The Legend of the Condor Heroes Chapter 9 – Part 5

Mu Yi was astonished. “Who are you, sir?” he asked.

“This junior is Guo Jing,” said Guo Jing.

Mu Yi had vaguely heard the name Guo Jing the day before, but there had been such a din, and after his injury so much had come crowding in on him, that he had had no time to give it a thought. Now, in the silence of midnight, the name Guo Jing suddenly reached his ears, and his heart gave a jolt. “What?” he said, his voice trembling. “Guo Jing? Your… your… your surname is Guo?”

“Yes. I’m the one who fought the Young Prince yesterday.”

“And your father, what was his name?”

“My late father was named Xiaotian.”

In his childhood he had not known his father’s name, but later, when Zhu Cong had taught him to read, he had taught him his father’s name as well.

Mu Yi’s eyes filled with hot tears. He raised his head and cried, “Heavens, oh, Heavens!” He thrust his hand out through the bars and gripped Guo Jing’s wrist tight. Guo Jing felt the hand trembling without stop, and at the same time felt a few teardrops fall on his arm. He thought, He’s overjoyed that I’ve come to rescue him. “I have a sharp blade here,” he said softly. “Once I’ve cut through the lock, Senior, you can come out. Everything the Young Prince said earlier was meant to deceive you. Neither of you must believe him.”

Mu Yi, however, asked only, “Your mother’s surname is Li, is it not? Is she still living, or has she passed away?”

Guo Jing was amazed. “Oh, how do you know my mother’s surname is Li? My mother’s in Mongolia.”

Mu Yi was deeply moved, and he clutched Guo Jing’s hand and would not let go. “Let go of my hand,” said Guo Jing, “so I can cut the lock.” But Mu Yi seemed to be holding some rare and priceless treasure that he was afraid of losing the moment he let it go, and he held on tight. He sighed. “You… you’ve grown so big. Ah, whenever I close my eyes I think of your late father.”

Guo Jing was amazed. “You knew my late father, Senior?”

“Your father was my sworn brother. We swore the eight bows of brotherhood,¹ and our bond was closer than blood. We have been showing ourselves in public under a banner of Martial Contest to Win a Bride, which must seem a sorry business, but, Worthy Nephew Guo,² it was really only to find you. You were so hard to track down that we were driven to this poor expedient.” At this his throat choked, and he could say no more.

Guo Jing, hearing this, felt his own eyes grow damp.

This Mu Yi was none other than Yang Tiexin.³ That day, fighting the soldiers, he had been speared in the back and badly wounded. Slumped over his horse’s back, he had galloped several li⁴ before he fell from the saddle and lay senseless in the grass. When he came to the next morning, he had crawled for his life to a nearby farmhouse, and after more than a month of nursing he was barely strong enough to get out of bed.

The village where he lodged was called Lotus Pond Village,⁵ fifteen or sixteen li from Niu Family Village,⁶ and fortunately the family there treated him with every kindness. He longed to know what had become of his wife, but he was afraid that soldiers and constables would be lying in wait at Niu Family Village, so it was several more days before he went home in the middle of the night to look.

When he reached the door, he saw that it was latched on the outside, and his heart turned cold at once. He opened it and went in. The new garment that his wife, née Bao, had been sewing for him on the night of the disaster still lay on the bed, half-finished. Two iron spears had once hung on the wall. One had been lost in the fighting, and the other still hung against the wall, lonely and forlorn, alone just like himself, its old companion gone. Apart from the thick dust everywhere, the house was exactly as it had been that night, and it was plain that his wife had never come back.

He went next door to look at his sworn brother Guo’s house. It was the same there.

He thought that Qu San, the wine-seller, a remarkable man of extraordinary skill, might be able to help, but when he came to the little wineshop it, too, was locked from outside, with nobody in. He knocked on the doors of villagers he knew in Niu Family Village and asked, but they all said that since the soldiers had gone there had been no news of the Guos or the Yangs.

He went on to his wife’s family at Red Plum Village⁷ to ask, only to find that his father-in-law had taken such a fright at the terrible news that he had died more than ten days before. Qu San’s little daughter, though, was still being brought up by his mother-in-law.

Yang Tiexin wanted to weep but had no tears left, and there was nothing for it but to go back to the farmhouse at Lotus Pond Village. Truly, misfortunes never come singly. A plague had broken out in the district, and within a few days three of the family of four had caught it one after another and died, leaving only a baby girl not long born. Yang Tiexin could not shirk the duty. He took the baby as his foster daughter and went about with her everywhere, asking after Guo Xiaotian’s wife and his own, but by now one had gone far away beyond the northern desert and the other had also gone north. How could he find them?

He dared not use the name Yang Tiexin any more. He took the character Yang⁸ apart, changed its mu, wood, into the surname Mu, and called himself Mu Yi. For more than ten years he roamed the jianghu,⁹ east and west, and his foster daughter Mu Nianci grew up as lovely as a flower.

