The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 1 – Part 4

The woman gave a cold laugh. “If your shifu had any real ability, she should have settled accounts with Lu Zhanyuan long ago. Now that she knows he’s dead, she comes to bully his family instead. Has she no shame?”

The young priestess flicked her right hand, and three silver needles shot forth, two aimed at the woman, the third at Lu Liding, who stood in the courtyard below. The attack was sudden and unexpected. The woman deflected them with her sword. Lu Liding gave a low, angry shout and caught the silver needle between two fingers.

The young priestess gave a faint, cold smile, flipped over, and descended from the roof. The sound of her light footsteps faded rapidly into the distance.

The woman leapt back into the courtyard. Seeing Lu Liding holding the silver needle, she cried urgently, “Drop it, quickly!”

Lu Liding threw it down as instructed. The woman slashed off a strip of her own sash with her sword and immediately bound his right wrist tightly.

Lu Liding was alarmed. “The needle was poisoned?”

The woman said, “Deadly poison.” She produced a pill and gave it to him to swallow. Lu Liding felt his index and middle fingers go numb, then begin to swell. The woman swiftly used the tip of her sword to cut open the tips of both fingers, and drops of black blood oozed out.

Lu Liding was horrified. My fingers weren’t even broken. I merely touched the needle, and it’s this severe. If the point had actually pierced my skin, how could I possibly survive?

He bowed to the woman. “I have eyes but failed to recognise a great personage. May I presume to ask your honoured surname?”

The woman said, “My husband’s family name is Wu. He is called Wu Santong.”¹

Lu Liding stiffened. “So you are Madam Wu. I have heard that Master Wu is a disciple of the Venerable Yideng² of Dali. Is that correct?”

Madam Wu said, “It is. The Venerable Yideng is my husband’s shifu. I have learned only a few crude martial skills from my husband. Truly, I am but a novice displaying incompetence before an expert. I must beg Lord Lu’s forgiveness.”

Lu Liding repeatedly expressed his gratitude for her timely aid. He had once heard his brother say that among all the martial arts experts he had encountered in his life, the disciples of the Venerable Yideng of Dali were the most formidable. The Venerable Yideng had originally been the ruler of the Kingdom of Dali. After abdicating the throne to become a monk, he was attended by four great disciples known as “Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar.”³ Among them, the Farmer was named Wu Santong, and there had been some discord between him and Lu Liding’s brother, though the exact cause of the grudge had never been explained. Yet here was Madam Wu, not only refraining from enmity but actually driving off the Scarlet Serpent Immortal’s disciple. The reason behind this was truly baffling.

Everyone returned to the main hall. Lu Liding cradled his daughter in his arms. She had regained consciousness. Her face was deathly pale, but she was gritting her teeth against the pain and refusing to cry. He felt a deep surge of pity.

Madam Wu sighed. “Once that demon woman’s disciple has fled, the demon herself will arrive in person. Lord Lu, I do not mean to belittle you, but you and your wife, even with my help, are absolutely no match for her. Yet I see little point in fleeing. Let us resign ourselves to fate and wait for her here.”

Lady Lu asked, “Just what kind of person is this demon? And what deep grudge does she bear against our family?”

Madam Wu glanced at Lu Liding. “Has Lord Lu not told you?”

Lady Lu said, “He says he only knows it involves his brother and sister-in-law, and that it concerns matters of romantic love, but even he does not fully understand.”

Madam Wu sighed. “That explains it. I am an outsider, so there is no harm in my speaking of it. More than ten years ago, your esteemed brother-in-law travelled to Dali. That demon woman, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal Li Mochou. At the mere mention of her name, everyone in the wulin⁴ today turns pale with terror. But more than ten years ago, she was a beautiful, gentle, good-natured young woman, and she had not yet renounced the world to become a priestess. It must have been a debt from a past life: after she met your brother-in-law, the seeds of love were planted. Following many entanglements and complications, your brother-in-law married your sister-in-law, He Yuanjun. And speaking of your sister-in-law, I cannot avoid mentioning my own husband’s affairs. This is a shameful matter to speak of, but given the urgency of the situation, I have no choice. This He Yuanjun, she was originally our adopted daughter.”

Lu Liding and Lady Lu gasped in unison.

