The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 11 – Part 1

Changchun admits defeat¹

Sha Tongtian saw his shidi in peril and leapt to block. He warded off Mei Chaofeng’s claw, and as their wrists collided each felt an ache run up his arm and a jolt of alarm. At the same moment a rapid hissing sounded on the left. Peng Lianhu’s string of coin-bolts² had arrived.

Mei Chaofeng seized Hou Tonghai’s body and hurled it towards the incoming bolts. With a yelp of pain, Hou Tonghai took the bolts in his body. In the thick of it all Huang Rong found time to call out, “Three-Headed Dragon,³ may you prosper. Look at all the money you’ve made!”

Sha Tongtian saw that the throw carried fierce momentum. If his shidi hit the ground he would be gravely hurt, and so he darted forward, palm outstretched, and caught him at the small of his back with a forceful upward push. Hou Tonghai rose like a paper kite. By the time he landed again, the momentum had spent itself, and with all his martial ability a fall like this was no great matter. Only, the force had flung his left arm up, and the fist swung out with the length of the arm judged to perfection, landing heavily, once again, on the three fleshy lumps. Two more yelps followed.

Mei Chaofeng’s throw and Sha Tongtian’s rescue were the work of a blink. Hou Tonghai’s fist had scarcely landed on his lumps when Peng Lianhu’s coin-bolts came pelting at Mei Chaofeng again, one after another, and in the same instant Ouyang Ke, Liang Ziweng and Sha Tongtian attacked from the front, the rear and the right.

Mei Chaofeng placed each one by its sound. Her fingers flicked again and again, a run of sharp metallic pings rang out, and dozens of coin-bolts went flying back at Ouyang Ke, Liang Ziweng, Sha Tongtian and Peng Lianhu. It was the rudiments of the Divine Finger Flick,⁴ learned on Peach Blossom Island.

At the same time she asked, “What is meant by ‘Gathering the Five Elements into a Cluster’?”

Guo Jing replied, “The ethereal soul of the east is wood, the corporeal soul of the west is metal, the spirit of the south is fire, the essence of the north is water, and the intent of the centre is earth.”

Mei Chaofeng said, “Aiya, then I had it all wrong before. What is meant by ‘Harmonising the Four Aspects’?”

Guo Jing said, “Hide the spirit of the eyes, gather the resonance of the ears, regulate the breath of the nose, and seal the qi of the tongue.”

Mei Chaofeng said gladly, “So that is how it is. Then what is meant by ‘Five Qi Pay Homage to the Origin’?”

Guo Jing said, “When the eyes do not look, the ethereal soul resides in the liver. When the ears do not hear, the essence resides in the kidneys. When the tongue does not speak, the spirit resides in the heart. When the nose does not scent, the corporeal soul resides in the lungs. When the four limbs do not move, the intent resides in the spleen. This is Five Qi Pay Homage to the Origin.”

What he recited was the neigong⁵ method Ma Yu had taught him, wholly different from the Quanzhen Order’s Daoist practices of longevity and immortality.

When Guo Jing had studied neigong under Ma Yu atop the cliff in the Mongolian desert, Ma Yu had been unwilling to take on the name of shifu, lest he wrong his shidi Qiu Chuji and the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan.⁶ At first he had taught Guo Jing only how to breathe, how to sit in meditation, how to sleep. Later, when Guo Jing’s inner breath had opened and he reported that “there are several little mice burrowing about inside my belly,” Ma Yu knew his neigong had made a small beginning, and began to teach him the terminology and methods of the practice.

Ma Yu was an honest and simple man. On the spot he could not fashion any everyday language to explain how to direct those little mice, how to drive the internal breath through the ren and du meridians,⁷ and so he taught Guo Jing instead some of the Quanzhen Order’s circulation methods. The workings of neigong are exquisitely subtle: be out by a hair’s breadth at the start and you are a thousand li⁸ astray at the end. In his haste Ma Yu dared not alter his shifu’s oral instructions, and so he repeated them exactly, bidding Guo Jing commit them to memory. Their deeper meaning he naturally left unexplained.

Fortunately Guo Jing was a muddle-headed, unquestioning soul who did not dare ask much. Whatever “Uncle Daoist” said, he committed to memory. His six shifus taught him martial arts in the same spirit: they let him know the what without the why. A shifu taught one move, and he memorised one move. All he remembered was that Black Tiger Steals the Heart meant a right fist aimed at the opponent’s chest, and that he must not use that move against Seventh Shifu Han Xiaoying. As for how a black tiger might steal a heart, his shifus had not taught him, and so he never asked.

Formulas such as “Harmonising the Four Aspects” and “Five Qi Pay Homage to the Origin” were things “Uncle Daoist” had once taught him, and he had swallowed them whole, like a jujube, never once asking what they were for. Now, when Mei Chaofeng asked, he simply rattled them off.

