The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 15 – Part 4

Ouyang Ke was itching past bearing, and all at once he turned his anger on Guo Jing. He thought, I’ll kill this brat first, and then you can put him out of your mind for good. With his eyes still on Huang Rong, he suddenly kicked out backwards, driving his heel hard at Guo Jing’s chest. The kick was fast and savage, uncommonly vicious, one of the secret arts handed down in the family of Ouyang Feng the Western Venom, and an opponent could hardly dodge or block it. If it landed, it would break bones and burst lungs on the spot.

Guo Jing had no time to get out of the way. Without even turning round, he struck back with a horizontal backhand chop. There was a thud. Guo Jing took the foot on his hip and Ouyang Ke took the palm on his leg, and both felt the pain to the bone. Each wheeled round, they glared at each other, and then they were at it again.

The experts of the Beggars’ Guild were astonished. That palm is plainly Old Li’s life-saving trick, Divine Dragon Sweeps Its Tail,¹ they thought. How can this youngster use it too? And isn’t he even faster and fiercer with it than Old Li himself? What they did not know was that Guo Jing had never learned the move. He had only watched Li Sheng use it again and again, and since its principles were exactly those of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing Lacking Three,² in his hour of need it had simply come out of him. But he had only the outward form and did not know how to drive the force behind it. Otherwise that palm would already have done Ouyang Ke’s thigh a serious injury.

By now the men of the Beggars’ Guild had helped Li Sheng to one side. He saw the weight and power of Guo Jing’s palms and the subtlety of his moves. He himself knew only the one move, Divine Dragon Sweeps Its Tail, and when he saw how closely Guo Jing’s other palms followed its principles, he was aghast. The Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing are Guild Chief Hong’s secret art, he thought. I had to risk my life and do the Guild a great service before he taught me a single palm as my reward. Where has this youngster managed to learn all eighteen?

Ouyang Ke, trading moves with Guo Jing, marvelled inwardly too, thinking, How can this brat’s martial arts have come on so far in only a few months?

In the blink of an eye they had traded more than forty moves. Guo Jing had run through his fifteen palms several times over, which was enough to hold his own, but Ouyang Ke’s martial arts were far above his, and winning was out of the question. After ten more moves Ouyang Ke’s fist style changed abruptly. He darted forward and sprang back, feinted east and struck west, moving with dazzling speed. Guo Jing was a fraction late with a block and took a kick on the left hip, and at once he was stumbling. Luckily his chief strength lay in his palms, so he ran the fifteen palms from last to first, back to front.

Seeing the palms come in reverse order, Ouyang Ke dared not close in for the moment. He meant to trade a few dozen more moves until he had the general run of Guo Jing’s changes by heart, and then strike at an opening.

Guo Jing ran through them once from last to first, then began again from first to last. After the fifteenth palm, See Dragon in Field,³ the next, if he went on to the first, would be Proud Dragon Repents.⁴ If he reversed again from the end, it would be another See Dragon in Field. His mind did not turn quickly, and he thought, Should I start again from the top, or turn back the other way? At that slight hesitation Ouyang Ke saw his opening at once and reached for his shoulder.

Guo Jing was boxed in, and no palm among the fifteen could get him out of it. Going with the movement, he turned his palm over and slapped down hard on the back of his enemy’s hand. It was a wild blow struck in desperation, with no method or principle to it at all. Ouyang Ke had learned his palms by heart and never imagined his opponent would suddenly produce a new move, and with a smack the palm caught him on the wrist.

Ouyang Ke started and sprang back, shaking his hand a few times. It hurt, but luckily the wrist bone was not broken. Guo Jing’s wild flailing had actually worked, and he thought, I still have openings behind my shoulder, at my left hip and at my right waist. I’ll make up two more palms and fill in all three.

The thought was barely done when Ouyang Ke came at him again. Guo Jing’s mind was slow. Even ten days or a fortnight of hard thinking might not have given him half a new move, and in the thick of a fierce fight there was no room at all for pondering. All he could do was follow the principles of the Dragon-Subduing Palms and add three more palms, plainly and honestly, to guard the three places behind his shoulder, at his left hip and at his right waist.

