The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 26 – Part 3

Qiu Qianren¹ roared with laughter and said, “So the little miss is the one who knows a formidable man when she sees one. I’ve no quarrel with you youngsters, and Heaven cherishes all living things. How could I, your elder, bully the young and hurt you for no reason?”

Huang Rong² laughed and said, “That’s true enough. I admire Old Mister’s skill tremendously, and today I’d like to be taught a few of your fine moves. But you’re not allowed to hurt me.” With that she took up a stance, raised her left hand, curled her right palm loosely and put it to her mouth, blew into it a few times, and said with a laugh, “Here it comes. This move is called ‘Blowing the Great Conch!’”³

Qiu Qianren said, “What nerve the little miss has. Mister Ouyang’s name is known throughout the land. How can he stand for your mockery?”

Huang Rong’s right hand flicked out backhanded and, with a smack, dealt him a clean, crisp slap across the face. She laughed and said, “This move is called ‘Backhand to the Thick Face’!”⁴

From outside the wood a voice laughed, “Good, give him another on the way back!” Huang Rong knew from the voice that her father had arrived, and her courage swelled at once. She called back in answer, and her right palm duly slapped back the other way. Qiu Qianren hastily ducked his head, but this move was a feint. The palm was withdrawn the moment it went out, and her left palm came after it. He thrust an arm across to block with the Linked-Arm Six Harmonies Palm, never expecting her to feint again. All he could see were her two small hands, like a pair of jade butterflies, fluttering up and down before his eyes, and in a moment’s carelessness his right cheek took another box on the ear.

Qiu Qianren knew that if this went on, things would get out of hand. He threw two punches with a whoosh, driving Huang Rong back two steps, then leapt to one side and cried, “Wait!”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “What is it? Had enough?”

Qiu Qianren said gravely, “Miss, you have already suffered an internal injury. Go back at once and rest in a quiet room for seven times seven, forty-nine days, and keep out of the wind, or your little life will be lost.”

Seeing how solemnly he said it, Huang Rong was taken aback for a moment. Then she burst into peals of laughter, quivering like a branch of blossom.

By now Huang Yaoshi⁵ and the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan⁶ had arrived, and were puzzled to see Tolui⁷ and the others tied to the trees.

Ouyang Feng⁸ had long heard that Qiu Qianren’s martial arts were formidable. In years past, with his pair of iron palms, he had beaten the masters of the Hengshan School, whose might had awed the whole south, until their dead and wounded lay in heaps, and the Hengshan School had never recovered or held a place in the wulin again. How was it that today he could not even beat a little girl like Huang Rong? Could his face really hold some neigong that hurt an opponent with rebounding force? Not only had he never heard of such a thing, it did not look that way either. He was still hesitating when he looked up and suddenly saw, slung across Huang Yaoshi’s shoulder, a patterned bag of Shu brocade embroidered in white silk thread with a camel. It was his nephew’s, and a chill went through him.

He had come back after killing Tan Chuduan⁹ and Mei Chaofeng¹⁰ precisely to fetch his nephew. He thought, Can Huang Yaoshi have killed the boy to avenge his disciple? In a trembling voice he asked, “What has become of my nephew?”

Huang Yaoshi said coldly, “Whatever became of my disciple Mei Chaofeng has become of your nephew.”

Ouyang Feng went half cold. Ouyang Ke¹¹ had been born of his affair with his elder brother’s wife. In name he was his nephew, but in truth he was his own son, and he loved this illegitimate son as dearly as his own life. He knew that although Huang Yaoshi and the Quanzhen Daoists had become his bitter enemies, they were all men of valour of renown in the jianghu, and with Ouyang Ke unable to move his legs, they would never make trouble for him. He had only been waiting for them to disperse to take him somewhere quiet to recover. Who could have known that he had already met a cruel end?

Huang Yaoshi saw him standing rooted to the spot, eyes staring fixedly, on the point of erupting into violence. He knew that once the attack came it would be like toppling mountains and overturning seas, irresistible, and he quietly braced himself.

