The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 7 – Part 7

Ouyang Feng talked for a while, then glanced over and suddenly saw Xiaolongnü sitting to one side. “Oh no,” he cried. “I must not let your little girl master eavesdrop.” He walked over to Xiaolongnü and said, “Hey, little girl, I am teaching my son martial arts. Do not eavesdrop.” Xiaolongnü said, “What is so special about your skills? Who would want to eavesdrop?” Ouyang Feng tilted his head and thought, then said, “Fine. Then go far away.” Xiaolongnü leaned against a flowering tree and said coolly, “Why should I obey your orders? I will go if I want to go, and stay if I want to stay.” Ouyang Feng was enraged. His whiskers bristled. He reached out to grab her face, but Xiaolongnü acted as if she had not seen and paid no attention. Yang Guo shouted, “Father, do not offend my master.” Ouyang Feng pulled back his hand. “Fine, fine. Then we will go far away. But will you follow and eavesdrop?”

Xiaolongnü thought to herself that Guoer’s adopted father was utterly shameless and could not be bothered to deal with him further. She turned her head away and did not answer. Unexpectedly, she suddenly felt a numbness on her back. Ouyang Feng had abruptly extended his arm and struck a finger into an acupoint on her back. This strike was astonishingly fast, and Xiaolongnü was completely off guard. By the time she realised and tried to resist, her upper body could no longer move. Ouyang Feng followed up by striking a finger into her waist. He laughed. “Little girl, do not be anxious. Once I have finished teaching my son his skills, I will come and release you.” Laughing, he strode off.

Yang Guo was silently memorising the Toad Stance and Nine Yin Manual that his adopted father was transmitting. He felt that the formulae Ouyang Feng spoke were somewhat tangled and confused, a chaotic mess, yet the wondrous applications within them were many and beyond doubt. He was deep in thought, utterly unaware that Xiaolongnü had been ambushed. Ouyang Feng came over and took him by the hand. “Let us go over there, so your little master cannot eavesdrop.” Yang Guo thought, How could Gugu possibly eavesdrop? Even if you insisted on teaching her, she would absolutely refuse to learn. But his adopted father’s mind was disordered. There was no point in arguing with him. So Yang Guo followed him further away.

Xiaolongnü lay paralysed on the ground, both exasperated and amused. She thought to herself that although her martial arts had been trained to a profound level, she ultimately lacked experience in facing enemies. First she had fallen to Li Mochou’s ambush, and now she had been ambushed by this bearded weirdo. She secretly circulated the Nine Yin Manual’s divine skill to unseal her own acupoints, first using the Method for Holding the Breath, hoping to clear her acupoints and meridians. Who could have known that the two sealed acupoints not only showed no sign of loosening, but became even more sore and numb? She was greatly alarmed. It turned out that Ouyang Feng’s technique ran exactly opposite to the Nine Yin Manual. When she tried to use Wang Chongyang’s legacy method to break through, the more she sought release, the tighter the seal became. She tried several times, but felt a dull ache at the sealed points and dared not try again. She thought, Once that madman finishes teaching his skills, he will naturally come and release me. She let nothing trouble her heart. She was not anxious. She raised her head and gazed at the stars in the sky for a while, then closed her eyes and fell asleep.

After a long time, she felt something lightly touching her eyes. She could see in darkness as though it were broad daylight, yet now she could see nothing, someone had covered her eyes with cloth. Then she felt someone’s arms wrap around her. When this person first embraced her, they were extremely timid, but gradually they grew bolder and more reckless. Xiaolongnü was terrified beyond measure. She wanted to open her mouth and cry out, but her mouth and tongue could not move. She felt that person press their mouth to hers and kiss her cheek. At first she thought it was Ouyang Feng suddenly forcing himself upon her. But when her face touched that person’s face, she felt that it was smooth, absolutely not Ouyang Feng’s bristling beard. Her heart fluttered. Fear gradually faded, and desire secretly arose. She thought, So it is Yang Guo, that child, come to toy with me. She felt his hands grow more and more improper, slowly undressing her. Xiaolongnü could not move and could only let him do as he wished. She felt both surprised and delighted, both shy and overwhelmed. She felt Yang Guo’s tender, devoted love for her, wishing only that the two of them could merge into one. Her spirit drifted, her body and heart intoxicated.

