The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 28 – Part 6

Guo Jing held the pine torch high and walked deeper into the passage step by step. After two turns a vast cavern suddenly opened up before him. It was a natural cave, some ten times larger than the stone chamber hewn by men outside. As he looked round, he saw over a dozen skeletons in it, some seated, some reclined, each in a different posture. Some had collapsed into scattered bones on the ground, while others still held their full human form. Bone urns and spirit tablets stood among them, and beside each skeleton lay weapons, hidden arms, tools and treasures.

Guo Jing stared in a daze for some time, thinking, These dozen or so Chiefs were every one of them the hero of his age, and today they have all turned into heaps of bones. At least they have each other for company, so they cannot feel lonely. Yes, this is a fine arrangement, far better than being buried alone in the ground.

All the treasures and fine weapons he looked on as though they were not there. His only thought was for Huang Rong. He was about to turn and leave when he noticed a wooden box resting on a skeleton against the eastern wall of the cave, with what appeared to be writing carved upon it. He took a few steps forward and held the pine torch close. On the box were four characters: “Essential Strategy for Defeating the Jin.” Something stirred in him, and he thought, Perhaps this is the book Yue Wumu Wang¹ left behind.

He reached out with his left hand and lifted the box gently. With a series of cracks the skeleton suddenly toppled forward towards him.

Guo Jing started and leapt backwards. The skeleton crashed to the ground and its bones scattered in all directions.

He took the wooden box, ran back to the outer chamber, wedged the pine torch into a crevice in the ground, and helped Huang Rong sit up. He opened the box before her, and inside were indeed two booklets, one thick and one thin. Guo Jing picked up the thinner one on top and turned it open. It contained Yue Fei’s memorials to the throne, edicts, inscriptions, letters and poems from over the years. He leafed through it at random, and in every word and phrase the spirit of loyalty and righteousness leapt off the page. He could not help exclaiming aloud in admiration.

Huang Rong said softly, “Read a passage for me.”

He turned up a page at random and saw on it the title “Record of the Oath at the Wuyue Temple,”² and he read it aloud.

“Since the turmoil in the Central Plains and the invasions of the barbarians on all sides, I have nursed my resolve in the lands north of the Yellow River, rising from Xiangtai. I bound up my hair and joined the army, and have fought through over two hundred battles. Though I have not penetrated far into the barbarian wastes to scour their lairs clean, I have at least given a fraction of satisfaction to the nation’s hatred. Now I lead a solitary column, rallying at Yixing. At the battle of Jiankang we routed the caitiffs at the first roll of the drum, yet I regret that I could not see to it that not a single horse of theirs went home. Therefore I rest my troops and let my men recuperate, husbanding our sharpness to await the enemy. In due course I shall rally my soldiers for another campaign, cross the desert to the north, wade through blood in the barbarians’ court, and slaughter their kind to the last. I shall welcome the Two Sacred Sovereigns³ back to the capital, recover our lost territory and restore it to the imperial maps, so that the court need fear nothing and the Sovereign may rest easy upon his pillow. This is my wish. Written by Yue Fei of the lands north of the Yellow River.”

This short record told the whole ambition of Yue Fei’s life. Guo Jing knew only a limited number of characters, but a fierce, stirring passion had risen in his breast, and though he got the sound of a few characters wrong, his voice rang out as he read the record, and it was splendid to hear.

Had it been that day at Returning Clouds Manor, Qiu Qianzhang⁴ would surely have put in a few sneers, saying that Yue Fei had not understood the times, and that his foolish loyalty had done no good to either country or people. But now the acupoints on his body remained sealed, and if a single word angered Guo Jing, the man would most likely seal his Tiantu acupoint⁵ once more. Whether Yue Fei had read the times or not was beside the point. He himself must read the times very well indeed. So he nodded again and again and said admiringly, “Finely written, and finely read too. A hero’s words read by a hero, each setting off the other.”

Huang Rong sighed. “No wonder Father often says he only regrets being born several decades too late, never to have seen this great hero with his own eyes. Read me his poems and verses.”

Guo Jing read several of them in turn. Huang Rong was already familiar with the ci Man Jiang Hong and Xiao Chong Shan, but poems such as Inscription at Cuiguang Temple and For Zhang Wan were new to her.

