The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 32 – Part 4

Qiu Qianren¹ read Guo Jing’s² intention. He swung the broken half of his bamboo pole and jabbed at several points in the air, so that Guo Jing could not tell where the thrust would come from, feint and true thrust shifting without end. Guo Jing used Dense Clouds Without Rain,³ striking at Qiu Qianren’s head with his palms in turn while his left arm knocked the pole-tip aside, and his body kept falling towards the enemy boat. Qiu Qianren gave a long, ringing cry, let go of the pole and drove both palms together at Guo Jing’s chest. He had solid footing while his opponent was in mid-air, and once their palm-force met, he would be sure to send the young man flying into the river.

The pole was still in the air when a bamboo staff came across from the side and rested on it, and someone leapt over on the strength of it. It was Huang Rong.⁴ Her staff reached him before she did, striking down from the empty air, three killing blows one after another. Qiu Qianren had not expected her attack to be so swift. The tip of the staff nearly caught his left eye, and he had to strike back with a palm to fend it off. Guo Jing seized the moment to plant himself on the stern and joined the attack with Diminishment Leads to Sincerity,⁵ a move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing⁶ he seldom used. Qiu Qianren dared not be careless. He twisted aside to dodge the bamboo staff, swept his right leg out to force Guo Jing back a step, then snapped out two palm-strikes in quick succession, the air hissing with each blow.

And this Iron Palm skill was no ordinary thing. Ever since the Iron Palm Keep⁷ was founded, it had carried its name across the Central Plains for centuries on the strength of this palm method. In the hands of Shangguan Jiannan⁸ and Qiu Qianren it had been refined into yet more subtle and intricate moves. Its raw ferocity might not have matched the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, but in delicacy and cunning the Iron Palm technique surpassed them. In the space of a few breaths the two had already exchanged seven or eight moves on the stern, each wary of the other. Their palms were not fully extended before they were already withdrawing, and though the rush of water was deafening, it could not quite drown the hissing wind generated by the four flying palms.

By now some of the Keep’s men on Qiu Qianren’s boat had rushed to take the helm. They brought the boat slowly round, bow first and stern behind, and it raced downstream. The boat the mute boatman had sailed was already broken in two. Planks, the cloth sail, the mute boatman and the two young men were all spinning round and round in a great whirlpool. The mute boatman’s screams carried far across the water, and his voice really was a loud one. In the thick of it all Huang Rong flung her left hand out behind her and made a sign, and so “cursed” him after all. There was no one else to see, so never mind the indecency. The mute boatman and his two companions struggled with all their strength, but how could they escape the pull of the current? In a breath they were sucked into the centre of the whirlpool and dragged straight to the riverbed.

The black-banner boat shot downstream with the racing current. Huang Rong looked back. The whirlpool was already two or three li⁹ behind. The two eagles wheeled in the sky, crying without cease. She swung her bamboo staff and drove the Keep’s men on board towards the bow, and was turning to help Guo Jing against Qiu Qianren when, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the flash of a blade in the cabin. A man in black had raised a dao and was hacking down hard at something.

She had no time to see what he meant to cut. Her left hand flicked out and a handful of steel needles flew across, all of them embedding in his wrist and forearm. The steel dao fell from the man’s hand and cut into his own right leg, and he screamed. Huang Rong darted into the cabin and kicked him aside. Someone lay across the cabin floor, bound hand and foot, unable to move, and a pair of eyes looked coldly up at her. It was Yinggu,¹⁰ the Divine Calculator.

Huang Rong had never dreamt that she would save Yinggu’s life here of all places. She picked up the steel dao from the cabin floor and cut the ropes binding Yinggu’s hands. The moment Yinggu’s hands were free, her right shot out, employing the Small Seizing Hand to wrench the dao from Huang Rong’s grip. Huang Rong was taken utterly by surprise. There was a flash of the blade, and Yinggu had already cut the man in black down dead with a single stroke. Only then did she bend to cut the ropes on her own feet, saying, “You saved me, but don’t expect me to repay the favour.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Who’s asking you to repay anything? You saved me once, and today I’ve saved you once. That makes us square. From now on, neither of us owes the other.”

Even as Huang Rong spoke these last words, she had reached the stern, and was thrusting her bamboo staff forward to help Guo Jing. Attacked from front and rear, Qiu Qianren put more force into his palms and still held his own. Then came splash after splash and yelp after yelp as Yinggu, dao in hand, drove the Keep’s men on board one by one into the river. In that raging current, not even the finest swimmer could save his life.

Qiu Qianren, trading palms with Guo Jing, had gradually been gaining the upper hand. But when Huang Rong joined the attack with the Dog-Beating Staff Technique,¹¹ he was one against two, and after a dozen more moves he was hard put to it to cope, backing away round the gunwale without pause, keeping his back to the river so that Huang Rong could not get behind him. Guo Jing struck at him with one savage move after another, but Qiu Qianren’s feet seemed nailed to the gunwale, and he could not be forced back another half-inch. A single step back now and he would fall into the middle of the river.

