The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 19 – Part 1

Great waves and a host of sharks

Hong Qigong had never dreamed the recitation contest would end like this. It astonished him ten times more than watching Guo Jing send Ouyang Ke head over heels seventeen or eighteen times in a row, and he was so delighted that his great mouth split in a grin he could not close. Hearing Ouyang Ke shout, he said quickly, “What? Not convinced?”

Ouyang Ke said, “Brother Guo recited far more than is written in this booklet. He must have the original Nine Yin Manual.¹ Forgive this junior, but I must make so bold as to search him.”

Hong Qigong said, “Island Master Huang has already given his consent to the marriage. Why stir up fresh trouble? What was it your uncle said just now?”

Ouyang Feng’s strange eyes rolled upward. “Am I, Ouyang, a man to be duped by anyone?” His nephew’s words had convinced him that Guo Jing must be carrying the Nine Yin Manual, and now his whole mind was bent on seizing the text. Beside that, whether or not Huang Yaoshi gave his consent to the marriage mattered less.

Guo Jing undid his sash and opened the front of his robe. “Search me by all means, Senior Ouyang.” Then he took out everything he carried inside his robe and laid it on a rock, some silver, a handkerchief, a flint and the like.

Ouyang Feng snorted and reached out to pat him down.

Huang Yaoshi had always known how vicious Ouyang Feng was, and feared that in his anger he might strike some covert blow. His neili² ran so deep that once he struck, there would be no undoing it. So Huang Yaoshi gave a cough and laid his left hand on the back of Ouyang Ke’s neck, over the spine. It was one of the body’s vital points. He had only to release the strength in his hand to shatter the spine at once, and Ouyang Ke would have no hope of living.

Hong Qigong saw what he was about and laughed to himself, thinking, Old Heretic Huang plays favourites shamelessly. Now that he loves the daughter he loves the son-in-law too, and he’s turned round to guard my silly disciple with all his heart. Ah, but a boy who can recite like that can hardly be called silly.

Ouyang Feng had meant to slip a covert Toad Skill³ palm into Guo Jing’s lower belly, so that the injury would flare up and kill him three years later. But seeing Huang Yaoshi on his guard, he dared not do it. He searched Guo Jing thoroughly, found that there was indeed nothing else on him, and stood thinking for a long while. He put no faith in all that talk of Lady Huang choosing a son-in-law from beyond the grave. Then it occurred to him that the boy was simple and dull-witted and did not look the kind to lie, and that the whereabouts of the Manual might be coaxed out of him. He gave his snake staff⁴ a shake, and the golden rings on it jangled wildly. The iron lids sprang open, and two strange snakes came coiling straight up out of the round holes in the staff’s head.

At so weird a sight, Huang Rong and Guo Jing both took a step back.

Ouyang Feng asked in a shrill voice, “Worthy nephew Guo, where did you learn the text of the Nine Yin Manual?” A fierce light blazed in his eyes, and they stared at Guo Jing without blinking.

Guo Jing said, “I know there is a Nine Yin Manual, but I’ve never seen it. Zhou Botong, Big Brother Zhou, said…”

Hong Qigong asked in surprise, “Why do you call Zhou Botong ‘Big Brother Zhou’? You’ve met Old Wild Child Zhou Botong?”

Guo Jing said, “Yes! Big Brother Zhou and I swore brotherhood.”

Hong Qigong laughed and cursed, “One old, one young. Absurd, absurd!”

Ouyang Feng asked, “I have heard that the Twin Evils of Dark Wind⁵ stole the lower volume of the Manual, and I have also heard that you killed Chen Xuanfeng. Did you seize the Manual from him after you killed him?”

Guo Jing said, “I was only six then and couldn’t read a single character. I knew nothing about any Manual. How could I have been able to rob him of it?”

Ouyang Feng said harshly, “If you have never seen the Nine Yin Manual, how can you recite it so fluently?”

Guo Jing was puzzled. “What I recited was the Nine Yin Manual? No, it wasn’t. Big Brother Zhou taught me to recite it. It’s a secret formula of martial arts he made up himself. He said his shixiong left a dying injunction that no disciple of the Quanzhen Order⁶ must ever learn the martial arts in the Manual…”

Huang Yaoshi sighed inwardly, bitterly disappointed. He thought, Zhou Botong was charged by his shixiong’s dying wish to keep the Nine Yin Manual. Mad as he is for martial arts, of course in all these years he has read it until he knows it inside out. There is nothing strange in that at all. So the talk of ghosts and spirits is vain after all. My daughter and the boy must truly be meant for each other, and that is why it fell out so neatly.

