CLX Book 6 – Prologue

Prologue

‘Talented people emerge from generation to generation in the rivers and mountains [i.e. country], new generations replace old ones.’

This is a common saying, and it is also an old saying, but if it is both common and old, it usually has a lot of truth in it. Otherwise, this life would not bequeath something so old, something so common – to later generations. _{Translated by foxs}

Especially in Jianghu, where there was almost never a day of peace, where heroes came forth in large numbers even more. It was the easiest to bring up heroes during the times of turmoil. There were all kinds of sorts of heroes; there were good heroes, there were wicked heroes, there were famous heroes, there were also unknown heroes, there were successful heroes, but there were failed heroes as well.

Among these many heroes of all kinds, Chu Liuxiang was probably the one who caused the most controversy, the one people were talking about the most.

When he was still alive, he had already become a figure brimming with legendary nature.

Everybody in Jianghu knew that there was such a person as Chu Liuxiang, but no one knew where he was? How old he was? So much so that nobody knew what he looked like?

Everyone knew only one thing, moreover, they believed it.

‘If Chu Liuxiang wanted to steal your pants tonight, tomorrow morning you would have to wrap quilt around you and go out to buy pants.’ Many people even believed that he could steal your head without you even realizing it.

Indeed Chu Liuxiang could steal, but nobody said he was a thief. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Some people cursed him as a thug, some cursed him as a bandit, but no one ever cursed him as a thief.

Because even if he stole, he stole in an elegant, open and candid way.

Those who revere him all called him ‘Chu Xiang Shuai’ [fragrant commander], and those who did not respect him, in front of him had no choice but to call him ‘Chu Xiang Shuai’ as well.

Even those who cursed him had no choice but to admit that even though he was a thug, he was still a gentleman among the thugs; even if he was a bandit, he was also a great marshal among the bandits.

No matter what he was, he was unique and unmatched, it could even be said that he was unprecedented and never to be duplicated.

What exactly was he?

Naturally he was a person, in his human nature, he had a good side, but also an evil side, only he was always able to put the evil side under control very well. Sometimes he might do very stupid things, so stupid that even he himself was baffled, but most of the time, he was very cool-headed.

Cool-headed did not mean callous at all, and his heart was not hard at all, hence the reason occasionally he was fooled once or twice, it’s just that he was always able to realize very quickly; even if he was fooled, he could dismiss it with a laugh.

Because he was very open minded. _{Translated by foxs}

In his heart, he seemed to believe that there was no difficult situation in the world that could not be solved. Therefore, there was nothing that could really vex him.

His nose has had a problem since he was a child, so from time to time he often could not help stroking his nose.

But this problem has never made him feel distressed. If a certain path was blocked, he would simply take another path. Since his nose was blocked, he thus trained himself to use other method to breathe. There was one time where this method actually saved his life.

In life, there were often many wonderful and interesting coincidences. Great painters often have bad eyes, and great musicians often have bad ears.

Chu Liuxiang had bad nose, but he liked fragrance the most.

Every time he did something he was very proud of, he would leave behind a faint, tulip-scented fragrance.

This was perhaps the origin of the name Chu Liuxiang [liu xiang means leaving/lingering fragrance]. _{foxswuxia.wordpress.com}

Actually, there was practically no one on earth knew the origin of his name. If there was one person who knew, that person must be Hu Tiehua.

Hu Tiehua was also an amazing person. He loved to look for Chu Liuxiang to compete in drinking wine, he loved to imitate Chu Liuxiang stroking his nose, sometimes he even liked to badmouth Chu Liuxiang, to give trouble to Chu Liuxiang.

But if Chu Liuxiang was really in trouble, he would immediately go to stake his life.

Of course, just like Chu Liuxiang, he also loved wine, liked women, liked to meddle in other people’s business, to come to the aid of someone suffering an injustice. It’s just that he had troubles that Chu Liuxiang did not have.

He did not like women who like him, but the women he liked did not like him.

Chu Liuxiang indeed liked women.

He often said, “No matter what kind of woman, there must be something adorable about her. You just need to be patient to find it, you will definitely find it.” In front of a lady [orig. a wise and virtuous woman], he was a gentleman; in front of a slut, he was a ruffian.

There were some women, if he saw them once, they could forget about ever escaping. But there were also some women who have lived with him for several years, nearly relying on one another with him day and night, but all along he treated them according to compass and set square, treated them as his sisters, treated them as his friends.

Some people say, “There can’t be friendly feelings between a man and a woman.” There were perhaps a few men in the world who could truly regard women as friends, there was no doubt that Chu Liuxiang was one of them. Chu Liuxiang liked friends even more. _{Translated by foxs}

Among his friends, there were Shaolin Temple fangzhang dashi [great master abbot], destitute Buddhist monks who went all over the street for alms, cold-hearted assassins and reckless men who killed people without blinking, gifted scholar of great talent, but also villagers who did not even recognize any character, as well as big tycoon with ten thousand strings of cash in his house, and little beggars with dysentery …

These people have more or less received some favors from him, obtained a bit of benefit from him.

The good things that he had done were not a few, but stupid things were not a few either. He has done practically everything, except for one thing.

He never did what he himself did not want to do. On earth, absolutely no one could force him!

It has never happened before, and it would definitely not happen in the future.

This was precisely Chu Liuxiang, the unique and unmatched Chu Liuxiang.

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