Huang Yaoshi’s Peach Blossom Island martial arts were not of the Daoist school. Both its neigong breathing and its external training differed greatly from the Daoist methods of the Quanzhen Order. The Nine Yin Manual, however, had its roots in Daoism.

Key practices of Daoist cultivation such as “Harmonising the Four Aspects” and “Five Qi Pay Homage to the Origin” had, for the Daoists, three distinct methods: one for neigong, one for long life and one for attaining immortality. The Nine Yin Manual mentioned them again and again, warning that in practice they must never be mixed. Mysteries Mei Chaofeng had pondered in vain for more than ten years had been made clear in a moment by Guo Jing’s guidance. How could she not rejoice?

At once she asked, “What is meant by ‘Three Flowers Converge at the Summit’?”

It was at exactly this point that her training had gone awry, and having asked, she listened with all her attention.

Guo Jing began, “Essence transforms into qi, qi transforms into spirit…”

Mei Chaofeng was listening closely as he explained the formulas, and her hands slowed a little. The enemies pressing her from front and rear were all renowned masters. Even fighting with her whole mind she would have lost before long, and now her mind was split in two. Guo Jing had said only two lines when Ouyang Ke’s palm caught her left shoulder and Sha Tongtian’s her right side in the same instant. For all her hard-trained body, the pain was almost more than she could bear.

Huang Rong had planned to let Mei Chaofeng hold off their pursuers whilst she and Guo Jing slipped away. Instead, Mei Chaofeng held Guo Jing fast. He had become the warhorse she rode into battle, with no hope of getting free, and Huang Rong was anxious and angry at once.

A few more exchanges and Mei Chaofeng was wholly on the losing side. In desperation she cried, “Hey, where did you pick up so many formidable enemies? Where is Shifu?” She was torn both ways. She longed for Shifu to arrive this instant and see with his own eyes how she was protecting her shimei, and then dispose of these four formidable foes himself. Yet when she thought of what kind of man her shifu was, and how he dealt with people, her hair stood on end.

Huang Rong said, “He will be here directly. How could these few be a match for you? You could sit on the ground and they still couldn’t touch a single hair on your head.”

She hoped that flattery would rouse Mei Chaofeng’s pride and that she would release Guo Jing of her own accord. But Mei Chaofeng was hard-pressed on every side and suffering more than she could say. Any instant might be her last at an enemy’s hand. How could she afford pride now? Besides, she still had many neigong puzzles to put to him, and nothing would make her let go of Guo Jing.

They fought on a while longer. Liang Ziweng let out a long, fierce shout and leapt into the air. Mei Chaofeng sensed attacks from left and right and swung both arms wide. Suddenly her scalp went tight. Liang Ziweng had seized a hank of her long hair.

Huang Rong saw the danger and struck at Liang Ziweng’s back. His right hand hooked back to catch her wrist, but he did not release the hair. Mei Chaofeng chopped her palm down hard. Liang Ziweng felt a gust of wind against his face and had no choice but to let go and dodge aside.

Peng Lianhu had been trading moves with her for a long while and had long since known her for Mei Chaofeng of the Twin Evils of Dark Wind. Now, seeing Huang Rong lend her a hand, he cursed, “You little wench, you said you were no disciple of the Twin Evils of Dark Wind. What a barefaced lie.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Is she my shifu? Let her go and study another hundred years! Me being her shifu would be nearer the mark.”

Peng Lianhu found her martial style plainly akin to Mei Chaofeng’s, yet she not only denied it to his face but spoke of Mei Chaofeng without a shred of respect. He was deeply puzzled.

Sha Tongtian called out, “To stop a rider, first shoot his horse!” His right leg swept in a wide arc, aimed at Guo Jing.

Mei Chaofeng was badly alarmed. She thought, The boy’s skill is too poor to protect himself. Once they hurt him I can’t move, and they’ll finish me off on the spot. With a low hiss she clawed at Sha Tongtian’s foot, and that brought her body down low. Ouyang Ke seized the opening and pressed straight in, and his right palm struck her full in the back.

Mei Chaofeng grunted. Her right hand shook out, and all at once white light flashed as a long whip came whirling open, driving the four men far back in an instant.

Peng Lianhu thought, If we don’t kill this blind hag first and her husband the Copper Corpse turns up, there’ll be real trouble! The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan had never spread word of Chen Xuanfeng’s death in the barren hills, and few in the wulin of the Central Plains knew of it. The Twin Evils of Dark Wind were feared far and wide, and their hands were savage. Even a hardened ruffian like Peng Lianhu had always held them in real dread.

