The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 15 – Part 5

The essence of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing lay entirely in how the force was summoned and released. The changes of the palms themselves were very simple. Otherwise, strong as the martial arts of Liang Ziweng,¹ Mei Chaofeng² and Ouyang Ke³ were, how could any of the three have let Guo Jing use one palm over and over and still found no way to break it? Just now Ouyang Ke had watched with his own eyes as Hong Qigong taught Guo Jing three palms. Guo Jing had not grasped a tenth of them yet, while Ouyang Ke had them clear in his mind long since, and yet, once they were fighting, he found those three newly learned palms hard to deal with.

Now that Guo Jing had learned all eighteen palms, linked from first to last, the original fifteen grew far more powerful too. Ouyang Ke changed his fist style four times running and still could only fight him to a draw. After several dozen more moves he grew impatient and thought, If I don’t bring out my family’s secret art today, I’ll never win. My uncle has taught me since I was a child, and if I can’t beat a disciple the old beggar has only just taken on, won’t that mean the old beggar has outdone my uncle? All at once he swung a punch. Guo Jing raised his arm to block, but Ouyang Ke’s arm seemed suddenly to have lost its bones and bent round with the swing, and with a smack the fist caught Guo Jing on the neck.

Guo Jing started, ducked his head and sprang clear, then wheeled round and struck out with a palm. Ouyang Ke stepped aside on the slant and answered with a punch. This time Guo Jing dared not block it and turned sideways to dodge, but his opponent’s arm suddenly seemed to have become a soft whip that could bend any way it liked in mid-air once the punch was thrown. Guo Jing saw the fist plainly heading left, but all at once it swerved to the right, and with a thud it landed on his shoulder. There was no guarding against it. He had taken three punches in a row, all of them heavy, and at once he was flustered and did not know how to meet them.

Hong Qigong called out, “Jing-er, stop. We’ll call this bout lost for now.”

Guo Jing leapt back more than ten feet. The three places where Ouyang Ke had hit him hurt badly, and he said to Ouyang Ke, “Your fist work really is remarkable. The way your arm bends is uncanny. I’m impressed, truly impressed!” Ouyang Ke cast several triumphant glances at Huang Rong.

Hong Qigong said, “The Old Venom raises snakes day in, day out. This Soft-Skinned Snake Fist must have come to him from watching venomous snakes. It’s very clever indeed, and the old beggar can’t think of a way to break it just now. Count yourself lucky, and clear off like a good boy.”

Ouyang Ke’s heart missed a beat, and he thought, When my uncle taught me this Spirit Serpent Fist,⁴ he warned me a thousand times never to use it unless my life hung in the balance. I’ve used it once today and the old beggar has already seen through it. If my uncle finds out, I’ll be severely punished. At the thought, most of his triumph drained away. He cupped his hands and bowed to Hong Qigong, then turned to leave the ancestral hall.

Huang Rong called out, “Wait. I have something to say.” Ouyang Ke stopped and turned, his heart thumping.

But Huang Rong paid him no attention. She sank gracefully into a bow before Hong Qigong and said, “Qigong, take two disciples today. Good things come in pairs. If you take only a boy and not a girl, it spoils it.”

Hong Qigong shook his head and laughed. “Taking one disciple is already a great break with my rules, and the old beggar has gone quite far enough for one day. Besides, with a father as formidable as yours, how could you be allowed to take the old beggar as your shifu?”

Huang Rong pretended to understand at last. “Ah, so you’re afraid of my father!”

Stung by her taunt, and very fond of her besides, Hong Qigong put on a stern face. “Afraid of what? I’ll take you as my disciple, then. Do you think Old Heretic Huang can eat me?”

Huang Rong laughed. “That’s settled, then, and you can’t go back on it. Father often says that since Wang Chongyang died, the only truly great masters of martial arts left in the world are he and you. The Southern Emperor will pass, and the rest aren’t even worth his notice. If I take you as my shifu, Father will be delighted. Shifu, how do you beggars catch snakes? Teach me that first.”

For the moment Hong Qigong could not see what she was after, but he knew the girl was a little imp and must be up to something. He said, “To catch a snake you go for its seven-inch point. You pinch it with two fingers like this, and so long as you pinch the snake right on its seven-inch point, however deadly it is, it can’t move.”

Huang Rong asked, “And what if it’s a great big thick snake?”

Hong Qigong said, “You wag a finger of your left hand to get it to bite you, and strike its seven-inch point with your right.”

Huang Rong said, “That must take very quick hands.”

