The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 35 – Part 4

Ke Zhen’e lay on his side with the iron spear beside him. Thoughts surged through his mind in wave after wave, and how could he sleep? The cawing of crows atop the pagoda gradually subsided, until at last all was silent. Yet he never heard Huang Rong lie down to sleep. From the sound of her, she had been sitting all along, not stirring.

After a while longer he heard her softly chant again, “On the fourth loom, the mandarin ducks are woven, longing to fly as a pair. Pity the head turned white before age has come. Spring ripples, green grass, deep in the cold of dawn, face to face they bathe their crimson robes.”¹ He heard her murmur it over and over, as though turning the meaning of the words in her mind. Ke Zhen’e was no scholar and did not understand what she was chanting, but her voice was so plaintive, as though her heart were breaking, that before he knew it he lay there spellbound.

After a long while, he heard her drag several rush cushions into a row and lie down on her side. Her breathing grew faint and slow, and presently she was asleep.

Ke Zhen’e’s hand touched the iron spear beside him, and the scenes of his childhood rose before him, sudden and sharp. He saw Zhu Cong holding a tattered book, shaking his head and reciting aloud. Han Baoju and Quan Jinfa sat astride the shoulders of the god’s statue, tugging at its beard. Nan Xiren and he strained together at one end of the iron spear while Zhang Asheng pulled at the other, the three of them locked in a contest of strength. Han Xiaoying was only four or five years old then, dragging two little pigtails, clapping and laughing. The bright red cords tied to her pigtails swayed and bobbed before his eyes.

Then all went dark again. His six sworn brothers and sisters, and his own elder brother too, had perished one after another at the hands of Huang Yaoshi and his disciples. The fire of hatred in his breast blazed up beyond all restraint. He lifted the iron spear and walked soundlessly to where Huang Rong lay. He could hear her breathing softly, deep in sleep.

He thought, One blow of this spear, and she will die without knowing anything of it. Heh, if not this way, how could I ever avenge my deep wrongs in this life, with Old Heretic Huang’s martial arts the greatest in the world? His daughter is sleeping here. Heaven has given me the perfect chance to make him taste the grief of losing a daughter.

Then he thought again, This girl saved my life. How can I repay kindness with enmity? Ah, well. Once I have killed her, I shall dash my head to pieces beside her, and so repay what she did for me today.

With that his mind was made up, and he thought, I, Ke Zhen’e, have been upright all my life. In all these decades I have done nothing to shame me before Heaven and Earth. To steal an attack on someone in her sleep is certainly not the act of an open and honest man. But I shall repay her with my death, and so I shall have done right by her.

He raised the iron spear and was about to bring it crashing down on Huang Rong’s head when, far off, someone burst into loud laughter. It grated harshly on the ear, and in the still of the night it made the flesh creep.

Huang Rong was startled awake by the laughter. She leapt to her feet, and at the sudden sight of Ke Zhen’e standing over her with the iron spear raised high, she cried out in alarm, “Ouyang Feng!”

Now that she was awake, Ke Zhen’e could not bring the spear down. Then he heard voices approaching, speaking as they came. From the distance the words were indistinct, but presently he caught the sound of footsteps. There must have been thirty or forty of them. He knew every corner of this temple, front hall and rear courtyard alike. He said in a low voice, “The Old Venom and his lot must have seen the crow pagoda and be heading this way. Let’s hide for now.”

Huang Rong said, “Yes.” She kicked apart the row of rush cushions they had slept on. Ke Zhen’e took her hand and led her towards the rear hall. He reached out and pushed at the door, but the door to the rear hall had been bolted.

Ke Zhen’e cursed, “Those two thieving soldiers!” He guessed they had slipped away in the dark, bolting the door first so that Huang Rong would not find them out. There was no time now to batter it open with the spear. He could hear the main gate being pushed open, and he knew there was nowhere in the main hall to hide. He whispered, “Behind the statue.”

They had barely seated themselves behind the divine image before a dozen or more people entered the hall. Then came a sharp hiss, and Ke Zhen’e caught the smell of sulphur. Someone had shaken a tinder tube² alight.

