The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 25 – Part 2

The light faded by degrees and darkness gathered, and Cheng Yaojia’s¹ heart beat faster and faster. They heard Huang Yaoshi² mutter to himself, “Why isn’t that silly girl back yet? Hmph, I doubt those scoundrels would dare lay a hand on her.” He turned to Lu Guanying³ and said, “Tonight is your wedding night. Why haven’t you lit the candles?”

“At once!” said Lu Guanying. He took fire-steel and flint and lit the candles. By their light he saw Young Mistress Cheng, her cloud of hair soft as mist, her fragrant cheeks fairer than snow, and on her face a mingling of joy, surprise and shyness beyond all power of words to describe. Outside the door the insects murmured softly and the wind stirred the green bamboo, and he truly did not know whether it was real or a dream!

Huang Yaoshi took a bench, set it across the doorway and lay down on it. Before long he was snoring softly, fast asleep.

Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia still did not move. A long while passed. The red candles burned down to nothing, the flames went out, and the hall was plunged into pitch darkness. The two of them murmured a few indistinct words in low voices. Huang Rong⁴ strained her ears but could not make out what they said. Suddenly she felt Guo Jing’s⁵ body tremble and his breathing quicken, as if the breath within him had strayed down a wrong channel. At once she gathered all her concentration and circulated her neili⁶ to help him.

When his breathing had steadied and she put her eye to the little hole again, moonlight was slanting in through the broken window. Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia were nestled side by side on a bench. Cheng Yaojia said in a low voice, “Do you know what day it is today?”

Lu Guanying said, “Why, it’s our wedding day.”

Cheng Yaojia said, “Need you even say so? Today is the second of the seventh month. It’s the birthday of my third aunt, a cousin of my mother’s.”

Lu Guanying smiled. “Ah, you must have a great many relatives, haven’t you? It’s good of you to keep so many birthdays in your head.”

Huang Rong thought, Your wife’s family is one of the great clans of Baoying.⁷ Once all her aunts and nephews start holding their birthdays one after another, they’ll wear you out, Great Chief Lu of Lake Tai.⁸ Then, with a jolt, she thought, Today is the second of the seventh month, and Jing gege⁹ won’t be healed until the seventh. The Beggars’ Guild¹⁰ holds its great assembly in Yuezhou¹¹ on the fifteenth. Time is pressing hard.

Suddenly a long whistle rang out beyond the door, followed by a great roar of laughter that shook the roof tiles. It was Zhou Botong’s¹² voice. They heard him shout, “Old Venom,¹³ you chased me from Lin’an¹⁴ to Jiaxing,¹⁵ then from Jiaxing back to Lin’an, a whole day and a night, and you still can’t catch Old Wild Child.¹⁶ The contest between us two is settled, so why race any more?”

Startled, Huang Rong thought, Lin’an to Jiaxing and back is more than five hundred li.¹⁷ How fast these two are on their feet!

Then Ouyang Feng’s¹⁸ voice cried, “Run to the end of the sky, and I’ll chase you to the end of the sky.”

Zhou Botong laughed. “Then we’ll neither eat nor sleep, nor piss nor shit, and race to see who’s faster and who lasts longer. Do you dare?”

Ouyang Feng said, “Why shouldn’t I dare? We’ll see who bursts first!”

Zhou Botong said, “Old Venom, when it comes to holding in your shit and piss, you’ll never beat me.”

The words were scarcely out of their mouths when both threw back their heads and laughed long and loud, and the laughter was already more than a hundred feet away.

Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia had no idea who these two could be. Hearing them come and go in a flash in the dead of night, they stared at each other in alarm and went hand in hand to the doorway to look. Huang Rong thought, They are racing each other, and Father is sure to follow and see it for himself. Sure enough, she heard Lu Guanying exclaim, “Eh? Where has the Patriarch¹⁹ gone?”

Cheng Yaojia said, “Look, three figures over there. The last one looks like your Patriarch.”

Lu Guanying said, “That’s right. Ah, how did they get so far away in the blink of an eye? I wonder who those two eminent masters are. It’s a pity I didn’t get a proper look.”

Huang Rong thought, Old Wild Child would be well enough, but no good ever came of meeting Old Venom.

Seeing that Huang Yaoshi had gone, Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia supposed they were alone in the inn and put aside all restraint. Lu Guanying slipped his arm round his bride’s slender waist and asked softly, “Little sister, what is your name?”

Cheng Yaojia laughed. “I won’t tell you. Guess.”

Lu Guanying smiled. “If it isn’t Kitten, it’s Puppy.”

