The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 18 – Part 5
Translation by Jenxi Seow
If the Valley Master had wielded only the single, crushingly heavy serrated golden sabre, or only the single, impossibly sharp black sword that could bend and curve to stab a man, Yang Guo would surely have found a way to resist. But now, the two weapons, one hard, one soft, attacked in complementary concert, and Yang Guo was instantly thrown into frantic disarray. The Valley Master swung his sabre down. Yang Guo raised the half-staff to block. With a cha, the Valley Master’s black sword sliced off another section of the half-staff in Yang Guo’s hands, leaving only about a chi of length, too short to be of any use.
The Valley Master’s left sabre slashed past. His right sword thrust sharply. Yang Guo was struck again on the shoulder, his robe now dappled with bloodstains. The Valley Master said in a deep voice, “Do you submit?” Yang Guo smiled. “You fight me with an overwhelming advantage in weapons, and still you come asking whether I submit. Haha, Gongsun Valley Master, how can you be so utterly shameless?” The Valley Master withdrew sabre and sword. “What advantage have I taken? I would like to be enlightened.” Yang Guo said, “In your left hand, a bizarre sabre. In your right hand, a strange sword. I doubt you could find a third of either if you searched the whole world. Am I right?” The Valley Master said, “And what if I am? Your palm gloves and bell chain are hardly ordinary either.”
Yang Guo tossed the remaining foot or so of steel staff to the ground and laughed. “That belonged to your long-bearded disciple.” He stripped off the palm gloves, picked up the Golden Bell Chain that had been cut in two, and tossed them back to Xiaolongnü. “Those belong to my Gugu.” He clapped his hands together, brushed the dust from his robes, and paid no attention to the blood still flowing freely from his three wounds. Smiling, he said, “I came to your valley empty-handed. Did I come with hostile intent? If you wish to kill me, then kill me. Why waste words?”
The Valley Master observed Yang Guo’s easy, unhurried bearing, his handsome features, his several wounds, yet the young man talked and laughed with perfect ease, as though nothing had happened. Meanwhile, the Valley Master himself, for all his sophistry that seemed to make sense in argument, knew in his heart that he had indeed broken his word, conduct unbefitting a gentleman. Comparing the two, he could not help but feel ashamed of his own inferiority. He thought, If this person remains in the world, Sister Liu will surely pour her heart into him. He levelled his sword and thrust straight at Yang Guo’s chest.
Yang Guo had long since made up his mind: Since I cannot beat him, I will let him stab me to death. Seeing the sword come, he neither dodged nor evaded, but turned his head to look at Xiaolongnü. He thought, If I die gazing at Gugu, that too will be a happy death. He saw Xiaolongnü, a sweet smile on her face, walking toward him step by step. Their eyes met. Neither of them spared a single glance for the Valley Master’s black sword.
The Valley Master and Yang Guo had never met before. What enmity lay between them? His desire to put Yang Guo to death sprang entirely from his feelings for Xiaolongnü. Thus, as the sword shot forth, he could not help but glance toward Xiaolongnü. That single glance overturned a vat of vinegar in his heart. He saw her gazing at Yang Guo with tender, entangled emotion. He glanced sidelong at Yang Guo and saw that his expression was exactly the same as hers. By now, the tip of the black sword was pressed against Yang Guo’s chest. The slightest increase of force from his arm, and the sword tip would pierce through into the heart. Yet Xiaolongnü showed neither alarm nor concern, and Yang Guo made no attempt to resist. The two stared at each other in a daze, their hearts in perfect communion, having long forgotten everything beyond themselves. The Valley Master’s fury and resentment could not be quelled. He thought, If I kill this whelp now, it seems Sister Liu will immediately follow him in death. I must force her to marry me first. Once the bridal chamber is passed, it will not be too late to kill this whelp. He called out, “Sister Liu, do you want me to kill him, or spare him?”
When Xiaolongnü gazed at Yang Guo, she had not thought of the Valley Master at all. Suddenly called by his loud voice, she started awake and cried in alarm, “Take your sword away! Why are you pressing the tip against his chest?” The Valley Master smiled coldly. “It is not difficult to spare his life. Tell him to leave the valley at once and not obstruct our auspicious occasion.”
