by Jin Yong
Peng Lianhu was dumbfounded. “Those items are mine! How did they end up with him?” he thought.
What happened was that Zhu Cong, while using his right hand to shake hands, employed his ‘Empty Magical Hands’ with his left. As a result, all the items in Peng Lianhu’s robes had been lifted.
Zhu Cong uncorked the snuff bottle. It was divided into two compartments; one side contained red powder, the other side contained grey powder. “How is this applied?” he asked.
Though sly and aggressive by nature, Peng Lianhu’s life now hung by a thread and he dared not be crafty. “The red is for consumption, and the grey for topical application.”
Zhu Cong said to Guo Jing, “Hurry and fetch some water and two bowls.”
Guo Jing bolted into the inn and fetched two bowls of clean water. He gave one bowl to Ma Yu and helped him drink the antidote. He then applied the grey powder to Ma Yu’s palm. Just as he was about to give the other bowl of water to Peng Lianhu, Zhu Cong said, “Hold it. Give the other bowl to Priest Wang.”
Though confused, Guo Jing followed Zhu Cong’s instructions and gave the water to Wang Chuyi. Wang Chuyi also did not understand but accepted the bowl of water.
Sha Tongtian said, “Hey, how is your antidote applied?”
Zhu Cong replied, “Don’t be anxious, nobody will die in such a short while.” He reached into his robes and took out ten packets of herbs.
Guo Jing was delighted. “Yes, yes, that’s the medicine for Priest Wang!” He opened all the herb packets and laid them in front of Wang Chuyi. “Priest Wang, you pick the ones that you need.”
Wang Chuyi recognized the herbs and picked out “Tian Qi”, “Xue Xie” and two other herbs. He chewed and swallowed them with water.
Liang Ziwong was both furious and impressed, thinking, “This dirty scholar has truly remarkable skill with his hands. All he did was brush my sleeve and actually managed to steal the packets of herbs from my robes.” Turning around and brandishing his spade, he shouted: “Come, come, and let’s see who the real winner is in a weapons fight!”
Zhu Cong laughed. “At that, I am definitely not your match.”
Qiu Chuji said, “So this is Chief Peng Lianhu, what about the others? I do not know your names yet.” Sha Tongtian declared himself in a hoarse voice. Qiu Chuji said, “Great, all of you have renowned reputations! There has been no clear winner between us today and it’s a pity both sides now have injured parties. It looks like we’ll have to arrange a gathering another day.”
“That couldn’t be better,” said Peng Lianhu. “If we don’t meet the ‘Quanzhen Seven’, it will be the biggest regret of our lives. Priest Qiu, please set the date and venue.”
Qiu Chuji considered, “Elder Martial Brother Ma and Younger Martial Brother Wang have both been severely poisoned and will need at least a few months to recuperate. Younger Martial Brothers Tan, Liu and the rest are scattered about and we will need some time to notify them.” So he said aloud, “Six months from now in August on Mid-Autumn Festival, we’ll admire the moon while discussing wugong. Chief Peng, what do you think?”
Peng Lianhu thought, “With all of the ‘Quanzhen Seven’, plus the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’, we will be heavily out numbered. We must gather more allies. Six months should be sufficient. Prince Zhao wants us to head to Jiangnan to steal Yue Fei’s manual, so we can take the chance and meet there.” So he said, “How thoughtful of Priest Qiu to arrange a martial gathering of friends on MidAutumn Festival. But we must also find a tasteful venue - let’s make it the hometown of the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’.”
Qiu Chuji replied, “Excellent. We’ll meet in the Jiaxing Prefecture by the South Lake at the ‘Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal’. Everyone is welcome to invite a few more friends.”
“It’s a deal.”
Zhu Cong said, “Looks like we ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’ will have no choice but to play host and foot the bills! Of all the places you had to choose from you had to pick Jiaxing so you can feast at our expense, how sly. But since it’s so rare that all of you grace Jiaxing with your presence, we will be able to afford it. Chief Peng - about the medicine - the white is for consumption and the yellow is for topical application.”
By this time, half of Peng Lianhu’s arm had already gone numb. It took him great effort to bear with it and still converse with Qiu Chuji. And then he had to put up with Zhu Cong’s incessant and useless chatter. Anger boiled in his chest but he dare not be impolite while his life was still in their hands. When he heard Zhu Cong’s last sentence, he hurriedly swallowed the white antidote.
