Chu Liuxiang

Chu Liuxiang Series (楚留香系列)
Written by Gu Long
Translated by Foxs

Volume 1 - The Legend of Chu Liuxiang (楚留香传奇)
Book 1 - Fragrance in The Sea of Blood
Chapter 1 - White Jade Beauty

White jade beauty belongs to famous n.o.ble,
Carved by the hands of the master,
Its lovely form reached perfection,
Yet it cannot surpa.s.s the heart that yearns for it.
Tonight, going for a walk in the moonlight to fetch it,
The simple, yet elegant n.o.ble reached it,
Certainly not in such a way as to make me going back and forth in futility.

This piece of paper was spread on the brightly lit marble tabletop. The light coming from a candle inside a pink gauze lamp shade made the pale blue paper appear to be some kind of unusual but beautiful pale violet, it also made the outstandingly graceful handwriting appear to be more elegant and free flowing. The letter did not carry any signature on it, but it carried the fragrance of tulips; ethereal yet rich in scent, which was enough to explain who wrote this short note.

The receiver of the note was the young master of a rich and powerful, aristocratic family of Beijing, Jin Banhua. This moment, he was sitting by the table, his fair and clear, as well as delicate, very well-maintained face, was twisting as if he was in extreme pain due to someone had just chopped him. His eyes were glaring at the short note, as if he was staring at Yan w.a.n.g"s [Yama, King of h.e.l.l] summon.

Inside the exquisite reception pavilion, there were three other men; one was an old man with bold and powerful expression, grizzled hair and beard, wearing embroidered clothes, who was pacing incessantly back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. n.o.body knew how many times he had walked across the hall; perhaps the distance he covered was as far as the distance between Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

The other was a man wearing black clothes, with high cheek bone, his gaze was like a hawk"s, malicious and heavily ferocious looking. He was sitting by Jin Banhua"s side, his hand lightly stroked the judge pen, made of fine steel, lying on the table. His build was withered, slim, the knuckles on his fingers prominent. Under the candle light, he also looked like a statue made of cast steel.

These two men"s countenance was also very heavy, their sharp gaze kept moving from the window to the door, from the door back to the window, back and forth, back and forth, nonstop.

And then the last one was a short and small, withered and thin, old man wearing plain and simple clothes, and had a bald head. But he was sitting far away in the corner, closing his eyes as if he was asleep. His whole body, from top to bottom, has nothing special to look at, except his pair of ears, which, for some reason, was missing, and on its place was a pair of ash-grey fake ears, but it was also unclear what they were made of.

The old man in brocade gown walked over to the table, picked up the note, and said with a cold laugh, "What do you call this? An invitation? An IOU? Judging from the paper alone, it looks to be the most precious of the four treasures of the Capital that was s.n.a.t.c.hed away from w.a.n.g Meiren [the Beauty surnamed w.a.n.g] ..."

And then he slapped the table heavily and said in stern voice, "Chu Liuxiang, oh, Chu Liuxiang! You look down on the Heroes of the Nine Cities too much!"

Looking anxious, Jin Banhua stammered, "But by using the same type of paper, he had taken away I don"t know how many rare treasures; if he said he is going to take something in the zi hour [between 11pm - 1am], no one can guard it by the chou hour [between 1 - 3am]."

The man in black coldly said, "Oh, is that right?"

Jin Banhua sighed and said, "Last month, the Young Marquis Qiu of Juan Jianzi Lane received his letter, saying that he was going to take Hou Ye"s [grandpa Hou, or simply "old gentleman, the Marquis"] Nine-Dragon Cup, a family heirloom that was handed down from generation to generation. The Young Marquis not only locked the cup in secret chamber, he also invited the "Shuang Zhang Fan Tian" [double palms turning over the heaven] Qiao Zihe [his name literally means "freckled crane"], and "Mei Hua Jian" [plum blossom sword] Fang Huan, both are martial art masters from famous school, to guard outside the door. It could be said that the security was so tight that not a drop of water can leak out; but when they opened the door after a while … ay! The Nine-Dragon Cup was gone."

