The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 23 – Part 5

Wu Santong watched the three fight. At one moment he hoped Yang Guo would win, so that his two sons would abandon their obsession with Guo Fu. Yet at the next, seeing his sons repeatedly in mortal danger, he could not help wishing they would defeat Yang Guo instead. His heart rose and fell in ceaseless turmoil.

Suddenly, Yang Guo let out a clear whistle. He extended his finger and flicked each of their swords. zheng, zheng! The two longswords flew spinning into the air. Yang Guo leaped up, caught both swords in his hands, and laughed. “This Divine Finger Flick, that too was taught by my mother-in-law!”

At this point, the Wu brothers knew that continuing the fight would only bring further humiliation. Yang Guo reversed the swords and tossed them back lightly, cupping his fists. “My apologies for the offence.” Wu Xiuwen caught his sword and said wretchedly, “It is settled. I shall never see Sister Fu again.” So saying, he turned the blade across his own throat. Wu Dunru, his heart sharing his brother’s resolve, simultaneously raised his sword to cut his own throat. Yang Guo was horrified. He shot forward, and. zheng, zheng, his fingers flicked both swords again. The two blades flew outward, their edges clashing with a ringing clang, and both snapped in two at the same instant.

At that very moment, Wu Santong had also leaped forward. Seizing each son by the back of the neck, he barked fiercely, “For the sake of a woman, you would throw away your own lives? You are not worthy to be called men!”

Wu Xiuwen raised his head and said wretchedly, “Father, did you… did you not also grieve your whole life… for the sake of a woman? I…” Before he could finish, under the starlight, he saw the tear-streaked face of his father, clearly wracked with unbearable grief. He suddenly remembered that his brother’s duel had deeply wounded their old father’s heart. With a wail, he burst into tears. Wu Santong released his grip and pulled him into his embrace, his left arm wrapping around Wu Dunru as well. Father and sons clung together in a tight knot. Wu Dunru thought of the sincerity of his own feelings for Guo Fu, how could he have imagined that behind his back she had grown close to Yang Guo, and that even his shifu’s wife had concealed it from him and his brother, passing on her life’s consummate arts to the son-in-law of her heart? It seemed everyone else in the world was false and deceitful. Only the bond between father and sons, between brothers, was true. Burying his face in his father’s chest, he too could not hold back his tears.

Yang Guo, by nature wild and untamed, had acted with genuinely good intentions, yet he had also humiliated the Wu brothers beyond measure. Watching the three of them, father and sons, clinging to each other with such love, he could not help but think: They, father and sons, brothers, how close and warm they are. But I have neither father nor brothers. Then he thought, Though my days are numbered, at least before I die, I have done one good deed.

Wu Santong said, “Foolish children, what great man ever feared he would have no wife? Since that girl Guo has no true feelings for you, why cling to her? What is the most important matter before us father and sons right now?” Wu Xiuwen raised his head and said, “To avenge our mother’s great wrong.” Wu Santong said fiercely, “Yes! Even if we father and sons must travel to the ends of the earth, we must find that Scarlet Serpent demon, Li Mochou.”¹

Yang Guo was alarmed. I must lead these three away quickly, he thought. If Li shibo overhears this, it will be a disaster. The thought had barely formed when, from within the cave, Li Mochou’s cold laugh rang out: “Why travel to the ends of the earth? Li Mochou has been waiting here all along.” She emerged from the cave, the infant cradled in her left arm, her horsetail whisk in her right hand. The cool breeze stirred her robes, her bearing was utterly composed.

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The Wu father and sons had never imagined that this demoness would appear here and now. Wu Santong let out a great roar and threw himself at her. Wu Dunru and Wu Xiuwen, their swords broken, each snatched up a half-blade and attacked from left and right. Yang Guo cried out, “All four of you, stop! Hear a word from me!” Wu Santong’s eyes were bloodshot. He shouted, “Brother Yang, we kill this demoness first, then talk!” Even as he spoke, his left palm and right finger had already unleashed three lethal strikes. The Wu brothers’ blades were broken, but fighting at close quarters, the half-swords were no less effective than daggers.

Yang Guo knew they bore a blood-debt that no words of his could make them set aside. His only fear was that the baby might be harmed. He called out, “Li shibo, give me the child to hold!”

Wu Santong started and retreated two steps. “Why do you call her shibo?” he asked. Li Mochou laughed. “Good shizhi², attack this madman from behind. I will hold the child myself.” She had taken three of Wu Santong’s strikes and felt that his power had greatly advanced, quite different from when they had fought in Jiaxing. The Wu brothers were no common fighters either. The three of them attacking with reckless abandon was proving rather difficult to handle. So she deliberately called Yang Guo “good shizhi” to divide the three men’s attention. Wu Santong fell for it at once. He shouted, “Ru’er, Wen’er, guard against that Yang! I will fight this demoness alone!” Yang Guo lowered his hands and retreated, saying, “I will help neither side. But you absolutely must not harm the child.” Wu Santong saw him withdraw and felt slightly more at ease. He pressed his palm power, attacking relentlessly.

