The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 19 – Part 3

Yang Guo was about to say something to comfort her when yet another crocodile came crawling slowly up onto the rock, its forefeet about to come down on the sheepskin that had been shaken out of the bundle. A thought struck Yang Guo, Let’s see what’s so strange about this sheepskin. He raised the dagger and drove it between the crocodile’s eyes. With a soft thunk it slid in at a touch: this was a blade keen enough to cut gold and sever jade. The crocodile struggled a few times, toppled into the pool belly-up and died. “Now that we have this dagger,” said Yang Guo happily, “our honoured friends the crocodiles are in for some bad luck.” He took the sheepskin in his left hand, brought the hilt of the dagger close with his right, and studied the skin intently by the faint glow of the luminous pearl. One side was rough and showed nothing unusual, but when he turned it over he saw drawings of many buildings, hills and rocks.

Yang Guo looked at it for a while and saw nothing out of the ordinary. “This sheepskin doesn’t matter,” he said. Lü’e had been looking on at his shoulder all the while. Suddenly she said, “It’s a plan of our Narcissus Manor in Passionless Valley. Look, here’s the stream you came in by, this is the great hall, this is the Jian Chamber, this is the Lingzhi Chamber, this is the Alchemy Chamber…” She pointed to each in turn as she spoke. Yang Guo gave a sudden grunt of surprise. “Look, look.” He pointed at some wavy lines drawn beneath the Alchemy Chamber. “That’s the crocodile pool,” said Lü’e. “Ah… and there’s a passage here.”

Seeing a passage drawn beside the crocodile pool, the two of them were at once heartened. Yang Guo compared the plan with the lie of the pool. “If the drawing is true, this passage must lead to another way out. Only…” “The odd thing,” Lü’e broke in, “is that the passage slopes downward all the way. The crocodile pool is already deep under the earth. Where can it go, sloping down further still?” On the plan the passage ran to the edge of the sheepskin and stopped, and there was no telling where it led.

Yang Guo said, “Did your father or your eldest shixiong ever speak of this crocodile pool?” Lü’e shook her head. “Not until today did I know there were so many horrible creatures lurking under the Alchemy Chamber. I doubt even my eldest shixiong knows. But… but to keep so many crocodiles, someone must feed them all the time. I don’t know why Father…” She thought of how vicious her father was, and could not stop herself trembling.

Yang Guo looked round at their surroundings. Behind the rock was a patch of dense black shadow that seemed to be the mouth of a passage, but it was too far off to make out clearly. He thought, Even if it really is a passage, who knows what savage creatures are kept in there? Meeting one might be more dangerous still. But we can’t just sit here waiting to die. If we’re dead either way, better to take the risk and try to live. So long as I get Miss Gongsun out of danger and put the Passion-Cutting Pill into Aunt’s mouth, all will be well. He handed the dagger to Lü’e. “I’ll go over and look. Watch out for the crocodiles.” He tapped his left foot on the rock and was already flying out over the pool. Lü’e cried out in alarm. Yang Guo’s right foot came down on the belly of the dead crocodile and he sprang off it, then touched his left foot to the back of a living one. That crocodile sank straight to the bottom, but Yang Guo had already reached the far side. Pressing himself to the rock, he reached back with one hand to feel, and called, “There really is a big cave here!”

Gongsun Lü’e’s qinggong was far inferior to his, and she dared not leap across the same way. Yang Guo thought that if he went back to carry her, their weight together would not only make the leap hard but give him no purchase on the crocodiles’ backs. Having come this far, there was nothing for it but to take the risk all the way. “Miss Gongsun,” he called, “soak the long gown in the water and throw it over.” Lü’e did not see what he meant, but she did as he said. She took off the gown, soaked it in the pool, pulled it out quickly and tied it in two knots to make a ball. “Here it comes!” she cried, and threw it across with all her strength.

