The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 36 – Part 3

After a moment, Huang Rong said, “Ah, of course. That silly boy Guo Jing must have written it wrong. Let me have a look.” Ouyang Feng, suspecting nothing, handed the pages to her. Huang Rong took them in her right hand and picked up the candlestick with her left, appearing to examine the text closely. Suddenly she kicked off with both feet and leapt backwards ten feet or more, holding the pages half a foot from the candle flame. “Uncle Ouyang,¹ this text is a fake. I’ll burn it, shall I?”

Ouyang Feng was appalled. “Hey, hey, what are you doing? Give it back, quick.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Do you want the manual, or do you want my life?”

“What good would your life do me? Give it back!” His voice was urgent, quite unlike his usual tone, and he made as if to rush forward and seize it.

Huang Rong moved the pages two inches closer to the flame. “Stay where you are! Move and I burn it. If even one word goes up in flames, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

Ouyang Feng knew she had him there. He gave a snort. “I can’t get the better of a little imp like you. Put the text down, and off you go!”

Huang Rong said, “You’re a grand master of our age. You mustn’t go back on your word.”

Ouyang Feng’s face darkened. “I said put the text down, quickly, and be on your way.”

Huang Rong knew him to be a man of great station who, though vicious by nature, would not break his word to another. She set both the text and the candlestick down on the floor and said with a smile, “I’m sorry, Uncle Ouyang.” Carrying her Dog-Beating Staff,² she turned and walked away.

Without even turning his head, Ouyang Feng sprang abruptly into the air and struck out backhanded with his palm. With a tremendous crash he knocked away half the statue of Wang Yanzhang of the Iron Spear.³ “Blind Ke,” he shouted, “get out here.”

Huang Rong was shocked and turned to see Ke Zhen’e leap out from behind the statue, his spear shaft whirled up to guard his front. It dawned on her at once, and she thought, With Old Venom’s skill, how could Elder Master Ke hide behind the statue without being found out? He must have heard his breathing. The Old Venom simply didn’t consider him worth noticing and held back until now. She sprang forward, her bamboo staff extended slightly to help with the defence, and said to Ouyang Feng, “Uncle Ouyang, I’m not leaving. Let him go.”

Ke Zhen’e said, “No, Rong-er, you go. Find Jing-er and tell him to avenge us six brothers.”

Huang Rong said forlornly, “If he were willing to believe me, he would have believed me long ago. Elder Master Ke, if you won’t go, the wrong done to my father and me will never be put right. Tell Guo Jing I don’t blame him, and tell him not to be sad.”

Ke Zhen’e would not let her sacrifice herself to save him, and the two argued back and forth.

Ouyang Feng grew impatient. “Little wretch, I promised to let you go. What are you still gabbing about?”

Huang Rong said, “I don’t feel like leaving now. Uncle Ouyang, chase that annoying blind man away so I can keep you company and ease your boredom. Just don’t hurt him.”

Ouyang Feng thought, If she won’t go, all the better. What do I care if the blind man lives or dies? He strode forward and reached for Ke Zhen’e’s chest. Ke Zhen’e swung his spear shaft across his breast to block. Ouyang Feng flung out his arm and knocked it aside. Ke Zhen’e’s arms went numb, his chest ached dully, and with a clang the iron spear shaft shot straight up, smashed through the roof tiles and flew out through the top of the hall.

Ke Zhen’e leapt back hastily, but before he could land his collar was seized and he found himself lifted off his feet by Ouyang Feng. A veteran of many formidable foes, he kept his head even in peril. His left hand flicked up slightly, and two poisoned caltrops shot towards his enemy’s face.

Ouyang Feng had not expected him to have such a desperate gambit for turning defeat into victory. The distance was close and the projectiles fast. There was no dodging. He leant back at once and, using the momentum, flung Ke Zhen’e out over his head.

Ke Zhen’e had been facing the temple entrance when he leapt from behind the statue, and Ouyang Feng’s throw sent him flying straight through the door. The force was so great that his body actually outpaced the caltrops. The two poisoned caltrops flew over Ouyang Feng’s head, about to strike Ke Zhen’e himself.

Huang Rong cried, “Oh!” But then she saw Ke Zhen’e turn slightly in mid-air and reach up with his right hand to catch the two caltrops deftly. His Wind-Listening Perception⁴ skill had truly reached perfection. It was as though he could see better than a sighted man.

Ouyang Feng shouted his approval. “You’re really something, Blind Ke. I’ll let you go.”

Ke Zhen’e landed but still hesitated. Huang Rong laughed. “Elder Master Ke, Uncle Ouyang wants to take me as his teacher and learn the Nine Yin Manual⁵ from me. If you still won’t go, do you want to become my disciple too?”

