The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 8 – Part 5

Yang Guo stretched lazily and slowly sat up. “What’s all that shouting outside?” he said. “Miss Lu, where are you? Hey, why are you just standing there?” He pushed her back several times. Lu Wushuang felt a powerful force surge through her, her entire body shuddered, and the three sealed acupoints were released. Without pausing to think, she bent down, picked up the broadsword, and leapt out the main door. She saw three men standing with their backs to the moonlight.

She wasted no words. She flipped her wrist and thrust her blade at the man on the left. That man wielded an iron whip. He turned, brought the whip down with precision, and smashed it against the tip of her blade. The iron whip was heavy, and the man’s arm strength was considerable. With a clang, Lu Wushuang’s broadsword flew from her hand. A Daoist in the middle, wielding a longsword, thrust at Lu Wushuang. Yang Guo, lying sideways on the table, saw Lu Wushuang leap aside and point with her left hand at an angle. Good, he thought. That Daoist’s longsword is about to be lost. Sure enough, with a flip of her wrist she executed an Ancient Tomb School technique and snatched the longsword from the Daoist’s hand. She followed through with a chop. pu!, and the Daoist took a wound to the shoulder. He cursed loudly and jumped back to tear strips from his robe and bandage the wound.

Lu Wushuang whirled her sword and fought the whip-wielding man. Another short man wielded a spear, jabbing now here, now there, but not daring to press too close. The fierce whip-wielder was no weak fighter. After a dozen or so exchanges, Lu Wushuang began to falter. The man’s movements and footwork all had a certain dignity, he seemed quite conscious of his status. Several times Lu Wushuang slipped up, yet he did not press his advantage excessively.

The Daoist finished bandaging his wound and came back empty-handed. Pointing at Lu Wushuang, he cursed, “You little slut of the Ancient Tomb School, how vicious you are!” He thrust out his arms and charged at her with his fists. A flash of white light, the Daoist took another sword wound to the back. But at that same moment, the short man’s spear was already at Lu Wushuang’s back, and the fierce whip-wielder’s iron whip was thrusting toward her shoulder. Yang Guo thought, Not good! He hurled two pebbles simultaneously from his hands, one deflected the spear, and the other struck the fierce man’s right wrist.

But who could have guessed that this fierce man’s martial skill was formidable? Though the stone struck his right wrist and his iron whip could no longer extend forward with force, his left palm shot out, swift as lightning. Pu! It struck Lu Wushuang squarely in the chest. Yang Guo was horrified. He was, after all, young and inexperienced, and had not seen through the fierce man’s mastery of fist and palm techniques with his left hand. He rushed out, seized the man by the back of his collar, and with a surge of strength flung him away. The fierce man soared through the air and crashed down a zhang or so away. When the Daoist and the short man saw how formidable Yang Guo was, they quickly helped the fierce man to his feet and fled without looking back.

Yang Guo bent down to look at Lu Wushuang. Her face was the colour of gold paper and her breathing was faint, her injury was by no means light. He supported her back with his left hand and helped her slowly sit up. He heard two soft cracking sounds, the sound of bone grinding against bone. Two of her ribs had been broken by the fierce man’s palm strike. She had already lost consciousness, but when the two broken bones shifted, a violent stab of pain brought her back. She moaned softly. Yang Guo said, “What is it? Does it hurt badly?” Lu Wushuang was already in agony. She ground her teeth and cursed, “Why ask? Of course it hurts. Carry me inside.” Yang Guo lifted her, causing some unavoidable jostling. The broken bones ground together again, and Lu Wushuang suffered another wave of unbearable pain. She cursed, “Fine, you devil fool, you… you’re torturing me on purpose. Where are those three?” She had been knocked out just as Yang Guo had struck, so she did not know he had saved her life.

Yang Guo smiled and said, “They thought you were dead, brushed off their hands, and left.” Lu Wushuang felt slightly relieved. She cursed, “What are you smiling about? You dead fool, the more I hurt, the happier you are, is that it?” Every time Yang Guo heard her curse, he recalled the way Xiaolongnü used to scold him. Those years he had spent with Xiaolongnü in the Tomb of the Living Dead had been the happiest days of his life. Even when Xiaolongnü rebuked him, he knew his master truly cared for him, and his heart still felt warm. Now, unable to find his master, he had happened upon another young girl in white, and his desolate loneliness was somewhat eased. In truth, Xiaolongnü’s disposition was cold and detached, even when she scolded Yang Guo, it was never more than a few calm, emotionless words. How could it compare to Lu Wushuang’s wild cursing and raging? But in Yang Guo’s current state of mind, having a young woman scold him was far better than having no one scold him at all. He met her harsh words with only a smile and carried her to the table. When Lu Wushuang lay down sideways, her broken bones grated again, and she could not help crying out in pain. Crying out drew air into her lungs, which pulled at her ribs and made the pain even worse. She clenched her teeth, cold sweat covering her forehead.

