The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 25 – Part 6

It was a rule of the Beggars’ Guild¹ that to see the Dog-Beating Staff² was to see the Guild Chief himself. When Yang Kang took no notice of them, the two beggars only grew more deferential.

The fat beggar said, “The assembly at Yuezhou³ is very close now, and time is short. Elder Jian⁴ of the eastern route set out west seven days ago.”

Yang Kang was more and more lost, and grunted again.

The thin beggar said, “We disciples lost time searching for the Guild Chief’s staff, and must take the road at once. If Your Honour is setting out today as well, we will go with you and wait on you all the way.”

Yang Kang was mystified. But he had wanted to get away from his shifu as soon as he could, and whatever the two beggars were talking about, here was his chance. He knelt to Ma Yu,⁵ Qiu Chuji⁶ and the others and said, “I have urgent business and cannot stay in attendance on you, my teachers. I humbly beg your pardon.”

Ma Yu and the others all supposed he must have some weighty connection with the Beggars’ Guild. The Guild was the greatest brotherhood in the land, and its chief, Hong Qigong,⁷ was a master as famous as their late shifu, the Perfected One Wang,⁸ so naturally they could not stop him. With the two beggars present they could hardly question him closely, so they greeted the fat beggar and the thin with the courtesies of the jianghu.⁹

The two beggars had long revered the Seven Zis of Quanzhen, and knowing them to be of Yang Kang’s teachers’ generation, they were humbler still, calling themselves “this junior” at every word. Mu Nianci mentioned the dealings she had had with them years before, and how Hong Qigong had given her some guidance in martial arts, and at that the two beggars grew far warmer and invited her to come with them to the assembly at Yuezhou. Mu Nianci longed to travel with Yang Kang, and nodded her agreement at once. The four of them took their leave of Ma Yu and the others with due courtesy and went out.

Qiu Chuji had been so angry with Yang Kang that he had meant to cripple his martial arts there and then, and only his feeling for his old friend Yang Tiexin¹⁰ had kept him from doing it. But now, first, he saw how close the boy and Mu Nianci were, so that the shameless business of the contest for a husband had turned out happily after all. Second, having learned the truth of his birth, the boy had given up riches and honour and taken back the surname Yang, so his own pains as a teacher had not been wasted. Third, senior disciples of the Beggars’ Guild held the boy in high esteem, which reflected well on the Quanzhen Order.¹¹ The anger that had filled him turned at once to delight. Stroking his long beard, he smiled as he watched the two of them go.

That night Ma Yu and the others slept in the hall of the inn, waiting for Tan Chuduan¹² and the other two to come back. But the whole of the next day passed without any word, and all four grew anxious. Not until midnight did they hear a long whistle from beyond the village.

Sun Buer¹³ said, “Hao shige¹⁴ is back!”

Ma Yu gave a low whistle in reply. Before long, a figure flickered in the doorway, and Hao Datong¹⁵ glided in.

Huang Rong had never seen this man, and put her eye to the little hole to look. It was the fifth day of the seventh month, and a sliver of new moon was peeping in at the window. By its light she saw that the Daoist was tall and stout, with something of the look of an official about him. Both sleeves of his Daoist robe had been cut off halfway and stopped at the elbow, unlike the robes Ma Yu and the others wore.

Before he left the world, Hao Datong had been the richest man in Ninghai Prefecture¹⁶ in Shandong. He had made a deep study of the Yijing and passed his time telling fortunes. Later, at the Cave of Smoke and Mist,¹⁷ he had taken Wang Chongyang¹⁸ as his shifu. Wang Chongyang had taken off his own robe, torn off both its sleeves, and given it to him to wear, saying, “Do not fret that you have no sleeves. You must complete yourself.” Xiu, sleeve, and shou, to impart, have the same sound, and the meaning was that how much of the inner method a shifu imparts matters less. Whether one attains the Dao lies in one’s own awakening. Grateful for his shifu’s kindness, Hao Datong had worn Daoist robes without sleeves ever since.

Qiu Chuji, always the most impatient, asked, “What happened to Zhou shishu? Was he only playing with those men, or was it a real fight?”

Hao Datong shook his head. “I’m ashamed to say it. This younger brother’s skill is shallow. After only seven or eight li I lost sight of Zhou shishu and the others. Tan shige and Liu shige were ahead of me. I was useless. I searched a whole day and a night and found no trace.”

Ma Yu nodded. “Hao shidi, you have worked hard. Sit and rest.”

Hao Datong sat down cross-legged, circulated his neili¹⁹ once round the major acupoints of his body, and went on, “On my way back I met six people at Zhou Wang Temple.²⁰ From their looks they were the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan²¹ just as Qiu shige described them, so I went up and spoke to them, and so they were. They had just come back from Peach Blossom Island.”

