olizing white chess pieces. The man in green extended his own cane and lightly pressed on the line of the opposing diagonal. The circular indentation served to symbolize the black chess pieces. Together, the four formed a square within the middle of the board. To place two black and two white chess pieces on the board in such a fashion, forming a ‘shizi’, was a rule in the ancient Chinese art of Go. The white pieces would be placed first, followed by the black pieces, opposite of what later generations would do. Following this, the Yellow Browed Monk placed a white piece in the ‘Ping’ quadrant, where the sixth vertical and third horizontal lines intersected. The man in green answered with a piece at where the ninth vertical and third horizontal lines intersected. These two starting moves came extremely quickly. The Yellow Browed Monk didn’t dare to be the slightest bit negligent, for fear of losing the advantage which he had purchased using his own pinky toe.

By the time the seventeeth or eighteenth stones were laid, the two sides were in diametric opposition to each other, engaging in a fierce struggle. At the same time, the power from each person’s finger continued to be used up. They focused on the game, striving for victory, while also generating their internal energies. The game began to slow down.

The second disciple of the Yellow Browed Monk, Pochen, was also an expert at this game. He saw his master and the man in green utilize marvelous military tactics, and many variations were used. A threat to the Yellow Browed Monk’s pieces in the lower right corner of the board appeared. If the Yellow Browed Monk did not move to cope with the threat, he would be exposing those pieces to extreme hidden dangers. But if he used a piece to guard that corner, he would have lost the offensive.

The Yellow Browed Monk was unable to make up his mind for a long time. Suddenly, a voice cried out from the stone house. “Counterattack at the ‘Qu’ quadrant, and you won’t lose the offensive.” As it happened, Duan Yu excelled at chess ever since his youth. At this moment, seeing the vicious battle which those two were engaged in, he couldn’t help but blurt out what the next move should be. A common saying described this situation most aptly: “The spectators see clearly, the players’ eyes are clouded.” Duan Yu’s skill in chess was higher than that of the Yellow Browed Monk. With him being in the position of a spectator, it was all the more easier for him to see the key to solving the dilemma.

The Yellow Browed Monk said, “This old monk was going to make that move all along. Only, I was unable to follow through with that choice. Young benefactor, your words have removed the doubt in my mind.” He immediately placed a piece at the ‘Qu’ position, where the seventh vertical line met the third horizontal. According to ancient Chinese rules of playing Go, the chessboard was divided into the quadrants of “Ping”, “Shang”, “Qu”, and “Ru”. The “Qu” quadrant was in the upper right corner.

The man in green said emotionlessly, “The onlooker who does not speak is of noble character; the player who makes his own move is a true man.” Duan Yu yelled back, “You imprisoned me in this room. You aren’t a gentleman of noble character to begin with!” The Yellow Browed Monk laughed. “I’m a true monk, not a true man.” The man in green said, “Shameless. Shameless.” After thinking for a moment, he pressed his cane down and created an indentation within the ‘Qu’ quadrant.

After their armies had exchanged countless attacks, the Yellow Browed Monk’s forces were once more in danger. His disciple, Pochen, was worried while watching. Duan Yu, however, didn’t make a sound. Thus Pochen walked next to the stone house. In a low voice, he whispered, “Mr. Duan, how should this next move be played?” Duan Yu replied, “I already thought of a solution. The problem is, the solution must be implemented across seven moves. If I say it and the opponent hears me, he’ll counter it. That is why I hesitated to speak.” Pochen extended his right palm. With his left hand, he wrote on his right palm, “Please write it out.” Following that, he immediately extended his hand into the hole in the boulder. But as he did so, he said, “Since this is the case, there’s nothing that can be done.” He knew that the internal strength of the man in green was astonishing. No matter in how low a voice Duan Yu whispered, he would overhear.

