The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 5 – Part 1

Drawing the bow to shoot eagles

The party descended the mountain and had not gone far when they heard the roars of wild beasts ahead, wave after wave. Han Baoju¹ twitched the reins and his yellow horse shot forward. After a stretch of galloping he saw a crowd gathered ahead, with several hunting cheetahs scratching and clawing at the ground. He leapt from the saddle, drew the Golden Dragon Whip and rushed forward. Two of the cheetahs had already scraped a corpse from the sandy earth.

Han Baoju stepped closer. The corpse was none other than the Copper Corpse, Chen Xuanfeng.² Soon Zhu Cong³ and the others rode up. Chen Xuanfeng’s dead face was still twisted and savage, as though death had not robbed him of his menace. They thought back to the desperate fight on the barren hill the night before. Had Guo Jing’s⁴ dagger not struck home by the purest fluke, not one of them would have escaped. A chill ran through every one of them.

The two cheetahs were tearing into the corpse now. Beside them a child sat on horseback, bawling at the cheetah-keepers to hurry and lead the beasts away. He turned, saw Guo Jing and shouted, “Ha, so this is where you’re hiding. You didn’t dare help Tolui⁵ fight, you useless thing!” The child was Tusakha,⁶ son of Senggum.⁷

Guo Jing said anxiously, “You’ve been beating Tolui again? Where is he?”

Tusakha said smugly, “I’m taking the cheetahs to eat him. You’d better surrender, or they’ll eat you too.” He saw the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan⁸ standing to one side and felt a twinge of fear. Otherwise he would have set them on Guo Jing long before.

Guo Jing said, “Where is Tolui?”

Tusakha shouted, “The cheetahs are off to eat Tolui!” He hurried off with the cheetah-keepers. One of the keepers ventured, “Young Master, that boy is the son of Temüjin⁹ Khan.” Tusakha raised his riding whip and lashed the man across the head. “What are you afraid of? Who told him to come and fight me again today? Move!” The keeper had no choice but to lead the cheetahs after him. Another keeper, fearing disaster, dropped the cheetah-ropes and ran, shouting, “I’ll go and tell Temüjin Khan.” Tusakha tried to shout him down, but the man was already gone. Tusakha said through his teeth, “Fine. We’ll eat Tolui first, and then let’s see what Uncle Temüjin can do about it when he comes.” He ordered the remaining keepers to lead the cheetahs forward, then whipped his horse into a gallop.

Guo Jing was afraid of the cheetahs, but in the end his fear for his sworn brother won out. He said to Han Xiaoying,¹⁰ “Shifu,¹¹ he’s taking the cheetahs to eat my sworn brother. I’ll go and tell him to run.”

Han Xiaoying said, “If you rush over there, they’ll eat you too. Aren’t you afraid of the cheetahs?”

“I am afraid of the cheetahs.”

“Then will you go?”

Guo Jing hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’m going!” He set off at a sprint, his short legs pumping.

Zhu Cong lay flat across his horse’s back, his wounds aching. Seeing the boy act with such a chivalrous heart, he said, “The child may be slow, but he is one of us.”

Han Xiaoying said, “Fourth Brother’s eye was not wrong! Let’s go save them.”

Quan Jinfa¹² called out, “That little tyrant’s family keeps hunting cheetahs. He must be of some great chieftain’s house. Careful, all of you, and don’t go stirring up trouble. Three of us are wounded.”

Han Baoju broke into his qinggong¹³ and darted up behind Guo Jing, snatched the boy up and set him on his shoulder. Short of body and short of leg though he was, his legs moved with dazzling speed, and in a twinkling he had covered several dozen feet. Perched on that plump shoulder, Guo Jing rode as fast and as steady as on a fine horse. Han Baoju ran to Wind-Chasing Yellow,¹⁴ leapt up and took Guo Jing with him onto the saddle. In moments they had passed Tusakha and the cheetahs.

They galloped on a little way and, sure enough, found a dozen or more children ringed around Tolui. Under Tusakha’s orders they did not attack but formed a ring to keep him from escaping.

After learning the three clever moves from Zhu Cong, Tolui had practised them that evening until they were second nature. That morning, unable to find Guo Jing, he did not even call on his third brother Ögedei¹⁵ for help but went alone to face Tusakha. Tusakha had brought seven or eight helpers and was surprised to see only one opponent. Tolui declared they must fight one at a time, not all at once. Tusakha thought nothing of him and agreed at once. But once they began, Tolui repeated those three clever moves again and again, and one by one he threw all seven or eight children to the ground. The three moves Zhu Cong had taught him were simple in form but contained the subtlest essence of the Nothingness Fist.¹⁶ Tolui was sharp-witted, and the moves had no complicated variations, so he could use them the moment he learnt them, and not one of the Mongol children could stand against them. The Mongols held their word in high regard. Since they had agreed to single combat, the children, though furious, did not rush him together. Tusakha was thrown twice and took a punch to the nose. In his fury he ran back and fetched his father’s hunting cheetahs. Tolui, victor over the whole pack, was delighted with himself. He stood in the middle of the ring looking proudly about him, with no thought of breaking out, never suspecting that disaster was upon him.

