The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 24 – Part 4

The Seven Zis of Quanzhen¹ were famous throughout the land, and back at Prince Zhao’s Mansion, Hou Tonghai had seen with his own eyes how Wang Chuyi,² the Iron Foot Immortal Yuyangzi, had cowed that whole crew of devils with his skill. When Young Mistress Cheng said this, he really did feel a twinge of fear. He hesitated a moment, then cursed, “Even if all seven of those Quanzhen demon Daoists came at once, I’d butcher the lot of them, one by one!”

Then a voice outside the door rang out, “Who’s so tired of living that he’s spouting nonsense here?”

The three of them had been locked in a furious fight, but at the sound each leapt back. Afraid that Hou Tonghai might strike some vicious blow, Lu Guanying caught Cheng Yaojia by the hand, drew her back and held his dao across in front of her. Only then did he look out.

In the doorway stood a young Daoist in a feathered robe and star cap, with clear brows and bright eyes and a horsetail whisk³ in his hand. He gave a cold laugh. “Who was talking about butchering the Seven Zis of Quanzhen?”

Hou Tonghai gripped his trident in his right hand and planted his left on his hip, his brows drawn down and his eyes blazing. “I said it. What of it?”

The Daoist said, “Is that so? Then go on, try it.”

His body swayed and he was in close, sweeping the whisk at Hou Tonghai’s face.

By this time Guo Jing had drawn in his breath and sunk it into his dantian, no longer circulating it round the jingmai,⁴ and hearing the uproar of fighting in the hall, he put his eye to the little hole. Huang Rong said, “Can that little Daoist be one of the Seven Zis of Quanzhen?”

But Guo Jing recognised him. It was Yin Zhiping,⁵ Qiu Chuji’s⁶ disciple, who two years before had been sent by his shifu to Mongolia with a letter for the Six Xias of Jiangnan.⁷ They had fought one night, and Guo Jing had been beaten by him. He whispered as much to Huang Rong.

Huang Rong watched him exchange several moves with Hou Tonghai, then shook her head. “He can’t beat the Three-Headed Dragon either.”

Yin Zhiping was getting a little the worse of it, and at once Lu Guanying went in with his dao to help. Yin Zhiping’s martial arts had come on since the night he fought Guo Jing, and with Lu Guanying beside him against Hou Tonghai, they were just about holding him.

Lu Guanying had held Cheng Yaojia’s left hand for a moment just now, and her heart was still fluttering wildly. The three men beside her were fighting for their lives, yet she stood stroking her own hand, lost in a daze. Then there was a clang, and Lu Guanying cried, “Miss, look out!” Only then did she come to herself.

Hou Tonghai had seized a moment in the melee to thrust his trident at her. Lu Guanying had deflected the blow with his dao and called out the warning. Cheng Yaojia’s face flushed again. She steadied herself, then raised her jian and pressed forwards to join the fight.

Young Mistress Cheng’s martial arts were nothing special, but three against one was more than the Three-Headed Dragon⁸ could stand. He swung his trident in a furious attack, trying to break out of the door and fetch help, but Yin Zhiping’s whisk kept flicking to and fro in front of his eyes until he was dazzled, and the moment his attention slipped, Lu Guanying’s dao cut into his leg.

“Damn your ancestors eighteen generations back!” Hou Tonghai cursed. After a few more exchanges his legs grew slower and slower, and when he thrust out the trident, Yin Zhiping’s whisk wound round it. Each wrenched with all his strength, and Hou Tonghai, the stronger, tore the whisk from Yin Zhiping’s grasp. But at the same moment Cheng Yaojia ran him through the right shoulder with Dipper Shakes the Starry River.⁹

Hou Tonghai could no longer hold his trident. It clattered to the ground.

Yin Zhiping followed up with a sweeping kick, and Hou Tonghai went sprawling. Lu Guanying threw himself on him and pinned him down, undid the leather belt at his waist and tied his hands behind his back. Yin Zhiping laughed. “You can’t even beat the disciples of the Seven Zis of Quanzhen, and you talk of butchering the Seven Zis?”

Hou Tonghai let loose a stream of abuse, saying three against one was no way for brave men to fight. Yin Zhiping tore a piece from his jacket and stuffed it in his mouth. Hou Tonghai’s face was black with fury, but he could curse no more.

Yin Zhiping bowed to Cheng Yaojia. “Shijie, you’re of Shishu Sun’s line, aren’t you? Your shidi Yin Zhiping pays his respects, Shijie.”

Cheng Yaojia hastily returned the bow. “You do me too much honour. Which of my shibos is your shifu, Shixiong? Your shimei greets you, Shixiong Yin.”

Yin Zhiping said, “I’m of the Changchunzi’s¹⁰ line.”

