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It's near the valentine day. Street are full of lovely couple smiling happily like they will never be apart. Store are full of love card along with beautiful flower and chocolate. It's seems to be a beautiful occasion. With love and flying pink heart ran all around. But sometime I felt a stirring glimpse of madness. A madness that fly in the air until the valentine has pass.
For as the day progress forward to February 14th people will not act like normal.
Those who found love on others will get crazy upon the day waiting for their mate to do something special.
Those who did not found love will walk the street with lifeless eyes. Looking for something to fulfill their heart.
Those who lost love will drank their heart to abyss. For their wish that they can find solace in the cold embrace of darkness.
And yet, there were other kind of people in the valentine.
These people they will have a smile as bright as the sun. When you meet them you will feel like you meet an angel. You will feel like you will have purpose in life. You will feel that as long as you follow them your life will be complete.
Then, at the moment that you did not notice. They will hit you when it hurt most. Your effort will be in vain. Your life will feels empty. You will feels that the purpose on your life is gone and only thing left for you...
...is Despair.
But what would happen to those people. Those who play you. Those who, despite your dedication and effort, throw you away like piece of old cloth. Of course they will laugh at you, or pity at best. But they won't care about you just one bit and will left you to die while they look out for other prey.
Other conquest.
It was such a shame, really. For I sometime saw a talent men/women waste away with love. Sometime, when I saw that situation, my thought usually went back to a Wuxia story I read in my youth. It's a story of two persons: One man, One woman. It was a story of love, friendship, ......
And betrayal.
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Once upon the time in China, there was a young maiden. She have a body of a goddess and face of an angel. When she walks, all of the eyes will follow. When she talks, all men will listen. She was claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the world, living in a luxury Happy Cloud Mansion.
Her name is Lin Xian Er.
But beauty also has a curse, for she was troubled by an evil 'Plum Flower Bandit', a renown thief and rapist who try to take her. With this predicament, she make her vow that she would not settle for any ordinary man.
She would marry only to a man who can kill Plum Flower Bandit, whether he's old or young.
The story travel far and wide. Every heroes across the land all move toward Happy Cloud Mansion. For all of them either lust for fame or woman.
Except for two.
One of them was the previous master of the mansion. A sad middle aged man who came back to find forgiveness. The owner of title 'Little Li Flying Dagger', Li Xunhuan.
Another man was a young energetic swordsman. A wild child from forest who walk bravely from snowy mountain to the city. With him was only simple cloth and a single blade.
His blade is not a special blade that needs to be craft by rare material. In fact, it was quite pity. It was a scrap of metal binds together with two pieces of woods. It's contain no sharp, except for the tip of sword.
But everyone who laugh at once could never laugh again when their blood flew out of their neck. For this absurd blade, when it's in his hand became a deadly weapon. A quickest blade that no man can handle.
Nobody know his name but he was called, Ah Fei.
Then at one fateful day, Ah Fei travel to the manor. Along the way he saw Lin Xian Er in peril. For she was chase down by an evil man with a black robe.
A Plum Flower Bandit!
Ah Fei step in and face the evil man. With a speed of no rival, the Plum Flower Bandit became another prey for Ah Fei's sword.
However, as Ah Fei stand there with a corpse of fame bandit in a hall among fame heroes. No one was believe in what he said because they already have their Plum Flower Bandit. With their eyes blind with greed, they capture Ah Fei's best friend Li Xunhuan and branded him as a fame bandit. And then innocent Li Xun Huan was taken away to Shaolin temple to be judge by Martial Artist community.
With anger, Ah Fei followed them with Lin Xian Er by his side.
With time, he start to fall in love with her.
However, after he came back from the temple with his friend, the truth has reveal itself. Lin Xian Er is nowhere saintly as he thought as she would be. For she is the real 'Plum Flower Bandit'. The man he kill is only one of her pawns, a decoy to redirect attention from her.
