Son of an old friend.

Madam Wu was at her wit’s end when she suddenly heard her husband calling out to her. She felt both joy and vexation, joy that he had finally appeared, vexation that this madman of hers had been off causing who knows what mischief, only to show up now. He came rushing towards her at top speed, his upper garment torn to shreds, still wearing around his neck the embroidered bib that He Yuanjun¹ had worn as a child. “My lady!” he called without pause. “Are you all right?” In nearly ten years, she had never seen her husband show such concern for her. Her heart swelled with gladness. “I’m here!” she called back. Wu Santong² rushed to her side, scooped up the Lu couple, one under each arm, and shouted, “Follow me, quickly!” No sooner had the words left his mouth than he sprang into the air. Ke Zhen’e³ and Madam Wu followed behind.

Wu Santong twisted and turned, running several li⁴ before leading them into a ruined kiln. It was a pottery kiln for firing wine jars, and a very large one at that. Madam Wu stepped inside and saw that her two sons, Dunru and Xiuwen, were safe and unharmed. She breathed a sigh of relief. In the kiln was a small bed, as if someone had been living there.

The Wu brothers were sitting on the ground playing with pebbles alongside Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang. When the two girls saw the state the Lu couple were in, they threw themselves onto the pair, weeping and crying out.

Ke Zhen’e heard Lu Wushuang crying for her father and mother, and suddenly remembered Li Mochou’s⁵ words. “Oh no!” he cried in alarm. “We’ve led the demon right to our door, that witch will be here any moment!” Madam Wu was already terrified from the battle she had just fought. “What do you mean?” she asked urgently. Ke Zhen’e said, “That witch wants to harm the Lu family’s two children, but she didn’t know where they were…” Madam Wu understood at once. “Ah, yes!” she said, horrified. “She deliberately spared us so she could follow us in secret.” Wu Santong flew into a rage. “That Scarlet Serpent⁶ witch, she haunts us like a vengeful ghost! Let me fight her!” He planted himself squarely before the kiln entrance.

Lu Liding’s⁷ skull was shattered, but there was still one matter weighing on his heart. Forcing himself to hold onto his last breath, he said to Cheng Ying, “Aying… take… take the handkerchief from my… my chest.” Cheng Ying wiped away her tears and reached into his inner garment, retrieving a brocade handkerchief. It was made of white satin, with a red flower embroidered at each of the four corners. The flowers were a vivid, dripping crimson, each set beside a leaf of emerald green. The white satin had yellowed with age, but the flowers and leaves remained as fresh and lovely as if they were real. Lu Liding said, “Aying, tie this handkerchief around your neck. You must never, ever take it off. Do you understand?” Cheng Ying did not understand his meaning, but since it was her uncle’s command, she took it and nodded her assent.

Madam Lu had been delirious with pain, but hearing her husband’s voice, she opened her eyes. “Why aren’t you giving it to Shuang’er?” she said. “Give it to Shuang’er!” Lu Liding said, “No. How could I betray the trust of her parents?” Madam Lu cried out in desperation, “You… you are so cruel! You won’t even care for your own daughter?” Her eyes rolled back, and her voice went hoarse. Lu Wushuang, not understanding what her parents were arguing about, could only cry, “Mama! Papa!” Lu Liding said gently, “My lady, you love Shuang’er. Wouldn’t it be good to let her come with us?”

The truth was that this red-flower, green-leaf brocade handkerchief was the token of love that Li Mochou had given to Lu Zhanyuan⁸ all those years ago. The red flower was the mandala,⁹ the most famous flower of the Dali Kingdom¹⁰, Li Mochou had used it to represent herself. The word for “green” (lü) sounds the same as the surname Lu,¹¹ so the green leaf represented her beloved Young Master Lu. The meaning was “red flower and green leaf, nestled together, leaning on one another.” On his deathbed, Lu Zhanyuan had foreseen that when the ten-year deadline arrived, both Li Mochou and Wu Santong would surely come to cause trouble. He had originally had a plan to deal with them, but had unexpectedly fallen gravely ill. His younger brother’s martial arts were mediocre at best and would be no match for them. In his helplessness, he had entrusted this brocade handkerchief to his brother with clear instructions: if Wu Santong came seeking revenge, avoid him if possible, if confrontation was unavoidable, they would certainly lose in a fight, but their lives would not be in danger. Li Mochou, however, had in recent years earned a fearsome reputation throughout the jianghu¹² for her ruthless cruelty, encountering her meant almost certain death. In a moment of crisis, tying this handkerchief around one’s neck might, he hoped, stir the witch’s remembrance of old affections and stay her hand. But Lu Liding was too proud to ever take out the handkerchief and beg for his life from this witch.

