Return of condor heroes, p.16
Return of Condor Heroes, page 16
With the fan in his hand, the man’s strength began to decrease. Guo Jing had transferred all the power in his palm into the fan and into the opponent’s hand, wanting to neutralize the man’s energy. The man used all the strength he had accumulated during his life but he couldn’t transfer any of it into the fan, and was about to lose hold of it. The man realized that his opponent’s skills exceeded his so he kept a calm face, let go of the fan and jumped back. His face was red, and said, “Please allow me to know your famous name.”
Guo Jing said, “My name is not worth knowing, just know that elders Ma, Qiu and Wang are my teachers.”
The man questioned this, and thought that he had just fought with a bunch of old Quanzhen Taoists. “If they fought one on one and didn’t rely on the power of the “Big Dipper Formation”, they wouldn’t be a match for him, so how could a student of theirs be so good,” he took another look at Guo Jing to get the measure of him. His face looked ordinary, his clothes were coarse, he looked just like a villager, but he possessed great skills, he said, “Your skills are alarmingly good, I am in awe, I will come again in ten years time and test myself again. I have some unfinished business so I must leave now.” He folded his arms in salute as he said this. Guo Jing held his fist in salute and acknowledged, “We will meet again in ten years time.”
The man turned around and started out of the palace. As he reached the door, he said, “This affair between me and the Quanzhen sect, I have decided to resolve at a later date. I hope the members of the Quanzhen sect do not take this personally and come searching for me to settle their own private affairs.”
According to the rules of Jianghu, if a person stops pursuing a matter and sets a date later on to resolve it, and the persons involved meet during the time period, they must not settle their issues there and then, they must wait for the agreed date.
Guo Jing heard what he said and replied, “Of course.”
The man chuckled and he spoke a few words in Tibetan to the Tibetan monk. As he was about to leave, Qiu Chuji shouted out, “There is no need for a ten year wait, I, Qiu Chuji will come in search for you.” His voice shook the tiles of the roof, demonstrating his profound internal energy. When the man heard this, he shivered, and thought, “That old Taoist’s internal energy is not weak, when I was fighting them a while back, he wasn’t at full strength.” He didn’t dare linger and quickly dashed through the doors. The Tibetan monk in red stared at Guo Jing with fury, as he and the others left.
Guo Jing looked at the men, they were all strange looking, they had high noses and deep eyes, they weren’t from the central plains, his suspicions were raised, but he heard the sounds of weapons clashing outside had died down, and knew the enemy was leaving.
The group of seven including Ma Yu stood up, but the old Taoist who was lying on the floor did not get up. Guo Jing took a look, it was Guangzhu Zi Hao Datong. He knew that though the seven were being affected by the fire, but they remained and sat there without moving. They wanted to protect their own people. He saw that his face was golden; his breathing shallow, his eyes were closed and knew that he had suffered a serious internal injury. Guo Jing opened his gown, he gasped as he saw a hand print on his chest, five fingers were spread out, the print was deep purple, it had penetrated inside. He thought, “The enemy’s kung fu is indeed from western Tibet, it’s the “Great Handprint” skill. Although there is no poison on the palm, the power of it is much stronger than that of Lingzhi Shangren.” He examined Hao Datong and he was pleased to find that there was still a strong pulse. Hao Datong had practiced martial arts for many years and had built up a high level of internal energy; his life would not be in danger.
The fire from the back courtyard was coming closer. Qiu Chuji picked up Hao Datong and said, “Let’s go!”
Guo Jing said, “Where’s the child that I brought with me? Who took him away? I don’t want him to get harmed by the fire.”
Qiu Chuji and the others were all occupied with fighting the enemy; they didn’t know anything about it. When they heard this they asked, “Whose child is it? Where are they?”
Before Guo Jing could reply, a small dark figure suddenly appeared and jumped down from a beam of the roof. The person laughed and said, “I’m here.” It was Yang Guo.
Guo Jing was delighted, he quickly asked, “Why were you hiding up there?”
Yang Guo chuckled and said, “You are with the seven rotten Taoists.”
