The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 24 – Part 5

Cheng Yaojia, however, had thought of a method. Shy maidens in their boudoirs, unwilling to speak their hearts directly, would answer their mothers or sisters with only nods and shakes of the head. Though not altogether straightforward, the truth would emerge in the end. A mother might ask, “Child, is the one in your heart Brother Zhang San?” The daughter would shake her head. “Is it Li Silang?” Another shake. “Then it must be your cousin Wang.” The daughter would lower her head and say nothing, and that would be the answer.

Cheng Yaojia said, “Shige Yin, please ask Big Brother Lu, and if you guess right, he nods, and if not, he shakes his head. As long as he doesn’t say a single word, no one can say he has betrayed his shimen.¹”

Yin Zhiping was delighted. “That’s a splendid idea, Shimei. Brother Lu, let me tell you my part first. My shifu, Changchun the Perfected One,² happened to hear that the Master of Peach Blossom Island had taken against the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan and meant to wipe out all six of their households. My shifu raced ahead of him to Jiaxing to warn them, but the Six Eccentrics were not at home. They had gone off on their travels. So my shifu told their families to scatter and hide, and when Island Master Huang arrived, he could not find a single one of them. He flew into a towering rage, stormed about to no purpose, then turned north, and what happened after that, no one knows. Do you?”

Lu Guanying nodded.

Yin Zhiping said, “Hm. It looks as though Island Master Huang is still hunting for the Six Eccentrics. My shifu and the Six Eccentrics had a quarrel once, but for one thing, that quarrel has been patched up and they’ve become friends. For another, he admires the way the Six Eccentrics throw themselves into other people’s troubles, and he’s very grateful for their chivalry. And for a third, he thinks the Six Eccentrics have done nothing wrong in this. The Seven Zis of Quanzhen happened to be gathered in Jiangnan, so they all split up to look for the Six Eccentrics and tell them to be on their guard, better still to go far away, so that they don’t run into your Patriarch³ and throw their lives away for nothing. Was that the right thing to do?”

Lu Guanying nodded several times.

Huang Rong thought, Jing gege has already been to Peach Blossom Island to keep the appointment. Why should Father still go after the Six Eccentrics to settle scores? She did not know that her father had believed Venerable Lingzhi’s lie that she had perished at sea, and in his grief had turned his anger on the Six Eccentrics.

Then she heard Yin Zhiping go on, “When we couldn’t find the Six Eccentrics, my shifu thought of their disciple, Guo Jing. He’s from Niu Family Village in Lin’an Prefecture and has most likely gone back home, so my shifu sent me here to look for him, thinking he would surely know where his six shifus are. You’ve come here for the same reason, I take it?” Lu Guanying nodded again.

Yin Zhiping said, “But it turns out Brother Guo hasn’t come home. My shifu has done everything a friend could for the Six Eccentrics, but if he can’t find them, there’s nothing more to be done, and it looks as though Island Master Huang may not find them either. Is the favour you want to ask of me to do with this, Brother Lu?” Lu Guanying nodded. Yin Zhiping said, “Whatever you need, Brother Lu, just say it. If it’s in my power, I’ll do it.”

Lu Guanying said nothing and looked thoroughly awkward.

Cheng Yaojia laughed. “You’ve forgotten, Shige Yin. Young sir Lu⁴ can’t come out and say it.”

Yin Zhiping laughed. “So he can’t. Do you want me to stay in this village and wait for Brother Guo, Brother Lu?” Lu Guanying shook his head. “Then do you want me to go after the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan and Brother Guo, fast as I can?” Lu Guanying shook his head again.

“Ah, I’ve got it,” said Yin Zhiping. “You want me to spread the word through the jianghu.⁵ The Six Eccentrics are men of Jiangnan with friends everywhere, so they’re bound to hear of it before long.”

Lu Guanying shook his head yet again. Yin Zhiping guessed seven or eight more things one after another, and every time Lu Guanying shook his head. Cheng Yaojia tried twice to help, and was no nearer. Yin Zhiping was growing frantic, and so, in the next room, was Huang Rong.

The three of them sat at a deadlock for a long while. Yin Zhiping forced a smile. “Shimei Cheng, you can work on him at your leisure. I’m no good at riddles. I’ll take a walk and come back in a shichen.⁶” With that he went out of the door, leaving no one in the hall but Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia, and Hou Tonghai.

Cheng Yaojia lowered her head. After a while, when Lu Guanying had not moved, she stole a glance at him, and he happened to be looking at her too. Their eyes met, and both hastily looked away. Cheng Yaojia blushed scarlet again, bowed her slender neck and fiddled with the silk tassel on the hilt of her jian.

Lu Guanying rose slowly and went over to the stove, and to the Kitchen God⁷ painted on the stove he said, “Kitchen God, this lowly one carries a worry that cannot be told to anyone, so I can only tell it to you. May the god hear me and protect us.”