“Chief Peng, for forty-nine days you will not go near wine or women,” Ke Zhen’E said coldly. “It will be a shame if we do not see you at the gathering in Jiaxing.”
Peng Lianhu replied angrily, “Thanks for your concern.” Sha Tongtian applied the yellow antidote to his palm and, supporting him, turned to leave.
Wanyan Kang knelt on the ground and kowtowed four times to his mother’s body. Then he turned and kowtowed a few times to Qiu Chuji. Raising his head and not uttering a single word, he walked away.
Qiu Chuji said sternly, “Kang’er, what is the meaning of this?”
But Wanyan Kang did not answer. He did not join Peng Lianhu and the others, but took another turn and went on a separate path alone. Qiu Chuji was stunned for a moment, then turned and bowed to Ke Zhen’E and Zhu Cong.
“If not for the help of the Six Heroes, my Martial Brothers and I might have lost our lives. Besides that, my disgraceful pupil has turned out to possess a wicked character. He cannot hold a candle to your virtuous pupil. For us martial arts practitioners, character and integrity are of the foremost importance; kung fu is secondary. I’m ashamed to have a disciple like him. The duel at Jiaxing’s ‘‘Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal’’ has reached a conclusion - I admit defeat. Word will henceforth spread throughout Jianghu that Qiu Chuji has been trounced by the ‘Seven Freaks of Jiangnan’, and I have sincerely and gladly admitted my loss.”
The ‘‘Six Freaks’’ swelled with pride as he spoke - their eighteen years of effort on the steppes of Mongolia had finally paid off. Ke Zhen’E uttered a few words of humility. But the ‘‘Six Freaks’’ then thought of their Fifth Brother, Zhang Ahsheng, who died on the steppe and sadness descended on their hearts. It was regretful that their Fifth Brother did not live to hear Qiu Chuji admitting defeat.
After they had helped Ma Yu and Wang Chuyi back into the inn, Quan Jinfa went and bought coffins to prepare for the Yang couple’s funeral. Qiu Chuji saw Mu Nianci grieving sorrowfully and felt awful himself. He said, “Miss Mu, how did your father spend the last few years?”
Wiping her tears, Mu Nianci replied, “My father and I have been wandering for over ten years, never settling in one place for more than a month. Father said he wanted to look for a. a Brother by the surname Guo.” Her voice trailed off and she slowly lowered her head.
Qiu Chuji glanced at Guo Jing, and then said to Mu Nianci, “How did your father end up adopting you?”
“I come from Lotus Pond village in the Lin’an Prefecture,” she replied. “About ten years ago, father took refuge at my home to recover from his injuries. Soon after, an epidemic broke out, killing my parents and brothers. Father then took me as his daughter and taught me martial arts. To find this Brother Guo, we roamed all over and started. started the ‘Joust for a Spouse’.”
“Ah. Your father’s surname is actually Yang, not Mu, so you should change your name accordingly.”
“No, I won’t take the surname Yang. I will still use Mu.”
Qiu Chuji said, “Why? You don’t believe me?”
Mu Nianci replied softly, “How would I dare to doubt you, Priest? But I’d rather my surname be Mu.”
Qiu Chuji saw that she was stubborn and dropped the matter, thinking that she must be too traumatized by the sudden loss of her father to understand. Little did he know that he was the one who did not understand. Mu Nianci was actually thinking of something el
se - she had already committed her heart to Wanyan Kang. Since he was her father’s real son, he must of course take the surname Yang. If she had the same surname, how could they marry?
Wang Chuyi was gradually recovering his energy after taking the antidote and lay on the bed, listening to their conversation. There was one thing he failed to understand so he asked, “How come your kung fu is so much better than your father’s?”
Mu Nianci replied, “When I was thirteen, I met a strange person and he taught me kung fu for three days. It’s a pity I was born unintelligent so didn’t manage to learn much.”
Wang Chuyi said, “He taught you just three days of kung fu and you managed to defeat your father? Who is this expert?”
“Priest, I wouldn’t dare to hide anything but he made me vow that I would never reveal his name.”
Wang Chuyi nodded and did not question further. Instead, he recalled her stances and moves during her fight with Wanyan Kang and conjectured, but still failed to discover which school her kung fu came from. The more he thought about her moves, the more he felt it was peculiar. He asked, “Elder Martial Brother Qiu, you taught Wanyan Kang for about eight or nine years, right?”
