individuals from various clans and factions gathered to both watch and be witnesses of the outcome. All of them are very well known from the Yunan War, all except the young man that snickered during the match. He admires Brother Gong is thought to be a student of Woods the Tea Master.
The tea master has a very successful shop that he runs around Jiang River. Because the area is filled with warriors he himself has studied martial arts as a means of protection. His skill level however is only average but he is open to teach anyone. When Cemore learned that the boys last name was Duan, he assumed that he was an apprentice of Woods the tea master. In the land of Da Li there were thousands who had the last name Duan and it was not unusual for Woods to take in some of them as students. This boys martial arts skill level was more than likely just as common as his last name. Cemore only allowed him to watch out of respect for the tea master. Not knowing at all who the boy was or that he would go so far to snicker rudely in the middle of this prestigious event.
Cemore began to Speak, " Sister Purity the four warriors you brought to fight were spectacular. It was very difficult for us to win this year. Especially your fourth fighter, little Zhu. I'm afraid that his potential is endless and that more than likely we will be trading places 5 years from now. What I do find strange is this boy named Duan could find any fault worth laughing over in the action taking place today.”While looking toward Duan he continued, "Would you please choose one of my students to show us the tea masters famous slamming step? After all, the tea man doesn't have any weak fighters and the methods of combat are very powerful."

Page 4

Woods the Tea Master blushed a moment and clarified, "This young man is not one of my students. How can a man like myself with such ordinary kung fu claim to be a master? This young man simply wanted to come with me to see the Eternal Mountain. Only sight seeing."
Cemore retorted, "Well if he was one of your students, that would means I would have to be careful in leaving you some face. Now seeing that he is just an common guest like the rest of the people here then I don't have do be so polite. Who would dare criticize or smirk in the competition of East and West. If I didn't ask him to teach us his methods I would be dishonoring myself. Please tell us who you are and who you study under."
The young man spoke while smiling, " I am Duan. You can see on the guest list that my first name is Yu. I have never learned any kung fu. I saw someone fall and wasn't sure if he really fell or if he was pretending to fall。 I couldn't help from laughing.
Cemore after hearing the boys disrespectful and seemingly care-free tone of voice, became upset and asked,
"Whats so funny about that?"
Duan yu waiving a small hand fan in his face responds, " A person standing or a person sitting now that's not funny. A person laying in bed is not really funny either. But a person laying on the ground, HAHA now that's funny! Unless its the doll of a three year old well there's nothing funny about that."
Cemore after hearing him became even more enraged, "Woods is this boy a friend of yours?"
Woods and Duan Yu are not familiar with each others background. Duan Yu asked Woods if he could come along and there was no reason for Woods to reject him. But after hearing the rage behind Cemore's voice, Woods began to get a little worried. How could one young man be so much trouble he thought to himself. Then he spoke aloud, "We don't have any deep connections to each other, but we have spent a bit of time together. He is only a scholar with zero knowledge about the martial arts. He laughed out of ignorance. I know were all hungry. Lets celebrate this great day with tasty drinks. What is the point of comparing to a nobody like this boy?"

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Cemore spoke out, "Well if Duan Yu isn't a friend of Woods, then his mistake won't cause the tea master to lose any face. Jerald someone has just mocked you, step down and have a word with him."
After hearing this Jerald, the middle age fighter also known as Brother Gong, reached for his sword and then stepped into the middle of the practice arena. Placing his sword behind his back he bowed while saying, "Duan my friend. please right this way."
Duan Yu responded, "Fine, you practice and I'll watch." Then sat back in his chair not moving an inch.
Brother Gongs face reddened, "What...what did you say?"
"I see you wavering your sword all around so it looks like you want to practice. Please by all means go ahead." Duan continued, "I usually don't enjoy watching people do sword practice but here and now I feel compelled to watch. If you really feel like practicing, knock yourself out."
Brother Gong spoke, " My master has asked you to step down boy. Come and let us compare our skill."
Duan Yu shakes his head while still waving his small fan, "Your master is your master but he's not mine. He may have power over you but not over me. If your master ask you to test your sword then for you its all ready decided. If your master ask me to test my sword, first off I don't know how, secondly I'm scared to lose, third I could get hurt and fourth I could die. This is why I don't want to compete with you."
After hearing speaking these cunning words of your master and my master many people in the training area could not restrain from laughing. The members of the Eternal Swords Western faction which (Purity's students) began chuckling aloud almost sweeping the seriousness and silence completely away.
Jerald Gong stepped up to Duan Yu with his sword aimed at his chest, "Do you really not know any kung fu or are you just pretending?" He asked. Duan Yu stared at the blades sharp edge only inches away from his chest, it would only take a light press to send it straight through his heart. Without expressing any fear or panic,
"Of course I can't whats fun about pretending to be an ass."
Jerald Gong replied, " You came to the Limitless Sword Mountains, the Palace of the Lake of Swords just to ridicule it? It seems you must be sick of living. What teachings have you learned? Which clan are you with? This kind of disrespect, you can't blame me for not showing mercy to you."

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"How can you be so ruthless?" Duan yu asked. "My whole life I have never liked watching people fight. This group is the Eternal Sword who stays in the Eternal Mountains. God mentions that there are only four things that can be eternal. Kindness, sympathy, joy and sorrow. We must use the first three to overcome the last along with all the negative feelings in our lives." Then he continued into a quiet Buddhist prayer, repeating it over and over again.
Then Brother Gong returned his sword to his sheath. He suddenly extended his left hand and smacked him across the ear. Duan Yu's head was knocked to the side. He never had a chance to dodge the swift attack. His fair skinned face began to swell up leaving five red impressions. This was a shocking moment for everyone. All eyes were on Duan Yu who was speaking such offensive words and nonsense that everyone assumed he was a kung fu master only pretending to be ignorant. Him not dodging the attack at all sent a clear message to all that this boy is not just pretending to be an ass. Even though it is common for many kung fu masters to pretend that they don't know anything in order to lure someone into fighting, but its unusual for someone who doesn't know any kung fu to speak with such bold words.
Jerald Gong's hand didn't stop there, he grabbed Duan Yu by the shirt elevated him into the air while saying,
"We thought you might have been someone important, but now its clear that your just a nobody!" Then threw him onto the floor. Duan Yu tumbled a few times and then his head crashed into the leg of a table. Woods the tea master could not bear to see any more of this. He reached to pick up Duan Yu, "Ok it's clear now that he doesn't know any kung fu, why continue to carry on like this."
Duan Yu spoke while rubbing his head, "I only came to do a little swimming in the Eternal mountains. Who'd think I'd be forced into a sword fight? Where is the fun In killing me like this? Its more fun watching monkeys leap around. Bye Mr. Woods, I am leaving."
A student next to Cemore jumped out in-front of Duan Yu cutting him off, "You don't know anything about kung fu? Now your just going to turn tail and run?

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Now your comparing our contest to a bunch of monkeys. I can't just let that go easily." The student continued. "I will give you a choice, you can fight me with the sword to get out of here or you can bow down 8 times to my master while saying I'm full of shit."
Duan Yu laughed, "You're full of shit? That's what that smell is."
The student enraged extended his fist to strike Duan Yu but while his hand was still in the air, he felt something eerie wrap around his wrist. Something cold and slimy that was continuing to swirl upward on his arm. The student was shocked with almost paralyzing fear as he realized it was a red snake with green dark freckles. He screamed while shaking his arm up and down but the snake remained firmly gripped around his wrist.
Then suddenly Jerald Gong screamed, "SNAKE! SNAKE!" The color of his face changed as he began feeling around in his vest searching his body but finding nothing. He continued jumping around while removing his clothes. The two men behaving so oddly left everyone in the room speechless. In the silence a light snickering could be heard from above. They raised there heads to see a young girl sitting along one of the beams that stretched across the ceiling and in both hands she was holding snakes.
The girl appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years of age. She was wearing a jade shirt colored shirt and had a radiant smile. In her hands she held ten long snakes just like they were flowers. All of the heads of the snakes being shaped like diamonds made it obvious they were poisonous. However she held them in her hands like they were toys, completely carefree while gripping onto them. The whole room gazed at her but only for a moment because the screaming and prancing around of Jerald Gong and the young student quickly recaptured every ones attention. Duan Yu continued to stare at the girl whose legs were swinging back and forth as if sitting on the beam was quite amusing.
"Is it you who rescued me?" He asked.
"That bad man hit you. Why not hit him back?" The young girl asked.
" I don't know how to fight...."Duan Yu tried to explain but was interrupted by with,
"AGHHH" as everyone in the room eek-ed while staring at Cemore holding a long sword,