The man in black laughed coldly and said, "Wan Lao Biaotou [lit. old head of escort company] is not Qiao Zihe, and I, "Sheng Si Pan" [Judge of Life and Death] am not Fang Huan; besides …"

He cast a glance at the bald old man in the corner, and continued slowly, "we have here Ying Lao Qianbei [lit. old senior/venerable old gentleman], who, when the robbers under the heavens heard his name would be scared out of their wits. If the three of us cannot stop Chu Liuxiang, I am afraid there is no one else in the world."

The bald old man squinted and said with a laugh, "Ximen Xiong [brother Ximen] must not toot your horn on laoxiu"s [lit. old rotten] behalf; after the Battle of Yuntai [lit. cloud terrace], laoxiu is already unfit for anything; the ears with which I rely on to make a living have been cut, aren"t I like a little beggar who lost his snake with which he played with?"

If someone else suffered such a crushing defeat, so much so that his ears were cut off, not only his lips would be sealed and he would not say anything about this matter, if someone mentioned it, he would definitely pull his blade and fight desperately. But he was smiling with a.s.surance and composure, as if he was extremely proud of it.

The old man in brocade gown was the Zongbiaotou [head of escort company] of the Wan Sheng Biao Ju [ten thousand victories escort company] of the Capital, the "Tie Zhang Jin Biao" [Iron Palm Golden Escort; note: the word "biao" can mean either "escort" or "dart"], Wan Yuandi. This moment his hand was stroking his long beard as he laughed loudly and said, "Who in Jianghu does not know that the Tu Ying"s [Bald Eagle] hearing ability is matchless under the heavens? Although the Battle of Yuntai was a minor defeat and the old man lost his horse, but it turned out for the best[1]. After installing this pair of Bai Yi Shen Er [lit. divine ears of the white clothes], your hearing ability is even more superior than the past."

The Bald Eagle shook his head and said with a laugh, "I am old, and useless. This time, were it not for wanting to increase my knowledge by seeing this Yuan Shuai [marshal] among the robbers, the prince [orig. Gongzi, young master, son of respectable family] among the wanderers, I would not re-enter the Jianghu [lit. river and lake]."

Jin Banhua suddenly laughed and said, "Jianghu people say that Ying Lao Qianbei needs only to hear the sound of someone"s breathing, he can immediately tell whether that person was a man or a woman, how old, and what his status is. It does not matter who that person was, as long as Ying Lao Qianbei heard the sound of his breathing, he could forget about escaping for the rest of his life. No matter where he fled, Ying Lao Qianbei would hunt and arrest him."

The Bald Eagle closed his eyes until only a slit remained; he laughed and said, "Jianghu rumors are always exaggerated."

They heard the faint sound of night watchman"s clapper amidst the night breeze. The Judge of Life and Death stood up suddenly and said, "It"s zi hour."

Jin Banhua dashed into the corner, and lifted up a roll of gongbi painting of a court lady[2]; inside was a secret door. He opened the secret door, and saw that the red sandalwood carved wooden case was still lying nicely inside. He could not help heaving a sigh of relief, turned his head around, and said, "Unexpectedly the three gentlemen"s prowess indeed scared that Chu Liuxiang that he did not dare to come."

The Life and Death Judge threw his head back and laughed, "Chu Liuxiang, oh, Chu Liuxiang, turns out you are also a …"

"Shh!" suddenly he heard the Bald Eagle shushing him. The Life and Death Judge"s laughter stopped abruptly. From outside the window came a deep and low, yet extremely attractive, voice, laughing and saying, "The White Jade Beauty has been respectfully received; Chu Liuxiang came with a specific purpose in mind to express my grat.i.tude."

Wan Yuandi rushed in big strides to the window, with one palm he shook the window open, and saw in the distant, in the darkness, stood a shadow of a tall man, holding an object about three chi long in his hands. Under the moonlight, it looked sparkling and translucent, as well as smooth and shiny. The shadow spoke, "Stealing the treasure in Xu hour [between 7-9pm], coming to say thanks in Zi hour. My etiquette is lacking, please forgive me."

Jin Huaban"s face has already turned deathly pale; his voice trembling, he said, "After him! Quickly after him!"

Under the candlelight, red shadow flashed, gust of wind arose, Shengsi Pan and Wan Yuandi already rushed out the window.