Huang Rong thought, They may call you Iron Palm Skims the Water,¹² but that “Skims the Water” is only you boasting of your qinggong.¹³ Never mind these raging rapids, even on a lake as smooth as a mirror you couldn’t really skim across the surface. Not unless you follow your old brother’s method and first drive a few thousand stakes into the riverbed. She saw, too, that his palm-strikes were steady and heavy, and that his eyes kept straying out over the river, as though he were hoping for another boat to come to his aid. She thought, Your skill may be high, but today it’s three of us against one. If we still can’t get the better of you, we must be the sorriest weaklings alive.

By now Yinggu had driven every one of the Keep’s men on board into the water except the man at the helm. Seeing that Guo Jing and Huang Rong could not land a blow for the moment, she sneered, “Step aside, little girl. Let me.”

Huang Rong could hear the contempt in her words and could not help being nettled. She thrust her bamboo staff forward in two quick attacks, advancing in order to withdraw. As Qiu Qianren twisted aside to dodge, she leapt back two paces, tugged at the front of Guo Jing’s coat, and said, “Let her have a go.”

Guo Jing drew his palms back to guard himself and withdrew.

Yinggu sneered, “Chief Qiu,¹⁴ you’ve made quite a name for yourself in the jianghu,¹⁵ yet you waited till I was asleep and off my guard at the inn and used sleeping incense on me. Fancy you stooping to so low a trick.”

Qiu Qianren said, “You were taken by my men. What are you bragging about? If I had come myself, with only these bare palms, I could have dealt with ten Divine Calculators.”

Yinggu said coldly, “What have I done to offend the Iron Palm Keep?”

Qiu Qianren said, “These two young thieves broke into Iron Palm Peak, our sacred ground. Why did you take them in at the Black Marsh?¹⁶ I asked you civilly to hand them over, and you lied and covered for them. Do you take me, Qiu Qianren, for someone to be trifled with?”

Yinggu said, “Ah, so it’s for these two young thieves. Take them if you can. I’ve no interest in your quarrels.” With that she stepped back several paces and sat down on the gunwale, hugging her knees, her manner quite at ease. She had decided to sit on the hillside and watch the tigers fight, hoping that Guo Jing, Huang Rong and Qiu Qianren would batter each other to ruin.

When Yinggu had gone to assassinate Great Master Yideng,¹⁷ Guo Jing had thrown himself in the way, taking the blade for the old monk. Then she had seen Yideng bare his chest to receive the blade. Her conscience had suddenly woken, and she could not bring herself to strike again. She had come down from the mountain, but the image of her son’s terrible death would not leave her mind. At the inn she had been distracted and knotted with resentment, and while her mind was elsewhere the Iron Palm Keep had laid her low with their drug. Otherwise, with all her cunning and sharpness, how could she have fallen into the hands of nameless underlings? Now, seeing Guo Jing and Huang Rong before her, all her stored-up bitterness found no outlet, and she wished nothing so much as for the three of them to perish together in these rapids.

Huang Rong thought, Very well. We’ll deal with Qiu Qianren first, and then we’ll show you something worth seeing. She gave Guo Jing a look, and the two of them went at Qiu Qianren shoulder to shoulder, she with her bamboo staff and he with both palms. In moments the three were locked in a tangled fight again. Yinggu watched intently. Qiu Qianren’s palm-force was fierce, but it could not overcome the pair. She saw him shifting his footwork constantly, as though looking for some way to win by surprise.

Guo Jing was afraid that Huang Rong, only just recovered from a grave injury, would wear herself out if the fight went on long. He said, “Rong-er, rest a while. You can come back and help me in a moment.”

Huang Rong laughed. “All right!” She drew back with her staff.

Yinggu saw how close the two were, and how tenderly Guo Jing cared for Huang Rong, and thought, When in all my life has anyone treated me like that? Admiration bred envy, and envy turned to hatred. She sprang to her feet and cried, “Two against one, what kind of skill is that? Come, come, come, let the four of us fight it out, two against two.” Her hands dived into her robe and came out with two bamboo counting-chips, and without waiting for Huang Rong to answer, she went for her, jabbing and sweeping with them.

Huang Rong cursed, “You crazy hag. No wonder even the Old Wild Child¹⁸ doesn’t love you.”

Yinggu’s brows shot up and her attack grew fiercer still. With her entering the fray, the balance on the boat shifted at once. For all the subtlety of Huang Rong’s Dog-Beating Staff Technique, she was no match for the depth of Yinggu’s neili,¹⁹ and besides, after her grave injury her neili had not come back and her movements had lost much of their nimbleness. She could only fall back on the Seal formula and parry as best she could. Yinggu was as slippery as a fish, and on a boat that pitched and heaved, lurched and shook, she could display her skill to the fullest. Huang Rong had to try words to throw her off balance. “You may be in love with the Old Wild Child, but you needn’t copy his craziness. Let me tell you, he doesn’t love crazy women.”