Mei Chaofeng’s White Python Whip⁹ struck with the utmost ferocity. Anywhere within forty feet it could be neither blocked nor dodged. But Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu, Liang Ziweng and Ouyang Ke were none of them easy opponents, and they were not about to give up. Each sprang clear and set about studying her whipwork.

Suddenly Peng Lianhu gave several whistles and rolled along the ground into the circle. Mei Chaofeng whipped in all directions to hold the three attackers off and could not cover the ground. She heard Guo Jing cry out in alarm and groaned inwardly. Her left arm shot down, slapping at the ground.

Huang Rong saw Guo Jing in danger and tried to intervene, but Mei Chaofeng had already woven her whip into a ring of silver, and how was she to enter that circle? Her left hand alone was struggling to hold Peng Lianhu off. The situation was desperate.

Huang Rong shouted, “Everyone stop, I have something to say.”

Peng Lianhu and the rest paid no heed. Guo Jing called out, “Rong-er, hurry, go on ahead. I’ll come and find you once I’m free!”

Huang Rong shouted back, “If we go, we all go together!”

Then a voice rang out from atop the wall, “Everyone stop, I have something to say.”

Huang Rong looked back. Six figures stood in a row along the top of the wall, their faces lost in the dark.

Peng Lianhu and the others did not know whether the newcomers were friend or foe. The fight was at its fiercest, and nobody could afford to pause.

Two figures leapt down from the wall. One swung a soft whip, the other raised a carrying-pole, and both struck at Ouyang Ke. The short, stout man with the soft whip cried, “Flower-plucking thief, where will you run to now?”

Guo Jing knew the voice, and his heart leapt. He shouted, “Third Shifu, quick, save this disciple!”

These six were the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan. They had parted from Guo Jing on the roads north of the pass and followed eight women of White Camel Mountain. That very night they had discovered Ouyang Ke leading his concubines to abduct women of good family. The Six Eccentrics could not stand by and had engaged him at once. Ouyang Ke’s martial arts were formidable, but the Six Eccentrics had spent more than ten years training hard in the desert, and their own were far beyond what they had been. Six against one, Ouyang Ke took a blow from Ke Zhen’e’s staff and had the little finger of his left hand wrenched and broken by Zhu Cong’s Tendon-Splitting Bone-Dislocating Hand. He had no choice but to fling aside the girl he had seized and flee. Nan Xiren and Quan Jinfa had each killed one of the concubines who abetted him.

The Six Eccentrics escorted the girl home and then took up the hunt for Ouyang Ke again. But he was exceedingly slippery and kept to roundabout roads, and they could not find him. Knowing that none of them could match him alone, they dared not split up to hunt him. Fortunately the women on camels dressed in outlandish fashion and were easy to track. The six followed their trail all the way to Prince Zhao’s Estate.

In the darkness Ouyang Ke’s white robes were conspicuous. Han Baoju and the others spotted him at once and closed in. Then they heard Guo Jing’s cry. The six were startled and overjoyed. Zhu Cong and the others looked harder and saw that the one whirling the long whip inside the circle was none other than the Iron Corpse, Mei Chaofeng. She sat perched on Guo Jing’s shoulders, and it was plain that Guo Jing had fallen into her clutches.

In their alarm Han Xiaoying levelled her jian and rushed in, and Quan Jinfa rolled into the whip’s circle, both to rescue Guo Jing.

Peng Lianhu and the others, confronted by six newcomers, were already puzzled. And now some of the six were fighting Ouyang Ke whilst others attacked the Iron Corpse, so whether they were friend or foe was harder than ever to tell.

Peng Lianhu ceased fighting and, still using Ground Tumbling Fist, rolled out of the whip’s circle, bellowing, “Everyone stop, I have something to say.”

His shout boomed like a great bell and set every ear ringing. Liang Ziweng and Sha Tongtian drew back first.

Ke Zhen’e heard that shout and knew the man was formidable. He called out, “Third Brother, Seventh Sister, hold off!” Hearing Big Brother’s call, Han Baoju and the others all fell back.

Mei Chaofeng drew in her silver whip too, breathing hard.

Huang Rong stepped forward and said, “You have earned great merit today. Father will surely be pleased.” With both hands she signalled frantically to Guo Jing to throw Mei Chaofeng off.

Guo Jing understood. He knew Huang Rong was drawing her into talk to divide her attention. He called out, “Three Flowers Converge at the Summit is: essence transforms into qi, qi transforms into spirit, spirit transforms into the void. Remember that well.”

Mei Chaofeng turned the words over in her mind and asked, “How does one transform them?”

At that instant she felt her body rising through the air. Guo Jing had seized the moment while she was lost in the secrets of neigong, gripped her with both hands and hurled her several tens of feet away. At the same moment he drew breath and leapt backwards.

