The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 17

The Valley of Severed Passions.

The next morning, Yang Guo¹ woke and stepped out of the stone hut. In the darkness the night before, he had not seen clearly. Now he found the surrounding vegetation a lush, dripping green, the flowers a riot of brocade. The scenery along the path had been fine, but this place was a spot of rare beauty. He strolled along at leisure. Beside the path, two or three cranes wandered at ease, white deer moved in herds, and squirrels and rabbits all went about unstartled by human presence.

After two bends in the path, the young woman in green was picking flowers by the wayside. Seeing him approach, she greeted him: “Sir, you rise early. Please take breakfast.” She plucked two blossoms from the tree and offered them to him.

Yang Guo accepted the flowers, inwardly puzzled. “Can flowers be eaten?” But he watched as the girl pulled petal after petal from the blooms and placed them in her mouth. He followed her example and ate a few petals. The taste upon entry was fragrant and sweet, like honey, with the faintest trace of wine’s intoxication. He felt his spirit lift and his heart expand. Yet after a few chews, a bitter, astringent flavour emerged. He thought to spit it out but found himself reluctant. He considered swallowing but found it hard to force down. Examining the flowering tree more closely, he saw the branches and leaves covered with small thorns. The petals were brilliantly, bewitchingly beautiful, more fragrant than roses, more vivid than camellias. He asked, “What flower is this? I have never seen it before.” The girl said, “It is called the passion flower.² They say it is rarely found in this world. Did you find it tasty?”

Yang Guo said, “The first taste is extremely sweet, but afterward it turns bitter. This flower is called the passion flower? The name is rather unusual.” He reached out to pluck another bloom. The girl said, “Be careful! There are thorns on the tree. Do not touch them!” Yang Guo avoided the sharp thorns on the branches, moving his hand with great caution. How could he have known that hidden behind the blossoms were even smaller thorns? His finger was pricked all the same. The girl said, “This valley is called the Valley of Severed Passions,³ yet so many passion flowers grow here.” Yang Guo said, “Why is it called the Valley of Severed Passions? The name is truly… truly extraordinary.” The girl shook her head. “I do not know the meaning either. It is a name handed down from our ancestors. Father might know its origin.”

Yang Guo said, “Passion cannot be severed. The valley is named ‘Severed Passions’, an attempt to cut away love and desire. Yet passion follows life. So long as there are people, there is passion. That is precisely why the Valley of Severed Passions is filled with passion flowers.” The girl rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment. She said, “You explain it so well. How are you so clever?” The admiration in her words was utterly sincere. Yang Guo smiled. “Perhaps I am wrong.” The girl clapped her hands. “You must be right, you must be right. Nothing could be better said than that.”

The two of them spoke as they walked side by side. Yang Guo’s nose caught wave after wave of floral fragrance, and he saw white rabbits and young deer bounding along the path, endlessly endearing. An indescribable lightness filled his heart and spirit. Naturally, his thoughts turned to Xiaolongnü⁴. “If the one walking beside me were my Gugu⁵, I would truly wish to live here forever, never leaving this valley.” No sooner had this thought formed than the spot where the thorn had pricked his finger erupted in sharp pain. The wound was tiny, yet the agony was beyond bearing, as though someone had suddenly struck his chest with a great iron hammer. He could not suppress a cry of “Ah!” and quickly placed his finger in his mouth to suck it.

The girl said coolly, “You were thinking of the one in your heart, weren’t you?” Yang Guo, his innermost thoughts guessed, blushed and said in surprise, “Eh? How did you know?” The girl said, “If the body is pricked by a passion flower thorn, one must not entertain thoughts of longing for twelve shichen⁶.⁷ Otherwise the suffering is unbearable.” Greatly astonished, Yang Guo said, “Can there truly be such a strange thing under heaven?” The girl said, “My father says: Such is the nature of passion itself. Sweet upon entry to the mouth, bitter in the aftertaste, and covered all over with thorns. Even if you are ten thousand times careful, you cannot avoid being wounded by it. Most likely it is because this flower has such qualities that people gave it this name.” The day before, Yang Guo had agreed to help her deal with Zhou Botong⁸, and the girl had formed a favourable impression of him. Thus her manner of speaking was friendly, though still with an inescapable chill.

Yang Guo asked, “Then why is it that for twelve shichen one cannot… cannot… yearn or feel passion?” The girl said, “Father says the passion flower’s thorn carries a poison. Whenever a person stirs with thoughts of love and desire, not only does the blood flow faster, but the blood also produces some unknown substance. The poison on the passion flower thorn ordinarily does no harm to people, but when it encounters this substance in the blood, it immediately causes unbearable pain.” Yang Guo heard this and found it somewhat reasonable, half believing, half doubting.

The two strolled slowly to the sunlit side of the mountain. Here the sunlight shone brightly and the earth was warm. The passion flowers had bloomed early and were already bearing fruit. He saw the fruits, some green, some red, some a mixture of both, covered with fine downy hairs like caterpillars. Yang Guo said, “How beautiful the passion flower is, yet the fruit it bears is so ugly.” The girl said, “The fruit of the passion flower cannot be eaten. Some are sour, some are spicy, and some stink unbearably, enough to make a person vomit.” Yang Guo laughed. “Could there be none as sweet as honey?”

