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

Sword Qi And Line Of Jade Smoke Part 1

Early in the morning, Duan Zhengchun bid his wife and son farewell. Upon hearing Duan Yu say that Mu Wanqing had already slipped away with her mother the previous night, he seemed dazed for a long time. He let out a sigh, then inquired as to the status of Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi. He was informed that the two had left early in the morning, travelling northwards. Following this, he took the three ministers and four imperial guards to meet with Emperor Baoding, before departing with the monks Huizhen and Huiguan for Luliang prefecture. Duan Yu escorted him for ten li past the eastern gate before turning back.

By now, it was afternoon. Emperor Baoding was within his palace, reading and reciting Buddhist scriptures, when a eunuch named Zhanshi from Duan Zhengchun's palace entered with a message. "Reporting to your majesty. Your imperial brother's son has fallen ill to some sort of strange disease. The imperial doctor has already been dispatched to investigate." Emperor Baoding had been worried all along that Duan Yu might not have escaped from Crown Prince Yanqing's poison without injury. He immediately sent two of his own eunuch's to further investigate the situation. After an hour had passed, the two eunuch's returned with news. "Your Imperial Crown Brother's son's disease is a serious one. His mind seems to be deranged."

Emperor Baoding was inwardly alarmed. He immediately left his palace, heading towards the South Subduing Palace to personally investigate. As soon as he reached Duan Yu's bedchamber, he could hear a cacophonous series of sounds without end. Peng peng, ping pang, ka la, qiang lang. It was as though many household utensils were being smashed. The servants outside the room immediately knelt upon seeing the Emperor. A look of panic was on their faces.

Upon entering the room, Emperor Baoding saw Duan Yu dancing in the middle of the room like a madman, tossing and throwing about all sorts of household items, including the tables and the chairs. The two imperial physicians were dodging this way and that way, a pitiable sight. Emperor Baoding cried out, "Yu'er, what's wrong?"

Duan Yu was still quite clear-headed. However, the internal energy flowing throughout his body was simply too powerful, raging as though it were preparing to burst forth from his chest. If he waved his arms about and destroyed some things, he felt slightly more comfortable. Upon seeing Emperor Baoding enter the room, he called out, "Uncle, I'm about to die!" His two hands frantically drew circles in the air as he spoke.

Dao Baifeng was standing off to one side, tears flowing. She said, "Elder brother, Yu'er was perfectly fine this morning when he saw his father off. I don't know how or why, but he's suddenly gone mad." Emperor Baoding consoled her, "Sister-in-law, it must be that the drugs he was poisoned with in the Ten Thousand Calamities Gorge have not fully been eradicated yet. It won't be too hard to cure." He said to Duan Yu, "How are you feeling?"

Repeatedly stamping his feet, Duan Yu replied, "My entire body feels swollen and is incredibly painful." Emperor Baoding saw that the skin on his face and his hands seemed unblemished and perfectly normal, without the slightest sign of swelling at all. This, clearly, was a case of Duan Yu's mind being confused. He couldn't help but furrow his forehead.

As it were, this was caused by his draining of a small half of the internal energy reserves of those five master martial artists last night. At the time, he hadn't noticed anything amiss, and after he had seen his father off, he went home and took a small nap. In the midst of his slumber, his internal energy began to circulate improperly, and instantly began to rush about wildly. Duan Yu had immediately jumped up and began to exercise the steps of the Graceful Steps Upon the Waves. But as he moved faster and faster, the energy in his body only grew more and more agitated, growing even wilder and even less controllable. Right away, he began to shout and howl, terrifying everyone in the household.

An imperial physician opined, "Your majesty, his pulse is incredibly strong and vigorous right now. It seems as though his blood vessels have become enormously dilated. In your humble servant's opinion, a little bit of bloodletting may prove helpful. May we try it?" Thinking to himself that this idea might have some merit, Emperor Baoding nodded. "Fine. Go ahead and bleed him a little." The imperial physician replied, "Yes sir!" Opening his medicine bag, he retrieved from within a porcelain box a particularly large and fat leech. Leeches were considered to be an excellent way to bleed a patient, as it could draw away a patient's blood conveniently but not cause pain. Grabbing onto Duan Yu's forearm, the imperial physician carefully placed the leech directly on top of a blood vessel. But as soon as the leech touched Duan Yu's body, it began to writhe and squirm. No matter what the imperial physician did, it refused to bite Duan Yu. The imperial physician was startled. He forcefully pressed the leech down against Duan Yu's blood vessels. After some time passed, the leech's body grew stiff. It had actually died. The imperial physician, having humiliated himself in front of the emperor, began to sweat. He hurriedly withdrew a second leech from his medicine bag, but to no effect; it, too, ossified and died.