“Of course,” said Hong Qigong. “Smear some medicine on your left hand and it’s safer still. Then even if it does bite you, there’s nothing to fear.”

Huang Rong nodded, winked at Hong Qigong and said, “Then, Shifu, smear some medicine on my hands for me.”

Catching and handling snakes was work for the Guild’s young beggars, and Hong Qigong, as their exalted Guild Chief, carried no snake-catching medicine about him. But seeing Huang Rong signal with her eyes, he poured a little wine from the big red gourd on his back and rubbed it on both her palms.

Huang Rong raised her hands and sniffed them, pulled a face, and said to Ouyang Ke, “Hey, I’m the newly taken final disciple of the old hero Hong, head of all the beggars in the world, and now I’ve come to try your Soft-Skinned Snake Fist. I’m telling you plainly first, I’ve smeared a poison on my hands that works on you especially, so you’d better be careful.”

Ouyang Ke thought, In a fight with you, I’ll have you as easily as reaching out my hand. Whatever trick you’re up to with your hands, I’ve made up my mind simply not to touch them. He smiled. “To die at your hands would be a pleasure.”

Huang Rong said, “The rest of your martial arts are nothing much. I only want to try your stinking snake fist. If you use any other fist or palm work, you lose.”

Ouyang Ke said, “Whatever the young lady says, I’ll do it. Your every word is my command.”

Huang Rong gave him a dazzling smile. “Who’d have thought a rotten scoundrel like you would be so easy to get along with? Here it comes!” With a whoosh out went a fist. It was the very Carefree Wandering⁵ fist work that Hong Qigong had taught her.

Ouyang Ke turned sideways to let it by. Huang Rong kicked out across with her left foot and hooked to grab with her right hand, and these were already moves from her family’s Peach Blossom Falling Petals Palm.⁶ She was young and had learned only so much, and all she wanted now was to win. She cared nothing whose teaching the moves came from.

Seeing how subtle her palm work was, Ouyang Ke did not dare take it lightly. His right arm shot out, suddenly bent, and struck at her shoulder. The Spirit Serpent Fist was very fast, and in a flash it had almost reached Huang Rong’s shoulder when he suddenly remembered the Soft Hedgehog Armour⁷ she wore. If the punch landed, would it not tear his own fist to a bloody mess? He hastily pulled the blow, and with a whoosh, whoosh Huang Rong’s two palms were already slapping at his face. Ouyang Ke swirled his robe sleeve and rolled it up to fend them off. Huang Rong had armour on her body and poison on her hands, and apart from her face there was nowhere on her that would take a blow. So Ouyang Ke found himself being hit and unable to hit back. However uncanny his Spirit Serpent Fist, it could do nothing against her, and all he could do was dodge this way and that, darting high and low amid the shadows of her palms. He thought, If I hit her in the face to win, it would be an affront to a beauty, and to grab her hair would be cruder still. But apart from that, there’s really nowhere I can lay a hand. Then inspiration struck. He tore off his sleeve and ripped it in two, and as he swayed aside from her palms, he wound one piece round each hand. Then he turned his hands over and went straight for her wrists with a hooking, seizing grip.

Huang Rong sprang out of the fight and called out, “You’ve lost. That isn’t your stinking snake fist.”

Ouyang Ke said, “Oh dear, I had quite forgotten.”

Huang Rong said, “It’s no great wonder that your stinking snake fist can’t get the better of Hong Qigong’s disciple. At Prince Zhao’s estate I once fought you inside a circle drawn on the ground. That time you’d brought together Liang Ziweng, Sha Tongtian,⁸ Peng Lianhu,⁹ the monk Lingzhi and that Hou Tonghai¹⁰ with the horns on his head, seven or eight of you against me alone. I was outnumbered, and I couldn’t be bothered with the effort, so I conceded. Now we’ve each won once, and nothing is settled, so we may as well have one more bout to decide it.”

Li Sheng¹¹ and the others thought, This little girl stood up to Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian and the other masters and wasn’t beaten? Who knows whether that’s true. Her martial arts may come from a true master, but in the end she’s no match for this man. She’s just won by bluffing her way through, so why not leave it there? Why draw legs on the snake and fight again?

Hong Qigong, however, knew very well that the girl had a hundred tricks up her sleeve, and that she was counting on him being there to find some way of making a fool of her enemy. He smiled and said nothing. He had gnawed a whole chicken down to a few bones, yet he still held them and licked at them, smacking his lips, as if he could never get enough of the taste.

Ouyang Ke laughed. “Why should the two of us take it so seriously? Your win or mine, it’s all the same. But since the young lady is in the mood, I’ll keep her company for one more game.”