Huang Yaoshi was sunk in gloom, but Ouyang Feng pressed at once, “And where is this Zhou Botong now?”

Guo Jing was about to answer when Huang Yaoshi snapped, “Jing-er, there is no need to say more.” He turned to Ouyang Feng. “Why trouble ourselves with such trifles? Brother Feng, Seventh Brother, it has been years since we met. Let us drink our fill for three days on Peach Blossom Island!”⁷

Huang Rong said, “Shifu, let me cook you a few dishes. The lotuses here on the island are wonderful. Chicken steamed with lotus petals, and a soup of fresh water chestnuts and lotus leaves. You’re sure to love them.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “So today you’ve got your heart’s desire. Look how pleased the little minx is!”

Huang Rong gave a little smile. “Shifu, Uncle Ouyang, House Brother Ouyang, this way, please.” Now that she and Guo Jing were to be married after all, she was beside herself with joy, and even her loathing for Ouyang Ke had melted away. At that moment everyone under heaven was a good person.

Ouyang Feng bowed to Huang Yaoshi with joined hands. “Brother Yao, I am grateful for your kindness, but today we must take our leave.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “You have come all this way, Brother Feng, and I have not done the least of a host’s duties. How can I let you go like this?”

Ouyang Feng had come ten thousand li, and besides the match for his nephew he had had another, far greater scheme in mind. A carrier pigeon from his nephew had brought him word that the Nine Yin Manual had resurfaced in the world, in the hands of a blind woman whom Huang Yaoshi had cast out of his school. His idea had been to bind himself to Huang Yaoshi by marriage, so that the two of them together could get their hands on the Nine Yin Manual, the most extraordinary book under heaven. Now the match had come to nothing, and in his frustration and low spirits he insisted on leaving.

Ouyang Ke suddenly said, “Uncle, I’ve been useless, and I’ve made you lose face. But House Uncle Huang gave his word beforehand that he would teach me a skill.”

Ouyang Feng snorted. He knew his nephew had still not given up on the Huang family’s little chit, and meant to use lessons as an excuse to keep close to Huang Rong until he found some way to seduce her.

Huang Yaoshi had been sure Ouyang Ke would win the contest, and the skill he had promised had really been meant for Guo Jing. He had never expected Ouyang Ke to lose all three rounds, and he felt somewhat apologetic. “Worthy nephew Ouyang,” he said, “your uncle’s martial arts are the finest under heaven, far beyond anyone else’s reach. Yours is a family learning, and you have no need to seek it from outsiders. But in the lesser and unorthodox arts this decrepit old man may, by good fortune, have a slight edge. If you do not scorn such humble stuff, worthy nephew, whatever I know I will hold nothing back from you.”

Ouyang Ke thought, I should choose a skill that will take the longest to learn. I have long heard that the Master of Peach Blossom Island is unmatched under heaven in the arts of Five Elements and Strange Gates.⁸ That is certainly not something one can master in a day or two. He bowed low. “I have long revered your arts of the Five Elements and Strange Gates, House Uncle. I beg you to grant me your teaching.”

Huang Yaoshi pondered and did not answer, for he was in a real quandary. This was the learning he was proudest of in all his life. Besides mastering everything the sages of old had known, he had arrived at a great many discoveries of his own, saying what no one before him had said. It was no small thing. Even his own daughter, being so young, had not yet been taught all of it. How could he pass it to an outsider? But the words had been spoken and could hardly be taken back, so he could only say, “The arts of Strange Gates cover a great deal. Which branch do you wish to learn?”

Ouyang Ke’s heart was set on staying on Peach Blossom Island. “When I saw how the paths of Peach Blossom Island wind and twist, I was filled with admiration,” he said. “I beg you, House Uncle, to let me live on the island for a few months and study closely the workings of generation and conquest in them.”

Huang Yaoshi’s face changed slightly. He glanced at Ouyang Feng, thinking, Just what do you two want with probing the devices and layout of Peach Blossom Island?

Ouyang Feng saw his look and knew he was suspicious. He rounded on his nephew. “You have no idea of your place! Peach Blossom Island cost House Uncle Huang half a lifetime’s labour. Its arrangements are so subtle that no enemy dares to invade, and it is all thanks to them. How could he tell you about them?”

