The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 14 – Part 5

Mei Chaofeng stood with her hands folded and called out, “Boy surnamed Guo, you struck me with the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing¹ that Hong Qigong² taught you, and because I am blind I could not hold them off. I, Mei, have not long to live. Luckily I have returned the manual to my shifu,³ and so fulfilled the greatest wish of my life, and winning or losing means little to me now. But if word goes round the jianghu⁴ that Mei Chaofeng could not beat the old beggar’s disciple, would that not tarnish the fame of my shifu of Peach Blossom Island? Come, come, come, let’s fight again.”

Guo Jing said, “I was never a match for you. I only came through alive because your eyes trouble you. I admitted defeat long ago.”

Mei Chaofeng said, “The Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing have eighteen moves. Why didn’t you use them all?”

Guo Jing said, “Because I’m slow-witted…”

Huang Rong signalled to him again and again not to give the truth away, but Guo Jing still came out with it, “…Senior Hong taught me only fifteen palms, and said I didn’t count as his disciple.”

Mei Chaofeng said, “Oh, splendid. You know only fifteen palms, and Mei Chaofeng lost to you. Is that old beggar Hong Qigong really so formidable? No, we must fight again.”

From her tone it seemed to everyone that she no longer cared about avenging her husband. It had become a contest between the names and standing of Huang Yaoshi⁵ and Hong Qigong.

Guo Jing said, “Miss Huang is very young, and I am not even a match for her, let alone you. I have always held the martial arts of Peach Blossom Island in the highest respect.”

Huang Rong said, “Mei shijie,⁶ what more is there to say? Is there anyone in the world who can beat Father?”

Mei Chaofeng said, “No, we must fight again!” Without waiting for Guo Jing’s answer, she clawed at him, her fingers driving a rush of wind before them. Pressed past refusing, Guo Jing said, “If it must be so, Senior Mei, please instruct me,” and struck out with his palm.

Mei Chaofeng turned her wrist, claws bared, and called, “Use your silent palms. With sound, you’re no match for me!”

Guo Jing leapt several steps back and said, “My Eldest Shifu, Ke, is blind too. If anyone took advantage of him with silent palms like that, I would hate them to the bone. How could I do the same to you, when I know how it would feel? Just now, when your poisoned claw caught me, it was life or death and I had to use silent palms to save myself. But in a contest of skill that would be shabby and underhand. I must decline, Senior.”

Mei Chaofeng could hear that he meant it, and something stirred faintly in her heart. She thought, The boy has backbone. Then she shouted harshly, “If I tell you to use silent palms, I have a way to beat them. Why all this old-womanish fussing?”

Guo Jing glanced at the man in the green robe and thought, Can he have taught Mei Chaofeng a way to deal with silent palms in these few moments? Seeing her press him so hard, he said, “Very well, Senior Mei, I’ll take fifteen more moves from you.” He meant to go through the fifteen palms of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing once more, and even if he could not beat her, he ought to be able to hold his own. He leapt back, then stole forward on tiptoe and struck out slowly with a palm. There was a faint hiss beside him, and Mei Chaofeng hooked her wrist and grabbed back, straight at his arm. In the gloom it was as if her eyes could see perfectly clearly.

Startled, Guo Jing snatched back his left palm and darted to the left, still striking slowly with Advantage in Crossing the Great River.⁷ His palm had travelled barely a few inches when something hissed past, and Mei Chaofeng already knew where it was going. She got in ahead of it, meeting slowness with speed. Guo Jing was a shade slow in getting clear, and her claw all but caught him. Astonished, he sprang back, thinking, It’s strange enough that she knows where my palm is going. How can she guess it before I’ve even struck?

His third move was more careful still, his favourite, Proud Dragon Repents.⁸ There was a hiss, and Mei Chaofeng’s five claws, hard as steel, were grabbing at his wrist again.

