The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 13 – Part 4

Wanyan Kang had fought Lu Guanying for a long while without finishing him, and he grew restless. He thought, If this drags on much longer, then even if I beat him, what if someone else comes out to challenge me? Where will I find the strength? His martial arts were in truth far superior to Lu Guanying’s. But he had swallowed a bellyful of the lake, and he was so drained that his strength would not come. Trapped in the thick of his enemies, too, and in real danger for the first time, he could not help losing his nerve a little. That was why Lu Guanying had been able to trade several dozen moves with him. But as his spirits rallied, he quickened his pace, and with a thud his fist caught Lu Guanying on the shoulder.

Lu Guanying staggered back several steps. Seeing his opponent press forward, he suddenly launched his left leg into the air, sole facing the sky, and kicked straight at Wanyan Kang’s chest. The move was called the Bosom Kick.¹ The leg flashed out like lightning, and it was deadly.

Wanyan Kang had not expected his opponent, on the verge of defeat, to produce such a devastating technique. By the time he raised his arm to block, his chest had already taken the blow. The Bosom Kick was a technique Lu Guanying had drilled since childhood: he would tie a rope around his ankle, loop it over a roof beam, and haul himself up by it, hanging there, day after day. In a fight the leg flew up and was over his opponent’s head in an instant, almost impossible to guard against.

Wanyan Kang’s chest seared with pain. His left hand hooked swiftly, five fingers digging into Lu Guanying’s calf, while his right palm thrust at the younger man’s hip. “Down!” he barked.

Lu Guanying, balanced on one leg, was shoved clean off his feet. He crashed towards Manor Master Lu,² who sat on the couch.

The Manor Master put out his left hand, caught his son by the back and set him gently down. Seeing blood streaming from his son’s calf, a trail of drops from where he had stood all the way to the couch, he was both alarmed and furious.

“Who are the Twin Evils of Dark Wind³ to you?” he demanded.

The display startled everyone present. Not only did Wanyan Kang and the stockade chiefs not know the Manor Master could fight, even his own son Lu Guanying had believed his father’s legs were crippled and therefore that he practised no martial arts. Since childhood Lu Guanying had seen his father give himself up to his zither and his books, never once asking what his son was doing. Who would have thought that the hand which had just caught him would be so steady and so strong? Huang Rong had seen the iron Eight Trigrams⁴ on his lintel the night before and had told Guo Jing, so only the two of them were not surprised.

The Manor Master’s question left Wanyan Kang stunned for a moment. Then he said, “What on earth are the Twin Evils of Dark Wind?” Mei Chaofeng⁵ had taught him martial arts, but she had never disclosed her origins or even her true name, so of course he had never heard the title “Twin Evils of Dark Wind.”

The Manor Master flared with anger. “Playing dumb? That vicious Nine Yin White Bone Claw,⁶ who taught you that?”

“This young lord has no time for your drivel,” Wanyan Kang said. “Excuse me!” He turned towards the door.

The stockade chiefs shouted in unison and raised their weapons to bar his path. Wanyan Kang gave a series of cold laughs, then turned back to Lu Guanying. “Does your word count for anything or not?”

Lu Guanying’s face was ashen. He waved a hand. “The heroes of Lake Tai keep their word. Let him go, brothers. Big Brother Zhang, take him out.”

The chiefs were unwilling, but the Young Manor Master had given his order, and they could not defy it. Chief Zhang growled, “Follow me. I doubt you could find the way out yourself.”

“Where are my men and guards?” Wanyan Kang asked.

“Let them all go,” Lu Guanying said.

Wanyan Kang raised his thumb. “Good. A junzi’s word is as the whip to a swift horse,⁷ just as they say. Chiefs, we shall meet again.” He bowed all round and gave them a mocking salute, his face full of smug satisfaction.

He was on the point of leaving the study when the Manor Master spoke. “Wait! This old man has little talent, but he would like to try your Nine Yin White Bone Claw.”

