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

Crazy All Along Part 4

Duan Yu thought to himself, "What she means is that she wants me to not reveal her secret. She's trying to fend off this evil baldy, Jiumozhi. That makes her a friend, not an enemy." He said, "Old mistress, please put your heart at ease. Now that I am at your manor, naturally I am at your disposal and will obey your commands."

Ah Zhu replied, "You are an obedient kid to listen to my words. Great, first kowtow three times to this old lady. I definitely will give you great benefits if you do so."

Duan Yu was startled. "I am the regal son of the Imperial Crown Brother of Dali. How can I kowtow to a little girl like you?"

Ah Zhu, seeing the awkward look on his face, sneered. "Good kid, let me tell you right now, the best choice for you is to obediently kowtow a few times to your granny."

Duan Yu turned his head, and saw Ah Bi, lips pursed in a smile, casting side-glances at him. Her skin was as white as freshly peeled water chestnuts, and a small, fine black mole was at the corner of her lips, making her look all the more charming and lovely. His heart was suddenly stirred. "Sister Ah Bi, I heard that there is a sister Ah Zhu in your respect manor. Is she...is she was beautiful as you are?" Ah Bi smiled. "Aha! How could an ugly freak like me be worthy of such praise? If sister Ah Zhu heardja askin' questions like that, she'd definitely be real unhappy-like, yeah? How can I compare to her? Sister Ah Zhu is ten times more beautiful than I am." Duan Yu asked, "Truly?" Ah Bi grinned, "Why would I lie to ya?" Duan Yu said, "For a person to be ten times more beautiful than you is totally impossible, unless...unless it's the goddess of the jade cavern. For a person to even be on your level would make them a rare beauty." Ah Bi's cheeks flushed red. She bashfully said, "The old mistress asked you to kowtow. Who asked you to praise me so highly?"

Duan Yu said, "The old mistress must have originally been a nationally famous, heaven-like beauty as well. To tell you the truth, I don't really care if I get any benefits, but am more than willing to kowtow a few times to a world class beauty." As he spoke, he fell to his knees. He thought to himself, "Since I am going to kowtow, I might as well do so loudly. I already kowtowed a few thousand times to the jade statue. What's the big deal if I kowtow to a beautiful lady of the jianghu a few times?" He immediately kowtowed loudly three times.

Ah Zhu was extremely delighted. She though to herself, "This young master clearly knows that I'm just a little servant girl, but is actually willing to kowtow to me. This is really rare." She said, "Good kid, very good, very good. It's too bad that I didn't bring you a meeting-present." Ah Bi interjected, "Old mistress, just don't forget about it an' jes' give it to'm next time."

Ah Zhu glanced at Ah Bi. She said towards Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi, "Why haven't these two guests kowtowed to me?" Guo Yanzhi let out a 'hmph' sound. In a rough voice and with a rough attitude, he said, "Do you know martial arts or not?" Ah Zhu said, "What did you say?" Guo Yanzhi replied, "I asked if you know martial arts or not. If you possess a high level of martial arts, then I, Guo Yanzhi, am willing to die underneath your hand, Mistress Murong! But if you aren't a member of the wulin, then there's no need for me to bother wasting my breath with you." Ah Zhu shook her head. "What's this about a hundred-legged centipede? Naturally, we have centipedes here. When they bite people, it's very painful!" [Centipede sounds similar to martial arts]. Turning towards Jiumozhi, she said, "Great monk, I hear you want to go check out my nephew's tomb. What type of treasure do you intend to pilfer from the tomb?"

Although Jiumozhi still did not realize that she was actually a girl, he had long sinced figured out that she was just pretending to be deaf and dumb, and that she wasn't as near-sighted or as muddle-headed as she pretended to be. He became more guarded, and thought to himself, "Mr. Murong was such an extraordinary figure. His family members must be exceptional as well." He pretended to not have heard the words, "pilfer from the tomb", and said, "This humble monk was a close bosom friend of Mr. Murong. After hearing the horrible news of his passing, I have rushed here from Tibet to pay my respects before his tomb. In the past, I made a promise to Mr. Murong to bring him the manuscript for the Duan family of Dali's 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' and let him check it out. For me to still have not carried out my promise fills my heart with shame."

Ah Zhu and Ah Bi exchanged glances. They both thought to themselves, "Finally, this monk has brought up the relevant issues." Ah Zhu asked, "And what happens if you are able to bring the manuscript for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'? What happens if you are not?" Jiumozhi replied, "In the past, Mr. Murong and I made an agreement; as long as I was able to retrieve the manual of the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' for him to read for a few days, he would allow me to read for a few days in the 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment'. Ah Zhu suddenly felt afraid. "For this monk to actually know the name, 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment'...maybe he is telling the truth after all." She immediately pretended to be confused and said, "What's this about porridge and boiled dumplings? Do you want some porridge and chicken broth dumplings? That's easily done. You are a monk. Can you eat meat or fish?"

Jiumozhi turned his head towards Ah Bi. "I don't know if this old mistress is truly confused or just faking it. For her to be so unwelcoming cannot help but to give a feeling of coldness in one's heart."

