The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 5 – Part 2

The two exited the tomb gate and walked into the forest when suddenly they heard someone outside calling in a clear voice, “Disciple Zhen Zhibing¹ of the Quanzhen Order,² on orders from my shifu, requests an audience with Miss Long.” The voice came from afar, clearly from beyond the forbidden grounds. Zhen Zhibing was Qiu Chuji’s³ second disciple, a man of considerable martial skill and talent, highly regarded within the Quanzhen Order.

Granny Sun said, “Someone outside is looking for you. Don’t go out just yet.” Yang Guo was both alarmed and furious, his body trembling. “Granny, you don’t need to worry about me. A man bears responsibility for his own deeds. Since I accidentally killed someone, let them take my life in payment.” With that, he strode out boldly. Granny Sun said, “I’ll go with you.”

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Granny Sun led Yang Guo by the hand through the forest until they reached the clearing before it. In the moonlight, they saw six or seven Daoists standing in a row, along with four lay worker Daoists carrying the severely wounded Zhao Zhijing and Lu Qingdu⁴ on stretchers. At the sight of Yang Guo, the Daoists murmured among themselves and, as if by unspoken agreement, stepped forward several paces. Yang Guo shook off Granny Sun’s hand, strode up to them, and declared loudly, “I am here. Kill me or cut me to pieces, do as you please. There is no need to trouble others!”

The Daoists had never expected such steely resolve from a mere child and were all taken aback. One Daoist rushed forward and seized Yang Guo by the back of the collar, dragging him over. Yang Guo laughed coldly. “I’m not running. What’s your hurry?” This Daoist was Zhao Zhijing’s eldest disciple. Seeing his shifu suffering unbearably from the jade bee stings because of Yang Guo, not even knowing if his life could be saved, and having always been deeply respectful towards his shifu, he thought it an outrage of the highest order for a disciple to be so rebellious towards his teacher. Hearing Yang Guo’s defiant words, he casually struck him on the head.

Granny Sun had originally intended to speak reasonably with the Daoists, but seeing Yang Guo forcibly dragged away had already stirred her indignation. Now, witnessing him being struck, how could she contain her fury? She strode forward, flicked her sleeve, and brushed it against the Daoist’s hand. The man felt a searing pain shoot through his wrist and could not help but release his grip. Before he could even shout a challenge, Granny Sun had already scooped up Yang Guo, turned, and begun walking away.

She might have appeared to be nothing more than a frail, aged woman, but this move to snatch the child was astonishingly swift. The Daoists had barely registered what happened before she had carried Yang Guo a zhang⁵ or so away. Three Daoists roared, “Put him down!” They rushed forward together. Granny Sun stopped, turned her head, and sneered. “What do you want?”

Zhen Zhibing knew that the inhabitants of the Tomb of the Living Dead shared deep historical ties with his sect and dared not offend them lightly. First, he called out to restrain the others, “Everyone spread out. Do not be disrespectful before this senior.” Only then did he step forward, bow with clasped hands, and say, “Disciple Zhen Zhibing pays respects to Elder.” Granny Sun said, “What do you want?” Zhen Zhibing replied, “This child is a disciple of our Quanzhen Order. I ask Elder to return him.” Granny Sun’s brows shot up as she said sternly, “Right before my eyes, you beat him like this. Once you drag him back to your temple, who knows how you’ll torment him. You want me to let him go? Absolutely not!” Zhen Zhibing suppressed his anger and said, “This child is utterly unruly. He defied his shifu and betrayed his ancestors, gravely violating our sect’s rules. Among those of the wulin,⁶ respect for one’s teacher is paramount. Surely our sect is justified in disciplining him.” Granny Sun said angrily, “What ‘defying his shifu and betraying his ancestors’, that’s all one-sided talk.” She pointed at Lu Qingdu lying on the stretcher. “The child sparred with this fat Daoist according to the rules your own Quanzhen Order established. He didn’t want to fight, but you forced him into the arena. Once they started, naturally there would be winners and losers. This fat Daoist was useless himself, who else is to blame?” Her face was ugly to begin with, and now, flushed purple with anger, it was even more fearsome.