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Ouyang Feng saw that Yang Guo was extremely intelligent. Though Yang Guo could not fully grasp everything of the oral formulae he transmitted, he memorised them very quickly. Ouyang Feng’s heart was filled with joy. The more he talked, the higher his spirits rose. He talked until the sky was bright with dawn before he finished expounding the essential doctrines of the two great divine skills. Yang Guo silently memorised them for a long while, then said, “I have also studied the Nine Yin Manual, but it is completely different from what you are saying. I wonder why.” Ouyang Feng said, “Nonsense. Apart from this, what other Nine Yin Manual could there be?” Yang Guo said, “For instance, in training the technique of Transforming the Sinews and Forging the Bones,¹ you say the third step is to reverse the flow of blood and energy and surge toward the Celestial Pillar acupoint. But my master says one must focus the intent on the dantian² and pass through the Portal Gate acupoint.” Ouyang Feng shook his head. “Wrong, wrong… Hmm, wait…” He followed what Yang Guo described and circulated his energy. Suddenly he felt his internal power spread out comfortably, the sensation completely different. He could never have imagined that the scripture Guo Jing had written out for him had actually been reversed and altered. His mind fell into chaos. He muttered to himself, “What is this? Did I get it wrong, or did your little girl master get it wrong? How could such a thing happen? Who… who am I?”

Yang Guo saw his eyes staring blankly, his expression utterly lost. He called to him several times but received no answer. Fearing his adopted father’s madness was about to flare up again, he grew deeply worried. He remembered that his adopted father could not recall his own name. Back then, Aunt Guo had deliberately called him “Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Zheng Wang, Feng Chen Chu Wei, Jiang Shen Han Yang”³, clearly to confuse his thoughts. His adopted father had been tormented by this. Later, Yang Guo had overheard Guo Jing and his wife talking behind his back, calling him “Ouyang Feng,” and had always wanted to remind him. But at the time, events had followed one after another in rapid succession and there had been no opportunity. So now he said, “Father, your name is Ouyang Feng. Do you remember now?”

Ouyang Feng was suddenly jolted. A flash of light moved through his mind. Many past events surged up all at once. He laughed heartily, leapt to his feet, and shouted, “Yes, yes! Who is Ouyang Feng?… Haha, Ouyang Feng!” He casually broke off a tree branch and unfolded the techniques of the Serpent Staff,⁴ making the wind howl. He shouted, “Ouyang Feng is invincible… Ouyang Feng is the greatest in martial arts under heaven… Ouyang Feng’s martial arts are supreme, he fears no one! Haha! Haha!” Ignoring Yang Guo, he left like a gust of wind.

Yang Guo was about to chase after him when he suddenly heard a rustling sound from behind a tree several zhang away. He immediately thought of his gugu. A figure flashed past, among the flowers and thickets he faintly glimpsed the corner of an indigo Daoist robe. This place was remote and rarely visited. How could an outsider have come here? Moreover, that person’s movements were furtive, clearly harbouring ill intent. Suspicion surged in him, and he rushed after the figure. The person’s steps were swift as they fled forward. From behind, Yang Guo could see it was a Daoist priest. He called out, “Hey! Who are you? Stop!” He used his lightness skill and quickened his pace in pursuit.

Hearing the shout, the Daoist ran even faster. Yang Guo applied a little more force. His body shot forward like an arrow and he seized the person’s shoulder, spinning them around. It was Zhen Zhibing.⁵ Yang Guo saw that his clothes and hat were dishevelled, his face alternating between red and white. “What were you doing?” Yang Guo demanded. Zhen Zhibing had by now been appointed the head of the Quanzhen Order’s third-generation disciples. His martial arts were high, and his usual bearing was extremely dignified. But for some reason, at this moment his face was filled with panic and he could not speak. Yang Guo saw how terrified he was and recalled that day when Zhen Zhibing had made his oath with such resolute finality, he was not a bad person after all. So Yang Guo released his grip and said gently, “Since nothing is wrong, you may go.” Zhen Zhibing glanced back several times, then hurried off in a fluster.