Li Mochou whirled her horsetail whisk in defence and said, “Two young masters Wu, from what I saw of your conduct just now, you can be counted as men of deep feeling, not like those heartless, faithless, contemptible men. In consideration of this, I will spare your lives today. Leave now, quickly!” Wu Xiuwen raged, “You thieving bitch! You wolf-hearted, dog-lunged fiend of a woman! What right do you have to speak of deep feeling or shallow feeling?” So saying, he pressed close and unleashed a flurry of vicious moves. Li Mochou said angrily, “Stinking brat, you don’t know what’s good for you!” Her whisk spun, rolling out circle after circle from the inside outward. The two Wus’ broken blades clashed against her whisk, and they felt their chests shake violently. Their blades nearly flew from their hands. Wu Santong struck out with a whistling palm. Li Mochou swept her whisk back to block, and only then were the two Wus freed from danger.

Yang Guo slowly circled behind Li Mochou, waiting only for the slightest opening in her defences to lunge forward and snatch the baby from her arms. But the Wu father and sons were fighting with great shouts and reckless abandon, forcing Li Mochou to keep her whisk whirling around her entire body. He could not find the smallest gap. Watching the Wu father and sons attack with complete disregard, their moves showing not the slightest concern for avoiding the baby, if any mishap occurred, how could he face Guo Jing and his wife? He cried out loudly, “Li shibo, give me the child!” He charged forward, swinging his palm to knock aside the whisk, and reached for the baby.

By now, Li Mochou was surrounded on all sides by enemies, with no hand free to contest him. But she could not bear to let him take the child so easily. She barked fiercely, “You dare to snatch? One squeeze of my arm, and we will see whether this child lives or dies!” Yang Guo froze. How could he dare advance?

This moment of divided attention was all Wu Santong needed. His left palm struck with ferocious force, a finger hidden within the palm. His right index finger stabbed into Li Mochou’s waist. Half of Li Mochou’s body went numb instantly. She stumbled, nearly falling, and used the momentum to kick Wu Dunru’s broken blade from his hand. Her whisk swept fiercely toward Wu Xiuwen. Wu Santong seized Wu Xiuwen by the back of his collar and yanked him backward, barely saving him from that soul-chasing, life-snatching sweep. Li Mochou was gravely wounded. Her whisk swept continuously as she fought her way back into the cave.

Wu Santong was overjoyed. “The bitch has taken my finger strike! She will not escape death today!” he shouted. The Wu brothers, clutching their broken blades, were about to charge into the cave when Wu Santong said, “Wait! Beware the bitch’s poisoned needles. Let us hold this position and think of a safe plan…” Before he could finish, a great roar burst from the cave, and a leopard came charging out.

This savage beast appeared so abruptly that Wu Santong and his two sons were all badly startled. In that moment of shock, a flash of silver shot out, from beneath the leopard’s belly, several silver needles suddenly flew forth. This was something none of them could possibly have anticipated. Fortunately, Wu Santong’s martial arts were deep and profound, his reactions swift. In this crisis, he leaped into the air, the silver needles passing beneath his feet. But he heard both Wu brothers cry out, and his heart pounded wildly with terror. Then he saw Li Mochou roll out from under the leopard’s belly and mount its back. Her horsetail whisk was tucked into the collar behind her neck. The baby was in her left arm, and with her right hand she gripped the leopard’s neck. She laughed a long, ringing laugh. The leopard bounded several times and leaped into a mountain stream.

This move had also caught Yang Guo completely off guard. He watched the leopard racing away and sprinted after it, shouting, “Li shibo…” Wu Santong saw his two beloved sons lying motionless on the ground. Grief and anxiety blazed through him like fire. He threw his arms around Yang Guo and cried, “Today I will fight you to the death!” Yang Guo, utterly unguarded, was caught in his embrace. He said urgently, “Let go! I must get the child back!” Wu Santong cried, “Fine, fine, fine! Let us all die together, and be done with it!” Yang Guo frantically used Small Seizing and Grappling techniques³ to pry open his fingers. Wu Santong, in his panic and desperation, had gone somewhat mad again, yet his martial arts had not diminished in the slightest. His left arm held Yang Guo tight around the waist while his right hand hooked, sealed, blocked, and locked, countering with Small Seizing and Grappling of his own.