He heard Ouyang Feng say, “Prince of Zhao, though today’s engagement at the Misty Rain Pavilion achieved nothing, we have at least blunted the enemy’s edge.”

Wanyan Honglie laughed. “That is all thanks to your direction of the whole affair, Mister Ouyang.”

Ouyang Feng gave a low chuckle. “The young prince laid a clever plan, calling out the troops of Jiaxing Prefecture to loose ten thousand arrows at once. We might have caught the whole lot of them in one net. But then, neither a moment too late nor a moment too early, up came this great fog, and the villains slipped away.”

A young voice spoke up. “With Mister Ouyang and Chief Qiu³ taking the field, the villains may have escaped today, but in the end they will be wiped out one by one. I only regret that this junior arrived a step too late to see Mister Ouyang display his divine might. It is a very great pity.”

Ke Zhen’e recognised the voice as Yang Kang’s, and fury filled his breast. Then he heard Liang Ziweng, Peng Lianhu, Sha Tongtian and the rest piling on their flattery, each one praising Ouyang Feng for how he had fought the Quanzhen Daoists single-handedly and put the lot of them to shameful rout. Nobody mentioned Qiu Qianren, and Ke Zhen’e did not hear him speak, so he guessed the man had not come with them. With so many masters gathered here, Ke Zhen’e hardly dared breathe. A little while ago he had been ready to kill Huang Rong and himself together, yet now, he knew not how, all he feared was that the enemy might discover them and take Huang Rong’s life along with his own.

He heard Wanyan Honglie’s attendants unroll bedding and make up sleeping places for Wanyan Honglie, Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang.

Yang Kang heaved a long sigh. “Mister Ouyang, your nephew was not only a superb martial artist but a man of elegant, handsome bearing. This junior took to him at once and hoped we would become close friends, never dreaming he would be murdered by that pack of mangy Quanzhen Daoists. Every time I think of it, it grieves me beyond words. I have sworn to kill every one of those evil Quanzhen Daoists with my own hands, to comfort the spirit of House Brother Ouyang in Heaven. It is only a pity that my martial arts are so poor. I have the will but not the strength.”

He wanted Ouyang Feng to kill Qiu Chuji, his own shifu, and so rid himself of future trouble. That was why, all the way here, he had been at pains to recount in detail how the Seven Zis of Quanzhen had killed Ouyang Ke at Niu Family Village, and had duped Ouyang Feng into believing it without question.

Ouyang Feng was silent for a long time. At length he said slowly, “My nephew met an unfortunate end. At first I suspected that brat Guo Jing of doing the deed. But hearing you recount Qiu Chuji’s own words just now, I know it was the work of a pack of evil Daoists from the Quanzhen Order. Now White Camel Mountain has no one to carry on its arts. I shall take you as my disciple.”

Yang Kang called out in a loud voice, “Shifu, your disciple kowtows to you.” His voice was filled with joy. Then came several thuds, thud, thud, thud. He must have thrown himself on the ground to kowtow to Ouyang Feng.

Ke Zhen’e thought, Here is a fine descendant of a loyal and upright house, and not content with taking a traitor for his father, he must now take a villain for his shifu. He sinks deeper and deeper. And he despised the young man more than ever.

Wanyan Honglie said, “We are far from home and cannot honour the shifu with the proper ceremony. We shall thank you fittingly another day.”

Ouyang Feng sighed. “White Camel Mountain has a few pearls and treasures of its own. Ouyang Feng simply saw that the boy was clever, and hopes that all his skills may one day have someone to carry them on.”

Wanyan Honglie said, “This humble prince spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Mister Ouyang.”

Liang Ziweng and the rest hurried forward to offer congratulations to the three of them.

In the midst of the commotion, a voice suddenly cried out, “Silly Girl⁴ is hungry, starving to death. Why won’t anybody give me anything to eat?”

Ke Zhen’e was greatly startled to hear Silly Girl’s voice, and wondered how she came to be mixed up with Wanyan Honglie, Ouyang Feng and the rest.

He heard Yang Kang laugh. “That’s right. Quick, find some pastries for the big girl. Don’t let her go hungry.”