Yang Tiexin supposed that his wife had most likely died amid the fighting, but he hoped that Heaven had eyes and that his sworn brother Guo Xiaotian had left an heir. That was why he had his foster daughter show herself in public, set up a brocade banner reading Martial Contest to Win a Bride, and had a pair of short halberds of fine steel made to plant beside it, in the real hope of meeting Guo Jing. The contest was only a pretext, and its true purpose was to find Guo Jing, which was why he declared that the young hero must be around twenty and preferably a native of Shandong or the Two Zhes.¹⁰ Those two conditions very nearly named Guo Jing outright. If he could find him, he would betroth his foster daughter to him as he and Guo Xiaotian had agreed long ago. But in that great sea of people, how was he ever to come across him?

After the better part of a year, Yang Tiexin had lost heart. He did not even know whether Guo Xiaotian’s wife was still alive, or, if she had borne a child, whether it was a boy or a girl. He would have been content just to find his foster daughter a husband, a young man of honest character and passable martial ability. Who could have known that yesterday he would meet with that awkward business with Wanyan Kang,¹¹ and that the youth who had stepped in so gallantly would turn out to be the very son of his sworn brother, the boy he had carried in his heart day and night? How could he not be shaken to the core, his very entrails boiling?

Mu Nianci had been listening to the two of them talk of old times, and she was about to remind Guo Jing to get them out first and talk at leisure afterwards, when she thought, Once we’re out of here, I may never see him again. The words were on her lips, but she drew them back.

Guo Jing, too, had realised that the rescue came first. He slowly reached his hand out through the bars and raised the golden dao, about to bring it down on the iron lock, when suddenly several beams of light shone in through the cracks of the door and footsteps came towards it. He quickly drew back and hid behind the door. The prison door opened and several people came in.

Peering out through the crack of the door, Guo Jing saw that the man in front carried a gauze lantern and, by his dress, was a captain of the guard. Behind him came none other than Wanyan Kang’s mother, the Princess Consort of Prince Zhao.¹²

“Are these the two the Young Prince locked up yesterday?” she asked.

The captain answered, “Yes.”

“Let them go at once,” said the Princess Consort.

The captain hesitated and did not comply.

“If the Young Prince asks, tell him I ordered it. Now open the lock, quickly!”

The captain dared not disobey. He unlocked the cell and let the two of them out. The Princess Consort took out two ingots of silver and held them out to Yang Tiexin. “Off you go now, and take care!” she said gently.

Yang Tiexin did not take the silver. He fixed his eyes upon her, unblinking.

Seeing the strange look on his face, the Princess Consort supposed he must be very angry, and she felt deeply sorry. “I’m so very sorry,” she said softly. “You’ve been wronged today, and it’s truly my son’s fault. Please don’t take offence.”

Yang Tiexin went on staring and said nothing. After a long while he reached out, took the silver and tucked it into his robe. Then he took his daughter by the hand and strode out.

The captain cursed. “Ignorant savage, no manners at all. Not so much as a bow of thanks to the Princess Consort.”

Yang Tiexin walked on as though he had heard nothing.

Guo Jing waited until they had all gone out and shut the door, and until he heard the Princess Consort’s footsteps fade into the distance, and only then did he leap out. He looked all round, but there was no sign of Yang Tiexin and his daughter. Most likely they had already left the estate, he thought, so he headed for the Fragrant Snow Hall to find Huang Rong and tell her to stop eavesdropping and hurry back with him to give the medicine to Wang Chuyi.

He had gone some way when two red lanterns came round a corner ahead, and someone came hurrying towards him. Guo Jing ducked behind a rockery by the path, but the man had already seen him. “Who’s there?” he shouted, and leapt at him, hand clawing down.

Guo Jing blocked it with his arm, and in the lantern light he saw clearly that it was the Young Prince, Wanyan Kang.

The captain of the guard, having released Yang Tiexin and his daughter on the Princess Consort’s orders, had rushed off to report to the Young Prince. Wanyan Kang was alarmed. He thought, Mother is always so soft-hearted. She never thinks of the bigger picture, and now she’s let those two go. If my shifu hears of it and brings the pair of them to confront me, I won’t be able to deny it, and then I’m in real trouble. He had hurried over to look, hoping to head them off, and instead had run into Guo Jing on the way.

The two of them had already fought for half the day in daylight, and now they had met again, unexpectedly, in the dark. One was desperate to get out of the estate with the medicine, the other bent on killing him to keep him quiet, and both wanted to finish it as fast as they could, so that from the first exchange they fought even more viciously than the day before. Several times Guo Jing tried to force his way out and run, but each time Wanyan Kang cut him off and he could not get away. When he saw the captain of the guard draw the dao at his waist and come to join in, he groaned inwardly.

