(Chapters:
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - I (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213490)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - II (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213606)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - III (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213649)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IV (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213678)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - V (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213693)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VI (
http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213713)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VII (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213724)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VIII (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213764)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IX (
http://lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=213845)
I hope that you will enjoy the story. :D)
The Legendary Zhuge Liang - X:
http://i.imgur.com/ZbBE9LP.jpg)
Chongyang Temple, headquarters of the Great Tao Sect
The Taoist Priests Yao Jing and Liao Xiang have finally returned, defeated, to the Chongyang Temple, headquarters of the Great Tao Sect. They enter their Master's room and bow before him. Abbot Fong Yuen, who has learned about the failure of his students, is furious.
"You idiots!" Fong Yuen shouts at his students. "You have failed to kill this bastard Zhuge Liang! You know what the world will think if my two best students cannot assassinate a simple scholar!?"
"But, Master!" Xiang replies. "A man with great martial art skill protected Zhuge Liang."
"How great was his martial arts!?" Fong Yuen, furious, asks.
"Very good, Teacher." Jing answers. "He was able to take on both me and brother Xiang. And he was even able to withstand the Ying Yang Fist and then counterattack!"
"What?! How can a man posses such prowess?" Fong Yuen shouts.
"Teacher, brother Jing is speaking the truth." Xiang replies.
"Fine!" Fong Yuen sighs. "I will go to assassinate Zhuge Liang by myself along with 40 disciples. You will stay here and practice your martial arts."
"Yes, Teacher." both Xiang and Jing say with one voice.
"I shall soon see how skilled is this man!"
Wuchang, Capital of the Southland
Zhou Yu (courtesy name: Gongjin), after his humiliating failure to capture Jiangling, has returned to the Southland to train his troops, raise new armies and make up new plans of how to retake the Jing Province and humiliate his hated archenemy, Zhuge Liang. Zhou Yu comes to the Throne Room of the Lord of the Southland, Sun Quan, and bows before him. Sun Quan, who sits on his golden throne, is a relative young handsome man with long black hair, blue eyes and a muscular body.
"Gongjin!" Sun Quan shouts. "I've been informed of your failure to take over Jiangling! This failure cost the Southland 25,000 men from an army of 30,000! Do you understand the cost of losing so many men, most of them veterans, for no gain?! Do you?! And do you understand that we sacrificed all those troops only to make Liu Bei stronger?! Do you!? Do you?! I ask you! Do you?! Do you?!"
Zhou Yu is embarrassed and ashamed. He tries to replies, but for a few seconds he cannot even say a single word, while at the same time Sun Quan continues to shouts and ask him "Do you?!". Zhou Yu suddenly starts feeling dizzy. Zhou Yu has never been humiliated so much. By anyone. Nor had he suffered such a failure. Nor had he ever been scolded so much. "It is all Zhuge Liang's fault!" he thinks. Zhou Yu, without having the courage to look Sun Quan, simply replies "I understand."
"Then what will you do about it?! What?! What?!" Sun Quan, furious, shouts.
"Well, I have a plan, your Highness."
"What plan?"
"To use your sister, Lady Sun Shangxiang, who is a very, very beautiful woman, to lure Liu Bei in Southland."
"How could...that work?"
"Well, you could propose a marriage and an alliance to Liu Bei. His wife died only recently, so he will be looking for a new wife. Your sister will be the natural choice for him. In this way, he could strengthen the alliance with you, not to say that your sister is only 18 years old while Liu Bei in his fifties."
"And, once we lure him, what......shall we do?"
"Kill him, of course!"
"Good! Very good! Excellent! Magnificent! I love your plan! I shall adopt it!"
Jiangling, Office of Zhuge Liang
Liu Bei enters the office of his Strategist, Zhuge Liang (courtesy name: Kongming), to talk about the proposal of Sun Quan for Liu Bei to marry his sister.
"Master Kongming." Liu Bei says. "You know of the proposal of Sun Quan. What should I do?"
