1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBZIZTziCv8
Numbness. Darkness. Coldness. Loneliness. Those are the feelings Lung Chang feels when he regains his consciousness. His head is hurting him. He realizes that he is lying on a cold and stony floor. Besides him, he can see some blood. His blood. "It must be that my head crushed on the floor. That's why it is hurting me.", he thinks. "That blood must have come from my head, which must have been bleeding. If I did not have strong internal energy and I was not as physically strong as I am now, I would have died."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoEGHusEJ8
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJI8oNtzS1
Other than the blood and the stony floor, he cannot see anything. He looks upwards and he can see a light, probably the sun, but it is too high and the pit is too deep. So, there is complete darkness. He tries to get up, but his chest hurts him too much. Finally, after much effort, he manages to get up. Although he cannot see anything, he searches the floor with his hands. After a few minutes, he manages to find a long branch. If he can use it to light a fire, he will have more chances of escaping alive from this pit. He searches the floor for stones and finds two medium sized stones.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLh6MppQkzy
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJtHm767o9I
Lung Chang rips some cloth for his gown and wraps it around the upper part of the branch. He then tries to make a fire using the stones. At first, the stones flash, but with no real spark. After trying a few more times, he finally manages to start a fire. He places the wrapped with cloth part of the branch on the fire and so he has managed to create a torch. Now, he can at least see his surroundings; the pit is very deep and is cyclical in formation. He cannot climb upwards because it has smooth surface. He looks around and finally finds a gate; a huge stony gate.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7IYiEd3Ad
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLC0OmShi1g
This gate is strange as it does not to have any type of handles or other way to open it. Lung Chang moves his internal energy the way the monk had instructed him to and and repeats the formula. He then strikes out with his palms at the stony gate; although it looks huge and impregnable, the gate is shattered to pieces by Lung Chang's palms. The gate leads to a long Hall. A red carpet shows the way to an other gate, exactly the same as the one Lung Chang had just shattered.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTKKd0NU9Q
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKScBKsmGJH
Lung Chang walks slowly and with small steps. He looks at the room, but there is nothing in it, except that in the walls there are paintings of the Taoist Ying - Yang symbol. When he takes a few steps into the room, arrows suddenly shoot out from the Ying - Yang symbols. The arrows shoot out with immense speed and Lung Chang is barely able to dodge them. More and more arrows are shoot against him and Lung Chang uses his lightness Kung Fu to almost fly to the other side of the room. When he arrives before the stony gate, he begins to move his internal energy, but as arrows are coming towards him with profound speed, he does not have the time and luxury to concentrate and follow all the instructions of the monk. That skill can be used with great speed by someone who has mastered it, but Lung Chang learned it only yesterday, so he did not have the time to master it and be able to use it fast.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnMF0LzaK5
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovVXhujCfi
Nevertheless, he must try. He uses the torch to deflect the incoming arrows and concentrates his internal energy and repeats the formula. He then shoots out his right palm, as with his left hand he holds the torch, and shatters the stony gate. Although he feels that his internal energy is being depleted, he must not give up. He cannot give up. He has to clear his name. He does not want to die in the bottom of a dark pit.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAbdJRRfqMD
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3Tbly0QhX
"This skill is really divine!", he shouts. "It has saved me again and again. For this reason, since I do not know it's name, I shall name it 'Saving Palms'."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5KtxtVFKxo
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPIp7uF5zY
The second Hall is the same as the one he had just walked across, only that it's walls do not have any painting on them. On the other side of the Hall, there is another stony gate. "Strange.", he thinks. "What trap will I face in this room?"1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynYGo22NlC
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCHv8Sdchg
He walks a few steps into the Hall and looks upwards; he sees paintings of the Ying - Yang symbol, but far, far larger than the ones in the previous Hall. "Oh! This is bad!". Suddenly, huge rocks fall from the Ying - Yang symbols in the roof. Lung Chang tries to use his lightness Kung Fu to run forward, but he feels a pain in his chest and falls on the ground. He can see a rock falling from the roof towards him. He moves his internal energy, this time faster than before, and in only a few seconds, he manages to use the 'Saving Palms' against the rock. The rock is shattered, just in time. If he had send his palms against the rock a few seconds later, he would most likely have been killed.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQJuu77PXX
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJs3cUgaWqz
He the runs forward and strikes against the stony gate, which is shattered, and quickly moves into the next Hall. "Ah! I survived!", he shouts, unable to believe it. But he shall not enjoy for too long his success. The next Hall has no paintings at all. Lung Chang looks around for any traps, but he cannot find any. He sees that at the other side of the Hall, there is an other stony gate. As moves into the room, he hears a 'bam' sound and sees that a huge rock has fallen from the roof and has blocked the gate he had just shattered. He will not be able to leave through the rock falling Hall. Now, he can only move forward.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99YIgIdac0
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAilhMCQm1J
