The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 2 – Part 6

Ke Zhen’e had come looking for Yang Guo earlier. Not finding him in bed, he had searched around the inn but could not locate him and had grown very anxious. When he came to check a second time, Yang Guo had already returned. He was about to ask where the boy had been when he heard the sound of wind sweeping across the roof, someone was leaping overhead. He recognised that two people with extremely high martial arts were passing across the rooftop. He quickly carried Guo Fu over and laid her on the bed beside Yang Guo, then stood guard at the window with his iron staff, fearing the two might be enemies who would return. Sure enough, the sound of wind came back from the distance, and in a flash, they were on the roof again. One voice said, “Look, who’s that?” The other said, “Strange, strange, could it really be him?” It was Guo Jing and Huang Rong.

Ke Zhen’e relaxed. He opened the door and let them in. Huang Rong said, “Eldest shifu, is everything all right here?” Ke Zhen’e said, “Everything’s fine.” Huang Rong said to Guo Jing, “Could we have been mistaken?” Guo Jing shook his head. “No, nine chances out of ten it was him.” Ke Zhen’e said, “Who?” Huang Rong tugged at Guo Jing’s sleeve, signalling him not to say. But Guo Jing could not bring himself to deceive his shifu. “Ouyang Feng,” he said. Ke Zhen’e had hated this man more than anyone in his life. The mere mention of the name made his face change colour. “Ouyang Feng?” he said in a low voice. “He’s not dead?” Guo Jing said, “Just now, when we were returning from gathering herbs, we saw a figure flash past the side of the house, the movement was both fast and strange. We gave chase immediately, but he had already vanished. It looked very much like Ouyang Feng.” Ke Zhen’e knew that Guo Jing was always steady and reliable, never speaking lightly. If he said it was Ouyang Feng, it could not be anyone else.

Guo Jing, worried about Yang Guo, took a candleholder and went to the bedside to check on him. He saw that the boy’s face was rosy, his breathing even, and he was sleeping soundly. Overjoyed, he cried, “Ronger, he’s better!” Yang Guo was actually feigning sleep. He had been listening with closed eyes to the three of them talk. He had vaguely gathered that his sworn father’s name was “Ouyang Feng,” and that these three were clearly quite wary of him. He secretly rejoiced.

Huang Rong came over to look and was greatly puzzled. Earlier, she had clearly seen the poison spreading up the boy’s arm, after all these hours, it should only have grown darker and more swollen. Yet the poison had actually receded. It was truly bizarre. She and Guo Jing had searched for half the day but had been unable to gather all the necessary herbs. She crushed the few they had found, squeezed out the juice, and fed it to him, also giving the male condor a few spoonfuls of the medicinal liquid.

The next morning, Guo Jing and his wife saw that Yang Guo was more lucid and energetic, and the blackness on his palm had greatly faded. They were very pleased. They asked about the circumstances of his mother’s death. Yang Guo said, “My mother coughed for months on end. She took medicine, but it didn’t help. Later she started coughing up blood. I was so anxious, I could only cry. My mother said she wasn’t going to get better. She told me that after she died, I should cremate her body and bury her beside the Iron Spear Temple outside Jiaxing, she said that was where my father was buried…” Guo Jing’s heart was heavy with sorrow. He sighed. Yang Guo continued, “A few days later, my mother finally died. I burned her body to ashes, wrapped them up, and asked people along the way until I found Iron Spear Temple in Jiaxing. I dug a grave outside the temple and buried my mother’s ashes. Before she died, my mother told me to find my way to Peach Blossom Island and look for Uncle Guo and Auntie Guo…”

Guo Jing said, “I am your Uncle Guo.” He pointed to Huang Rong. “She is your Auntie Guo.” Yang Guo called out, “Uncle Guo! Auntie Guo!” He did not know whether he ought to kowtow. Guo Jing and Huang Rong acknowledged him. They reflected that although Peach Blossom Island was not terribly far from Changxing, where Mu Nianci had lived, it was not exactly close either. They had been unwilling to leave the island and re-enter the jianghu, and so had never gone to visit or care for their old friend. They felt considerable guilt. It was fortunate that they had encountered the son of an old friend, from now on, they would properly look after him and raise him to adulthood. Huang Rong said, “Why didn’t you come to Peach Blossom Island to find us?” Yang Guo said, “Mother told me that when I got to Peach Blossom Island, I had to be careful in everything, obedient and well-behaved, and not offend anyone. I figured I wouldn’t starve to death here anyway, so… heh heh… so I didn’t come!” Guo Jing felt only sadness, but Huang Rong, hearing this, understood that the boy simply did not want to be careful in everything, obedient and well-behaved, that was why he had not come to Peach Blossom Island.

