ly grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket and began to wipe away the sweat off of Zhang CuiShan’s face.

Xie Xun said with a smile, “Wow. Wu Dang disciples really are worthy of their fame.”

Zhang CuiShan had been annoyed at Yin SuSu for not firing her needles, but as he saw her teary, worrisome face, Zhang CuiShan began to appreciate her genuine concern. He took a deep breath, about to say something to her, when suddenly he blacked out, only to seemingly hear Yin SuSu yelled, “Xie Xun, you’ve tired Fifth Brother Zhang to death. I’ll kill you.” But Xie Xun simply laughed her off.

Suddenly, Zhang CuiShan’s body fell to the side, rolling on the ground for a moment, while hearing Xie Xun and Yin SuSu both scream at the same time. Amidst their screams, the massive wind howled, and huge waves began to bombard the boat continuously.

Zhang CuiShan’s whole body shivered, his mouth drank a large amount of salt water. Originally semi-conscious, he’s now fully awake. His first thought was, “Has the boat sunk?” He doesn’t know how to swim, and immediately try to stand up. The deck below his feet suddenly tilted to the left, and a batch of seawater poured out the boat. Hearing the huge wind howling, Zhang CuiShan felt his whole body drenched with water.

Before he realized exactly what had happened, Xie Xun yelled, “Zhang CuiShan, hurry to the back of the boat and grab the helm!” This yell sounded like thunder. Even while in a this huge storm, his voice still carried a strange splendor. Zhang CuiShan did not think too deeply, immediately went to the back of the boat, only to see a black shadow flash before his eyes, as a sailor got washed off the boat, and into the sea.

Before Zhang CuiShan made it to the helm, another tidal wave struck, this one hit like a brick wall, severely shaking the boat. By this time Zhang CuiShan had gathered up all his ability, his two feet fixed tightly to the boat’s surface, as if they were nailed to it. When the wave passed, he quickly darted towards the helm, holding the steering wheel. Only to hear ka-cha-cha, ka-cha-cha sounds in the distance, as Xie Xun waved his mace, tearing down the front and the middle masts.

But even with just one mast in the rear, the boat still danced wildly in the sea. Xie Xun wants to roll up the back mast, but couldn’t in this weather, as part of it has sunk into the water. Xie Xun yelled angrily, “Damnable Heaven, stupid wind!” Seeing the boat about to tip over, Xie Xun was forced to cut off the rear mast too. Without the masts, the boat can no longer change directions, and can only travel to where the wind takes them.

Zhang CuiShan yelled loudly, “Miss Yin, where are you?” He yelled several times, without hearing any response. After a while, his yells contained crying. When suddenly, a hand held on to his knees.

By the time another wave had passed, that hand had grabbed his neck. A voice said, “Fifth Brother Zhang. Do you really care for me this much?” Indeed the voice of Yin SuSu. Zhang CuiShan, joyous at her appearance, grabbed the helm with his right hand, Yin SuSu’s body tightly with his left, said, “Thank goodness!” He thought happily, “Oh, she’s still here. She didn’t fall into the sea.” At this moment when each wave could easily wash them into the sea, Zhang CuiShan suddenly realized that his concern for Yin SuSu outweighed even his own life.

Yin SuSu said, “Fifth Brother Zhang, let us die together.” Zhang CuiShan said, “Yes! SuSu, let us die together.”

Under normal circumstances, there would be many apprehensions regarding them being together, like the fact that one’s good and one’s evil. So even if they were in love, it would not be nearly as close as they are right now. At this moment, in this dark, tumultuous environment, where each moment maybe their last, there is only unspeakable serenity in each person’s heart. Despite the fatigue Zhang CuiShan suffered in his duel against Xie Xun, he has never felt more energetic now due to Yin SuSu’s affection, and therefore could hold on to the helm tightly.

