The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 22 – Part 8

“Li shibo,”¹ Yang Guo called, “the bald thief has gone. Let’s go out together.” Then he dropped his voice. “We’ll both cry out as if we’re hurt and lure him into the cave.” Li Mochou could not tell what trick he was up to, but she had long known how sly the boy was. She had come off worst against him more than once herself. If he had laid some clever plan, it would probably work. Besides, the baby was in her own arms. Once the State Preceptor was driven off, Yang Guo would have to bring her the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra in exchange for the child. So she nodded.

Together they cried out, “Aaah!” Yang Guo pretended to be badly hurt and groaned aloud. “You… how could you strike me such a vicious blow?” Then, under his breath, “Pretend you’re dying.” “You…” Li Mochou cried angrily, “today I… may die at your hands, but you little wretch… won’t live either.” Towards the end her voice came in broken gasps, as if she had no breath left.

Outside the cave the State Preceptor was overjoyed to hear it. The two of them are fighting over the baby, he thought, and before they’re even out of the cave they’re killing each other. It sounds as if both are badly hurt. He was afraid the baby might be killed too, and then he would have nothing to hold over Guo Jing. At once he pushed the brushwood aside and rushed into the cave. He had taken barely two steps when he felt a faint prick in the sole of his left foot.

He was astonishingly quick to react. Before the foot came down fully, he thrust off with his right foot and leapt backward out of the cave. But when his left foot touched the ground his calf went numb, and he very nearly fell. With neigong as deep as his, even several cuts of a dao would not have made him stagger in a leap. In a flash he understood: the sole of his foot had been pricked by something deadly poisonous. He was about to pull off his shoe and sock to look when Nimoxing came back round the hillside. “Boy tell lies,” he shouted. “Behind hill, no way out. Guo Jing and wife still in cave.” The State Preceptor stopped taking off his shoe and kept his face blank. “You guessed right. But there’s no sound from inside. I expect the smoke has knocked them all senseless.”

Nimoxing was delighted. The glory of taking Guo Jing alive had fallen to him at last, he thought, and he never stopped to wonder why the State Preceptor was not grabbing it for himself. Whirling his iron serpent to guard his vitals, he plunged straight in at the mouth of the cave. Yang Guo had planted his three silver needles points up right in the path, so that however long or short a man’s stride, he could not help treading on one. Nimoxing was short-legged and took little steps, and he went in fast. His right foot came down on a silver needle, and before he could draw back at the pain, his left foot had come down on another point. In Tianzhu the weather is hot and the people have always gone barefoot, and Nimoxing wore no shoes either. The soles of his feet were trained as thick as cowhide, but the Soul-Freezing Silver Needles were sharp beyond measure and had sunk in a good inch. He was a fierce, hardy fellow and thought nothing of so small a hurt. He swept his iron serpent along the ground and, finding no more needles ahead, was about to go on in and take Guo Jing and his wife alive when suddenly both his legs went numb and limp. He could not stay on his feet and fell flat. Only then did he realise how terrible the poison on the needles was, and he rolled and scrambled his way out of the cave in a hurry. There he found the State Preceptor with his shoe and sock off, holding a swollen, blackened left leg in his hands and circulating his neili to stop the poison from rising.

Nimoxing flew into a rage. “Bad bald thief,” he shouted, “you know you poisoned, why you not tell me, let me fall in trap too?” The State Preceptor gave a faint smile. “I fell into one trap and you fell into one. That way neither of us loses by it.” Nimoxing’s anger boiled over past all holding. “Me, I not want catch Guo Jing no more,” he roared. “Nimoxing and bad monk, today we fight till one dead!” There was no strength left in his legs. He pushed off the ground with his left hand and hurled himself bodily at the State Preceptor, bringing the iron serpent in his right hand down at the crown of his head. The State Preceptor raised the copper wheel to block the iron serpent, then swung his arm across and drove out his elbow. Nimoxing, in midair, could not dodge, and the State Preceptor’s move came very fast, and the elbow caught him on the shoulder.

Tough as Nimoxing’s sinews and bones were, the blow sent a searing pain through to his heart. Mad with rage and heedless of his life, he flung himself on the State Preceptor, locked his arms round him and bit, and his teeth sank right into the Qishe acupoint² below the State Preceptor’s neck. At any other time, with martial skill like the State Preceptor’s, how could he have let Nimoxing come close enough to grab him? And even then, how could he have let him bite so vital an acupoint at the neck? But the State Preceptor knew that the poisoned needle in his foot was no trifle. All his neili was spent in fighting the poison, forcing it back so that it could not pass the Ququan acupoint³ between thigh and calf. So long as he held that pass, the worst he would suffer was the loss of one leg. It would not cost him his life. When Nimoxing sprang at him, he had in effect lost all his neigong and could fight back only with external techniques. Nimoxing, though, was putting out all his strength, and once his teeth had closed on the acupoint he would not let go.