Yang Guo laughed to himself. That Daoist looks like he has lost his soul. Truly ridiculous. He returned to the thatched huts. Among the flowering trees, he saw Xiaolongnü’s two bare feet protruding, perfectly still, as though she had fallen asleep. Yang Guo called twice, “Gugu!” There was no answer. He pushed through the thicket and saw Xiaolongnü lying on the ground, her eyes covered with a strip of dark cloth.

Yang Guo was mildly surprised. He removed the cloth from her eyes and saw an extremely strange look in them, her cheeks were flushed, her expression infinitely bashful. Yang Guo asked, “Gugu, who covered your eyes with this cloth?” Xiaolongnü did not answer. Her eyes held a faint hint of reproach. Yang Guo saw that her body was limp, as if her acupoints had been sealed. He reached out to pull her up, and indeed she could not move. A thought flashed through his mind, and he understood at once. It must have been my adopted father who used the Reverse-Force Acupoint Sealing Technique on her. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the acupoint-sealing technique, Gugu could have opened them herself. Following the method Ouyang Feng had just taught him, he unsealed her acupoints.

But though Xiaolongnü’s entire body had been limp and paralysed when her acupoints were sealed, even after Yang Guo unsealed them, she still leaned softly against him, as if all the bones in her body had melted away. Yang Guo extended his arm to support her shoulders. “Gugu,” he said gently, “my adopted father does things all topsy-turvy. Do not take it to heart.” Xiaolongnü buried her face against his chest and said in a sticky, honeyed voice, “You are the one who is topsy-turvy. Have you no shame, speaking of others that way?” Yang Guo saw that her manner was completely different from usual. He felt slightly flustered. “Gugu, I… I…” Xiaolongnü raised her head and said reproachfully, “You still call me Gugu?” Yang Guo grew even more flustered. “If I do not call you Gugu, what should I call you? Do you want me to call you Master?” Xiaolongnü smiled faintly. “After the way you treated me, how can I still be your master?” Yang Guo said, bewildered, “What… what did I do?”

Xiaolongnü rolled up her sleeve, revealing an arm like a snowy lotus root. It was pure white as jade, without the slightest flaw. The single crimson dot of the Guardian Palace Sand that had always been there was nowhere to be seen.⁶ “Look,” she said shyly. Yang Guo was utterly baffled. He scratched his ear. “Gugu, I do not understand.” Xiaolongnü said reproachfully, “I told you, you are not allowed to call me Gugu anymore.” She saw the bewilderment on Yang Guo’s face, and a tenderness beyond words welled up in her heart. In a low voice she said, “In our Ancient Tomb School, generation after generation, the transmission has always been from maiden to maiden. My master placed this Guardian Palace Sand on me. Last night… after what you did to me last night, how could the Guardian Palace Sand still be on my arm?” Yang Guo said, “What did I do to you last night?” Xiaolongnü blushed. “Do not speak of it.” After a moment, she said softly, “Before, I was afraid of descending the mountain. But now it is different. No matter where you go, I will willingly follow you.”

Yang Guo was overjoyed. “Gugu, that is wonderful!” he cried. Xiaolongnü’s expression turned serious. “How can you still call me Gugu? Do you not truly care for me?” Seeing that he did not answer, anxiety rose in her heart. Her voice trembling, she said, “What exactly am I to you?” Yang Guo said with the utmost sincerity, “You are my master. You have cared for me and taught me. I swore an oath to respect and honour you all my life and to obey your words.” Xiaolongnü said loudly, “Do you not consider me your wife?”

Yang Guo had never once thought of this. Suddenly confronted with the question, he was thrown into confusion and did not know how to answer. He stammered, “No, no! You cannot be my wife. How could I be worthy? You are my master, my gugu.”

The previous night, Xiaolongnü had been immobilised by Ouyang Feng’s acupoint-sealing technique. While unable to move, she had been violated by someone. She was a maiden, entirely without experience. There had been no one else present at the time, so she was certain it must have been Yang Guo. Affection for Yang Guo had long since secretly grown in her heart, and at that moment she did not resist. She thought, Since Yang Guo has done this to me, he must have already resolved to make me his lifelong companion, changing the idea that I am his “Gugu” and “Master.” The two of them would exchange solemn vows, and from then on they would be husband and wife, altering the names and relationship of “Gugu” and “Master.” She wondered whether he would call her “Sister Long” or the more common “wife.” And what would she call him, would she switch to “my husband”?