All the mute-deaf sailors had now been washed into the sea. Only Xie Xun and Zhang CuiShan’s powerful martial arts kept them from having the same fate. Thankfully, the boat is incredibly sturdy, and kept together despite getting hit wave after wave. In this type of weather, no one knows just which direction they’re headed. Even if they did, it wouldn’t have mattered, for they could not control the ship anyway.

Xie Xun walked to the rear of the ship, said, “Brother Zhang, that was great, now let me take over the helm. You two should go rest inside the ship.

Zhang CuiShan stood up, and was about to go into the cabin with Yin SuSu, when another wave hit. This one came very unexpectedly, and threw Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu overboard.

With the sea right below them, Zhang CuiShan instinctively grabbed Yin SuSu’s wrist with his left hand. His only thought was, “To die with her under the sea, never to part again.” Just as he grabbed Yin SuSu, a rope tied around his right hand, only to feel his whole body being pulled backward. For Xie Xun had noticed what had happened, and saved them by throwing out a rope. With two loud thuds, the two people landed back on the boat again. This escape from death was certainly quite unexpected. Even Xie Xun thought they were quite lucky. If he hadn’t had a rope by him, Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu would’ve been dead by now.

Zhang CuiShan carried Yin SuSu into the cabin, while the ship still floated among the huge waves, their fate yet very much unknown. But after going through that near-fatal situation, both people had stopped caring about life and death. Inside Zhang CuiShan’s embrace, Yin SuSu said into Zhang CuiShan’s ears, “Fifth Brother Zhang, should we live through this, I’ll be with you forever.” Zhang CuiShan’s heart jumped, said, “I wanted to say the same thing. Whether in Heaven or Hell, on Earth or under the sea, we’ll always be together.” Two hearts as one, they actually began to appreciate this storm that brought them together.

In Xie Xun’s mind, though, there’s only extreme anger and complaint. No matter how strong his martial arts ability, he’s still at the mercy of the wind and water. Only the Heavens can determine fate.

After about six hours of perpetual storm, the sky finally cleared, revealing bright stars above.

Zhang CuiShan walked to the rear end of the boat, said, “Elder Xie, thank you for saving our lives.” Xie Xun said coldly, “Don’t thank me just yet. Our lives are still at the mercy of this Damnable Heaven.” Zhang CuiShan has never heard anyone put the word ‘damnable’ in front of ‘Heaven’. He thought a person must be incredibly angry at the world to think such a thing. He then pondered, it looks as if they’re going to float on this boundless sea forever, without really any chance of returning home. For this to happen just at the moment he and Yin SuSu fell in love, is like to have just tasted the finest wine in the world, only to have it snatched away. Hearing Xie Xun’s use of ‘Damnable Heaven’, he finally could understand just what the phrase ‘fate toys with humans’ means.

Zhang CuiShan sighed, and then took over the helm. Xie Xun went to take a rest after working hard all night.

Yin SuSu sat by Zhang CuiShan’s side, and looked at the stars in the night sky above. She found the North Star, and saw that the water is carrying them in that direction. She said, “Fifth brother, this boat is continuously moving north.” Zhang CuiShan said, “Yes! Hopefully it will go west too, so we can return to the mainland.”

Yin SuSu was spellbound at the scenery for a while, before saying, “I wonder where we’ll end up if this boat continues east.” Zhang CuiShan said, “There’s only water to the East. We don’t have any water, so we can only last seven to eight days…” Yin SuSu, who had just experienced love, still felt like living in a dream, and didn’t want to think about the negatives. She said, “I heard that there’s a celestial mountain in the Eastern Sea. Immortal beings live on that mountain. Perhaps we’ll sail to that mountain, meet gods and goddesses…” Then she pointed to the Silver River , said, “Perhaps we’ll sail right into the Silver River. When we get there, we’ll see the Cow Herder and the Lady Weaver meeting on the Magpie Bridge .”