Before he had even landed, the White Python Whip, gleaming and glittering and bristling with barbed hooks, was already flying at his face.

Han Baoju gave a great shout and swept his soft whip up to wrap it. The two whips met, the web of his hand between thumb and forefinger jarred violently, and his soft whip was torn from his grip by the White Python Whip.

Mei Chaofeng was about to land. She braced herself with one hand and settled lightly to the ground. She had heard Ke Zhen’e’s shout, then exchanged moves with Han Xiaoying and the rest, and knew that the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan had come. Hatred and fear rose in her together. She thought, I searched everywhere for them and never found them, and today they deliver themselves to my door. On any other day nothing could please me more. But now strong enemies have me surrounded and I can barely hold out as it is, and on top of that come these seven fiends. Today there is only death for me, no life.

Her mind was made up, and she thought, Old Eccentric Liang and the rest are nothing to me. Let them live or die as they please. Today I will die together with the Seven Eccentrics, and every one I take with me is one more.

She gripped the White Python Whip and listened for the Seven Eccentrics’ movements, wondering, Only six of the seven have come. Where is the other one lying in wait? She did not know that Laughing Buddha Zhang Asheng had long since died at her husband’s hand.

The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan and Sha Tongtian’s party alike feared the deadly silver whip. Every one of them stood well back, none daring to come within forty or fifty feet of her. For a time there was silence.

Zhu Cong asked Guo Jing in a low voice, “Why did they start fighting? Why are you helping this demon woman?”

Guo Jing said, “Those men wanted to kill me. Mei Chaofeng saved my life.”

Zhu Cong and the others were utterly bewildered.

Peng Lianhu called out, “Newcomers, name yourselves. What business brings you breaking into the Prince’s residence by night?”

Ke Zhen’e said coldly, “This humble one is surnamed Ke. There are seven of us brothers, and in the jianghu¹⁰ we are known as the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan.”

Peng Lianhu said, “Ah, the Seven Xias of Jiangnan.¹¹ I have long heard of you, long heard of you.”

Sha Tongtian cried in a strange voice, “Well, well, so the Seven Eccentrics have come knocking. I, Old Sha, have been wanting a lesson from you. Let’s see what the Seven Eccentrics are really worth.” The name Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan had at once stirred up his rage over the humiliation of his four disciples. His figure flickered, he darted in, and with a whoosh his palm chopped down at the crown of Nan Xiren’s head.

Nan Xiren planted his carrying-pole in the ground and raised his palms to meet the attack. Within a few moves it was clear he could not hold. Han Xiaoying brandished her long jian and Quan Jinfa raised his steelyard, and they went to his aid.

With a great roar Peng Lianhu lunged to snatch Quan Jinfa’s steelyard. Quan Jinfa drew the beam back, and the weight and the hook at its two ends flew out together. For all his wide experience, Peng Lianhu had never seen so strange a weapon. He used Strange Python Flip to slip the weights coming at him from left and right, and cursed, “What is this thing? A shopkeeper’s gadget passing itself off as a weapon!”

Quan Jinfa said, “This steelyard of mine is just the thing for weighing a scrawny pig like you, not even three jin¹² of him!”

Peng Lianhu was enraged. He ducked in close, both palms roaring with wind, and how could Quan Jinfa withstand him? Han Baoju saw Sixth Brother in danger. He had lost his soft whip, but his fists and feet were formidable in their own right, and with fists swinging and feet flying he joined Quan Jinfa against Peng Lianhu. But even two against one, they faced danger at every turn.

Footnotes

1. 长春服输 — Chángchūn fúshū. Chapter title. Changchun is Qiu Chuji, whose Daoist name is Changchunzi. ↩

2. 连珠钱镖 — Liánzhū Qiánbiāo. Literally linked-pearl coin darts. Coin-shaped darts loosed in rapid succession. ↩

3. 侯通海 — Hóu Tōnghǎi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 弹指神通 — Tánzhǐ Shéntōng. Huang Yaoshi’s finger-flicking art, which strikes acupoints or sends small objects flying. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 内功 — nèigōng. Literally internal cultivation. The practice of developing neili through breathing and meditation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 江南六怪 — Jiāngnán Liù Guài. Literally six eccentrics of Jiangnan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 任督二脉 — rèn dū èr mài. The ren and du meridians, the two principal channels of qi, running along the midline of the front and back of the body. ↩

8. 里 — lǐ. A traditional unit of distance, about 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩

9. 白蟒鞭 — Báimǎng Biān. Literally white python whip. Mei Chaofeng’s extremely long whip. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 江湖 — jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The world of martial artists, outside mainstream society. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 江南七侠 — Jiāngnán Qī Xiá. Literally seven xia of Jiangnan. ↩

12. 斤 — jīn. A unit of weight, about 590 grams in the Song dynasty. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