The Bald Eagle spoke in heavy voice, "Is that the real Jade Beauty?"

Jin Banhua stomped his feet and said, "I can see it clearly, it can"t be wrong."

While stomping his feet, he also leaped out; turned out the martial art skill of this young master of an aristocratic family was not weak either.

But the Bald Eagle only shook his head slightly and said with a cold laugh, "Others may fall into your trap, but I … humph!"

His eyes fixed on the red sandalwood box, step by step he walked toward it.

Suddenly a heard a loud "Bang!" behind him. His entire body jumped.

What happened was that his Bai Yi Shen Er was actually made of silver, a metal with high resonance property. As soon as the sound rang, his eardrums were shaken. He had always been very proud of this pair of divine ears, but not even in his dream he ever thought about the terrible harm it could bring. Greatly shocked, he made a somersault in the air, while his palms struck in succession, but there was not a shadow behind him.

And then he heard another "Bang!" outside the window. With both feet pushed the ground, the Bald Eagle flew out the window. His ears were still buzzing incessantly, but he came face to face with a gong.

The Bald Eagle"s countenance changed greatly, "Bad!" he blurted out.

Frantically he turned back and leaped into the window, and saw the red sandalwood case was still there, safe and sound, but the curtain on the other window was still fluttering continuously.

The Bald Eagle stood still like he was made of stone, the expression on his face was extremely peculiar; it was not clear whether he was crying or laughing. His mouth did not stop mumbling, "Chu Liuxiang, oh, Chu Liuxiang, you are indeed formidable. But don"t be too proud of yourself, because your breathing sound has already fallen into my ears. One day I will find you."

The sound of rustling clothes was heard behind him; one after another Wan Yuandi, Shengsi Pan, and Jin Banhua rushed back. In his hand, Wan Yuandi held a three-chi long carved jade beauty; he laughed and said, "Turns out it was a trick; this jade beauty is fake."

Shengsi Pan said, "Even if fake, good or bad, it still worth a few taels of silver. This is called "trying to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it" [idiom, fig. trying to gain an advantage only to end up worse off]. Tonight, the grand Daoshuai [Bandit Chief] can be considered falling head first into the bucket."

The Bald Eagle"s eyes absent-mindedly stare at the red sandalwood box, while his mouth mumbled, "If that thing is fake, where is the real one?"

Jin Banhua"s expression changed again; his voice trembling as he said, "The real one … the real one is naturally in … in the box."

His mouth said so, but his body already bolted over. He opened the box, but where was the real Jade Beauty? Jin Banhua cried out in alarm, and pa.s.sed out right there.

Wan Yuandi came over to look; surprisingly there was another note on a piece of pale blue paper, emitting the same ethereal and romantic scent, displaying the same graceful handwriting. It said,

Young master companion of flower ["Banhua"] loses the beauty,
The Bandit Chief goes for a walk in the moonlight, leaving his fragrance behind ["Liuxiang"].

Now he was lying face down comfortably on the deck, letting the warm sunshine of the fifth month bask on his broad, bare, bronze-colored back. The sea breeze was warm and humid, it blew pa.s.sed the boat"s railing straight toward his pitch-black hair. His sacred, treasured arms were stretching in front of him, the slender yet powerful fingers were holding a sparkling and translucent, as well as smooth and shiny, White Jade Beauty.

But he seemed to have fallen asleep, cradled by the ocean.

The boat was an elaborate three-mast ship, with spotlessly white sails, long and narrow hull, made of solid and sleek wood, giving a stable, rapid, and gorgeous feeling.

It was early summer, the sun was bright, the seawater was azure, the seagulls lithely glided from the mast. Life was colorful, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with youthful gaiety.

The sky above the ocean was vast, the distant horizon remained only a slice of hazy grey shadow. This was his world. A place where he would never receive loathsome visitors.

[1] Sai Weng Shi Ma, Yan Zhi Fei Fu. Sai - Saibei (north of Great Wall), Weng - old man, Shi - lose/fail/miss, Ma - horse, Yan - how, Zhi - know, Fei - not, Fu - luck. The story behind this idiom:

[2] Gongbi, traditional Chinese painting method characterized by meticulous brush technique and detailed description. Court lady can also refer to traditional painting of beautiful women.