The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 1 – Part 5

Wu Xiuwen stood dumbfounded for a moment, then went after her, calling, “I’m not a wild child!”

He reckoned the girl was some two or three years younger than himself, small and short in the leg, and that one spurt would catch her. But the moment he put on his qinggong, he found her feet were astonishingly quick. In moments she had covered several dozen feet and left him far behind. A few more steps and she stopped and looked back. “Hmph, think you can catch me?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Of course I can.” He immediately gathered his breath to give chase.

The girl turned and ran again, then suddenly darted forward and hid behind a pine tree. Wu Xiuwen followed. When the girl saw him draw near, she abruptly stuck out her left foot and hooked it around his shin. Wu Xiuwen had not expected this at all and pitched forward. He tried to use the Iron Tree Stump stance to steady himself, but the girl’s right foot shot out and kicked him hard in the backside. Wu Xiuwen went sprawling, his nose smashing right into a small, sharp rock. Blood streamed from his nose, dotting his clothes with crimson.

Seeing the blood, the girl panicked. For a moment, she had no idea what to do and thought only of running away. Suddenly, a voice behind her barked, “Fu’er,¹ bullying people again, are you?”

The girl did not turn around. “Who says?” she protested. “He fell down on his own. What’s it got to do with me? Don’t you go telling my father nonsense.”

Wu Xiuwen pressed his hand to his nose. It did not actually hurt very much, but seeing his hand covered in blood, he was alarmed. Hearing the girl talking to someone, he turned around and saw a lame old man leaning on an iron crutch. The man’s temples were frosted white, his face gaunt and haggard, and his eyes showed only their whites. He was blind.

The old man gave a cold laugh. “Don’t think you can fool me just because I can’t see. I hear everything perfectly clearly. You little minx. You’re already this bad now. What will you be like when you grow up?”

The girl went over and took his arm, pleading, “Granduncle, please don’t tell my father, all right? His nose is bleeding. Help him stop it!”

The old man stepped forward, gripped Wu Xiuwen’s arm with his left hand, and with a finger of his right pressed a few times at the Welcome Fragrance acupoint² beside his nose. The nosebleed had already been easing, and after a few presses it stopped altogether. But the old man’s five fingers clamped his arm like iron pincers, long and hard, and Wu Xiuwen grew afraid. He gave a slight twist, but the arm would not move at all. So he drew it in and circled it, using the Small Seizing Hand technique³ his mother had taught him, his hand turning a half-circle and flipping outwards against the grip. The old man had never expected such a neat trick from so small a child, and the twist broke his hold. With a soft “Eh?” he caught the boy’s wrist again at once. Wu Xiuwen strained to break free, but this time he could not shake loose at all.

The old man said, “Don’t be afraid, Young Brother. What’s your surname?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “My surname is Wu.”

The old man said, “Your accent isn’t local. Where are you from? Where are your parents?” As he spoke, he released Wu Xiuwen’s wrist.

Wu Xiuwen thought of how he had not seen his parents all night and had no idea what had become of them. At the old man’s question, he nearly burst into tears.

The girl drew a finger down her cheek to shame him and sang, “Shame, shame, shame, little spotted dog, red-rimmed eyes, about to leak oil!”

Wu Xiuwen drew himself up proudly. “Hmph, I’m not going to cry!” Then he told them everything: how his mother was waiting for an enemy at Lu Family Manor,⁴ how his father had carried off his brother to who knew where, how he had waited in the dark for his father and brother and never seen them, and how he had fallen asleep under a tree. He was so worked up that he told it all higgledy-piggledy, but the old man made out seven or eight parts in ten. He also learned that they came from the Kingdom of Dali, that the boy’s father was called Wu Santong, and that his best martial art was the One Yang Finger.⁵

The old man said, “Your father is a disciple of Great Master Yideng, isn’t he?”

Wu Xiuwen said happily, “Yes. Do you know our Imperial Lord? Have you met him? I haven’t.”

In years past Wu Santong had commanded the Imperial Guard under Duan Zhixing,⁶ the Gongji Emperor of Dali. Duan Zhixing later left the world to become a monk under the Dharma name Yideng, but whenever Wu Santong told his sons about the old days it was still “our Imperial Lord did this” and “our Imperial Lord did that”, and so Wu Xiuwen called him “our Imperial Lord” too.

The old man said, “I have never had the good fortune to pay my respects to him, but I have long revered the great name of the ‘Southern Emperor’⁷ and hold him in the deepest admiration. This girl’s parents once owed him a very great kindness. That being so, we are none of us strangers. Do you know who this enemy is that your mother is waiting for?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “I heard my mother talking to Lord Lu. The enemy seemed to be some sort of scarlet snake, something-or-other Sorrow.”