A worried look on his face, the other physician interjected, "Your majesty, he must have been poisoned by some sort of powerful toxin. Even the leech was poisoned to death." He had no idea that Duan Yu had swallowed the "King of Ten Thousand Poisons", the Cinnabar Toad. Any sort of serpent or vermin, upon smelling Duan Yu, would fearfully scurry far away. Even the most venomous of vipers would be cowed into submission, much less a mere leech.

Emperor Baoding was extremely worried. He asked, "What sort of poison is it, for it to be so incredibly lethal?" The physician replied, "In your humble servant's opinion, your nephew's pulse seems to be incredibly dry. He must have been poisoned by some sort of extremely hot poison. But as to exactly what that poison might be? Well...that is....forgive your humble servant's inadequacy..." The other physician said, "I disagree. His pulse appears to have a deficiency of Yin. The toxin must be cold in nature. A hot toxin may neutralize it." In reality, Duan Yu's body was not only bursting with powerful, vigorous, masculine Yang internal energy from the Yellow Browed Monk, the Divine Crocodile, and Zhong Wanchou, but also with the soft Yin internal energy from Ye Erniang and Yun Zhonghe. Each of the physicians could only grasp half of the problem, and thus were unable to come up with the real answer as to why he was so ill.

Emperor Baoding listened as the two physicians debated each other incessantly. They were the finest medical minds Dali had to offer, and yet their diagnoses differed so radically. However, it was unarguable that his nephew's illness was bizarre to the extreme. Stretching out the 'Shi', 'Zhong', and 'Wuming' fingers [the index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger, respectively], he gently touched the "Lique" acupoint on Duan Yu's wrist. The scions of the Duan family had a strange characteristic; unlike ordinary people, whose pulses flowed through the "Cunkou" point, theirs flowed through the "Lique" point. This was what physicians termed the "Reversed Juncture Pulse".

Upon seeing Emperor Baoding demonstrate a profound knowledge of medicine with this simple movement, the two famous physicians were in awe. One of them said, "This is written in medical books: 'A Reversed Juncture Pulse on the left hand is the sign of nobility; one on the right hand is a symbol of wealth. For both hands to have a reversed juncture is a sign of great nobility and great wealth.' His highness, the South Subduing Prince, and his nephew all have 'Reversed Juncture Pulses' on both hands."

The other one opined, "One needn't test their acupoints to know that these three are of great nobility and wealth." The first one replied, "That isn't the point. For his nephew to have two 'Reversed Juncture Pulses' is a sign that although this illness is certainly fearful, it will not prove to be a serious problem." The second physician disagreed. He secretly thought to himself, "What, no one who is both rich and noble can die young?" But he didn't dare say this aloud.

Emperor Baoding found that his nephew's pulse was both strong and quick. If it continued, how could his heart possibly stand the strain? He exerted the slightest bit of pressure with his finger, trying to discover any irregularities within Duan Yu's internal energy's circulatory system. Immediately, his own internal energy began to flow towards Duan Yu, disappearing without a trace. Greatly astonished, he hurriedly released Duan Yu.

He was unaware that Duan Yu had already learned the "Divine Art of the Northern Darkness" and mastered the 'Shoutaiyinfei' channels of absorption. The 'Lieque' acupoint just so happened to be part of that set of meridian channels. When he exerted his internal energy, he only filled Duan Yu's body with even more internal energy.

Duan Yu cried out, "Ow!" His entire body began to violently shake, trembling without end.

Emperor Baoding retreated two steps. He said, "Yu'er, did you somehow come across Ding Chunqiu of Xingxiuhai?" Duan Yu replied, "Ding...Ding Chunqiu? Your nephew doesn't know the person." Emperor Baoding replied, "Rumors say that he is an old man with the appearance similar to that of a Taoist divinity in paintings." Duan Yu replied, "I've never met him before!" Emperor Baoding said, "This man is learned in heretic and evil martial arts, and is a master at dissolving and destroying the internal energy of others with some sort of skill called the "Great Art of Energy Dissipating. He can cause the internal energy which a martial artist has cultivated all his life to be destroyed in a day. There is nobody in the wulin world who does not utterly despise him. If...if you never met him, how could you have learned this evil skill?" Duan Yu hurriedly replied, "I have never...never learned such a skill. 'Ding Chunqiu' and the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipating'...this is the first time I've ever heard of either."

