The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 34 – Part 5

Hong Qigong laughed. “That was a handsome move of Old Heretic Huang’s!” Guo Jing cried, “I’m going!” and dashed towards the stairs. Hong Qigong said, “No rush, no rush! At first your father-in-law held back and wouldn’t strike, and I was worried for your Eldest Shifu. But from the look of it now, he has no intention of hurting anyone.” Guo Jing returned to the window and asked, “How can you tell?”

Hong Qigong said, “If he meant to hurt anyone, would that skinny monkey of a Daoist still be alive just now? These little Daoists are no match for him, no match at all.” He took a bite of the mutton leg and went on, “Before your father-in-law and Qiu Chuji arrived, I watched those old Daoists over there drilling the formation with your Eldest Shifu. But how could anyone learn the Big Dipper Formation¹ in a moment? The old Daoists urged your Eldest Shifu to keep out of it for now, but he ground his teeth and would not hear of it. I don’t know what your Eldest Shifu has against your father-in-law, to bear him such a grudge. Even with that little Daoist holding the Tianxuan position alongside him, he still cannot withstand your father-in-law’s killing strikes.”

Guo Jing said bitterly, “He’s not my father-in-law.”

Hong Qigong was taken aback. “Eh? How is he not your father-in-law?”

Guo Jing ground his teeth. “He, he, hmph!”

Hong Qigong said, “What’s wrong with Rong-er? You two young people have had a quarrel, is that it?”

Guo Jing said, “It has nothing to do with Rong-er. That old villain, he, he murdered my five shifus. The hatred between us runs deep as the sea.”

Hong Qigong started. “Is that true?” he asked quickly.

But Guo Jing did not hear the question. His entire attention was fixed on the ferocious battle unfolding below. By now the situation had changed. Huang Yaoshi had brought out his Sky-Splitting Palm,² and amid the rushing of the wind none of his eight opponents could come near him. Measured by their martial arts, Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and the others could not have been kept ten feet off by Huang Yaoshi’s two bare palms alone. But the Big Dipper Formation advanced and withdrew as one. Hao Datong, Sun Buer, Ke Zhen’e and Yin Zhiping were weaker fighters, and once any one of them was forced back, the rest had to fall back with him. For every step they advanced, they retreated two, and the gap between them and Huang Yaoshi grew ever wider. Even so, they kept the shape of the Dipper intact.

By this point the Quanzhen Order’s jians could no longer reach Huang Yaoshi, while he was free to exploit any gap and strike. After a few more exchanges, Hong Qigong said, “Hmm, so that’s it.”

Guo Jing asked eagerly, “What is it?”

Hong Qigong said, “Old Heretic Huang is deliberately drawing them out to spread the formation wide, so he can study its intricacies. Within ten moves he’ll be tightening the circle.”

Though Hong Qigong had lost his neili, his eye remained as sharp as ever. Sure enough, Huang Yaoshi’s palm strikes grew weaker with each move, and the Quanzhen disciples gradually closed in. In less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea, the fighters seemed packed into a single knot. The jians of Liu Chuxuan, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi and Hao Datong looked certain to pierce Huang Yaoshi’s body all at once, yet somehow all four slid past close against him, missing by a few inches after all. Had the four not been quick to pull back their jians, they would have run their own fellow disciples clean through.

At such close quarters every exchange was decided by a hair. Guo Jing knew that now Huang Yaoshi understood the formation, he would not waste time grinding the others down. To break an array, strike its weakest point, and the first to bear the brunt would naturally be his Eldest Shifu and Yin Zhiping. Up here he was too far away to help them in time of need. Seeing danger spring up on every side within the formation, he said to Hong Qigong, “I’m going down.” Without waiting for a reply, he raced down the stairs. By the time he drew near the fighters, however, the battle had shifted again. Huang Yaoshi was edging towards Ma Yu’s left flank, moving further and further away, as though attempting to flee outward. Guo Jing gripped his golden dao, ready to spring on him the moment he turned to run.

Suddenly Wang Chuyi pursed his lips and whistled. The handle of the Dipper, formed by him, Hao Datong and Sun Buer, swung round from the left and closed in, and Huang Yaoshi was still hemmed in at the centre. Three times Huang Yaoshi shifted position, and each time either Wang Chuyi swung the handle round or Qiu Chuji brought the bowl of the Dipper about, so that he could never get to Ma Yu’s left. At the fourth attempt it suddenly dawned on Guo Jing, and he thought, Ah, that’s it. He means to seize the North Star position.

