A Bond Undone

by Jin Yong

  Apothecary Huang kept turning the pages at a steady pace. Many of them were marred by smudges and fingerprints, which sometimes obscured the words entirely.

  When they reached the final pages, Gallant Ouyang said, after glancing at the first line, “Uncle Huang, what is this ‘mahaparas gatekras’ business? I can’t make any sense of this page and there’s no chance I can learn this.”

  “Do what you can. It is difficult for a reason – so your talent can shine through.”

  Hearing this exchange, Guo Jing looked at the page. It was that nonsensical passage that had robbed him of sleep and appetite for at least three days when he tried to learn it. And then he had persisted for another ten days, and eventually these one thousand or so characters became a part of him.

  They reached the last page of the book. A final paragraph of meaningless characters, quotes from poems written in another hand. Apothecary Huang knew those words and the handwriting well. He had once copied those poems many times and he was the one who had shaped the calligraphy of the young woman who had recorded them here.

  Our encounter was lodged in my heart then,

  And ever more so now.

  Then she wrote:

  Waking after drinking, my gentle friend is gone.

  A thousand times,

  Whether wind or water, the current carries you away.

  Which was followed by:

  Men aged, things changed.

  No desire to drink amid flowers as tears stain my clothes.

  Now I but wish for sleep with the door shut,

  Let the plum blossoms fly like snow.

  Then, at the very bottom, in characters lopsided and ill-formed: Shifu, please kill me. I have wronged you. I want to die by your hand, Shifu. Shifu!

  Apothecary Huang had noticed how spotted with blood and tears the Nine Yin Manual was when Cyclone Mei returned it to him. A swell of pity swept away all the bitterness he had felt at her betrayal. Her writing brought back memories of how she used to take his hand and swing it lightly, left and right, calling, “Shifu! Shifu!”

  Sighing, he remembered copying those lines by Ouyang Xiu and Zhu Xizhen. Then his eldest disciple, Tempest Qu had shared them with Cyclone Mei after finding them in his study.

  She must have held these words close to her heart all these years. The brushwork was straight and powerful. She must have been able to see, back then.

  Apothecary Huang was reminded of how he had stopped speaking to her after his marriage. Soon afterwards, her illicit romance with Hurricane Chen was discovered by Tempest Qu. His two eldest disciples had fought a bitter fight over their martial sister.

  The rage and pain he felt was still fresh in his mind. He had cast Tempest off the island and ostracised Hurricane and Cyclone, refusing to teach them. He realised, now, that he had played a part in driving them to steal the Nine Yin Manual. Sympathy, tinged with guilt, nestled in his heart.

  Apothecary Huang turned his eyes back to the present – Gallant Ouyang was still grappling with the mahaparas passage – and closed the volume. He did not want to show them Cyclone Mei’s writing.

  “Let’s finish here. That strange passage is too hard.” He studied the bewildered young men. “Who would like to go first?”

  “I should like to give it a try,” Gallant Ouyang answered immediately, knowing his best chance would be while his memory was fresh.

  Nodding, Apothecary Huang turned to Guo Jing. “Head into the bamboo forest until you are out of earshot.”

  Guo Jing obediently put close to a hundred paces between himself and Gallant Ouyang. Lotus trailed after him quietly, thinking that this could be their chance to run away. Then she heard her father’s voice.

  “Lotus, sit here with me, so you can see I’m not biased.”

  “You are biased, and you know it.”

  “Where are your manners?” he replied in good humour. “Come, sit with me.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  She knew that, with his eyes on her, they would not be able to run far. She walked slowly towards Gallant Ouyang and then asked, with a smile, “Master Ouyang, why do you like me so much?”

  Dumbstruck, the normally eloquent young man broke into giggles and only managed to stammer, “My lady, you . . . you . . .”

  “You mustn’t hurry back to the Western Regions. Do stay on Peach Blossom Island for a few days. Is it very cold, out there?”

  “The west is huge. Of course it is cold in many parts, but others are warm and sunny. Just like here, in the south.”

  “I don’t believe you! You do love to trick people.”

