DEMI GODS AND SEMI DEVILS Book 2 of 5 (Shrouding Screen In Suzhou) by Jin Yong

Crazy All Along Part 1

After Duan Yu had his acupoints sealed by Jiumozhi, he was unable to move whatsoever. Jiumozhi's subordinates had tossed him sideways onto the saddle of a horse, facing downwards. All he saw was the ground continuously move and the hoofs of the horse rising up and down. His mouth and nose were filled with the dirt and dust of the road. He heard his captors loudly shouting, but as they were speaking in a barbaric language that he could not understand, he did not know what they were saying. Counting the number of horse-legs that he could see, all in all there were ten horses.

After galloping for ten or so li, they arrived at a fork in the road. He heard Jiumozhi jabber a few indistinct words. Five horses took the road on the left, whereas Jiumozhi, Duan Yu, and the other horses took the right. After galloping for many more li, they arrived at yet another fork. Once again, they split into two separate groups. Duan Yu knew that Jiumozhi was trying to confuse the pursuing forces and render them uncertain as to in which direction they should chase.

After travelling for another period of time, Jiumozhi leapt off his horse. He retrieved a leather belt and tied it to Duan Yu's waist. Then, supporting Duan Yu's body with his left hand, he began to make his way through the mountain passes on foot. His two remaining servants rode off westwards with all the horses. Duan Yu was secretly anguished. "Uncle must have sent out the heavy cavalry to pursue us by now, but at most they will capture the nine servants of this barbarian monk. They won't be able to rescue me."

Although Jiumozhi was carrying someone in one arm, his steps remained light and easy. He climbed higher and higher. Six hours later, he had passed into a desolate region of untamed mountains and wild ridges. Duan Yu saw that the sun was setting in the west, and its light continuously came from the left. Jiumozhi was taking them to the north.

At nightfall, Jiumozhi tied his body to a branch on a large tree, using the belt which he had wrapped around Duan Yu's waist earlier. He didn't say a single word to Duan Yu; for the matter, he didn't even glance at him. His back facing Duan Yu, he handed him a few dry flour-biscuits that were used as field rations. He unsealed the acupoints on Duan Yu's upper arm, so as to let him hold the food. Duan Yu secretly extended his left hand, intending to generate his internal energy and use the 'Shaoze Sword' technique to attack him. However, his major acupoints all remained sealed, causing all of his internal energy to be blocked and stifled. His finger stabbed and pointed impotently, without a single bit of power behind it.

Many days passed in such a manner, as Jiumozhi carried him northwards. Duan Yu repeatedly tried to provoke Jiumozhi into speaking, asking why he was being kidnapped and why they were headed north. But Jiumozhi never responded. Duan Yu's belly was full of resentment. He thought to himself that in the past when his little sister Mu Wanqing had captured him, although he suffered quite a bit, he wasn't as bored senseless and depressed as he was right now. Not to mention, being captured by a beautiful girl who smelled wonderful and had a lovely voice even when she was shouting at him, was totally different from being carried by this barbarian monk who pretended to be deaf and dumb. This wasn't even in the same league.

After travelling in such a manner for ten or so days, Duan Yu thought that they had probably left the boundaries of Dali by now. It seemed to him that the direction in which they were travelling changed to be northeast, but they continued to avoid travelling on major roads, continuing to travel through desolate mountain passes. By now though, the terrain became smoother and smoother. The mountain ridges grew fewer in number, and more sources of running water appeared. In a single day, they would often have to ford multiple rivers. Finally, Jiumozhi bought a pair of horses, splitting them with Duan Yu. But Duan Yu's six major acupoints naturally remained sealed.

Once, when Duan Yu was taking a leak, he thought to himself, "If I exercise the steps of the 'Graceful Steps Upon the Waves', this barbarian monk wouldn't necessarily be able to follow me, right?" But after taking only two steps, the sealed acupoints prevented his internal energy from flowing through them, and he immediately fell flat on his face. He sighed, then crawled to his feet, knowing that his last hope of escape had just disappeared.

