Wind and moon, loveless.

A maiden of Yue plucks lotus blooms by the autumn shore,
Her narrow sleeves of light gauze half-reveal twin bracelets of gold.
She bends to see her reflection, the flower mirrors her face.
Her maiden heart contends with the tangled silk of her thoughts.

At Cock’s-Crow Creek¹ the evening wind stirs the waves,
Mist heavy, smoke light, she can no longer see her companions.
A faint song drifts back as the oars carry her far away,
Sorrow of parting draws her gaze to the southern shore.

A soft, lilting song drifted across the mist-shrouded surface of the lake. The singing came from a small boat, where five young maidens laughed and sang as they rowed, gathering lotus blossoms. The lyrics they sang were from the ci² poem “Butterflies Love Flowers”³ by the great Northern Song poet Ouyang Xiu,⁴ which describes precisely the scene of a maiden of Yue⁵ gathering lotus. Though the poem is a mere sixty characters, it vividly paints the season, the hour, the place, the scenery, as well as the maiden’s countenance, her clothing, her ornaments, and her emotions, all rendered with crystalline clarity. The second stanza is even more remarkable: within the landscape description lies narrative, and within the narrative flows emotion, receding from near to far, leaving a lingering resonance that never quite fades.

Ouyang Xiu served as an official in Jiangnan⁶ for many years, and the mountains of Wu and waters of Yue, with all their tender sentiments and subtle affections, found their way into his verses. In the Song dynasty, everyone, from high officials and noble lords to the common folk in the lanes, took delight in singing ci poetry. Thus, whenever Liu Yong⁷ produced a new lyric, it would be sung wherever there was a well,⁸ and along the southern banks in spring when willows were plucked, or on autumn lakes when lotuses were gathered, the verses that accompanied the scene were often those of Ouyang Xiu.

The time was the reign of Emperor Lizong⁹ of the Southern Song dynasty, and the place was South Lake¹⁰ in Jiaxing.¹¹ Mid-Autumn Festival¹² was drawing near. The lotus leaves were beginning to wither, and the lotus seeds were plump and full. This burst of song reached the ears of a Daoist priestess standing by the lakeside. She had been standing motionless for a long while beneath a row of willow trees. The evening breeze stirred the hem of her apricot-yellow Daoist robe and ruffled the ten thousand silken strands of the horsetail whisk¹³ tucked at her collar. The thoughts surging in her heart were truly, as the poem said, “a maiden heart contending with tangled silk.” She listened as the song gradually drifted away. The singers had moved on to another of Ouyang Xiu’s “Butterflies Love Flowers” lyrics, and a gust of wind carried two faint lines to her ears:

Wind and moon are loveless. Hearts change in secret.
Old journeys are like dreams, and all that remains is a hollow ache…¹⁴

No sooner had the song faded than a burst of silvery giggles followed.

The priestess gave a long sigh. She raised her left hand and gazed at the palm, which was stained crimson with blood.

“What is there to laugh about?” she murmured to herself. “Those little girls are just singing blindly. They have no understanding of the longing and sorrow, the melancholy contained in those words.”

Some hundred feet behind the priestess, an old man in a dark green robe with a long beard had also been standing motionless. Only when those two lines, “Wind and moon are loveless, hearts change in secret. Old journeys are like dreams, and all that remains is a hollow ache,” drifted past did he let out the faintest of sighs.

The small boat glided across the lake’s surface, which gleamed like azure jade. Among the five maidens in the boat, three were around fifteen or sixteen years of age, while the other two were only nine. The two younger girls were maternal cousins. The elder cousin was surnamed Cheng, with the single given name Ying.¹⁵ The younger cousin was surnamed Lu, named Wushuang.¹⁶ They were about half a year apart in age.

The three older girls continued singing as they rowed the little boat out from among the lotus leaves. Cheng Ying said, “Cousin, look, that old uncle is still here.”

She pointed towards a figure beneath the drooping willows.

The man’s hair was a wild tangle, and his beard bristled in all directions like a hedgehog’s spines. His hair and beard were glossy black, which suggested he was not very old, yet his face was deeply furrowed with wrinkles, like that of a man of seventy or eighty. He wore a long, straight-cut blue cloth robe, and around his neck hung an infant’s embroidered satin bib, decorated with a pattern of a cat pouncing at a butterfly, though it was now old and tattered.

Lu Wushuang said, “That strange man has been sitting there for ages. Why doesn’t he move at all?”

Cheng Ying said, “Don’t call him strange, call him ‘old uncle’. If you call him strange, he’ll get angry.”

Lu Wushuang laughed. “Isn’t he strange? So old, and still wearing a bib around his neck! If he gets angry and his beard bristles up, that would really be something to see.”

She picked up a lotus seedpod from the boat and hurled it at the man’s head.

The boat was several dozen feet from the strange visitor. Though Lu Wushuang was young, the strength in her arm was by no means weak, and her aim was true. Cheng Ying cried, “Cousin!”

She tried to stop her, but it was already too late. The seedpod flew straight towards the stranger’s face. The strange visitor tilted his head back, caught the seedpod in his teeth, and without using his hands, curled his tongue, clamped down on the pod, and began chewing vigorously. The five maidens watched as he ate without even peeling the seeds, showing no fear of the bitterness, swallowing the husks and all. They exchanged glances, then burst out giggling. At the same time, they rowed the boat closer and came ashore.

Cheng Ying walked up to the man, tugged at his lapel, and said, “Old uncle, those aren’t good to eat that way.”

She took a lotus seedpod from her pouch, split it open, peeled out a dozen or so seeds, then tore away the green skin and removed the bitter core from each one before placing them in the stranger’s hand. The strange visitor chewed a few times and found the taste fragrant, fresh, and sweet, completely different from what he had eaten moments before. He cracked a grin at Cheng Ying and nodded. Cheng Ying peeled a few more seeds and handed them to him. The strange visitor tossed them into his mouth, chewed them up in a flurry, then looked up at the sky and said, “Follow me!”

With that, he strode off towards the west.

Lu Wushuang tugged at Cheng Ying’s hand. “Cousin, let’s follow him!”

The three other girls were timid.

“Let’s go home quickly,” they urged. “If you wander too far, your mother will scold you.”

Lu Wushuang pursed her lips and made a face. Seeing that the strange visitor was moving very quickly, she said, “Fine, don’t come then.”

She released her cousin’s hand and ran after him. Cheng Ying had come out to play with her cousin and could not very well abandon her and return alone, so she had no choice but to follow. The three other girls, though several years older, were all shy and fearful. They called out a few times, but the strange visitor and the two girls had already disappeared behind a grove of mulberry trees.

The strange visitor moved very fast. Seeing that the two girls’ short legs could not keep up, he stopped and waited a few times at first, but eventually grew impatient. Suddenly he turned around, stretched out his long arms, tucked one girl under each armpit, and raced forward. The two girls heard only the whistling of wind past their ears as the stones and grass along the path flew by before their eyes. Lu Wushuang grew frightened and cried, “Put me down! Put me down!”

The strange visitor paid her no heed and only ran faster. Lu Wushuang raised her head and bit down fiercely on the edge of his palm. The strange visitor’s palm merely tensed, and the impact sent a dull ache through her teeth. Lu Wushuang had no choice but to release her bite, but she kept her mouth busy, screaming and shouting with all her might. Cheng Ying, however, remained silent throughout.

The strange visitor ran on for a while longer, then set the two girls down. They were in a burial ground. Cheng Ying’s small face had turned deathly pale, while Lu Wushuang’s was flushed bright red.

Cheng Ying said, “Old uncle, we need to go home now. We won’t play with you anymore.”

The strange visitor stared at her with wide eyes, saying nothing. Cheng Ying saw in his gaze a look of sorrow, desolation, self-pity, and wounded pride, and she could not help but feel a surge of sympathy. Softly she said, “If no one will play with you, come back to the lake tomorrow, and I’ll peel lotus seeds for you again.”

The strange visitor sighed. “Yes, ten years. For ten years, no one has played with me.”

Suddenly a murderous gleam flashed in his eyes, and he demanded fiercely, “Where is He Yuanjun?¹⁷ Where has He Yuanjun gone?”

Cheng Ying was frightened by his sudden ferocity. In a small voice she said, “I… I… I don’t know.”

The strange visitor seized her arm and shook her several times. Lowering his voice, he rasped, “Where is He Yuanjun?”

Cheng Ying was so terrified she was on the verge of tears. They welled up and rolled in her eyes, yet she never let them fall.

The strange visitor gnashed his teeth. “Cry! Cry! Why won’t you cry? Hmph, you were just like this ten years ago. I forbade you to marry him, and you said you could not bear to leave me, yet you insisted on going with him. You said you were grateful for the kindness I had shown you, and that leaving me would break your heart. Bah! All of it, lies and deceit! If you were truly heartbroken, why won’t you cry?”

He stared at Cheng Ying with fierce intensity. Cheng Ying had long since been frightened out of her wits, yet still the tears would not fall. The strange visitor shook her violently. Cheng Ying bit down on her lip and told herself over and over, I will not cry! I will not cry!

The strange visitor said, “Hmph, you won’t shed a single tear for me, not even one drop. What use is there in my living?”

Abruptly he released Cheng Ying, bent his knees, crouched low, and rammed his head against a nearby tombstone. With a dull thud, he collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Lu Wushuang cried, “Cousin, run!”

She grabbed Cheng Ying’s hand and turned to flee. Cheng Ying ran a few steps, but seeing blood gushing from the stranger’s head, her heart softened. “Old uncle might have killed himself. Let’s go check on him.”

Lu Wushuang said, “If he’s dead, won’t he turn into a ghost?”

Cheng Ying was startled. She was afraid he might become a ghost, but also afraid he might suddenly wake and grab her again, spouting more of his bizarre, mad ravings. Yet seeing his face covered in blood, she felt a deep pity. She reassured herself, Old uncle isn’t a ghost. I’m not afraid. He won’t grab me again.

Step by step, she slowly approached and called, “Old uncle, does it hurt?”