Guo Jing shouted from afar, “Tolui, Tolui, run for it, Tusakha’s bringing the cheetahs to eat you!”

Tolui was alarmed and tried to break through the ring, but the children blocked him on every side and he could not escape. Before long Han Xiaoying and the others rode up, Tusakha hard on their heels, and then the keepers arrived leading the two hunting cheetahs. The Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan could have seized Tusakha with a single reach, but they did not wish to provoke trouble, and they wanted to see how Tolui and Guo Jing would face the danger, so they held back.

Suddenly they heard the urgent thud of hooves behind them. Several riders came galloping at full speed, and one man shouted, “Don’t loose the cheetahs, don’t loose the cheetahs!” It was Muqali,¹⁷ Boroqul¹⁸ and the other two of the Four Heroes,¹⁹ who had received the cheetah-keeper’s report and ridden out without waiting to inform Temüjin.

Temüjin was in the yurt with Wang Khan,²⁰ Jamukha,²¹ Senggum and the others, entertaining the Wanyan brothers. At the keeper’s report they were all aghast, rushed from the tent and leapt onto their horses. Wang Khan ordered his guards, “Ride hard and pass on my command. Tusakha is not to make trouble. Above all, Temüjin Khan’s son must not be harmed!” The guards received the order and galloped off.

Wanyan Hongxi²² had missed the sport of cheetahs fighting a man the night before and had been sulking over it. Now his spirits leapt and he stood up. “Let’s all go and watch.”

Wanyan Honglie²³ thought, If Senggum’s cheetahs maul Temüjin’s son to death, the two houses will fall out and fight without end until both are ruined. The snipe and the clam grapple, and the fisherman takes the prize. My Great Jin shall be that fisherman!

The Wanyan brothers, Wang Khan, Senggum, Jamukha and the rest rode up to the scene. The leather straps had been loosed from the two cheetahs’ necks. Each crouched on all four legs, poised to spring, low growls rumbling in their throats. Before the cheetahs stood two children side by side: Tolui and his sworn brother Guo Jing.

Temüjin and the Four Heroes drew their bows to full stretch, arrowheads aimed at the cheetahs, watching without a blink. Though Temüjin saw his youngest son in peril, he knew these two cheetahs were Senggum’s beloved beasts, caught as cubs and trained to their present ferocity over years of effort. So long as the cheetahs did not spring, he would not loose his arrows.

Seeing everyone arrive, Tusakha, secure in his grandfather’s and father’s doting, only swaggered the more. He shouted ceaselessly, ordering the cheetahs to attack. Wang Khan cried, “You must not!”

Suddenly hooves drummed fast behind them and a rider on a red horse came flying up. The rider, a middle-aged woman in a sable cloak with a little girl in her arms, leapt down. It was Temüjin’s wife, Tolui’s mother. She had been in the yurt talking with Senggum’s wife when the news came, and she had hurried straight here with her daughter Huazheng.²⁴ Seeing her son in danger, she was both terrified and frantic. “Shoot!” she cried, and set her daughter on the ground.

But with every thought fixed on her son, she forgot to mind her daughter. Huazheng was only four years old and knew nothing of the cheetahs’ ferocity. Grinning, she ran to her brother’s side. Seeing the cheetahs’ beautiful spotted coats, she thought them no different from the hunting dogs her second brother Chagatai²⁵ kept, and reached out to pat one on the head. The crowd cried out in alarm, but it was too late.

The two cheetahs, already coiled to spring, saw someone approaching and roared in unison. They leapt. The whole crowd cried out.

Temüjin and the others had their arrows nocked and aimed, but no one had foreseen Huazheng’s sudden dash, and in the blink of an eye the cheetahs were in the air. Huazheng now stood between Temüjin and the two beasts, screening their heads, so an arrow could strike only their bodies, and a cheetah wounded but not killed outright would be all the more dangerous. The Four Heroes threw down their arrows, drew their daos and rushed in together. Then they saw Guo Jing roll along the ground and scoop Huazheng into his arms. At that same instant one cheetah’s forepaw landed on his shoulder.

The Four Heroes closed in, dao raised. Then came a few faint hissing sounds and a rush of air past their ears. The two cheetahs suddenly rolled backwards, howling and thrashing. A moment later they lay belly-up, motionless.

Temüjin’s wife hurried to take the screaming Huazheng from Guo Jing’s arms, comforting her again and again, while pulling Tolui close as well.

