BROTHERS UNDER THE SKIN (1986) Summary by Jamie
CAST
BACKGROUND A story about Taoist magical powers, focussing on Chan Gwong Ling, a cowardly spoilt brat who becomes a responsible man, heroic and devoted to his loved one, Ling Choi Yuet. As the story develops, the focus is on Chan Gwong Ling mastering his magical powers and also the sweet love and devotion between him and Ling Choi Yuet. However many obstacles tragically mar their love. Will fate allow them to end up together? The cast features Wong Yat Wah as Chan Gwong Ling. Sheren Tang Sui Man plays Ling Choi Yuet, Liu Kai Chi plays Yam Tat Yan, Sheung Tin Nga plays Ngai Hor Ngoi, Hui Siu Hung as Poon Kwai, Lai Hon Chi as Ling Siew Tin, and finally Law Lan plays "Yim Kwan", the Master of Hell. SERIES REVIEW SUMMARY The Lung Fu San Sect and the Mao San sect (Mao San Pai) are enemy sects. Their enmity goes back hundreds of years. The first scene opens with Ling Choi Yuet, (Sheren Tang Sui Man) on her way to complete a mission for her uncle, Ling Siew Tin, the leader of the Lung Fu San sect. Members of the Mao San sect intercept her and a fight ensues. From the fighting, the audience could immediately tell this isn’t a pure kungfu serial but a story about Taoist magical powers ("Tou Sut"). There’re lots of laser beams shooting in the air, small explosions here and there. Back to the story: Ling Choi Yuet defeats her attackers and rushes back to Lung Fu San Chong (the home base of the Lung Fu San sect) to report to her uncle, Ling Siew Tin. Ling Siew Tin, (played by Lai Hon Chi) orders her to locate his "si hing" (his senior by the same master) called Poon Kwai to warn him that the Mao San sect are out to kill him. (Poon Kwai, played by Hui Siu Hung had left Lung Fu San after some disagreements with him years earlier). Her uncle uses his magic mirror with some Taoist powers to locate his senior brother. And then he sends Ling Choi Yuet off on her journey, with her maidservant. The scene shifts to an opera house, where Poon Kwai is working as a servant. (No one in the opera house knows his real identity). Chan Gwong Ling (Wong Yat Wah) is the owner of the struggling opera house plagued by bad business and financial problems. However, Gwong Ling is an irresponsible, selfish, spoilt-brat who couldn’t care less about what happens to the opera house. He inherited the opera house from his parents but because of his careless attitude, the opera house is near collapse. The job of keeping the opera house alive is left to his two servants, Poon Kwai and Yam Tat Yan (played by Liu Kai Chi) who both feel responsible to take care of Gwong Ling due to their loyalty to his deceased parents. In the following scenes, Gwong Ling is busy fooling around, and he is fascinated by a con-man, Man Dai Kwai (also known as Dai Tau Man) believing that Man will teach him a lot of Taoist magical powers. (Actually Man is a disciple of Lung Fu San, albeit not a loyal, upright one). Gwong Ling is conned into paying the sly and greedy Man a lot of money to learn some useless "powers". Because of this, he neglects paying the wages of the opera house employees, causing a strike at the opera house. Poon Kwai, being aware of this, uses his Taoist powers to disguise a dead body to impersonate the spirit of Gwong Ling’s dead father. The ‘dead body’ appears before Gwong Ling and scolds him for being so irresponsible. It was very funny to see how Gwong Ling was scared out of his wits, and he was whimpering and crying like a baby. What a sissy! Also, a first class scaredy cat, without backbone. Gwong Ling, whining, promised the ‘dead body’ to be good and when the dead body disappeared, he fainted. It was quite an amusing scene, indeed. His hairstyle also suits his sissy image, with a fringe, the kind that babies usually have. You feel like slapping Gwong Ling (Wong Yat Wah) for being so spoilt, yet cuddle him for being kinda cute. Anyway, the scene then shifts to the Mao San Pai headquarters. The leader of the sect, Ngai Tit San sends his favourite pupil, Kei Sau Mei, to kill Poon Kwai. Meanwhile, Ling Choi Yuet had reached the town where the opera house