The strange visitor groaned but did not answer. Cheng Ying’s courage grew a little. She took out her handkerchief and pressed it against his wound. But the force of his collision had been truly ferocious. The gash on his head was terribly severe. In the blink of an eye, the handkerchief was soaked through with blood. She pressed down firmly with her left hand, and after a while, the bleeding stopped.

The strange visitor opened his eyes a crack. Seeing Cheng Ying sitting beside him, he sighed. “Why do you save me again? Better to let me die and be done with it.”

Cheng Ying was happy to see him awake. Softly she asked, “Does your head hurt?”

The strange visitor shook his head. Mournfully he said, “My head doesn’t hurt. My heart hurts.”

Cheng Ying found this strange. How can his head be split open like that and not hurt, yet his heart hurts?

But she did not press the question. She untied her sash and bandaged his wound.

The strange visitor sighed, then rose to his feet. “You will never consent to see me again, will you? Are we to part like this, then? Won’t you shed even a single tear for me?”

Cheng Ying heard the sorrow in his words and saw that his ugly face, though terrifying with its streaks of blood, held in its eyes a look of desperate pleading. She could not help but feel a pang of grief, and two streams of tears spilled from her eyes.

When the strange visitor saw her tears, his expression was at once joyful and anguished. With a loud wail, he burst into tears himself.

Cheng Ying, seeing how heartbroken his weeping was, found her own tears falling like pearls from a broken string, rolling down her cheeks. Gently she reached out both hands and wrapped them around his neck.

Lu Wushuang watched the two of them inexplicably embracing and weeping, and a surge of mirth rose from the depths of her heart. Unable to contain herself any longer, she threw back her head and laughed loudly.

Hearing her laughter, the strange visitor looked up at the sky and sighed. “Yes, you said with your own lips that you would never leave me, but once you grew older, you forgot all the words you once spoke. All you remember now is that new acquaintance, that pretty-faced boy. How merrily you laugh!”

He lowered his head and studied Cheng Ying closely. “Yes, yes, you are Ayuan, my little Ayuan. I won’t let you go. I won’t let you run off with that pretty-faced brute.”

And he held Cheng Ying tightly in his arms.

Seeing his agitation, Lu Wushuang did not dare laugh anymore.

The strange visitor said, “Ayuan, I’ve found you. Let’s go home. From now on, you will stay with your father forever.”

Cheng Ying said, “Old uncle, my father died long ago.”

The strange visitor said, “I know, I know. I am your godfather. Don’t you recognise me?”

Cheng Ying shook her head slightly. “I don’t have a godfather.”

The strange visitor let out a great cry and shoved her away violently. “Ayuan! You won’t even acknowledge your godfather?”

Cheng Ying said, “Old uncle, my name is Cheng Ying. I am not your Ayuan.”

The strange visitor muttered to himself, “You’re not Ayuan? Not my Ayuan?”

He stood dazed for a long moment, then said, “Yes, more than twenty years ago, Ayuan was just about your age. Now Ayuan has long since grown up. Grown up and no longer wants her father. In her heart, there is only that brute Lu Zhanyuan,¹⁸ no one else.”

Lu Wushuang let out a gasp. “Lu Zhanyuan?”

The strange visitor stared at her. “You know Lu Zhanyuan, don’t you?”

Lu Wushuang gave a faint smile. “Of course I know him, he’s my uncle.”

The strange visitor’s face suddenly filled with savage ferocity. He seized Lu Wushuang by both arms. “He… he… where is that brute? Take me to him at once!”

Lu Wushuang was terrified, but she kept a smile on her face. In a trembling voice she said, “My uncle lives very close by. Do you really want to go find him? Hee hee!”

The strange visitor said, “Yes, yes! I’ve been searching Jiaxing for three whole days just to settle accounts with that brute. Little girl, take me there, and this old uncle won’t make trouble for you.”

His tone gradually softened, and he released her arms.

Lu Wushuang rubbed her left arm with her right hand. “You grabbed me so hard it hurts. I’ve suddenly forgotten where my uncle lives.”

The strange visitor’s brows shot up, and he was about to explode in rage. But then it occurred to him that bullying such a small girl was deeply wrong, and an ugly smile appeared on his face. He reached into his robe. “It’s Grandpa’s fault. Let me make it up to you. Grandpa will give you some candy.”

But his hand stayed stuck inside his robe, patting about in vain.

Lu Wushuang clapped her hands and laughed. “You don’t have any candy. You’re lying! Aren’t you ashamed? All right, I’ll tell you. My uncle lives right over there.”

She pointed towards two tall locust trees in the distance. “Just over there.”

The strange visitor stretched out his long arms, tucked the two girls under his armpits again, and raced towards the twin locust trees. He charged straight ahead, and whenever a stream blocked his path, he simply leapt across. In moments, the three of them had reached the trees. The strange visitor set the two girls down, and saw, standing starkly beneath the locust trees, two graves side by side. On one tombstone were carved the six characters: “Tomb of Lord Lu Zhanyuan.” On the other were seven: “Tomb of Madam He of the Lu Family.” Knee-high grass overgrown around the graves spoke of long neglect.

The strange visitor stared blankly at the tombstones and murmured to himself, “That brute Lu Zhanyuan is dead? When did he die?”

Lu Wushuang said cheerfully, “He’s been dead for three years now.”

The strange visitor gave a cold laugh. “Good riddance, good riddance. It’s only a pity I couldn’t take his dog’s life with my own hands.”

He threw back his head and laughed wildly. The laughter carried far into the distance, but the sound was filled with grief and fury, with not a trace of joy.

By now, dusk was falling, and a faint haze had settled over the green willows and verdant grass. Lu Wushuang tugged at her cousin’s sleeve and whispered, “Let’s go back.”

The strange visitor said, “The pretty-faced boy is dead. What is Ayuan still doing here? I want to take her back to Dali.¹⁹ Hey, little girl, take me to find your… your dead uncle’s wife.”

Lu Wushuang pointed at the tombstone. “Can’t you see? My aunt is dead too.”

The strange visitor leapt into the air with a thunderous roar. “Are you telling the truth? She… she’s dead too?”

Lu Wushuang’s face went pale. In a trembling voice she said, “Father said that after my uncle died, my aunt followed soon after. I don’t know, I don’t know! Don’t frighten me. I’m scared!”

The strange visitor beat his chest and wailed, “She’s dead? She’s dead? It can’t be. You haven’t even seen me yet. You can’t be dead. I told you, ten years from now, I would come to see you. How… how could you not wait for me?”

He howled and leapt about like a mad tiger. Suddenly he swept out a leg with a sharp crack. The large locust tree on the right shuddered violently, its branches and leaves rustling. Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang, hand in hand, retreated far away. How could they dare approach? They watched as he suddenly wrapped his arms around the locust tree and shook it with all his might, as if trying to uproot it. Though the tree was not especially thick, how could he possibly pull it up? He bellowed, “You promised me with your own lips. Have you forgotten? You said you would see me one more time. How can a promise be broken?”

As he shouted, his voice grew hoarse. He crouched down, channelled his strength into both hands, and steam began to rise slowly from his head, like a steaming basket. The muscles on his arms knotted and bulged. He arched his back and pulled, roaring, “Up!”

The locust tree still could not be pulled from the ground. But with a thunderous crack, it snapped in two. He stood holding the broken half of the tree, dazed, and said softly, “Dead… dead.”

He lifted it and hurled it with all his strength. The half-tree flew far into the distance, like an umbrella unfurling in midair.

He stood motionless before the graves, murmuring, “Yes, Madam He of the Lu Family, that is Ayuan.”

His vision blurred, and the two tombstones transformed into two figures: one a maiden with a flower-picking smile and sparkling, luminous eyes. The other a tall, graceful youth with an air of easy elegance. The two stood side by side.

The strange visitor’s eyes flew open. He cursed, “You seduced my precious daughter. I’ll finish you with one finger!”

He thrust out the index finger of his right hand, lunged forward, and stabbed violently at the youth’s chest. But a searing pain shot through his finger, as if it were about to snap. His finger had struck the tombstone, and the youth’s figure had vanished.

The strange visitor flew into a rage. “Where do you think you’re running?”

His left palm followed with a strike, then both palms struck in quick succession, pap, pap, both landing on the stone. The angrier he grew, the fiercer his palm strikes became. After more than ten blows, his palms were a bloody mess.

Cheng Ying could not bear to watch. “Old uncle, stop hitting it. You’re hurting your own hands.”

The strange visitor laughed wildly. “It doesn’t hurt! I want to beat Lu Zhanyuan, that brute, to death!”

He was laughing uproariously when his laughter abruptly ceased. He stood frozen for a moment, then cried, “I must see your face, I must see your face!”

He thrust both hands forward with ferocious force, and his ten fingers plunged into the earth of the grave of Madam He of the Lu Family like a set of awls. When he pulled his arms back, he had scooped out two great chunks of grave soil. His two palms worked like iron spades, rising and falling, scooping up mound after mound of earth.

Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang were frightened out of their wits. Without a word, they turned and fled. The strange visitor was wholly absorbed in digging up the grave and paid them no attention. The two girls ran frantically, turning corner after corner, and only when they could no longer see the strange visitor pursuing them did they begin to relax. Neither knew the way, so they asked villagers for directions as they went. It was fully dark by the time they entered the gates of Lu Manor.

Lu Wushuang burst through the door shouting, “This is terrible! Terrible! Father, Mother, come quickly. That madman is digging up Uncle and Aunt’s graves!” She raced into the main hall and found her father, Lu Liding,²⁰ sitting with his head tilted up, staring blankly at the wall.

Cheng Ying followed her into the hall. Following Lu Liding’s gaze, they saw imprinted on the wall three rows of palm prints: two at the top, two in the middle, and five at the bottom, nine in total. Each palm print was as crimson as fresh blood.

Lu Liding heard his daughter’s shouts and asked hurriedly, “What did you say?”

Lu Wushuang cried, “That madman is digging up Uncle and Aunt’s graves!”

Lu Liding started in alarm and rose to his feet. “Nonsense!”

Cheng Ying said, “Uncle, it’s true.”