The girl glanced at him and said, “There are some, but you cannot tell from the skin of the fruit. Some that grow extremely ugly taste sweet, yet the ugly ones are not necessarily sweet. Only by tasting them yourself can you know. Nine out of ten fruits are bitter, so people never bother to eat them.” Yang Guo thought to himself, “Though she speaks of passion flowers, she seems to be using them as a metaphor for the love between men and women. Can it be that the flavour of yearning, though sweet at first, must turn bitter in the end? Can it be that when a man and woman love each other with all their hearts, the feeling of longing must cause them such pain they wish to die? In the end, must it always be more ugly than beautiful? Could it be that my own bitter longing for Gugu, in the future…”

The moment he thought of Xiaolongnü, several jolts of sharp pain suddenly struck his finger. He could not help but shake his right arm violently. Only then did he know that what the girl had said was indeed true. Seeing him in this state, the girl’s lips twitched slightly as though she wished to laugh but restrained herself. The morning sun slanted across her face. He saw that her brows and eyes were delicate and refined, her complexion a blush of pink upon white, exceedingly lovely. Yang Guo smiled and said, “I once heard a story. In ancient times, there was a certain king who lit beacon fires to toy with his feudal lords and lost his entire realm, all for the sake of winning a single smile from a peerless beauty.⁹ From this we see how rare a smile truly is, the same in ancient times as today.” Teased like this by Yang Guo, the girl could no longer hold back. With a peal of laughter, she finally smiled.

With that one smile, the barrier of unfamiliarity between them melted away for the most part. Yang Guo continued, “The world knows how rare a beautiful woman’s smile is, speaking of how one smile topples a city, a second smile topples a kingdom.¹⁰ But in truth, a beauty has something else, even rarer than her smile.” The girl widened her eyes and asked, “What is that?” Yang Guo said, “That would be the beauty’s name. To see a beauty’s face even once is already tremendous good fortune. To see her radiant smile requires that your ancestors accumulated virtue, and you yourself must have cultivated yourself across three lifetimes…” Before he finished, the girl had burst into pealing laughter again. Yang Guo continued with utter seriousness, “As for having a beauty speak her fragrant name with her own lips, that truly requires eighteen generations of ancestors steadily building up hidden merit.”¹¹

The girl said, “I am no beauty. No one in this valley has ever said I was beautiful. Why must you tease me?” Yang Guo heaved a long sigh. “Ah, no wonder this valley is called the Valley of Severed Passions. In my opinion, it would be better to change the name.” The girl said, “Change it to what?” Yang Guo said, “It should be called the Valley of the Blind.” Puzzled, the girl asked, “Why?” Yang Guo said, “You are so beautiful, yet they do not praise you. Are not all who dwell in this valley blind?”

The girl laughed again, a silvery, delighted sound. In appearance, she could certainly be counted as quite beautiful, though far below Xiaolongnü. Yet compared with Cheng Ying¹²’s gentleness or Lu Wushuang¹³’s spirited charm, she seemed not at all inferior. Yang Guo made a mental comparison and felt this girl, in her refined elegance, surpassed Wanyan Ping¹⁴. She possessed a delicate grace beyond the mundane, a natural quality of pure, clear spirit. In her entire life, no one had indeed ever praised her beauty, for the martial discipline practised in her sect approached Chan Buddhist practice. When members met, all were cold and expressionless. Even if someone in their heart thought her very beautiful, none would dare to voice it aloud. Today she had suddenly encountered Yang Guo, a man whose nature was lively and unrestrained. The more he saw her dignified self-possession, the more he wanted to tease her into shedding that emotionless manner that kept others a thousand li away. She had first been impressed by his insight when he explained the name “Valley of Severed Passions,” and now, hearing him sincerely praise her beauty, she was all the more delighted. Laughing, she said, “I fear you yourself are the blind one, mistaking an ugly monster for a beauty.”

Yang Guo kept a straight face. “It is possible I am mistaken. But for this valley to remain peaceful and untroubled, you truly must not laugh.” Puzzled, the girl said, “Why?” Yang Guo said, “The ancients said one smile topples a city, a second smile topples a kingdom. Actually, they wrote the wrong character. The word is not ‘kingdom’, it should be ‘valley.’”¹⁵ The girl bent slightly at the waist, laughing. “Thank you. Please stop teasing me, all right?” Yang Guo saw her slender waist swaying, her upper body trembling slightly, and in his heart he could not help but be stirred. But this stirring of the heart was no small matter, a fresh wave of sharp pain shot through his fingertip.

Seeing him shake his finger repeatedly, the girl felt a faint displeasure and said reproachfully, “I am talking with you, yet you go off thinking of the one in your heart.” Yang Guo said, “An injustice, a terrible injustice. My finger aches on your account, yet you blame me.” The girl’s face flushed crimson. Suddenly she broke into a run.

