Zhongshan, mid summer, kuiwei year.
The path seemed quiet in the afternoon. The sound of birds chirping loudly, ignoring the presence of a boy looking for some firewood by the edge of the road. A pair of deer stared at him momentarily, then stepped back together. A tree snake crept down from a branch and the boy casually tossed it away with a stick of wood.
The boy was only thirteen years old. His face was handsome and his skin was bright even though he was wearing shabby clothes and his appearance was a bit messy. His eyes shone interestingly, his movements invited attention. He did not look like an ordinary village boy. He let his sleeves up to his elbows and show some of his strong muscles, obviously a young boy who often practiced martial arts.
The young boy's movements were very mild. He picked up the logs with agility, occasionally jumped toward the tree to take out what was dry and nearly broken, then place it in a basket hanging on his back. He had collected some woods, he felt enough, then went down the path and wanted to return to his place of residence.
A black tiger cub looked out of the basket on its back, but apparently couldn't get out because it was injured and weak. The young boy felt a movement, then lowered the basket and pulled the little tiger out of it. Sure enough, the little tiger had his leg wounded in a hunter's trap and the boy had wrapped it in cloth. Blood seemed to seep out, indicating the wound was not yet completely healed.
"Don't be afraid, I'll take you home," said the boy to the little tiger, "master can certainly help treat you."
His little voice was sweet although he was a boy. The little tiger stared at him, trusted him, then crouched down in his arms quietly. The young boy took his basket and put it on his back, then continue walked down the road until he saw an intersection. He stopped reluctantly.
Two horsemen were there, stopping in the middle of the road, busy arguing which road should be taken. When the men saw a young boy appeared, they came closer to ask him.
"Son, do you know which way lead to Xuanwu Lake?" one asked, "the left one or the right one?"
Each of the horsemen was a middle age man, they looked identical since they were brothers. One of them had big and tall body, with short beard on his chin, holding a wide saber with him, apparently was the big brother. The other one was skinnier with clean face and uneven eyebrows, his weapon was a thin sword, looked like the younger brother. Both men seemed very tired, their hands and legs were covered by bandages, just like the little tiger in the young boy's arm.
The young boy shook his head. He just arrived in this area a couple days back with his master. They came from another province. He could tell where the mountain was, but he had no idea if there was a lake nearby.
"Is there any village or small town around here?" the other man, the young brother, asked and the young boy shook his head again. He lived in a small rotten hut with his master, never see other people in this Zhongshan Mountain.
"Erdi (second brother), this village boy looks stupid," the older man stated, "we better take the right road first, avoid the Ma guy and his brothers first, take care the rest later."
"All right."
They raced their horses and went down the road, leaving the boy in a hurry. The boy looked at them without doing anything. The two men called him stupid, he did not really care. His master had told him, strangers had no rights to assess, just call it fart when they do. The boy continued his steps casually.
The sound of the wind blowed out of sudden. Small pebbles flew from a certain direction. The boy swiftly jumped behind a large tree, almost dopped the small tiger in his arms. A single stone nearly hit his head, but he bowed quickly to dodge it.
Horse neighing sound was heard in the next second. The boy turned his head and watched as the two riders had fallen had fallen to the ground, their horses fled as if they got whipped away. Apparently, the pebbles flew was not an ordinary one, as the boy's master told him once about people who can use pebbles as secret weapon, could even injure or kill someone.
He held his tiger cub in his arm tightly, covering his head so the animal cannot see what was happening. The two brothers who had fallen to the ground had not yet risen to their feet, suddenly their hands and feet were entangled by a number of tendrils of plants, then they were dragged along the road. The sound of their frighten screams was heard as they were completely helpless to escape. Neither were they seen who had thrown pebbles or ensnared them.
The boy put down his basket again, then placed the tiger cub inside, gave him sign not to make any sound. Then he ran and followed the two men dragged along the road. The older brother's saber fell out, but it was too heavy for the boy to pick up.
The two men dragged into the bushed, far enough in the coverts. Their clothes, skin and faces had been scratched all over. The boy ran to follow them, just to see them hung on a tree like trapped animal. When the younger brother's sword also fell from his waist, the boy took it, he wanted to use it to help the two men.