Ah Zhu said, "Oh, so your heart is feeling cold? Ah Bi, quick, go and make a bowl of hot chicken and duck blood soup so as to warm this great master's heart and lungs." Ah Bi held in her laughter. "The master doesn't eat meat." Ah Zhu nodded. "Then don't use real chickens and real ducks. Use vegetarian chicken and vegetarian duck meat [usually made from tofu and veggies]." Ah Bi said, "Old mistress, vegetarian chicken doesn't have any blood." Ah Zhu said, "Then what are we to do?"

The two of them exchanged one phrase after another, and all their words were full of nonsense. Most people of Suzhou had quick teeth and clever mouths. In later generations, the story-telling abilities of Suzhou people became famous throughout the world because of this. These two girls were used to messing around and teasing each other, and they now rendered Jiumozhi unable to do anything.

Originally, he came to Gusu with the intention of discussing an important matter with young master Murong. Unexpectedly, the young master was not present, and everyone he met intertwined falsehoods with obfuscations, sometimes seeming to do so inadvertently, other times seeming to act in such a way on purpose, intermixing lies with truth. This rendered him unable to decide how to handle the situation. After a brief moment of pondering, he concluded that madame Murong, Sun San, old servant Huang, and Ah Bi were all trying to ward him off. Since they would not let him visit the mausoleum, they definitely would not be willing to allow him to enter the 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment' and read secret martial arts manuals. At this moment, he decided, what he should do would be to clearly explain the situation and ignore their play-acting and deception. That way, in the future, regardless of whether they treated him with respect or came to blows with him, he would have already claimed the moral high ground. He immediately said in a calm, even-tempered voice, "I have brought the manuscript for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. Thus, I make the daring request that we act in accordance with the agreement and I be allowed to go read in the 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment'." Ah Bi said, "Old master Murong has already passed away. First, there's no evidence of this agreement. Secondly, even if you brought the manual, there is nobody present who is capable of reading it. Any agreements made in the past are naturally no longer valid now." Ah Zhu said, "What sword manual? Where is it? Let me check it out first."

Pointing to Duan Yu, Jiumozhi said, "Within this young gentleman's mind lies the fully memorized manuscript for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. I have brought him here; this is the same as bringing an actual manuscript." Ah Bi smiled. "I thought there really was a manual. So you were playing a joke on us, great master." Jiumozhi said, "I wouldn't dare. The original manual for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' has been burnt to ash by elder Kurong at the Heavenly Dragon Monastery. Fortunately, this gentleman has fully memorized it all." Ah Bi replied, "If young master Duan memorized it, then it's his business. Even if we were to invite someone to the 'Water Pavilion of Bestowal and Repayment' to read, it would be him. What does it have to do with you, great master?" Jiumozhi replied, "In order to fulfill my promise of latter days, I intend to immolate him in front of Mr. Murong's mausoleum."

Upon hearing these words, everyone was astonished. But seeing the calm, placid, serious expression on the face, he definitely did not appear to be making a joke. This astonished them all the more. Ah Bi said, "Great master, you must be jesting! How can he allow you to just casually cremate him like that?" Jiumozhi said dully, "If I want to immolate him, I don't think he would be able to resist." Ah Bi smiled. "Great master, you say that young gentleman Duan has memorized the manual for the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', but that clearly cannot be true. If young gentleman Duan really memorized such a fearful martial arts as the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians', how could he be so easily controlled by you?" Jiumozhi nodded. "Miss, you know only half the story. I have sealed all of his major acupoints, and he is unable to exert any energy at all."

Ah Zhu shook her head continuously. "I believe you even less now. Unseal his acupoints and let him show off the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians' first. I think that ninety nine percent of your words are lies." Jiumozhi nodded. "Good idea. We can demonstrate."

Duan Yu praised Ah Bi as being beautiful, and was absolutely charmed by her vocal and instrumental musical skills. Ah Bi naturally liked him. In addition, not only did he not reveal Ah Zhu's disguise, he also kowtowed to her three times; this made Ah Zhu happy with him as well. Thus, upon hearing that his acupoints had been sealed, both of the girls wanted to trick Jiumozhi into unsealing his acupoints. They didn't expect that Jiumozhi would immediately agree. He stretched out his palm towards Duan Yu's body and tapped his hand a few times towards Duan Yu's back, chest, and legs. Duan Yu instantly felt as though his acupoints became unsealed, and the flow of his blood became unimpeded. As soon as he generated his internal energy, he could feel his qi beginning to circulate throughout his body. He experimentally generated his energy in accordance with the directions for the 'Zhongchong Sword' technique, inciting his internal energy to pass to the middle finger of his right hand. He felt a roasting hot sensation at the tip of his middle finger, and knew that all he needed to do would be to extend his finger and sword qi would immediately shoot out.

Jiumozhi said, "Young master Duan, mistress Murong does not believe that you have practiced the 'Divine Sword of the Six Meridians'. Please show off your ability. Do as I do, and chop off a branch from this osmanthus tree." As he spoke, he sent out a slanting palm strike with his left palm. His palm released its stored up internal energy; it was a stroke from his 'Blazing Sabre' technique. With a light cracking sound, a single branch of the osmanthus tree broke in half and fell to the ground, as though someone had chopped it with a sabre or a sword.

Cui Baiquan and Guo Yanzhi couldn't help but let out an 'Ah!' cry of alarm. Although they knew that this barbarian monk possessed some extremely unusual skills, they thought that his skills were simply heterodox and evil. Only now, when they watched him chop off a tree branch, did they realize how profound his internal energy was. His internal energy was at a level that was rarely heard of and rarely seen.