Wanyan Kang stopped and laughed. “Excellent.”

Lu Guanying hurried to say, “Father, there’s no need for you to lower yourself to this brat’s level.”

“Have no fear,” the Manor Master said. “His Nine Yin White Bone Claw has not yet reached mastery.” He fixed his eyes on Wanyan Kang and spoke slowly, “My legs are disabled. I cannot walk. Come here.”

Wanyan Kang gave a cold laugh but did not move.

Lu Guanying’s wound throbbed, but he would not let his father face this opponent. He sprang out through the door. “This time, on my father’s behalf, I ask for a few more moves.”

“Very well,” Wanyan Kang said with a smile. “Let’s have another round.”

“Ying-er, stand aside!” the Manor Master barked. He pressed his right hand against the edge of the couch, and by arm-strength alone launched his body into the air, his left palm cleaving down towards the crown of Wanyan Kang’s head.

Amid the cries of alarm from the onlookers, Wanyan Kang raised his arms to block. Something closed tight on his wrist, and his right wrist was caught fast. Palm shadows flickered before his eyes, and his enemy’s right palm was already striking at his shoulder. Wanyan Kang had never imagined the Manor Master’s grappling could be so swift and so strange. His left hand rushed to parry while his right arm struggled to wrench free. The Manor Master’s feet never touched the ground. His entire weight hung from Wanyan Kang’s wrist. Suspended in mid-air, his right palm flashed like lightning, raining five or six killing blows in the space of a breath. Wanyan Kang shook and flung his arm with all his might, but how could he throw him off? He kicked out, and could not reach him.

The onlookers watched in a mixture of shock and delight. The Manor Master raised his palm to strike again. Wanyan Kang thrust out five fingers at the descending palm, but the Manor Master’s elbow dropped suddenly, an elbow-hammer landing square on Wanyan Kang’s Shoulder Well acupoint.⁸ Half his body went numb, and then his left wrist was seized as well. Two sharp cracks, and both wrists were out of joint. The Manor Master’s hands moved with tremendous speed. His left hand jabbed into Wanyan Kang’s lower back, his right hand pressed down on his shoulder, and using the leverage he sprang back onto the couch and settled himself firmly in place.

Wanyan Kang’s legs buckled beneath him. He could not rise.

The stockade chiefs stared, dumbstruck. It was some time before they erupted in thunderous cheers.

Lu Guanying hurried to the couch. “Father, are you all right?”

The Manor Master smiled and shook his head. Then his expression turned grave. “We must ask this Jin dog properly about his lineage and his teachers.”

Two chiefs bound Wanyan Kang hand and foot with rope. Chief Zhang said, “In the baggage of that military commander surnamed Duan we found several sets of fine-steel shackles. They will do for this brat. Let’s see him break out of those.”

The others cheered their approval. Someone fetched the shackles at a run, and Wanyan Kang’s wrists and ankles were locked in double steel.

His wrists hurt terribly, and beads of sweat as big as soybeans kept breaking out on his forehead, but he forced himself not to groan.

“Bring him here,” the Manor Master said.

Two chieftains gripped his arms and dragged him before the couch. With two sharp pops, the Manor Master set Wanyan Kang’s wrist joints back in place, then pressed a finger to the base of his spine and another to an acupoint on his left chest. The pain eased. Wanyan Kang was seething with fury and astonishment, but before he could speak, Lu Guanying had him hustled away to the cells. The chiefs all withdrew.

The Manor Master turned to Huang Rong and Guo Jing with a smile. “Brawling with a youngster like that is hardly civilised. I’m afraid I have made a spectacle of myself before you both.”

Huang Rong had recognised his palm techniques and his acupoint-striking as belonging to her own family’s lineage. Her suspicion deepened. She asked with a smile, “Who was that man? Did he steal something from your manor and make you angry?”

