Lung Chang
Chapter I: Feast on the Snowy Mountain
Severe winter, bitter cold in the Dragon Mountain. Snow covers everything and the earth is completely white. Snowflakes fall like rain. A young, healthy, tall, and handsome man, nevertheless, walks on this Mountain. He wears a white gown made of silk and, despite the bitter cold, he holds a white folding fan and fans himself. He looks like a wealthy and well educated man, a scholar maybe. What is he doing on a snowy and desolate mountain like this? Does he want to meet someone? Or he just wants to gaze at the beautiful scenery the white with snow mountain offers?
The young man is smiling and says again and again, "Good scenery! Good snow!". As he walks, he finds a young man with teared clothes digging a grave. The grave is quite deep and large and it is truly admirable how someone could dig such a grave in such bitter cold. But why would he dig a grave? For himself? Although poor, he seems healthy and could live for many more decades.
The young man stares at the digger and asks: "For who do you dig this grave?"
"For a man named Lung Chang."
The young man laughs.
"Ai-ya! You are going to kill Lung Chang?"
"Me? No. I have just been paid to dig a grave for him. I do not even know who Lung Chang is."
"Would you like to learn who he is?"
The digger remains silent for a while and then replies, "Why not?"
"I am Lung Chang."
The digger's face becomes pale when he hears his name.
"So....I am....digging a grave for you?"
"From what you told me, yes."
The most weird thing about the whole conversation is that Lung Chang remains calm and smiles all the time. Which man would be so calm and happy when he sees someone digging a grave for him? Could it be that Lung Chang expects to die soon and is happy that he will have a decent grave? Could it be that he is confident that his Kung Fu is more than a match for any opponent, and so he is not taking such threats seriously? Could it be that Lung Chang is a carefree man who is always happy, no matter what happens? Could it be some other reason? Anyway, going back to our story, Lung Chang suddenly hears the sound of people coming towards him.
A group of more than twenty people, all dressed like restaurant waiters, walks towards him. Some carry boxes of food, some carry a table and some chairs and some carry jars of wine. The group soon places the table and the chairs on the ground, below a tall and beautiful Peace Blossom Tree, and then puts the food and the wine on the table. Before Lung Chang can inquire them on what is going on, the men run away. The digger also runs away. Lung Chang stays alone. Well, at least he has wine to drink and food to eat.
He opens one of the jars with the wine and smells it. "Good wine!", he says and proceeds to drink it. As he begins to drink it, he hears some steps. Someone is coming towards him. He sees a middle-aged thin man with scruffy beard and wearing a blue Taoist gown coming towards him. What is a Taoist Priest doing on top of a desolate and snowy mountain? Is he looking for someone? Maybe he came to look for Lung Chang? The Taoist Priest seems to be very muscular, even more than people twenty or more years younger than him, and a long and very sharp sword, which is made of jade and decorated with gems, is hanging from his waist.
Lung Chang, instead of being surprised to see such a man coming on such a desolate place, greets him warmly like a friend, even though he does not know him.
"Priest", Lung Chang says while pointing at the table. "Please sit with me and enjoy some wine and food. I do not know about the food, but the wine is very good."
"Hahaha! Of course. Of course. How could I not sit and enjoy the wine I ordered?"
"Oh! So, you were the one who invited me here, right?"
"It seems that you are gifted with divine powers of perception."
"Hahaha! Priest, you are overrating me. Let us drink some wine."
"That's right!"
The Taoist Priest grabs a jar of wine and throws it with all of his power towards Lung Chang. The Priest put so much internal energy on throwing the jar, that it could easily kill someone. Lung Chang somersaults and catches the jar while on the air. He then lies on the white with snow ground, below the Peace Blossom Tree, and drinks all of the wine. After finishing it, he throws away the jar and shouts with excitement, "Good wine!".
"And good Qinggong!", the Priest remarks. "Do you want to know why I invited you here?"
