The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 30 – Part 5

The temple was utterly still, without a sound. Now and then a breeze passed, setting the bamboo leaves rustling. After a long while Guo Jing said, “Rong-er, Shibo’s martial arts really are of the very highest.” Huang Rong murmured in reply. Guo Jing went on, “Our shifu,¹ your father, Big Brother Zhou, Ouyang Feng, Qiu Qianren, high as their skills are, none of those five is sure to beat Shibo.” Huang Rong said, “Of those six, then, who would you call the greatest under heaven?” Guo Jing thought for a long while. “To my mind each has his own special mastery, and it is really hard to say who is better. In one art this one is stronger, in another that one is more formidable.” Huang Rong said, “And if we are talking of all-round talent in letters and arms, of learning and ability?” Guo Jing said, “Then of course my father-in-law comes first.” Knowing Huang Rong’s life was saved, he was in high spirits and talking far more freely than usual. Huang Rong was delighted, her smile blooming like a flower. Then suddenly she sighed. “And that is exactly what is so strange.”

“Strange how?” Guo Jing asked quickly. Huang Rong said, “Think about it. Shibo has such great skill, and his four disciples, the fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar, are none of them ordinary men. Why should they hide away so fearfully deep in these mountains? Why, when they hear someone has come to call, are they as frightened as if disaster had struck? Of the five great masters of our day, only the Western Venom and Iron Palm Qiu might be his enemies, but each of them has a great name to keep up. Would they really forget their standing and join forces to make trouble for him?” Guo Jing said, “Rong-er, even if Ouyang Feng and Qiu Qianren joined forces to come for revenge, we would have nothing to fear.” Huang Rong said in surprise, “Why not?”

Guo Jing looked sheepish, rather embarrassed. Huang Rong laughed. “Oh! Why so bashful all of a sudden?” Guo Jing said, “Shibo’s martial arts are certainly no lower than the Western Venom’s. At the very least he could fight him to a draw. I think his reverse-hand acupoint technique may be the very thing to counter the Toad Skill.²” Huang Rong said, “And Qiu Qianren? The fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar are no match for him.” Guo Jing said, “True. On Mount Jun by Lake Dongting and again on Iron Palm Peak, I traded a palm strike with him. If we had fought on, I might have held him to a draw within fifty moves, but after a hundred I would most likely not have been able to hold him off. Today, when I watched Shibo using his acupoint technique to heal you…” Huang Rong cried happily, “You’ve learned it? You can beat that damned Iron Palm Qiu?”

Guo Jing said, “You know how slow I am. That acupoint art is profound beyond measure. How could I have learned it just like that? Besides, Shibo never said he was teaching me, so naturally I could not learn it. But watching Shibo’s technique, I understood a little more of the parts of the Nine Yin Manual³ that had puzzled me. Beating Iron Palm Qiu is out of the question, but I think I could hold out against him a good while longer. Then you could join in and hit the old devil too.” Huang Rong sighed. “Pity you’ve forgotten one thing.” “What?” said Guo Jing. Huang Rong said, “Shibo has been poisoned, and who knows when he will recover?” Guo Jing was silent. After a while he said bitterly, “That Yinggu is vicious.” Then suddenly he cried in alarm, “Ah, no!”

Huang Rong jumped. “What?” Guo Jing said, “You promised Yinggu that once you were healed you would stay with her for a year. Will you keep that promise or not?” Huang Rong said, “What do you think?” Guo Jing said, “If she hadn’t shown us the way, we would never have found Shibo, and your injuries, who can say…” Huang Rong said, “Who can say what? Say it straight out: my little life could never have been saved. A true man’s word stands like a mountain, so of course you want me to keep my promise.” Thinking of how Guo Jing would not break his betrothal to Huazheng, she hung her head in sorrow.

Guo Jing could not fathom the least part of a girl’s heart. Huang Rong was close to tears, yet he, in his muddled way, noticed nothing at all, and only said, “Yinggu said your father’s ingenuity is a hundred times greater than hers, and that even if you were willing to teach her the art of calculation she could never come near a fraction of your father’s learning. So why does she still want you to stay with her for a year?” Huang Rong covered her face and ignored him. Still not seeing it, Guo Jing asked again, and Huang Rong burst out angrily, “You fool, you don’t understand anything!”

Guo Jing had no idea why she was suddenly angry, and her scolding left him baffled. All he could say was, “Rong-er! I am a fool, that’s why I’m asking you to tell me.” Huang Rong had regretted her harsh words the moment they were out, and hearing him speak so gently, she could hold back no longer. She buried her face against his chest and wept. Guo Jing was more bewildered than ever, and could only pat her back gently to comfort her.