The Manor Master laughed heartily. “Quite right. They did rob us all of a good deal. Come, come, let’s go back to our paintings. We must not let a petty thief spoil the mood.”

Lu Guanying withdrew from the study, and the three of them resumed their viewing. The Manor Master and Huang Rong discussed each painting in turn, the lay of mountains and water, the expressions of the figures, birds and insects, flowers, pines and rocks. Guo Jing understood none of it.

After the midday meal, the Manor Master sent two servants to take them to see the Zhanggong and Shanjuan caves,⁹ celebrated wonders of the world, their fantastical formations beyond description. The two explored until full dark, then returned well satisfied.

That night, as they were about to retire, Guo Jing said, “Rong-er, what do we do? Do we rescue him or not?”

Huang Rong said, “Let’s stay a few more days first. I have not yet fathomed that Manor Master Lu.”

“His martial arts are close to your family’s style.”

Huang Rong mused, “That is the strange part of it. Could he know Mei Chaofeng?”

They dared say no more, lest the walls have ears.

In the middle of the night, a faint sound came from the roof-tiles, followed by a soft scrape on the ground. Both of them slept in their clothes, and the strange noise woke them at once. They sprang from their beds together, pushed open the window gently, and peered out. A dark figure lurked behind a cluster of roses. The person glanced around, then crept eastward on tiptoe, every movement full of wary caution, like an outsider who had broken into the estate.

Huang Rong had assumed Returning Clouds Manor was merely the headquarters of the Lake Tai heroes, but after witnessing the Manor Master’s martial arts she was certain there was a deeper secret, and she was resolved to get to the bottom of it. She beckoned Guo Jing, climbed out of the window, and followed the figure at a distance.

Within several dozen paces, starlight revealed the intruder to be a woman, and her martial arts were by no means exceptional. Huang Rong closed the gap. The woman turned her face slightly, and Huang Rong saw that it was Mu Nianci.¹⁰

Huang Rong laughed to herself and thought, Well, well, you’ve come to rescue your sweetheart. Let’s see how you go about it.

Mu Nianci wandered east and west through the estate grounds, and before long had lost her bearings entirely.

Huang Rong knew that, by the positional layout of the estate, the cells must stand in the position of the Shihe hexagram:¹¹ Li above and Zhen below, “Biting Through.” The Yi Jing¹² says, “Biting Through. Success. It is favourable to make use of imprisonment.” And the Commentary on the Image says, “Thunder and lightning, Biting Through. The ancient kings made penalties clear and laws firm.” Her father Huang Yaoshi had studied its principles deeply and in his leisure often explained them to her. The estate’s construction was ingenious, she reflected, but anyone with a discerning eye could see through it at a glance. How could it compare with the mysteries of Peach Blossom Island, where yin and yang shifted and heaven and earth inverted? On the island the place of confinement was actually set in the Lü hexagram, Qian above and Dui below, drawing on the line “The way is level and smooth. The hermit’s constancy brings good fortune,” which showed off the master’s grand style all the more.

Huang Rong thought, Going the way you are, you won’t find him in a hundred years. She bent down, scooped up a handful of loose earth from the ground, and as Mu Nianci hesitated at a fork in the path, flicked a small clod onto the left-hand path and said in a deepened voice, “Go this way.” Then she slipped into the shrubbery beside the path.

Mu Nianci started. She looked back. No one there. Dao in hand, she darted over. Huang Rong and Guo Jing’s qinggong¹³ far outstripped hers. They were already hidden. How could she find them?

Mu Nianci was at a loss, and thought, I don’t know whether this person means well or ill, but I can’t find the way anyway, so I may as well try where he points. She turned left as instructed, and at every fork another small clod of earth flew out to show her the way. She wound along a twisting path for some time when suddenly a clod sailed from far away, striking the window of a small hut. Something blurred before her eyes as two dark figures flashed past her and were gone.

