Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain Chapter 7 – Part 3

“Years ago my father saw with his own eyes how Uncle Tian snatched this iron box from Hu Yidao's orphaned son. Later he placed the Tianlong School's treasured dao inside it. Father remarked at the time, 'That's peculiar.' He knew the box concealed short arrows that its mechanism would shoot out, and he knew how to open it. He opened it according to the method. My father and I looked inside, stared at each other, and could not speak. The box was completely empty. Father said, 'What does that mean?'”

“I had already sensed something was wrong, and by then I understood the whole scheme clearly. It was Uncle Tian’s cunning trap to frame me. He had hidden the dao elsewhere and given me only the box. He must have sent men to intercept me on the road, and once they caught me, he would accuse me of stealing his dao and force me to hand it over. Never mind that I had no dao to produce. Even if I had one to hand over, he might spare my life, but he would certainly break off Sister Qing’s marriage, so she could marry Cao shixiong instead. Father did not know any of this and naturally could not see through the scheme. I could not tell Father the truth outright. I stood dazed for a long while, and the two of us deliberated for another long stretch, at a loss what to do.”

Cao Yunqi bellowed, “You murdered my shifu, stole the Tianlong School’s most treasured possession, and now you come here with this drivel! Not even a three-year-old child would believe such ghost stories.” Tao Zian sneered coldly, “Uncle Tian is dead and cannot speak for himself, but I have evidence in my hands.” Cao Yunqi flew into an even greater rage. “Evidence? What evidence? Bring it out for everyone to see.” Tao Zian replied, “I will produce it at the proper time. There is no need for you to be so anxious. Everyone here, this Cao shixiong keeps interrupting me. Perhaps we should let him speak instead.”

Baoshu said icily, “Cao Yunqi, you little bastard, you nearly knocked the old monk off the mountain and the monk hasn’t even settled accounts with you yet! You son of a bitch, what are you glaring and puffing your neck for?” Cao Yunqi felt a chill and dared not speak further.

Tao Zian continued, “I knew that the moment I left Tian’s gate with the iron box, even if no disaster befell me, my reputation would be ruined. I said, ‘Father, there is something deeply strange here. I will take the bundle back to my father-in-law and have nothing to do with this affair.’ I wrapped the iron box back in its brocade cloth, thought over a few carefully chosen words to expose his scheme so we could understand each other without speaking plainly, and set off.

“When I reached Uncle Tian’s quarters holding the bundle, the lamp in his room was already out, the windows and door both shut tight. I thought this matter could blow open at any moment and could not be delayed even briefly. I called from outside the window, ‘Da! Da!’ But there was no answer from inside. I grew suspicious. ‘With his level of martial skill, even deep in sleep he would wake at once. He must be deliberately ignoring me.’

“The more I thought about it, the more afraid I became. It seemed as though the Tianlong School disciples were already hidden nearby, about to rush out and force me to hand over the dao. I kept knocking at the door while making my position clear first. ‘Da! My father told me to return this bundle to you. We have urgent business and could not stay to help you. I have not opened this bundle.’ I knocked several times, but the room remained silent. I grew desperate, took out my knife and pried open the bolt, pushed the door open, struck a light and lit a candle. Then I was struck dumb with shock. Uncle Tian lay dead on the bed, a long arrow protruding from his chest. It was precisely the feathered arrow I always used. My bow and arrows lay on his quilt. His face wore an expression of utter terror, as though before death he had beheld some frightful demon or monster.

“I stood frozen for a long while, at a complete loss. The doors and windows were shut tight. How had the murderer entered? Where had the killer gone after the deed? I looked up at the ceiling. The roof tiles were intact, not a single one broken, so the killer had not come through the roof.

“Just as I was about to examine further, I heard footsteps echoing along the corridor. If Uncle Tian had been killed by my arrow and anyone came in now, how could I escape suspicion? I quickly grabbed my bow and arrows from the quilt and was about to pull the feathered arrow from his chest when I suddenly noticed two objects on the bed. The shock was even more tremendous. My hand trembled, the candlestick slipped from my grasp, and the candle went out at once.