Guo Jing scolded, “Shut up! Come here quickly and greet the Grand Masters.”
Yang Guo stuck his tongue in and out of his mouth and kowtowed to Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji and Wang Chuyi, when he reached Yin Zhiping and saw that he was young, he turned his head around and asked, “He’s not a Grand Master is he? I think I don’t have to kowtow anymore.”
Guo Jing said, “That is Martial Uncle Yin, quickly kowtow.” Yang Guo didn’t want to but he still did it. Guo Jing saw him stand up and didn’t kowtow to the other three, he scolded, “Guo’er, how come you don’t kowtow, have you no manners?”
Yang Guo chuckled and said, “By the time I’ve finished kowtowing, it’ll be too late, don’t blame me.”
Guo Jing asked, “Too late for what?”
Yang Guo replied, “There is a Taoist who is tied up in a room; if we don’t go and save him, I’m afraid he’ll be burned to death.”
Guo Jing urgently asked, “Which room? Quickly tell us!”
Yang Guo pointed to the east and said, “I think it’s over there, I don’t know who tied him up.” He laughed after he said this.
Yin Zhiping gave him a glance, and rushed to the eastern double room, he kicked open the door but saw no one. He then ran to the room where the third generation students cultivate their internal energy and opened the door. The room was full of smoke but he saw a Taoist tied to a column crying out, he was in danger. Yin Zhiping picked up a sword, cut the rope, and rescued the Taoist.
Ma Yu, Qiu Chuji, Wang Chuyi, Guo Jing, Yang Guo and the rest of them left the hall and went up the mountain to a building where they watched the fire. They saw the back courtyard was in flames, the fire lighting up half the sky. There were few sources of water around, only a small spring that was used for everyday purposes; it would be useless to use it to try to put out the fire. They could only look on as the back courtyard was burnt down to ashes. The Quanzhen students worked together to stop the fire from spreading, the other halls and buildings were not harmed. Qiu Chuji was originally blithe and didn’t have a care. But he was also rash and bad tempered, as he saw the fierce flames, he ground his teeth and cursed.
Guo Jing was about to ask who the enemy were, and why did they respond in this way when he saw Yin Zhiping’s right hand was around a large Taoist’s waist. He had come out from the smoke and flames. The large Taoist was overcome by smoke and continuously coughed. Tears were in his eyes but when he saw Yang Guo he was furious, and jumped towards him. Yang Guo chuckled and hid behind Guo Jing. The Taoist did not know who Guo Jing was, he stretched out his hand and pushed his chest, wanting to move him out of the way and grab Yang Guo. But it was like pushing a brick wall; he didn’t move an inch. The Taoist stopped and pointed to Yang Guo and loudly shouted, “You little bastard, you wanted to kill me!”
Wang Chuyi sternly said, “Jingguang, what are you talking about?”
The Taoist Lu Qingdu was an apprentice grandson of Wang Chuyi; he had barely escaped with his life and he was furious when he saw Yang Guo. He wanted to jump forward and grab him. He ignored the fact the elders were there and only when he heard Wang Chuyi call out once more did he realize he was out of order. He broke out in a cold sweat, he bowed his head and dropped his hands and said, “Disciple deserves to die.”
Wang Chuyi said, “What exactly happened?”
Lu Qingdu said, “It’s my fault for being useless, I request the elders to punish me.”
Wang Chuyi frowned and said, “Who said you were useless? I asked you, what is this about?”
Lu Qingdu replied, “Yes, yes. I was ordered by Master Zhao to guard the back courtyard. After a while, he came back with the little, little…” He wanted to say “Little bastard”, but he knew he couldn’t act out of order in front of the elders again so he changed his words and said, “little boy and gave him to me, and said he was brought here by a formidable enemy of our sect. Martial Uncle Zhao had captured him and told me to guard him and don’t let him escape. So I took him to the eastern meditation room; after a while, he tricked me and said he needed the toilet and wanted me to untie him. I thought that he was just a small kid and wasn’t concerned that he would be able to get away so I untied him. I didn’t think that he was just sitting on the toilet and pretending to go; when he suddenly got up, picked up the bucket and threw the waste contents at me.” When Lu Qingdu got to this point, Yang Guo burst out laughing. Lu Qingdu angrily shouted, “What are you laughing at?”