Huang Yaoshi gave a cold laugh. “Even if Peach Blossom Island were nothing but a bare rock, there might still be no one able to come here and do Huang any harm.”

Ouyang Feng smiled apologetically. “This younger brother spoke rashly, Brother Yao. I beg you not to take offence.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “Old Venom! That ruse to needle him was clumsy work!”

Huang Yaoshi tucked his jade flute⁹ into his collar. “Please, all of you, come and sit in my study.”

Ouyang Ke saw the anger on Huang Yaoshi’s face and looked to his uncle for a sign. Ouyang Feng nodded and followed Huang Yaoshi, and the others came after.

They wound their way out of the bamboo grove, and a great lotus pond opened before them. White lotuses were in full bloom on it, their fragrance drifting over in waves among the thick green leaves, and a narrow stone causeway ran across the middle. Huang Yaoshi crossed the causeway and led them into an elegant lodge. It was built entirely of unbarked pine, and its outer walls were covered in green creepers. It was the height of summer, but the moment they set eyes on the house they all felt cooler.

They went into the study, and a mute servant brought tea. It was a clear jade green and cold as snowmelt, and its coolness went straight to the heart.

Hong Qigong laughed. “As the saying goes, three years a beggar and you wouldn’t want to be an official. Brother Yao, if I could live three years in this fairyland of yours, I wouldn’t even want to be a beggar!”

Huang Yaoshi said, “If you would stay a while, Seventh Brother, the two of us could drink and talk our hearts out. I could ask for nothing better.”

Hong Qigong heard that he meant it and was touched. “Many thanks. It’s just a pity this old beggar was born to toil and can’t live free and easy like you, Brother Yao, and enjoy such quiet blessings.”

Ouyang Feng said, “Put you two together, and so long as you don’t come to blows, within two months you’re bound to have invented several new sets of fist and jian techniques.”

Hong Qigong laughed, “Are you envious?”

Ouyang Feng said, “It would be a great thing for the martial arts. Nothing could be better.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “Ha ha, there you go again, saying one thing and meaning another.” There was no deep enmity between the two men, but there had always been bad blood. Ouyang Feng was a deep and calculating man, and until the moment came when he could kill Hong Qigong at one stroke, he would never break with him openly. Hearing this now, he only smiled and said nothing.

Huang Yaoshi pressed the edge of the table, and a pale ink-wash landscape hanging on the west wall slowly rose, revealing a hidden door. He went over, opened it and took out a scroll. Holding it in both hands, he stroked it gently a few times, then said to Ouyang Ke, “This is the complete map of Peach Blossom Island. Every building on the island, large or small, every rock and path, every device, every gate and how it opens and shuts, all the changes of the Five Elements’ generation and conquest, of yin and yang and the Eight Trigrams, it is all recorded here. Take it and study it well.”

Ouyang Ke was bitterly disappointed. He had been hoping to stay on Peach Blossom Island a while longer, and instead Huang Yaoshi had brought out a map. His plan was plainly not going to work. Still, there was nothing for it but to bow and reach out with both hands to take it.

Huang Yaoshi suddenly said, “Wait!”

Ouyang Ke started and drew his hands back.

Huang Yaoshi said, “Take this map to Lin’an Prefecture¹⁰ and stay at an inn or a temple there. In three months I will send someone to fetch it back. Whatever is in it you are to keep in your head. You may not copy it out or make a tracing of it, still less let anyone else see it.”

Ouyang Ke thought, If you won’t let me stay on Peach Blossom Island, I can’t be bothered with your heretical arts. And for three months I’d have to stand guard over your map, and if through some carelessness it were damaged or lost, I’d be held to account. I’d sooner have nothing to do with it! He was about to decline politely when he thought again, He says he’ll send someone to fetch it. That’s bound to be his daughter. What a splendid chance to get close to her. Delighted, he thanked Huang Yaoshi at once and took the map.

Huang Rong took out the little box that held the Tongxi Dilong Pill¹¹ and handed it to Ouyang Feng. “Uncle Ouyang, this is a rare treasure against poison. I couldn’t presume to accept it.”

Ouyang Feng thought, If this gets into Old Heretic Huang’s hands, he’ll have one less reason to fear my poisons. Taking back a gift is rather petty, but I can’t worry about that. He took it and put it away, then raised his hands to Huang Yaoshi in farewell. Huang Yaoshi pressed him no further and saw them out.

