The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 18 – Part 3

These two preemptive strikes were devastating. The moment the Golden Bell Chain was deployed, the fishing net formation revealed its flaws at once. The four disciples holding the western net, caught off guard, slowed their advance by a fraction. Yang Guo reversed the Golden Bell Chain, and with another silvery chime, struck down two more disciples. But at that very instant, the fishing net to the north had already descended over his head. The blades and barbs of the net were less than half a chi from his crown, too close now to counter with the Golden Bell Chain. Yang Guo flipped his left palm upward, seized the net, and using the borrowed momentum, flung it away. His hand was protected by the gold-thread palm gloves. Though his palm closed around daggers and keen barbs, it suffered not the slightest injury. The net, caught and shaken by him, suddenly reversed and swept back over the four green-robed disciples.

When the disciples practised the fishing net formation, their only concern was that an enemy might slip through and escape. They sought only to envelop their target completely. Never had any of them imagined that a fishing net could turn back and devour its own casters. Seeing the glittering blades and barbs rushing toward their own heads, and knowing all too well the net’s fearsome lethality, they cried out in unison and leaped away, abandoning the net. The youth who had replaced Gongsun Lü’e was somewhat weaker in skill. His thigh was grazed by one of the net’s daggers. Instantly, fresh blood flowed freely. He collapsed to the ground, howling in pain.

Yang Guo laughed. “Young Brother, don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.” With his left hand he shook out the fishing net, while his right hand danced the Golden Bell Chain. The sounds rang out together. qiang-lang-lang, the clashing of blades and barbs. ding-ling-ling, the chiming of golden bells, crisp and delightful to the ear. At this, what disciple dared advance any further? They stood pressed against the far walls, not daring to admit defeat and flee without their shifu’s command. Yet even if they would not admit defeat, they were already defeated.

Ma Guangzuo clapped his hands and stamped his feet, roaring his approval. But in that crowd, he was the only one cheering, which made his cries seem a touch lonely. After shouting a few times, he glared at the Imperial Preceptor. “Monk, is Brother Yang’s skill not high? Why don’t you cheer?” The Imperial Preceptor smiled. “Very high, very high. But there is no need to raise such an earth-shaking din.” Ma Guangzuo glared. “Why not?” The Imperial Preceptor saw Gongsun Valley Master’s brows rising, saw him pace slowly to the centre of the hall. He concentrated his attention on the Valley Master’s movements and paid Ma Guangzuo no further heed.

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When Gongsun Valley Master heard Xiaolongnü speak those seven words. “I am your wife”, he knew that the beautiful dream he had cherished for half a month had, in the end, dissolved into emptiness. He was both disappointed and enraged, yet he thought, Even if I cannot have your heart, I must at least have your person. I will strike this little beast dead with one palm. Then, whether you follow me willingly or not, you will have no choice but to follow me. Given enough time, I will surely make you change your mind.

Yang Guo watched the Valley Master’s brows rise higher and higher, until his eyes and brows seemed to stand perfectly vertical. He had no idea what school’s formidable martial art this might be, and he could not suppress a shiver of dread. His right hand held the silk band, his left hand clutched the net. Fully alert, he knew that his own life or death, and Xiaolongnü’s, hung upon this single battle. He dared not relax his vigilance by even a hair.

The Valley Master slowly circled Yang Guo once. Yang Guo slowly turned his head in place, never once daring to take his eyes off his opponent’s gaze. He knew the longer the Valley Master delayed, the more ferocious his strike would be when it came. He saw the Valley Master raise both hands and level them forward three times, then bring his palms together with a sharp clap. The sound rang out metallic, like the clash of iron and steel. Yang Guo’s heart tightened. He retreated a step. Gongsun Valley Master’s right arm shot out abruptly and seized the edge of the fishing net, giving it a yank. He seemed impervious to blades, his palm showing no fear of the net’s daggers and keen barbs. Yang Guo felt the tremendous force of that pull. An agonising pain shot through his five fingers. He had no choice but to release his grip. The Valley Master tossed the net to four empty-handed disciples standing in a corner of the hall, then barked, “Withdraw!”

Yang Guo’s net had been snatched away. He could not allow his opponent to seize the initiative again. With a shake of the silk band, the golden bell quivered and shot toward the Jugu acupoint at the Valley Master’s shoulder and the Tianding acupoint at his neck. Gongsun Valley Master’s right arm lengthened as he suddenly clawed at Yang Guo’s arm. Two sharp ding-ding sounds rang out, the Valley Master’s Jugu and Tianding acupoints were both struck. He acted as though he had felt nothing. With a rushing roar, his clawing hand transformed into a palm, striking toward Yang Guo’s left breast. Greatly alarmed, Yang Guo twisted aside in desperate evasion. It was fortunate that his qinggong was superb. Only thus did he avoid that sudden, instantaneous palm strike.