The old man raised his head and murmured, “Some sort of scarlet snake?” Suddenly he struck his iron crutch against the ground and cried out, “The Scarlet Serpent Immortal, Li Mochou?”

Wu Xiuwen said joyfully, “Yes, yes! That’s it, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal!”

The old man’s expression immediately grew extremely grave. “You two stay here and play. Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to take a look.”

The girl said, “Granduncle, I want to go too.”

Wu Xiuwen also said, “I want to go too.”

The old man said urgently, “No, no! You absolutely must not go. That demoness is vicious beyond measure. I cannot defeat her. But knowing that a friend is in danger, I cannot simply do nothing. You must be obedient.” With that, he leaned on his iron crutch and limped away at great speed.

Wu Xiuwen was deeply impressed. “That old gentleman is blind and lame, yet he moves so fast.”

The girl pursed her lips. “What’s so special about that? If you saw my father and mother’s qinggong, you’d be scared out of your wits.”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Are your father and mother blind and lame too?”

The girl flew into a rage. “Bah! Your father and mother are the ones who are blind and lame!”

By now it was broad daylight. Farmers were already at work in the fields, the men and women singing country songs. The old man was a native of these parts, and though he was blind he knew the roads well, asking the way as he went, and before long he came to Lu Family Manor. From a long way off he could hear weapons clashing and clanging in a fight of the utmost ferocity.

The Lu Zhanyuan family were local gentry of long official standing, whereas the old man was a man of the marketplace. Though both were well-known martial figures in Jiaxing, they had never had dealings with one another. He knew, too, that his martial skill was no match for the Scarlet Serpent Immortal’s, and that going there would only throw one more old life onto the pile. But the matter involved a disciple of Great Master Yideng, and all of them owed Great Master Yideng far too much to stand aside, so he lengthened his stride and hurried to the gate of the manor.

He could hear four people locked in fierce combat on the rooftop. Tilting his head, he listened hard. From the shouts and the clash of weapons he could tell there were three on one side and only one on the other, yet the many could not get the better of the one, and the three were already badly on the defensive.

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The previous night, when Wu Santong had carried off his two sons, Lu Liding and his wife had been greatly perplexed, unsure of his intentions. Madam Wu, however, had looked pleased. “My husband is usually deranged and erratic,” she said with a smile, “but this time, for once, he has shown some sense.”

When Lady Lu asked the reason, Madam Wu only smiled without answering. “I don’t know if my guess is correct,” she said. “We shall see soon enough.”

By now, the night had grown deep. Lu Wushuang had fallen asleep in her father’s arms, and Cheng Ying was also drowsy, barely able to keep her eyes open. Lady Lu picked up the two children, intending to carry them to their room to sleep.

Madam Wu said, “Wait just a moment.”

Suddenly a voice called from the roof, “Throw them up.” It was Wu Santong. So fine was his qinggong that he had reached the roof without the Lu couple noticing a thing.

Madam Wu took Cheng Ying, walked to the entrance of the hall, and threw her upward. Wu Santong stretched out his arms and caught her. As the Lu couple watched in astonishment, Madam Wu picked up Lu Wushuang and tossed her up as well.

Lu Liding was horrified. “What are you doing?” he cried, leaping onto the roof. But all around was pitch black. Wu Santong and the two girls had vanished without a trace. He was about to give chase when Madam Wu called, “Lord Lu, there is no need to pursue him. His intentions are good.”

Lu Liding was half-doubtful, half-trusting. He jumped back down into the courtyard and asked in a trembling voice, “What good intentions?”

By now Lady Lu had understood. “Third Master Wu was afraid the demon would harm the children,” she said. “He must have hidden them somewhere safe.”

Lu Liding, too close to the matter to see it clearly, was brought to his senses by a word from his wife. “Yes, of course,” he said over and over. But when he thought of Wu Santong stealing his brother’s and sister-in-law’s bodies, he was far from easy.

Madam Wu sighed. “Ever since Ayuan married your brother-in-law, my husband has flown into a temper at the sight of any girl. Why he should take such care of your two daughters I cannot tell. It is beyond anything I expected. When he first came to take Ru’er and Wen’er away, I saw him look at the two young mistresses again and again, with great tenderness in his face, as though he were anxious for them. That is just how he used to look at Ayuan. And sure enough, he came back and took the two young mistresses too. Ah, if only he would change his ways from now on and stop his foolishness!” And she heaved two long sighs.

