The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 16 – Part 3

Guo Jing called out, “Rong-er, come quickly. Look, who do you think this is?”

Huang Rong turned away with her eyes shut. “I’m not coming to look!”

Guo Jing called, “It’s Sister Mu!”

Huang Rong kept her left eye closed and opened only her right. Peering into the distance, she saw Yang Kang carrying a woman whose figure was unmistakably Mu Nianci. Her fears eased at once, and she walked into the room, pausing at every step. Who could the woman be but Mu Nianci? Her face was haggard, and tears ran down her cheeks in two unbroken threads, yet she could not move a limb.

Huang Rong quickly unsealed her acupoints¹ and asked, “Sister, how did you end up here?”

Mu Nianci’s acupoints had been sealed for so long that her whole body ached and tingled. She slowly steadied her breathing while Huang Rong rubbed her joints for her. Only after as long as it takes to drink a cup of tea did Mu Nianci say, “A villain took me prisoner.”

Huang Rong saw that the main acupoint sealed was the Yongquan acupoint² in the centre of the sole. Martial artists of the Central Plains very seldom sealed so unusual a point, and she had already more or less guessed. “Was it that scoundrel Ouyang Ke?”

Mu Nianci nodded.

That day, when she and Yang Kang had gone to deliver a message to Mei Chaofeng, Ouyang Ke had seized her beside the skulls and sealed her acupoints. Later, Huang Yaoshi had played his jade flute to rescue Mei Chaofeng from her plight. Ouyang Ke’s concubines and his three snake slaves had all swooned at the sound of the flute, and Ouyang Ke had fled in disarray. The next morning the concubines and snake slaves came round one by one, found Mu Nianci still lying beside them unable to move, and brought her to their master. Ouyang Ke had pressed her several times, but she had sworn to die rather than yield. Ouyang Ke prided himself on his gifts. With his dashing elegance and peerless martial arts, he thought, even the most virtuous woman would give him her heart in time, and to use force would be beneath the dignity of the young lord of White Camel Mountain.³ It was only thanks to this vanity of his that Mu Nianci had kept her honour.

After arriving in Baoying, Ouyang Ke had hidden her in an empty coffin in the Liu Family Ancestral Hall, and sent his concubines round the great households to seek out beautiful women. They had settled on Young Mistress Cheng, but the Beggars’ Guild⁴ had seen through them, and there had been a fight. Ouyang Ke had left in a hurry, with no time to let Mu Nianci out of the coffin, and since he had carried off a great many women, he gave her no further thought. Had Guo Jing and the others not been searching for Wanyan Honglie, she would have starved to death, alive, in that empty coffin.

Yang Kang had never expected to see his sweetheart again so suddenly, and his joy was real. He was all tenderness. “Little sister, rest a while. I’ll go and boil some water for you to drink.”

Huang Rong laughed. “What do you know about boiling water? I’ll go. Jing gege, come with me.” She wanted to give the two lovers a chance to pour out their longing.

But Mu Nianci’s pretty face hardened, without a trace of a smile. “Wait. Well, Yang, congratulations. One day there’ll be no limit to your wealth and rank.”

Yang Kang’s face turned crimson at once, yet a chill ran down his spine. He thought, So she heard everything Royal Father and I said in here. For a moment he did not know what to do.

Seeing him so flustered and at a loss, Mu Nianci relented. She could not bring herself to tell them he had let Wanyan Honglie go, afraid of what might follow if Guo Jing and Huang Rong flew into a rage. She only said coldly, “Wasn’t it nice calling him ‘Father’? So much more affectionate. Why do you have to call him ‘Royal Father’?”

Yang Kang lowered his head and said nothing.

Huang Rong did not know what lay behind it, and took it for a lovers’ tiff. Mu Nianci must be angry, she supposed, that Yang Kang had not rescued her sooner and had left her in such a sorry state. She tugged at Guo Jing’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go out. I guarantee they’ll make up at once.”

Guo Jing smiled and followed her out.

When they reached the front courtyard, Huang Rong whispered, “Let’s go and listen to what they’re saying.”

Guo Jing laughed. “Don’t be silly. I’m not going.”

“All right, don’t come, but don’t be sorry afterwards. If there’s anything funny, I shan’t tell you.”

She leapt onto the roof and crept quietly across to the roof of the west wing, and heard Mu Nianci berating him sharply. “You took a traitor for your father. One could still say that was for old times’ sake, that your heart couldn’t turn round all at once. But to think you have ambitions so far above you, and mean to destroy your own parents’ homeland. This… this…” She was so choked with fury that she could not go on.

Yang Kang said gently, with a laugh, “Little sister, I…”

Mu Nianci shouted, “Who’s your little sister? Don’t touch me!” There was a smack. Yang Kang, it seemed, had taken a slap across the face.

Huang Rong was taken aback, and thought, They’ve come to blows. I’d better step in. She swung herself in through the window, laughing. “Aiyo, whatever it is, talk it over. No rough stuff.” Mu Nianci’s cheeks were flaming red, and Yang Kang’s face was white.