Mu Nianci ran to the hut. Two large men lay sprawled before the door, eyes wide open, staring at her, weapons gripped in their hands but unable to move, clearly locked by acupoint strikes. Mu Nianci knew that a master was aiding her from the shadows. She pushed the door open softly and listened. Breathing came from within.

She called in a low voice, “Brother Kang, is that you?”

Wanyan Kang had been roused when the guards fell. Hearing Mu Nianci’s voice, he was startled and overjoyed. “It’s me.”

Mu Nianci was overcome with relief. She followed his voice through the darkness. “Thank Heaven, you are here after all. This is wonderful. Let us go.”

“Do you have a treasured dao or jian with you?”

“What?”

Wanyan Kang shifted slightly, and the chains rang with the clash of metal. Mu Nianci reached out and felt the shackles. Her heart sank with regret, and she said bitterly, “That short jian that cuts iron like mud, I should never have given it to Huang meizi.”¹⁴

Huang Rong and Guo Jing, crouched outside the hut, overheard. Huang Rong laughed to herself and thought, I’ll let you fret a while, and then I’ll give you the jian.

Mu Nianci was deeply distressed. “I will go and steal the key to the shackles.”

“Do not go,” Wanyan Kang said. “The enemies in this estate are formidable. You will only be caught, and it will do no good.”

“Then I will carry you out on my back.”

“They have chained me to a pillar with iron links. I cannot be carried.”

Mu Nianci was so frantic that she burst into tears. “What are we to do?” she sobbed.

Wanyan Kang laughed. “Kiss me.”

Mu Nianci stamped her foot. “I’m half out of my mind with worry, and you’re playing games.”

Wanyan Kang laughed under his breath. “Who’s playing games? This is very serious business.”

Mu Nianci paid him no heed, thinking hard for a way to save him.

“How did you know I was here?” Wanyan Kang asked.

“I have been following you all the way.”

Wanyan Kang was moved. “Lean against me. I will tell you.”

Mu Nianci sat on the straw mat on the floor and nestled against him.

Footnotes

1. 怀心腿 — Huáixīn Tuǐ. Literally bosom-heart leg. A rising kick with the sole turned skyward, aimed at the centre of the chest. ↩

2. 陆庄主 — Lù Zhuāngzhǔ. Literally manor master Lu. See Wuxia Wiki (spoiler). ↩

3. 黑风双煞 — Hēifēng Shuāngshà. Literally twin evils of the dark wind. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 八卦 — bāguà. Literally eight trigrams. The eight three-line symbols of the Book of Changes, representing the fundamental principles of reality. ↩

5. 梅超风 — Méi Chāofēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 九阴白骨爪 — Jiǔyīn Báigǔ Zhǎo. Literally nine yin white bone claw. A claw technique. ↩

7. 君子一言，快马一鞭 — Jūnzǐ yī yán, kuàimǎ yī biān. Literally one word from a junzi, one lash for a swift horse. A proverb: a promise once given cannot be called back. ↩

8. 肩井穴 — Jiānjǐng Xué. Literally shoulder well acupoint. An acupoint at the top of the shoulder. ↩

9. 善卷洞 — Shànjuǎn Dòng. Literally Shanjuan Cave. A limestone cave near Lake Tai, celebrated since antiquity for its stalactites. ↩

10. 穆念慈 — Mù Niàncí. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 噬嗑 — Shìhé. Literally biting through. The twenty-first hexagram of the Book of Changes, Li (fire) above Zhen (thunder) below, associated with punishment and the law. ↩

12. 易经 — Yìjīng. The Book of Changes, one of the Five Classics, a divination manual that became a philosophical text on the patterns of change. The line on the arrogant dragon comes from its first hexagram, Qian. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 轻功 — qīnggōng. The martial art of body lightness. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 妹子 — mèizi. The colloquial form of 妹妹, little sister; after a name it marks affection, not kinship. ↩