Madam Wu gently stroked the injured boy’s shoulder and gazed at the candle flame as she spoke. “Your sister-in-law, He Yuanjun, was orphaned at a young age. My husband and I took her in and raised her as our adopted daughter, and we cherished her dearly. Later, she became acquainted with your brother-in-law. The two were deeply in love and wished to marry. My husband, for one thing, was unwilling to let her marry so far away, and for another, he harboured a deep prejudice. He insisted that men of Jiangnan were cunning and deceitful, utterly untrustworthy, and he refused to give his consent no matter what. But Ayuan secretly ran off with your brother-in-law.

“On the day of their wedding, my husband and Li Mochou both arrived to make trouble for the newlyweds. Among the wedding guests was an eminent monk from the Tianlong Monastery⁵ of Dali. He intervened and subdued both of them, demanding that, for his sake, they guarantee the newlyweds ten years of peace. My husband and Li Mochou were forced to swear that they would not trouble the couple for ten years. My husband’s fury was so extreme that ever since, he has been deranged and erratic. No matter how his shifu, his friends, or I have tried to counsel him, he could never be consoled. He was always counting down the days of those ten years. By my reckoning, today is precisely the day the ten years expire. Who could have imagined that your brother-in-law and Ayuan… ah… could not even enjoy ten years of happiness.” She lowered her head, her expression one of profound sorrow.

Lu Liding said, “In that case, the one who dug up the graves and stole my brother and sister-in-law’s remains was your husband.”

A look of shame crossed Madam Wu’s face. “From what your two young ladies said just now, it was indeed my husband.”

Lu Liding said indignantly, “Your husband’s conduct is greatly in the wrong. This was never any deep grudge to begin with. And my brother and sister-in-law are dead. Even if there had been a true blood feud, death settles all accounts. What cause is there to steal their remains? What kind of hero behaves like this?”

In terms of seniority, the Wu couple were his elders, but Lu Liding was so outraged that he abandoned all propriety in his speech.

Madam Wu sighed. “Lord Lu’s reproach is justified. My husband’s mind is not sound. His words and actions often defy reason. I brought these two children here today precisely to prevent my husband from coming here and committing some outrage. In this world, I fear I am the only person he still fears, and even then, only to a degree.” She turned to the two children. “Kowtow to Lord Lu and Lady Lu, and beg forgiveness on your father’s behalf.”

The two boys knelt and bowed.

Lady Lu hurriedly helped them up and asked their names. The one whose forehead had been cut was called Wu Dunru⁶. He was the elder brother. The younger was called Wu Xiuwen.⁷ They were a year apart, one was twelve, the other eleven. The two sons of a renowned martial arts expert had both been given refined, scholarly names. Madam Wu explained that she and her husband had had children late in life and, knowing well the dangers of the jianghu, had hoped their sons would abandon the martial path for the literary one. But both boys still loved martial arts, and their names had nothing to do with their inclinations.

Having explained the circumstances, Madam Wu sighed sorrowfully, thinking to herself, This is as much as I can say. The rest is not for outsiders’ ears.

The truth was that when He Yuanjun had reached seventeen or eighteen, she had grown into a graceful, lovely young woman. Wu Santong’s feelings towards her seemed no longer purely those of a sworn father towards a goddaughter. Given his status as a chivalrous hero of the wulin, he could not, of course, express or act upon any improper thoughts. But the suppressed feelings had already knotted within him, and when he suddenly saw her fall in love with a young man from Jiangnan, his rage had spiralled beyond his control. As for his claim that “men of Jiangnan are cunning and deceitful, utterly untrustworthy”, aside from his hostility towards He Yuanjun’s beloved, it also stemmed from an incident years ago when he had been deceived by Guo Jing⁸ and then outwitted by Huang Rong,⁹ ending up pinned beneath an ox and a boulder that Guo Jing had placed on his shoulders, unable to free himself. Though he had later reconciled and become friends with Guo Jing and Huang Rong, the notion that “men of Jiangnan are cunning and deceitful” had been deeply branded into his mind.

Madam Wu continued, “I never imagined that instead of my husband, it would be the Scarlet Serpent Immortal who came to bring calamity upon your household…”

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the rooftop: “Ru’er! Wen’er! Come out!”

The voice had come utterly without warning. There had been no sound of footsteps on the roof tiles whatsoever before the call. Lu Liding and his wife started in unison, knowing it was Wu Santong. Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang also recognised the voice as that of the strange visitor who had eaten the lotus seedpods.

A figure flickered, and Wu Santong flew down from the roof. He seized his two sons, one in each hand, and carried them back up and away. Madam Wu cried, “Hey! Hey! Come and meet Lord Lu and Lady Lu! And those two bodies you took, bring them back at once!” But Wu Santong paid no attention whatsoever and was already far away.