Cheng Yaojia laughed. “Neither. It’s Tigress.”

Lu Guanying laughed. “Ah, then I simply must catch this tigress.” Cheng Yaojia wriggled free and sprang over the table, and Lu Guanying gave chase, laughing. One fled and one pursued, and round and round the hall they went, giggling all the while.

The starlight was faint, and Huang Rong could not make the two of them out in the little mirror. She only listened, smiling. Then Guo Jing whispered in her ear, “Do you think he’ll catch Young Mistress Cheng?”

Huang Rong laughed softly. “He’ll definitely catch her.”

Guo Jing said, “And then what?”

A warmth rose in Huang Rong’s heart, and she could find no answer. Then she heard that Lu Guanying had caught Cheng Yaojia, and the two of them sat on a bench in each other’s arms, talking and laughing in low voices.

Huang Rong’s right palm was pressed against Guo Jing’s left. She felt the centre of his palm grow hotter and hotter, and his body swayed from side to side, faster and faster. Alarm seized her, and she asked quickly, “Jing gege, what’s wrong? Let’s stop for now. You mustn’t let your breath run its circuit.” She drew her hand away and let go of his palm.

Since his grave injury, Guo Jing’s powers of concentration had been much weakened, and all through his practice of the Greater Nine Yin Technique²⁰ he had been beset by the demons in his own heart. Now, with the sound of Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia laughing and whispering endearments, and beside him a girl as lovely as a flower whom he loved beyond all measure, he was little by little losing his hold on himself. His whole body seethed with desire. He turned and reached out his right arm to take her by the shoulders.

His breathing was quick and ragged and his palm was burning hot. Huang Rong was inwardly alarmed and said quickly, “Jing gege, take care. Steady your heart and sink your breath, quickly.”

Guo Jing’s heart was in turmoil. He said urgently, “I can’t do it, Rong-er. I… I…” And with that he made to stand up.

Huang Rong was frantic. “Whatever you do, don’t move!”

Guo Jing forced himself to sit down and took a few breaths. He was in an agony of restlessness, his chest felt fit to burst, and again he made to rise.

Huang Rong snapped, “Sit down! If you move, I’ll seal your acupoints.²¹”

Guo Jing said, “Yes. Do it, quickly. I can’t control myself.”

Huang Rong knew that if his acupoints were sealed, the breath within him would be blocked, all the work of the past two days would be thrown away, and he would have to begin again from the start. But if she did not seal them, she feared disaster would strike that very moment. She gritted her teeth, swung her left arm round, and used the Orchid Acupoint-Tracing Hand²² to brush the Zhangmen acupoint²³ at the eleventh rib on the left side of his chest.

Her fingers were on the point of brushing the acupoint. But by now Guo Jing’s neigong was deep, and the moment an outside force came at him his muscles shifted of their own accord and slipped her fingers. Huang Rong brushed at him twice and missed both times. She was about to try a third time when her left wrist was suddenly gripped tight. He had reached out and caught it.

Dawn was breaking. Huang Rong saw that his eyes were blood-red, as though they would spit fire, and her alarm grew. She felt him dragging at her wrist, mumbling words she could not make out, as if he had lost his wits. In her desperation she swung her arm across, thrust out her elbow and rammed her shoulder hard against his arm. The spikes of the Soft Hedgehog Armour²⁴ drove into the flesh of his arm. Guo Jing felt a stab of pain and froze for an instant. Just then a cockerel in the village crowed long and loud. It was like a flash of lightning in his mind, and at once his head was clear. Slowly he let go of Huang Rong’s wrist, overcome with shame.

Huang Rong saw the sweat streaming down his forehead, his face ashen, his whole bearing drained and spent. But the moment of danger had plainly passed, and she said gladly, “Jing gege, we’ve come through two days and two nights.”

With a smack, Guo Jing struck himself across the face. “That was close!” He raised his hand to strike himself again, but Huang Rong stopped him with a smile. “That’s nothing much. Even Old Wild Child, with all his skill, couldn’t hold firm when he heard my father’s flute, let alone you, badly hurt as you are.”

In the heat of Guo Jing’s battle between reason and desire, the two of them had both forgotten to keep their voices down. Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia, lost in a giddy swoon of love, naturally noticed nothing. But in the inner room Ouyang Ke’s²⁵ ears were keen, and he had faintly made out Huang Rong’s voice. Alarmed and delighted at once, he strained to listen, but there was no further sound.

The bones of both his legs had been crushed by the great rock, and it would be half a year or a year before they healed. He could not walk. Using his hands for feet, he came out upside down.

