The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 21 – Part 4

The Mongols had withdrawn, and Xiangyang was out of danger. The Imperial Pacification Commissioner, Lü Wenhuan, was jubilant, and once again laid on a great banquet at the Marshal’s headquarters to celebrate the victory. This time Yang Guo too was invited, as an honoured guest. Everyone sang his praises for the speed and the reckless courage with which he had flung himself to Guo Jing’s rescue. The Wu brothers sat lower down at another table. Seeing Yang Guo win such distinction the moment he arrived, they were stung with jealousy, and they feared, too, that after this battle Guo Jing, grateful to him for saving his life, would be all the readier to promise him his daughter. The two brothers said not a word, and drank in sullen silence.

After the banquet the party returned to Guo Jing’s house. Huang Rong asked Yang Guo into the inner hall and praised him warmly, and Yang Guo modestly thanked her. Guo Jing said, “Guoer, you used a great deal of force just now. Is there a dull ache in your chest?” He was afraid that, coming on top of last night’s qi deviation, the force Yang Guo had used on the wall today might have hurt his organs.

Afraid that Huang Rong would ask what had happened and see through him, Yang Guo said quickly, “It’s nothing, nothing.” And at once he changed the subject. “Uncle Guo, that skill of yours for leaping up the wall, there’s no one in the wulin to match it.” Guo Jing smiled. “I’ve let that skill lie for a long time. I haven’t practised it for several years, and I’m bound to be rusty, which is why it went wrong.” In truth, had he not spent his neili the night before helping Yang Guo hold his mind on his dantian, and so drained his vital strength, the Ascending Heaven’s Ladder would have given him no trouble, even with the State Preceptor’s arrows in his way. But naturally he said nothing of this. He only said, “Years ago in Mongolia, Danyangzi, Daoist Elder Ma Yu,¹ taught me the Golden Wild Goose Skill, which is the foundation of the Ascending Heaven’s Ladder. If you would like it, I’ll teach it to you in a few days.”

Huang Rong saw that Yang Guo seemed far away, often lost in thought as he spoke. His selfless rescue of Guo Jing that day had been seen by ten thousand eyes and was beyond doubt, yet she still could not rest easy. “Jing gege,” she said, “I don’t feel very well tonight. Stay here and keep an eye on things.” Guo Jing nodded, and said to Yang Guo, “Guoer, you’ve had a tiring day. Go back and get to bed early.”

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Yang Guo took his leave of them and went back alone to his room. He heard the drum in the watchtower strike the second watch. He sat at the table, gazing at the candle flame as it flared and dimmed, a tangle of thoughts crowding in on him. Then there came a light tap at the door, and a woman’s voice outside said, “Not asleep?” It was Xiaolongnü. Overjoyed, Yang Guo sprang up and opened the door, and there stood Xiaolongnü in a pale green gown, graceful and lovely. “Aunt, what is it?” said Yang Guo. Xiaolongnü smiled. “I wanted to come and see you.” Yang Guo took her hand. “I was just thinking of you, too,” he said softly.

They walked slowly side by side to the garden. The flowers and trees grew thick, and a delicate fragrance filled the air. Xiaolongnü looked up at the half-moon in the sky. “Must you kill him with your own hand?” she said. “There isn’t much time left.” Yang Guo quickly whispered in her ear, “There are eyes and ears everywhere here. Don’t speak of it.” Xiaolongnü gazed at him raptly. “When the moon is full,” she said, “that will be the end of the eighteen days.”

Yang Guo gave a violent start and counted on his fingers. It was nine days since they had parted from Qiu Qianchi,² and if he did not kill Guo Jing and his wife within a day or two, he could not get back to Passionless Valley³ before the poison took hold. He sighed softly and sat down beside Xiaolongnü on a Taihu rock. Neither spoke. Their tenderness deepened, each heart understood the other without a word, and they forgot all about vengeance, killing and war.