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Wu Santong ran wildly for a while, then plunged into a forest. Suddenly he set down Xiuwen and, carrying only Dunru, the one with the head wound, vanished without a trace, leaving his younger son alone in the woods.

Wu Xiuwen shouted, “Father! Father!” He watched his father, carrying his elder brother, already sprinting hundreds of feet away. From the distance came his father’s distant call, “Wait there. I’ll come back for you.”

Wu Xiuwen knew his father’s behaviour had always been erratic and inconsistent, so he was not particularly surprised. Though he was frightened to be alone in the forest in the dark of night, he figured his father would return soon, so he sat down by a tree to wait. A long time passed, but his father never came. He leaned against the tree trunk, and after a while, his eyes finally closed in sleep.

He slept until daybreak. In his drowsy haze, he heard a few clear, resonant cries from above. He opened his eyes and looked up. Two enormous white eagles were circling and soaring in the sky, their wings spanning fully a zhang across. He had never seen eagles so large. He stared at them intently, finding them both strange and delightful. “Brother, come look at these huge eagles!” he called out, only then remembering that he was alone, and that his brother, who had always been inseparable from him, was no longer by his side.

Suddenly, he heard two soft whistles from behind him, the sound delicate and clear, as if from a girl’s lips. The two great eagles circled a few more times, then slowly descended. Wu Xiuwen turned around and saw a girl emerge from behind a tree, beckoning to the sky. The two eagles folded their wings and landed, standing beside her.

The girl glanced at Wu Xiuwen, then stroked the backs of the two eagles. “Good eagles, obedient eagles,” she said.

Wu Xiuwen thought to himself, So these two great eagles are diao*, condors.*¹⁰ He watched as the twin condors raised their heads and looked about with proud, spirited bearing. They were extraordinarily magnificent. Standing on the ground, they were even taller than the girl.

Wu Xiuwen approached and said, “Are these two condors raised by your family?”

The girl pursed her lips slightly with a look of disdain. “I don’t know you. I’m not playing with you.”

Wu Xiuwen took no offence and reached out to stroke a condor’s back. The girl gave a soft whistle, and the condor suddenly swept out its left wing with tremendous force. Wu Xiuwen was caught off guard and was sent tumbling head over heels.

Wu Xiuwen rolled and scrambled to his feet. He gazed at the twin condors with deep admiration. “These condors are wonderful. They obey you so well. When I get back, I’ll ask my father to catch a pair for me to raise and play with.”

The girl said, “Hmph, as if your father could catch them.”

Having been rebuffed three times in a row, Wu Xiuwen felt rather embarrassed. He studied her closely. She wore a pale green gauze dress, and around her neck hung a string of bright pearls. Her complexion was incomparably fair and delicate, like cream. It seemed as though water might drip from it. Her eyes sparkled as they moved, and her elegant brows were long and fine. Though Wu Xiuwen was only a boy, he could see that she was exquisitely beautiful, and he could not help but feel drawn to her. Yet seeing her dignified, aloof manner, he also could not help but feel intimidated.

The girl stroked the condor’s back with her right hand while her eyes rolled over Wu Xiuwen. “What’s your name? Why are you out playing all alone?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “My name is Wu Xiuwen. I’m waiting for my father. What about you? What’s your name?”

The girl pursed her lips. “Hmph,” she snorted. “I don’t play with wild children.” She turned and walked away.

Footnotes

1. 武三通 – Wǔ Sāntōng. His name meaning “three penetrations” or “three communications”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 一灯大师 – Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally one-lamp master; a Buddhist honorific title. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 渔樵耕读 – Yú Qiáo Gēng Dú. Four great disciples who followed Emperor Duan Zhixing into monkhood, representing the four idealised occupations of traditional Chinese culture: fisherman, woodcutter, farmer, and scholar. Wu Santong is the Farmer. ↩

4. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. Wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 天龙寺 – Tiānlóng Sì. Famous Buddhist temple in Dali. In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils it preserves the Duan family’s most advanced martial arts, including the Six Meridians Divine Sword. ↩

6. 武敦儒 – Wǔ Dūnrú. His name meaning “earnest scholar”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 武修文 – Wǔ Xiūwén. His name meaning “cultivate literature”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 黄蓉 – Huáng Róng. Her name meaning “lotus” or “hibiscus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 雕 – diāo ↩