Ouyang Feng asked hoarsely, “Who killed him? One of your disciples or one of Quanzhen’s?” He knew that Huang Yaoshi’s standing was far too high for him to kill a man with both legs broken by his own hand, so he must have ordered someone else to do it. His voice was ugly at the best of times, and now it was harsher and more grating still.

Huang Yaoshi said coldly, “The lad has learned Quanzhen martial arts, and some Peach Blossom Island skills too, and he is an old acquaintance of yours. Go and find him.”

Huang Yaoshi meant Yang Kang, but Ouyang Feng’s thoughts turned at once to Guo Jing.¹² Consumed with grief and rage, he glared at Guo Jing with murderous hatred for a moment, then turned and asked Huang Yaoshi, “What are you doing with my nephew’s bag?”

Huang Yaoshi said, “The master chart of Peach Blossom Island¹³ was on him, so naturally I had to get it back. I broke the ground to search for the chart, and so your nephew had to see the light of day again after he had been laid in the earth. That I do rather regret. Unfortunately, though the bag was on him, the master chart inside was gone, and Old Heretic Huang¹⁴ will have to go to the trouble of hunting for it. We buried your nephew’s remains again with all proper care, and did them not the slightest harm.”

Ouyang Feng said, “Too kind, too kind.” He knew that he and Huang Yaoshi could not settle which was the stronger in under a thousand or two moves, and that he was not even sure to gain the upper hand. Fortunately he already had the Nine Yin Manual¹⁵ in his hands, so revenge need not be taken in a single morning. But if Qiu Qianren could defeat the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan, Guo Jing and Huang Rong, and then come to help him, the two of them together could take Huang Yaoshi’s life there and then. Even at the dreadful news that his own son had been killed, he could still coolly weigh up his own side and the enemy’s, and reckoning his chances of winning high, he would not let the opportunity slip. He turned to Qiu Qianren and said, “Brother Qianren, you kill these eight. I’ll deal with Old Heretic Huang.”

Qiu Qianren gave his big palm-leaf fan a few gentle waves and laughed, “Very well. I’ll kill the eight and then come and help you.”

Ouyang Feng said, “Just so.” With those two words, he fixed his eyes on Huang Yaoshi and slowly sank into a crouch. Huang Yaoshi stood with his feet set neither in a T nor in an eight, on the position of Yi Wood in the east. The two of them were about to decide with the highest martial arts which was the stronger, and which would live or die.

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Kill me first, then.”

Qiu Qianren shook his head and said, “Such a lively, lovable little miss. I can’t quite bring myself to do it. Aiyo, oh dear, oh dear, this really is the worst possible moment!” As he spoke, he clutched his belly with both hands and doubled over.

Huang Rong said in surprise, “What is it?”

Qiu Qianren pulled a pained face and said, “Wait a moment. I’ve suddenly got a bellyache, and I must go and relieve myself!”¹⁶

Huang Rong spat in disgust and for a moment did not know what to say. Qiu Qianren gave another “Aiyo,” his face screwed up in misery, and holding up his trousers with both hands he ran off to one side with a stumbling gait. By the look of it, his bowels had suddenly griped and, unable to hold on, he had filled his trousers. Huang Rong stared. She was eight parts sure it was a sham, but she was also afraid he really did have the runs, so she watched him go and did not dare stop him.

Zhu Cong¹⁷ took a sheet of coarse paper from his pouch, ran after him, clapped him on the shoulder and said with a laugh, “Here’s some paper for you.”

Qiu Qianren said, “Much obliged.” He went into the grass beside a tree and squatted down.

Huang Rong picked up a pebble and threw it at the middle of his back, crying, “Go further off!” Just as it was about to hit him, Qiu Qianren reached back and caught it, and said with a laugh, “Is the young miss afraid of the stink? Very well, I’ll go further off. The eight of you wait for me, and no slipping away while I’m gone.” With that he held up his trousers and went off another hundred feet and more, then squatted down again behind a row of low bushes.

Huang Rong said, “Second Shifu, the old villain is going to escape.”