“Exactly nine and a half years,” Qiu Chuji replied, sighing. “I never thought he would turn out so rotten.”
Wang Chuyi said, “That’s strange!”
“Why?”
But Wang Chuyi did not reply. Ke Zhen’E asked, “Priest Qiu, how did you manage to find Brother Yang’s descendent?”
Qiu Chuji replied, “It was such a coincidence. After we made the bet, I traveled widely seeking news of the Guo and Yang families. Years passed and still there was nothing, but I did not give up. The year I went again to Ox Village looking for some clues to their whereabouts, I saw a few government officials removing objects from Brother Yang’s old home. I followed them and eavesdropped on their conversations. These officials were actually Prince Zhao’s guards from the Jin Empire. They were under orders to remove each and every item from the house, be it broken chairs or iron spears; nothing was to be left behind. I suspected that there was something much more to it, so I followed them all the way to Zhongdu.”
Guo Jing had seen Bao Xiruo’s living quarters in the Palace, and now he fully understood.
Qiu Chuji continued, “To find out why Prince Zhao had moved all these old and broken things from Ox Village, I sneaked into the Palace at night to investigate. What I saw made me both furious and upset - Brother Yang’s wife had become a Consort! In my great anger I initially thought of killing her; but then I saw her living in the old house, caressing Brother Yang’s spear and sobbing all night. I felt she wasn’t totally heartless after all and hadn’t forgotten her dead husband, so I spared her life. Later, I found out that the little Prince was actually Brother Yang’s flesh and blood. When he was a few years older, I started teaching him martial arts.”
Ke Zhen’E said, “So all along he was none the wiser about his roots?”
“I did sound him out a few times, but found that he enjoyed riches,” he replied. “He was not a person of integrity, so I never revealed the truth to him. Every time I tried to teach him important moral principles, he would always behave apathetically and respond with his slippery tongue. If it wasn’t for our wager, why would I even waste my time on him? Originally I had hoped for both sides to reconcile no matter who won the duel and then I would tell him the truth about his birth. We would then rescue his mother from the Palace and settle down in a quiet area. How was I to know that Brother Yang was still alive? Both Elder Martial Brother Ma and I were injured by those scoundrels and failed to save him and his wife. hai!” Hearing this, Mu Nianci hid her face and started weeping softly again.
Guo Jing then explained how he met Yang Tiexin and how he had seen Bao Xiruo in the night. Everyone agreed that although Bao Xiruo had lost her virtue in the Zhao Palace, she was, after all, under the impression that her husband was dead. In the end she followed her husband in death and there was no one present that did not admire her loyalty or sigh at the tragedy.
The conversation then shifted to the Mid-Autumn Festival duel. Zhu Cong said, “The ‘Quanzhen Seven’ will be assembled there. What have we to worry about?”
“It’s just that those scoundrels might bring along enough good fighters to outnumber us,” Ma Yu said.
Qiu Chuji said, “Which other good fighters can they bring along? Are there so many good fighters in the world?”
Ma Yu sighed. “Younger Martial Brother Qiu, your skills have improved greatly in the past few years and brought glory to our Sect. Yet, you still haven’t been able to curb the arrogance of youth. You.”
Qiu Chuji laughed and completed, “I must know that there will always be a higher person, like there will always be a higher heaven.”
Ma Yu smiled. “Isn’t it so? The people we met just now really possess skills that are no lower than ours. If they invite more fighters of their caliber to the ‘Pavilion of the Drunken Immortal’, then it’s hard to tell who will win.”
Qiu Chuji cocked his head proudly and said, “Elder Martial Brother, you worry too much. Is it even possible that Quanzhen Sect would lose to that bunch of thugs?”
Ma Yu replied, “Nothing is certain in this world. If not for Brother Ke and Brother Zhu, the decades-old reputation of Quanzhen Sect would have been ruined by us three Martial Brothers.”
Ke Zhen’E and Zhu Cong declined modestly. “It was just because the opposition employed dirty tricks. How can it be taken into account?”
Ma Yu sighed again. “Martial Uncle Zhou was taught personally by our sect’s founder and his skills are ten times better than ours. Alas, because of his stubborn and competitive nature, he has been missing for over ten years. We must take this as a lesson and always remain cautious.”
