The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 20 – Part 3

Guo Jing had received little schooling. His calligraphy was clumsy and rusty, and he had to think hard about how to alter the characters in the manual, so he wrote extremely slowly. Again and again he did not know how to write a character and had to ask Ouyang Ke to show him. By the hour of Wu¹ he had written out less than half of the first volume. Ouyang Ke had never read the first volume, so he could change it as much as he liked. Every sheet Guo Jing finished, Ouyang Ke took and carried to his uncle.

Ouyang Feng read the sheets. The sense of every passage was hard to make out, but the language was archaic and plain, and he was sure the meaning ran deep. Once he was back in the Western Regions he would study it at his leisure, and with his own intelligence and gifts he was certain to work it all out. The wish of decades was granted at last, and his heart swelled with joy. He could see that Guo Jing was a simpleton and that the characters he wrote were crooked and wobbly and very clumsy, so of course he could never have invented so profound a text. His nephew had told him, too, that there were many characters Guo Jing knew only by sound and not how to write, and that he had shown him himself. So it was the true manual beyond any doubt. How could he ever have guessed that this simple boy, on his shifu’s orders, had already jumbled most of the text? As for the strange passage at the very end, which read like an incantation, nobody understood it at all. Hong Qigong had feared it might be a foreign script from the Western Regions, which Ouyang Feng, being a man of the Western Regions, might recognise. Hong Qigong had told Guo Jing not to alter that passage, lest careless changes reveal the deception to Ouyang Feng.

Guo Jing’s brush did not stop until dark, and by then he was nearly done. Ouyang Ke kept watch beside him, and every sheet Guo Jing wrote he took straight to his uncle. Ouyang Feng dared not let Guo Jing go back to his cabin, afraid that Hong Qigong might suddenly change his mind and make trouble. Even with the greater part of the manual already in his hands, it would still be incomplete. He had rich food and fine wine set out, and kept Guo Jing writing on.

Hong Qigong waited until the hour of Xu was ending and the hour of Hai² beginning, and still Guo Jing had not come back. He grew uneasy, afraid the forgery had been discovered and his simple disciple would pay for it. The snakes on deck had long since been withdrawn. He slipped quietly out of the cabin and saw two snake-herders standing watch beside the door. Hong Qigong made a feint chop to his left. There was a whoosh, and the wind of his palm set the rigging stirring. Both snake-herders looked towards the sound, and by then Hong Qigong had darted out on the right. He moved so fast that neither man nor ghost knew he had passed, and he was already over at the starboard side.

Lamplight glimmered faintly through the windows of the main cabin. Hong Qigong put his eye to a crack and saw Guo Jing bent over the desk, writing, with two white-robed maids beside him making tea and adding incense, grinding ink and smoothing the paper, waiting on him hand and foot. Ouyang Ke kept watch at his side. Hong Qigong’s heart eased. The fragrance of wine reached his nostrils. He looked more closely and saw before Guo Jing a cup of amber-coloured aged wine, red as rouge, its perfume rich and heady. Hong Qigong cursed inwardly, What a snob Old Venom is. My disciple writes out the manual for him, so he gets the finest wine, and the old beggar is given ordinary thin stuff. He was the greatest glutton under heaven and a drinker without equal, and now that he had seen such wine, how could he rest without drinking it? He thought, Old Venom’s good wine must be stored in the hold. I’ll go and drink my fill, then piss in the barrel and give him a taste of the old beggar’s reek. Even if my simple disciple gets caught in it like the fish in the moat and drinks the old beggar’s stinking piss by mistake, it won’t kill him.

At the thought he could not help a smug little smile. Stealing wine and filching food had always been his special gift. Years ago he had lived for three months on the beams of the Imperial Kitchen in Lin’an, tasting every dish and cup meant for the Emperor. The Imperial Palace was guarded as strictly as anywhere on earth, yet he had come and gone as he pleased, as though no one were there. Stealing a little wine from a ship’s hold was nothing at all. He tiptoed to the after deck, and seeing no one about, gently lifted the hatch cover to the hold. He slipped down, pushed the hatch back into place, and with a few sniffs located where the provisions were stored.

It was pitch-black in the hold, but following the smell of food and meat he groped his way into the store-room and shook his huozhezi³ alight. Sure enough, six or seven big wooden barrels stood in the corner. Hong Qigong was delighted. He found a cracked bowl with a chipped rim, blew out the huozhezi and tucked it back inside his jacket, and only then went up to the barrels and gave one a shake. It was very heavy, full to the brim. He held the wooden plug in his left hand and placed the bowl beneath it with his right. Just as he was about to pull the plug, he heard footsteps. Two people were outside the store-room.