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the tip of the blade was bloody from the red snake which had already fallen to the floor in two halves. Jerald Gong continued running around with no shirt jumping at random. On his back was a green snake that he continued to reach for but it was just out of range of his fingers.
"Don't move Jerald." Cemore spoke. As Jerald paused for a moment there was a white flash and the green snake was cut into two. Cemore's sword was like the wind. No one could even see how the snake was cut, but there was no marks left on Jerald. Everyone sounded in an awe of admiration. The girl sitting on the beam spoke,
"Hey old man you killed my snakes. I'm not going to be nice anymore." Cemore responded angrily,
"Who are you little doll girl? And what are you doing here?" in his mind he was wondering how long she had been on that beam without a single person noticing her. Even with the competition of the East and West factions taking place, it was shameful for the Eternal Sword members not to notice someone dangling above their heads. She continued swinging her legs back and forth while wearing onion green shoes and yellow embroidered flowers on the sides. She was dressed like a sweet little girl.
"Get down here!" Cemore demanded. Duan Yu interjected,
"Won't she hurt herself from that high up? Quick someone get a ladder." Just as he said this there was again laughter within the crowd. A few women from the Western Faction began to think this guy is dumber than he looks. If this girl was able to get up there, then its obvious her light foot technique is pretty good. Why would she need a ladder to get down. Then the little girl spoke,
"First you have to replace my snakes. Then I will come down and chat with you."
"Why are you concerned with these snakes?" Cemore asked. "You can go out anywhere and find more." He noticed that even though his students were filled with fear by these creatures that she played with them very freely. For this reason he spoke of getting more snakes as an everyday thing.

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"Well if its that easy why don't you catch two snakes for me?" The girl smirked.
"Get down here now." Cemore reiterated.
"Not coming down." She said. "If you don't get down here, Im going to pull you down! The girl then laughed,
"See what happens if you pull me down. Just try." At this point Cemore realizing that as the head master of the faction he was not able to behave as commonly as warriors and students such as quarrelling with this little girl. He turned to Purity,
"Sister Xing, could you please send one of your female students up there to get her."
"There isn't anyone in the Western Faction whose light foot technique is that good." Purity explained. Cemore went silent is if he was going to curse. Then suddenly the girl spoke again,
"If you don't replace my snakes. Then I am going to have to show you something really terrible." She reached into her pocket and pulled out something that was covered in hair and then flung it at Jerald Gong. Jerald believing it was a weapon of some sort didn't want to reach out and grab it, instead he stepped to the side to evade it. Not realizing the fur ball was alive and while in mid flight changed its trajectory right to Jerald landing on his back. There everyone could see a gray and white weasel. A very agitated weasel at that. It was on Jerald's back, chest, face and throat. It raced with great speed all over his body. Jerald was reaching everywhere to grab this little weasel. But it was faster than his hands, at least ten times faster! Everywhere he reached he grabbed nothing but air. Everyone watched as he waived his hands around his entire body while the weasel ran rabbid. Duan Yu laughed,
"Terrific, this weasel is loads of fun." The weasel was almost a foot long with bright red eyes and sharp claws. Jerald's naked top was covered in scrapes from the weasel parading around all over. The little girl then whistled a few times and the white shadow flashed over Jerald's face with its tail sweeping across his eyes. He reached for the weasel which quickly moved causing him to stick his fingers into his own eyes.

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Cemore stepped forward to steps yielding his sword in a ready position. At this time the weasel had already returned to Jerald's face. Cemore struck quickly the tip of his blade stopping just as it touched Jerald's eyelids.The weasel had already moved down to Jerald's throat. The crowd couldn't help but gasp knowing that if Cemore's sword would have follow through a few millimeters Jerald would have lost his eye. Purity thought to herself, Brother Zuo's sword mastery level surpasses my own. How can I ever deal with his "Golden Needle" technique. I must find a way to obtain this technique.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh Cemore swung four more times. Even though his sword was extraordinarily fast, the weasel was always just one step ahead. The girl spoke,
"Bearded old man, your sword technique is good." Then she whistled twice causing the mongoose to flash and then disappear. Cemore paused for a moment and then noticed Brother Gong was now reaching and feeling at random. It turns out the weasel had jumped into his pants. Duan Yu laughed and applauded,
"Today I have seen world's worth of wonders."
Jerald Gong's hands were hurriedly removing his pants exposing his two little dark hairy legs. The girl spoke,
"You're a bad man who likes to pick on others. I will make you take off all of your clothes. Just look at you, Shameless!!" She whistled two more times and the weasel immediately obeyed running into his underpants. With so many ladies in the practice area, he refused to take them off. Jumping and leaping while all the time covering his waist. He smacked his butt, then hes smacked his front and then bolted toward the door. Just as he was rushing out, someone else was rushing in and they crashed into each other. Knocking Jerald Gong back on the floor.
"Brother Rong!" Cemore said loudly. Jerald momentarily ignored the weasel currently running over his left thigh to his right thigh and occasionally over his butt. He tried to focus on the person he had just knocked down. While picking him up

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the weasel ran right into his anal cavity! He tightened up reaching back with both hands dropping Brother Rong to the floor again. The girl laughed,
"Ok you've had enough." Then she sounded out a longer whistle and the weasel ran out of Jerald's underpants and up the wall. With another white flash it was back in the girls arms again. "You're a good little weasel." She whispered while taking on of the snakes in her hand by the tail between her two fingers and dangled it in front of the weasel. The weasel reached up with its claws and swallowed the snake making it clear that these snakes were pet food for the weasel. Everything that Duan Yu was seeing was so intriguingly erie. After the weasel swallowed the snake, it climbed back into the little girls pouch. Brother Jerald Gong returned to picking up the man he knocked down and said startled,
"Brother Rong, whats the matter? Cemore looked over seeing that Brother Simon Rong's eyes were filled with anger and rage. but he had stopped breathing. He tried to see if there was anything he could do to save him. He knew that Simon's kung fu wasn't the best, but it was still a lot better than Jerald's. So it couldn't have been them crashing together that would cause this, he must have already been badly injured before he came in. He began searching and feeling over the surface of his clothes to discover any wounds or injuries. Then he discovered a message written on his chest: THE SPIRIT HARVEST WILL DESTROY THE ETERNAL SWORD. The crowd shrieked in surprise from the grossly sight. The letters were written on to his skin, but it wasn't done by something sharp. It seemed that they tattooed it using poisonous ink. Cemore looked around unable to control his fury. There was a buzzing sound coming from his sword as his hand vibrated.
"We'll see if the Eternal Sword will be destroyed by the Spirit Harvest, or if the Spirit Harvest is destroyed by the Eternal Sword. If we don't avenge his death, then what do we stand for anyway? Jerald, Hallard take a look outside." Hallard Gan and Jerald Gong drew there swords as they sounded out like heavy wind chimes.

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Now the entire area was in an uproar. No one even bothered with Duan Yu or the little girl sitting on the beam. They were all huddled around Simon's body in discussion. Woods the tea master mentioned,
"The Spirit Harvest gets worse and worse all the time. What grudge do they have with the Eternal Sword?"
"This is over herbs." Cemore mentioned while standing over his dead student. He continued, " Last Fall the Spirit Harvest requested to come to the Lake of Swords. They wanted to go around to the backside of the mountain to look for herbs. Its not a big deal for them to gather herbs from our area. They harvest and sell herbs and medicines for their livelihood. They had no alliance or grudge against us. But what you need to understand Woods is that we don't allow anyone to go to the backside of the mountain. It doesn't matter if they are strangers or even close friends. It's an old law passed down from our ancestors. No one is allowed to go to the backside of the mountain. In our lifetime no one has ever..."
The little girl still watching from above put her ten snakes into her bamboo basket and then reached for a tiny piece of melon in her pocket. She stuck it in her mouth with her legs still swinging back and forth. She pulled out another small piece and tossed it, hitting Duan Yu right in the forehead. She laughed,
"Don't you like melon? Get up here."
"Without a ladder? I can't climb up there." Duan Yu complained.
"Not a problem." She said while unravelling a silk belt around her waist and then lowering before Duan Yu, "Grab a hold of it and I will pull you up." She added.
Duan Yu staring at the belt mentioned,
"I'm too heavy. You can't pull me up."
"Why don't you try it, I promise not to drop you on your head." She replied. Duan Yu took a firm grip around the silk belt. "Hold on tight," She warned. With just a few quick tugs Duan Yu's head was already level with the beam. While sitting Duan Yu mentioned,
"You're little weasel is a lot of fun. So obedient." The little girl reached into her pouch and pulled out the little weasel. Duan Yu noticed that the weasel's fur was smooth and silky almost moist looking. Its red shiny adorable eyes stared at Duan Yu. He asked,
"Is it ok if I pet it?" "Pet it."She responded. He reached out his hand to touch its warm soft back.

