The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 5 – Part 8
Translation by Jenxi Seow
Yang Guo then knelt with the utmost respect and kowtowed eight resounding thuds to Xiaolongnü, declaring, “Disciple Yang Guo, today, bows to Aunt Xiaolongnü as his shifu. From this day forward, Yang Guo will forever obey Aunt’s words and will look after Aunt’s wellbeing for all his life. Should Aunt ever face danger or peril, Yang Guo will sacrifice his own life to protect Aunt. If villains come to harm Aunt, Yang Guo will fight to the death to kill them.” In truth, Xiaolongnü’s martial arts at this time were immeasurably greater than his, but seeing her delicate, elegant, and frail appearance, a manly spirit of protecting the weak rose unbidden in Yang Guo’s chest. By the end, his words grew more and more impassioned. Hearing the sincerity in his tone, Xiaolongnü, though his speech was full of childish bravado, could not help being moved.
After Yang Guo finished kowtowing, he scrambled to his feet, his face radiant with joy. Xiaolongnü said, “What are you so happy about? My skills can’t match that old Daoist Qiu Chuji of the Quanzhen Order, much less your Uncle Guo.” Yang Guo said, “No matter how good they are, it’s none of my business. But you, you’re really willing to teach me gongfu.” Xiaolongnü said, “Actually, learning martial arts isn’t much use. But since there’s nothing else to do in this tomb, I’ll teach you, that’s all.”
Yang Guo said, “Aunt, what is our sect called?” Xiaolongnü said, “From the time Grandmaster entered this Tomb of the Living Dead, we have never interacted with the people of the wulin. Our sect has no name. Later, when Li shijie went out into the jianghu, others called her a disciple of the ‘Ancient Tomb School,’ so let us be called the ‘Ancient Tomb School.’” Yang Guo shook his head. “The name ‘Ancient Tomb School’ is no good!” He had just entered the sect and was already criticising its name, but Xiaolongnü paid it no mind. “What does it matter whether the name is good or not? Wait here. I’m going out for a while.”
Yang Guo thought of being left alone in this tomb and was terrified. He said hurriedly, “Aunt, let me go with you.” Xiaolongnü shot him a sideways glare. “You said you would always obey my words, and you’re already disobeying the very first one.” Yang Guo said, “I’m scared.” Xiaolongnü said, “A real man, scared of what? And you said you’d help me fight villains.” Yang Guo thought for a moment. “Fine. But come back quickly.” Xiaolongnü said coldly, “That’s hard to say. What if I can’t catch them right away?” Yang Guo said, puzzled, “Catch what?” Xiaolongnü did not answer and simply left.
With her gone, not the slightest sound remained in the tomb. Yang Guo wondered what she had gone to catch, but figured since she would not go down Mount Zhongnan, she must be going to catch one of the Quanzhen Daoists, though he did not know which one. Whoever she caught, she would surely torment them thoroughly, which would be a wonderful thing. But he worried she might be outnumbered and come to harm. After letting his imagination run wild for a while, he left the main hall and walked west along the corridor. Before he had taken more than ten steps, everything before his eyes went pitch black. Fearing he would lose his way, he felt along the wall and slowly walked back. But after more than twenty steps, he still could not see the candlelight of the main hall. Panic set in, and he quickened his pace. He had already taken a wrong turn, and this panic only led him further astray. The faster he walked, the more he bumped and crashed into things. In the darkness, it seemed every path was a fork or a branch, and he could never find his way back to the main hall. He shouted at the top of his lungs, “Aunt! Aunt! Come save me!” The echoes reverberated through the tomb passages, muffled and eerie.
After blundering about for some time, he felt the ground grow damp, and his footsteps brought up mud. He was no longer in the tomb passages but had entered an underground tunnel connected to the tomb. He grew even more frightened and thought, If I were lost in the tomb, Aunt could always find me. But now I’ve come here, she’ll search everywhere and not find me, and she’ll think I ran away. She’ll be so sad. Not daring to walk any further, he felt around until he found a stone, rested his chin on both hands, and sat there blankly, wanting to burst into loud sobs but unable to produce a sound.
He sat like this for over a shichen when suddenly he faintly heard a voice calling, “Guoer! Guoer!” Yang Guo was overjoyed. He leapt up and shouted, “Aunt, I’m here!” But the calls of “Guoer! Guoer!” grew farther and farther away. Yang Guo grew desperate and screamed at the top of his lungs, “I’m here!” After a while, he still heard nothing, then suddenly felt a cool sensation on his ear as someone lifted him by it.