Duan Yu thought to himself that this strategy was brilliant. He immediately stretched out his finger and wrote out the seven moves. He said, “The venerable master is an expert at chess. He certainly has a wonderful move in mind. There’s no need for me to give any more advice.” Pochen thought for a while, then realized that these seven moves truly were extremely clever. He returned to his master’s side. Extending his finger, he began to write out those moves on his master’s back. The billowing folds of the sleeves of his cassock hid his hands, rendering the man in green unable to see his chicanery. The Yellow Browed Monk thought for another moment, then made his move as instructed.

The man in green let out a ‘heng’ sound. “Another instructed you to make this move. Based upon your own accomplishments in chess, master, you could never have formulated such a move.” The Yellow Browed Monk laughed. “The game of chess originated as a battle of the wits. A person must be modest and not reveal their real skill to the opponent. If the depths of my chess abilities could be see easily and totally seen through by you, benefactor, would we even need to play this match?” The man in green replied, “Crafty, cunning schemer, playing tricks with your sleeves.” He had seen Pochen walk back and forth, then cover the Yellow Browed Monk’s back with his sleeves. He knew that there must be something odd about that action. But he was too busy concentrating on the changes and variations within the chess game, and so could not spare any more attention to other things.

The Yellow Browed Monk’s next six moves were all acccording to Duan Yu’s instructions. He did not need to use his energy to think of them, and only needed to exert his energy to draw the actual pieces on the board. Correspondingly, the six circles which he drew with his steel hammer were extremely round and deep, giving him the appearance of being full of vigor and an unending source of energy. The man in green, seeing that each of these six moves were more powerful than the previous, was forced to ponder deeply in order to defend against each one of them. He was totally forced to the defensive, and the indentations which his steel canes made began to show some differences in depth. After the Yellow Browed Monk played his sixth piece, the man in green simply sat there for a long moment. Then, suddenly, he played a piece in the ‘Ru’ quadrant.

This move was strange to the extreme. It was completely different from what Duan Yu had anticipated. The Yellow Browed Monk was stunned. He thought to himself, “This seven-step strategy of Mr. Duan was carefully devised and perfect in the details. By the time I laid down the seventh piece, I would have advanced from being one move ahead to being two moves ahead. But now, I’ll no longer be able to make the seventh move. All my previous efforts were wasted.”

As it happened, the man in green saw that the battleground was becoming more and more disadvantageous to him. No matter what defense he might use, he would still be in trouble. So instead, he decided to ignore the threat to his own pieces, and attack the opponent’s pieces in a different area instead. This was known as “defending without defending”. Truly, it was a formidable move. Furrowing his forehead, the Yellow Browed Monk tried to devise a good reply.

Pochen saw the sudden change in the battlefield of chess pieces and that his master’s pieces were once again in great danger. He immediately ran next to the stone house. Duan Yu had long ago come up with a strategy, and wrote six countermoves on Pochen’s palm, one after the other. Pochen then rushed back to the Yellow Browed Monk’s side, once more writing down the moves on his master’s back.

The man in green was known as “The Most Evil Man in the World.” How could he possibly ignore his opponent’s constant cheating and trickery? He stretched out his left steel cane, pointing it at Pochen’s shoulder. He shouted, “Junior disciple, stand farther back!” And as he pointed, a ‘chi’ sound emanated from the cane.

The Yellow Browed Monk saw that his disciple wouldn’t be able to resist the enemy’s power, and that it would be difficult for him to avoid sustaining a heavy injury. He thrust out his own left palm in a snatching attack towards the cane. The man in green’s cane trembled, then pointed towards the acupoint beneath the left side of the monk’s chest. The Yellow Browed Monk turned the snatching attack into a chopping attack on the cane. But once again, the steel cane changed position.

In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged over eight stances. The Yellow Browed Monk thought to himself that his arm couldn’t reach long enough. He struck with his finger at the steel cane. The man in green didn’t budge a single step, and the monk’s finger and the steel cane touched. Both of them generated their power and began to compete in internal energy. Immediately, the steel cane and the monk’s fingers came to a halt, neither of them moving in the slightest.

