The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 23 – Part 4

Wu Dunru saw his brother at a disadvantage. His longsword shot forth in a rapid thrust, attacking Yang Guo fiercely. Yang Guo said, “Indeed, born of the same womb, sharing hardship together.” The wooden rod flickered, and in the blink of an eye he had somehow circled behind Wu Dunru. Smack, he struck him across the buttocks. The rod seemed to move slowly, yet it always struck from angles the opponent could never anticipate. The Dog-beating Staff Technique was endlessly unpredictable, as unfathomable as the workings of ghosts and gods. Wu Dunru felt no real pain from the blow, but it was clearly a lost exchange, and a secret fear began to grow in him.

Wu Xiuwen scrambled up and shouted, “That is the Dog-beating Staff Technique! How is that something Mistress secretly taught you? It was clearly something we all saw together when Mistress was teaching it to Elder Lu! You stole a few moves on the sly. What does that prove?” Yang Guo extended his wooden rod and. smack, tripped him again, this time sending him pitching forward onto his face. Wu Dunru swept his sword horizontally, shielding his brother.

Yang Guo waited for Wu Xiuwen to climb back up, then laughed and said, “We all saw it together. So why is it that I can use it and you cannot? What my mother-in-law told Elder Lu was only the oral formulae. The actual moves were taught to me by my mother-in-law in private. Even my Sister Fu does not know them. How could you?”

Wu Xiuwen did not know about Yang Guo’s unique encounters, how Hong Qigong had explained the moves to him while duelling Ouyang Feng¹, or how later, inside the stone formation, Huang Rong had given him detailed instruction so he could help her fight Jinlun Guoshi. He thought, There is probably some truth in his words. Otherwise, why would he be able to use the staff the moment he heard the oral formulae while I understood nothing at all? Still, he stubbornly argued, “That is because each person’s character is different. This staff technique can only be used by the Chief of the Beggars’ Sect. Having overheard it by accident, without Mistress’s command, how could we dare steal the knowledge? Only a base, despicable person would memorise it so carefully. You have no shame, only inviting the ridicule of others.”

Yang Guo laughed heartily. The wooden rod feinted, and smack, smack, he landed a strike on each of their backs. The Wu brothers leaped back in haste, their faces flushing bright red. Yang Guo laughed. “Right now there is no one to bear witness. Even if I beat you with the Dog-beating Staff Technique, your mouths may submit but your hearts will not. Very well, I will use another technique secretly taught by my mother-in-law. Let me give you a taste.” He looked at Big Wu, then Little Wu, and asked, “Who taught my mother-in-law her martial arts?”

Wu Xiuwen said angrily, “If you keep babbling ‘mother-in-law’ this and ‘mother-in-law’ that with such shamelessness, we will not speak to you anymore.” Yang Guo smiled. “Why be so petty? Fine, let me ask you: before your shifu’s wife became Elder Hong’s disciple, from whom did she learn her martial arts?” Wu Xiuwen said, “my shifu’s wife is the daughter of Island Master Huang of Peach Blossom Island. Her martial arts are the direct transmission of Island Master Huang. Who under heaven does not know this?” Yang Guo said, “Correct. You lived on Peach Blossom Island for many years. Do you know what Island Master Huang’s supreme skill is?” Wu Xiuwen said, “Island Master Huang’s literary talent and martial strategy are all-encompassing. There is no such thing as one supreme skill.” Yang Guo said, “That is not wrong either. But taking swordsmanship as an example, what sword technique does Island Master Huang use?” Wu Xiuwen said, “Why ask what you already know? Island Master Huang’s Jade Flute Swordplay stands alone in the jianghu, shaking the jianghu with its fame. There is no one who does not know of it.”

Yang Guo said, “Have you ever seen Island Master Huang?” Wu Xiuwen said, “Of course we have seen Island Master Huang.” Yang Guo said, “Then have you seen his Jade Flute Swordplay?” Wu Xiuwen sneered. “Island Master Huang rarely demonstrates his palm or sword techniques before us juniors. But that year on Island Master Huang’s birthday, Aunt Guo held a banquet in distant tribute. After the banquet, she performed it once to display the wondrous subtlety of the Island Master’s martial arts. We two brothers and Sister Fu did indeed see it with our own eyes. At that time, Brother Yang had already gone to Quanzhen to seek a more enlightened teacher.” Yang Guo laughed. “Indeed. And afterward, my mother-in-law… very well, afterward your shifu’s wife secretly taught the Jade Flute Swordplay to me.”

