The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 4 – Part 5

At this moment the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan¹ understood that the man was not her husband at all, but a live target she had captured to practise her moves against. The woman could only be the Iron Corpse, Mei Chaofeng.²

As her laughter died away, Mei Chaofeng reached out, and with several sharp rips tore open the dead man’s clothes. The north was cold, and everyone wore padded fur coats, but she ripped through the tough hide as easily as tearing cloth and paper, without the slightest effort. She thrust her hand into the corpse’s chest and abdomen, drew out the organs one by one, and examined each under the moonlight before casting it aside. The Six Eccentrics looked at the heart, lungs, liver and spleen scattered on the ground, and saw that every one was smashed to pieces. Only then did they understand the purpose of her using living men as targets. She had struck the man nine times with her palms, and not a single bone had been heard to break, yet his organs had been shaken to pulp. She was examining the organs to gauge the progress of her own neili.³

Han Xiaoying⁴ was beside herself with rage. She quietly drew her long jian and was about to dart forward with a surprise attack, but Zhu Cong⁵ caught hold of her at once and waved her back, thinking, There is only the Iron Corpse here. Fierce as she is, the seven of us together should be able to hold her. If we kill her first, dealing with the Copper Corpse⁶ afterwards will be far easier. But if both of them arrive, there is no way we can cope… Yet who knows if the Copper Corpse is not lurking in hiding, waiting to strike from ambush? Big Brother knows the habits of these two fiends best. Better to follow his orders and let him make the first move.

Mei Chaofeng finished her examination and smiled faintly, seemingly quite satisfied with herself. She sat down on the ground, facing the moon, and began her breathing exercises, drawing breath in and letting it out. Her back was turned directly towards Zhu Cong and Han Xiaoying, and they could see plainly how her back rose and fell.

Han Xiaoying thought, If I strike now with Lightning Illuminates the Sky,⁷ nine times out of ten I can run her through. But if the strike misses, it will ruin everything. She was trembling all over, and for a moment could not make up her mind.

Zhu Cong likewise did not dare breathe too deeply. He felt a cold dampness on his back, for he had broken out in a cold sweat. Glancing sideways, he saw dark clouds filling half the sky to the west, like thick ink splashed across a vast sheet of dark blue paper. Lightning flickered within the clouds, all the more frightening for it. Distant thunder rumbled dully, as though muffled and choked, struggling to break free from the thick wrapping of cloud.

Mei Chaofeng sat in meditation for a moment, then rose, dragged the corpse over to the stone pit where Ke Zhen’e⁸ lay hidden, and bent to lift the stone slab.

Every one of the Six Eccentrics gripped his weapon tight, ready to leap out the instant she lifted that slab.

Suddenly Mei Chaofeng heard the faintest rustle of leaves behind her, a sound that was not the wind. She whipped round and saw, in the moonlight, the shadow of a human head showing in a treetop. She let out a long whistle and hurled herself at the tree.

The one hiding at the very crown was Han Baoju.⁹ Relying on his short stature, he had concealed himself among the foliage without showing his form. Now, as he coiled to leap and straightened slightly, he was at once discovered by his enemy. He saw the woman’s assault coming with unstoppable force and swung his Golden Dragon Whip in the move Dark Dragon Draws Water,¹⁰ striking down from his height at her wrist. Mei Chaofeng did not even dodge. She reached back with one hand and caught the whip’s tip. Han Baoju had great physical strength and wrenched it back with all his might. Mei Chaofeng rode the whip upwards, her left palm striking out swift as wind and lightning. The wind of the blow arrived before the palm itself, ferocious beyond measure. Han Baoju saw he could not block it, released the whip, and somersaulted down from the tree. Mei Chaofeng would not let him escape. She followed him down, her five fingers clawing at the centre of his back.

Han Baoju felt a chill of wind at the back of his neck. He strained forward with all his strength, and at the same moment Nan Xiren’s¹¹ Bone-Piercing Awl¹² and Quan Jinfa’s¹³ sleeve arrows flew at the enemy from beneath the tree, side by side.

Mei Chaofeng flicked her left middle finger twice in succession, deflecting both hidden weapons to the ground. With a sharp rip, a piece was torn from the back of Han Baoju’s coat. He planted his left foot and leapt desperately forward, only to find Mei Chaofeng landing directly in front of him. The Iron Corpse moved like a whirlwind and barked, “Who are you? What are you doing here?” Her twin claws already clamped onto his shoulders. Han Baoju felt a burst of searing pain as her ten fingers sank into his flesh like ten iron awls. In his alarm he lashed out with his right foot at her belly. Mei Chaofeng’s right palm chopped down. There was a crack, and Han Baoju’s instep nearly broke. He did not lose his head in the crisis but borrowed the momentum to roll away along the ground.

