The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 17 – Part 2

Hearing him speak thus, Gongsun Lü’e could not help but redden around the eyes. “Long ago, Father did cherish me dearly. But ever since Mother died, when I was six, Father has grown stricter and stricter with me. After he marries my new mother, I do not know how he will treat me.” As she spoke, two teardrops rolled down. Yang Guo comforted her: “After the wedding, your father’s heart will be glad. He will surely treat you even better.” Lü’e shook her head. “I would rather he treated me more harshly than take a new mother.”

Yang Guo had lost his parents early and did not fully understand such feelings. Wishing to cheer her up, he said, “Your new mother surely cannot be half as beautiful as you.” Lü’e said hurriedly, “You are exactly wrong. This new mother of mine is truly a beauty. Father, for her… for her… Yesterday when we captured that old man surnamed Zhou, if Father had not been busy arranging the wedding, he would never have let that Old Imp escape again.” Yang Guo was both startled and delighted. “Old Imp escaped again?” Gongsun Lü’e’s elegant brows drew together. “Did he not?” Yang Guo had long expected that with Zhou Botong’s abilities, the four disciples of the Passionless Valley, even with their fishing nets, could never hold him.

The two talked for a while. The morning sun gradually rose higher. Lü’e suddenly started in alarm. “You must go back quickly. Do not let my shixiong¹ see us talking together and report it to Father.” A feeling of sympathy for her plight welled up naturally in Yang Guo. He extended his left hand and clasped hers, patting the back of her hand gently a few times with his right to show comfort. A look of gratitude appeared in Gongsun Lü’e’s eyes. She lowered her head, and suddenly her face was covered in a deep blush. Yang Guo, fearing that thoughts of Xiaolongnü would bring pain to his finger again, strode quickly back to the stone hut where he was staying.

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He had not yet entered when he heard Ma Guangzuo² shouting and complaining, how could plain water and green vegetables fill a stomach? And these flower petals, neither bitter nor sweet, forcing people to eat them, was that not a plot to steal wealth and destroy lives? Yin Kexi³ laughed. “Brother Ma, whatever treasures you have on you, you had best put them away securely. I suspect this valley master harbours less than pure intentions.” Ma Guangzuo, not realising Yin Kexi was mocking him, nodded vigorously in agreement. Yang Guo walked inside and saw the stone table piled with plates of passion flower petals. Everyone was eating with deeply furrowed brows. It occurred to him that even the great monk Jinlun Guoshi was suffering the affliction of the passion flower, and he laughed to himself.

He picked up a cup of water and drank a few mouthfuls. Footsteps sounded outside the door, and a person in green entered. Cupping his hands and bowing, he said, “The Valley Master invites the six honoured guests to meet with him.”

Guoshi, Nimoxing, and the others were all grandmasters of their own schools. Wherever they went, the host always came out personally to welcome them from afar. Even Kublai, the Fourth Prince of the Great Mongol Empire, treated them with the utmost courtesy. Never did they expect that, having come to this remote mountain valley, the master would treat them with such haughty discourtesy. Each man felt anger rising in his heart. All thought, “When we meet this wretched valley master, we shall give him a taste of our displeasure.”

The six followed the green-clad man toward the rear of the mountain. After walking about a li, they suddenly saw before them a vast, lush-green bamboo grove. Bamboo was extremely rare in the north, and a grove of this size was even more uncommon. The seven passed through the green bamboo, breathing in faint waves of delicate floral fragrance. At once, all worldly cares seemed to melt away. Beyond the bamboo grove, a wave of pure fragrance rushed toward them. Before their eyes stretched an endless expanse of narcissus flowers. Beneath them was a shallow pool, no more than a foot deep, planted entirely with narcissus. This too was a southern flower. How could it appear on a mountaintop between the Pass and the Luo River?⁴ Guoshi thought, “There must be hot springs beneath this peak or something of the sort, causing the earth’s warmth to be unusual.”

In the pool, wooden stakes were set every four or five chi⁵. The green-clad guide swayed slightly and leaped from stake to stake, crossing over. The six followed suit. Only Ma Guangzuo, with his heavy, clumsy frame and poor qinggong, could not manage a single bound of four or five chi. After toppling several stakes, he simply waded through the water.