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Suddenly the weasel let out a small hiss, and then scurried back into its little pouch. It frightened Duan Yu a bit causing him to flinch and lose balance just before falling over the girl grabbed him and pulled him closer. She laughed,
"Wow you really don't know any kung fu at all. That's so odd."
"Whats so odd about it." Duan you asked. She smirked,
"Well You don't know any kung fu and you came here by yourself, of course these bad people are gonna pick on you. What are you doing here?" Duan Yu was about to explain but was cut off by the sound of footsteps, Hallard Gan and Jerald Gong rushed into the room. By now Jerald was already wearing his pants but was still topless. The two seem panicked as they approached Cemore. Hallard spoke,
"The Spirit Harvest is gathered in the front of the mountain. They are blocking off the path claiming no one is aloud to even leave the mountain. With so many enemies gathered I wouldn't dare make a move without your order."
"Yes.... how many are out there?" Cemore inquired.
"About Seventy or Eighty." Hallard informed. Cemore laughed coldly,
"Seventy or Eighty! It will take more than that to destroy the Eternal Sword. It won't be that easy." Jerald spoke,
"They shot an arrow with a message on it. What they have written here is very disrespectful." He handed it to Cemore and it read FROM CEMORE"S SUPERIOR. Cemore looked at it but did not take it. He said, "Tear it open."
"Yes Sir" Jerald answered while he began tearing the letter open. The girl next to Duan Yu spoke quietly,
"The guy that hit you is about to die."
"Why?" Duan Yu asked quickly.
"The fibers inside of the letter are poisoned." She explained.
"But how can a letter be poisoned? Duan Yu asked. Then they heard Jerald Gong begin to read,
"The Spirit Harvest superior to C...(Jerald stopped himself and didn't dare say his master's full name and then skipped on) has ordered you all to cut off your right arms and destroy all weapons within one hour. Then all shall leave the Lake of Swords or not even one person will be left alive."


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The Eternal Sword's West faction leader, Purity, laughed dryly,
"Who does this Spirit Harvest think they are? Now they have gone too far!" Then there was a thud. Jerald had fallen to the floor. Hallard ran to his fallen comrades side,
"Brother!" He yelled. As he went to assist him he was cut off by Cemore. Then pulled back away from Jerald two steps.
"He might be poison as well. Don't touch him!" Cemore ordered. Jerald Gong lay there on the floor his face twitching. The hand that touched the letter had turned completely black. His legs slowly extended. Then he was dead. On all sides the Eternal Sword was speechless. Suffering he loss of two good fighters. Duan Yu turned to the little girl quietly,
"Are you a member of the Spirit Harvest?"
"No way, that's ridiculous." She responded.
"Then how did you know the letter was poisoned?" He pried.
" This type of Kung fu. The poisoning type. It's crude and easy to see through. These guys are all just dumb and ignorant." She explained. The whole room was able to hear what she said. They looked up to see her eating melon while swinging her legs back and forth. Cemore walked over to Jerald's body. He looked at the letter an was unable to see anything strange. Then when he tipped his head to the side he saw a feint flash of light that startled him.
"What's your name Young Lady?" He asked the girl.
"I am unable to say my name out of the respect of my family's reputation and honor." The girl replied. This answer upset Cemore to the point that he had to ask,
"Then who is your family?" The girl laughed,
"If I tell you my family name, then you would know who my parents were hence you would know who I am." Cemore hearing her clever response also listened to the sound of her voice. Her accent indicated that she was definitely from the Yunnan area. He began to wonder who of the Yunnan warriors has developed such an excellent light foot technique that could be her parents. Still thinking to himself he hasn't seen her do a single technique so its impossible to identify her style. He asked,

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"Miss please come down so that we can discuss a plan together. The Spirit Harvest has claimed that no one can leave the mountain. So even if you do try to leave you'll be killed." The girl laughed again while saying,
"They won't kill me. They only want the ones who are from the Eternal Sword. I heard the news while I was on the road. So I hurried over to see the killings take place. Old man your sword technique is good, but you don't know poison. You can't beat the Spirit Harvest. Her words struck directly at the weakness of the Eternal Swords kung fu. With both factions East and West along with 8 invited guest who were witnesses from different styles, no one had any knowledge about poison. Cemore perceived that her interest was in this tragedy. It seemed the more people of the Eternal Sword that died the happier she became. He asked her in a forceful voice implying that the question could not be ignored,
"What news did you hear on the road!"
"Do you want some melon?" the girl asked cunningly. Cemore's face turned red. It's possible under different circumstances he actually would have enjoyed a piece of melon, but with his fallen students and enemies outside waiting to kill them he responded with, "NO!" Just then Duan Yu interrupted, "What kind of melon is it? Rose melon? Osmanthus Melon? Pine nut melon?..." The girl stopped him from carrying on,
"Aya! I'm not a melon connoisseur. I don't know. This is the melon that my mother mixes with snake galls when she is cooking. If you eat a lot of it its good for your eyesight." She said while sticking a piece into Duan Yu's hand. "Try it." Then she continued, "People who are not accustomed to eating it might find it a bit bitter but its quite delicious." Duan Yu listened to her as he stuck a piece in his mouth. At first it was tangy and bitter like a dry alcohol. Then as it moistened in his mouth grew more sweet and flavorful. As he swallowed it he knew that one piece just wouldn't be enough. The girl unscrupulously spit the seeds at the people down below randomly hitting them in the head. Some of the people frowned as they avoided them. And again Cemore repeated his questioned,
"Young lady, what news did you hear on the road. If you could warn us.....we would be grateful."

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His voice became very soft and polite hoping to be able to pry some information from the young girl. She replied to Cemore,
"I heard the members of the Spirit Harvest mention something about an Eternal Jade Wall or something. What is that?" She asked. Cemore hesitated, "Eternal Jade Wall? I haven't..heard anything about it. Is it a treasure of some sort? Maybe jade valuables." He turned to Purity, "Have you heard of this Jade Wall?" He asked her. Then the girl interrupted,
"Of course she has never heard of it! Would you guys stop playing these little games over secrets and just be up front already!?"
Cemore feeling a bit awkward cleared his throat,
"Oh I seem to recall this Eternal Jade Wall. The Spirit Harvest say that half of the Eternal Mountains is made from a stone called White Dragons Looking Glass. Its a stone that is so smooth that it looked just like a jewel. Many people believe that it is actually a piece of Jade, but it is nothing more than a shiny stone." The girl spoke out,
"Wouldn't it have been better if you would have mentioned that earlier? Now how are you actually mixed up with the Spirit Harvest? Why would they want to kill every last one of you?" Cemore adjusted his position as if he was going to say something of deep importance. But he looked around seeing so many guests and decided it was better to use more discretion. He instead asked the girl again, "Please come down and I can tell you in more detail." The girl continued to swing her feet while saying,
"What is the use of you telling me more detail? I can tell you are mixing the truth with words of deception. I can only trust about 30 or 40 percent of everything you say. The rest of it your just making up." Cemore's eyebrows raised he became very frustrated as he spoke,
"Last year the Spirit Harvest asked to gather herbs from the back of the mountain and I refused. Later they attempted to steal it and ran into Brother Rong as well as a few other students. They told them that this is not an herbal shop and that they are not allowed on this side of the mountain. And at the very least they should pay a fee. They continued to say more conflicting words until it turned into actions. Brother Rong was merciless killing two of them. This is where the grudge between us took place. Later on at Lang Cang Creek another fight took place costing more lives."