was located. She makes her way to the opera house and demanded to check all their employees for her "si pak" (her uncle’s brother). Poon Kwai, being aware of this, quickly pretended to be sick in bed, as he didn’t want to be found out. Ling Choi Yuet promises monetary reward if Gwong Ling can find her ‘si pak’. The greedy trait in this spoilt brat is seen when he rubs his hands gleefully at the thought of the 100 shekels of gold reward. Unfortunately for this brat, Poon Kwai dressed himself up terribly, like a beggar. So, Choi Yuet thought this cannot be her "si pak". Later, the opera house was attacked by loan sharks when Gwong Ling couldn’t pay off his debts. He fled with Yam Tat Yan and Poon Kwai. However, we see what a spoilt brat and selfish character he is, when he insists on being carried by Yam Tat Yan and Poon Kwai even when they are fleeing! It was very entertaining to see him pouting and howling like a cry-baby. When Gwong Ling was busy fussing, he accidentally sprained Yam Tat Yan’s leg. In the end, Gwong Ling had to carry Yam Tat Yan instead, a deserving punishment for his selfish mannerisms. As Gwong Ling was hollering for some good food, like duck meat, Poon Kwai secretly used his magic powers to bring a lot of ducks to the place where they were staying (a deserted shrine). Yam Tat Yan had caught sight of Poon Kwai doing some strange actions when he was summoning the ducks with his magical powers. Both Gwong Ling and Yam Tat Yan became suspicious. To test if Poon Kwai really had magical powers, the cunning yet naughty Gwong Ling devised a trick. They lured Poon Kwai to a cliff, and pushed him down, thinking that he could surely save himself if he was powers. Poon Kwai screamed, but he was tied to a rope, so Yam Tat Yan pulled him up. Thus, his secret was still safe for now. But not for long, since Poon Kwai had to use his powers again when Ling Choi Yuet arrived at the deserted shrine where they were staying. (She had come to warn him of Mao San Pai’s plans to kill him). Gwong Ling and Yam Tat Yan were put under a spell but somehow it was broken and they finally found out that Poon Kwai was Ling Choi Yuet’s "si pak" and possessed very high "Tou Sut" (Taoist magical powers). Gwong Ling and Yam Tat Yan then begged Poon Kwai to be their master ("Si fu"), which he agrees. The next thing on their agenda is to lure out the Mao San Pai members. Both Choi Yuet and Gwong Ling (with Yam Tat Yan) go around town performing some magic tricks, hoping to lure out the enemies. However, this became a platform for Gwong Ling to spoil Choi Yuet’s show and vice versa. For example, Gwong Ling performed a trick where he could summon the gods from inside a covered box. Actually, Gwong Ling used ventriquilist skills to impersonate the gods. Choi Yuet exposed this and Gwong Ling was chased about by his audiences. Quite a few scenes of Choi Yuet playing tricks on Gwong Ling and vice versa. It is here that they begin to be attracted to each other, though both probably didn’t realise it. Meanwhile, the Mao San Pai disciple, Sau Mei, arrives to kill Poon Kwai. However, she ends up being injured by Poon Kwai, and he takes care of her. Little by little, they begin to fall for each other. However, Choi Yuet insists on capturing the Mao San Pai disciple, Sau Mei for her uncle. Choi Yuet even enters into Gwong Ling’s body to try and capture the disciple. However, she ends up being found out, and was caught naked by the real Gwong Ling and Yam Tat Yan. Ling Siew Tin, Choi Yuet’s uncle, was very angry when he found out what happened. He wanted to teach these two youngsters a lesson but Poon Kwai stood up for his two disciples. They duel and Poon Kwai wins. Ling Siew Tin wanted to win the next duel, so he practised some demonic stance but ends up being plagued by seizures every time there is full moon. In any case, it was finally decided that Gwong Ling (and Yam Tat Yan) would contest with Choi Yuet to catch the spirit of ‘Dai Tau Man’ (the guy who conned Gwong Ling at the beginning). Man had tried to poison Ling Siew Tin on the orders of the Mao San Pai people. As such, he was