The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 15 – Part 3

The young woman hesitated briefly, then said, “Very well.” She went out and fetched her jade flute, then sat by Yang Guo’s bed and began to play, soft and sorrowful. This time she played “Welcoming the Immortal Guest,”¹ a piece for the ceremonial greeting between host and guest, its melody as dignified as a courteous bow, as solemn as receiving a great visitor. Yang Guo thought, So even in your flute music you wear a mask, unwilling to reveal the song of your heart.

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From within the flute music, the sound of rapid footsteps could suddenly be heard in the distance, someone was racing toward the cottage. The young woman set down her jade flute, went to the doorway, and called out, “Cousin!” A person dashed up to the front of the house, panting. “Cousin, that witch has tracked me down! She’s on her way here. We have to go, now!” Yang Guo recognised the voice as Lu Wushuang’s. His heart leapt with joy, but then he heard her say the witch was closing in, she meant Li Mochou, of course, and a secret dread crept over him. Then he thought, So this young lady is my wife’s cousin.

The young woman said, “Someone is here recovering from injuries.” Lu Wushuang asked, “Who?” The young woman said, “You’re his wife. You tell me who.” Lu Wushuang cried out, “Fool! He… he’s here!” She rushed through the door.

In the moonlight, her face was radiant with joy. “Fool! Fool! How did you find your way here? This time it’s your turn to be the injured one.” Yang Guo began, “Wife…”. He after speaking only those two words, he remembered the gentle, dignified young woman in green beside him and dared not continue the joke. He stopped and changed the subject: “How did Li Mochou find you again?”

Lu Wushuang said, “That day at the tavern, after that battle, you suddenly left. My cousin brought me here to recover. Actually, my wounds healed long ago. I was bored and restless, so I went out wandering. That very day I ran into two Beggars’ Guild members and overheard them talking about some Heroes’ Assembly at Dasheng Pass. So I went to Dasheng Pass to see the excitement, but by the time I got there, the assembly had already dispersed. I was worried my cousin would be concerned, so I hurried back. Outside the teahouse in the town ahead, I suddenly spotted that witch’s patterned donkey. She’d changed the donkey, but the golden bells hadn’t changed…” Her voice was trembling by now. She continued, “At least fate wasn’t done with me yet. If I’d run into her head-on. Cousin, Fool, you wouldn’t be seeing me now.”

Yang Guo said, “This young lady is your cousin? I owe her my life, but I haven’t yet had the honour of learning her name.” The young woman said, “I…” Lu Wushuang suddenly reached out with both hands and pulled off the human-skin masks from Yang Guo’s face and the young woman’s at the same time. “That witch will be here soon,” she said. “Why are you two still wearing these ridiculous things?”

Before Yang Guo’s eyes, everything suddenly brightened. The young woman’s complexion was crystalline, her skin like snow, her oval face graced with a tiny dimple and a hint of shyness. Though she could not match Xiaolongnü’s transcendent, otherworldly beauty, she was still an exceedingly lovely young woman.

Lu Wushuang said, “She is my cousin, Cheng Ying², the last and youngest disciple of Island Master Huang of Peach Blossom Island.” Yang Guo bowed with clasped hands. “Miss Cheng.” Cheng Ying returned the salute. “Young Hero Yang.” Yang Guo thought, How can someone so young be a disciple of Island Master Huang? And by my connection to Auntie Guo, wouldn’t that make me a generation below her? Suddenly he understood what she had said the night before: “Even if you really did call me Gugu… it wouldn’t be unreasonable…” The words nearly burst from his lips, he almost called her “Gugu.” But those two syllables, “Gugu,” held a special meaning for him: they meant “beloved, etched upon the heart.” To speak them would be to presume too much. In the end, he dared not say it.

The truth was this: Cheng Ying had once been captured by Li Mochou and narrowly escaped death when, by chance, Huang Yaoshi³ of Peach Blossom Island passed by and saved her. After his daughter married, Huang Yaoshi had roamed the jianghu, drifting from place to place, making his home wherever he happened to be. In his old age, alone, he could not help feeling lonely. Seeing Cheng Ying so young and helpless, he was moved to compassion. After treating her wounds and neutralizing her poison, he kept her by his side. Cheng Ying served him with exquisite care and thoughtfulness, far surpassing the spoiled, mischievous, wild Huang Rong of years past. Huang Yaoshi’s pity deepened into affection, and he took her as his disciple. Though Cheng Ying’s cleverness and quick wits fell far short of Huang Rong’s, she was meticulous to the finest detail, attentive in small matters, and so she learned no small measure of Huang Yaoshi’s skills.

