The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 10 – Part 3
Translation by Jenxi Seow
Hearing him speak these words, Wanyan Ping felt a pang in her heart, and two teardrops spilled from her eyes. Yang Guo’s emotions surged, and suddenly he burst out weeping. Wanyan Ping drew a handkerchief from her bosom and passed it to him. Yang Guo pressed it to his face, but the more he thought of his own life, the more the tears flowed.
Wanyan Ping forced a smile. “Master Yang, look. I have made you cry.”
“Don’t call me Master Yang. How old are you?”
“I am eighteen. And you?”
“I am also eighteen.” He thought, If my birth month is later than hers, and she calls me “Brother”, that would be no good. He said, “I was born in the first month. From now on, you can call me Big Brother Yang. And I won’t stand on ceremony. I will call you Sister Wanyan.” Wanyan Ping blushed. She found this man’s manner, so direct, so peculiar, thoroughly strange. But it was clear he meant her no harm. She nodded.
Seeing her nod, Yang Guo was so delighted his heart itched unbearably. Wanyan Ping’s features were delicate and refined, her figure slender. Having suffered misfortune, she seemed born to inspire pity, and most important of all, the liquid light in her eyes was remarkably like Xiaolongnü’s. What he did not realise was that anyone who carried sorrow in their heart would naturally show a trace of melancholy in their gaze, this was true of all people under heaven. That he saw Xiaolongnü’s eyes in hers was only because he had searched so long for Xiaolongnü without finding her, and his longing was so intense that he deceived and comforted himself with this fantasy. He stared into her eyes, and in his mind he transformed her black robes to white, her slender oval face into Xiaolongnü’s exquisitely beautiful features. He gazed at her, lost in a trance, and his face unconsciously revealed a mixture of yearning, longing, and tender love.
Wanyan Ping grew somewhat afraid. She gently pulled her hand free and asked in a low voice, “What is wrong?” Yang Guo awoke as if from a dream. He sighed. “Nothing. Are you going to kill him or not?”
Wanyan Ping said, “I will go now. Big Brother Yang, will you come with me?”
Yang Guo was about to say, “Of course I will come with you.” But then reconsidered. If I am present, she will feel secure and her suicidal gesture will lack conviction. Yelü Qi will not fall for it. He said, “It would not be convenient for me to accompany you.”
Disappointment immediately showed in Wanyan Ping’s eyes. Yang Guo’s heart softened, and he nearly agreed to go with her after all. But Wanyan Ping said quietly, “Very well, Big Brother Yang. I fear I will never see you again.”
Yang Guo said hastily, “Nonsense! Nonsense! I…”
Wanyan Ping shook her head sorrowfully and dashed out of the house. In moments, she had returned to Yelü Zhu’s residence.
By now, Yelü Chucai and the others had withdrawn to their chambers and were preparing for bed. Wanyan Ping knocked twice on the main gate and called out in a clear voice, “Wanyan Ping requests an audience with Young Master Yelü Qi.” Several guards rushed over to stop her, but Yelü Qi opened the door himself and said, “What instructions does Miss Wanyan have?”
Wanyan Ping said, “I have come to receive more of your exalted instruction.”
Yelü Qi was puzzled. Why is she so lacking in self-awareness? He stepped aside, extended his right hand, and said, “Please enter.”
Wanyan Ping entered the chamber, drew her blade, and launched three rapid circling strikes, hu hu hu, threading six Iron Palm techniques through her blade work, this “one blade with two palms” converging from left and right. Yelü Qi kept his left hand lowered and used his right to chop, thrust, jab, and seize, neutralising all three blade cuts and six palm strikes. He thought, I need to find some way to make her understand the gap between us, so she will give up and never trouble us again.
The two fought for a while. Wanyan Ping was just about to use the three moves Yang Guo had taught her when a woman’s voice suddenly called from outside the door: “Yelü Qi, she is trying to trick you into using your left hand. Be careful!” It was Lu Wushuang. Yelü Qi froze in surprise. Before he could fully register what she meant, Wanyan Ping launched “Clouds Spanning the Qin Ridges,” cutting across at him. As he sidestepped to evade, she suddenly extended her left hand. “Withered Vine Coiling the Tree”, and seized his right hand. Her right hand reversed, and she swept the blade fiercely toward her own throat.
In that flash of lightning, Yelü Qi’s mind raced through several thoughts: I must save her! But she is tricking me into using my left hand. The moment I use it, my life is forfeit to her. A true man dies when he must, but how can I watch someone die and do nothing? Yang Guo had predicted Yelü Qi’s reasoning perfectly: confronted with these three sudden moves, he would have no choice but to use his left hand to save her. But Lu Wushuang’s interference had given him advance warning. The scheme should have failed, yet Yelü Qi was a man of generous and gallant spirit. Even knowing full well that reaching out to save her would cost him his own life, in that critical moment he still extended his left hand. He blocked Wanyan Ping’s right wrist, flipped his hand, and seized her willow-leaf blade away.
The two had exchanged these three moves. Each leapt back two steps. Before she could speak, Yelü Qi tossed the blade back to her and said, “You have forced me to use my left hand. Kill me, then. But I have one request.”
