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

Boundless Regrets of Profligate Love Part 4

She heard the roaring sound of water unceasing galloping and surging forth. Suddenly, Mu Wanqing's heart became severed from all earthly desires and dreams. She sought only death. She headed towards the sound of running water. After crossing a mountain, she saw the grandiose, majestic sight of the Lancang river falling down from the mountain peak. She took a deep breath. She thought to herself, "All I need to do is steel myself and jump, and I will never have any cares or worries again." Following the mountain slope, she arrived by the side of the river. The morning sun was just rising. Casting its gentle glow upon the jade-like river, it appeared as though a layer of gold had been sheathed on the water. If she really jumped down, then she would never be able to see this beautiful and wondrous sight again, nor any of the other wonderful things in the world.

Standing quietly by the river, her thoughts swirled about like the waves. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that several hundred feet away, someone was sitting on top of a large rock. This person was completely still, and was wearing a green gown that was the same color as that of the green cliffs. This was why, even though she had been at the riverside for a long time, she hadn't noticed him. Mu Wanqing cast him a few glances, then thought to himself, "Probably just a corpse."

She could kill with but a lift of her hand, and so naturally wasn't afraid of a corpse. Feeling curious, she quickly walked towards the body to investigate. The man in a green gown was old, with a long beard that stretched down to his chest. He had a pitch-black face, and both of his eyes were wide open and fixed on the center of the river.

Mu Wanqing said, "So it isn't a corpse after all!" After she took a closer look, she noticed that within the eyes of the corpse was a look of great intelligence, and that there was some color in his face. Mu Wanqing extended her hand, waving it beneath his nose to test for breath. It seemed as though there was a sign of breathing, and yet there also wasn't. Next she touched his face. Strangely, it felt both warm and cold. When she extended a hand to touch his chest, it seemed as though his heart was both still and beating. Absolutely baffled, she said, "This person is so strange. If I want to call him a dead person, he seems to have the characteristics of the living. But were I to call him a living person, he seems so much more like a dead person."

Suddenly, a voice said, "I am a living person!"

Mu Wanqing was very surprised. She quickly turned her head, but saw no one behind her. The stones scattered by the riverside were all no bigger than eggs. There was no place for anyone to hide. And while she was inspecting that freak, she had clearly seen that when the sound of that voice entered her ears, that person had not moved his lips at all. She loudly shouted, "Who is playing tricks on me? Are you tired of living?" Retreating two steps, her back was now towards the river, her eyes closely scanning the other three directions.

She saw nothing, but heard a voice say, "I truly am tired of living." Mu Wanqing's surprise was not small at all. The only person in front of her was this freak, but she clearly saw that his lips hadn't moved. Deciding he wasn't the one who had spoken, she loudly said, "Who is speaking?"

That voice replied, "You are speaking!" Mu Wanqing said, "Who is the person who is speaking with me?" That voice said, "Nobody is speaking with you." Mu Wanqing hurriedly spun around three times, but saw nothing aside from her own shadow.

By now, she had already figured out that the voice must be coming from the freak in a green gown. Summoning her courage, she walked towards him and pressed his lips shut with her hands. Then she asked, "Are you the one speaking to me?" That voice replied, "No!" Mu Wanqing didn't feel the slightest vibration from her fingers on his lips. She asked, "A person is clearly speaking to me. Why are you saying there isn't?" That voice replied, "I am not a person. I am not even myself. I no longer exist in this world."

Mu Wanqing suddenly felt her hair stand on end. She thought to herself, "Can it really be a ghost?" She asked, "You...are you a ghost?" That voice replied, "You yourself said that you do not want to live anymore, and were going to kill yourself and become a ghost. Why are you afraid of a ghost then?" Mu Wanqing forcefully replied, "Who says I'm afraid of ghosts? I fear neither heaven nor earth!" That voice replied, "There is one thing you are afraid of." Mu Wanqing made a 'hngh' sound. "I fear nothing!"

That voice said, "You fear it, you fear it. You fear a perfectly fine husband suddenly turning into your own brother by blood."

These words were like a cudgel strike to her head. Mu Wanqing's legs suddenly felt weak, and she sat down on the ground. After being dazed for a long time, she murmured, "You're a ghost. You're a ghost." That voice said, "I have a method to change Duan Yu from being your brother to being your husband again." Quivering, Mu Wanqing replied, "You...you're lying to me. This is the will of the heavens. You...you can't change it." That voice said, "Heaven? The lord of heaven deserves to die. He is an a.sshole! No need for us to pay attention to him. I have a way to turn your brother into your husband. Do you want it or not?"

Originally, Mu Wanqing's had been utterly disheartened, and she had felt utterly detached from the world. These words truly came as though they had descended from the skies. Even though she half-believed, half-doubted, she urgently said, "I want it! I want it!" But that voice fell silent.

After a while, Mu Wanqing said, "Who are you? Let me see you. Is that alright?" That voice replied, "You've been staring at me for a very long time now. Haven't you stared enough?" After a moment, it continued, "Even I do not know if I am still myself. Alas!" Only when letting out this long sigh did he betray the feeling of deep sorrow and depression in his heart.