  Before Gallant Ouyang could explain himself, Viper Ouyang intervened. “Save your prattle for later, child,” he said, sharply.

  Lotus’s little interruption had caused Gallant Ouyang to forget a sizeable chunk of the text he had crammed into his head. He gathered his thoughts and began slowly. “‘It is the heavens’ Way to take away from excess and to supplement when in absence, such is how the immaterial beats the material and how absence trumps excess.’”

  Gallant Ouyang’s memory was impressive. He recited the opening lines precisely as they were written down, but once he got to the main content – complex Taoist internal-energy theories, to channel qi and balance yin and ying – he could only recall about a tenth of what he had read.

  Whenever his memory faltered, Lotus would loudly proclaim, “No, you’ve got that wrong!”

  Soon, her interjections were so frequent that he could barely get a word out. He gave up as he reached the final nonsensical passage, unable to remember a single character.

  “Well done for remembering so much.” Apothecary Huang smiled, then let his voice boom over the bamboo forest. “Master Guo, it’s your turn.”

  Guo Jing surmised from Gallant Ouyang’s grin that he must be pleased with his performance.

  He must be extremely clever to remember so much. I’ll just recite the text I learned from Brother Zhou, he told himself as he walked back. It’s bound to be wrong, but what else can I do?

  “We might as well admit defeat now,” Count Seven said. “Why make a fool of yourself, my silly boy?”

  At the same time, Lotus tapped her foot and leapt up onto the roof of the pavilion. She flicked her wrist, flashing a dagger, which she pressed tight against her chest.

  “Pa, if you force me to go with that lecher to the west, then I will die here today.”

  “Do put that away – we can talk,” Apothecary Huang said, knowing she might go through with it.

  Viper Ouyang touched his staff on the ground and – whoosh! – a dart of an unusual shape flew from its head.

  Before Lotus could make out what was flying at her, the dagger was knocked from her hand.

  Apothecary Huang leapt onto the roof and said, softly, “If you don’t want to get married, I don’t mind at all.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “You know I’d love nothing more than to have your company on Peach Blossom Island always.”

  “You don’t love me! You don’t love me!” she cried, stamping her feet.

  Count Seven Hong was shaking with laughter. Apothecary Huang – the martial great who dominated the lakes and the seas, the murderous monster who killed without remorse – had been gagged and bound by his young daughter’s tantrum.

  Viper Ouyang watched with interest Apothecary Huang’s futile efforts to appease Lotus. Once we’ve won her hand and sent the Beggar and that boy on their way, we can deal with her moods easily enough. What’s the point of fussing over a little girl’s tears?

  Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he said, “Our young master Guo has superb kung fu and exceptional internal energy. An example for the younger generation. I am sure his memory is outstanding. Shall we invite him to demonstrate?”

  “Indeed, Master Ouyang,” Apothecary Huang replied. Then he turned back to Lotus. “You do realise your temper is spoiling young Master Guo’s concentration.”

  Lotus at once quietened down.

  “Young Mast
er Guo, please do begin. We are beside ourselves with anticipation.” Viper Ouyang was eager to see him shamed.

  I suppose I don’t have a choice, Guo Jing thought, bright red with embarrassment. I’ll just recite what Brother has taught me.

  So he began. The words poured out, without pause or hesitation.

  “‘It is the heavens’ Way to take away from excess and to supplement when in absence . . .’”

  After all, he had repeated these very words out loud several hundred times under Zhou Botong’s instruction.

  A few lines in, everyone was flabbergasted. The same thought flashed across the minds of both Apothecary Huang and the Ouyangs: they’d been fooled! The boy was not as he seemed!

  Lotus and Count Seven knew Guo Jing could not have memorised the text just now, but they were too happy to question how he had ended up learning the Nine Yin Manual by heart.

  In one breath, Guo Jing had reached the fourth page of the Manual. Apothecary Huang checked against his copy and was astounded to find that he had got every word right. Even those lines smudged by blood, water and sweat, scratched by sand and disfigured by rough handling when Hurricane Chen and Cyclone Mei had struggled with their training.

