Mother: Oh my goodness. Bei Le Ye's wife is spoiling us with all these wedding gifts. She's being so considerate.

Xiulian: She is sorry she is not feeling well and cannot act as a proper hostess.

Mother: Ahh, I heard that something was lost in the house. And now, Bei Le Ye's wife is feeling ill.

Xiulian: We know who it is that has taken the article. And if the thief will be good enough to return it, I am sure that Bei Le Ye will pursue the matter no further.

Mother: That is good, though it is annoying when household servants cannot keep their hands to themselves.

Xiulian: Bei Le Ye knows that even well meaning people can make mistakes from which personal ruin and disgrace can extend to their entire families.

Mother: Well, do not be too 20)lenient with the 21)culprit.

Xiulian: Yes, and I am sure we will see no mercy granted the murderer who has just shown up here in Beijing.

Mother: Murderer?!

Xiulian: Yes. And as it turns out, the same woman who killed Li Mubai's teacher of Wu Dang. She murdered a policeman the other night who had tracked her down.

Mother: A female criminal? That is news.

Jiaolong: Policeman? You say she killed an officer?

Xiulian: An 22)inspector from Jiang Su who had been hunting her for years. He even came here in disguise.

Mother: Well, I wonder if... eh... if the thief and the murderer are the same?

Xiulian: That I rather doubt. This particular thief is very unusual and much smarter than a mere killer.

Lo: One night, when I was little, I saw a thousand stars fall out of the sky. Where they all go? I wondered. Then I thought, maybe if I ride to theend of the desert to find them. I'm an orphan. I was always doing things alone. So I rode out one morning and I've been riding all over the desert ever since. And after riding all over the desert I'm now a 23)bandit.

Jiaolong: And since he could not find the stars, he robs young girls of their combs.

Lo: Out here simple survival is the main occupation. So first thing you join others, form a group. The group is your shelter and your strength. I'm not a real bandit. It's just easier that way to fill my stomach.

Jiaolong: So in your heart you're still a child searching for where the stars fell.

Lo: A grown man gazing at the sky and thinking a bright star has fallen at his side.

Waitress: What can I bring you?

Jiaolong: A cup that's washed!

(Waitress walks away and two men approach.)

Li Yun: Hello there. You, eh, mind if I ask your name?

Jiaolong: It is Long.

Song Ming: Heh! So it's young Master Long. Greetings. I am Evil Song Ming is what they call me. And this is Slang Guga Li Yun, my fellow brother. And what brings you to Huai'an? And where are you headed, young Master Long?

Jiaolong: Anywhere there is a need.

Li Yun: In that case, Master Long, perhaps we could assist you somehow.

Jiaolong: I rather doubt it.

Li Yun: It appears young Master Long has not understood.

Jiaolong: And if I have not?

Song Ming: Eh... We have ways of helping you understand.

(Jiaolong draws sword and cuts their weapons.)

Li Yun: Are you by chance a relative of Li Mubai's?

Jiaolong: Humph. No, I have just beaten him.

Mubai: Xiulian, the things we can touch have no 24)permanence. It is all an 25)illusion. The Master would say, ¡°A man's 26)primary need is to let go. Only then can he possess what is truly real.¡±

Xiulian: Yes, I am sure many things are an illusion. Yet some are hopelessly real. Like my hand. Wasn't that real?

Mubai: Rough and 27)calloused. The hand of a Shuang Dao master. How I've longed to touch it and never dared! Xiulian, we are 28)beset with 29)peril, and it is not weapons. The real danger resides in the human heart. I tried to leave the Jianghu world for you and look what trouble that had brought us.

Xiulian: The feelings one 30)represses just strengthen.

Mubai: You are right, but what do I do then? What I would like is us... together as we are here. It gives me a sense of 31)infinite peace.

Lo: Xiao Long!

Jiaolong: That legend with the saying about the young man in the mountain, that he will have his...

Lo: His wishes granted.

Jiaolong: Make a wish, Xiao Hu.

Lo: That we return to the desert.

(Yu Jiaolong jumps over the cliff.)