Qiu Chuji was delighted. “What nerve the six of them have, to go to Peach Blossom Island. No wonder we couldn’t find them.”

Hao Datong said, “Daxia Ke, Ke Zhen’e,²² the eldest of the six, told me they had an appointment with Huang Yaoshi and had gone to Peach Blossom Island to keep it. They should have gone with Guo Jing, but they waited and he never came, so they went on their own. And then Huang Yaoshi was not on the island.”

Qiu Chuji said, “That was close! It’s lucky Old Heretic Huang²³ wasn’t there!”

Guo Jing was overjoyed to hear that his six shifus were safe. By now he had been at his practice for five days and five nights, and his injuries were more than half healed.

In the dead of the sixth night, in the hour of chou,²⁴ a whistle sounded east of the village.

Qiu Chuji said, “Liu shidi is back.”

A moment later Liu Chuxuan²⁵ came in with an old man with a long beard and long hair. The old man wore a short jacket of yellow kudzu cloth and hemp sandals, and waved a great rush-leaf fan, laughing and talking as he came in. To the five Zis of Quanzhen he gave no more than a slight nod, as though they were beneath his notice.

Liu Chuxuan said, “This is Esteemed Senior Qiu, Iron Palm Skims the Water.²⁶ It is our good fortune to meet him.”

Huang Rong almost laughed out loud, and nudged Guo Jing with her elbow. Guo Jing too thought it funny. Both of them thought, Let’s see how this old rogue fools people this time.

Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the others had all long known the great name of Qiu Qianren,²⁷ and at once they were filled with respect, and spoke to him with great deference. Qiu Qianren boasted wildly as the fancy took him. In the end Qiu Chuji asked whether he had seen their shishu, Zhou Botong.²⁸

Qiu Qianren said, “Old Wild Child? Huang Yaoshi killed him long ago.”

They were all aghast.

Liu Chuxuan said, “Surely not? This junior saw Zhou shishu only the day before yesterday. It’s just that he ran so fast I couldn’t catch him.”

Qiu Qianren was taken aback. He smiled and made no answer, working out in his head how to patch up his lie.

Qiu Chuji broke in, “Liu shidi, did you see what sort of men the two chasing Shishu were?”

Liu Chuxuan said, “One wore a white robe, the other a long robe of dark cloth. They ran tremendously fast. I only caught a vague glimpse of the one in the dark robe, and his face was most peculiar, like a corpse’s.”

Qiu Qianren had seen Huang Yaoshi at Returning Clouds Manor,²⁹ where he had worn a long robe of dark cloth and a mask of human skin over his face, so that he looked like a corpse. At the time Qiu Qianren had not known it was Huang Yaoshi. Now, to patch up his lie, he lumped the two together and chimed in,

“Yes, the one who killed Old Wild Child was this Huang Yaoshi in the long dark robe. Who else would have the skill? I meant to step in and stop him, but alas, I was a moment too late. Ah, what a cruel death Old Wild Child died!”

Qiu Qianren, Iron Palm Skims the Water, had a great name in the wulin³⁰ as a senior master of high standing. How could the six Zis of Quanzhen guess that he was talking nonsense? In an instant every one of them was filled with grief and fury. Qiu Chuji pounded the plank table of the inn till it rang like thunder, and of course heaped curses on Huang Yaoshi’s head.

Listening in the next room, Huang Rong was furious. She did not blame Qiu Qianren for spreading lies. She only thought Qiu Chuji had no business cursing her father like that.

Liu Chuxuan said, “Tan shige is faster on his feet than I am. He may have seen what was done to Shishu.”

Sun Buer said, “Tan shige still isn’t back. Pray he hasn’t fallen foul of that old villain too…” Her face was full of anguish, and she said no more.

Qiu Chuji sprang up, drawing his jian, and cried, “Let’s go, quickly, to save him and take revenge!”

Afraid they would rush off and run into Zhou Botong, Qiu Qianren said hastily, “Huang Yaoshi knows you are gathered here, and he’ll be coming for you any moment. Old Heretic Huang is evil to the core, and today this old man will not suffer him. I’m going after him now. You wait here for my good news.”

They revered him as a senior and did not like to go against his word. Besides, they were afraid of missing Huang Yaoshi on the road, and it really was better to wait here, rested, for the enemy to come to them. So they all bowed and thanked him and saw him to the door.

Qiu Qianren stepped over the threshold, turned and waved his left hand. “No need to see me off. Old Heretic Huang may be formidable, but I have a way to master him. Watch!”