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"Oh so that's what happened." The girl remarked. Then she asked, "What kind of herbs were they looking for?"
"This still isn't very clear," Cemore answered.
"Ok" The girl said proudly. "I'm gonna let it slide that you don't know what kind of herbs they are looking for. At least you told me how the grudge got started. So I will let you in on two pieces of information. The other day when I was on the mountain catching snakes to feed me lightning weasel and.."
"You call it a lightning weasel?" Duan Yu interrupted.
"Yup." The girl answered. "Doesn't it look like a flash of lightning when its running back and forth?" She added.
"It looks exactly like lightning." Duan Yu agreed. "You picked a good name for him." He complemented. Cemore looked at Duan Yu upset as if he was going to scorn him for interrupting. But he thought that would only upset the girl even more hindering him from getting any more information. So instead he said nothing. There was an awkward silence. Then the little girl turned to Duan Yu and continued,
"My lightning weasel only eats poisonous snakes, he won't eat anything else. I started raising him from when I was very young, about four years old. He'll only listen to me. He won't even listen to my mom and dad. If I tell him to scare someone, he'll scare em. If I tell him to bite someone he'll bite em. He's very obedient." She finished while reaching in her bag to pet it. Duan Yu spoke,
"Mr. Zuo has been waiting anxiously, you should speak to him." The girl giggled and then lowered her head toward Cemore,
"So I was in the bushes searching for snakes when I heard some people coming. One man said, this time we kill all of the members of the Eternal Sword. Not even leaving one alive. We will take over the mountain and take over the Palace. If we don't we will slice our own throats! When I heard them discussion the destruction of a clan, I found it very interesting. So I didn't make a sound and just continued to listen. They mentioned that they had orders from the Palace of Vultures Peak to take over the Lake of Swords and find the truth about the Eternal Jade Wall." When she said this Purity and Cemore's eyes met with each other. The girl asked, "What the heck is Vultures Peak? And why does the Spirit Harvest have to follow its orders? Cemore answered,
"Vulture's Peak or whatever. The first I have heard of it is from you. I wasn't aware that the Spirit Harvest was giving us so much trouble because they were following orders." He thought to himself if the Spirit Harvest is following orders of the Vulture's Peak. Then this Vulture's Peak must be very powerful.

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They would have to be at the top of the top. But he had never heard of them which troubled him to the point that his face couldn't help from frowning a bit.
"What I also heard." The girl uttered out while eating two pieces of melon. " A Meadow to Heaven or some kind of cure located on the Eternal Mountain. One person said, this Meadow to Heaven, were going to risk getting cut to ribbons over it? Then the other man sighed and said, this curse that I have is the mark of death. Aside from Tian Shan Tong herself no one can cure it. The Meadow to Heaven will take away the pain and deal with the symptoms, but I would still be dying. This mark of death has me praying to live and I at the same time begging for death. Then they continued walking while talking and it became too difficult to hear. Is that clear enough for you?" The girl asked upon finishing.
Cemore looked down and didn't say anything. Purity Spoke,
"Brother Zuo this Meadow to Heaven isn't anything special. The Spirit Harvest leader Si Karson just wants to use it to heal and stop his pain. Why not just give him some?" Cemore responded sharply,
"There is nothing wrong with giving them some. But they have their hears set on taking over the Lake of Swords. Didn't you hear?" Purity exhaled for a bit and then remained silent. The young girl reached her arm under Duan Yu's underarm while saying,
"Going Down." The she extended and leaped off the beam. Duan Yu gasped for a moment in surprise but by then he was already in mid air. The girl touched down softly on the ground. With her arm still wrapped around Duan Yu she said,
"Lets see what the Spirit Harvest is up too." Cemore then cut them both off while saying,
"Wait just a minute, I still have questions to ask you. You say Karson has the mark of death? He is praying to live but begging for death? What does that mean? And who is Tian Shan Tong." He finished. The girl responded,
"First of all, these are questions that I don't know the answers to. Secondly with you demanding me to tell you, I wouldn't tell you even if I did know." At this time the atmosphere of the Eternal Sword began to turn hostile. Cemore was already troubled with enemies at every side and this little girls blatant disrespect was just intolerable. Not to mention he didn't get the answers of the questions he wanted. Then a figure

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jumped out in-front of the two while saying,
"The evil Spirit Harvest are all around, you can't risk going outside. There is no way to avoid them, no one from the Eternal Sword Can leave."
"I'm not even one of the Eternal Swords honored guests." The girl defend. "Whats more, you don't even know my name. If my parents found out I was killed by the Spirit Harvest. I am sure they wouldn't blame you for not protecting me." She said this while tugging at Duan Yu's shoulder still heading for the door. Cemore's right hand flashed,
"Young lady, please stay where you are."
"You want to fight?" She asked.
"I just want you to tell me what you just told me again in more detail." He explained.
"And if I don't you are are going to kill me." She finished.
"That's not what I want to do." He said while extending his sword horizontally blocking them from the door. The girl then turned to Duan Yu,
"This old bearded man wants to kill me. Tell me what to do." Duan Yu responded while still waiving his fan,
"Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." The girl feeling troubled asked,
"If I die by this sword, what good could come from it?" Duan Yu replied,
"I will shared both the good and the bad with you. We ate melon together. We can die by the same sword."
"You have a way with words." She said. Then adding, "Well were friends now even if we have only known each other for just a minute. Lets go!"
They ran towards the door that Cemore was blocking. His sword was so fast that it couldn't even be seen. Before she realized he had already extended his emerald colored sword in-front of her left shoulder, not with the intention to hurt her but only stop her from exiting the practice area. The girl tapped the pouch that was dangling from her arm as it made a slight hissing sound. Suddenly a white light flashed out of her back directly towards Cemore's right shoulder. He reached out to grab the weasel but it was certainly as fast as lightning, there was a snick, and he was bit on the wrist. Then it retreated back into the girls pouch. Cemore yelled out while dropping his sword to the floor and in a few moments he could feel his hand going numb and said,
"Poison! Poison! Your little weasel is poisonous!"
After saying this he used his left hand to clinch his right wrist in order to attempt to slow the effect of the poison.

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Three members from the Eastern faction of the Eternal Sword quickly moved in to prop up there master. While the rest of the members in the room drew there swords while surrounding Duan Yu and the girl saying,
"Quick pull out the antidote or we will kill you where you stand you little bitch." The girl laughed as she responded,
" You guys will have to pick some of the Meadow to Heaven. Boil it until it becomes nice and thick. Then let him drink it and he'll be fine. Just don't move his body for three hours or the poison will go straight to his heart, which would be a problem. Why are you all surrounding me? Do you want me to call out my little friend for another bite?" As she said this she reached into her bag and placed the weasel on her right arm. Then held on to Duan Yu with her other arm as she moved toward the door. The students could all see the rage on their master Cemore's face. Even with his high level of kung fu. There was nothing he could do against the speed of that weasel and nothing he could do to prevent these two kids from slowly slipping out of the practice area.
The girl and Duan Yu exited through the large doors. There were many apprentices on both the insides and the outside looking out for the Spirit Harvest. They walked out of the Lake of Swords without running into a single person. The girl said to Duan Yu quietly,
"You don't know how many thousands of snakes this little guy has eaten in his lifetime. There is a lot of venom in his teeth now. If that man doesn't cut his arm off in a couple hours he'll be dead eight days from now." Duan Yu pointed out,
"You said they just have to gather some of the Meadows of Heaven. Put it into a big bowl to be boiled and after he drinks it he will be cured right?" The girl just laughed while responding,
"I lied to them. Or how else do you think we would have gotten out of there alive?" Duan Yu responded shocked,
" Wait just a sec, I have to go back and tell them." The girl stopped him and pulled him back while saying,
"You fool! How can we survive if you do that? My little weasel is quite deadly but if they all come at once there is no way to block there attacks!" You said yourself we shared melon together and we'll die by the same sword. I couldn't just abandon you and let you escape on your own."

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Duan Yu shook his head while saying, "Then, Just give them the antidote." The girl sighed,
"Your such a mommas boy, someone smacked your face and your still so kind-hearted." Duan Yu while rubbing his cheek mentioned,
" Just hitting him back would have made me feel better. But a man hits me and then he has to die, well that's unfortunate. What comes around goes around. If you save a mans life it will add to the days of your own. Cemore may be a cruel man but he still spoke to you with politeness. He has seen enough days to grow that long beard and he practically referred to you as your highness." The girl snickered,
"That's because I was on the beam and he was down below. Of course he called me highness. I know you're thinking of every thing to try to convince me to give them the antidote but the truth is I don't have one. Only my father know does. Anyway the Spirit Harvest is about to kill them all dead with in the blink of an eye. Even if we went to get the antidote and brought it back to Cemore he wouldn't have a head to feed it to. So what difference would it make if there was still poison in his body?" Duan Yu still continued to shake his head but was forced not to mention another word about the antidote. He gazed over the girls face as the light from the moon brightened her features of her smile and he was compelled to say,
"You weren't able to tell that bearded man your honorable name. Do you think you can tell me?" The girl laughed,
"What honorable name? My last name is Zhong. My father calls my Little Spirit. I have a respectable last name but altogether my name is nothing special. Lets have a seat on that slope over there and then you can tell me why you came to the Eternal mountain. They walked over towards a hill located in the North West. While motioning towards the hill Duan Yu spoke,
" I escaped from my house and then began wondering all around. When I got to Puer I ran out of money. I heard someone mention that Woods the tea master is very welcoming. I went over to his place to eat a little food and spend some time. He was on his way to the Eternal Mountain. I heard that the Eternal mountain's scenery was beautiful and tranquil. I came along to tour the mountain and to do a little swimming. Little Spirit nodded her head and asked,
"Why did you run away from home?" Duan Yu answered,
"My dad wanted me to start training kung fu and I was unwilling.