punished with his spirit being beaten out of his body. The contest ended in a draw – as both Gwong Ling and Choi Yuet were giving chances to each other. This is an indication that their attraction had deepened for each other. By about this time, the Mao San Pai disciple, Kei Sau Mei had sworn to change her evil ways and even agreed to marry Poon Kwai. (Thus, she becomes Gwong Ling’s "Si Mou"). When the leader of Mao San Pai, Ngai Tit San discovered this, he was furious and set out to capture the disciple. However, she was luckily saved by Ngai Hor Ngoi (played by Sheung Tin Nga), the step-daughter of the Mao San Pai leader. Elsewhere, Gwong Ling finally confessed his love for Choi Yuet one night. He cooked up a cock and bull story about him being near death with cancer. Choi Yuet was at first taken in, but then she realised he was pulling her leg. She then said ‘I know how to cure this disease’ and proceeded to beat Gwong Ling. This scene was very cute indeed. It is also significant as will be known later. To complicate matters, Ngai Hor Ngoi also had a crush on Gwong Ling but her love was unrequited. But Gwong Ling’s teacher, Poon Kwai was poisoned by the Mao San Pai people. The only antidote could only be obtained from Ngai Tit San. As such, Gwong Ling was forced to pretend that he loved Ngai Hor Ngoi to obtain the antidote. When Ngai Hor Ngoi found out, she was naturally heartbroken and hated Choi Yuet, her love rival. Meanwhile, the Mao San Pai people, knowing that Ling Siew Tin, the leader of Lung Fu San Sect was suffering from seizures attempted to assassinate him. After a few futile attempts, the Mao San Pai leader, Ngai Tit San and his wife disguised themselves as some peasants and got themselves accepted to be the disciples of Lung Fu San. They gained the trust of Ling Siew Tin. To the horror of Poon Kwai, Ling Siew Tin planned to pass the leadership of Lung Fu San to Ngai Tit San which he so gullibly trusted. He even transferred all his inner strength to Ngai Tit San. Because of this fatal mistake, Ngai Tit San injured Ling Siew Tin and took control of Lung Fu San. Poon Kwai tried to stop this. In the end, they decided that if Poon Kwai’s disciples can win the duel against Ngai Tit San, the winner will be the new Lung Fu San leader ("Jeung Mun"). The next few weeks were spent teaching Gwong Ling, Yam Tat Yan and the rest of Poon Kwai’s disciples a crash course on Taoist magic and kungfu. Somewhere along the way, Yam Tat Yan had also fallen for Choi Yuet, who had become their tutor teaching the basics of Taoist magic and kungfu. A competition for Choi Yuet’s attention dominated the events, causing them not to concentrate on improving their kungfu and powers. As such, Choi Yuet swore to marry the person who becomes the next Jeung Mun of Lung Fu San hoping to motivate them to work harder. But Yam Tat Yan overheard Choi Yuet praying that Gwong Ling will become the next Jeung Mun, thus making clear to him that Choi Yuet loved only Gwong Ling. Yam Tat Yan then opted out of the love triangle and gave way to Gwong Ling to improve his kungfu. The night before the duel, Ngai Hor Ngoi cast a spell on Gwong Ling, causing him to be lured away spending the night with her. As the time for the duel drew near, Poon Kwai and the rest were frantically searching for the missing Gwong Ling. Ngai Tit San was already declaring himself the new Jeung Mun of Lung Fu San, since Gwong Ling was missing. Yam Tat Yan, on the heat of the moment challenged him to a duel. As they were fighting, Gwong Ling suddenly got snapped out of the spell and rushed back to the Lung Fu San for the duel. He arrived on the most crucial moment just as Yam Tat Yan was being beaten badly in the duel. The ensuing duel is a forgone conclusion with Gwong Ling soundly beating Ngai Tit Ssan who then fled the scene after he was exposed as the enemy. With that, Gwong Ling becomes the new Jeung Mun of Lung Fu San, to the joy of Choi Yuet. A date was set for their marriage ceremony. Ling Siew Tin, meanwhile, decides to retire peacefully and live a wandering life. Elsewhere, the heart-broken Ngai Hor Ngoi drank