The man in green said, “Master, it is your move. You have delayed for so very long now. Are you preparing to forfeit?” The Yellow Browed Monk laughed. “Sir, you are an elite master of a senior generation. Why would you launch a sneak attack against my disciple? I’m afraid you really are lowering your own status!” With his right hand, the monk drew another small circle on the blue stone with his steel hammer. The man in green didn’t even take time to think. With a casual wave of his hand, he made his own move. And so, their left hands remained locked in a fierce internal energy competition, with neither side daring to slacken off in the slightest. Their right hands continued to play chess. Each side continued to advance their own pieces, continuing to counter each move of the other.

Five years ago, the Yellow Browed Monk had pled on the behalf of the commoners of Dali, asking Emperor Baoding to abolish the salt tax. Only now did Emperor Baoding agree. The two of them had reached a tacit understanding that the Yellow Browed Monk would rescue Duan Yu in Emperor Baoding’s place. The Yellow Browed Monk thought to himself, “It is of little consequence if I lose my life. But if I cannot rescue Duan Yu, how can I possibly face my worthy brother, Zhengming?”

When martial arts exponents were cultivating their internal energy, they couldn’t allow themselves to be distracted in the slightest. This is what is described as “Reflecting the brilliance of emptiness, forgetting both myself and the world.” But in playing chess, one must strive to outdo someone else. Each game of chess had three hundred and sixty one possible moves, and every single move had to be carefully contemplated. It truly did require that one calculate out ever minor detail, and haggle over every minor point. These two principles were directly opposite to each other, highly incompatible. Although the Yellow Browed Monk was a master at chan meditation, his skills in chess were inferior to his opponent. While secretly generating internal energy to resist the opponent, he neglected the game. If he focused on the game of chess instead, he would find himself disadvantaged in the internal energy competition. It seemed as though today, he found himself in an inextricably dangerous and strange situation. His only option was to die fighting, so as to repay his bosom friend. His own safety was no longer a concern for him. As the ancients said, “An army burning with righteousness is guaranteed victory.” But although the Yellow Browed Monk certainly was filled with righteousness, the words ‘guaranteed’ and ‘victory’ really did not apply.

The three ministers of Dali, ‘Minister of Education’ Hua Hegen, ‘Minister of War’ Fan Hua, and ‘Minister of Soil and Water’ Ba Tianshi, led thirty subordinates who possessed martial arts in their expedition. They brought along timber, shovels, kongming lanterns, and other tools, and snuck into the forest at the back of the Ten Thousand Calamities Gorge. After selecting a suitable location, they began to dig the tunnel. The thirty three men dug for an entire night, tunneling out a passageway that was several hundred feet long. The following day, they continued to dig, all the way until late afternoon. They calculated that they shouldn’t be too far from the stone house. Hua Hegen ordered his subordinates to withdraw and dispose of the dirt, leaving only the three of them as they continued to dig. They knew that Crown Prince Yanqing’s martial arts were extremely profound, and so they dug as quietly as possible, not daring to make even the slightest of sounds. Under the circumstances, their forward progress slowed greatly. They didn’t know that at this moment, Crown Prince Yanqing was exhausting all of his energy and concentration in competing in both chess and internal energy with the Yellow Browed Monk. There was no chance that he might hear them digging a tunnel.

They continued to dig until the ‘shenpai’ hour [3 PM to 5 PM], then stopped, calculating that they should be beneath Duan Yu. They were now no more than ten feet away from Crown Prince Yanqing. Consequently, it was now all the more important for them to proceed with caution. They definitely could not risk making a single sound. Hua Hegen put down his iron shovel and began to dig using his ten fingers. He executed his ‘Exceeding Claw Skill’, and his ten fingers became much akin to a pair of steel claws, tearing through large chunks of dirt. Fan Hua and Ba Tianshi stood behind him, taking the dirt which his claws dislodged and disposing of it. At this point in time, Hua Hegen was no longer digging forwards; rather, he had begun to dig upwards. The architectural feat had been completed. But as to whether or not Duan Yu could be rescued, they would find out very soon. All three of them couldn’t help but have their heart’s beat faster.