This year, having achieved a basic mastery of martial arts, she had taken leave of her shifu and travelled north to find her cousin. On the road through the Pass and Shaanxi, she had encountered Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang, the roadside warning, the midnight rescue, all were her doing. After the young fighters had jointly battled Li Mochou, she brought Lu Wushuang to this remote mountain to build a thatched hut and recover. A few days ago, Lu Wushuang had gone out alone and stayed away far too long. Cheng Ying, growing worried, went out to search for her and happened upon Huang Rong’s shifting stone formation in battle against the Golden Wheel National Preceptor. She had studied this esoteric formation art under Huang Yaoshi as well. Though her knowledge was limited, her learning had been meticulous. By a stroke of fortune, she had been able to rescue Yang Guo. Earlier, when Yang Guo had risked his life to save Lu Wushuang, Cheng Ying had already admired his chivalrous spirit and heroic bearing. This time, in his delirium, Yang Guo had held her in his arms and called her “Gugu” without ceasing, with such tender, passionate longing, as though he were pouring out his very heart. Sometimes he even called her “wife” with the deepest affection, and had once embraced and kissed her. Cheng Ying was mortified and flustered, but in her helplessness, her own heart could not help stirring. Against her will, she found herself utterly captivated.

Lu Wushuang said, “At a moment like this, you two are still being so polite?” Yang Guo asked, “Did Li Mochou see you later?” Lu Wushuang said, “You wish! If she had seen me, and you weren’t there to rescue me, could I have escaped her deadly hands? The moment I spotted the golden bells on the patterned donkey’s neck, I hid behind the teahouse and didn’t dare breathe. I heard that witch asking the teahouse owner whether he’d seen two young girls, one a little lame, the other an ugly freak. Cousin, she was talking about you, though she had no idea you’re the exact opposite of an ugly freak, that you’re a beauty…” Cheng Ying’s face flushed faintly. “Don’t talk nonsense. You’ll make Young Hero Yang laugh.” Yang Guo said, “Young Hero and all that. I don’t deserve such titles. Just call me Yang Guo.”

Lu Wushuang said crossly, “The moment you meet my cousin, you’re all obedient and well-behaved, giving her your full name. But with me, you’re always playing tricks and pretending.” Yang Guo smiled. “You call me ‘Fool,’ so I act like a fool to please you. Isn’t that obedient enough?” Lu Wushuang pouted. “I’ll settle accounts with you later.” She turned to Cheng Ying. “Cousin, you’ve been going into town wearing that mask to buy salt and rice and supplies. The townspeople all recognise you. The teahouse owner would never imagine that a gentle, refined, beautiful nun like Li Mochou could harbor ill intentions, so naturally he told her where we live. That witch thanked him, then asked where in town she could find lodging, and took Hong shijie⁴ to find a place to stay. She always strikes at the break of dawn, so we have about three shichen left.”

Cheng Ying said, “Yes. The day that witch came to your house, it was exactly at the yin hour’s end and the mao hour’s beginning.”⁵ The three of them spoke of how Li Mochou had murdered Lu Wushuang’s parents all those years ago, and only then realised that the three of them had once met in Jiaxing as children. Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang had even visited the same ruined kiln where Yang Guo had lived. Thinking that they had shared such an encounter in childhood, a warmth settled over each of their hearts.

Yang Guo said, “That witch’s martial arts are too powerful. Even if I weren’t injured, the three of us together still couldn’t beat her. As the saying goes, ‘the nephew carries the lantern, same as before’⁶, let’s just slip away.” Cheng Ying nodded. “We still have three shichen. Brother Yang’s mount has good stamina. If we leave at once, the witch might not be able to catch us.” Lu Wushuang said, “Fool, with your injuries, can you ride?” Yang Guo sighed. “Even if I can’t, I’ll have to tough it out. Better than falling into that witch’s hands.”

Lu Wushuang said, “We only have one horse. Cousin, you take the fool and flee west. I’ll lay a false trail and lead her east.” Cheng Ying’s face flushed faintly. “No, you go with Brother Yang. I have no deep grudge against Li Mochou. Even if she captures me, she may not necessarily kill me. But if you fall into her hands, you will suffer terribly.” Lu Wushuang said, “She’s coming for me. If she sees me together with the fool, won’t that just drag him down for nothing?” The two cousins argued back and forth, each insisting the other should escort Yang Guo to safety.

Yang Guo listened for a while, deeply moved. He thought, Both these young women are heroes in their devotion. In a moment of deadly peril, each is willing to risk her life to save mine. Even if that witch captures and kills me, this life will not have been lived in vain. Lu Wushuang said, “Fool, say something. Do you want my cousin to escape with you, or me?” Before Yang Guo could answer, Cheng Ying said, “How can you keep calling him ‘Fool’ this and ‘Fool’ that? Aren’t you afraid Brother Yang will be offended?” Lu Wushuang stuck out her tongue and laughed. “The way you treat him, so gentle and proper. I’m sure Fool-brother wants you to go with him.” She had changed “Fool” to “Fool-brother” as a compromise.