Huang Rong was about to speak when Yang Kang cried, “Oh, very well. So you’ve thrown me over for someone new. You’ve got another man in your heart, and that’s why you treat me like this.”

Mu Nianci said furiously, “You… what did you say?”

“You’ve gone off with that Ouyang fellow. In learning and in martial arts he’s ten times the man I am. Why would you still care about me?”

Mu Nianci was so angry that her hands and feet went cold, and she very nearly fainted.

Huang Rong interjected, “Big Brother Yang, don’t talk nonsense. If Sister Mu truly liked him, would that scoundrel have sealed her acupoints and put her in a coffin?”

Yang Kang’s embarrassment had long since turned to rage. “Whether she meant it or not, she was carried off by that man and lost her chastity. How could I ever take her back?”

Mu Nianci said furiously, “I… I… what chastity have I lost?”

“You were in that man’s hands all those days. He’ll have had his arms round you, held you close. How can you still be as pure as ice and jade?”

Mu Nianci was already utterly worn out, and now rage surged into her heart. With a choking cry she spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backwards.

Yang Kang knew he had spoken too harshly, and the sight of her stirred a sudden tenderness in him. He wanted to go to her and comfort her. But then he remembered that she knew his secret, and that Huang Rong had been suspicious of him for some time. If Mu Nianci let out the truth, his life might well be forfeit, and he was anxious about his Royal Father too. So he turned and left the room, ran to the rear courtyard, leapt over the wall and was gone.

Huang Rong pressed and kneaded Mu Nianci’s chest for a long while before she slowly revived. She steadied herself. She did not cry, and seemed as calm as if nothing had happened. “Little sister, that dagger I gave you last time, may I trouble you to lend it to me?”

Huang Rong called loudly, “Jing gege, come here!”

Guo Jing ran into the house at her voice.

Huang Rong said, “Give Big Brother Yang’s dagger to Sister Mu.”

“Yes, of course.” Guo Jing took from inside his coat the dagger that Zhu Cong had taken from Mei Chaofeng. The hilt was engraved with the words “Yang Kang.” He handed it to Mu Nianci.

Huang Rong took a dagger from inside her own coat and said softly, “Jing gege’s dagger is with me. Big Brother Yang’s is now yours.” Now that Guo Jing’s and Yang Kang’s daggers belonged one to each girl, she thought, both matches were settled and nothing could change them, and this put her mind greatly at ease. She went on, “Sister, this is a bond fate has decreed. A quarrel now and then is nothing. Don’t be sad. I often quarrel with my father too. Jing gege and I are going to Zhongdu to find Wanyan Honglie. If you’ve nothing else to do, come with us and take your mind off things. Big Brother Yang is sure to follow.”

Guo Jing asked in surprise, “Where has Brother Yang gone?”

Huang Rong stuck out her tongue. “He made Sister angry, and she sent him packing with a slap. Sister Mu, if Big Brother Yang didn’t love you to distraction, would he let you hit him without hitting back? He’s better at martial arts than you are. This martial contest…” She had been about to say, “This martial contest for a bride is an old game for the two of you,” but seeing the misery in Mu Nianci’s face, she held the joke back.

Mu Nianci said, “I’m not going to Zhongdu, and you needn’t go either. For the next six months that traitor Wanyan Honglie won’t be in Zhongdu. He’s afraid you’ll come for revenge. Big Brother Guo, Sister, you two are happy together, and you’re lucky too…” Her voice caught in her throat. She covered her face and ran out of the room, pushed off with both feet, sprang onto the roof and was gone.

Huang Rong looked down at the blood Mu Nianci had spat on the ground. She thought for a moment, still uneasy, then crossed the wall and went after her. In the distance, she saw Mu Nianci’s figure beneath a great willow tree. Sunlight flashed on a blade. She had raised the dagger above her head.

Huang Rong was frantic, sure she meant to take her own life. “Sister, don’t!” But they were too far apart to stop her. Then she saw Mu Nianci pull up a handful of her dark hair with her left hand, and with her right, sweep the dagger backwards, cutting off a great hank of it. She threw it to the ground and walked away without looking back.

Huang Rong called again and again, “Sister, Sister!” But Mu Nianci did not seem to hear, and went further and further away.

Huang Rong stood there for a while in a daze, watching the cloud of soft hair dance in the wind. A little later it scattered, into the fields and the middle of the stream, into the treetops along the road, some of it sinking into the dust, some of it drifting off on the water.

Ever since she was small, Huang Rong had been artless and mischievous. When she was happy she laughed out loud, and when she was not she cried and made a fuss. She had never known the thing called sorrow. But now, seeing this, grief welled up in her, and for the first time she understood a little of the sorrow of the world.

She walked back slowly and told Guo Jing what had happened. Guo Jing, not knowing why the two had quarrelled, said only, “Why should Sister Mu take it so hard? Her temper is much too fierce.”