Liang Ziweng had expected Huang Rong to lose, but no sooner had he turned his back than the situation in the hall changed in a flash. Huang Rong flicked both hands at once and jerked up her head, and all three bowls flew into the air together. With a move called Eight Steps Chasing the Toad¹³ she chopped both palms at Hou Tonghai’s chest.

With a bowl in each hand, Hou Tonghai could not strike back and had to dodge to the left. Huang Rong’s right hand swept after him, and with no way to escape he had to raise his arms to block. Their wrists met, and the wine in the bowls in his hands splashed all over the floor, while the bowl on his head fell to the ground with a clang and smashed to pieces.

Huang Rong sprang up and darted backwards, catching two of the falling bowls in her hands, while the third came down squarely on top of her cloud of hair. Of the three bowls of wine, hardly a drop had spilt.

Seeing her win by cleverness, all of them could not help crying out silently, Bravo! Ouyang Ke, though, cheered aloud. Sha Tongtian glared at him, but Ouyang Ke took no notice whatever, and even added, “Splendid!”

Hou Tonghai’s face was crimson. “We’ll go again,” he shouted.

Huang Rong ran a finger down her cheek¹⁴ and laughed. “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Seeing his shidi beaten, Sha Tongtian snorted. “You’re full of tricks, you little wench. Who is your shifu, anyway?”

Huang Rong laughed. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Right now I’m off.”

Sha Tongtian did not bend his knees or take a step, yet somehow he was suddenly at the door, barring the way.

When he had seized her by both wrists a moment before, leaving her unable to move, Huang Rong had known how formidable he was, and now this feat of Shifting Forms Changing Positions¹⁵ alarmed her even more. But her face did not change. Frowning slightly, she asked, “Why are you blocking my way?”

“Tell me whose disciple you are,” said Sha Tongtian, “and what you’re doing breaking into the prince’s estate.”

Huang Rong raised her fine brows a little and smiled. “And if I won’t?”

“When the Dragon King of Devil’s Gate asks a question, it must be answered!”

Huang Rong could see the door of the hall just behind him, no more than a few feet away, but with him barring the way she could never get past. Seeing Liang Ziweng about to go out, she called, “Uncle, he’s blocking my way. He won’t let me go home.”

Hearing her plead so softly, Liang Ziweng laughed. “Dragon King Sha is asking you a question. Answer him nicely and he’ll let you go.”

Huang Rong giggled. “Well, I just don’t want to answer.” To Sha Tongtian she said, “If you won’t get out of the way, I’ll force my way through.”

Sha Tongtian said coldly, “Only if you have the skill to get out.”

“But you mustn’t hit me,” said Huang Rong, smiling.

“To stop a little wench like you,” said Sha Tongtian, “Dragon King Sha has no need to lift a hand.”

“Good. A true man keeps his word,” said Huang Rong. “Dragon King Sha, look, what’s that?” She pointed to the left. Sha Tongtian looked where her finger pointed, and while his attention was elsewhere, Huang Rong sprang past his shoulder, her robe whipping up a breeze, her movements very swift.

Footnotes

1. 八拜之交 — bābài zhī jiāo. Literally the friendship of eight bows. A sworn brotherhood sealed by eight bows of mutual obeisance. ↩

2. 贤侄 — xián zhí. Literally worthy nephew. A courteous address from an elder to a junior, often the son of a friend or sworn brother. ↩

3. 杨铁心 — Yáng Tiěxīn. His name meaning “iron heart”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 里 — lǐ. A traditional unit of distance, about 500 metres or one-third of a mile. ↩

5. 荷塘村 — Hétáng Cūn. Literally lotus pond village. A village some fifteen li from Niu Family Village. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 牛家村 — Niújiā Cūn. Literally Niu Family Village. A village outside Lin’an. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 红梅村 — Hóngméi Cūn. Literally red plum village. A village five li from Niu Family Village. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 杨 — Yáng. The character 杨 is written with 木 (mù, wood) beside 昜 (yáng), and 易 (yì) is close to 昜 in form. ↩

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

10. 两浙 — Liǎng Zhè. Literally the two Zhes. The Song circuits of Zhejiang East and Zhejiang West. ↩

11. 完颜康 — Wányán Kāng. See Wuxia Wiki (spoiler). ↩

12. 王妃 — wángfēi. The consort of a prince. ↩

13. 八步赶蟾 — bā bù gǎn chán. Literally eight steps chasing the toad. A palm technique. ↩

14. 刮脸 — guā liǎn. Literally scraping the face. A finger drawn down one’s own cheek, a gesture of mockery that says the other person has no shame. ↩

15. 移形换位 — Yíxíng Huànwèi. An art of shifting position without bending the knees or taking a step, as Sha Tongtian does. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