The State Preceptor hooked out with his right foot. Nimoxing had long since lost the strength in his legs, and he pitched forward, and both of them went down together. The State Preceptor reached up to pull him off, but with that vital acupoint held, his hands had lost much of their strength. How could he shift him? All he could do was reach round and clamp his hand on the Dazhui acupoint⁴ at the back of Nimoxing’s neck, to stop him dealing a sudden fatal blow. Both were masters of the first rank, but poisoned and grappling at close quarters, they fought like a pair of street ruffians brawling, with no thought left for their standing.

They rolled over and over on the ground and drew gradually closer to the cliff edge at the side of the valley. The State Preceptor saw it clearly. “Let go, quick,” he shouted. “One step further and we’ll both be smashed to pieces.” But Nimoxing had lost all reason. Since he was not spending his neili on fighting the poison, his neili ran far deeper than the State Preceptor’s now, and as he pushed with all his might, the State Preceptor could not hold him. The cliff edge was only a few feet off now, with the deep valley below. Desperation sharpened the State Preceptor’s wits. “Guo Jing’s here!” he shouted. Nimoxing started. “Where?” The moment he said it, his mouth opened and let go of the State Preceptor’s acupoint. With a whoosh, the State Preceptor drove his breath into his left palm and struck out. Nimoxing knew he had been tricked. He ducked his head and lunged forward, bent double.

The State Preceptor had struck to make Nimoxing dodge back. But he had forgotten that his opponent’s legs were poisoned and no longer obeyed him, so how could Nimoxing leap back? Seeing him come on instead of falling back, the State Preceptor was aghast, and in that moment they were tangled together again. Suddenly there was nothing beneath them, and the two plunged straight down into the valley.

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Seeing Yang Guo’s clever plan succeed, Li Mochou had to admire the boy for how capable he truly was. Hearing the two outside cursing and fighting, she knew the danger was over, and she was about to stride out of the cave when she heard the State Preceptor and Nimoxing cry out together in the strangest voices. That was the cry they gave as they fell off the cliff. But the cliff was more than a hundred feet from the cave and screened off by a shoulder of rock, so nothing outside could be seen from within, and there was no knowing why the two of them should cry out like that. “Hey, boy, what are they up to?” said Li Mochou. Yang Guo had no more expected the two of them to fall into the valley than she had. “The bald thief is as sly as they come,” he said slowly. “We pretended to wound each other, and I’m afraid they’re playing the same trick to lure us out.”

Li Mochou thought he was right. “Mm,” she said in a low voice. “He must want to trick me into coming out so that he can take my antidote.” She edged slowly toward the mouth of the cave, meaning to peep out. “Mind the silver needles in the ground,” said Yang Guo. The words were no sooner out than he regretted them, Why on earth should I warn this she-devil? It was only that he was good-hearted by nature, and having fought the enemy alongside Li Mochou, he had forgotten for the moment that she was his foe.

Li Mochou started and drew her foot back hastily. By now the fire at the cave mouth had gone out and the cave was pitch dark again. She could not see in the dark as Yang Guo could, and had no idea where the three needles were planted. If she stepped out blindly, nine chances in ten she would tread on one. She had the antidote, but the poison on the needles was fearsome, and curing it would be agony. And with a needle in her foot, Yang Guo would certainly seize the chance to attack her, and she would have no time to treat the poison. She might very well lose her life to her own poisoned needles. “Quick, pull the needles out,” she said. “Why are we stuck in here?” “Wait a little,” said Yang Guo. “Let the poison kill the two of them, and then there’s no hurry to go out.” Li Mochou snorted. She was deeply wary of Yang Guo. Shut in this dark cave with him, she was in danger every moment. She might no longer be able to beat him at martial skill, and in cunning she was no match for him. She bowed her head and pondered how to get out.

Outside the cave all was still. Inside, the two of them sat silent, each busy with his own thoughts. All at once the baby gave a “Wah” and burst out crying. She had not had a mouthful of milk since she was born, and of course she was hungry.

Li Mochou gave a cold laugh. “And where is my shimei?⁵ Doesn’t she care if her own child starves to death?” “Who says she’s Aunt’s child?” said Yang Guo. “She’s the daughter of Guo daxia,⁶ Guo Jing.” “Hmph,” said Li Mochou. “You think the name of Guo daxia will frighten me? You’d never fight like this for somebody else’s child. She’s the bastard of the two of you, shifu and disciple, that’s plain.”

