The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 18 – Part 5

Ouyang Feng was about to follow when Huang Yaoshi¹ stretched out his left hand to bar the way. He said in a clear voice, “Hold on. Seventh Brother,² Brother Feng,³ the two of you have exchanged over a thousand moves and still neither has the better of the other. Today you are both honoured guests on Peach Blossom Island,⁴ so why not have a few more cups of the wine I brewed myself? The Huashan Sword Summit⁵ is close at hand. When that time comes, not only will you two settle which is the better, but Emperor Duan⁶ and I will be taking part as well. Let today’s bout end here, shall we?”

Ouyang Feng laughed. “Excellent. If we go on, I’ll be the one conceding defeat.”

Hong Qigong turned back and said with a smile, “The Old Venom of the Western Regions is famous the world over for saying one thing and meaning another. When you say you’ll bow to defeat, it means you’re sure to come out on top. This old beggar doesn’t quite believe it.”

Ouyang Feng said, “Then let me test a few more of Seventh Brother’s wonderful moves.”

Hong Qigong waved his sleeve. “There’s nothing I’d like better.”

Huang Yaoshi smiled. “So the two of you have honoured Peach Blossom Island with a visit just to show off your skills.”

Hong Qigong laughed heartily. “You’re right to scold me, Brother Yao. We came to ask for a bride, not to fight.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “I said I would set three questions to test the talents and learning of the two House Brothers. The one who passes, I’ll accept as my son-in-law. And the one who fails, I won’t let him leave empty-handed either.”

Hong Qigong said, “What? You have another daughter?”

Huang Yaoshi laughed. “Not yet, and even if I rushed to marry and beget one right now, there wouldn’t be time. I have a rough knowledge of the miscellaneous arts, the nine streams and three teachings, medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy. Whichever House Brother is not chosen, if he doesn’t find my humble offerings too worthless and wishes to learn, he may choose any one skill and I’ll teach it him to the best of my ability, so that his trip to Peach Blossom Island won’t have been wasted.”

Hong Qigong knew Huang Yaoshi’s abilities well. He thought that if Guo Jing⁷ couldn’t become his son-in-law, at least learning one skill from him would benefit him for life. But with all this talk of setting questions and examinations, Guo Jing was sure to lose, and that seemed altogether too unfair.

Seeing Hong Qigong ponder without answering, Ouyang Feng spoke up quickly. “Very well, that’s how we’ll do it! Brother Yao had already agreed to my nephew’s suit, but out of regard for Seventh Brother’s great standing, we’ll let the two youngsters sit one more examination. It’s a wonderful way to preserve goodwill.” He turned to Ouyang Ke⁸ and said, “If you prove no match for House Brother Guo, that’s your own incompetence and you’ll have no one else to blame, and we’ll gladly drink a cup of House Brother Guo’s wedding wine. But if you start wavering again and making trouble, that would be quite unforgivable. Not only would these two elders not stand for it, I myself wouldn’t let you off lightly.”

Hong Qigong laughed aloud. “Old Venom, you’re as good as certain to win, and that little speech was meant for my disciple and me, telling us to admit defeat like good boys when we fail.”

Ouyang Feng smiled. “Who wins and who loses, how can anyone know in advance? But with our standing, if we lose we should concede with good grace. We can hardly squabble and make excuses, can we? Brother Yao, please set the questions.”

Huang Yaoshi had intended to give his daughter to Ouyang Ke all along, and meant to devise three questions the young man could certainly pass. But to show obvious favouritism would diminish his own standing as a great master and offend Hong Qigong besides. He was still deliberating when Hong Qigong spoke. “We’re all fist-and-leg men here, Brother Yao. The questions you set ought to be about martial arts. If you start testing poetry and prose, chanting sutras and drawing talismans, that sort of thing, then my disciple and I might as well concede now, slap our backsides and walk away, saving ourselves the embarrassment.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Naturally. The first question will be a test of martial arts.”

Ouyang Feng said, “That won’t do. My nephew is injured at present.”

Huang Yaoshi laughed. “I know that. Nor would I have the two House Brothers fight each other on Peach Blossom Island and damage the goodwill between our houses.”

Ouyang Feng said, “Then they’re not fighting each other?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Quite so.”