Wanyan Ping’s face was ashen. “What is it?”
Yelü Qi said, “I beg you, do not harm my father further.”
Wanyan Ping gave a heng. She walked slowly toward him and raised the blade. In the candlelight, she saw his expression, calm and composed, radiating a solemn, awe-inspiring dignity. Seeing the heroic spirit of this man, and remembering that he had used his left hand only to save her, how could she possibly bring the blade down? The killing intent in her eyes softened. She threw the blade to the floor, covered her face, and fled.
Utterly lost, Wanyan Ping wandered aimlessly out of town. She came to a small stream and stared at the faint starlight reflected in the water, her heart a tangled mess. After a very long time, she let out a long sigh.
Suddenly, a sigh echoed from behind her. Startled, Wanyan Ping spun around. A person stood there. Yang Guo. She called out “Big Brother Yang” and lowered her head in silence. Yang Guo stepped forward and took her hands in his. “To avenge one’s parents is never an easy thing,” he said, comforting her. “There is no need to rush.”
Wanyan Ping said, “You saw everything?” Yang Guo nodded. Wanyan Ping said, “For someone as useless as I am, revenge is naturally impossible. If I had even half your skill, I would not have come to such a pass.”
Yang Guo took her hand and sat with her beneath a large tree. “Even if you learned my martial arts,” he said, “what use would it be? You may not be able to take revenge now, but at least you know who your enemy is. Won’t there be opportunities in the future? What about me? I do not even know how my father died, or who killed him. As for vengeance, there is none to speak of.”
Wanyan Ping was stunned. “Your parents were murdered too?”
Yang Guo sighed. “My mother died of illness. But my father’s death. I do not know how it happened. I have never even seen my father’s face.”
“How can that be?”
Yang Guo said, “My father was already dead when my mother gave birth to me. I used to ask my mother, how exactly did Father die? Who was his enemy? Every time I asked, she would weep and give no answer. Later, I stopped daring to ask. I thought, when I am older, it will not be too late to ask then. Who could have known that my mother would suddenly fall ill and never recover? On her deathbed, I asked again. My mother just shook her head and said, ‘Your father… your father… Ah, child, for all your life, never think of revenge. Promise Mother, you must never think of avenging your father.’ I was overcome with grief and pain. I cried out, ‘I won’t promise! I won’t promise!’ Mother’s breath failed her, and she was gone. Ah, tell me, what am I supposed to do?” He had meant these words to comfort Wanyan Ping, but as he spoke, his own sorrow welled up. As the saying goes, “The hatred for a father’s killer cannot share the same sky.”1 For a man not to avenge his father is the greatest of filial failures, a lifelong shame, despised by all the world. That Yang Guo did not even know his father’s killer’s name, this bitter grievance had been buried in his heart for so long. Now, pouring it out, his voice was naturally filled with grief and resentment.
Wanyan Ping said, “Who raised you?”
Yang Guo said, “Who else? I raised myself. After my mother died, I roamed the jianghu,2 begging a meal here, finding a place to sleep there. Sometimes when the hunger was unbearable, I would steal a melon or a sweet potato. I often got caught and beaten badly. Look, all these scars, this bone sticking out here, all from beatings when I was young.” As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and trouser legs to show her. In the dim starlight, Wanyan Ping could not see clearly, so Yang Guo took her hand and guided it over the scars on his shin. Wanyan Ping’s fingers traced the bumps and hollows of his scars, and her heart ached. She thought how, although her own kingdom had fallen and her family destroyed, her father had left behind many loyal friends and old retainers, and gold and silver beyond counting. Compared to his life, she had been fortunate indeed.
The two sat in silence for a long while. Wanyan Ping gently withdrew her hand from his leg, though she let him continue holding it. She asked softly, “How did you learn such formidable martial arts? And how did you come to be a Mongol officer?”
Yang Guo smiled faintly. “I am no Mongol officer. I wear Mongol clothing to hide from an enemy who is hunting me.”
Wanyan Ping’s face lit up. “That is good.”
“What is good about it?”
Wanyan Ping blushed slightly. “The Mongols are the mortal enemies of my Great Jin. Naturally I am glad you are not a Mongol officer.” Yang Guo held her warm, soft, smooth hand, his mind unsettled. “If I were an officer of the Great Jin,” he said, “what would you think of me then?”
Wanyan Ping had liked him from the start, for his handsome features and his high martial skill, and that was already three parts of the way. In her time of distress, he had helped her with sincere devotion, and then, hearing him tell the story of his life, she had come to feel an added measure of pity. Now, though she sensed a certain impropriety in his words, she was not angered. She only sighed and said, “If my father were still alive, whatever you wished for, my father could give it to you. But now that both my parents are gone, what is there left to say?”
Footnotes
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Hatred for a father’s killer cannot share the same sky (杀父之仇，不共戴天). Fundamental principle of Confucian filial piety. Phrase originates from the Book of Rites (Liji), meaning that one who has killed your father is an enemy with whom you cannot coexist under the same heaven. Revenge for a parent’s murder was considered the most sacred obligation a child could bear. ↩
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江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