The Wu brothers exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads in disbelief. They thought, Back then, Yang Guo did indeed become Huang Rong’s student, but we all knew that Mistress only taught him to read and study, never passing on any martial arts. That was why, when we fought on Peach Blossom Island, he was no match for us brothers. That final push that injured Wu Xiuwen. Grandpa Ke said it was the Toad Skill of the Western Poison, Ouyang Feng. The Jade Flute Swordplay is complex and profound. Even Guo Fu, Mistress’s own beloved daughter, has not been taught it to this day. Since Yang Guo returned from Mount Zhongnan, every meeting with Mistress has been a brief encounter before parting. Even if Mistress had wanted to teach him swordplay, she would hardly have had the time. Watching him hold the wooden rod like a sword, they thought, If we use our swords to cut through his wooden rod, that will count as a win.

Yang Guo lightly swung the wooden rod and called out, “Watch! This is ‘Xiao Shi Rides the Dragon’!”² Using the rod as a sword, he thrust it forth. With a soft thump, it struck Wu Dunru’s right chest. Had the rod been a sharp sword, it would have pierced straight through his chest, and his life would already have been forfeit.

Wu Xiuwen was quick to react. His longsword shot out, attacking Yang Guo’s right flank. But he was still a step too slow. Yang Guo’s wooden rod swept back and suddenly stabbed toward his right wrist. This move was launched later yet arrived first. Before Wu Xiuwen’s sword tip could touch the opponent’s body, his wrist would be struck by the rod’s tip, and his sword would inevitably fly from his grasp. He hurriedly pulled back his sword and changed his move, retracting his wrist and withdrawing his blade while kicking out with his left leg. But Yang Guo’s wooden rod had already thrust toward Wu Dunru’s shoulder, his body following the rod, weaving defence into attack. He evaded Wu Xiuwen’s kick without seeming to evade it at all. Wu Xiuwen’s kick met empty air, while Wu Dunru found himself in dire straits, frantically sweeping his longsword to guard his position, barely keeping the rod from striking his body.

Within a few exchanges, the two Wus were in complete disarray. They could barely defend themselves with desperate effort, how could they possibly spare a thought for cutting through his wooden rod? Yang Guo called out the names of the moves as he executed them: “Pure Tone Beyond the Mountains,” “Golden Sound, Jade Resonance,” “The Phoenix Song Carries Far,” “Echoes Across the Terrace,” “Oarsong on the Midstream”…³ The wooden rod thrust continuously, each movement flowing with effortless grace, every stroke an attack. Before the two Wus could neutralise one move, the second and third were already bearing down on them. He stabbed from the east, slashed from the west, forcing the two Wus to fight shoulder to shoulder in defence, not daring to separate by even half a step.

When the two Wus had watched Huang Rong perform this swordplay, they had merely glanced at it and thought nothing more. They had assumed those elegant, ornamental moves were only for show, meant purely for performance. How could they have imagined such subtle and wondrous applications hidden within? The names Yang Guo called out, it seemed Huang Rong had indeed spoken them that day. Under the rod’s relentless pressure, the two Wus were not only miserably constrained in their swordplay, but far more painfully, their hearts were crushed. They were now utterly convinced that Yang Guo had truly received personal instruction in the Jade Flute Swordplay from Huang Rong. How could they have imagined that Yang Guo had spent many days with Huang Yaoshi and received the old master’s direct guidance in both the Jade Flute Swordplay and the Divine Finger Flick?

Yang Guo saw the wretchedness in their expressions and felt a slight pang of pity. But he thought, If you are going to do a good deed, do it thoroughly. If I do not beat them into complete submission today, so that they never dare see Guo Fu’s face again, then the two brothers will surely fight over her again someday, until one of them ends up dead. As the saying goes: If the medicine does not make you dizzy, the illness will not be cured.⁴ To wield the knife and cure the disease, the patient must be made to suffer some pain. He pressed his attack, stroke after stroke, not relaxing for a single move. The two Wus grew more and more alarmed as they fought. The rod’s shadow flickered everywhere. It seemed all the vital points of their bodies were already within the reach of its tip. They could only grit their teeth and defend with everything they had.

The Yue Maiden Swordplay that the two Wus had learned was, in its own right, an extremely formidable sword art. But the two had not yet achieved sufficient mastery, and Guo Jing, clumsy with words, was not adept at explaining the subtle mysteries and profound intricacies of the technique in detail. Thus, although the brothers could certainly hold their own against ordinary jianghu fighters, against a great master like Yang Guo and his wooden rod, their flaws were exposed at every turn, leaving them utterly helpless. Yang Guo’s Jade Flute Swordplay was itself far from perfected, but his martial arts were so far above the two Wus’ that when he mixed in a move or two of Jade Maiden Swordplay at the transitions, the two Wus could not tell the difference. What was more, their hearts were filled with anguish and grief, and their fury only made their movements more chaotic.

