What are some notable moments in wuxia of a character seemingly insulting another character, but when you think about who's saying it and how, it's almost a backhanded compliment?
Here's one that comes to mind: in the first LUK SIU FUNG story (THE GOLDEN ROC KINGDOM'S TREASURE), Ngor Mei Sect acolyte Soo Siu Ying challenges Sai Mun Chui Sheut. Upon seeing Soo pick up his sword, SMCS turns away in disgust and remarks, "Seeing how you carry your sword, you MIGHT be able to pose me a serious challenge in about twenty years."
Taken at face value, SMCS's remark sounds like a terrible insult, and that's how SSY took it. When you think about it though, the very fact that SMCS thought that SSY could legitimately challenge him after putting in twenty more years of serious training was a compliment. Considering it was SMCS who said that, the very idea that he would say someone could someday pose him a challenge is a very high compliment indeed. Perhaps 99% of wulin swordsmen would never, ever be able to pose any real challenge to SMCS no matter how many decades they dedicated to training.
What other moments like this do you recall from wuxia fiction?
Here's one that comes to mind: in the first LUK SIU FUNG story (THE GOLDEN ROC KINGDOM'S TREASURE), Ngor Mei Sect acolyte Soo Siu Ying challenges Sai Mun Chui Sheut. Upon seeing Soo pick up his sword, SMCS turns away in disgust and remarks, "Seeing how you carry your sword, you MIGHT be able to pose me a serious challenge in about twenty years."
Taken at face value, SMCS's remark sounds like a terrible insult, and that's how SSY took it. When you think about it though, the very fact that SMCS thought that SSY could legitimately challenge him after putting in twenty more years of serious training was a compliment. Considering it was SMCS who said that, the very idea that he would say someone could someday pose him a challenge is a very high compliment indeed. Perhaps 99% of wulin swordsmen would never, ever be able to pose any real challenge to SMCS no matter how many decades they dedicated to training.
What other moments like this do you recall from wuxia fiction?