The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 19 – Part 3

Huang Yaoshi could not possibly guess what lay behind it, and took it for another of his mischievous pranks. “Old Wild Child,”¹ he said, “you have met Brother Ouyang here before, and this…”

Before he could finish, Zhou Botong had already gone round the group, sniffing a few times at each of them. He laughed. “This one must be Hong Qigong. He’s a good man. Heaven’s net is wide indeed, and the stinking piss fell on the Eastern Heretic² and the Western Venom³ alone. Ouyang Feng, you hit me with a palm once, and today I’ve paid you back with a piss. Now we’re square, and neither of us is out of pocket.”

Ouyang Feng smiled but did not answer. He leaned close to Huang Yaoshi’s ear and whispered, “This man’s movement is extraordinarily fast. His internal and external skills have surpassed yours and mine. Best not to provoke him.”

Huang Yaoshi thought, You and I have not met for years. How do you know my skills are necessarily inferior to his? To Zhou Botong he said, “I told you long ago that as soon as you left the Nine Yin Manual⁴ with me, so that I could burn it as an offering to my late wife, I would let you go. Now where do you mean to go?”

He had recently recovered from Mei Chaofeng the copy of the Manual that Lady Huang had first transcribed from memory, and judged that the first written copy contained few errors or omissions. But he was still uneasy. He meant to force Zhou Botong to hand over the original, so that he could burn it as an offering to his wife.

Zhou Botong said, “I’m sick of living on this island. I want to go out and have a look round.”

Huang Yaoshi held out his hand. “Then where is the Manual?”

Zhou Botong said, “I gave it to you long ago.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Stop talking nonsense. When did you give it to me?”

Zhou Botong laughed. “Guo Jing is your son-in-law, isn’t he? What’s his is yours, isn’t it? I taught him the Nine Yin Manual from beginning to end, so haven’t I given it to you?”

Guo Jing was thunderstruck. “Big Brother, this… this… what you taught me really was the Nine Yin Manual?”

Zhou Botong roared with laughter. “You thought it was a fake?”

Guo Jing stood gaping, struck dumb. The sight of his stupefied face filled Zhou Botong with glee. He had taken endless pains to make Guo Jing learn the Nine Yin Manual by heart for precisely this, to see his head spin with shock when the truth came out, and now that he had his wish, how could he not be beside himself with joy?

Guo Jing said, “You never told me it was the Manual beforehand.”

Zhou Botong kept up the mischief. “Of course I told you. I said you weren’t a disciple of the Quanzhen Order,⁵ so learning the Manual wouldn’t go against my shige’s⁶ dying injunction…”

Huang Yaoshi shot Guo Jing a furious glare, then turned to Zhou Botong. “I want the original book of the Manual, to burn for my departed wife.”

Zhou Botong said, “Brother, fish those two books out of my robe for me.”

Guo Jing stepped up, reached into the front of his robe and took out two booklets, each about half an inch thick. Zhou Botong took them in both hands and said to Huang Yaoshi, “These are the upper and lower volumes of the Manual. If you have the skill, come and take them.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “What kind of skill?”

Zhou Botong pressed the books between his palms and cocked his head. “Let me think.” After a good while he laughed. “A paperhanger’s skill.”

Huang Yaoshi asked, “What?”

Zhou Botong raised both hands high above his head and flung them upward. Thousands upon thousands of scraps of paper burst apart like a swarm of butterflies and went dancing away on the sea breeze, and in an instant they had drifted off in every direction, beyond all recovery.

Huang Yaoshi was both shocked and furious. He had never imagined Zhou Botong’s neigong ran so deep that in that brief moment he could grind two volumes to shreds with his neili.⁷ The thought of his dead wife wrung his heart again, and he roared, “Old Wild Child, you make a fool of me, and today you can forget about leaving this island!” He sprang forward and struck a palm straight at his face.

Zhou Botong’s body swayed. His hands were still bound, but he dodged left and right, weaving to and fro. The wind of Huang Yaoshi’s palms whistled past him, the palm-shadows dancing on every side, yet not a single strike touched him. This Peach Blossom Falling Petals Palm⁸ was the martial art Huang Yaoshi was proudest of, yet he had launched more than twenty moves and not one had done him any good.

Seeing that Zhou Botong did not strike back, Huang Yaoshi was about to drive more force into his palms and leave him no choice but to defend himself, when he thought with a start, How can I, Huang Yaoshi, fight a man with his hands tied? He leapt back three paces and called, “Your legs have healed, so I shall have to be discourteous to you again. Snap that rope on your hands, quick, and let me see this Nine Yin Manual skill of yours.”

Zhou Botong pulled a woeful face and shook his head again and again. “To tell you the truth, I’m in a misery I can’t explain. Whatever happens, the rope on my hands can’t be broken.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Then let me break them for you.” He stepped forward to seize his wrist.

