Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain Chapter 1 – Part 3

Ruan Shizhong[^ruan] and Zheng Sanniang[^zheng] were strangers, with no quarrel between them. Seeing the monk's extraordinary skill, and knowing that if he refused to hand over the antidote they would not escape unharmed that day, Ruan, who had long travelled the jianghu[^jianghu] and knew when to stand firm and when to yield, returned the monk's palms-joined bow at once, saying, "As the Great Master commands, I shall obey." He drew two small bottles from his robe, tipped ten black pellets from one into Zheng Sanniang's mouth, and handed the other bottle to Tian Qingwen,[^tian] saying, "Apply this to her wounds." Tian Qingwen took the bottle, passed the iron box to her shishu,[^shishu] and went to dress Zheng Sanniang's injuries.

The monk said, “The benefactor is merciful.” He bowed again and asked, “May I ask what brings you all to fight one another here? There is no knot in this world that cannot be untied. This old monk has thickened his face and would play the peacemaker, heh heh.”

The company exchanged glances. Some brooded in silence, others wore anger openly. Cao Yunqi pointed at Tao Zian¹ and cursed, “This little thief killed my shifu and stole the treasure of our Tianlong School.² Great Master, should he not pay with his life?” As he spoke, his jian³ slashed empty air, the blade trembled and hummed.

The old monk asked, “Who was your shifu?” Cao Yunqi said, “My late shifu was the zhangmen⁴ of our Northern Branch, surnamed Tian.” The old monk cried, “Ah! So Guinong has passed? A pity, a pity.” His tone suggested he had known Tian Guinong,⁵ and in addressing him simply as “Guinong” he presumed seniority. Tian Qingwen had just finished dressing Zheng Sanniang’s wounds. Hearing the old monk speak thus, she stepped forward and dropped gracefully to her knees, weeping. “I beg the Great Master to avenge my late father and find the true culprit.”

The old monk had not yet replied before Cao Yunqi cried out, “What true culprit, what false culprit? The evidence is plain. Can this thief not be the killer?” Tao Zian only sneered and said nothing. Tao Baisui⁶ could contain himself no longer. He roared, “My in-law Tian and I were friends for decades, and our families are joined by marriage. How could we harm him?” Cao Yunqi shot back, “For the theft of the treasure, of course!” Tao Baisui flared in rage and lunged forward, lashing out with his steel whip. Cao Yunqi was about to counter when suddenly the old monk’s left hand flicked out, catching Tao Baisui’s right wrist in a light hook. The steel whip sprang wildly back. Tao Baisui felt a shock through his palm, a searing pain at the tiger’s mouth, and could not hold his grip. He released the weapon and leapt back. The whip clattered into the snow and buried itself halfway.

The company had been gathered around the monk. At the sudden flight of the steel whip, all leapt back, leaving a wide ring about him. Each stared at the monk in astonishment, thinking, “The Terror of Guandong⁷ is famed throughout the wulin⁸ for brute strength and hard blows. Yet with one light hook and pull, this monk has forced him to drop his weapon?”

Tao Baisui’s face flushed crimson. “Good monk! So you’re the help the Tianlong School has hired.” The old monk smiled faintly. “You are no young man, yet still so hot-tempered. True, this monk was invited to Changbai Mountain.⁹ But it was not the Tianlong School who invited me.” The Tianlong disciples and the Tao father and son were startled. They thought, No wonder he saved Zheng Sanniang. If he is the Pingtong Armed Escort’s¹⁰ ally, this iron box is in danger. Ruan Shizhong stepped back. Yin Ji¹¹ and Cao Yunqi advanced with their jians, guarding his flanks.

The monk seemed not to notice. “There’s no firewood here, no food or wine, and damn it all, the cold is hard to bear,” he continued. “The master’s manor is not far. You are all this monk’s friends. Why not go there and rest? The master will be delighted to receive so many heroes. Damned if we don’t go trouble him for a meal!” He chuckled, seeming not to care at all for the bloody fight they had just fought.

Though his face was ugly, his words were friendly enough. That a monk should curse with “damn it all” struck some as odd, but these jianghu men found it homely, and more than half their suspicion melted away.

Yin Ji asked, “May the Great Master tell us which senior is this master?” The old monk said, “The master has forbidden this monk to speak his name. This monk is hospitable by nature. Once he has issued the invitation, if any refuse out of hand, this monk will lose face indeed.” Liu Yuanhe¹² saw strangeness in every word the old monk spoke. Uneasy, he gave a slight bow and said, “Great Master, forgive me. I must take my leave.” With that he turned and fled.

The old monk laughed. “In these wild mountains, we meet a government lord. What fine fortune. Damned fine fortune.” He let Liu Yuanhe run a while before finishing the sentence, then his figure blurred and he gave chase. The monk leapt and bounded through the snow. His movement was ugly to behold, clumsy and absurd, inviting laughter.

Yet for all his resemblance to a fat duck or a toad, within moments he had cut Liu Yuanhe off. “This monk must trouble the government lord,” he said. Without waiting for a reply, his left hand swept in a circle, then flipped and caught Liu Yuanhe’s right wrist. Liu Yuanhe felt half his body go numb. He knew, too late, that the monk had seized his mai-men.¹³ In desperation he struck out with his left palm. The old monk, holding Liu Yuanhe’s right wrist between thumb and forefinger, saw the left palm coming and raised his captive’s right arm with his left hand. Three fingers, middle, ring and little, hooked out and closed on Liu Yuanhe’s left wrist. Thus with one hand the monk held both of Liu Yuanhe’s hands, and with his right hand, prayer beads in grip, he hopped and skipped back towards the company.