"Jinshui, stay away!" another man's sound was heard a second later, an old man. At the same time, the boy's collar was captured by someone so he could not go any further. He realized who had caught him instantly and dropped the sword he held.
"Master," he called, "if we don't help them, they'll die."
"Their death has nothing to do with you," said the old man. "Why you care?"
The old man who caught the boy was an old man whose hair and beard were all white, almost silver, he was old enough to be his grandfather. His clothes were also all white and clean, only a long, linen wrapped shabby packaged on his back that didn't match his appearance. He appeared behind the boy and grabbed him with the precise movements. His action was really smooth, indicating he had good martial skills.
The two men hanging on tree were still screaming in pain. The voice of the person who caught them could not be heard, even the shadow was not visible. A moment later there appeared a number of tendrils moving, grabbing their bodies, twisting tightly. The younger brother was even entangled in the face, make him unable to speak.
The boy Jinshui broke free from his master's grip, took the sword he dropped, then approached the two men to help them.
"You still want to help them?" the old man called.
"Waigong (maternal grandfather) said, we have to help others in need," Jinshui replied.
"Do you know who they are?" asked the old man.
"No, I don't."
"They are bad people, do you still want to help them?"
"Mmm…." Jinshui could not answer since his grandfather never explained further.
"Those two are Zhu Zifu and Zhu Zixing, known as Fuxing Dao Jian (Saber and Sword of Luck)," the old man explained quickly. "Calling them criminals are too much, but they definitely are not good people. I heard they like to collect treasure, neglecting their wives and children for their own pleasure."
"My father left my mother and me as well," said the boy, "but if he was tortured like that, I too hope someone will come to help him."
"You don't know your father, don't speak nonsense," the old man angrily stroke a big tree nearby. A large energy tide flew out of his palm, hit the tree right in the middle, and cut it down.
Jinshui stepped back, covered his mouth with one hand in shock. He never knew his father, his grandfather never told him if his father was dead. In his mind, his father left him and his mother, just like the father of the saber sharpener man in the market who told him stories. But each time he mentioned this in front of his master, the old man did not look happy.
A laughing sound from distance was heard. It was not clear man or woman's sound, but the voice was really deafening. The old man took Jinshui's hand and pulled him away, but Jinshui tried to escape.
"You still want to help?" the old man asked.
Jinshui nodded timidly. Apparently, he was a stubborn boy. He wanted to help, definitely would not back down no matter what. He knew his master did not agree, but he still wanted to go.
"Do you know who did that to those Fuxing Dao Jian?" the master asked again.
Jinshui shook his head. The laughing sound was heard again, clearly a man's voice this time, and it was far worse than the previous one. The old man held tight his disciple's hand, took away the thin sword from him.
"Laoer (Second), looks like someone is here to interfere us the Demons of Liangshan," the sound of one who wasn't clear if it was a man or woman was heard.
"Laosi (Four), since when I, from the Ma Clan, am afraid of someone? These two Zhu Brothers, I just want to play with them, I would not take their life. If there's anyone else want to take part, we can have fun with them as well."
"Laoer, the man can take down a tree with a single palm, he certainly has good ability, do you know who he is?" another voice was heard, deeper and rougher compared to the first two.
"My surname is Ren, just someone passing by," the old man yelled, answering the three voices shouted to each other. "I was just lecturing my naughty student, have no intention to mess with the heroes of Liangshan." He called the criminals self-called demons as heroes, hoping to avoid trouble with them. If it wasn't for Jinshui's, he would not make a sound and let other knowing his presence.
"Your surname is Ren?" the third man voice, the rough one, asked. "Where were you old hero coming from? I could not recall a hero surnamed Ren with great martial skills."
"Just an old man from mountain, no way you have heard my name," the old man said again, "maybe we will meet again some other time. Today I have a student to teach, I have to go."
His voice was trembled a little at the end. He never did humble himself in front of others for decades, now to avoid anyone recognize him, he must go away as soon as he could. It was never his intention, but the name of the Liangshan Demons had already known in the martial world. The old man could help the two brothers with his ability, but he could not fight the demons.
