The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 22 – Part 2

Suddenly, he saw ahead countless more troops coming to capture Guo Jing. He flailed his longsword, shouting, “Don’t hurt my Uncle Guo!” He stabbed and slashed wildly left and right. Before his eyes, everything blurred, a face here, a figure there. He swung his sword a while longer, then tumbled from the horse. He was still shouting, “Kill me! Kill me! It is my fault! Don’t hurt Uncle Guo!” Then the heavens spun and the earth turned, and he knew no more.

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He did not know how long it was before he drifted back to consciousness. He cried out, “Uncle Guo! Uncle Guo! How are you? Don’t hurt Uncle Guo!” A gentle voice beside him said, “Guoer, be at ease. Your Uncle Guo will be fine after some rest.” Yang Guo turned his head. It was Huang Rong¹, her face full of gratitude. Behind her stood someone whose eyes glistened with tears, gazing at him with tenderness and love. Xiaolongnü². Yang Guo cried out in alarm, “Gugu³, how did you get here? Did the Mongols capture you too? Flee, quickly! Don’t worry about me.” Xiaolongnü said softly, “Guoer, you have come back. Do not be afraid. We are all safe and sound in Xiangyang.”

Yang Guo let out a long sigh. He felt every bone and sinew in his body limp and without anchor. He closed his eyes again. Huang Rong said, “He has awakened. There is no danger now. Stay here with him.” Xiaolongnü nodded, her eyes never leaving Yang Guo.

Huang Rong rose and was about to leave the room when she heard a faint click from the rooftop. Her expression shifted slightly. With a wave of her left palm, she extinguished the candle. The room plunged into sudden darkness, and Yang Guo sat up with a start. His injuries were only external, he had lost a great deal of blood and exhausted himself in fierce combat, which was why he had fainted. But half a day had passed since then. Huang Rong had given him the Peach Blossom Island’s secret healing medicine, the Nine Flower Jade Dew Pills.⁴ Young and robust, he had already recovered more than half his strength. Alerted that there was trouble on the roof, he immediately roused himself, ready to rise and fight. Xiaolongnü moved in front of him, drew the Gentleman’s Sword from its place by the bed, and said in a low voice, “Stay still. I will guard you here.”

From the rooftop came a hearty laugh. A voice rang out: “This humble one has come to deliver a letter. Can it be that Southern Dynasty etiquette requires receiving guests in the dark? If there is something shameful to hide, this humble one can return later.” The accent belonged to the Imperial Preceptor’s disciple, Huodu. Huang Rong answered, “Southern Dynasty etiquette adapts to the person. In broad daylight, we receive honourable guests who come in the open. On nights when candles are snuffed and stars sink, we meet villainous guests who skulk and sneak.” Huodu was struck speechless. He leaped lightly down into the courtyard and said, “A letter, to be delivered to Guo Jing, Great Xia Guo.”⁵ Huang Rong opened the door and said, “Please, come in.”

Huodu saw the room was pitch black and did not dare step straight in. He stood outside the door and said, “The letter is here. Please take it.” Huang Rong said, “You call yourself a guest. Why not enter the room?” Huodu sneered. “A gentleman does not place himself in danger. One must guard against hidden arrows.” Huang Rong said, “Is there a gentleman in this world who measures others by his own petty heart?” Huodu felt his face flush. This Chief Huang has a formidable tongue, he thought. In a battle of words with her, I would surely come off worse. Better to hide my inadequacy. He said nothing more, fixed his gaze on the doorway, and extended both hands holding the letter.

Huang Rong thrust out her bamboo staff, darting it toward his face. Huodu was startled and leaped backward several chi. But he felt his hands were empty, the letter had vanished. Huang Rong had touched the tip of her staff to the letter and, using adhesive force, drawn it toward her as he jumped back. She was close to giving birth and her belly was large. She did not wish to meet any outsider face to face, and so she never showed herself to the enemy. Huodu, shaken, felt his spirits plummet. The aggressive confidence with which he had entered the city was now eight or nine parts gone. He called out loudly, “The letter has been delivered. We shall meet again tomorrow night!”