Cheng Yaojia thought in admiration, What a clever man. She raised her head and listened attentively.

He said, “I am Lu Guanying, son of Manor Master Lu of Returning Clouds Manor on the western shore of Lake Tai. My father’s honoured name is Cheng, then Feng.⁸ My father is a disciple of Island Master Huang of Peach Blossom Island. Some days ago the Patriarch came to our manor and said he meant to kill the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan and every soul in their households, master and servant alike. He ordered my father and Shibo Mei⁹ to help him find where the Six Eccentrics were. Shibo Mei has a deep and bitter feud with the Six Eccentrics and could ask for nothing better. But my father knows that the Six Xias of Jiangnan are loyal and true, heroes and brave men through and through, and that killing them would be a great wrong. Besides, my father has made friends with Shishu Guo, the Six Xias’ disciple, and could not stand by in such a matter. When he heard the Patriarch’s orders, he was sorely torn. He wanted to send me with word to the Six Xias of Jiangnan to go far away out of danger, yet he must not betray his shimen. That night my father looked up at the sky, gave a long sigh, and murmured to himself, and so told what was on his mind. I was beside him and heard it, and I thought that to take my father’s burden on myself was a son’s duty, and the Patriarch is, after all, one step further removed from me. So I set off that very night to find the Six Xias and warn them.”

Huang Rong and Cheng Yaojia both thought, So he is copying his father’s trick of covering his ears while stealing the bell, plainly wanting to be heard, yet unwilling to bear the blame for betraying his shimen.

Then they heard him go on, “I couldn’t find the Six Xias, so I thought I would look for their disciple, Shishu Guo, instead, but no one knows where he has gone either. Shishu Guo is the Patriarch’s son-in-law…”

Cheng Yaojia could not help letting out a soft “Ah”, and quickly put her hand over her mouth. She had been thinking of Guo Jing morning and night, and believed herself deeply in love. She did not know that it was only a young girl’s spring fancy, a heart with nowhere to rest, amusing itself, and not true love at all. She simply had not known it herself. But today she had met Lu Guanying, and found him dashing and handsome and better than Guo Jing in every way. Now, hearing that Guo Jing was Huang Yaoshi’s son-in-law, she felt a jolt, of course, but not the slightest pang of self-pity or hurt, and she put it down to her own open nature. Besides, back in Baoying she had seen how close Guo Jing and Huang Rong were, so there was nothing surprising in it. The truth was that, without her knowing, her heart had already turned to someone else.

Hearing Cheng Yaojia’s soft cry, Lu Guanying longed to turn round and see her face. He forced himself not to, thinking, If I see her listening to me, I’ll never be able to go on. That night Father talked to the sky and never once looked at me. Now I’m pouring out my heart to the Kitchen God, and if she overhears, she’s eavesdropping of her own accord, and that’s none of my business. He went on, “If only Shishu Guo can be found, he and Shigu Huang¹⁰ will surely plead with the Patriarch. Stern as the Patriarch is, he must love his daughter and son-in-law, and he can hardly insist on killing his son-in-law’s six shifus. Only, from what my father said, it sounded as if Shishu Guo and Shigu Huang had met with some great disaster, and I couldn’t very well ask him what had really happened.”

Huang Rong heard this and thought, Could Father know that Jing gege is gravely wounded at this moment? No, he cannot possibly know. Most likely he has learned we are stranded on a desert island.

Lu Guanying went on, “Shixiong Yin is a warm-hearted man, and Young Mistress Cheng is very clever and kind…” (Cheng Yaojia, hearing him praise her to her face, was both pleased and shy.) “…but the idea in my head is so far-fetched that no one could be expected to guess it. The Six Xias of Jiangnan are famous heroes and brave men, and though their martial arts are no match for the Patriarch’s, telling them to run away from danger would be saying outright that they’re afraid to die. They’d never do such a thing, I’m sure. And if the news spread and they heard of it, I’m afraid that far from keeping out of the way, they’d go looking for the Patriarch themselves! Wouldn’t that turn saving them into harming them?”

Huang Rong nodded to herself. Lu Guanying, she thought, was a worthy chief of the brave men of Lake Tai. He knew the temper of the jianghu’s brave men well.

She heard him go on, “The Seven Zis of Quanzhen are chivalrous at heart, their name is great and their martial arts high, so I thought that if Shixiong Yin and Young Mistress Cheng would beg their teachers to step in and make peace, the Patriarch would have to give them face. I doubt there’s any real deep feud between the Patriarch and the Six Xias of Jiangnan. Most likely the Six Xias said or did something that offended him, and if only some figures of standing would come forward to make peace, I can’t see how it could fail. Kitchen God, my difficulty is that I have an idea and can’t tell it to anyone able to act on it. Your powers are vast and reach the Court of Heaven, so please, see to it as you think best.” With that he bowed again and again to the Kitchen God.