Among the six Liangshan Demons, it seemed that only three were present. The other three had not yet been arrived, including their female leader, who was known to have the best ability. If he killed the three demons here, the other three would not stay quiet and definitely would track him down. Worse, they will find who he was and what he was doing, thus creating another problem.
Jinshui realized his master's hand trembled as he was dragged away to leave the two brothers, inevitably he was scared as well. All the way up to this place, the master had told him many times, asked him not to get involved with other people. Even for resting and sleeping, they would prefer the deep forest or high mountain, and always avoid meeting anyone. They were some kind of fugitive, but Jinshui was too young to understand everything.
Jinshui just met his master for the first time around five years ago. At the beginning, Moying (Eagle Fiend), the master, taught him some breathing techniques and practice some simple moves as self-defense for about a month, asked him to continue practice on his own before leaving him. Jinshui really liked what he was taught, then practiced it seriously.
Two years later, the master returned, had a serious discussion with Jinshui's grandfather, the one took care of him since he was born. Jinshui did not know what they discussed, then his grandfather told him that Moying will take him to his birth father. Jinshui just found out his father was still alive then.
He was just a young boy, he did not understand why his father never come, never meet him, and he never heard a bit about him even when his mother died. His grandfather never told him anything, until Moying came still said nothing.
Before leaving, Jinshui saw a bunch of men dressed in black with mask covering their faces, hunting him and the master. His grandfather was stabbed when he tried to block them. Moying tried to help, but the grandfather did not make it. The master then told Jinshui that the people hunting them were the enemies of Jinshui's father. The boy was still young, he knew he must ask everything to his father later when they meet.
But shortly after, the master told him, Jinshui would not be able to see his father since the father had deceased. Jinshui knew he has no other relatives, he had no choice but to go with the master, hoping he can find out where he actually came from. However, Moying told him the time was not yet to come. The old man said, when Jinshui already mastered all the weird techniques he taught, then he would tell him everything.
They started moving from one place to another since, continued to avoid other people. They were found a couple times, Moying was seriously injured once, but the old man did not give up, struggled to stay alive, taught Jinshui more and more. He asked the boy to memorize a bunch of old script. Jinshui did not understand, however the boy was smart enough and he did not let his master down.
One day another stranger came to Jinshui and his master, delivered a short message, then left. The next day, the master took Jinshui to Zhongshan, told him that they will see some friends. Jinshui knew he could not ask too many questions since he had not yet mastered the strange techniques his master taught him, he could only nod and followed the master.
The two brothers hanging on the tree were now quiet, their screaming stopped. Jinshui worried they really die. He did not think so much further. He bit his master's hand to let himself go. Moying did not see that coming, he did not expect his student to be so desperate.
"Let them go!" the boy yelled.
"Jinshui!"
Moying jumped fast to catch him. The two Fuxing Dao Jian were in a distance, Jinshui did not get the chance to come near. Moying had not do anything yet.
The two brothers hanging on the tree suddenly fell to the ground. The tendrils tied on their body had been cut off by some secret weapon shaped like a coin. The voices of the three demons torturing them were not heard momentarily. Moying pulled Jinshui back.
"You don't need to help them, there's already someone else doing it," he said harshly.
"They are injured," said Jinshui. "Master, please help them."
Another man was already arrived by the side of the two Zhu brothers. Jinshui remembered him as the one met him and Moying to deliver short message to go to Zhongshan, just a couple days back. Another old man, his hair and beard were silvery gray. His clothes were long dark green robes, his face was really wrinkly, made him look older than he should.
Moying pulled Jinshui closer and the boy immediately ran towards the Fuxing Dao Jian brothers, removing the tendrils off their body. The two brothers were injured and exhausted, their skin was scraped a lot due to the severity of the tendrils. The younger brother was already completely unconscious.
"I'm Cai Wennian, also known as Chailang (Wild Wolf), one of the Yumen Ba Weishen (Eight Guardians of Yumen)," the silvery gray old man yelled to the three Liangshan Demon. "I hold no grudge whatsoever against the brothers from Liangshan, it's just these two people had owed me some money, they had not paid it back yet, how could they just die? I'm here to keep them alive for another day."
"Yumen Ba Weishen?" the startled voices of the three demos hiding among the tress was heard.
