The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 23 – Part 5

Hong Qigong¹ said, “I’m going to wait here for that cook. Since you’ve no taste for it, you and Jing-er go on out of the palace first. Rong-er alone can stay here with me, and you can come back for me tomorrow night.”

Zhou Botong² put on the mask of the City God³ and laughed. “No, I’ll stay here with you. Tomorrow I’m going to wear this thing and give the old emperor a fright. Brother Guo, Rong-er, you two go and keep an eye on the Old Venom. Don’t let him sneak off and steal Yue Fei’s book.”

Hong Qigong said, “The Old Wild Child is right. Off you go, quickly, and be careful.”

Both of them answered in unison. Zhou Botong said, “Don’t fight the Old Venom tonight. Wait and watch me tomorrow.”

Huang Rong⁴ said, “We can’t beat him, so of course we won’t fight him.”

She slipped out of the imperial kitchen with Guo Jing. They meant to leave the palace and go to the Canopy and Crown Lodge to see what Wanyan Honglie and the others were up to. They had tiptoed in the darkness past two palace halls when all at once a cool breeze brushed them, and faintly they heard the sound of water. Through the still night came gust after gust of delicate scent, and here, deep in the courtyards of the palace, there was suddenly a feeling of wild mountain woods.

At the scent, Huang Rong knew there must be a great mass of flowers nearby. She thought, The palace gardens must be full of rare flowers and fine plants. I can’t pass up the chance to see them. She took Guo Jing’s hand and they followed the scent. Little by little the sound of water grew louder. They rounded a flower-lined path and saw tall pines and slender bamboos, green enough to hide the sky, and range on range of strange-shaped hills, quiet, secluded and winding deep. Huang Rong was full of silent admiration. She thought, For ingenuity of design this is not the equal of Peach Blossom Island,⁵ but for the beauty of its flowers and trees it rather surpasses it.

A few dozen feet further on, they saw a silver waterfall like a length of white silk pouring down the side of the hill into a large pond. There must have been some other outlet under the pond, for the water did not overflow.

There were red lotuses in the pond past counting, and beyond it stood a great, stately hall, with the three characters Cuihan Hall⁶ written on the board above the door. Huang Rong went up to the front of the hall. Along the gallery and on the steps stood pots of jasmine and white jasmine, musk vine, hibiscus, cassia, red banana and Java flowers, all of them fragrant blooms at their height in summer. Behind the hall hung strings of scented beads of qienan aloeswood and Chenla ambergris. The sweetness of it came over them in waves, and a pure fragrance filled the hall. On the table inside were several dishes of fresh fruit, new lotus root, sweet melon, loquats and crab apples, and a few round fans lay tossed on the chairs. It looked as though the Emperor had been sitting here in the cool before he went to bed.

Guo Jing sighed, “The Emperor certainly knows how to enjoy himself.”

Huang Rong laughed. “You come and be emperor for a while.” She pulled Guo Jing down to sit on the cool couch in the middle of the hall, held up the fruit to him and went down on one knee. “Will Your Majesty take some fresh fruit?”

Guo Jing picked up a loquat with a laugh. “Please rise.”

Huang Rong laughed. “An emperor wouldn’t say please rise. That’s far too polite.”

They were still laughing and talking in low voices when someone in the distance suddenly shouted, “Who’s there?”

The two of them started and leapt to their feet, hiding behind a rockery. They heard heavy footsteps as two men came shouting and running towards them. At the first sound of them they knew these were men of little skill, and they did not trouble themselves. Two guards came running up to the hall, each with a single dao raised.

The two of them looked all around and saw nothing amiss. One laughed. “You’ve been seeing ghosts.”

The other laughed back, “These past few days my eyes keep playing tricks.” With that they withdrew.

Huang Rong was laughing to herself. She tugged at Guo Jing and was about to come out when she heard the two guards give a grunt, “Heh, heh.” It was very low, but they could tell it was the breath forced out of a man whose acupoints have just been sealed. Both thought, Has Big Brother Zhou⁷ got bored and come out to play?

Then they heard someone say in a low voice, “According to the palace map, the building beside the waterfall is Cuihan Hall. We’ll go over there.”

The voice was Wanyan Honglie’s.⁸

This was no small shock to Guo Jing and Huang Rong. Each squeezed the hand in theirs, and they stayed hidden behind the rockery, not daring to stir. Looking towards the hall by the faint light of the scattered stars, they could dimly make out the newcomers. Besides Wanyan Honglie, there were Ouyang Feng,⁹ Peng Lianhu,¹⁰ Sha Tongtian,¹¹ Venerable Lingzhi,¹² Liang Ziweng¹³ and Hou Tonghai,¹⁴ the whole crew of them.

Both were utterly baffled, and both thought, What has this lot come to the palace for? Surely they can’t be here to steal food from the imperial kitchen too?