Along the mountainside the Iron Palm Keep’s⁶ shouts continued without pause. Guo Jing let Huang Rong rest her head on his lap, and by the light of the pine torch he read aloud from Yue Fei’s surviving poems: “The title is Inscription at Longju Temple by Poyang:

“Before the mountain of towering stone, the temple, Where grove and spring are splendid and secluded. Violet-gold the countenances of all the Buddhas, Snow-white the heads of the venerable monks. Cold moon rises from the pool’s deep waters, Through the pines the night wind carries autumn. I come to charge the dragon’s voice: Send rain to ease the people’s sorrow.”

The wind stirred the trees and echoes rang through the valley. A sudden chill crept into Huang Rong and she nestled against Guo Jing. With a gentle lean like that, the Soft Hedgehog Armour⁷ did not prick him.

Guo Jing said, his mind far away, “Yue Wumu Wang never for a moment forgot the sufferings of the common people. That is what a great hero and a true man of valour is.”

Huang Rong hummed in agreement and smiled. “A great hero’s poem, read by a young hero, with an old hero lying nearby listening, that is icing on the cake.”

Qiu Qianzhang said quickly, “Old hero is more than I dare claim, but heroine, now that’s the truth!”

Huang Rong giggled and asked Guo Jing, “What does the other booklet say?”

Guo Jing picked it up and read a few lines, and said joyfully, “This… this must surely be the art of war written in Yue Wumu Wang’s own hand. The treacherous wretch Wanyan Honglie has been dreaming of getting his hands on nothing other than this book. Thank Heaven it did not fall into the wretch’s clutches.”

On the first page eighteen large characters were written: “Select with care, train with diligence, reward and punish fairly, make orders clear, keep discipline strict, share sweet and bitter alike.”

He was about to study them more closely when suddenly the shouts of the Iron Palm Keep along the mountainside ceased all at once. Save for the wind on the peak, there was not a sound in any direction. Until now the members’ curses and yells had never let up for a moment, and the sudden silence was all the more uncanny.

Guo Jing and Huang Rong listened carefully. After a moment, through the stillness came the faint crackling of burning brushwood. Qiu Qianzhang set up a string of lamentations, crying, “Today your granddad’s old life is done for, at the hands of you two little brats.” In his panic, the “great hero and heroine” had turned back into “little brats.”

Guo Jing dashed out of the cave. Several walls of fire were advancing up the peak. The mountain was covered in dense forest and tall grass. Once ablaze, it would become a sea of fire in the blink of an eye.

Guo Jing understood at once. They dare not enter the forbidden ground, so they resort to a fire attack. There is nothing in the cave that can catch fire, so it will not be destroyed, but the three of us will be roasted alive into charcoal. He hurried back, scooped Huang Rong up, and hearing Qiu Qianzhang lying on the ground cursing foully, gave him two light kicks in the small of the back to unseal his acupoints and let him flee on his own. He tucked the wooden box and both booklets inside his robe, dared not linger, and made straight for the summit.

The stone cave lay at the second joint of Middle Finger Peak,⁸ still several hundred feet from the top. Guo Jing collected his mind, drew a breath and in moments had climbed to the summit. Qiu Qianzhang followed, dragging himself up step by step. Guo Jing looked back down. The flames were creeping up slowly. They might not arrive at once, but escape seemed impossible all the same. He could not help but heave a long sigh.

Huang Rong suddenly said, “Yue Wumu Wang’s given name was Fei, meaning Flight, and his courtesy name was Pengju, meaning Soaring Peng. How about we try an ‘eagle soar’?”

Guo Jing asked, “What ‘eagle soar’?”

Huang Rong said, “Have the eagles carry us and fly down, of course.”

Guo Jing jumped up in delight and cried, “That would be tremendous fun. I’ll call the eagles up. Whether they have the strength is another matter, though.”

Huang Rong sighed. “We are going to die anyway. We might as well risk it.”

Guo Jing sat cross-legged, gathered the qi within him, let it swirl through his dantian⁹ for a moment, then released it from his throat in a long whistle that carried far into the distance. It was the Xuanmen neigong¹⁰ of the Quanzhen Order¹¹ that Ma Yu¹² had taught him years before, and since he had studied the Nine Yin Manual¹³ his neili¹⁴ had grown finer still. From the top of Middle Finger Peak to its foot was a good deal more than a few li,¹⁵ yet not long after the whistle went out, white shapes appeared high in the air, and the two eagles came riding the wind through the moonlight and the sound of the whistle, and alighted before the two of them.

Guo Jing removed the Soft Hedgehog Armour from Huang Rong, helped her onto the female eagle’s back, and fearing she lacked the strength to hold on after her injury, bound her to the eagle’s body with his sash. Then he climbed onto the male eagle’s back, clasped its neck, and at a whistle from him the two eagles spread their wings and rose.