"Don't forget me, Xiezhang (Bloody Palm)," another man called out. Following a glimpse of shadow, another old man was present. He was a hunchback with some long gaudy hands. In contrast to his serious looking friends, this person's face smiled all the time it did not seem to fit his imperfect physical condition.
The rough sound of one of the Liangshan Demon was heard again.
"Your sect has been destroyed, it's really nice if three Weishen, or all eight, are here," he said, "we will soon see you all being hunted by the martial arts heroes and die in pain just like others."
"We still have time to get rid of the three of you before anyone else come," Xiezhang replied calmly. His long hand slammed a huge rock nearby as he spoke, leaving a mark there without touching it directly. He clearly possessed a large amount of energy in his palm, leaving Jinshui amazed when the rock shattered into pieces shortly after.
"You may keep those two Zhu Brothers live for now," the voice of the second demon was heard. "We will play with them again later."
"Get them!" Chailang flicked some of his coin like weapons, then chased down the three demons, followed by Xiezhang and Moying as well. Jinshui could not go after them, for sure, he stayed and tried to wake Zhu Zixing up. The older brother Zhu Zifu had sat cross legged on the ground, tried to restore his strength. Jinshui had seen his master Moying healed himself using similar method, he watched carefully.
"Eh, you are doing what my master did," he said.
"Who are you?" Zhu Zixing woke up and strenuously sat down. "Did you just help us?"
"My master did," replied Jinshui despite Moying did not do any help. The two Fuxing Dao Jian knew it, they admired the boy did not take credit for himself.
"What is your relationship with Yumen Ba Weishen?" Zhu Zixing asked a while after. "What is a boy like you doing with them?"
"My surname is Hua," Jinshui replied honestly. "Master Moying is my teacher. I don't know the other two."
"There's a rumor in the martial world, the late leader of the demon sect has an illegitimate son, looks like it's true," Zhu Zifu said also, "even Ba Weishen are busy protecting you, I believe it's a direct order from their leader."
"What?" Jinshui did not understand the meaning of illegitimate son.
"We accidentally offended the Liangshan Demon," said Zhu Zixing, "their Second is famous for bullying people. They'd been chasing us for several times. If you are not helping us today, they will torment us endlessly. We Fuxing Dao Jian express gratitude to you all."
"Do you know my father?" Jinshui asked. He knew he cannot ask Moying before he completed his training, but Moying never said he cannot ask for someone else's explanation.
"I can see that you are a good boy," Zhu Zifu said, "Yumen is a demonic sect. Their late leader had committed a lot of injustice. You should leave them while you still can, do not join them."
"I can't," shook Jinshui. "I made a promise I cannot break."
"Our sect's business don't need you Taomei Dao Jian (Saber and Sword of Bad Luck) to intervene," Moying had return, slapped each of the Zhu Brothers instantly. His movement was rapid, the two brothers and Jinshui were startled.
"Master, waigong said we cannot hit sick people," Jinshui said in muffled voice, tried to hold his master do any further.
"Did you not hear what the Zhu brother said?" the master yelled, "Yumen is a demonic sect. In the demonic sect, there's no such thing as not supposed to hit sick people. Sick people with sharp tongue, we can hit them even when they are dying."
Jinshui said nothing more. He wanted to defend, but he was afraid the master will kill the two injured brothers. When Moying was angry, he could beat up anyone. The revenge scene to the people killed Jinshui's grandfather was terrifying, Jinshui remembered it clearly.
Chailang and Xiezhang were there already. They and Moying could not catch the three Liangshan Demon, apparently. The three demons run really fast. Moreover, Moying were sworn to protect Jinshui with his own live, he knew he cannot leave him too long only to chase some criminals.
"The members of Liangshan Liu Gui (Six turtles of Liangshan) can run really fast," Xiezhang said fast. "Liangshan Mo Wei (Tail of Liangshan), Wang Laosan, and Bu Nan Bu Ni (Not a man nor a woman) are nothing for us, no wonder they run away from us."
"Liangshan Mojun (Demon Head of Liangshan) Ma Yaolun, Niumian Laomo (Bull Face Old Demon) and Cixiong Yishen (Man and Woman in One Body) Zu Ye. They are the second, third and fourth member of Liangshan Liu Mo (Six Demons of Liangshan)," Chailang corrected, mentioning their titles and names correctly. "The member of this criminal gang each has great qinggong ability, they can run fast. If they don't, considering their level of criminality, there's no way they can survive until now."