Before seeing Yang Guo this time, Xiaolongnü had resolved never to meet him again, willing to spend her own life in sorrow and misery if only he could find peace and joy. Now that they had truly met, how could she ever agree to marry the Valley Master? She knew that the resolve she had held these past days could never be carried out. She would rather die herself than abandon him and marry another. Turning to the Valley Master, she said, “Master Gongsun, I thank you for saving my life. But I cannot marry you.”
Gongsun Valley Master knew this perfectly well, yet he still asked, “Why?”
Xiaolongnü stood shoulder to shoulder with Yang Guo, linking her arm through his. Smiling, she said, “I have decided to become husband and wife with him, to stay together all our lives. Can you not see that?”
The Valley Master’s body swayed twice. He said, “If you had firmly refused that day, how could I have taken advantage of your distress to force you with circumstance? You personally agreed to the marriage. That was given willingly, from the heart.” Xiaolongnü said, “That is true. But I cannot bear to leave him. We must go now. Please do not take offence.” So saying, she took Yang Guo’s hand and headed straight for the entrance of the hall.
The Valley Master sprang forward in desperation and blocked the doorway. His voice hoarse, he said, “If you wish to leave this valley, you must first kill me.” Xiaolongnü smiled faintly. “You showed me the great kindness of saving my life. How could I harm you? Besides, your martial skill is so high, there is no way I could defeat you.” As she spoke, she tore a strip from her own robe to bandage Yang Guo’s wounds.
Jinlun Guoshi suddenly spoke up loudly: “Gongsun Valley Master, you would do better to let them go.” The Valley Master gave a cold snort, his face iron-grey, and said nothing. The Imperial Preceptor continued, “If the two of them join their twin swords, how can your golden sabre and black sword possibly prevail? Rather than lose the wife and lose your soldiers too, you might as well do them a favour and let them go.” He had been defeated by Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo’s combined “Pure-Hearted Jade Maiden Swordplay,”1 and regarded it as the greatest shame of his life. Ever since, he had pondered bitterly, yet still could not devise a way to break it. Now, seeing the Valley Master’s Yin-Yang blade technique was extremely formidable, hardly inferior to his own golden wheels, he spoke up to provoke him, wanting the three of them to fight. This would serve two purposes: he could take the chance to further study the flaws in the two youths’ combined sword technique, seeking an opportunity for revenge. And he also hoped they would all injure each other.
In truth, even without the Imperial Preceptor’s provocation, Gongsun Valley Master could never have allowed Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo to leave the valley hand in hand. He turned and shot Jinlun Guoshi a glare of fury, thinking, You dare speak such words before me. I have no time for you now. I will settle accounts with you later. He turned back and stared at Xiaolongnü, grinding his teeth. In his heart, he thought, If you will not give me your heart, you must at least give me your body. If you will not marry me alive, then dead, I will still have you buried in this valley. At first, he had planned to use Yang Guo’s life as a threat to force Xiaolongnü’s submission. But seeing that neither of them feared death, he resolved that even if both had to die, he would never release them. His brows slowly rose again. The killing aura on his face thickened. He calculated that his own Yin-Yang Reversed Dual Blades technique was divinely subtle and unfathomable, even if this young couple joined forces, they could never defeat him. He would make the two of them admit defeat with full conviction, dying without resentment.
Suddenly Ma Guangzuo bellowed in his rough voice, “Hey, Old Man Gongsun, the lady has said she won’t marry you. Why are you still blocking their way? Clinging shamelessly like this, have you any face left?” Xiaoxiangzi interjected in his sinister tone, “Brother Ma, don’t talk nonsense. Gongsun Valley Master has laid out a wedding feast today and means to treat us to a grand meal.” Ma Guangzuo roared, “His plain water and vegetable dishes, what is there to eat? If I were that young lady, I would never marry him either. With beauty like hers, she could be an empress. Why suffer a lifetime of greens and bean curd with a fierce-faced, yellow-skinned old man? Even if she didn’t die of rage, the blandness would kill her!”
