The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 25 – Part 1

An inn in a deserted village

Huang Yaoshi threw back his head and laughed. “Guanying and this girl stay,” he said. Lu Guanying had known at once that it was his Patriarch¹ who had come, but seeing him masked, he feared the old man did not wish to show who he was, and so dared not address him. He only knelt and, with the deepest respect, bowed four times.

Seeing Huang Yaoshi² display such might, Yin Zhiping³ knew that this was no ordinary man. He bowed and said, “Yin Zhiping, a disciple of the Quanzhen Order⁴ in the line of Changchunzi,⁵ pays his respects to you, Senior.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Everyone else has got themselves out. I never told you to stay. Still here? Tired of living, are you?”

Yin Zhiping was taken aback. “This disciple is of the Quanzhen Order, of Changchunzi’s line. I am no villain.”

“And what of the Quanzhen Order?” said Huang Yaoshi. He reached casually for the table and tore a chunk of wood from the plank top. Without moving his arm or raising his hand, he sent it floating lightly through the air at Yin Zhiping’s face. Yin Zhiping threw up his whisk to block it, but the little piece of wood came at him like a great vajra pestle. He felt a tremendous force slam into him, past all resisting, and it drove the whisk along with it into the side of his mouth. Pain flared, and all at once his mouth seemed full of things. He spat them hastily into his palm. They were teeth, several of them, and his hand ran with blood. Shocked and frightened, he could not utter a sound.

Huang Yaoshi said coldly, “I am Huang Yaoshi, or Hei Yaoshi if you like. And what does your Quanzhen Order mean to do to me?”

At these words Yin Zhiping and Cheng Yaojia⁶ were thunderstruck, and Lu Guanying too quaked with dread. He thought, I was trading taunts with that little Daoist just now, and the Patriarch heard every word. If he also heard what I said to the Kitchen God earlier, then… then… I’m afraid even Father… Despite himself, cold sweat poured down his back.

Yin Zhiping pressed a hand to his cheek and cried, “You are a Great Grandmaster of the wulin,⁷ so why do you behave so perversely? The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan⁸ are xia⁹ and men of honour. By what right do you hound them so relentlessly? Had my shifu¹⁰ not sent them word, would you not have killed every soul in their six households, old and young?”

Huang Yaoshi said angrily, “So that is why I searched everywhere and never found them. A pack of mangy Daoists was meddling in between.”

Shouting and leaping about, Yin Zhiping cried, “Kill me if you want to kill me. I’m not afraid of you, not I.”

Huang Yaoshi said coldly, “You did a fine job of cursing me behind my back, did you?”

Past caring whether he lived or died, Yin Zhiping shouted, “I’ll curse you to your face as well, you demon, you heretic, you monster!”

In all the years since Huang Yaoshi had made his name, what man of the black path or the white had dared give him the least offence to his face? To be reviled with such abandon, as Yin Zhiping had just reviled him, was a thing that had not happened to him in decades. The boy had seen with his own eyes how savagely he had just dealt with Hou Tonghai,¹¹ and he was still this defiant. That was quite beyond anything Huang Yaoshi had expected. The little Daoist had hard bones and a bold heart, much as he himself had been in his youth, and in spite of himself a fellow feeling stirred in him. He took a step forward and said coldly, “If you have the guts, curse me once more.”

Yin Zhiping shouted, “I’m not afraid of you. I will curse you, you old demon, you old freak.”

Lu Guanying thought, This is bad. The little Daoist won’t escape with his life this time. He roared, “Insolent beast, how dare you insult my Patriarch?” He raised his dao and cut at the boy’s shoulder. The blow was meant kindly. He reasoned that, insulted like this, the Patriarch would show no mercy once he struck, and a single move from him would kill ten Yin Zhipings on the spot. But if Lu Guanying wounded the boy himself, that might cool the Patriarch’s anger, and the little Daoist might yet be spared.

Yin Zhiping sprang two paces clear, his brows bristling and his eyes blazing, and shouted, “I’ve no wish to live today, and I mean to curse to my heart’s content.”

Lu Guanying, meaning to wound him and so save his life, swung the dao across at him again. With a clang, Cheng Yaojia knocked it aside with her jian and cried, “I am of the Quanzhen Order too. If you mean to kill, then kill us both, shixiong¹² and shimei¹³ together.”

That was the last thing Yin Zhiping had expected. He could not help crying, “Cheng shimei, well done!” The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, staring fixedly at Huang Yaoshi. With that, Lu Guanying could hardly attack again.

Huang Yaoshi roared with laughter. “Good. You have courage, and you have backbone. I, Old Heretic Huang,¹⁴ am a demon and a heretic to begin with. Call me a follower of crooked ways and side doors, and you would not be wrong. Your shifu is a generation below me. How could I stoop to quarrel with a little Daoist like you? Go!” His hand shot out, caught Yin Zhiping by the front of his robe, and flung him outwards.