On the other side, Guo Jing and Qiu Qianren were locked in a palm-duel, neither gaining the upper hand for the moment. Ever since Great Master Yideng had instructed him in the essentials of martial learning, Guo Jing’s neili had not increased swiftly, but his understanding of the cyclical interplay and redirection of palm-technique had deepened considerably. Straining to hold his ground, he was somehow managing to protect himself. Qiu Qianren had seen Yinggu turn from enemy to bystander, and then from bystander to ally. It made no sense to him, but he cheered inwardly all the same and his spirits rose. His palm-force grew heavier and more vicious, for he was sure that given a little more time his opponent would be unable to hold out. Guo Jing swung a ferocious palm-strike at him. Qiu Qianren turned his body to avoid the direct force, his right palm rising high whilst his left sank low, both launching simultaneously. Guo Jing brought his palms round to intercept with Diminishment Leads to Sincerity, and the four palms met, each man driving all his force into them. Both gave a shout at the same instant and fell back three steps. Qiu Qianren retreated to the stern and regained his balance. Guo Jing’s left foot caught on a boat-cable and he nearly fell. Fearing that the enemy would press the advantage, he deliberately let himself topple, rolled, and came up with his palms guarding his front.

Qiu Qianren, certain of victory, saw him fall so clumsily and could not help letting out a long laugh. He stepped forward again.

Yinggu had already driven Huang Rong to the point of gasping for breath, sweat beading on her forehead, and was relishing it when suddenly she heard the laugh. Her heart gave a great lurch, and her face changed utterly. Her left hand had thrust out a counting-chip and she forgot to withdraw it. Huang Rong saw the opening, a chance that seldom comes, and whipped her bamboo staff round, aiming for Yinggu’s chest. The tip was about to strike the Shencang acupoint when suddenly Yinggu began to shake as though possessed. She gave a great cry. “So it was you!” And she flung herself at Qiu Qianren like a crazed tiger.

Qiu Qianren saw her arms flung wide, and saw that she had staked her life on this one leap. Her mouth was bared savagely on a row of white teeth, as though she meant to lock her arms tight round him and bite chunks out of his flesh. For all his great skill, such desperate ferocity alarmed him, and he leapt aside and cried, “What are you doing?”

Yinggu did not waste a word. Her first charge missing, she planted both feet and hurled herself at him again. Qiu Qianren’s left palm swept out towards her shoulder, fully expecting her to raise an arm to block. But Yinggu cared for nothing. She paid his blow no heed at all and still flung herself at him. Qiu Qianren was aghast. If this madwoman got her arms around him, he might not break free in a hurry, and if Guo Jing came at him with a palm then, what chance would his life have? He gave up all thought of striking at her, for saving his life came first, and ducked low and darted to the left.

Huang Rong pulled Guo Jing by the hand and stood aside. Seeing Yinggu suddenly go mad, she was deeply alarmed. Yinggu leapt wildly and pounced savagely, rasping in her throat, her mouth open and her teeth bared, staking her life on getting her arms round Qiu Qianren.

For all Qiu Qianren’s high skill, Yinggu had thrown her life away entirely, and he really could do nothing with her but dodge this way and that. Seeing her face twisted and her look so ghastly, he grew more and more afraid, and cried out inwardly, Retribution, retribution! Today I really am going to die at this madwoman’s hands. Yinggu flung herself at him a few more times, and Qiu Qianren had dodged as far as the tiller. Yinggu’s eyes seemed to spit blood. Her grab missed once more, but as her hand came up it struck the man at the tiller with a thud and knocked him into the river, and a flying kick broke the tiller in two.

With no one at the helm, the boat at once began to spin wildly in the current. Huang Rong groaned inwardly, Of all the times this woman could go mad, she has to pick now. It looks as though none of the four of us will get out of this alive. She pursed her lips and whistled, calling the two eagles down to save them. Just then the boat lurched broadside, slammed into the rocks on the shore with a thunderous crash, and a great hole burst open in the bow.

Footnotes

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

2. 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. ↩

3. 密云不雨 — Mì Yún Bù Yǔ. Literally dense clouds but no rain, a phrase from the Book of Changes. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. ↩

4. 黄蓉 — Huáng Róng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 损则有孚 — Sǔn Zé Yǒu Fú. Literally in diminishment there is sincerity, from the Book of Changes. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. ↩

6. 降龙十八掌 — Xiánglóng Shíbā Zhǎng. Literally eighteen dragon-subduing palms. Hong Qigong’s palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

8. 上官剑南 — Shàngguān Jiànnán. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

10. 瑛姑 — Yīnggū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 打狗棒 — Dǎgǒu Bàng. The jade-green bamboo staff carried by the Guild Chief of the Beggars’ Guild as the token of his office. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 铁掌水上飘 — Tiězhǎng Shuǐshàng Piāo. Literally iron palm floating on water. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 轻功 — qīnggōng. The martial art of body lightness. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 帮主 — bāngzhǔ. Literally guild master. The head of a guild. ↩

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

16. 黑沼 — Hēi Zhǎo. Literally black marsh. ↩

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

18. 老顽童 — lǎo wántóng. Literally old wild child. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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