herself drunk and accidentally killed some people. She was brought before the Master in Hell, the "Yim Kwan" (played by Law Lan) who punished her to imprisonment and hard labour in hell for ten years. Ngai Hor Ngoi took the opportunity to complain against Gwong Ling saying that he cheated her of her love and then dumped her. The "Yim Kwan" then ordered the capture of Gwong Ling to be punished for his ‘crimes’. However, Yam Tat Yan was mistaken for Gwong Ling and captured. When the mistake was discovered, he was released but was ordered to tell Gwong Ling to beware. No one believed Yam Tat Yan when he woke up from unconsciousness and warned Gwong Ling that he would be captured to hell within three days. Gwong Ling said that this would not happen since his wedding with Choi Yuet is just three days away. True to the warnings, on the wedding day, Choi Yuet was injured by some Mao San Pai people. When Gwong Ling was taking care of Choi Yuet, he was captured by the "hell policemen" and imprisoned in hell together with Ngai Hor Ngoi. If he was captured by the Master of Hell, this would mean that he had died. However, Poon Kwai and the rest became suspected that it was humans who captured Gwong Ling. Thus, Poon Kwai set out to notoriously commit crimes to lure the ‘law enforcers from hell.’ When they came for him, he captured them, discovered that they’re actually flesh and blood. He forced the location of the so-called "hell" out of them and sent Choi Yuet to rescue Gwong Ling, while he dueled with the "Yim Kwan" (Master of Hell). The rescue attempt was botched as the Master of Hell (Law Lan) possessed extremely high Taoist powers comparable to or even higher than Poon Kwai’s. However, instead of capturing Choi Yuet, "Yim Kwan" treated Choi Yuet very well because she looked exactly like Yim Kwan’s dead daughter, Siew Kuen. Choi Yuet then decides to stay at "Dei Yuk San Chong" (the so-called "Hell") to wait for opportunity to rescue Gwong Ling. Quite a few episodes were devoted to the "hell scenes". For example, Choi Yuet steals the keys of the prison and almost managed to rescue Gwong Ling. As a result of the failed escape attempt, Gwong Ling is sent to a lower part of "hell". Also, the leader of Mao San Pai, Ngai Tit San had paid off a high official in Dei Yuk San Chong ("hell") to frame Gwong Ling. He was accused of grievously hurting the corrupt official. This resulted in Gwong Ling being sentenced to death. But Choi Yuet and other fair-minded officials spoke up for Gwong Ling. As a result, the Master of Hell decided to draw lots to determine Gwong Ling’s fate. There would be one piece of paper written "LIFE" and the other "DEATH". If he drew life, he would be safe, and if not, he would die. While waiting for the drawing of lots, he was incarcerated in a special cell. When Choi Yuet visited him, Gwong Ling, a beaten man, tells Choi Yuet his only regret in life is that he would not be able to marry her. It was quite touching as it one can see how deep their love has grown. Meanwhile the corrupt official had taken out the paper written "LIFE" and substituted it with "DEATH" so that whichever lot that Gwong Ling drew, it would be death for him. Choi Yuet found out about this and used it to save Gwong Ling. When Gwong Ling drew out the paper, she immediately swallowed the paper. As such, when they checked the other piece of paper, it was of course written "DEATH" and so they assumed the paper she had swallowed was "LIFE". With that, Gwong Ling’s life was spared but he was sentenced to a lower and hotter part of "hell". Choi Yuet finally found a way to save Gwong Ling. She injured herself so that the Master of Hell (Law Lan) had to use her inner energy to heal her. Poon Kwai took this opportunity to rescue Gwong Ling. Unfortunately, the Ngai Tit San also decided to come then, so a battle ensued. It ended with Gwong Ling being rescued (together with Ngai Hor Ngoi) and Dei Yuk San Chong (the so-called "hell") was destroyed. The "Yim Kwan" (Master of Hell) was rescued and she became the adopted mother of Choi Yuet. By now, she had realised that she had mistook Gwong Ling for a bad guy. When Ngai Hor Ngoi tries to gain Gwong Ling’s attention by being a pest, "Yim Kwan" would side her adopted daughter. Meanwhile, Ngai Tit San successfully learnt an almost invincible kungfu. This was a big threat to Lung Fu San. The problem is, only Ngai Hor Ngoi could provide the method for beating Ngai Tit San. (This was because it was her real father that developed this ‘invincible kungfu.’ Ngai Tit San had attempted to kill Hor Ngoi’s real father years ago, but he managed to survive). She forced Choi Yuet to break off with Gwong Ling as a condition for teaching Gwong Ling the method. But to the annoyance of everyone, including myself, Ngai Hor Ngoi forgot the last few lines of the ‘method’ to beat Ngai Tit San’s invincible kungfu! During the duel with Ngai Tit San, Gwong Ling managed to beat him but was fatally injured. He was clinically dead and as they were preparing the funeral ceremony, Ngai Hor Ngoi once again comes up with a method of saving Gwong Ling. The story becomes more exciting here, because we are left rooting for Gwong Ling that he would live. The method is to get the magic candle from Ngai Hor Ngoi’’s real father in a distant place, and within seven days use it to heal Gwong Ling. In the meantime, Gwong Ling’s body must be preserved so that it will not rot. Also, his spirit must be kept in the body. This proved to be a major problem as the spirit was fighting to leave the dead body. Though they managed to obtain the magic candle, but alas, Gwong Ling’s spirit had flew out of his body! And they only had less than seven days. So began a desperate chase to catch the spirit. Where could they find it? According to Poon Kwai, the spirit would usually go back to its place of birth. That would mean the opera house! They set off immediately on the journey. But when they arrived, the opera house was being renovated into a prostitution house! Dai Tau Man, who had become rich with his thriving prostitution business had bought over the opera house. They begged him to sell the opera house back to them, but Dai Tau Man of course refused. Hence, Poon Kwai used his magic potion to cause the prostitutes to grow mustaches, making all their clients run away. Dai Tau Man finally agreed to allow them to put up an opera show in wait of Gwong Ling’s spirit returning. On the night of the performance, Gwong Ling’s spirit came flying in. However, Dai Tau Man’s men were also there to ruin the show. Consequently, Gwong Ling’s spirit flew off and somehow got stuck in Dai Tau Man’s arm as a big boil/pimple. Once again, Poon Kwai and gang were at the mercy of Dai Tau Man. However, the seven-day deadline was fast approaching. By hook or by crook, they decided to take a gamble and beat Gwong Ling’s spirit out of Dai Tau Man. This they tried to do, and they managed to catch hold of the spirit. Or so they thought. What they did not know was that it was Dai Tau Man’s spirit that they have caught! Gwong Ling’s spirit had flown into Dai Tau Man’s body! Oh dear, now there is a switch in identity. I began to sit up and watch intently (after feeling a bit bored watching Sheung Tin Nga pestering everyone in the previous episodes). Dai Tau Man’s spirit was taken back to Lung Fu San where it was placed into Gwong Ling’s body. Things become interesting when Wong Yat Wah has to act as Dai Tau Man’s character. Suddenly, Wong Yat Wah is the greedy Tai Dau Man, and he snoops around Lung Fu San stealing anything valuable. Of course, he also treats Choi Yuet nicely, albeit with lustful desires. Meanwhile, in the prostitution house, the "Dai Tau Man" becomes a really kind-hearted person. He is also generous and upright, to the puzzlement of his followers. Gwong Ling (inside Dai Tau Man’s body) tries to explain in vain that he is not Dai Tau Man but Chan Gwong Ling. He makes a trip to Lung Fu San only to be chased away. Poor guy, now he is stuck in a crook’s body. And the crook is happily enjoying life in Lung Fu San. Gwong Ling accepts that he is stuck in Dai Tau Man’s body for good, and that he is now the owner of a prostitution business, instead of being the Jeung Mun of Lung Fu