Yin Zhiping flew out of the door, powerless to stop himself, and was sure he was in for a heavy fall. Yet when his feet touched the ground he found himself standing quite upright, as though Huang Yaoshi had carried him out and set him gently down. He stood dazed for a long moment, thinking, That was close! The old freak held back. However bold he was, he dared not go back into the wineshop and curse anyone again. He felt his cheek, swollen all down one side, turned and went on his way.

Cheng Yaojia sheathed her jian and was about to go out too, but Huang Yaoshi said, “Wait.” He tore the human-skin mask from his face and asked, “You want to marry him and be his wife, don’t you?” As he spoke, he pointed at Lu Guanying.

Cheng Yaojia was so startled that in an instant her face went white as snow. Then a crimson tide flooded it, and she had no idea what to do.

Huang Yaoshi said, “That little Daoist shixiong of yours cursed me well, calling me a demon and a monster. Huang Yaoshi, the Eastern Heretic,¹⁵ the Master of Peach Blossom Island,¹⁶ who in the jianghu¹⁷ has not heard of him? What Old Heretic Huang has always hated most is hollow ritual and propriety, and what he has loathed most is the sham sage and the counterfeit worthy. These are things for duping ignorant men and women, and generation after generation the people of the world have walked into the snare without ever knowing it. It is truly pitiable, and laughable too! I, Huang Yaoshi, refuse to believe in this teaching of rites that eats a man and does not spit out the bones. Everyone calls me a demon and a heretic. Hmph! I daresay this demon and heretic has killed fewer people than those swine whose mouths are full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, and whose deeds are all thieving men and whoring women!”

Cheng Yaojia said nothing. Her heart was pounding, and she had no idea what he meant to do with her.

She heard him go on, “Tell me straight out, do you want to marry this grand-disciple of mine? I like a child with backbone and a forthright nature. That little Daoist cursed me behind my back just now. Had he lost his nerve to my face and knelt to beg for mercy instead, would I have killed him or not, do you think? Hmph. In the face of danger you stepped forward and dared to help the little Daoist. Your character is sound, and you are a good match for my grand-disciple. Speak up, quickly!”

Cheng Yaojia was more than willing at heart. But a thing like this she could not have said aloud even to her own father and mother, so how could she declare it to a stranger she had only just met, and with Lu Guanying standing right beside her? She was so mortified that her pretty face turned the colour of a rose petal.

Seeing that Lu Guanying too had hung his head, Huang Yaoshi was suddenly reminded of his daughter. He sighed. “If the two of you are of one mind, I shall make this fine match for you. Ah, the marriages of sons and daughters are a thing even their parents cannot force.” He thought that if he had given his consent to his daughter’s marriage with Guo Jing, his beloved child might not have died so cruelly at sea. Vexation rose in him, and he barked, “Guanying, none of your dithering. Do you want her for your wife or not?”

Lu Guanying started and said quickly, “Patriarch, I only fear I am not worthy of this…”

“You are worthy!” Huang Yaoshi roared. “You are my grand-disciple. You would be worthy of the Emperor’s own aunt!”

Lu Guanying had seen how his Patriarch went about things, and knew that if he did not answer quickly and plainly he was in for a very bad time there and then. He said hastily, “I want it with all my heart, a thousand times over.”

Huang Yaoshi smiled slightly. “Good. And you, Miss?”

Lu Guanying’s words had left Cheng Yaojia’s heart full of sweetness, and now Huang Yaoshi put the question to her. She lowered her head, and only after a long pause did she say, “That is for my father to decide.”

Huang Yaoshi said, “Parents’ orders and matchmakers’ words, the whole business is dog-fart nonsense! I mean to decide it myself. If your father will not accept it, tell him to come and try a bout with me.”

Cheng Yaojia smiled. “My father can only keep accounts and write. He knows no martial arts.”

Huang Yaoshi was taken aback. “Then a contest at accounts and writing will do as well! Hmph. When it comes to reckoning, who under heaven can out-reckon me? And your father’s writing, does it come anywhere near my calligraphy? Speak up, are you willing or not?”

Cheng Yaojia remained silent.

Huang Yaoshi said, “Very well, then you are unwilling, and that is your choice to make. We hold to what is said, word for word, and Old Heretic Huang has never let anyone go back on a word.”

Cheng Yaojia stole a glance at Lu Guanying and saw how anxious he looked. She thought, Father loves me more than anyone. If I ask Auntie to speak to him and you then send someone to ask for my hand, he is sure to agree. Why are you in such a fluster?

Huang Yaoshi stood up and barked, “Guanying, come with me to find the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan! If you ever say another word to this girl, I shall cut out the tongues of you both.”

Lu Guanying started. He knew that his Patriarch always did what he said, and that this was no joke. He hurried to Cheng Yaojia, made her a deep bow with his hands clasped, and said, “Young Mistress, I, Lu Guanying, am of meagre skill, without talent or learning, a man of the grass and marshes who could never have aspired so high. Yet that I should have met you today is surely fate…”

Cheng Yaojia said softly, “Young Master, you need not be so modest. I… I am not…” Then not another sound.