Emperor Baoding felt that Duan Yu wouldn't lie to him, much less try to dissipate his own internal energy. Suddenly, another thought hit him. "I know! It must be that Crown Prince Yanqing learned this heretic skill. Somehow, he must have found a way to implant the art within Yu'er's body, with the intention of using Yu'er to harm me and brother Chun. Hmph, this man claims to be the 'Most Evil Man in the World'. He lives up to the reputation!"

He saw Duan Yu randomly scratch and tear at his body, ripping his clothes to utter shreds. Bloody lines began to appear on Duan Yu's body. It was only with an effort that he managed to refrain from howling out, but continuous groans escaped from his lips. Dao Baifeng repeatedly tried to console him, "Yu'er, just endure it for a bit longer. Everything will be alright soon." Emperor Baoding thought to himself, "What a difficult problem...I must seek advice from the Heavenly Dragon Monastery." He said, "Yu'er, I am going to take you to pay your respects to a number of elders. I'm sure that they will have some way to cure this vile poison!" Duan Yu replied, "Yes sir!" Dao Baifeng hurriedly retrieved a new set of garments for her son to change into. Emperor Baoding escorted him out of the palace. Each mounting a chariot, they rode for Mt. Diancang.

The Heavenly Dragon Monastery was located outside of the city of Dali, being situated in the northern peaks of the Diancang mountains. Its formal name was the 'Sublime Sage Monastery' [Chongsheng Si], but the citizens had become accustomed to simply calling it the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Its was built on the shoulders of Mt. Diancang, facing the waters of a river, an utterly lovely sight The monastery had three pagodas which were built during the Tang dynasty. The largest one was sixteen stories high, stretching over seventy meters. At the top, the following words were inscribed in metal: "Virtuously Built by Yuchi Jing, Loyal Officer of the Great Tang." Of the five treasures of the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, the three pagodas were considered to be the chief.

Many of the ancestors of the Duan family who became Emperor eventually discarded their thrones and became monks here, at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Thus, the Heavenly Dragon Monastery became the family temple for the imperial family of Dali. It was the most respected and venerated monastery in all of Dali. After each former Emperor came here, upon their birthdays, their sons and grandsons would come to the monastery to pay their respects. And each time they paid their respects, they would build a new building as a gift. The temple possessed three pavilions, seven storied buildings, nine halls, and a hundred mansions, all of them huge in size and majestic in beauty. Even the most famous Buddhist mountain temples of the central plains, such as Wutai, Putuo, Jiuhua, or Emei could not match its splendid opulence. Only, it was situated too far to the south, and thus its fame was not as great.

During the journey, Duan Yu listened to his uncle's instructions and suppressed the incessantly clashing and raging energy streams within him. As the pain subsided slightly, he arrived with his uncle in front of the monastery. Emperor Baoding was very familiar with the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, having often come here, and immediately searched for the abbot of the monastery, master Benyin.

In terms of familial relationship, Abbot Benyin would be considered Emperor Baoding's uncle. However, as a monk, he did not need to pay Emperor Baoding the respects due to a king, nor did Emperor Baoding need to treat him as he might ordinarily treat a family elder. The two met with each other on equal terms. Emperor Baoding explained how Duan Yu was kidnapped by Crown Prince Yanqing, how he had been poisoned with a vile venom, and how he had been afflicted with an evil skill that caused him to dissolve the internal energy of others.

Abbot Benyin mumbled to himself for a short period of time, then said, "Please accompany me to Muni [as in Sakyamuni] Pavilion and meet with my three apprentice-brothers." Emperor Baoding said, "I have disturbed the tranquil meditations of so many master monks. My sin is grievous indeed!" Abbot Benyin replied, "The son of the South Subduing Prince shall one day be the heir to the throne of Dali, which will be a true blessing to the people of the country. Your experience and internal energy can only be above that of my own. For you to come and ask me for help can only mean that this is a difficult problem indeed. I cannot help you by myself, and must consult with my apprentice-brothers."