Guo Jing knew the secret had to lie in that hiss. On the fourth move he looked towards the man in the green robe, and sure enough, he saw his fingers flick and a tiny pebble shoot through the air. Now Guo Jing understood. He thought, So he’s flicking pebbles to show her where I am. When I strike east he throws east, and when I strike west he throws west. But how can he tell where my palm is going? Ah, of course. That day Rong-er fought Liang Ziweng,⁹ Hong Qigong called out his fists before he threw them. It’s the same thing. I’ll use up my fifteen moves and then admit defeat.

The Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing have few variations, and Guo Jing had not learnt them all. Every move carried tremendous power, but since Mei Chaofeng knew in advance where his palm was coming from, she could dodge it or turn it aside in good time. After a few more moves the man in the green robe suddenly flicked three pebbles in a row, hiss, hiss, hiss, and Mei Chaofeng went over from defence to attack with three savage killing blows. Guo Jing just managed to fend them off and answered with two palms.

The fight grew closer and fiercer, and amid the whoosh of palms came the hiss, hiss, hiss of flicked pebbles. Seeing things going badly, Huang Rong scooped up a handful of broken tile from the floor. Some she flung wildly into the air and some she threw straight at the stranger’s pebbles, partly to muddle the sound and partly to spoil his aim. But the stranger put more force into his fingers, and the pebbles flew so hard and fast that they shrieked through the air. Huang Rong’s shards could not hit them, and nothing could drown out the sound they made.

The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan and Lu Guanying were all amazed, thinking, How can he flick a pebble so hard with nothing but his fingers? Even an iron-framed pellet bow couldn’t make it sing like that. If one of those hit a man, wouldn’t it smash his skull or go clean through his chest?

By now Huang Rong had stopped and was staring blankly at the stranger. Guo Jing was entirely on the defensive. Mei Chaofeng was a move ahead of him every time, and every move was a killing blow, all of them savage in the extreme.

Suddenly there came a whoo, whoo, and two stone pellets went flying through the air, the first slower, the second racing after it. They met in mid-air with a crack and a burst of sparks, and splinters of stone flew in every direction. Riding on the force of it, Mei Chaofeng hurled herself straight at Guo Jing.

Seeing how fiercely she came, Guo Jing knew he could not stop her. Remembering Nan Xiren’s¹⁰ four-word maxim, “Can’t win? Run!”, he turned and ran.

Huang Rong suddenly cried out, “Father!” and ran to the man in the green robe. She threw herself into his arms and burst into loud sobs. “Father, your face, what… what has happened to your face?”

Guo Jing turned round and saw Mei Chaofeng standing in front of him, her head cocked to listen for the stone pellets. He was not going to let such a fleeting chance slip. At once he reached out and brought his palm slowly down towards her shoulder, and this time he used his full strength. His right palm struck hard and his left followed, heavier still. The two palms in succession sent Mei Chaofeng head over heels, and she lay on the floor and could not get up.

When Lu Chengfeng¹¹ heard Huang Rong call the man Father, grief and joy swept over him together. Forgetting his crippled legs, he suddenly stood up to go to him, and fell flat.

The man in the green robe held Huang Rong with his left arm, and with his right hand slowly peeled a layer of skin from his face. He had been wearing a mask of human skin, which was why he had looked so weird and strange. With his true face revealed, they saw a man lean and fine-boned, handsome and free in his bearing, tall, spare and above the world, as clear and calm as a god.

Huang Rong, her tears not yet dry, cried out with joy. She snatched the mask and put it over her own face, then flung herself into his arms and hugged him round the neck, laughing and jumping. “Father, how did you come to be here?” she laughed. “That doddering old fool surnamed Qiu¹² was cursing you just now, and you didn’t even teach him a lesson.”

Huang Yaoshi said with a stern face, “How did I come to be here! I came to find you!”

Huang Rong said joyfully, “Father, have you done what you vowed to do? Oh, that’s wonderful, wonderful!” And she clapped her hands and cheered.