That day at Niu Family Village, while healing his wounds behind a wall, he had watched the Seven Zis of Quanzhen lay out the Big Dipper Formation and fight first Mei Chaofeng and then Huang Yaoshi. Afterwards, studying the Dipper and the North Star with Huang Rong, he had learned that a line drawn through Tianshu and Tianxuan, the two stars of the Dipper, and extended northward meets the North Star. This star stays forever due north, and every night the seven stars of the Dipper turn about it. Later, captured by the Beggars’ Guild on Mount Jun in Dongting Lake, he had gazed up at the heavens again and grasped many of the formation’s secrets, though he had applied its interlocking rescue tactics and mutual response only to his own martial arts. Huang Yaoshi’s wit exceeded Guo Jing’s a hundred times over, and he was steeped in astronomy and numerology, yin and yang and the Five Phases. Having failed to break the Seven Zis’ formation in the battle at Niu Family Village, he had pondered it for days afterwards and found its fundamental flaw. Guo Jing had thought only of learning from it. Huang Yaoshi disdained to learn Wang Chongyang’s formation. His thought was how to break it. He knew that he had only to seize the North Star position. If the Dipper Formation then broke up, well and good. If not, he could sit at its centre, drive the array himself, and rest at ease while his opponents wore themselves out.

The Quanzhen disciples saw him penetrate the crux of their formation and were secretly alarmed. Had Tan Chuduan still been alive and the seven of them moved as one body, they would never have let him reach the North Star. But now the Tianxuan position was held by Ke Zhen’e and Yin Zhiping, far weaker fighters who did not know the formation well, and the Dipper’s power was greatly diminished. Ma Yu and the rest knew that to continue the melee could end only in disaster. Moreover, Guo Jing was watching close by, and if Huang Yaoshi were ever in real danger, would a son-in-law not come to his father-in-law’s rescue? Yet the blood debt for their shishu and their fellow disciple had to be repaid. Their late shifu Wang Chongyang had been the finest martial artist in the world, and if six of his disciples together could not overcome one Huang Yaoshi, then the Quanzhen Order’s claim to be the true orthodox line of the martial arts would be a hollow name indeed.

Huang Yaoshi laughed. “Who would have thought Chongyang’s disciples could be so blind to what is good for them!” All at once he was in front of Sun Buer, and swish, swish, swish, he struck three palms at her in quick succession. Ma Yu and Hao Datong thrust their jians in to save her. Huang Yaoshi turned his body slightly, slipped past both points, and swish, swish, swish, struck three more palms at Sun Buer. The palm technique of the Master of Peach Blossom Island was subtle beyond measure. Even Wang Chongyang come back to life, or Hong Qigong healed of his injury, would have had to give way before those six palms. How could Sun Buer withstand them? The palms came at her like the wind, and all she could do was weave flourish after flourish with her jian and fight to keep her guard. Then, without warning, Huang Yaoshi’s legs lashed out in a chain of six kicks. The Peach Blossom Falling Petals Palm³ and the Whirlwind Leaf-Sweeping Leg⁴ used together made up Peach Blossom Island’s East Wind Supreme Art.⁵ If the enemy did not give way after six moves, six more followed, faster and faster, six times six to thirty-six, and even a hero or brave man of the very first rank would avoid the palms only to be caught by the kicks.

Ma Yu and the rest, seeing him pour everything into attacking Sun Buer, closed in as one to lend support. At such a pressing moment the formation was most easily thrown into disorder. Ke Zhen’e, blind, was a fraction slow in his step as the bowl of the Dipper swung past, and Huang Yaoshi gave a long laugh and slipped behind him. Suddenly someone in mid-air gave a cry of alarm and went flying towards a corner of the roof of Misty Rain Pavilion.⁶ It was Yin Zhiping, whom Huang Yaoshi had seized by the back and flung up there.