Zhou Botong yelled, “Aiya, help, help!” He threw himself to the ground and rolled over and over.

Guo Jing was startled. “Father-in-law!” He was about to step in and stop him, but Hong Qigong caught his arm and said under his breath, “Don’t be silly!”

Guo Jing stopped and looked. Zhou Botong was rolling this way and that over the ground with extraordinary nimbleness, and for all Huang Yaoshi’s grabbing and kicking, he could not lay a finger on him.

Hong Qigong whispered, “Watch his movement carefully.”

Guo Jing saw that what Zhou Botong was using was the very Slithering Wildcat Tumble⁹ described in the Manual, and he watched with all his attention. At one especially fine moment he could not help crying out, “Good!”

Hearing Guo Jing cheer, Huang Yaoshi grew angrier still. Wherever his fists landed they cut like an axe or a dao, and piece after piece of Zhou Botong’s sleeves and robe was torn away. A little longer, and clumps of his long beard and hair were being snapped off by the force of Huang Yaoshi’s palms.

Zhou Botong was not hurt, but he knew that if the fight went on his luck would run out. Let a single move of Huang Yaoshi’s land, even half a move, and he would be killed or badly wounded. Huang Yaoshi’s left palm swept across at him while his right chopped in on a slant at the same moment, and each palm hid three deadly follow-up moves. However quick he was on his feet, he could not dodge them, and there was nothing for it but to summon his strength into both arms. With a bang the rope burst. His left hand turned aside the attack, while his right reached round behind him and scratched his back. “Aiya, this itch is more than I can stand.”

Huang Yaoshi saw that in the thick of a desperate fight he could still find leisure to scratch an itch, and was secretly alarmed. He struck three times in a burst of fury, and each move was among the finest skills he had.

Zhou Botong said, “I can’t beat you with one hand. Ah, but it can’t be helped. I can’t betray my shige.” He put his strength into his right hand to hold Huang Yaoshi off and let his left hang at his side. His own martial arts had never been as pure and refined as Huang Yaoshi’s, and with only his right hand blocking against two, he had not the strength. Huang Yaoshi’s inner force flung it aside, and he staggered several steps away.

Huang Yaoshi flew at him, and as both his palms came up, Zhou Botong was caught under their force. “Use both hands! One won’t hold me off.”

Zhou Botong said, “No. I’m still using one.”

Huang Yaoshi was furious. “Very well, see how you fare.” His two palms met Zhou Botong’s one, and he sent his force surging out. There was a thud, and Zhou Botong sat down hard and closed his eyes.

Huang Yaoshi struck no more. With a retching cough Zhou Botong brought up a mouthful of fresh blood, and his face at once turned as white as paper.

All present found it strange. Had he fought Huang Yaoshi in earnest, even if he could not have won, he should not have been defeated in a handful of moves. Why was he so determined not to use both hands?

Zhou Botong slowly got to his feet. “Old Wild Child has been well and truly caught by his own trick. Without meaning to, he’s learned the wondrous skills of the Nine Yin Manual and gone against his shixiong’s¹⁰ dying injunction. If I used both hands, Old Heretic Huang, you couldn’t beat me.”

Huang Yaoshi knew he spoke the truth and said nothing. He thought, I kept him prisoner on this island for fifteen years for no reason at all, and now I’ve wounded him too. There’s no excusing it. He took a jade casket from inside his robe, opened the lid and took out six pills, which he handed to Zhou Botong. “These are the Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills¹¹ of Peach Blossom Island, made from the most precious ingredients. Take one every seven days. They will ease the pain and lengthen your life besides. Brother Botong, I have wounded you again and I am truly sorry. Huang Yaoshi begs your pardon with all his heart. Your neigong is deep, and today’s inner injury will soon heal of itself. Now I will see you off the island.”

Zhou Botong nodded, took the pills and swallowed one, then steadied his breath to protect the injury. After a while he coughed up a mouthful of clotted blood. “Old Heretic Huang, your pills work wonders. No wonder your name is Yaoshi, the physician. Eh? That’s odd, that’s odd. My name is Botong. What does that mean?”

Huang Rong thought, Botong is just butong, Senseless! But her father looked so stern that, though the words were on the tip of her tongue, she dared not say them.

Zhou Botong pondered for a long while, then shook his head. “Old Heretic Huang, I am going. Are you going to keep me or not?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “I would not presume. You are free to come and go as you please. If you should ever feel like honouring me with another visit, Brother Botong, I shall rush out to meet you with my shoes on backwards, and receive you as a dear friend and an honoured guest. I will send a ship to take you off the island at once.”

