The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 12 – Part 3

Years before, on the summit of Mount Hua, when Hong Qigong had fought his contest with Ouyang Feng and spent his neili, he had taught Yang Guo every move and every variation of the staff technique and had him perform them for Ouyang Feng to see, but of the formulae and inner principles for using it against an enemy he had passed on not one word. He reasoned that Yang Guo, knowing the moves without the principles, could make no real use of them, so it would not count as breaking the Guild’s rules, and since it was not a real bout with Ouyang Feng, there was no need to teach the principles of the staff either.

Who could have known that here, of all places, Yang Guo would hear them from first to last, word for word? His gifts were a hundred times greater than Lu Youjiao’s. After only three hearings he had them by heart without missing a word, while Lu Youjiao was still mumbling them back in a muddle, all out of order.

Some time after Huang Rong fell pregnant for the second time, a moment’s carelessness while she was practising her neigong had harmed the baby’s foetal energy,¹ and she had been weak ever since. After half a day of teaching she felt worn out. She leaned back against the rock to rest and closed her eyes for a while to gather her strength. Then she called out, “Fu’er, Ru’er,² Wen’er,³ Guoer, the lot of you, come rolling down here!”

Guo Fu and the other three got a terrible fright, and each of them thought, She never let on, but she knew all along!

Guo Fu laughed. “Mother, you’re amazing. Nothing gets past you.” With that she used the move “Young Swallow Returns to the Forest”⁴ and sprang lightly down in front of her. The Wu brothers jumped down after her, but Yang Guo climbed down the tree slowly.

Huang Rong gave a snort. “With skills like yours, you thought you could spy on me? If I couldn’t even spot a few little thieves like you, I wouldn’t last half a day in the jianghu⁵ before walking into some villain’s ambush.”

Guo Fu looked rather sheepish, but she counted on her mother’s usual indulgence and was not afraid of a scolding. “Mother,” she said, laughing, “I dragged the three of them along to see the Dog-Beating Staff Technique that holds the whole world in awe. But the way Elder Lu does it isn’t much to look at. Mother, you show us.”

Huang Rong smiled and took the bamboo staff from Lu Youjiao. “All right, look out. I’m going to trip up a puppy.”

Guo Fu fixed all her attention on her footing, ready to jump the instant the staff reached for her, so that it would find nothing to trip. Huang Rong’s bamboo staff wavered. Guo Fu leapt hastily into the air, her feet half a foot off the ground, and just then the staff hooked at her and tripped her without the least effort. Guo Fu jumped up again, shouting, “That doesn’t count, that doesn’t count. That was my own fault.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Very well, have it however you like.”

Guo Fu set herself in a Horse Stance⁶ and stood firm. Then she had another thought. “Big Brother Wu, Little Brother Wu, you two stand on either side of me in Horse Stance as well.” The Wu brothers did as she said and planted themselves, and Guo Fu hooked her arms through theirs. With the strength of all three of them together they were as steady as Mount Tai. “Mother,” she said, “now I’m not afraid of you. Nothing short of Father’s Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing⁷ could shift us.”

Huang Rong smiled faintly and swept the staff sideways at their faces, a swift, fierce stroke that carried a gust of wind with it. The three of them hurriedly leaned back to dodge it, and in doing so, of course, the Horse Stances anchoring their legs went slack. Huang Rong drew the staff back with the “Turn” formula⁸ and skimmed it across their feet. All three lost their footing and went sprawling together. Still, their martial foundation was already fairly solid, and the moment their backs brushed the ground they sprang up again.

“Mother,” cried Guo Fu, “that was just another trick. It doesn’t count.”

Huang Rong laughed. “Just now I was teaching Elder Lu the eight formulae, Trip, Chop, Entwine, Jab, Hook, Draw, Block and Turn.⁹ Which of them uses brute strength? You say it’s a trick, and you’re right. Nine-tenths of all martial arts is trickery. Trick an expert off his feet and you’ve won. Only something like your father’s Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing is a true trial of strength, with no need for cunning or feints. But how many people under heaven can ever reach that level?”

Yang Guo listened and nodded inwardly. He turned over the inner principles of the Dog-Beating Staff that Huang Rong had described, checked them against the moves Hong Qigong had taught him, and found their subtleties truly without end. Guo Fu and the Wu brothers understood what Huang Rong had said, but the deeper meaning in it was lost on them.

Huang Rong went on, “The Dog-Beating Staff Technique is the most singular art in the wulin.¹⁰ It stands entirely apart, a school of its own, with no connection to the skills of any other school. Learn only the moves without the formulae and it’s no use at all. However brilliant you were, you’d be hard put to invent a single formula of your own to fit the moves. But if you know the formulae and I haven’t taught you the moves myself, all you’ll have are eight words, ‘Trip, Chop, Entwine, Jab, Hook, Draw, Block, Turn’. That’s why I don’t mind you four little imps listening in. But if I’m teaching some other martial art, you must never, ever listen in or steal it without my permission. Do you understand?”