Ouyang Feng smiled. “I see! The examiner himself tests each candidate with a few moves.”

Huang Yaoshi shook his head. “Not that either. If I test them with my own moves, someone might say I’m showing favouritism, that I’m holding back with one and pressing the other. Brother Feng, your martial arts and Seventh Brother’s have both reached the summit of perfection, the finest edge of mastery. You just exchanged over a thousand moves without separating winner from loser. Now you, Brother Feng, will test House Brother Guo, and Seventh Brother will test House Brother Ouyang.”

Hong Qigong thought, Now that’s fair. Old Heretic Huang really is clever. A scheme like this would never have occurred to this old beggar. He smiled and said, “Not a bad idea. Come, come, let’s get to it.” He beckoned to Ouyang Ke.

Huang Yaoshi said, “Hold on. We must agree on three rules. First, House Brother Ouyang is injured and cannot circulate his neili⁹ or exert his strength, so we test only martial arts and technique, not the depth of anyone’s neili. Second, the four of you will make your trial on those two pine trees, and whichever junior touches the ground first loses.” He pointed to two tall, sturdy pines beside the bamboo pavilion. “Third, if either Brother Feng or Seventh Brother goes too hard and accidentally injures a junior, that examiner loses.”

Hong Qigong said in surprise, “Injuring a junior counts as losing?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Of course. With skill as lofty as yours, if I didn’t lay down this rule, would the two House Brothers still be alive after your first blow? Seventh Brother, if you so much as graze House Brother Ouyang’s skin, you lose. Same for Brother Feng. One of those two young men is going to be my son-in-law. I can’t have him injured by a single careless move from either of you.”

Hong Qigong scratched his head and laughed. “Old Heretic Huang is every bit as sly and contrary as they say. Wounding your opponent counts as losing, that’s a rule unheard of in all history. Very well then. As long as it’s fair, this old beggar is game.”

Huang Yaoshi waved his hand and all four leapt into the pines, splitting into two pairs. Hong Qigong and Ouyang Ke took the right tree, and Ouyang Feng and Guo Jing took the left. Hong Qigong wore his usual roguish grin. The other three were solemn.

Huang Rong¹⁰ knew Ouyang Ke’s martial arts were originally superior to Guo Jing’s. Luckily he was injured, but in a trial like this his superb qinggong¹¹ plainly still gave him the advantage over Guo Jing, and she could not help worrying. Then she heard her father call out, “When I count one, two, three, you begin. House Brother Ouyang, House Brother Guo, whichever of you falls to the ground first loses!” Huang Rong was secretly casting about for a way to help Guo Jing, but with Ouyang Feng’s martial arts so fearsome, how could she possibly step in?

Huang Yaoshi cried, “One, two, three!”

Shadows flew among the pine trees. The four had begun.

Huang Rong cared only about Guo Jing. She watched him trade moves with Ouyang Feng and saw that in the blink of an eye they had exchanged a dozen or more. Both she and Huang Yaoshi were secretly amazed, and thought, How have his martial arts suddenly leapt forward so? He’s exchanged this many moves and still shows no sign of defeat.

Ouyang Feng grew more and more impatient. Little by little he let out his palm-force, pressing in with every move, yet he was afraid of hurting the boy. A thought struck him and his feet began to sweep in alternating arcs like wheels, trying to kick Guo Jing off the tree. Guo Jing used the Flying Dragon in the Sky¹² technique from the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing,¹³ leaping upward without pause, his palms slicing down like blades and shears, each strike aimed at Ouyang Feng’s legs.

Huang Rong’s heart pounded. She glanced across at Hong Qigong and saw a very different contest. Ouyang Ke was using his qinggong, darting from branch to branch along the pine, never once engaging Hong Qigong in a single exchange. Whenever Hong Qigong pressed forward, Ouyang Ke fled before he could close the distance.

Hong Qigong thought, This wretch is nothing but running and dodging, dragging out the time. That silly boy Guo Jing is trading honest blows with Old Venom, so of course he’ll be the first to fall. Hmph. You think a little trick like that will make this old beggar lose? He leapt suddenly into the air, his ten fingers hooked like steel claws, and pounced down towards the crown of Ouyang Ke’s head.