After a moment Silly Girl could be heard chewing loudly. As she ate, she said, “Good brother, you said you’d take me home, and told me to be good and do as you said. Why haven’t we got there yet?”

Yang Kang said, “We’ll be there tomorrow. Eat your fill and go to sleep.”

After a while Silly Girl said, “Good brother, what’s that rustling sound up in the pagoda?”

“It’s birds,” said Yang Kang. “Or mice.”

“I’m scared,” said Silly Girl.

Yang Kang laughed. “Silly girl, what are you afraid of!”

“I’m afraid of ghosts.”

Yang Kang laughed. “There are so many people here, the ghosts won’t dare come.”

Silly Girl said, “I’m afraid of that short fat man’s ghost.”

Yang Kang forced a laugh. “Stop talking nonsense. What short fat man?”

Silly Girl said, “Hmph, I know all right. The short fat man died in Granny’s grave. Granny’s ghost will drive the short fat man’s ghost out of the grave and won’t let him live there. He’ll come looking for you to pay with your life.”

Yang Kang snapped, “One more word out of you and I’ll have your grandfather come and take you back to Peach Blossom Island.”

Silly Girl dared not speak again. Then Sha Tongtian’s voice rang out, “Hey, you’re standing on my foot. Sit still and be quiet!” Silly Girl, afraid of ghosts, was presumably squeezing and jostling her way through the crowd.

Ke Zhen’e listened to this exchange and suspicion rose in his mind. The short fat man Silly Girl spoke of must be Third Brother Han Baoju. He had died on Peach Blossom Island, plainly killed by Huang Yaoshi. How could his ghost come to demand repayment from Yang Kang? Silly Girl was simple-minded, yet her words must have some cause behind them. But with powerful enemies right in front of him, there was no way he could go out and get to the bottom of it.

Then another thought struck him, Outside the Misty Rain Pavilion Huang Yaoshi said to me, ‘Who do you take me for? I am Huang Yaoshi. How could I stoop to the level of a man like you?’ If he would not stoop to kill me, how could he have killed my five brothers and sisters? But if it was not Huang Yaoshi, how could Fourth Brother say he saw him kill Second Brother and Seventh Sister with his own eyes?

As his mind worked at these puzzles, he felt Huang Rong take his left hand. With her finger she traced a character on his palm, Beg, and then, character by character, …one thing of you.

Ke Zhen’e wrote back on her palm, What thing?

Huang Rong wrote, Tell my father who killed me.

Ke Zhen’e was taken aback. He could not fathom her purpose. He was about to draw her hand back to his and write another question when, with a sudden stir of air beside him, Huang Rong had already leapt out. He heard her say with a smile, “Uncle Ouyang, how are you?”

No one in that hall had imagined anyone was hiding behind the statue. There was a rasping and ringing as every man drew his weapon, and they ringed her round, all shouting at once, “Who’s that?” “An assassin!” “Who are you?”

Huang Rong laughed. “My father told me to wait here for Uncle Ouyang’s arrival. What’s all this fuss about?”

Ouyang Feng said, “How did your father know I would come here?”

“My father is skilled in medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy. There is nothing he does not understand. He cast a King Wen divination of the Prior Heaven, and naturally he knew.”

Ouyang Feng did not believe nine parts in ten of this, but he knew that even if he pressed her, she would not speak the truth. He smiled and said nothing. Sha Tongtian and the others went outside the temple and made a circuit of the grounds. Seeing no one else about, they took up guard round Wanyan Honglie.

Huang Rong sat down on a rush cushion and said with a smile, “Uncle Ouyang, you have caused my father no end of suffering!”

Ouyang Feng smiled but did not reply. He knew that young as Huang Rong was, she had a hundred tricks up her sleeve. One careless answer and she would seize on it and mock him, and in front of everyone he would find it hard to save face.

Then she said, “Uncle Ouyang, my father is trapped at the Small Penglai in Xincheng Town, surrounded by the old Daoists of the Quanzhen Order. If you don’t go and rescue him, I’m afraid he won’t get away.”

Ouyang Feng smiled faintly. “How can that be?”