Cheng Ying was the daughter of Lu Liding’s wife’s brother. Her parents had entrusted her to his care before they died. He had accepted this solemn trust, and now, with his duty unfulfilled and disaster upon them, he gave the life-saving handkerchief to her. Madam Lu, after all, was a mother who loved her own child, seeing her husband disregard their biological daughter, the agony of her wounds overwhelmed her, and she fainted.

Cheng Ying, seeing her aunt distressed over the handkerchief, quickly passed it to her cousin. “Auntie said to give it to you, here, take it!” Lu Liding shouted, “Shuang’er, that belongs to your cousin. Don’t take it.” Madam Wu, perceiving the dilemma, said, “Why don’t I tear the handkerchief in two, half for each of you?” Lu Liding tried to speak again but could not draw breath, let alone utter a word. He could only nod. Madam Wu tore the brocade handkerchief in half and gave one piece to each girl.

Wu Santong stood at the kiln entrance. Hearing the crying and shouting behind him, he turned back, not knowing what had happened. Suddenly he saw that his wife’s left cheek was pitch black while the right side of her face was unchanged. Horrified, he pointed at her face and asked, “Wh-why is it like that?” Madam Wu raised a hand to her face and touched it. “Like what?” she asked. She felt that her left cheek was numb and nearly without sensation. Her heart seized with fear, she remembered that Li Mochou had touched her face just before departing. Could it be that one light stroke of that soft, fragrant hand had already delivered a deadly poison?

Wu Santong was about to ask more when he heard a voice outside the kiln, laughing: “The two little girls are in there, aren’t they? Dead or alive, just toss them out. Otherwise, I’ll set a fire and roast you all into wine jars.” The voice was like a silver bell, crisp yet soft.

Wu Santong leapt out of the kiln in a rush. There stood Li Mochou, poised and graceful. He was struck with astonishment. How can she still be so young and beautiful after ten years? When he had seen her at Lu Zhanyuan’s wedding banquet, Li Mochou had been in the full bloom of youth, not yet twenty. Now, ten years had passed, yet the woman before him, aside from having changed into Daoist robes, still had the same delicate, tender skin, just as lovely as she had been in those days. Her horsetail whisk¹³ swayed gently in her hand. Her bearing was leisurely, her beautiful eyes sparkling, her peach-blossom cheeks faintly flushed. Had he not known well that she killed without blinking, he would have taken her for a young lady of a wealthy family who had taken religious vows but kept her hair. Wu Santong saw her whisk move and suddenly remembered that he had left his weapon inside the kiln. If he went back for it, she might seize the chance to slip in and harm the children. Spotting a chestnut tree as thick as a rice bowl growing by the kiln entrance, he thrust both palms against it and, with a great shout, snapped the trunk in two.

Li Mochou gave a faint smile. “Impressive strength.”

Wu Santong held the tree trunk crosswise before him. “Miss Li,” he said, “it has been ten years. I hope you have been well.” He had called her “Miss Li” in the old days, and though she had since taken religious orders, he did not change his form of address, he used the old term still. In ten years, Li Mochou had not heard anyone call her “Miss Li.” Hearing those three words now stirred something in her heart. All at once, the tender, intimate scenes of her girlhood came flooding into her breast. But then she remembered, she could have spent her whole life at her beloved’s side, if not for the existence of another woman in this world named He Yuanjun, who had brought her heartbreak and disappointment, leaving her to a lifetime of loneliness and desolation. At this thought, the tender feelings that had surged up in that single moment transformed instantly into boundless venomous hatred.

Wu Santong, too, had had his heart broken when the woman he loved abandoned him for another. Though his circumstances differed from Li Mochou’s, they could be said to share the same affliction. Yet he had been at Lu Zhanyuan’s wedding banquet that day and had witnessed with his own eyes how she had slaughtered Old He the boxer and his entire household, more than twenty souls, men and women, young and old, with a brutality that still made him shudder to recall. Old He had never met her, bore her no grudge, and had no connection whatsoever to He Yuanjun. Simply because they shared the surname “He,”¹⁴ Li Mochou, in her grief, had wiped out the entire He family to the last person. Not one of them, even at the moment of death, ever knew why. At the time, Wu Santong had not understood the reason and had not intervened. Only afterward did he learn that Li Mochou had merely been venting her rage, nothing more than an outlet for the disappointment and venom in her heart. From that day on, he had both hated and feared this woman. Now, seeing a trace of softness flicker across her face before it hardened once more into a cold sneer, he could not help but fear for the two girls, Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang.