"Let me guess! You want to make friends with me and, as the saying goes, wine makes friends. So, you invited me here to drink wine with you and become good friends, right?"
"Hahaha! No....no...no. I invited you here because I want to kill you."
"Am I so important that you brought such good wine and came to such a desolate place only in order to kill me? I am honored. I am honored."
"Lung Chang, do you know who I am?"
"Only one person has the 'Deadly Jade Sword', and that is the Chief of the Wudang Sect, Priest Yue Li."
"You indeed have divine powers of perception."
"Hahahaha! I am flattered that such a respectable Master says such good words for me. Let us drink some wine!"
Both men grab a jar of wine each, open it, shout "cheers!" and drink to their heart's content.
Yue Li, then, says: "It is shame that we are enemies. If we were not enemies, we would surely become best friends, even sworn brothers."
"You never know. We may become friends. As the saying goes, fight makes friends."
"Hahahaha! Shall we begin?"
"Why the hurry? If we fight, one of us might end up dead. Let us first get drunk with this wonderful wine and let us eat this delicious food you brought. It would be a shame to waste such good wine and food, right?"
"Right!"
The two men take another jar of wine each and drink. After a large gulp, Lung Chang lets out a breath and says, "Very good wine! Very, very good wine!"
The Priest takes a large gulp and, after staring for a few second's at Lung Chang's fan, says: "Nice fan!"
Lung Chang opens his fan, revealing some well written and elegant characters: "心在水精域 (My heart is in a world of water and crystal)".
"Nice poem, good characters!", the Priest says after taking two more gulp.
"You flatter too much an untalented man like me. The poem comes from Du Fu, the great poet of the late Tang Dynasty. It comes from the first of his four 'In Abbot Zan's Room at Dayun Temple' poems. It is my favorite poem. Let me recite it to you."
"Good! Recite it! I enjoy poetry!"
Lung Chang begins reciting the poem:
心在水精域
衣沾春雨时
洞门尽徐步
深院果幽期
到扉开复闭
撞钟斋及兹
醍醐长发性
饮食过扶衰
把臂有多日
开怀无愧辞
黄鹂度结构
紫鸽下罘罳
愚意会所适
花边行自迟
汤休起我病
微笑索题诗
My heart is in a world of water and crystal,
My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.
Through the gates I slowly walk to the end,
The great court the appointed tranquil space.
I reach the doors- they open and shut again,
Now strikes the bell- the meal time has arrived.
This cream will help one's nature strengthen and grow,
The diet gives support in my decline.
We've grasped each other's arms so many days,
And opened our hearts without shame or evasion.
Golden orioles flit across the beams,
Purple doves descend from lattice screens.
Myself, I think I've found a place that suits,
I walk by flowers at my own slow pace.
Tangxiu lifts me from my sickly state,
And smiling, asks me to write a poem.
Yue Li claps his hands and shouts: "Bravo! Bravo! This poem made my mood. I love Du Fu's poetry."
"Good! Let us drink another jar of wine for Du Fu and his magnificent poetry!"
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Once again, the two men drink a jar of wine each. If someone saw them now, without knowing who they are, he would have thought that they are good friends, or even sworn brothers. But, in fact, they are enemies, enemies awaiting to battle to death. Why would those two be enemies? What happened between them that has made those people fight each other?
"Lung Chang! We should now begin our duel. I must kill you! While you may seem like a polite and elegant man, in reality you are cruel and worse than an animal. You killed Wu Jing, son of the Chief of Huashan Sect, Master Wu Kang, almost a year ago, in August 14th. When your teacher, the Chief of Kunlun Sect, Master Song Yan, send you to apologize to Master Wu Kang, after apologizing the day, the night you entered his house, murdered him, massacred his entire family, raped and blinded his daughter and wrote with red characters on the house's wall: 'Lung Chang never apologizes'. And when your teacher expelled you from the Kunlun Sect, despite the fact that he raised you since the age of 10, because you were an orphan, you killed him. So, while you may pretend to be elegant, friendly and polite, your real nature is beastly! You are worse than an animal!"