Yang Guo said, “Shall I set the broken bones for you?” Lu Wushuang cursed, “Stinking fool, what do you know about setting bones?” Yang Guo said, “The mangy dog at my home got into a fight with the big yellow dog next door and had its leg bitten and broken. I set the bone for it. And Auntie Wang’s sow broke a rib. I set that too.” Lu Wushuang was furious, but dared not shout. She said in a low, harsh voice, “You’re calling me a mangy dog, and a sow. You’re the mangy dog! You’re the sow!” Yang Guo laughed. “Even if I were a pig, I’d be a boar. Besides, that mangy dog was female too, male dogs don’t get mange.” Though Lu Wushuang had a sharp tongue, every sentence she spoke sent a jolt of pain through her chest. She was bursting with the desire to trade insults with him, but her strength failed her. She could only close her eyes, endure the pain, and ignore him. Yang Guo said, “After I set that mangy dog’s bone, it was better in just a few days. When it fought with other dogs, it was as if the bone had never been broken.”

Lu Wushuang thought, Maybe this fool really does know how to set bones. Besides, if no one treats me, I’m dead for sure. But if he sets my bone, he’ll have to touch my chest, how… how can that be? Hmph, if he fails to heal me, I’ll drag him down to death with me. And if he succeeds, I absolutely cannot let anyone who has seen my body remain alive. Having suffered cruel misfortune as a child and endured humiliation to survive, her temperament had long since become twisted. Following Li Mochou for so long, exposed to her influence day and night, she had learned to be ruthless and merciless. Young as she was, her heart was full of vicious schemes. In a low voice she said, “Fine! But if you’re lying to me, heng, you little fool. I won’t let you die an easy death.”

Yang Guo thought, If I don’t make things difficult for her now, I’ll never get another chance. He said coldly, “When Auntie Wang’s sow broke a rib, her daughter begged and pleaded with me, calling me ‘dear brother’ a hundred times before I agreed to set the bone…” Lu Wushuang cut him off, “Pei, pei, pei! Stinking fool… stinking fool… ow…” Another wave of pain wracked her chest. Yang Guo grinned. “If you won’t say it, fine. I’m going home. Take good care of yourself.” He stood up and walked toward the door.

Lu Wushuang thought, If he leaves, I’ll die here in agony for sure. She had no choice but to swallow her pride and ask, “What do you want?” Yang Guo said, “Normally you’d have to call me ‘dear brother’ a hundred times, but since you’ve been cursing me so badly all along the way, it’ll have to be a thousand times.” Lu Wushuang calculated inwardly: Agree to everything for now. Once I’m healed, I’ll deal with him slowly. So she said, “Fine, I’ll call you dear brother, dear brother, dear brother… ow… ow…” Yang Guo said, “All right. The remaining nine hundred and ninety-seven go on the tab. You can pay after you’re better.” He approached and reached out to undo her clothes.

Lu Wushuang shrank back involuntarily. “Go away! What are you doing?” she cried in alarm. Yang Guo stepped back and said, “I can’t set broken bones through clothes. Those mangy dogs and old sows don’t wear clothes.” Lu Wushuang found this somewhat amusing, but the thought of letting him undress her was still too embarrassing. After a long pause, she lowered her head and said, “Fine. I can’t out-argue you.” Yang Guo said, “If you don’t want treatment, then don’t. It’s no skin off my back…”

---

Just as he reached this point, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: “That little slut is definitely within twenty li of here. Let’s search quickly…” The moment Lu Wushuang heard this voice, the colour drained from her face. Ignoring the pain in her chest, she reached out and clamped her hand over Yang Guo’s mouth. The speaker outside was none other than Li Mochou.

Yang Guo was equally shocked when he heard her voice. Then another female voice said, “That curved blade stuck in the beggar’s shoulder was clearly Shimei’s¹ Silver Arc Blade. Such a pity we couldn’t pull it out and examine it properly.” This was obviously Hong Lingbo.

Master and disciple had narrowly escaped from the Tomb of the Living Dead and returned to Crimson Cloud Manor, only to find that Lu Wushuang had fled. That alone was bad enough, but she had also stolen the Secret Manual of the Five Venoms. The reason the jianghu feared Li Mochou was not primarily her martial arts, but the deadly poison of her Scarlet Serpent Divine Palm² and Soul-Freezing Silver Needles.³ The Secret Manual of the Five Venoms recorded the properties and preparation methods of the poisons and antidotes used on those very palm and needles. If the manual were to spread beyond her control, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal would be like a scarlet serpent whose venomous fangs had been pulled. She had long since committed the manual’s contents to memory and had no need to carry it with her. She had hidden it in the most secret place in Crimson Cloud Manor, yet who could have imagined that Lu Wushuang, who paid attention to everything, had discovered where her master kept it? Having resolved to flee in secret, she had stolen this book as well.