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He pushed and pushed until I left." Little Spirit widened her eyes then she stared at Duan Yu up and down and asked curiously,
"Why don't you want to learn kung fu? Are you scared of a little labor?" Duan Yu answered,
"No its not that I'm afraid of hard work, but while I was contemplating the idea of learning trying to figure out my opinion about it I didn't want to listen to my father. Then he would become upset and start arguing with my mother about me again." Spirit laughed,
" Your mom is always protecting you right? Fighting with your dad?"
"Right."Duan Yu confirmed. Spirit sighed and said,
"That's just the same as my mom. She gazed off over toward the west for a minute and then asked, "What were you trying to figure out?"
Duan Yu took a breath,
"When I was a child from time to time would would study some of the teachings of Buddhism. My father had a teacher come and show Buddhist readings, poems etc. For over ten years learning that we are supposed to have a kind a merciful heart. It is prohibited to kill because it will only bring sorrow. Then all of a sudden my dad wants me to learn kung fu. All the different ways to kill a person, naturally I didn't take to it. Even after my father debated with me for three days I still didn't listen. Even after betraying every Buddhist teaching he was unable to convince me."
Spirit added,
"So when your father gets upset, he beats you right?"
"My father would never hit me." Duan Yu explained. "He would just reach out his to fingers and squeeze two of my pressure points. Then it felt like 100 ants were biting and crawling all over my body and at the same time dozens and dozens of mosquitoes were sucking out all of my blood. My father would ask, do you like the way it feels? I am your father, so I can make it stop. If you meet someone out in the street who does this technique to you and just leaves you this way....you won't be living and you won't be dying. You will only know pain. Try to see if you have the strength to kill yourself. I then realized after he hit my pressure points, I couldn't even lift a finger. How could I be in so much pain that I would contemplate suicide. I had such a good life till that moment. Then my mom came in and started arguing and so my father released me. The next day I snuck out." Spirit asked,
"So your father knows pressure points..not only knows them but he's a master?


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He can touch you with a finger and leave you paralyzed in pain?"
"Yeah." Duan Yu answered. "Whats so strange about that?" Spirits face was filled with shock and wonder,
"Whats so strange about that? You're asking me whats so strange about that?! In the entire martial arts world if someone wanted to learn a technique like this he would have to beg a master while bowing 10,000 times for the next 20 years before he could even start to learn. Your flesh and blood father wanted to teach you and you refused? That's strange."
"I don't see what's so special about pressure point kung fu." Duan Yu remarked.
"You obviously don't understand." She responded "Don't talk about it and don't tell anyone what you just told me."
"Why?" Duan Yu asked. Spirit said authoritatively,
"You don't even know kung fu. There are a lot of bad things that happen here around the Jiang River that you don't understand. Your family's pressure point kung fu is unmatched. It's called the Finger of the Sun! If someone even overheard these words they'd become so envious that they wouldn't sleep for nights. They would probably kidnap you in exchange for the written teachings from your father. Then what would you do?"
Duan Yu shook his head,
"If that happened my father would be so upset, he'd give them a good beating." Spirit quickly responded,
"Yup and then your whole family would be at war. A lot of people who would normally not dare to get involved would think it was well worth it for the Finger of the Sun. In fact don't even tell anyone your last name is Duan." Duan Yu complained,
"There are thousands of people with the last name Duan. That doesn't mean that all of us know they ways of pressure points. If I cant be called Duan then what would you call me." Spirit smiled,
"You can temporarily borrow my last name." Duan Yu added,
"That means you would have to call me older brother. How old are you?"
"Sixteen." She answered.
"That means that I am older than you by 3 years." He said. Spirit picked up a leaf and began to pull it apart while shaking her head in disbelief. She spoke,
"You don't want to learn the art of the Finger of the Sun? It's really unbelievable. Are you just conning me or what?

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Duan Yu smiled and said, "You speak so highly of the style but it's not like you can make any money with it. I think your lightning weasel is much more amazing. But it kills people, I don't really like that." Spirit retorted,
"If it my lightning weasel couldn't kill people, then what use would it be?" Duan Yu responded frustratedly,
"You're such a young girl. Why are you even talking about fighting and killing people?" She asked,
"Do you really not know anything? Or are you just pretending to be naive?"
"What?" Duan Yu asked. She pointed her finger toward the East.
"LOOK." She said. Duan Yu looked along the direction of her finger and saw the middle of the mountain and saw some incense smoke rising up from more than a dozen bushes scattered around. He wasn't clear what she wanted him to see. Spirit spoke,
"You don't want to fight or kill but people all around you want to kill you. That is what the Spirit Harvest is using to kill all of the Eternal Sword. I just hope that we can slip through unnoticed." Duan Yu still waiving his fan said casually,
" The murders of Jiang River are becoming more and more senseless. The Eternal Sword killed some of the Spirit Harvest members and now the ones' responsible Simon Rong and Jerald Gong have been brought to justice. How are they not yet even? And even if it wasn't even they could go to the authorities and report the situation. I could bring my mother and father in to judge them on their senseless killings. Is the country of Da Li completely without laws?" Spirit made a tisk tisk sound as she inquired,
"From the sound of it you're affiliated with royalty, you might even be royalty yourself. Us common folks don't even pay attention to you guys at all." She looked up to the sky and pointed to the Western direction while saying softly, "We'll wait for that dark cloud to cover the moon light. Then the Spirit Harvest won't be able to see us." Duan Yu disagreed,
"No Good.

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I want to talk to the head of the Spirit Harvest. I won't allow them to randomly kill people like this." Spirit looked at him disheartened and said,
"Brother Duan, you really don't know anything about life. The Spirit Harvest is an evil group that are excellent with poisons. You just witnessed what measures they took to kill the last two people. Lets not stir up any more trouble. Come on quickly lets go." Duan Yu said,
"No I'm sorry, I can't just do nothing. If your scared then just wait for me here." While saying this he stood up and headed for the East. Spirit waited until he had already walked off a good distance before she chased after him. She snuck up behind him and grabbed onto his shoulder. By the time Duan Yu noticed the footsteps coming from behind he had already been grabbed. Then spirit hooked his leg so that he fell and smashed his nose into the mountain rocks. Instantly his nose began to bleed. He stood up angry,
"What the hell kind of a prank was that? Slamming me into the ground, that hurt!" Spirit replied,
"Just a test to make sure you weren't faking about not knowing kung fu. It was for your own good." Duan Yu sniffled,
"What good?" He kept wiping his nose with his hands which were covered with blood as more fresh blood stained the chest area of his clothing. It was only a little injury but it bled and bled. "You can't just agh, agh he groaned. Spirit became a little worried. She grabbed a handkerchief and helped him wipe at the blood. Duan Yu feeling irritated stuck his hand out to push her away. "I don't need you to come with me." He said upset. He was unaware that his hand was pushing on Spirits breast. Spirit without thinking reacted automatically grabbed his wrist then hooked his leg slamming the back of his head against the mountain rocks knocking him completely unconscious. She stood over him as he didn't move and said,
"Quick get up there is something I want to tell you." After seeing him still lying there she began to feel a little panicked. She rushed over to help him only to find his eyes rolled back in his head and his pulse was weak. She pressed her fingers on his upper lip while rubbing his chest to wake him.
After a while Duan Yu finally came to. He noticed there was something soft behind his head and a strange odor in his nose. He slowly opened his eyes