Mei Chaofeng raised her foot to kick at his backside, when suddenly a dark carrying pole flashed out from the right, smashing fiercely at her ankle. It was Nan Xiren, the Southern Woodcutter.¹⁴

Mei Chaofeng had to abandon her pursuit of Han Baoju and retreated hastily. In an instant, enemies surrounded her on every side. A scholar wielding an acupoint-striking iron fan and a lovely young woman with a jian attacked from the right. A great fat man gripping a pointed ox-slaughtering dao and a slight fellow holding a strange-shaped weapon rushed in from the left. In front, a sturdy fellow who looked like a peasant swung his carrying pole. Behind, the sound of footsteps told her the short, stout fellow with the soft whip must be closing in. She did not recognise any of them, yet each appeared formidable in martial arts. She thought, There are many of them. I’ll kill a few of them quickly first. No matter what they call themselves or where they come from, apart from my shifu and my own thief of a husband, there is no one in this world I cannot kill! Her form flickered, and her claws raked savagely at Han Xiaoying’s face.

Zhu Cong saw the ferocity of her assault and struck swiftly with his iron fan at the Quchi acupoint¹⁵ in the crook of her right elbow. But the Iron Corpse paid it no heed. Her right claw shot straight on, and Han Xiaoying used the move White Dew Spans the River,¹⁶ slicing horizontally at the enemy’s arm. Mei Chaofeng flipped her wrist and caught at the jian with her bare hand, as though her palm feared no blade at all. Han Xiaoying, appalled, hastily drew back her jian and stepped away. There came a sharp crack. Zhu Cong’s iron fan had struck the Quchi acupoint dead on. It was a vital point of the body. Once struck, the whole arm would go numb and useless at once. Zhu Cong was delighted, but only for an instant. The enemy’s arm shot suddenly longer, her claw already reaching for the top of his head. Zhu Cong relied on his nimble form and darted away at the last possible moment, barely escaping that grip. Shaken and baffled, he thought, Can it be that she has no acupoints at all?

By now Han Baoju had retrieved his Golden Dragon Whip from the ground, and the six of them enclosed the enemy at the centre, blades attacking together. Mei Chaofeng showed not the slightest fear. Her bare hands seemed fiercer still than the Six Eccentrics’ weapons. Her claws were like steel hooks, either wrenching at their weapons or tearing savagely at their bodies. The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan remembered the five finger-holes bored into the tops of the skulls and each felt a chill of dread. There was another troubling matter: this Iron Corpse had the word iron in her title, and not by accident. Her whole body might have been cast in copper and hammered from iron. Quan Jinfa’s scale weight had struck her back twice, yet seemed to have done her no serious harm. Only then did they realise that she had taken External Hard Training¹⁷ to the highest level. She did not dare catch Zhang Asheng’s¹⁸ dao or Han Xiaoying’s jian on her bare flesh, but against the other weapons she scarcely bothered to dodge, pressing her attack without let-up. At the height of the fighting, Quan Jinfa was a moment too slow in evading. She seized his left arm. The five were aghast and attacked with redoubled fury. Mei Chaofeng gave a sharp tug, and from Quan Jinfa’s arm she tore away a great chunk of cloth and flesh together, leaving a bloody wound.

Zhu Cong thought, Anyone who practises External Hard Training must have a coverage gate,¹⁹ a place the training cannot reach. That spot is exceptionally tender, and a single touch there means death. But where is this fiend’s gate? He bounded high and low, his iron fan darting as he struck at the Baihui acupoint atop her head and the Lianquan acupoint at her throat, then tested the Shenque acupoint at her belly and the Zhongshu acupoint at her back. In the space of a breath he had probed more than a dozen points, seeking to discover which part of her body she guarded with particular care, for that would be the location of her coverage gate. Mei Chaofeng understood his purpose and snarled, “You wretched ghost of a scholar, your grandma’s skill is perfected. My whole body has no coverage gate!” She lunged suddenly and seized his wrist. Zhu Cong was badly frightened, but his thoughts moved with extraordinary speed and his hands were deft. Before her claws could sink into his flesh he flipped his palm and thrust the iron fan into her grip, shouting, “There is poison on the fan!” Mei Chaofeng suddenly felt a hard object in her hand. In that instant of surprise, Zhu Cong wrenched his hand free. She feared the fan might truly be poisoned and flung it away at once.

