ChumBucket
Augur
- Joined
- May 16, 2010
- Messages
- 349
I realize I have forgotten to vote: A.
-
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[LP CYOA] 傳
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
- Joined
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“Are you not hot?” The bearded Taoist looked at the boy with mild concern. Summer in Jiangdong was hot and humid, and wearing all-black under the sweltering sun did not improve conditions any. The boy stared back at him sullenly, beads of sweat rolling down his brow. “No. A true martial artist knows that a calm mind keeps the body cool. I got this.”
“Really? I would take a good straw fan any day,” chuckled the beggar, fanning his whiskered cheeks with a tattered example.
“I wouldn’t call that good. Now, shaving is the best way to keep cool. Monasticism is not without its merit,” smiled the bald monk enigmatically.
“Isn’t that what you told the young lady at the last brothel, when you asked if you could shave her unmentionables?” grinned the Taoist.
“I didn’t see you complaining,” retorted the monk.
The boy only rolled his eyes and sighed as the adults continued to bicker good-naturedly. No one understood him or his pains. A drop of sweat found its way into his eye, and he blinked. Life was suffering.
***
The four of them travelled to the lair of the notorious villains, the Five Freaks of Jiangdong. The Five Freaks had been running wild all over the region, raping, looting and murdering as they wished. The government, still recovering from the civil war between the princes, had no choice but to approach the various sects for aid. Only a few had heeded the call, but the Five Freaks had proven to be far more formidable martial artists than their reputation first suggested.
“Nice place they got here,” muttered the beggar sarcastically. “The skulls are an especially great touch.”
“Yes. It is marvelous, isn’t it?” agreed the boy wholeheartedly.
“We will need to have a word about your taste in decorations one day,” sighed the Taoist.
“I’m a true martial artist,” replied the boy as he wiped the sweat from his face. “Death is nothing unfamiliar.”
“Were we like that when we were his age?” wondered the monk.
“I remember you spent most of that time chasing skirts,” said the Taoist.
“At least I chased unmarried ones, mind you,” retaliated the monk. “Remember that trouble you got into with the prefect?”
“Prefect Xiu?” asked the beggar. “You mean, that incident in Ningxia? Was that your doing?”
The Taoist had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “It was consensual.”
“Well, the lesson to take from this all,” lectured the monk wisely, “is that we will have to bring the young one to a brothel. For... broadening his experiences.”
“I tried,” said the Taoist. “It did not turn out so well.”
“FIVE FREAKS OF JIANGDONG! I AM HERE TO CHALLENGE YOU!” shouted the boy suddenly as he stepped forward into the valley, impatience showing in every fiber of his being. “COME, SHOW ME YOUR SKILLS IF YOU DARE!” His brave roar shook the leaves and scattered the birds.
The men sighed.
“Looks like you have failed to teach him patience,” commented the beggar.
“Not my fault,” muttered the Taoist and the monk simultaneously.
Then a maniacal laughter flooded their ears.
“Who dares trespass upon the territory of the Five Freaks?” shouted the five freaks in question as they leaped out of the bushes.
“Hey, they’re calling themselves freaks,” whispered the beggar.
As befitting their name, there were five of them, all freakish in nature. There was Da Man, who looked exactly like an enormous bun with his pasty white skin and spherical body; Er Mo, a furry, growly thing of a man; San Ta, who had two enormous clubs in lieu of hands; Shi Ti, with strangely elongated legs that left him towering over the others, and Wu Men, a spindly, dark woman carrying a large door on her shoulders.
“Wait,” said the Taoist as he stepped forward, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t do anything rash.” His gesture is shrugged off rudely as the boy ran ahead to confront the Five Freaks.
“What is this? It is a boy that wants us?” growled Er Mo, fangs bared from between his hairy lips.
“Hm, he doesn’t look too bad…” Wu Men crawled towards him, grinning from behind her door. “Little boy, if you don’t run off home, I’ll make you my new toy.”
“You can talk after you have tasted my raging claws of the eagle!”
The boy swept his long hair back, his lips curling at the disrespect that they showed him. Offended, he crouched down into a fighting stance, preparing to give the Five Freaks a taste of his prowess.
***
“Eh, they weren’t so tough after all.”
Er Mo slumped forwards, his internal organs crushed beneath the beggar’s palms. Sighing, the beggar took out a gourd and began to drink.