Huang Rong said, “At Prince Zhao’s estate everyone around was a friend of yours. If I’d beaten you, they’d have come to your rescue, so I didn’t want to fight you in earnest. Now there are friends of yours here,” she said, pointing at Ouyang Ke’s concubines in white, “and friends of mine too. Yours are the more numerous, but I can afford to give that much away. Let’s do it like this. Draw another circle on the ground, and we’ll fight the same way as before. Whoever steps out of the circle first loses. Now that I’ve taken Qigong as my shifu, and a famous master turns out fine disciples, I’ll give you one more advantage, boy. There’s no need to tie your hands this time.”

Every word she said twisted the facts to suit herself, yet every word sounded so magnanimous that Ouyang Ke did not know whether to be angry or to laugh. Pivoting on his left foot, he stretched his right foot out three feet and turned once, and the tip of his right foot had scored a circle six feet across in the ground, its line an inch or so deep. The brave men of the Beggars’ Guild could not help cheering inwardly.

Huang Rong stepped into the circle and said, “Are we going to fight civil or fight martial?”

Ouyang Ke thought, Trust you to come up with so many odd notions. He asked, “How does a civil fight go? And a martial one?”

Huang Rong said, “In a civil fight I make three moves and you’re not allowed to hit back, then you make three and I’m not allowed to hit back. A martial fight is a free-for-all. Use your dead-snake fist or your live-rat fist, whatever you like. Either way, whoever steps out of the circle first loses.”

Ouyang Ke said, “A civil fight, of course. We wouldn’t want to spoil our good feeling.”

Huang Rong said, “In a martial fight you’d be sure to lose. A civil fight still leaves you a little hope. All right, I’ll give way to you once more, and we’ll fight civil. Will you make the first move, or shall I?”

Ouyang Ke could hardly go before her. “The young lady first, of course,” he said.

Huang Rong laughed. “You’re a sly one, always picking the better side. You know the one who moves first loses out, so you let me go first. Oh well, I’ll be generous and give way to you all the way.” Ouyang Ke was just about to say, “In that case I don’t mind going first,” when he heard Huang Rong call out, “Here it comes.” She swung her palm at him, and suddenly there was a flicker of silver, points of it flying at him. She had hidden weapons tucked in her palm.

Ouyang Ke saw a great many hidden weapons coming. The folding fan he usually knocked them aside with had been crushed by Hong Qigong, and the sleeves he might have swept them off with had been torn away. The several dozen steel needles covered a space six or seven feet across, and though a single leap to the side would have taken him clear of them at once, that would mean stepping out of the circle. In the rush of the moment there was no time to think. He pushed off with the tip of his foot and shot more than ten feet into the air, and the whole handful of needles flew beneath his feet.

As soon as Huang Rong had loosed that handful of needles, she had another ready in each hand. She waited until his upward rush was spent and he was just about to fall, then cried, “Here comes the second move!” Both hands loosed their needles together, above and below, left and right, well over a hundred of them. It was the secret art of Sky-Blanketing Blossom Rain Needle Cast¹² that Hong Qigong had taught her, and she did not trouble with aim at all, but simply threw them as hard as she could. However great Ouyang Ke’s skill, he was in mid-air with nothing to push against. I’m done for! he thought. What a vicious girl!

In that very instant he felt the back of his collar tighten and his body was lifted into the air. A string of hisses passed beneath his feet, and the needles all fell to the floor. Ouyang Ke had only just realised that someone had saved him when he was flung away. There was not much force in the throw, but the way it was applied was strange, and for all his skill his left shoulder hit the ground first and he took a heavy fall before he could spring up and find his feet. He knew that no one but Hong Qigong had neili¹³ like that. Shocked and furious, he left the ancestral hall without looking back, and his concubines crowded out after him.

Huang Rong said, “Shifu, why did you save that wretch?”

Hong Qigong laughed. “His uncle and I are old acquaintances. The brat does nothing but wicked harm, and death would be too good for him. But if he came to harm at my disciple’s hands, it would look bad for his uncle.” He patted Huang Rong on the shoulder. “My fine disciple, you’ve saved your shifu’s face today. What shall I give you as a reward?”

Huang Rong put out her tongue. “I don’t want your bamboo staff.”

Hong Qigong said, “Even if you wanted it, I couldn’t give it to you. I’d like to teach you a skill or two, but these last few days a great fit of laziness has come over me and I can’t work up the will.”

Huang Rong said, “I’ll cook you a few good dishes, Shifu, to perk you up.”