Ouyang Ke saw the ferocity of his attack and knew this was no contest of skill. Hong Qigong meant to take his life. Alarmed, he darted to the right. But Hong Qigong’s pounce had been a feint. He had guessed Ouyang Ke would dodge right and twisted his waist mid-air, landing first on the right-hand treetop. His hands shot forward and he bellowed, “If I lose, I lose, but today I’ll finish you first! Let’s see if a dead man can take a wife, shall we?”

To see him turn in mid-air left Ouyang Ke dumbstruck with fright, and at that bellow he dared not meet the attack. His foot found nothing but air and his body began to fall. He was thinking, Well, I’ve lost the first test, when suddenly he heard the rush of wind beside him. Guo Jing was falling too.

Ouyang Feng had fought for a long time without prevailing. He thought, If I let this boy last more than fifty moves, what becomes of the Western Venom’s fame? He darted in suddenly, his left hand quick as lightning, and grabbed at Guo Jing’s collar, shouting, “Down you go!” Guo Jing ducked and reached out with his own left hand, reversing it upward to block. Ouyang Feng suddenly unleashed his power. Guo Jing cried, “You… you…” He was about to protest that Ouyang Feng was breaking the rules Huang Yaoshi had set, while hurriedly summoning his strength to resist. But Ouyang Feng only laughed. “What am I doing?” And his force vanished.

Guo Jing had poured all his strength into that blocking gesture. Fearing Ouyang Feng would use Toad Skill¹⁴ to damage his internal organs, he had committed everything, and at the very moment of full exertion, his opponent’s force disappeared without a trace. His neili was still too shallow for him to release and recall it in a flash as Ouyang Feng could. Luckily he had practised the Seventy-Two Paths of the Void Clarity Fist¹⁵ with Zhou Botong,¹⁶ and he now understood the “regret” principle, of releasing force while holding some in reserve, better than before. Otherwise it would have gone as it had when he traded moves with Huang Yaoshi at Returning Clouds Manor,¹⁷ and his arm would have been wrenched out of its socket. Even so, he lost his footing and went over head first, heels in the air, plunging towards the ground.

Ouyang Ke was falling the right way up, but Guo Jing was falling upside down. The two dropped through the air, one upright and one inverted, about to hit the ground at the same moment. Ouyang Ke saw Guo Jing beside him and spotted a chance. He reached out both hands and pressed down on the soles of Guo Jing’s feet, using the momentum to vault back up. Under his push, Guo Jing’s descent quickened.

Seeing that Guo Jing had lost, Huang Rong cried, “Oh!” Then all of a sudden Guo Jing was springing up into the air, there was a thud, and Ouyang Ke went sprawling on the ground, while Guo Jing stood on a pine branch, bobbing up and down on its spring.

Huang Rong was beside herself with joy. She hadn’t even seen clearly how, at the last moment when the ground was only a few feet away, Guo Jing had snatched victory from defeat. Without thinking she cried “Oh!” again. It was the same cry both times, but the feeling behind it could not have been more different.

By now Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong had both leapt down. Hong Qigong roared with laughter, crying “Brilliant!” again and again. Ouyang Feng’s face had turned livid, and he said in a sinister voice, “Seventh Brother, your worthy disciple’s martial arts are quite a hotchpotch. He even uses the Mongolians’ wrestling tricks.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “I don’t even know that move myself, so it certainly wasn’t me who taught him. Don’t try to blame this old beggar for your bad luck.”

The truth was this. When Ouyang Ke pressed on the soles of Guo Jing’s feet, Guo Jing plunged straight down. He saw Ouyang Ke’s legs right in front of his face. In that crisis he didn’t think at all. His arms closed in a clutch around Ouyang Ke’s shins and he wrenched downward with all his might, using the momentum to launch himself upward. The move was pure Mongolian wrestling, the coiling-lock-and-throw technique of the steppe. Mongolian wrestling had been handed down for generations without equal in the world. Guo Jing had grown up in the desert, and even before the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan¹⁸ taught him martial arts, he had wrestled and grappled every day with Tolui¹⁹ and his other young friends. Later Jebe,²⁰ Boroqul²¹ and other masters had taught him too, so that wrestling had long been as natural to him as eating or walking. Otherwise, with his slow wits, in the instant between air and ground, even if he had possessed the skill he would never have thought to use it in time. Most likely he would have hit the ground with a thump and only long after thought, Oh, why didn’t I grab his shins? This impromptu aerial wrestling match had won him the bout, and even now, after winning, he wasn’t entirely sure how he had done it.