First he was terrified, then overjoyed. “Aunt, you came! How come I didn’t notice at all?” Xiaolongnü said, “What are you doing here?” Yang Guo said, “I took a wrong turn.” Xiaolongnü made a sound of acknowledgement, took his hand, and began walking. Though they were in complete darkness, she moved as though under bright sunlight, turning corners and navigating passageways with astonishing speed. Yang Guo said, “Aunt, how can you see?” Xiaolongnü said, “I’ve grown up my whole life in darkness. Naturally, I don’t need light.” For the past shichen and more, Yang Guo had been gripped by terror and regret. Now that he was rescued, his joy knew no bounds, though he hardly knew what to say.
In a moment, Xiaolongnü had led him back to the main hall. Yang Guo let out a long sigh. “Aunt, I was so worried just now.” Xiaolongnü said, “Worried about what? I would have found you eventually.” Yang Guo said, “It wasn’t that. I was afraid you’d think I’d run away on my own, and you’d be sad.” Xiaolongnü said, “If you ran away, I wouldn’t have to keep my promise to Granny Sun. What would there be to be sad about?”
Yang Guo found this reply deeply unsatisfying. He asked, “Aunt, did you catch them?” Xiaolongnü said, “I caught them.” Yang Guo said, “Why did you catch them?” Xiaolongnü said, “For you to practise martial arts. Follow me!” Yang Guo thought, So she went to catch a stinking Daoist for me to spar with. That’ll be fun. Best if she caught my shifu Zhao Zhijing, once Aunt has subdued him, he’ll have no choice but to take my punches and kicks without being able to fight back. What a satisfying thought. He followed behind, growing happier the more he thought about it.
Xiaolongnü turned several corners, pushed open a door, and entered a stone chamber lit by a lamp. The chamber was tiny. Two people standing could barely turn around, and the ceiling was so low that Xiaolongnü, stretching out her arm, could almost touch it.
Yang Guo saw no Daoist and was secretly puzzled. “Where’s the Daoist you caught?” he asked. Xiaolongnü said, “What Daoist?” Yang Guo said, “Didn’t you say you went out to catch someone to help me train?” Xiaolongnü said, “Who said it was a person? It’s right here.” She bent down, picked up a cloth sack from the corner of the stone chamber, untied the cord binding its mouth, and shook it upside down. Three sparrows flew out. Yang Guo was utterly baffled. So Aunt went out to catch sparrows.
Xiaolongnü said, “Catch all three sparrows and bring them to me. But you must not damage their feathers, feet, or claws.” Yang Guo said delightedly, “Alright!” He pounced to grab them. But the sparrows were extraordinarily nimble, darting east and swooping west. Yang Guo was soon panting and drenched in sweat. Let alone catching them, he could not even touch a single feather.
Xiaolongnü said, “You can’t catch them that way. Let me teach you the method.” She then taught him various techniques for leaping high and swooping low, for sweeping grabs and pinching holds. Only then did Yang Guo understand that she was teaching him martial arts through the act of catching sparrows. He committed the essentials firmly to memory. Though he grasped the principles, putting them into practice was not so easy. Xiaolongnü left him to figure it out through practice in the small chamber, closing the door behind her as she left.
That day, Yang Guo did not catch a single sparrow. After dinner, he trained on the cold jade bed. The second day, when he tried catching sparrows again, his leaps were several inches higher and his strikes considerably faster. By the fifth day, he finally caught one. Yang Guo was overjoyed and rushed off to tell Xiaolongnü. To his surprise, she showed not the slightest sign of approval. She said coldly, “What use is catching one? You need to catch all three in succession.”
Yang Guo thought, Since I can catch one, what’s so hard about catching two more? But he was greatly mistaken. For two days in a row, he could not catch a single one. Xiaolongnü saw that the three sparrows were utterly exhausted, so she fed them a hearty meal of rice grains, released them outside the tomb, and caught three new ones for him to practise with. On the eighth day, Yang Guo finally caught all three sparrows in one go.
Xiaolongnü said, “Today we should go to Chongyang Palace.” Yang Guo said in alarm, “What for?” Xiaolongnü did not answer. She led him out of the tomb gate. Yang Guo had not seen sunlight for seven days. At first sight of it, his eyes could barely open.
The two arrived before Chongyang Palace. Yang Guo’s heart was uneasy, and he kept glancing sideways at Xiaolongnü, but her expression was utterly indifferent, and he could not guess even half of what she was thinking. He heard her call out in a clear voice, “Zhao Zhijing, come out!”
The moment the two reached the palace gate, someone had already gone in to report. Xiaolongnü’s call had barely faded when several dozen Daoists surged out of the palace. Two young Daoists supported Zhao Zhijing from either side. He was gaunt and haggard, his eyes deeply sunken, unable to stand on his own. At the sight of the two, every Daoist pressed a hand to their sword hilt and glared with fury.