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

Hiss Of The Tiger, Moan Of The Dragon Part 3

The man in green laughed. "Heh, heh. So it was meant to be your inheritance, and not my inheritance? To return a possession to its original owner cannot be considered as 'casually discarding' it. For me to not pursue the matter of you conspiring to seize my throne is already a sign of my magnanimousness. If you aren't willing to do as I suggest, then you might as well wait for a while. After Duan Yu and his sister have a son together, I'll release them." Emperor Baoding replied, "Better that you kill them instead!"

The man in green replied, "Aside from this, there are two more options." Emperor Baoding asked, "What are they?" The man in green said, "The first option is to come up with a devious plot to murder me. Then, you can let him out." Emperor Baoding said, "I cannot plot against you." The man in green said, "Even if you wanted to scheme against me, you might not succeed. The second option is for you to call out Duan Yu and have him fight me himself, using the 'Solitary Solar Finger'. If he is able to defeat me, then he can leave, of course. Hah hah."

Emperor Baoding felt his temper rising, and almost flared out. Only with a powerful effort did he manage to curb it. "Duan Yu doesn't know a single shred of martial arts, much less know the 'Solitary Solar Finger'." The man in green replied, "The nephew of Dali's Duan Zhengming doesn't know the 'Solitary Solar Finger?' Who can believe that?" Emperor Baoding replied, "Ever since he was young, Duan Yu studied the classics and Buddhist texts. He has a merciful character, and steadfastly refused to learn martial arts." The man in green said, "Yet another hypocrite putting on airs of false righteousness. If a person like this becomes the monarch of Dali, it definitely will not be a good thing. Better for me to kill him first!"

Emperor Baoding asked forcefully, "Senior, are there truly no other options available?" The man in green replied, "Years ago, if other options were available, would I have fallen to such a state? Half living, half dead. Others gave me no options back then. Why should I give you other options now?"

Emperor Baoding lowered his head and hesitated for a long moment. With a powerful effort, he raised his head. A resolute, unyielding expression was on his face. He called out, "Yu'er, I'll think of a way to rescue you. Never forget that you are a scion of the Duan family!"

Only to hear Duan Yu call out in reply, "Uncle, you...come in and kill me with a single finger." At this time, he had halted his footsteps, and was resting against the large boulder which was blocking the doorway. He clearly heard the second half of the conversation between Emperor Baoding and the man in green. Emperor Baoding said in a stern voice, "What? Have you acted in a way which would destroy the reputation of my Duan family?" Duan Yu replied, "No! No, I haven't. Your nephew...your nephew is suffering from extreme heat. I won't be able to live much longer."

Emperor Baoding sighed. "Life and death are determined by fate. Let things take their course!" Grasping Zhong Ling's arm, he ran across the open plains, then flew over the tree wall. He said, "Little girl, thank you for leading the way. In the future, I will definitely repay you." Retracing his steps, he returned to the main building.

Emperor Baoding saw that despite Chu Wanli and FuSigui teaming up against the Divine Crocodile, victory or defeat was still yetto be determined. But Zhu Danchen and Gu Ducheng, under the pressure of YeErniang's rectangular sabre, were find it difficult to cope. To the side,although Yun Zhonghe's feet movements hadn't slowed in the slightest, he waspanting heavily, as though he were feeling weary. But Ba Tianshi showed greatease and relaxation with his ceaseless leaps and bounds.

His hands folded behind his back, Gao Shengtai was casually strolling about asthough he were utterly indifferent to the life-and-death battles which werebeing played out before him. But in actuality, his senses were keenly attuned,and he was keeping track of the entire overall situation. So long as no oneappeared to be in imminent danger, there was not yet a need for him tointervene.

Duan Zhengchun, Dao Baifeng, Qin Hongmian, and Zhong Wanchou had disappeared.