Senggum demanded angrily, “Who killed the cheetahs?” No one answered. The truth was that Ke Zhen’e,²⁶ hearing the cheetahs roar and fearing they would harm Guo Jing, had judged their position by sound alone and flung four iron caltrops²⁷ laced with poison. It took a single flick of the wrist, and with every eye on the cheetahs no one had seen who loosed the hidden weapons.

Temüjin laughed. “Brother Senggum, I’ll repay you with four of my finest cheetahs, and eight pairs of black eagles besides.” Senggum was furious, but said nothing.

Wang Khan scolded Tusakha angrily. Tusakha, humiliated before the assembly, suddenly threw a tantrum. He rolled on the ground, wailing and howling. Wang Khan shouted at him to stop, but he paid no heed.

Temüjin, mindful of Wang Khan’s past kindness, did not wish to spoil the harmony between their two houses over a childish squabble. He bent down with a smile and picked Tusakha up. The boy only went on wailing and struggled with all his might, but held fast in Temüjin’s iron grip, he could not stir. Temüjin said to Wang Khan, “Sworn Father, the children were only playing. What harm is done? I like the look of this boy. I should like to betroth this girl of mine to him. What do you say?”

Wang Khan looked at Huazheng, at her limpid eyes and her skin as smooth as mutton fat, as lovely as jade and snow, and was delighted. “What could be better than that?” he chuckled. “Let us bind our families yet closer. I’ll give my eldest granddaughter to your son Jochi.”²⁸

“I thank you, Sworn Father!” Temüjin turned to Senggum. “Brother Senggum, we are family now.” Senggum, who considered himself of nobler birth and had always regarded Temüjin with a mixture of envy and contempt, was far from pleased with the match. But he could not defy his royal father’s command, and forced a smile.

Wanyan Honglie, catching sight of the Six Eccentrics of Jiangnan, was badly startled. He thought, What are they doing here? They must be pursuing me. Is that vile Daoist surnamed Qiu here as well? Surrounded by countless soldiers and guards, he had no real need to fear a mere six men. But if he gave the order to seize them, he might stir up trouble of his own. Seeing that the six were listening to Temüjin’s party and had not noticed him, he turned his head and rode behind the line of guards, turning his mind to how he should proceed. The matter of the two families’ new kinship passed from his thoughts.

Temüjin was shrewd and perceptive. He saw the bloody holes in the cheetahs’ heads and noted that both beasts had died swiftly from poison. He concluded that these Han who had appeared so suddenly had killed the cheetahs by some strange method and saved his daughter’s life. After Wang Khan and the others had left, he ordered Boroqul to reward them handsomely with furs and gold. He reached out and stroked Guo Jing’s head, praising him again and again for his courage and his loyalty. To fling oneself into danger to save another was rare even in a grown man, let alone a small child. He asked the boy why he had dared to go and save Huazheng. Guo Jing only stood there dumbly, unable to answer. After a while he said, “Cheetahs eat people.” Temüjin laughed aloud.

Tolui then recounted his fight with Tusakha. Temüjin, hearing how Tusakha had dredged up an old shame, was angry at heart, but kept it to himself and said only, “Have nothing more to do with him.” He paused, then said to Quan Jinfa, “If you stay here and teach my youngest son martial arts, how much gold do you want?”

Quan Jinfa thought, We were looking for a place to settle and teach Guo Jing anyway. There could be no better situation than this. He said, “If the Great Khan²⁹ is willing to take us in and let us serve at his side, we could ask for nothing more. Please bestow whatever you see fit. We would never presume to haggle.”

Temüjin was well pleased. He charged Boroqul with looking after the six, then spurred back to hold a farewell feast for the Wanyan brothers.

Footnotes

1. 韩宝驹 — Hán Bǎojū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 陈玄风 — Chén Xuánfēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 朱聪 — Zhū Cōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 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. ↩

5. 拖雷 — Tuōléi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 都史 — Dūshǐ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 桑昆 — Sāngkūn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

9. 铁木真 — Tiěmùzhēn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

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

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

14. 追风黄 — Zhuīfēng Huáng. Han Baoju’s horse, named for its speed. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 窝阔台 — Wōkuòtái. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 空空拳 — Kōngkōng Quán. Zhu Cong’s fist art. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 木华黎 — Mùhuálí. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

18. 博尔忽 — Bó’ěrhū. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 四杰 — sìjié. Literally four outstanding ones. ↩

20. 王罕 — Wáng Hǎn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 札木合 — Zhāmùhé. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

22. 完颜洪熙 — Wányán Hóngxī. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

23. 完颜洪烈 — Wányán Hóngliè. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 华筝 — Huázhēng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 察合台 — Cháhétái. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

26. 柯镇恶 — Kē Zhèn’è. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

27. 铁菱 — tiělíng. Literally iron water caltrop. Small spiked iron pieces thrown as hidden weapons. ↩

28. 朮赤 — Shùchì. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

29. 大汗 — dàhán. Literally great khan. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