The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 26 – Part 6

Before he could finish, someone in a corner of the wineshop said in a sly, sneering voice, “Not even old Qiu, Iron Palm Skims the Water, is worth a glance to you? Big talk!” Guo Jing and Huang Rong looked towards the voice and saw a dark-faced, middle-aged beggar in rags squatting in the corner, grinning at the two of them. Seeing that he was a man of the Beggars’ Guild, Guo Jing was at once at ease, and since the man looked friendly, he cupped his fists and said, “Senior, will you come and share three cups with us?”

The beggar said, “Gladly!” and came straight over. Huang Rong told the serving boy to set another cup and pair of chopsticks, poured a cup of wine and said with a smile, “Please sit down and have a drink.”

The beggar said, “A beggar isn’t fit for a stool.” He sat down right there on the floorboards. From a sack on his back he produced a chipped bowl and a pair of bamboo chopsticks. Thrusting out the bowl, he said, “Just pour me the scraps you’ve left.”

Guo Jing said, “That would be far too disrespectful. Tell us what you’d like to eat, Senior, and we’ll order it from the kitchen.”

The beggar said, “A beggar has a beggar’s manner. If it’s all show and no substance, putting on airs, then you might as well not be a beggar at all. If you’re willing to give alms, give alms. If not, I’ll go beg somewhere else.”

Huang Rong glanced at Guo Jing and said with a smile, “Quite right, you’re quite right.” She tipped all their leftovers into his chipped bowl, and the beggar fished some lumps of cold rice out of his sack and tucked into them with the scraps, smacking his lips.

Huang Rong secretly counted the sacks on his back. Three in a stack, three stacks, nine in all. She looked at the three beggars at the other table. Each of them bore nine sacks on his back too, but their table was spread with a lavish array of wine and dishes. The three of them behaved as if the beggar were not there and never once looked at him, though there was a hint of displeasure in their faces.

The beggar was eating with gusto when footsteps sounded on the stairs and several people came up. Guo Jing turned to look at the stairs. The first two were the fat and thin beggars who had been escorting Yang Kang at Niu Family Village near Lin’an.¹ The third put his head up, and it was Yang Kang. Seeing all at once that Guo Jing was not dead, he was badly frightened. He froze for an instant, then turned straight round and went back down, and said something on the stairs that they could not make out. The fat beggar went down after him, but the thin beggar went over to the three beggars’ table and said a few words in a low voice. The three got up at once and went downstairs. The beggar on the floor kept eating, taking no notice at all.

Huang Rong went to the window and looked down, and saw more than ten beggars thronging round Yang Kang as they went off west. Yang Kang had not gone far when he looked back and up, and his gaze met Huang Rong’s. He turned away at once and quickened his pace.

The beggar finished his meal, ran his tongue round the bottom of the bowl until it was spotless, wiped the chopsticks on his sleeve, and tucked them back into his sack. Huang Rong studied him carefully. His face was seamed with wrinkles and wore a careworn look. His hands were huge, almost twice the size of an ordinary man’s, with the veins standing out on their backs, plainly the hands of a man who had toiled all his life.

Guo Jing stood up, cupped his fists and said, “Senior, please take a seat up here, so that we can talk.”

The beggar laughed and said, “I’m not used to sitting on stools. You two are Guild Chief Hong’s disciples, so young as you are, we’re of the same generation. I’m a few years older, so call me Big Brother. My surname is Lu, and my name is Lu Youjiao.”

Guo Jing and Huang Rong exchanged a look, both thinking, So he knew who we were all along. Huang Rong smiled and said, “Big Brother Lu, what a funny name you have.”

Lu Youjiao said, “As the saying goes, a poor man without a stick gets bullied by dogs. I’ve no stick, but I’ve got a pair of stinking feet. If a dog tries to bully me, I take aim at its head and give it one hell of a kick, and that sends it running for its life with its tail between its legs.”

Huang Rong clapped her hands and laughed, “Good, good, if the dogs knew what your name meant, they’d run while you were still a long way off!”

Lu Youjiao said, “I heard from Brother Li Sheng² what you two did in Baoying.³ It shows that ambition is not a matter of age, and that a man without it lives a hundred years in vain. I find it most admirable. No wonder Guild Chief Hong thinks so highly of you.”

Guo Jing rose and modestly thanked him.

Lu Youjiao went on, “Just now I overheard you discussing Qiu Qianren and the Iron Palm Keep. You don’t seem to know much about the man.”

Huang Rong said, “That’s right. We were hoping you would tell us.”