Yang Guo saw that Li Mochou, riding the leopard, had already vanished without a trace. There was no hope of catching her now. He sighed and said, “Why are you holding on to me? Saving them from their wounds is what matters!” Wu Santong said joyfully, “Yes, yes! The wounds from the poisoned needles, can you save them?” He released Yang Guo’s waist. Yang Guo bent down to examine the Wu brothers. One silver needle had struck Wu Dunru in the left shoulder, the other had hit Wu Xiuwen in the right leg. In just this brief moment, the poison had already spread. Both brothers were breathing shallowly, unconscious. Yang Guo tore a strip of silk from Wu Dunru’s robe, wrapped it around the tail of each needle, and pulled them out one by one. Wu Santong asked frantically, “Do you have the antidote? Do you have the antidote?” Yang Guo looked at the two Wus, saw that the poison was deep and they were beyond saving, and shook his head in despair.

Wu Santong’s love for his sons was bone-deep. His heart felt as though it were being twisted by a knife. He remembered how his wife had sucked the poison from his own wound and died for it. Suddenly he threw himself onto Wu Xiuwen and pressed his mouth to the wound on his son’s leg. Yang Guo was horrified. “You must not!” he cried. He thrust out a finger and struck the Dazhui acupoint on Wu Santong’s back.⁴ Wu Santong, caught off guard, toppled over at once, unable to move. He could only stare at his two beloved sons, tears streaming down his cheeks.

A thought stirred in Yang Guo’s heart: In six more days, the passion flower poison in my body will erupt. Living six more days or six fewer, what difference does it make? The Wu brothers are men of mediocre character, but this Uncle Wu is a man of the deepest, truest feeling, someone after my own heart. His whole life has been misfortune. Enough, enough. I will sacrifice these six days of my life. Let father and sons be reunited, to comfort his old heart. So he bent down to Wu Xiuwen’s leg and sucked the poisoned blood from the wound. After spitting out several mouthfuls of poisoned fluid, he did the same for Wu Dunru.

Wu Santong watched from the side, remembering how his wife had sucked the poison from his own wound, saving his life while losing her own. Now Yang Guo was reenacting that very scene. Wu Santong’s heart swelled with gratitude beyond measure, but pinned by the sealed acupoint, he could not join in sucking the poison. Yang Guo took turns at the two Wus’ wounds, sucking for some time. The bitter taste in his mouth gradually turned salty, but his head grew dizzier and dizzier. He knew he was deeply poisoned. He sucked forcefully a few more times, spat out the poisoned fluid, and then everything went black before his eyes. He collapsed, unconscious.

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For a long, long time after that, he knew nothing. Gradually, blurred shadows seemed to waver before his eyes. He tried to see clearly, but the more he looked, the more indistinct they became. He did not know how much time passed before he finally opened his eyes. Wu Santong was looking at him, his face brimming with joy. “Good, good!” he cried. Then he suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed more than a dozen times with loud thuds. “Brother Yang, you… you saved my… my two children, and you saved this old life of mine as well.” He scrambled to his feet and threw himself before another person, kowtowing to him. “Thank you, shishu⁵, thank you, shishu!”

Yang Guo looked at that person. His face was dark, with a high nose and deep-set eyes. His features bore some resemblance to Nimoxing. His hair was short and tightly curled, a pure snowy white. He was an old man. Yang Guo knew that Wu Santong was a disciple of Great Master Yideng, but he had not known that Wu Santong had a shishu from India.⁶ He tried to sit up, but found he had not the slightest strength. Looking around, he realised he was lying in a bed, in the very room he had once stayed in at Xiangyang. Only then did he understand that he was not dead, that he could still see Xiaolongnü one more time. He could not help crying out, “Gugu! Gugu!”

Footnotes

1. 赤练神掌 – Chìliàn Shénzhǎng. Li Mochou’s palm technique, infused with poison. Name links her palm strikes to her serpentine nickname, suggesting that her very touch is as deadly as a venomous snake’s bite. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 师侄 – shīzhí. Lineage nephew or niece. Disciple of one’s shixiong, shijie, shidi, or shimei. Shī means teacher. Zhí means nephew or niece. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 小擒拿 – Xiao Qinna. Close-combat technique focusing on joint locks, holds, and pressure-point manipulation, as opposed to striking. Used for subduing rather than killing. ↩

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. 师叔 – shīshū. Junior lineage uncle. Shidi or shimei of one’s shifu. Shī means teacher. Shū means father’s younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 天竺 – Tianzhu. Historical Chinese name for India, derived from the Sanskrit “Sindhu.” Buddhist monks and scriptures travelled from India to China along the Silk Road, and Indian monks were highly respected in medieval China for their medical and spiritual knowledge. ↩