She was lost in these sweet calculations when she suddenly heard him still calling her “Gugu.” And when she had spoken, blushing with shame, of the “Guardian Palace Sand,” he had responded coldly and indifferently, as if last night’s intimacy meant nothing to him at all. To her, this was a matter more important than life and death. Yet he treated it with utter indifference, clearly he did not hold the love between them in any great regard. Abruptly, she recalled her shijie’s earlier words: The day your man’s manner toward you suddenly changes, when he was once deeply intimate, loving you to the point of madness, and suddenly he becomes distant and polite, that is when his heart has changed. You must be on heightened guard. Watch for any trace or sign. She heard him say with perfect clarity: “No, no! You cannot be my wife. How could I be worthy? You are my master, my gugu.” She thought, Is that not his heart changing? It is as good as saying, with absolute finality: I do not want you as my wife. This is no “trace or sign”, what use is heightened guard now? She was so furious that her entire body trembled. Suddenly, with a wa sound, she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yang Guo was thrown into panic. He could only cry, “Gugu, Gugu!” Hearing him still call her that, Xiaolongnü stared at him with piercing intensity. She raised her left palm, about to bring it crashing down on his crown, but in the end the strike never fell. The look in her eyes gradually shifted from fury and hatred to reproach, and from reproach to tender pity. She let out a long sigh and said softly, “So it is like this. It turns out you truly do not want me. You would rather be free and unburdened, not tied down by anyone. Then from now on, do not see me again, lest I be heartbroken.” With a sweep of her long sleeve, she turned and dashed swiftly down the mountain.

Footnotes

1. 易筋锻骨之术 – yìjīn duàngǔ zhī shù. Technique from the Nine Yin Manual for strengthening the body’s sinews and bones through neili cultivation. ↩

2. 丹田 – dāntián. Literally cinnabar field. Primary energy centre below the navel, where qi is stored and cultivated. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. “Zhao Qian Sun Li, Zhou Wu Zheng Wang…” (赵钱孙李，周吴郑王，冯陈褚卫，蒋沈韩杨). Opening lines of the Hundred Family Surnames (百家姓), a classic Chinese text listing common surnames. Huang Rong once recited these to Ouyang Feng to confuse him when he could not remember his own name, knowing that the scrambled mental state would torment him. ↩

4. Serpent Staff (蛇杖). Shé Zhàng. Ouyang Feng’s signature weapon, a staff carved with serpents that can be used to deliver venomous strikes. Staff techniques are designed to mimic the unpredictable movements of snakes. ↩

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

6. So-called “Guardian Palace Sand” (shougong sha, 守宫砂) was a traditional belief in ancient Chinese folk culture. It was said that by grinding a “palace guardian” (a small creature resembling a gecko, with a long tail and four legs) together with cinnabar and other special medicinal ingredients into a paste and applying it to a maiden’s arm, a single crimson dot would remain, unfading for a long time. If the woman married or lost her chastity, this “Guardian Palace Sand” would vanish. Ancients used this method to distinguish maidens from non-maidens. In ancient times, government offices and common folk alike often used this method to determine criminal cases or to inflict private punishments, and not a few innocent young women suffered wrongful punishment or even lost their lives as a result. Modern medicine has determined that this method has no scientific basis and it is no longer used. Some also believe that the true “palace guardian” is extremely rare (the name “palace guardian” means guarding a maiden’s chastity, and it is not actually a gecko or lizard), and that the recipe for the necessary medicinal ingredients has been lost, making it impossible to produce genuine Guardian Palace Sand — thus the reliability of the ancient method cannot be disproven. Novel mentions this method only to indicate that at the time when the events of the story take place, this practice was widely known. Readers may regard it as a folk superstition of China’s Southern Song dynasty and need not take it as truth. Even in ancient China, government offices often summoned wenpo (experienced midwives) to determine whether a woman was a maiden, and did not use the Guardian Palace Sand as genuine basis for judgment. ↩