After he found out, Ah Fei eyes was burning like a fire. But when his sword cross her neck, he look as her teary eyes and listen to her.
That she said she love him, trust him, and would gladly die by his arm.
He couldn't do it.
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Two years later Ah Fei become a different man. His pride are now gone left with only naive smile of the youth. He live with Lin Xian Er but they live in separate room, with separate bed.
Lin Xian Er's room was beautiful and fully decorated.
Ah Fei's room was small and simple.
When Li Xunhuan came to visit him, he seems to be a happy man. An honest man who make living by hunting fox and jackal.
He claimed that Lin Xian Er has changed and become a good person.
But when day turns to night, Li Xunhuan found a different story. While in the days she act like a humble woman with Ah Fei, at night she sleeps at another house.
With many different men at different night.
She would sleep with anyone except for Ah Fei. The only man who respect her too much to violate her.
Li Xunhuan tried to warn his friend but Ah Fei do not listened. He was so blind by love for Lin Xian Er. So much that he even cut his tied with Li Xunhuan, his only friend and a man who save his life.
After Li Xuahuan left him, he have found out about truth the hard way.When he was found her on bed with another man.
That day Ah Fei became less than a shell of himself. Day after day, he do nothing except for drinking. One wine after next. His hand cannot deliver the lightning stab for it become too shaken. His legs can neither run or walk for his mind is cloud by alcohol.
A man who use to be quickest swordsman could not even kill a dog!
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As time pass Lin Xian Er found her beauty fading along with her luck. She was betrayed and loss all her money. Instinctively, she ran back to old house. The one she use to live with Ah Fei. As she ran, her thought went back to her. She realized that she miss Ah Fei.
And she might even has a feeling for him.
She thought that Ah Fei would forgive her. That he would receive her back with open arm.
But when she get inside her house, she found himself eating alone. She pleaded to him but Ah Fei pays no attention. He focus entirely on his food as it was only thing exist in the room.
He can ignore her because he has time. And time can heal a suffering heart.
After he finished, he stood up and start to leave. Lin Xian Er rushed toward him. She hugged him and beg him not to leave. He only turn back and said.
"I wonder.... how could I ever love someone like you?"
And then he leave Lin Xian Er, along with relic of sadness in the past behind him.
While Ah Fei move on and reclaim his skill and friendship, Lin Xian Er lost herself. She became a prostitute who only work for satisfied her hunger for men. And when she was old, with her beauties gone and no one left beside her, she can only spend her life lingering to her glorious past.
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And that's another story for the day. As I wrote along, I wander if there will be anyone who read this article and said: "Oh, that's right. Men are misogynist and sexist toward woman." They maybe right. As a man I admit that their are certainly some man who feels that way. Gu Long, the man who write this story himself, was also a troubled writer. But by reading this then said "Men are sexist" or "Woman is ignorant b***h" did not encourage productive thought. It's too shallow and would not provide anything more than constant blaming on each sex.
Because we can see those kind of people all around. Ah Fei you saw might not be a man. Lin Xian Er you saw might not be a woman. They might not act in a same way but their will always be this kind of this relationship around the world.
Between one who can only give and the one who can only take.
As for me, I already saw some of them. The person who remind me of Lin Xian Er is not even a woman. And in the real world, I would even say that person with her capability might even fare better.
Then again, Ah Fei is Ah Fei and Lin Xian Er is Lin Xian Er. They are just a fictional characters and I don't encourage follow them to a T. Each people are different. Some of them are better. Some of them are worst.
But still, I think they serve as a good reminder. Unlike in most movie that hero/heroine can beat or outright murder their sadist spouse (Safe Haven, Enough, etc), we can't do it in real life. No matter how good Ah Fei is, he would only end up as murderer if he use violence to solve love problem. And I would advise anyone who found themselves in a bad relationship, to Ah Fei example. To not using violence,....
And just walk away with pride on your chest.
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