Their steps were light. Hong Qigong knew they must be Ouyang Feng and his nephew, for no one else on the ship had such skill. He thought that if the two of them were coming to the store-room in the dead of night, they must be up to some trick, most likely putting poison in the food. He crouched behind the barrels, curled into a ball. The door opened softly. A flicker of firelight. The two came in. Hong Qigong heard them stop before the barrels. He thought, They’re going to poison the wine? Ouyang Feng said, “The manual is written out, and the job is done. Is the oil, firewood and sulphur all laid in every hold?”

Ouyang Ke laughed. “All ready. One spark and this great ship turns to ashes in an instant. This time we’ll roast the stinking beggar crisp.”

Hong Qigong was aghast. He thought, They’re going to burn the ship?

Ouyang Feng said, “We’ll wait a little longer. Once the Guo boy is sound asleep, you go down into the little boat first. Be very careful, and don’t let the old beggar notice. I’ll come back here and light the fire.”

Ouyang Ke said, “What shall we do about the concubines and the snake-herders?”

Ouyang Feng said coldly, “The stinking beggar is a great martial master of his age. He must have a few people buried with him, as befits his station.”

As they spoke, they set to work. They pulled the plugs from the barrels, and the reek of oil hit Hong Qigong in the face. The barrels were full of tung oil and rapeseed oil. Uncle and nephew took packet after packet of sulphur out of a wooden chest and stacked the firewood over them, and emptied out great sacks of sawdust and wood shavings as well. Before long the oil in the hold was over their shins. The two turned to go, and Ouyang Ke said with a laugh, “Uncle, in another shichen that boy surnamed Guo will be buried at the bottom of the sea, and the only person in the world who knows the Nine Yin Manual will be you, Uncle.”

Ouyang Feng said, “No, there will be two. Do you think I won’t pass it on to you? And there is Huang Yaoshi, who knows the manual too. One day we’ll think of some way to send him off to Heaven when the chance comes.”

Ouyang Ke was greatly pleased. “Uncle, let’s wrap the manual in oiled paper and oiled cloth, then pour melted wax over it, so the seawater doesn’t ruin it.” The two went out, closing the door behind them.

Hong Qigong was shocked and furious at once. If some spirit had not led him down to the hold to steal wine, how would he ever have learned of their murderous plot? And with a fire suddenly blazing up in the middle of the ocean, how could anyone escape? He waited until he heard them go, then crept out and back to his own cabin, where Guo Jing was already lying on the bed asleep. He was about to wake him so that they could decide what to do when he heard a faint sound outside the door. He knew it was Ouyang Feng come to see whether he was asleep, and he shouted, “Good wine, oh, good wine! Ten more pots!”

Ouyang Feng was taken aback, thinking the old beggar was still drinking. Then Hong Qigong shouted again, “Old Venom, you and I will fight another thousand moves and see who’s the better. Mm, mm, good lad, that’ll do, that’ll do!”

Ouyang Feng stood for a while, listening to his incoherent ravings, and realised he was talking in his sleep. He thought, The stinking beggar is at death’s door and still dreaming of drinking and fighting.

While Hong Qigong babbled away, his ears were cocked for every sound outside the cabin. Ouyang Feng’s qinggong⁴ was superb, but even so Hong Qigong caught his footsteps going off towards the port side. He put his lips to Guo Jing’s ear, gave his shoulder a gentle push and whispered, “Jing-er!”

Guo Jing woke with a start. “Mm?”

Hong Qigong said, “Do as I do, and ask no questions. Now slip out quietly. Don’t let anyone see you.”

Guo Jing scrambled up at once. Hong Qigong slowly pushed the cabin door open, gave Guo Jing’s sleeve a tug and went over to the starboard side. Fearing Ouyang Feng might detect them, he dared not go aft. Gripping the ship’s side with his left hand, he beckoned Guo Jing with his right and swung himself out over the side. Guo Jing was puzzled, but he dared not ask aloud, and he lowered himself over the side as his shifu had done. Clinging to the ship’s side with all ten fingers, Hong Qigong worked his way slowly down, his eyes on Guo Jing, afraid that the hull would be slippery and that if Guo Jing lost his hold and fell into the sea, the splash would give them away.

The ship’s side was slick with paint to begin with, and besides, it was wet, it sloped inwards, and it was rising, falling and rolling in the waves, so working down it was no easy matter. Fortunately Guo Jing had climbed up and down a cliff day and night with Ma Yu, and lately his neili⁵ had grown a great deal. His fingers clung to the iron nails and the timbers, or dug into the putty and fibre caulking the seams, and he slid down quite steadily. Hong Qigong was half in the water, working slowly aft. Guo Jing followed close behind.

When Hong Qigong reached the stern, there, just as he had thought, was a little boat tied on behind by a rope. He said to Guo Jing, “Into the boat!” He let go, and dropped away from the great ship. The ship was running fast, and as it surged forward Hong Qigong caught the side of the little boat and swung himself in without a sound. When Guo Jing was also aboard, he said, “Cut the rope.”