San. Elsewhere, Ngai Tit San sends a challenge to duel with Lung Fu San. The fake Gwong Ling ("Dai Tau Man") of course does not want to be caught in the duel. Though he is inside Gwong Ling’s body, but he doesn’t know any high level of kungfu or Taoist powers. Choi Yuet and Poon Kwai caught him stealing valuables and thus they found out that he is really the fake Gwong Ling. The real Gwong Ling meanwhile stumbles upon Ngai Hor Ngoi and her real father, injured. Being the kindhearted person he is, he saved them and brought them back to the prostitution house. Ngai Hor Ngoi was suspicious because this guy who looks like Dai Tau Man knows so much about her. When she finds out that it was really Gwong Ling inside Dai Tau Man’s body, her father forced him to marry her. Gwong Ling could not duel with the real father because he does not have his body which possesses a high level of inner strength and kungfu abilities. Just then, Poon Kwai and Choi Yuet arrives with the fake Dai Tau Man. But Ngai Hor Ngoi and her father threatens to kill the real Gwong Ling unless Choi Yuet swears that she will never see Gwong Ling ever again. With tears in her eyes, Choi Yuet uses a blade to swear with her blood that she will never bother Gwong Ling again. Hence the spirits switch bodies and the real Gwong Ling gets back his body. Ngai Hor Ngoi tries to pull Gwong Ling away, but he pushes her off and chases after Choi Yuet. When Gwong Ling tries to convince Choi Yuet not to leave Lung Fu San, he gets injured by Kei Sau Mei who was cast under the evil Ngai Tit San’s spell. This was an indication to Choi Yuet to leave Gwong Ling for his own safety. If she stayed and violated her own vow, she knew that the gods would harm Gwong Ling. Thus, Choi Yuet leaves Lung Fu San with Kei Sau Mei. (Kei Sau Mei leaves Lung Fu San to flee from the spell of Ngai Tit San. After three years, she would break the spell). Gwong Ling chases them, only to see the boat carrying Choi Yuet leave. Ngai Hor Ngoi tries to make the heartbroken Gwong Ling happier, but he shouts are her for being so annoying. He tells her blatantly that the only person he will marry is Choi Yuet and no one else. Ever. It was then that Ngai Hor Ngoi finally woke up from her dreamland and realised that love cannot be forced. She leaves Lung Fu San with her father to become a Buddhist nun. Meanwhile, Ngai Tit San had gone up to the Heavenly Ice Mountain (Shuet Tin San) to obtain a magic pearl that would give him invincible powers. Choi Yuet and Kei Sau Mei both finds out about this and heads up to the mountain to stop him. Elsewhere, Gwong Ling and his followers also receives news of Ngai Tit San’s activities and heads for the Heavenly Ice Mountain. A fight ensues up on the mountain and at a crucial moment, to save Gwong Ling and the rest, Choi Yuet takes hold of the magic pearl and runs off. Ngai Tit San chases her and they both fall off a cliff. Everyone thought that Choi Yuet had died. Gwong Ling was so heartbroken that he decided to resign as the leader of Lung Fu San to lead a wandering life. Poon Kwai and "Yim Kwan" tries to stop him by summoning Choi Yuet’s spirit to advise Gwong Ling get on with life. Tried as they did, they just couldn’t find her spirit anywhere. Hence, Poon Kwai decided to imitate Choi Yuet to fool Gwong Ling. But alas, when Gwong Ling found out, he was even more grief-stricken, and drank himself drunk to drown his sorrows. Actually Choi Yuet had been captured by Ngai Tit San. He cast a spell on her, and ordered her to kill Gwong Ling. The murder attempt was foiled by Poon Kwai and Yam Tat Yan. The good side was that Poon Kwai and Yam Tat Yan both realised that Choi Yuet was still alive. Unfortunately, so was Ngai Tit San. But Gwong Ling didn’t believe them and he resolved to hand over the leadership of Lung Fu San to his teacher, Poon Kwai. Yam Tat Yan ends up leaving Lung Fu San with Gwong Ling. As they were on their way, Choi Yuet, who managed to escape was on her way back to Lung Fu San. She avoided being seen, and rushed back to tell Poon Kwai that Ngai Tit San had eaten the magic pearl. This was bad news