The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 19 – Part 9

Gongsun Zhi’s expression did not change. “Is Your Excellency truly Qiu Qianren? I fear you are merely a shameless impostor.” Qiu Qianchi was startled. She thought, That butcher is so perceptive, how does he know I am not? She could not fathom what had given her away. She only gave a faint, cold smile and did not answer.

Yang Guo no longer paid any attention to whatever mischief this husband and wife were brewing between them. He rushed to Xiaolongnü’s side. In his right hand he held the Passion Severing Pill, and with his left he tore away the red veil covering her face. “Gugu,” he cried, “open your mouth!” The moment Xiaolongnü saw Yang Guo, her heart gave a great leap. Shock and joy mingled within her. In a trembling voice, she said, “You… you really are better.” By now, she had long since learned that Gongsun Zhi was vicious of heart and cruel in his actions. The only reason she had agreed to marry him was to save Yang Guo’s life. Seeing him suddenly appear, she assumed Gongsun Zhi had kept his word and cured the deadly poison in his body. Yang Guo stretched out his hand and pushed the Passion Severing Pill into her mouth. “Swallow it, quickly!” he said. Xiaolongnü had no idea what it was, but she did as he said and swallowed it. In an instant, she felt a coolness shoot straight down to her dantian.

By now, the hall had descended into chaos. Gongsun Zhi watched Yang Guo come to cause trouble yet again. He wanted to stop him but was wary of this masked stranger, not knowing whether she truly was his brother-in-law, Iron Palm Floats on Water Qiu Qianren. For the moment, he dared not act.

Yang Guo ripped Xiaolongnü’s phoenix crown and ceremonial cape to shreds, took her by the arm, and drew her aside. “Gugu,” he said, “that villainous Valley Master is about to taste some suffering. Let us watch the show.” Xiaolongnü’s heart was in utter confusion. She leaned against Yang Guo, not knowing what to say. Ma Guangzuo¹, seeing Yang Guo suddenly appear, was indescribably delighted. He came forward and peppered him with questions, chattering endlessly, completely oblivious to the fact that Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü truly did not welcome interruptions.

Yin Kexi had long heard that Qiu Qianren, twenty years ago, had shaken the lands north and south of the Great River and was a figure of tremendous stature. And having heard her laugh and shout, how the valley had echoed, proof of her profoundly deep neili, he was eager to cultivate her acquaintance. He stepped forward, bowed with clasped hands, and smiled. “Today is Gongsun Valley Master’s day of great joy. Has Elder Qiu also come to share a cup of wedding wine?” Qiu Qianchi pointed at Gongsun Zhi. “Does Your Excellency know what relation he is to me?” Yin Kexi said, “I do not. I would be grateful for the explanation.” Qiu Qianchi said, “Let him tell you himself.”

Gongsun Zhi asked once more, “Is Your Excellency truly Iron Palm Floats on Water? This is strange indeed!” He clapped his hands together and said to a green-robed disciple, “Go to the study and fetch the letter case from the eastern shelf.” Lü’e, utterly at a loss, pulled over a chair and let her mother sit. Gongsun Zhi wondered to himself, She and that boy Yang fell into the crocodile pool. How did they survive?

In a moment, the disciple presented the letter case. Gongsun Zhi opened it and took out a letter. Coldly, he said, “Ten years ago, I received a letter from Qiu Qianren. If Your Excellency is truly Qiu Qianren, then this letter must be a forgery.” Qiu Qianchi was startled. She thought, Since Second Brother and I fell out, we have never exchanged any word. How could a letter suddenly have come? And what does it say? She said loudly, “When did I ever write you a letter? This is pure nonsense.”

Hearing the tone of her speech, Gongsun Zhi suddenly remembered someone. A violent shock ran through him, and cold sweat instantly broke out across his back. But then he thought, No, no. She died in that subterranean cavern. By now, she has long since rotted away to nothing but a pile of white bones. But then who is this person? He opened the letter and read aloud:

“‘To Younger Brother Zhi and Younger Sister Chi: Since Eldest Brother fell to the hands of Guo Jing² and Huang Rong³ on Iron Palm Peak…’”

At the very first line, Qiu Qianchi was struck with both grief and pain. She cried out, “What? Who says my eldest brother is dead?” All her life, her bond with her eldest brother Qiu Qianzhang had been the deepest. Hearing the news of his death, her entire body trembled, and her voice changed. She had been projecting her voice from her dantian, making it difficult to tell whether she was male or female, but now, with her deepest feelings laid bare, the words “Who says my eldest brother is dead?” revealed a woman’s voice.