“Who… who are you?” croaked Wu Men, lying on top of her smashed door. San Ta’s clubs had been shattered and Shi Ti’s stilts snapped. The Five Freaks had never met such a humiliating defeat before: their leader, Da Man had rebounded off the Taoist, up into the sky, and had not yet come down.
“Wang Zhengchong of Wudang.”
“Fangzheng of Shaolin.”
“Qi Liuwu, newly of the Beggars’ Sect.”
The four Freaks gasped in surprise despite their injuries.
“W-we didn’t know! Forgive us!” cried out San Ta, kneeling before them.
The boy crawled to his feet, cradling his broken arm, and staggered towards his masters. He tried not to let the pain show on his face, but it was hardly unnoticeable. “Are we going to put them to death now?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Wang admitted.
“Why is that?” The boy was surprised. Were these people not known evildoers? Did they not attack him?
“You started the fight.” said Wang, as if reading his mind. “And they were going easy on you.”
The boy flushed. “But what about their crimes? The people they killed? Look at these skulls!”
“I hate to break it to you, boy, but these skulls are fake, you know?” Qi Liuwu tossed one over to the boy. The youth caught it, turned it over in his hands, and frowned. Was it fake? It seemed real to him. “If you have not seen a real one before, I guess you wouldn’t really know,” continued Qi.
“But-“
“They were never trying to kill you. In fact, I expect their crimes were highly exaggerated.” Wang looked towards the bushes. “You should stop hiding,” he called out. Just then, a group of children and elderly people ran out, crying and wailing.
“Please, good masters! Please spare them!” pleaded one of the aged women as she threw herself in front of the four Freaks. “They were only trying to protect us!”
“That’s how the world is nowadays, it seems,” snorted Qi Liuwu, entirely unsurprised. “Raid a few rich granaries out of desperation to save your village from starvation, and you become the worst criminals that the land has ever seen. How many times has it been, now?”
“The Five Freaks are the sixth case thus far,” said Fangzheng, standing besides the fallen Wu Men. “My temple’s prohibitions forbid me from touching women, but I will make an exception just to help you out,” he said, reaching out to support her. The woman was surprisingly easy on the eye if she was not attempting to be creepy, but of course that would never factor into the monk’s decisions, and for that matter being a celibate monk of course he would not be picky about women because he was not supposed to have any in the first place, and he certainly isn't going to have any now, or so he would say.
Wu Men's gaze softened as she looked up at the gallant monk.
“Something needs to change,” mused Wang Zhengchong. “The Eight Sects need to step up and do more. While the court is still unable to carry out its duties fully, we should take the initiative to aid the people through these tough times.” He turned to the boy, who was looking quite sullen. “Do you think that is a good idea?”
The boy turned away, glaring at a nearby tree.
They beat him. They were going easy on him. They never intended to kill him. Out of everything that had been said, these were the words that stuck in his mind.
“So, you mean we should spare them?”
Wang smiled. “Yes, that is the lesson I was going for. We must always consider the subtleties of a situation.”
“I have to agree,” muttered the boy. The epiphany had been a long time coming. “After all, they will be a good gauge of my new strength in the future. I lost, but that was only because I am weak.”
“That was not what I was going for-“
The boy grinned a feral grin at the four Freaks, silencing them with his sudden bloodlust. “One day, I will return to visit. Train yourselves for that day.” He turned away dramatically.
Why else should he practise martial arts, if not to understand its secrets? Day in, day out, all he heard was about how martial arts should be used for the good of the people. He knew his masters were lenient compared to others, and he understood why they would want to use that power to help others. He had tried to put on the façade of a ‘true’ martial artist, seeking to follow in their footsteps and attempting to justify his thirst for strength in the name of righteousness.
But now he realized that such foolishness was not him at all. This defeat has shown him that.
He did not lose because his cause was less righteous - if that was the case, his masters should not have fared much better.
He lost because despite his superior skill and knowledge of martial arts, the Five Freaks were fighting not only for their own lives, but for the people of their village. They had a greater determination and understanding of their reason. That, and there were five of them against one of him. But as a true martial artist, it should not have mattered.
He lost because he was not being true to himself.
To live on the edge. To grow stronger. To pit himself against the powerful. The desire was all there was - there was no need to justify anything... it would only hold him back.
One day his path would part him from his masters. He would learn all he could learn from them, and when they no longer had anything to offer him, he would seek new challenges. He would stop at nothing, regardless of what names the jianghu called him.
Perhaps, one day he would even find someone he could impart his knowledge to, becoming a teacher himself and completing the circle.