Li Mochou said, “Since I left nine handprints on the Lu family’s wall, these two little girls must die. Master Wu San, please step aside.” Wu Santong said, “Lu Zhanyuan and his wife are already dead. His brother and sister-in-law have also fallen to your poisonous hand. These are just two small girls, spare them.” Li Mochou smiled and shook her head. Softly she said, “Master Wu San, please step aside.” Wu Santong gripped the chestnut tree even tighter and cried, “Miss Li, you are far too cruel. Ayuan…” The moment the name “Ayuan” left his lips, Li Mochou’s expression changed. “I once swore a heavy oath,” she said. “Whoever speaks that slut’s name in my presence, either he dies, or I do. I once destroyed sixty-three cargo ships and trading houses along the Yuan River, one after another, simply because their signs bore that foul character.¹⁵ Have you heard of this, Master Wu San? You brought this on yourself, do not blame me.” With that, her whisk swept up and came arcing down towards the crown of Wu Santong’s head.

Do not underestimate that small horsetail whisk, the sweep of it was both swift and powerful, setting the tangled hair on Wu Santong’s head dancing wildly. She knew that Wu Santong was a senior disciple of the Venerable Yideng¹⁶, though he was muddle-headed and foolish, his martial arts were truly of no common order. That was why she opened with a lethal strike. Wu Santong thrust upward with his left hand, the tree trunk sweeping out in a ferocious horizontal arc. Li Mochou saw how fierce the attack was and let her body drift back with the wind. Before he could bring the trunk’s full force to bear, she darted forward again, her whisk striking at his face. Wu Santong saw her penetrate his inner circle. His right hand shot up, a finger pointing towards her forehead. This move, Yiyang Finger¹⁷ point-striking, was not particularly fast, but it was unfathomably unpredictable, difficult to dodge and difficult to block. Li Mochou used the move “Inverted Golden Bell,”¹⁸ and in a flash her body had sprung back a zhang¹⁹ or so away.

何沅君 – Hé Yuánjūn. Her name meaning “Yuan River lord”; 沅 names the Yuan River and 君 means lord or gentleman. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
武三通 – Wǔ Sāntōng. His name meaning “three penetrations” or “three communications”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
柯镇恶 – Kē Zhèn’è. His name meaning “subduing evil”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
里 – lǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or a third of a mile. ↩
李莫愁 – Lǐ Mòchóu. Her name meaning “do not sorrow”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
赤练 – Chìliàn. Scarlet Serpent, a highly venomous snake native to China; Li Mochou’s epithet draws on this imagery of deadly beauty. ↩
陆立鼎 – Lù Lìdǐng. His name meaning “establishing the tripod”, a metaphor for laying a stable foundation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
陆展元 – Lù Zhǎnyuán. His name meaning “spreading the origin”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
曼陀罗花 – Màntuóluó Huā. Mandala or datura flower, famed in the Dali Kingdom. Li Mochou used the red flower to represent herself on the love token handkerchief. ↩
大理 – Dàlǐ. Historical kingdom in present-day Yunnan Province (937–1253), contemporaneous with the Song dynasty. In the Condor Trilogy it is associated with the Duan imperial family and Great Master Yideng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
绿/陆 – lǜ/lù. In Chinese, 绿 (green) and 陆 (the surname Lu) are near-homophones, differing only in tone. This wordplay is central to the handkerchief’s symbolism. ↩
江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Itinerant world beyond settled society and official reach, holding not only martial artists but the trades that travel with them, including pedlars, physicians, fortune-tellers, entertainers, boatmen, beggars, outlaws and the like. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
拂尘 – fúchén. Horsetail whisk: a handle with long, soft fibres attached. In Daoism it is a symbol of spiritual authority, and in wuxia fiction it is often wielded as a flexible weapon capable of entangling and disarming opponents. ↩
何 – Hé. Surname He. Li Mochou massacred Old He’s household solely because they shared He Yuanjun’s surname, illustrating the irrational depths of her obsession. ↩
沅江 – Yuán Jiāng. Major river in Hunan Province. Li Mochou destroyed sixty-three businesses along its banks because their signs bore the character 沅, which also appears in He Yuanjun’s name. ↩
一灯大师 – Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally one-lamp master; a Buddhist honorific title. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
一阳指 – Yīyáng Zhǐ. Literally One Yang Finger. Dali Duan family’s signature finger technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
倒打金钟 – Dào Dǎ Jīnzhōng. Inverted Golden Bell, a martial arts manoeuvre involving a sudden backward leap or reversal of position, named after the image of striking a golden bell from the opposite direction. ↩
丈 – zhàng. Traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 3.33 metres or 10.9 feet. ↩

The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 2

Read previous

The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 1 – Part 6

Read next