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and could see Spirit watching over him nervously. When she saw him coming to she took a deep breath,
"Thank God your not dead." She uttered. Duan Yu realized he was in her arms and his head was on a pillow supported by her waist. He couldn't help for moment to feel a flutter in his heart but right after the pain in his head intensified causing him to let out,
"Aya!" Spirit jumped.
"Whats wrong?" She asked.
"My head is killing me." He explained.
"Well at least your not dead. Why are you moaning and groaning?" She reminded him.
"If I was dead, would I still be moaning?" He smirked. Spirit smiled and raised his head to see a huge gash about the size of a chicken egg. Even though it had stopped bleeding. It was obvious it was still quite painful. She asked,
"How could you do something so low. If you had been someone else, I would have killed you. Your lucky I only threw you down."
Duan Yu defended,
"Who did anything low or underhanded? Boy have I really been misunderstood." Spirit didn't know much about the relationships between men and women, but she did know a little. Her face turned a little red after hearing Duan Yu's words. She spoke,
'I told you don't know anything. Why would you push me here...here?" Duan Yu finally realized what happened and felt a little embarrassed. Feeling uneasy and uncertain,
"I didn't do that on purpose." He said while standing to his feet.
"Well I didn't spare you on purpose." She said while standing with him. "At least your awake now. You really made me worry."
Duan Yu noticed,
"Without your assistance I would have been hit twice today inside of the Palace of the Lake of Swords. Now you have thrown me down twice. I guess there was no way to avoid getting roughed up today." Spirit responded,
"When you say that it sounds like your mad at me." Duan Yu asked,
" Do you think I should be over-joyed that you kicked my ass. You strike well my lady, excellent form! Maybe I should thank you for the beating."
"Ok" Spirit said. "From now on I won't hit you anymore, but you can't be mad at me this time."She added.
"Not unless I can hit you two times real hard." He finished.

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Spirit was really unwilling to be hit but seeing how angry Duan Yu was she gave in. She agreed,
"Ok I'll let you hit me twice. But don't hit me too hard." She pleaded.
"If I can't hit you hard then wear is the justice in that? I have to hit you hard, if you don't let me then just forget about it." He responded. Spirit sighed and then she closed her eyes tight while saying quietly,
"Fine! Hit me back but you can't be mad anymore." After a minute of waiting with her eyes closed she didn't feel Duan Yu do anything. She couldn't help to open her eyes again. She saw him looking at her and smiling she asked,
"Why aren't you hitting me back?" He extended his to index fingers and tapped her on both cheeks lightly while saying,
"That's twice. Are you in agony? Spirit laughed,
"I knew you were a good man." Duan Yu noticed that she was only standing a few inches away from him. The more he looked at her the more beautiful she became. I after a while it almost became unbearable so he turned away to regain his composur.
"Alright now that I have had my vengeance. Lets go talk to leader Karson." Spirit responded sharply,
"You fool, you still have to go! You don't know anything about the situations in Jiang River. If you go around stepping on other people toes, I can't save you." Duan Yu shook his head and smiled,
"Don't worry about me. I'll be back in a minute. While saying this he preceded in the direction that had green mist. Spirit yelled to stop him but he just continued on. She paused for a moment and then said in his direction,
"Didn't we say that we shared the same melon and we'll share the same sword?" Then she followed after him no longer trying to persuade him away. The two walked for less than an hour before they noticed two men dressed in Yellow garments running toward them. The man standing on the left who was a bit older spoke first,
"Who are you? What do you want?" Duan Yu noticed that they had medicine type bags on their backs and were carrying short swords at there waist as he said,
"I am his highness Duan Yu and I have something to say to your leader Karson."
"Whats your message?" The old man replied. Duan Yu said cunningly,
"I can only speak freely directly to Karson."

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The old man asked, "What style is your kung fu from highness? Who is your master? Can you please tell me your honorable name?"
"I don't have a style. I serve a man who's name is Meng. His full name is Meng Shu Sheng. He is a master of the Yi Jing, the 8 trigrams, and the Xi Ci which he researches unrelentingly." When Duan Yu said master he was referring to a master of knowledge of scripts from the ancient ways of interpreting and understand meaning and purpose of life. However these very same terms are used as the foundation or base of many martial arts styles. The old man believed that he must be referring to a very sophisticated style. He looked at Duan Yu waiving his fan and assumed him to be a master of superior arts. A man so saturated into these different realms of martial arts should not even be tested. The old man had never heard of anyone in the martial arts world named Meng Shu Sheng. But even if he couldn't trust Duan Yu he found it better to accommodate,
"If that is the case then just wait here one minute and I will inform him." The old man said. Spirit watched the old man hurry over the hill and said,
"You lied about saying you do the style of Yi Jum.. or the logic of..what kind of kung fu?" In a second Karson is going to come over here and check your story out and I don't think it will be as easy to bullshit your way out of that." Duan Yu said confidently,
"I am very familiar with the Yi Jing and if he wants to ask me the questions there is nothing I can't handle."
Spirit stared at him not knowing if he knew what he was talking about. She only looked up to see the man with the stone cold face had returned.
"What are you two rambling about. The boss has asked you to come this way." He said. From his expression it seemed that he had just received orders from Karson. Duan Yu nodded his head and the two of them followed the man. The three of them went around a large bluff and saw about 20 people who were gathered together surrounded by large stones. As Duan Yu got closer he could see a short skinny older man with a beard like a goat sitting between the bushes on a large boulder. His long beard draped down as he carried a very arrogant look about him. Duan Yu could guess this was the leader of the Spirit Harvest, Karson. Duan Yu first bowed and said,
"Leader Karson, his highness Duan Yu shows his respect." Karson nodded his head without standing and spoke back,
"Your highness what business do you have?" Duan Yu continued,
"I hear that this clan has ended a vendetta with the Eternal Sword leaving two members dead. My worried have brought me hear because I can understand how this type of feud can go on and on. Why continue with this battle? This country has laws and if the authorities knew about this, it would be a big problem for you. Please get back on your horses and return, no longer carrying on with the Eternal Sword.

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Karson listened to him coldly. He waited for him to finish and still remained silent. His eyes squinted a little but he did not respond. Duan Yu continued,
"These are respectful words and I hope leader Karson will think twice about this situation." Karson still looked at him coldly and curiously. Then he suddenly looked upward and laughed,
"Who are you boy? Getting involved in man's business. Who sent you? He inquired. Duan Yu responded,
"Who sent me? I came here on my own to speak to you?" Karson sneered and said,
"The head of the Spirit Harvest has been around Jiang River for more than 40 years. Never in my time have I seen such a brave, foolish and mischievous boy. Austin grab hold of these two children." There was a rustling noise as one of the men on the side reached out and grabbed Duan Yu's shoulder. Spirit spoke out,
"Hold on! Leader Karson he only spoke to you with respect. You can't do this. Why be so cruel?" She turned over and looked at Duan Yu, "Brother Duan, the Spirit Harvest doesn't want to take our advice. Lets not meddle in other peoples affairs. Lets go." Austin had already pulled both of Duan Yu's hands behind his back tightly while awaiting orders. Karson spoke coldly,
" The Spirit Harvest don't like it when people stick their nose in other people's business. You two come in here shootin off your mouth at me, that's crazy. Tie up the little girl too Hawk!" "Yes Sir!" Another man on the side responded while reaching for Spirit. Spirit leaned her body to the side as she took a step back out of the range of the mans reach and said,
"Leader Karson, I am not afraid of you. It's just that my father doesn't like me causing trouble out here. Tell your man to take his hands off Brother Duan or else I will be forced to take action. It won't be pretty." Karson laughed loudly and said,
"This little doll is blowing smoke, what are you waiting for?"
"Yes." Hawk responded while his hand reached for Spirits shoulder. She pulled her right arm back while her left hand, shaped like a knife, launched for Hawks throat. Hawk lowered his head under Spirit's attack just as her right fist came under his chin with jarring force, knocking him flat on his back. Karson spoke,
"So this girl does have a few tricks, but not enough to come into the Spirit Harvest making demands."