Zhu Cong nodded and said, “The old villain’s face may be thick, but his feet are slow. I doubt he’ll get away. Here, have these two things to play with.” Huang Rong saw that he was holding a sharp jian and a hand cast in iron, and knew that he had picked them from the old man’s coat when he clapped him on the shoulder just now. In the secret chamber she had seen Qiu Qianren play his trick on the Seven Zis of Quanzhen of driving a sharp jian into his belly. She had known at the time it was a fake, but could not work out how it was done. Now, seeing the three telescoping sections of the blade, she laughed until she nearly fell over. Wanting to throw Ouyang Feng’s thoughts into confusion, she walked up to him and said with a laugh, “Mister Ouyang, I don’t want to live any more!” Her right hand flashed up and she plunged the jian into her belly.

Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng, gathering themselves to strike, were both startled to see her do it. Then Huang Rong held up the blade and played with it, sliding the three sections in and out, and laughing, told her father about Qiu Qianren’s trick.

Ouyang Feng thought, Can the old man’s fame really be hollow, a whole life spent deceiving the world and stealing a name?

Huang Yaoshi, seeing him slowly straighten up, had already guessed his thoughts. He took the iron hand from his daughter and saw the character “Qiu” carved on the palm and a pattern of waves on the back. He said, “This is the token of Qiu Qianren, Chief of the Iron Palm Keep¹⁸ in Hunan. Twenty years ago this token carried tremendous weight in the jianghu. Whoever held it could travel unhindered from Jiujiang in the east to Chengdu in the west, and those of the white path and the black alike obeyed it on sight. In recent years nothing has been heard of the Iron Palm Keep, and I don’t know whether it has broken up or what. Can the owner of this token really be a shameless, boastful old wretch?” Pondering this, he handed the iron palm back to his daughter.

Ouyang Feng gazed sidelong at the iron palm, and his face too showed great surprise.

Huang Rong laughed and said, “This iron hand is fun. I’ll keep it, but I’ve no use for the cheat’s toy.” She raised the three-section iron jian and cried, “Catch!” She lifted her hand to throw it, but seeing how far away Qiu Qianren was, and knowing her arm was not strong enough to reach him, she handed it to her father and said with a laugh, “Father, you throw it to him!”

Huang Yaoshi’s suspicions had been roused, and he meant to test once more whether Qiu Qianren had any real skill. He raised his left palm and laid the iron jian flat upon it, point outwards, then flicked the hilt with the middle finger of his right hand. With a faint ring the iron jian shot off, faster and fiercer than a bolt from a powerful crossbow. Huang Rong and Guo Jing clapped and cheered. Ouyang Feng was secretly alarmed. He thought, What a formidable Divine Finger Flick!¹⁹

Amid the uproar, the jian flew straight at Qiu Qianren’s back. The point was only a few feet from his spine, and still he squatted there motionless. In the blink of an eye the blade had sunk into the middle of his back. The jian was not sharp, but at Huang Yaoshi’s flick all three sections drove in up to the hilt. Never mind an iron jian, even a wooden dao or a bamboo blade would have left the old man dead or gravely wounded.

Guo Jing ran over to look, then suddenly shouted, “Aiyo!” He picked up a short jacket of yellow grass-cloth from the ground and waved it again and again in the air, crying, “The old man slipped away long ago.”

Qiu Qianren had taken off his jacket and draped it over a low bush. He had been a long way from everyone, screened by grass and trees, and this ruse of the golden cicada shedding its shell²⁰ had actually worked. Huang Yaoshi and Ouyang Feng had been watching each other intently, with eyes for nothing but their adversary, and Zhu Cong and the rest had all been watching the two of them, so Qiu Qianren had fooled them all.

The Eastern Heretic and the Western Venom looked at each other and could not help bursting into laughter at the same moment. Each felt that the world had one formidable enemy fewer, and both felt lighter at heart.

Ouyang Feng knew that Huang Yaoshi was quick-witted and not as frank and open as Hong Qigong, and that a surprise attack on him was unlikely to succeed. But seeing him laughing so freely and completely off his guard, how could he let such a chance pass without striking a deadly blow? His laughter rang out like metal striking metal, three clanging peals, then stopped abruptly, and swift as lightning he bowed to Huang Yaoshi so low that his clasped hands almost touched the ground. Huang Yaoshi, still laughing up at the sky, shot his left palm upright and curled his right hand into a hook, cupping fist in palm to return the salute.