Now that Ma Yu phrased it this way, Qiu Chuji did not dare to rebut. The ‘Six Freaks’ never knew the ‘Quanzhen Seven’ had a Martial Uncle. From Ma Yu’s words, they deduced that this matter was not something that the Quanzhen Sect was proud of. It would not be tactful to make any comments and so they refrained; but nevertheless they were curious. Wang Chuyi listened to their dialogue but remained silent, mulling over something.
Qiu Chuji glanced at Guo Jing and Mu Nianci. “Brother Ke, you have nurtured a fine and gallant disciple. With such a son-in-law, my Brother Yang will be able to rest in peace.”
Mu Nianci’s face reddened and she stood up. Lowering her head, she walked out of the room. Watching her stand up and walk out, a notion flashed through Wang Chuyi’s mind and he got out of bed, sending his palm straight at her shoulder. This move was swift and by the time Mu Nianci sensed it, his palm had already reached her right shoulder. He paused there for a moment, waiting for her to exercise internal energy to resist. At the very moment when the energy was just about to respond, Wang Chuyi yanked her shoulder. So distinguished a character was the ‘Immortal with the Iron Foot’, ‘Jade Sun’ Wang Chuyi that even though he had not recovered from his heavy injuries and his arms were devoid of internal energy, he was still able to pinpoint the void in her qi. With this push and pull, Mu Nianci swayed and instantly fell forward. Wang Chuyi extended his right hand to support her right shoulder and she was upright again. It was all beyond her control and her lovely eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and bewilderment.
Wang Chuyi laughed and said, “Don’t be frightened Miss Mu, I was just testing your kung fu. The senior expert who taught you for three days - did he dress like a beggar and have just nine fingers?”
Mu Nianci said in surprise, “Uh? Yes, that’s right. Priest Wang, how did you know?”
Wang Chuyi smiled. “This ‘Nine-Fingered Divine Beggar’, Elder Hong, goes about things in a truly mysterious manner. It’s just like seeing the heavenly dragon’s head but catching no hint of the tail. To have been taught personally by him is to your great fortune and a cause for celebration.”
“It was a pity he was so busy and only taught me for three days.”
&nb
sp; Wang Chuyi let out a sigh. “You should be content. You have gained more in those three days than what others can teach you in ten or twenty years.”
Mu Nianci said, “Priest is right.” After a brief pause, she continued, “Priest Wang, do you happen to know where Elder Hong is?”
Laughing, he replied, “Now you’ve got me stumped. I last saw him at Mount Hua over twenty years ago and have not heard from him since.” Disappointed, Mu Nianci walked slowly out of the room.
Han Xiaoying asked, “Priest Wang, who is this Elder Hong?”
Wang Chuyi smiled and seated himself on the bed. Qiu Chuji said, “Heroine Han, have you heard of the ‘Eastern Heretic’, ‘Western Poison’, ‘Southern Emperor’, ‘Northern Beggar’ and ‘Central Divinity’?”
Han Xiaoying replied, “I’ve heard people say they are the five strongest martial artists in the world, but I don’t know if it’s true.”
Qiu Chuji said, “It is.”
Ke Zhen’E said, “So this Elder Hong is the ‘Northern Beggar’?”
Wang Chuyi replied, “That’s right. The ‘Central Divinity’ refers to our late founder, the Reverend Wang.”
Upon hearing that Elder Hong was mentioned alongside the ‘Quanzhen Seven’s’ Shifu, they were immediately filled with awe. Qiu Chuji turned and smiled at Guo Jing. “This future wife of yours is the disciple of the great ‘Nine-Fingered Divine Beggar’. Who would dare bully you in the future?” Guo Jing felt his cheeks burn and wanted to dispute this, but he just stammered and did not manage to say anything.
Han Xiaoying asked, “Priest Wang, how could you tell that she was taught by the ‘Nine-Fingered Divine Beggar’ by just pushing her shoulder?”
Qiu Chuji motioned for Guo Jing to come over and Guo Jing went to his side as instructed. Qiu Chuji pushed Guo Jing’s shoulder with his palm, exerting pressure with internal energy. But Guo Jing had cultivated profound internal energy under Ma Yu’s guidance and also endured over ten years of hard physical training from the ‘‘Six Freaks’’. As a result, he had considerable internal and external strength. With this push, Qiu Chuji could not bring him down. Laughing, he said, “Good lad!” and the pressure loosened.