Cheng Yaojia had never been away from home before, and apart from her own shifu, she had never set eyes on six of the Seven Zis. But she had heard her shifu say that of all her shibos, Shibo Qiu the Changchunzi was the most gallant and the strongest in martial arts, and when she heard that Yin Zhiping was Qiu Chuji’s disciple, she was filled with respect. She said softly, “Shixiong Yin, you should be the shixiong. My surname is Cheng, and you ought to call me shimei.”

Seeing how coy and bashful this shimei was, nothing like one who followed the path of chivalry, Yin Zhiping was secretly amused. He talked with her for a while of the bonds of their shimen, then greeted Lu Guanying.

Lu Guanying gave his own name but said nothing of his father’s. Yin Zhiping said, “This madman fights very well. I don’t know where he comes from, but we can’t let him go.”

Lu Guanying said, “Let me take him outside and kill him with one stroke.” He was the chief of the outlaws of Lake Tai,¹¹ and killing a man or two meant nothing to him.

Cheng Yaojia was soft-hearted, and she said quickly, “Oh, don’t kill anyone.”

Yin Zhiping laughed. “Let him live, then. Shimei Cheng, how long have you been here?”

Cheng Yaojia blushed. “I’ve only just arrived.”

Yin Zhiping glanced at the pair of them, saw how fond of each other they looked, and thought, Looks like these two are sweethearts. I’d better not hang about and be in the way. I’ll say a few words and go. Aloud he said, “My shifu sent me to Niu Family Village to find someone and bring him urgent news. I’ll take my leave now. We’ll meet again.” He cupped his hands and turned to go.

The blush had not yet left Cheng Yaojia’s cheeks, and at his words a fresh faint flush spread over it. She said softly, “Shixiong Yin, who are you looking for?”

Yin Zhiping hesitated a moment and thought, Shimei Cheng is one of our own school, and since this man Lu is travelling with her, he’s no outsider either. There’s no harm in telling them. He said, “I’m looking for a friend surnamed Guo.”

At these words, four people on the two sides of one wall were equally astonished.

Lu Guanying said, “Is this friend’s given name Jing?”

Yin Zhiping said, “Yes. Do you know our friend Guo too, Brother Lu?”

Lu Guanying said, “I’ve come looking for Shishu Guo myself.”

Yin Zhiping and Cheng Yaojia said together, “You call him shishu?”

“My father is of his generation, so I call him shishu.”

Lu Chengfeng¹² and Huang Rong were of the same generation, and Guo Jing and Huang Rong were betrothed, so Lu Guanying honoured him as shishu. Cheng Yaojia said nothing, but in her heart she was deeply anxious.

Yin Zhiping asked at once, “Have you seen him? Where is he?”

“I’ve only just got here myself. I was about to make enquiries when I ran into that madman, and he started a fight for no reason at all.”

“Good! Then let’s go and look for him together.” The three of them went out of the inn together.

Huang Rong and Guo Jing looked at each other and could only smile ruefully. Guo Jing said, “They’re sure to come back. Rong-er, open the cupboard door and call them.”

Huang Rong sighed. “How can I? If they’ve come looking for you, it must be something important. You’re healing. If your mind wanders even a little, what then?”

“Yes, it must be something very urgent indeed. Think of some way, quickly.”

“Even if the sky fell in, I wouldn’t open the door.”

Sure enough, before long Yin Zhiping and the other two were back in the inn. Lu Guanying said, “I asked in his own home village and couldn’t learn so much as a whisper. What do we do now?”

Yin Zhiping said, “Brother Lu, what is this pressing business that brings you looking for our friend Guo? Can you tell us?”

Lu Guanying had not meant to tell, but seeing how eagerly Cheng Yaojia was looking at him, he found it hard to refuse. He said, “It’s a long story. Let me sweep up the filth on the floor first, and then I’ll tell you both all about it.”

The inn had neither broom nor dustpan, so Yin Zhiping and Lu Guanying could only gather handfuls of firewood and straw and scrape the filth from the floor as best they could.

The three of them sat down at a table. Lu Guanying was about to speak when Cheng Yaojia said, “Wait!” She walked over to Hou Tonghai and with her jian cut away two strips of his clothing, which she stuffed into his ears. “So he can’t listen,” she said in a low voice.

Lu Guanying said admiringly, “How thoughtful of you, Miss. No one knows where this madman comes from. We mustn’t let him overhear what we say.”

In the next room, Huang Rong laughed to herself and thought, It’s hard to guard against the two of us listening in here, I grant you. But Ouyang Ke¹³ is lying in the inner room, and the three of you haven’t the faintest idea, and you call that thoughtful.

Young Mistress Cheng had never been out in the jianghu.¹⁴ Yin Zhiping modelled himself on his shifu and thought boldness and bluntness the finest of qualities. Lu Guanying was used to giving orders on Lake Tai and had never paid much heed to small things. So the three of them sat down to talk over weighty matters without first searching the place.