Yang Guo lifted his head, his eyes towards the sky and said, “I want to laugh; what can you do about it?”
Lu Qingdu wanted to curse back when Wang Chuyi said, “Don’t quarrel with the child; continue.”
Lu Qingdu said, “Yes, yes. Elder you don’t know, but that little boy is very sly and crafty. When I saw the waste coming at me, I quickly dodged out of the way, but he laughed and said “Ah, Mr. Taoist, you’ve got some on your clothes!”
When the crowd heard him impersonate Yang Guo, his voice sounded funny, the others secretly wanted to laugh. Wang Chuyi frowned; he secretly cursed him for acting this way in front of others.
Lu Qingdu continued, “I was angry, and wanted to go over and beat him, but he raised the bucket and threw it at me. I shouted out “Little bastard” and quickly used “Rapid Flowing Retreat” (ji liu yong tui) and moved out of the way. One of my feet stepped into the waste but after two wobbles I managed to stay on my feet. I wasn’t prepared when the boy took advantage of me while I was unsteady and took my sword from my waist and pointed it at my chest and said if I moved, he would pierce through my chest. I didn’t want anything to happen to me so I stood still. The boy held the sword with his left hand and with his right hand tied me up to a column, and then stuffed my mouth with a piece of cloth. Eventually the room caught fire and I couldn’t move I couldn’t call out; if it wasn’t for Martial Uncle Yin, would I not have been burnt to death by that boy?” After he said this, he stared furiously at Yang Guo.
After everyone heard this, they looked at Yang Guo and then looked at the Taoist, one was a small boy, the other a large fat man, they couldn’t help but burst out laughing. When Lu Qingdu heard them laugh out loud, he touched his ear and cheek; he didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet.
Ma Yu chuckled and said, “Jing’er is he your son? He takes after your wife, very quick and clever.”
Guo Jing said, “No, he is my brother Yang Kang’s son.
Qiu Chuji shivered when he heard this; he gave Yang Guo two glances and saw that he did indeed look like Yang Kang. Yang Kang was his first official student; he wasn’t obedient, yearned for wealth and riches, and acknowledged a scoundrel as his father. Every time Qiu Chuji went over this in his mind, he felt that he was to blame for Yang Kang’s behavior. He didn’t teach him properly and caused him to turn out like that. When he heard that Yang Kang had an heir, he was sad and delighted at the same time, he quickly asked for the details.
Guo Jing glossed over Yang Guo’s situation, and told them he wanted Yang Guo to study under the Quanzhen sect. Qiu Chuji said, “Jing’er, your martial arts have long exceeded ours, why don’t you teach him yourself?”
Guo Jing said, “I will tell you everything later. I have offended a lot of Taoist brothers today on the way here, I’m very sorry, I apologize to all the elders, and I hope you can forgive me. He held his hands together to those Taoists who he had fought.
Ma Yu said, “If you hadn’t arrived just in time, our sect would have been destroyed. We are not strangers; there is no need to apologize.”
Qiu Chuji’s brows rose, and after Ma Yu had finished he said to him, “Zhijing led the formation outside; he couldn’t tell the difference between friend and foe. I thought it was strange that there was a strong formation placed outside, but when I looked away for a second the enemy managed to break through and attacked us. Huh, so it was him who led the formation away to try to catch you.” His eyes squinted, he was livid; he summoned two disciples to him, and asked how they could mistake Guo Jing for the enemy.
The two disciples were frightened and changed colour, the older of the two said, “Apprentice brothers Feng and Wei ran up to us, and said hero Guo had smashed the stone slab at the “Everywhere Light Temple”, and knew that he must have been with the enemy.”
Guo Jing remembered the events, and couldn’t believe all the misunderstanding arose from that, he said, “You can’t blame these Taoist brothers. When I was at the Light Everywhere Temple, I inadvertently slammed down a heavy palm on the stone slab that had your poem on it; it was because of this that the misunderstanding was created.”
