The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 9 – Part 4

At long last he had a packet from every bottle and tucked them all inside his robe. The job was done, and he was delighted. But as he turned round, his elbow knocked, before he knew it, against a big bamboo basket beside him. The basket toppled over on its side and the lid fell off, and suddenly, with a whoosh, a huge snake as red as blood shot out of it and lunged at his face.

Guo Jing started back in alarm and leapt away. The serpent’s body was as thick as a small rice bowl, and half of it still lay inside the basket, so that its full length was impossible to tell. Strangest of all, it was vermilion from head to tail. Its head darted and withdrew, darted and withdrew, and from its mouth a forked tongue flickered ceaselessly in his direction.

Snakes and crawling things were scarce in the bitter cold of Mongolia, and a scarlet snake as strange as this he had never seen in his life. In his panic he stumbled back a few steps and his back struck the edge of the table. The candlestick toppled over with the jolt, and at once the room was pitch dark.

He already had the medicines, so he made a dash for the door. He had just reached it when something clamped tight round his legs, as though someone had flung an arm round them, or a monstrously thick rope had bound them fast. He leapt, trying to get away, but could not break free. Then his right arm went icy cold, and at once he could not move at all.

Guo Jing knew that the great snake had him in its coils. Only his left hand was still free, and at once he reached for the golden dao at his waist, the gift of Genghis Khan. Suddenly a pungent reek of medicine, mixed with a fishy stench, rushed up his nostrils, and something cold touched his face. The snake was licking his cheek with its tongue. In such peril there was no time to draw the dao and kill it. He hurriedly raised his left hand and clamped it round the snake’s neck.

The snake’s strength was extraordinary. Its body tightened by degrees, and its head strained towards his face, jaws gaping to bite.

Guo Jing held it off with his arm braced. A little later his legs went numb, his chest was squeezed tight by the coils, and breathing grew harder and harder. He summoned all his strength and heaved outward, and the snake’s body loosened a little, only to tighten again more fiercely than before. Little by little his left hand weakened. The breath from the snake’s mouth was unspeakably foul, and his stomach heaved until he wanted to retch.

They struggled on a while longer. His mind began to cloud, and he had no strength left to resist. His left hand went slack, and the great snake opened its jaws and struck down at him.

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The page boy in the dark gown whom Guo Jing had knocked senseless lay there a long time before he slowly came round. Remembering the fight, he jumped to his feet. Looking back, he saw that his shifu’s room was dark and silent, and supposed the man had got away, so he ran to the Fragrant Snow Hall¹ and gasped out his report to Liang Ziweng.

Huang Rong heard what the boy said through the crack in the window, and she was dismayed. With a Wild Goose Alighting on the Level Sand² she dropped lightly to the ground. But the masters in that hall were formidable indeed. A moment before, intent on Wanyan Honglie’s words, they had paid no heed to what lay outside, but now, at the boy’s report, every one of them was alert and on guard, and light as Huang Rong’s landing was, Peng Lianhu and the others had already heard it.

Liang Ziweng moved first. He shot out of the hall and barred Huang Rong’s way. “Who are you?” he demanded.

From that one leap Huang Rong knew that his skill was far beyond her own. Never mind all the masters still in the hall, she could not handle this old man alone. She smiled. “The plum blossom here is lovely, isn’t it? Would you pick me a sprig?”

Liang Ziweng had never expected to find a girl of such peerless beauty outside the hall, so richly dressed, her laughing words tumbling out like pearls, and he was taken aback. She must belong to the household, he thought, perhaps the prince’s own daughter, a commandery princess. At once he sprang up, reached out and broke off a sprig of plum blossom.

Huang Rong took it with a smile. “Thank you kindly, old sir.”

By now everyone was standing at the door of the hall, watching the two of them. Seeing Huang Rong turn to leave, Peng Lianhu asked Wanyan Honglie, “Your Highness, is this young lady of your household?”

Wanyan Honglie shook his head. “No.”

“If she has overheard the great matter Your Highness was speaking of just now,” said Peng Lianhu, “won’t that do harm?” He sprang forward and blocked Huang Rong’s way. “Not so fast, miss. Let me pick you a sprig of plum blossom too.” His right hand came at her wrist in a move called Clever Interlocking Rings, but as his five fingers neared her they suddenly flipped up and clawed at her throat.

Huang Rong had meant to pretend she knew no martial arts and muddle her way out of it, but Peng Lianhu was not only a superb fighter but sharper than most, and with a single move he had forced her to save herself.

Huang Rong was startled. It was too late to dodge. Her right hand swept out, thumb and forefinger crooked and the other three fingers slightly spread, her fingers reaching out like a sprig of orchid, a gesture of exquisite grace.