He believed that that was what he truly desired in life.
Then, Da Man fell back out of the sky and landed on him.
“Really? I would take a good straw fan any day,” chuckled the beggar, fanning his whiskered cheeks with a tattered example.
“I wouldn’t call that good. Now, shaving is the best way to keep cool. Monasticism is not without its merit,” smiled the bald monk enigmatically.
“Isn’t that what you told the young lady at the last brothel, when you asked if you could shave her unmentionables?” grinned the Taoist.
“I didn’t see you complaining,” retorted the monk.
The boy only rolled his eyes and sighed as the adults continued to bicker good-naturedly. No one understood him or his pains. A drop of sweat found its way into his eye, and he blinked. Life was suffering.
***
The four of them travelled to the lair of the notorious villains, the Five Freaks of Jiangdong. The Five Freaks had been running wild all over the region, raping, looting and murdering as they wished. The government, still recovering from the civil war between the princes, had no choice but to approach the various sects for aid. Only a few had heeded the call, but the Five Freaks had proven to be far more formidable martial artists than their reputation first suggested.
“Nice place they got here,” muttered the beggar sarcastically. “The skulls are an especially great touch.”
“Yes. It is marvelous, isn’t it?” agreed the boy wholeheartedly.
“We will need to have a word about your taste in decorations one day,” sighed the Taoist.
“I’m a true martial artist,” replied the boy as he wiped the sweat from his face. “Death is nothing unfamiliar.”
“Were we like that when we were his age?” wondered the monk.
“I remember you spent most of that time chasing skirts,” said the Taoist.
“At least I chased unmarried ones, mind you,” retaliated the monk. “Remember that trouble you got into with the prefect?”
“Prefect Xiu?” asked the beggar. “You mean, that incident in Ningxia? Was that your doing?”
The Taoist had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. “It was consensual.”
“Well, the lesson to take from this all,” lectured the monk wisely, “is that we will have to bring the young one to a brothel. For... broadening his experiences.”
“I tried,” said the Taoist. “It did not turn out so well.”
“FIVE FREAKS OF JIANGDONG! I AM HERE TO CHALLENGE YOU!” shouted the boy suddenly as he stepped forward into the valley, impatience showing in every fiber of his being. “COME, SHOW ME YOUR SKILLS IF YOU DARE!” His brave roar shook the leaves and scattered the birds.
The men sighed.
“Looks like you have failed to teach him patience,” commented the beggar.
“Not my fault,” muttered the Taoist and the monk simultaneously.
Then a maniacal laughter flooded their ears.
“Who dares trespass upon the territory of the Five Freaks?” shouted the five freaks in question as they leaped out of the bushes.
“Hey, they’re calling themselves freaks,” whispered the beggar.
As befitting their name, there were five of them, all freakish in nature. There was Da Man, who looked exactly like an enormous bun with his pasty white skin and spherical body; Er Mo, a furry, growly thing of a man; San Ta, who had two enormous clubs in lieu of hands; Shi Ti, with strangely elongated legs that left him towering over the others, and Wu Men, a spindly, dark woman carrying a large door on her shoulders.
“Wait,” said the Taoist as he stepped forward, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Don’t do anything rash.” His gesture is shrugged off rudely as the boy ran ahead to confront the Five Freaks.
“What is this? It is a boy that wants us?” growled Er Mo, fangs bared from between his hairy lips.
“Hm, he doesn’t look too bad…” Wu Men crawled towards him, grinning from behind her door. “Little boy, if you don’t run off home, I’ll make you my new toy.”
“You can talk after you have tasted my raging claws of the eagle!”
The boy swept his long hair back, his lips curling at the disrespect that they showed him. Offended, he crouched down into a fighting stance, preparing to give the Five Freaks a taste of his prowess.
***
“Eh, they weren’t so tough after all.”
Er Mo slumped forwards, his internal organs crushed beneath the beggar’s palms. Sighing, the beggar took out a gourd and began to drink.
“Who… who are you?” croaked Wu Men, lying on top of her smashed door. San Ta’s clubs had been shattered and Shi Ti’s stilts snapped. The Five Freaks had never met such a humiliating defeat before: their leader, Da Man had rebounded off the Taoist, up into the sky, and had not yet come down.
“Wang Zhengchong of Wudang.”
“Fangzheng of Shaolin.”
“Qi Liuwu, newly of the Beggars’ Sect.”