Zhang CuiShan said with a smile, “We can give the boat to the Cow Herder, so if he wants to meet Lady Weaver, he can just take the boat over, instead of having to wait till the seventh day of the seventh month for the magpies.” Yin SuSu said, “If we give the boat to the Cow Herder, then how are we going to meet?” Zhang CuiShan said, “In Heaven or Hell, on Earth or under the sea, we’ll always be together. Since we’re going to be together, then why would we need to cross the Silver River?” Yin SuSu smiled brightly, as if a flower bloomed on her face. She held Zhang CuiShan’s hands, gently caressing it.

The two has thousands of romantic words to say to each other, but don’t have to really say any at all. After a long, long time, Zhang CuiShan lowered his head, only to see tears flowing down Yin SuSu’s eyes. He said in shock, “Why are you so sad?” Yin SuSu said softly, “On Earth, under water, I might be able to stay with you. But when we die, you will go to Heaven, and I… I… will go to Hell.” Zhang CuiShan said, “Oh, that won’t happen.”

Yin SuSu sighed, said, “I know I’ve done too many evil things in this life. I’ve killed so many people that I’ve lost count.” Zhang CuiShan shuddered, and realized that her vicious ways really makes her a flawed match for him. But because he’s too in love with her, and they’re most likely going to die soon in the middle of the sea, he did not think too much about it. He tried to calm her, “As long as you can correct your ways, everything will turn out fine.” Yin SuSu did not say anything. After a while, she began to sing.

She sang with the tune of the ‘The Hillside Sheep’.

“He and I, I and he, so worried about each other. Enemies, how could we become fated to love, by dying in front of the gates of Hell, letting the devil torture, getting beat by a mallet, boiled in a frying pan, ouch! ”

Suddenly they heard Xie Xun yell in the cabin, “Great song. Miss Yin, that’s much more to my liking that this fake gentleman here.”

Yin SuSu said, “You and I are both evil people. Fate will certainly bring us misfortune.”

Zhang CuiShan whispered, “If you ever have a misfortune, then I’ll share the misfortune with you.”

Yin SuSu yelled happily, “Fifth brother!” so happy could not add another word.

The next morning had clear skies, and Xie Xun used his mace to catch some fish. After starving for a couple of days, the three people didn’t really care that the fishes were raw. There is no fresh water on the boat, so they drank fish blood for water.

The sea continued to carry them northward, facing the North Star each night. The Sun continued to rise on the right, and set on the east. Their directions did not change for over ten days.

The temperature became colder and colder. Due to their high inner powers, Xie Xun and Zhang CuiShan had no problems coping, but Yin SuSu’s health began to deteriorate. Xie and Zhang both took off clothes for her to wear, but that still didn’t help. Seeing her faint smiles, trying to fight off the cold, Zhang CuiShan felt unspeakable pain in his heart. He thought that if they continued north, Yin SuSu would certainly die from the cold.

However, their luck finally came when the boat met a school of seals. Xie Xun killed several seals with his mace, and they then covered themselves in sealskin, so thick they felt like putting on a coat. They also ate the seal meat.

That night, Yin SuSu asked with a smile, “What’s the best wild animal in the world?” The three of them answered together, “Seals!” At that moment, they heard a sound from the front of the boat, only to see a large chunk of ice hitting the side of the boat.

Their moods turned sullen upon seeing this. As they travel further and further north, the temperature would get colder and colder. Until the boat would likely freeze, which would be the day they die.

The next morning, they found chunks of ice. Xie Xun smiled bitterly, said, “I can’t believe this. I tried to find the secrets to the Dragon Saber, and ended up turning into an iceman. What a joke.”

He picked up the Dragon Saber, and said angrily, “To Hell with this saber!” He then tried to throw it away, but stopped at the last moment, sighed, and put the saber back into the cabin.

After four more days, the surface of the sea is now mostly covered with think pieces of ice. The three of them decided to ignore their condition. But that night, they heard a thunderous noise, trembling the entire boat.

Xie Xun yelled, “Awesome! It’s a big iceberg!”

Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu smiled bitterly, but still held on to each other tightly, only to feel cold water up to their legs, as the boat began to sink. They heard Xie Xun yell, “Jump up to the iceberg. Even living an extra day or so would be good. Humph, the Damnable Heaven wants me to die now, but I won’t let him get his wish.”

Zhang and Yin went to the head of the boat, only to see the moon’s silver rays reflected off the iceberg, a very beautiful, but also terrifying, sight. Xie Xun is already sitting on the side of the iceberg, reached out with his mace, so Yin SuSu and Zhang CuiShan both could use it to get onto the iceberg.

The boat disappeared after a while.

Xie Xun put two sealskins on the ground, so they can sit on top of them. This iceberg looks like a small hill, about sixty meters long, thirty meters across, much more spacey then the boat. Xie Xun looked around, said, “This is actually not a bad place. I can stretch a bit here.” As he spoke he got up and walked around. Although the iceberg is very slippery, Xie Xun’s steps are as secure as they would be on normal ground.

The iceberg floated with the water, yet still towards the north. Xie Xun said with a smile, “Looks like this Damnable Heaven sent us a boat, so we can go to the North Pole to meet the North Pole’s immortal old man.” With the man she loves by her side, Yin SuSu seemed to be satisfied completely. Even had the sky fallen, she would still not have cared. Of the three people, only Zhang CuiShan worried about their situation.

The iceberg floated for another seven days. In the daytime, the sunlight created a blinding light upon reflected off the iceberg, so they had trouble seeing. The three then decided to simply sleep during the day. Then they would catch fish and other animals at night. Oddly enough, the days became longer and longer as they sailed further north, until daytime lasted twenty-two hours. The night seemed to pass in an instant.

Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu’s health became worse and worse, but Xie Xun seemed to be quite well. Each day, he would point to the sky and curse continuously at Heaven.

One day, while Zhang CuiShan’s sleeping, he suddenly heard Yin SuSu screaming in his dream, “Let go of me, let go of me.” Zhang CuiShan immediately woke up, only to see Xie Xun holding Yin SuSu’s shoulders, his expression that of a wild animal. Zhang CuiShan had been worrying about Xie Xun’s expressions lately, but never thought he’d try to hurt Yin SuSu. He said in a hurry, “Let go of her!”

Xie Xun said threateningly, “You bastard. You killed my wife. Fine, I’ll kill your wife today, leaving you to live alone in this world.” As he spoke his left hand began to choke Yin SuSu’s throat. Yin SuSu let out an ‘Ah’ in response.

Zhang CuiShan said in shock, “I’m not your enemy. I didn’t kill your wife. Elder Xie, please regain consciousness. I am Zhang CuiShan, not your enemy.”

Xie Xun froze for a moment, yelled, “Who is this? Is she your wife?” Zhang CuiShan, seeing Xie Xun choking Yin SuSu, hastily said, “She’s Miss Yin, Elder Xie. Not your enemy’s wife.”

Xie Xun yelled madly, “Who cares? My wife was killed, my mother was killed, I’m going to kill all the women in the world!” As he spoke, his grip tightened, so Yin SuSu couldn’t even let out a sound.

Zhang CuiShan realized that Xie Xun was mad, and couldn’t be reasoned with. So he quickly gathered his energy, and shot out his palm towards Xie Xun’s back. Xie Xun met the palm with his own. With the slippery surface, Zhang CuiShan fell onto the ground. Xie Xun’s right foot came up, about to kick him on the waist. Zhang CuiShan quickly tapped the ground with his hand, and sprung his body back up. Xie Xun then took back his foot, and instead, his right palm came at Zhang CuiShan’s forehead.

Yin SuSu turned around, and attacked with her left hand, aimed at Xie Xun’s head. Xie Xun ignored her and concentrated on Zhang CuiShan. Zhang CuiShan matched his palm, only to find himself unable to gather up much chi from his body. As Yin SuSu hit Xie Xun on the forehead, she felt something very hard hitting her hand, and retracted her palm in pain. Xie Xun turned to look at her, his eyes bright red, as if there’s fire burning within them. He tightened his grasp even more.