When he had finished, Cheng Yaojia turned quickly to go and tell Yin Zhiping, but she had just reached the door when she heard Lu Guanying speak again. “Kitchen God, if the Seven Zis of Quanzhen would step in and make peace, it would be a fine thing indeed. Only, when the Seven Zis make peace, they must be very respectful and on no account high-handed, or they’ll offend the Patriarch. Otherwise, before one wave has settled another will rise, and that would be terrible. That’s all I have to say to you. There’s nothing more.”

Cheng Yaojia smiled sweetly and thought, You’ve said your piece, and I’ll go and see to it for you. She went out of the inn to find Yin Zhiping, walked once round the village without seeing a sign of him, and was turning back when she heard Yin Zhiping call softly, “Shimei Cheng!” He leaned out from round the corner of a wall and beckoned.

Cheng Yaojia was glad. “Ah! Here you are.”

Yin Zhiping signed to her to keep quiet, pointed to the west, and came over to her. He said softly, “There are men over there, skulking about and peering round corners, and they’re all armed.”

Cheng Yaojia could think of nothing but what Lu Guanying had said, and she paid this no attention. “They’re probably just passing through.”

But Yin Zhiping looked grave, and said softly, “Those men move very fast. Their martial arts are very good indeed. We’ll have to be careful.”

It was Peng Lianhu and the others he had seen. When Hou Tonghai had been gone a long while, they guessed he must have come to grief, and remembering what the ghosts in the palace had done to them the night before, who would dare go to his rescue? Then, catching sight of Yin Zhiping, they at once slipped away and kept their distance.

Yin Zhiping waited some time. When there was no further movement ahead, he crept forward to look, and they were gone without a trace.

Cheng Yaojia told him what Lu Guanying had said. Yin Zhiping laughed. “So that’s what he had in mind. How was anyone to guess it? Shimei Cheng, you go and appeal to Shishu Sun,¹¹ and I’ll speak to my shifu. If the Seven Zis of Quanzhen are willing to step in, what is there in the world that can’t be done?”

Cheng Yaojia said, “But this mustn’t be bungled.” And she told him Lu Guanying’s last words too.

Yin Zhiping gave a cold laugh. “Hmph, and what of Huang Yaoshi? Is he stronger than the Seven Zis of Quanzhen?”

Cheng Yaojia wanted to tell him not to be so arrogant, but seeing the hard set of his face, she swallowed the words.

The two returned together to the inn.

Lu Guanying said, “I’ll be on my way now. If ever your road takes you past Lake Tai, you must both come and stay a few days at Returning Clouds Manor.”

Seeing that he was about to go, Cheng Yaojia was very loath to let him. But all the tender feeling in her heart, how could she dare let even a hint of it show?

Yin Zhiping turned his back on them and said to the Kitchen God, “Kitchen God, there’s nothing the Quanzhen Order likes better than settling other people’s quarrels. Whatever wrong is done in the jianghu, once a Quanzhen disciple hears of it, he’ll never stand by and do nothing.”

Lu Guanying knew this was meant for him, and he said, “Kitchen God, I pray you will help this matter end in peace. I shall be grateful for ever to every junzi who lends a hand.”

Yin Zhiping said, “Don’t you worry, Kitchen God. The Seven Zis of Quanzhen are feared throughout the world. Once they agree to act, however huge the business, there’s nothing they can’t settle.”

Lu Guanying was taken aback, and thought, If the Seven Zis of Quanzhen try to force a peace by strength, how will the Patriarch ever stand for it? He said quickly, “Kitchen God, you know the Patriarch has always gone his own way and paid no heed to anyone. If people talk to him as friends, he’ll listen. But try to reason with him, and there’s nothing he hates more!”

Yin Zhiping said, “Ha ha, Kitchen God, are the Seven Zis of Quanzhen to go in fear of anyone? This business has nothing to do with us in the first place, and my shifu only told me to carry a message. But if anyone picks a quarrel with the Quanzhen Order, Huang Yaoshi or Black Yaoshi or whoever he may be, the Quanzhen Order will show him a thing or two.”

Lu Guanying felt his anger rising. “Kitchen God, forget what I said just now. Take it for the talk of a man dreaming. If anyone looks down on us, we won’t accept a favour, however great.”

Footnotes

1. 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. ↩

2. 真人 — zhēnrén. Literally true person. An honorific title for a Daoist master who has attained a high level of cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

4. 相公 — xiànggōng. A courteous address to a young man of standing, and also how a wife addresses her husband. ↩

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

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

7. 灶王爷 — Zàowángyé. The Kitchen God, deity of the household stove, who reports on each family to Heaven at the end of the year. ↩

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

9. 师伯 — shībó. Senior lineage uncle. The shixiong or shijie of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Bó means father’s elder brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 师姑 — shīgū. Female lineage aunt. A shijie or shimei of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Gū means father’s sister. ↩

11. 师叔 — shīshū. Junior lineage uncle. The shidi or shimei of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