The four Freaks gasped in surprise despite their injuries.
“W-we didn’t know! Forgive us!” cried out San Ta, kneeling before them.
The boy crawled to his feet, cradling his broken arm, and staggered towards his masters. He tried not to let the pain show on his face, but it was hardly unnoticeable. “Are we going to put them to death now?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Wang admitted.
“Why is that?” The boy was surprised. Were these people not known evildoers? Did they not attack him?
“You started the fight.” said Wang, as if reading his mind. “And they were going easy on you.”
The boy flushed. “But what about their crimes? The people they killed? Look at these skulls!”
“I hate to break it to you, boy, but these skulls are fake, you know?” Qi Liuwu tossed one over to the boy. The youth caught it, turned it over in his hands, and frowned. Was it fake? It seemed real to him. “If you have not seen a real one before, I guess you wouldn’t really know,” continued Qi.
“But-“
“They were never trying to kill you. In fact, I expect their crimes were highly exaggerated.” Wang looked towards the bushes. “You should stop hiding,” he called out. Just then, a group of children and elderly people ran out, crying and wailing.
“Please, good masters! Please spare them!” pleaded one of the aged women as she threw herself in front of the four Freaks. “They were only trying to protect us!”
“That’s how the world is nowadays, it seems,” snorted Qi Liuwu, entirely unsurprised. “Raid a few rich granaries out of desperation to save your village from starvation, and you become the worst criminals that the land has ever seen. How many times has it been, now?”
“The Five Freaks are the sixth case thus far,” said Fangzheng, standing besides the fallen Wu Men. “My temple’s prohibitions forbid me from touching women, but I will make an exception just to help you out,” he said, reaching out to support her. The woman was surprisingly easy on the eye if she was not attempting to be creepy, but of course that would never factor into the monk’s decisions, and for that matter being a celibate monk of course he would not be picky about women because he was not supposed to have any in the first place, and he certainly isn't going to have any now, or so he would say.
Wu Men's gaze softened as she looked up at the gallant monk.
“Something needs to change,” mused Wang Zhengchong. “The Eight Sects need to step up and do more. While the court is still unable to carry out its duties fully, we should take the initiative to aid the people through these tough times.” He turned to the boy, who was looking quite sullen. “Do you think that is a good idea?”
The boy turned away, glaring at a nearby tree.
They beat him. They were going easy on him. They never intended to kill him. Out of everything that had been said, these were the words that stuck in his mind.
“So, you mean we should spare them?”
Wang smiled. “Yes, that is the lesson I was going for. We must always consider the subtleties of a situation.”
“I have to agree,” muttered the boy. The epiphany had been a long time coming. “After all, they will be a good gauge of my new strength in the future. I lost, but that was only because I am weak.”
“That was not what I was going for-“
The boy grinned a feral grin at the four Freaks, silencing them with his sudden bloodlust. “One day, I will return to visit. Train yourselves for that day.” He turned away dramatically.
Why else should he practise martial arts, if not to understand its secrets? Day in, day out, all he heard was about how martial arts should be used for the good of the people. He knew his masters were lenient compared to others, and he understood why they would want to use that power to help others. He had tried to put on the façade of a ‘true’ martial artist, seeking to follow in their footsteps and attempting to justify his thirst for strength in the name of righteousness.
But now he realized that such foolishness was not him at all. This defeat has shown him that.
He did not lose because his cause was less righteous - if that was the case, his masters should not have fared much better.
He lost because despite his superior skill and knowledge of martial arts, the Five Freaks were fighting not only for their own lives, but for the people of their village. They had a greater determination and understanding of their reason. That, and there were five of them against one of him. But as a true martial artist, it should not have mattered.
He lost because he was not being true to himself.
To live on the edge. To grow stronger. To pit himself against the powerful. The desire was all there was - there was no need to justify anything... it would only hold him back.
One day his path would part him from his masters. He would learn all he could learn from them, and when they no longer had anything to offer him, he would seek new challenges. He would stop at nothing, regardless of what names the jianghu called him.
Perhaps, one day he would even find someone he could impart his knowledge to, becoming a teacher himself and completing the circle.
He believed that that was what he truly desired in life.
Then, Da Man fell back out of the sky and landed on him.
Last edited:
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
This is going to become a habit, isn't it?
I don't know how I feel about our master being such a tryhard back in the day.
