The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 6 – Part 6

Zhao Zhijing said, “Even if they couldn’t hear what you were saying, the fact that you go pacing back and forth in that forest every two or three days, that can’t be denied, can it? Our zhangmen shibo gave orders that no one is to approach the forest beside the ancient tomb. Everyone in the sect knows I sent four disciples to stand watch and capture Yang Guo, everyone except shibo and shifu. You went to that forest to wait for Xiaolongnü, if that’s not a violation of the lust precept, then what is it? If you won’t admit it, let us go to zhangmen shibo and Qiu shibo to judge the rights and wrongs of this matter.” Zhen Zhibing said, “Zhao shixiong¹, all your machinations are simply to pry me out of the position of head disciple of the third generation, so that I cannot become the zhangmen in the future. You spout reckless slander for this purpose alone. Everyone knows your intentions, aside from mocking you, who would believe you? Besides, in our sect, Li Zhichang shixiong, Wang Zhitan shidi, Song Defang shidi, which of them is not shrewd and capable, with talent far surpassing yours? Even prying me out would be difficult beyond measure, and when it comes to succeeding me, it may not be your turn either!”

Zhao Zhijing laughed coldly. “I’m spouting reckless slander, am I? On the day of Xiaolongnü’s twentieth birthday, who was it that eagerly placed a box of candied peaches and two jars of candied jujubes before the ancient tomb, with a note saying ‘Respectfully celebrating Miss Long’s fragrant birthday’?” Zhen Zhibing said, “You certainly remember other people’s birthdays clearly enough.” Zhao Zhijing said, “On her eighteenth birthday, when that horde of demons and monsters came attacking in force and burned down the halls of Chongyang Palace, who doesn’t remember that day? Do you think you can deny it? Hah! Who sent that birthday gift and wrote the gift card saying ‘Respectfully celebrating Miss Long’s fragrant birthday,’ and, as if afraid no one would know who sent it, signed below with the ten characters ‘Humbly offered by the minor Daoist Zhen Zhibing of Chongyang Palace’? That gift card, Lu Qingdu has kept it. Shall we go before Qiu shibo and compare the handwriting, to see whether it was personally written by you, Zhen shidi, or forged by me, Zhao Zhijing?” He pulled a sheet of red paper from within his robes, waved it a few times, and said, “Is this your handwriting or not? Let us hand it over to zhangmen Ma shibo and your presiding master, Qiu shibo, for them to identify.” Zhen Zhibing could endure no longer. With a sharp ring, his long sword left its scabbard and thrust straight at Zhao Zhijing’s heart.

Zhao Zhijing sidestepped to avoid it, tucked the red paper back into his robes, and said with a vicious grin, “You want to kill me to silence me? I’m afraid it won’t be that easy.” Zhen Zhibing said not a word and thrust three rapid strikes, but each was evaded. On the fourth strike, with a clang, Zhao Zhijing’s long sword also left its scabbard. The two swords crossed, and they began fighting fiercely beside the flower clump. Both were high-ranking disciples of the third generation of Quanzhen, one was Qiu Chuji’s second disciple, the other was Wang Chuyi’s first disciple. Their martial arts were originally evenly matched. Zhen Zhibing clenched his teeth and attacked with desperate ferocity, while Zhao Zhijing interspersed his fierce fighting with occasional taunts, intending to provoke his opponent into making a mistake. Among Qiu Chuji’s disciples, Yin Zhiping had originally been the foremost in martial arts, with Zhen Zhibing second, but in recent years Yin Zhiping had devoted himself to the Way of inner alchemy and the cultivation of qi, and his martial arts had inevitably grown rusty. Thus among the third-generation disciples, it was Zhen Zhibing and Zhao Zhijing who vied for supremacy.

By now Yang Guo had thoroughly learned the Quanzhen Order’s sword techniques. Watching the two fight fiercely, he saw that although their moves in advance and retreat, attack and defence were endlessly varied, they largely fell within his expectations. He thought to himself: “The skills Gugu taught me are indeed excellent.” He watched as the two traded dozens of moves in a tumbling, rolling exchange. Zhen Zhibing used only offensive moves, while Zhao Zhijing constantly shifted his footing, sneering, “What you know, I know too. What I know, you’ve also trained. If you think you can kill me, dream on, dream on.” His defence was steady and unshakeable. Zhen Zhibing attacked with all his might, but every move was blocked. After fighting a while longer, Yang Guo saw that the two men’s footsteps were constantly shifting towards Xiaolongnü. Horrified, he thought: “If those two villainous Daoists fight their way to where my gugu is, that will be disastrous!”