At the door, Hong Qigong said, “Brother Venom, after the last Huashan Sword Summit¹² the five of us agreed that in twenty-five years, whoever was still alive would meet again on the summit of Mount Hua, and each would show how far his skill had advanced or slipped since. By my count, the twenty-five years are nearly up. Look after your strength, and we’ll have another good big fight.”

Ouyang Feng gave a thin smile. “I don’t think you and I need waste our strength fighting over it. The title of foremost martial artist under heaven already has its owner.”

Hong Qigong asked in surprise, “An owner? Don’t tell me, Brother Venom, that you’ve perfected some move nobody can match?”

Ouyang Feng smiled faintly and said, “How would I, Ouyang Feng, with my paltry skill, presume to claim the honour of ‘foremost under heaven’? The person I speak of is the one who taught worthy nephew Guo his martial arts.”

Hong Qigong laughed. “You mean this old beggar? Well now, I’d like it, I admit. But Brother Yao’s skill grows finer by the day, you, Brother Venom, just go on living longer and longer, and I doubt Emperor Duan has let his martial arts slide either. It’ll never come round to this old beggar.”

Ouyang Feng said coldly, “Of all those who have taught worthy nephew Guo, it may not be you, Seventh Brother, whose skill is the finest.”

Hong Qigong had just begun to say, “What?” when Huang Yaoshi cut in, “Hmm. You mean Old Wild Child Zhou Botong?”

Ouyang Feng said, “Exactly! Since Old Wild Child knows the Nine Yin Manual inside out, the rest of us, Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor and Northern Beggar, are nowhere near a match for him.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Not necessarily. A book is a dead thing, but martial arts are alive.”

Earlier Ouyang Feng had seen Huang Yaoshi turn his question aside so that Guo Jing could not say where Zhou Botong was, and he knew there was something behind it. That was why he had brought the matter up again at parting. Huang Yaoshi’s answer was just what he wanted, but nothing showed on his face. He said mildly, “The martial arts of the Quanzhen Order are no small thing, as we have all learned. Old Wild Child with the Nine Yin Manual besides, why, even if Wang Chongyang came back to life he might be no match for his shidi, let alone the rest of us. Ah, the Quanzhen Order is destined to flourish. The three of us have toiled all our lives, and in the end we are still one move behind.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Even if Old Wild Child’s skill were somewhat better than mine, it could never match yours, Brother Feng, or Seventh Brother’s. That much I know very well.”

Ouyang Feng said, “No need to be so modest, Brother Yao. You and I have always been evenly matched. If you say so, you must be sure Zhou Botong’s skill falls short of yours. Now that, I’m afraid…” He kept shaking his head.

Huang Yaoshi smiled. “When the Sword Summit on Mount Hua comes round, Brother Feng, you will see for yourself.”

Ouyang Feng’s face grew serious. “I’ve heard nothing of Old Wild Child for a long time, and I’ve no idea where he is now. Brother Yao, I have always admired your skill, but when you say you can beat Old Wild Child, I confess I only half believe it. You mustn’t underestimate him.”

Clever as Huang Yaoshi was, how could he fail to see that the man was goading him again? But he was proud and haughty, and this he could not swallow. “Old Wild Child is right here on Peach Blossom Island,” he said. “I have kept him prisoner for fifteen years.”

At these words Ouyang Feng and Hong Qigong were both taken aback. Hong Qigong raised his brows in astonishment, but Ouyang Feng roared with laughter. “Brother Yao, what a joker you are!”

Footnotes

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

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

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

4. 蛇杖 — Shézhàng. Ouyang Feng’s staff, with live venomous snakes coiled in its head. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 黑风双煞 — Hēifēng Shuāngshà. Literally twin evils of the dark wind. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 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. ↩

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

8. 奇门 — qímén. Literally strange gates. A branch of Chinese cosmology and divination concerned with the arrangement of space and time, applied to strategy and battle formations. ↩

9. 玉箫 — yù xiāo. Huang Yaoshi’s jade xiao, a vertical flute he plays and fights with. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 临安府 — Lín’ān Fǔ. Capital prefecture of the Southern Song dynasty, modern-day Hangzhou. See Wikipedia. ↩

11. 通犀地龙丸 — Tōngxī Dìlóng Wán. Ouyang Feng’s antidote to all poisons. 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. ↩