indeed because within five hours, Ngai Tit San would become almost omnipotent if not stopped. However, before the five hours was up, Ngai Tit San would go through a metamorphosis, becoming like an ice-statue before bursting forth as this invincible being. Thus, they set out to kill Ngai Tit San before he could become this incredible being. Choi Yuet was sent to locate Gwong Ling as they desperately needed his superior powers to subdue Ngai Tit San. Poon Kwai and a few others used their inner strength to build a magic wall around Ngai Tit San to delay the metamorphosis process from five hours to a few days, hoping that Gwong Ling would arrive by then. Choi Yuet manages to locate Gwong Ling but an accident occurs. She quickly leaves him to avoid anymore accidents that would occur if she was near him. Her maidservant informs Gwong Ling about Ngai Tit San and they make their way to the Mao San Pai headquarters to help Poon Kwai. Meanwhile, Choi Yuet wanders around and finally comes across a Buddhist nunnery. She seeks refuge there only to discover that the chief nun there is Ngai Hor Ngoi. As fate would have it, Gwong Ling and the rest also arrived at the nunnery to rest. Choi Yuet hides herself from Gwong Ling and begs Ngai Hor Ngoi not to reveal her whereabouts. That very night, the spirit of Ngai Tit San came to kill them. In the fight that followed, the spirit entered Choi Yuet’s body. However, they managed to destroy the spirit, but Choi Yuet was badly injured. It was decided that Ngai Hor Ngoi and her real father, along with Kei Sau Mei would use their inner strength to heal Choi Yuet while Gwong Ling heads back to the Mao San Pai headquarters to kill Ngai Tit San. Though Ngai Tit San’s spirit was destroyed, but somehow, this made him more dangerous, This was because his body was being metamorphosised into a "incredible hulk monster" and without a spirit, this monster would have no mind, thus becoming a heartless killing machine. Gwong Ling arrives just in time to save Poon Kwai and "Yim Kwan" who were fighting in vain to stop the ‘incredible hulk’. This was the final showdown between good and evil in the show. Needless to say, the good would finally triumph over the evil. Unfortunately, Gwong Ling was injured badly and he passed out for three days. When he regained consciousness, he received devastating news that Choi Yuet had succumbed to her injuries. He weeps uncontrollably beside her dead body. At that very same moment, Choi Yuet was preparing to leave Lung Fu San. They had all conspired to fool Gwong Ling into believing that she was dead because Choi Yuet knew that if she remained with Gwong Ling, the gods would punish him. However, Gwong Ling soon discovers that the dead body was not Choi Yuet. Poon Kwai tries to restrain Gwong Ling from chasing after her. He even used a fortune-telling device to check the will of the gods. It was discovered that if Gwong Ling was reunited with Choi Yuet, they would both be struck by lightning. This was the last straw for Gwong Ling and he snapped. Gwong Ling vowed not to allow the so-called will of the gods to separate Choi Yuet and him. They had been separated so many times for various reasons and Gwong Ling had enough. Gwong Ling said even if they have to die, they will be together. No one could stop them. With that, he ran out to chase after Choi Yuet. The next scene would become the scene that tells us of their fate. "Choi Yuet!" Gwong Ling cries out in happiness and joy at having found the woman he loved most in life. "Gwong Ling!" Choi Yuet echoes longingly in return. They both run towards each other and embrace. Just then, it begins to rain and as Gwong Ling and Choi Yuet both run for cover, lightning from heaven zaps the both of them down. In the last scene, a young boy of about 10 years of age chases a young girl about in a gazebo, somewhere in a garden. The boy slips and falls. The girl rushes to see how he is. He catches hold of her hand and tells her that this was the last time they would meet because he had cancer and would die soon. At first the girl is taken in, then as she touches his forehead, she realises