The lethal power of the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra’s martial arts lay purely in using neili as the foundation. Once one had cultivated peerless qinggong, in combat one could suddenly, with rapid body movement, race to strike the enemy’s acupoints or attack their vital points. But Gongsun Valley Master had trained in the bizarre skill of sealing his acupoints, rendering every acupoint in his body immune to harm. Thus the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra’s offensive methods were useless against him. In Yang Guo’s earlier bout with the Valley Master, he had risked his very life to stir Xiaolongnü’s feelings toward him, to make her acknowledge him. He had placed life and death out of mind. Now that Xiaolongnü had acknowledged him, if he were injured or captured by the Valley Master, Xiaolongnü would be trapped in this valley with no way out. Thus, in this renewed battle, the matter of victory or defeat could not be taken lightly.

When the Valley Master’s Iron Palm came, the force of his strikes was devastatingly heavy. Yang Guo took two palm strikes and was already shaken until a dull pain throbbed in his chest. Thereafter, whenever the Valley Master’s fists and feet attacked, Yang Guo relied solely on qinggong to evade, not daring to meet the blows directly. Yet each time, the margin was a hair’s breadth, perilous beyond measure. When Yang Guo seized a gap to counterattack, even if his counter landed, it could not harm his opponent, and was therefore useless. In this situation, defeat was inevitable. Ma Guangzuo and the others were all clenching sweat-slicked fists on his behalf.

Yang Guo dodged twice more, then abruptly darted forward, slipping behind the Valley Master. Suddenly he drove his fist against the Dazhui acupoint on the Valley Master’s back. pak pak pak pak, four rapid strikes in succession. The Valley Master laughed heartily. “Very comfortable! Hit me again!” He swung a backhand palm that swept past Yang Guo’s face, missing by barely an inch. Yang Guo cried, “Ai-yo!” He stumbled back several steps, nearly falling. Immediately, he deployed the “Heavenly Net, Earthly Snare” technique, vaulted high, and again reached the Valley Master’s back. Once more he struck four times in rapid succession. pak pak pak pak, dense as a drumbeat, all landing on the Zhiyang acupoint at the Valley Master’s waist.

The Valley Master said again, “I thank you for your trouble! Very comfortable!” He swung a backhand punch. Yang Guo tumbled several steps away, his footing unsteady, then abruptly leaped up and once more reached the Valley Master’s back. Both hands struck in rapid succession, eight blows in all. The Valley Master let out a great roar of fury, spun around, and cursed, “Little beast!” His palms struck horizontally and vertically, his face filled with rage as though he meant to fight to the death. Yang Guo sprang away at speed and called out, “Very comfortable, was it?”

Gongsun Valley Master vaulted into the air. His ten fingers crooked like claws, he plunged down with savage ferocity. Yang Guo evaded at an angle. The Valley Master’s feet touched the ground, and suddenly, an unbearable numbness and itching erupted all over his body. He crashed to the ground, moaning and wailing. Gongsun Lü’e was horrified. She rushed forward to support him, urgently crying, “Father, Father, what is wrong?” The Valley Master thrust her away with his left palm, sending her stumbling back several paces. Gasping in desperate rage, he rasped, “The little beast used a poisoned concealed weapon! Quick, quick, fetch the antidote!”

Xiaolongnü looked at Yang Guo. She had clearly seen him being driven into miserable defeat. How had he suddenly turned the tables? Yang Guo grinned. “Jade Bee Golden Needles.¹ He was very comfortable, for my trouble!” Only then did Xiaolongnü understand. She moved to fetch the Jade Bee honey to save him. Yang Guo said, “Let us first escape the valley, then give him the bee honey. This man is fickle, his word cannot be trusted. He is thoroughly unreliable.” Xiaolongnü nodded.

The truth was that striking the Valley Master’s acupoints had been useless. In this contest, Yang Guo was certain to lose without any chance of winning. In his desperation, it had suddenly occurred to him to use the same method by which he had earlier defeated Prince Huodu. Twice he had darted behind the Valley Master and struck his acupoints. The Valley Master could seal his own acupoints, so the strikes were naturally useless. Those two attacks had been feints, lulling him off guard. On the third attempt, Yang Guo had secretly held Jade Bee Golden Needles in his hand. With his eight strikes, he had driven two poisoned golden needles into the Valley Master’s Zhongshu acupoint.² This acupoint lay beneath the tenth vertebra, an essential passage for the energy of the Governing Vessel meridian, truly one of the body’s great vital points. Even if the poisoned golden needles had merely pierced ordinary skin, the numbness and itching would have been unbearable. How much worse, then, when they struck a major acupoint? Yang Guo, still fearing that the Valley Master might seal his acupoints and render all poisons harmless, had aimed two needles squarely at the Zhongshu acupoint, while the other four needles struck the areas around it.