The moment the words left his mouth, Yang Guo was already filled with regret. “Since my heart is wholly set on Gugu, why can I never change this unruly, improper temperament? Yang Guo, Yang Guo, you little scoundrel, stop this reckless talk.” In his nature, he truly carried three parts of his father’s frivolity and roguishness. Though he meant no harm, exchanging a few teasing words with every young woman, stirring them into confusion and infatuation, this was something his heart delighted in.

The girl had run several zhang¹⁶ when she suddenly stopped, standing beneath a passion flower tree, her head lowered in a daze. After a moment, she turned back and said with a slight smile, “If an ugly monster told you her name, that would surely mean your eighteen generations of ancestors did far too many wicked deeds, bringing misfortune upon their descendant.” Yang Guo drew near and laughed. “You love to say the opposite of what you mean. My eighteen generations of ancestors did so many good deeds that, when it comes to me, surely good must be repaid with good.” These words were still in praise of her beauty. Her face flushed faintly. She said in a low voice, “I will tell you, but you must not tell a second person, and even less must you call me by it in front of others.” Yang Guo stuck out his tongue. “Offend a beauty? Am I not afraid of having my line cut off?”¹⁷

The girl gave another radiant smile. “My father’s surname is Gongsun…”¹⁸ She was always unwilling to speak her name directly, preferring to circle around it. Yang Guo cut in: “But I wonder what the young lady’s surname might be?” The girl pressed her lips together in a smile. “That, I would not know. My father once gave his only daughter a name. He called her Lü’e.”¹⁹ Yang Guo praised her: “As I thought, a name as beautiful as the person.”

Having told Yang Guo her name, Gongsun Lü’e grew a few degrees closer to him. She said, “In a little while, Father will want to meet you. You must not smile at me.” Yang Guo said, “And what if I do?” Gongsun Lü’e sighed. “Ah, if he knew I had smiled at you, and that I had told you my name, I truly do not know how he would punish me.” Yang Guo said, “I have never heard of such a stern father, his daughter cannot even smile at someone. Such a flower-like, jade-like daughter, does he not cherish her?”

Footnotes

1. 杨过 – Yáng Guò. His name meaning “fault or transgression”; his courtesy name Gaizhi means “to correct it”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 情花 – Qínghuā. Flower of the Passionless Valley whose thorns poison those who entertain thoughts of love. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 绝情谷 – Juéqíng Gǔ. Hidden valley ruled by Gongsun Zhi, known for its deadly Passion Flowers and the Passionless Divine Palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

5. Gugu (姑姑) — Literally “paternal aunt,” but used here as a term of respectful address for a young woman of the older generation. Yang Guo uses this to address Xiaolongnü, his shifu. ↩

6. 时辰 – shíchen. Traditional Chinese double hour; one twelfth of a day, equal to two modern hours. ↩

7. 十二个时辰 – Twelve shichen. Shí’èr ge shíchén. Full day in traditional Chinese timekeeping. One shíchén equals two modern hours, so twelve shíchén is twenty-four hours. ↩

8. 周伯通 – Zhōu Bótōng. His name meaning “elder who understands all”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 烧烽火戏弄诸侯 – Beacon fires to toy with feudal lords. Reference to King You of Zhou (周幽王), who repeatedly lit beacon fires to summon his feudal lords with false alarms of invasion, solely to amuse his favourite consort Bao Si, who never smiled. When real invaders came, no lords responded, and the Western Zhou dynasty fell. Idiom “one smile topples a kingdom” originates from this story. ↩

10. 一笑倾城，再笑倾国 – One smile topples a city, a second smile topples a kingdom. Yī xiào qīng chéng, zài xiào qīng guó. Idiom describing a woman of devastating beauty. Originates from the Book of Han, describing the Han dynasty consort Li Furen. ↩

11. 祖宗十八代广积阴功 – Eighteen generations of ancestors building hidden merit. Hyperbolic expression meaning extraordinary accumulated good karma across many generations. In Chinese folk belief, hidden merit (yīngōng, 阴功) refers to good deeds done in secret, which bring blessings to one’s descendants. ↩

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

13. 陆无双 – Lù Wúshuāng. Her name meaning “peerless” or “without equal”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

14. 完颜萍 – Wányán Píng. Her name meaning “duckweed”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

15. 倾国 vs 倾谷 – The wrong character — ‘kingdom’ should be ‘valley’. Pun by Yang Guo. Idiom is 倾国倾城 (qīng guó qīng chéng), where 国 (guó) means “kingdom.” Yang Guo substitutes the homophonous 谷 (gǔ), meaning “valley,” teasingly suggesting that Gongsun Lü’e’s smile could topple the Passionless Valley itself. ↩

16. 丈 – zhàng. Traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 3.33 metres or 10.9 feet. ↩

17. 不怕绝子绝孙么 – Afraid of having my line cut off. Bù pà juézǐ juésūn ma. Literally “not afraid of cutting off sons and grandsons.” A colloquial curse. Yang Guo is teasing that offending a beauty would bring such a curse upon him. ↩

18. 公孙止 – Gōngsūn Zhǐ. His name meaning “to cease” or “to stop”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

19. 公孙绿萼 – Gōngsūn Lǜ’è. Her name meaning “green calyx”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