Huang Rong thought, This city of Xiangyang, does he think he can come and go as he pleases? Is that not contempt, as though our city had no one in it? She reached for the teapot on the table and flung its contents outward. A pot of freshly brewed hot tea shot from the spout in a single thread-like stream.

Huodu had been on full alert, fearing some hidden projectile from the room. But this stream of tea flew out without a sound, unlike ordinary projectiles that announced themselves with a whistle of wind. By the time he sensed it, the tea had already splashed across his neck, chest, and right hand. The scalding heat made him cry out in shock. “Ow!”, and he scrambled to dodge aside. Huang Rong, standing by the door, seized the moment before he could steady himself. She extended her bamboo staff and employed the “Tripping” formula of the Dog-beating Staff Technique.⁶ With a thud, she sent him sprawling. Huodu tried to spring up, but the Tripping formula struck faster with each successive blow. If you could evade the first strike and immediately dodge away, only then could you hope to parry the second. But having been tripped on the very first strike, how could he possibly avoid the second? His feet felt as though they were mired in a swamp, tangled in countless vines. He fell, scrambled up, and fell again.

Huodu’s martial arts were by no means weak. In a formal duel with Huang Rong, though he would ultimately be a notch below her, he would not have been thrown into such disarray from the very start. But the sudden scalding tea had made him believe he had been doused with some terrifying, lethal poison. He feared for his life, once the poison took effect, who knew how hideously his flesh would rot? While his soul was still reeling in terror, Huang Rong struck without warning. The first blow had already broken his footing, and he had no chance against the second. In the darkness, he was battered until his nose was bruised and his face swollen.

By now, the Wu brothers had arrived, drawn by the noise. Huang Rong shouted, “Seize this little thief!”

In his desperation, Huodu’s wits sharpened. He knew that the moment he stood up, he would be tripped yet again. With a great cry of “Ow!”, he feigned a heavy fall and lay on the ground, refusing to rise. The Wu brothers pounced together, trying to pin him down. Huodu’s iron-framed folding fan suddenly shot out. Tap, tap, he struck the acupoints on both their legs. He shoved both of them forward simultaneously, using their bodies to block Huang Rong’s bamboo staff, then leaped into the air and landed on the wall. Cupping his hands in salute, he called out, “Chief Huang, what formidable staff technique! What worthless disciples!”

Huang Rong laughed. “Since your body is soaked in poison water, how could anyone else dare lay a hand on you?” Huodu’s heart nearly burst with terror. This poison water scalds the skin, yet carries the scent of tea leaves. What kind of fearsome, bizarre drug could this be? Huang Rong, guessing his thoughts, said, “You have been struck by a lethal poison, and yet you do not even know the name of the poison water. To die in such ignorance. I imagine you would find it hard to close your eyes in peace. Very well, it will do no harm to tell you. This poison is called the Midnight Bone-baring Tea.”⁷

Huodu murmured, “Midnight Bone-baring Tea?” Huang Rong said, “Indeed. A single drop on the skin, and your entire body will rot until the bone is laid bare. Between the hour of the Rat and the hour of the Horse, or between the hour of the Horse and the hour of the Rat, you have but six shichen left to live.⁸ Hurry home now.”

Huodu had long known that Chief Huang of the Beggars’ Sect not only possessed formidable martial arts, but wisdom and cunning that none could fathom. Her father, Huang Yaoshi, was a man of boundless erudition, his very name contained the character for “medicine,” and to that was added the character for “master.”⁹ Of course he was a supreme expert in pharmacology. With her inherited learning and her own brilliant mind, concocting this Midnight Bone-baring Tea would be as easy as turning over her palm. For a moment, Huodu stood frozen on the wall, uncertain whether to go home and await death, or to lower his head and beg her for the antidote.