Peng Lianhu felt a tingle of numbness at the Marsh Pool³ acupoint where the upper and lower arm meet, and he snatched his arm back. Only his quick change of move saved him from having the acupoint sealed. He was greatly surprised. He had never imagined that so young a girl could have such skill, not only quick in her moves and unerring in finding the acupoints, but with an art of sealing them with the little finger that he, for all his wide experience, had never seen before.

Huang Rong’s Orchid Acupoint-Tracing Hand⁴ was a peerless art of her family. Its watchwords were speed, precision, surprise and clarity. Speed, precision and surprise were well enough, but clarity demanded that every movement be graceful and the bearing at ease, light and effortless, as though nothing at all were happening, before the art could be called mastered. If the moves were hurried and vicious, it fell into a lower class, unworthy of the orchid’s elegant name. Of the four, clarity was the hardest.

Everyone watching was astonished by that move. Peng Lianhu laughed. “May I ask your surname, young lady? And who is your honoured shifu?”

Huang Rong smiled. “This sprig of plum blossom is lovely, isn’t it? I’ll go and put it in a vase.” She did not answer his question at all.

They were all puzzled, unable to tell where she came from.

Hou Tonghai said harshly, “Big Brother Peng asked you a question. Didn’t you hear?”

Huang Rong smiled. “Asked me what?”

The day before, Peng Lianhu had seen Huang Rong making a fool of Hou Tonghai, and now, seeing her little mouth pursed in that grinning, scornful look, he suddenly remembered, Ah, so that grubby boy was you in disguise. He laughed. “Old Hou, don’t you recognise this young lady?”

Hou Tonghai stared at her in bewilderment, looking her up and down.

Peng Lianhu laughed again. “You spent half the day playing hide-and-seek with her. How can you have forgotten?”

Hou Tonghai gaped at Huang Rong a while longer and at last knew her. He gave a tiger’s roar. “Right, you stinking brat!” He had kept calling her a stinking brat while he chased her the day before, and now, though she was dressed as a girl, the curse still burst from his lips. He flung out both arms and lunged at her.

Huang Rong sidestepped, and Hou Tonghai’s lunge caught nothing but air.

Sha Tongtian,⁵ the Dragon King of Devil’s Gate, darted forward and seized Huang Rong’s right wrist. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Huang Rong’s left hand flew up, two fingers jabbing at his eyes. Sha Tongtian’s right hand shot out and caught her left hand as well.

Huang Rong struggled but could not break free. “Shameless!” she cried.

“What’s shameless about it?” said Sha Tongtian.

“Big people bullying children. Men bullying women!”

Sha Tongtian was taken aback. He was a celebrated senior, and he felt that this was indeed the great bullying the small. He let go of both her hands. “Inside, and we’ll talk,” he snapped.

Huang Rong knew she had no choice, and she stepped through the door.

Hou Tonghai said angrily, “First I’ll cripple this stinking brat, then we’ll talk.” And he stepped up to attack her again.

Peng Lianhu said, “First find out who her shifu is and who sent her!” Having seen skill like hers, and such clothes and bearing, he guessed she must be someone of consequence, and that they had better find out before deciding what to do.

But Hou Tonghai paid no attention. He raised his fist and brought it down at Huang Rong’s head.

Huang Rong dodged. “You really want to fight?”

“Do you think I’m joking?” said Hou Tonghai. “And no running away.” What he feared most was that she would run, for once she ran, he could never catch her.

“If you want a contest with me, fine,” said Huang Rong. She picked up a wine bowl from the table, filled to the brim, and balanced it on her head, then took another in each hand. “Do you dare do as I do?”

“What are you playing at?” Hou Tonghai said angrily.

Huang Rong looked round at the company and smiled. “I have no quarrel with this honoured sir with the horns on his forehead. If I hurt him by accident, how could I face you all?”

Hou Tonghai stepped forward, furious. “A stinking brat like you, hurt me? What I have on my forehead are lumps, not horns! Take a proper look, and stop talking nonsense!”

Huang Rong paid him no heed and kept her face turned to the others. “He and I will each carry three bowls of wine and test our skill. Whoever spills first loses. How about it?”

She had seen Liang Ziweng pick the flower, Peng Lianhu make his move and Sha Tongtian seize her, and every one of them was a master far above her. Even the Three-Headed Dragon, Hou Tonghai, whom she had made a fool of again and again, she had got the better of only through her qinggong⁶ and her quick wits, and in true ability she knew she was a good deal weaker. She thought, The only way now is to play the child and fool about with them. As long as they don’t take it seriously, I can get away.

Hou Tonghai roared, “Who’s playing games with you!” He threw a punch straight at her face, swift as the wind, heavy and hard.

