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"Lin Shing Kuet" is not something I originally
wanted to write about. I sort of made a plight to myself when
I first built this page, that I would NOT write about Jin Yong
novel-based serials. One of the main reasons for my decision is
that I have not read any of Jin Yong's original novels. That'd
be a great hindering factor if I were to ever write about JY serials
because.. well.. there are many controversial topics residing
and I want to be able to back my opinion up. I can't do that just
by watching some (or many) skewed reproductions of JY novels.
A lot of people can, but I can't. Oh well.
Anyhow, "Lin Shing Kuet" is the ONLY Jin
Yong novel I have read so far. It was fairly short. Quick & dirty
is the best way to describe the plot. Of all JY novels, I just
had to come across the most depressing, unhappiest and morally
paralyzed one. 99% of the time, I believe JY fanatics are unhappy
that the TV reproductions aren't in sync with the originals. However,
in the case of "Lin Shing Kuet," I'm so glad that the TV version
didn't accurately depict all the atrocities that took place in
the novel. I think people should be glad too that the serial was
less cruel and inhumane than the novel. This, besides "Hap Hak
Hang" are the only 2 JY serials that have not been remade yet...
I hope TVB or any other station for that matter never remakes
them. I find that LSK just isn't cut out to be a TV series unless
the plot is modified big time... which, in the case of the 1988
serial, was.
I only decided to write about the series
LSK because 1. I like Roger Kwok and 2. I had some neat pictures
sitting around from this series. I've seen this serial thrice
actually (don't ask me why x_x!) but that was a very long time
ago so I don't remember much from it. Plus, the novel version
I read recently messed up all the details in my head so I don't
know which events belong to the novel and which to the series.
So this review would be confusing yet breezy... I hope...
The official English title for the serial
is "The Deadly Secret" but I've seen the majority refer to it
as "Linked Cities," which is the direct translation.
Dik Wan (Roger) & Chik Fong (Kitty) grew up together.
Wan was the student of Fong's dad, Chik Cheung Bat. They loved
each other and anticipated on getting married soon. Chik Cheung
Bat was hiding from his kung fu brothers because he didn't want
to be hassled about the secret kung fu that their master once
possessed, called "Lin Shing Kuet." Chik Cheung Bat & his 2 kung
fu bros collaborated in the past and murdered their master, Mui
Nim Sang (Gu Hung) to claim LSK, but it turned out that Mui Nim
Sang didn't have it. Since then, the 3 became enemies because
they each thought that one of them knew the whereabouts of LSK.
Although Chik Cheung Bat was still a very ambitious and greedy
man, he pretended to be living in seclusion with his daughter
and his orphan student.
But that seclusion didn't last when he was spotted by Man Jun
San, his oldest si hing. Chik Cheung Bat smooth-talked
his way out and decided to work together with Man Jun San once
again in the search of LSK. Upon this pact, Chik Cheung Bat's
family moved into the Man household. Man Jun San's son, Man
Kau (Francis) instantly fell in love with Fong. Man Kau didn't
like the fact that Wan, a measly country boy, was winning Fong's
affection. Man Jun San was interested in the idea of having his
son marry Fong to get closer to Chik Cheung Bat. To get Wan out
of their way, Man Jun San's mistress (Cheng Yim Foong) accused
Wan of stealing her jewelry and attempted rape. Wan was thus put
in jail for this. He was most heart-broken by the fact that Fong
didn't believe his innocence. In the midst of this chaos, Fong
got married to Man Kau. Fong believed that her husband would help
Wan out because Man Kau paid frequent visits to the official who
jailed Wan. But in reality, Man Kau was only bribing the official
to keep Wan in jail.
In the jail, Wan got acquainted to a man sharing the same cell,
named Ding Din (Kenneth). Ding Din had been wrongfully
jailed because Ling Toi Si (Kwan Hoi San), a powerful governor
with criminal ties, knew that Ding Din knew LSK. Ding Din had
been the one to receive LSK from Mui Nim Sang when he was murdered
by his 3 students. For many years, Ling Toi Si tried many tactics
to make Ding Din tell him the verses of LSK but even with all
the tortures and at times, honeycombed words he gave, Ding Din
didn't budge. Many men were thrown into Ding Din's cell to rake
the info about LSK but Ding Din was a smart man so he didn't trust
anyone. When Wan first came to his cell, Ding Din didn't let off
his guard but he eventually saw how naive the young boy was so
he started to like Wan. Wan, after being with Ding Din and talking
to him, realized that he had been used in the Man's plan to claim
LSK and that his si mui married a deceptive man. But everything
was too late, as Fong had even given a birth to her daughter.
Ding Din had been in love with Ling Toi Si's daughter, Ling
Seung Wah (Chan Mei Kei) for a long time. Ling Toi Si even
tried to use his daughter to squirm LSK out of Ding Din but it
still didn't work. I don't exactly remember how it happened but
both Ling Seung Wah and Ding Din ended up dying somehow. I don't
think Ling Seung Wah died the way she did in the novel (*In the
novel, her father stuck her into a coffin while she was still
ALIVE... and when Ding Din came to pay his condolences, the coffin
was covered with poison so Ding Din's kung fu was weakened and
he eventually died from the poison and the ambush he received.
Not sure if this is the way it was in the series though). Before
Ding Din died, he told Wan about Lin Shing Kuet because he trusted
Wan.
And I don't remember much from this point on - Wan somehow got
out of his jail. People from the martial world were after him
because he knew LSK now (indeed a deadly secret to serve the title).
Fong finally realized that the Man family was evil. The Man family
was attacked (not sure by who) and Man Kau was escaping, and he
was the one to hold his daughter as a hostage because he knew
Wan would want to kill him. While he was hiding out, he was covering
his daughter's mouth which made her stop breathing so she died.
Man Kau ended up jumping off a cliff (I think?). When Fong found
her daughter dead, she was angry and shocked. (*In the novel,
she was supposed to die at this point too, killed by her own husband.)
Wan ended up in Dali and there, he met a nice girl named Sui
Sang (Tse Ling), who was the daughter of a high official in
Dali (played by Lai Han Chi). Sui Sang liked him very much but
he didn't return the same kind of feelings because deep in his
heart, he still loved his si mui, Fong. Fong one day came
to Dali for something that had to do with a Buddha statue, but
this brought a misunderstanding between Fong and Sui Sang so Sui
Sang's men attacked Fong. Wan had to save her but she was already
weak from all the turmoils in her life so she became weaker. Later
in the end, Wan & Fong were in some cave and Fong's dad, Chik
Cheung Bat, tried to kill Wan from behind his back but Fong blocked
the attack and died in place of Wan. Before she died, she told
Wan not to kill her dad. Wan let Chik Cheung Bat go but Chik Cheung
Bat went off insane, having killed his daughter with his own hands.
In the end, Wan was planting flowers on Fong's grave and he said
to himself that he'd watch the flowers grow and be by her side
for the rest of his life. This left no hope for Sui Sang to get
together with him.
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Roger
Kwok Chun On --- Dik Wan