Huang Yaoshi shook his head slightly, thinking, That stupid boy Guo Jing, he won this one by sheer luck. He said aloud, “This round goes to my worthy nephew Guo. Brother Feng, don’t despair. As long as your nephew has real learning in his breast, who can say he won’t win the second or third test?”

Ouyang Feng said, “Then let Brother Yao set the second question.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “The second and third rounds will be tests of letters…”

Huang Rong pouted. “Father, you’re blatantly unfair. You just said it was only going to be martial arts, so why are there tests of letters now? Jing gege, just don’t bother competing.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “What do you know? When martial arts reach the highest level, does one rely on brute force alone? With people of our calibre, how can we be like common martial artists, putting on a fighting-ring to choose a husband, that sort of vulgar spectacle…” At these words Huang Rong glanced at Guo Jing, and Guo Jing was looking at her too. At the same moment they both thought of Mu Nianci²² and Yang Kang²³ at the martial arts contest to choose a husband in the Central Capital.²⁴

Huang Yaoshi continued, “…this second question of mine is for my two worthy nephews to appraise a tune this decrepit old man will play.”

Ouyang Ke was delighted, thinking, That idiot knows nothing about music. This is mine for certain.

Ouyang Feng, however, suspected Huang Yaoshi would use the flute to test the two youths’ neili. During the bout in the pines he had already realised Guo Jing’s neili was deep and solid. His nephew might not prevail. He feared besides that Ouyang Ke, still injured, would be further harmed by Huang Yaoshi’s flute-sound. He said, “The youngsters have little power of concentration. I’m afraid they’re not fit to listen to Brother Yao’s refined performance. Perhaps Brother Yao might…”

Huang Yaoshi cut him short. “The tune I play is perfectly ordinary. It’s not a test of neili, Brother Feng. Set your mind at ease.” He said to Ouyang Ke and Guo Jing, “Each of you, my worthy nephews, break off a bamboo branch and tap out the rhythm of my flute-playing. Whoever keeps the better beat wins this round.”

Guo Jing stepped forward and bowed. “Island Master Huang, I’m terribly stupid and know nothing whatever about music. I’ll concede this round.”

Hong Qigong said, “Hold on, hold on. If you’re going to lose anyway, what’s the harm in trying? Still afraid of being laughed at?”

Guo Jing heard his shifu’s²⁵ words and saw Ouyang Ke had already snapped off a bamboo branch. With no alternative, he broke off one too.

Footnotes

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

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

3. 欧阳锋 — Ōuyáng Fēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 桃花岛 — Táohuā Dǎo. Huang Yaoshi’s island in the East China Sea. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 华山论剑 — Huàshān Lùnjiàn. Literally sword discussion at Huashan. Use of discussion is key as the participants were engaged in a martial arts exchange and a philosophical debate on mastery, rather than just a physical contest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 段皇爷 — Duàn Huángyé. Literally Imperial Lord Duan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 郭靖 — Guō Jìng. His name meaning “to pacify”; paired with Yang Kang’s 康 it recalls the Jingkang Shame of 1127. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 欧阳克 — Ōuyáng Kè. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

12. 飞龙在天 — Fēi Lóng Zài Tiān. Literally flying dragon in the sky, a line of the Book of Changes. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. ↩

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

14. 蛤蟆功 — Háma Gōng. Ouyang Feng’s hereditary art, practised crouching like a toad. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 空明拳 — Kōngmíng Quán. The softest fist art in the world, which Zhou Botong drew from the Daodejing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 周伯通 — Zhōu Bótōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

19. 拖雷 — Tuōléi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 哲别 — Zhébié. Literally spear and divine archer, in Mongolian. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 博尔忽 — Bó’ěrhū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

23. 杨康 — Yáng Kāng. His name meaning “well-being”; paired with Guo Jing’s 靖 it recalls the Jingkang Shame of 1127. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 中都 — Zhōngdū. Literally central capital. The Jin dynasty capital, in present-day Beijing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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