Lu Youjiao said, “Qiu Qianren is the Chief of the Iron Palm Keep. The Iron Palm Keep holds great sway in Jinghu and Sichuan. Its men kill and rob, and there’s no wickedness they won’t do. At first they were only hand in glove with the officials, but these days they’ve grown more vicious still. They’ve been bribing senior officials with money, and have set themselves up as officials into the bargain. Worse still, they’re in secret league with the Jin, working from within to help the enemy without.”

Huang Rong said, “That old rogue Qiu Qianren is nothing but a swindler. How did he amass such power?”

Lu Youjiao said, “Qiu Qianren is a very formidable man. Don’t you go underrating him, miss.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Have you ever laid eyes on him?”

Lu Youjiao said, “That I haven’t. They say he lives hidden away deep in the mountains, training in his Iron Palm Divine Skill, and hasn’t come down the mountain for a good ten years and more.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “You’ve been taken in. I’ve seen him several times, and even fought him. As for his Iron Palm Divine Skill, ha ha…” She thought of Qiu Qianren feigning diarrhoea and fleeing, and could not help giggling as she looked at Guo Jing.

Lu Youjiao said gravely, “What tricks they’re up to I couldn’t say, but the Iron Palm Keep has been flourishing these last few years, and it’s truly not to be made light of.”

Afraid he would take offence, Guo Jing said hastily, “Big Brother Lu is right. Rong-er is always laughing at nothing.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “When do I ever laugh at nothing? Aiyo, aiyo, my belly hurts.” She mimicked Qiu Qianren’s voice and clutched her stomach. Guo Jing recalled the scene from that day and could not help laughing too.

Seeing him laugh too, Huang Rong at once stopped smiling and changed the subject, asking, “Big Brother Lu, do you know the three who were drinking here just now?”

Lu Youjiao sighed and said, “You two are no outsiders. Did Guild Chief Hong ever tell you that our Guild is split into two factions, the Clean Clothes Faction⁴ and the Dirty Clothes Faction?”⁵

Guo Jing and Huang Rong said together, “Shifu never spoke of it.”

Lu Youjiao said, “Factions within a guild are no good thing, and Guild Chief Hong has always hated them. He’s spent a great deal of thought and effort on it, and still never managed to make the two factions one. Under Guild Chief Hong, the Beggars’ Guild has four Elders.”

Huang Rong cut in, “That much I have heard Shifu speak of.” Since Hong Qigong was still alive, she did not want to mention that he had told her to succeed him as Guild Chief.

Lu Youjiao nodded and said, “I’m the Elder of the Western Route. The three who were here just now are all Elders too.”

Huang Rong said, “I know. You’re the head of the Dirty Clothes Faction, and they belong to the Clean Clothes Faction.”

Guo Jing said, “Eh? How do you know?”

Huang Rong said, “Look how filthy Big Brother Lu’s clothes are, and how clean theirs are. Big Brother Lu, I say the Dirty Clothes Faction is no good. Dressing all smelly and slovenly isn’t the least bit comfortable. If your people washed their clothes a bit more, the two factions would be the same, wouldn’t they?”

Lu Youjiao⁶ said angrily, “You’re a young mistress from a rich family, so of course you think beggars stink.” He stamped his foot and got up.

Guo Jing was about to apologise, but without so much as turning his head Lu Youjiao stormed off down the stairs.

Huang Rong stuck out her tongue and said, “Jing gege, I’ve offended Big Brother Lu. Don’t scold me.”

Guo Jing smiled.

Huang Rong said, “I was really worried just now.”

Guo Jing said, “Worried about what?”

Huang Rong said gravely, “I was afraid he’d lift his foot and kick you. Then you’d be in trouble.”

Guo Jing said, “Why would he kick me for no reason? Even if you offended him, that’s no cause to go kicking people.”

Huang Rong pressed her lips together in a smile and said nothing. Guo Jing sat staring blankly, puzzling over it and getting nowhere.

Huang Rong sighed and said, “Why don’t you think about where his name comes from?”

Light dawned on Guo Jing and he cried, “Oh, you, so you were calling me a dog in a roundabout way!” He jumped up and reached out as if to tickle her, and Huang Rong dodged this way and that, laughing.

Footnotes

1. 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. ↩

2. 黎生 — Lí Shēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

4. 净衣派 — Jìngyī Pài. Beggars’ Guild members who wear the patched beggar’s robe but otherwise live as ordinary people; most were never beggars. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 污衣派 — Wūyī Pài. Beggars’ Guild members who truly live by begging and keep the Guild’s strict rules. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 鲁有脚 — Lǔ Yǒujiǎo. His name meaning “has feet”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