Though Gongsun Valley Master had trained in a unique and bizarre martial art that allowed him to seal his acupoints, he was after all no man of bronze skin and iron bones, impervious to blades. In truth, even masters of the “Golden Bell Cover” or “Iron Cloth Shirt” external techniques could, at a critical moment, only stiffen against a single blade strike or punch. Against fine, sharp needles like the Jade Bee Golden Needles, one prick and they would naturally slide right in. And even if the needle failed to penetrate, rubbing the poison-tipped point against the skin a few times would still cause the toxin to enter the flesh, producing unbearable numbness and itching. The toxicity of the Jade Bee Golden Needles was even more potent than Li Mochou’s Soul-Freezing Silver Needles.³ The difference was that while the Soul-Freezing Silver Needles killed within moments, the Jade Bee Needles did not draw blood or kill, but they made a person itch deep into their very organs. The victim could not help but roll and howl, the suffering impossible to endure. Gongsun Valley Master was a great master who prized his dignity. Even if an arm or a leg were hacked off, he would not have changed expression. But with Jade Bee Needles pricking his back eight times, six of them penetrating the flesh, he could not restrain himself from mad howling and thrashing upon the ground.

Gongsun Lü’e walked before Yang Guo, bowed at the waist, and said, “Young Master Yang, I beg you to bestow the antidote to relieve my father’s wound poison.” Yang Guo nodded. “There is no need for such courtesy, miss.” Raising his voice, he declared, “Gongsun Valley Master, if you agree to let us leave the valley in peace, without hindrance, the antidote shall naturally be provided.” Gongsun Valley Master forced himself upright and rasped, “Fine! I will let you leave the valley in peace. I will not hinder you. Quickly, the antidote.”

Yang Guo turned to Xiaolongnü. “Gugu, can we give him the bee honey?” Xiaolongnü nodded. From her bosom she took a small bottle of Jade Bee honey and handed it to Lü’e, saying, “Gongsun Valley Master, I beg your forgiveness for my disciple’s offence. From now on, let us be friends, not foes. I ask your magnanimity in all things. I offer you my apologies.” So saying, she curtsied deeply, bowing with grace.

Lü’e said, “Miss Liu, many thanks.” She bowed slightly in return, then walked quickly over and handed the small bottle to her father. Gongsun Valley Master snatched it from her hand and demanded, “Is it to be taken orally?” Xiaolongnü said, “First the golden needles must be extracted. Then take the honey orally to stop the itching.” Gongsun Lü’e took the magnetic stone Xiaolongnü handed her and drew the golden needles from her father’s back. The Valley Master pulled out the stopper and poured the entire bottle of honey into his mouth.

Gongsun Valley Master turned to his daughter. “Fetch my weapons.” Lü’e hesitated, not answering. The Valley Master said harshly, “Did you not hear me?” Lü’e’s face went pale. She could only answer, “Yes.” She retreat into the inner hall.

Yang Guo observed the expressions of father and daughter. He thought, This Valley Master probably has another scheme. If we do not leave now, when will we? He walked before Xiaolongnü, extended his hand, and said softly, “Gugu, come away with Guoer.”

The numbness and itching on the Valley Master’s back had not yet subsided. He gathered force in both palms, ready so that the moment Xiaolongnü rose and reached out her hand to clasp Yang Guo’s, he would immediately pounce and strike Yang Guo’s spine with his Iron Palm. He had resolved: Even if Sister Liu blames me, I will beat this whelp to death. If Sister Liu goes away with him, what meaning would there be in the rest of my life?

But Xiaolongnü merely said lightly, “Of course I will go with you. But the Valley Master here saved my life. We must explain everything clearly to him, ask his forgiveness, and offer our proper thanks.” Yang Guo was frantic. He thought, Gugu understands nothing. You explain everything clearly, offer thanks on top of that, do you think he will forgive us?

Xiaolongnü asked, “Guoer, have you been well these days?” As she asked this, her concern and affection overflowed in her expression. Yang Guo, hearing this tender tone, seeing this look of loving care, would not have cared if the heavens themselves collapsed. How could he still think of fleeing quickly? He asked, “Gugu, you are not angry with me?” Xiaolongnü smiled faintly. “How could I be angry with you? I have never been angry with you. When I refused to acknowledge you before, it was because I would rather break my own heart, it was all for your good. How can you not understand? Turn around.” Yang Guo obeyed and turned his back, not knowing her intention.

Footnotes

1. 玉蜂金针 – Yùfēng Jīnzhēn. Ancient Tomb School’s signature hidden weapon, extremely fine golden needles coated with a unique poison derived from the jade bees kept in the Ancient Tomb. ↩

2. 中枢穴 – Zhōngshū Xué. Literally central pivot. Acupoint on the lower back along the spine on the governing vessel meridian. See Wikipedia. ↩

3. 冰魄银针 – Bīngpò Yínzhēn. Li Mochou’s signature concealed weapon. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