Yang Guo did not use lethal moves, but instead gradually channelled his neili⁵ into the rod. After fighting for a while, the two Wus felt a powerful suction force emanating from the branch in his hand, pulling their swords askew. A thrust that was clearly aimed at the opponent would end up veering left or skewing right. The pulling force grew stronger and stronger, until eventually the two brothers were nearly fighting each other. Wu Dunru’s strike aimed at Yang Guo would nearly hit his brother, while Wu Xiuwen’s slash toward Yang Guo would force his elder brother to use every ounce of his strength just to parry.

Yang Guo laughed long and cried out, “The subtleties of the Jade Flute Swordplay do not end here. Watch carefully!” With a thock, the wooden rod met Big Wu’s longsword, but it struck the flat of the blade, leaving the rod completely undamaged. Wu Dunru immediately felt an immense adhesive force pulling outward. His sword was nearly torn from his grasp. He hurriedly poured his strength into pulling it back. Yang Guo’s wooden rod followed the momentum and pushed diagonally, catching Wu Xiuwen’s longsword as well, then pressed downward. Both sword tips struck the ground at once. The Wu brothers strained to pull back, and just as they felt a slight loosening, Yang Guo stepped forward with his left foot, pinning both swords to the ground. The wooden rod darted up, its tip touching each of their throats lightly. “Do you submit?” he asked with a smile.

Had the rod been a sharp blade, both their throats would already have been slit. Even with just a wooden rod, if he had applied slightly more force, both would have suffered severe injury. The two Wus’ faces were as pale as death. They stood in silence, their spirits crushed. Yang Guo lifted his left foot and retreated three steps. Seeing the two brothers in such a wretched state, he thought of how they had beaten and humiliated him in childhood, and now at last he had his revenge. A look of satisfaction crept unbidden across his face.

The two Wus no longer harboured the slightest doubt. They were thoroughly convinced that Yang Guo had indeed received Huang Rong’s secret transmission of consummate skills. But having been hopelessly in love with Guo Fu since childhood, to lose her after a single fight, to never see her again, was something their hearts could not accept. And they felt that in the duel just now, Yang Guo had seized the initiative from the very start, after which they had been scrambling to parry in disarray, not even able to use one-tenth of the martial arts their shifu had taught them. The Solitary Solar Finger they had newly mastered had not had a single chance to be deployed. Wu Xiuwen suddenly shouted, “Big Brother, if we stop here, what taste is left in living? We might as well fight to the death with him!” Wu Dunru’s heart shuddered. He cried, “Yes!” The two levelled their swords and attacked, no longer guarding their own vital points. Every move was pure offence.

With this change in tactics, their power indeed surged. The two attacked without defending, risking their lives under Yang Guo’s rod, determined to drag him down to mutual destruction even if it cost them their lives. Yang Guo’s wooden rod pointed at their vital points, but the two Wus ignored it completely. Their right hands wielded swords while their left hands deployed the Solitary Solar Finger technique. Each unleashed his life’s consummate skills, intent on taking the enemy’s life. Yang Guo laughed. “Good! Now this is more like it!” He tossed aside the wooden rod and wove between their blades, now and then clapping his palms together to show he still had strength to spare.

Footnotes

1. 欧阳锋 – Ōuyáng Fēng. His name meaning “blade” or “cutting edge”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 箫史乘龙 – Xiao Shi Cheng Long. Named after the legendary musician Xiao Shi, who was said to have ridden a dragon into the heavens with his beloved Nong Yu. One of the named stances of the Jade Flute Swordplay. ↩

3. Jade Flute Swordplay move names. Each move in the Jade Flute Swordplay is named after poetic imagery related to music, particularly the xiao (vertical flute): “Pure Tone Beyond the Mountains” (山外清音), “Golden Sound, Jade Resonance” (金声玉振), “The Phoenix Song Carries Far” (凤曲长鸣), “Echoes Across the Terrace” (响隔楼台), “Oarsong on the Midstream” (棹歌中流). These names reflect Huang Yaoshi’s artistic refinement. ↩

4. 药不瞑眩，厥疾不瘳 – “If the medicine does not make you dizzy, the illness will not be cured”. Classical saying from the Book of Documents (Shangshu), meaning that strong medicine must cause discomfort to be effective. Yang Guo applies this principle to justify the harshness of his intervention. ↩

5. 内力 – nèilì. Literally internal force. Kinetic manifestation of cultivated qi; generates tangible effects such as deflecting weapons or scaling walls. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