Lu Guanying was sitting on a bench beside his bride, his left arm round her shoulders, when he heard a rustling in the straw. He turned his head and saw a man coming out of the inner room on his hands. Startled, he sprang up and drew his dao.

Ouyang Ke had been badly hurt to begin with, and having gone so long without food he was weaker still. At the sudden dazzling flash of the dao, a wave of dizziness came over him and he collapsed on the floor. Seeing how ill he looked, Lu Guanying stepped forward, helped him on to a bench and propped his back against the edge of the table. Cheng Yaojia gave a cry of alarm. She recognised him as the villain who had once seized her in Baoying County.

Seeing her frightened look, Lu Guanying said soothingly, “Don’t be afraid. His legs are broken.”

Cheng Yaojia said, “He’s a bad man. I know him.”

Lu Guanying said, “Ah!”

Ouyang Ke slowly came to and shouted, “Give me a bowl of rice. I’m starving!”

Cheng Yaojia saw that his cheeks were sunken and his eyes dull and lifeless, nothing like the swaggering arrogance he had shown when he insulted her that day. She had always been soft-hearted, and being newly married, her heart was brimming with happiness. So she went to the kitchen and filled him a bowl of rice.

Ouyang Ke ate one bowl and asked for another. With two great bowls of rice inside him his strength revived wonderfully, and as he gazed at Young Mistress Cheng his wicked thoughts stirred again. But his mind was on Huang Rong after all, and he asked, “Where is Miss Huang?”

Lu Guanying said, “Which Miss Huang?”

Ouyang Ke said, “The daughter of Huang Yaoshi of Peach Blossom Island.²⁶”

Lu Guanying said, “You know my shigu,²⁷ Miss Huang? I heard she is no longer in this world.”

Ouyang Ke laughed. “You think you can fool me? I heard her voice plainly.” He pressed his left hand on the table and swung himself round. By now his broken right arm had knitted, and the injury was largely healed. Supporting himself on both hands, he searched the place inside and out. He recalled that Huang Rong’s voice had come from the east, but on the east side there was only wall, with no door. Thinking it over carefully, he concluded that the bowl cupboard must hide some secret. He dragged the table up to the cupboard, swung himself on to it and sat, then pulled open the cupboard door, fully expecting to find a doorway inside. Instead it was thick with dust and filth, and he was sorely disappointed.

Looking more closely, he saw several fresh handprints in the dust beside an iron bowl. An idea came to him. He reached out to lift it, but try as he might it would not move, so he turned it instead. There was a grinding creak, and a secret door in the cupboard slid slowly aside, revealing Huang Rong and Guo Jing sitting composed in a small chamber.

The sight of Huang Rong filled him with joy, but Guo Jing beside her made him both afraid and jealous. He sat stunned for a long moment, then asked, “Little sister, are you practising martial arts in here?”

Through the little hole Huang Rong had watched him move the table up to the cupboard, and knew he was bound to discover their hiding place. She was already working out how to kill him. When she saw the secret door begin to move, she whispered in Guo Jing’s ear, “I’ll lure him close. Finish him with one move of the Dragon-Subduing Palms.²⁸”

Guo Jing said, “I can’t put any force into my palms.”

Huang Rong was about to say more when Ouyang Ke came into view. She thought, What great lie can I tell to lure him far away, so that we can last out the five days and nights that are left?

At first Ouyang Ke was very wary of Guo Jing. But seeing how haggard he looked, he remembered his uncle saying he had killed him in the palace with the Toad Skill.²⁹ So he was not dead after all, though he was surely gravely hurt. From the look of the two of them he had already guessed most of the truth, and he meant to test it further. He said, “Come out, little sister. It must be terribly stuffy hiding in here.” As he spoke, he reached out to pull at Huang Rong’s sleeve.

Huang Rong raised her bamboo staff and brought it down on his crown with Staff Strikes the Dog’s Head, a ruthless blow and one of the deep moves of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique.³⁰ The staff whistled through the air, swift and fierce. Ouyang Ke dodged hastily to the left, but her staff had already changed course into a sweep. Alarmed, he turned a somersault over the table and landed on the floor. Had Huang Rong been able to pursue him, a single Reverse Thrust at the Dog’s Rump would have struck him in a vital spot. But she was sitting cross-legged and would not risk leaving the chamber. Over and over she thought, What a pity!

Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia were startled to see people in the cupboard. By the time they saw clearly that it was Guo Jing and Huang Rong, Huang Rong and Ouyang Ke were already fighting.