The two of them were suddenly suspended in empty air. The moment the eagles left the ground, they felt an extraordinary steadiness. At first Guo Jing had feared his weight might be more than the eagles could bear, but as the white eagles spread their wings there was not the slightest sign of plunging.

Huang Rong still had a child’s heart. She thought this the most marvellous sight under heaven and wanted old Qiu Qianzhang to see it properly, so she tugged gently at the eagle’s neck to direct it towards him. The female eagle obeyed and flew close.

Qiu Qianzhang was in a panic. At the sight he was both astonished and envious, and cried, “Good girl, take me with you too. The fire will be upon us soon, and this old man will be done for!”

Huang Rong laughed. “My eagle can’t carry two. Why not ask your little brother to save you? That would do it. You’re three thousand feet longer than he is, so he has to do as you say.” She patted the eagle’s neck lightly and turned it away.

Qiu Qianzhang cried in desperation, “Good girl, look, isn’t this little game of mine fun?”

Huang Rong’s curiosity was aroused. She pulled the eagle round to see what trick he had. Qiu Qianzhang suddenly threw himself forward, launching off the peak and hurtling towards Huang Rong. He seized her from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist. He knew that even if he charged down the peak and escaped the ring of fire, entering the forbidden ground in violation of the Keep’s strict rules would be a capital offence. Never mind a Chief’s brother. Even the Chief himself might not survive such a transgression. By now the way back into the stone cave to shelter from the fire was also cut off by the flames, so he cast all caution aside and tried to scramble onto the eagle’s back to flee.

Though the white eagle was magnificent, it could not bear two riders. The moment Qiu Qianzhang seized Huang Rong, the eagle plunged sharply towards the deep valley below the peak. It beat its wings with all its might but could not sustain the burden. Qiu Qianzhang grabbed Huang Rong from behind and tried to hurl her from the eagle’s back, but her body was bound to it by the sash and he could not tear her free. Huang Rong, her limbs bound, could not fight back either. It seemed all three, two people and one eagle, would crash into the abyss and be dashed to pieces.

The members of the Iron Palm Keep on the mountainside saw it all clearly. Every one of them stood aghast, mouths agape, unable to make a sound.

At the most desperate moment the male eagle, bearing Guo Jing, swooped in. Its steel beak struck Qiu Qianzhang squarely on the crown of his head. The old man felt a burst of searing pain and raised his hand to fend off. In that instant of loosening his grip he tumbled away in a chain of somersaults, his long wailing cry rising up from the valley below.

The female eagle, suddenly lighter, gave a joyous cry and soared straight up. Wing to wing, the two eagles bore them away to the north.

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Author’s note: Yue Fei’s ci “Man Jiang Hong” is widely beloved, yet it does not appear in Song dynasty records. Yue Fei’s grandson Yue Ke, in compiling the Jintuo Cuibian and the Jingjin Jiaji, recorded all of Yue Fei’s poems, essays and memorials, but this ci was not among them. The earliest appearance of this ci is in Ming dynasty writings, and some have suspected it to be a Ming forgery. However, a work of fiction is not a scholarly treatise, and there is no need to probe the matter deeply here. We therefore proceed on the assumption that the ci is Yue Fei’s work.

Footnotes

1. 岳飞 — Yuè Fēi (1103—1142). The most celebrated Song general of the wars against the Jin, executed on false charges. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 五岳祠 — Wǔyuè Cí. Literally shrine of the Five Sacred Mountains. The “Record of the Oath at the Wuyue Temple” is a piece attributed to Yue Fei. ↩

3. 二圣 — Èr Shèng. Literally the two sages: Emperors Huizong (徽宗) and Qinzong (钦宗) of Song, carried off by the Jin in the Jingkang Incident of 1127. ↩

4. 裘千丈 — Qiú Qiānzhàng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 天突穴 — Tiāntū Xué. Literally heavenly prominence. An acupoint on the Ren Meridian, in the hollow at the base of the throat. ↩

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

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

8. 中指峰 — Zhōngzhǐ Fēng. Literally middle finger peak. One of the five peaks of Iron Palm Mountain, named for its likeness to a middle finger. ↩

9. 丹田 — dāntián. Literally cinnabar field. The primary energy centre below the navel in internal cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 玄门 — Xuánmén. Literally mysterious gate. A name for Daoism, drawn from the Daodejing. ↩

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. 马钰 — Mǎ Yù. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

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