Lu Liding knew his own daughter was crafty, mischievous, and full of tricks, but Cheng Ying never lied. “What happened?” he demanded.

Lu Wushuang chattered away, recounting everything that had just occurred.

Lu Liding sensed grave danger. Without waiting for her to finish, he snatched his saber from the wall and rushed towards his brother and sister-in-law’s graves. When he reached the burial site, he found not only the graves broken open but the two coffins pried apart as well. Though he had half-expected something of the sort when his daughter mentioned the grave-digging, the sight still set his heart pounding. The bodies inside the coffins had vanished without a trace, and the lime, paper padding, and cotton bedding within were in complete disarray.

He steadied himself and examined the coffin lids, which bore many marks left by iron tools, evidence of hacking and prying. Grief and fury, shock and suspicion welled up within him. He had not questioned his daughter carefully enough. He had no idea what deep grudge this grave-robbing villain bore against his brother and sister-in-law, that he would desecrate their corpses even after death to vent his hatred. Gripping his saber, he gave chase.

All of Lu Liding’s martial arts had been passed down from his elder brother, Lu Zhanyuan. By nature, he was a man of quiet temperament, and with a comfortable family fortune, he had lived a life of ease and plenty, never venturing into the jianghu.²¹ He could be said to have no experience whatsoever, and he lacked the resourcefulness to adapt to changing circumstances. He had no idea how to track a corpse thief, and after circling around, he found himself back at the graves with no clue what to do. He stood there in a daze for a long while, then had no choice but to return home.

He walked into the main hall, sat down heavily in a chair, propped his saber beside him, and stared blankly at the nine bloody palm prints on the wall. His mind churned with a single thought, Before my brother died, he told me he had an enemy, a Daoist priestess named Li Mochou,²² known as the Scarlet Serpent Immortal.²³ Her martial arts were formidable, and her methods were ruthless and merciless. He predicted that ten years after his wedding, she would come seeking revenge against him and his wife. At the time, he said, “This illness will be the end of me. As for that grudge, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal will never have her revenge. In three more years, it will be time for her to come. Whatever you do, you must persuade your sister-in-law to flee far away.” I promised him through my tears. I never imagined that on the very night my brother died, my sister-in-law would take her own life to follow him in death. My brother has been gone three years now. By my reckoning, this is exactly when that priestess would come for her revenge. But since my brother and sister-in-law are both dead, surely all grudges are wiped clean. What is that priestess doing here?

My brother also said that before that priestess kills, she often prints bloody palm prints on the walls or doors of the victim’s home, one handprint for each life she intends to take. Our household, including the hired hands and serving maids, numbers only seven in total. Why has she printed nine handprints? Ah, I see. She printed the handprints first, then learned that my brother and sister-in-law were dead, so she sent someone to dig up the graves and steal the bodies? This… this demon woman is truly vicious… I was home all day today. When were these nine bloody handprints put up? To do this so secretly, without anyone noticing… this person… this person…

At this thought, he could not suppress a shudder.

Behind him came the soft patter of footsteps, and a pair of small, soft hands covered his eyes. His daughter’s voice said, “Daddy, guess who I am?”

This was a game Lu Wushuang had played with her father since she was small. When she was three, she had covered his eyes with her hands and said, “Daddy, guess who I am?” This sent both parents into gales of laughter. Ever since, whenever her father was downcast, she would use this trick to cheer him up. Even in the depths of fury, Lu Liding’s anger would always melt away when his beloved daughter teased him like this.

But today, he had no heart for playing with her. He brushed her hands aside. “Daddy’s busy. Go play inside.”

Lu Wushuang was stunned. She had been doted on by her parents since birth and had rarely seen him ignore her like this. Her little mouth pursed, and she was about to throw a tantrum when the manservant Agen hurried in. With his hands at his sides, he reported, “Young Master, there are guests outside.”

Lu Liding waved his hand. “Tell them I’m not home.”

Agen said, “Young Master, the lady isn’t asking to see you. She’s a traveller looking to stay the night.”

Lu Liding started. “What? A woman?”

Agen said, “Yes, the lady has two children with her, both quite handsome-looking.”

Hearing that the female guest had two children with her, Lu Liding relaxed slightly. “She’s not a Daoist priestess?”

Agen shook his head. “No. She’s dressed neatly, like a respectable lady from a good family.”

Lu Liding said, “Very well. Show her to the guest quarters and serve her a meal.”

Agen acknowledged the order and left. Lu Wushuang said, “I want to go see too.” She ran out after him.

Lu Liding rose to go inside and discuss with his wife how to deal with the enemy, but Lady Lu had already come into the hall. Lu Liding showed her the bloody palm prints and told her about the broken graves and missing bodies. Lady Lu frowned. “Where can we send the two children to hide?”

Lu Liding pointed at the bloody handprints on the wall. “The two children are included in the count. Since this demon has pressed her bloody handprints, I fear they won’t be easy to hide. Ha, the two of us have trained in martial arts all these years for nothing. This person came and went through our home without us sensing a thing. This… this…”

Lady Lu gazed at the white wall, gripping the back of a chair. “Why nine handprints? There are only seven of us in this household.”

As the words left her lips, her limbs went weak. She stared at her husband, on the verge of tears. Lu Liding reached out and supported her by the arm. “My dear, now that it’s come to this, there’s no need to be afraid. The top two handprints are meant for my brother and sister-in-law. The next two are naturally for you and me. The third row of two is for Wushuang and little Ying. The last three are for Agen and the two serving maids. Heh heh, this is what they call blood splattering the entire household.”

Lady Lu said in a trembling voice, “Brother and sister-in-law?”

Lu Liding said, “I don’t know what deep grudge this demon bears against my brother and sister-in-law. Even though they’re dead, she still sent someone to dig up their bodies from the graves to humiliate them.”

Lady Lu said, “You mean that madman was sent by her?”

Lu Liding said, “Of course.”

Lady Lu saw that his face was covered in sweat and dust. Gently she said, “Go back to our room and wash your face, change your clothes, and rest a while before we discuss this further.”

Lu Liding rose and walked back to their room with her. “My dear,” he said, “if the entire Lu family is doomed to die today, let us at least die in a way that does not disgrace the name of my brother and sister-in-law.”

Lady Lu felt a pang of sorrow. “You are right, my husband.”

Both of them reflected that although Lu Liding was unknown and obscure, his elder brother Lu Zhanyuan and sister-in-law He Yuanjun were famed throughout the jianghu for their chivalry, and the name of Lu Manor of Jiaxing had never been taken lightly in the world of martial arts.

As they walked into the rear courtyard, they suddenly heard a click from the eastern wall. Someone was up high. Lu Liding stepped forward to shield his wife and looked up. A boy was sitting on top of the wall, reaching out to pluck a trumpet creeper flower. From the foot of the wall came a voice calling, “Be careful, don’t fall!”

It was Cheng Ying, Lu Wushuang, and a boy, crouched behind the flower trellis at the base of the wall. Lu Liding thought to himself, These two children must belong to the family staying the night. How can they be so mischievous?

The boy on the wall plucked a flower. Lu Wushuang called, “Give it to me! Give it to me!” The boy grinned and tossed it towards Cheng Ying instead. Cheng Ying caught it and handed it to her cousin. Lu Wushuang was annoyed. She took the flower, threw it on the ground, and stamped on it a few times. “As if I care!” she huffed. “I don’t want it.”

Lu Liding and his wife watched the children playing with such enthusiasm, utterly oblivious that a bloody catastrophe was bearing down upon them. They sighed and went into their room together.

Cheng Ying saw Lu Wushuang trample the flower. “Cousin, what are you angry about now?”

Lu Wushuang pouted. “I don’t want his. I’ll pick my own.” With that, she pushed off with her right foot, leapt up, caught hold of a wisteria vine hanging from the trellis, used it to propel herself several more feet upward, and darted towards the branch of a silver osmanthus tree.

The boy on the wall clapped and cheered. “Come over here!”

Lu Wushuang grabbed the osmanthus branch with both hands, swung back and forth in the air a few times, then released the branch and launched herself towards the top of the wall.

Given the meagre qinggong²⁴ she had trained in, this leap was far too dangerous. But she was angry that the boy had thrown the flower to her cousin instead of her, and as a young girl determined not to lose face before strangers, she hurled herself through the air without a second thought.

The boy was startled. “Watch out!” he cried, reaching out to catch her. If he had not extended his hands, Lu Wushuang could have grabbed the top of the wall, but seeing him reach for her in midair, she snapped, “Get out of the way!” She twisted aside to avoid his hands. The art of turning one’s body in midair is an extremely advanced qinggong technique. She had once seen her father perform it, but even her mother could not do it. How could a little girl possibly execute it? The turn caused her fingers to miss the wall, and with a cry of alarm, she plummeted straight down.

The boy at the foot of the wall saw her falling and dashed over, reaching out to catch her. The wall was over eleven feet high. Though Lu Wushuang was light, the force of the fall was considerable. The boy caught her around the waist, and the two of them crashed heavily to the ground together. Two sharp cracks rang out. Lu Wushuang’s left leg had snapped, and the boy’s forehead had struck the corner of the flower bed, sending blood spurting.

Cheng Ying and the other boy, seeing the disaster they had caused, rushed over to help. The boy slowly got to his feet, pressing his hand against the wound on his forehead, but Lu Wushuang had already fainted. Cheng Ying held her cousin and cried, “Uncle! Aunt! Come quickly!”

Lu Liding and his wife heard the cries and rushed out of their room. They saw the two injured children, and also saw a middle-aged woman hurrying out from the western wing, presumably the traveller who had asked to stay the night. The woman scooped up Lu Wushuang and the injured boy and carried them into the hall. Rather than stopping the bleeding first, she set about joining the broken bone in Lu Wushuang’s leg. Lady Lu fetched a cloth and bandaged the boy’s head, then went to check on her daughter’s leg.

The woman pressed two acupoints²⁵, the “White Sea” point²⁶ on the inner side of Lu Wushuang’s broken leg and the “Bending Middle” point²⁷ behind the knee, to stop the pain. Then she held both sides of the break, preparing to set the bone. Lu Liding watched her swift, practised movements and her expert acupoint-sealing technique, and suspicion surged within him. “Who are you, madam?” he demanded. “What business brings you to my humble home?”