"If only we Ba Weishen doesn't already have so much trouble, we will hunt them down and kill the other three as well," said Xiezhang.
"The leader already gave us order, we are not allowed to deal with any martial world problem, good or bad, heroes or criminals, until our mission is completed, do you want to disobey?" Moying stated clearly to his two friends, same tone as when he was telling his disciple.
"We have some outsiders here," Chailang reminded him, "we will wait for you up front."
He stepped away in a hurry followed by Xiezhang. Their movement looked mild, but their shadow disappeared quickly behind the trees. Moying turned his head to Jinshui. The boy knew his master will take him away, but he was still standing in front of the Fuxing Dao Jian brothers, worrying the master will kill them.
"The people in martial world already know Yumen Ba Weishen are still alive and now with the illegitimate son of their leader, killing them will not make any difference," Moying said to him.
"Master, you have to promise not to kill them," said Jinshui.
"You…." Moying sighed in desperate. He really did hope this boy has no such good heart. "All right, I promise not to kill them now," he said, "let's go."
"Master, wait," Jinshui did not wait for his answer this time, he run immediately to grab the fire wood basket he left. The little tiger cub was already gone without any trace. Jinshui looked around, tried to find it for a moment, but he could not even see its shadow.
"What is that basked for?" Moying asked him.
"Master, didn't you ask me to collect some fire woods? I found a wounded tiger cub in the mountain, but he's gone…."
"Just leave the woods, we don't need them anymore. Let's go." Moying didn't care what he was thinking, quickly pulled him away, leaving that road, went after Chailang and Xiezhang. Moying took several leaps only, but he already catched them up. The Fuxing Dao Jian brothers could not do anything but to see them gone.
"People from the martial world are hunting us the guardians of Yumen, I don't think we are able to hide any longer," Chailang told his friends. "We are going to have a meeting in Zilan Huayuan to discuss this issue and how to solve the matter without violating the order of our late leader. We have no choice but to mention our identity just now, if our presence is leaked out, it won't be easy to escape."
Moying glanced at Jinshui. If it wasn't because of this student stubbornly wanted to save some outsiders, Chailang and Xiezhang didn't have to show up and blatantly mentioned their names and identities.
"I'm all tired with hiding," Xiezhang said plainly, "we have to solve this issue as fast as we can. Then I will gladly kill each and anyone having problems with our sect and avenge the death of our brothers and sisters."
"If it's not for the direct order of our late leader, I will never live as a coward turtle hiding my head in the run like this," Moying added, "but our mission is not easy, we cannot finish it if we die. What kind of idea did Shuiyao (Water Fairy) tell you about?" he asked Chailang.
"If she wants us to fake some death, I'm out," said Xiezhang, "I the bloody palm, live when I live, die after I die. It's totally not my style to pretend to die when I actually live in exile."
"Faking death is not a big deal," another man's voice answered him. "I'm Baigu (White Corpse), live or dead has no difference, anyone will see me as a dead man anyway."
Jinshui spotted an old man's body perched on a tree not too far in front of them. The body was clad in a long white fabric, looked like a pile of skinny bones covered in shroud, the face was thin and stiff just like a body soaked in preservatives. The figure was perched on the tree as if someone hung him there after death. If they didn't hear his voice at the first place, they will see him as a corpse. They heard his voice and still see him like some kind of zombie. No wonder this man referred himself as white bone, indeed he was a pile of one.
"What kind of heretic do you white bone creature learn now? Why you look more dead than the last time?" Xiezhang asked the perched man, realizing that Baigu was getting worse since their previous meeting.
"Why didn't you stay in Zilan Huayuan, instead scaring other people here?" Moying asked him.
"There's no one in Zilan Huayuan now, it's too early to go there," Baigu did not answer Xiezhang's question.
"There's no one there?" asked Xiezhang, "does anyone have a hitch they cannot make it there?"
"Yumen Ba Weishen made a promise to meet there, we will be there," said Moying. "Tomorrow is the eighth, we better go now."