Huang Rong took the front of Guo Jing’s jacket and wiped her eyes with it, then smiled. “Jing gege, it was my fault. I’m sorry. Next time I won’t scold you, I promise.” Guo Jing said, “I am a fool anyway. What does it matter if you say so?” Huang Rong said, “Ai, you’re a good man and I’m a bad girl. Let me tell you. Yinggu has a grudge against my father. She meant to perfect her calculation and her martial arts and then go to Peach Blossom Island to take her revenge on him. But then she found her calculation was no match for mine and her martial arts no match for yours, and she knew revenge was hopeless. So she wants to hold me hostage, to lure Daddy into coming to rescue me. That would turn the tables on him, the guest becoming the host, and she could lay a poisonous trap for him.”

Guo Jing understood in a flash. He slapped his thigh. “Ah, that’s exactly it. Then you can’t keep that promise.” Huang Rong said, “Why not? Of course I must keep it.” Guo Jing said in surprise, “Eh?” Huang Rong said, “Yinggu is a formidable woman. Look how she mixed poison pills into the Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills to harm Shibo, and you can imagine the rest. As long as that woman lives, she will always be a danger to Daddy. If she wants me to keep her company, then keep her company I will. Now that I am on my guard, I won’t fall for her tricks again. Whatever plots she lays, I can always beat her by a move or two.” Guo Jing thought, You will always be more than a match for her. Then it struck him that saying so might annoy Huang Rong, so he quickly said instead, “Ai, but that would be like living with a tiger.”

Huang Rong was about to answer, when suddenly they heard cries of alarm from the meditation room at the front.

The two exchanged a glance and listened carefully, but the cries ceased. Guo Jing said, “I wonder how Shibo is.” Huang Rong shook her head. Guo Jing said, “Eat something, then lie down and rest a while.” Huang Rong still shook her head, then suddenly said, “Someone is coming!”

They heard several people’s footsteps coming from the front courtyard, and a voice said furiously, “That little minx is full of tricks. Kill her first.” It was the farmer’s voice. Guo Jing and Huang Rong started. Then they heard the woodcutter say, “Don’t be rash. Let’s get the truth out of them first.” The farmer said, “What is there to ask? These two little thieves were sent by Shifu’s enemies, no doubt about it. We kill one and keep one. If there’s asking to be done, we can ask the dim-witted boy.” As they talked, the fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar reached the door. With the way out blocked, they did not care if Guo Jing and Huang Rong heard them.

Guo Jing hesitated no longer. With Proud Dragon Repents⁴ he drove his palm at the back wall, and with a great rumbling crash half the earthen wall came down. He bent, took Huang Rong on his back and leapt out over the broken stump of the wall. He was still in the air when the farmer’s hand shot out like the wind and snatched at his left leg. Huang Rong flicked her left hand lightly at the Yangchi acupoint⁵ on the back of the farmer’s hand. It was her family’s Orchid Acupoint-Tracing Hand,⁶ and though she had no strength since her injury, the brush was light and deft and found the acupoint with uncanny precision, no trifling thing even so. The farmer was a thorough master of acupoint work, and when he saw her fingers flash at him he was startled and hastily drew back his hand to parry. The acupoint was not touched, but in that moment’s delay Guo Jing had already leapt clear of the back wall with Huang Rong.

He had gone only a few steps when he groaned in dismay. Behind the meditation quarters grew thorn bushes as tall as a man, dense and tangled and bristling with barbs, with no way through. He turned and saw the fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar standing in a line across his path. Guo Jing said in a ringing voice, “Your honoured shifu told us to go down the mountain. You all heard it with your own ears. Why do you defy him and bar our way?”

The fisherman glared at him and said in a voice like thunder, “Our shifu, in his compassion, was willing to give up his life to save her, and you…” Guo Jing and Huang Rong cried out in alarm, “Give up his life? How?” The fisherman and the farmer both spat in disgust, and the scholar said with a cold laugh, “Our shifu saved the young lady at the cost of his own life. Do you truly not know?” Guo Jing and Huang Rong said together, “We truly do not. We beg you to tell us.”

The scholar saw the sincerity in their faces, and that they were not pretending. He glanced at the woodcutter, who nodded. The scholar said, “The young lady suffered very grave internal injuries. To heal her and save her life, the One Yang Finger⁷ had to be combined with the Innate Skill⁸ to open the great acupoints of every jingmai⁹ in her body. Since the Order Leader of Quanzhen, Chongyang the Perfected One,¹⁰ departed this world, our shifu alone has possessed both those divine arts, the One Yang Finger and the Innate Skill. But to heal another person with them, the healer cannot escape grave harm to his own vital force, and for five years he loses all his martial ability.” Huang Rong gave a cry, torn between gratitude and shame.

The scholar continued, “For the next five years, day and night, he must cultivate and train without cease. If he makes the slightest slip, not only will his martial ability never return, but at best he will be crippled, and at worst he will die. After all our shifu has done for you, how could you be so utterly without conscience as to repay kindness with enmity?”