The woman was wholly focused on setting Lu Wushuang’s bone. She merely murmured a few sounds without answering his question.

At that very moment, a laugh rang out from the rooftop. A woman’s voice called, “I seek only the seven lives of the Lu household. All others, leave at once!”

The woman was in the middle of setting the bone. Startled by the sudden shout from above, her hands involuntarily twisted, crack, and the broken bone was wrenched out of alignment again. Under the excruciating pain, Lu Wushuang screamed and fainted once more.

Everyone looked up. Standing at the edge of the roof was a young Daoist priestess. Moonlight fell upon her face. She appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. A long sword was strapped to her back, and its blood-red tassel fluttered and snapped in the wind.

Lu Liding said in a clear voice, “I am Lu Liding. Are you a disciple of the Immortal Li?”

The young priestess curled her lip. “Since you know, that saves trouble! Kill your wife, your daughter, and your servants at once, then take your own life. Spare me the extra effort.” These words were delivered with casual indifference, without haste or heat, as though she did not consider her opponents worthy of the slightest regard.

Lu Liding trembled with rage. “You… you…” For a moment, he did not know how to respond. He was about to leap up and fight, but his opponent was young and female. It would not be proper to attack her directly. As he hesitated, he sensed someone brush past him. The woman who had asked to stay the night had already leapt onto the roof, sword in hand, and was locked in combat with the young priestess.

The woman wore a grey robe and skirt. The young priestess wore an apricot-yellow Daoist robe. In the moonlight, a grey blur and a yellow blur could be seen wheeling and dancing, interspersed with three streaks of cold light, punctuated by the occasional clash of steel. Though Lu Liding had never faced a real opponent, his martial arts had been personally transmitted by his elder brother, and his eye for technique was not weak. He could make out every move of both combatants’ swordplay with perfect clarity.

He saw the young priestess’s long sword shift from defence to offence, the tide of battle turning in an instant, her swordplay fierce and relentless. The woman concentrated on countering, seizing openings to deliver her own strikes. Suddenly, a sharp clang rang out as the two swords met. The young priestess’s long sword spun into the air. She leapt back hastily, her pretty face flushed, and shouted, “I am here on my shifu’s orders to exterminate the Lu family. Who are you to meddle in other people’s business?”

The woman gave a cold laugh. “If your shifu had any real ability, she should have settled accounts with Lu Zhanyuan long ago. Now that she knows he’s dead, she comes to bully his family instead. Has she no shame?”

The young priestess flicked her right hand, and three silver needles shot forth, two aimed at the woman, the third at Lu Liding, who stood in the courtyard below. The attack was sudden and unexpected. The woman deflected them with her sword. Lu Liding gave a low, angry shout and caught the silver needle between two fingers.

The young priestess gave a faint, cold smile, flipped over, and descended from the roof. The sound of her light footsteps faded rapidly into the distance.

The woman leapt back into the courtyard. Seeing Lu Liding holding the silver needle, she cried urgently, “Drop it, quickly!”

Lu Liding threw it down as instructed. The woman slashed off a strip of her own sash with her sword and immediately bound his right wrist tightly.

Lu Liding was alarmed. “The needle was poisoned?”

The woman said, “Deadly poison.” She produced a pill and gave it to him to swallow. Lu Liding felt his index and middle fingers go numb, then begin to swell. The woman swiftly used the tip of her sword to cut open the tips of both fingers, and drops of black blood oozed out.

Lu Liding was horrified. My fingers weren’t even broken. I merely touched the needle, and it’s this severe. If the point had actually pierced my skin, how could I possibly survive?

He bowed to the woman. “I have eyes but failed to recognise a great personage. May I presume to ask your honoured surname?”

The woman said, “My husband’s family name is Wu. He is called Wu Santong.”²⁸

Lu Liding stiffened. “So you are Madam Wu. I have heard that Master Wu is a disciple of the Venerable Yideng²⁹ of Dali. Is that correct?”

Madam Wu said, “It is. The Venerable Yideng is my husband’s shifu. I have learned only a few crude martial skills from my husband. Truly, I am but a novice displaying incompetence before an expert. I must beg Lord Lu’s forgiveness.”

Lu Liding repeatedly expressed his gratitude for her timely aid. He had once heard his brother say that among all the martial arts experts he had encountered in his life, the disciples of the Venerable Yideng of Dali were the most formidable. The Venerable Yideng had originally been the ruler of the Kingdom of Dali. After abdicating the throne to become a monk, he was attended by four great disciples known as “Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar.”³⁰ Among them, the Farmer was named Wu Santong, and there had been some discord between him and Lu Liding’s brother, though the exact cause of the grudge had never been explained. Yet here was Madam Wu, not only refraining from enmity but actually driving off the Scarlet Serpent Immortal’s disciple. The reason behind this was truly baffling.

Everyone returned to the main hall. Lu Liding cradled his daughter in his arms. She had regained consciousness. Her face was deathly pale, but she was gritting her teeth against the pain and refusing to cry. He felt a deep surge of pity.

Madam Wu sighed. “Once that demon woman’s disciple has fled, the demon herself will arrive in person. Lord Lu, I do not mean to belittle you, but you and your wife, even with my help, are absolutely no match for her. Yet I see little point in fleeing. Let us resign ourselves to fate and wait for her here.”

Lady Lu asked, “Just what kind of person is this demon? And what deep grudge does she bear against our family?”

Madam Wu glanced at Lu Liding. “Has Lord Lu not told you?”

Lady Lu said, “He says he only knows it involves his brother and sister-in-law, and that it concerns matters of romantic love, but even he does not fully understand.”

Madam Wu sighed. “That explains it. I am an outsider, so there is no harm in my speaking of it. More than ten years ago, your esteemed brother-in-law travelled to Dali. That demon woman, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal Li Mochou. At the mere mention of her name, everyone in the wulin³¹ today turns pale with terror. But more than ten years ago, she was a beautiful, gentle, good-natured young woman, and she had not yet renounced the world to become a priestess. It must have been a debt from a past life: after she met your brother-in-law, the seeds of love were planted. Following many entanglements and complications, your brother-in-law married your sister-in-law, He Yuanjun. And speaking of your sister-in-law, I cannot avoid mentioning my own husband’s affairs. This is a shameful matter to speak of, but given the urgency of the situation, I have no choice. This He Yuanjun, she was originally our adopted daughter.”

Lu Liding and Lady Lu gasped in unison.

Madam Wu gently stroked the injured boy’s shoulder and gazed at the candle flame as she spoke. “Your sister-in-law, He Yuanjun, was orphaned at a young age. My husband and I took her in and raised her as our adopted daughter, and we cherished her dearly. Later, she became acquainted with your brother-in-law. The two were deeply in love and wished to marry. My husband, for one thing, was unwilling to let her marry so far away, and for another, he harboured a deep prejudice. He insisted that men of Jiangnan were cunning and deceitful, utterly untrustworthy, and he refused to give his consent no matter what. But Ayuan secretly ran off with your brother-in-law.

“On the day of their wedding, my husband and Li Mochou both arrived to make trouble for the newlyweds. Among the wedding guests was an eminent monk from the Tianlong Monastery³² of Dali. He intervened and subdued both of them, demanding that, for his sake, they guarantee the newlyweds ten years of peace. My husband and Li Mochou were forced to swear that they would not trouble the couple for ten years. My husband’s fury was so extreme that ever since, he has been deranged and erratic. No matter how his shifu, his friends, or I have tried to counsel him, he could never be consoled. He was always counting down the days of those ten years. By my reckoning, today is precisely the day the ten years expire. Who could have imagined that your brother-in-law and Ayuan… ah… could not even enjoy ten years of happiness.” She lowered her head, her expression one of profound sorrow.

Lu Liding said, “In that case, the one who dug up the graves and stole my brother and sister-in-law’s remains was your husband.”

A look of shame crossed Madam Wu’s face. “From what your two young ladies said just now, it was indeed my husband.”

Lu Liding said indignantly, “Your husband’s conduct is greatly in the wrong. This was never any deep grudge to begin with. And my brother and sister-in-law are dead. Even if there had been a true blood feud, death settles all accounts. What cause is there to steal their remains? What kind of hero behaves like this?”

In terms of seniority, the Wu couple were his elders, but Lu Liding was so outraged that he abandoned all propriety in his speech.

Madam Wu sighed. “Lord Lu’s reproach is justified. My husband’s mind is not sound. His words and actions often defy reason. I brought these two children here today precisely to prevent my husband from coming here and committing some outrage. In this world, I fear I am the only person he still fears, and even then, only to a degree.” She turned to the two children. “Kowtow to Lord Lu and Lady Lu, and beg forgiveness on your father’s behalf.”

The two boys knelt and bowed.

Lady Lu hurriedly helped them up and asked their names. The one whose forehead had been cut was called Wu Dunru³³. He was the elder brother. The younger was called Wu Xiuwen.³⁴ They were a year apart, one was twelve, the other eleven. The two sons of a renowned martial arts expert had both been given refined, scholarly names. Madam Wu explained that she and her husband had had children late in life and, knowing well the dangers of the jianghu, had hoped their sons would abandon the martial path for the literary one. But both boys still loved martial arts, and their names had nothing to do with their inclinations.

Having explained the circumstances, Madam Wu sighed sorrowfully, thinking to herself, This is as much as I can say. The rest is not for outsiders’ ears.

The truth was that when He Yuanjun had reached seventeen or eighteen, she had grown into a graceful, lovely young woman. Wu Santong’s feelings towards her seemed no longer purely those of a godfather towards a goddaughter. Given his status as a chivalrous hero of the wulin, he could not, of course, express or act upon any improper thoughts. But the suppressed feelings had already knotted within him, and when he suddenly saw her fall in love with a young man from Jiangnan, his rage had spiralled beyond his control. As for his claim that “men of Jiangnan are cunning and deceitful, utterly untrustworthy”, aside from his hostility towards He Yuanjun’s beloved, it also stemmed from an incident years ago when he had been deceived by Guo Jing³⁵ and then outwitted by Huang Rong,³⁶ ending up pinned beneath an ox and a boulder that Guo Jing had placed on his shoulders, unable to free himself. Though he had later reconciled and become friends with Guo Jing and Huang Rong, the notion that “men of Jiangnan are cunning and deceitful” had been deeply branded into his mind.