He drew a gleaming, keen jian from his waist, set its point to his lower belly, and with a grunt drove it straight in.

They all cried out in horror. More than half of the blade, a good three feet long, had vanished into his belly.

Qiu Qianren laughed. “No weapon under heaven can harm me. Don’t be alarmed, any of you. If I miss him on the road and Old Heretic Huang finds his way here, don’t fight him, or some of you will be lost. Wait for me to come back and deal with him.”

Qiu Chuji said, “Our shishu’s death must be avenged. As his disciples, we cannot leave it.”

Qiu Qianren sighed. “Very well. It is a calamity fate has decreed. If you mean to have your revenge, there is one thing you must keep firmly in mind.”

Ma Yu said, “Please instruct us, Esteemed Senior Qiu.”

Qiu Qianren’s face grew solemn. “The moment you see Old Heretic Huang, all of you attack him together at once. Do not exchange so much as a word with him, or this vengeance will never be taken. Remember that. It is vital, vital!”

With that he turned and went, the keen jian still sticking out of his belly.

They stared at one another, aghast. Ma Yu and the other five had all seen a great deal of the world, but a keen jian in the belly and the man going on as if nothing had happened was a thing they had never even heard of. The man’s skill, they thought, was truly beyond fathoming.

How could they know that this was yet another of Qiu Qianren’s tricks? His jian was made in three sections. The moment the point met the least resistance, the first and second sections slid in turn into the third, and the point lodged in a fold of his belt, so that from a distance anyone would think more than half the blade had gone into his body.

He had been hired by Wanyan Honglie³¹ to stir up the men of valour of Jiangnan to fight among themselves, to clear the way for the Jin to march south, and so he spread rumours whenever the chance came.

All that day the six Zis of Quanzhen could neither sit nor stand still, and had no heart for tea or food. They kept watch until midnight on the seventh, when they heard faint whistling to the north of the village, one ahead and one behind, and in a moment it was outside the inn.

Ma Yu and the others, six in all, had been sitting cross-legged on the straw, breathing in and out to refine their qi. Yin Zhiping,³² whose neili was weaker, had already gone to sleep. At the sound of the whistling they all sprang up together.

Ma Yu said, “The enemy is chasing Tan shidi here. All of you, my shidis, take care.”

That night was the last of Guo Jing’s practice to heal his injuries. In these seven days and seven nights he had not only cleared his internal injury step by step, and seen his outer wound begin to close, but his neigong and Huang Rong’s had both advanced. These last few hours were the crucial point at which his work would be brought to completion.

Before this, so long as Guo Jing was not running his breath forward and back through the small and great circuits,³³ he could part his palm from Huang Rong’s for a little while, get up, walk a few steps and stretch himself. But at this final stage he had to run his breath thirty-six times forward and back through the small and great circuits without a pause, to bring the work to completion. His own breath was not strong enough, and he must on no account leave Huang Rong’s palm, or his breath would go astray and he would die on the spot.

Hearing Ma Yu’s words, Huang Rong was very worried. She thought, If it’s Father who’s coming, the Seven Zis of Quanzhen are bound to fight him, and I can’t go out and tell them the truth. I’m afraid all seven will be hurt at Father’s hands. Whether they live or die is no concern of mine, but Jing gege is bound to Daoist Elder Ma and the others by old ties, and being what he is, he could hardly stand by and not go to their help. If he rushes out, not only will all his work be wasted, his life will be in danger too.

She whispered quickly in Guo Jing’s ear, “Jing gege, you must promise me that whatever happens, however serious it is, you will never go out. Otherwise you’ll be killing me!”

Guo Jing had barely nodded when the whistle reached the door.

Qiu Chuji shouted, “Tan shige, form the Big Dipper!”³⁴

When Guo Jing heard the words “Big Dipper”, he started, and thought, The Nine Yin Manual speaks many times of a Dipper Method, calling it the foundation for cultivating the highest arts. What the manual says of it is subtle and profound and hard to understand. I wonder whether this Big Dipper of Daoist Elder Ma and the others has anything to do with it. I must see it for myself. Quickly he put his eye to the little hole.

His eye had only just reached the hole when, with a bang, the front door burst open and a Daoist hurtled in, Tan Chuduan, he supposed. His left foot was already over the threshold when he suddenly staggered and stumbled back out of the door. The enemy had caught up behind him and attacked.

Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi³⁵ leapt to the doorway together, their sleeves flying, and struck out with both palms at once. With a boom, their palm force met the enemy’s outside the door. Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi fell back two steps, and the enemy fell back two steps too, and in that gap Tan Chuduan shot in through the door.

In the moonlight they saw that his hair was wild and tangled, and two thick streaks of blood ran down his face. Only half the long jian in his right hand was left. He cut a very sorry figure.