No doubt was left in Mu Wanqing's mind at all that the voice came from the old man in a green gown who sat before her. She asked, "How can you speak without your lips moving?" The man replied, "I am a living corpse. My lips cannot move. My voice comes from my abdomen."

Although Mu Wanqing was highly disciplined, she still had a childish personality at times. Just moments ago, she was feeling extremely sorrowful, but upon hearing that this person claimed that he could speak with his abdomen, she couldn't help but feel fascinated. "Speaking with your stomach? That'd truly be a bizarre thing!" The man in the green robe replied, "Extend your hand and rest it against my belly. Then you'll understand." Mu Wanqing extended her hand and placed it against his stomach. The man in the green robe said, "My stomach is vibrating when I speak. Can you feel it?" Mu Wanqing indeed felt the man's stomach quiver with every word he spoke. Laughing, she said, "Haha, that's so very weird!" She didn't know that the man in the green robe practiced a form of ventriloquism. There were thousands of puppetmasters and ventriloquists in the world, but to be able to speak with such clarity was truly no easy feat. It could only be achieved with a deep and profound internal energy.

Mu Wanqing circled around him a few times. Closely examining him, she asked, "If your mouth isn't able to move, how do you eat?" The man in the green robe stretched out his hands. One hand gripped his upper lip, whereas the other gripped his lower lip. He pulled his mouth open, then held his mouth open with his left hand while tossing something in his mouth with his right. With a gulping sound, he swallowed it. "That is how."

Mu Wanqing sighed. "Alas! What a pity! If you eat like this, how can you possibly taste your food?" Suddenly, she saw that all of the flesh on his face was stiffened, and he could not close his eyes. Neither expressions of anger nor joy could be seen on this man's face. This was the reason why, when she first saw him, she thought that he was a corpse.

Although her fear had dissipated, she suddenly thought to herself, this person is himself in such dire straits. How can he possibly counter the will of heaven and change her brother into her husband? Evidently, all the words he said earlier were just nonsense. She muttered to herself for a long time, then sighed. Turning her body, she began to walk away. Only to hear that voice say, "I am going to make Duan Yu into your husband. You cannot leave." Mu Wanqing laughed dully, then took a few steps towards the west. Suddenly, she stopped and turned around. "The two of us don't know each other. How can you know what is in my heart? Can it be that you...you know my darling Duan?"

The man in the green robe replied, "That which is in your heart, I naturally am aware of." From the sleeves of his arms he suddenly withdrew a pair of thin black metal canes. "Let's go!" Tapping the rock on which he sat with his left cane, he suddenly rose into the air. With ease and grace, he landed on the cane over ten feet away. Mu Wanqing saw that both of his feet remained in midair, and that he supported himself only on that one metal cane. Despite that, his body remained exceptionally steady. Curious, she asked, "Your two legs..." The man in the green robe said, "My legs were crippled long ago. Enough. From now on, you are no longer allowed to ask questions about me."

Mu Wanqing said, "And if I keep on asking?" Just after the fourth word had left her mouth, she felt her legs turn soft. She fell down. The man in green had moved as quickly as a gust of wind and had arrived by her side, then tapped her twice at the back of her knees with a steel cane. He had followed that with a single blow from the cane which had caused pain so deep, it reached her marrow. "Ah!" She let out a loud cry. The man in green tapped her two more times, releasing her sealed acupoints. His movements were so fast as to be unbelievable. Mu Wanqing leapt to her feet. Angrily, she said, "You are so impolite!" Unfastening her sleeves, she was about to shoot a quarrel at him.

The man in green said, "If you shoot a quarrel at me, I will spank you. If you shoot ten quarrels at me, I will spank you ten times. If you don't believe me, try for yourself." Mu Wanqing thought to herself, "If that quarrel of mine hit him, he would have died on the spot. How could he possibly hit me back? But this man possesses an incredible, godlike ability. His martial arts is even better than that of the Divine Crocodile. I probably wouldn't be able to hit him with my quarrels. It looks like he'll be able to do as he says he will. If he really ended up spanking me, what a humiliation that would be!" She heard the man say, "If you no longer dare to attack me, then obediently listen to my instructions. You may not disobey." Mu Wanqing said, "I'm not going to listen to your commands!" But although she was outwardly defiant, her left hand released the mechanism for shooting out quarrels.

The man in green strode forward, using those two thin black metal canes in lieu of his arms and legs. Walking behind him, Mu Wanqing saw that those two canes were each roughly three feet long. His strides were twice as long as that of ordinary people. Summoning her energy, Mu Wanqing followed him rapidly, only managing to follow him with an effort. The man in green climbed mountains and traversed ravines as though he were walking on flat plains. He did not travel on the mountain paths, but rather made his own way. No matter how rough the terrain was, he would pass through it with ease with the tap of a cane. This put great hardship on Mu Wanqing. Her sleeves and skirts were ripped and torn into many slices by thorns and bushes, but she did not complain or give any signs of weakness.