The breach in the formation widened further. How could Huang Yaoshi allow them time to mend it? He lowered his head and charged straight at Ma Yu, fully expecting the man to dodge. Instead Ma Yu held his jian in an outward guard, while the fingers of his left hand, set in the jian gesture, struck straight at his opponent’s brow. The move was steady, the force deep and solid. Huang Yaoshi tilted aside to avoid it and said, “Good. A worthy first disciple of Quanzhen.” Then all at once he turned and kicked, sending Hao Datong tumbling head over heels, then bent, snatched up his long jian and drove it down at his chest. Liu Chuxuan, aghast, swung his jian to parry. Huang Yaoshi laughed loudly. “I’ll spare him!” His wrist shook, there was a sharp crack, and both jians snapped. A blue shape flashed, and the Master of Peach Blossom Island was speeding for the North Star position.

The formation was broken now, and no one could stop him. The Zis groaned in dismay again and again. They could see that he was about to make himself the host and drive the guests before him, and that the Quanzhen Order would be routed this very day.

Ma Yu gave a long sigh and was about to throw down his jian, admit defeat and leave himself to the enemy’s mercy, when the blue shape flashed again and Huang Yaoshi came running back. A figure now stood at the North Star position. It was Guo Jing.

Qiu Chuji was beside himself with joy. He had seen Guo Jing fight Huang Yaoshi to the death in the Drunken Immortal Wineshop.⁷ Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi knew Guo Jing and the simple goodness of his heart, and were sure that even if he helped his father-in-law he would never turn on his own shifu Ke Zhen’e. The other three were more alarmed than ever. Guo Jing had seized the North Star position, and if father-in-law and son-in-law joined forces, the Quanzhen Order would not even have a place to die. Yet even as they wavered between fear and confusion, they saw Guo Jing’s left palm and golden dao already locked in combat with Huang Yaoshi, and their astonishment knew no bounds.

Huang Yaoshi had shattered the formation and fully expected to beat the Quanzhen Order into submission. He had not counted on someone appearing at the North Star position. Fully occupied with the Quanzhen disciples, he had not turned to see who it was. He struck backwards with his Sky-Splitting Palm, a blow aimed at the newcomer’s chest. The man put out his left palm to turn the force aside and stood firm without moving.

Huang Yaoshi was astounded and thought, There are few men in the world who can stop a palm of mine single-handed. Who is this? He turned his head and saw it was Guo Jing.

Now Huang Yaoshi was attacked from both front and rear. If he could not drive Guo Jing away, the Big Dipper Formation would sweep in from behind, and his position would be dire indeed. He struck three palms at Guo Jing in succession, each fiercer than the last, and each one Guo Jing dissolved with his own force. On the fourth strike he mixed feint and substance, expecting Guo Jing to seize the opening and counter-attack. But Guo Jing still only defended and did not attack, the golden dao held vertical before his chest, his left palm sweeping slowly across his lower abdomen. Though Huang Yaoshi’s strike carried a double assault, both attacks found no target.

Huang Yaoshi was more alarmed still. He thought, This silly boy has seen through the formation’s secret and is holding the North Star position without moving half a step. Yes, that’s it. The Quanzhen lot must have taught him, and they are joining forces against me here. He did not know that he had guessed only half right. Guo Jing was indeed familiar with the subtleties of the Big Dipper Formation, but he had learned them from the Nine Yin Manual,⁸ not from the Quanzhen disciples.

Guo Jing faced the man who had murdered his shifus, yet he held himself steady, guarding the vital position. His feet seemed nailed to the ground with iron spikes. No matter how great a gap Huang Yaoshi deliberately exposed to lure him forward, Guo Jing simply ignored it.

Huang Yaoshi groaned inwardly and thought, The silly boy doesn’t know when to give way! Hmph! Even if Rong-er blames me for it, I’ll have to hurt you today, or I’ll never get clear. He drew his left palm in a wide arc, and when it had swept to within nine inches of his chest, his right palm suddenly landed on the back of his left. Borrowing the momentum of the arc, he doubled his force and he was about to strike at Guo Jing’s face when a thought stopped him, If he still stands there like a post and won’t get out of the way, this blow is bound to injure him badly. And if anything really happens to him, Rong-er will never be happy as long as she lives.

Guo Jing saw him borrowing force to launch the palm. The incoming strike carried terrifying power, He gritted his teeth and struck out with Dragon Appears in the Field,⁹ for there was nothing for it but to meet force with force through the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing.¹⁰ He knew his own skill fell far short, and that a head-on palm exchange did him more harm than good. But if he dodged rather than receiving the blow, Huang Yaoshi would seize the North Star position, and removing him from it would become a thousand times harder. He had staked his life on a reckless blow. But Huang Yaoshi’s palm had travelled no more than a foot when he suddenly drew it back.