the boy was just telling fables. She then says that she knows what disease it was and how to cure it and starts beating the cheeky boy. The camera zooms out leaving happiness of the two children lingering in the air and the beautiful love sub-theme song comes out signifying the end of the series. RATING (7.5) I found the ideas in this series refreshing. Firstly, this is not a normal kungfu series, but one about Taoist magical powers. Secondly, the storyline is not the overused plot about two rivals who fight over love and power. Although there are the usual elements of the fight between good and evil, coupled with a love story, the plot is still interesting. Thirdly, the use of lots of special effects. Usually in a kungfu series, the overuse of special effects may not go down well with the viewers who want to see real kungfu action. However, since this is about magical powers, it is justified to use a lot of special effects (even though it was with the limited technology of the 80s). I would have given this series a rating of 8/10 if it wasn’t for some dead spots in the story. For example, when Chan Gwong Ling was captured by the Master of Hell, three whole episodes were devoted to the "hell scenes" which I felt was an overdose. There were many events happening at the same time. I wouldn’t say that it made the story confusing, but perhaps the scriptwriters were trying to put in so much into a short series of only 20 episodes. Still, the good side is that the viewers would not be bored. The love story touched me very much. Usually, when Wong Yat Wah’s character dies in the end, I feel very bad. Even when his character doesn’t die but the ending is sad, I am still upset. This time, though both Wong Yat Wah and his leading lady, Tang Sui Man dies, I felt happy for them. It is not often that you see the kind of true, undying, sacrificial love where the couple would not be separated even by death. The last scene was very sweet and though Chan Gwong Ling and Ling Choi Yuet died, they are still happy together in the next life. As for the acting, the cast did pretty alright. The leads did well, but it was expected of them. The supporting cast did not stand out much. But I guess if the leads were lousy, then perhaps the supporting cast would stand out more. Sheung Tin Nga was pretty good at making sure everyone in the show, including the audience would become very irritated with her by the end of the show. You almost want to slap her for being so selfish, thus proving that she acted very well. Tang Sui Man was good too, though I suppose this role is not her most memorable. What was very refreshing to see, was Wong Yat Wah acting as a cheeky, irresponsible, sissy, playboy at the beginning of the series and Liu Kai Chi as a boring, straight, responsible guy. Usually I see Liu Kai Chi as the naughty one and Wong Yat Wah is the serious, good guy. The switch was like a breath of fresh air and proved to be an entertaining watch. WONG YAT WAH AS CHAN GWONG LING I must admit, as a fan of Wong Yat Wah, it is very difficult for me to say anything bad about his acting. However, I do not think it an exaggeration for me to say that this is one of Wong Yat Wah’s best acting roles. He has to act as an irresponsible, cheeky, sly, yet clever character in the beginning of the series and also at the end, when his body got switched with "Dai Tau Man"s, the greedy con-man. His comedian skills is shown here and you feel like hugging him for being so adorable even though he is a brat. Truly, it is very entertaining and refreshing to see Wong Yat Wah acting in such roles. Then later in the series, he becomes the Jeung Mun of Lung Fu San. This is a responsible position, and you see his character change into a more caring, upright and responsible man, a true ‘Dai Hap’, willing to sacrifice his life for the safety of his followers. Needless to say, Wong Yat Wah excels in this kind of roles. If the series rates 7.5/10, I think his acting rates 9/10. VERDICT: A good watch! Value for money indeed
CREDITS KangKang's
Felix Wong Yat Wah Homepage
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