Both men swayed slightly. Ouyang Feng’s surprise attack had failed. Holding his posture unchanged, he suddenly sprang back three paces and cried, “Old Heretic Huang, until we meet again.” His long sleeves flicked upwards, his robe fluttered, and he turned as if to go.

Huang Yaoshi’s face changed slightly and he pushed out his left palm to shield his daughter. Guo Jing too had seen that in the moment of turning the Western Venom was secretly using some vicious skill, something like the Sky-Splitting Palm, to strike at Huang Rong. He was not as quick as Huang Yaoshi either to see an opening or to strike, and he saw the danger too late to save her. With a great shout he drove both fists straight at the Western Venom’s chest, to force him to pull his palm back and defend himself, so that the strike at Huang Rong would not carry its full force.

Checked by Huang Yaoshi’s block, Ouyang Feng’s outgoing force was at once drawn back on the rebound and turned into a backhand strike at Guo Jing. This move carried not only his own force but the force of Huang Yaoshi’s block as well, and was all the more powerful for it. In his peril Guo Jing rolled away across the ground and sprang up again, his face white with fright.

Ouyang Feng swore, “You little wretch. A few days since I saw you, and your skill has come on again.” This backhand of his, turning an enemy’s force to wound, unpredictable in its changes and swift beyond compare, had been dodged by Guo Jing, which was far beyond anything he had expected.

Seeing the two sides come to blows, the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan formed a half-circle behind Ouyang Feng to cut him off. Ouyang Feng paid them no heed whatever and strode straight ahead. Quan Jinfa²¹ and Han Xiaoying²² dared not stand in his way and stepped aside, and could only watch him walk out of the wood.

Had Huang Yaoshi wished to avenge Mei Chaofeng then and there, he could have joined forces with everyone else to surround and destroy the Western Venom. But he was proud by nature, and would not have it said that he had used numbers to overwhelm a lone man. He would rather seek him out alone some other day. He only watched Ouyang Feng’s retreating back and smiled coldly.

Guo Jing, Quan Jinfa and the others untied Huazheng,²³ Tolui, Jebe²⁴ and Boroqul.²⁵ Huazheng and the others had been overjoyed to find Guo Jing alive, and roundly cursed Yang Kang²⁶ for spreading lies and deceiving them. Tolui said, “That fellow Yang said he had business that called him urgently to Yuezhou. I took him for a good man and made him a present of three fine horses for nothing.”

Footnotes

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

2. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 大吹法螺 — dà chuī fǎluó. Literally blowing the great dharma conch. A Buddhist image for preaching the Dharma, and a common expression for boasting. ↩

4. 反打厚脸皮 — fǎn dǎ hòu liǎnpí. Literally backhand the thick face. A thick face is shamelessness. ↩

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

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

7. 拖雷 — Tuōléi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

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

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

12. 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. ↩

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

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

15. 九阴真经 — Jiǔyīn Zhēnjīng. Literally true scripture of the nine yin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 出恭 — chūgōng. A polite expression for going to relieve oneself. ↩

17. 朱聪 — Zhū Cōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 铁掌帮 — Tiězhǎng Bāng. Literally iron palm guild. Qiu Qianren’s sect, renowned for its palm techniques. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 弹指神通 — Tánzhǐ Shéntōng. Huang Yaoshi’s finger-flicking art, which strikes acupoints or sends small objects flying. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

20. 金蝉脱壳 — jīnchán tuōqiào. Literally the golden cicada sheds its shell. Escaping by leaving an empty husk behind for the enemy to watch, one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. ↩

21. 全金发 — Quán Jīnfā. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 韩小莹 — Hán Xiǎoyíng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 华筝 — Huázhēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 哲别 — Zhébié. Literally spear and divine archer, in Mongolian. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 博尔忽 — Bó’ěrhū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

26. 杨康 — Yáng Kāng. His name meaning “well-being”; paired with Guo Jing’s 靖 it recalls the Jingkang Shame of 1127. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