The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 5 – Part 5

Yang Guo understood what she wanted. He bent down and put his ear close to her mouth, whispering, “Granny, do you have something to tell me?” Granny Sun said, “You… bend down lower.” Yang Guo bent even lower, pressing his ear against her lips. Granny Sun whispered, “Your Aunt Long has no one to rely on. You… you… also… look after her… for all her life…” At these words, her breath could hold no longer. Suddenly, a mouthful of fresh blood sprayed out, splattering half of Yang Guo’s face and the front of his clothes with crimson spots. With that, she closed her eyes and died. Yang Guo wailed, “Granny! Granny!” Overcome with grief, he threw himself on her body and sobbed uncontrollably.

The Daoists watching from the side were all moved to pity. Hao Datong was even more filled with remorse. He stepped forward and bowed to Granny Sun’s body, saying, “Granny, I struck you by accident. It was never my intention. Since this karmic debt has fallen upon me, it must be that you were fated to suffer this calamity. Go in peace.” Xiaolongnü stood to the side without saying a word. When he finished, the two faced each other in silence.

After a long while, Xiaolongnü finally frowned and said, “Well? Are you not going to cut your own throat in recompense, or must I do it myself?” Hao Datong was stunned. “What?” Xiaolongnü said, “A life for a life. If you cut your own throat and end this, I will spare the lives of every Daoist in this temple.” Before Hao Datong could answer, the surrounding Daoists erupted in an uproar. By now, thirty or forty Daoists had gathered in the great hall, all denouncing her, “Little girl, leave now, we won’t make trouble for you.” “Nonsense! What ‘cut your own throat and spare the lives of every Daoist’?” “A mere girl, knowing nothing of the world.” Hao Datong, hearing the clamour, quickly waved his hand to restrain them.

Xiaolongnü acted as though she had not heard the Daoists’ words at all. She slowly drew from her robe a mass of something like icy gauze. Parting her hands, she slipped a piece of white silk onto her left hand. It was a glove. She then put on the right glove as well and said softly, “Old Daoist, since you cling to life and fear death, unwilling to cut your own throat, draw your weapon and fight.”

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Hao Datong smiled bitterly. “This humble Daoist accidentally wounded Granny Sun and has no wish to continue this quarrel with you. Take Yang Guo and leave the temple.” He thought that although Xiaolongnü had become famous throughout the world for driving away Prince Huodu, it was ultimately only through the power of a swarm of jade bees. At her young age, even if her martial arts contained some unique secrets, she could not possibly surpass Granny Sun. Letting her take Yang Guo away would, on one hand, honour the friendship between their two sects’ previous generations and settle the matter peacefully. On the other, having accidentally killed Granny Sun, he truly felt deep unease and could only yield as much as possible.

To his surprise, Xiaolongnü still acted as though she had not heard him. Her left hand flicked lightly, and a white silk ribbon suddenly shot out, flying straight at Hao Datong’s face. The move came without a sound, without the slightest warning. In the candlelight, he could see a golden ball tied to the end of the ribbon. Hao Datong saw that her attack was swift and her weapon extremely strange. He was advanced in years and prudent in action, although he was confident his martial arts far surpassed hers, he was unwilling to receive the attack rashly and dodged to the left.

But Xiaolongnü’s silk ribbon weapon could actually turn in midair. As Hao Datong leapt left, the ribbon followed. Three crisp ding-ding-ding sounds rang out as the golden ball trembled three times, striking at the “Welcome Fragrance”, “Tear Container”, and “Human Centre” acupoints¹ on his face. The speed and precision of these three point-strikes were truly first-rate martial arts. Moreover, the golden ball emitted a ding-ding sound, not loud, but deeply strange, unsettling to the heart and spirit. Hao Datong was completely caught off guard. In great alarm, he hastily executed an “Iron Board Bridge,”² leaning his body backward as the ribbon swept past mere inches from his face. Fearing the golden ball would follow with a downward strike, and with his martial skill refined to the point of effortless mastery, even as his body leaned back, he suddenly shifted three feet to the side. This move also caught Xiaolongnü by surprise. Clang! The golden ball struck the ground. Her golden ball point-strikes were continuous and unbroken, yet Hao Datong had evaded through a clever manoeuvre in a moment of crisis. Xiaolongnü’s left-hand ribbon and golden ball swept slowly through the air. Had she followed up with another strike, Hao Datong would have had no way to avoid it, but she did not pursue the attack, clearly showing mercy.

