The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 3 – Part 2

The Wu brothers cried out in alarm at the sight of the brightly patterned dead snake. Yang Guo seized the moment to flip over, threw a fierce punch that bloodied Wu Dunru’s nose, scrambled to his feet, and fled. The Wu brothers, furious, gave chase. Guo Fu, eager to watch the excitement, called out repeatedly, “Catch him! Catch him!” She ran after them. Yang Guo ran for a while, then glanced back to see Wu Dunru, his face covered in blood, looking ferocious. He knew that if the brothers caught him, the beating would be far worse than before, so he raced without stopping towards the foot of Sword-Testing Peak¹ and began climbing straight up.

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Though Wu Dunru had taken a punch to the nose, it did not actually hurt that much, but the sight of blood made him both frightened and angry, and he chased with redoubled speed. Yang Guo climbed higher and higher, but the Wu brothers refused to let up. Guo Fu, however, stopped halfway up the slope and looked up to watch. Yang Guo ran for a while longer until he saw a cliff ahead, there was no path forward. In years past, whenever Huang Yaoshi² devised a new move, he would leap across this cliff to the most dangerous part of the peak to test it, but how could Yang Guo make such a leap? He thought, “Even if I jump off this cliff and die, I won’t let those two brats catch me and beat me again.” He turned around and shouted, “Take one more step and I’ll jump!” Wu Dunru froze, but Wu Xiuwen yelled, “Jump if you want! Who’s afraid of you? I bet you don’t have the guts!” He climbed a few more steps.

Yang Guo’s blood boiled. He was about to throw himself over the edge when he suddenly noticed a large boulder beside him, half-resting on several smaller rocks, looking as though it was not securely placed. In his wild fury, he gave no thought to consequences. He pulled away the smaller rocks supporting the boulder, and indeed the great stone began to wobble. He leapt behind it and pushed with all his might. The boulder swayed twice, then with a thunderous crash, it rolled down towards the mountainside.

The Wu brothers saw him pushing the boulder and knew disaster was coming. Their faces drained of colour as they scrambled to dodge. The great stone, carrying countless fragments of earth and rock, rolled past them with booming crashes, crushing flowers and trees in its path before plunging into the sea. Wu Dunru, panicked, missed his footing and slid down. Wu Xiuwen grabbed him hurriedly, but neither could keep their footing on the slope, and they tumbled down together, locked in an embrace, rolling six or seven zhang³ before a large tree below finally stopped them.

Huang Rong, hearing the tremendous noise from inside the house, rushed out and followed the sound to the foot of Sword-Testing Peak. She saw dust and sand swirling in the air, her daughter hiding in the mountain grass, too frightened even to cry, and the Wu brothers covered head to face in bruises and blood. Huang Rong rushed forward and picked up her daughter. “What happened?” Guo Fu buried herself in her mother’s arms and burst into tears. After crying for a while, she sobbingly recounted how Yang Guo had hit her for no reason, how the Wu brothers had come to her aid, and how Yang Guo had then pushed the boulder to crush them. She laid all the blame on Yang Guo, concealing entirely how she had crushed the cricket and how the Wu brothers had beaten him. Huang Rong listened and stood stunned for a long moment. Seeing her daughter’s swollen, reddened cheek, she knew the slap had been no light blow. Her heart aching with pity, she comforted her daughter without pause.

By now, Guo Jing had also rushed out. Seeing the Wu brothers’ wretched state and learning what had happened, he was deeply troubled. Fearing that something might have happened to Yang Guo, he hurried up the peak, but after searching front and back, he found no trace of him. He raised his voice and called, “Guoer! Guoer!” His shouts carried for several li,⁴ but still Yang Guo did not appear, nor was there any answering call. Guo Jing waited a while longer, growing more and more worried. He descended the peak, took a small boat, and circled the island searching, but by nightfall, Yang Guo was nowhere to be found.