Yang Guo caught it and undid the knots. He found a foothold on the rock face, gripped a jutting knob of rock firmly with his left hand, and swung the wet gown with his right. “Listen carefully to the sound.” He sent the gown out and flicked his wrist back, and with a smack it struck the mouth of the cave. Three times he struck, then asked, “Do you know where the mouth is now?” From the sound Lü’e had judged the shape of things and fixed the distance and direction. “Yes,” she said. “Jump,” said Yang Guo, “and catch hold of the gown. I’ll pull you across.”

Lü’e opened her eyes as wide as she could, but all she saw was the same pitch blackness, and she was badly frightened. “I can’t… I…” “Don’t be afraid,” said Yang Guo. “If you miss the gown and fall in the pool, I’ll jump straight down and save you. We weren’t afraid of the crocodiles before, and now we have a dagger that cuts iron like mud, so what is there to fear?” With a whoosh, he swung the gown out.

Gongsun Lü’e gritted her teeth, thrust hard with both feet against the rock, and flew into the air. Listening for the swish of the gown, she shot out both hands. Her right hand caught the hem of the gown. Her left closed on nothing. Yang Guo felt the sudden weight on his arm, and with a sharp flick of his wrist he swung her to the mouth of the cave. Afraid she might not find her footing, he leapt after her the moment the gown left his hand, put a hand gently under her waist and lifted her, so that she sat safely at the cave’s edge.

Gongsun Lü’e was overjoyed. “It worked,” she cried. “What a clever idea.” Yang Guo laughed. “Who knows what strange poisonous things or savage beasts are in this cave. We’ll just have to leave it to Heaven.” So saying, he stooped and crawled into the cave. Lü’e handed him the dagger. “You take it.” She took the gown he passed back to her and put it on.

The mouth of the cave was very narrow, and they had to crawl on their knees. The damp of the crocodile pool had seeped into it, so that the cave was wet and slippery, and the fishy stench was hard to bear. As he crawled, Yang Guo laughed. “This morning you and I were admiring the Passion Flowers¹ together in the morning sun, the whole mountain like brocade, birds singing and flowers sweet, and before a few shichen² are out, here we are in a place like this. I’ve truly brought you to grief.” “How can any of this be blamed on you?” said Lü’e.

After crawling some way, they found the tunnel gradually widening until they could walk upright. They walked for a long time without reaching the end, but the ground underfoot grew flatter and flatter. Yang Guo laughed. “Aha, by the look of it the bitter part is over and things are taking a turn for the better.” Lü’e sighed. “Big Brother Yang, you’re unhappy inside. You needn’t try to make me laugh…” Before she could finish, a burst of loud laughter came suddenly from their left. “Haha, haha, haha!”

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It was plainly laughter, yet it sounded like nothing so much as wailing: the sound was “haha, haha”, but the tone was desolate and full of grief. Neither Yang Guo nor Lü’e had ever in their lives heard anything like it, a sound that was not quite weeping and not quite laughter. Coming without warning in this pitch-black tunnel, it frightened them more than any vicious snake or monster could have done. Bold as Yang Guo was, he could not help jumping up, and he cracked his head painfully against the roof of the tunnel. Gongsun Lü’e was more frightened still. Cold sweat broke out all over her, her flesh crept, and she threw herself into his arms and clasped him round the neck.

The two of them truly did not know what to do. They dared not go forward, and yet they would not turn back. “Is it a ghost?” whispered Lü’e. She said it very softly, but the voice to their left at once broke into another fit of weeping laughter. “That’s right, I’m a ghost, I’m a ghost, haha, haha!” Lü’e clung to Yang Guo’s neck more tightly than ever and dared not let go, and Yang Guo put his arm round her waist to comfort her.