As he takes a few more steps, he hears hissing sounds. "I sense something bad is going to happen!", he says. And indeed something bad happens: the roof opens and hundreds of snakes fall from the opening. The snakes are red and belong to an extremely poisonous race of snakes. In only a few seconds, more than four hundred snakes have fallen to the ground. Lung Chang screams in fear and uses the torch to try and scare away the snakes. But, it is of no use. The snakes surround him and some even try to climb upon him.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QJgI05HKT
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJFQakBKAfD
Lung Chang, with tears in his eyes, exclaims: "The one who created those Halls must have been a psychopath!". He hits the snakes with his torch and his feet, and even kills some of them, but the snakes are hundreds and as time passes, more and more fall from the roof. Lung Chang tries to use once again his lightness Kung Fu to run forward, but he realizes that he has depleted too much of his internal energy and so he tries to run forward without using his internal energy. A very difficult task when you are injured and surrounded by hundreds of poisonous snakes hungry for your flesh.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DhFPz55N8
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7qLGxMgWTA
With much effort, he reaches the stony gate and shoots out his 'Saving Palms'. The palms shatter the gate and despite the fact that he vomits lot of blood because of his overuse of his internal energy, he rushes into the next Hall. To his enjoyment, a rock falls from the roof and seals the Hall with snakes. Although he cannot exit the Hall he has entered now, at least the snakes won't follow him.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnD0rupoNRQ
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90dj3mYdJX
He looks around and sees no gate at all. Only stony walls. There is no exit. Lung Chang uses his palms against the walls twice, but he only manages to deplete his internal energy. Understanding that he will die if he continues to use his internal energy, he sits down and meditates, hoping that in a few hours he can recover his internal energy.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuK2QHjQ0Zh
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobhKxgc3z3
As he meditates, he thinks of ways to exit the room, but he cannot think of any idea. Disappointed, he sighs and looking upwards, he says "Heavens, why have you been so unfair to me? You ruined my reputation, you made me a fugitive, you killed my teacher, you made me lose my beloved Lihua. And now, you want me to die in this dark pit, die slowly from starvation. Without being able to clear my name. Without being able to see one last time the woman I love. Heavens!!!"1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYws6hj8K1
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXmNfluJif
He sighs again. "At least, Lihua will marry an upright person, my brother in arms Piao Zhen. But I really want to see her one last time before I die."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP5mZ6wzqO
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwg3amw5QJi
Although Lung Chang does not usually cry and tries to be 'manly' and cold, this time he cannot keep himself from crying as he thinks of Lihua. He remembers their moments together. When they played together as kids. When he first kissed her besides a river as the sun set. When they carried out together the missions given to them by their Teacher. Lung Chang tries to calm himself and he manages to stop crying. But his heart aches. It is like someone stabbed it with a knife. Lung Chang closes his eyes and focuses on recovering his internal energy.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG62lMYx3hk
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vHsrzZ5oz
A few hours later, he feels that his internal energy has mostly recovered. So, he gets up and looks around. An idea comes to him; since rocks and snakes fall from the roof, maybe the roof is actually the floor of an upper room. So, he shoots out his palms and shatters the roof with a swift but powerful move. And indeed, there is a room above the room he was in. Lung Chang lands to the ground and then jumps again, and this time he lands on the floor of the upper room. He looks around and sees a stony gate. He moves his internal energy, repeats the formula, sends out his palms and shatters it.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmtZ4aJhYLz
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jL5x8N4ya
The room he enters has the shape of a square and is darker that the other Halls. He sees the back of a person, wearing a white gown and having long black hair, meditating on a mat. Besides that person, there are tens of red candles, lighting the room. Lung Chang bows respectfully and says: "Greetings, Elder. I mean no harm. I came by accident, so please forgive me and help me get out."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHkssrlENr
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlygzQBWl7j
The person does not reply. Lung Chang repeats himself two more times, but to no avail. Finally, he moves forward, to see if the person is alive. What he sees shocks him. That person is actually a woman in her thirties, but what shocks him is not this, but her beauty. He had seen women with white like snow skin, but not such a soft and white skin like the one this woman has. Her face makes you want to look at her for all eternity. It is impossible to describe her beauty.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazFsyjGEW3
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxLZgsZpKe
Lung Chang had met quite beautiful girls before. Some of them are stunningly beautiful. But this woman is on a completely other level of beauty. The beauty of the other women is a mortal one. The beauty of this woman is different, it is goddess like. She is the most beautiful woman in the world, but the fact that she seems cold and indifferent and has the aura of a divine person, not of a mortal woman, makes her completely different from other women.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHEZJzMu5C
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlOactWX4k
"Miss! Miss!", Lung Chang shouts. He gets no reply. Her eyes are still open and although they do not move at all, they seem to look at him. He slowly touches her face with his right hand and senses that it is as cold as ice. He touches her neck and comes to the conclusion that she is dead, as she is not breathing. But if she is dead, why has she not become a skeleton?1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoq8o6XzEI
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr06LJzQGrt
Lung Chang sees that she holds a letter in her hands. He snatches it and reads it:1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S6mqsuDpy
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWDP50TmcD