After a long while they heard footsteps beyond the rockery: two people were coming closer, on the far side of the flowers.

A girl’s voice said, “If you keep pushing me, I might as well take a jian and draw it across my throat and be done with it, instead of suffering it bit by bit.” A man’s voice said angrily, “Hmph. Do you think I don’t know you can’t make up your mind? The moment that fellow Yang arrived in Xiangyang he made a grand show of himself in front of everyone. Do you still remember a single thing you said before?” From the voices, it was Guo Fu and Wu Xiuwen. Xiaolongnü pulled a face at Yang Guo, as if to say that he left a tangle of love wherever he went, and plenty of girls were fretting over him because of it. Yang Guo smiled and drew her close, and waved his hand slightly to tell her to keep quiet, so that they could hear what the two of them had to say.

At this from Wu Xiuwen, Guo Fu flew into a rage and raised her voice. “If that’s how it is, then everything we said before counts for nothing. I’ll go far away on my own and never see Yang Guo again, and you and I need never see each other again either.” There was a sharp rustle of cloth. Wu Xiuwen must have caught her sleeve, and she had jerked it free. Her voice grew angrier still. “What are you pulling at me for? Whether he shows off or not, what’s that to do with me? If my father and mother promised me to him for life, I’d rather die than go through with it. If Father presses me too hard, I’ll run far away. That Yang Guo has been arrogant and overbearing since he was little, always thinking how wonderful he is, and I’ve never thought anything of him. Father treats him like a treasure. Hmph. If you ask me, he’s a bad lot.” Wu Xiuwen said hastily, “Yes, yes. I was just being stupidly suspicious before. Please don’t be angry, Sister Fu. If I ever do it again, may I die a dog’s death and be born next time as a turtle, a great big tortoise.”⁴ His voice was brimming with happiness. Guo Fu giggled.

Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü looked at each other and smiled. One smile said, You see how she runs me down. The other said, So I was wrong before. I love you, but other people’s hearts are set elsewhere. From the way Guo Fu talked, though she scolded Wu Xiuwen one moment and sulked the next, and had him meek as a lamb and all at sixes and sevens, at heart she was truly tender towards him.

Then Wu Xiuwen said, “Shimu loves you best of all. Beg her day and night, cling to her and don’t let go. As long as Shimu agrees you needn’t marry that Yang, Shifu won’t say a word.” Guo Fu said, “Hmph. What do you know? Father listens to Mother, but on big matters Mother never goes against him.” Wu Xiuwen sighed. “If only you were like that with me.”

There was a sharp smack, and Wu Xiuwen cried out in pain. “Ow, what are you hitting me again for?” Guo Fu said, “Who told you to take liberties? I won’t marry Yang Guo, but that doesn’t mean I’ll marry you either, you little monkey.” Wu Xiuwen said, “Oh, fine. So tonight you’ve finally let out what’s in your heart. You won’t be my wife, but you’ll gladly be my sister-in-law. I tell you, I tell you…” He was so flustered with rage that the rest would not come out.

Guo Fu’s voice suddenly softened. “Little Wu gege, you’ve told me a thousand times, ten thousand times, how good you are to me, and I’ve long known your heart is true. Your elder brother has never said it once, but I know he is just as devoted to me. Whichever of you I’m promised to, one of you brothers is bound to be heartbroken. You care for me and cherish me. Don’t you see how hard this is for me?”

Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen had grown up without a father or mother to look after them, and the two brothers had always been deeply attached to each other. But in recent years both had fallen hopelessly in love with Guo Fu, and a hidden sore had grown between them. In his distress Wu Xiuwen actually burst into tears. Guo Fu took out her handkerchief and tossed it to him, sighing. “Little Wu gege, we’ve grown up together since we were small. I respect your brother, but I find you easier to talk to. I truly don’t favour either of you, not one bit. Today you insist on making me say it plainly, one way or the other. If you were me, what would you say?” Wu Xiuwen said, “I don’t know. All I know is that if you marry someone else, I can’t go on living.”