Zhu Cong leapt several paces back. Raising his hand, he saw five deep bloody furrows on the back of it, and could not help breaking out in a cold sweat. The battle had dragged on without result, and already three of their side were clawed and wounded. Once her husband the Copper Corpse arrived, the seven of them would truly leave their bones scattered on this barren mountain. He could see that Zhang Asheng, Han Baoju and Quan Jinfa were all gasping for breath, sweat showing on their foreheads. Only Nan Xiren, whose neili ran deeper, and Han Xiaoying, whose form was light and agile, showed no sign of tiring. The enemy, by contrast, fought all the fiercer as time passed. He caught a sideways glimpse of the moon’s ghastly pale light breaking through the dark clouds and falling on the three piles of skulls to the left, and could not suppress a shudder. Desperation sharpened his wits. He sprinted towards the stone pit where Ke Zhen’e lay hidden, shouting at the same time, “Run for your lives!” The other five understood his intent. They fought as they retreated.

Mei Chaofeng sneered, “Where did you bastards crawl out from, to come here and ambush this old lady? It’s too late to run now.” She flew after them. Nan Xiren, Quan Jinfa and Han Xiaoying strained to hold her back. Zhu Cong, Zhang Asheng and Han Baoju bent to it together, and with a thud they heaved the stone slab aside.

At that very moment, Mei Chaofeng’s left arm had coiled around Nan Xiren’s carrying pole and her right claw shot out straight for his eyes. Zhu Cong roared, “Come down and fight!” He pointed upwards, eyes to the sky, his left hand raised high, beckoning urgently, as though calling a companion hidden above to descend and attack from both sides.

Mei Chaofeng was startled and could not help glancing up. She saw only dark clouds filling the sky, half concealing the moon. There was no one there. In that instant of distraction, Nan Xiren seized the chance to duck his head and dodge her claw.

Zhu Cong shouted, “Seven paces ahead!” Ke Zhen’e unleashed both hands together, and six poisoned caltrops²⁰ shot out in three lines, high, middle and low, all aimed at the spot seven paces before him. Amid the shouts, Ke Zhen’e leapt from the pit, and the Seven Eccentrics of Jiangnan attacked from all sides at once. Mei Chaofeng gave a cry of anguish as two poisoned caltrops struck her squarely in the eyes. The other four missed their mark, but her reflexes were so swift that even as the iron caltrops hit, she threw her head back, taking the force out of them, so that they did not penetrate deep into her skull. Yet her vision went black in an instant. She could see nothing at all.

Rage and desperation surged through Mei Chaofeng. Both palms crashed down, but Ke Zhen’e had already darted aside. There came two great thuds as her strikes hit solid rock instead. She was wild with fury. Her right foot lashed out and kicked the stone slab, which flew into the air. The Seven Eccentrics watched from the side, each one chilled. None dared press the attack for the moment.

Mei Chaofeng was blind now, unable to see. She launched herself in every direction, clawing and grasping at random. Zhu Cong signed urgently to the others to keep their distance. She raged like a mad tigress, moved like a demon. Where her claws passed, trees snapped. Where her feet kicked, sand and stone flew. The Seven Eccentrics held their breath and kept well away. How could she touch them? After a time, Mei Chaofeng felt her eyes growing numb and knew she had been hit by poisoned hidden weapons. She cried fiercely, “Who are you? Out with it! If this old lady must die, she’ll at least die knowing.” She reached under her arm and drew out a long whip coiled around her waist and shoulder. She shook it out and whirled it into a silver ring, guarding herself. The Seven Eccentrics gripped their weapons and waited, poised.

Zhu Cong waved at Ke Zhen’e, signalling him not to speak and to let the poison run its course and kill her. He had waved only twice when it struck him. Big Brother was blind. How could he see hand signals?

They heard Ke Zhen’e say coldly, “Mei Chaofeng, do you remember the Flying Celestial Dragon Ke Pixie?²¹ I am his brother, Ke Zhen’e.”

Mei Chaofeng threw back her head and laughed long. “You little whelp, I have never set eyes on you. Were those poisoned weapons yours? You have come to avenge the Flying Celestial Dragon, have you?”

Ke Zhen’e said, “That is right. I am avenging my elder brother.”

Mei Chaofeng sighed and fell silent.