Huang Rong struggled down from Guo Jing’s back and bowed four times towards the meditation room where Great Master Yideng¹¹ lay. Weeping, she said, “Uncle, I never knew how great a kindness you did me in saving my life.”

Seeing her bow, the fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar softened a little. The fisherman asked, “Your father sent you to do our shifu harm. Do you mean you yourself did not know?” Huang Rong said angrily, “How could my father send me to harm Uncle? My father, the Master of Peach Blossom Island, what sort of man do you take him for? Would he stoop to anything so low and vile?” The fisherman bowed with clasped hands and said, “If your honoured father did not send you, Miss, then my words were an insult. I beg your pardon.” Huang Rong said, “Hmph. If my father ever heard you say that, Great Master Yideng’s distinguished disciple or not, you would be in for a hard time.” The fisherman gave a wry smile. “Your honoured father is called the Eastern Heretic, and the way he does things… the way he does things… heh heh… we thought that whatever the Western Venom would stoop to, your honoured father would too. Now it seems we were wrong.” Huang Rong said, “How can my father be compared with the Western Venom? What has that old villain Ouyang Feng done?” The scholar said, “Very well. We will lay everything out and make it all plain. Let us go back inside and talk.”

The six of them went back to the east wing where they had sat before, and took their seats. The fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar sat where each of them, as if by chance, blocked a door or a window. Huang Rong knew it was to stop her slipping away, but she only smiled faintly and said nothing.

The scholar said, “Do you know about the Nine Yin Manual?” Huang Rong said, “I do. Is this connected with the Nine Yin Manual too? Ai, that book has done no end of harm.” She could not help thinking of how her mother had died trying to write out its text from memory. The scholar said, “The first Huashan Sword Summit¹² was held to decide who should have the manual. The Quanzhen Order Leader’s martial arts were the finest in the world, and in the end the manual went to him. The other four masters accepted it with all their hearts, and that was that. At that Sword Summit each of them showed his extraordinary skills, and Chongyang the Perfected One greatly admired our shifu’s One Yang Finger. The next year he came to Dali with his shidi¹³ to visit our shifu, so that they could test their arts on each other.”

Huang Rong broke in, “His shidi? Was it Old Wild Child Zhou Botong?” The scholar said, “It was. Young as you are, Miss, you know a great many people.” Huang Rong said, “There’s no need to flatter me.” The scholar said, “Zhou shishu was a comical man, it’s true, but I never knew he was called Old Wild Child. In those days our shifu had not yet become a monk.” Huang Rong said, “Ah, so he was still the emperor.”

The scholar said, “That’s right. The Quanzhen Order Leader and his shidi stayed in the palace for ten days or so, and the four of us waited on them throughout. Our shifu told Chongyang the Perfected One every secret and principle of the One Yang Finger. Chongyang the Perfected One was delighted, and in return he passed on to our shifu his most formidable art, the Innate Skill. We were there while they talked, but our understanding was shallow, and though we heard, we could not grasp it.”

Huang Rong said, “And what about Old Wild Child? His skills are no mean thing either.” The scholar said, “Zhou shishu loved to be on the move and could never keep still. Every day he rushed about the Dali palace this way and that, playing everywhere, and did not even keep out of the bedchambers of the empress and the consorts. The eunuchs and palace maids knew he was His Majesty’s honoured guest, so they did not stop him.” Huang Rong and Guo Jing both smiled.

Footnotes

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

2. 蛤蟆功 — Háma Gōng. Ouyang Feng’s hereditary art, practised crouching like a toad. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

4. 亢龙有悔 — Kàng Lóng Yǒu Huǐ. Literally the proud dragon has cause to repent. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, named from a line of the Book of Changes. ↩

5. 阳池穴 — Yáng Chí Xué. Literally yang pool point. An acupoint on the back of the hand, at the wrist. ↩

6. 兰花拂穴手 — Lánhuā Fú Xuè Shǒu. Huang Rong’s hereditary art of brushing the acupoints with the fingers, prized for being fast, accurate, strange and clear. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 一阳指 — Yīyáng Zhǐ. The finger art of the Duan family of Dali. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 先天功 — Xiāntiān Gōng. Literally skill of the primordial. A neigong method. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 经脉 — jīngmài. Literally meridians. Energy channels through which qi flows. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 真人 — zhēnrén. Literally true person. An honorific title for a Daoist master who has attained a high level of cultivation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 一灯大师 — Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally Great Master One Lamp. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 华山论剑 — Huàshān Lùnjiàn. Literally sword discussion at Huashan. Use of discussion is key as the participants were engaged in a martial arts exchange and a philosophical debate on mastery, rather than just a physical contest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 师弟 — shīdì. Male junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