Ouyang Ke groaned inwardly, thinking, His palm work was limited to begin with, and in the long run I was sure to beat him. Where have these three extra moves suddenly come from? He did not know that the three moves were in fact quite useless. But having been struck on the wrist once, he no longer dared to rush in, and he gradually slowed his fists, meaning to wear Guo Jing down by fighting on the move.

Then he noticed that one of Guo Jing’s palms came out a little differently from the time before, and the thought flashed through his mind, Of course. He hasn’t mastered that one yet, so he didn’t use it at first. He sprang into the air, his left hand feinting a grab at the crown of Guo Jing’s head while his right foot flew out straight at his left hip.

The three palms Guo Jing had invented were no real use after all. Seeing his enemy throw his full strength at his weak point, his nerve failed him. His palm was only halfway out when he snatched it back and turned sideways to dodge the kick.

Huang Rong cried out silently in dismay, and the thought went through her like lightning, To hesitate in the face of an enemy is the worst fault there is in martial arts. If Jing gege had just let that palm fly any old how, it would have done well enough. Even if it couldn’t hurt his enemy, it would have kept him safe. But now he’s pulled his palm back and turned away, and the opening is wider still.

She saw that Ouyang Ke had put every ounce of his strength into that kick and that Guo Jing had no way out of it. At once she flung up her right hand, and seven or eight steel needles shot out.

Ouyang Ke drew the folding fan tucked in at the back of his collar. The iron fan sprang open the moment it reached his hand, and with two light sweeps he knocked every needle aside, yet his kick did not falter in the least. It would surely have laid Guo Jing on the ground badly hurt, when all at once his ankle went numb. Something had struck an acupoint there, and though his foot still landed, there was no force left in it.

Badly shaken, Ouyang Ke leapt clear at once and shouted, “You rats, ambushing the Young Master from cover. If you have any guts, come out into the open and…”

The words were not out when he heard a faint rush of air above his head. He tried to dodge, but the thing came far too fast, and somehow, all at once, there was something in his mouth. There was a savoury taste on his tongue. Startled and frightened, he hastily spat it out. It seemed to be a piece of chicken bone.

In alarm Ouyang Ke looked up, and a handful of dust came showering down on his head from the beam. He leapt aside, and pfft, there was another piece of chicken bone in his mouth. This time it was a drumstick bone, and it knocked his teeth hard enough to make them ache.

Wild with rage, Ouyang Ke saw a figure flicker on the beam and launched himself upwards, striking out with his palm at the shadow in mid-air. All at once he felt someone reach out and stroke his cheek, and then there was something in his palm. He closed his fingers on it, and when he landed and looked, he was angrier still. It was a pair of chewed-up chicken feet. From the beam came a roar of laughter, and a voice said, “How do you like the beggar’s Chicken-Stealing Dog-Filching Fist?”

At that voice Huang Rong and Guo Jing were overjoyed, and both cried out together, “Qigong!” They looked up and saw Hong Qigong sitting on the beam, both feet swinging back and forth, half a chicken in his hand, eating away with gusto.

The members of the Beggars’ Guild all bowed together and said as one, “Guild Chief! Good health to you, sir.”

When Ouyang Ke saw who it was, his heart sank, and he thought, This man stroked my cheek and tossed two chicken bones into my mouth one after the other. If he’d thrown hidden weapons instead of chicken bones, I’d be dead already. A brave man doesn’t walk into a beating he can see coming. Better to slip away while I can. He bowed and called out a greeting. “House Uncle Hong, how good to see you again. Your nephew kowtows to you.” But though he spoke of kowtowing, he did not bend his knees.

Hong Qigong chewed his chicken and said thickly, “Haven’t you gone back to the Western Regions yet? Running wild here, do you want to throw your little life away in the Central Plains?”

Ouyang Ke said, “In the Central Plains there is no one but you, House Uncle, who cannot be beaten. So long as you show mercy, House Uncle, and don’t use your seniority to bully a junior, I dare say my life is safe enough. My uncle told me that so long as I am respectful whenever I meet House Uncle Hong, you will have regard for your standing and never lift a hand against one of the younger generation, for that would only damage your own good name and make you the laughing stock of the brave men of the world.”