Cheng Yaojia bent down and saw that Hou Tonghai’s ears had been torn off. She paused a moment, then pushed the cloth into the holes, and with a little smile she said to Lu Guanying, “You can talk now.”

Lu Guanying hesitated. “Ah! I don’t know where to begin. I’ve come to find Shishu Guo. By rights I should never have come looking for him at all, and yet I had to.”

Yin Zhiping said, “Now that’s odd.”

“Yes. I came looking for Shishu Guo, but not on his own account. It’s because of his six shifus.”

Yin Zhiping slapped the table. “The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan?”

“Exactly.”

“Aha, I suspect your errand and mine are one and the same, Brother Lu. Let’s each write a name on the ground, and Shimei Cheng can see whether they match.”

Before Lu Guanying could answer, Cheng Yaojia laughed. “Oh yes, and write with your backs to each other.”

Yin Zhiping and Lu Guanying each took a stick of firewood and, back to back, scratched a few strokes on the ground.

Yin Zhiping laughed. “Shimei Cheng, did we write the same thing?”

Cheng Yaojia looked at the marks they had scratched on the ground and said softly, “Shixiong Yin, you guessed wrong. Yours aren’t the same.”

“Eh?” said Yin Zhiping, and stood up.

Cheng Yaojia laughed. “You wrote the three characters of ‘Huang Yaoshi’,¹⁵ and he drew a spray of peach blossom.”

Huang Rong’s heart jolted, and she thought, They’ve both come looking for Jing gege, so why should it all have to do with my father?

She heard Lu Guanying say, “What Shixiong Yin wrote is the name of my Patriarch.¹⁶ This younger brother dares not write it out.”

Yin Zhiping was taken aback. “Your Patriarch? Hm, then we really did write the same thing. Isn’t Huang Yaoshi the Master of Peach Blossom Island?”

Cheng Yaojia said, “Ah, so that is it.”

Yin Zhiping said, “If you’re of Peach Blossom Island, Brother Lu, then you must be looking for the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan to do them harm.”

“No, that’s not it.” Seeing him hum and haw, on the point of speaking and then holding back, Yin Zhiping was displeased. “If you don’t count me a friend, Brother Lu, there’s no point in talking any more. I’ll take my leave.” He stood up and turned to go.

Lu Guanying said quickly, “Please stay, Shixiong Yin. I have something to tell you in confidence, and I must ask for your help.”

Yin Zhiping liked nothing better than to be asked for help, and he said, delighted, “All right, tell me.”

Lu Guanying said, “Shixiong Yin, you are of the Quanzhen Order. Carrying word and warning people to be on their guard is no more than anyone who follows the path of chivalry should do. But if the elders of your own school were setting out to harm an innocent man and you got wind of it, should you or should you not tell that innocent man to get out of the way?”

Yin Zhiping slapped his thigh. “I see. You’re of Peach Blossom Island, so this really does put you in a hard place. Go on, tell me.”

Lu Guanying said, “If I stand by and do nothing, it’s a wrong. If I do something, I betray my shimen.¹⁷ I have a favour to ask of you, Shixiong, and yet I cannot say it.”

Yin Zhiping had more or less guessed what was on his mind, but since Lu Guanying would not say it plainly, he really did not know how to help. He scratched his head, quite at a loss.

Footnotes

1. 全真七子 — Quánzhēn Qīzǐ. Literally the seven zi of Quanzhen, zi being an honorific for a master. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 王处一 — Wáng Chǔyī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 拂尘 — fúchén. Literally whisk away the dust. A fly-whisk of horsehair on a handle, a traditional implement of Daoist priests. ↩

4. 经脉 — jīngmài. Literally meridians. Energy channels through which qi flows. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 尹志平 — Yǐn Zhìpíng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 丘处机 — Qiū Chǔjī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 江南六侠 — Jiāngnán Liù Xiá. Literally six xia of Jiangnan, a courteous form of the Eccentrics’ name with 侠 (xia) in place of 怪 (eccentric). See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

9. 斗摇星河 — Dǒu Yáo Xīnghé. Literally the Dipper shakes the Starry River, the Starry River being the Milky Way. A Quanzhen jian technique. ↩

10. 长春子 — Chángchūnzǐ. Literally master of eternal spring. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 太湖 — Tàihú. Literally great lake. Lake Tai, on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. See Wikipedia. ↩

12. 陆乘风 — Lù Chéngfēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 欧阳克 — Ōuyáng Kè. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 江湖 — jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The world of martial artists, outside mainstream society. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

16. 祖师爷 — zǔshīyé. Literally ancestral master. The founder of one’s line or school, addressed with reverence. ↩

17. 师门 — shīmén. Literally the teacher’s gate. The house of one’s shifu: the master, the fellow disciples, and the rules and obligations binding them. ↩