“You all surely cannot guess what I saw. One was this very treasured dao, and the other was the dead infant that Sister Qing had buried in the graveyard. At the time I thought the baby, unwilling to die so unjustly, had crawled out of the grave to demand a life in return. In my panic I grabbed the dao on instinct and fled. Just as I reached the door, I remembered something, came back, reached under Uncle Tian’s mattress, and sure enough felt the white paper. I suspected his death was closely connected to that paper, so I stuffed it into my robe. I was just about to reach for the arrow again when footsteps drew near. Three people had already reached the doorway. I cursed inwardly, ‘Disaster! The exit is blocked. Tao Zian’s life is finished!’”

“Desperate and with nowhere to hide, I had no choice but to crawl under the bed. I heard the three push the door open. It was Ruan shishu and the two shixiong, Cao and Zhou. Ruan shishu called out twice, ‘Shixiong!’ When no answer came, he told Zhou shixiong to fetch a candle. I thought, once they bring a light and see Uncle Tian dead, they will search everywhere and I will not escape with my life. Better to make a break for it now while it is dark.

“Ruan shishu and Cao shixiong were both skilled fighters. Alone, I was no match for the two of them, but if I caught them by surprise, I might slip away. I had to decide at once and could not delay. I crawled slowly toward the edge of the bed, and just as I was about to leap out, I stretched my arm forward and suddenly touched someone’s face. There was already someone under the bed who had arrived before me.

“I nearly cried out in alarm, but the person had already seized my pulse-gate. I cursed inwardly. The person whispered in my ear, ‘Don’t make a sound. We leave together.’ I was overjoyed. Just then, the room brightened. Zhou shixiong had returned with a lantern. I heard a soft thwack as the person loosed a hidden weapon and extinguished the lantern. Then, reversing his hand, he actually tried to seize the dao from my grasp. I rolled out from under the bed and bolted for the door. The person under the bed chased after me. I heard Ruan shishu shout, ‘You thief!’ and strike out with a palm. Ruan shishu’s martial skill was extremely high, so I figured the other man would not escape either. I hurried back to my own room, roused Father, and fled the Tian household that very night.

“That is the whole course of events. The iron box was handed to me personally by Uncle Tian. He told me to bury it beyond the pass, and I was carrying out his dying wish. The Tianlong School shishu and shixiong saw the feathered arrow in Uncle Tian’s chest and naturally suspected me of the killing. That is understandable enough. Only, I do not know who the person under the bed was. Otherwise I could have brought him forward as a witness. But even if I cannot find that man, I know who killed Uncle Tian. Everyone, look at this paper. Uncle Tian stuffed it under his mattress when he saw me. He feared enemies would come to harm him, so he strung his bow and nocked an arrow aimed at the window, waiting for this very person. Yet this person came after all, and Uncle Tian could not escape his deadly hand.”

As he spoke, he took an embroidered brocade pouch from his robe. Everyone saw that the pouch was finely crafted and surmised it was Tian Qingwen’s handiwork. They could not help turning to look at Cao Yunqi, whose eyes blazed as though spitting fire. They secretly chuckled. Tao Zian opened the pouch and drew out a white paper. He hesitated for a moment before offering it, not to Baoshu, but bending his arm to pass it to Miao Ruolan.

The white paper was folded into a square knot. Miao Ruolan took it and unfolded it. She gave a soft cry of surprise. On the paper, in bold ink, was written a single line: “Congratulations to Senior Tian on closing your gates and sealing your jian. May fortune and longevity be yours. Your humble student Hu Fei respectfully bows.” Beneath it, a smaller annotation read, “Hu Fei is the son of Hu Yidao daxia.¹” The brushwork of both lines was forceful and vigorous, identical in style to the visiting card the Twin Pages had delivered up the mountain. It was unmistakably the hand of the Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain, Hu Fei himself. Miao Ruolan’s hand trembled slightly as she held the paper. She whispered, “Could it be him?”