Where the blue stone path ended, they could see in the distance, in the shade of the mountain, an enormous stone hall. The seven drew near and saw two green-clad servant boys holding horsetail whisks standing before the door. One boy went in to announce them. The other opened the door to welcome the guests. Yang Guo wondered, “Will the Valley Master come out to receive us?” Before the thought settled, a long-bearded elder in a green robe emerged from the stone hall.

The old man was extremely short, barely four chi tall. His features, the five prominences reaching toward heaven, were singular and striking.⁶ Most remarkable was the thicket of beard that hung straight down, nearly touching the ground. He wore a robe of dark green cloth, and a green straw rope served as his belt. His appearance was exceedingly strange. Yang Guo thought, “This Valley Master is so bizarre in form, yet the daughter he begot is beautiful.” The old man bowed deeply to the six and said, “Honoured guests, your presence brings us joy beyond measure. Please enter and take tea.” Ma Guangzuo, at the word “tea,” frowned deeply and bellowed, “Tea! Is there anywhere that lacks tea? Why must we come here for it?” The long-bearded elder, not understanding his meaning, glanced at him and bowed again, inviting the guests inside.

Nimoxing thought, “I am a short man, yet this Valley Master is even shorter than I. Short you may be, but as for martial skill, we shall see who is stronger.” He rushed ahead and extended his hand, laughing. “A pleasure, a pleasure.” He grasped the old man’s hand and immediately exerted force. The others, seeing the two clasp hands, each stepped back a few paces. They knew that when two great masters tested strength, the stakes were not trivial.

Nimoxing first applied twenty percent of his strength but felt neither counterforce nor resistance from his opponent. Slightly puzzled, he added another twenty percent. It felt as though he were gripping a length of hardwood. He added yet another twenty percent. A faint flash of green passed over the old man’s face, but his hand remained as rigid as wood. Greatly surprised, Nimoxing dared not apply the final fraction of his strength, fearing that at the moment of full exertion, his opponent might suddenly counterattack and he would be unable to withstand it. With a hearty laugh, he released the hand.

Jinlun Guoshi walked second. Having observed Nimoxing’s situation, he knew the man had failed to test the old man’s depth. He thought, “The opponent’s strength is unclear. There is no need for me to act rashly.” Pressing his palms together in a Buddhist salute, he strode in with great composure. Xiaoxiangzi⁷ and Yin Kexi entered in succession. After them came Ma Guangzuo. He saw the old man’s long beard trailing on the ground, a most peculiar sight. He had eaten nothing all morning, and the few passion flowers had only made him hungrier. Now hunger-fire and rage-fire blazed together. As he entered, he suddenly thrust out a great foot and stomped down on the old man’s beard, trapping the tip beneath his sole. The old man, his expression unchanged, said, “Honoured guest, be careful.” Ma Guangzuo planted his other foot on the beard as well. “What about it?” The old man shook his head slightly. Ma Guangzuo lost his footing and suddenly toppled backward in a tremendous fall. For a giant of his size to crash down was no small matter. Yang Guo, walking last, rushed forward two steps and pressed a palm against his backside. Exerting force through his palm, he bounced the enormous body back upright. Ma Guangzuo steadied his stance, rubbed his own backside with both hands in bewilderment, and turned to nod his thanks to Yang Guo.

The old man acted as though he had seen nothing. He invited the six to sit on the western side of the great hall and announced in a ringing voice, “The honoured guests have arrived. I request the Valley Master to receive them.” Yang Guo and the others were all startled. “So this short man is not the Valley Master.”

From the rear hall, a dozen or so men and women in green filed out and stood in a row on the left. Gongsun Lü’e was among them. After another pause, a figure emerged from behind the screen. He bowed to the six with clasped hands, then casually seated himself in a chair on the eastern side. The long-bearded old man stood with hands lowered beside his chair. Judging by this man’s manner, he was clearly the Valley Master.