Guo Fu promised over and over, and laughed. “Mother, why would I need to steal your skills? Is there anything you’d refuse to teach me?”

Huang Rong gave her a light smack on the bottom with the bamboo staff and smiled. “Go and play with the Wu boys. Guoer, I have a few things to say to you. Elder Lu, go and think it over at your leisure. If you can’t remember it all at once, I’ll teach you again another day.”

Lu Youjiao, Guo Fu and the Wu brothers took their leave of Huang Rong and went back to Lu Family Manor, leaving Yang Guo standing there alone.

Yang Guo’s heart was thudding. He was terrified that Huang Rong knew he had stolen the Dog-Beating Staff Technique and meant to show him no mercy and take his life.

Seeing the alarm and uncertainty in his face, Huang Rong took his hand and drew him down to sit beside her. “Guoer,” she said gently, “there’s a great deal about you I don’t understand, and if I asked, I don’t suppose you’d tell me. But I don’t hold that against you. When I was young, I was very contrary myself. It was only because your Uncle Guo gave way to me at every turn that I came through it.” She gave a soft sigh, and a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth as she remembered the mischief of her own girlhood. She went on, “I didn’t teach you martial arts because I meant it for your good. I never dreamed it would cause you so much hardship instead. Your Uncle Guo loves me and cherishes me, and of course I must do all I can to repay that kindness. He has one great wish for you: that one day you will grow into a good man who stands tall between heaven and earth. I’ll do everything I can to help you turn out well, so that his wish comes true. Guoer, you mustn’t ever let him down. Will you promise me that?”

Yang Guo had never heard Huang Rong speak to him so tenderly and so sincerely. He saw that her eyes were full of love and pity, and he was deeply moved. Hot blood surged up in his chest, and with a wail he burst into tears.

Huang Rong stroked his hair. “Guoer,” she said softly, “I won’t hide anything from you. I didn’t like your father, and so I never liked you either. But from now on I’ll be good to you, I promise. As soon as I’m well again, I’ll teach you every martial art I know. Your Uncle Guo has said he’ll teach you too.”

That only made Yang Guo more wretched, and he wept louder and louder. “Auntie Guo,” he sobbed, “there’s a lot I’ve kept from you. I… I… I’ll tell you all of it.”

Huang Rong stroked his hair. “I’m very tired today. In a few days will be soon enough. As long as you’re a good boy, that’s all I want. In a little while the Beggars’ Guild is holding its assembly. You come along and watch too.”

Yang Guo thought that news as grave as Hong Qigong’s death must of course be announced openly at the assembly, and, wiping his eyes, he nodded again and again.

Everything the two of them said beneath the big tree came straight from the heart, and all their old grudges against each other melted away at a stroke. By the end, Yang Guo was smiling through his tears. And when he thought of the hopes and kindness in Guo Jing’s words, he felt a warmth he had not known since he parted from Xiaolongnü.¹¹

Huang Rong talked a little longer, then felt a faint ache in her belly. She got slowly to her feet. “Let’s go back.” She took his hand, and they walked slowly on together.

Yang Guo thought that he ought to break the news of Hong Qigong’s death to her first. “Auntie Guo,” he said, “there’s something very important I have to tell you.”

But Huang Rong could feel the qi¹² in her dantian¹³ growing more and more unruly. She knitted her brows. “Tomorrow. I… I don’t feel well.”

Yang Guo saw that her face had turned an ashen grey, and he grew anxious. Her hand felt rather cold. Plucking up his courage, he quietly circulated his own breath and sent a current of warmth from his palm into hers. When he and Xiaolongnü were practising the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra¹⁴ together on Mount Zhongnan,¹⁵ they had trained this way of passing neili through the palm until it came to them as second nature. But he was afraid Huang Rong’s neigong might clash with his own, so at first he let only a thread of it through. Only when he found it flowing freely did he increase the flow.

Huang Rong felt the neili he sent her, soft and unbroken, wholly unlike Quanzhen neigong, yet mild and deep, every bit the equal of a Quanzhen expert’s. It did her a world of good. In moments the qi and blood that had been running against their course were flowing smoothly again, and a flush of colour rose to her cheeks. She thought in astonishment, Wherever did this boy learn neigong of such a high order? She smiled at him, warmly approving.

She was about to question him when Guo Fu came running from far off, calling, “Mother, Mother, guess who’s come?”

Huang Rong laughed. “All the heroes under heaven are gathering today. How am I to know who’s come?” Then a thought struck her, and her face lit up. “Ah, it must be the Wu boys’ shibo¹⁶ and shishu.¹⁷ We haven’t seen them for years.”

“Mother, you’re so clever,” said Guo Fu. “How did you guess first time?”