Ruan Shizhong took the white paper from Miao Ruolan and examined it. “This is indeed Hu Fei’s handwriting. That means we have wrongly accused Zian.” He suddenly turned and stared at Liu Yuanhe. “Lord Liu, what were you doing hiding under my Tian shixiong’s bed? Were you planted there by the Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain, were you?”

Everyone was startled at his words. Even Cao Yunqi and Zhou Yunyang were bewildered. That night, in the darkness, the person under the bed had exchanged several moves with Ruan Shizhong before escaping. Afterwards, the three of them had speculated but could never determine who it was. Why was Ruan Shizhong now suddenly pointing at Liu Yuanhe?

Liu Yuanhe merely sneered coldly and said nothing. Ruan Shizhong went on, “That night, in the dark, I could not see the face of the gentleman under the bed, but I greatly admired the man’s martial skill. The three of us, shishu and shizhi, not only failed to stop him, we could not even trace the slightest hint of his identity or origins. Truly we were incompetent. But tonight’s battle in the snow gave me the chance to cross hands with Lord Liu, and it was precisely the technique of the gentleman under the bed. Ha! What a pleasure to make your acquaintance! Ha! What a pity, what a pity.”

Zhou Yunyang knew his shishu needed a partner at this moment, like the straight man in a comedy duo, otherwise he could not continue. He asked, “Shishu, what is the pity?”

Ruan Shizhong’s eyebrows shot up and he said loudly, “What a pity that a distinguished imperial guard, Lord Liu, should stoop so far beneath his station as to engage in skulking through halls and into private rooms, thievery and skullduggery of the basest sort.”

Liu Yuanhe laughed loudly. “Big Brother Ruan, you curse well, you curse splendidly! That night, hiding under Tian Guinong’s bed, yes, it was indeed your humble servant here. You call me a skulking thief. You are not wrong.” As he spoke, an expression of self-satisfaction appeared on his face. He continued, “Fortunately for me, my skulking and thievery were carried out under a sacred imperial decree!”

Everyone was astonished. They all thought him talking nonsense, but on second thought, he was a guard of the Qing court. It was entirely possible he had indeed received imperial orders to deal with the Tianlong School. The Tianlong members were all men with families and businesses, and at his words they could not help feeling disheartened. Yin Ji, a famous magnate of the two Guang provinces, was especially alarmed.

Liu Yuanhe saw that a single sentence had cowed them all and grew even more pleased with himself. “Since we have come to this, I will tell you all about the matter. Later I may even have need of your assistance. There is something here that perhaps none of you have ever seen before.” He took a large yellow envelope from his robe. On the outside were written the two characters “Secret Order.” He opened the flap and drew out a sheet of yellow paper, reading aloud in a clear voice, “By secret imperial decree, First-Rank Imperial Guard Liu Yuanhe shall act in accordance with these orders. No errors permitted. Commander Sai.” He finished reading and spread the yellow paper on the table for all to examine.

Yin Ji, Tao Baisui, and others, who had seen much and heard much, recognised the gold-and-silver patterns on the yellow paper and the vermilion seals as genuine. It appeared to be a true secret order from Saihetu, Commander of the Imperial Guard. Commander Sai was known as the foremost martial artist among the Manchu warriors and was much relied upon by the Qianlong Emperor.

Liu Yuanhe said, “Big Brother Ruan, there is no need to glare and bristle at me. This whole affair, traced to its source, began with your shixiong Tian Guinong. One day, Commander Sai invited eighteen of us guards to the Commander’s residence for dinner. Those eighteen of us, our friends outside gave us a nickname, the ‘Eighteen Masters of the Inner Palace.’ In truth, with my meagre third-rate skills, how could I deserve the title ‘Master’? But friends wanted to call us that, wanted to gild our faces for us, and there was nothing to be done. Besides, though my own skills are worthless, the other seventeen were not all as useless as yours truly.”

Footnotes

1. 胡一刀 – Hú Yīdāo. Legendary hero from Liaodong, Hu Fei’s father. Known as the Black-faced Divine. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