Suddenly Zhao Zhijing launched a counterattack, forcing Zhen Zhibing back. He pressed forward with three rapid moves, and Zhen Zhibing retreated three steps. Yang Guo was secretly pleased to see the two moving away from his shifu. But then Zhen Zhibing suddenly switched his sword to his left hand, and his right arm shot out, whoosh, a palm strike to the chest. Zhao Zhijing laughed, “Even if you had three hands, you’d only have the skill to steal fragrance with clever hands, you’ll never kill me.” He met the strike with his left palm. The two now thrust with swords and struck with palms, fighting even more fiercely than before.

Xiaolongnü was wholly absorbed in her neigong and remained completely oblivious to everything in the outside world. Every time the two men drew a few steps closer, Yang Guo’s heart clenched with anxiety. Every time they moved a few steps farther away, he felt slightly relieved.

The fight reached a fever pitch. Zhen Zhibing roared with fury and launched a series of desperate moves, no longer blocking his opponent’s incoming sword but simply attacking with single-minded ferocity. Zhao Zhijing inwardly cursed his misfortune. He knew Zhen Zhibing was in an awkward position, he would rather be stabbed to death by Zhao Zhijing than allow the secret of his secret infatuation to be exposed. Although Zhao Zhijing had never been on good terms with Zhen Zhibing, he had no desire to kill him. In this situation, he immediately fell to a disadvantage. After several more exchanges, Zhen Zhibing thrust with his left sword, struck with his right palm, and simultaneously swept out with his left leg, the “Triple Chain” ultimate move of the Quanzhen Order.

Zhao Zhijing leapt over a zhang into the air and slashed downward with his sword. Zhen Zhibing let his long sword fly from his hand, hurling it at his opponent, then gave a sharp cry and struck out with both palms together.

Yang Guo saw that these several moves were fierce and unpredictable, beyond anything he knew. Cold sweat covered his palms. He saw Zhao Zhijing suspended in midair with no way to dodge, it looked as though these two palm strikes would shatter his bones and snap his tendons. But who could have guessed that at this moment of extreme peril, Zhao Zhijing would suddenly flip his body in midair, retreat sharply by a good zhang, and land lightly and deftly on the ground.

Watching the trajectory of his descent, he was heading straight for the flower clump where Xiaolongnü sat. In his great alarm, Yang Guo had no time to think. He shot upward, his left palm emerging from beneath his right palm to support Zhao Zhijing’s back. With a move called “Coloured Tower Tosses the Ball,” he exerted force and flung Zhao Zhijing’s massive frame more than two zhang away. But his internal power was still insufficient, and he had used too much force in this one move. The strength gathered in his left arm, leaving his lower body unsteady. He immediately lost his footing. His body tilted to one side, and his left foot landed on a flower branch. The branch snapped back and struck Xiaolongnü’s face. Just this light flick was enough to give Xiaolongnü a tremendous shock. Sweat poured from her entire body. The internal breath that had been circulating at high speed rushed into her dantian and could not return upward. She immediately fainted.

Zhen Zhibing was stunned to suddenly see Yang Guo appear, and even more stunned to suddenly see the woman he thought of day and night, the one who filled his dreams, hidden within the flower clump. He stood frozen, truly unable to tell if this was real or an illusion. By now Zhao Zhijing had straightened up. Under the moonlight he could clearly see Xiaolongnü’s face, and he saw her lying unconscious on the ground, her clothing in disarray. He cried, “Well, well! So she’s here, having a secret rendezvous with her lover.”

Yang Guo was enraged. He shouted fiercely, “Neither of you stinking Daoists is to leave! I’ll settle accounts with you later.” Seeing that Xiaolongnü had fallen and lay motionless, he remembered how she had repeatedly instructed him that during training they must protect each other with full force, even if a river deer or rabbit happened to run past, it could cause a great disaster. Now that she had suffered this tremendous shock, the harm was surely severe. Terrified, he reached out to feel her forehead. It was icy cold. He hurriedly pulled her clothing across to cover her body, lifted her up, and called, “Gugu, are you all right?”

Xiaolongnü made a soft sound of acknowledgement but did not answer. Yang Guo felt slightly relieved. “Gugu, let’s go back first. We’ll come back later to kill these two villainous Daoists.” Xiaolongnü was completely weak and leaned against his chest. Yang Guo strode forward, walking past the two men. Zhen Zhibing stood frozen in place, stupefied. Zhao Zhijing laughed loudly. “Zhen shidi, the woman of your dreams is here with another man, doing those shameless deeds. Rather than kill me, you’d be better off killing him!” Zhen Zhibing heard but did not listen. He made no sound.

Yang Guo heard the words “doing those shameless deeds.” Though he did not understand what Zhao Zhijing meant, he knew it was the most vicious of curses. In his towering rage, he gently set Xiaolongnü down on the ground, resting her back against a tree. He broke off a tree branch and held it in his hand. Pointing it at Zhao Zhijing, he shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting?”

