Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain Chapter 10 – Part 2
Translation by Jenxi Seow
Hu Fei's flicks grew harder with each jewel, but he avoided the vital points on Baoshu's body, meaning to let the monk suffer a while longer. The others huddled in the corner of the cave, watching with held breath, every one of them frozen with terror, not daring to exhale.
Miao Ruolan heard Baoshu’s pitiful cries and her heart softened. “The man is wicked enough,” she said in a low voice, “but he has had more than enough. Let him go.” Hu Fei had always believed in rooting out evil utterly, and this man above all was the great enemy who had killed his father and brought about his mother’s death. Yet the moment Miao Ruolan spoke, he felt suddenly that his fortune was boundless, his joy without limit. His hatred for the villain before him cooled at once. He flung out his left hand, and the dozen or so treasures he still held flew spinning across the cave with a cascade of chinks, embedding themselves in the ice wall.
The others were aghast, each thinking, Had those jewels been meant for Baoshu, a single one would have killed him.
Hu Fei opened his eyes wide and looked from left to right, one by one. Wherever his gaze fell, that person lowered his head, unable to meet the stare. The cave was utterly silent. Even Baoshu, though racked with pain, dared not utter a single moan.
After a long while, Hu Fei spoke in a sharp voice, “You gentlemen are so fond of treasures. Stay here and keep the treasure company!” He took Miao Ruolan’s hand and turned to leave.
No one had imagined he would let them off so easily. Every face brightened with relief. But as the two sets of footsteps faded down the tunnel, the lot of them broke into a low chorus of delight and bent to snatch up the jewels.
Hu Fei and Miao Ruolan emerged beyond the two round boulders. “We will wait here a while,” Hu Fei said, “and see whether they come out. Whoever’s greed is light enough to leave of his own accord, I will spare his life.”
Inside the cave, the men were clawing at the ground with both hands, scrambling for the treasure, regretting only that their parents had not given them two or three more hands. After a long time, a dull grinding sound came echoing down the tunnel. At first they did not understand what it meant. Then in a flash of realisation every face went the colour of ash.
“Oh no, this is bad!”
“He has blocked our way out!”
“Quick, let us rush him and fight to the death!”
In their panic they surged forwards, jostling one another out of the cave and round to the far side of the boulders. There, sure enough, Hu Fei had pushed the great rock back into place, sealing the cave mouth tight.
The opening was narrow. From outside a man could still find somewhere to brace himself and push. Inside there was room to stand for only one person, the rock’s face was smooth, with nothing to grip, and once the melted ice-water refroze, no one in the cave would ever get out unless help came from beyond.
Miao Ruolan’s heart ached. “Do you mean to let them all die in there?”
“Tell me,” Hu Fei said. “Which one of those inside is a good man, worthy of being spared?”
Miao Ruolan sighed. “In this world, apart from my father and you, I do not know of a single other man who is truly good. But you cannot go on killing every bad man under heaven.”
Hu Fei was taken aback. “How can I count as a good man?”
Miao Ruolan raised her eyes to him. “I know you are. I knew it before I ever set eyes on you. Big Brother, do you know when I gave you my heart?”
It was the first time she had called him Big Brother, yet the word came out so naturally, so carelessly, as though she had been calling him so all her life. Hu Fei could hold back no longer. He opened his arms and drew her to him. Miao Ruolan threw her arms around him in turn and leaned into his embrace. They held each other close, wishing the moment might never end.
They stood locked together, knowing not how long, until the sound of footsteps broke from the cave mouth. Hu Fei thought, No. I sealed the others in. What if the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind? What if someone else has sealed us in. Without letting go of Miao Ruolan, he hurried out of the cave.
In the moonlight two figures were fleeing across the snow, clearly martial artists who had fought him on the peak. Hu Fei laughed. “Your father has driven them off.” He stooped, scooped up a handful of snow, and squeezed until the ball was hard as iron. With a swing of his arm it flew across and struck the leading man in the small of the back. The fellow pitched forwards and could not rise. The second man turned at the sound. A second snowball caught him full in the chest and he toppled backwards. The two fell in different ways, but neither rose again.
Hu Fei laughed aloud, then said softly, “When did you give me your heart? I am sure it was not earlier than I gave you mine. The moment I first set eyes on you, I swore I would look after you, protect you, and keep you safe and happy all your life.”
Miao Ruolan whispered, “Ten years ago. I was only seven. Father was telling me about your father and mother, and from that moment I thought of nothing but you. I said to myself, if that poor child is still alive, I will look after him all my life. I will make him happy, and let him forget how people wronged and ill-treated him when he was small.”
Hu Fei’s heart was full. He could find no words. He only held her tighter, and looking over her shoulder, he caught sight of several dark figures sliding swiftly down ropes from the summit of the snow peak.
“Let us help your father cut off those scoundrels!” He quickened his pace, still holding Miao Ruolan, and in moments they were at the foot of the peak.
By then the two martial artists had reached firm ground below, and several more were still sliding down. Hu Fei set Miao Ruolan down, took a snowball in each hand, and flung them both. The two men below crumpled at once.
He was about to throw again at those still on the rope when a clear voice rang out from halfway up the peak, “I am letting them go. Let no one else stop them.”
The words drifted down syllable by syllable, loud and clear. It was Miao Renfeng’s voice. Miao Ruolan cried out happily, “Father!”