The moment Ouyang Ke landed, he planted both hands on the floor and vaulted back up to sit on the table. He unleashed his seizing techniques, hooking, striking, locking and hitting, and fought Huang Rong through the doorway of the secret chamber. Subtle as Huang Rong’s Dog-Beating Staff Technique was, she could not move her body, and it was hard to put any force into her moves. Besides, Ouyang Ke’s martial arts were far above hers. They had traded little more than a dozen moves when she was struggling to fend him off, in danger at every turn.

Lu Guanying and his wife came at him from both sides with dao and jian. Ouyang Ke gave a long, ringing laugh and suddenly chopped his palm at Guo Jing’s face.

Guo Jing was powerless to resist. Seeing the blow come, he could only shut his eyes and wait for death. In horror Huang Rong flicked her staff up at it. Ouyang Ke turned his hand over, caught the end of the staff and wrenched it outwards. Huang Rong was no match for his strength. Her body lurched, and she had to let go of the staff. Her hand went to the front of her robe, and she flung out a handful of steel needles.

They were no more than a few feet apart. By the time Ouyang Ke saw the dazzling glint, the needles were almost at his face. He tensed his waist and flung himself flat on his back on the table, and the needles missed him. Lu Guanying saw him lying there like meat on the chopping block, raised his dao above his head and brought it down hard at his neck. Ouyang Ke rolled to the right. With a thunk, Lu Guanying’s steel dao bit into the table. He heard needles hiss above his head, and then his back went suddenly numb, and half his body stiffened at once. He tried to dodge, but his enemy had already seized his right arm from behind.

In alarm Cheng Yaojia rushed to save him. Ouyang Ke laughed. “Splendid.” He clawed at her chest, his hand so fast that he already had the front of her robe in his grip. Cheng Yaojia slashed back at his wrist with her jian and sprang away at the same instant. There was a rip, and a piece of her robe was torn away in his hand. She was so frightened that she almost dropped her jian, and the blood drained from her face. She did not dare go near him again.

Ouyang Ke sat on the corner of the table. He looked round and saw that the secret door in the cupboard had closed again. That near miss with the needles had given him a chill too. He thought, That little wench is not easy to fight. Ah ha, I have it. I’ll have some sport with Young Mistress Cheng. That will so unsettle the Guo boy and the little wench that they lose their hold on themselves and wreck their training. Then won’t they do exactly as I say? The idea delighted him, and he thought on, The little Huang girl is a fairy from Heaven. I must have her follow me of her own free will for the rest of her life. Taking her by force would have no charm at all. This plan is splendid, splendid beyond words! He said to Cheng Yaojia, “Well now, Young Mistress Cheng, do you want him dead or alive?”

Footnotes

1. 程瑶迦 — Chéng Yáojiā. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

3. 陆冠英 — Lù Guānyīng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 郭靖 — Guō Jìng. His name meaning “to pacify”; paired with Yang Kang’s 康 it recalls the Jingkang Shame of 1127. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

7. 宝应 — Bǎoyìng. A county in Jiangsu, on the Grand Canal. See Wikipedia. ↩

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

9. 靖哥哥 — Jìng gēge. Literally elder brother Jing. ↩

10. 丐帮 — Gàibāng. Literally beggars’ guild. The largest band in the jianghu, with members throughout the realm. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 岳州 — Yuèzhōu. A prefecture on Dongting Lake, modern Yueyang in Hunan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

13. 老毒物 — lǎo dúwù. Literally old venomous thing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 临安 — Lín’ān. Capital of Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1276) known for its cultural refinement and West Lake scenery. Modern day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

15. 嘉兴 — Jiāxīng. City to the northeast of Lin’an, in modern day Zhejiang Province. See Wikipedia. ↩

16. 老顽童 — lǎo wántóng. Literally old wild child. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 里 — lǐ. A traditional unit of distance, about 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩

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

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

20. 九阴大法 — Jiǔyīn Dàfǎ. Advanced techniques from the Nine Yin Manual. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 穴道 — xuédào. Acupoints, the nodes along the body’s meridians through which qi flows. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 兰花拂穴手 — Lánhuā Fú Xuè Shǒu. Huang Rong’s hereditary art of brushing the acupoints with the fingers, prized for being fast, accurate, strange and clear. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 章门穴 — Zhāngmén Xué. An acupoint on the side of the lower ribs. ↩

24. 软猬甲 — Ruǎnwèijiǎ. A vest set with tiny barbs, proof against blades and fists, treasured on Peach Blossom Island. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

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

28. 降龙十八掌 — Xiánglóng Shíbā Zhǎng. Literally eighteen dragon-subduing palms. Hong Qigong’s palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

30. 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. ↩