The others watched Liu Yuanhe’s hands clamped as though in iron shackles, dragged back against his will. They were at once alarmed and delighted, alarmed at the monk’s fearsome skill, delighted that he was not the Pingtong Armed Escort’s man after all. The old monk dragged Liu Yuanhe before the company and said, “Government Lord Liu has graciously agreed. Please, all of you.”

With Liu Yuanhe’s example before them, none dared voice further refusal, however much they might distrust the monk. The old monk held Liu Yuanhe’s wrist and walked slowly forward. After a few steps he turned abruptly. “What was that sound?” All halted. From the way they had come, faintly, came the sound of panting and shouting, as of men struggling in hard combat. Ruan Shizhong suddenly understood and cried, “Yunqi, go help Yunyang!” Cao Yunqi cried, “Ah! I forgot!” He set off back the way they had come, jian in hand.

The old monk still did not release Liu Yuanhe but dragged him along. They had gone a hundred feet or so when Liu Yuanhe’s footwork began to fail. Though he poured all his strength into running, he could not match the old monk’s pace. His hands were held fast, and though he struggled, the monk’s five long thin fingers did not loosen in the slightest. A few more steps and the monk surged half a foot ahead. Liu Yuanhe lost his footing, pitched forward, his arms pinned above his head, and the old monk dragged him through the snow. Liu Yuanhe was furious and desperate, longing to kick out at the monk, but the monk dragged faster still. Liu Yuanhe could barely keep upright, let alone deliver a kick.

In moments the company was back at the pit. There they saw Zhou Yunyang¹⁴ and Xiong Yuanxian¹⁵ locked in each other’s grip, rolling in the snow. Both had lost their weapons and fought at close quarters, past blows and kicks, using elbows and knees, headbutts and bites, like common brawlers fighting in the street. Cao Yunqi advanced with jian raised, meaning to strike Xiong Yuanxian down, but the two rolled and tangled so that he could not thrust without risk of harming his shidi.¹⁶

The old monk stepped forward, seized Zhou Yunyang by the back of his robe and lifted. The two were locked so tight that lifting one raised both. Even airborne, they continued to strike and kick at each other. The old monk laughed aloud, gave a shake with his right hand, and both men went limp. Xiong Yuanxian crashed down five feet away. The monk set Zhou Yunyang down and released Liu Yuanhe’s wrists. Liu Yuanhe had been held so long that his arms could not bend. They remained raised above his head, and only slowly, slowly came down. He saw the marks of fingers sunk deep into the flesh of both wrists, and was aghast.

The old monk said, “Damn it all, move, everyone. We can still go trouble the master for a damned breakfast.” The company exchanged glances and fell in behind the monk. Zheng Sanniang’s leg wound was grave. Xiong Yuanxian, setting aside propriety, took her on his back. The Tao father and son, Zhou Yunyang and the rest, all were wounded. A trail of dark red stained the snow, leading north.

They travelled several li.¹⁷ The wounded groaned, and all found it hard to go on. Tian Qingwen took a spare cloth shirt from her pack, tore it into strips and bound Zhou Yunyang’s wounds, then tended the Tao father and son. Cao Yunqi grunted and opened his mouth to speak, but Tian Qingwen shot him a sharp look. Though he did not understand her meaning, he swallowed his words.

They walked another li or so, rounded a slope, and the snow grew deeper, up to their knees. Walking was hard going. Though all had martial skill, each step was labour. Each thought, How much further is this master’s home? The old monk seemed to read their minds. He pointed to a sheer peak on the left. “Not far. Right up there.”

Footnotes

1. 陶子安 – Táo Zǐ’ān. Son of Tao Baisui, involved in the treasure hunt. ↩

2. 天龙门 – Tiānlóng Mén. The Tianlong School, divided into Northern and Southern branches. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 剑 – jiàn. A straight, double-edged Chinese sword. ↩

4. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. The head of a martial arts school. ↩

5. 田归农 – Tián Guīnóng. Late zhangmen of the Northern Branch of the Tianlong School; father of Tian Qingwen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 陶百岁 – Táo Bǎisuì. Father of Tao Zian; a stockade chief of Yinma Creek. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 镇关东 – Zhèn Guāndōng. “Terror of Guandong,” the epithet of Tao Baisui. 关东, Guandong, is the land east of Shanhai Pass. ↩

8. 武林 – wǔlín. The martial forest. The community of martial artists. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 长白山 – Chángbái Shān. The Changbai Mountains, on the border of modern China and North Korea. ↩

10. 平通镖局 – Píngtōng Biāojú. The Pingtong Armed Escort, led by Escort Chief Xiong Yuanxian. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 殷吉 – Yīn Jí. Member of the Southern Branch of the Tianlong School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 刘元鹤 – Liú Yuánhè. A First-Rank Imperial Guard in the capital; Xiong Yuanxian’s tongmen shixiong. ↩

13. 脉门 – màimén. The pulse gate, the junction at the wrist where the radial artery runs; a vital point for controlling an opponent. ↩

14. 周云阳 – Zhōu Yúnyáng. Member of the Northern Branch of the Tianlong School, Cao Yunqi’s shidi. ↩

15. 熊元献 – Xióng Yuánxiàn. Escort Chief of the Pingtong Armed Escort. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 师弟 – shīdì. Male junior fellow disciple. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. ↩

17. 里 – lǐ. A Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