Ode to gallantry, p.34
Ode to Gallantry, page 34
As Shi Potian responded with laughter and mirth, Ding Dang reached out and tickled him under the ribs. Within moments, the duo had forgotten all about pretending to be asleep.
+ + +
At dusk, the old helmsman moored the boat at the edge of a small riverside town. Then, he went ashore to buy some wine and vegetables.
"Tian- ge," said Ding Dang, "let us go ashore for a stroll as well."
"Very well!" answered Shi Potian, as Ding Dang took his hand and led him ashore.
The town had only eighty or ninety families, but more than ten of them were involved in the fishing industry.
When Shi Potian and Ding Dang reached the end of the town and found no one there, the young man said, "Now that Grandfather is sleeping in the cabin on the boat, are we not making an escape by walking off like this?" By then, all he hoped for was simply to return to the remote mountains with Ding Dang at the earliest opportunity.
"How can it be so easy?" Ding Dang remarked with a shake of her head. "He can still catch up with us even if we manage to travel ten or twenty li (5 or 10 km)."
"That is correct," a hoarse voice said suddenly behind their backs. "You could travel a thousand li (500 km) or even ten thousand (5,000 km), but we would still be able to track you down."
Shi Potian and Ding Dang turned around, and saw two men with menacing grins coming out from behind a large tree. The sight was especially frightening to Shi Potian, for he recognised the men as Huyan Wanshan and Wen Wanfu from the Snow Mountain School.
As it turned out, two disciples of the Snow Mountain School had tracked Shi Potian down on the Long River earlier, and boarded his boat. During the scuffle that ensued, one of these disciples had become seriously wounded. After Bai Wanjian got wind of the matter, he had sent his younger brothers-at-arms out in pursuit on both land and water. Huyan Wanshan and Wen Wanfu had ridden westward along the river, and had eventually come upon Shi Potian in the small riverside town.
Huyan Wanshan was a prudent man. He was certain that neither of them were necessarily Shi's match when it came to martial arts skills. Hence, he had wanted to follow his Elder Brother Bai's instructions and launch a rocket into the sky to alert the other members of his school. Unfortunately, Wen Wanfu had been too impatient to wait. Thus, he had shouted at their quarries as soon as he could.
Ding Dang was startled too: These two men are disciples of the Snow Mountain School. I wonder: Is Bai Wanjian in the vicinity? If Bai appears, Grandfather will force Darling Shi to fight with him. That would be terrible indeed! Then, glaring at the men with the corner of her eye, she snapped: "We are talking among ourselves. Who needs your interruption? Tian- ge, let us return to the boat."
Shi Potian, who was already feeling intimidated, nodded in agreement. Then, he turned and walked off with Ding Dang.
Wen Wanfu, who had always despised this particular nephew-at-arms of his, thought: Elder Brother Wang Wanren and Elder Brother Zhang Wanfeng were both defeated by this little rascal, so I do not know what they were up to. If the rascal is indeed highly skilled in martial arts, how could he have been captured by Elder Brother Bai in a single move? I will capture the rascal today, earn myself a great amount of merit and henceforth, stand out among the members of my school.
Thus, Wen Wanfu shouted after his quarries: "Where are you going? You, the rascal who is surnamed Shi! You had better come with me, like a dear little child would!" At the same time, he made a grab for Shi Potian's shoulder with his left hand.
Shi Potian avoided the oncoming grasp by turning his body sideways. Then, using the seizing techniques that Ding Dang had taught him, he deflected Wen Wanfu's hand with a horizontal move of the arm.
Having missed his target in the first move, Wen raised his leg and kicked out at Shi's abdomen, an attack that the latter had never learnt to respond to.
By then, Shi had spent half the day thinking repeatedly about 'The Hand of the Tiger's Claw' and 'The Jade Maiden Picks a Needle Up'. Now pressed for a response, he thought only of these two moves as well. However, with Wen standing face-to-face with him, he could not use these moves that targeted the opponent's back. Yet, he quickly proceeded to get behind his opponent, for he could not be bothered about the appropriateness of the moves at a time like this. He had a rich and profound level of internal strength that gave him incomparable speed in movement. Hence, he avoided Wen's kick as soon as he dashed away. At the same time, he grabbed Wen's Ling Tai and Xuan Shu acupoints by executing 'The Hand of the Tiger's Claw' with his right hand and 'The Jade Maiden Picks a Needle Up' with his left respectively. Wen shook a little when he was struck by Shi's internal strength; then, he fell to the ground.