The man appeared to be in his mid-forties. His features were handsome, his bearing graceful and at ease. A faint moustache adorned his upper lip and chin. Merely stepping into the hall, bowing once, and sitting down, he projected an air of lofty distinction. Only his complexion was waxen and sallow. Though his features were refined, his face had a withered, sickly cast. Once he was seated, several green-clad servant boys presented tea. Every furnishing in the great hall favoured the colour green. The Valley Master’s own robe, however, was of brand-new sapphire-blue satin. Amid the sea of green, it was strikingly conspicuous, and its cut and style differed from current fashion.

The Valley Master swept his sleeve and raised his tea bowl. “Honoured guests, please take tea.” Ma Guangzuo saw the tea, cold as ice, with two or three leaves floating on the surface, clearly insipid beyond measure. He erupted: “Master of the house! You begrudge us meat, you begrudge us tea. No wonder your face is full of sickly pallor.” The Valley Master’s expression did not shift. He drank a mouthful of tea and said, “For several hundred years, our valley has maintained a vegetarian diet.” Ma Guangzuo said, “What good does that do? Can it grant you immortality?” The Valley Master said, “Since our founding ancestor moved here to live in seclusion during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang,⁸ the prohibition against meat has never been broken by his descendants.”

Jinlun Guoshi cupped his hands. “So your esteemed family has dwelt here since the Tianbao reign period. Truly, your ancestral blessings stretch long indeed.” The Valley Master returned the salute. “You are too kind.”

Xiaoxiangzi suddenly said in a strange, eerie voice, “Then did your ancestor see Yang Guifei?”⁹ The voice was exceptionally bizarre. Nimoxing, Yin Kexi, and the others, though accustomed to his manner of speaking, all sensed something amiss and turned their heads to look at his face. At a single glance, they were even more startled. His face had suddenly transformed completely. He was born with a corpse-like face to begin with, but now it appeared even more grotesque. Guoshi, Nimoxing, and the others were secretly wary. All thought, “So this man’s neili¹⁰ has reached such a fearsome level that even his appearance can suddenly change. He is secretly circulating his power. Is he about to strike immediately and show this Valley Master a display of force?” At this thought, each man prepared his guard.

The Valley Master answered, “My humble ancestor did indeed serve as an official in the court of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang. Later, seeing Yang Guozhong throw the court into chaos,¹¹ he retired in indignation to live in seclusion.” Xiaoxiangzi gave a gurgling laugh and said, “Then your ancestor must have drunk Yang Guifei’s foot-washing water.”

Footnotes

1. 师兄 – shīxiōng. Male senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 马光佐 – Mǎ Guāngzuò. His name meaning “bright assistance”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 尹克西 – Yǐn Kèxī. His name meaning “overcome the west”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 关洛之间 – Between the Pass and the Luo River. Guān Luò zhījiān. Refers to the region between Tong Pass (潼关) and the Luo River (洛水), roughly the area where Shaanxi and Henan provinces meet. Historically strategic region. ↩

5. 尺 – chǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of length, about a third of a metre. Ten chi make one zhang. ↩

6. 五岳朝天 – Five prominences reaching toward heaven. Wǔyuè cháotiān. Physiognomic term describing a face where the forehead, nose, chin, and both cheekbones are prominent and upward-tending, considered an unusual and striking appearance in Chinese face-reading tradition. ↩

7. 潇湘子 – Xiāoxiāng Zǐ. Literally Master of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 唐玄宗 – Táng Xuánzōng. Reigned 712—756 CE. His reign marked both the peak of Tang dynasty culture and the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion. Tianbao (天宝) era (742—756) was the latter period of his reign, associated with his infatuation with Yang Guifei and the subsequent decline of the dynasty. ↩

9. 杨贵妃 (Yáng Guìfēi). Yang Guifei (719–756 CE), the “Imperial Consort Yang,” one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China. She was originally the wife of Emperor Xuanzong’s son before the emperor took her as his own consort. ↩

10. 内力 – nèilì. Literally internal force. Kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi; generates tangible effects such as deflecting weapons or scaling walls. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 杨国忠 – Yáng Guózhōng. (d. 756). Cousin of Yang Guifei who rose to become Chancellor of the Tang dynasty. His corruption and incompetence, combined with his rivalry with General An Lushan, helped trigger the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion. ↩