DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 1 of 5 (Adventures of The Youth) by Jin Yong

Subtle Steps And Hanging Threads Part 3

Every sentence she spoke, Xin Shuang Qing replied another, making sure his eyes do not meet the lady's ones. After she finished speaking, the lady walked down the peak herself without even giving a final look at the crowd. The eight women accompanying her followed closely and left.

Si Kong Xuan was kneeling on the floor all this while, the moment the nine women left the peak, he immediately leapt towards the side of the cliff, yelling "Sacred Herald Fu, please pass this message of mine to Kid Nanny, Si Kong Xuan has let her down."

As he said so, he sprang to the other side of the cliff and dived towards River Lan Chan miles below. Everybody called aloud in shock. Divine Farmer Clan members rushed quickly towards the side of the cliff.

Turbid waves billowed and surged past fiercely; their Clan leader was nowhere to be seen. Many of the clan disciples began to weepy and started pounding their chests in agony.

Seeing the way their leader Si Kong Xuan had ended, the disciples of No Measure Sword stared at each other in dismay.

Leader Si Kong's death is partly my fault, a remorseful Duan Yu thought sadly.

"Take care of Mister Duan as you bring him down," ordered Xin Shuang Qing, as he pointed towards two male disciples of the East Faction of No Measure Sword. The two men, named Yu Guang Biao and Wu Guang Sheng, bowed and complied.

Duan Yu finally reached the foot of the hill after a very long walk as he was being hauled by the two men. He took a deep breath and cupped his hands courteously to Zuo Zi Mu and Xin Shuang Qing, saying "I thank the both of you sincerely for escorting me down the mountain, let's part our ways here."

His eyes darted around and he spotted the mountain the Divine Croc was pointing at earlier, as he thought in dismay, climbing up this mountain must be harder than descending that mountain by manifolds. I doubt the people of No Measure Sword will be that nice to carry me up that hill, I'll just have to save Miss Mu with all I can, he mused.

To his shock, Xin Shuang Qing said, "Please do not hurry away and do accompany me back to No Measure Cave."

"No," Duan Yu said in alarm, "No, I have many things to do for the moment, I can't comply today. Apologies. Apologies."

"Hng!" Xin Shuang Qing humphed and made a hand signal. Both Yu and Wu immediately stretched their arms and locked his arms tightly with theirs and continued moving ahead.

"Hey! Hey! Leader Xin, Leader Zuo, I have never offended the both of you in any way. That Sacred Herald sister has commanded the both of you to escort me down the mountain, now we have descended the mountain and I have thanked you people. What more do you want from me?"


Neither Xin Shuang Qing nor Zuo Zi Mu bothered to listen. Seized tightly captive between Yu and Wu, Duan Yu had no choice save to follow them back to the No Measure Cave.

The two men brought Duan Yu past five houses and through a large garden before stopping in front of three small houses. Wu Guang Sheng opened the door, while Yu Guang Biao pushed him firmly forwards. As soon as Duan Yu stumbled into the house, the door closed behind him with a resounding clicking sound. The door had been locked, and he was now efficiently trapped within.

"How unreasonable can you No Measure Sword people get? How can you all treat me like a criminal? It's not as if No Measure Sword is the authorities. How could you imprison people for absolutely no reason?" Duan Yu called out.

The noises outside ceased instantly. Despite all of his shouting and screaming, nobody seemed to notice him at all.

Duan Yu sighed, Since things happened this way, let it be. All I can do now is to await my fate. The descent from the mountain had exhausted him sorely, and, upon seeing a bed and a table in the room, he immediately reclined on the bed and fell asleep.

Before long, a person came to serve him food; surprisingly, it did not taste awful. Turning to the servant who brought the food, Duan Yu spoke, "Go and report to your two leaders. Tell them I have a word to..." Before he could finish saying what he wanted to say, he heard Yu Guang Biao roaring gruffly outside the door.

"That little lad whose surname is Duan, you had better keep your mouth shut. I could care less whether you want to sleep or lie down, but if I hear just one more sound coming from you, expect no more mercy from us. You speak one sentence, and I will return it with a slap. Two sentences, two slaps, another three will get you three from me. Surely you know how to count?"

Duan Yu instantly fell silent. These barbarians will truly not hesitate to do something they have threatened. When Miss Mu slapped me, my cheeks were certainly in pain, but there was sweetness in my heart. If these guys slapped me, things definitely would be far different.

He finished three large bowls of rice and rested on the bed again. I wonder if Miss Mu is alright now, he thought in worry. It would be best if she manages to shoot Divine Croc to death with her poisonous arrows, and then comes to rescue me. Ay, how could I actually hope for her to kill people?

Another string of thoughts swam around in his head before he finally gave a weary yawn and fell asleep.

This time, he slept until the following morning. Scanning the area around him, Duan Yu noticed that the furniture was crude and simple, as though they were placed here long ago. Metal chains lined the inside of the windows; it could not have been any more evident that this was the place in which the No Measure Sword held captives.

All the thoughts of his current dilemma—namely, locked in a room while pressed for time—vanished as he stared at the cavernous space before him. The first notion that came to his mind was to practice the Divine Skill of the Northern Darkness as Dear Goddess had instructed him.

He reached into his robes, removed the scroll, and placed it on the table. Remembering the nude pictures in the paintings, his heart began palpitating furiously. He straightened his robes and set himself in a meditating position—endeavoring with great difficulty to stop his face from reddening any further—as he thought silently, Dear Goddess, I am here to follow your instructions and to practice the divine art you have told me to. I'm not trying to steal a look at your ethereal figure. Forgive me for being disrespectful...