Gongsun Zhi realised that the person before him was a woman, and hearing her say “my eldest brother,” the terror in the depths of his heart grew even greater. But he was now even more certain that this was certainly not Qiu Qianren. He continued reading the letter:

”‘…your foolish elder brother is deeply ashamed that for these several decades, I have greatly failed in the way of brotherly love, to the point that siblings have become estranged. The fault lies entirely with me, your elder brother. Reflecting in the depths of night, my evil deeds are without number, how could they be limited to wronging Eldest Brother and Worthy Younger Sister alone? Recently, at the second Mount Hua Tournament, your foolish elder brother was fortunate to receive the enlightenment of the Great Master Yideng. I have now laid down the butcher’s knife and taken refuge in the Three Treasures.⁴ My practice is still shallow, and worldly ties are hard to sever. Beside the blue lamp and before the ancient Buddha, I often recall the joys of our brother and sister days of old. Facing the wind, I cherish these thoughts and pray for your blessings. The monk Ci’en presses his palms together.’”⁵

As Gongsun Zhi read the letter through, Qiu Qianchi wept quietly to herself. When the letter was finished, she could no longer hold back and broke into loud sobs. “Eldest Brother! Second Brother!” she wailed. “Do you know the suffering I have endured?” Suddenly, she tore off the mask and shrieked, “Gongsun Zhi! Do you still recognise me?” This fierce, piercing cry extinguished another seven or eight candles in the great hall, and those that remained flickered unsteadily.

In the dim candlelight, a face of utter, ghastly ferocity, the face of an old woman, suddenly appeared before the crowd. Everyone was profoundly shaken, and no one dared utter a word. Silence gripped the hall. Every heart pounded wildly.

Suddenly, an old servant who had been waiting in the corner rushed forward, crying, “Mistress! Mistress! You are not dead after all!” Qiu Qianchi nodded. “Uncle Zhang, so you still remember me.” The old servant was fiercely loyal. Seeing his mistress safe and sound, he was beside himself with joy. He kowtowed repeatedly, crying, “Mistress, this, this is the true great joy!” Among the wedding guests in the hall, aside from the Imperial Preceptor Jinlun and a handful of outsiders, the rest were all neighbours of the valley. Anyone over thirty or forty mostly recognised Qiu Qianchi. At once, a hubbub of voices arose as they crowded forward, pressing her with questions.

Gongsun Zhi roared, “All of you, stand back!” Everyone turned in astonishment. They saw him point a finger at Qiu Qianchi and shout, “Wretched woman! How dare you come back? And you still have the face to see me?”

Lü’e had been hoping with all her heart that her father would admit his wrongs and reconcile with her mother. Never had she expected to hear such words from him. Overcome with emotion, she rushed before her father and knelt on the ground. “Die!” she cried. “Mama is not dead, not dead! Apologise to her quickly. Beg her to forgive you!”

Gongsun Zhi laughed coldly. “Beg her to forgive me? What have I done wrong?” Lü’e said, “You locked Mama away in that underground cavern and made her suffer through more than ten years. Die, how can you face her?” Gongsun Zhi said icily, “She was the one who tried to harm me first, do you know that? She threw me into the passion flower thicket and made me endure the agony of a thousand needles and ten thousand thorns, do you know that? She soaked the antidote in arsenic solution so that whether I took it or not, I would die, do you know that? She forced me to kill… to kill with my own hands someone I loved, do you know that?” Lü’e wept. “Your daughter knows all of it. That was Rou’er.”

Gongsun Zhi had not heard that name spoken in over a decade. His face changed colour dramatically. He raised his head to the sky and murmured, “That’s right. Rou’er. Rou’er!” Pointing at Qiu Qianchi, he said savagely, “It was… it was this cruel, venomous wretch who forced me to kill Rou’er!” His expression grew more and more ghastly. Softly, he called, “Rou’er… Rou’er…”

Yang Guo thought that neither of this fated couple of enemies was a good person. His own poison had sunk deep, he had only a few days left in this world. In these remaining days, all he wanted was to find some place far from human habitation and spend them quietly with Xiaolongnü. He had no heart at all to sort out who was right and who was wrong between Gongsun Zhi and his wife. He gently tugged Xiaolongnü’s sleeve and whispered, “Let us go.”

Xiaolongnü said, “This woman is really his wife? He really locked her away for over ten years?” She could scarcely believe that such a vicious person existed in the world. Yang Guo said, “Husband and wife, they have been taking revenge on each other.” Xiaolongnü tilted her head and pondered for a long moment. Softly, she said, “This I do not understand. Was this woman, like me, forced to marry him?” In her mind, unless two people were forced into marriage, they would surely love and cherish each other. How could they possibly harm each other so? Yang Guo shook his head. “In this world, good people are few and evil people are many. The thoughts of such people are truly difficult for others to fathom…”

Suddenly, Gongsun Zhi gave a great roar: “Get away!” His right leg shot up. Lü’e’s body flew through the air and crashed outward, her father had clearly kicked her.

She was hurtling straight toward Qiu Qianchi’s chest. Qiu Qianchi could not use her hands or feet and could only duck her head to evade. But Lü’e was coming too fast. Bang, her body collided with her mother’s shoulder. Qiu Qianchi toppled backward, chair and all, her bald head smashing against a stone pillar. Fresh blood splattered the pillar, and she could not rise. Lü’e, kicked by her father, also lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

Footnotes

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

2. 郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 黄蓉 – Huáng Róng. Her name meaning “lotus” or “hibiscus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 三宝 – Three Treasures. In Buddhism, the Three Treasures (or Three Jewels) are the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings), and the Sangha (the monastic community). Taking refuge in the Three Treasures is the formal act of becoming a Buddhist. ↩

5. 慈恩 – Cí’ēn. Buddhist monastic name taken by Qiu Qianren upon his ordination. Ci means “compassion” and en means “grace.” ↩