Huang Rong thought, If some villain puts his arms round a woman and holds her, does that mean she has lost her chastity? Must the man who loved and respected her look down on her then? Have nothing more to do with her? She could not work out why, and supposed it was simply the way of the world. She walked to the back courtyard of the ancestral hall, leaned against a pillar, and sat lost in thought for a while before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

That evening, Li Sheng and the other heroes of the Beggars’ Guild gave a banquet in honour of Hong Qigong, Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Guessing that Huang Rong would be fussy about dirt, they made sure the wine and food, the cups and the dishes were all spotless.

Young Mistress Cheng had cooked some of the dishes with her own hands and laid in four great jars of good wine, and she brought them over herself at the head of her servants. She offered a toast, but did not stay for the feast.

Late into the night, Hong Qigong still had not come. Li Sheng knew the Guild Chief’s odd ways and thought nothing of it, and drank merrily with Guo Jing and Huang Rong. The heroes of the Beggars’ Guild held the two of them in high regard, and the talk flowed easily.

When the feast had broken up, everyone well content, Guo Jing and Huang Rong talked over what to do. Since Wanyan Honglie was not going back to Zhongdu, he would be hard to find for the present, and the date of the Peach Blossom Island appointment would be upon them in no time. The best course was to go first to Jiaxing and consult his six shifus about keeping it.

Huang Rong nodded and agreed. “It would be best to ask your six shifus not to go to Peach Blossom Island at all. You say sorry to my father, and if you kowtow to him a few times, it won’t matter, will it? If it rankles, I’ll kowtow back to you twice as many times. But if your six shifus meet my father, nothing good can come of it.”

Guo Jing said, “Quite right. And I don’t need you to kowtow back to me. For you, I’d do anything.”

The next morning, they rode south together.

It was early in the sixth month, and the weather was sweltering. As the Jiangnan saying goes, “On the sixth of the sixth, the sun will cook a duck egg.” Travelling under that blazing parasol of a sun was sheer misery. They rode only in the cool of dawn and dusk, resting at midday.

Before long they reached Jiaxing. Guo Jing wrote a letter and gave it to the proprietor of the Drunken Immortal Wineshop, asking him to hand it to the Six Xias of Jiangnan when they came at the start of the seventh month. In it he said that he had met Huang Rong on the road and gone with her to keep the appointment on Peach Blossom Island. With Huang Yaoshi’s beloved daughter at his side, no harm could come to him, so his six shifus need not worry and need not follow him to the island. His thought was that if he went on ahead, his six shifus could stay away. If they all met first, his shifus, devoted to their disciple as they were, would be sure to insist on going with him. But though he wrote as he did, he was far from easy in his mind. Huang Yaoshi was a strange man, and he feared this journey held more danger than hope. He said nothing of it, for fear of worrying Huang Rong, and took comfort in the thought that his six shifus would not have to run so great a risk.

They turned east, and on reaching Zhoushan they hired a sea-going junk. Huang Rong knew that the coast people feared Peach Blossom Island like snakes and scorpions, and warned one another never to come within forty li of it. Name the island, and no sea-going junk or fishing boat would dare to go there, however much money was offered. When hiring the boat, she said they were going to Xiazhi Island. Once past Qitouyang, however, she forced the boatman north. The man was terrified, but then Huang Rong casually flicked her hand and drove a dagger deep into the plank. She pulled it free at once and pointed the gleaming tip at the boatman’s chest. He wailed aloud at his bad luck, but he had no choice but to obey.

As the boat approached the island, Guo Jing caught the scent of flowers on the sea breeze. Seen from afar, the island was lush and thickly wooded, with masses of green, of red, of yellow and of white, the flowers spread like brocade.

Huang Rong asked with a smile, “Is it beautiful here?”

Guo Jing sighed. “I’ve never seen so many flowers, or such beautiful ones.”

Huang Rong laughed. “It’s summer now, so lots of them have faded. In the third month of spring, when the peach blossoms are in full bloom, that’s when the island is truly beautiful. Shifu won’t admit my father’s martial arts are first in the world, but my father’s skill at growing flowers is peerless. Shifu would have to admit that, heart and soul. Only Shifu cares for nothing but eating and drinking, and he probably can’t tell a fine flower or a fine tree from any other. He’s terribly vulgar, really.”

Guo Jing said, “It’s very bad manners to find fault with your shifu behind his back.”

Huang Rong stuck out her tongue and pulled a face. Then she slowly explained to him that Peach Blossom Island got its name because the immortal Ge Hong had once practised the Way on the island. When he rose to join the immortals, he splashed ink on a rock, and the ink turned into the shapes of peach blossoms, one after another, which never faded away.

(Jin Yong’s note: These flower-shaped stones on Peach Blossom Island still exist in great number. I have seen them myself on the island. In truth they are fossils of ancient creatures, like trilobites and swallow stones.)

The island originally had no peach trees. It was only after her father settled there that he planted them in great numbers.

Footnotes

1. 穴道 — xuédào. Acupoints, the nodes along the body’s meridians through which qi flows. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 涌泉 — yǒngquán. Literally gushing spring. An acupoint at the centre of the sole of the foot. ↩

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

4. 丐帮 — Gàibāng. Literally beggars’ guild. The largest band in the jianghu, with members throughout the realm. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