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After pushing the boulder down, Yang Guo had seen the Wu brothers tumble down the slope and Huang Rong emerge. Knowing he would face severe punishment, he had squeezed himself into a crevice in the rocks. He heard Guo Jing calling but dared not answer. Enduring his hunger, he stayed motionless in the crevice, watching the twilight deepen and the sea grow dark, until no human sound could be heard anywhere. After another interval, stars began to twinkle in the sky, and a cold wind blew, chilling him to the bone. He crept out of the crevice and looked down towards the houses, where lamplight shone through the windows. He imagined Guo Jing and his wife, Ke Zhen’e,⁵ Guo Fu, and the Wu brothers, six people sitting around the dinner table, with chicken, duck, fish, and meat spread across it. He could not help swallowing several mouthfuls of saliva. But then he thought: they must be talking about him behind his back, scolding and blaming him. Fury surged through him. Standing alone on the cliff in the sea wind in the darkness of night, he grieved his parents’ early deaths and thought of how he had been bullied and slighted his whole life. It seemed to him that now, except for his sworn father,⁶ everyone treated him with cold indifference. His thoughts churned, and he was filled with such loneliness, bitterness, and resentment that he could barely contain himself.

In truth, Guo Jing, unable to find him, had no heart for eating. Huang Rong, seeing her husband’s distress and knowing she could not persuade him otherwise, also did not eat and sat with him in silence. Before dawn the next day, the two of them were out searching again.

Yang Guo had gone hungry for half a day and a full night. By the next morning, he could endure it no longer. He crept quietly down the peak, caught a few frogs by the stream, skinned them, and gathered some dry leaves to roast them. During his time wandering, he had often survived this way. Now, afraid that Guo Jing and Huang Rong might see the smoke, he hid in a cave to build his fire. As soon as the frog legs were browned, he stamped out the flames and ate ravenously. He heard Guo Jing calling, “Guoer! Guoer!” He thought, “You want to call me out so you can beat me. I’m not coming out.”

That night, he slept in the cave. After lying there in a daze for a while, he suddenly saw Ouyang Feng walk into the cave and say, “My boy, I’ve come to teach you martial arts so those two little brats from the Wu family can’t beat you anymore.” Yang Guo was overjoyed and followed him out of the cave. He saw Ouyang Feng crouch down, make a croaking sound, and push out with both palms. Yang Guo followed and began practising, feeling that every strike and kick was perfectly executed. Suddenly, Ouyang Feng swung a fist at him. He could not dodge in time, and with a bang, it struck him right on the crown of his head. The pain was excruciating. He let out a great cry and leapt up.

Another bang struck his head. He woke with a start, it had all been a dream. He felt his scalp and found a bump had formed, quite painful. He could not help sighing and thought, “I suppose Father’s injuries have healed by now and he’s come out from under that great bell. I wonder when he’ll come to take me away and truly teach me martial arts, so I won’t have to suffer cold looks and bullying here.” He walked out of the cave and gazed at the horizon, where a few sparse stars hung above the treetops. He tried to recall the martial arts Ouyang Feng had taught him in the dream, but could not remember a single thing. He crouched down, made croaking sounds from his mouth, and tried to apply the Toad Stance Skill⁷ formulas Ouyang Feng had taught him in Jiaxing to his fists and feet, but no matter how he tried, it would not work. He racked his brains, pushing out with both palms, the strikes and kicks that had come so effortlessly in the dream were now completely beyond him.

He stood alone on the cliff, gazing at the vast sea, his loneliness deepening. Suddenly, from the sea came a long, drawn-out call: “Guoer! Guoer!” Without thinking, he ran down the peak, shouting, “I’m here! I’m here!” He raced onto the beach. Guo Jing spotted him from afar and, overjoyed, rowed swiftly to shore and leapt onto the sand. Under the starlight, the two ran towards each other. Guo Jing gathered Yang Guo into his arms and said only, “Come back quickly and eat.” His voice was choked with emotion. Back in the house, Huang Rong prepared a meal for Guo Jing and Yang Guo. No one mentioned the past events at all.

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The next morning, Guo Jing summoned Yang Guo, the Wu brothers, and Guo Fu to the main hall. He also invited Ke Zhen’e to attend and said to him, “Great Master,⁸ your disciple requests your permission to accept four grand-disciples.” Ke Zhen’e said happily, “Nothing could be better. Congratulations!” Guo Jing said, “More than ten years ago, before Guoer’s mother passed away, Guoer performed the ceremony of taking me as his shifu. Today, we shall make it official. First, pay respects to the grand-master founder.” He instructed Yang Guo and the Wu brothers to first kowtow to Ke Zhen’e, then to the spirit tablets of Zhu Cong⁹ and the other Five Freaks of Jiangnan,¹⁰ and finally to perform the master-disciple ceremony for him and his wife. Guo Fu asked with a smile, “Mama, do I have to bow too?” Huang Rong said, “Of course you do.” Grinning, Guo Fu also kowtowed to the three of them. Yang Guo had, as an infant, been instructed by his mother to take Guo Jing as his master when they first met the couple in Changxing.¹¹ When Guo Jing and Huang Rong saw him again in Jiaxing, they had not mentioned it, and Yang Guo, having been so young at the time, had long since forgotten.