They heard Wanyan Honglie say, keeping his voice down, “I have studied the secret letter Yue Fei left with great care, and gone through the records of the Gaozong and Xiaozong reigns as well, and I am quite certain that Wumu’s Art of War is hidden in the Danei, fifteen paces east of Cuihan Hall.”

Every eye followed his pointing finger. Fifteen paces east of the hall there was plainly a waterfall and nothing else at all.

Wanyan Honglie said, “How a book could be hidden under a waterfall I cannot guess either, but going by the documents, it must be in this very place.”

Sha Tongtian, known as the Dragon King of Devil’s Gate,¹⁵ was a superb swimmer. He said, “Let me go through the waterfall and have a proper look.” The words were hardly out of his mouth before, with two crouches and three bounds, he had plunged into the cascade, and a moment later he shot out again. The others went to meet him, and they heard him say, “Your Highness was right indeed. There is a cave behind the waterfall, and its mouth is shut by an iron door.”

Wanyan Honglie was overjoyed. “Wumu’s Art of War must be in that cave. May I trouble you all to open the iron door and go in.” Some of those with him carried treasured daos and keen blades, and at these words they all wanted to win the credit and surged at once to the foot of the waterfall. Only Ouyang Feng smiled a faint, cold smile and stayed at Wanyan Honglie’s side. His standing was not theirs, and he would not stoop to fetching the book with the rest.

Sha Tongtian pushed to the front and ducked his head through the rushing water, and at once a blast of force struck him in the face. He had looked in a moment before and found nothing stirring. How could he have dreamed of an enemy? He dodged in haste, but his left wrist had already been caught, and he felt a great force push at him. He flew out backwards, quite helpless, and crashed straight into Liang Ziweng. Luckily both of them were masters, who gave way before the force and turned it aside, and neither was hurt.

While the others were still staring, Sha Tongtian had already plunged back through the waterfall. This time he was on his guard, with both palms up to cover his face, and sure enough another fist came flying at him from behind the falling water. He blocked with his left hand and returned a punch with his right. Before he could make out who the enemy was, Liang Ziweng too had leapt behind the curtain of water. Out of nowhere a staff came sweeping at him, at a wickedly cunning angle. Liang Ziweng could not get out of the way in time, the end of the staff caught him across the shin, and he lost his footing and fell into the waterfall. He was already toppling backwards, the force of the water beat down on his chest, and the staff hooked his feet from under him, so that he was flung helplessly out of the waterfall. At the same moment Sha Tongtian too was driven out of the curtain of water by the force of a fierce palm.

Hou Tonghai, the Three-Headed Dragon, never stopped to think what his shixiong’s¹⁶ martial arts were and what his own were. If his shixiong had come off worst, what chance had he? Trusting to his skill in the water, he glared wide-eyed and forced his way into the waterfall.

Peng Lianhu saw that things were going badly and was about to go to his aid when a dark shape flew over his head and hit the ground with a thump. Then he heard Hou Tonghai on the ground, howling with pain. Peng Lianhu ran forward and whispered, “Brother Hou, be quiet. What happened?”

Hou Tonghai said, “Bugger his granny, my arse has been smashed into four pieces.”

Peng Lianhu was astonished and amused at once. He said softly, “Nonsense.” He felt Hou Tonghai’s backside, and it seemed to be in two pieces still, but it would hardly do to feel about any further. Seeing that something odd was going on, he was not going to rush in and risk himself, and he asked, “Who’s in there?”

Hou Tonghai was in too much pain to be civil. “How should I know?” he snapped. “The moment I went in, they threw me out again. Bastard sons of turtles!”

His red robe flapping, Venerable Lingzhi strode into the waterfall. Through the roar of the water they heard him shouting and bellowing, locked in a furious fight. The others looked at one another, dumbfounded. Sha Tongtian and Liang Ziweng had been driven out, but in the darkness all they could dimly make out was that behind the curtain of water were a man and a woman, the man fighting with his palms, the woman with a staff. Now they heard Venerable Lingzhi roaring at the top of his voice, as though he were taking a beating.

Wanyan Honglie frowned. “The Venerable has no sense at all, bellowing fit to shake heaven and earth. The palace guards will be here in no time, and then how are we to steal any book?”

The words were barely out of his mouth when a flash of red passed before their eyes. Venerable Lingzhi’s great red kasaya had come floating down the waterfall into the lotus pond. Then there was a clang, and the two brass cymbals he used as weapons came flying out of the curtain of water. Afraid the cymbals would make a noise as they landed and bring the palace guards, Peng Lianhu quickly reached out and caught them. Then, amid the noise of the waterfall, came a stream of curses, and a big fat body came hurtling out through the water. But Venerable Lingzhi’s martial arts were another matter from Hou Tonghai’s. He landed and stood firm, his backside unharmed and presumably still in two halves, and he swore, “It’s the boy and the girl we met on the boat.”