Elfberserker
Liturgist
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
- Messages
- 1,540
Oh Master Zhang, you are such inspirational troll for us all. Who would have thought that our badass mentor was such battle enthuastic emo.
We still indeed have much to learn from our master about ways of unorthodoxy.
Sunnmøring
Novice
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
- Messages
- 59
I think that's the most infuriating cliffhanger I've ever seen.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Ouch. I would want to kill everyone in sight after that, too.
Still, I can't help but feel Zhang have changed after he met us. The desire to test himself is still there, but - how should I put it? - it is no longer all there is to him.
Two years ago he would have fought and killed Armaiti if she challenged him, and would have made a toothpaste out of the Sword Demon and some of the orthodox masters who crossed paths with him. Nowadays he is content with a proxy fight if we ask him nicely. I wonder how much of it comes from him seeing us as an extension of himself (meaning that our victories are as good as his) and how much is due to a genuine shift in philosophy.
Still, I can't help but feel Zhang have changed after he met us. The desire to test himself is still there, but - how should I put it? - it is no longer all there is to him.
Two years ago he would have fought and killed Armaiti if she challenged him, and would have made a toothpaste out of the Sword Demon and some of the orthodox masters who crossed paths with him. Nowadays he is content with a proxy fight if we ask him nicely. I wonder how much of it comes from him seeing us as an extension of himself (meaning that our victories are as good as his) and how much is due to a genuine shift in philosophy.
Last edited:
Elfberserker
Liturgist
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
- Messages
- 1,540
Naah, it wasn't divine retribution but a sign from heavens that they agreed with Zhang Jue after he reached for enlightment.After all you can only become stronger when obstacles fall from heavens, right?
I think one reason that has calmed down Zhang Jue is that the very core and main technique from his way as martial artist will live, after he abondens his current mortal shell for next exciting adventure in his next incarnation. Xu Jing probably will pass Shouwang claws to one of his kids or pupils as well the training from hell method what Zhang Jue used...Perhaps not as extreme version as Master Zhang, but the philopsy will be the same.
I can't help. but feel that the japan adventure thing and Big Wangs last words had lasting impressions to him..
I think one reason that has calmed down Zhang Jue is that the very core and main technique from his way as martial artist will live, after he abondens his current mortal shell for next exciting adventure in his next incarnation. Xu Jing probably will pass Shouwang claws to one of his kids or pupils as well the training from hell method what Zhang Jue used...Perhaps not as extreme version as Master Zhang, but the philopsy will be the same.
I can't help. but feel that the japan adventure thing and Big Wangs last words had lasting impressions to him..
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Hardly. I see no signs that Jing places some inherent value in martial arts. He views them the same way as the Frathouse did - as means to a goal.
Zhang's philosophy - at least the one he followed for forty years - will likely die with him. But I don't think it bothers him anymore, if it ever did. He found something in Jing - something he might not even knew he lacked when he went through disciples like they were socks.
Even if Jing dies, I do not think there would be more disciples for Zhang. Or at the very least, they would be trained differently.
However, it very well might be that it would be Jing's son or disciple who will pick up after Zhang. It is a known phenomenon that children share their the views of their grandparents more so than they do those of their parents (they feel the need to 'rebel' and 'find their own way'), and the cycle goes on and on.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Which would be..? What traits would he take from her?
I know our stalker physician is cute because she is creepy, but I wonder how it works out for males.
Let me guess, she is also the one who will have a harem of suitors beaten into submission?
Edit: Wait, why would we even have sons? I thought women are our curse and Jing ends up with 99 daughters. The court intrigue would pale in comparison to what will happen in the Xu household.
Elfberserker
Liturgist
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2013
- Messages
- 1,540
Heavens have to keep themself entertained somehow you know. Son is more likely cause further harem shenigangs in next generation...Not that girls couldn't themself establish harems, but it's more unlikely.
Besides I bet that the son will be creepy, but motherfucking charisma 9 dude so his creepy intrest will look similiar like curious puppy...Or it will be like creepy as in real creepy.
Last edited:
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Yes, but LCK 1 means they prefer to entertain themselves with us, not our children. More than 2 women with the same interests under one roof is a trial in itself. From demands to buy them things so that they would look prettier than the others to constant, unending gossiping. And no fellow men to share this burden with.
This would truly be a fitting curse. We'll be conquering the neighbouring countries just to run away from the beloved family for a while.
Esquilax
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2010
- Messages
- 4,833
I thought we'd be conquering neighbouring countries because DEMONZ.
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