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Li Long was a skilled
warrior and an assassin for the Ming Emperor. The Ming Dynasty had long
suffered plundring by Japanese pirates called the Vakou. The emperor sent
Li Long to assassinate the leader of the pirates, and also gave him a secret
order to locate and retrieve the legendary sword Soul Edge. Li Long cared
nothing for the Soul Edge, however. Taking advantage of war-torn Japan,
Li Long not only targeted the Vakou leader but the Dainyo feudal lords
as well. This was beyond the limits of his mission, but Li Long knew he
would be successful and he would earn high praise from the emperor for
his actions. However, he was only one man. His attack on the head of a
powerful family in Honshu went awry, and he was badly wounded. Fortunately
for Li Long, a beautiful girl named Chie found him and rescued him. Chie
was the daughter of an innkeeper named Hachibei.
As a child, Chie had
been traumatized by her mother's death and had lost the ability to speak.
She had an ability to understand other people's sorrow, and she devoted
herself to Li Long's care. During his months of recovery, Li Long and Chie
came to love each other and Li Long decided to stay with her even after
his wounds had healed. He stayed with them and helped tend the inn, not
caring what was going on back in China. One day, he left the inn for supplies.
When he returned, he found out that there had been a brawl at the inn and
Chie was believed to be dead. Consumed with rage, Li Long asked Hachibei
who had done this. In his grief stricken state, all Hachebei could get
out was that a wandering swordsman had caused all the destruction. Eyewitnesses
speculated that the lone mercenary Heishiro Mitsurugi
was probably responsible. However, it was not Mitsurugi. In fact, it had
been a ninja who had been looking for Chie and her father. Hachibei and
Chie had belonged to a mystic ninja clan until the clan leader fell under
an evil spell.
Hachibei had taken
the sword he thought was responsible and left the clan with Chie. Ninjas
were not allowed to leave their clan, however, and Hachibei and Chie had
been hunted since they left. Li Long did not know any of this, however,
and blamed Mitsurugi for Chie's death. He vowed to hunt down the mercenary
and kill him for what he had done. Realizing that it was possible Mitsurugi
was not responsible, he modified his vendetta to include every swordsman
he met. In his travels, he discovered that Mitsurugi was searching for
Soul Edge. This was the sword Li Long had been sent to retrieve long ago,
so he set out after Mitsurugi. If his journey was successful, he would
avenge Chie's death and have the legendary sword for Eirakutei. Through
his travels, he encountered many swordsman, but never found Mitsurugi.
During the journey, he did discover that Soul Edge had been located in
a small port town in Spain. He journeyed to the town in the hopes that
Mitsurugi would be there as well.
When he arrived in
the port, he encountered the evil pirate Cervantes
who possessed Soul Edge. Li Long attacked him, and despite his great skill
and strength, he was quickly defeated. He fell to the ground covered in
blood, and as he felt his life slipping away he called out Chie's name.
About this time, Chie awoke at a monastery in Honshu. There was a large
sword scar on her back, but other than that she was fine. She learned that
her lover Li Long had believed her dead and set out on a journey of revenge.
A month passed and Chie had waited for Li Long to return home, but she
somehow knew that he was dead. She grieved for months, but her spirits
raised when she learned that she was carrying Li Long's child. She gave
birth to their child a few months later, and was happy knowing that a part
of her lover would live on.
 
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