Emperor Baoding asked, "Where is younger brother Chun?" Gao Shengtai responded,"After the South-Subduing Prince chased away gorge-master Zhong, he left withthe princess to locate young lord Duan." Emperor Baoding called out loudly, "Atthis moment, there have been unexpected developments in the situation.Everybody, withdraw!"

Ba Tianshi suddenly halted in his footsteps. Yun Zhonghe directly rushedtowards him, and immediately, with a 'peng' sound, Ba Tianshi sent out a palmtowards Yun Zhonghe, who blocked with his own twin palms. Yun Zhonghe felt asthough his mind, his qi, and his blood were all thrown into turmoil, and almostvomited blood on the spot. He forcefully suppressed the urge, but his visionhad turned blurry. He was unable to see clearly where his opponent had gone. BaTianshi, however, did not follow up on his victory and press home the attack.With a clear, cold laugh, he said, "Thanks for the lesson!"

Suddenly, Duan Zhengchun's voice could be heard from behind the copse of treesto the west. "He isn't here either. Let's return to the back of the house and checkagain." Dao Baifeng's voice followed. "Let's just find someone and interrogatethem. Can it be that this place really has no servants at all?" Next came QinHongmian's voice. "My martial-sister told them to all go into hiding."

Emperor Baoding, Gao Shengtai, and Ba Tianshi exchanged incredulous glances andsmiles. All three of them felt that the South-Subduing Prince's ability trulywas vast and godlike. None of them had a clue as to what brilliant technique heused to cause these two women, who previously had been locked in a battle oflife and death, to set aside their differences and work together to search forDuan Yu.

Only to hear Duan Zhengchun say, "Then let's go find your martial-sister. Shecertainly knows where Yu'er has been imprisoned." Dao Baifeng angrily said, "Iwon't allow you to go see Gan Baobao! You scheming bastard!" Qin Hongmian said,"My martial-sister has already sworn to never see you ever again."

While chatting, the three of them exited the tree line. Seeing Emperor Baoding,Duan Zhengchun said, "Elder brother, did you resc-...did you locate Yu'er yet?"At first, he was going to ask if Duan Yu had been rescued, but seeing that hisson wasn't here, he changed the sentence midstream. Emperor Baoding nodded. "Ifound him. Let's talk about it when we get back home."

Chu Wanli, Zhu Danchen, and the others had heard the emperor's order to ceasefighting, and had every intention of doing so, but Ye Erniang and the DivineCrocodile were enjoying the battle. They had no intention of stopping, andcontinued to embroil their opponents in this deadly battle. Emperor Baoding'sbrows furrowed slightly. "Let's go."

Gao Shengtai replied, "Yes sir!" He withdrew his iron flute from his breastpockets, and with a 'ting' sound, pointed it at the Divine Crocodile's throat.Following that, he raised his arm and flipped his hand, sweeping the fluteagainst Ye Erniang. These two attacks with the flute were both aimed atcritical cracks in the enemy's defense. The Divine Crocodile managed to dodgeby somersaulting away. With a clapping sound, the iron flute repeatedly struckYe Erniang's left arm. Ye Erniang let out a loud cry, then hastily glided away,beating a retreat.

Actually, Gao Shengtai's level of martial arts wasn't that much superior tothese two. But he had been watching the fights progress for a long time, andhad long since devised masterful strokes to deal with those two. Although hisattack seemed as though it was meant to deal purely with the Divine Crocodile,it was actually a feint. His fierce, unexpected, genuine attack was actuallyaimed towards Ye Erniang, repaying her for the injury that palm of her hadinflicted upon him. Although it appeared as though he executed these strokes ascasually as another might write a few lines of free verse, in actuality, he hadcontemplated this attack in his heart many times. He had gathered all of hispower, then struck out with full force with this attack.

The Divine Crocodile's bean-like eyes widened. He felt both alarmed andrespectful. "Sonufa*****, what a guy! I couldn't tell that you..." He didn'tcomplete the line of thought, but the meaning was naturally, "I couldn't tellthat you're actually this fearsome. Looks like your old man here isn't yourmatch, kid."