Huang Yaoshi said, “Done what? I’ve been out looking for you, you little minx. What do I care about vows?”

Huang Rong felt wretched. She knew that the theft of the second volume of his Nine Yin Manual¹³ by a disciple was the great regret of her father’s life. He had sworn to create the martial arts of the lost second volume from the first by his own wit and wisdom, saying that the Nine Yin Manual had been written by a mortal man, so if someone else could write it, why couldn’t he, Huang Yaoshi? Until he had made good the arts recorded in the manual, he would not set foot off Peach Blossom Island. And now her own wilfulness had made him break his vow. She said softly, “Father, from now on I’ll always be good. I’ll do as you say until the day I die.”

Huang Yaoshi had been overjoyed already to find his beloved daughter safe, and hearing her say this put him in a fine humour. “Help your shijie up,” he said. “Chaofeng, Chengfeng, the two of you, I take you back as my disciples.”

Huang Rong went and helped Mei Chaofeng to her feet, and Lu Guanying helped his father over, and the two of them knelt and bowed. Amid their great joy, Mei Chaofeng and Lu Chengfeng could not keep from sobbing aloud.

Huang Yaoshi sighed. “Chengfeng, you have done well. Get up. I was too hot-tempered in those days, and I wronged you.”

Lu Chengfeng choked out, “Shifu, are you well?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Nobody has managed to vex me to death yet, at any rate.”

Huang Rong grinned impishly. “Father, you don’t mean me, do you?”

Huang Yaoshi snorted. “You’ve played your part.”

Huang Rong stuck out her tongue. “Father, let me introduce some friends. These are the Six Xias of Jiangnan, famous throughout the jianghu. They’re Jing gege’s shifus.”

Huang Yaoshi rolled his eyes up and, ignoring the Six Eccentrics completely, said, “I do not meet outsiders.”

The Six Eccentrics were all enraged at such arrogance and rudeness, but awed by his fame and the astonishing skill he had just shown, they could not very well let fly at him for the moment.

Huang Yaoshi said to his daughter, “Have you anything to collect? We’re going home now.”

Huang Rong smiled. “Nothing to collect, but there’s something I must give back to Lu shige.”¹⁴ She took the bottle of Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills¹⁵ from inside her robe and handed it to Lu Chengfeng. “Lu shige, these pills are hard to make. You’d better have them back.”

Lu Chengfeng waved them away and said to Huang Yaoshi, “This disciple sees you again today, Shifu, and his joy is beyond words. If you would stay at my manor a little while, I would be all the more…”

Huang Yaoshi did not answer, but pointed at Lu Guanying. “Is this your son?”

Lu Chengfeng said, “Yes.”

Without waiting to be told, Lu Guanying hurried forward and respectfully kowtowed four times. “Your grandson pays his respects to his shizu.”¹⁶

Huang Yaoshi said, “Enough!” Instead of bending to raise him, he reached out with his left hand, seized him by the middle of the back and lifted him, then brought his right palm down on the young man’s shoulder.

Lu Chengfeng cried in alarm, “Shifu, he is my only son…”

There was no little force in Huang Yaoshi’s palm. Struck on the shoulder, Lu Guanying could not keep his feet. He staggered back seven or eight steps and went over on his back, but he was not hurt in the least, and he got up looking dazed.

Huang Yaoshi said to Lu Chengfeng, “You’ve done well. You haven’t taught him your martial arts. Is the boy of the Xianxia Ridge School?”¹⁷

Only now did Lu Chengfeng understand that his shifu’s lift and push had been a test of which school his son’s martial arts came from. “I would never dare break the rules of the shimen,”¹⁸ he said quickly. “Without your leave, Shifu, I would never dare pass on your arts to anyone. The boy is a disciple of Great Master Kumu¹⁹ of the Xianxia Ridge School.”