Just at this moment, light shined from the north side, many different strands of light, very suddenly in the darkness. First came purple lights, each strand darker and longer than the previous. Within the purple light carried golden light, blue light, green light, and red light. Xie Xun, in his surprise, gasped, and put down Yin SuSu. Zhang CuiShan felt that the force coming from Xie Xun gradually dissipated.

Xie Xun, with his hand behind his back, walked towards the light, and simply stared at it. Of course, the light they’re seeing right now is the aurora borealis. But no one in China at that time had seen it.

CuiShan held Yin SuSu closely, their hearts beating rapidly.

Xie Xun, for the rest of the night, did not move, simply stared at the light. When daytime came, he regained his consciousness, and started to converse normally.

Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu both thought, “No wonder he’s so sad. His parents and wife were all killed. Wonder who the killer was?” Afraid that Xie Xun might go crazy again, they did not broach the subject with him.

Many days passed by, when Xie Xun started to act abnormally again with his curses, and his eyes turned red. Although they never talked about it, both Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu were careful to guard against another attack.

One day, when the sun did not set at its usual time, Xie Xun yelled, “Damn it! Even the sun is trying to piss me off now. If I had a bow and arrow, I’d shoot you down this instant!” Suddenly he grabbed a piece of ice and threw it towards the sun. After traveling about sixty meters, the ice dropped into the water. Zhang CuiShan and Yin SuSu thought, “Wow, what arm strength. I probably can’t even throw half as far.”

Xie Xun threw one piece of ice after another, until he threw about seventy pieces. He found that no matter how many he threw, the son still remained too far for him to hit.

Yin SuSu said, “Elder Xie, perhaps you should rest a while. Ignore the sun.”

Xie Xun looked back at her, staring into her eyes. Yin SuSu was terrified, but forced a smile. Xie Xun suddenly screamed, jumped up and quickly grabbed her, yelling, “Choke you to death! Choke you to death! Why did you kill my mother, why kill my son?” Yin SuSu felt like an iron hoop gagged around her neck, and this hoop became tighter and tighter.

Zhang CuiShan tried to pry Xie Xun’s arm off of Yin SuSu, but could hardly move it. Seeing Yin SuSu about to die, Zhang CuiShan’s attacked Xie Xun, hitting the ‘Shen Dao Point’ on Xie Xun’s back. His fist felt like hitting a solid rock, while Xie Xun continued his grip on Yin SuSu. Zhang CuiShan yelled, “If you don’t let go, I’m going to use weapons.” When he saw Xie Xun ignoring him, Zhang CuiShan took out his Judge’s Brush and pointed at Xie Xun’s ‘Xiao Hai Point’ on his arm. Xie Xun retracted his right hand from Yin SuSu, and grabbed the brush with it, then threw the brush into the sea.

Feeling the grip loosening, Yin SuSu quickly spun out of his hold. Xie Xun’s left hand reached for Zhang CuiShan’s head, while his right hand tried to grab Yin SuSu’s shoulder, tearing off a piece of Yin SuSu’s seal coat. Zhang CuiShan knew that if he simply dodged Xie Xun’s attacks, Yin SuSu would be caught. So instead of running away, he attacked Xie Xun, using the Soft Palm’s ‘Carefree Flying Flower’. Strangely, when his palm met Xie Xun’s, he felt like being pulled in, unable to get free.

After controlling Zhang CuiShan, Xie Xun dragged him along while chasing Yin SuSu. Yin SuSu jumped away, but before she could get back to the ground, Xie Xun stomped on the ice with his foot, and several ice pellets flew out, all hitting her on the right leg. Yin SuSu let out a scream and fell down.

Xie Xun then sent out a huge force towards Zhang CuiShan, pushing him backward, flying. This push was so strong Zhang CuiShan landed by the edge of the iceberg. With a slip as he tried to regain his footing, Zhang CuiShan fell off the edge, into the sea.