Friday, September 19, 2008

Lu Youjiao

Lu Youjiao is a character which appeared in the wuxia novels Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes written by Louis Cha.

Lu Youjiao was first introduced as an elder of the Beggars' Sect. He was not very proficient in martial arts but was quite experienced with managing affairs in the sect due to having spent a long time in the sect.

In Legend of the Condor Heroes, Lu Youjiao appeared to have suspicion towards Yang Kang during the Beggars' Sect Meeting, when he claimed that he had inherited the position of chief of the Beggars' Sect from the previous chief Hong Qigong. Yang claimed that Hong Qigong had died and he was present at the deathbed, and Hong passed on the position of chief to him. Yang Kang wielded the Dog-Beating Stick, a symbol of authority in the Beggars' Sect which belonged to the chief. Since Yang had the stick in his possession, nobody else dared to defy him and acknowledged him as chief. Eventually, Yang Kang was exposed to have stolen the stick from Huang Rong, who was the rightful successor of Hong Qigong and Hong was still alive. Yang Kang fled and Huang Rong was truly acknowledged as chief of the Beggars' Sect when she demonstrated the Dog-Beating Skill with the stick, which was a skill that only the chief of the sect knew.

In Return of the Condor Heroes, Huang Rong wished to resign from her position as chief of the Beggars' Sect, and named her successor to be Lu Youjiao. Lu Youjiao succeeded Huang Rong as chief of the Beggars' Sect but only learnt a little of the Dog-Beating Skill from Huang Rong. When Huo Du and Jinlun came to the ceremony where a chief will be elected from all martial pugilists, Lu Youjiao had a fighting contest with Huo Du. Huo Du was unable to win Lu Youjiao even though Lu had not totally mastered the Dog-Beating Skill yet. Eventually, Huo Du played foul against Lu Youjiao and won the match. Later on in the novel, Lu Youjiao was revealed to have been lured and killed by Huo Du

He was said to have a pair of smelly feet, which would cause fierce dogs to avoid him due to the strong stench.

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