Hong Qigong roared with laughter. “You’re using words to box me in first, so the old beggar can’t decently fight you. There are plenty of people in the Central Plains who could kill you. It needn’t be the old beggar who does it. From what you said just now, you think very little of my Chicken-Stealing Dog-Filching Fist and my Rice-Begging Snake-Catching Palm. Isn’t that so?”

Ouyang Ke said hastily, “I truly didn’t know that this old hero was one of yours, House Uncle. I beg you and this old hero to forgive my wild, insolent words.”

Hong Qigong dropped down from the beam. “You call him a hero, but he can’t beat you, so you must be a great hero. Ha ha, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Ouyang Ke was furious, but he knew how far his martial arts fell short of Hong Qigong’s, and he dared not answer back. He could only swallow his anger and hold his tongue.

Hong Qigong said, “Because the Old Venom has taught you a thing or two, you think you can run riot in the Central Plains. Hmph, hmph. While the old beggar’s still alive, that won’t be allowed.”

Ouyang Ke said, “You and my uncle are equally famous, House Uncle. All I can do is obey your every word.”

Hong Qigong said, “Oho, so you’re saying I’m using my seniority to bully one of the younger generation?”

Ouyang Ke said nothing, and so let his silence stand for yes.

Hong Qigong said, “The old beggar has a whole great guild of big beggars, little beggars and middling beggars under him, but not one of them is my disciple. This fellow surnamed Li only picked up one rough-and-ready move from me. How can he count as my heir? He hasn’t learned his Carefree Fist⁵ properly, and it wasn’t the old beggar who taught it to him either. You look down on my Chicken-Stealing Dog-Filching Fist, do you? Hmph, hmph. If the old beggar really did teach someone, he might well be a match for you.”

Ouyang Ke said, “Of course. Your heir would certainly be far stronger than I am. It’s only that your martial arts are so lofty, sir, that it would be no easy matter for a disciple of yours to learn even a tenth of them.”

Hong Qigong said, “That’s very prettily said, but I’ll wager you’re cursing me in your heart.”

Ouyang Ke said, “I wouldn’t dare.”

Huang Rong cut in, “Qigong, don’t believe his lies. He’s cursing you in his heart, and very viciously too. He says your own martial arts may be fine, but you can only use them yourself and can’t teach a disciple. You teach and teach, but only bits and scraps of moves, and not one of your pupils has ever learned the whole set.”

Hong Qigong glared at her and grunted. “Up to your goading tricks again, little girl.” Then he turned his head. “Oho, so the brat dares to curse me, does he?” His hand shot out, quick as lightning, and the folding fan was already snatched from Ouyang Ke’s grip. A flick, and it was open. On one side were painted several peonies, signed with the two characters “Xu Xi.”⁶ Hong Qigong had no idea that Xu Xi was a great master of the Northern Song, and though the peonies were so fresh and vivid they seemed to drip with colour, he still said, “No good!”

On the other side were a few lines of writing, signed at the foot with the five characters “Young Master of White Camel Mountain,”⁷ so Ouyang Ke must have written them himself. Hong Qigong asked Huang Rong, “How’s this writing?”

Huang Rong raised her eyebrows. “Terribly vulgar. But I don’t suppose he can write at all. He must have got the clerk at the Tongren Pawnshop to write it for him.”

Ouyang Ke fancied himself a man of romantic elegance, accomplished alike in letters and in martial arts, and at Huang Rong’s words he was furious. He shot her a sidelong look, but in the candlelight he saw a smile that was not quite a smile at the tips of her brows and the corners of her eyes, so sweetly naive and innocent that he was struck dumb for a moment.

Hong Qigong spread the fan flat on his palm and wiped his mouth on it a few times. He had just been eating chicken and his lips were thick with grease, so the painting and calligraphy were of course smeared into a mess. Then, with a casual squeeze, as an ordinary man might crumple a useless sheet of paper, he squashed the fan into a ball and tossed it on the floor.

The others thought little of it, but Ouyang Ke knew that the ribs of his fan were cast steel. To crush them into a ball with one careless hand took strength that was nothing ordinary, and he was more frightened than ever.

Hong Qigong said, “If I fought you myself, you’d die still unconvinced. So I’ll take a disciple here and now to have a fight with you.”