Digging upwards was a much less taxing proposition than digging forwards. Once the dirt and mud was loosened, they would fall down of their own accord. After Hua Hegen had dug sufficiently upwards to allow himself to straighten his body, his digging speed increased even further. After digging for a while, he would stop and listen carefully, trying to hear any movement above him. In such a manner, he dug for the length of time which might take two joss sticks to burn down. By then, he judged that he could be no more than a foot away from the surface. He dug even more slowly now. As he gently brushed aside the remaining mud and dirt, his hand came into contact with a flat wooden plank. He was ecstatic. “So the stone house has a wooden floor. That makes it much easier to deal with.”

Pouring power into his fingers, he slowly carved out a two-foot long square in the wooden board. He then withdrew the support his free hand had been providing the wooden plank, and the wooden square lightly fell down, creating an aperture which a single person could easily pass through. Hua Hegen lifted up his iron shovel, waving it in a circle above the floor in order to guard against a sneak attack. Suddenly, he heard a loud ‘ah’ sound, as a female voice screamed loudly.

Hua Hegen said in a low voice, “Miss Mu, don’t scream. I’m a friend. I’m here to rescue you.” With a leap, he jumped out of the hole.

But when he saw the insides of the room, he was hugely startled. What type of ‘stone house’ was this? The room was bright and clean, and all sorts of bottles and jars covered every single cabinet and table. A young girl with a terrified expression on her face was standing in one corner. Hua Hegen immediately knew that he had miscalculated, and dug into the wrong place. The location of the stone house was only known by Emperor Baoding, who had described it to Ba Tianshi, who in turn described it to him. Afraid of being caught, he hadn’t dared to personally inspect the terrain. Operating on the basis of thirdhand information, he hadn’t been too far off, but nonetheless a huge error had been made.

Hua Hegen had dug himself directly into Zhong Wanchou’s house. That young girl was Zhong Ling. She was in the process of rummaging through her father’s belongings, trying to find the antidote for Duan Yu. All of a sudden, a big man suddenly jumped up out of the floor. How could she not be terrified?

Hua Hegen’s thoughts moved quickly. “Since we dug to the wrong place, we’ll have to start digging anew. I’ve already left behind traces of my passing. If I kill this girl in order to silence her, after finding her corpse Zhong Wanchou will certainly search the area. He’ll find me before I can manage to tunnel my way to the stone house. The only option is to temporarily take her into the tunnel. If others go looking for her, they’ll definitely search outside of the gorge.”

But at this very moment, footsteps could be heard outside the room as someone walked nearby. Hua Hegen waved his hands towards Zhong Ling, signifying that she wasn’t to cause a disturbance. Turning his body, he extended his left leg towards the hole, as though he were preparing to go back down. But suddenly, he spun around and leapt towards Zhong Ling, covering her mouth with his left hand while hugging her around the waist with his right. He carried her within the hole, passing her downwards. Fan Hua received Zhong Ling from Hua Hegen, then grabbed a big handful of mud and covered her mouth with it. Hua Hegen jumped back into the tunnel, then placed the wooden square which he had cut out back to its original position. Pressing his ears against the cracks, he listened to any sounds which might come from above.

He heard the sound of two people walking into the room. A male voice said, “You must have lingering affection for him. Otherwise, why would you keep on trying to prevent me from ruining the reputation of the Duan family?” A displeased female voice replied, “What ‘lingering’ affection are you babbling about? I never had any affection for him to begin with.” The male voice said, “If that’s true, I couldn’t be happier. Excellent, excellent!” Utter happiness was in his voice. The woman said, “However, Miss Mu is my martial sister’s daughter. She’s one of our people. How can you mistreat her so?”