The Seven Eccentrics stood on their guard. A bitter wind cut to the bone. The moon was more than half hidden by dark clouds, the moonlight wan and bleak. Each of them felt a chill of dread. They saw that Mei Chaofeng held her whip still in her right hand, her left arm hanging at her side, the five sharp nails gleaming grey-white in the light. Her whole body was like a stone statue, without the slightest stir. The long silver python whip coiled before her like a serpent itself. It should have been a formidable weapon, yet she seemed never to have mastered it fully and could not unleash its power. A gust of wind blew from behind her, lifting her long hair forward across her brow. Han Xiaoying was facing her directly and saw two trails of blood running from her eyes, down her cheeks, to her neck.

Suddenly Zhu Cong and Quan Jinfa both cried out together, “Big Brother, look out!” Before the words were out of their mouths, Ke Zhen’e felt a fierce rush of wind striking at his chest. He jammed his iron staff into the ground and leaped, landing at the crown of a tree. Mei Chaofeng’s whip had struck at him from ambush and missed. Her body pitched forward, missed its target, and she seized the great tree beneath Ke Zhen’e, driving the five fingers of her left hand into the trunk. The Six Eccentrics were aghast. Had Ke Zhen’e’s leap been even a moment later, had the whip struck him true, or had those fingers found his body instead of the bark, would he still be alive? In the minds of the Seven Eccentrics, it was because the Nine Yin White Bone Claw²² was so rarely seen that it seemed even more terrible than the whip.

Mei Chaofeng’s attack having failed, she let out a long, eerie whistle. The sound was thin and piercing, yet her inner breath was full and powerful, carrying far into the distance.

A thought flashed through Zhu Cong’s mind, No good. She is calling her husband the Copper Corpse to come to her aid. He shouted, “Finish her now!” He circulated his neili into his arm and brought a crushing palm down on her back. Zhang Asheng heaved a great boulder overhead with both hands and smashed it down towards her skull.

Mei Chaofeng had only just gone blind and could not yet read the wind and judge shapes the way Ke Zhen’e did. When the great boulder came, its sound was rough and heavy, and she could still make out its direction. She darted to one side, but this time she could not avoid Zhu Cong’s palm. She grunted as it struck her back. Formidable as her External Hard Training was, the Swift-Handed Scholar was no ordinary fighter, and the blow sent pain through her to the heart.

Zhu Cong, his first palm having landed true, followed at once with a second. Mei Chaofeng’s left claw hooked back, and Zhu Cong leaped hastily aside.

The others were about to press in together when a long whistle came from far away, a sound just like the one Mei Chaofeng had given moments before, arriving faintly, making the scalp tingle. In an instant a second whistle followed, and this one was much closer. All seven were startled, and thought, How fast the man moves! Ke Zhen’e cried, “The Copper Corpse is here.”

Footnotes

1. 江南六怪 — Jiāngnán Liù Guài. Literally six eccentrics of Jiangnan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 梅超风 — Méi Chāofēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

4. 韩小莹 — Hán Xiǎoyíng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 朱聪 — Zhū Cōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 铜尸 — Tóngshī. Literally copper corpse. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 电照长空 — Diàn Zhào Chángkōng. Literally lightning lights the long sky. A jian technique. ↩

8. 柯镇恶 — Kē Zhèn’è. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 韩宝驹 — Hán Bǎojū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 乌龙取水 — Wūlóng Qǔshuǐ. Literally dark dragon draws water. A whip move striking down from above. ↩

11. 南希仁 — Nán Xīrén. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 透骨锥 — Tòugǔ Zhuī. Literally bone-piercing awl. A hidden weapon. ↩

13. 全金发 — Quán Jīnfā. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 南山樵子 — Nánshān Qiáozǐ. Literally woodcutter of the southern mountain. ↩

15. 曲池穴 — Qū Chí Xué. Literally crooked pool. An acupoint at the outer end of the elbow crease. ↩

16. 白露横江 — Báilù Héngjiāng. Literally white dew spans the river. A horizontal cutting move of the jian. ↩

17. 横练功夫 — Héngliàn Gōngfū. External conditioning practice making the body hard like cast copper and iron. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 张阿生 — Zhāng Āshēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 罩门 — zhàomén. Literally covering gate. The one weak spot that external hard training leaves unprotected. ↩

20. 毒菱 — dú líng. Ke Zhen’e’s hidden weapon, a small iron caltrop coated with poison. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 柯辟邪 — Kē Pìxié. His name meaning “Ward Off Evil”. ↩

22. 九阴白骨爪 — Jiǔyīn Báigǔ Zhǎo. Literally nine yin white bone claw. A claw technique. ↩