Ke Zhen’e knew that, for all her easy, carefree tone, she was in the gravest danger. He stood his ground and would not leave.

Ouyang Feng looked up at the sky. “It’s broad daylight. Let’s go!” He took Huang Rong’s hand and walked swiftly towards the door.

Huang Rong called out, “Elder Master Ke, remember the words I wrote in your palm.” By the last few words, she was already several dozen feet away.

Ke Zhen’e stood still for a long while. He heard flock after flock of crows swooping into the old temple to peck at the corpse. He leapt onto the roof, found his iron spear, and stood atop the temple for some time, thinking how vast the world was, and where could a blind man like him find a place to belong? Suddenly the crows began to shriek piteously, and with a flurry of wings they were dropping out of the air, one after another. They had fed on Yang Kang’s flesh and been poisoned. He could not help heaving a long sigh. He leapt down, grasped his spear, and walked north.

On the third day he suddenly heard an eagle cry overhead and thought, If the two eagles are here, Jing-er is probably close by too. At once he shouted at the top of his voice across the open country, “Jing-er, Jing-er!” Before long, sure enough, he heard hoofbeats. Guo Jing came galloping on his little red horse. They had been separated in the melee, and now that he saw his shifu safe, his joy was boundless. Before the horse had even stopped, he leapt down, ran to him and threw his arms round him, crying again and again, “Eldest Shifu!⁶”

Ke Zhen’e slapped him twice, left and right. Guo Jing dared not dodge, and let go of him in astonishment. Ke Zhen’e’s left hand continued to strike Guo Jing while his right hand slapped his own face. Guo Jing was even more startled. “Eldest Shifu, what’s wrong?”

Ke Zhen’e cursed, “You’re a young fool, and I’m an old fool!” He slapped him a dozen more times before stopping. Both their faces were red and swollen. Ke Zhen’e cursed himself and Guo Jing at length before recounting everything that had happened in the ancient temple.

The matter was convoluted, and Guo Jing pondered it for some time before understanding from beginning to end. He was astonished and overjoyed, pained and ashamed, and sorrowful besides, and thought, So that is the truth of it. I truly did wrong Rong-er.

Ke Zhen’e barked, “Tell me, do the two of us deserve to die or not?”

Guo Jing kept saying, “Yes, yes. It is this disciple who deserves to die. With your eyes as they are, Eldest Shifu, the fault cannot be yours.”

Ke Zhen’e raged, “Damn it, I should die too! I’m blind in the eyes, but am I blind in the heart as well?”

Guo Jing said, “We must hurry and think of a way to rescue Rong-er.”

Ke Zhen’e said, “Where’s her father?”

“Island Master Huang⁷ escorted my revered shifu Hong to Peach Blossom Island to recuperate. Eldest Shifu, where do you think Ouyang Feng has taken Rong-er?”

Ke Zhen’e was silent for a time, then said, “Rong-er has been carried off by him. Even if she isn’t dead, who knows what torments he has put her through. Jing-er, go and save her, quickly. As for me, I mean to kill myself to make amends to her.”

Guo Jing cried in alarm, “No! You mustn’t think like that.” But he had always known his shifu to be headstrong and deaf to advice, a man who, once he spoke of dying, would die without a backward glance. “Eldest Shifu, please hurry to Peach Blossom Island and bring word. Ask Island Master Huang to come quickly. I am no match for Ouyang Feng.”

Ke Zhen’e saw the sense in this and set off at once with his spear. Guo Jing could not bear to part from him and followed behind. Ke Zhen’e swung his spear at him and swore, “Get going, now! If you don’t bring my dear Rong-er back safely, I’ll take your young life.”

Guo Jing had no choice but to stop. He watched his shifu’s figure disappear into the mulberry trees to the east, not knowing where to find Huang Rong. After long thought, he rode with his eagles back to the Iron Spear Temple. Before the temple and behind it lay nothing but dead crows. In the hall remained only a pile of white bones and rotten flesh.

Though Guo Jing hated Yang Kang for murdering five of his shifus, he reflected that the man was dead now and the feud wiped clean. Remembering their oath of brotherhood, he gathered the bones and buried them behind the temple. He bowed several times and prayed, “Brother Yang, if you remember my burying you today, you must help me find Rong-er, to make up for the wrongs of your life.”

Thereafter Guo Jing enquired everywhere, searching for Huang Rong’s traces. The search lasted half a year. Autumn passed, winter came, winter ended, spring returned. Riding the red horse, with the two eagles at his side, he searched high and low. He asked the Beggars’ Guild, the Quanzhen Order, and all who walked the same path in the wulin, but not a whisper of Huang Rong could he find. Thinking of what she must have endured these past six months, his heart was as though cut with a knife. He resolved to search to the ends of the earth until he found her.