Cheng Ying had a fair complexion and blushed easily. At these words, her cheeks turned the colour of roses. She smiled. “And doesn’t he call you ‘wife’? If his wife doesn’t go with him, how would that be right?” Now it was Lu Wushuang’s turn to blush. She reached out to tickle Cheng Ying, who turned and fled. In an instant, the little room was filled with a warm, sweet atmosphere, and the three no longer felt quite so afraid.

Yang Guo thought, If I let Miss Cheng escape with me, my wife will be in mortal danger. If my wife comes with me, Miss Cheng will be in grave peril. He said, “The way both of you treat me. I am grateful beyond words. I think it’s best if you both leave quickly and let me face that witch here. My shifu is her shijie. She must have some regard for that bond. Besides, she fears my shifu. She wouldn’t dare do anything to me…” Before he could finish, Lu Wushuang burst in, “No, absolutely not.”

Yang Guo knew that neither of them would abandon him and flee. So he declared firmly, “The three of us will travel together. If that witch catches up, we fight to the death together. At worst, all three of us die together.” Lu Wushuang clapped her hands. “Good, that’s the way.” Cheng Ying pondered and said, “That witch comes and goes like the wind. If we travel together, she will certainly catch us. Better to meet her here, waiting at ease for an exhausted enemy, than to fight while fleeing.” Yang Guo said, “Exactly. Jiejie knows the arts of qimen dunjia⁷, you even trapped the Golden Wheel National Preceptor. The Scarlet Serpent Immortal may not be able to break through.”

At these words, a ray of hope appeared before all three. Cheng Ying said, “That shifting stone formation was set by Madam Guo. I was merely able to borrow from it and add slight variations. To set up a formation on my own. I don’t have that ability. As the saying goes, we can only do our best and leave the rest to Heaven. Cousin, come help me.” Yang Guo thought, Auntie Guo taught me formation changes, but in the rush I only memorized a dozen or so, just enough to lure that rusty Iron Wheel Preceptor into the formation. To stop this world-weary, heaven-defying Li Mochou, they’d be completely useless. This art is profoundly complex. To truly master it requires at least a year or more of work. Miss Cheng is so young. Naturally her knowledge can’t match Auntie Guo’s. Her words are surely not just modesty. But however crude her formation, something is better than nothing.

The two cousins picked up shovels and hoes, went out of the thatched cottage, and began digging earth and moving stones, laying out their defences. They worked for more than a shichen. Faintly, the crowing of a distant rooster could be heard. Cheng Ying was drenched in sweat. Looking at the earthen formation she had built, which fell so far short of Huang Rong’s shifting stone formation, she was secretly distressed. Madam Guo’s ability surpasses mine a hundredfold. Ah, to think of using this crude earthen formation to stop the Scarlet Serpent Witch, it is harder than climbing to Heaven. But she feared discouraging her cousin and Yang Guo, so she said nothing.

Footnotes

1. 迎仙客 – “Welcoming the Immortal Guest”. Traditional qin melody used for ceremonial occasions, particularly for greeting honoured guests. Its formal, restrained quality contrasts with the emotional intimacy of “Qi Ao,” which is why Yang Guo feels she is still “wearing a mask” even in her music. ↩

2. 程英 – Chéng Yīng. Her name meaning “heroine” or “outstanding”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 黄药师 – Huáng Yàoshī. His name meaning “medicine master”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 师姊 – shījiě. Female senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 寅时, 卯时 – Yin hour and Mao hour. yin hour is roughly 3—5 AM; the mao hour is 5—7 AM. Transition between them — “the end of yin and the beginning of mao” — corresponds to approximately 5 AM, just before dawn. This is when Li Mochou characteristically launches her attacks. ↩

6. 外甥点灯笼，照旧 – “The nephew carries the lantern — same as before”. Chinese pun. “照旧” (zhao jiu) means “same as before,” but “照舅” (zhao jiu) is a homophone meaning “shines on the uncle.” The nephew carrying a lantern to light the way for his uncle is “shining on the uncle,” hence “same as before.” Yang Guo uses the idiom to suggest they simply flee as they have done before. ↩

7. 奇门遁甲 – Qimen Dunjia. Ancient Chinese divination and formation art combining the principles of the Book of Changes, the Five Elements, astronomy, and calendrical systems. In wuxia fiction, it is often used to create bewildering battle formations that trap or disorient enemies. Huang Yaoshi is one of the foremost masters of this art. ↩