Two years had passed. Yang Guo had grown from a child into a tall, handsome youth. Zhao Zhijing had not recognised him at first. Only when he heard him shout a second time, and his face turned into the moonlight, did he see clearly that it was his own former disciple, the very one who, in the chaos, had thrown him to the ground. Shame and fury surged together. Seeing Yang Guo bare-chested, he shouted, “Yang Guo! So it’s you, you little beast!” Yang Guo said, “Curse me if you will, but what did you say about my gugu?” Zhao Zhijing gave a great laugh. “They say the Ancient Tomb School is a sect of maidens, that it has always passed its teachings to women and not to men, that every one of them is a pure and untouched virgin. But it turns out they are filthy and debauched, with dozens of lovers and paramours, never mind if they’re monks or Daoists, disciples or masters. Whenever they meet one, they don’t care if it’s day or night, out in the open or under the sky, they just go at it!”

Xiaolongnü happened to regain consciousness at this moment. Hearing these words, shock and fury surged together within her. The breath she had just regulated reversed itself once more. The two qi clashed, and her chest felt unbearably constricted. She knew she had suffered an internal injury. She managed only to curse, “You… you talk nonsense…” Then suddenly fresh blood sprayed from her mouth like a pillar of crimson.

Zhen Zhibing and Yang Guo were both horrified. They rushed forward together. Zhen Zhibing said, “What’s wrong?” He bent down to examine her injury. Yang Guo, thinking he meant to harm her, pushed his left hand towards Zhen Zhibing’s chest. Zhen Zhibing casually blocked it. Yang Guo was thoroughly familiar with every move of Quanzhen martial arts. His hand flipped and seized Zhen Zhibing’s wrist. First pulling, then pushing, he sent him flying.

At this point Yang Guo had not trained for long, and his martial arts were in truth still far inferior to Zhen Zhibing’s. If he had fought a practitioner of any other school whose martial arts were on par with Zhen Zhibing’s, Yang Guo would certainly have lost. But Lin Chaoying had spent years devising methods to counter Quanzhen martial arts, and every move and every stance was matched with perfect precision. Moreover, she had never used them after creating them, so Quanzhen disciples had never known that such a nemesis to their school’s martial arts existed in the world. Now that Yang Guo suddenly used them, Zhen Zhibing was caught completely off guard, and with his mind in turmoil, he had no ability to defend himself at all. Though Yang Guo’s strike was fast, his force was insufficient. Zhen Zhibing did not fall from this throw, but his body was already two zhang away, standing beside Zhao Zhijing.

Yang Guo said, “Gugu, don’t mind them. Let me help you back first.” Xiaolongnü said, gasping for breath, “No. Kill them. Don’t… don’t let them go outside and talk… talk about me…” Yang Guo said, “All right.” He darted forward and thrust the tree branch in his hand towards Zhao Zhijing’s chest. Zhao Zhijing did not take him seriously at all. He flicked his long sword slightly to cut the branch. But who could have known that the sword move Yang Guo used was precisely the nemesis of Quanzhen sword techniques? The tip of the branch trembled and suddenly curved, striking Zhao Zhijing’s wrist acupoint. Zhao Zhijing’s wrist went numb, and he inwardly cursed. Yang Guo’s left palm swept across, striking directly at Zhao Zhijing’s left cheek. This sweeping strike came from a bizarre angle, from the most impossible direction. If Zhao Zhijing wanted to keep his long sword, he would have to take the strike to his head, if he wanted to dodge, he would have to let go of his sword.

Zhao Zhijing’s martial arts were formidable. He let go of his sword, ducked his head to evade, and Yang Guo seized his long sword. Zhao Zhijing then thrust his left palm forward, intending to snatch back the sword in that split second. But how could he have known that Lin Chaoying, decades ago, had already anticipated the enemy’s moves and prepared countermeasures for all the various ingenious and dangerous variations that a Quanzhen master might use? Zhao Zhijing thought this move was uniquely creative and certain to snatch victory from defeat. He never imagined that Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü had long since analysed and dismantled this move until it was utterly familiar. The moment Yang Guo saw Zhao Zhijing’s left palm flash, he knew he would use this move. He thrust his long sword forward, striking first to cut Zhao Zhijing’s palm. Zhao Zhijing hurriedly pulled back his hand. Yang Guo’s sword tip was already pointed at his chest. He shouted, “Lie down!” He hooked out with his left foot. Zhao Zhijing’s vital point was controlled and he could not move. Tripped by the hook, he immediately fell flat on his back. Yang Guo raised the long sword and thrust it fiercely down towards Zhao Zhijing’s lower abdomen.

Footnotes

1. 师兄 – shīxiōng. Male senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Xiōng means older brother. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