Huang Rong said sharply, “You make it sound so light and easy! A man takes responsibility for his own deeds. It was you who killed Tan Chuduan of the Quanzhen Order, and now those stinking Daoists won’t stop hounding my father. On top of that, the Old Wild Child is stirring up trouble in the middle of it all, and my father refuses to sort right from wrong. Where will it all end?”

Ouyang Feng was secretly delighted. He said, “Your father’s martial arts are formidable. What could a few mangy Quanzhen Daoists do to him?”

Huang Rong said, “With those ox-nosed Daoists of the Quanzhen Order and the Old Wild Child thrown in, even my father cannot hold them off. My father also told me to come and tell you that he has thought about it for seven days and seven nights, and has at last penetrated the meaning of a certain text.”

Ouyang Feng said, “What text?”

Huang Rong said, “Mohe boluo, jiedi gulo, silixing, ang yi nade. Sire que xu, haha wenbo ying.”⁵

These strange, gibberish words left Ke Zhen’e, Wanyan Honglie and the rest bewildered. But Ouyang Feng was startled. These were the bizarre phrases from the final chapter of the lower volume of the Nine Yin Manual.⁶ He had read the main text of the manual countless times, yet these strange utterances were not only impossible to understand but difficult even to remember. Could Huang Yaoshi truly have deciphered them? His heart pounded, but his face betrayed nothing. He said coolly, “Little girls love to tell lies. Who would understand such gibberish?”

Huang Rong said, “My father has translated this strange text line by line, from beginning to end, plain and clear. I saw it with my own eyes. How could I lie to you?”

Ouyang Feng had always respected Huang Yaoshi’s talents. He thought that if this strange text could never be understood, then so be it. But if anyone in the world could decipher it, it could only be Huang Yaoshi and no other. He said mildly, “Then I must congratulate your father.”

Huang Rong could tell from his tone that he was still half doubtful. She went on, “I read it, and I still remember a few lines. I may as well recite them for you.” And she began to recite.

“When the body stirs of its own accord, or when the body grows heavy as though pressed down by a weight, or when the body grows light and would take flight, or when the body is bound as though in cords, or when strange cold and fierce heat assail it, or when joy and restlessness overwhelm it, or when it is as though evil things brush against the flesh and the body’s hairs stand on end, or when great bliss overtakes the practitioner and he sinks into a drunken stupor. In all such cases, one must use the method that follows to conduct them into divine power.”⁷

Those few lines of scripture left Ouyang Feng itching beyond all bearing. What Huang Rong had recited was precisely a passage from the general principles of the Nine Yin Manual, as translated by Great Master Yideng.⁸ Those strange and eerie states are precisely what a cultivator of the highest neigong encounters in practice. Whenever a practitioner fell into such a state, he would always tremble with fear and suppress his spirit, lest he fall into Qi Deviation.⁹ Who would have imagined that there existed a wondrous method for turning the heart-demons into divine power? That was truly a peerless secret.

Because what Huang Rong recited was indeed the true text of the manual and not some careless invention, and because Ouyang Feng’s neigong was so refined that he could tell truth from falsehood the moment it reached his ears, he now had no further doubt. He asked, “What comes next?”

Footnotes

1. 四张机 — Sì Zhāng Jī. Literally four looms. The fourth lyric of the anonymous Song ci sequence Nine Looms (九张机), whose stanzas open by counting the looms. ↩

2. 火折子 — huǒzhézi. A tinder tube: rolled paper or fibre treated with saltpetre, kept smouldering in a tube and revived with a puff of breath. ↩

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

4. 傻姑 — Shǎgū. Literally silly girl. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 摩诃波罗 — Móhē Bōluó. The opening of the passage of the Nine Yin Manual written in Chinese characters chosen only for their sound. ↩

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

7. 九阴真经总旨 — Jiǔyīn Zhēnjīng Zǒngzhǐ. Literally general principles of the Nine Yin Manual. ↩

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

9. 走火入魔 — zǒuhuǒrùmó. Literally fire running wild and entering the demonic. The breakdown that follows faulty neigong practice, when zhenqi runs amok in the meridians. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