Hao Datong straightened up, his face already changed colour. The surrounding Daoists, whether his disciples or shizhi³, had always held his martial arts in the deepest admiration. Seeing that although he was uninjured, he had dodged this move with extreme awkwardness, they were all astonished. Four Daoists levelled their long swords and thrust at Xiaolongnü. Xiaolongnü said, “Ah, yes, you should have used weapons from the start.” Both hands struck out together as two white silk ribbons shot forth like water snakes. Ding-ding, then ding-ding again, the golden balls struck the “Spirit Path” acupoint on the wrists of all four Daoists. Clang, clang, four long swords clattered to the ground. This overwhelming display of dominance left every Daoist pale-faced, and none dared make another move.

Hao Datong had initially assumed Xiaolongnü’s martial arts were mediocre at best, but the moment they crossed hands, he had nearly been defeated by her. A competitive spirit rose within him. Taking a long sword from a disciple, he said, “Miss Long’s skills are extraordinary. This humble Daoist has been remiss. Come, come, let this humble Daoist experience your high techniques.” Xiaolongnü nodded. With a ding-dong, the white silk ribbon swept horizontally from left to right.

By seniority, Hao Datong was a generation above her. When Xiaolongnü attacked, she should have shown respect to her elder by yielding the first three moves, but she had gone straight for the kill from the very start, paying no heed whatsoever to the rules of the wulin. Hao Datong thought, This girl’s martial arts are not weak, but she seems to understand nothing at all. Clearly she has had very little real combat experience. However strong she is, she can’t be that strong. With his left hand forming a sword seal and his right hand wielding the long sword, he began exchanging moves with her pair of white silk ribbons.

The Daoists formed a tight circle around them, watching the battle with rapt attention. In the flickering candlelight, they saw a young woman in white and an old Daoist in grey, ribbons flying like rainbows, sword moving like lightning, youthful beauty against white hair, the fight growing fiercer by the moment.

Hao Datong had spent decades of bitter training on this sword. In terms of sword technique alone, he ranked third or fourth within the Quanzhen Order. Yet after exchanging dozens of moves with this young girl, he could not gain the slightest advantage. Xiaolongnü’s twin silk ribbons twisted and turned like spirit serpents, fluid and effortless, while the two golden balls continuously emitted their ding-ding sound, disturbing the mind and spirit. Hao Datong fought long without prevailing. Though he had not fallen behind, he thought that as an elder with decades of renown in the wulin, if he fought this young woman to a hundred moves or more, even victory would be a loss of face. Growing impatient, he suddenly changed his sword technique, shifting from fast to slow. Though his moves were now several times slower than before, the power behind the sword was several times greater. At first, his blade had to avoid being entangled by the ribbons. Now, with increased power, he instead struck to cut the ribbons.

After several more exchanges, there was a clang as the golden ball collided with the sword’s edge. Hao Datong’s profound neili sent the golden ball rebounding towards Xiaolongnü’s face. Seizing the advantage, he pressed the attack. Amid the Daoists’ cheers, his sword blade followed the ribbon, thrusting towards Xiaolongnü’s wrist. He fully expected her to have no choice but to release the ribbon, or else her wrist would be struck. But Xiaolongnü’s right hand flipped swiftly and seized the sword blade. Crack! The long sword snapped in two.

The Daoists cried out in unison. Hao Datong leapt backward, holding the half-broken sword, staring in stunned disbelief. How could he have imagined that her gloves were woven from the finest, toughest platinum silk, a divine weapon passed down from her grand shifu⁴? Though light, soft, and thin, they were impervious to blade and sword, able to withstand any treasured weapon. She had suddenly seized the blade and then, with deft strength, snapped it.

Hao Datong’s face was pale. In the shock of his crushing defeat, it did not occur to him that her gloves held such ingenious secrets. He assumed she had truly cultivated some supreme skill that made her impervious to weapons. His voice trembling, he said, “Fine, fine, fine. This humble Daoist admits defeat. Miss Long, take the child and go.” Xiaolongnü said, “You killed Granny Sun, and you think saying ‘I admit defeat’ settles it?” Hao Datong threw his head back and laughed bitterly. “I truly have grown old and senile!” He raised the half-broken sword towards his own throat.