That day, Guo Jing and his wife, together with Ke Zhen’e, took the two children and left Jiaxing, heading southeast. They decided to return to Peach Blossom Island first and cure Yang Guo’s poison injury. That evening, they stopped at an inn. Ke Zhen’e shared a room with Yang Guo. Guo Jing and his wife shared a room with their daughter.

In the middle of the night, Guo Jing and his wife heard a ka sound from the rooftop, followed by Ke Zhen’e’s loud shout from the adjacent room as he smashed through the window and leapt out. Guo Jing and Huang Rong sprang up and rushed to the window. On the rooftop, Ke Zhen’e was locked in fierce combat with someone, fighting barehanded. The opponent was tall and long-limbed, unmistakably Ouyang Feng. Guo Jing was horrified, fearing that Ouyang Feng might take his eldest shifu’s life in a single move. He was about to leap up and help when he saw Ke Zhen’e let out a great cry and tumble off the roof. Guo Jing flew forward and, just as Ke Zhen’e’s head was about to strike the ground, caught him gently by the back of the collar, lifted him up, and then set him down softly. “Eldest shifu, are you hurt?” he asked. Ke Zhen’e said, “I won’t die. Go quickly and cut off Ouyang Feng.” Guo Jing said, “Yes.” He leapt onto the roof.

On the rooftop, Huang Rong’s twin palms were dancing as she fought fiercely with this old adversary whom she had not seen in over ten years. Her martial arts had advanced greatly over the years, her neili had strengthened, and her palm strikes had grown even more subtle and ingenious. In over ten moves, Ouyang Feng had been unable to gain any advantage.

Guo Jing called out, “Master Ouyang, I trust you have been well since we last met.” Ouyang Feng said, “What did you say? What did you call me?” His face was a mask of confusion. He focused only on defending against Huang Rong’s attacks, a vague sense stirring in his mind that the two characters “Ou-yang” had some extremely intimate connection to himself. Guo Jing was about to speak again when Huang Rong, seeing that Ouyang Feng’s madness had not healed, quickly cried, “Your name is Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Chen Wang!”¹ Ouyang Feng was stunned. “My name is Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Chen Wang?” Huang Rong said, “That’s right. Your name is Feng Zheng Chu Wei, Jiang Shen Han Yang.” She was reciting surnames from the Hundred Family Surnames.² Ouyang Feng’s mind was already confused. Having her rattle off several dozen surnames in one breath left him half-believing, half-doubting, and even more bewildered. “Who are you?” he asked. “Who am I?”

Suddenly he heard a great shout from behind him: “You are the Old Poison who murdered my five good brothers!” Ouyang Feng heard the words “Old Poison” and something seemed to click. He was about to ponder this further when an iron staff came crashing down, it was Ke Zhen’e. He had been forced off the roof by Ouyang Feng’s palm force earlier but had not been injured. He had gone inside to retrieve his iron staff and returned to fight. Guo Jing shouted, “Shifu, be careful!” Ke Zhen’e’s iron staff smashed down, now less than a foot from Ouyang Feng’s back, but with a hu sound, the staff rebounded. Ke Zhen’e could not hold on. The iron staff flew from his hands, and his body followed, tumbling into the courtyard.

Guo Jing knew that although his teacher had fallen, it was not serious. But if Ouyang Feng seized the momentum to press his attack, the follow-up moves would be devastating. “Watch this!” he called. His left leg bent slightly, and his right palm traced a circle as it pushed forward, this was “The Proud Dragon Repents,”³ from the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.⁴ He had practised this move diligently day and night without cease. Even when he first learned it, it had been extraordinary. With more than ten years of bitter training added, it had truly reached the realm of pure perfection. When first pushed out, it seemed light and effortless, but the moment it met resistance, it could, in the space of an instant, layer on thirteen successive bursts of power, each stronger than the last, overlapping and compounding, simply unstoppable, unbreakable. This was a sublime state he had comprehended from the Nine Yin Manual. Even Hong Qigong in his prime, considering this single move alone, had not achieved such profound mastery.