“Silly boy, out of the way, quick. Why are you standing against me?” he cried.

Guo Jing saw him give way. He arched his back and held his dao ready, watching warily, but did not answer. By now the Quanzhen disciples had reformed their formation and had ringed Huang Yaoshi from behind at a distance, waiting for a chance to attack.

Huang Yaoshi asked again, “Where is Rong-er? Where is she?”

Still Guo Jing did not answer. His face was dark, his eyes burning with fury.

Huang Yaoshi saw his expression and his suspicions surged. He feared that some harm had come to his daughter. “What have you done to her? Speak!” he barked.

Guo Jing’s teeth clamped tighter. His right hand, gripping the dao, trembled.

Huang Yaoshi fixed his gaze on him. No movement of Guo Jing’s, however slight, escaped his notice, and seeing how strange his look was, his alarm only grew. “Why is your hand shaking?” he cried. “Why won’t you speak?”

Guo Jing recalled the sight of his shifus’ corpses on Peach Blossom Island. Grief and fury surged together, and his whole body trembled beyond his control. His eyes reddened.

Huang Yaoshi, seeing him still silent, tears brimming in his eyes, grew more afraid by the moment. He assumed his daughter and Guo Jing had quarrelled over Huazheng, that she had taken her own life in her grief. He pushed off with both feet and sprang straight at him. Qiu Chuji’s jian flashed, and the Big Dipper Formation attacked in unison. Wang Chuyi and Hao Datong struck from left and right, one with a jian, one with a palm. Guo Jing deflected the incoming force with his palm and lashed out with his golden dao like a bolt of lightning in counter-attack. Huang Yaoshi did not dodge, but turned his hand and grabbed straight for Guo Jing’s wrist to wrest the dao away. The grab was fierce and accurate, but Wang Chuyi’s jian was already at his back, forcing him to twist aside, and for that moment’s yielding his fingers missed by two inches. Guo Jing seized the chance and whirled his dao back in a cutting strike.

This round of fighting was fiercer by far than before. At first the Quanzhen disciples had been determined to kill Huang Yaoshi and avenge Zhou Botong and Tan Chuduan, but once the fighting began they saw that Huang Yaoshi held back again and again, never pressing a killing blow, and their own hostility diminished accordingly. Huang Yaoshi, since meeting the Quanzhen disciples, had known that some misunderstanding had arisen. But he was proud by nature, and standing on his dignity as their senior he would not deign to explain first. He fully intended to beat them into total defeat, to force them to cast aside their jians and yield, and only then reveal the truth and lecture them soundly. And so throughout the fight his hand had stayed merciful. Otherwise, even if Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and the others came to no harm, Sun Buer and Yin Zhiping would long since have lost their lives. Then Guo Jing had suddenly appeared, and far from helping him, was fighting him with his life at stake. It seemed to Huang Yaoshi that unless the boy had driven Huang Rong to her death, he had no reason to fear him so, and he was determined to seize Guo Jing and learn the truth.

Footnotes

1. 天罡北斗阵 — Tiāngāng Běidǒu Zhèn. Literally Big Dipper formation of the Heavenly Ladle. A Quanzhen formation of seven, laid out on the stars of the Big Dipper. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 劈空掌 — Pīkōng Zhǎng. Literally air-splitting palm. A palm strike that reaches its target without contact. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 桃华落英掌 — Táohuā Luòyīng Zhǎng. Palm technique with palm shadows like scattering peach blossoms. Originally called 落英神剑掌 (Falling Petals Divine Sword Palm) in earlier editions. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 旋风扫叶腿 — Xuànfēng Sǎo Yè Tuǐ. A Peach Blossom Island kicking art, paired with the Peach Blossom Falling Petals Palm. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 东风绝技 — Dōngfēng Juéjì. Combined technique using the Peach Blossom Falling Petals Palm and the Whirlwind Leaf-Sweeping Leg at once. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 烟雨楼 — Yānyǔ Lóu. Misty Rain Pavilion, on South Lake in Jiaxing. ↩

7. 醉仙楼 — Zuìxiān Lóu. The Drunken Immortal Wineshop, on the shore of South Lake in Jiaxing. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

9. 见龙在田 — Xiàn Lóng Zài Tián. Literally the dragon appears in the field. A move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing, named from a line of the Book of Changes. ↩

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