He thought, Since she calls herself a ghost, she’s no ghost. He said in a clear voice, “My name is Yang Guo. Miss Gongsun and I have met with misfortune and want only to escape with our lives. We mean no harm to anyone…” The other cut in suddenly, “Miss Gongsun? What Miss Gongsun?” “The daughter of Valley Master Gongsun,” said Yang Guo. “Gongsun Lü’e.” From the other side there came not another whisper of sound, as if the speaker had suddenly vanished without trace.

While the stranger was half laughing, half weeping, they had been frightened enough. Now the sudden silence filled the darkness with a dread beyond words. They huddled together, not daring to speak or move, and Lü’e held on to Yang Guo and could not stop trembling.

A long while passed. Then the stranger barked suddenly, “What Valley Master Gongsun? Is it Gongsun Zhi?” The words were full of rage, but by now they could tell it was a woman’s voice. Lü’e plucked up her courage and answered, “My father’s given name is indeed the single character Zhi.³ Do you know my father, Elder?” The woman gave a cold, grating laugh. “Do I know him? Heh heh, do I know him?” Lü’e did not dare reply and kept silent. After another long pause the voice barked again, “What’s your name?” “I’m called Lü’e,” said Lü’e, “lü for green, as in red and green, and e for calyx, as in the calyx of a flower.” The woman snorted. “In what year, what month, on what day and at what hour were you born?”

Lü’e thought, Why would this strange woman want the eight characters of my birth? I’m afraid she means to use them to work some sorcery against me. She whispered in Yang Guo’s ear, “Should I tell her?” Before Yang Guo could answer, the woman sneered, “You were born on the third day of the second month in the year Jiashen, at the hour of Xu. Am I right?”⁴ Lü’e was thunderstruck. “You… you… how do you know?” she cried.

Suddenly a strange feeling she could not explain welled up in her, and she knew beyond doubt that the stranger in the cave would never harm her. She slipped past Yang Guo and ran swiftly ahead. She turned two corners, and all at once a dazzling light filled her eyes. There, sitting cross-legged on the ground, was a bald old woman, naked to the waist, her face stern and solemn, with an awe-inspiring authority about her.

Lü’e gave a cry of astonishment and stood rooted to the spot. Afraid something might befall her, Yang Guo hurried in after her.

The place where the old woman sat was a natural stone cavern whose far end was lost in darkness. In its roof was a great round hole about ten feet across, and sunlight came down through it, but the hole was more than a thousand feet above the ground. Most likely the old woman had fallen through it by accident and had never been able to get out again. The cavern lay deep under the earth. Even if one shouted at the top of one’s voice down here, anyone passing above might never hear. But how she could have fallen from such a height and lived was a mystery indeed. Yang Guo saw that where the sunlight reached, a good many large jujube trees had grown. Could she have happened to land in a tree, and so escaped with her life? He saw that she had nothing to cover herself but some bark and leaves. She must have been in this cavern for a great many years, and her clothes had long since rotted away to nothing.

The old woman looked at Yang Guo as if he were not there. Her eyes went up and down Lü’e alone, and suddenly she gave a sad smile. “Girl, how lovely you are.” Lü’e smiled back, stepped forward and dropped a curtsy. “How do you do, Elder?”

The old woman threw back her head and laughed, the same sound that was not quite weeping and not quite laughter. “Elder? Haha, I do well, I do well, haha, haha!” By the end her face was full of fury. Lü’e had no idea how her polite greeting could have given offence, and in her alarm she looked round at Yang Guo for help. Yang Guo thought that anyone shut in this cavern so long was bound to have lost her wits, and no wonder. He gave Lü’e a little shake of the head and a faint smile, telling her not to take it to heart, and himself looked about, studying the lie of the place and pondering how they might climb out. The hole in the roof was high above the ground, but with his qinggong it might not be impossible to risk it.

Footnotes

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

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

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

4. 生辰八字 – Shēngchén Bāzì. Eight Characters of Birth: the year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth, each written as a pair of sexagenary characters, used in fortune-telling and matchmaking. The hour of Xu is roughly 7 to 9 pm. ↩