Huyan Wanshan had wanted to enter the fray, but when he suddenly saw Shi Potian holding the vital acupoints on his younger brother's body, he became so concerned that he did not even wait to unsheath his sword. He simply went up and sent his fist into Shi's waist with all his strength. The fist struck with a *po*, followed by a *ka-cha*. Huyan's right arm broke.
On the other hand, Shi Potian did not feel any pain on his waist. When he released Wen Wanfu, he saw the latter curling up into an immobile ball. Turning him over by the shoulder, he found Wen's eyes in a horrifying stare. Shocked, Shi Potian said, "A-yo! This is bad! Ding Ding Dang Dang, why has he ... he become all cramped up? Could he be dead?"
Ding Dang answered with a laugh. "Tian- ge," she said, "you used the two moves very well, but the panicky way in which these moves were executed was just too unsightly. This man will not die from your strikes, but he will not be spared from disability. His arms and legs would have to be given medical treatment for a year or so."
"I am really ... really sorry," said Shi Potian, reaching out to hold Wen Wanfu. "I did not mean to hurt you, so what should I do now? Ding Ding Dang Dang, we have to find a way to cure him."
"So do you want him to suffer less?" asked Ding Dang. "That would be very easy." She pulled Wen's sword out of its scabbard and said, "Just have him killed with a single stab!"
"No, no!" said Shi Potian at once.
As for Huyan Wanshan, he reacted to the suggestion with anger. "Shameless little goblins!" he roared. "The disciples of the Snow Mountain School can be killed, but never humiliated. Since my brother and I have fallen into your hands today, just hurry up and have both of us killed. Why utter so many annoying words?"
Shi Potian took the sword from Ding Dang's hand as quickly as he could, for he was deeply afraid that she would really have Wen Wanfu killed. Pushing the blade slightly into the ground, he said, "Ding Ding Dang Dang, hurry, let us leave." Then, he pulled Ding Dang by her sleeve and walked quickly towards their boat.
"People say that Leader Shi from the Clan of Eternal Happiness is vicious in his thoughts and ruthless in his acts," said Ding Dang sarcastically. "He kills people without batting an eyelid, but why has he suddenly become as sentimental as an old woman? You had better not tell Grandfather about what happened just now."
"No, I will not," said Shi Potian. "That man back there -- do you really mean that his arms and legs will eventually be crippled?"
"Well, you grabbed two of his vital acupoints," answered Ding Dang. "If that did not cripple him, what purpose is there in the eighteen moves that make up the Seizing Techniques of our Ding Family?"
"Why then did you ask me to grab Grandfather in the same manner?" asked Shi Potian again.
Ding Dang smiled. "Silly man," she said. "Who do you think Grandfather is? How can he be compared with the pus-filled good-for-nothings from the Snow Mountain School? If you are fortunate enough to grab these two acupoints on Grandfather's body, and exert some internal strength on them, you would be able to immobilise him for three shichen (6 hours) at the most. Do you really think that you could cripple him?"
Yet, Shi Potian remained very much disturbed as the image of Wen Wanfu's horrifying appearance played on in his mind.
+ + +
Shi Potian spent the evening drifting in and out of sleep. At midnight, he heard Ding Dang shouting from the cabin just as she had planned: "Grandfather, Grandfather, spare Darling Shi's life! Do not kill him, do not kill him!" Leaping to his feet, Shi Potian dashed into the cabin and saw Ding Dang holding Ding Busan's torso in the murky darkness. At the same time, she kept on shouting, "Grandfather, do not kill Darling Shi!"
The young man reached out with both his hands, but when he was about to grab Ding Busan's back, he suddenly remembered the horror of seeing Wen Wanfu all curled up into a ball. He thought: If Grandfather ends up like that after I grab him with my hands, I would have done him a great disservice. I ... I must not carry this plan out. Hence, he retreated quietly from the cabin at once and went back to sleep.