Once inside, Tan Chuduan said not a word but sat down cross-legged at once, and Ma Yu and the other five sat down too.

Out of the darkness beyond the door a woman’s voice called, cold and sinister, “Old Daoist Tan, if it weren’t for your shixiong Ma Yu, this old lady would have finished you on the road long ago. What did you lead me here for? Who was it that struck out to save you just now? Tell Mei Chaofeng.³⁶”

In the stillness of the night that voice, like the screech of an owl, sent a faint chill down every back, for all the heat of high summer. When she stopped speaking there was utter silence, and they could clearly hear the insects chirring outside the door.

After a moment there came a rapid crackling. Guo Jing knew it came from every joint in Mei Chaofeng’s body, and that any moment now she would rush in and attack.

A little later someone slowly chanted,

“In a wayside nest I have made my home these decades past.”

Guo Jing could tell it was Ma Yu’s voice, its tone calm and serene.

Tan Chuduan took up the chant, his voice rough and bold,

“With tangled hair I roam the livelong day like one possessed.”

Guo Jing looked closely at this second shixiong of the Seven Zis of Quanzhen. His face was knotted with muscle, his brows thick and his eyes large, his frame big and burly. Before he left the world, Tan Chuduan had been a blacksmith in Shandong, and on entering the Quanzhen Order he had taken the Daoist name Changzhenzi.

The third Daoist was small and slight, with a face like a monkey’s. This was Liu Chuxuan the Changshengzi. Small as he was, his voice rang out loud as he chanted,

“Beneath the Begonia Pavilion, Chongyangzi,”

Qiu Chuji the Changchunzi took it up,

“in the lotus-leaf boat, the Taiyi Immortal.”

Wang Chuyi the Yuyangzi chanted,

“Nothing can pass beyond this hollow shell,”

Hao Datong the Guangningzi chanted,

“yet one may wake to what was before one was born.”

Sun Buer, the Unbound Adept Qingjing, chanted,

“Out of the gate with a laugh, by nothing hindered,”

And Ma Yu closed the poem,

“the clouds on West Lake, the moon in the sky!”

Footnotes

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

2. 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. ↩

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

4. 简长老 — Jiǎn Zhǎnglǎo. Literally Elder Jian. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 马钰 — Mǎ Yù. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 丘处机 — Qiū Chǔjī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

8. 王真人 — Wáng Zhēnrén. Literally Wang the Perfected One. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 杨铁心 — Yáng Tiěxīn. His name meaning “iron heart”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 全真教 — Quánzhēn Jiào. Literally complete truth order. Daoist martial-monastic order founded by Wang Chongyang, one of the most influential orthodox factions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 谭处端 — Tán Chǔduān. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 孙不二 — Sūn Bù’èr. Her name meaning “not two”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 师哥 — shīgē. Male senior, the colloquial form of shixiong. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Gē means older brother. ↩

15. 郝大通 — Hǎo Dàtōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 宁海州 — Nínghǎi Zhōu. Literally tranquil sea prefecture. A Song prefecture on the Shandong coast. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 烟霞洞 — Yānxiá dòng. Literally cave of smoke and rosy clouds. The cave on Mount Kunyu in Shandong where Hao Datong became Wang Chongyang’s disciple. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 王重阳 — Wáng Chóngyáng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

20. 周王庙 — Zhōu Wáng Miào. Literally temple of King Zhou. ↩

21. 江南六怪 — Jiāngnán Liù Guài. Literally six eccentrics of Jiangnan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 柯镇恶 — Kē Zhèn’è. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 黄老邪 — Huáng Lǎoxié. Literally old heretic Huang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 丑时 — chǒu shí. The hour of chou, the second of the twelve shichen, from 1 to 3 a.m. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 刘处玄 — Liú Chǔxuán. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

26. 铁掌水上飘 — Tiězhǎng Shuǐshàng Piāo. Literally iron palm floating on water. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

27. 裘千仞 — Qiú Qiānrèn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

29. 归云庄 — Guīyún Zhuāng. Literally returning clouds manor. The Lu family manor on Lake Tai. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

30. 武林 — wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. The wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

33. 大小周天 — dàxiǎo zhōutiān. Literally greater and lesser heavenly circuits. The two circulations of neili in internal cultivation: the lesser through the Ren and Du vessels, the greater through all the meridians. ↩

34. 天罡北斗阵 — Tiāngāng Běidǒu Zhèn. Literally Big Dipper formation of the Heavenly Ladle. A Quanzhen formation of seven, laid out on the stars of the Big Dipper. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

36. 梅超风 — Méi Chāofēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