That night, the two made an overnight rest stop at an inn in a small city. Jiumozhi ordered the inn servants to bring him paper, a brush, an inkstick, and an inkstone. He placed it on the table, lit a lamp, then said, "This humble monk has offended you greatly in inviting your illustrious personage to grace me with this visit northwards. I feel deeply apologetic about this." Duan Yu said, "Mmhmm. You are too polite." Jiumozhi asked, "Do you know why I have acted in such a way?"

Duan Yu was thinking about this very subject during the entire trip. After seeing all those things placed on the desk, he guessed about eighty or ninety percent. He replied, "Can't be done." Jiumozhi asked, "What can't be done?" Duan Yu replied, "You envy and covet my family's 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' and want to force me to write it out for you. This just can't be done."

Jiumozhi shook his head. "You misunderstand. In past years, this humble monk made a promise to Mr. Murong that I would borrow your venerable monastery's manuscript and let him peruse it. My inability to fulfill this promise has always weighed heavily on my heart. Fortunately, you have memorized this technique in your heart. Without any other alternatives, I was forced to take you to Mr. Murong's grave and burn you in sacrifice. In this way, I would finally be able to fulfill my promise. But you, young prince, are as a dragon amongst men, and I have no enmity with you whatsoever. How could I dare to harm you? There is a way by which both of us can be satisfied. All you need to do is write out the instructions and draw out the diagrams, without omitting anything at all. I won't take a single peek at it and immediately seal it, then take it to Mr. Murong's tomb and burn it to ashes. After having fulfilled this important wish, I will respectfully escort you back to Dali."

Jiumozhi had said these words before, that day when he had arrived at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. At the time, Benyin and the others all were inclined to agree, and Duan Yu had also felt that this was acceptable. But afterwards, Jiumozhi had first launched a sneak attack on Emperor Baoding, then kidnapped himself, Duan Yu. He used guileful and deceitful methods to avoid pursuing forces, and showed not a single care at all for the safety and well-being of his nine subordinates. He had clearly revealed his ruthlessness and committed many crimes. How could Duan Yu trust him now? He long ago had decided that the Divine Crocodile and the other three members of the 'Four Great Evils', in openly proclaiming to be evil people, were far superior to this 'holy monk' from Tibet. Although he had very little real-world experience, Duan Yu had already mulled over this matter for the past twenty days or so and understood the critical points. He said, "Master Jiumozhi, you cannot deceive me with these words of yours."

Jiumozhi folded his hands together. "Amitabha. Everything I have done is because of the promise I made previously to Mr. Murong. This should show how highly I value my word. How can I break another promise to fulfill this one?"

Duan Yu shook his head. "No one knows whether or not you really made a promise to Mr. Murong in the past. After getting the manuscript for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', you will definitely give it a close read. Who knows if you'll actually take it to Mr. Murong's grave or not, afterwards? Even if you really plan to burn it in sacrifice, based on your intelligence, great master, after reading it a few times, you'll have memorized it completely. Maybe, fearing that you might forget or misremember some parts, you'll even make a duplicate copy before incinerating the original."

Jiumozhi's eyes widened greatly, and he fixed Duan Yu with an evil, vicious stare. But in the blink of an eye, the expression on his face turned kind and amiable. He slowly said, "Both of us are disciples of Buddha. How can you say such brash, untrue things? What a sin, what a sin. I'm afraid that I am forced to resort to compelling you a little bit. I do this to save your life. Please don't blame me." As he spoke, he extended the palm of his left hand, gently pressing it against Duan Yu's chest. "When you are unable to withstand the pain and are willing to write to write it out for me, all you need to do is nod and I will immediately release you."

Duan Yu laughed bitterly. "If I don't write the manuscript, you won't be able to bring yourself to kill me, because then you won't be able to obtain it. If I actually do write the manuscript out for you, how could you allow me to remain living? Writing it is equivalent to committing suicide. Master Jiumozhi, I understood this point thirteen days ago."