Hong Qigong’s eyebrows danced and his face lit up, but then he heaved a long sigh. “I haven’t time to eat just now. A pity, a pity!” He pointed at Li Sheng and the others. “We beggars have a great deal of business to talk over.”

Li Sheng and the others came over to pay their respects to Guo Jing and Huang Rong and thank them for the rescue. Huang Rong went and cut the cords on Young Mistress Cheng’s hands and feet. Young Mistress Cheng was very shy, and she took Huang Rong’s hand and whispered her thanks. Huang Rong pointed at Guo Jing. “Your eldest shibo, Daoist Elder Ma,¹⁴ taught him martial arts, and your shibos Qiu¹⁵ and Wang¹⁶ think very highly of him too. So when you come down to it, we’re all one family.”

Young Mistress Cheng turned and looked at Guo Jing, and all at once she blushed scarlet and called softly, “Guo shige!”¹⁷ She lowered her head, and only after a while did she steal a look and take his measure in secret.

Li Sheng and the others congratulated Hong Qigong, Guo Jing and Huang Rong. They knew that Qigong had never taken disciples. However much a beggar of the Guild won his favour, he was rarely lucky enough to catch Qigong in the mood to show him a move or two. They could not think how Guo Jing and Huang Rong had come to have such good fortune with him, and envied them enormously.

Li Sheng said, “We would like to host a banquet tomorrow evening to congratulate the Guild Chief on taking two fine disciples.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “I fear they will think us too filthy and refuse to eat a beggar’s food.”

Guo Jing said hastily, “We’ll certainly be there tomorrow. Big Brother Li is a man of chivalry from the generation before us, and I’ve been hoping to get to know him better.”

Guo Jing had saved Li Sheng’s eyes, and Li Sheng was already very grateful. Now, hearing him speak so modestly, he was delighted, and in all he said he went out of his way to make a friend of Guo Jing.

Hong Qigong said, “You two get on like old friends already, but don’t go talking my eldest disciple into becoming a beggar. Little disciple, you called yourself my newly taken final disciple, so your shifu isn’t allowed to take any more. Is that it?”

Huang Rong laughed. “If Shifu wants to take more, of course there’s no need to mind my nonsense. But a thing is precious because it’s rare. The more disciples Shifu takes, the less precious they’ll be.”

Hong Qigong said, “And are you so very precious? Take Young Mistress Cheng home, and we beggars will be off to steal chickens and beg for rice.” With that they all went out.

It was agreed that Li Sheng would give the banquet in this same ancestral hall the next day.

Guo Jing went with Huang Rong to see Young Mistress Cheng home. On the way Young Mistress Cheng quietly told Huang Rong her given name. It was Cheng Yaojia.¹⁸ Although she had learned her martial arts from Unbound Adept Qingjing, Sun Buer,¹⁹ she had been born into a very rich family and pampered all her life, and her speech and bearing were coy and bashful, quite unlike Huang Rong’s bright, high-spirited ways. She dared not say half a word to Guo Jing, and whenever she stole a glance at him, her cheeks went pink.

Footnotes

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

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

3. 欧阳克 — Ōuyáng Kè. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 灵蛇拳 — Língshé Quán. Ouyang Ke’s fist art, the arm bending in mid-strike like a snake; Ouyang Feng told him to use it only in mortal danger. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 逍遥游 — Xiāoyáoyóu. Literally carefree wandering, after the first chapter of the Zhuangzi. A fist technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 桃华落英掌 — Táohuā Luòyīng Zhǎng. Palm technique with palm shadows like scattering peach blossoms. Originally called 落英神剑掌 (Falling Petals Divine Sword Palm) in earlier editions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 软猬甲 — Ruǎnwèijiǎ. A vest set with tiny barbs, proof against blades and fists, treasured on Peach Blossom Island. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 沙通天 — Shā Tōngtiān. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 彭连虎 — Péng Liánhǔ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

11. 黎生 — Lí Shēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 满天花雨掷金针 — Mǎntiān Huāyǔ Zhì Jīnzhēn. Literally the whole sky a rain of blossoms, casting golden needles. A needle-throwing art Hong Qigong teaches Huang Rong, a dozen needles loosed at once. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 内力 — nèilì. Literally internal force. The kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 马钰 — Mǎ Yù. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 丘处机 — Qiū Chǔjī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 王处一 — Wáng Chǔyī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

18. 程瑶迦 — Chéng Yáojiā. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 孙不二 — Sūn Bù’èr. Her name meaning “not two”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