Hu Fei judged Miao Renfeng’s voice was still a thousand feet away, yet it carried as if he were face to face. The Golden-Faced Buddha’s neili1 was deeper than Hu Fei could ever hope to reach. He felt a surge of admiration, flicked his wrists, and sent the two snowballs still cupped in his palms flying across. They struck the two men lying on the ground, but where before he had sealed their acupoints, now he unsealed them. The men twitched, pushed themselves up, and fled as fast as their legs would carry them.
From mid-air came Miao Renfeng’s voice again, “Fine skill indeed, but a pity it is not put to good use.” Each of the twelve words sounded nearer than the one before. His lean, tall figure came straight down the rope, and by the time the final syllable left his lips, he stood before Hu Fei.
The two men looked at each other. Neither spoke. All about them came the soft crunch of footsteps on snow as the survivors scattered and fled.
In the moonlight a figure limped towards them. It was Manor Master Du Ximeng. He held out a bundle a foot long and said in a trembling voice, “These were your mother’s things. Not a piece is missing. Keep them.”
Hu Fei took the bundle. A wave of heat seemed to pass from it into his heart, and his whole body began to tremble.
Miao Renfeng watched Du Ximeng’s back as it receded into the snow. The man was a scholar and a fighter, well connected among the heroes of the age, and in his own way a remarkable figure. They had been friends for more than twenty years, yet a single wrong turn had left him discredited and ruined. A pity, truly. Miao Renfeng did not know that Du Ximeng was a cousin of Hu Fei’s mother, nor did he know that the young man before him was the orphan he had not ceased to think of for more than twenty years. He turned his head slowly and saw his daughter in a man’s robes, standing timidly at Hu Fei’s side. The man had saved his life, yet he had dishonoured his daughter. The thought of his late wife’s own lost virtue filled him with a rage against all reckless, licentious men, and his chest felt as though it would burst. In a low, strained voice he said, “Come with me.” He turned and strode away.
Miao Ruolan called out, “Father, he is…” Miao Renfeng was a man of few words and had never liked hearing more than were necessary. In his present fury he would not let his daughter say another. Seeing Hu Fei reach for her hand, he barked, “Bold!” and in a flash was upon him. His left hand shot out, a palm like a tattered fan, and closed on Hu Fei’s arm. “Laner, stay here. I have a few words for this man.” He pointed to a peak on the right. It was not so tall as Jade Brush Peak, but it was sheer and formidable in its own right. He released Hu Fei’s arm and ran towards it.
Hu Fei said, “Sister Lan, since your father asks it of me, I will go for a while. You wait here.”
Miao Ruolan said, “Promise me one thing.”
“Don’t mention one. A thousand, ten thousand, anything you ask.”
“If my father tells you to marry me…” The last two words were no louder than a mosquito’s hum, and she bowed her head, overwhelmed with shame.
Hu Fei placed the bundle he had received from Du Ximeng into her hands and said gently, “Do not worry. I put my mother’s belongings into your keeping. There is no betrothal gift in the world more weighty than this.”
Miao Ruolan took the bundle. Her body trembled faintly. “Of course I trust you. Only, I know my father’s temper. If he is angry with you, even if he scolds you or strikes you, look on my account and bear with him this once.”
Hu Fei smiled. “Very well. You have my word.” In the distance he could see Miao Renfeng’s figure appearing and disappearing among the white rocks, climbing swiftly towards the summit. He bent and kissed Miao Ruolan softly on the cheek, then gathered his neili and followed after.
He followed the footprints in the snow up the mountain. The path wound round several bends and grew ever more perilous. He dared not be careless for a moment. One slip and he would be dashed to pieces. As he climbed higher the rock walls were caked with frozen ice and packed snow, slick beyond belief, until there was scarcely a place to set his foot. Miao daxia has chosen this dangerous path on purpose, he thought. He means to test my skill. He unleashed his qinggong2 and gave himself fully to the climb. The more treacherous the path, the faster he went.
Rounding another bend, he saw a lean, tall figure standing on a ledge that jutted from the cliff. The shape was silhouetted against the deep blue sky like a withered old tree. It was Miao Renfeng, the Golden-Faced Buddha, He Who Has Fought All Under Heaven and Found No Equal.
Hu Fei started and checked his stride at once, sinking his weight with the Thousand Jin Drop3 and locking himself firm beside the cliff.
Miao Renfeng spoke in a low, rough voice, “Good. You have the guts to follow. Come on, then!” He stood with his back to the moon, his face in shadow, his expression unreadable.
Hu Fei drew breath. He faced the man he had thought of thousands upon thousands of times in his life, and for the moment he did not know what to do.
He is my father’s murderer. Yet he is Ruolan’s father.
He has made my whole life one of loneliness and bitterness. But Fourth Uncle Ping told me he was always a righteous man who never wronged my parents.
His title is He Who Has Fought All Under Heaven and Found No Equal, his martial skill without peer in the world. But I do not believe it. I would test whether he is stronger, or I am.
His family and mine have been enemies for generations, hacking at each other for a hundred years and more. Yet he has not taught his daughter martial arts. Does he truly mean to end the feud with himself?
Just now I saved his life. But he saw me share a blanket with Ruolan and believes I have dishonoured his daughter. Will he forgive me that?