Guo Jing drew his golden dao⁶ and with one stroke cut the line at the bow. At once the little boat went spinning round and round on the sea. Hong Qigong pulled on the oars to steady it, and watched the great ship slowly vanish into the darkness ahead. Suddenly a light flashed at the ship’s stern. Ouyang Feng, lantern in hand, gave a great shout. He had found the little boat gone, and his cry was full of fury and fear.

Hong Qigong drew breath from his dantian⁷ and laughed long and loud.

Then, from the starboard side, a light boat came cutting through the waves, approaching the great ship with extraordinary speed. Hong Qigong said in surprise, “Eh? What boat is that?” Before the words were out of his mouth, two white eagles swooped down out of the sky and wheeled round and round the great ship’s mainsail. A figure in white leapt from the light boat onto the great ship. In the faint starlight they could see the gold ring that bound the figure’s hair flash twice, far off. Guo Jing gave a low cry. “Rong-er!”

The person in the light boat was Huang Rong. As she was about to leave Peach Blossom Island, she had seen the little red horse galloping to and fro in the woods, and suddenly she had thought, A horse is no use at sea, but the white eagles could help me find Jing gege. She had whistled through her lips and called the eagles to her. No eyes are keener than an eagle’s, and they fly very fast, and out on that boundless sea they had actually found Guo Jing’s ship. When Huang Rong saw the words “In danger” in Guo Jing’s hand on the eagles’ legs, she was alarmed and delighted at once. She had set out in a boat, with the two eagles flying high ahead to show the way, and come on under full sail, but she was a step too late. Hong Qigong and Guo Jing had already left the ship.

The words “In danger” never left her mind, and she was afraid that if she came too late she would be unable to save him. Seeing the eagles circling over the great ship, she could not wait for the two vessels to come alongside. As soon as they were not far apart, she took her steel Emei piercers in hand and leapt across, and there was Ouyang Ke, rushing round and round like an ant on a hot pan.

Huang Rong shouted, “Where is Guo Jing? What have you done to him?”

Ouyang Feng had already started the fire in the hold, only to find no trace of the little boat at the stern, and he groaned again and again. Hong Qigong’s laughter came to him from far off, and he knew that this time he had set out to destroy others and destroyed himself. He was frantic and at his wits’ end when he caught sight of Huang Rong’s light boat. He rushed out and shouted, “Get on that boat!” But the mute boatmen on the light boat were every one of them scoundrels. While Huang Rong had been aboard, they had been cowed by her and dared not disobey. The moment she left the boat, it was a chance sent from Heaven, and they at once put the helm over, hoisted sail and fled far away.

Hong Qigong and Guo Jing saw Huang Rong leap onto the great ship. At that very moment flames shot up at its stern. Guo Jing still did not understand. He cried out in alarm, “Fire, fire!”

Hong Qigong said, “That’s right. Old Venom has set fire to the ship to burn the two of us to death!”

Guo Jing was stunned for a moment, then said quickly, “Quick, let’s go and save Rong-er.”

Hong Qigong said, “Row closer!”

Guo Jing rowed with all his strength. The great ship had turned to chase the light boat and was now drawing nearer to the little boat. On deck men and women were rushing about wildly, and there was a great uproar. Hong Qigong shouted, “Rong-er, Jing-er and I are both here. Swim over! Swim over!” The sea was running high, and it was night, so swimming was very dangerous. But Hong Qigong knew Huang Rong was a good swimmer, and in the urgency of the moment he had no choice but to risk it.

Huang Rong heard her shifu’s voice and was overjoyed. Paying no more heed to Ouyang Feng and his nephew, she turned, ran to the ship’s side and sprang out towards the sea.

Suddenly her wrist was gripped tight. She was already in mid-leap, but she was dragged bodily back. Huang Rong turned her head in horror and saw that it was Ouyang Feng who had hold of her left wrist. She cried, “Let me go!” and stabbed at him with the steel piercer in her right hand.

Ouyang Feng struck her wrist with his left hand. Huang Rong’s fingers went numb and weak. She could not hold the piercer. It slipped from her grasp and fell into the sea.

Ouyang Feng saw that the light boat was too far off to be caught. The flames on his own ship were leaping to the sky, sails flying and masts swaying, the deck in turmoil, and it would sink at any moment. His one hope of rescue was the little boat in Hong Qigong’s hands. He shouted, “Stinking beggar, I have Miss Huang here. Do you see her?” He raised his arms and held Huang Rong aloft.

Footnotes

1. 午时 — wǔshí. The hour of Wu, about 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the seventh of the twelve shichen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 时辰 — shíchén. Traditional Chinese unit of time equal to two hours; the day was divided into twelve shichen. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 火折子 — huǒzhézi. A tinder tube: rolled paper or fibre treated with saltpetre, kept smouldering in a tube and revived with a puff of breath. ↩

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

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

6. 刀 — dāo. A single-edged blade, usually curved and broad. ↩

7. 丹田 — dāntián. Literally cinnabar field. The primary energy centre below the navel in internal cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