Madam Wu continued, “I never imagined that instead of my husband, it would be the Scarlet Serpent Immortal who came to bring calamity upon your household…”

At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from the rooftop: “Ru’er! Wen’er! Come out!”

The voice had come utterly without warning. There had been no sound of footsteps on the roof tiles whatsoever before the call. Lu Liding and his wife started in unison, knowing it was Wu Santong. Cheng Ying and Lu Wushuang also recognised the voice as that of the strange visitor who had eaten the lotus seedpods.

A figure flickered, and Wu Santong flew down from the roof. He seized his two sons, one in each hand, and carried them back up and away. Madam Wu cried, “Hey! Hey! Come and meet Lord Lu and Lady Lu! And those two bodies you took, bring them back at once!” But Wu Santong paid no attention whatsoever and was already far away.

Wu Santong ran wildly for a while, then plunged into a forest. Suddenly he set down Xiuwen and, carrying only Dunru, the one with the head wound, vanished without a trace, leaving his younger son alone in the woods.

Wu Xiuwen shouted, “Father! Father!” He watched his father, carrying his elder brother, already sprinting hundreds of feet away. From the distance came his father’s distant call, “Wait there. I’ll come back for you.”

Wu Xiuwen knew his father’s behaviour had always been erratic and inconsistent, so he was not particularly surprised. Though he was frightened to be alone in the forest in the dark of night, he figured his father would return soon, so he sat down by a tree to wait. A long time passed, but his father never came. He leaned against the tree trunk, and after a while, his eyes finally closed in sleep.

He slept until daybreak. In his drowsy haze, he heard a few clear, resonant cries from above. He opened his eyes and looked up. Two enormous white eagles were circling and soaring in the sky, their wings spanning eleven feet across. He had never seen eagles so large. He stared at them intently, finding them both strange and delightful. “Brother, come look at these huge eagles!” he called out, only then remembering that he was alone, and that his brother, who had always been inseparable from him, was no longer by his side.

Suddenly, he heard two soft whistles from behind him, the sound delicate and clear, as if from a girl’s lips. The two great eagles circled a few more times, then slowly descended. Wu Xiuwen turned around and saw a girl emerge from behind a tree, beckoning to the sky. The two eagles folded their wings and landed, standing beside her.

The girl glanced at Wu Xiuwen, then stroked the backs of the two eagles. “Good eagles, obedient eagles,” she said.

Wu Xiuwen thought to himself, So these two great eagles are diao*, condors.*³⁷ He watched as the twin condors raised their heads and looked about with proud, spirited bearing. They were extraordinarily magnificent. Standing on the ground, they were even taller than the girl.

Wu Xiuwen approached and said, “Are these two condors raised by your family?”

The girl pursed her lips slightly with a look of disdain. “I don’t know you. I’m not playing with you.”

Wu Xiuwen took no offence and reached out to stroke a condor’s back. The girl gave a soft whistle, and the condor suddenly swept out its left wing with tremendous force. Wu Xiuwen was caught off guard and was sent tumbling head over heels.

Wu Xiuwen rolled and scrambled to his feet. He gazed at the twin condors with deep admiration. “These condors are wonderful. They obey you so well. When I get back, I’ll ask my father to catch a pair for me to raise and play with.”

The girl said, “Hmph, as if your father could catch them.”

Having been rebuffed three times in a row, Wu Xiuwen felt rather embarrassed. He studied her closely. She wore a pale green gauze dress, and around her neck hung a string of bright pearls. Her complexion was incomparably fair and delicate, like cream. It seemed as though water might drip from it. Her eyes sparkled as they moved, and her elegant brows were long and fine. Though Wu Xiuwen was only a boy, he could see that she was exquisitely beautiful, and he could not help but feel drawn to her. Yet seeing her dignified, aloof manner, he also could not help but feel intimidated.

The girl stroked the condor’s back with her right hand while her eyes rolled over Wu Xiuwen. “What’s your name? Why are you out playing all alone?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “My name is Wu Xiuwen. I’m waiting for my father. What about you? What’s your name?”

The girl pursed her lips. “Hmph,” she snorted. “I don’t play with wild children.” She turned and walked away.

Wu Xiuwen stood stunned for a moment, then called, “I’m not a wild child!” He ran after her.

He figured the girl was about two or three years younger than himself, with shorter legs and a smaller frame, and that he could catch up to her in a single burst. But as soon as he began to use his qinggong, he found the girl’s steps were astonishingly fast. In moments, she had covered several dozen feet and left him far behind. She ran a few more steps, then stopped and looked back. “Hmph, can you catch me?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Of course I can.” He immediately gathered his breath to give chase.

The girl turned and ran again, then suddenly darted forward and hid behind a pine tree. Wu Xiuwen followed. When the girl saw him draw near, she abruptly stuck out her left foot and hooked it around his shin. Wu Xiuwen had not expected this at all and pitched forward. He tried to use the “Iron Tree Stump” stance to steady himself, but the girl’s right foot shot out and kicked him hard in the backside. Wu Xiuwen went sprawling, his nose smashing right into a small, sharp rock. Blood streamed from his nose, dotting his clothes with crimson.

Seeing the blood, the girl panicked. For a moment, she had no idea what to do and thought only of running away. Suddenly, a voice behind her barked, “Fu’er,³⁸ bullying people again, are you?”

The girl did not turn around. “Who says?” she protested. “He fell down on his own. What’s it got to do with me? Don’t you go telling my father nonsense.”

Wu Xiuwen pressed his hand to his nose. It did not actually hurt very much, but seeing his hand covered in blood, he was alarmed. Hearing the girl talking to someone, he turned around and saw a lame old man leaning on an iron crutch. The man’s temples were frosted white, his face gaunt and haggard, and his eyes were rolled back. He was blind.

The old man gave a cold laugh. “Don’t think you can fool me just because I can’t see. I hear everything perfectly clearly. You little minx. You’re already this bad now. What will you be like when you grow up?”

The girl went over and took his arm, pleading, “Granduncle, please don’t tell my father, all right? His nose is bleeding. Help him stop it!”

The old man stepped forward, seized Wu Xiuwen’s arm with his left hand, and pressed the fingers of his right hand against the “Welcome Fragrance” acupoint³⁹ beside Wu Xiuwen’s nose, massaging it a few times. Wu Xiuwen’s nosebleed had already been tapering off, and with this treatment, it stopped entirely. But he felt the old man’s five fingers gripping his arm like iron pincers, long, hard, and unyielding. A surge of fear rose in his heart. He gave a slight tug, but his arm did not budge. He then pulled his arm in and circled it outward, using the Small Seizing-Hand technique⁴⁰ his mother had taught him. His hand traced a half-circle and twisted outward in reverse. The old man had not expected such a clever move from a small child. With a soft exclamation of surprise, his grip was broken. But he immediately seized Wu Xiuwen’s wrist again. Wu Xiuwen tried to struggle free once more, but this time, no matter how he strained, he could not break loose.

The old man said, “Don’t be afraid, little brother. What’s your surname?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “My surname is Wu.”

The old man said, “Your accent isn’t local. Where are you from? Where are your parents?” As he spoke, he released Wu Xiuwen’s wrist.

Wu Xiuwen thought of how he had not seen his parents all night and had no idea what had become of them. At the old man’s question, he nearly burst into tears.

The girl scraped her finger across her cheek to shame him and sang, “Shame, shame, little spotted dog, red-rimmed eyes, about to leak oil!”

Wu Xiuwen drew himself up proudly. “Hmph, I’m not going to cry!” He then told them how his mother was waiting for an enemy at Lu Manor, how his father had carried off his brother to who-knew-where, and how he had waited in the dark for his father and brother without seeing them, eventually falling asleep under a tree. His emotions were stirred up, and his account was quite jumbled, but the old man understood about seventy or eighty percent. He also learned that they had come from the Kingdom of Dali, that the boy’s father was called Wu Santong, and that his most accomplished martial art was the “Solitary Yang Finger.”⁴¹

The old man said, “Your father is a disciple of the Venerable Yideng, isn’t he?”

Wu Xiuwen said happily, “Yes! Do you know our Imperial Lord? Have you met him? I haven’t.”

Back when Wu Santong had served as the commander of the Imperial Guard under Emperor Duan Zhixing⁴² of Dali, who later renounced the throne to become a monk under the Dharma name Yideng, Wu Santong, when recounting the old days to his sons, would still say “our Imperial Lord did this” and “our Imperial Lord did that.” So Wu Xiuwen, too, called him “our Imperial Lord.”

The old man said, “I have never had the good fortune to pay my respects to the venerable Yideng, but I have long admired the great name of the ‘Southern Emperor’⁴³ and hold him in the highest esteem. This girl’s parents once received an enormous kindness from him. In that case, we are not strangers. Do you know who the enemy your mother is waiting for might be?”

Wu Xiuwen said, “I heard my mother talking with Lord Lu. The enemy seemed to be something like ‘Scarlet Serpent Something-or-other Sorrow’.”

The old man raised his head and murmured, “Scarlet Serpent Something-or-other?” Suddenly he slammed his iron crutch against the ground and cried out, “The Scarlet Serpent Immortal, Li Mochou?”

Wu Xiuwen said joyfully, “Yes, yes! That’s it, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal!”

The old man’s expression immediately grew extremely grave. “You two stay here and play. Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to take a look.”

The girl said, “Granduncle, I want to go too.”

Wu Xiuwen also said, “I want to go too.”

The old man said urgently, “No, no! You absolutely must not go. That demon woman is vicious beyond measure. I cannot defeat her. But knowing that a friend is in danger, I cannot simply do nothing. You must be obedient.” With that, he leaned on his iron crutch and limped away at great speed.

Wu Xiuwen was deeply impressed. “That old gentleman is blind and lame, yet he moves so fast.”