Huang Rong laughed. “What’s so hard about that? The Wu boys never stray a step from your side. If they’ve suddenly stopped following you about, their own people must have arrived.”

Yang Guo had always prided himself on his quick wits, but seeing how Huang Rong read things like a seer, far beyond anything he could manage, he could not help being awed.

Huang Rong went on, “Fu’er, congratulations. You’ll get to learn another superior martial art. I’m only afraid you won’t manage it.”

“What martial art?” asked Guo Fu.

It burst out of Yang Guo before he could stop it. “The Yiyang Finger!”¹⁸

Guo Fu took no notice of him. “What do you know?” she said carelessly. “Mother, what martial art is it?”

Huang Rong laughed. “Hasn’t Big Brother Yang just told you?”

“Oh,” said Guo Fu, “so Mother told you already.”

Huang Rong and Yang Guo both smiled and said nothing. Huang Rong thought, Guoer is ten times cleverer than the Wu brothers, and Fu’er is a dunce, which goes without saying. He knows the Yiyang Finger is Great Master Yideng’s¹⁹ own art. Now the Wu boys’ shishu and shibo have come, and since they’ll pity the brothers for being left alone in the world, they’re bound to teach it to them. And the two of them, eager to please Fu’er, will hand on to her whatever they learn.

Guo Fu, though, was thoroughly puzzled. Why had her mother told Yang Guo about this first? Did she really mean to give her, for life, to this little beggar? At the thought, she could not help rolling her eyes at Yang Guo and pulling a face.

Great Master Yideng of the Dali Kingdom²⁰ had four disciples, the Fisherman, the Woodcutter, the Farmer and the Scholar.²¹ The Wu brothers’ father, Wu Santong,²² was the third of them, the Farmer. Since he was wounded in his fight with Li Mochou,²³ he had vanished without trace, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. The two who had come to the Hero Assembly were the Fisherman, Sishui Yuyin,²⁴ and the Scholar, Zhu Ziliu.²⁵

Zhu Ziliu and Huang Rong could never meet without a battle of words, and after more than ten years apart, they set about matching wits all over again. When the happy greetings were done, Sishui Yuyin and Zhu Ziliu sure enough found a quiet room and taught the Wu brothers the elementary skills of the Yiyang Finger.

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That morning, countless more heroes and brave men arrived at Lu Family Manor. Large as the manor was, it was packed in every corner.

Footnotes

1. Foetal Energy (胎气). In traditional Chinese medicine, the vital energy that nourishes the foetus during pregnancy. Disturbance of foetal energy can cause illness in the mother. ↩

2. Ru’er (儒儿). Affectionate diminutive for Wu Dunru. ↩

3. 文儿 (Wen’er). Affectionate diminutive for Wu Xiuwen. ↩

4. “Young Swallow Returns to the Forest.” 乳燕投林 – Rǔyàn Tóu Lín. Qinggong move named after poetic imagery. ↩

5. 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. ↩

6. Horse Stance (马步). Fundamental martial arts stance where the practitioner squats with feet wide apart as though riding a horse, building leg strength and stability. ↩

7. 降龙十八掌 – Xiánglóng Shíbā Zhǎng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 转字诀 – Zhuǎn Zì Jué. One of the eight formulae of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique, using rotational force. ↩

9. 八诀 – Bā Jué. Trip, chop, entwine, jab, hook, draw, block, and turn; the eight core principles of the Dog-Beating Staff Technique. ↩

10. 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. ↩

11. 小龙女 – Xiǎolóngnǚ. Literally little dragon maiden. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

12. 气 – qì. Literally breath or vital energy. Fundamental life force flowing through all living things, central to Chinese medicine and martial arts. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

13. 丹田 – dāntián. Literally cinnabar field. Primary energy centre below the navel, where qi is stored and cultivated. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 玉女心经 – Yùnǚ Xīnjīng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 终南山 – Zhōngnán Shān. Sacred Daoist mountain housing both Quanzhen Order and Ancient Tomb School. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

16. 师伯 – shībó. Senior lineage uncle. Shixiong or shijie of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Bó means father’s elder brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

17. 师叔 – shīshū. Junior lineage uncle. Shidi or shimei of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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

20. 大理 – Dàlǐ. Historical kingdom in present-day Yunnan Province (937–1253), contemporaneous with the Song dynasty. In the Condor Trilogy it is associated with the Duan imperial family and Great Master Yideng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

21. 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. ↩

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

23. 李莫愁 – Lǐ Mòchóu. Her name meaning “do not sorrow”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

24. 泗水渔隐 – Sìshuǐ Yúyǐn. Literally the recluse fisherman of the Si River; the Fisherman among Great Master Yideng’s four disciples, named Diancang Yuyin (点苍渔隐) elsewhere in the novel. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

25. 朱子柳 – Zhū Zǐliǔ. His name meaning “master willow”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