The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 8 – Part 5

Guo Jing smiled as well and said, “You look so pretty like this. Why did you dress up as a little beggar before?” Huang Rong tilted her head to one side. “You think I’m pretty?” Guo Jing sighed. “Lovely beyond words. Just like the immortal maiden¹ on the top of our snow mountains.” Huang Rong laughed and said, “You’ve seen an immortal?” Guo Jing said, “I’ve never seen one. If I had, would I still be alive?” Huang Rong asked in surprise, “Why?” Guo Jing said, “The old folk in Mongolia say that whoever sees an immortal never wants to return to the grasslands again. He sits on the snow mountain all day in a daze, and within a few days he freezes to death.”

Huang Rong laughed and said, “Then did you go into a daze when you saw me?” Guo Jing’s face flushed and he said hastily, “We’re good friends. That’s different.” Huang Rong nodded and said seriously, “I know you are truly good to me, whether I am a boy or a girl, pretty or as ugly as sin.” After a moment she added, “When I wear clothes like these, everyone flatters me. What’s so rare about that? When I was a little beggar and you were good to me, that was the real thing.”

She was in high spirits and said, smiling, “Shall I sing you a song?” Guo Jing said, “How about tomorrow? We must buy medicine for Daoist Elder Wang² first.” He briefly told her how Wang Chuyi had been wounded at Prince Zhao’s Estate³ and could not find the medicine he needed.

Huang Rong said, “I did wonder why you were dashing in and out of one medicine shop after another, dripping with sweat, and I couldn’t think what you were up to. So that was it.” Only then did Guo Jing realise that Huang Rong had been following him while he went to buy the medicine, or she would never have known where he was staying. He said, “Worthy Brother Huang,⁴ may I ride your little red horse to go and buy the medicine?”

Huang Rong said with a straight face, “First, I am not your worthy brother Huang. Second, that little red horse is yours. Do you really think I’d take it from you? I was only testing your heart. Third, even if you go to a nearby town, you may not be able to buy the medicine.” Hearing that she had reckoned it exactly as Wang Chuyi had, Guo Jing was thrown into great alarm.

Huang Rong smiled and said, “Now I shall sing. Listen.”

She tilted her head a little, leaning against the side of the boat, and a clear voice spilled from her lips:

“The frost of the wild geese chills through the curtain. Light clouds shield the moon, and the young ice is thin still. The brook is a mirror for combing and dressing. Holding her fragrance, playing with powder, hers is a beauty past all copying. Jade flesh slender and frail, lined fold on fold with dragon gauze. Leaning on the east wind, she smiles so sweetly, and at one glance ten thousand flowers fall in shame.

“Lonely! Where are my home hills? Gardens after snow, towers by the water. The old tryst at the Jade Pool, by whom now shall I send a letter? The powdered butterflies know only to seek out flowers and willows, and never see the southern boughs in full bloom. There is only heartbreak, the cold, pale dusk, and a few notes of the painted horn.”⁵

Guo Jing listened to every word. Though he understood nothing of the poem’s meaning, the clear voice was soft and tender, winding low and lingering, and as he listened he felt his heart sway and his spirit drift, drunk with a languid sweetness. Such a scene of gentle warmth he had never known in all his life. Yet thoughts of Wang Chuyi’s wound kept breaking through the song in his mind.

When Huang Rong finished, she said softly, “This is Rui He Xian, written by Lord Xin. It is about plum blossom after snow. Is it good, do you think?” Guo Jing said, “I don’t understand a word of it, but the song is beautiful. Who is Lord Xin?” Huang Rong said, “Lord Xin is Xin Qiji.⁶ My father says he is a good official who loves his country and his people. The north has fallen into the hands of the Jin. Grandfather Yue⁷ and the rest were all done to death by the treacherous ministers. Only Lord Xin still strives to recover the lost lands.”

Though Guo Jing had often heard his mother speak of the Jin people’s cruelty, how they slaughtered the common folk of the Middle Kingdom, he had grown up among the Mongols since childhood and the grief of a lost country did not run deep in him. He said, “I have never been to the Central Plains. Tell me about these things slowly, another time. For now we must find a way to save Daoist Elder Wang.” Huang Rong said, “Do as I say. We’ll stay and enjoy ourselves here a while longer. There’s no hurry.” Guo Jing said, “He says that if the poison is not cleared soon, it will do grave harm. He might even be crippled!” Huang Rong said, “Then let him be crippled. It’s not as if you or I would be the cripple.” Guo Jing gave a cry and sprang to his feet, saying, “That… that cannot be… you…” His face showed anger.