The girl pursed her lips. “What’s so special about that? If you saw my father and mother’s qinggong, you’d be scared out of your wits.”

Wu Xiuwen said, “Are your father and mother blind and lame too?”

The girl flew into a rage. “Pei! Your father and mother are the ones who are blind and lame!”

By now, it was broad daylight. Farmers were already at work in the fields, men and women singing mountain songs. The old man was a native of the area. Though blind, he knew the roads well, asking directions as he went. Before long, he arrived at Lu Manor. From a distance, he could already hear the clash of weapons, ping-ping-pang-pang. The fighting was ferociously intense.

The Lu Zhanyuan family were local gentry and officials, while the old man was a commoner of the marketplace. Though both were well-known martial arts figures in Jiaxing, they had never associated with one another. The old man also knew his martial arts were no match for the Scarlet Serpent Immortal’s, and that this trip would only add one more old life to the tally. But he also knew that this matter involved a disciple of the Venerable Yideng, and all of them owed the Venerable Yideng too many debts of gratitude to stand idly by. He quickened his pace and rushed to the front of Lu Manor.

He could hear four people locked in fierce combat on the rooftop. Tilting his head, he listened carefully. From the shouts and the clash of weapons, he could tell that on one side there were three, and on the other side only one, yet the many could not overcome the few. The three were already completely on the defensive.

The previous night, when Wu Santong had carried off his two sons, Lu Liding and his wife had been greatly perplexed, unsure of his intentions. Madam Wu, however, had looked pleased. “My husband is usually deranged and erratic,” she said with a smile, “but this time, for once, he has shown some sense.”

When Lady Lu asked the reason, Madam Wu only smiled without answering. “I don’t know if my guess is correct,” she said. “We shall see soon enough.”

By now, the night had grown deep. Lu Wushuang had fallen asleep in her father’s arms, and Cheng Ying was also drowsy, barely able to keep her eyes open. Lady Lu picked up the two children, intending to carry them to their room to sleep.

Madam Wu said, “Wait just a moment.”

Suddenly, a voice called from the rooftop: “Toss them up!” It was Wu Santong’s voice. His qinggong was exceptional. He had reached the rooftop without the Lu couple detecting a thing.

Madam Wu took Cheng Ying, walked to the entrance of the hall, and threw her upward. Wu Santong stretched out his arms and caught her. As the Lu couple watched in astonishment, Madam Wu picked up Lu Wushuang and tossed her up as well.

Lu Liding was horrified. “What are you doing?” he cried, leaping onto the roof. But all around was pitch black. Wu Santong and the two girls had vanished without a trace. He was about to give chase when Madam Wu called, “Lord Lu, there is no need to pursue him. His intentions are good.”

Lu Liding was half-doubtful, half-trusting. He jumped back down into the courtyard and asked in a trembling voice, “What good intentions?”

By now, Lady Lu had understood. “Master Wu was afraid the demon would harm the children,” she said. “He must have hidden them somewhere safe.”

Lu Liding, too close to the situation to see clearly, was enlightened by his wife’s words. “Yes, yes,” he said repeatedly. But the thought of Wu Santong having stolen his brother and sister-in-law’s bodies still left him deeply uneasy.

Madam Wu sighed. “Ever since Ayuan married your brother-in-law, my husband has grown angry at the sight of any young girl. I cannot fathom why he would show such concern for the two young ladies of your household. It is truly beyond anything I expected. The first time he came to take Ru’er and Wen’er away, I noticed him glancing several times at the two young ladies, his expression one of tender affection and protective concern. He used to look at Ayuan in exactly the same way. And sure enough, he came back to take the two young ladies as well. Ah, I only hope that from this day forward, his nature will change and he will no longer be so confused!” She sighed deeply twice.

At first, Lu Liding and his wife had been consumed with worry for the safety of their daughter and niece, their minds in turmoil and their actions flustered. Now that their greatest concern had been lifted, their fear gradually subsided and their will to resist the enemy swelled. The two of them armed themselves with hidden weapons and blades, then sat in the main hall, closing their eyes to conserve their strength.

They had been husband and wife for over a decade. In ordinary times, they would occasionally bicker over household matters. But now, thinking that a powerful enemy would arrive at any moment, and recalling what Lu Zhanyuan and Madam Wu had said about that demon woman’s fearsome martial arts and vicious methods, that they would most likely not escape this calamity, and that their time together as husband and wife was running short, they could not help but lean against each other, their four hands clasped tightly together.

A long while passed. In the profound silence, a soft, lilting woman’s voice drifted from the distance. Though it came from far away, every word was clear and distinct:

I ask the world: what is love, That it binds two hearts unto life and death?⁴⁴

With each word she sang, she drew noticeably closer. The woman’s speed was astonishing. Before the third line of the song had ended, she was already outside the gate.

The three inside exchanged stunned glances. Suddenly, a series of crashes rang out, bang, bang, crack, crack, as the door bar and wooden braces all shattered at once. The great doors flew open to either side, and a beautiful Daoist priestess walked slowly in, a faint smile on her lips. She wore an apricot-yellow Daoist robe. Without a doubt, the Scarlet Serpent Immortal Li Mochou had arrived.

Agen was sweeping the courtyard. He stepped forward and demanded, “Who goes there?”

Lu Liding shouted urgently, “Agen, get back!” But it was already too late. Li Mochou flicked her horsetail whisk, and Agen’s skull shattered instantly. He died without a sound.

Lu Liding charged forward, saber raised. Li Mochou shifted her body slightly, gliding past him. With another sweep of her whisk, she struck down both serving maids at once. Smiling, she asked, “Where are the two little girls?”

The Lu couple watched her kill three people in the blink of an eye. Knowing there was no hope, they gritted their teeth and attacked from left and right with saber and sword. Li Mochou raised her whisk, about to strike, but then she noticed Madam Wu standing to the side with her sword. She gave a faint smile. “Since there are outsiders interfering,” she said, “it would be inconvenient to kill inside the house.”

Her voice was soft and melodious, her manner charming and alluring. With her bright eyes, white teeth, and fair, creamy complexion, she was truly a remarkable beauty. Without any visible movement of her feet or legs, she floated lightly up onto the rooftop. The Lu couple and Madam Wu leapt up after her.

Li Mochou had first sent her disciple, the young priestess Hong Lingbo,⁴⁵ to investigate the circumstances of Lu Zhanyuan’s household. Only then had she learned that Lu Zhanyuan and his wife had died three years earlier, and that the household now consisted of seven people, masters and servants. When Hong Lingbo reported back to her shifu, Li Mochou’s fury could not be assuaged, so she transferred the debt to Lu Zhanyuan’s younger brother, Lu Liding. Following her usual practice, she had imprinted nine bloody palm prints on the Lu family’s wall as a warning. The top pair of prints signified that she would kill Lu Zhanyuan and his wife to vent the resentment of years past. Even in death, she would reduce their bones to ashes and scatter them to the winds. The seven prints below naturally indicated that she would kill the seven remaining members of the Lu household.

Li Mochou flicked her whisk lightly, sweeping aside all three weapons at once. In a soft, coquettish voice, she said, “Lord Lu the Second, if your brother were still alive, and if he were to beg my forgiveness and cast aside that wretched little slut He Yuanjun, I might not be unwilling to spare the lives of your entire household, high and low. But now, ah, your luck is poor. You can only blame your brother for dying too young. You cannot blame me.”

Lu Liding shouted, “Who wants your mercy?” He hacked at her with his saber. Madam Wu and Lady Lu joined the attack from the flanks.

Li Mochou observed that Lu Liding’s martial arts were mediocre, but the way he swung his saber, kicked out his legs, spun around, and struck with his palms, the framework of his movements, was exactly the image of her beloved Lu Zhanyuan from years past. A pang of sorrow rose in her heart, and she wished she could watch just a moment longer, for if she killed him with a single stroke, she would never again see the Lu Family Saber Technique of Jiangnan⁴⁶ in this world. So she parried casually, letting the three opponents circle around her, her heart tangled in tender memories, her moves accordingly lacking in lethal force.

Suddenly, Li Mochou gave a soft whistle and leapt down from the roof, darting towards a lame old man leaning on an iron crutch by the small riverbank. Her whisk swept out, coiling towards his throat. In this move, her feet had not yet touched the ground, yet her whisk was already attacking a vital point. She had left herself completely exposed, but her killing stroke was so deadly that it forced the opponent to defend, leaving him no choice.

The old man heard the incoming attack with perfect clarity. He swept his iron crutch across, then abruptly thrust it forward, stabbing at her right wrist. An iron crutch is an extremely heavy, cumbersome weapon, traditionally used for sweeping, striking, smashing, and ramming. Yet this old man employed the “thrust” technique, wielding the iron crutch like a sword, his move light, agile, and graceful.

Li Mochou flicked her whisk slightly, and the silver threads reversed, coiling around the head of the iron crutch. “Let go!” she cried, borrowing the opponent’s force to redirect it. The ten thousand silver strands of the whisk absorbed the full power of the iron crutch. The old man’s arms shuddered violently, and he nearly lost his grip. In this critical moment, he used the momentum to leap up, his body slicing diagonally through the air, and only then did he manage to dissipate the subtle force of her whisk. Inwardly, he was shocked. This demon woman truly lives up to her reputation.

Li Mochou’s move, Grand Duke Fishing,⁴⁷ was based on the principle of “the willing take the hook”, using the opponent’s own strength to disarm them. It had never failed her before. That she had failed to wrest away his iron crutch came as a great surprise to her as well. Who is this lame old man, she wondered, to possess such skill? She shifted her stance slightly and saw that his eyes were rolled back. He was blind. In a flash of recognition, she cried, “You are Ke Zhen’e!”⁴⁸

This blind, lame old man was none other than Ke Zhen’e, leader of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan,⁴⁹ known as “Flying Bat.”⁵⁰

Years ago, after Guo Jing and Huang Rong had participated in the Huashan Sword Summit,⁵¹ Huang Yaoshi⁵² had presided over their wedding, and the couple had retired to Peach Blossom Island⁵³ to live in seclusion. Huang Yaoshi was eccentric by nature and disliked bustle and commotion. After spending a few months with his daughter and son-in-law, he grew restless. Leaving behind a letter saying he would seek out some quieter place to dwell, he drifted away from the island on his own. Huang Rong understood her father’s temperament. Though she could not bear to see him go, there was nothing she could do. At first, she assumed that within a few months, word from her father would surely come. But a year passed with no news at all.