"It is very dangerous!" Zhuge Liang warns. "But you cannot refuse, since this would be an insult to Sun Quan and could threaten our alliance, at a time when we need Sun Quan because Cao Cao is mustering an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers for a new offensive. We need the alliance. So, you must go to the Southland."
"But.....they may try to kill me."
"I know. Once you are in the Southland, there is little I can do. You need a highly skilled man to come with you. A man who would also have the respect of the Southland Generals: Zhou Yun."
"So, I will go to the Southland with Zhou Yun?"
"Yes."
"I will go and I hope, for the good of the Han Dynasty, that I will return alive."
A week later, in the streets of Jiangling
After a week of traveling, Fong Yuen and his 40 disciples have reached Jiangling. Fong Yuen is determined to kill Zhuge Liang and take revenge for all this humiliation. Fong Yuen is sure of his success. After all, he is recognized by all the pugilist world as the most able Kung Fu Master in the whole of China. How can a simple scholar and a young man defeat him? Even if they send a whole army of tens of thousands against him, Fong Yuen is confident than he can crush them. Not to say that each one of his 40 students is a great martial artist in his own right. This time, Zhuge Liang is dead for sure. Or so he thinks.
As Fong Yuen walks towards the office of Zhuge Liang, a Liu General, commanding 80 soldiers, stops him.
"Who are you?!" the General shouts.
Instead of giving a reply, Fong Yuen uses his "Iron Claws" technique to dig out the man's eyes and then kills the man by choking him to death using his right hand. The Liu soldiers, seeing their General dead, try to attack, but the Taoists pull out their swords and in less than a minute they have massacred all 80 soldiers.
"I am Fong Yuen, the undefeated Abbot of the Great Tao Sect!" Fong Yuen shouts.
Meanwhile, Chan and Kuang, the other disciple of Beggar So, are on their way to buy some wine for their teacher. They walk in the streets of Jiangling and talk about the techniques their teacher showed to them.
"The Sword style of teacher needs speed, agility and concentration." Kuang says. "It needs much practice, but, once you learn it, your swordplay will be unmatched."
"My internal energy is also improving." Chan replies.
"Indeed. You have much internal strength. If you continue improving like this, you will soon become the greatest martial artist in all of China."
"You are overestimating me."
"Not at all."
Suddenly, as they walk towards the local inn to buy the wine, they see Fong Yuen and his 40 students heading towards Zhuge Liang's office. Chan, realizing that his friend's life is in danger, says "Kuang, hurry! We must save Zhuge Liang." and runs to inform Zhuge Liang. Kuang, also running, follows Chan.
A few minutes later, Zhuge Liang's office
Zhuge Liang is sitting in his office and thinking of how to counter Zhou Yu's plan. Liu Bei has just left for the Southland, along with Zhou Yun, and Zhuge Liang knows that sooner or later, Zhou Yu will try to assassinate Liu Bei. And if Liu Bei is killed, the Liu forces will crumble. As he keeps thinking, Chan and Kuang rush inside the room. Chan shouts "Fong Yuen is here! Run!"
Before Zhuge Liang can reply, four Taoists enter the room, Chan shouts at Kuang "Take Zhuge out of the city!". He then pulls out a sword and charges at the Taoists. All four Taoists pull out their swords and take defensive stance. Chan tries to kill the first Taoist, but he blocks again and again his attacks. Chan understands that his enemies are top Kung Fu experts. A few moments later, Fong Yuen enters the room. Chan, who sees that Kuang and Zhuge have left, and knowing that he is no match for the Taoist Abbot, runs away. The Taoists follow him. After running for a few minutes, Chan reaches a bamboo forest outside the city. While he is running there, he sees Kuang and Zhuge running.
"Are you alright?" Zhuge asks.
"I am alright." Chan replies. "Run!"
The three men run, but Abbot Fong Yuen follows behind closely. As Fong Yuen is very near to reaching his enemies, Beggar So, suddenly, appears. He holds a bamboo stick in his hands and stops the Taoist Kung Fu master.