As they spoke, more than ten additional Daoists arrived in succession, all standing behind Zhen Zhibing, whispering among themselves, wondering who this loud, ugly old woman was.

Zhen Zhibing thought to himself that the matter of injuring Lu Qingdu could not really be blamed on Yang Guo, but he could not afford to lose face before outsiders. He said, “As for the rights and wrongs of this affair, we will naturally report it to our zhangmen⁷ and let him pass fair judgement. I ask Elder to hand over the child.” Granny Sun laughed coldly. “And just how fair is your zhangmen? From Wang Chongyang down, the Quanzhen Order has never produced a single good man. If that weren’t so, living so close to each other, why would we never have exchanged a single word all these years?” Zhen Zhibing thought, It’s you who refuse to associate with us. How can you blame the Quanzhen Order? And you’ve even insulted our founding patriarch. This is too much. But unwilling to start a quarrel that would damage relations between the two sides, he merely said, “I ask Elder to be accommodating. If our sect has given any offence, we shall follow our zhangmen’s instructions and come to offer our apologies in person.”

Yang Guo wrapped his arms around Granny Sun’s neck and whispered in her ear, “Granny, don’t fall for his tricks.”

Having raised Xiaolongnü for eighteen years, Granny Sun had always secretly hoped she might one day raise a boy as well. Now, seeing how close Yang Guo was to her, she was overjoyed and made up her mind: no matter what, she would not let them take the child away. She shouted, “You insist on taking the child. Just how exactly do you plan to torment him?” Zhen Zhibing was taken aback. “This disciple shared a sect with the child’s late father. I would never mistreat the orphan of a departed friend. Elder may rest assured.” Granny Sun shook her head. “This old woman has never been one to listen to outsiders’ prattle. Farewell.” With that, she turned and strode towards the forest.

Zhao Zhijing lay on his stretcher, the jade bee stings itching and burning unbearably, yet his mind remained perfectly clear. Listening to Zhen Zhibing and Granny Sun argue back and forth without resolution, he grew angrier by the moment. Suddenly he pushed himself up from the stretcher, leapt before Granny Sun, and bellowed, “This is my disciple! Whether I beat him or scold him is entirely up to me. Since when does the wulin have a rule forbidding a shifu from disciplining his disciple?”

Granny Sun saw his face swollen like a pig’s head. Hearing his words, she knew this was Yang Guo’s shifu. For a moment, she had no retort and could only resort to bluster: “I just won’t allow you to discipline him. What are you going to do about it?” Zhao Zhijing shouted, “What is this child to you? What right do you have to interfere?” Granny Sun was stumped. She declared loudly, “He is no longer a disciple of your Quanzhen Order. This child has already taken our Miss Xiaolongnü as his shifu. Whether he behaves well or badly, only Miss Xiaolongnü has the right to discipline him. You’d best stop meddling in other people’s business.”

At these words, the Daoists erupted in an uproar. It had always been the rule in the wulin that without the original shifu’s permission, one could never take another as shifu. Even if the new teacher’s skill was ten times greater, one could not abandon the old for the new on a whim. To do so was considered a grave betrayal, despised by all fellow martial artists. Years ago, when Guo Jing⁸ studied under Hong Qigong⁹ after having already become a disciple of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan,¹⁰ he had never once addressed Hong Qigong as ‘Shifu’ until Ke Zhen’e¹¹ and the others formally gave their consent and the shifu-disciple relationship was established. Now, Granny Sun, stung by Zhao Zhijing’s rebuke and having no answer, had blurted out whatever came to mind, never having interacted with the jianghu¹² and knowing nothing of these customs. She had no idea she had committed a grave transgression. Most of the Quanzhen Daoists had originally felt sympathy for Yang Guo and thought Zhao Zhijing had handled things poorly, but hearing that Yang Guo dared to openly rebel against his sect, something unprecedented in the entire history of the Quanzhen Order, they were all deeply angered.

Zhao Zhijing’s wounds alternated between searing pain and maddening itch, already nearly unbearable. He felt death would be a relief. Gritting his teeth, he asked Yang Guo, “Yang Guo, is this true?”