Huang Yaoshi gave a cold laugh. “With Kumu’s paltry skill, what business has he calling himself Great Master? What you learnt is a hundred times better than his. From tomorrow, teach your son yourself. The martial arts of the Xianxia Ridge School aren’t fit to carry our shoes.”

Lu Chengfeng was overjoyed and said quickly to his son, “Quick, quick, thank your shizu for his kindness.”

Lu Guanying kowtowed to Huang Yaoshi four times more. Huang Yaoshi held his head high and took no notice.

Lu Chengfeng had learnt all his martial arts on Peach Blossom Island. His legs were crippled, but his hands had lost none of their skill, and he understood the deep principles of martial learning. He had watched his only son train hard and get only so far for want of a good teacher, though he himself had a head stuffed with the secrets of the art that he could have taught him. Bound by the rules of the school, he had not dared reveal any of it, and for fear his son would pester him he had never even let him know that he knew martial arts. Now he was counted once more among his shifu’s disciples, and his shifu had given him leave to teach the boy, so his son’s martial arts would soon come on by leaps and bounds. How could he not rejoice? He wanted to say a few words of thanks, but his throat closed and he could not get them out.

Huang Yaoshi gave him a sidelong look. “This is for you!” With a light wave of his right hand he sent two sheets of white paper flying to Lu Chengfeng, one after the other. More than ten feet lay between them, yet the two thin sheets floated across as lightly as if a breeze had carried them. There is nothing in a sheet of paper to put force into, and sending one so far is truly harder than throwing a boulder of several hundred jin.²⁰ Everyone there was filled with admiration.

Huang Rong, very pleased with herself, whispered to Guo Jing, “Jing gege, what do you think of my father’s martial arts?”

Guo Jing said, “Your father’s martial arts are beyond mortal skill. Rong-er, when you go home, don’t spend all your time at play. Learn properly from him.”

Huang Rong said anxiously, “But you’re coming too. Surely you’re coming?”

Guo Jing said, “I have to stay with my six shifus. I’ll come and see you in a while.”

Huang Rong was frantic. She clung to his hand, crying, “No, no, I won’t be parted from you.”

But Guo Jing knew they had no choice but to part, and his heart was heavy.

Footnotes

1. 降龙十八掌 — Xiánglóng Shíbā Zhǎng. Literally eighteen dragon-subduing palms. Hong Qigong’s palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 洪七公 — Hóng Qīgōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 师父 — shīfù. Teacher responsible for technical instruction and moral guidance. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

5. 黄药师 — Huáng Yàoshī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 师姐 — shījiě. Female senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 利涉大川 — Lì shè dà chuān. Literally advantage in crossing the great river, a phrase from the Book of Changes. One of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. ↩

8. 亢龙有悔 — Kàng Lóng Yǒu Huǐ. Literally the proud dragon has cause to repent. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, named from a line of the Book of Changes. ↩

9. 梁子翁 — Liáng Zǐwēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 南希仁 — Nán Xīrén. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 陆乘风 — Lù Chéngfēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 裘千仞 — Qiú Qiānrèn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 九阴真经 — Jiǔyīn Zhēnjīng. Literally true scripture of the nine yin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 师哥 — shīgē. Male senior, the colloquial form of shixiong. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Gē means older brother. ↩

15. 九花玉露丸 — Jiǔhuā Yùlù Wán. Huang Yaoshi’s elixir, compounded with the dew of nine kinds of flower and hard to make. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 师祖 — shīzǔ. The shifu of one’s shifu, two generations above. Shī means teacher. Zǔ means grandfather or ancestor. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 仙霞派 — Xiānxiá Pài. Literally immortal rosy clouds school. Named for Xianxia Ridge (仙霞岭) on the Zhejiang–Fujian border; a branch of Shaolin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 师门 — shīmén. Literally the teacher’s gate. The house of one’s shifu: the master, the fellow disciples, and the rules and obligations binding them. ↩

19. 枯木大师 — Kūmù Dàshī. Literally Great Master Withered Tree. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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