Huang Rong smiled and said, “Do not be vexed. I promise you shall have the medicine.” Guo Jing could tell from her tone that she seemed quite certain of it, and since he had no other plan himself, he thought, Her schemes and her martial arts are both far beyond mine. If I follow her advice, it cannot be wrong. He forced himself to set his mind at ease for the moment. Huang Rong told him how she had hung the Four Ghosts of the Yellow River⁸ from the trees and how she had made sport of Hou Tonghai,⁹ and the two of them clapped their hands and laughed.

Twilight gathered around them. By degrees the white snow, the lake water and the plum blossoms all dissolved into a single misty blur. Huang Rong slowly reached out her hand and took Guo Jing’s palm in hers, saying in a low voice, “Now I am not afraid of anything.” Guo Jing asked, “Why?” Huang Rong said, “Even if my father will not have me, you would still let me follow you, wouldn’t you?” Guo Jing said, “Of course. Rong-er, being with you is truly… truly… truly wonderful.”

Huang Rong leaned gently against his chest. Guo Jing felt a sweet fragrance wrap around his body, around the lake water, around the whole of heaven and earth, and he did not know whether it was the faint scent of the plum blossoms or the fragrance rising from Huang Rong herself. The two held hands and spoke no more.

After a long, long while, Huang Rong sighed and said, “It is so fine here. It is a pity we must go.” Guo Jing said, “Why?” Huang Rong said, “Are you not going to fetch the medicine to save Daoist Elder Wang?” Guo Jing was overjoyed. “Ah, where do we get it?” Huang Rong said, “Those medicines from the shops, where have they all gone?” Guo Jing said, “Prince Zhao’s people must have bought them up.” Huang Rong said, “Right. So we’ll go to Prince Zhao’s Estate and get them.” Guo Jing started in alarm. “Prince Zhao’s Estate?” Huang Rong said, “Exactly!” Guo Jing said, “We cannot go there. The two of us would only be throwing our lives away.”

Huang Rong said, “Can you bear to let Daoist Elder Wang be crippled? If the wound is serious, he may even die!” Guo Jing’s blood rose. “All right. But, but you mustn’t come.” Huang Rong said, “Why?” Guo Jing said, “In short, you cannot go.” Yet he could give no reason for it.

Huang Rong said softly, “If you care for me any more, I shall not be able to bear it. If you meet with danger, do you think I could live alone?” Guo Jing’s heart shook. Gratitude, tenderness, wild joy and self-pity all surged upon him at once. Suddenly his courage grew a hundredfold. Sha Tongtian, Peng Lianhu¹⁰ and the rest seemed not worth fearing at all, and nothing in the world seemed hard. He raised his head and said, “Very well. The two of us shall fetch the medicine.”

The two rowed the little boat to shore, disembarked and made back towards the city, heading for the prince’s estate. Halfway there, Guo Jing suddenly remembered that the Four Ghosts of the Yellow River were still hanging from the trees. He stopped and said, “Ah, should we go and let those four down?” Huang Rong gave a bright little laugh and said, “Those four fellows call themselves ‘Bold and Mighty’ and think themselves terribly fierce. They won’t freeze to death or starve. Even if they do starve, the ‘Four Ghosts of the Plum Grove’¹¹ are far more refined than the ‘Four Ghosts of the Yellow River’.”

Footnotes

1. 仙女 — xiān nǚ. Literally immortal woman. A female xian, one who in Chinese myth has transcended mortality. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 王道长 — Wáng Dàozhǎng. Literally Daoist elder Wang. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 赵王府 — Zhàowáng Fǔ. Wanyan Honglie’s residence in Zhongdu. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 贤弟 — xiándì. Literally worthy younger brother. A courteous address to a younger man, used between friends and sworn brothers. ↩

5. 瑞鹤仙 — Ruì Hè Xiān. A ci tune title, literally auspicious crane immortal. The lyric quoted is Xin Qiji’s 瑞鹤仙·赋梅, on the plum blossom. ↩

6. 辛弃疾 — Xīn Qìjí. Southern Song poet, soldier and statesman (1140—1207) who called for the recovery of the northern lands lost to the Jin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 岳爷爷 — Yué Yéye. Literally Grandfather Yue. A term of popular veneration for Yue Fei. ↩

8. 黄河四鬼 — Huánghé Sìguǐ. Literally four ghosts of the Yellow River. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 侯通海 — Hóu Tōnghǎi. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 彭连虎 — Péng Liánhǔ. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 梅林四鬼 — Méilín Sì Guǐ. Literally four ghosts of the plum grove. ↩