Li Mochou’s shock and fury at this were beyond description. She had taken Hong Lingbo and pursued Lu Wushuang day and night without rest, but Lu Wushuang had fled well ahead of them and travelled only by remote, desolate paths. Li Mochou and her disciple had swept from north to south and back again several times without ever catching sight of her. That night, by coincidence, as they travelled near Tong Pass,⁴ they overheard Beggars’ Guild disciples spreading word of a gathering of the western-route members. Li Mochou thought that the Beggars’ Guild had followers everywhere and sharp ears and eyes, surely someone would have seen Lu Wushuang. So master and disciple hurried to the gathering place, hoping to seek information. On the road, they happened to encounter a five-bag disciple⁵ being carried at a run by another guild member, with seventeen or eighteen other beggars guarding them. Li Mochou saw a curved blade embedded in the man’s shoulder, it was Lu Wushuang’s Silver Arc Blade. She concealed herself nearby and listened in. Through fragments of the beggars’ angry shouts, she gathered that a lame girl had hurled a curved blade into his shoulder.

Li Mochou was overjoyed. Since the injury was recent, Lu Wushuang must be nearby. She immediately hurried in pursuit and tracked them to the ruined temple. Before the temple she saw the remnants of a fire and caught a faint whiff of blood. She quickly struck her fire striker and looked around, sure enough, there were several spots of blood on the ground, and the blood was still fresh, indicating a recent struggle. Li Mochou tugged her disciple’s sleeve and pointed toward the ruined temple. Hong Lingbo nodded, pushed open the door, and charged in with her sword raised to protect herself.

Lu Wushuang, hearing her master and shijie⁶’s voices, knew there was no hope. She steeled her heart and lay waiting for death. She heard the door creak softly and a figure in pale yellow slipped inside, it was her shijie, Hong Lingbo.

Hong Lingbo’s feelings toward her shimei were fairly good. She knew that this time their master would employ every cruel and vicious method imaginable, tormenting her shimei until she could bear no more, before finally killing her slowly. Seeing Lu Wushuang lying on the altar table, Hong Lingbo raised her sword and thrust it toward Lu Wushuang’s heart, meaning to spare her a piecemeal suffering.

The tip of the sword was just about to touch Lu Wushuang’s chest when Li Mochou reached out and patted Hong Lingbo on the shoulder. The strength drained from Hong Lingbo’s arm and it dropped immediately. Li Mochou laughed coldly. “Do you think I don’t know how to kill someone myself? What are you rushing for?” She turned to Lu Wushuang. “You see your master and you don’t even bow?” Though she was in a towering rage, her speech remained as refined and cultured as ever. Lu Wushuang thought, Now that I’ve fallen into her hands, whether I plead or defy her, I’ll suffer torment all the same. So she said flatly, “Between you and my family there is a debt of blood spanning generations. There is nothing to say.” Li Mochou gazed at her silently, her eyes holding an expression impossible to read, joy or sorrow, it was hard to tell. Hong Lingbo’s face was full of pity. Lu Wushuang’s upper lip curled slightly in an expression of arrogant defiance.

The three stared at one another like this for a long while. At last Li Mochou said, “That book. Hand it over.” Lu Wushuang said, “It was snatched away by a wicked Daoist and a stinking beggar!” Li Mochou was secretly alarmed. Though she had no quarrel with the Beggars’ Guild, her grievances with the Quanzhen Order were considerable. She knew well the deep ties between the Beggars’ Guild and Quanzhen. If the Secret Manual of the Five Venoms had fallen into their hands, the consequences would be dire.

Footnotes

1. 师妹 – shīmèi. Female junior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Mèi means younger sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 赤练神掌 – Chìliàn Shénzhǎng. Li Mochou’s palm technique, infused with poison. Name links her palm strikes to her serpentine nickname, suggesting that her very touch is as deadly as a venomous snake’s bite. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. Soul-Freezing Silver Needles (冰魄银针). Bīngpò Yínzhēn. Li Mochou’s signature hidden weapons, silver needles coated in a deadly poison that freezes the soul. ↩

4. 潼关 – Tóng Guān. Tong Pass, a historically strategic mountain pass in Shaanxi Province guarding the approach to the Central Plains from the northwest. ↩

5. Five-Pouch Disciple (五袋弟子). In the Beggars’ Guild hierarchy, disciples wear pouches indicating their rank. Five pouches denotes a mid-level disciple with significant experience and authority. ↩

6. 师姊 – shījiě. Female senior. Both apprenticed to the same shifu. Shī means teacher. Jiě means older sister. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