As for Ding Dang, she was initially delighted because Shi Potian had entered the cabin at the right moment. Yet, he had left after a moment's hesitation, an outcome that she had not expected at all. Success was within her grasp, but now, she was left with failure. Thus, she could not help but feel frustrated and angry at the same time.
Meanwhile, Shi Potian's heart thumped wildly as he lay in the stern. After a while, he heard Ding Dang say, "A-yo, Grandfather, why am I holding you? I ... I had a nightmare just now, and saw you killing Darling Shi. I begged you ... you to spare his life, but you did not agree. Thank the Heavens and the Earth; it was just a dream."
Then, he heard Ding Busan say, "If it was a dream, so be it. If it was not, so be it. Once the sky is bright, it will be the tenth day that we have agreed on. Let us see if he can find Bai Wanjian and have him defeated within the day."
Ding Dang sighed. "I know that Darling Shi is not a moron!" she said.
"Yes, he has a kind conscience!" said Ding Busan. "A man with a kind conscience is a fool, and a fool is a moron. He certainly deserves damnation and death. Sigh, grabbing the Ling Tai acupoint with 'The Hand of the Tiger's Claw' and the Xuan Shu acupoint with 'The Jade Maiden Picks a Needle Up' ... an excellent plan, an excellent plan indeed! What a pity that the moron has a conscience so kind that he could not bear to carry the plan out."
The last two sentences gave both Ding Dang and Shi Potian an enormous shock as soon as they heard it: How did Grandfather know about our plan?
While Shi Potian did not react much beyond the initial shock, Ding Dang could not help but burst into cold sweat. She thought: So Grandfather knew about the plan way ahead of time. Hence, he would have certainly made preparations to deal with it. I wonder: Was it good or bad that Tian-ge did not act just now?
On his part, the muddle-headed Shi Potian did not believe that Ding Busan would have him killed the following day. Then, without much ado, he fell asleep.
+ + +
Barely after daybreak, loud shouts were heard coming from the bank of the river: "Here it is!" "This is the boat!" "Do not let the old monster escape!"
Shi Potian sat up, and saw more than ten people on the bank with lanterns and torches in their hands. The people approached the boat at a fast pace, and before long, the first four or five men had climbed on to the bow.
"Where is the old monster?" they shouted. "Where has the goblin who harms all men gone?"
Ding Busan came out of the cabin and roared in return: "What creatures are making such a racket here?"
"It is he, it is he!" shouted one of the men. "Hurry, splash him with it!"
Two men stepped out from behind the first with bamboo contraptions that looked like modern-day spray-guns, took aim at Ding Busan and shot him with gushing streams of blood.
"The blood of black dogs has struck the old monster!" shouted the people on the bank with glee. "He can no longer escape!"
Yet, how could these two streams of dogs' blood hit Ding Busan? As the old man leapt away, anger filled his heart: Where have these ignorant and presumptuous people come from? How could they think that I am a monster that must be splashed with the blood of black dogs?
Ding Busan would often raise his hand and kill a man at whim, so now that these townspeople had come all the way to antagonise him, how could things be any different? Hence, he kicked out with his feet as he landed on the deck, and struck the two men with the bamboo contraptions. Then, he sent his palm out and caused the first man to fly all the way off the boat. The three men did not know any martial arts at all, so how could they live after being attacked by this strange but outstanding resident of the realm of the rivers and lakes?
The two victims of Ding Busan's kicks died there and then on the bow of the boat, while the one who was thrown off the boat vomitted copious amounts of blood even in mid-air.
When Ding Busan began raising his fists and feet against the remaining people, he heard Ding Dang's cold voice behind him: "Grandfather, not more than three a day!"
The old man was taken aback, for he had been so infuriated that he had almost forgotten the oath sworn years ago. Hence, he forced himself to withdraw the foot that had gone within a chi (33.33 centimetres) of the townspeople on the bow.
By then, the townspeople were scared out of their wits. "The old monster is so formidable!" they shouted. "Run! Run!" Within moments, they were all gone, their lanterns and torches cast either into the river or on to the ground. The three corpses -- one on land and two on the boat -- were left behind as well.