Guo Jing squatted down and took Zhou Botong on his back. He followed Huang Yaoshi to the shore, where six or seven ships of various sizes lay anchored in the harbour.

Ouyang Feng said, “Brother Yao, there’s no need to send another ship for Big Brother Zhou. Let him take mine.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Then I am obliged to you, Brother Feng.” He made a few signs to a mute servant by the ships. The servant brought a tray of gold ingots out of one of the large ships. Huang Yaoshi said, “Brother Botong, take this gold and spend it on whatever mischief you like. Your martial arts are truly superior to Old Heretic Huang’s. I admire you greatly and gladly acknowledge myself the lesser. The next time there is a Sword Summit on Mount Hua,¹² if you go, then I shall not. Huang Yaoshi acknowledges you as the finest martial artist under heaven.”

Zhou Botong was delighted. He winked and pulled a cheeky face. Then he looked over at Ouyang Feng’s great ship. At its bow flew a large white banner embroidered with a strange two-headed snake, jaws open and tongue darting, and at once he frowned and shook his head.

Ouyang Feng took out a wooden pipe and blew a few shrill notes on it. Before long a great clamour of strange noises rose in the woods. Two mute servants of Peach Blossom Island led out the snake-herders of White Camel Mountain¹³ driving their snakes, and the snakes swam row after row up several gangplanks and down into the hold of the great ship.

Zhou Botong said, “I’m not going on the Western Venom’s ship. I’m scared of snakes!”

Huang Yaoshi smiled faintly. “Very well, then. Take that ship.” He pointed to a small boat.

Zhou Botong shook his head. “I don’t want a small boat. I want that big one over there.”

Huang Yaoshi’s face changed a little. “That ship is damaged and hasn’t been repaired. No one can sail in her.”

They all looked at the ship. Her stern rose high, her lines were handsome, and her hull was lacquered in resplendent gold and green. There was not the slightest sign of damage anywhere.

Zhou Botong said, “I must ride the new ship! Old Heretic Huang, why are you so stingy?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “That ship is the unluckiest of all. Whoever sails in her meets with sickness or disaster. That is why she lies here unused. How am I being stingy? If you do not believe me, I will burn her in front of you this instant.” He signed to four mute servants, who lit bundles of firewood and ran towards the ship to set it alight.

Zhou Botong suddenly sat down on the ground, tore at his beard and howled at the top of his voice. Everyone was taken aback. Only Guo Jing, who knew his ways, was laughing to himself.

After tearing at his beard for a while, Zhou Botong suddenly began rolling and thrashing about, wailing, “I want the new ship, I want the new ship.”

Huang Rong ran forward and stopped the four mute servants.

Hong Qigong laughed. “Brother Yao, this old beggar has been unlucky all his life. Let me keep Old Wild Child company on this ill-omened ship. We shall fight poison with poison and see whose bad luck is heavier, mine or your unlucky vessel.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Seventh Brother, why not stay on the island a few days more? Why must you leave so soon?”

Hong Qigong said, “Any day now the big beggars, middling beggars and little beggars of the whole world are meeting at Yueyang in Hunan, to hear this old beggar name his successor as head of the Beggars’ Guild.¹⁴ If one day some mishap carries this old beggar off before he has named one, won’t the beggars under heaven be left with nobody to lead them? This old beggar has to hurry. I’m very grateful for your kindness, Brother Yao, and when I have a little time to spare, I’ll come and see you again.”

Huang Yaoshi sighed. “Seventh Brother, you have a truly generous heart. All your life you have gone rushing about for others, like a horse that never rests its hooves.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “Beggars don’t ride horses. With me it’s my feet that never rest their hooves. Aiya, wait, that’s not right. You’re cursing me in a roundabout way. Feet that grow hooves, wouldn’t that make me a beast?”

Huang Rong laughed. “Shifu, you said that yourself. Papa didn’t curse you.”

Hong Qigong said, “A shifu’s no match for a father after all. One of these days I’ll marry a beggar-woman and have a beggar-girl of my own, and then you’ll see.”

Huang Rong clapped her hands and laughed. “Nothing could be better. Then I’d have a little beggar shimei, and what fun she would be. I’d carry her about and play with her every day!”

Footnotes

1. 老顽童 — lǎo wántóng. Literally old wild child. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 东邪 — Dōng Xié. Literally eastern heretic. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 西毒 — Xī Dú. Literally western venom. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

5. 全真教 — Quánzhēn Jiào. Literally complete truth order. Daoist martial-monastic order founded by Wang Chongyang, one of the most influential orthodox factions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

8. 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. ↩

9. 蛇行狸翻 — Shéxíng Lífān. Literally slithering like a snake, rolling like a wildcat. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 师兄 — shīxiōng. Male senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 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. ↩

12. 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. ↩

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

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