Suddenly, there was a clang, and a violent shock ran through his hand as a copper coin had flown in from beyond the wall and knocked the half-broken sword to the ground. With Hao Datong’s profound neili, to knock a sword from his grip was no easy feat. He shuddered. From the skill of this coin-projectile sword-deflecting technique, he knew his shixiong Qiu Chuji had arrived. Raising his head, he called out, “Qiu shixiong, your shidi⁵ is incompetent and has brought shame upon our sect. Do as you see fit.” From beyond the wall came a long, hearty laugh, and a voice said, “Victory and defeat are commonplace. If a man had to cut his throat every time he lost a fight, your shixiong would have run out of heads long ago.” Man followed voice as Qiu Chuji, long sword in hand, leapt over the wall.

Bold and unrestrained by nature, Qiu Chuji thrust his long sword at Xiaolongnü’s arm, saying, “Qiu Chuji of the Quanzhen Order seeks instruction from our esteemed neighbour.” Xiaolongnü said, “You, old Daoist, are refreshingly straightforward.” Her left palm shot out and seized Qiu Chuji’s long sword. Hao Datong cried out in alarm, “Shixiong, be careful!” But it was already too late. Xiaolongnü exerted force through her hand while Qiu Chuji drove power through the blade. Strength against strength, crack! The long sword snapped again. But Xiaolongnü’s arm was also shaken numb, and a dull pain throbbed in her chest. In that single exchange, she knew Qiu Chuji’s martial arts far surpassed Hao Datong’s, and that she had not yet mastered her sect’s secret skill, the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra,⁶ and could not defeat him. She threw the broken sword to the ground, tucked Granny Sun’s body under her left arm, scooped up Yang Guo with her right, pushed off with both feet, and soared into the air, floating lightly over the wall.

Qiu Chuji, Hao Datong, and the others watched her suddenly display this qinggong⁷ skill and could not help exchanging looks of astonishment. Qiu and Hao had both crossed hands with her and knew that while her martial arts were refined, they were still inferior to their own, but such extraordinary qinggong was something they had truly never seen before. Hao Datong sighed deeply. “Enough, enough!” Qiu Chuji said, “Hao shidi, after all these years of cultivating the Dao, you still can’t see through such a small setback? Didn’t we fellow disciples make fools of ourselves in Shanxi too?” Hao Datong said in alarm, “What? Was anyone hurt?” Qiu Chuji said, “It’s a long story. Let’s go see Ma shixiong.”

Li Mochou had wounded Lu Liding⁸ and several others in Jiaxing,⁹ Jiangnan,¹⁰ then travelled far to Shanxi, where she injured several more heroes in northern Shanxi. Public outrage was finally stirred, and the local wulin leader issued a broad call to arms, inviting fellow martial artists to unite against her. The Quanzhen Order had also received the call. At the time, Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, and the others had discussed the matter, all agreeing that although Li Mochou had committed many evils, her grand shifu ultimately shared deep roots with Patriarch¹¹ Chongyang. It would be best to mediate and give her a path to reform. Liu Chuxuan¹² and Sun Bu’er¹³ had set out north together. But Li Mochou’s movements were secretive, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. Liu and Sun could do nothing about her, and she instead wounded several more heroes in southern and northern Shanxi.

Footnotes

1. 穴位 – xuéwèi. … See Wikipedia. ↩

2. 铁板桥 – Tiěbǎn Qiáo. Literally iron-plank bridge. Defensive technique in which the practitioner bends backward from the waist until the body is nearly parallel to the ground, like a bridge, to evade an attack. ↩

3. 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. ↩

4. 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. ↩

5. 师弟 – shīdì. Male junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Dì means younger brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

6. 玉女心经 – Yùnǚ Xīnjīng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

7. 轻功 – qīnggōng. Literally lightness skill. Martial art of body lightness; practitioners leap great heights and move with extraordinary speed. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

8. 陆立鼎 – Lù Lìdǐng. His name meaning “establishing the tripod”, a metaphor for laying a stable foundation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

9. 嘉兴 – Jiāxīng. City in northern Zhejiang Province, known for its South Lake and its role as a key location in Jin Yong’s novels. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

10. 江南 – Jiāngnán. Prosperous region south of Yangtze River, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

11. 祖师 – zǔshī. Rendered Patriarch. Founder of a school or tradition — the source of a lineage rather than a rung on it. Distinct from 师祖 (Grand Shifu), which is reckoned two generations up from whoever is speaking. ↩

12. Liu Chuxuan (刘处玄). One of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, a disciple of Wang Chongyang. ↩

13. 孙不二 – Sūn Bùèr. Her name meaning “not two”, signifying non-duality. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