At first the Lu couple had been so anxious for the safety of their daughter and niece that they were in turmoil and hardly knew what they were doing. Now that this worry was off their minds, their fear slowly ebbed and their resolve against the enemy swelled. They armed themselves with every hidden weapon they had, took up their weapons, and sat down in the main hall, eyes closed, gathering their strength.

They had been husband and wife for more than ten years, and in ordinary times they would now and then bicker over household matters. But now, with a deadly enemy about to arrive at any moment, and remembering what Lu Zhanyuan and Madam Wu had said of the demon’s great skill and venomous ways, they knew they would most likely not escape their fate and had little time left together, and without thinking they leaned against each other, their four hands clasped.

A long while passed. In the profound silence, a soft, lilting woman’s voice drifted from the distance. Though it came from far away, every word was clear and distinct:

I ask the world: what is love, That it binds two hearts unto life and death?⁸

With each word she sang, she drew noticeably closer. The woman’s speed was astonishing. Before the third line of the song had ended, she was already outside the gate.

The three of them stared at one another, aghast. Then came a few bangs and a splintering crack, and the bar and wooden braces behind the gate broke all at once. The great doors flew apart, and a beautiful Daoist nun walked slowly in, smiling. She wore an apricot-yellow Daoist robe. It could only be the Scarlet Serpent Immortal, Li Mochou.

Agen was sweeping the courtyard. He stepped forward and demanded, “Who goes there?”

Lu Liding shouted urgently, “Agen, get back!” But it was already too late. Li Mochou flicked her horsetail whisk, and Agen’s skull shattered instantly. He died without a sound.

Lu Liding charged forward, dao raised. Li Mochou shifted her body slightly, gliding past him. With another sweep of her whisk, she struck down both bondmaids at once. Smiling, she asked, “Where are the two little girls?”

The Lu couple watched her kill three people in the blink of an eye. Knowing there was no hope, they gritted their teeth and attacked from left and right with dao and jian. Li Mochou raised her whisk, about to strike, but then she noticed Madam Wu standing to the side with her jian. She gave a faint smile. “Since there are outsiders interfering,” she said, “it would be inconvenient to kill inside the house.”

Her voice was soft and melodious, her manner charming and alluring. With her bright eyes, white teeth, and fair, creamy complexion, she was truly a remarkable beauty. Without any visible movement of her feet or legs, she floated lightly up onto the rooftop. The Lu couple and Madam Wu leapt up after her.

Li Mochou had first sent her disciple, the young Daoist nun Hong Lingbo,⁹ to investigate the circumstances of Lu Zhanyuan’s household. Only then had she learned that Lu Zhanyuan and his wife had died three years earlier, and that the household now consisted of seven people, masters and servants. When Hong Lingbo reported back to her shifu, Li Mochou’s fury could not be assuaged, so she transferred the debt to Lu Zhanyuan’s younger brother, Lu Liding. Following her usual practice, she had imprinted nine bloody palm prints on the Lu family’s wall as a warning. The top pair of prints signified that she would kill Lu Zhanyuan and his wife to vent the resentment of years past. Even in death, she would reduce their bones to ashes and scatter them to the winds. The seven prints below naturally indicated that she would kill the seven remaining members of the Lu household.

Footnotes

1. 郭芙 – Guō Fú. Her name meaning “lotus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 迎香穴 – Yíngxiāng Xué. Acupoint beside the nostrils, commonly used to treat nasal congestion and nosebleeds. ↩

3. 小擒拿手 – Xiǎo Qínná Shǒu. Grappling and joint-locking technique. Qinna (擒拿) is the art of seizing and controlling an opponent through joint locks and acupoint manipulation. the Small variant uses the hands and fingers rather than the whole body. ↩

4. 陆家庄 – Lùjiā Zhuāng. Lu Family Manor. The fortified estate of the Lu family in Jiaxing. ↩

5. 一阳指 – Yīyáng Zhǐ. Literally One Yang Finger. Dali Duan family’s signature finger technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 段智兴 – Duàn Zhìxīng. His name meaning “wisdom flourishing”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 南帝 – Nán Dì. Literally southern emperor. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 问世间，情是何物，直教生死相许 – wèn shìjiān, qíng shì hé wù, zhí jiào shēngsǐ xiāngxǔ. Opening lines of a famous ci poem by Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), inspired by a wild goose that dashed itself to death after its mate was killed. Li Mochou sings this song throughout the novel, and it becomes her tragic theme. ↩

9. 洪凌波 – Hóng Língbō. Her name meaning “treading the waves”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