Huang Rong knew that Huodu was no fool. The poison-water tale could only deceive him for so long, given time, he would surely see through the ruse. She said, “I had no grudge against you to begin with. Had you not spoken with such insolence, you would not have thrown your life away for nothing.” Huodu caught a thread of hope in her words. All thoughts of dignity and pride vanished. He leaped down from the wall and bowed so deeply his head nearly touched the ground. “This humble one was insolent. I beg Chief Huang to forgive my offence.” Huang Rong, concealed behind the door, flicked her finger. A Nine Flower Jade Dew Pill shot out. She said, “Swallow this quickly.” Huodu caught it in his hand. This was a life-saving elixir, how could he delay? He hurriedly put it in his mouth. A pure, refreshing fragrance penetrated straight through to his dantian. A comfort beyond description spread through his entire body. He bowed again and said, “My thanks to Chief Huang for the medicine!” By now, all his arrogance had evaporated. He backed away slowly until he reached the wall, then flipped over it and hurried out of the city.

Huang Rong watched him disappear into the distance and gave a soft sigh. She unsealed the Wu brothers’ acupoints. Huodu’s words echoed in her mind: “What formidable staff technique! What worthless disciples!” Though she had outwitted the enemy, her heart held no pride. The Dog-beating Staff Technique she had used to trip Huodu had required subtle force, and even that had pulled at her belly, causing a dull ache within. She sat down in a chair and regulated her breathing for a long while.

Xiaolongnü lit a candle. Huang Rong opened the letter and read:

“The Mongol Empire’s First Protector of the Faith, the Great Lama Jinlun, sends greetings to the feet of Great Xia Guo: Just now I paid an unworthy visit and was able to behold your noble bearing, which has truly fulfilled a lifelong wish. I had hoped to converse by candlelight through the night, but alas, your esteemed regard was not easily won. How is it that this old monk is so unworthy of your instruction that our meeting was so hurried, coming and going in such haste? The ancients spoke of heads turned white as though still newly met, and of carriages tilting together as though old friends.¹⁰ Long have I pondered, and deeply do I long for you. Tomorrow I shall return to pay my respects. I pray you will not keep a man a thousand li¹¹ away.”

Huang Rong was alarmed. She passed the letter to Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü to read, then said, “The walls of Xiangyang may be strong, but they cannot stop masters of the jianghu¹². Your Uncle Guo is gravely wounded, and I cannot exert my strength. With the enemy preparing to launch a major assault, what are we to do?”

Footnotes

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

2. 小龙女 – Xiǎolóngnǚ. Literally little dragon maiden. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. Gugu (姑姑) — Literally “paternal aunt,” but used here as a term of respectful address for a young woman of the older generation. Yang Guo uses this to address Xiaolongnü, his shifu. ↩

4. 九花玉露丸 – Jiǔhuā Yùlù Wán. Peach Blossom Island healing medicine. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

5. 大侠 – dàxiá. Literally great xia. Title of the highest honour for a chivalrous martial hero. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 绊字诀 – Tripping Formula. One of the eight core formulae of the Dog-beating Staff Technique. Tripping formula delivers a rapid sequence of strikes that repeatedly trip the opponent, each successive blow coming faster than the last. ↩

7. 子午见骨茶 – Midnight Bone-baring Tea. Completely fabricated poison name invented by Huang Rong on the spot. “Zi” (子) refers to the hour of the Rat (11 PM — 1 AM) and “Wu” (午) to the hour of the Horse (11 AM — 1 PM), together suggesting a poison that kills within half a day. ↩

8. 六个时辰 – Six Shichen. Twelve hours. Huang Rong claims the fictional poison kills within six shichen — from the hour of the Rat to the hour of the Horse (midnight to noon), or from noon to midnight. ↩

9. 黄药师 – Huáng Yàoshī. His name meaning “medicine master”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 白头如新，倾盖如故 – “Heads turned white as though still newly met, carriages tilting together as though old friends”. Classical Chinese proverb from the Records of the Grand Historian (《史记》). It means that some people can know each other until their hair turns white yet still feel like strangers, while others can meet for the first time — their carriages tilting toward each other on the road — and feel like old friends. Imperial Preceptor is making a literary allusion to suggest a deep, instant connection with Guo Jing, despite their brief encounter. ↩

11. 里 – lǐ. Traditional Chinese unit of distance, approximately 500 metres or a third of a mile. ↩

12. 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. ↩