Ouyang Feng had just sent Ke Zhen’e crashing off the roof when he felt a faint breeze brush against his face. Though the wind was not strong, it already made breathing difficult. He knew this was trouble. He quickly crouched down and pushed both palms forward, using the skill he was most proud of in all his life: Toad Skill. Three palms met. Both men’s bodies shook. Guo Jing’s palm force surged, wave after wave, crashing forward like a raging tide. Ouyang Feng let out a strange ge-ge cry from his throat. His body swayed back and forth as if he might topple at any moment, but the more Guo Jing’s palm force intensified, the more Ouyang Feng’s counterforce grew in response.

The two had not crossed hands in over ten years. Now, reunited in Jiangnan, they tested each other once more. In the Huashan Sword Summit of old, Guo Jing had been no match for Ouyang Feng. But in the years since, he had advanced with fierce determination, and his martial arts had reached great maturity and completeness. Ouyang Feng, though he had practised the manual in reverse and gained his own insights, was still, one following the orthodox path, the other the inverse, ultimately orthodox prevailing over inverse. By this encounter, Guo Jing could now stand shoulder to shoulder with him, neither able to overcome the other. Huang Rong wanted her husband to win by his own strength, so she only watched from the sidelines and did not join the attack.

Southern rooftops were very different from northern ones. In the north, roofs had to withstand the weight of winter snow and ice, so they were exceptionally solid. But south of the Huai River, rooftops were made of overlapping tiles, prioritizing lightness and convenience. Guo Jing and Ouyang Feng pressed against each other with their palm forces, strength channelling into their legs. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they heard creaking and groaning beneath their feet. Suddenly, kalala!, with a thunderous crash, several rafters snapped at once. A great hole opened in the roof, and both men plunged through.

Huang Rong was horrified. She jumped through the hole after them and saw the two still locked palm-to-palm, their feet resting on several rafters, which were pressing down on an inn guest. The man had been deep in pleasant dreams. How could he have known that calamity would fall from the sky? Both his legs were broken, and he howled in agony. Guo Jing could not bear to harm the innocent and dared not put force into his feet. Ouyang Feng, however, cared nothing for the lives of bystanders. The two had originally been evenly matched, but because Guo Jing’s footing was unstable and his palms had nothing to borrow force from, he gradually fell into disadvantage. He was using one palm against the enemy’s two, and though his entire body’s strength was concentrated in his right palm, his left palm, though free, had no strength left to use. Huang Rong saw her husband’s body tilting slightly backward, though the retreat was only a matter of half an inch or a fraction, he was clearly losing. “Hey!” she called out. “Zhang San Li Si, Confused Turtle Bastard, watch this!” She sent a light, drifting palm strike towards Ouyang Feng’s shoulder.

Though this palm strike appeared light, it was an advanced technique of the Falling Petals Divine Sword Palm⁵, landing on an enemy’s body, the force would penetrate straight to the internal organs. Even a first-rate expert like Ouyang Feng would be injured. Ouyang Feng heard her call him by yet another strange name and was momentarily baffled. Then he suddenly saw her attack coming. He pushed forward with both palms, forcing Guo Jing’s palm force back half a foot, and in that lightning-flash instant, seized Huang Rong’s shoulder. His five fingers hooked like claws, ready to tear a chunk of flesh from her.

Footnotes

1. 赵钱孙李，周吴陈王 – Zhào Qián Sūn Lǐ, Zhōu Wú Chén Wáng. Opening lines of the Hundred Family Surnames, a classic Chinese text listing common surnames. Huang Rong is deliberately confusing Ouyang Feng by reciting random surnames. ↩

2. 百家姓 – Bǎijiāxìng. Classic Chinese text composed during the Song dynasty, listing over 400 common Chinese surnames in rhyming verse. It was traditionally used to teach children to read. ↩

3. 亢龙有悔 – Kàng Lóng Yǒu Huǐ. Proud Dragon Repents, the first and most famous move of the Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing. Name comes from the Book of Changes, hexagram 1 (乾), top line: a proud dragon will have cause to repent, warning against excessive pride. ↩

4. 降龙十八掌 – Xiánglóng Shíbā Zhǎng. Signature martial art of the Beggars’ Guild, mastered by Hong Qigong and Guo Jing, and among the most powerful external martial arts in the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 落英神剑掌 – Luòyīng Shén Jiàn Zhǎng. Falling Petals Divine Sword Palm, a palm technique created by Huang Yaoshi, named for its flowing, petal-like movements that conceal deadly force. It is one of Peach Blossom Island’s signature martial arts. ↩