  More remarkable still was that the words rolling off Guo Jing’s tongue were connected, logical and complete. The young man even filled in the missing characters from the quotes from Laozi’s Classic of the Way and Virtue and Zhuangzi’s Classic of Southern Florescence, which his wife had not set down in full.

  Apothecary Huang could feel his heart skip a beat and a cold sweat dampen his robe.

  Are you speaking to me through this youth, my dear? Did you remember every word of the Manual once you reached the next world and somehow pass it on to him?

  Guo Jing’s voice rang in his ears, enunciating clearly every word in the Manual. Even the garbled nonsense in the last section flowed like running water.

  “I know you are sharing the Manual with me through this boy, Astra. Will you let me see you? I play the flute for you every night. Can you hear it?” Apothecary Huang spoke quietly into the sky. He was convinced that his wife had made her choice.

  Now, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the Lord of Peach Blossom Island, perplexed by the change in his countenance. They could see that he was mumbling, his eyes glinting with tears, but they did not realise he was talking to his late wife.

  The vacant look on Apothecary Huang’s face was eventually replaced by a fierce and frosty glare.

  “You studied the Nine Yin Manual when it was in Cyclone Mei’s possession, did you not?” He barked the accusation in Guo Jing’s face.

  “I was captured by her . . . She was going to strangle me to avenge her husband, but she needed me. She couldn’t walk and so she made me carry her around. I acted as her legs so she could fight that night at the Jin Prince’s residence. She didn’t show me the Manual and I’ve never set eyes on it,” Guo Jing said, alarmed by the malice in Apothecary Huang’s eyes.

  From the young man’s panicked expression, it was clear to Apothecary Huang that Guo Jing was telling the truth. He also knew that Guo Jing’s version was more complete than the volume he held, especially when it came to the strange concluding passage. His wife must have recovered her memory of the Manual, now that she had passed into the spirit realm.

  Under normal circumstances, the rational and learned Apothecary Huang would not have believed something so outlandish as the deceased sharing knowledge with the living. But so in love was the Heretic and so devastated had he been by her premature death, he persuaded himself that his wife had spoken, that she had chosen her son-in-law.

  Torn between joy and grief, he declared, “Brother Seven and Brother Viper, my late wife has made her choice and I will not dispute her decision. Son, I am giving you my daughter’s hand. Please look after her. I have spoiled Lotus, and I hope you will indulge her whims.”

  “Hey, I’m not spoiled!” Lotus said with a giggle, ecstatic that she had her way at last.

  This time without prompting, Guo Jing fell to his knees and kowtowed.

  “Thank you, Father!”

  Chapter Ten

  Into the Waves

  1

  “WAIT!” GALLANT OUYANG STEPPED FORWARD.

  “What do you want now? You think you lost unfairly?” Though exasperated by this interruption, Count Seven Hong was still grinning from ear to ear at Guo Jing’s bookish talent. He could never have predicted the result of the third trial. Even if his silly disciple sent the Venom’s nephew tumbling another dozen times, he would not be as shocked as he was now.

  “Brother Guo recalled more than what was recorded in the book,” Gallant Ouyang explained. “He must have set eyes on the original Nine Yin Manual. Forgive my impertinence, but I should like to search him.”

  “Don’t you remember what your uncle said about losing?” Count Seven retorted. “Lord Huang has chosen his son-in-law. Why are you making trouble?”

  Viper Ouyang rolled his eyes. “The Ouyangs won’t be played for fools!”

  To the Venom, the Nine Yin Manual was far more important than any marriage. If his nephew suspected Guo Jing had the original Manual, then he must get to the bottom of it.

  Back on his feet again, Guo Jing undid the belt fastening his shirt and pulled it open. “Master Ouyang, you are welcome to search me.”

  He removed every object on his person and laid them on a boulder. A handful of silver pieces, a handkerchief, flint and tinder, and some other personal items.

  Snorting with contempt, Viper Ouyang reached out to pat Guo Jing down. He was planning to strike Guo Jing in the abdomen with his Exploding Toad kung fu, leaving an injury that would lie dormant for three years before it claimed his life.