Huang Rong missed her father and her shifu, Hong Qigong,⁵⁴ so she and Guo Jing set out to search for them. The couple wandered the jianghu for several months, but eventually had no choice but to return to Peach Blossom Island, for Huang Rong had become pregnant.

She had always been crafty, mischievous, and incapable of staying still for even a moment. Pregnancy brought endless inconveniences, and she grew deeply frustrated. Tracing the root cause of her troubles, she naturally concluded that it was all Guo Jing’s fault. Pregnant women are prone to irritability, and though her love for Guo Jing was deep and true, she now found petty reasons to quarrel with him constantly. Guo Jing understood his beloved wife’s temperament. Whenever she made unreasonable demands, he would simply smile and ignore them. If Huang Rong grew truly angry, he would comfort her with gentle words and coax her until she broke into a smile.

Before they knew it, ten months had passed, and Huang Rong gave birth to a daughter, whom they named Guo Fu. During her pregnancy, Huang Rong had been unhappy, but once the baby was born, she doted on her daughter with extraordinary devotion, indulging her every whim. Before the girl was even one year old, she was already unbearably naughty. Sometimes Guo Jing could not stand to watch and would try to discipline her, but Huang Rong would always rush to shield her daughter. Every time Guo Jing tried to correct her, the result was that the girl only grew more unruly.

By the time Guo Fu was five, Huang Rong began teaching her martial arts. From that point on, the insects, birds, and animals of Peach Blossom Island suffered calamity. Either their feathers were plucked bare or their tails were snipped short. The once tranquil retreat where a recluse had cultivated his nature became a playground of chaos, with chickens scattering and dogs fleeing under the rampages of a mischievous child. Guo Jing, for one thing, deferred to his beloved wife, and for another, truly adored this naughty daughter. Whenever she committed some misdeed and he was about to punish her, she would make a funny face, wrap her arms around his neck, and plead in her soft voice, and he could only heave a long sigh as his raised hand slowly fell back down.

Over these years, neither Huang Yaoshi nor Hong Qigong had sent any word at all. Though Guo Jing and Huang Rong knew that the two of them were peerless in the world and unlikely to come to any harm, they still worried, knowing there was no one to attend to their daily needs. Guo Jing also made several trips to bring his First Master, Ke Zhen’e, to Peach Blossom Island to enjoy his remaining years in comfort. But Ke Zhen’e loved the company of common folk, drinking, gambling, and making merry, and had no desire for the quiet, lonely life on Peach Blossom Island. He always declined.

Then one day, without waiting for Guo Jing to come fetch him, Ke Zhen’e arrived on the island of his own accord. It turned out that his luck at gambling had been poor lately. He had lost again and again and was deep in debt. With no other recourse, he had come to his disciple’s home to hide from his creditors. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were overjoyed to see their shifu and insisted he stay on the island permanently, refusing to let him leave no matter what. Huang Rong gradually coaxed the truth out of him and secretly sent someone to pay off his gambling debts. Ke Zhen’e, unaware of this, dared not return to Jiaxing. With nothing else to do, he became Guo Fu’s playmate.

The years slipped by, and Guo Fu turned nine. Huang Rong, still worried about her father, decided to leave the island with Guo Jing to search for him. Ke Zhen’e insisted on coming along no matter what, and Guo Fu naturally pestered them until they agreed to bring her too. After the four of them left the island and began discussing their itinerary, Ke Zhen’e said, “Anywhere is fine, just not Jiaxing.”

Huang Rong laughed. “First Master, you should know, I paid off all those creditors for you long ago.”

Ke Zhen’e was overjoyed, and his first choice of destination was now Jiaxing.

Arriving in Jiaxing, the four took rooms at an inn. Ke Zhen’e made inquiries among old acquaintances, and someone mentioned having seen a green-robed old man drinking alone in the Mist and Rain Pavilion⁵⁵ a few days earlier. From the description of his appearance, it seemed to match Huang Yaoshi. Guo Jing and Huang Rong were delighted and began searching everywhere in the city and countryside of Jiaxing.

That morning, Ke Zhen’e had taken Guo Fu and the twin condors into the woods to play, and by chance, they had encountered Wu Xiuwen.

Ke Zhen’e had exchanged only a few moves with Li Mochou before realising he was no match for her. This demon woman’s martial arts, he thought, are scarcely inferior to Mei Chaofeng’s⁵⁶ back in the day. He immediately deployed his Demon-Subduing Staff Technique,⁵⁷ tightly guarding his position.

Li Mochou silently praised him, I once heard that heartless boy, my Lu Lang, say that among the senior figures of Jiaxing were the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, whose martial arts were not weak, and that they had taken a disciple who became tremendously famous, the great hero Guo Jing. This old man is the leader of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, and he truly lives up to his reputation. Blind, lame, old, and frail, yet he has still managed to withstand more than ten of my moves.

She heard the Lu couple shouting as they and Madam Wu attacked from behind. Her mind was made up, It would not be difficult to kill old Ke, but if I provoke Guo Jing and his wife into coming after me, that would be hard to handle. I’ll spare him today.

She flicked her whisk, and the silver strands stiffened with neili, straightening like a spear as she thrust at Ke Zhen’e’s chest. Though the whisk strands were soft, with the aid of subtle force and aimed at a vital acupoint, this thrust was quite formidable.

Ke Zhen’e stamped his iron crutch against the ground and used the recoil to leap backward. Li Mochou stepped forward as if pressing the attack. But then she suddenly arched backward with tremendous speed. Her waist was extraordinarily supple. She flipped backward, and her shoulder came within less than two feet of Madam Wu. Startled, Madam Wu swung her left palm at Li Mochou’s forehead. Li Mochou swayed her waist gently, like a narcissus trembling slightly in the breeze, and evaded the blow with ease. Pap! Her palm struck Lady Lu in the lower abdomen.

Lady Lu stumbled forward three steps and collapsed to the ground. Seeing his wife injured, Lu Liding hurled his saber at Li Mochou with all his strength, then spread his arms and lunged forward, intending to grapple her and drag her down to perish together.

Li Mochou, a virgin who had been spurned in love, had developed an abnormal loathing for all matters between men and women. Seeing Lu Liding throw himself at her, her hatred surged to the extreme. She spun the handle of her whisk to knock aside the saber, then swept the whisk forward in the same motion, shua!, striking him squarely on the crown of his head.

Li Mochou had wounded the Lu couple in the span of a single instant. By the time Ke Zhen’e and Madam Wu rushed forward to help, it was already too late. Smiling, she asked, “Where are the two little girls?” Without waiting for Madam Wu to answer, a yellow blur flickered, and she had already darted into Lu Manor. She searched everywhere but found no trace of Cheng Ying or Lu Wushuang. She took kindling from the kitchen, set a fire in the woodshed, then leapt out of Lu Manor.

“I have no quarrel with Peach Blossom Island or the Venerable Yideng,” she said with a smile. “You two may leave.”

Ke Zhen’e and Madam Wu, seeing her vicious rampage, were so enraged that their eyes seemed about to split. Iron crutch and steel sword struck at her together. Li Mochou sidestepped the iron crutch and lashed out her whisk. The silver threads coiled around Madam Wu’s long sword. Two streams of force transmitted through the whisk, one pulling, one releasing. With a sharp crack, the long sword snapped in two. The tip shot towards Madam Wu, while the hilt flew at Ke Zhen’e’s face.

Madam Wu was already shocked that her sword had been seized. She had never imagined that Li Mochou could use her whisk to tear the blade apart, then employ the broken pieces to attack two opponents simultaneously. The sword tip came too fast. She ducked her head to evade, and felt a chill across her scalp as the tip grazed past, slicing off a great swathe of her hair.

Ke Zhen’e heard the whistle of steel cutting through the air. He raised the head of his crutch and knocked the sword hilt aside. But then he heard Madam Wu cry out in alarm. He immediately whirled his crutch like a windstorm, pressing the attack with every move. Though he held three poison caltrops⁵⁸ in his left hand, he thought, I have heard that the Scarlet Serpent Immortal’s Soul-Freezing Silver Needles⁵⁹ are insidiously lethal. With my eyes unable to see, I must not provoke her into using those deadly hidden weapons, for that would be even harder to defend against. So although the situation was desperate, he did not dare launch the poison caltrops.

Li Mochou had been holding back against him the entire time. If I don’t show this blind old man what I’m truly capable of, she thought, he probably still won’t realise I’ve been sparing him on purpose. She swayed her waist gracefully, and the silver strands of her whisk coiled around the head of his crutch. Ke Zhen’e felt a tremendous force trying to wrench the iron crutch from his grasp. He hurriedly channelled his strength to pull it back. But the moment his force reached the tip of the crutch, the opposing force suddenly vanished without a trace. In that instant, he felt as though his entire body, from his four limbs to his hundred bones, was utterly empty, with nothing to push against.

Li Mochou used her left hand to push the iron crutch aside, then lightly pressed her palm against Ke Zhen’e’s chest. “Old Master Ke,” she said with a smile, “the Scarlet Serpent Divine Palm⁶⁰ has reached your chest.”

Ke Zhen’e knew he could not possibly defend against it. “Wretched demon woman,” he snarled, “just strike and be done with it. Why all this chatter?”

Madam Wu, seeing this, rushed forward in alarm to save him. Li Mochou leapt up, springing sideways off the iron crutch. While still in midair, she suddenly reached out and stroked Madam Wu’s face. “You dared to drive away my disciple,” she said with a smile. “You’ve got some nerve.” With a silvery, tinkling laugh, she bounded away and was gone in a few leaps.