Guo Jing said solemnly, “From today onward, the four of you are fellow disciples…” Guo Fu interrupted, “No, fellow disciples, brothers and sister.” Guo Jing shot his daughter a look. “Your father hasn’t finished speaking. No interrupting.” He paused, then continued, “From now on, the four of you must love and care for one another, sharing good fortune and facing hardship together. If there is any more quarrelling or fighting, I will not be lenient.” As he spoke, he glanced at Yang Guo. Yang Guo thought to himself, “Of course you favour your own daughter. I’ll just stay out of her way from now on.”

Ke Zhen’e then recited some of their school’s rules, not to bully others with martial skill, not to harm the innocent without cause, and so on. The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan each came from different schools, and Ke Zhen’e could not remember every detail, but the principles were largely the same.

Guo Jing said, “The martial arts I have learned are quite mixed. Apart from the foundation taught by the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan, I have trained in the neigong of the Quanzhen Order,¹² and the martial arts of both Peach Blossom Island and the Beggars’ Gang, the two great schools of the south and east. A person must not forget their roots. Today, I shall first teach you the unique skills of Grand Shifu Ke¹³.”

He was about to personally impart the formulas when Huang Rong noticed Yang Guo staring into space with his head lowered, an indescribably strange expression on his face, one that vaguely resembled Yang Kang in years past. Aversion rose in her heart. She thought, “Though I did not kill his father with my own hands, it could be said he died because of me. I must not raise a tiger only to court disaster, he could become a great menace in the future.” An idea stirred in her mind, and she said, “Teaching four children by yourself is too much work. Let me teach Guoer.” Before Guo Jing could answer, Ke Zhen’e clapped his hands and laughed. “That’s wonderful! You two can compete and see whose disciple learns better.” Guo Jing was also pleased, knowing his wife was a hundred times cleverer than himself and that her teaching methods would surely far surpass his own. He agreed enthusiastically.

Guo Fu, afraid of her father’s strictness, said, “Mama, I want you to teach me too.” Huang Rong laughed. “You’re always pestering me with your mischief, you’ll never learn any real skill. Better let your father teach you.” Guo Fu stole a glance at her father and saw his eyes glaring right back at her. She quickly looked away and dared not say another word.

Footnotes

1. 试剑峰 – Shìjiàn Fēng. Sword-Testing Peak, the highest and most dangerous peak on Peach Blossom Island, where Huang Yaoshi would test his newly devised martial arts moves. ↩

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

3. 丈 – zhàng. Traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 3.33 metres or 10.9 feet. ↩

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

5. 柯镇恶 – Kē Zhèn’è. His name meaning “subduing evil”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 义父 – yìfù. Literally righteous father, a sworn father. Yang Guo’s term for Ouyang Feng, who accepted him as a godson in Chapter 2. ↩

7. 蛤蟆功 – Hámá Gōng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 大师父 – Dà Shīfu. Great Shifu, Guo Jing’s respectful term for Ke Zhen’e, the eldest of his seven shifu. ↩

9. 朱聪、韩宝驹、南希仁 – Zhū Cōng, Hán Bǎojū, Nán Xīrén. Three of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, Ke Zhen’e’s sworn brothers. All except Ke Zhen’e were killed by Ouyang Feng and Yang Kang at Peach Blossom Island. ↩

10. 江南七怪 – Jiāngnán Qī Guài. Group of seven martial artists from Jiaxing who followed their own code of honour. They took a bet to find and train Guo Jing and spent years in the Mongolian steppes fulfilling the vow; their integrity and loyalty were legendary. ↩

11. 长兴 – Chángxīng. County near Lake Tai in Zhejiang Province, where Mu Nianci lived and raised Yang Guo. ↩

12. Quanzhen Order (全真教). Major Daoist school founded by Wang Chongyang. In Jin Yong’s wuxia universe, it is one of the most powerful martial arts sects, based at the Chongyang Palace on Mount Zhongnan. Its seven senior disciples are known as the Seven Masters of Quanzhen. ↩

13. 师祖 – shīzǔ. Grand Shifu — the shifu of one’s shifu, two rungs up. Not a rank: 宗师 is the grandmaster. See §IV.11e. ↩