Ruan Shizhong (simplified: 阮士中, traditional: 阮士中, pinyin: Ruǎn Shìzhōng, jyutping: jyun5 si6 zung1), called Seven-Star Hand (七星手), is the foremost fighter of the Northern Branch of the Tianlong School in Jin Yong’s Flying Fox of the Snowy Mountain. He was taught by Tian Anbao, the father of Tian Guinong. That makes him Tian Guinong’s shidi and the shishu of Cao Yunqi, Zhou Yunyang and Tian Qingwen.
Biography
Tian Guinong’s last night
When Tian Guinong retired and named Cao Yunqi zhangmen of the Northern Branch, Ruan went to his room that night. He pressed Tian to hand the post to him instead, arguing that no one would follow Cao now that Cao and Tian Qingwen had had a child together. Tian refused. Later that night Ruan, Cao and Zhou found Tian dead, and a stranger under the bed fought his way out past them (ch. 7).
Pursuit of the Taos
With his shizhi and Yin Ji, zhangmen of the Southern Branch, Ruan rides beyond the pass after Tao Baisui and Tao Zian, whom the Tianlong School blames for Tian Guinong’s death. On the climb he matches Yin Ji stride for stride without showing his full strength, and Yin Ji privately concedes that Ruan is the better man.
Ruan plans the attack on the Taos, who are digging up the iron box, and proposes striking without warning and leaving no one alive. He signals to hit all six people below, including Xiong Yuanxian’s ambushers, with Poison Dragon Awls. He snatches the box from Tao Zian and drives Tao Baisui back with his bare hands. When the monk Baoshu asks him to save Zheng Sanniang from the awl poison, he hands over the antidote at once (ch. 1).
On Jade Brush Peak
At Du Ximeng’s manor on Jade Brush Peak, Ruan goes after Hu Fei’s twin page boys with the Great Seizing Hand to save his shizhi’s face. He then draws his jian, but one boy’s dagger cuts it in two. He is pinned in a corner and cut all over until Miao Ruolan arrives and stops the fight (ch. 2, 3). Later he and Cao try to shoulder Baoshu off the cliff edge. Ruan tumbles clear when Baoshu leans aside; Cao goes over (ch. 6).
When the story of Tian Guinong’s death is told, Ruan recognises Liu Yuanhe’s fighting style as that of the man under the bed, and Liu admits it. He also insists that the treasured dao still belongs to the Northern Branch, because Tian never performed the handover (ch. 7, 8).
The treasure cave
In the cave behind the peak, Ruan finds the frozen bodies of his shifu Tian Anbao and of Miao Renfeng’s father, locked together where they died decades earlier, and falls weeping to his knees. He identifies the golden pens as Tian Anbao’s hidden weapons. He is still in the cave when Hu Fei rolls the boulder back and seals the treasure-seekers in. The novel leaves their fate open (ch. 8, 10).
Personality
Ruan is a veteran of the jianghu who knows when to stand firm and when to give way. He is ruthless in a fight and ambitious within his school. Yin Ji says openly that he tried to force Cao Yunqi out and make himself zhangmen (ch. 1, 7).
Relationships
- Tian Anbao (Shifu): Ruan weeps over his body in the treasure cave.
- Tian Guinong (Shixiong): Tian was wary of him, even in his lifetime.
- Cao Yunqi (Shizhi): The new zhangmen, whose post Ruan wanted.
- Zhou Yunyang and Tian Qingwen (Shizhi).
- Yin Ji (Shixiong, Southern Branch): His ally in the pursuit of the Taos, and his rival over which branch should hold the treasured dao.
Martial arts
Ruan’s name rests on his bare hands, trained for decades. He fights with the Great Seizing Hand and can hold off Tao Baisui’s steel whip with his palms alone. He also uses the Tianlong School’s jian technique, with moves such as Reaching Claw from the Clouds and Soaring Dragon, Rising Phoenix, and throws the school’s Poison Dragon Awls (ch. 1, 2).