Madam Wu felt only the soft, warm smoothness of Li Mochou’s palm. That single caress left her face suffused with an indescribable comfort and pleasure. She watched Li Mochou’s figure flicker once among the willow trees, then vanish. Though she had exchanged only a few moves with her, every single move had been a brush with death, and she had already exerted every ounce of her strength. Now she collapsed limply to the ground, unable to move for quite some time.

Ke Zhen’e’s chest had also felt as though a great boulder were pressing down upon it, a suffocating, oppressive sensation. He gasped several rapid breaths before slowly regulating his breathing.

After a long while, Madam Wu struggled to her feet. Black smoke billowed into the sky. Lu Manor was engulfed in flames. The heat of the fire pressed closer, unbearably scorching. Together with Ke Zhen’e, she helped the Lu couple up. She could feel that both of them were barely breathing and would not last more than a quarter of an hour. If I move them, she thought, they might die even faster. But I can’t leave them here. What am I to do?

Just as she was at a loss, a voice cried out from the distance, “My dear wife, are you all right?” It was Wu Santong’s voice.

鸡尺溪 – Jīchǐxī. Small waterway in the Jiangnan region whose name evokes the rustic, pastoral landscape of the water towns south of the Yangtze. ↩
词 — cí. Literally “lyric” or “song-words.” A classical Chinese poetic form with irregular line lengths, composed to fit a prescribed melodic pattern (tune title). See Wikipedia. ↩
蝶恋花 – Dié Liàn Huā. One of the most famous ci poem title patterns in classical Chinese poetry, dictating the metre, rhyme scheme, and number of characters per line. Many poets, including Ouyang Xiu and Liu Yong, wrote to this pattern. Title evokes romantic imagery: butterflies drawn to flowers as lovers are drawn to one another. ↩
欧阳修 – Ōuyáng Xiū. (1007–1072) One of the greatest literary figures of the Northern Song dynasty. Statesman, historian, essayist, and poet, he was a leading figure in the Classical Prose Movement. His ci poetry was celebrated for its emotional depth and lyrical beauty. See Wikipedia. ↩
越女 – Yuènǚ. Yue was an ancient kingdom in the Jiangnan region (present-day Zhejiang and northern Fujian). Yue maidens were famed in classical Chinese poetry for their beauty, and the region was known for its lotus-filled lakes. ↩
江南 – Jiāngnán. Prosperous region south of Yangtze River, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
柳永 – Liǔ Yǒng. (c. 987–1053) A renowned Northern Song ci poet known for his romantic, colloquial style. Immensely popular in his day, his lyrics were said to be sung in every wine shop and by every well. See Wikipedia. ↩
有井水处皆歌 – yǒu jǐngshuǐ chù jiē gē. Famous saying about Liu Yong’s popularity. Wells were gathering places where people drew water and exchanged news, so the phrase means his lyrics were sung wherever people gathered. ↩
宋理宗 – Sòng Lǐzōng. (r. 1224–1264) The fourteenth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. His reign saw the beginning of the Mongol conquest of China. See Wikipedia. ↩
南湖 – Nánhú. Scenic lake in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, famed for its beauty and for the Mist and Rain Pavilion on its shores. ↩
嘉兴 – Jiāxīng. City in northern Zhejiang Province, known for its South Lake and its role as a key location in Jin Yong’s novels. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
中秋 – Zhōngqiū. Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month and associated with family reunions and moon-viewing, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest. ↩
拂尘 – fúchén. Horsetail whisk: a handle with long, soft fibres attached. In Daoism it is a symbol of spiritual authority, and in wuxia fiction it is often wielded as a flexible weapon capable of entangling and disarming opponents. ↩
风月无情人暗换 – fēngyuè wúqíng rén àn huàn. Line from Ouyang Xiu’s ci poem that captures the central theme of this chapter. “Wind and moon” is a classical metaphor for romantic love and the pleasures of youth, and the line laments that love is ultimately heartless. It gives the chapter its title. ↩
程英 – Chéng Yīng. Her name meaning “heroine” or “outstanding”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
陆无双 – Lù Wúshuāng. Her name meaning “peerless” or “without equal”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
何沅君 – Hé Yuánjūn. Her name meaning “Yuan River lord”; 沅 names the Yuan River and 君 means lord or gentleman. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
陆展元 – Lù Zhǎnyuán. His name meaning “spreading the origin”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
大理 – Dàlǐ. Historical kingdom in present-day Yunnan Province (937–1253), contemporaneous with the Song dynasty. In the Condor Trilogy it is associated with the Duan imperial family and Great Master Yideng. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
陆立鼎 – Lù Lìdǐng. His name meaning “establishing the tripod”, a metaphor for laying a stable foundation. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
江湖 – jiānghú. Literally rivers and lakes. Term refers to the jianghu: the subculture of wandering knights-errant, martial artists, and sect members who live outside mainstream society, governed by its own codes of honour, loyalty, and vengeance. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
李莫愁 – Lǐ Mòchóu. Her name meaning “do not sorrow”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
赤练仙子 – Chìliàn Xiānzǐ. Literally scarlet chain immortal. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
轻功 – qīnggōng. Literally lightness skill. Martial art of body lightness; masters can leap great heights and move with extraordinary speed. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
穴位 – xuéwèi. … See Wikipedia. ↩
白海穴 – Báihǎi Xué. Literally white sea. Acupoint on the inner thigh; striking it can numb the leg. See Wikipedia. ↩
委中穴 – Wěizhōng Xué. Literally middle of the bend. Acupoint at the back of the knee on the bladder meridian; striking it can numb the leg. See Wikipedia. ↩
武三通 – Wǔ Sāntōng. His name meaning “three penetrations” or “three communications”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
一灯大师 – Yīdēng Dàshī. Literally one-lamp master; a Buddhist honorific title. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
渔樵耕读 – Yú Qiáo Gēng Dú. Four great disciples who followed Emperor Duan Zhixing into monkhood, representing the four idealised occupations of traditional Chinese culture: fisherman, woodcutter, farmer, and scholar. Wu Santong is the Farmer. ↩
武林 – wǔlín. Literally martial forest. Martial arts community and its schools and practitioners. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
天龙寺 – Tiānlóng Sì. Famous Buddhist temple in Dali. In Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils it preserves the Duan family’s most advanced martial arts, including the Six Meridians Divine Sword. ↩
武敦儒 – Wǔ Dūnrú. His name meaning “earnest scholar”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
武修文 – Wǔ Xiūwén. His name meaning “cultivate literature”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
郭靖 – Guō Jìng. His name meaning “tranquillity” or “pacification”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
黄蓉 – Huáng Róng. Her name meaning “lotus” or “hibiscus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
雕 – diāo ↩
郭芙 – Guō Fú. Her name meaning “lotus”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
迎香穴 – Yíngxiāng Xué. Acupoint beside the nostrils, commonly used to treat nasal congestion and nosebleeds. ↩
小擒拿手 – Xiǎo Qínná Shǒu. Grappling and joint-locking technique. Qinna (擒拿) is the art of seizing and controlling an opponent through joint locks and pressure-point manipulation; the Small variant uses the hands and fingers rather than the whole body. ↩
一阳指 – Yīyáng Zhǐ. Literally One Yang Finger. Dali Duan family’s signature finger technique. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
段智兴 – Duàn Zhìxīng. His name meaning “wisdom flourishing”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
南帝 – Nán Dì. Literally southern emperor. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
问世间，情是何物，直教生死相许 – wèn shìjiān, qíng shì hé wù, zhí jiào shēngsǐ xiāngxǔ. Opening lines of a famous ci poem by Yuan Haowen (1190–1257), inspired by a wild goose that dashed itself to death after its mate was killed. Li Mochou sings this song throughout the novel, and it becomes her tragic theme. ↩
洪凌波 – Hóng Língbō. Her name meaning “treading the waves”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
江南陆家刀法 – Jiāngnán Lùjiā Dāofǎ. Signature martial art of the Lu family of Jiaxing. Lu Zhanyuan was famous for this technique, and his younger brother Lu Liding learned it from him. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
太公钓鱼 – Tàigōng Diàoyú. Named after Jiang Taigong, the legendary strategist who fished with a straight, hookless line, saying that the fish which wishes to be caught will be caught. Technique uses the opponent’s own force against them. ↩
柯镇恶 – Kē Zhèn’è. His name meaning “subduing evil”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
江南七怪 – Jiāngnán Qī Guài. Group of seven martial artists from Jiaxing who followed their own code of honour. They took a bet to find and train Guo Jing and spent years in the Mongolian steppes fulfilling the vow; their integrity and loyalty were legendary. ↩
飞天蝙蝠 – Fēitiān Biānfú. Literally flying-heaven bat. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
华山论剑 – Huàshān Lùnjiàn. Literally sword discussion at Huashan. Use of discussion is key as the participants were engaged in a martial arts exchange and a philosophical debate on mastery, rather than just a physical contest. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
黄药师 – Huáng Yàoshī. His name meaning “medicine master”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
桃花岛 – Táohuā Dǎo. Huang Yaoshi’s island stronghold, continued from LOCH era. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
洪七公 – Hóng Qīgōng. Literally Hong the Seventh Lord; the numeral seven marks seniority among sworn brothers. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
烟雨楼 – Yānyǔ Lóu. Famous pavilion on South Lake in Jiaxing. In The Legend of the Condor Heroes it was the site of a crucial confrontation involving the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan. ↩
梅超风 – Méi Chāofēng. Her name meaning “surpassing the wind”. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
伏魔杖法 – Fúmó Zhàngfǎ. Ke Zhen’e’s signature staff technique, wielded through his iron crutch with devastating effectiveness despite his blindness and lameness. ↩
毒蒺藜 – Dú Jílí. Small, multi-pointed throwing weapons coated in poison. Caltrops are shaped so that one sharp point always faces upward however they land. Ke Zhen’e is known for his skill with them. ↩
冰魄银针 – Bīngpò Yínzhēn. Li Mochou’s signature concealed weapon. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩
赤练神掌 – Chìliàn Shénzhǎng. Li Mochou’s palm technique, infused with poison. Name links her palm strikes to her serpentine nickname, suggesting that her very touch is as deadly as a venomous snake’s bite. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

The Return of the Condor Heroes Chapter 1

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