First he went to the Central Capital, then to Bianliang, then to Peach Blossom Island. Not only was there no sign of Huang Yaoshi, even Wanyan Honglie had vanished without trace. The Beggars’ Guild, hearing their Guild Chief⁸ was in danger, mobilised the entire guild to search. One day Guo Jing came to Returning Clouds Manor,⁹ only to find it burned to the bare ground. He did not know what calamity had befallen Lu Chengfeng and Lu Guanying, father and son.

One day he entered Shandong Province and saw that along the road nine houses out of ten were empty. Travellers fled in crowds, saying the Mongols and Jin armies had clashed, the Jin troops were routed, and the retreating soldiers were ravaging the common people, committing every atrocity. Guo Jing travelled three days further north, and the further north he went, the more devastation he saw. He thought how war was a terrible thing, and the common people suffered most. When the Jin troops went south, they killed, burned, raped, and plundered with extreme cruelty. The Mongol soldiers were somewhat better, but not by much. Fortunately between the Mongols and the Song border lay the Jin state, so the Mongol armies could not yet invade Song territory.

That day he arrived in Shandong East Circuit, passed Yizhou, and rested a night in Juzhou. The next day he continued north to a village in the countryside of Mizhou. He was just thinking of finding a place to water his horse and cook a meal when suddenly a great uproar arose ahead. Men shouted and horses neighed. Dozens of Jin soldiers charged into the village. The soldiers set fire to the houses, drove the villagers out, and bound every young woman they saw. The rest, old and young alike, they cut down without mercy.

Guo Jing was enraged. He spurred his horse forward, snatched the commanding officer’s great spear from his hands, and struck him across the temple with his left palm. In these months he had practised morning and night without rest, and his neili¹⁰ had greatly increased. The palm strike killed the officer instantly, his eyes bulging from their sockets. The Jin soldiers shouted as one, raised their daos and spears, and charged forward.

The little red horse, finding itself in battle, was in high spirits and flew to meet them. With his left hand Guo Jing snatched a great chopping dao as well, and, thrusting on the right and hacking on the left with Ambidextrous Self-Combat,¹¹ he fought with roaring abandon.

The Jin soldiers, seeing such ferocity, had no stomach for fighting. Remnants of a routed army, they turned and fled from the village. Suddenly a great banner billowed towards them from ahead. Through the smoke a small troop of Mongol soldiers charged. The Jin troops were so terrified of the Mongols they dared not fight them. Relying on their numbers, they turned back to fight Guo Jing, hoping only to force a path and escape.

Furious at the Jin soldiers for their cruelty to the common people, Guo Jing spurred his horse out of the village ahead of them. One man on one horse, awe-inspiring in his might, he held the narrow mouth of the valley. A dozen or so Jin soldiers charged him gamely, and he speared several of them one after another. The rest dared not advance but could not retreat either, milling about in chaos.

The Mongol soldiers, seeing unexpected help ahead, were greatly surprised. They charged and killed all thirty-odd Jin soldiers in the village. The hundred-man captain leading them was about to ask Guo Jing’s identity when a squad leader in the troop recognised him and cried, “Golden Dao Prince Consort!”¹² and threw himself to the ground in obeisance.

The hundred-man captain, hearing that this was the Great Khan’s prince consort, hastily dismounted and bowed, ordering a messenger to report to his superiors at full gallop.

Guo Jing immediately gave orders for the Mongol soldiers to extinguish the fires throughout the village. The villagers, old and young, came to thank him one after another.

While all was still in confusion, there came a rapid drumming of hooves from outside the village, and horsemen beyond counting came surging up. The villagers were alarmed and looked at one another. A chestnut horse galloped up like the wind. On it sat a young general who shouted, “Where is Guo Jing anda?”

Footnotes

1. 欧阳锋 — Ōuyáng Fēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 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. ↩

3. 王彦章 — Wáng Yànzhāng. General of the Later Liang (863—923) in the Five Dynasties period, called Iron Spear Wang for his prowess with the iron spear. He was captured and executed by the Later Tang. ↩

4. 听风辨形 — Tīngfēng Biànxíng. Advanced technique allowing Ke Zhen’e to fight effectively despite being blind. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

7. 黄药师 — Huáng Yàoshī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

9. 归云庄 — Guīyún Zhuāng. Literally returning clouds manor. The Lu family manor on Lake Tai. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

11. 左右互搏 — Zuǒyòu Hùbó. Literally left and right contend with each other. A method of fighting with each hand working independently of the other. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 金刀驸马 — Jīndāo Fùmǎ. Literally golden dao prince consort. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