By now, Hua Hegen had already realized that the two people speaking had to be gorge-master Zhong and his wife. Hearing that the topic of their conversation had to do with Duan Yu, he became all the more attentive in his eavesdropping.

He heard Zhong Wanchou say, “Your martial sister wanted to sneakily release Duan Yu. Fortunately, she was discovered by Ye Erniang. Your martial sister is already one of our enemies. Why care about her daughter? Wife, the people who are now at our halls are all famous members of Dali’s wulin community. But you didn’t pay the slightest attention to them. You walked into the room, widened your eyes, and glared at them. Isn’t that a little…a bit…eh, not polite.” Madame Zhong angrily replied, “What’s the point of you inviting those fellows into our house? We don’t have much of a relationship with any of them. Do you think they will dare offend the Emperor of Dali for our behalf?”

Zhong Wanchou said, “I didn’t invite them here for the purpose of asking them to loan us their fists in battle and rebel against Duan Zhengming. As it happened, they all were present within Dali. I invited them here to drink wine and serve as witnesses for what will happen. Duan Zhengchun’s own son has shared a room with his own sister and engaged in licentious, incestuous acts, as though they were animals. The guests that I invited today even include some heroes from the Central Plains to our north. Early tomorrow morning, we’ll open the door to the stone house and give everybody something to see. The heir of the Duan family’s ‘Solitary Solar Finger’, in such a state…won’t that be so very amusing? Won’t this be spread far and wide throughout the jianghu?” As he spoke, he began to laugh loudly, utterly delighted.

Madame Zhong let out a ‘heng’ sound. “Contemptible and despicable! Brazen and shameless!” Zhong Wanchou said, “Who are you cursing as being despicable and shameless?” Madame Zhong said, “Whoever performs despicable and shameless acts is a despicable and shameless person. There’s no need for me to curse them as being such!” Zhong Wanchou said, “Right! That evil fellow, Duan Zhengchun, describes himself as being a dissolute playboy, and has brought many sins upon his own head. In the end, his own children will fall in love and engage in an illicit sexual relationship. He really is extremely despicable and shameless!” Madame Zhong let out a cold smile, but did not respond. Zhong Wanchou asked, “Why did you just smile coldly like that? Can it be that those two words, ‘despicable’ and ‘shameless’, were not directed towards Duan Zhengchun?”

Madame Zhong smiled coldly again. “You aren’t able to overcome the Duan family with your own abilities, and hide yourself here in this gorge, not daring to show yourself. Fine, whatever. As the saying goes, knowing how to avoid being shamed is something akin to courage. This is still something which a man might do. But I never would have imagined that you would use such despicable means to manipulate his children instead. The heroes of the world won’t be laughing at him, no. They will be laughing at you! Zhong Wanchou!”

Zhong Wanchou leapt to his feet. He angrily said, “You’re calling ME shameless and despicable?”

Tears flowed down Madame Zhong’s face. Her voice choked with sobs, she said, “I didn’t imagine that the husband whom I married, the good man to whom I entrusted my entire being, would be…would be a person like this. I….I…my life is so bitter!”

Seeing his wife cry, Zhong Wanchou couldn’t help but be flustered. “Fine. Fine! If you want to curse at me, then curse at me as much as you want!” He stalked back and forth across the room. He wanted to offer his wife some sort of apology, but couldn’t immediately think of anything appropriate to say. Finally, he said, “This wasn’t my idea! Duan Yu was captured by the Divine Crocodile. Mu Wanqing was seized by ‘Evil Beyond Human Capacity’. The ‘Yin and Yang Conjoining’ powder belongs to him as well. How could I use such a despicable and shameless sort of drug?” At the moment, he wanted to disavow all responsibility. Madame Zhong laughed coldly. “As long as you know what the words ‘despicable’ and ‘shameless’ mean. If you don’t approve of this idea, then you should release Miss Mu.” Zhong Wanchou said, “That won’t work, that won’t work. If I release Mu Wanqing, what type of performance can Duan Yu put on by himself?”