Qiu Chuji said, “So it was because of this, what a coincidence. We already knew that the enemy would come today, and they would use the slamming of the rock as a signal.”
Guo Jing said, “Who were they? How come they were so daring?”
Qiu Chuji sighed and said, “It is a long story, Jing’er, come, I am going to show you something.” He then nodded to Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi; he turned around and headed for the back side of the mountain. Guo Jing turned around to Yang Guo and said, “Guo’er, stay here.” He followed Qiu Chuji. He saw him heading around mountain, his steps rapid, like those of a young man.
The two arrived at the peak of the mountain; Qiu Chuji went up to a large stone slab and said, “There are some words written here.”
It was dark; on the back of the large stone were some words. Guo Jing reached out to the back of the stone, and felt that there were some words written on it, he tried to recognize the words, it was a poem: “His will flows under the bridge. Assisting the Han to gain influence, a winding pillar under the sky, wanting to be free to roam, he walked away after succeeding. Raising people and raising books, the price is heavy. Chongyang raised Quanzhen, his wish had been done, the hero’s disposition had gone, clearly marking his separation. Enduring this, the heart lives in a tomb. A person becomes a man of religion, two immortals will meet. Forever on Mount Zhongnan, a mist will linger.” Guo Jing touched the rock and traced the writing with his fingers at the same time, he was startled, the writing matched the strokes of writing with his fingers, it was as if the writing on the rock was carved on using a finger, he exclaimed, “It was written using a finger?”
Qiu Chuji said, “It startles people when they hear this, indeed it was written using a finger!”
Guo Jing said, “There is such a thing as a god on earth?”
Qiu Chuji said, “The poem was written by two people. The two of them are both famous people in the world of Wulin. The person who wrote the first part of the poem is a very special person, eloquent in both kung fu and the arts; they had reached that stage with ease. It’s not a god, but a once in a hundred years outstanding personality.”
Guo Jing was full of admiration, and asked, “Who was this senior? Could elder introduce me to them so I could meet them.”
Qiu Chuji said, “I have never seen that person. Sit down; I will explain the reasons for today’s events.”
Guo Jing sat down on the rock and looked on at the fire dying down at the foot of the peak, and said, “It is a pity that Rong’er is not with me, wouldn’t it be great if we could hear this interesting story together.”
Qiu Chuji said, “Do you understand the poem?” Guo Jing is now middle aged, but the tone that Qiu Chuji spoke in was the same as if he were talking to the young Guo Jing of ten years ago, it wasn’t deliberate.
Guo Jing understood the meaning and said, “The first part of the poem is talking about Zhang Liang, I have heard his story from Rong’er so I understand a little. He met an old man underneath a bridge and picked up his shoe; the man treated him like his son and taught him the arts. Later he helped to regain the land of the Han and became one of the three heroes; he eventually retired and lived free from care. The latter part is about ancestor Chongyang, so I don’t know much about that.”
Qiu Chuji said, “Do you know what type of person Founder Chongyang was?”
Guo Jing thought for a while and said, “Founder Chongyang was your teacher, he was the one who built the Quanzhen sect, and at the first Mount Hua tournament he was the victor.”
Qiu Chuji said, “You are correct, what about when he was younger?”
Guo Jing shook his head and replied, “I don’t know.”
Qiu Chuji said, “The hero’s disposition had gone, clearly marking his separation. My teacher hadn’t always been a Taoist. When he was young, he first learned the arts; then studied martial arts, and was a respected hero in Jianghu. But because of his hate for the Jin soldiers entering his homeland, ruining his homeland and killing his people, he carried the flag and fought the Jin. He set up a boundary, and managed to do great things in the central plains, but eventually the Jin army broke through, my teacher lost the battles. Many soldiers died. He eventually became a Taoist. He became “the living dead”, and for a few years he lived in the tomb in our mountain. He didn’t take a step out of the tomb; his meaning was that he was alive but dead. He didn’t want to live under the same sky as the Jin scoundrels. What was called “bu gong dai tian” (will not live under the same sky as one’s enemy) and that was his intention.”