Yang Guo was furious. “Yes,” he shouted, “I mean to marry Aunt. But we aren’t married yet, so where would a child come from? Keep your mouth clean.” Li Mochou gave another cold laugh and curled her lip. “If you want my mouth kept clean, you’d do better to keep your own conduct with your shifu clean.” All his life Yang Guo had revered Xiaolongnü as a being from heaven, and he would not hear her slandered like that. Angrier still, he shouted, “My shifu is pure as ice and clean as jade. Don’t you talk such filth.” “Pure as ice and clean as jade indeed,” said Li Mochou, “and she has a child before she’s even married.”

With a swish Yang Guo thrust his jian straight at her breast. “Curse me as you please,” he shouted, “but you’ve insulted my shifu, and today I’ll fight you to the death.” Swish, swish, swish: three thrusts in a chain. His swordplay was superb and his eyes could see clearly, while Li Mochou had to parry entirely by listening for the wind of the blade. She was not out by a hair, but after a few moves she was in danger on every side. It was well for her that Yang Guo was thinking of the child. He was afraid that if he pressed her too hard she would do the baby some cruel harm, so he held back his killing moves.

They had traded a dozen or more moves in the cave when the baby suddenly gave a cry, and then for a long while there was no sound from her at all.

Yang Guo was horrified and drew back his jian at once. “Have you hurt the child?” he asked, his voice shaking. Seeing how much he cared for the baby, Li Mochou was all the surer she was his own. “She isn’t dead yet,” she said. “But if you don’t do as I tell you, do you think I lack the nerve to throttle the little brat?” Yang Guo shivered. He knew well that she killed without blinking. Never mind a newborn baby: given the least grudge, she would slaughter a whole household and leave not a dog or a chicken alive. “You’re my shibo,” he said. “So long as you don’t abuse my shifu, of course I’ll do as you say.” Hearing his tone soften, Li Mochou knew that so long as the baby was in her hands he could not stand against her. “Good. I won’t abuse your shifu, and you’ll do as I say. Now go out and see how the poison is working on those two.”

Yang Guo did as she said and went out of the cave. He looked all round, but there was no trace of the State Preceptor or Nimoxing. Afraid the State Preceptor, with all his tricks, might be lying hidden somewhere, he slashed and stabbed with his jian among the trees and long grass nearby, but found no one hiding. He went back into the cave. “They’ve both gone. I expect they took fright at the poison and ran a long way off.”

“Hmph,” said Li Mochou. “Struck by the poison of my silver needles, how far can they get, even if they run? Pull out the needles at the mouth of the cave and put them in front of me.” Hearing the baby crying on and on, Yang Guo thought it was high time to go out and find her something to eat. So he wrapped his hand in the strip of his robe again, pulled out the silver needles and gave them back to her.

Li Mochou put the three silver needles back among the rest and strode straight out. Yang Guo followed her out. “Where are you taking the child?” he asked. “Home with me,” said Li Mochou. “What do you want with her?” said Yang Guo urgently. “She isn’t yours.” Li Mochou’s cheeks flushed, and then her face went hard. “What nonsense are you talking? Bring me the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra of our Ancient Tomb School, and I’ll give you back the child, and I promise not a hair of her head will be harmed.” With that she took off with her qinggong and sped away northward.

Yang Guo followed close behind her. “You have to give her milk first,” he called. Li Mochou spun round, her face scarlet. “You brat, have you no respect for your elders,” she shouted, “taking liberties with me like that?” Yang Guo was puzzled. “Eh? How am I taking liberties? If the child gets no milk, won’t she starve?” “I am a maiden who has kept herself pure as jade,” said Li Mochou. “How should I have milk for your little brat to drink?” Yang Guo gave a little smile. “Li shibo, I meant you should find some milk for the child to drink, not that you yourself should…”

Footnotes

1. 师伯 – shībó. Senior lineage uncle. Shixiong or shijie of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Bó means father’s elder brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 气舍穴 – Qishe acupoint. Located on the neck, just above the collarbone, along the Stomach meridian. This is a critical acupoint; striking or biting it can severely disrupt the flow of qi. ↩

3. 曲泉穴 – Ququan acupoint. Located at the medial end of the transverse crease of the knee, on the Liver meridian. The State Preceptor is using this point as a barrier to prevent the poison from spreading from his lower leg into his thigh and torso. ↩

4. 大椎穴 – Dàzhuī Xué. GV-14 acupoint on the Governing Vessel meridian, located below the seventh cervical vertebra at the base of the neck. Major acupoint governing the flow of qi between the upper body and head. ↩

5. 师妹 – shīmèi. Female junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Mèi means younger sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 大侠 – dàxiá. Literally great xia. Honorific for a martial artist of great renown and chivalrous conduct. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