Lu Guanying’s heart stirred. He remembered the nodding and shaking of heads she had once thought up, and said, “Young Mistress, if you spurn me, then shake your head.”

No sooner had he said it than his heart began to hammer. His eyes were fixed on her soft, silken hair, and he dreaded that lovely head might give the slightest movement.

A long moment passed, and from the crown of her head to her feet Cheng Yaojia did not stir so much as a finger.

Lu Guanying was overjoyed. “Since you have consented, Miss, then please nod your head.”

But Cheng Yaojia stayed stock-still.

Lu Guanying was on tenterhooks, and Huang Yaoshi was more out of patience still. “Neither a shake nor a nod. What is that supposed to mean?”

After a long while Cheng Yaojia said softly, “Not shaking my head… is… is the same as nodding…”

Those few words were as faint as a mosquito’s whine. Only Huang Yaoshi’s profound neigong¹⁸ and his remarkably keen hearing let him catch them at all. With a few years less cultivation behind him, he would have seen no more than her lips seeming to stir.

Huang Yaoshi roared with laughter. “Wang Chongyang¹⁹ had a heroic spirit that soared to the clouds all his life, and yet he has a grand-disciple as bashful and coy as this. It is truly comical. Your Patriarch and I were of equal renown, so you two are well matched in standing. Good, good. Today I shall see you married.”

Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia both started and stared at Huang Yaoshi, speechless. Then they heard him ask, “And where is that silly girl? I want to ask her who her shifu is.”

The three of them looked round the room, but Silly Girl²⁰ had gone, no one knew where.

Huang Yaoshi said, “There’s no hurry to find her now. Guanying, you and Miss Cheng shall bow to Heaven and Earth and be married right here.”

Lu Guanying said, “Patriarch, you are so kind to me that I could never repay you, were my body ground to powder. Only, to be married here seems rather too hasty…”

Huang Yaoshi roared, “You are a disciple of Peach Blossom Island. Will you too keep the vulgar proprieties of the world? Come, come, come, stand side by side and bow outwards to Heaven!”

There was in his voice an authority that would brook no refusal. Things having come to this pass, Cheng Yaojia could only stand shoulder to shoulder with Lu Guanying and sink gracefully into a bow.

Huang Yaoshi said, “Bow inwards to Earth!… Now bow to your Patriarch… Good, good, splendid, splendid! Husband and wife, bow to each other!”

This fine piece of theatre played out step by step at Huang Yaoshi’s command, and Huang Rong²¹ and Guo Jing²² watched it all from the next room, astonished, delighted and amused at once. They heard Huang Yaoshi say, “Excellent! Guanying, go and get a pair of candles. Tonight you shall have your wedding chamber, candles and all.”

Lu Guanying stood dumbfounded. “Patriarch!”

“What? After you bow to Heaven and Earth, doesn’t the wedding chamber come next? The two of you are martial artists. Must your wedding chamber have an embroidered bedroom and brocade quilts? Will this tumbledown shack and its woodpile not serve?”

Lu Guanying dared not say a word. His heart was all at sixes and sevens, alarmed and glad at once. He did as he was told, begged a pair of red candles in the village, and bought some clear liquor and a yellow-feathered chicken. He and Cheng Yaojia cooked it in the kitchen, and then they waited on their Patriarch while he ate and drank.

After that Huang Yaoshi said nothing more. He only sat with his face turned upwards, thinking of his daughter, quietly grieving. Watching his expression, Huang Rong guessed that he was pining for her, and her heart ached. Several times she was on the point of opening the door and calling out. But she feared that the moment her father saw her he would carry her back to Peach Blossom Island, and even if he did not kill Guo Jing, Guo Jing’s life would be lost all the same. At that thought, the hand she had put out to the door drew back again.

Lu Guanying and Cheng Yaojia stole looks at Huang Yaoshi and then at each other, delighted and embarrassed, red to the ears, and neither dared make a sound. Ouyang Ke,²³ lying in the straw and firewood, heard every word of it. His belly ached with hunger, yet he dared not so much as draw a full breath.

Footnotes

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

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

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

4. 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. ↩

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

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

7. 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. ↩

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

9. 侠 — xiá. A person adept in the martial arts who acts with chivalry and upholds the right. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 师父 — shīfù. Teacher responsible for technical instruction and moral guidance. Shī means teacher. Fù means father. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

13. 师妹 — shīmèi. Female junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Mèi means younger sister. ↩

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

15. 东邪 — Dōng Xié. Literally eastern heretic. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

18. 内功 — nèigōng. Literally internal cultivation. The practice of developing neili through breathing and meditation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

20. 傻姑 — Shǎgū. Literally silly girl. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 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. ↩

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