Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Chapter 1 – Part 6

“I wanted to test you again to see if you were pretending or if you really don’t know any martial arts. I’m doing this for your own good.”

“What good does it do?” Duan Yu¹ spat angrily. He rubbed his nose with his hand. His hand was bloodied and fresh blood dripped, staining a dark red patch on his chest. His injuries were minor but upon seeing so much blood, he started crying out in pain. Zhong Ling² became worried and hurriedly took out her handkerchief to help him wipe away the blood. Duan Yu was still annoyed by her so he pushed her away. “I don’t need you to be nice to me. I’m going to ignore you.”

As he did not know any martial arts, he had no spatial awareness. He simply thrust with his hands and his palm went towards her chest. Zhong Ling caught his wrist instinctively and threw him along the direction of his motion. Duan Yu was sent tumbling and his back of his head struck the rock soundly, knocking him unconscious. Seeing him lying motionless on the ground, Zhong Ling shouted, “Get up now. I have something to tell you.”

Seeing him lying motionless, she started to panic. She bent down to examine. His eyes had rolled back and his breathing was shallow. He had fainted. She quickly pinched his philtrum and then rubbed his chest forcefully. After some time, Duan Yu gradually regained consciousness. He felt his back leaning against something soft and he could smell a faint fragrance. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Zhong Ling looking at him anxiously. Seeing he had come to, Zhong Ling let out a long sigh. “Thank goodness you didn’t die.”

Duan Yu found himself lying in her arms with the back of his head resting on her waist, and his heart skipped a beat. Then he felt a throbbing pain at the back of the head where he was hit, causing him to cry out involuntarily in pain. Zhong Ling was alarmed, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m… in great pain.”

“You didn’t die. Why are you yelling?”

“If I were dead, how could I yell?”

Zhong Ling laughed and cradled his head. The back of his head was had swollen as big as a chicken’s egg. Although it wasn’t bleeding, she knew that it must be painful indeed. She said angrily, “Why did you make such a frivolous and perverted move? If it were someone else, I would have killed them on the spot. I went easy on you to let you off with just a tumble.”

Duan Yu sat up and asked in confusion, “I… I was frivolous and perverted? What? That’s an unfair accusation!”

Zhong Ling only knew a little about boy-girl relationships. Upon hearing his words, she flushed red. “I’m not telling you. Whatever it is, it’s your fault. Why did you reach out to push me here… here…”

She pointed at her chest. Duan Yu instantly realised what she meant and was embarrassed. He wanted to explain but felt that it was inappropriate. “I… I really didn’t mean it.”

He stood up and Zhong Ling did likewise. “Since it wasn’t intentional, I’ll let you off. You finally woke up. I was so worried.”

“If it weren’t for your help earlier in Jianhu Palace, I would have had to endure two more slaps. Now that you’ve thrown me twice, we’re now even. It’s just my fate so I can’t avoid it,” Duan Yu said.

“From the way you say it, does it mean you’re still angry at me?”

“You mean after you hit me, I should gleefully say, ‘That’s a good strike.’ Should I thank you?” Duan Yu asked. Zhong Ling tugged his arm apologetically. “From today onwards, I won’t hit you ever again. So don’t be angry this time.”

“Only if you let me give you two tight slaps.”

Zhong Ling was very unwilling but seeing him turn furiously to leave, she lifted her head. “Fine. I’ll let you give me two slaps. But… but you mustn’t hit too hard.”

“If I don’t hit hard, how can it be considered getting revenge? I must hit hard. If you don’t let me hit then forget it.”

Zhong Ling sighed and closed her eyes. She said softly, “Fine! After you hit me, you cannot be angry anymore.”

Realising that Duan Yu had not slap her after a while, she opened her eyes, only to him looking at her, a smile tugging at his lips. “Why haven’t you hit me?”

He raised his right pinky and gently flicked on both her cheeks, smiling as he said, “Are these two hard strikes very painful?”

Zhong Ling was delighted. “I knew you were a kind person.”

She stood only a few feet apart before him, her fragrance drifted in the hair. The more he looked at her, the more beautiful she appeared. For a moment, he could not bear to leave. After some time, he said, “Alright. Since I have avenged myself, I need to go look for Guild Leader Sikong Xuan.”

Zhong Ling said frantically, “Idiot. You can’t go! You know nothing about the matters in the jianghu. If you violate their taboo, I won’t be able to save you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back in a while. You just wait here for me,” he said, smiling as he shook his head. Then he started towards where the dark smoke was rising from. Zhong Ling called out to stop him but he refused to listen. She paused for a while before saying, “Fine. You said that we will share melon seeds, and we will face the blade together!”

She caught up with him and proceeded to walk side by side with him, ceasing her attempts to persuade him. They walked for a short while before seeing two men in yellow approaching them quickly. The older man on the left shouted, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

Both men carried medicine pouches on their shoulders and they held sabres with unusually broad blades. Duan Yu replied, “I’m Duan Yu. I wish to speak to Guild Leader Sikong Xuan.”

“Regarding what?”

“I will speak after I meet your guild leader,” Duan Yu replied. The man asked, “Which school are you from, sir? And how do I address your master?”

“I don’t belong to any school. My shifu’s surname is Meng. His name is Shusheng. His style name is Xuru. My shifu specialises in studying Yili³ and has considerable achievements in interpreting divination symbols.”

Duan Yu was actually referring to the tutor who taught him the Four Books and Five Classics. However, the old man assumed that the Book of Changes and interpreting divination symbols referred to two peculiar forms of martial arts. Moreover, Duan Yu stood there gently fanning himself, appearing to be someone with hidden consummate abilities. Hence, the man did not dare to show disrespect. Although he could not recall anyone in the wulin with the name Meng Shusheng,⁴ his seemed to have considerable achievements, so he doubted it would be casual boasting. “If that’s the case, please wait while I pass the message, young hero Duan.”