Guo Jing and Huang Rong, hiding behind the rockery, heard Wanyan Honglie ordering his men to enter the cave and steal the book. They thought, If Wumu’s Art of War falls into his hands, the Jin army can use Yue Wumu’s own methods to invade the south. The matter is too grave. They knew Ouyang Feng was present and that they could certainly not defeat him. But if they did not step forward, how could they bear to let all the people of the world suffer?

Huang Rong had thought to devise some trick to frighten them away. But Guo Jing, seeing the situation was urgent and would not brook the slightest hesitation, took Huang Rong’s hand and slipped around the back of the rockery into the waterfall. He hoped to find an opportunity for an ambush and catch Ouyang Feng by surprise. With the waterfall thundering, none of the others noticed them.

The two of them had fought with all their might and driven Sha Tongtian and the rest back, and they were as astonished as they were delighted. They had never imagined that the Tendon-Transmuting Bone-Tempering Chapter¹⁷ of the Nine Yin Manual could work such wonders. Huang Rong’s Dog-Beating Staff Technique,¹⁸ endlessly shifting and endlessly subtle, had Sha Tongtian and Venerable Lingzhi in such a tangle that they did not know what to do, and Guo Jing pressed in at every opening and drove them all out with the force of his palms.

Both knew that once Sha Tongtian and the rest were beaten, Ouyang Feng would join in at once, and him they could never hope to beat. Huang Rong said, “We must get out quickly and raise a great hue and cry. Once the palace guards come in force, they won’t be able to do a thing.”

Guo Jing said, “Right. You go out and shout, and I’ll hold this place.”

Huang Rong said, “Whatever you do, don’t take on the Old Venom head to head.”

Guo Jing said, “I know. Go quickly, quickly.”

Huang Rong was just about to slip out from behind the waterfall when they heard a croaking cry of “gek” and a tremendous force came battering in from outside. The two of them did not dare meet it and leapt apart to left and right. There was a mighty boom, and the waterfall, flung inwards by the fierce force of Ouyang Feng’s Toad Skill,¹⁹ struck full on the iron door, with spray flying everywhere and an appalling noise.

Though Huang Rong had leapt aside, her back caught the glancing force of his Toad Skill. She felt her breath come short, her vision blur, her head swim. She steadied herself for an instant, then shot out of the waterfall crying, “Seize the assassins! Seize the assassins!” and raced away, shouting at the top of her voice.

At her shouts the guards all round Cuihan Hall were alerted at once, and on every side orders and cries rang out. Huang Rong leapt onto a roof, picked up tiles and hurled them about, crash, bang, crash.

Peng Lianhu swore. “Kill the girl first, and then we’ll see.” He sped after her with all his qinggong.²⁰ Liang Ziweng flanked from the left, closing in with swift steps.

Wanyan Honglie kept very calm. He said to Yang Kang, “Kang-er, go in with Mister Ouyang and fetch the book.”

By now Ouyang Feng had gone through the curtain of water. He crouched on the ground and gave another great croak of “gek”, driving his force out in one sudden push. The two iron doors at the cave’s mouth flew inwards.

He was about to step inside when a figure flung itself at him from the side, the palm arriving before the man, in the perilous move Flying Dragon in the Sky.²¹ In the gloom Ouyang Feng could not make out the face, but at the sight of the move he knew at once that it was Guo Jing. An idea came to him, and he thought, The text of the Nine Yin Manual is uncommonly abstruse. I can’t make out two lines in ten. Here is my chance to carry this boy off and make him explain it properly. He turned aside from the blow, then shot out a hand and grabbed at the middle of Guo Jing’s back.

Footnotes

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

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

3. 城隍 — Chénghuáng. The City God, the deity who guards a city and its people, often a worthy of the past honoured after death. ↩

4. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

6. 翠寒堂 — Cuìhán Táng. Literally Emerald Cold Hall. A hall in the Southern Song imperial palace at Lin’an. ↩

7. 周大哥 — Zhōu dàgē. Literally big brother Zhou. ↩

8. 完颜洪烈 — Wányán Hóngliè. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 彭连虎 — Péng Liánhǔ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 沙通天 — Shā Tōngtiān. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 灵智上人 — Língzhì Shàngrén. Literally the venerable of spiritual wisdom. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 梁子翁 — Liáng Zǐwēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 侯通海 — Hóu Tōnghǎi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 鬼门龙王 — Guǐmén Lóngwáng. Literally dragon king of the devil’s gate. ↩

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

17. 易筋锻骨章 — Yìjīn Duàngǔ Zhāng. Internal cultivation method from the Nine Yin Manual. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 打狗棒 — Dǎgǒu Bàng. The jade-green bamboo staff carried by the Guild Chief of the Beggars’ Guild as the token of his office. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

21. 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. ↩