The title is the name of a concealed weapon. A seventeen
year old young man, Du Siyan, started his adventure by visiting Tiangang Bao, a haunted
castle, in order to gain powerful wugong. There he came across the devious Syu Gongciang
and his wife, Hu Daniang, known as the public enemy of the martial arts circle. They
showed him the wrong way so he entered a cave filled with snakes. Fortunately he was not
killed but gained the unbeatable wugong of Tiangang, the knowledge of applying poisons,
and the powerful Danfong Jhen, a pin that not only protects the person who wears it from
being poisoned but also could bring the dying patient back to life, so every wanted it.
When the devious couple Syu and Hu were found hiding in the
Tiangang Bao, a group of wugong masters led by Li Tiansiang of the Wudang School seized
the castle in order to capture them. Li Tiansiang and masters following him were
recognized as the righteous side, and their opponents were regarded as the evil group.
Both groups wanted to get the precious pin, Danfong Jhen, so they fought intellectually
and physically. During the competition Li Tiansiang found out that there were many spies
from the evil side undercover on his side. So Li together with a few masters and
mistresses formed an inner circle party to investigate. At the same time many masters from
the righteous side were poisoned and the young man Du Siyan who still hid in the castle
cured them. When Li realized the young man's good action he invited the young man to join
them.
The spies were gradually caught including Si Zihfong, a
disciple of Wudang, but also the second disciple of Wei Hansiang the Six Finger Devil
King, an important member of the evil group. Si was sent back to Wudang by Li Tiansiang.
Eventually the leader of the evil party appeared. He was the monk, Master Si Jhang, of the
Shaolin School, but he was also son of Six Finger Devil King. Then the war between the
righteous and the evil parties broke out.
The young man Du Siyan by applying drugs and the excellent
wugong learning from Tiangang, successfully overcame many masters and mistresses from the
evil group. He also dismissed a devious Bleached Bones gang, and killed Syun and his wife.
But again and again he released the third disciple of the Six Finger Devil King, Nian
Syun, because Nian Syun's father had rescued Du and his family years earlier. Before he
died he wished Nian Syun could give up evil and asked that Nian Syun be killed only if he
refused to change. Du's family gave him the mission to fulfill the old man's wish, so it
was the real reason he set off to Tiangang castle. He finally took Nian Syun's life
because Nian did not change.
Two girls Yun Sanhua and Yu Siaoshuang both fell in love
with Du. Du gave Yun Sanhua the precious pin, Danfong Jhen. He then rescued Yu and Ling
Jiuchong, a half-righteous half-evil guy from the secret headquarters of the Bleached
Bones sect. Du married Yu and Ling went together with Yun.
Master Si Jhang of Shaolin realized that his real position
had been exposed. So he decided to take the pin forcefully and kill Du Siyan. When he and
Du were fighting the head Master of Shaolin arrived together with three other Shaolin
wugong masters. They arrested Si Jhang and took him back to repent, then the martial arts
circle became peaceful again.
The Tiangang castle was the site of the main plots. And
this story is full of intellectual and physical powers wrestling. The moral of this story
is clear: the righteous overcomes the evil. The theme of this novel, an ordinary young man
accidentally learned the supreme wugong and martial arts masters fought for the most
precious material, is similar to many other knight-errant novels. Combing the cliche of
knight-errant novels and suspenseful episodes, this story has the typical style that the
author Sihma Ling used in his novels in later years. |