Jiumozhi let out a sigh. "Buddha, show mercy." He began to generate energy in his palm. He expected that with this stream of internal energy passing into Duan Yu's 'Shanzhong' acupoint, Duan Yu would feel as though thousands of ants were gnawing on his entire body. Even though this little princeling who had been pampered since childhood was keeping a stiff upper lip for the moment, once he suffered the torture of being in a half-dead, half-living state, he would definitely give in. He didn't expect that as soon as he generated his internal energy, it flowed away from him and disappeared. In his startlement, he generated even more power, but this time, it only disappeared even more quickly, turbulently pouring out of his body. Jiumozhi was extremely shocked. He hurriedly pushed Duan Yu's forehead hard with his right hand. Duan Yu let out an 'Ah!' cry, then fell over on top of the table, the back of his head colliding heavily with the wall.

Jiumozhi knew all along that Duan Yu had learned the 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation' from the Old Freak of Xingxiu, but with one's critical acupoints sealed, no internal-energy techniques should have been executable, regardless of whether it was orthodox or heterodox. How could he have known that when he forcefully inserted his internal energy into Duan Yu's 'Shanzhong' acupoint, it was like that day when Duan Yu was paralyzed, his mouth wide open, and helpless to do anything when the Cinnabar Toad hopped in? It had nothing to do with whether or not Duan Yu's acupoints were sealed or not. Groaning and spluttering, Duan Yu sat up. "You falsely title yourself as an eminent and enlightened monk. Do eminent monks beat people up in such a manner?"

Jiumozhi said in a severe tone, "Who, exactly, taught you this 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation'?" Duan Yu shook his head. "The 'Great Art of Energy Dissipation' is a reckless waste of resources. It is akin to throwing away a thousand pieces of gold rather than keeping it for one's own use. Such a heterodox skill is laughable! Laughable!" Without intending to, he quoted the words written within the jade cave from which he learned the 'Divine Art of the Northern Darkness.'

Jiumozhi did not understood what had happened, but did not dare to touch Duan Yu's body. However, when he had earlier sealed Duan Yu's 'Shenfeng', 'Dazhui', 'Xuanshu', and 'Jingmen' acupoints, he hadn't met with any problems. Jiumozhi thought that this person's martial arts was strange and inconceivably bizarre. It must have been some byproduct or alteration generated by his practice of the 'Single Solitary Finger' and the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. Only, as he had just started to learn this new technique, he still was not very proficient at it. Following this line of thought, he found himself all the more awed by and covetuous of the martial arts learning of Dali's Duan family. He suddenly raised his hand and struck out in the air with a stance from his 'Blazing Sabre', aiming the attack just slightly above Duan Yu's head. He shouted, "You really don't intend to write? If I aimed that strike just one foot lower, what would have happened to your head?"

Duan Yu was extremely afraid. He worried that if Jiumozhi really did get angry and poked out one of his eyes or chopped off one of his arms, what could he do about it? Some words which he had been pondering the entire trip instantly rose to the forefront of his mind, and he automatically said, "If I can't take it anymore, then I'll be forced to write whatever comes to mind, and it won't necessarily be accurate. If you damage my limbs, then I will hate you to the bone and what I write will be even more inaccurate. How about this. The manuscript that I write out, you intend to burn in front of Mr. Murong's tombstone, right? You'll immediately seal it and won't peek at it at all, right? So whether it is accurate or not has nothing to do with you. I'll just write something at random. It will just be me deceiving Mr. Murong's ghost. In the future, after his ghost in the underworld practices what I wrote and fire-deviates, damaging his ghostly meridians, he won't blame you, right?" After saying this, he went to the table, picking up the brush and spreading the paper, preparing to write.

Jiumozhi was extremely angry. With these few words, Duan Yu had torn apart his façade of seeking the manuscript of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' on behalf of Mr. Murong. At the same time, Duan Yu had also made it clear that if he, Jiumozhi, used force to coerce, the 'manual' which Duan Yu would write out would definitely be incomplete and inaccurate. The wrong sentences would be more common than the right sentences. Not only would the manual be useless, anyone who tried to practice according to its instructions would suffer great harm. In the course of his two battles against the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery, he naturally learned what the real movements of the sword techniques were. But the main essence of the skill lay not in the movements, but purely in the internal energy formulas. There would be no way for him to discern the true instructions from the false instructions for this aspect. He barely managed to avoid flying into an utter rage out of shame, but his anger was too great, and with a 'chi' sound, he struck out with a stroke from the 'Blazing Sabre' and chopped the pen in Duan Yu's hand in half.