  But, before he laid his hands on the young man, he heard Apothecary Huang cough, and saw that the Heretic’s left hand was hovering over the back of Gallant Ouyang’s neck. If Viper Ouyang went ahead with his attack, Apothecary Huang could retaliate by crushing his nephew’s spine.

  Count Seven Hong could barely suppress a giggle at Apothecary Huang’s reaction. Now my silly disciple is his son-in-law, the Heretic goes out of his way to protect him. Well, I guess I can’t call him silly, with a memory like that.

  After a thorough search, Viper Ouyang could find nothing on Guo Jing other than the clothes on his back. He did not for one moment believe Apothecary Huang’s superstitious hogwash about his dead wife choosing her son-in-law, however. His nephew’s explanation made much more sense.

  Pinning the young man down with his glare, Viper Ouyang throttled his staff once more. Golden rings jangled at its head and a metal covering flipped up to reveal two small holes, from which two serpents slithered out and curled themselves around the shaft.

  Lotus and Guo Jing both took a step back.

  “Guo Jing.” Viper Ouyang’s voice had taken on a higher pitch. “Where did you learn the contents of the Nine Yin Manual?”

  “I’ve never set eyes on the Nine Yin Manual. Brother Zhou Botong told me—”

  “You call Zhou Botong ‘brother’? Have you met him?” Count Seven interrupted.

  “He is my sworn brother.”

  Count Seven burst out laughing. “That’s absurd! He’s decades older than you.”

  Viper Ouyang continued his line of questioning. “Twice Foul Dark Wind stole the second volume of the Nine Yin Manual and Hurricane Chen died by your hand. You took the Manual from him, did you not?”

  “I beg your pardon, sir – I was only six years of age at the time and had not learned how to read. I knew nothing of the Manual and took nothing from him.”

  “You claim to have never set eyes on the Manual, but you just recited the text in full. Explain yourself!” There was an edge of impatience to Viper Ouyang’s voice.

  “I didn’t recite the Nine Yin Manual. It was a text I learned from Brother Zhou. A martial theory he invented. He told me no disciple of the Quanzhen Sect is allowed to learn the Manual’s kung fu. His martial brother Double Sun Wang
Chongyang gave that decree before he passed away.”

  Apothecary Huang sighed. How silly of me not to have thought of Zhou Botong! After all, he is the custodian of the Manual and he’s been stuck in his little cave all these years. What was there to do but read the Manual, over and over again? I should have known it wasn’t a power beyond this world that taught it to the boy. Perhaps this coincidence is a sign that Lotus and this boy are fated to be married?

  “Where is Zhou Botong now?”

  Viper Ouyang’s question brought Apothecary Huang back to the present. “Brother Viper, Brother Seven, we haven’t seen each other for many years. I propose we drink and feast together for the next three days.”

  “Shifu, I’ll cook for you,” Lotus added. “Our lotuses are exceptional. I’ll make you steamed chicken with lotus petals, as well as water caltrop and lotus leaf soup – you’ll love them.”

  “Look how happy you are, now that you’ve got your way,” Count Seven replied, with a teasing glint in his eyes.

  It was true. Now that her wish had come true, she felt a warmth towards the whole world. Even Gallant Ouyang seemed a little less repulsive.

  “Shifu,” she said, with a radiant smile, “Uncle Ouyang and Brother Ouyang, please follow us.”

  Viper Ouyang put his hands together and bowed. “Brother Apothecary, I thank you for your hospitality, but it is time for us to leave.”

  It was the Nine Yin Manual that had enticed Viper Ouyang into travelling thousands of li to Peach Blossom Island. When he received Gallant Ouyang’s letter about Lotus Huang, in which he also mentioned that the Manual was in the hands of a blind woman who was a former disciple of Apothecary Huang, he reasoned that, if their families were joined, he would be gifted a chance to take the Manual for himself. But now their suit had failed, with all hope of obtaining the Manual in this way extinguished, there was no point in staying any longer.