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His eyes than gazed over towered a taller man with a thin build. He made a subtle hand gesture signalling him to take action. The man stood up immediately taking two slow steps one leg crossing over the other. He was at least two feet taller than Spirit. His hands shaped like talons reached for Spirit. She was able to read his intent and stepped to the side. His left hand still reached for her at the side no more than five inches from her face. Spirit felt a chill as she was filled with fear but still said,
"Leader Karson tell him to stop or I won't be polite. Then my dads gonna yell at me and you will also be in bad shape." While she was talking the man reached out and attacked her three times. Spirit was able to evade the three attacks moving from left to right.
"Grab her!" Karson demanded. Then the man's left hand pulled in toward his body while is right hand was making a small circular motion and then his five sharp fingers twisted and grabbed a hold of Spirit's right shoulder. Spirit gasped in pain as her smile faded for the first time. Her left arm was trembling as she let out two whistles. There was a sudden white flash and the tall man flinched letting go of Spirit's arm then fell to the floor. The lightning weasel then bit him on the back of the arm and jumped back into Spirit's hands. A man along side Karson rushed over to assist the tall man, only to find him shaking with a black mark left on the back of his hand. Spirit whistled two more times and the weasel flashed out toward Austin, the man holding Duan Yu. Austin raised his hand to block the weasel allowing it to bite the back of his hand as well. Austin's kung fu was not as good as the taller man and was completely unable to deal with the pain of the bite. He fell to the floor immediately and curled into a fetus position while screaming. Spirit then grabbed a hold of Duan Yu's hand while saying quiet but urgently,
"Were breaking out of here, come on!" Surrounding Karson were all of the Spirit Harvest's excellent fighters. These men had spent their whole lives gathering herbs and using medicines. They had seen every different type of poison. This weasel however moved back and forth like lightning using a poison that they didn't recognize. Karson said,
"Quick grab the girl. Don't let her get away. There was a thunderous rustling sound as four men from different directions enclosed the girl. She whistled long and continuously as the weasel leaped out from person to person biting them all one at a time. In an instant every one of them had fallen to the floor with their limbs curled up.

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At this time the entire Spirit Harvest was terrified of this devil weasel, but none of them dared to back down in-front of Karson. Seven or eight other men hurried after them. Spirit warned,
"If you want to live don't come any closer." The men were all armed with long swords, hoes, and short broadswords. They were all hoping it would be enough to defend against this little creature's attack. But this weasel was faster than any weapon that they had seen in there lifetime. It leaped from the back of there weapons straight at them. Biting each one of the men as they fell to the floor. Karson reached into his large bag and quickly pulled out a vile of medicine. He poured it all over his palms and fore arms. Then took three steps in the air using the light foot technique and landed right in-front to Spirit and Duan Yu. The weasel darted towards the bridge of Karson's nose. He raised his arm firmly uncertain if the his secret medicine for snakes would have any affect on this monster. Knowing that if this didn't work both he and the Spirit Harvest would be destroyed. The weasel was headed directly for Karson's palm when it suddenly twitched and used its hind legs to push off of Karson's hand running back into Spirit's pouch. Karson's secret snake venom mixture had turned out to be extremely effective. The minute the weasel got a whiff of it there was a violent reaction that it was unable to bear. Karson relieved extended his hand like the wind and struck Spirit so quickly she was unable to dodge. Her legs buckled and then she fell. His second attack was so fast that it couldn't even be seen but only heard, smacking Duan Yu's face knocking him flat on his back. Spirit was stunned as she whistled two times to urge her weasel back into action. The weasel again darted out toward Karson but the snake venom was it's Achilles heel. Whenever it tried to bite Karson's leg or body, he would swirl his arms around forcing the weasel to keep its distance. Karson could see the weasel moving so fast that it was just a blur causing him to worry as he called out for assistance. About ten people from all directions rushed in carrying alchemy bags. They ignited the sacks and the fumes began to spread around. Duan Yu had just started to stand when he suddenly became very dizzy and fell to the floor. His vision became very blurry and the only thing he could see was Spirit who was stumbling around right before she again hit the floor. Two of the men ran over to capture Spirit. Her weasel still protecting her leaped out and bit him. The crowd was startled

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and retreated back a few steps while still surrounding Spirit. All of them were hollering but none of the would take any action. Karson ordered,
"East side light the Yellow lady, South side light the Aloe. North and West sides spread out." Herbalism being the the strength of this clan, their was never an herb that they didn't have on hand. They lit up the Yellow lady and the Aloe. The two herbs were very potent and when the smoke mixed together the smell became very strong. They began to blowing the thick smoke toward Spirits body to fend off the weasel. The weasel however was unaffected and jumped out to bite five more members of the Spirit Harvest. Karson frowned and then recalculated,
"Cover them up. Bury the weasel and the girl alive." He ordered. Then they put some medicine at the end of their hoe and then stuck the hoe into the mud and began to fling it toward Spirit's body. Duan Yu was shocked by the terrible though of them burying Spirit alive. He wasn't going to sit there and let her die alone. He muscled up enough strength to crawl over to Spirit and hold her while the earth rained on top of both of them.
"Together it will end for us here." He said to Spirit. Karson over heard Duan Yu's words as he began to glance around seeing over twenty of the Spirit Harvest members laying on the ground. Seven of which were very important individuals and two of them were even his kung fu brothers. Even though it would be just in having the girl die this way, this strange poison might be something that only she can cure Karson thought to himself. Then he said,
"Leave them enough room to breath. Don't cover their heads." The two of them were sitting on the ground in an upright position and the dirt had already gone up to their necks. Duan Yu was still holding on to Spirits hand but the weight on their chest was so heavy that they were unable to move. They sat their with their heads propping out of the dirt motionless. Karson spoke slyly,
"Young lady do you want to live or die?" Spirit responded,
"Of course I want to live. If Duan Yu and I die all of your men will die as well."
"OK! Then quickly pull out the antidote and I will spare you're lives." Karson responded quickly. Spirit answered,
"Sparing me is not enough. You have to spare Duan Yu as well."

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"Ok!" Karson replied. "I will spare both of you. Now where is the antidote?" Spirit then responded,
"I don't have it on me. Only my father has the cure for the lightning weasel. I warned you earlier not to make me do this or my father would become upset. Weren't you paying attention?" Karson replied,
"Little girl now your just talking nonsense, do you really want me to leave you here to die."
"Everything I have told you is the truth." Spirit argued. "If you don't believe me...well in short things will get ugly. But I am actually more scared of how my father is going to react."
"What's your fathers name?" Karson asked.
"You're not a child anymore, don't you have any common sense? I can't just tell me fathers name to every person I meet." Karson had been wandering around Jiang River for more than ten years. I had come to develop a good reputation as well as respect. Today these two youngsters had caused him more trouble then he had ever had to deal with. He spoke through his teeth,
"Bring me some fire I am going to burn this little dolls hair and see she has anything else to say." One of the members standing around threw him a torch. Upon catching it he moved towards Spirit. Spirit could see the malice look in his eye through the flickering of the torch flame. She cried out,
"Hey Hey! Don't burn my hair! Don't you know how bad that will hurt? Try it on your own beard and see!" Karson laughed,
"Of course I know it will hurt. That's the whole point. I don't need to burn my beard to find that out." He raised the torch closer to Spirits face. The flame and flickering wildly caused her to scream out in fear. Duan Yu still holding her tightly said,
"Hey Karson I am the one responsible for this mess. Burn my hair instead." Spirit spoke,
"No that's not what I want. I don't want you to be in pain either." Karson replied,
"If you're afraid of the pain then quickly hand over the antidote and save my fallen men!" Spirit answered,
"How dumb can you be? Only my father has the antidote for the lightning weasel! Not even my mother knows it. This poison is one of the rarest in the world. The combination of so many different venom in the teeth of the weasel is so complex, do you think its easy to cure?"

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Karson listen and looked at all sides at the people who had been bitten laying on the ground moaning. He could tell the poison was very painful because these were all tough guys who would never want to show weakness to the rest of the clan. If you cut off their arms and legs they still wouldn't make a whimper. But hearing these sounds of pain it was obvious that the snake anti-venom that some of them had already tried to apply was completely ineffective. Some had even gone to the extent of trying to use scorpion anti-venom, centipede anti-venom and spider anti-venom on the weasel bite but those people seemed to be in even more pain. Karson looked at Spirit angrily and said,
"Who is your father?! Tell me his name!" Spirit answered,
"Do you really want me to tell you? You won't be frightened?" Karson now infuriated proceeded to burn Spirits hair when there was a sudden sharp pain in the back of his neck. He had been bitten! Karson panicked and dropped the torch while reaching for the weasel when he felt a pain on the back of his hand as well. It turns out that after the weasel had been buried in the dirt that it was able to dig himself out quietly and wait for the precise time that Karson was not paying attention to launch its attack. Karson after being bit twice was completely demoralized and sat on the ground with his legs crossed. He began to circulating his Qi in an attempt to get rid of the poison.Some of the members of the Spirit harvest began to throw dirt to bury the weasel. The weasel jumped up and bit two more men, in the dark the weasel looked like a white flash zig-zagging back and forth. Then it vanished into the bushes not to be seen. Karson's assistants attempted to rub the snake anti-venom on the outside and inside of his wounds. Then Also put a giant piece of Ginseng in his mouth. At the same time Karson was focusing his Qi to stop the two wounds from spreading the poison through out his entire body.After a while he was completely motionless and then grabbed a broad sword and cut off his arm to try to prevent the poison from entering his entire body. But as for the wound on the back of his neck, he couldn't just cut off his head. Many of the members were very frightened. They began rubbing "Golden Creation" on his severed arm for him but it kept bleeding and flushing out all of the medicine. One of the men struggled to tear off his shirt and wrapped up his wrist very tightly in order to stop the blood. Spirit watched this horrible picture that filled her with fer to the point her face turned pale white. She didn't dare to make a sound. Karson's very quietly asked,
"If you are bitten by that little demon weasel, how long do you have to live?" She answered with her voice trembling,
"My father said about 7 to 8 days, but your kung fu is amazing....I'm sure...you can live much longer than that."