Ding Busan kicked the corpses on the boat into the river. Then, he turned to the helmsman and said, "Set sail quickly, for I cannot kill anyone else who comes by."
The command frightened the helmsman so much that his hands could not stop trembling. He did not seem to have any strength to steer the boat as well. Consequently, Ding Busan picked the bamboo steering pole up and pushed the boat away from the shore.
Although the dogs' blood had not struck its target, it had splashed into the cabin and left an unbearable odour there.
Ding Busan turned to his grand-daughter and asked in a cold voice: "A'Dang, why did you come up with such mischief?"
"Grandfather, do you mean what you say?" asked Ding Dang in return, a smile on her lips.
"When have I not meant what I say?" asked Ding Busan.
"All right," answered Ding Dang, "you said that you would have Darling Shi killed at the end of the ten-day period if he does not defeat the one who is surnamed Bai. It is the tenth day today, but you have already killed three people!" Feeling pleased with herself, the young woman smiled and went on: "The Third Master of the Ding Family has always meant what he says. You say that you would have this rascal here killed on the tenth day, yet you have 'Not More Than Three A Day'. You have already killed three people today, and he would be the fourth. Therefore, he cannot be killed. Since you cannot kill him on the tenth day, you cannot have him killed in the future as well. As far as I can see, this grandson-in-law of yours is not really a moron. He will recover gradually, and when that happens, there will naturally be a great advancement in his martial arts skills. I assure you, your dignity and reputation will be preserved."
Ding Busan lifted his foot and stomped hard on the bow. As the planks beneath his foot broke with a *ka*, he roared in anger: "That will not do, that will not do! Ding Busan has already lost his dignity, for he has been defeated by a little girl!"
"I am your grand-daughter," said Ding Dang with a smile. "We are family, so what dignity is there to lose? Besides, I will not tell anyone about the matter."
"I become upset when I lose," snapped Ding Busan. "What does it have to do with you telling people or keeping quiet about it?"
"Then, let us take it that you have won," said Ding Dang.
"Losing is losing," said Ding Busan. "Winning is winning. I am not that good-for-nothing Fourth Grandfather of yours. When we fought as children, he would blow his own whistle and say that he had won even when he had lost."
Listening to the exchange between the old man and his grand-daughter, Shi Potian finally understood what was going on. As it turned out, Ding Dang had led the townspeople to the boat with the intention of having them killed by her grandfather. After the old man had killed three of the townspeople, he would be stopped by his oath of 'Not More Than Three A Day' from killing Shi himself. Now that he had seen the cruel, ferocious and rapid manner in which Ding Busan had killed the three people, the threat to have him killed was probably not a joke.
Hence, when Shi Potian saw Ding Dang walking to the stern with a grin on her face, he said, "Ding Ding Dang Dang, you caused the death of three people for no good reason because you wanted to save my life. Is that not ... not too cruel?"
Ding Dang's countenance darkened. "You caused it!" she answered. "Why are you turning around and putting the blame on me?"
"I ... I caused it?" asked Shi Potian, feeling somewhat exasperated.
"How could it be otherwise?" asked Ding Dang in return. "When things came to a head last night, you did not dare to follow through. If you had done it, both of us would have been gone long and far by now. Then, would those three innocent people have needed to die?"
Shi Potian found her words true; hence, he did not have anything to say for a while.
Suddenly, Ding Busan's laughter was heard: "Ha-ha, I have got it, I have got it! You, the little rascal who is surnamed Shi! Your grandfather will gouge your eyeballs out and chop both your arms off, so that you are unable to die even if you want to, but live on as a useless cripple! So long as I do not take your life, I would not be breaking my oath of 'Not More Than Three A Day'."
Ding Dang and Shi Potian looked at each other, as the expressions on their faces underwent a great change.
"What an excellent idea!" said Ding Busan, feeling increasingly pleased with himself as he thought deeper about his plan. "What an excellent idea! Little moron, I will not kill you, but I will ensure that you become a man who does not look like a man, and a ghost that does not look like a ghost. A'Dang, that would be acceptable, would it not?"
Unable to come up with a counter-argument, Ding Dang said, "The tenth day is not over yet. Perhaps we will run into Bai Wanjian later, and Darling Shi will have him defeated."
