Demi-Gods and Sem-Devils (Tian Long Ba Bu / 天龙八部)

During the Yuanyou Era of the Northern Song Dynasty,

the Song Emperor, Zhao Xu, was too young to govern,

while the acting ruler, Grand Empress Dowager Gao,

was slowly succumbing to old age.

The Liao Emperor, Yelv Hongji, had long coveted the land of Great Song.

Upon seeing the civil unrest and the weakening of the Song Dynasty,

the Liao Emperor disregarded the peace accord he signed with Great Song

and stationed military forces along the Song-Liao border.

He awaited the right timing for his southbound invasion.

The Liao army robbed necessities from the civilians regularly.

Their incessant transgression and larceny

resulted in countless broken families and the displacement

of many Song civilians.

Life was a living hell.

And so, hailing from their love towards their homeland

and their reluctance to see the common folk suffer,

heroes had emerged.

In the name of justice and chivalry,

they started to help the Song Empire fend off the Liao Army.

- My child... - Mommy!

My child.

- Thank you, my good samaritan. - No need.

I'm Qiao Feng, from the Beggars' Sect.

Thanks, savior.

Branch Leader Qiao, we've dealt with them.

Have you found out what happened?

They are soldiers working for Prince Chu.

They are here to pillage the village.

I found this on their leader. Please have a look.

Where is the chief now?

The Shaolin Temple is holding the Martial Arts Tournament.

Chief Wang was requested to join.

Something has changed within Liao.

I shall head to Shaolin Temple now. Help the civilians.

Nice one!

Excuse me. May I know who are fighting?

The Limitless Sword Sect's Eastern and Western Branches have a duel every five years.

The winner will enter the Sword Lake Palace.

The one sitting on the left

is the leader of the Eastern Branch, Zuo Zi Mu.

The one on the right is Xin Shuang Qing from the Western Branch.

A duel, but with rules.

This could be interesting.

Bravo!

Careful!

What is he doing?

That was too close.

Nice one!

Nice one!

That's hilarious!

My disciple won by using the Feign Fall technique.

Is this something funny to you?

May I know your name

and which sect you're from?

Are you talking about me?

My last name is Duan.

First name is Yu.

I haven't learned any martial arts.

I just saw someone fall over.

Whether they fell for real or by accident,

I still have to laugh.

Who is this person?

Guang Jie, he is mocking you.

Come and ask him for advice.

Mr. Duan, here, please.

I hate watching people fight.

But since I'm already here,

I will enjoy watching it.

My master wants me to test my skill against you.

He is your master, but he is not my master.

He wants us to have a duel.

One, I don't fight. Two, I don't like losing.

Three, I don't like the pain. Four, I don't want to die.

So I will not fight you.

That's right. If I say I won't fight, then I won't.

Do you really not know how to or are you just playing dumb?

Interesting. He speaks in tongue twisters.

So interesting.

I really don't know how to fight.

Why should I pretend?

In that case, why are you mocking my sect!

Excuse me! That attitude is uncalled for!

The thing I hate the most is bloodshed.

You're the Limitless Sword Sect.

As the Buddhist scripture states, there are four limitless qualities:

love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

Love is to spread love. Compassion is to end suffering.

Joy is to rejoice in others' well-being.

Equanimity is to treat foes and friends as equals.

And here I thought you were some master.

You're just a worthless fellow.

I only came here to have fun in the first place.

I came here by accident.

If you're going to be violent,

I should leave this place.

You want to leave?

Dummy! They are bullying you. Why don't you fight back?

I don't know how to fight back.

Are you okay, Senior?

Are you all right?

Let me help you.

Hurry up. It's here.

It's here. Now!

Do you want some melon seeds? Come up and join me.

But there's no ladder. I can't climb up.

Where did it go?

There! Over there! Catch it!

Hurry up.

Have some.

Okay.

- It's there! - Has it come out?

Your pet ferret is entertaining.

Of course.

You're a mean bully.

Now that you have to undress in public.

You're embarrassing yourself now!

Senior!

Not good!

Senior!

Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle!

Martial Uncle, are you okay?

Martial Uncle!

Master,

I think he's dead.

Dead?

Martial Uncle!

The Shennong Sect shall erase the Limitless Sword Sect.

Your otherworldly beauty. Your bewitching coy smile.

Your crystal-clear eyes.

Cousin...

Where did you go?

I'm really worried.

Miss, someone from Swallow's Nest is here.

It's okay, Miss. Madam is not here.

Sister A'Zhu.

Sister A'Bi.

It's you two.

Young Master only went out for a few days

and you already grow impatient.

I... I'm just worried about my cousin.

Miss Wang, Young Master wrote back home a few days ago.

Shaolin was holding a tournament a few days ago.

To witness each sect's martial art principles and techniques,

he went to participate in the sparring.

You've let me win, thank you.

Father. Father, who is he?

He turns the enemy's ultimate technique against his enemy.

Other than someone from the Murong family, who else could it possibly be?

I'm Murong Fu, from Swallow's Nest.

I welcome the next challenger.

Impressive.

Master, there's a letter.

Read it.

To Zuo Zimu of the Shennong Sect.

You have two hours to break your right arm and discard your weapons.

Leave the Limitless Mountain or the entire sect shall be massacred.

Who does this Shennong Sect think they are?

What a bold claim.

Your bully is about to die.

What do you mean?

The letter was laced with poison.

How do you know?

- Junior! - Don't touch him. There's poison!

That's such a basic way to poison a person.

It only works on rookies like you.

May I know who you are, Miss?

Come down and let's find a solution, shall we?

You heard the content of this letter.

The Shennong Sect will spare no one.

And that includes you.

They won't kill me.

They only want people from the Limitless Sword Sect.

I heard it on my journey, so I came here to watch the show.

How did you get on Shennong Sect's bad side?

They wanted to gather some herbs from our mountain.

I turned them away. So they snuck in.

We got into a quarrel and resorted to violence. We killed them.

I see.

Since you're willing to share your story with me,

I'll tell you mine then.

I was hunting some snakes by the mountain for my lightning ferret.

I bumped into several guys.

They said if they couldn't wipe out the entire Limitless Sword Sect,

they would take their own lives.

They also mentioned receiving orders from the Lingjiu Palace of the Piaomiao Peak

to unearth the truth about the Limitless Jade Cliff.

And then?

And then, they left.

All right. I'm done. See you then.

Watch out!

Stay here.