Madame Zhong said, “Fine! If you want to be despicable and shameless, I’m going to do something despicable and shameless as well for you to see!” Zhong Wanchou was startled, and hurriedly asked, “You…you…what are you going to do?” Madame Zhong let out a ‘heng’ sound. “Just go imagine it by yourself.” In a trembling voice, Zhong Wanchou said, “You…are you going to find Duan Zhengchun…find Duan Zhengchun, that evil thief, and commit adultery with him again?” Madame Zhong angrily roared, “What do you mean, AGAIN?” Zhong Wanchou hurriedly laughed. “Wife, don’t be angry. I misspoke. Of course you never…never…never did that with him. When you said you would do something despicable and shameless for me to watch, that was…that was just a joke. Right?” But Madame Zhong did not respond.

Zhong Wanchou’s mind was greatly disturbed. Casting his gaze wildly about the room, he saw that all the bottles and jars were all jumbled about. He said, “Humph. What a mischievious kid Zhong Ling is. At her tender age, she actually came and asked me about the ‘Yin and Yang Conjoining’ powder. Where did she hear about it, anyhow? Now she came here and made a mess of things.” As he spoke, he went into the room and began to straighten and reorganize the medicine cabinets. One foot strode on top of the piece of wood which had been cut away earlier. Hua Hegen hurriedly exerted his strength to keep the piece of wood from collapsing, in order to prevent Zhong Wanchou from discovering them.

Madame Zhong said, “Where is Ling’er, anyhow? Where’d she go? Why did you need to take her to the grand hall to meet the guests, anyhow?” Zhong Wanchou laughed. “The two of us made such a beautiful little girl together. How can I not introduce her to my friends?” Madame Zhong said, “What, are you a monkey showing off your treasure? I saw the wicked look in the eyes of that Yun Zhonghe fellow as he stared nonstop at our daughter. You need to be careful.” Zhong Wanchou laughed. “I only need to be careful about you. You are a lovely woman with the complexion of a flower and are as beautiful as the moon. Who wouldn’t be scheming to steal you away?”

Madame Zhong spat, then shouted, “Ling’er! Ling’er!” A serving girl walked towards her. “The young miss was just here a moment ago.” Madame Zhong nodded. “Go find that young lady. I have something to tell her.”

Underneath the floor and within the tunnel, Zhong Ling clearly heard every single word her parents exchanged. Unfortunately, there was no way for her to respond. Her heart was filled with fear, and in addition, her mouth was covered with mud, making her feel even worse.

Zhong Wanchou said, “Take a rest. I’ll go keep our guests company.” An icy expression on her face, Madame Zhong coldly replied, “Why don’t you rest instead. I’ll go keep them company.” Zhong Wanchou said, “Let’s go together.” Madame Zhong said, “The guests want to see my ‘flower-like complexion’ and my ‘moon-like beauty’. Why would they be interested in seeing your long, horse-like face? One day, even I’ll be tired of seeing that face, and then you’ll know how it feels.”

These past few days, Zhong Wanchou had been getting blamed for everything he did. No matter what he said, his wife would abruptly ridicule him. He clearly saw that after his wife had met with Duan Zhengchun again, old passions once more began to rise in her thoughts. Even though he was unhappy, he never dared to snap back at her. He could only let out a laugh, then walk towards the great hall. While walking, he thought to himself, “She’s going to do something shameful and despicable for me to see? Then she said that one day, even she’ll be sick of seeing my face. Hmm. That means, she isn’t sick of seeing my face yet. Things aren’t so very bad! I’m just worried about Duan Zhengchun, that thieving scoundrel…”