Xiaolongnü turned her head and said gently, “Uncle Ma, Master Gongsun showed me the kindness of saving my life. In my heart… in my heart, I will always be grateful to him.”
Ma Guangzuo shouted, “Fine then, Old Man Gongsun! If you want to show great benevolence and great righteousness, why not let this young couple perform their wedding rites right here today, and spend their wedding night in the bridal chamber? If you save a young lady and then try to monopolise her body, isn’t that exactly the same as the lowest, most despicable bandits and thieves?” He was blunt and outspoken, and every word he said stabbed the ears and pierced the heart, yet was impossible to refute.
Gongsun Valley Master’s killing intent had now fully awakened. He had decided to wipe out every outsider who had entered the valley. Lightly, he said, “This Passionless Valley of mine may not be any particularly remarkable place, but for people to come and go as they please, that would make me, Gongsun, far too easy to look down upon. Miss Liu…” Xiaolongnü gave a radiant smile. “I lied when I said my surname was Liu. My surname is Long. It was because his surname is Yang that I said Liu.”2 The Valley Master’s jealousy flared even hotter. He acted as though he had not heard these words and continued, “Miss Liu, this…” Before he could finish, Ma Guangzuo cut in: “The young lady clearly said her surname is Long. Why do you call her Miss Liu?” Xiaolongnü said, “Master Gongsun is used to calling me that. It is only my own fault for deceiving him earlier. Let him call me whatever he wishes.”
Gongsun Valley Master paid no attention to either of them. He continued, “Miss Liu, if this one surnamed Yang can defeat the Yin-Yang Dual Blades in my hands, I shall naturally permit him to leave the valley in peace. The private matter between us two, we shall settle ourselves. It has nothing to do with anyone else.” In the end, he still meant to use martial force to detain Xiaolongnü.
Xiaolongnü sighed. “Master Gongsun, I truly did not wish to fight with you. But he alone cannot defeat you. I will have to help him.” Gongsun Valley Master’s brows rose into two vertical lines. “Are you not afraid, after vomiting blood just now? Then both of you may come at once.” Xiaolongnü felt deeply regretful toward him. She said further, “Neither he nor I have any weapons. Fighting your sabre and sword empty-handed, we are certain to lose. Be magnanimous, great master, just let us go.”
Jinlun Guoshi interjected, “Gongsun Valley Master, your valley contains everything under the sun. Are you lacking two long swords? But I must warn you first, if the two of them join their twin swords, I fear your life will be hard to keep.”
Gongsun Valley Master pointed to the west. “The third room that way is the sword chamber. Go and select whatever weapons you wish. I suspect that among the fine weapons I have collected, these honoured guests here may not even possess their equal.” He gave a cold, dark laugh. Confident in his divine skill, certain of victory even in a rematch, he wished to avoid breaking his word before his disciples and losing prestige.
Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü exchanged a glance. Both thought the same: If we two could set aside all others and spend a moment together in a quiet room, we could die content. Hand in hand, they walked west, exited through a side door, passed two rooms, and arrived before the third.
Xiaolongnü’s gaze had never left Yang Guo’s face. Seeing the door was closed, she did not examine it closely. She reached out and pushed it open. Just as she was about to step over the threshold, a thought struck Yang Guo. He hurriedly reached out and pulled her back. “Careful,” he said. Xiaolongnü asked, “What is it?” Yang Guo placed his left foot outside the threshold, then extended his right foot over the threshold and tapped the floorboards lightly before immediately withdrawing it. Nothing unusual appeared. Xiaolongnü said, “Are you afraid the Valley Master means to ambush us? He is a good man. He would never…”
Footnotes
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玉女素心剑 – Yùnǚ Sùxīn Jiàn. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
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杨/柳 – Yang and Liu. Play on Chinese surnames. Xiaolongnü originally told the Valley Master her surname was Liu (柳, “willow”). Yang Guo’s surname is Yang (杨, “poplar”). Both are tree names, forming a natural pair — hence Xiaolongnü chose “Liu” as her false surname to match Yang Guo’s. ↩