Dao Baifeng asked Emperor Baoding, "Emperor, how is Yu'er?" Emperor Baoding'smind was filled with worry, but didn't allow a single flicker of it to show onhis expression. He said, in a voice devoid of passion, "He's fine. This is anexcellent opportunity for him to build up his self-discipline and to temper hischaracter. He'll come out in a few days. We'll discuss this at length when wereturn to the palace." After these words, he turned and immediately left.

Ba Tianshi took the front and led the way, while Duan Zhengchun and his wifestayed behind the emperor. Following them was Chu, Gu, Fu, and Zhu, the FourImperial Guards, with Gao Shengtai bringing up the rear. With thatoutstandingly brilliant attack earlier, he had managed to cow those two people.Although the Divine Crocodile was violent and ferocious, he didn't dare to goup and challenge him.

After walking thirty or so meters, Duan Zhengchun couldn't help but turn hishead and gaze back at Qin Hongmian. Qin Hongmian was also watching his recedingfigure. Their two pairs of eyes met, and both of them were struck dumb.

Suddenly, Zhong Wanchou brandished his large-ringed sabre and rushed out,flustered and exasperated, from the back room. He called out, "Duan Zhengchun!On this visit, you weren't able to see my wife. Consider that your goodfortune! I won't give you trouble on your way out. My wife has already sworn anoath that she will never see you again in the future. But...but...but I can'trely on that alone! If she sees you again, maybe she'll ****ing...she'll...bah,to put it briefly, you aren't allowed to come here again!" After fighting withDuan Zhengchun and being unable to achieve victory after many stances, he hadimmediately retreated, going back to guard his wife, so as to prevent DuanZhengchun for coming for her and seducing her. After hearing his wife swear anoath that she definitely would never see Duan Zhengchun again, he was hugelyrelieved, and then hurriedly ran out again to make this demand towards DuanZhengchun.

Duan Zhengchun's heart was saddened. He secretly said to himself, "Why? Why isit that you refuse to see me in the future? You are already another man's wife.How could I possibly act to ruin your chastity? Although the second son ofDali's Duan dynasty is dissolute and lascivious, he isn't a shameless,contemptible thug. Just let me see you again. Even if the two of us stood faraway from each other and didn't say a single word to each other, I would behappy." Turning his head, he saw that his wife was gazing at him coldly. Hisown heart suddenly trembled, and he sped up his footsteps, leaving the gorge.

The party returned to Dali. Emperor Baoding said, "Everybody, let us discussthe situation at the palace." Arriving at the royal study in the imperialpalace, Emperor Baoding sat on a chair covered with leopard fur in the middleof the room. Duan Zhengchun and his wife sat on the ground next to him. GaoShengtai and the others cupped their hands, awaiting further orders.

Emperor Baoding ordered that stools be brought for each of them, then orderedfor them to be seated. Dismissing the servants, he explained how it was thatDuan Yu fell into the enemy's hands. Everyone knew that the man in green wasthe key to the situation. Upon hearing Emperor Baoding say that not only didthis person know the 'Solitary Solar Finger', but that his skill in it wasabove the emperor's own, everyone present didn't dare to interrupt. Each ofthem lowered their heads in thought. They all knew that the 'Solitary SolarFinger' was something which was passed down from one generation to the nextwithin the Duan family. Only the sons were trained in it, and not thedaughters, much less outsiders. If the man in green knew this art, he must bethe offspring of the royal line.

(Note: This rule was unbroken until a later descendant of the Duan family, DuanZhixing, also known as master Yideng, broke the ancestral proscriptions byteaching this divine art to Wang Chongyang in order to subdue Ouyang Feng. Helater passed the teachings of it to his four disciples: The fisherman, thewoodcutter, the farmer, and the scholar. For a comprehensive overview, see'Legend of the Eagle-Shooting Heroes'.) [Translator's note: This note was notput in by me, but was included in the text of my copy of the novel.]