Yang Guo, too young to understand the gravity of the situation, saw Granny Sun arguing with Zhao Zhijing to protect him. Even if she claimed he had committed ten thousand unforgivable crimes, he would have admitted to every one, let alone merely switching shifus, which was exactly what he wanted. Never mind taking Xiaolongnü as his shifu, if she had said he had taken a pig or a dog as his shifu, he would have agreed without the slightest hesitation. He shouted, “Stinking Daoist, you thieving, goat-bearded ox-nose! You never taught me a shred of martial arts and you beat me like this. How are you fit to be my shifu? That’s right, I’ve already taken Granny Sun as my shifu, and I’ve taken Aunt Long as my shifu too!”

Zhao Zhijing felt his chest about to explode with rage. He launched himself forward, both hands reaching for Yang Guo’s shoulders. Granny Sun cursed, “Are you courting death?” She swung her right arm out to block, striking at Zhao Zhijing’s wrist. Zhao Zhijing was among the finest of the Quanzhen Order’s third-generation disciples. In terms of martial attainment, he was on par with Qiu Chuji’s beloved disciples Yin Zhiping¹³ and Zhen Zhibing, each having their own strengths. Though severely wounded, his attack was still ferociously powerful. Their arms collided, and both staggered back two steps. Granny Sun spat. “Not bad, you mangy Daoist, you’re not entirely useless.” Zhao Zhijing’s first grab missed, and he launched a second. This time, Granny Sun dared not underestimate him. She sidestepped to evade, then her skirt-leg kick flew out without a trace. Zhao Zhijing heard the rush of wind and moved to dodge, but at that moment the jade bee stings suddenly flared with unbearable itching. He could not help crying out, “Ow!” He crouched down clutching his head. In the midst of his cry, Granny Sun’s kick landed squarely in his ribs. Zhao Zhijing’s body flew through the air, still crying “Ow! Ow!” from the maddening itch.

Zhen Zhibing rushed forward two steps, caught Zhao Zhijing in his arms, and handed him to the disciples behind. He saw that this ugly old woman’s martial techniques were strange and unusual, and that Zhao Zhijing, whose skill was comparable to his own, had been defeated in a single exchange. Realising he could not prevail either, he gave a sharp whistle. Six Daoists closed in from both sides, forming the Celestial Dipper and Northern Dipper Formation,¹⁴ trapping Granny Sun and Yang Guo in the centre. Zhen Zhibing called out, “My apologies!” The two Daoists positioned at the Celestial Pivot and Twinkling Brilliance attacked.

Footnotes

1. 甄志丙 – Zhēn Zhìbǐng. His name meaning “aspiring to the third stem”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 全真教 – Quánzhēn Jiào. Daoist martial-monastic order founded by Wang Chongyang, one of the most influential orthodox factions. Same as LOCH reference. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 丘处机 – Qiū Chǔjī. His name meaning “dwelling in opportunity”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

4. 鹿清笃 – Lù Qīngdú. His name meaning “pure and sincere”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

6. 武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Those who actually practise, teach or study martial arts. Wulin sits inside the jianghu and is narrower than it: every member of the wulin belongs to the jianghu, but a pedlar or physician of the jianghu who never trained is no part of the wulin. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 掌门 – zhǎngmén. Literally the one who holds the gate. Head of a martial arts school or order, holding its authority and its transmission. Zhǎng means to take charge of or preside over. Mén means gate, and by extension the school itself. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 洪七公 – Hóng Qīgōng. Literally Hong the Seventh Lord; the numeral seven marks seniority among sworn brothers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

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

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. ↩

13. Yin Zhiping (尹志平). In the original editions, the third-generation Quanzhen disciple who violated Xiaolongnü. In the third edition, this role and name were changed to Zhen Zhibing (甄志丙). Yin Zhiping remains a separate, more honourable character in the revised canon. ↩

14. 天罡北斗阵 – Tiāngāng Běidǒu Zhèn. Quanzhen battle formation based on the Northern Dipper. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