Ouyang Ke pointed at Guo Jing. “This House Brother here traded several dozen moves with me just now, and if you hadn’t stepped in, House Uncle, by a stroke of luck I would already have had the upper hand. House Brother Guo, you didn’t beat me, did you?”

Guo Jing shook his head. “I’m no match for you.”

Ouyang Ke was very pleased with himself.

Hong Qigong threw back his head and laughed. “Jing-er, are you my disciple?”

Guo Jing remembered how, when he had kowtowed to Qigong that day, Qigong had insisted on kowtowing back, and he said hastily, “This junior hasn’t had the good fortune to be your disciple, sir.”

Hong Qigong said to Ouyang Ke, “Hear that?”

Ouyang Ke was greatly puzzled, and he thought, The old beggar would never lie, of course. So where did the brat learn those exquisite palms?

Hong Qigong said to Guo Jing, “If I don’t take you as my disciple, that girl will never give up. She’ll come up with a hundred cunning schemes until the old beggar has no choice but to take you on. The old beggar hasn’t the patience to be pestered by little girls without end, so I’ll own myself beaten. As of now, I take you as my disciple.”

Guo Jing was overjoyed. He threw himself down at once and knocked his head loudly on the floor several times, crying, “Shifu!” A few days earlier, at Returning Clouds Manor,⁸ he had told his six shifus in detail how Hong Qigong had taught him the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing Lacking Three. The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan⁹ had been delighted, but said it was a pity this great master of the wulin¹⁰ was so odd by nature that he would not take him as a disciple, and they had told him that if he ever saw Hong Qigong show any sign of wanting to take him on, he should bow to him as his shifu at once.

Huang Rong was beside herself with delight, and she said, all smiles, “Qigong, I’ve helped you take a fine disciple. That’s no small service. From now on you have an heir. How are you going to thank me?”

Hong Qigong put on a stern face. “With a spanking.” Then he said to Guo Jing, “Silly boy, I’ll teach you three palms first.” And there in front of everyone he taught him the remaining three palms of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, which of course were not to be mentioned in the same breath as the three clumsy moves Guo Jing had just cobbled together, like a cornered dog leaping a wall.

Ouyang Ke thought, The old beggar’s martial arts are peerless, but his head isn’t very sharp. He’s so busy teaching his disciple to save face that he’s forgotten I’m right here watching. He watched intently as Hong Qigong taught Guo Jing the palms, but the moves he demonstrated looked quite ordinary. He saw Hong Qigong murmur in Guo Jing’s ear, and supposed he was explaining the finer points of the three moves. Guo Jing pondered for a long while, nodding now and then, but more often shaking his head blankly, and Hong Qigong had to say it several more times before he gave a reluctant nod. Plainly he had not truly understood it even then.

Ouyang Ke thought, The fellow is stupid beyond belief. He’ll never master it in an hour or two. I, on the other hand, can take the chance to learn the moves myself.

When Guo Jing had practised six or seven times, Hong Qigong said, “Good, my fine disciple. You’ve got half a tenth of these three moves now. Go and thrash that wicked lecher for me.”

Guo Jing said, “Yes!” He took two steps forward, and with a whoosh a palm went flying at Ouyang Ke. Ouyang Ke slipped aside with a sidestep and struck back with his fist, and the two of them were at it once more.

Footnotes

1. 神龙摆尾 — Shénlóng Bǎi Wěi. Literally divine dragon swings its tail. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. ↩

2. 降龙十八缺三掌 — xiánglóng shíbā quē sān zhǎng. Literally eighteen dragon-subduing palms lacking three. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 见龙在田 — Xiàn Lóng Zài Tián. Literally the dragon appears in the field. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, named from a line of the Book of Changes. ↩

4. 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. ↩

5. 逍遥拳 — xiāoyáo quán. Literally carefree fist, after the ‘Carefree Wandering’ chapter of the Zhuangzi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 徐熙 — Xú Xī. A celebrated tenth-century painter of flowers and birds. See Wikipedia. ↩

7. 白驼山 — Báituó Shān. Mountain within the Kunlun ranges in the Western Regions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 归云庄 — Guīyún Zhuāng. Literally returning clouds manor. The Lu family manor on Lake Tai. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 武林 — wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. The wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