"Old man, get out of my way!" Fong Yuen shouts.
"You call me old man?" So asks. "Then, are you saying that you are a young man?"
So then starts laughing. Fong Yuen is furious.
"How dare you make fun of the Abbot of the Great Tao Sect?!"
"I am sorry, Master........what is your name?"
"You do not know me?!"
"Why are you getting angry? Do you think that any other serious martial artist knows of a clown like you?"
Fong Yuen is really furious. He has never been insulted like that. He orders his students to chase after the three men (Chan, Kuang, Zhuge) and then pulls out his sword, the "Tao Sword", a dadao, which has a broad blade three feet long, long hilt meant for two-handed use, and a weight-forward balance. While not a particularly sophisticated sword, the weight and balance of the dadao give it considerable slashing and chopping power, making it an effective close combat weapon.
"Pull out your sword!" Fong Yuen shouts.
"I do not need a sword to beat you." So, laughing, replies. "The bamboo stick I am holding is enough to deal with clowns like you."
And so the duel begins. Fong tries to cut off So's leg, but he jumps on the air and dodges the attack. When he lands back to the ground, he charges at Fong and attacks him with fastness and prowess. But Fong's "Tao Sword" is able to block all of Fong's attacks and even slashes his stomach.
"Ha!" Fong laughs. "Take this!"
So counterattacks. He jumps on the air and attacks with his bamboo stick Fong while on the air. Fong is unable to resist and the bamboo stick hits his head. Fong, bleeding, falls back. So lands on the ground and charges at Fong. Fong is able to resist the first few attacks but soon the bamboo stick gets through his defense and hits him hard on the stomach. Fong vomits blood and lets his sword fall on the ground.
"Lets fight with bare arms!" So shouts and throws away his bamboo stick.
Fong tries to kick thrice So, but he blocks all of the attacks. Fong has no choice but to use his Ying Yang Fist. But So dodges it and kicks him on the head. The Taoist Abbot decides to use his internal energy. He repeats lines from Ancient Taoist Texts and attacks So with his palms. So, who also uses his internal energy, uses his palms to stop his enemy's attack. The palms of the two men collide and the two struggle to use as much of their internal energy as possible or, if they are defeated, they will suffer serious injuries. Using internal energy is very dangerous and can cause serious internal injuries and can even kill a person.
Meanwhile, the 40 Taoists have surrounded Chan, Kuang and Zhuge. As the Taoists pull out their swords, Kuang pulls out his bamboo stick while Chan pulls out his butterfly swords. The blade of the butterfly swords is roughly as long as a human forearm, which allows for greater maneuverability when spinning and rotating during close-quarters fighting. The butterfly swords also have a small crossguard to protect the hands of the wielder.
Once they have pulled out their swords, the Taoists charge at the three men. Chan and Kuang use So's swordplay to kill their enemies. Kung, uses his bamboo stick to break the heads of his enemies while Chan uses his two swords to dismember and slash his opponents. Although the Taoists are highly skilled, they are not able to protect themselves from the furious attacks of Chan and Kuang. The two men also use their internal energy, which they transfer to their weapons, to make them more effective. Soon heads, hands and chests are flying on the air as the two heroes massacre their enemies.
Meanwhile, So and Fong, understanding that they have equal internal strength, decide to pull away their palms before being killed by the overuse of their internal energy. As they pull their palms away, with great difficulty, they are pushed back and vomit blood. The overuse of internal strength has caused them serious internal injuries. Fong, understanding this, decides to leave. So, with great difficulty, also manages to leave.
A few hours later, Zhuge Liang's office
Zhuge Liang is back to his office, safe and sound. Zhuge Liang has also called Chan to his office to talk with him about an important mission. A mission that concerns the future of China.
"Chan, thanks for your help."
"It's nothing. As friends, we must help each other."
"Then, I need your help."
"What is it?"
"I want you to protect Lord Liu Bei from Zhou Yu's attacks!"