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Karson sighed a bit and said,
"Pull the boy over here. Then as many members of the Spirit Harvest began digging out Duan Yu Spirit began to worry. She spoke,
"Please don't hurt him. This isn't his fault. He isn't responsible for this. There hands were busy removing the soil as Duan Yu kept tripping trying to step out. They eventually pulled him out of the mud but Spirit was not able to turn around to see. She began to cry loudly. Duan Yu was also scared but managed to maintain a smile while saying,
"At the time a real man is looking death in the eye, he can not show weakness in-front of his enemies."
"I am not a real man! I don't want to look death in the eye! I can't be strong now!" Spirit cried out. Karson spoke,
"Give the boy some of Sun's Absence. Give him a dose that is good for seven days." One of the members
One of the members reached into his bag to pull out his vile and poured about a half of bottle of of a red solution. Then gave it to Duan Yu to drink . Spirit cried out,
"Its snake poison, don't drink it!" Duan Yu knew as soon as he heard the name the Sun's Absence that this was something terrible, but in the middle of all of these enemies what else could he do but obey. He swallowed it down and it fizzed in his throat. He spoke,
"This stuff is pretty tasty are you gonna have some too?" Karson tisked angrily. For a minute Spirit cracked a smile and then continued to crying. Karson spoke,
"This Sun's Absence will take seven days before it runs through your system. If you are able to retrieve the weasel's antidote and return here within seven days, I will give you the antidote for Sun's Absence. I will also release the girl." Spirit Added,
" But the antidote is not enough, you will also need my father to use his Qi to push the poison of the weasel out of your body." Karson responded,
"Then have him invite your father to come here and save you." Spirit remarked,
"You say it like its so easy. My father is unwilling to come out of the mountain cavern. He hasn't even taken a single step out side of the area."
Karson sighed and didn't respond. Then Duan Yu said,
"How about we all head to this young lady's home and ask her honorable father to heal everyone. Isn't that faster?"
Spirit spoke,
"No NO that wont work. My father has very strict rules, he doesn't trust anyone. Who ever steps into our area that is not one of us will be killed on sight."

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Karson said, "This business with the Eternal swords is still not finished. We can't leave here yet. If we ignore our orders then Tian Shan Zhang will not spare us. It would be a fate worse than death." The wound on the back of his neck began to intensify he and could not help but to moan in pain. Spirit spoke out,
"leader Karson I'm so sorry." Karson said furiously,
"The hell with sorry!"Duan Yu spoke,
"Leader Karson if you speak nasty to Miss Spirit you will lose your charm." Karson replied quickly angrily,
" Fuck Charm!" In the back of his mind he thought that he already had the mark of death. When the symptoms of that acts up it is pure agony. If he died now all of that pain would go away. Spirit thought for a while and said,
"Let me out and I will write a letter for my father asking him to come save me. You can send one of your men who has no fear of death to deliver it." Karson spoke,
" I already told Mr Duan to deliver the message, why would I send someone else?" Spirit spoke,
"Wow you really have no memory. It doesn't matter who it is that steps into our families valley, they have to to die. I already told you right? I don't want Brother Duan to die. Don't you get that by now?" Karson said softly,
"He can't die, but its okay for all of my men to die? Well if he doesn't go then everyone dies. Lets wait and see who dies first, you or me."
Spirit began to sniff and almost start crying again,
"You're a shameless old man how can you bully a little girl like this? That's what everyone in the Jiang River will say! They will say there is not a one hero or true warrior amongst the Spirit Harvest!" Karson was already using his Qi to resist the poison and completely ignored Spirits words.
Duan Yu spoke,
"I'll go. Lady Spirit I will go and report to your father and have him to come save you. That way he won't hurt me."
Suddenly the color in Spirits face reddened as she said,
"Yes he will! I will tell you how to do it. Don't tell my father where I am, if he knows he'll just kill you and come get me. If he doesn't know where I am he will follow you here, but as soon as you arrive you would have to escape or it would be bad." Duan Yu nodded his head,
"This sounds like a good plan."

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Spirit said to Karson,
"Leader Karson if Duan Yu has to escape right away, how are you going to deal with the Sun's Absence?" Karson pointed to the cliffs located in the Northwest and said,
"I will send someone with the antidote to that area. If Sir Duan can escape over to behind that large boulder, he can have the antidote." Karson aware that Duan Yu was going to try to rescue them, he began to speak of him more politely. With this he ordered the men of the Spirit Harvest to dig Spirit out of the mound of soil. First cuffing her hands together in clamps and then pulling her entire body out of the mud. Spirit asked,
"If you don't release my hands, how can I write a letter?" Karson answered,
"You're mischief knows no bounds. If I let your write a letter who knows what trouble you'll start for us again. Just take something from your clothing and have Sir Duan Yu deliver it." Spirit laughed,
"I hate writing letters. You tell me not write and I am happy not to. What do I have that can be delivered. Oh... Brother Duan come take my shoes off. If my mom and dad see it they will recognize them right away." Duan Yu nodded and knelt down to remove her shoes. As he slipped off her shoe while her heel was still inside his hand rubbed against her soft skin causing his heart fluttered a once again. He raised his head up to look at her and she was smiling at him. In the light of the fire he could see crystallized tears on her face that had run down her cheeks. Seeing her smiling in the light at him he became captured in her beauty. Karson running out of patience spoke,
"Come on, come on faster. You two little kids look at me, I know what your thinking. Hurry up and go and when you come back get married and then you can rub her feet till your old and gray." Duan Yu and Spirit both turned red. Duan Yu finished taking off her flower shoes and stuck them inside his shirt. He couldn't help but to take one last look at Spirit as she smirked and then smiled back at him. Karson Spoke,
"Brother Duan the sooner you go the sooner you get back. All of our lives are at the edge of death. If you delay at all, then were all dead.

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Then he looked to Spirit, "Lady Spirit about how many days does it take to get to your place and back?" Spirit responded,
"If you move fast you can get there in two days at best, it should take about four days there and back."
Karson's face showed relief and he urged Duan Yu,
"Quickly go!" Spirit said,
"I will tell Duan Yu the way to get there, everyone back up a bit. No one else is allowed to listen." Karson waived his hand
and the members of the Spirit Harvest backed away. Spirit said to Karson, "You also need to back away." Karson grit his teeth
and thought to himself, Wait till I get better you little barbie doll I will fix you up real good. Then he stood up and walked away.
Spirit sighed and said to Duan Yu,
"Brother Duan Yu we only met today and already we have to separate." Duan Yu laughed,
"There and back in 4 days that's not too bad." Spirits eyes gazed at him up and down and said,
"First see my mother and explain the situation, then let my mother explain to my father. It should be easier to manage that way." Then she used the ball of her foot to draw out the directions on the ground. It turned out she lived on the West coast of Lan Cang Bay in the middle of the valley. The journey wasn't too long but it was extremely hidden. There were a lot of marks and symbols to pay attention to. If you didn't recognize them you could never find the place. Making it highly unlikely that an outsider would find there way. Duan Yu had an excellent memory, he remembered all of the twist and turns and windy paths that Spirit explained and when she finished he said,
"Ok I got. I'll take off." Then he turned to go. Spirit waited for him to walk about ten steps before she suddenly thought of something,
"Wait come back!" Duan Yu asked,
"What is it?" and then turned to face her. She spoke,
"Don't tell anyone your last name is Duan and especially don't tell anyone your dad knows the Finger of the Sun. I don't want my dad to get any ideas." Duan Yu laughed and said,
"No problem!" In his mind thinking that this girl seems so old for her age. Then began humming a tune as he headed on his journey.