After he left hurriedly and rounded the mountainside, Zhong Ling asked, “You lied to him about Yili and Nanli.⁵ What kind of gongfu is that? If Sikong Xuan⁶ wants to test you, it might be difficult to continue the act.”

“I’m very familiar with Zhouyi,⁷ so if Sikong Xuan were to test me on the sublime words and deeper meanings, I can probably manage,” Duan Yu said. Zhong Ling was at a loss for words. The old man had returned, his expression dark. “What were you babbling about? The guild leader wants to see you!”

From the looks of it, the man had been admonished by Sikong Xuan. Duan Yu nodded and followed him along with Zhong Ling. Shortly, the trio rounded the mountain ridge and they saw twenty over people sitting in circle amongst a pile of rocks. As they approached, they saw a short and skinny old man sitting on a tall rock high above everyone else. He had a long beard and wore a haughty expression. Duan Yu presumed he was the guild leader of the Shennong Guild, Sikong Xuan. He raised his hand with left palm over his right fist in greeting. “I, Duan Yu, am honoured to have been invited by Guild Leader Sikong.”

Sikong Xuan nodded but did not stand up. “What matter brings you here?”

“I heard that your guild has a feud with the Wuliang Sword School. I just saw two members of Wuliang Sword School die horribly. I really couldn’t bear it so I came specially to dissuade you to stop this. Know that enmity is easy to develop but hard to resolve. Moreover, such vicious violence is against the law. If the authorities know of this, it would lead to much inconvenience. Please stop this before it’s too late, Guild Leader Sikong. Quickly return and don’t seek revenge with Wuliang Sword School again.”

Sikong Xuan listened coldly and waited until he was finished. Even then, he remained silent and simply looked at him from the corner of his eyes. Duan Yu continued, “These are my valued advice so please reconsider, guild leader.”

Sikong Xuan continued to look at him curiously. Suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed. “Who are you to come here and waste my time? Who asked you to come here?”

“Did anyone tell me to come here? I came here on my own to talk to you.”

Sikong Xuan snorted. “In the forty years I’ve been in the jianghu, I’ve never seen a nonsensical lad as bold and outrageous as you are. Asheng,⁸ seize them.”

A burly man replied in affirmative and held Duan Yu’s right his arm. Zhong Ling called out, “Wait! Guild Leader Sikong, this mister tried to persuade you nicely. If you choose not to listen, then fine. Why the need to resort to violence?”

Turning to Duan Yu, she said, “Big Brother, the Shennong Guild won’t listen to you. We don’t need to mind other’s business. Let’s go!”

Asheng had already placed both of Duan Yu’s hands behind his back. His gaze was locked on Sikong Xuan, waiting for his command. Sikong Xuan said coldly, “The Shennong Guild dislike busybodies the most. For two children to come and nag at me, there is something odd about this. Ahong,⁹ tie the girl up as well.”

“Yes!” Another big man replied and tried to grab Zhong Ling. With a sway of her body, she retreated sideways by three steps. “Guild Leader Sikong, I’m not afraid of you. It’s just that my parents don’t allow me to cause trouble. Quickly tell this person to release my Big Brother, else I’ll be forced to fight. That would be most inconvenient.”

Sikong Xuan laughed heartily. “The girl is boasting. Why haven’t you caught her, Ahong?”

“Yes!” Ahong acknowledged and reached out to grasp Zhong Ling’s arm. Zhong Ling retracted her arm and suddenly lashed out with her other hand, her palm shaped like a knife, to chop at A’hong’s neck. He lowered his head to dodge but she brought her other fist upwards, striking his jaw and knocking him to the ground. Sikong Xuan said mildly, “This girl knows a few tricks. But it’s not enough to come to the Shennong Guild and behave so atrociously.”

He looked at a tall, old man at his side and gestured. The old man stood up immediately and closed in on Zhong Ling with two steps. He was almost two feet taller than Zhong Ling. Reaching down with his ten fingers looking like talons, he grabbed at her shoulders. Seeing the ferocity of the attack, Zhong Ling dodged hurriedly. The old man’s fingers clawed in the air merely five inches from her face. She felt the strong gust of wind caused by the force of the strike and was terrified. “Guild Leader Sikong, tell him to stop now. Else, I would not hold back any more. If Father were to scold me, it won’t do you any good also.”

As she spoke, the old man had already attacked thrice. Zhong Ling barely avoided him each time. Sikong Xuan said sternly, “Catch her!”

Footnotes

1. 段誉 – Duàn Yù. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 钟灵 – Zhōng Líng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 易理 – Yìlǐ. The Book of Changes, An ancient Chinese divination text used for philosophical guidance and fortune-telling, One of the Five Classics, also known as Yijing or I Ching. See Wikipedia. ↩

4. 孟述圣 – Mèng Shùshèng. ↩

5. 难理 – Nánlǐ. Difficult to understand. It’s a play of words. Yili also literally means easy to understand. She had no idea that he was referring to the Book of Changes, so she threw in the term nanli on the assumption that he was making it up. ↩

6. 司空玄 – Sīkōng Xuán. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 周易 – Zhōuyì. Another name for the Book of Changes. He was unaware that she had no idea what Yili was, not to mention its alternative name. ↩

8. 阿胜 – Āshèng. “A” is a common prefix in Chinese names to turn them into nicknames. Note that it is a syllable on its own, pronounced as a short “ah”. ↩

9. 阿洪 – Āhóng. “A” is a common prefix in Chinese names to turn them into nicknames. Note that it is a syllable on its own, pronounced as a short “ah”. ↩