Huang Rong dodged and laughed. “All right. I’ll carry three bowls of wine and you can go empty-handed. Let’s have a bout.”

Hou Tonghai was more than twice her age, and though his name in the jianghu⁷ fell far short of his shixiong⁸ Sha Tongtian’s, he was still a man of some renown. Goaded by her again and again in front of everyone, he grew angrier still. Without stopping to think, he set a bowl of wine on his own head and took one in each hand, then bent his left knee slightly and kicked hard at Huang Rong with his right foot.

Huang Rong laughed. “Good, now that’s what I call a hero.” She set her qinggong to work and darted all over the hall. Hou Tonghai kicked again and again, but she evaded every kick. The others watched the bout with broad smiles.

Huang Rong’s upper body stayed perfectly still, her long skirt brushing the floor, yet she seemed to float as if on water, or to glide as if on wheels beneath her feet. She must have been moving back and forth with tiny, rapid steps. Hou Tonghai went after her with great strides, stamping at every step with a thud, his lower stance plainly very solidly trained. Retreating in order to attack, Huang Rong tried trick after trick to knock over one of his bowls with her elbow, but each time he twisted aside.

Liang Ziweng thought, To train her skill to this level is no small thing for a girl. But give it time and she’ll be no match for Old Hou in the end. Whoever wins, it’s none of my business. His thoughts were on the precious medicines and rare treasures in his room, and he turned towards the door to go after the spy who had stolen the medicine. He thought, They wanted cinnabar, dragon’s blood, tianqi, bear gall and myrrh, those five medicines, so it must be Wang Chuyi who sent someone to steal them. Those five are nothing very precious. It doesn’t matter if they take the lot. But they had better not help themselves to anything else of mine.

---

Guo Jing, in the great snake’s coils, was slowly losing consciousness when the strange smell suddenly grew stronger, and he knew the snake’s mouth was right beside his face. If its fangs struck him, that would be the end. In desperation he lowered his head and pressed his mouth, nose, eyes and brows flat against the snake’s body. He could not move a muscle, and only his teeth were left to him. Frantic, he summoned his strength, braced the snake’s head with his left hand, opened his mouth and bit into its neck.

The snake writhed with the pain and coiled tighter than ever. Guo Jing bit again and again, until suddenly a gush of snake’s blood, tasting of medicine, poured straight into his mouth, pungent, bitter and astringent, almost too foul to bear. He had no idea whether the blood was poisonous, but he dared not open his mouth to spit it out, for fear that once he let go he could never get his teeth into it again. And he thought that if the snake lost enough blood, its grip must weaken, so he sucked with all his might, gulping it down in great mouthfuls. After a few mouthfuls the snake’s grip did indeed begin to slacken. He sucked for as long as it takes to eat a meal, until his belly was swollen and full.

The snake grew weaker and weaker. It twitched a few times, let go of Guo Jing and dropped to the floor, and did not move again.

Guo Jing was utterly exhausted. He leant on the table, meaning to get away, but his legs were numb. After a while his whole body felt hot, as though he were being roasted beside a great fire, and he was frightened. A little later his hands and feet moved as freely as ever, but the fierce heat all over him had not eased in the least. He put the back of his hand to his cheek, and it was burning hot to the touch.

He felt inside his robe and found that none of the packets of medicine had fallen out. He thought, I’ve got the medicines at last. Daoist Elder Wang⁹ is saved. Mu Yi and his daughter have been locked up by Wanyan Kang for no reason, and he may even have them killed. I must get them out of danger.

He went out of the door, got his bearings and made straight for the iron cell where Mu Yi and his daughter were held.

When he reached the prison, guards were patrolling back and forth, keeping close watch. Guo Jing waited a while, but there was no way to slip in as he had before. He ran round to the back of the building, waited for the patrol to pass, leapt onto the roof and dropped lightly into the courtyard. He crept up to the iron cell and listened. There was no guard beside it.

He whispered, “Esteemed Senior Mu, I’ve come to get you out.”

Footnotes

1. 香雪厅 — Xiāngxuě Tīng. Literally fragrant snow hall. A reception hall in the Jin prince’s mansion in Zhongdu. ↩

2. 雁落平沙 — Yàn Luò Píng Shā. Literally wild goose alights on the level sand. A qinggong move. ↩

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

4. 兰花拂穴手 — Lánhuā Fú Xuè Shǒu. Huang Rong’s hereditary art of brushing the acupoints with the fingers, prized for being fast, accurate, strange and clear. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 沙通天 — Shā Tōngtiān. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

7. 江湖 — jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. The world of martial artists, outside mainstream society. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 师兄 — shīxiōng. Male senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 道长 — dàozhǎng. Literally Daoist elder. A respectful form of address for a Daoist priest. ↩