He slowly unrolled the scroll and began reading the words that appeared behind the first painting. To him, reading these words was as simple as eating rice at home; he skimmed through the words, and he instantly understood the meaning. After the second reading, he had them all memorized, and, by the third time, he had it all inside him. He dared not glance longer than necessary at the exposed paintings; rather he quickly studied the various meridians and acupoints on the picture before commencing his training.

The words on the scroll read: "Our sect's internal energy is a total contrast to those of other sects, for internal energy cultivated using our methods flows in the opposite direction. As such, those who have already had practised internal energy training must forget those learnt in the past, and start training on the martial arts here diligently. If one has any stray thoughts left in one's mind, this may lead to two opposite forces clashing with each other, which would immediately result in fire deviation. The victim will go mad and vomit blood, which he or she would then become fully paralyzed; nothing could possibly be more dangerous than this."

The words repeatedly reiterated this point, emphasizing the severity of the situation. However, Duan Yu never began any internal energy training before; therefore, he could conveniently move on without having to bother with this dangerous stage at all.

Within one hour, Duan Yu had managed to follow the written instructions and memorized all the channels, meridians, and acupoints of the Lung Meridians* correctly. However, his body did not possess even the slightest trace of internal energy; as a result, he naturally would not be able to channel his non-existent internal energy to move through his meridians.


Following that, Duan Yu commenced his cultivation on his "Ren Meridians". This particular meridian route begins at the 'Yin Gathering' pressure point located in the perineum. The route moves up various pressure points like the 'Crooked Bone', 'Centre Extremity', 'Closed Energy', 'Rock Entrance', going past the abdomen, chest, the throat and ends at the 'Broken Foundation' pressure point which resides at the space between his lower jaws.

Although there were numerous pressure points along the Ren Meridians, the path of the meridian was entirely straight, which made it easy for Duan Yu to practice. In an instant, Duan Yu memorized the positions and names for the various pressure points. He reached out his hands to touch those pressure points he had just learnt. As it was mentioned in the scroll earlier, he had to cultivate his internal energy through his meridians — in the reverse way. As such, he had to cultivate his internal energy from his 'Broken Foundation' pressure point, down the 'Liquid Receiving', 'Incorrupt Fountain', 'Abrupt Heavens' pressure points to his 'Yin Gathering' pressure point.

**The words in the painting read: The Ren Meridians and the Lungs Meridians are the cornerstones in the cultivation of our Divine Skill of the Northern Darkness. The 'Less Merchant' pressure point located at the thumb and the 'Shan Zhong' pressure point between the breasts are the most vital points of our skill, the former collecting internal energy whilst the latter accumulates and stores them.

The human body has four oceans: namely the 'Ocean of the Water and Rice' in the stomach, the 'Ocean of the Twelve Channels' in the Chong Meridians, the 'Ocean of Energies' in the Shan Zhong pressure point, and finally, the 'Ocean of the Marrow' in the Brain. The practice of storing food and water in the stomach is known throughout every human being the moment they were born; hence no special training is needed. However, the marvellous ability to absorb others' internal energy and store it in our own body can only be achieved by our Carefree Sect's Divine Skill of Northern Darkness.

Within a day, food and water collected in the stomach is absorbed and assimilated, however, the internal energy which a human absorbs accumulates after each absorption, becoming thicker and more abundant, resembling that of the enormous Ethereal Lake in the Dark North that could even float a gargantuan sea-monster whose size spans a thousand li.**

Duan Yu rolled the scroll and thought deeply: This kung fu is purely beneficial to oneself at the expense of others. By absorbing the internal energy that others had practised industriously for years and using it as my own, wouldn't it be as cruel as consuming the flesh and blood of a fellow human being? Wouldn't it be as if I was to purloin the wealth of others and take them as my own, wouldn't I be cheating or doing something illegal then? But I have promised Dear Goddess to practise this martial arts, I can't break my promise.... Never mind, I will not absorb anybody's internal energy in my entire life.

Another occurred to him: Uncle had constantly reminded me that when humans were first born into this world, they had neither food nor any clothes, and had nothing to use for survival. Even a bowl of porridge, rice or even a thread of clothing all had to be obtained by something else. The act of obtaining things from somebody else cannot be helped, but the real question is how are we able to repay those who had given us. What we obtained must be minimal, and we must always give out much, much more than what we take in. If one was to take in something from the wealthy and the evil, and give that stuff obtained to the poor and the needy, there would be nothing to feel guilty over; on the other hand, it is more of a charitable act done by a kind soul. This golden rule is the same in Buddhism and Confucianism. There is nothing wrong in offering ointment from the affluent to those who badly needs it, so long as my intention was purely for doing something for the needy. Doing as much charity as I can do to every soul under the skies would be like having Buddha in every household. The question is not about obtaining or not obtaining, but rather, to do charity or to do evil.

The moment Duan Yu understood this point, he no longer had any qualms on practising the Divine Skill of Northern Darkness anymore.


While Duan Yu had no misgivings in his heart about that matter, he thought again, "In short, I should just do more good deeds in my life and never do bad things. Elephants can carry heavy loads of tons, crickets and ants can only drag little things; if you have a strong ability, you can do great good deeds, but you would also be able to do horribly bad things. With Divine Croc's abilities, if you only do good deeds, wouldn't it be greatly beneficial to everyone?" the moment he thought of this point, he felt that even if Divine Croc was his master, but he only twisted bad people's necks, it will seem as though "This sentence seems to be logical."

The scroll also had ways to cultivate the many other channels and meridians; all of them were for absorbing the internal energy of others. Although Duan Yu had no more qualms about that, he still felt that practicing it went against his personal character, just being greedy of much and determined to meet one's desires alone was already not a good thing and thus, he decided to ignore it.

At the end of the scroll, he saw again "Graceful Steps upon the Waves" these words and immediately thought of the sentences in...