Guo Fu said, “That’s enough. No more of this tonight. Father fought for his life against the enemy today, and here we are in the garden talking about things that don’t matter. If he heard us, we’d all look foolish. Little Wu gege, let me tell you something. If you want to win my parents’ favour, why not win more honours in battle? Hanging around me all day long, won’t that just make them think less of you?” Wu Xiuwen jumped up and said loudly, “Right. I’ll go and kill Kublai and lift the siege of Xiangyang. Will you promise yourself to me then?” Guo Fu gave him a dazzling smile. “If you did a great deed like that, I don’t suppose I could refuse you even if I wanted to. But how many guards does Kublai have around him? There’s State Preceptor Jinlun for one, and even Father might not beat him. Stop dreaming, and be a good boy and go to bed.”

Wu Xiuwen gazed fondly at her pretty face a few times more, reluctant to leave. “All right. Then you go to bed early too.” He turned and walked a few steps, then stopped again and looked back. “Sister Fu, will you dream tonight?” Guo Fu laughed. “How should I know?” Wu Xiuwen said, “If you do, what do you think you’ll dream of?” Guo Fu smiled. “Probably a little monkey.” Wu Xiuwen was overjoyed, and went off skipping and bouncing.

Behind the flowers, Xiaolongnü and Yang Guo had listened to all this sweet talk, and they smiled at each other. Both had the same thought. One of them loves helplessly and clings, the other can’t make up her mind. Beside the two of us, who love each other with all our hearts and would die without regret, how could their contentment and joy ever compare?

After Wu Xiuwen had gone, Guo Fu sat alone on the stone bench, staring blankly at the moon, and after a long while she heaved a deep sigh. Suddenly someone came out from behind the rockery opposite. “Sister Fu, what are you sighing for?” It was Wu Dunru. Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü were both a little startled. He must have been following quietly ever since Wu Xiuwen and Guo Fu came into the garden.

Guo Fu said, a little crossly, “You’re always so sly and peculiar. You heard everything I said to your brother, didn’t you?” Wu Dunru nodded. He stood facing her, keeping well away, but his eyes were full of longing. The two of them faced each other in silence for a good while. Then Guo Fu said, “What do you want to say to me?” Wu Dunru said, “Nothing. You know without my saying it.” And he turned slowly and slowly walked away.

Guo Fu watched Wu Dunru’s back as he went off behind the rockery, and not once did he look round. Big Wu or Little Wu, she thought, if only there were just one of them in the world, wouldn’t that be best? She sighed deeply and went back to her room alone.

When she was well away, Yang Guo asked with a smile, “If you were her, which one would you marry?” Xiaolongnü put her head on one side and thought for a while. “You.” Yang Guo laughed. “I don’t count. Miss Guo doesn’t like me in the least. I mean, if you were her, which of the two Wu brothers would you marry?” Xiaolongnü said “Mm”, and weighed the two Wus against each other in her mind. At last she said again, “I’d still marry you.” Yang Guo, half laughing and half grateful, put his arms round her and held her close. “Other people can’t make up their minds,” he said tenderly, “but my Aunt loves only me.”

The two of them sat leaning against each other, their hearts full of happiness, until dawn.

Footnotes

1. 马钰 – Mǎ Yù. His name meaning “precious jade”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 裘千尺 – Qiú Qiānchǐ. Gongsun Zhi’s wife and Qiu Qianren’s younger sister; known as Iron Palm Lotus. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 绝情谷 – Juéqíng Gǔ. Hidden valley ruled by Gongsun Zhi, known for its deadly Passion Flowers and the Passionless Divine Palm technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 乌龟大王八 – wūguī dà wángbā. Turtle and great big tortoise: both are slang for a cuckold and among the commonest of Chinese insults; here a joking oath. ↩