"Stranger who passes by, if you read this letter, it means that I am dead. You should have a lot of questions on who I am and why I am here. Here is my story: In the fourth year of Emperor Gaozong's reign (Author's note: 653 AD), I fell in love with a man called Lung Wang. He was a disciple of Elder Duan Jizhing. He was very smart and handsome. He fell for me too, but his Teacher had already arranged for him to marry the daughter of the sworn brother of his father. You see, his parents had died when he was young, so his Teacher made all arrangements for him. He was a loyal person with a sense of honor, so, even though he loved me, he agreed to marry that woman. I was furious and attacked his Teacher who forced him to marry that woman. He beat me. I secluded myself to this pit and for three years I did nothing else but practice a Swordplay I had invented. I then used it to defeat Elder Duan. But my beloved had already married that woman, so there was no way we could be together. He only gave me a piece of warm jade with the characters of our names carved upon it. He also marveled my swordplay. He asked me what was it's name. I had not named it, so I asked him to do so. He named it 'Swordplay of the Goddess', because he said that the moves of the sword are divine and my beauty is like that of a goddess. But his words could not ease the pain in my heart. I did not wanted to live in this world. So, I secluded myself in this pit and meditated day and night. My internal energy became so profound that I did not age anymore. If my body has not become a skeleton now that I am dead, it means that my internal energy has reached the peak of perfection. Stranger passing by, I ask you to read my manual and master my swordplay, so it is not lost forever."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡypRnnah7ro
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6bkOONXSd1
Lung Chang felt sadness for that woman. She and that man were so much in love, but because of tradition and prearranged marriage, they did not end up together. And she, a goddess like beauty, lived a life of sadness alone in a dark pit and died here without anyone besides her. But, at the same times, he feels awed by her profound internal energy. She died almost 1,000 years ago and yet she still looks like a 30 years old woman. Lung Chang looks at her and sees a blue manual besides her. He picks it up and looks at it's pages; they show exquisite and ingenious sword stances. They look soft and elegant and imitate the moves of a lady.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetGrWvsIo4
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgwR6ADBJz
"This may be an ingenious swordplay, but it is too feminine for me to learn it!", Lung Chang says. But he then looks again at that woman who lost everything she loved and died alone in a dark pit and feels bad if he does not accomplish her dying wish. "Oh well! I shall learn it. It is not like I have anything better to do."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhd10OJfbo
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlxI4tILpj
So, he uses the branch he holds as a sword and practices the sword stances painted on the manual. As it is written in the first page of this manual: "This swordplay aims to use softness against prowess, speed and elegance against brute force, exquisite stances over simple swordplay. Like water overcomes huge rocks, this swordplay overcomes more brutal and powerful swordplays. This swordplay aims to use the strength of the enemy against him."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYrlSMBhYVl
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxHsLXjQWl
And indeed, the sword stances of this swordplay are, as Lung Chang finds out when he practices it, extremely swift and fast. The stances are far too complicated and exquisite and Lung Chang has some difficulties learning them. They are unlike anything else in the Martial Arts World. They are so exquisite that the enemy cannot guess what comes next. The swordplay also allows the enemy to control the direction the sword is moving, until the right moment, when the enemy's strength can be used against him. The moves are soft and do not have power in them, so they aim for piercing the vital organs of a person, in order to injure him badly without having to use much force. After practicing for almost three hours, Lung Chang seems to have learned all the moves of the swordplay.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4eFkVDWmnk
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFLWQl7hrC
He kowtows before the woman three times and respectfully says "Disciple Lung Chang bows before Teacher. Teacher, I need to leave this place. Once I have cleared my name, I will come again in this pit to pay my respects to you."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKEVcGjFYX
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8pUHPEy5Pt
Lung Chang then looks around for a door. He sees a stony gate and using his 'Saving Palms', he shatters it. Instead of a Hall, he finds some stony stairs that lead him up to the surface, to the forest besides the Shaolin Temple. Judging from the sun, Lung Chang guesses that it must be late afternoon. He walks into the Temple and heads towards his room, but on his way, the monk stops him.1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5jm7gf6wv
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCWgV55RL2
"Buddha bless you.", the monk says. "Where have you been?"1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQw7apRanMw
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUv204bKBv
"I...I could not sleep last night, so I went out and fell asleep."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDOEW6hwAu
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qNB8nsauP
The monk looks at his head and sees that it is injured. "Why are you injured?"1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqn2GerTIP
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn2I54hLp2X
"As I was returning, I stumbled and my head hit a rock. That's why I did not come here immediately after I had woken up."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMChvqUwATA
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbnAHeYhgI
"Oh, I see. Young hero Chong Guozhi [Lung Chang's fake name], please come with me. Abbot Yongyu wants to see you."1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJLwhazBSa
1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4UYLucUhkY
Cold sweat runs like river in Lung Chang's face and he is anxious, but he has to agree. What will the Abbot say to him? Will he give him up to the Orthodox Sects? 1176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aVD7tGCVr
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