"Bother Li, you say that my real nature is beastly and that I pretend to be elegant. But what if in reality what you say is, in fact, reversed?"
"Then, I shall find out the truth with my sword!"
"Good!"
Lung Chang takes another jar of wine, drinks it, throws it away and shouts: "Let's begin!"
Yue Li pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword', somersaults and thrusts his sword directly towards Lung Chang's throat. Lung Chang blocks his sword with his fan, using all his might and internal strength. Yue Li somersaults and attacks again Lung Chang with his sword. Lung Chang flinches, but his shoulder is struck.
"Brother Li, I do not have a sword right now with me, so why not fight with bare hands?"
"Alright."
Yue Li hangs once again his sword on his waist and charges and strikes out at Lung Chang with his left hand with such power that his palm makes a whistling sound. Lung Chang counters the blow with his right hand, using all of his internal energy, and at the same time strikes with his left palm at the man. Yue Li uses his other hand to parry Lung Chang's attack and their four hands meet. A duel of internal energy ensues and soon, both of them are pushed back and fall on the ground. They both feel weak because of their overuse of their internal energy, but they are both ready to continue their fight.
"Good Kung Fu, brother Li."
"Your Kung Fu is also quite good, brother Chang."
Yue Li somersaults and attacks with a flying kick Lung Chang, aiming directly at his chest, but Lung Chang dodges the attack. Yue Li kicks towards him thrice, but thrice Lung Chang dodges the attacks. The battle continues for quite some time, as Yue Li and Lung Chang exchange more than 350 moves, but still none of them is able to defeat the other. Yue Li decides to use the 'Heavenly Eagle Claws" technique and strikes out quickly at his opponent's eyes with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, and Lung Chang is barely able to dodge the attack just in time. The two men continue to fight for 100 more moves, but Lung Chang manages to pass a fist of his through his enemy's defense and punches with it Yue Li's face. The fist was so powerful, that Yue Li's nose starts to bleed. Lung Chang, then, lands a powerful blow on Yue Li's right shoulder. As the Priest lets a cry of pain, Lung Chang kicks him with immense power on his groin. The Priest loses his balance and Lung Chang kicks him twice, using all of his internal energy, on the chest. Yue Li is pushed back and vomits lot of blood.
"I....I...I...have lost!", Yue Li says. "You can kill me."
"Why should I kill a good brother like you?", Lung Chang replies as he helps Yue Li get up. "Come, let us drink some wine."
"Everyone knows that you are a murderer and rapist, why do you spare me?"
"Well, not everything is as it seems. Maybe some of those who are considered gentlemen are in fact murderers and rapists and some of those who are considered murderers and rapists are in fact gentlemen."
"Indeed. It seems that I was wrong about you."
"Brother Li, let me tell you something. I did not commit any of those crimes you accused me of. Someone else committed those crimes and blamed them on me. I do not know who, but I shall find him and take revenge for all he has done!"
Yue Li pulls out his 'Deadly Jade Sword' and gives it to Lung Chang. "Please, accept this gift of mine. This will surely help you take your revenge."
"No! How could I take such a valuable treasure of the Wudang Sect?"
"You spared my life today and proved yourself to be a real gentleman, a real chivalrous hero. Also, nearly everyone in the Martial Arts World wants to kill you for your 'crimes'. This sword will help you defend yourself. It can cut through the most hard steel. There is nothing that it cannot cut."
"Very well, I shall take it. Better be polite than rude. I will use it to take revenge!"
"Good! Let us drink to your revenge! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
The two men drink once again a jar of wine each. They then eat the food that Yue Li had ordered and after spending almost the whole day drinking and chatting, they part their ways. Yue Li goes back to his Wudang Sect and Lung Chang returns to his quest of finding the one who framed him for all those crimes. Will he be able to find who framed him and take revenge? Or shall he have to live with the shame of being accused of murders and rapes?